night? winning gold by a finger. it is a packed show. paul hamm and chel memmel will join me. also amanda weir. "starting point" beginning right now. welcome. our starting point is that frightening close call in the skies. the faa saying that three commuter jets came within seconds of a mid-air collision, happened at reagan national airport after confused air traffic controllers dealing with bad weather launched two flights at another plane that at the same time was trying to land. you can listen to the confusion on the radio at the time. >> we were cleared at the river back there. what happened? >> stand by. we're trying to figure this out, too. stand by. >> approved as requested. you said route three to zone

fi five. >> >> we have to get on the ground pretty quick. >> everybody stand by. we have a couple of opposite direction arrivals. it is going to be a little delay on your departures. >> according to the "washington post" the federal official who reviewed the incident blamed a basic communication breakdown, blamed sloppy procedures and said it was a big screw up for a big airport. let's get right to athena jones live in washington, d.c. this morning. walk me through exactly what happened. you can hear the chaos in the radio transmission. what was at the root cause of it? >> good morning, soledad. you saw from that graphic, that's what it looked like. this happened just about after 2 p.m. tuesday. it was during a heavy rain storm, driving rain that cause the the air traffic controllers to want to change how planes were coming in and taking off. planes had been landing and departing on runway 1 going from south to north. they wanted to switch that in the rain.

they wanted to switch it it another runway and have the planes land and depart from north to south. the problem is they failed to communicate the changes to all of the parties that needed to be involved here and so you had an instance where the planes ended up -- one of the planes was half as far away as it should normally be from the incoming plane. the other was a little bit further away in terms of nautical miles and still a scary situation. here is what the faa had to say as part of the statement. during the switch over of operations miscommunication between the track on and the dca tower led to a loss of the required separation between two regional jets departing. the faa is investigating the incident and will take appropriate action to address the miscommunication. we're talking about the standard separation being three nautical miles and about 1,000 feet. as i mentioned one of though planes, the first plane was only 500 feet vertical from the on coming plane and about 1.5 nautical miles and the second a little further. the huge planes, very, very fast

speeds, scary stuff, soledad. >> at the same time you had the transmission from the pilot that talks about his concerns about fuel because you can hear in the chaos the general gist is let's keep everybody circling while we try to figure it out and he said we don't have fuel for that. >> exactly. it is interesting when you listen to the recording. hearing them say we're still trying to figure this out and they had a plane coming in having to divert and that's what they're talking about about wanting to know what's going on and so do we so we'll continue to look into this. >> athena jones is following that for us. thank you for the update. appreciate it. >> her stories making news. christine romans has a look at those. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. sources tell cnn president obama has signed a covert order authorizing u.s. support for syria's opposition forces and the directive allows clandestine action by the c.i.a. and other agencies and not clear what type of support has been authorized or when the order was signed.

fran townsend telling our anderson cooper she believes the u.s. needs to move with more urgency in syria. >> the longer by wait to act, the more radicalized the syrian population becomes. they have been tortured. they have been abused by their own leader. they will turn to whom ever can provide them weapons, food, and if that's al qaeda, that's who they'll turn to if they're on the ground. >> in the meantime syrian president assad is trying to rally his troops. the state run news agency is calling on the forces to restore stability to the country as fighting with rebel troops in aleppo intensifies. six weeks before the aurora movie theater massacre red flags about suspected shooter james holmes may have been missed. according to cnn affiliate kmgh a psychiatrist was so concerned about holmes she contacted the university of colorado's threat assessment team. dr. lynne fenton apparently believed he could be a danger to

others. a few days later he dropped out of school and no further action was taken. kmgh's investigative reporter spoke to anderson cooper. >> they thought they had no jurisdiction, no control over him, so there was nothing they could do vis-a-vis this concern that she had. again, we don't know what the concern was. what we do know is that no one, through our sources and through our reporting we have been told, no one contacted the aurora police department with any of these concerns. >> now there are questions about dr. fenton and the university and what they knew and whether they were legally obligated to call police with those concerns. straight ahead we'll talk with a campus security expert. water overload. parts of connecticut battered and soaked after five inches of rain came down in just a few hours yesterday. the mayor declaring a state of emergency. this storm triggered flash floods and evacuated apartment buildings, buckled roads and left a truck dangling over the edge. the tropics have reawakened and rob is watching a depression

that could become the hurricane season's fifth named tropical storm. rob. >> hi, christine. about a month since we had the early start, the quick start to hurricane season. tropical depression 35 miles per hour winds and 500 miles east of barbados and st. lucia under a tropical storm watch as it makes its way in that direction. it is poorly organized at this point and pretty strong headwinds it is up against. we don't expect it to blow up in intensity. the forecast track is concerning for everybody who is in the caribbean and central america and the gulf of mexico and potentially that general direction by the beginning of next week. right now national hurricane center keeping it at a tropical storm. we're not there yet. the name will be ernesto if it is. time for round 2. michael phelps and ryan lochte set for the final olympic showdown tonight. they compete for the last time in the 200 meter individual medley tonight in london. the first showdown went to lochte in the 400 im.

both of them were cheering for teammate nathan adrian who took home gold in a dramatic 100 meter free tile final squeaking by with 1/100th of a second. that was the victory. here is the up to date medal count. china taking a one medal lead over the u.s. 30-29 overall and china has five more gold medals than team usa. japan is third about 17 overall. >> i love it. so much fun to watch. thank you. two american gymnasts go for another medal tonight, ali raisman and gabby douglas will compete in the individual all around after a taste of victory and redemption as well in the men's contest last night. he had a disastrous start. that's danell, placing 19th after the first two events and rallied in the last two and was able to ultimately claim the bronze medal and move past his collapse. the gold medalist was japan

kohei uchimura followed by germany and roscoe was able to save a terrible start and ended up eighth overall and the last time an american man medaled in individual all around was 2004 when paul hamm won gold for the united states. he joins us this morning. nice to see you. great to talk to you again. let's talk about danell. >> good morning. >> he is so amazing to watch and has struggled a little bit and was able to redeem himself. walk me through how that redemption happened. >> he is a great competitor. he had a mistake on pummon the e and had the ability to make a comeback and he did that with two great performances on parallel bars and high bar. >> he talked about what motivated him to turn it around. it is right. you should take a victory lap yourself because you did predict that 48 hours ago and you said -- he said after i was

like, grrr, and i tried to use it and channel it into positive energy and you told us you had a similar thing in 2004 when you fell on your vault. how do you do that? you see other athletes are unable to turn it around and you have the mental part of it and not able to recover from just being so knocked off their game. >> it depends on the person. some people will fall and then they will take that and use it as a positive for the rest of the events. i remember for me back in 2004 after falling i didn't really have anything to lose at that point. i basically went for broke and put everything on the line and did ended up paying off and danell did a similar thing last night. >> i was watching closely and i like his story and it has been fun to follow him and he talked about to the "wall street journal," like everything was physically tightening up on him and he said everything was getting bad, worse, and i was

praying i would get off and get credit for the dismount and that didn't happen. what's going on with the pom he will horse and american athletes? is it a ridiculously difficult thing to mast error just bad luck? >> pommel horse is an event if you start to let the nerves affect you and tighten up, it can throw you off, and it seemed like john orozco was allowing the nerves to get to him too much and started to show in his performance. >> tonight women is what everybody will be watching, ali and gabby as my daughters like to call them, first name basis with them. the russians if you look at the actual listings is in the lead in terms of where they're placed. what do you think are their chances tonight? >> i think the favorite is probably gabby. she has been showing she is hitting all of her teens and her start values are higher than most of the gymnasts in the competition. right now i think gabby has the

best shot. ali actually edged out jordyn wieber the first day which was a surprise as jordan is the world champion in the all around. i think at this point we're going to see gabby have a strong performance and hopefully win gold. we'll cross our fingers on that one. >> it will be great to watch. you're describing what will be a great competition. nice to see you assist always. we appreciate your insight. thank you. >> in a little bit we'll talk about extreme olympic close ups and the ceo of geddy images will join us live. we talked about it before the olympics and now he will come back with the amazing shots and the thrilling moments and share them with us and ahead on starting point help here, yeah, that was london's mayor hanging and hanging and hanging. it was a publicity stunt that failed. we'll talk about that. plus our get real this morning, you're out of here. it was an amazing ejection in baseball, but it sn't a

player. wasn't a coach. it was the intern. also this morning, were the warning signs ignored? a psychiatrist says she warned the school before james holmes walked into a theater and started shooting. we'll talk about that. everyone has goals.

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minding your business this morning, a new report says you should have a bigger paycheck next year. 98% of employers surveyed told mercer they plan to increase salaries by 2.9% next year. top performers will say pay increase 4.5%. everyone else with a job will see about a 2.4% increase. u.s. stock futures trading higher ahead of the meeting of european central bank members in frankfurt today. more pressure on the ecb to do something to take action to burst the euro area economy. the ecb president mario draghi said he would do whatever it takes to help the euro.

invest or confidence taking another hit after an automated stock trade flooded the market with millions of errant trades. trading volumes surged from the glitch that started with knight capital group. it includes best buy and american airlines. as we mentioned just a few moments ago there is disturbing new information about the events leading up to the shooting massacre at a colorado movie theater. denver affiliate kmgh is reporting that the psychiatrist who was treating the suspected gunman james holmes was concerned that he could be a dang to others or himself. she contacted her school's behavioral evaluation and threat assessment team. the team apparently never acted on dr. fenton's concerns because holmes was in the process of dropping out of school. rhett glow is executive director of the national behavioral intervention team association.

nice to see you. thank you for talking with us. appreciate it. to trigger the team being notified by the psychiatrist, james holmes would have to have done something, right? he would have to do something specific, take some specific threats. if that is the case, why was that never translated and transmitted to the police as far as we know? >> good morning, soledad. i think at this point we know that information may have gotten to this team on cu's campus called the beta. the question is whether that information came from dr. fenton who was the psychiatrist treating him to the team or originated from some other source and dr. fenton who is a member of the team was consulted about it. so if the information did come from dr. fenton to the team, it would have been under a duty to warn situation or what is referred to a as terror solve situation where there is an imminent threat to specific individuals by a patient to a

mental health provider at which point the provider would notify authorities. i am not so sure we were there because there is no evidence we know of at this point that dr. fenton notified law enforcement authorities or any specific individuals at risk. she took the information to the team which suggests a possible lower threshold if in fact the information did come from her about holmes to the beta on the campus. >> for me the question is sort of a sense of red flagging, this beta team is interested in protecting obviously everything in and around the university. the bigger question becomes if in fact that process was stopped because holmes was dropping out of school, what happens to the red flagging to the rest of the greater community? is there any necessity to involve the police? >> i think that's the important point here. if a student is under the

attention of a team, has come to their attention, and then decides to withdraw, stops attending classes, drops off the radar screen in some way, that may be a safety factor for the campus and may mean there is a separation and the individual may not impact the campus. it could also mean it is the separation that is the precipitating factor that puts the campus at risk and so one of the things we do is advise teams all over the country that when an individual is separated from e community, either by the school or separates themselves, that still may be an area of monitoring and it still may be an opportunity for continued communication with local resources including law enforcement entities. if in fact it happened here, we don't know that it did, but if it did happen here, the teamed, well, we just lost jurisdiction over him once he left campus, that probably is a seriously missed opportunity and most teams around the country know that's an opportunity where they really want to be keeping an eye on someone better. >> one would think would raise a lot of questions about liability

ultimately. brett sokolow joining us this morning. i have a feeling we'll talk more about this as more information comes out. there is a lot we do not know about this beta team at this poi point. still ahead, you're done, a guy is tossed from a baseball game over a nursery rhyme. the ump needs to get real? it is the get real this morning. heading in to talk about that and abbey huntsman is with us and richard and here is abbey's playlist. she has the best play music. i'm serious, we compare our direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful!

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our team this morning at the far end is a former senior advisor to the clinton white house. abbey huntsman is back. ryan lizza has been with us all week from the new yorker. nice to have you back. right near me. >> he thinks he is being punished. >> no, it is an honor to sit next to me. >> what about me? >> you're being punished today. the get real this morning, so funny, baseball umpires can throw players out and coaches out of the game for all kinds of unsportsman like behavior if you argue with the ump or say something unprofessional or if you question the call and in a hostile manner. this ump has ejected the dj for playing three mind mice.

>> you're gone! >> he just got tossed. >> turn the sound off the rest of the night. >> wow. >> never mind. >> he said you're gone, that's it, turn the sound off the rest of the night. you could see everybody thought they weren't sure who he was referring to. they didn't realize it was the dj intern whose name is derek diaz you pointed out. he said the ump will ref tomorrow. >> and played three blind mice after a questionable car. >> it was the instrumental version. >> everybody knows that song. >> i am just saying. >> what do you mean in their defense? >> it is kind of fun. part of the game is arguing with the ump, arguing about calls. >> does the ump have jurisdiction over the staff? >> that was the question. >> they didn't know.

>> i think he has a little insecurity it sounds like, the umpire. if he can't handle an organ playing three blind mice? i don't know. >> it is minor league baseball, right? it is supposed to be fun for the fans and the way to make it fun for the fans is beat up on the ump when he doesn't do what your team likes. >> clearly he wasn't having any part of it. >> i was going to pick that song today for this morning. >> three blind mice? >> i was afraid you would kick me out. >> as dramatically as he did. >> get real goes to the umpire. i agree with you. still ahead we're awaiting word of mitt romney's vice presidential pick. it is any day now. who is on the short list? marsha blackburn has been out a bit about that and she'll join us to talk about that and president obama's secret order to help the syrian rebels get rid of assad. how far does it go? we'll tell what you the sources are telling us up next.

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appear we're hearing the mitt romney campaign has told two vp short listers to stand by for an announcement any day. we'll go over that when marsha blackburn is our guest in a few minutes. cnn learned president obama authorized covert support for syrian rebels in an effort to

oust the dictator bashar al assad. it killed people nationwide yesterday and they testified before the senate urging the obama administration to increase support of the armed opposition. >> at this point given the direction of the conflict i think what we need to do is assess which groups could we arm it and should we arm at what point and make that decision? i think we're at that decision given where the conflict is going. >> foreign affairs reporter elise levitt is live from washington, d.c. let's start with what that means, the covert support. what specific support is that? >> i think it is exactly what andre tab ler was talking about and we're not sure really when president obama signed this intelligence finding, but we assume it is in the last few months and what it means is the u.s. will use more intelligence assets to find out more about these groups. the u.s. isn't arming them but saudi arabia, qatar, other u.s. allies are, so u.s. intelligence

is vetting these groups and finding out who is in the opposition and giving that information to these allies and they're also looking at troop movements of assad's troops and trying to pass that along to the opposition. one of the biggest complaints is that the u.s. really doesn't know who is in these groups and whether jihadists, members of al qaeda could be involved, so it involves more kind of on the ground assessment of what's going on using u.s. intelligence assets. >> the rationale for a lack of support was that the opposition groups were disorganized, chaotic, unclear if they should arm them or who was in them. is this an indication now that the opposition has solidified that maybe they're working together better in concert? >> i think that's what the u.s. is hoping to do and hoping that this intelligence finding will help them do that. it is providing communications equipment which we have been reporting on before, commanding control, helping to get these groups under one umbrella so that the u.s. can deal with a

set of people who are in charge. really don't know right now it is very dispersate. a lot of groups. i think what the u.s. is trying to do with the allies is trying to get them all under one umbrella. if you look at the conflict in libya, the rebels were more organized, had commanding control and leaders and that's one of the biggest problems is the u.s. really doesn't have a very good intelligence assessment of what's going on the ground. a year ago president obama was calling for president obama bashar al assad to leave and the u.s. still doesn't really have a big picture of what's going on. it has been dealing with a lot of groups outside the country and now it wants to deal inside. >> elise, thanks for the upte. appreciate it. right to christine romans with a look at the other top stories making news today. >> good morning again. a trial eight years in the making is now in jeopardy. an angry judge scolding the prosecution in the drew peterson murder trial. he is set to rule on a mistrial today after testimony from a prosecution witness who said

peterson, an ex cop, put a bullet in his drive way to intimidate him. the judge called that a low blow. peterson was charged with murdering his third wife after his fourth wife stacy peterson vanished. stacy peterson has never been found. in the am house call an exciting skroefr discovery. after studying mice scientists in dallas concluded treated tumors return because they're fueled by stem cells that drugs don't kill. the discovery of these so-called cancer stem cells would allow researchers to devise new strategies for destroying them. the study confirms what is long suspected. there are specific stem cells within tumors responsible for their continued growth. take a look at this. that is london's mayor boris johnson dangling in the air taking the inaugural ride down a zip line.

he came to a halt 65 feet from the end of the line and was uck for five minutes waving the british flags before officials had to come and fetch him. >> it had a very monte python feel to it, that whole thing. >> it did. >> is this intentional? >> he is the coolest politician to date. that is awesome. >> do you know who is really laughing? mitt romney. this is the guy. >> yes, yes, turn about is fair play. >> this is disconcerting. >> yes. christine, thank you. speaking of mitt romney, we are expected to soon find out who he will an picking as a running mate. abc news is reporting two potential vice presidential picks are on stand by for a possible announcement any day now. they report it could be tim pawlenty, rob portman or paul ryan. >> that's great. that's not two. that's three. >> two have been notified. >> which two? >> it could be any of the three. >> they're playing it safe.

patience. we have been talking about the vp pick for a while. obviously he is not ready to i sa. next week mitt romney will head out on a bus tour visiting virginia and florida. sources are telling cnn venues in ohio are being scouted and republican national convention is about three weeks away. it brings us to marsha blackburn, a republican from tennessee and serves as house deputy whip and nice to see. thanks for talking to us. your name has been brought up a bunch of times as well and the whole vp conversation, so were you one of the people who got the stand by warning? >> no, i am not. you know what? i think that we're going to have a wonderful vp choice and everybody is looking forward to know it. >> do you know who it is? >> no, i do not. i don't think anybody but mitt romney knows who that nominee is going to be. we know that mitt romney does

his homework. he looks at all the details. he does his due diligence, and it is going to be a choice that is perfect for this campaign. >> portman or pawlenty is what we have money on here at the table. what do you think? >> i don't know. i don't know. there are strengths -- the good thing, soledad, is we have a very deep bench of republicans who are qualified, who can step forward, who would be ready to fill that role of president should they need to. the good thing is the american people are watching this campaign more closely than ever. one of my constituents says people are tired of being broke. people are tired of being out of work. jobs and the economy are issue number one. replacing obama care seems to be issue number two on the list, dealing with the federal debt, working on our national security. those are the issues the american people are talking about and they're bringing forward. not only to those of us in

congress but also to our presidential candidate. >> let's talk about the bus tour that will start on august 11th, battleground states virginia, north carolina, florida. what specifically is the plan? details are few and far between. >> i don't know the details. i don't know exactly what the plan is. i do know this. the american people are anxious and ready to see governor romney out on the campaign trail and talking with them, without a tele prompter, talking with them and giving details of what he is going to do to get rid of this 8.2% unemployment, to drop this unemployment, to get people back to work, to work with our job creators to make certain that we return to an environment where jobs growth can take place. right now regulation, taxation,

litigation, those are the items that are really stifling jobs growth, and it is why we got 19 democrat votes yesterday to extend the bush era tax cuts. >> marsha, hi, it is richard. how are you. >> how are you? i am well. >> nice to see you. >> you, too. >> i wish you would tell your friend governor romney to pick somebody exciting, someone like marco rubio who really brings an energy to this and sort of mix it up. i actually think you also would be a great candidate because for vice president because i know you and i like you. we were on here together. you at least stick to your talking points. >>. >> richard, i stick to my principles and my philosophy. >> i think you would be no problem. if you were the pick, he would have nothing to worry about. you are a likeable person. >> i imagine you want boring, boring, boring ultimately? >> i was going to ask you actually, is there going to be a difference between the three

heads we just put up, pawlenty, paul ryan, portman, is there really a difference? they all seem to be kind of boring, kind of the same. >> ryan i don't think would count as boring. >> i wouldn't say boring. i think what you're looking at is individual who is are very strong on economic issues. they're individuals who understand the federal budget. what do people fuss about in washington? are people across the country complaining about out of control washington spending, wasteful washington spending? a great example is they don't understand why we can't do across the board cuts. governor romney has said one of the first things he is going to do is make across the board spending cuts. tell the agencies. put mandates on the agencies. say get rid of these. >> one choice that's been highlighted i think by the rick santorum in i campaign at least in leaks anonymously is condoleezza rice. would you support condoleezza

rice as vice president if romney picked her. >> i think condoleezza rice is an exceptional individual and would bring some excitement to any campaign whether she is the candidate or a surrogate. she is somebody who the american people love to listen to. they respect her. they trust her. the american people want someone who is going to be able to say, look, you know what? i tried this or that or this was a mistake, but you know what, this is what we do. >> and the views on abortion wouldn't bother you?? >> i think condoleezza rice, she is a big tent person as i like to say. >> when i talked to her she said she didn't want the job. >> that's what i heard also. >> she said she loves reading the newspaper and saying how interesting, nothing to do with what i am doing today. >> she is a delightful person. this is just look at the conversation that we're having right here. the individuals, the caliber of individuals that our nominee

mitt romney has had before him to select as a running mate, and each of them pique the american people's interest on different ways. people love to see what paul ryan has done for the budget. they're interested in how tim pawlenty took his state, minnesota, and there a republican governor is a very democrat leaning state. they love what rob portman did in dealing with the budget at omb, the work he has done in the senate. he has been an excellent surrogate. you talk about marco rubio. >> you're amazing. >> the same list for months now. >> that's what i am saying. >> marsha blackburn is amazing and can just keep going no matter what, talking about it. >> richard, we know how to have a conversation. >> we sure do. >> and agreeably disagree. >> we sure do. >> and be respectful. >> see, she is still going. >> musical choices and all bets

are off. nice to see you. thank you for being with us. >> good to see you, soledad, thank you. >> still ahead, capturing the emotion and the moment when all the hard work pays off, the cutting edge technology behind some of the most memorable photos coming out of london. a battle over free speech, equality, free enterprise and chickens. thousands coming out to back chick-fil-a. cities are fighting to keep them out. people in between have to make a decision about what they want to do. here is richard's playlist. michael jackson's i just can't stop loving you you. >> dedicated to marsha blackburn, i think. >> s excitigraduation. when i look up into my students faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, 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. 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. ♪

welcome back, everybody. lots of people flocking to chick-fil-a and fans coming out for a chick-fil-a appreciation day started by former presidential candidate mike huckabee that wanted to show support for the chain and the chain's president that made a public stance against same sex marriage. some folks bringing kids and waiting in line for an hour and at the same time there were counter protests to the appreciation day chicken sandwich getting. >> a kiss-in on friday. >> taking place tomorrow as well. here is my question. who wins and who loses in this both short-term and long-term? clearly you look at the long lines and i think people would say chick-fil-a is able to rally people around the first amendment right. >> in the long run how is it good for the fast food chain? no company wants to polarize the customer base. >> you want to sell to everybody, right? >> they were trying to do their support for what they call

traditional marriage, sort of on the sly, done through a foundation, weren't being public about it and it wasn't like there were anti-gay marriage pamphlets there. they don't at the present time to define the company. sara palin and mike huckabee have turned it into a message. >> is it problem at toik take it as a plank and a platform metaphor? >> i think it is important. thicke filet ma i have had a good day but long-term it is too industry dent. no company that markets to consumers wants to offend a whole block of people. the interesting thing is eight years ago the republican party made gay marriage an issue and helped it win the election. this year just eight years later this is really going to cut against them. i think if you look at the new poll, most persons support same sex marriage and equality and basically when it comes down to equality. americans support equality. i think it is going to cut against the republicans and may work against mitt romney.

that's one of the reasons he has been so quiet about it, don't you think? >> short-term, i was watching every screen on the flight and they were all playing chick-fil-a and everything looked so good and the kids were eating fries and burgers and i think sales will go up. >> i think it is free p.r. that's good short-term. i think long-term it is bad. >> and they have bases in the south and just now expanding outside of red states where it is much more controversial. >> although the pushback, too, to some degree, some of the people as we have talked about, they have a right, first amendment right to take the stance. some of the people supporting chick-fil-a are supporting their right to take the position. >> versus the mayors who said that was not the right thing to do. >> she took it back. >> she clarified. >> we have no answer on winners and losers. thank you, panel, i appreciate that.

a complete lack of charity here. >> chick-fil-a loser. >> we'll see. we'll see. a man lives off kragz list and makes a movie out of it. he says he doesn't have to buy any stuff to any of the stuff t. he has no money, no nothing, just barters and lives off the kindness of strangers. it's a new movie called "craigslist joe." we'll have a look at that. plus, underwater photography. robotic cameras. believe it or not, we're talking about the olympics. we'll show how it was done in 3d. we're back in a moment. >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator?

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gosh, i love that graphic every time i see it. i know i say that every time, but i really do love it. the olympics underway, and getty images capturing every eye-popping moment. look at these shots from the women's gymnastics competition. getty is documenting this year's

games with some amazing cutting edge technology, including robotic and 3d camera setups, giving people around the world virtually a front row seat to the event or any event they want to see. and getty is the official graphic agency for the london games. john klein is the company's co-founder and ceo. it's nice to talk to you again. we chatted before you went off to cover the olympics, and we talked about some of the strategies. and now you're back. how's it been going? >> it's going wonderfully. it's lovely to talk to you from london with the olympic stadium behind me. it's going extremely well. and all of the new technologies are producing some wonderful, stunning, breathtaking images. so it couldn't be going better so far. >> you know, and while we are showing some of these images, we'll continue to have our conversation. you got 110 people who are covering the olympics for you. and it's been fascinating especially to see for example not just the pictures of the gymnasts but also the swimmers. and there's a great shot of

people who i guess are in between they have to go and reset the cameras in the pools because that's how you're getting some of these amazing shots. talk to me about the logistics of this kind of work. >> well, the logistics are extraordinary. and last night i was fortunate enough to be at the swimming. and at the end of the swimming, i stayed around and spent some time with the photographers. and the place minutes out. and then people put on scuba diving gear, both our photographers as well as some professional scuba divers, and they jump into the pool, and they have to reset all the cameras. they have to tidy up all of the cabling because the last thing the television folks want to see is the cables. and they are there until about 2:00 in the morning making sure that everything is in the right spot. so there's an enormous amount of logistics that goes into it. and it's quite stunning to see the pictures on the back of that. and those are for the images underneath the water. in addition, we have robotics

camera and a rig on top of the arena. so you can also see a top down view. that also has to be adjusted quite frequently. and literally, last night, they were moving cameras one inch to the left or one inch to the right. and that would make all the difference. >> well, the pictures -- >> having said all of that, the photographer still has to capture the moment. and that gets very tricky because they operate the robotic camera with a joy stick as if they are playing a video game. and they hope, and based on their experience, they succeed in getting folks to be in the right place at theight time. >> well, the pictures prove that. jonathan klein, congratulations. it will be great when it's all over to talk a little bit more about how it was all done. he is the co-founder and chief executive officer of getty imag. and the pictures have been just stunning. we appreciate your time this morning. we'll take a short break. ahead on "starting point," the

gymnastics all-around queen will be crowned tonight. the 2008 silver medallist chelsea memel will be with us to talk about which athletes to watch today. and three commuter jets were seconds from colliding in midair. we'll break down what exactly went wrong at reagan national airport. you're watching "starting point." we are back in just a moment. 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. but what about your wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. "why wait if you don't have to." rapid wrinkle repair. neutrogena®. recommended most by dermatologists.

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and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger,

you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. good morning. just seconds from disaster. a triple plane crash was barely

averted at one of the nation's busiest airports. president obama is issuing secret orders to help rebels take out syrian dictators. and the price tag to win the white house, $6 billion and counting. as groups outside spend unlimbed cash. we'll talk to the writer of a "time" cover story who looks at how the game changed from the last time that president obama ran. and lochte versus phelps. the rematch tonight. what could be another golden day at the pool for team usa. we have a packed show ahead. olympic gymnast chelsea memfell will join us. it's thursday, august 2, and "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> i like that song. olympian chellsie memmel's play list. that's toby keith's "made in america." >> ironically. >> welcome back, everybody.

richard socarides is joining us this morning, a former senior adviser in the clinton white house. abby huntsman is back with us. she is the host of "huff post live." and ryan lizza is a washington correspondent for "the new yorker." nice to have you all with us. >> thanks for having us. frightening close call in the skies. the story about these three planes that came within 12 seconds of a midair collision. it happened at reagan national airport. you can hear in the radio transmissions just how confused the air traffic controllers were. they were dealing with bad weather. launched two flights heading right at another plane as it was trying to land. so they were all in the air. here is a little bit of some of that confusion. >> 180. we were cleared back there. what happened? >> stand by. we're trying to investigate that. stand by. >> you said route three to go five? >> are we going to 1-9 or 1-9? >> 1-1. >> ok. we really don't have a -- >> all departs right now.

>> we have to get on the ground here pretty quick. >> everybody stand by. we've got a couple of opposite direction arrivals. so it's going to be a little bit of a delay on your departures. >> you know what i find so amazing, they are so calm. what they are describing is they have planes that are aiming for each other in midair. >> they're calm but that's very scary. >> terrifying. >> and you've flown in and out of that airport, which we do all the time, it's a very short runway. they come right down. and it's like -- and then you just stop. >> yeah. it's a famously difficult place to land. >> and it's right in town. like the pentagon is across the street practically. >> right. in the bad weather. you could tell the chaos, even though they are completely calm, you can tell there's a lot happening and they can't really keep track of where the planes are. >> 12 seconds, they say. >> a federal official blamed basic communication breakdown, sloppy procedures, and said it's a big screw-up for a big airport. athena jones is live in washington, d.c. do they know now outside of just

sloppiness what exactly went wrong? >> no. it's unclear. the faa says there appears to have been a miscommunication. it happened just after 2:00 p.m., during a really heavy rain at that moment in time. driving rain. so that meant that air traffic controllers wanted to change the directions that planes were coming in. at first they were departing and landing on runway one from south to north. they wanted to switch that to another runway from north to south. but clearly not everyone got that message. and so the faa is investigating. they have cautioned us, though, away from using kind of -- talking about the number of seconds they were to impact. they said they can't confirm that as of right now. but we do know that these are big planes going very, very quickly. and it is remarkable how calm they were. i'll say one thing. on the faa website, it says that the u.s. air traffic control system is the safest in the world, and that the faa and traffic control organizations are working continuously to make

sure that happens. you can bet they'll study closely what went down on tuesday afternoon, soledad. >> they always say that after a close call, right? we are the safest in the world and nothing happened. but, you know, i think there's a sense it may not have been 12 seconds but it was really way, way, way too close. athena, thank you for that update. >> but it almost never happens. in some ways it's amazing it doesn't happen more often. you have a lot of planes flying around. >> which is terrifying to hear that. >> yao are you on the plane all the time. >> yes. i don't want to know that. other stories making news outside of airplanes. you're a scared flyer. we have to stop this conversation for abby. she can't take it. christine has more of the top stories. breaking news. three suspected al qaeda members have been arrested in spain. spain's interior minister says there's clear evidence that they could have been planning an

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sdploimpt in america, you get faxed on your income. >> but you are also taxed on the value of your gold medal. >> anything that is of monetary value. >> had is one argument, and that is if they created some incentive to go there and win a

gold medal, i can understand the government saying we don't want to create a disincentive. but does anyone think that the olympians don't think they have enough incentive because they have to pay a couple hundred dollars of taxes? >> the least we can have them do is have them pay taxes on winning a gold medal. it's ridiculous. >> what christine said earlier this morning in the 6:00 hour, this is another gop tax loophole. >> what? >> we're turning this political, guys? >> the republicans talk about, you know, making the tax code easier. >> how is this political? >> it got political when rubio jumped on this because it's like a nice cause. >> first of all -- >> it's very easy to criticize the tax code. >> soledad, help me here. >> first of all, i agree with you, abby. i think if you're representing your nation, the least the nation could do, which by the way, most of these athletes struggle. do not get a lot of funding. >> your gold medal is going to be on a box of wheaties. >> if you're a silver medalist, you probably won't.

if it's a sport that's popular, maybe. you're probably in debt. your parents have scraped together money to take you to practice. come on, man. >> no tax. >> no tax for them. >> we get the last word. >> any good accountant worth their salt should be able to get the tax rate much below 9%, maybe even to zero, because the $380,000 threshold is when all of that would kick in. >> and you get to deduct your expenses. you have expenses, right, expenses for going. your travel. >> get a good accountant, and you can avoid paying these taxes. >> like the republicans. >> last word. >> or just get a good accountant like anybody, man. still ahead this morning on "starting point" -- i know you have a good accountant -- amanda weir will join us live to talk about tonight's big showdown. is she on team phelps or team lochte? >> lochte is on fire, baby.

tsa officers noticed that a woman seemed nervous, and we'lle tell you what happened there. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment.ad . then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

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welcome back to "starting point." just ahead this morning, from team usa's swimming crew, olympian amanda weir will be joining us live. and from the new movie "craigslist joe," joe garner, will stop by. his goal was to survive for 30 days with nothing but craigslist. breaking news. three suspected al qaeda members have been arrested in spain. spain's interior minister says there's clear evidence that they could have been planning an attack in spain or elsewhere in europe. he called their arrest one of the biggest operations against al qaeda in spain. we'll have more details as they come in. deadly violence in syria this morning. rebels equipped with heavy

weaponry are pounding a military airport in aleppo. and an opposition activist network says 41 people have been killed in the country today. this as sources tell cnn that president obama has signed a covert order authorizing u.s. support for syria's opposition forces. the directive allows clandestine action by the cia and others to help the rebels. it's not clear what type of support has been authorized or when the order was signed. meantime, president assad is calling on his forces to restore stability to the country. six weeks before the aurora movie massacre, red flags about james holmes may have been missed. according to kmgh, something holmes said caused his psychiatrist to make a call to the university of colorado's threat assessment team. but no further action was taken because holmes was in the process of dropping out. kmgh's investigative reporter spoke to our anderson cooper. >> the team thought they had no

jurisdiction, no control over him, so there was nothing that they could do vis-a-vis this concern that she had. again, we don't know what the concern was. what we do know is that no one, through our sources and through our reporting, we have been told no one contacted the aurora police department with any of these concerns. >> now there are questions about dr. fenton and the university, what they knew, and whether they were legally obligated to call police with those concerns. two alert tsa officers are being credited with rescuing a kidnapped woman. this happened last month at miami international airport. now the behavior detection officers noticed an injured, nervous woman who did not seem comfortable with her group. when they separated her, she accused two women in the group of repeatedly punching her over a man, and stealing her money. those two women then were arrested. minding your business this morning. if you have a job, a raise is coming your way next year. how much? average pay raises should be 2.9% next year according to a survey of employers by the human

resources firm mercer. it's better for the very top performers. top performers' pay will raise $ 4.5%. move over rose bud. movie geeks are buzzing this morning. for the first time in 50 years, "citizen kane" has lost its title of greatest film. "vertigo" was picked this time around. soledad, "vertigo" is the best movie of all time, no question. >> is a great movie. but the greatest, what does that mean? >> it's subjective, but those two movies are really incredibly good movies. >> but are they greater than somebody else's favorite? i thought we were having the same conversation about -- >> "chinatown" is my favorite. >> that's a great movie. >> come on. the greatest, that's a -- >> what about "hot shots 2"?

wasn't that charlie sheen? >> you're right. there are some that would not make the list. i stand corrected. christine, thank you. michael phelps and ryan lochte. who's the greatest among them? back in the pool facing off in the men's 200 meter individual medley. missy franklin will go for another gold in the women's 100 meter freestyle. last night, she claimed victory in the four by 200 relay along with her teammates. the u.s. swim team has been strong this olympics. and on saturday, amanda weir claimed the bronze medal as part of the four by 100 relay. she has four medals from the 2006 olympics, six national titles to her credit and she is joining us this morning. nice to see you, amanda. we appreciate it. let's talk about the big win, americans winning their eighth gold medal in swimming on wednesday. when the women's four by 200 meter freestyle relay team beat australia i think it was. you know, were you surprised? or is it just such a strong team

that they're just going to dominate? >> i mean, they are pretty dominating team. it was so exciting to watch. and it seemed like it just kept getting faster and faster. and smitty on the end, she got a 1:53. we knew she could pull it out in the end. >> ryan lochte, michael phelps. who are you rooting for? >> i don't know. they are both my teammates, and they are both great guys. so different. it's hard, you know, to pick one. they are just both amazing. >> well, abby huntsman who is sitting here with me says it's lochte all the way for her. >> i wonder why she said that. >> phelps said we love racing against each other. and neither one of us likes to lose. and i say we bring out the best in one another. is that sort of how it works? you're competing against often your teammates. do they challenge you and push you as well? >> yeah, they do. you know, the u.s. is so deep in every event. and we really push each other.

like, you know, relays, we're all competing for a spot to be on relays, which is just such a great problem to have, you know. you know, we could put together a relay so many different ways. and our depth is definitely our biggest strength. >> speaking of depth, missy franklin will be going for her third gold medal in the women's 100 meter freestyle final. >> yes. >> what do you think of her chances? >> missy is just amazing. i can't believe how much swimming she's been doing. she is such a great girl. and i'm pulling for her all the way. i can't wait to watch her swim tonight. that's my favorite event. >> back-to-backs for her. >> it's going to be awesome. yeah. motoring through the whole way. >> she really has, and not missing a beat. amanda, nice to have you with us this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> you bet. >> we've got to take a short break. but still ahead, dr. sanjay gupta will report on a u.s. swimmer going for the gold today six years after a heart surgery.

pretty amazing. and then we'll talk to a film maker who was determined to figure out if it's possible to survive on craigslist alone. >> clearly, he survived. >> well, because he's here live in the studio. the answer is yes. >> guys, he survived. >> come on, abby. you're giving it away. >> the movie does look good. we're back in just a moment. a party? [ music plays, record skips ] 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.

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welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans with your top stories this morning. stunning video of a man being swallowed up by a sink hole in taiwan. it happened during a typhoon earlier this morning at the temple of the san shah in

taipei. and this video from a convenience store in texas. a truck going straight through the wall and sending the clerk across the room. he survived with head and arm injuries. police arrested the driver. they say she hit the gas instead of the brake, and she had been drinking. take a look at this. that is london's mayor, boris johnson, dangling in the air after taking a ride down a zip line in victoria park to promote the olympic games, of course. johnson came to a halt about 65 feet from the end of the line. he was stuck, dangling, and waving, for five minutes, waving his british flags, before park officials fetched him. it was a disconcerting experiencing for him. an olympic glitch. >> and so far, probably close to the only one. all right. appreciate it, christine. a swimmer, rebecca soni, is going for the gold medal today. last night she proved that she definitely has more than enough speed to pull it off in the semifinals of the women's 200

meter breast stroke. she was able to set a new world record. but as sanjay gupta explains in this week's "human factor," before she was an elite swimmer she had to undergo surgery on her heart. take a look. >> a great swim by rebecca soni. >> reporter: these days, rebecca soni is used to getting to the wall first. but being an olympic swimmer wasn't always part of the plan. >> when we grew up, my family, we didn't watch a lot of sports. my parents were from europe, so we didn't understand the american sports. so i never had those people to look up to and be like, oh, i want to be like them. >> reporter: as she began to excel, she refocused her goals. but an unexpected obstacle got in her way. >> i was diagnosed with svt. it was basically a rapid heart rate, but only at certain times, usually kpeexercise induced, any heart rate would go up to 400

beats per minute. >> as the episodes became more frequent, she decided to have an operation to remove abnormal tissue from her heart. when she was healthy again, she dove back into training and qualified for the 2008 olympics in beijing, where she won one gold and two silver medals. >> reporter: i definitely feel like i had the meet of my life in 2008. the race of my life with the 200 breast stroke. to win a gold medal, break a world record all in one race, was kind of that ultimate moment of sport. >> reporter: even so, soni wasn't ready to hang up her suit. >> i could have probably walked away and been happy. but i still felt like i had a little bit more to give to the sport. i'm just excited to race. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> and still ahead on "starting point," what happens when a man decides to ditch all his friends, all his possessions, and live off the generosity of people on craigslist? we'll tell you the man behind

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so craigslist is a website that helps people find almost anything they need through a classified ad. you can look for a job, an apartment, you can sell your furniture, you can find a baby sitter. a film maker wanted to find out what would happen if he had to live off of craigslist for one month. in "craigslist joe," joseph

garner relies on craigslist for food, shelter, and basically the generosity of strangers. for 31 days, he cuts himself off from family and friends, has no money, just a laptop, cell phone, clothes on his back. here's how it went. >> with no money, no contact with anyone i know, i'm going to live entirely off craigslist. i'm just seeing if i can, a, survive. if i can literally eat, find shelter, find showers. b, try to travel america. see if i can find a community out there. for the next month, this is all i've got. away we go. >> "craigslist joe" opening today in select theaters across the country. thank you for talking with us, joe. >> pleasure to be here. >> on one hand, sounds like's crazy idea. on the other hand, craigslist is really about community. what did you put out there that people started responding to help you out? >> well, i was just in my

postings a regular guy. i didn't reveal that we were doing a documentary. i was just a guy looking to meet up. or if there was an extra room in a car going to another city. i was just looking to connect with people. and kind of taking it from there. >> you were shooting it, though, the whole time. did people react differently when they realized they were going to be part of a documentary? >> you know, initially, people didn't know. but once they agreed to meet up, i let them know. we just had one camera guy who i actually met on craigslist the week before i went out there. and i spent a number of days with a lot of people. and i felt like people were very natural with me, and we kind of just forgot the camera was even there. >> walk us through some of your experiences. what was the very best and what was a complete nightmare? >> you know, the very best, i just met so many incredible people. when i went out there, i had very little expectations of like who i would meet, where i would go. i met incredible people from all over the country that just kind of showed me amazing generosity

and just goodwill. as far as the worst, there were definitely some days without food. without shelter. but the overwhelming majority of the people i met were absolutely amazing and just really inspired me. >> i want to show everybody a clip from new orleans, which is one of my favorite cities, which i think counts as one of your best experiences. let's play that clip and then we'll talk about it on the other side. >> we have been able to take over certain houses and blocks and areas, and do art installations and bring in individuals to the area that wouldn't have necessarily been in those areas. so the people that are here are the ones that are -- like have their heart in new orleans. >> that was an artist named john, who had taken over a space, i believe, in the lower ninth ward, which of course was decimated by hurricane katrina. and they were trying to revitalize it and revamp it really and bring a new use for it. i know your goal was to rely on

the kindness of strangers. what was your big take away from it? are strangers kind or are they kind of mean? >> or crazy. >> in my experience, even before i left, i always believed, you know, people given the opportunity would do the right thing. and, you know, i was just so inspired and blown away by the overwhelming majority of people's willingness to kind of lend a helping hand and be open enough to trust me and take me in. and like that clip you played, you know, it was pretty devastating just walking around the lower ninth ward. i just kind of assumed everything was kind of put back to normal, and everyone was back in their homes. that wasn't the case. but it was people like john that kind of, you know, banded together with the people in his community to really try to rebuild it in a positive way. and i just saw that all over the country, just people really coming together, you know, especially in these tough times. >> zach galifianakis is the executive producer. and i know that -- i know that for a lot of people, to meet up

with strangers, if my kid told me they were going to do that, i would be like, no, no, that's bad. how did you stay safe? i know craigslist has safety warnings, you know, be in a public place and don't invite strangers into your home and tell friends and family members where you're going. all those rules you broke, every single one. >> yeah. my mom was a little worried about me going out there. fortunately, the camera guy who i went out there with, kevin, he was about 6'4". so that made her feel a little more comfortable. >> a little bit of protection. >> but i would try to meet people in public places and really just kind of establish a rapport online and then on the phone. and, you know, if i was willing to or expecting people to take a chance and trust me, i in turn had to trust them. >> joe garner is craigslist joe. the movie is out starting today. nice to have you. good luck with the movie. we appreciate you talking to us. >> thanks so much for having me on. >> you bet. i want to see that movie. it sounds like a great concept.

>> i think it's an odd story, though. i'm not sure what it was -- like that people were going to be nice to you if you said you had no money? it's kind of like begging on craigslist. >> no. it's the american spirit. people will be willing to help you out and invite you into their community. >> well, this guy was not really who he said he was. >> and you call me cynical? >> it's not like someone who really had no money and did this. >> it's what america is all about. >> thank you. >> abby, i'm going to have you sit next to me tomorrow, abby. >> the point is this is what america is all about? i don't get it. >> go and watch the film and then report back to us. >> a little movie report. >> i hope you're never in need looking for generosity. "end point" is next. lief for the brakes. we'll put them to the test today. all right, let's move out! [ ross ] we're pushing the ats brakes to the limit. going as fast as we can down the hill. we are making these sharp turns, slamming on the brembo brakes.

[ derek ] it's like instant response, incredibly consistent. this is the challenge, machine vs. mountain. [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

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"end point." who wants to start? >> i would say call people's attention to the front page of "the new york times" today. ted cruz's victory in texas means that the tea party is poised to exert a big influence next year in the u.s. senate. very scary for us that don't support the tea party. but if you're a tea party person and you thought your candidate for president was not going anywhere, you'll have a lot of people in the u.s. senate next year. six senators. >> i'm going to talk about kiss-in day tomorrow at chick-fil-a. an