rainbow? no, you wouldn't. maybe if you were in college and your friend's nickname was rainbow you'd have no choice. >> one of my friends, his nickname at cool is hasselhoff. so we saw this sign and took it for him. >> okay. not to condone theft, but you have to admit, a life-sized decoration of hasselhoff, that's one sweet decoration for the dorm room. "early start" begins right now. breaking news. disaster at sea. dozens are missing after a ferry packed with passengers capsizes near a tourist hot spot. farms in crisis. we are live from the drought zone in indiana where they are hoping that congress will do something to help them and help them in a hurry. the hunt for a predator. surveillance video captures a man trying to abduct a 10-year-old from the street. there is a manhunt going on this

morning in philadelphia for that suspect as we speak. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." >> it is 5:00 a.m. here in the east. also this morning, george zimmerman in his first on-camera interview since the trayvon martin shooting, he was asked if he has any regrets. you'll want to hear what he has to say. and is there tension in the u.s. supreme court after that health care ruling? you will hear what justice scalia said about any possible bad blood. that's in that cnn exclusive coming right up. up first this morning, breaking news from tanzania where more than 30 people have drowned, over 100 more are feared dead after a ferry with nearly 300 people on board sank. about 150 people were rescued. but officials say there's not much hope for the passengers still missing. there were also 31 children on board. you are looking there at

pictures of a little boy being saved. there were tourists on board as well. it's not clear if any of them were americans. rough weather an fierce waves are hampering rescue efforts and may be to blame for that tragedy. this morning more than 60% of the u.s. are dealing with extreme drought conditions. nearly 1,300 counties in the united states have been labeled disaster areas. the obama administration is asking congress for drought relief help and to help pass a 5 500 billion dollar farm bill. right now crops are withering away under the heat, threatening to drive up prices on food and fuel in the nation. corn prices are coming next. tom vilsack says increased consumer costs could come later this year and next year. he said, by the way, he's getting on his knees every day

saying an extra prayer. rob marciano is live in indianapolis at the heart of the drought right now standing, i believe, with some cattle. this isn't just about crops, is it? >> no, it's not. this is a ripple effect that in all the factors that you spoke of, it goes well beyond, you know, the corn belt and farmers that may just be having a bad year. it goes down the line in a big trickle effect. one of them is livestock and the food that we eat. the milk we drink. because these animals need that grain, need that corn to survive. so today we're just south of indianapolis, if you know anything about the indianapolis 500, what do they drink at enof the race? they chug milk. this is dairy country, baby. this is a dairy farm. we have hundreds of dairy cattle. there's a beauty there, number 336. let me bring in the boss here. this is a fifth generation dairy farmer. this farm has been in your

family for years. how many cattle do you have here? >> we're milking about 500. >> 500. what's the number one effect this drought has had on you so far? >> our prices have stayed about level. our cost have increases, feed costs have increased about 25% 30%. the main thing we're worried about is how we'll get through the next year. we'll take a lot more acres to feed and hopefully have enough feed to get through to this time next year. >> the way you explain it to me, you have fields all over the place here. about 60% of what you grow, you feed these guys. you supplement the rest. the supplementtation has already gone up 30% so far. you are already feeling the pinch. how long before what you're feeling gets passed along to the consumers? >> that's hard to say. usually there's not a lot of correlation between what we get and what they charge in the stores. itill be quicker than what everybody thought. i think by sometime late fall,

you will see some increase in prices. going to have to be. >> have you seen anything like this in your years of farming? >> we had some ups and downs in milk prices and dry weather before, this is the most -- i've been here 42 years doing this as an adult. it's probably the worst that i've seen overall. we just were fortunate last night to get about a half inch of rain. kind of too late. >> too little too late. thank you. thank you for the hospitality. been milking the cs all night long. it's the feed they need that will be depleted here in the coming year. >> rob marciano in the miy midf it all in indianapolis. to find out more about all this, tune in to "starting point" at 7:00. and new this morning, george zimmerman speaking out in his

first on-camera interview. zimmerman who is facing murder charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin sat down with sean hannity of fox news. first he tells hannity he has no regrets about that night but then backtracks. >> do you regret getting out of the car to follow trayvon that night? >> no, sir. >> do you regret that you had a gun that night? >> no, sir. >> do you feel you wouldn't be here for this interview if you didn't have that gun? >> no, sir. >> you feel you would not be here? >> i feel it was all god's plan. for me to second-guess it or judge it -- >> is there anything you might do differently in retrospect now that time has passed a little bit? >> no, sir. i would like to readdress your question when you asked if i would have done anything differently. when you asked that, i thought you were referring if i would

not have talked to the police, if i would have maybe gotten an attorney, if i wouldn't have taken the cbsa. that i stand by. i would not have done anything differently. but i do wish that there was something, anything i could have done that woul't have put me in the position where i had to take his life. >> it is so interesting. we were talking about it before, when he had time to think about it, he changed his response to that question. trayvon martin's father said we must worship a different god because there's no way my god would have wanted george zimmerman to kill my son. we'll have reaction from both of trayvon martin's parents. they're talking to soledad this morning at 8:00 eastern. >> we will also talk to a prosecutor about the timing of this interview and how it will effect his trial. >> interesting. syrian president according to a u.s. official, is faced with two choices this morning, fight or flight. there's no sign of assad one day

after a bomber killed his defense minister and a top general. rebel forces continuing their assault on damascus overnight. they're vowing to liberate the capital. hundreds of citizens are said to be fleeing the city right now. in an exclusive interview with wolf blitzer, king abdullah of neighboring jordan warns it will not be easy to overthrow the syrian regime. >> damascus has shown its resilience. i think we need to keep this in perspective. though this is a blow, i'm sure the regime will continue to show fortitude, at least in the near future. >> king abdullah also telling cnn he's concerned about a growing al qaeda presence in syria, and with the country growing more unstable he worries syria's chemical weapons stockpile could fall into terrorist hands. we have a developing story out of philadelphia this morning where police are searching for a predator. you have to look at this video. it is disturbing.

you don't see stuff like this usually. video of a 10-year-old girl narrowly escaping an attempted abduction. there you see it. the footage from tuesday afternoon shows a man in a white car following a young girl as she walked down the street with her 2-year-old brother. the suspect sneaks up on the child and attempts to snatch her. her brother's screams may have scared the attacker off because suddenly he leaves the scene in his car. we'll have philadelphia mayor michael nutter on. he is offering a $10,000 award leading to an arrest. the mayor will join soledad o'brien live at 7:30 a.m. eastern. and no hard feelings, justice scalia saying he hasn't had a falling out with chief justice roberts. roberts was the swing vote that kept the individual mandate in place as a tax, not a penalty. scalia telling piers morgan

there is no bad blood between the two conservatives. >> you and justice roberts have had a bit of a parting of the ways. you've gone from being best buddies to warring enemies. >> who told you that that? >> i think i read it in some of the papers. credible sources. >> you should not believe what you read about the court in the newspapers, because the information has either been made up or given to the newspapers by somebody who was violating confidence, which means that person is not reliable. >> the chief justice joined the court's four liberal members in upholding the health care overcare law. justice scalia and three others signed a strong dissent. new dangerous combustible tension in israel. that's coming up. about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city.

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welcome back to "early start." it is 14 minutes past the hour. >> so we're getting brand new information this morning on that deadly attack on a bus carrying israeli tourists outside the airport. eight people were killed yesterday, more than 30 others were injured. just a short time ago, an israeli air force aircraft picked up the injured civilians taking them to hospitals across israel. bulgarian officials say they have identified the suicide bomber accused of what they're

now calling a terrorist attack. bulgaria's interior minister says they have the bomber's fingerprints and a fake i.d. from the state of michigan. >> translator: at the moment our colleagues at the spot are telling us this person had a driver's license from the u.s. state of michigan. the fbi colleagues who have arrived at this spot checked whether this driver's license is valid in the u.s., and whether there is such a person associated with it. it has been determined that the driver's license is fake. so the identity of the person behind this terrorist act is not currently known. >> meantime israeli officials are blaming the blast on iran. elise labit is live from jerusalem. we understand israel is blaming iran but there's no concrete proof of that and no group has claimed responsibility. is that right? >> that's right. what israeli officials are saying is this is a pattern of iranian attacks or planned

attacks against israeli targets. though say in recent months they thwarted attacks on israeli targets in georgia, cypress, kenya. if you remember early in february, three iranians were arrested in bangkok for using explosives that they say were meant for israeli diplomats. let's take a listen to what the israeli intelligence minister told christian amanpour after the blast. >> we have good indications and will investigate further that iran is behind that story. >> so, they say this is part of a pattern and that they're not only going to find who executed the attack and who was responsible but who planned it. so this really escalates this ongoing war between the two countries. iran has said israel has targeted nuclear scientists, assassinated them. so clearly escalating the

situation between them. >> all right. thank you very much. it is now 16 minutes past the hour. to get a look at what's going on with the other news today, christine romans is here with the headlines. >> the big story is the drought. farmers are praying for rain. more than 60% of the u.s. is under a devastating drought that is showing no signs of letting up, and it's costing you. the heat pushed grain prices near or past record highs yesterday. there's fear that food and fuel costs could rise from here. >> an fbi dive team suspected to join the search today for two missing girls. the two cousins, lyric cook and elizabeth collins disappeared last friday. their bicycles were found at a lake about a mile away from their grandmother's house. search dogs picked up the girls scent earlier this week, but one of the girl's mothers thinks the

girls may have been abducted. >> look what happens when a woman in a motorized scooter takes the up escalator at a boston subway station. the scooter flips over. she tumbles out. we are told this woman is okay. you can see the bystander trying to help her and also takes a tumble. >> why would she attempt that? >> you're not supposed to. no strollers. no scooters. the boston transportation authority released this video for a reason. they want commuters to see the consequences of ignoring the rules. you know what that says to me? it says to me she probably tried it before and it worked. she went there with great confidence. >> not a good idea. >> a new m.i.t. study found ethanol is not lowering gas prices. this latest study contradicts previous studies that claim that reports were flawed because the statistical models omitted some important variables. the corn-based fuel makes up 10%

of all gasoline which is up from 3% in 2003. of course, this drought a lot of the corn crop goes to make ethanol so that feeds into the drought story. it is 1 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early read on your local news making national headlines. chick-fil-a, the "atlanta journal constitution" says they are offering up a side of intolerance with their famous chicken sandwiches. >> good chicken sandwiches. >> the company's president opposes gay marriage. his name is dan cathy, but he says he supports families but that does not include adam and steve apparently. gay rights groups say chick-fil-a donated nearly $2 million to christian groups that oppose homosexuality. the president says we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the lord we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on

biblical principles. >> it's a restaurant chain that always worn its values on its sleeve. it's closed on sunday famously for instance. >> a lot of people are saying this may work in the south, but as you branch out, perhaps you'll have a problem with this and controversy. a big sting to tell you about in miami. undercover fbi agents in florida recovered what is believed to ab $3 million painting by matisse. it was stolen ten years ago from venezuela. the tit they found this, it was a sting in miami. the couple was trying to sell the painting for about $700,000, which is a deal. >> you're kidding. >> it's a bargain. it's a bargain. arrests were made. venezuela says they want this painting back. the painting is very nice. >> i always wonder how they steal these. >> how do you sell a matisse? it's hard. >> for an expanded look at our top stories, head to

cnn.com/earlystart. coming up, a major credit card company accused of tricking customers into buying its products. find out if you have been fooled, too. whenou have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have six grams of sugars. with fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. the wife. hey, babe. got the jetta. i wiped the floor with the guy! not really. i would've been fine with 0% for 36 months, but i demanded 60. no...i didn't do that. it was like taking candy from a baby. you're a grown man. alright, see you at home.

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that index got a boost after intel said pc sales rose last quarter. >> want some good news? >> more good news. >> capital one customers will be getting refunds. the company is hit with millions of dollars in fines for pressuring and misleading customers. >> what's in your wallet? is it a capital one credit card? the consumer financial prote protection board in its first-ever action, big fine for capital one. they say they used deceptive marketing to sell these unnecessary credit monitoring payment protection services. people would call up and try to get rid of them when they found out they were costly and not doing anything, they had a wholesales team that would pressure you into keeping the unnecessary things. they led some to improve the add-on products would improve your credit score. capital one, according to the consumer financial protection board would convince you that you need this, this could help you. $150 million is what consumers

will get it will go automatically back on to your account if you're still a capital one customer. another important story for your money, amazon.com, for a long time now you've been able to order from amazon and not pay sales tax but more and more states are adding the sales tax. you can see six states currently charge the tax. get ready to pay more in the eight states, the blue states there. no political reference to blue states, just blue and yellow here. eight states where the sales tax is coming. >> the states want that, and the brick and mortar stores want that. >> they had some deals with states before, if you're creating jobs here, we'll give you a bit of a leeway of paying a sales tax. they're building more and more big warehouses, amazon is, because it's a popular site. now they will have to start to pay. >> all right. >> two important things, amazon and capital one. >> thanks a lot. it is 26 minutes past the hour. help can't come a moment too soon for farmers helpless to

watch their crops wither and dry in the hot summer sun. rob marciano, boots on the ground in the badisaster zone. that's coming up. if you're leaving the house right now, watch us on your desk t desktop or mobile phone, sgrous to c nsh just go to cnn.com/tv. that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank

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breaking news, a desperate search for survivors after a packed ferry capsizes at sea. a two-year battle over a tennessee mosque comes to a head after a controversial ruling from a federal judge. and we are live from the

drought zone this time talking to dairy farmers about how the disaster hits home for them and eventually, folks, for you as well. good morning. welcome to "early start". >> it is now 30 minutes past the hour. we have breaking news from tanzania where rescuers are searching choppy waters for survivors after ferry sank off the island of zanzibar. at least 25 people were killed, dozens are missing. officials say there were 290 people on board including 31 children. there were tourists on board but it's not clear now if any of them were american. rough weather and fierce waves are hampering rescue efforts, and may be to blame for this tragedy. >> it's tough to look at those pictures. 31 minutes past the hour this morning more than 60% of the united states is suffering from heavy drought conditions that are showing no signs of letting up. crucial farm crops are withering

away suffocating under the heat. it's threatening to drive up prices on food and fuel for the entire nation. rob marciano is live in indianapolis at the heart of the drought. we were watching you earlier, rob, with the farmers in that area. i think the gentleman said he has been in the farming business for close to five decades now. is there any relief in store for them at all? >> they'll get a bit of rain later today and tonight, from everybody that i talked to and where the corn is right now, it may be a little bit too little too late. but they'll take any rainfall they can get. the corn, obviously, the farmers are struggling with that. that corn goes to feed heads of cattle, pigs, dairy cows. this is a big farm this is a x sixth generation farm. these cows give milk three times a day. when conditions are good, good

feed and good weather, and when it's hot they don't produce as much milk. hopefully later on today we'll get in there and show you how they milk them. it's kind of a loud process. by the way, yeah. watch your step. this gizmo scrapes the cow patties into a more desirable location. >> are you in boots? >> they're not knee-highs, but cover enough. i know in new york you have been struggling with the heat as well. yesterday at laguardia, newark, across the northeast we had temperatures that were near if not over 100 degrees. then the storms came through and cooled you off. here is where that front is today. that front will come through polices like wisconsin, indianapolis, and that's where we think we'll squeeze out a bit of moisture as well. last night they got about a quarter inch of rain. that's the first significant rainfall they had in weeks here.

that finally breaks the 46-day dry streak they had, where they only had a tenth of an inch of rain. they had a little last night and hopefully a little more today. a little relief in sight, but the long-term prospects are that the heat will rebuild as we go through the next couple of weeks. that's the latest from here. hoping to get an ice cold fresh glass of milk at some point. >> straight from the cow? >> i don't know about that. we'll let the cream rise to the top first. >> rob marciano, thank you very much. it is 34 minutes past the hour. a federal judge clearing the way for a controversial tennessee mosque to open in time for the start of ramadan. the judge issued a temporary restraining order instructing officials to conduct a final inspection of the new mosque building in murpfreesboro by today. this reverses a county court ruling that halted construction in may. the mosque has been the subject of a two-year fight with opponents. the muslim holy month of ramadan

begins tonight at sundown. wikileaks finding a way to take in credit card donations again. they have been cut off for 18 months by a credit card industry boycott now the group that an arrangement with an organization called the fund for the defense of net neutrality. >> catchy name, right? >> fdnn agreeing to accept credit card donations on behalf of wikileaks while processing them through the french payment card system. visa and mastercard are obligated to let the cards go through. >> house speaker john boehner launched into a bit of a heated response yesterday when asked about the need for mitt romney to release more tax returns. the speaker calling that issue a side show orchestrated by democrats to distract voters from the president's economic recor record. >> i think the president's attack on the private sector in america is exactly what's wrong

with this administration. doesn't give a damn about middle class americans who are out there looking for work. what he's trying to do is distract the american people in order to win his own re-election. >> boehner went on to say the american people are asking where the jobs are, not where mitt romney's tax returns are. anne romney is reacting to a dnc video that shows her dancing a show horse. ann romney who trains with show horses as part of her therapy for multiple sclerosis took offense to that. >> this guy right here has the answers for fixing the economy, all these attacks will try everything. they will throw spaghetti on the wall. >> the dnc said the ad was misinterpreted and they will not be using ann romney's horses again. so imagine this, imagine trying to sail around the world,

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liberty in new york. it's now 77 degrees. it will get to be 85 degrees later on. it is awfully nice to see the statue of liberty from air, but equally stunning from water. i just got to do that with one of the most daring and i might say dashing sailors around. his name is alex thomson. thomson is getting ready to sail in the grueling yacht race. imagine trying to sail around the world without stopping three months all alone facing the elements, loneliness and even possibly death. somehow alex does it all with a solo. before he kicked everyone else off his boat, i got to speak to him exclusively on the hugo boss racing yacht in the hudson river. ♪ >> reporter: it takes an unusual sort of person to stand all alone on the teetering keel of a

giant yacht racing through the open seas. but then alex thomson is admittedly an unusual sort of guy. >> i'm a single-handed around the world sailor. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> that means i take a boat like this and start races which start somewhere in europe, generally in france, come out of france, hang a left down the bottom, left of africa, around antarctica, left at america and back to france again. no stopping. when you put it in perspective, it's something like 3,000 people who have now climbed mt. everest. more than 500 people have been in outer space. less than 100 people have sailed single handed nonstop around the world. >> reporter: the keel walking, a youtube sensation is just a hobby for alex. he is gearing up for the premiere solo round the world yacht race which takes place every four years. it's his third try. the first two he didn't finish.

>> i think you have to be a ser certain type of person. when you're out there on your own, five weeks in windchill factors of minus 20, no one to help you, your brain is telling you you're going to die. you have to be in control of that emotion, you have to sleep, you have to eat, and sail the boat that takes mental strength or mental instability. >> reporter: part of it is glamorous. his majestic 60-foot $4 million racing yacht sponsored by hugo boss. part of it not so much. three months alone with no amenities. >> you asked about the toilet. >> reporter: i did. >> it's down here. here she is. >> reporter: there she is. >> there she is. right next to the toilet is the galley. >> referee: kitchen. >> that's a bag of food. >> reporter: looks like it does

in a restaurant. this is the chart table. then for sleeping. there she goes. >> reporter: as for sleep, no more than 20 minutes at a time. let's hear the alarm. man. when that thing goes off, you get up. there's just too much work. he had me help out. >> okay, guys. let's go. >> reporter: what's the fun part of this? >> there's no fun part in this. ♪ >> reporter: but if it is work, it's work alex loves. honestly when you're cutting through the water with the sails in the air, what's not to love? >> i traveled all around the world and seen the best places, that's the way to travel, by water. you get to see it all. >> just insanely cool. insanely cool. this around the world race starts in november. only every four years. only about 50% of the people who start the race finish. alex says fewer than 100 made it around the world all alone. >> he's all alone for three

months. >> he says the physical stuff is not hard, it's the mental stuff that's the challenge. >> i asked you earlier if he has any human contact at all. does he skype or something? >> he has a sweep computer system there, so he can skype, talk on the phone to people, but he has so much to do. he gets his position every hour where he is in the world and where he is in the race so he's constantly working. he can get on the internet, skype, talk to his family when he needs to. >> very cool. 45 minutes past the hour, let's get you up to date, here is christine romans with the top stories. fear of sticker shock, with more than 60% of the country in a terrible drought right now. the heat pushed grain prices near or past record highs yesterday. the obama administration is asking congress for drought relief help and to pass a $500 billion farm bill. still no sign of syrian president bashar al assad this morning. yesterday a bomber killed three members of his inner circle

including his top general and his defense minister. rebel forces are continuing their assault on damascus overnight, this as the u.n. prepared to vote in just over four hours on a resolution calling for nonmilitary sanctions on the assad regime. it's called operation black stones and it busted three people buying several assault rivals from mexico's infamous drug cartel. the three confessed to working for that dangerous cartel and intending to bring the weapons across the border. siller is a u.s. citizen. the two men are mexican nationals. all three are facing federal charges for conspiracy to defraud the united states. the obama administration unveiling a billion dollar education plan to boost student performance in science and math. it calls for recruiting elite educators for a master's teachers program and paying them $20,000 a-year stipends to

mentor fellow teachers around the country this is meant to close the achievement gap between american students and their global peers. a team of archeologists may have found the remains of lisa girardini, the model for leonardo da vinci's mona lisa. they hope to reconstruct the face of the skeletal remains and compare it with da vinci's legendary portrait. still, think that woman, mona lisa, still captivating science, art and the public now. >> can you see a smile from a skeleton? >> i don't know. we'll have to see what the scientists find out. >> interesting. >> thank you very much, christine. that is interesting. 47 minutes past the hour. it's dental hygiene with a hip-hop flavor. this is awesome. >> coming up, the brand new

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welcome back, everyone. it is now ten minutes before the hour. i'm john berman along with zoraida sambolin. let's look at what's trending on the web. treasure hunters pulled up a record haul, a lot of silver. 48 tons of silver treasure. they found it three miles below the surface of the north atlantic. it comes from a ship which was a british shop shot down by the germans in 1941 or sucnk by the

germans in 1941. the exploration gets to keep 80%. i don't know how much it is worth, 48 tons of silver, but i go with a lot. >> they just happened upon it? >> no, they were looking for it. >> very cool. this is one of those bizarre stories, cumberland farms stores in new england are begging the public to keep their hands off the hoff. this is david hasselhoff. >> yes, it is. >> it's a big, giant-sized cutout. there's 550 life-size david hasselhoff ads. they've been ripped off from outside the convenience stores. this is happening in recent weeks. he's, they say, flashing a dreamy smile and showing off the chest hair. why do people want this? >> we are creative from new england. you see david hasselhoff picture, you want to take it with you. maybe their big michael knight

fans or "baywatch" fans. >> i am a "knight rider" fan. there you have it. >> there is our favorite video of the week maybe the month. brush your teeth. that's what all the cool kids are doing. take a look at this. ♪ teach me how to brushy ♪ teach me how to brushy ♪ all my teeth love me because i do the brushy ♪ >> oral health 2012. >> it's called teach me how to brushy. it's ripping off the famous video from cali swag district. this put out by the oregon dental association who has the best sense of humor of any dental association on planet earth. this thing is hilarious. it will get kids across the planet to brush regularly. >> we will tweet this out to you. the kids, can you imagine? put this on when they brush. that super-sized ice melt in

greenland we told you about yesterday, dave letterman is keeping his eye on it. >> a 46-mile long chunk of an iceberg floating free now has broken off of greenland. yep. it's out there. floated off. also coincidentally today, pretty big chunk of ice broke off of katherine hshg eigel. what does that even -- this greenland iceberg is the size of manhattan. and it is traveling at a speed of a quarter mile per hour. greenland is about 2,000 miles away from here. it's headed our way. at a quarter mile an hour it should be here next year around

labor day. run for your lives, everybody! run! >> thank you, david letterman for that. >> yes. coming up at the top of the hour, a look at the top stories. some big ones. israel vowing a firm response after a deadly attack on tourists. we have new information and new video ahead. you're watching "early start." hey, did you know that honey nut cheerios is... oh you o! ooh, hey america's favorite cereal is... honey nut cheerios ok then off to iceland! with two times the points onake lunch dining in restaurants,ch?erios you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred.

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breaking news. video just in to cnn showing the man thought to be the suicide bomber who detonated a deadly attack against israeli tourists. also breaking this hour a

disaster at sea. dozens missing after a ferry packed with passengers capsizes near a tourist hot spot. the hunt for a predator. look at this. surveillance video captures a man trying to abduct a 10-year-old from the street. we have all the details on that. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." we're happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. we have a lot going on this morning. also george zimmerman in his first on-camera interview since the trayvon martin shooting. he was asked if he had any regrets. you'll want to hear what he had to say. >> and is there tension on the u.s. supreme court after the health care ruling. hear what justice scalia says about any possible bad blood. it's a cnn exclusive and it's coming your way. we begin with breaking news this morning on that deadly explosion in bulgaria on a bus carrying israeli tourists outside the airport. brand new surveillance video

released. officials tell us this man right here highlighted is the suspected suicide bomber they say is responsible for the attack. eight people were killed and more than 30 others were injured yesterday. officials say the suspected bomber was traveling with a fake i.d. from the state of michigan. >> at the moment our colleagues are telling us this person had a driver's license from the u.s. state of michigan. the fbi colleagues who arrived checked whether this driver's license is valid in the u.s. and whether there is such a person associated with it. it has been determined the driver's license is fake, so the identity of the person behind this terrorist act is not currently known. >> elise is live from jerusalem. what can you tell us about this latest video? >> zoraida, the latest video, obviously israeli and buofficia

and allegedly had a fake i.d. from the state of michigan and they're all looking through the video for clues as to who might be responsible. the wounded, about 34 of the tuned israeli tourists are on their way back on an israeli military plane to israel right now. a few remain in bulgaria for treatment. the israelis are saying all signs point to iran as being responsible. let's listen to what the israeli intelligence minister told christian amanpour hours after the blast. >> we have good indications and we'll investigate further that iran is behind that story. >> zoraida, if you remember, there have been several thwarted israeli attacks on israeli targets that the israelis say

were against -- were perpetrated by iran in cyprus, in kenya, india and earlier in february three iranians were arrested in bangkok and the thai authorities say they had explosives meant for israeli diplomats. israel says iran is always on attack against israel, and they'll be at the u.n. security council looking for condemnation. certainly the tensions are heightening between these two sworn enemies. >> live in jerusalem. thank you. >> we have more breaking news this morning from zanz za bar where more than 30 people drowned and 100 more feared dead after a ferry with 300 people on board sank. about 150 were rescued but officials say there is not much hope for the passengers still missing. there were 31 children on board. there were tourists on board but not clear if any at this point were american. rough weather and fierce waves

are hampering rescue efforts and may be to blame for this tragedy. george zimmerman in his own words, the man who shot trayvon martin sat down for his first real in-depth interview last night. at one point he turned directly to the camera and apologized. here is a bit of that from fox news. >> i do want to tell everyone, my wife, my family, my parents, my grandmother, the martins, the city of sanford and america that i am sorry that this happened. i hate to think that because of this incident, because of my actions, it is polarized and divided america and i am truly sorry. >> joining me criminal defense attorney charles and thanks for being here. we really appreciate it. what do you make of this interview and the timing of it. >> i think the timing is

interesting. one of the only things that i can think of why he would want to do an interview like this is to raise funds. i simply cannot think of any reason why a criminal defendant out on bail would put himself in just a cross hair because everything you say can be used against you. all prosecutors need to do literally is press play to point out all the inconsistencies that george zimmerman has given with respect to his account of what happened on february 26th. >> what inconsistencies did you find? >> there are several. he was asked by sean hannity whether or not he followed trayvon martin as he said on that 911 call and he said, no, i didn't follow him. i was kind of going in the direction of where he was going, and one of the problems with that is you are now starting to see george zimmerman give several different accounts of what occurred. he gave a video re-enactment. he gave this particular interview, and there is the 911

call. all prosecutors have to do is show each one of those and show theinconsistencies. the only reason why this is so huge is because this is a huge credibility case. this isn't a who done it? this is a why did it occur? the only people that can tell us what happened is george zimmerman and trayvon martin and as we know trayvon marn is dead. credibility is everything. >> what about his demeanor? what might a jury think if they look at these tapes? >> i don't know. one of the things the jury is going to be looking to see is can i trust this guy? how many times is he going to give a different account of what occurred? that is one of the one things a jury is going to focus on. they have to believe him. especially if the stand your ground is to apply, they'll have to believe his account of what occurred unequivocally. >> hannity asked him about regret. listen to what he said and

backtracked on it and give me your take on it. >> do you regret getting out of the car to follow trayvon that night? >> no, sir. >> do you regret you had a gun that night? >> no, sir. >> do you feel you wouldn't be here for this interview if you didn't have that gun. >> no, sir. >> you feel you would not be here? >> i feel it was all god's plan and for me to second guess or judge it. >> is there anything you might do differently in retrospect now that time has passed a little bit? >> no, sir. >> i would like to readdress your question when you asked if i would have done anything differently. when you asked that i thought you were referring to if i would not have talked to the police, if i would have maybe gotten an attorney, if i wouldn't have taken the cvsa, and that i stand by. i would not have done anything differently. i do wish that there was something, anything i could have

done that wouldn't have put me in the position where i had to take his life. >> any red flags there for you? >> yeah. just maybe one little one. i think what makes that statement i think disheartening and very difficult to stomach is that at the one hand he says he is sorry. he said he was sorry during this interview. he also said he was sorry during his first bail hearing when he took the stand, but how is it that on the one hand you're sorry but on the other you do not regret the interaction, you do not regret a carrying the gun and then to say that it is god's plan for a 17-year-old to be killed who was unarmed, i think it is incredibly disturbing. >> midwin charles, criminal defense attorney, thanks for weighing in. we appreciate it. >> we have a developing story right now out of philadelphia where police are searching for a predator this morning.

you have to take a look at this disturbing video. it is of a 10-year-old girl narrowly escaping an attempted abduction. this surveillance footage from tuesday afternoon shows a man in a white car following a young girl as she walks down the street with her 2-year-old brother. the suspect sneaks up on the child and attempts to snatch her. her brother screams, may have scared the attacker off because he suddenly leaves the scene in his car. philadelphia mayor michael nutter is asking a $10,000 reward for anything leading to an arrest. he joins soledad live on starting point. >> happy it ended the way it did. crops are wilting and the groundbreaking and farmers are praying for rain. most of the u.s. is under a devastating drought that is showing no signs of letting up. officials say close to 1,300 counties, that's a third of the counties in the entire united states have now been labeled disaster areas. this is a live picture from a cattle farm in indianapolis,

indiana. the obama administration is now asking congress for drought relief help and to pass a $500 billion farm bill and sadly it is costing you. the heat pushes grain prices pastor near record yesterday and there is fear that fuel and food costs could sky rocket. rob has a live report for us from the cattle farm coming up this hour on cnn. >> with this three top deputies now dead at the hands of rebels, u.s. intelligence believe syria's bashar al-assad is facing a daunting decision. fight or flight? we go live to the pentagon next. hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals.

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start." 12 minutes past the hour. i am zoraida sambolin. >> it may be near in syria, rebel forces ramping up their attack on damascus over night vowing to liberate the capital city one day after a bomber took out president assad's top minister and defense minister. 24 hours after the attack we still haven't seen or heard from the embattled syrian leader. barbara starr is live at the piers morgan. u.s. officials have to be watching this so closely. what are you hearing and what is the u.s. most concerned about? >> john, certainly concern about the chemical weapons in syria, concern about the regime, possibly imploding and chaos ensuing in syria, but when we asked defense secretary leon panetta his views about the rise in violence, he was very interesting. we didn't get the usual answer we're pursuing diplomatic options to force assad out. we got a very different leon

panetta. >> can you tell the world what you're doing so the world feels more reassured that you have an ability to do something about this? >> this is a situation that is rapidly spinning out of control. for that reason it is extremely important that the international community working with other countries that have concerns in that area have to bring maximum pressure on assad to do what's right to step down and to allow for that peaceful transition. >> rapidly spinning out of control, john, when a u.s. secretary of defense uses those words, the world certainly listens. the administration is pushing the line right now that the assad regime is at a decision point, fight or flight. they have to make that decision point and certainly they must understand that this is a potential tipping point. whether the assad regime sees it the same way washington does

certainly remains to be seen, john. >> developments in damascus minute by minute. we'll be watching it closely. retired syrian general akil hashem will join soledad live. let's get you up to date. here is christine with the top stories. >> new developments in the aftermath of that deadly bus bombing in bulgaria. eight people were killed yesterday. more than 30 others were injured on a bus carrying israeli tourists. just a short time ago an israeli air force aircraft picked up the injured civilians taking them to hospitals across israel and bulgarian officials are releasing security camera footage of the suspected bomber. there he is appearing on tape for nearly an hour before the attack. they say they have the bomber's fingerprints, recovered what the fbi is calling a fake i d, the fake i.d. from the state of

michigan. george zimmerman speaking out. he tells sean hannity he wishes he could have done something differently on the night he killed the florida teen. he claims martin attacked him and told him, quote, you're going to die tonight, zimmerman insisting he is not a murder or racist and the events that night were, quote, god's plan. a federal judge clearing the way for a controversial tennessee mosque to open in time for the start of ramadan. the judge issued a temporary restraining order instructing officials to conduct a final inspection of the new building in murphys burrow by today. it reduces a ruling that halted construction in may. it h been the subject of a two-year fight with opponents. ramadan begins tonight at sun down. new developments in the secret service prostitution scandal. no criminal charges for seven u.s. army soldiers and two marines for spending time with prostitutes while on duty. they will receive non-judicial

punishment for the misconduct. that can range from confinement to quarters to fore fitting payor losing rank. >> it is 16 minutes past the hour. scalia saying he hasn't had a falling out with john roberts over the landmark 5-4 decision that validated much of president obama's health care law. roberts was the swing vote that kept the individual mandate in place. scalia telling piers morgan there is no bad blood between the conservatives. >> you and justice roberts have had a bit of parting of the ways. you have gone from being best buddies to warring enemy. >>s who told you that. >> i think i read it in some of the papers, credible sources. >> you should not believe what you read about the courts in the newspapers because the information is either made up or given to the newspapers by somebody who is violating a confidence which means that person is not reliable. >> the chief justice joined the

court's four liberal members in upholding the health care ore haul law. justice scalia and three others signed a strong dissent. >> that was a really interesting interview. it was the clinton campaign that coined the term it is the economy, stupid. the 2012 race for the white house no different. coming up, what potential voters think of the job president obama is doing with our economy. for an expanded look at all the top stories head to our blog cnn.com/early start.

21 minutes past the hour. we're minding your business this morning. wall street rallied with the dow climbing more than 100 points. this as new home construction jumped in june to a nearly four-year high. >> that is good. >> it was good. housing is showing signs of a turn around. >> that sounds nice. christine romans for more on the economy. despite bright spots all is not well. >> it is interesting. look at the housing market for example and i would call it stability not necessarily recovery. at least stability in the housing market. a book report from the fed that showed there is economic growth in all of the 12 fed districts but you look at the polling for the president, and people just aren't feeling this yet. a new "new york times" cbs poll really fascinating showing that 39% approve of the president's handling of the economy. 55% disapprove and 6%, i don't know who those people are, they

just don't know. >> it is slipping from the last time. >> it is. the trajectory is what's so important. you have the summer stuck in the mud as ben bernanke the fed chief called it in the labor market. that's so critical for both candidates because how you feel about your job is probably the most important thing going into this election, and we have this summer swoon in the jobs market so really interesting stuff. in 2009 on "the today show" the president even then was sort of foreshadowing this moment right now when people are trying to figure out how they feel. listen. >> we're starting to make some progress, but there is still going to be pain out there. if i don't have this done in three years, then there is going to be a one-term proposition. >> he knew it then. he knew it then that people had to start feeling better. what we didn't know in february of 2009 was how much worse it was than we thought. there were mistakes, all kinds of policy mistakes made. by didn't realize congress was going to be such a contentious place to be.

you couldn't see in the crystal ball and i think he looks so much younger. >> and the economy has weighed on him over the years. >> it is shocking. what i think is interesting is how much this whole bain, mitt romney, tax the rich, something evil about how much money he has and how that hasn't really in the polls, looks like it attacked but hasn't really worked. >> there is really interesting underlying number that is tell an interesting story. >> i think that they had to go after his business record but it sounds to me like people at least at this point -- >> they're frustrated. >> they're more frustrated about the current job situation than the business record or the taxes of mitt romney. mitt romney has chosen not to release all of these tax records but doesn't seem to be hurting him too much. >> not at all actually when you talk about those polls later because people are really frustrated and saying i don't care how much money he makes, i don't care about bain, what i care about is jobs. >> romney not doing well with issues that matter to the middle class, so there is some evidence that the direct immediate target of somof these ads may be working. >> remember, there is still the president and mitt romney are

still neck and neck in many of these polls. did a fox poll, the cbs "new york times" cbs poll shows them within the margin of error right there. the one thing you need to know about your money today, i told you about capital one and the $150 million fine settlement paying with the government about selling you things you didn't need to protect your credit. you shouldn't pay anybody to protect your own credit. when you have a credit card, it is their job to make sure that credit card is being used properly. you should not be paying for credit monitoring, only in the most extreme circumstances. you are just throwing your money away. >> there you go. she is very passionate about this. >> i don't like it when you have to pay for our own money. it drives me nuts that we have to pay to protect our own money. shouldn't be. shouldn't be. >> i am with you. whatever you said. that sounds awesome. talking about the new poll numbers. mitt romney, barack obama, what's happening in the key battleground states? we have brand new numbers coming

right up. if you want to follow us all the time on your desktop or mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. >> probably the mobile talk. >> right. why not try someplace different every morning? get two times the points on dining in restaurants with chase sapphire preferred.

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off agricultural disaster. >> saved from the sewer. take a look. rescuers pull a young boy out in the nick of time. >> oh, my goodness. >> lord have mercy. >> welcome back to "early start." we're happy you're joining us. >> it is 29 minutes past the hour and this morning more than 60% of the ugs is crushed under heavy drought and is showing no signs of letting up. officials say around 1,300 counties, a third, a third of the counties in the entire u.s. have been labeled disaster areas. the obama administration is asking for drought relief to pass a $500 billion farm bill. right now crucial farm crops are withering away and suffocating under the blistering heat threatening to drive up food prices, fuel prices for the entire nation. rob marciano is live from

minneapolis, the heart of the drought with dairy farmers and you can see firsthand how bad this is. >> clec it out, john. what do you think of my milking skills, come on. >> you really are seeing it firsthand. when i said firsthand, exactly. that's your hand. nicely done. >> where is the milk? >> let me tell you something, the drought is decreasing production. they don't like the heat. the feed quality is down as well. >> i think the fcc is calling. i am not sure this is allowed. >> that was not clean. the first thing they do when they cry the cows in is clean up those things and take these things and slap them in there and it is all mechanical and they pump out about 20, 30 pounds, really. >> technical. >> 20 or 30 pounds of milk per sitting. they have about 30 in here right now. what's up? they will be in and out, 500 of these get milked three times a

day. all right? like i said, the heat doesn't do well, decreases production as does the quality of the feed, so spin around and check out how this happens. look how quickly he hooks up these mechanical milkers to the udders and in the end, boom, all of this stuff is very scientific. you have the tag in there, how much the rate at which they're actually milking, so what i was just doing there in a bucket, old school stuff, not the way they do things anymore. every little change in the temperature, every little change in how much rain these folks get impacts the amount of production these cows are pushing out. i learn quite a bit. dairy country up state new york, vermont, those areas, they've had heat, too. quick check on the record highs that you guys had yesterday. amazing stuff across the northeast, up and over 100 again and the storms come through and

a little cold front and that cool front will hopefully come through here today and bring us a little rain ad that will help at least ease some of the stress but it is not going to ease the drought, that's for sure and these folks, these guys they all hang out inside all the time. they have nice digs. we showed you those last hour, john and zoraida. you know, aside from getting one of these mechanical milkers hooked up to you three times a day, it is pretty good living to be a dairy cow. >> rob having a lot of fun in the farm in indiana right now. the important thing is the drought hitting everyone, every part of the farming industry. >> yeah. we were laughing at the milking skills but at the end of the day the production is down there. it is nice to see how that operates. we typically don't get to do that. 33 minutes past the hour. breaking news from zanzibar, tanz knee a. more than 30 people have drowned, over 100 more feared dead after a ferry with nearly 300 people on board sank. about 150 people were rescued

including that little boy right there, but officials say there is not much hope for the passengers who are still missing. there were 31 children on board. there were tourists on board but it is not clear if any of them were american. i was reading that two europeans were among those dead. rough weather and fierce waves are hampering the rescue efforts and may be to blame for the tragedy. >> an fbi dive team expected on a site in evansdale, iowa, where the search for two missing girls drags on. 10-year-old lyric cook and her 8-year-old cousin elizabeth collins disappeared almost a week ago now. authorities are draining a nearby lake where the girl's bicycles were found and where search dogs picked up their scent. mitt romney explaining why he doesn't feel the need to release more tax rurns even though members of his own party are urging him to release more. romney campaigning in ohio yesterday continuing to attack the president's economic record while telling a local affiliate in toledo releasing more tax

returns would only play into the enemy's hands. >> there are reasons people don't put out years and years and years of material is that today's world is one in where the democratic party and the opposition has all of these people to comb through and try to find anything they can to distract from the issues people care about. oftentimes in a dishonest way. >> romney says he still hasn't made a final decision on a running mate but he assured supporters his choice will be a true conservative. >> wiki leaks is finding a way to take in credit card donations again. the website had been cut off for about 18 months by the credit card industry boycott but now the group has an arrangement with an organization called the fund for the defense of net neutrality, fdnn, if you haven't heard of them yet, and now you have. they agreed to accept credit card donations on behalf of wikileaks while processing through the french payment card system.

wikileaks says visa and mastercard are obligated to allow payments to go through. a report by european regulators vasts the scandal written by the vatican bank. they say they have a long way to go to comply with international standards for independent oversight and financial transparency. they received a negative rating and more than half of the key criteria including combatting the financing of terrorism. we have incredible video out of columbia. you gasped. search parties looking for a 3-year-old boy missing for a day, they pull open this man hole cover and look what they find, a 3-year-old boy in the sewer. they sent a stick down to grab so he wouldn't be swept away and a man had to go in and grab him and he was rushed to a hospital and thankfully, thankfully he is said to be doing okay. >> did you see how close he was. oh, my gosh. >> he looked scared. >> i wonder how they found him. oh, 36 minutes past the hour.

we're following breaking news out of the middle east also this morning. video just out. take a look at this. the man believed to not one who set off a deadly suicide attack on israeli tourists, we're going to go live to jerusalem coming up. ♪

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breaking news this morning on that deadly explosion in bulgaria. on a bus carrying israeli tourists right outside of the airport we have brand new surveillance video just released. look at that, the guy highlighted there, he is a suspected suicide bomber. they say he is responsible for this attack. this video was captured an hour before the blast. eight people were killed and more than 30 others were injured

yesterday. officials say the suspected bomber was traveling with a fake i.d. from the state of michigan. they have not identified him yet. elise levitt is live from jerusalem. what is the latest? >> the latest is that the wounded israeli tourists, most of them are on an israeli army flight back home. some of the more seriously wounded a couple are staying in bulgaria for treatment. they're going through the israelis, the bulgarians and you mentioned that suicide bomber had a u.s. fake i.d. the fbi is involved, all combing through this video. forensic investigators going through the scene and looking for the type of explosives, how it was identified, which will help them piece together clues as to who was involved. as for israelis, they say all signs point to iran. take a listen to what the israeli intelligence minister

told christian amanpour just hours after the blast. >> they're after us, israeli, whenever they can find them and we of course will investigate further and we have information iran is behind that. >> zoraida, in addition to those indications, also israeli officials are talking about a pattern of iran targeting israeli targets and you had earlier this year three iranians arrested in bangkok. authorities say they had explosives meant to target diplomats and you have thwarted attempts in cyprus and kenya and india, so obviously israel feels it is under attack and will hunt down whoever is responsible and planned the attack. in the meanwhile both the bulgarians and israeli expected to go to the u.n. security council looking for condemnation of the attack. >> i was reading some really graphic details of the blast and there were body parts all over the place and hoping to be able

to take those back to israel as well in order to give them a proper jewish burial. do you know if that was able to happen? >> well, the eyewitness abeing at thats were just harrowing of people saying these body parts, of seeing dead people lying underneath them and clearly you have to balance the need for the proper jewish burial within 48 hours and you have the sabbath coming up tomorrow night. that might be a little difficult. they have to balance that with the need for forensic investigations but clearly they want to treat them with respect and get those burials done as so as possible, zoraida. >> absolutely. elise levitt live in jerusalem. thank you so much. >> we want to get you up to date on the other top stories. george zimmerman says he is not a racist and not a murderer. he gave his first interview since he shot and killed trayvon martin selling sean hannity he is sorry for what happened. >> i am sorry that they buried

their child. i can't imagine what it must feel like and i pray for them daily. >> would you like to talk to them at some point? >> i am certainly open to it. >> zimmerman also filling in details, his side of the story, he said he was brutally attacked and he feared for his life. more than 60% of the u.s. is now under a devastating drought showing no signs of letting up and it is costing you. the heat pushed grain prices near or past records yesterday and there is fear that food, things like dairy, meat prices and even the price of pizza could sky rocket. >> one day after a bomber killed the top general, the defense minimum is iter and brother-in-law, there is no sign of syrian president bashar al-assad. rebel forces are continuing their assault on damascus. they're vowing to liberate the capital. the u.n. security council votes on a new syria resolution that threatens non-military sanctions

against president assad's government if he doesn't withdraw troops and heavy weapon from populated areas he has been given ten days. russia is expected to once again block that measure. >> don't look to farmers for help at the pump this summer. a new study by m.i.t. found that ethanol does not lower gas prices. had it contradicts earlier studies that they claim used flawed correlations and left out important variables. the corn-based fuel makes up about 10% of all gasoline that is up from about 3% in 2003. >> facebook and the state of washington teaming up. state officials announcing the launch of a facebook app that will allow residents to register to vote. the application is expected to go live sometime next week making washington the first state to allow voter registration via the social networking site. >> politics, a brand new attack video from the romney campaign,

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good morning to you, washington, d.c. let's see. 81 degrees right now. a little later, 93 degrees, some scattered storms, everybody is hoping for rain. you're getting a little bit of that this morning. welcome back to "early start." 49 manipulate its past the hour. happy you're with us this morning. >> we just saw washington right now. everyone in washington of course talking about the presidential race and just a few minutes ago we got a brand new video attack on president obama from the romney campaign. we'll show you that in a second. this is fresh on the heels of another brand new poll over

night that is fascinating showing this race in really a dead heat. mitt romney at 47%, the president at 46%, and that's according to the new "new york times" cbs poll. just minutes ago as i said a new video from the romney team that uses the president's own words against him featuring a speech he made arguing that wealthy entrepreneurs need help from the government to become successful. >> if you have been successful, you didn't get there on your own. you didn't get there on your own. i am always struck by people who think, well, they're so smart. there are a lot of smart people out there. it must be because i worked harder than everybody else. let me tell you something, if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> we're going to hear more about this today from the romney campaign, i am told.

what we're hearing from the obama campaign the last few days about mitt romney and his connections to bain and his tax records. the question we have all been asking is will these attacks show up in the polls? now we have answers. paul steinhauser joins me from the washington bureau. these polls are fascinating. >> they really are, john. you showed the overall horse race there from cbs "new york times" and fox news out with a poll last night that showed a slight new numbers, baiskly dead even, so they have not changed much since april when we started the general election campaign but when you dig deeper, that's when it is interesting. the economy, take a look at this from the cbs "new york times" poll, the top issue for all americans when it comes to the vote for president, who would do a better job, this poll indicates mitt romney and most other surveys also indicate the romney has an edge on that question. what about the bain question? you were talking about bain capital and the attacks, the frontal assault from the obama campaign against mitt romney of the private equity firm he

founded. take a look at this. is that attack working on americans? 6 in 10 according to this poll said, no, mitt romney's time at bain capital makes no difference to their vote. that's the number that the romney campaign likes. look below, the number that the obama campaign likes. they say among people who say it makes a differenceay less likely to vote for romney than vote for him. it is interesting when you break down the numbers what you find. >> what are the things the obama team has been telling me is these ads, attacks are having a bigger impact in the swing states. we have a brand new poll out this morning again from one of the swingiest of swing states that shows that might not not case. >> those were national numbers. those ads are not paying all across the country. especially in virginia, john, and brand new numbers. take a look. the president had a i think is he will digit lead back there in june in virginia. that seems to have disappeared in this brand new survey of registered voters in virginia.

it is deadlocked at 44% in virginia. you know and i know the battle for the white house is a battle for the states and the electoral votes. >> one thing that's interesting is the romney team and insiders have been telling me they're not doing better in virginia. they may be pleased to see these number this is morning. thanks, paul steinhauser from the washington bureau. up next, best advice comes from one of the actors in the 1970s comedy sitcom good times. it is hilarious. stay with us. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

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56 minutes past the hour. starting point with soledad o'brien on deck for you.

>> before that we wrap it up as always with best advice. with he have great advice today. >> the advice today is from act or jimmie walker who played jj evans in the 70s sitcom good times. >> be nice to the people on the way up because you will meet the same people on the way down. >> be nice to the people on way up. you will meet the same people on the way down. maybe will you meet them on the way up again if you are an optimist. >> i like the dyn-o-mite. >> i call it political advice. everybody knows in political circle it is really works. >> i was willing to to ask him if he would dyn-o-mite. >> absolutely not. >> he was a really cool guy when he came through. we do the best advice so take it or leave it. sometimes we like to take t sometimes we like to leave it. i like that. >> a lot of people are giving the romney campaign advice as they were really weathering the blistering attacks about bain and taxes and we have fresh new

poll numbers this morning from cbs and the "new york times" which show that maybe they're not having an effect. mitt romney holding his own, dead heat with the president right now and the economy appears to be a much bigger issue for people than mitt romney's record. >> or what would the poll numbers look like without the attacks. >> that's the one thing we don't know. it is really interesting. i am sure the obama team will say we softened romney up. we softened him up over the summer and helped define him so after labor day and the conventions when these are kicked off he is really down here where we can get him and not up here where he may have been unreachable. >> i think all of this will be absorbed by people as they go to the polls, but do you vote on how you feel that day in november or how you feel today or how you felt three years ago? >> i am sure there are a lot of poll that is tell us how people do vote when they go in, take into account everything they're listening to in all of those ads or perhaps say the most important thing to me and we keep on saying it and hearing it is the economy and jobs and do they have that. >> i think it all matters and i think these are all about building impressions and certainly the economy i think

will leave the biggest impression. >> i think romney is sounding more passionate than he ever has before. >> really? >> i do. >> his supporters say the same thing the last few days. >> that's it for us on "early start." >> "starting point" with soledad >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.c6om >> i feel it was all god's plan and for me to second guess it or judge it? >> there he is describing the night he killed trayvon martin. we'll tell you why he says he would do nothing differently. is the syrian regime on the verge of collapse, fresh fighting a day after a bombing killed three of president assad's inner circle. take a look at this, a 10-year-old girl right there who just narrowly escaping a horrifying abduction. he is trying to grab her and