>> bye-bye, fat ass. >> good grief, good luck with your issues, the least of which is your ticket you got. i hope you don't have to pawn your elmo t-shirt before you park your rage on the ridiculist. >> that does it for this edition of the "360." i'll see you in a few hours on "starting point." "early start" begins right now. new polling on paul ryan. what voters think of mitt romney's running mate. bullets fly just blocks from campus. a deadly shootout near texas a & m university. >> the speed of sound times five. >> wow. >> the flight test that could mean, one day, the flight from new york to london in one hour. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have you this evening. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. we know who the keynote speaker will be later this month at the

republican convention. it is chris christie. cnn political director mark preston is joining us live from washington this morning. john berman and were talking about how similar, we have chris christie and paul ryan, one of the similarities, they're both tough talkers. is this a surprise pick do you think? >> not at all. this has been long rumored, certainly over the past couple of months. if chris christie was not going to be the vice presidential pick, he was going to get a key speaking slot at the rnc. you can't get much better than the keynote. chris christie, this will be announced in just a few short hours. chris christie did speak to "usa today" previewing his speech. let's take a quick look at what he said to "usa today" as he prepares for his speech. chris christie telling the paper, i'll try to tell very direct and hard truths to people in the country about the trouble that we're in and the fact that

fixing those probms is not going to be easy for any of them. chris christie, beloved by conservatives. they love his straight fighter persona. he's a tough talker. chris christie is likely to give quite a rousing speech down in tampa, zoraida. >> we expect that to be exciting. we have new poll numbers this morning that show paul ryan is getting underwhelming numbers as the vice presidential pick. can you break those down for us. >> this is a "usa today" poll, a snapshot pl that was taken right after paul ryan was chosen by mitt romney. let's take a look at these numbers. not something the romney campaign was is hoping for. right there. their immediate reaction to paul ryan being chosen as mitt romney's running mail, only 39% said that it was an excellent or pretty good choice while 42% said in fact it was only fair and poor choice. "usa today" notes that this is the lowest number that they have

seen since 1988. that's, of course, when george h.w. bush picked the indiana senator dan quayle as his running mate. when it comes to independents who are important in this election, 35% in this "usa today" poll shows that they believe that paul ryan is excellent or pretty good. as a choice for the running mate, 43% say that he's only fair/poor, zoraida. not great numbers. >> you have to wonder if that's because people don't know how. we know what paul ryan's budget plan proposes. what we don't know is what mitt romney proposes. he says he has his own budget plan. do we have any details on that. >> this is a tricky situation for mitt romney, choosing paul ryan who has stark ideas about how to fix the budget. mitt romney was asked a specific question down in florida yesterday. let's hear what he had to say. >> i'm sure there are places

that my budget is different than his. but we're on the same page as i said before, we want to get america on track to a balanced budget. there may be. we'll take a look at the differences. the items that we agree on, i think outweigh any differences there may be. we haven't gone through piece by piece and said here's a place where there's a difference. i can't imagine any two people, even in the same party who have exactly the same positions on all issues. >> so what's interesting about this, of course, is that mitt romney down in florida, one of the keystones of how paul ryan said that he would fix the budget is his cuts to medicare, his idea of putting in a voucher system. that is not very popular amongst older folks, especially in the critical state of florida, zr ride zoraida. >> president obama is on the trail doing everything he can to link mitt romney to paul ryan's controversial house budget plan. the president making an unscheduled stop at the iowa state fair yesterday.

he turned down the lure of fresh baked cinnamon rolls for a pork chop and a beer instead. he didn't pass up the opportunity to make the claim to iowans that ryan' and his republicans -- >> i am told that governor romney's new running mate, paul ryan, might be around iowa in the next few days. he's one of the leaders of congress standing in the way. if you happen to see congressman ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to iowa and their rural communities. >> that was the pork chop talking. the president tens campaigning in iowa while mitt romney's bus tour makes three stops in ohio. in this just couldn't make us happier. wonderful honor for cnn's chief political correspondent candy crowley. she's been named moderator of the second presidential debate, becoming the first woman in two decades to be chosen for this prestigious role.

the commission on presidential debate says moderating duties will be split evenly between female and male journalists. this is the first time that's happened in an election season. >> she sent out an e-mail yesterday, i'm with my mom and she's jumping up and down on the sandy beach saying that's my daughter. >> she's so good. >> very fair and balanced. >> good news for america that they have someone that good doing a debate. an update on the trayvon martin case, attorneys for george zimmerman pulling out all the stops to get a new judge. they've asked seminole county circuit judge kenneth lester to step down. he's refused. now they filed an appeal to have him removed. >> right now, of course he's still the trial judge on the case. we're moving forward with whatever we have to do or need to do with the case. but the court, the appellate court will handle what's called an extraordinary writ as quickly as theycan. >> they claim judge lester cannot be impartial after

revoking their client's bail. that happened in june when the judge founded it out zimmerman and his wife misrepresented their financial situation by failing to disclose more than $150,000 in donations from the public. >> the mother of a man suspected in a deadly shootout near texas a & m university says her son was ill and the family is devastated. police fatally shot 35-year-old thom thomas cafall. a county constable and bystander were killed. two officers were wounded. in the aftermath of the jerry sandusky child sex abuse cover-up, penn state university has been warned that its accreditation is in jeopardy now. the middle state's commission on higher education accredits schools in the mid-atlantic and has asked penn state to submit a report by the end of the month detailing the steps it is taking to comply with standards on

leadership and governance as well as integrity. the house is filing a lawsuit against attorney general eric holder. they want the justice department to turn over all of the documents related to the fast and furious operation that let guns cross into mexico in the hope of tracing them to drug king pins. the white house turn over a lot of them but not all. two of the weapons are linked to the death of a u.s. border patrol agent. the obama administration says the records are protected by executive privilege. two separate fires, one big headache in northern california. more than 5,000 acres have burned in lake county, california. three subdifferences were under mandatory evacuation orders. the orders were lifted last night in spring valley. one of the fires has destroyed at least three structures. one firefighter was injured as well. meteorologist rob marciano is following conditions in the

western united states. rob, any relief? >> well, not a whole lot of rain, thunderstorms may pop up east of there in the mountains but that's not necessarily good news as you know. it's been hot. in the inland valleys of california, the pacific northwest as well. these fires burning north of napa and northwest of sacramento and there you see it, across lake county. beautiful country here. these fires, they're having a hard time getting ahold of good news, that they lifted evacuation orders overnight in spring valley. there are populated areas close to the fire. it will be again hot but any sort of red flag warning or high fire conditions are going to be up across parts of the northwest and in through western parts of montana. winds there could gust to 50 or so miles an hour. the heat across the desert southwest will continue today. still heat warnings out for places like palm springs over towards tucson and phoenix. easily 110, 115. it's even a little bit humid out there.

threat for thunderstorms across the east coast, including new york, back through d.c., could see damaging winds, may be a tornado. we'll watch that as things begin to pop in the after monoon. 83 before the storms arrive in new york city. back to you. >> thank you, rob. five minutes going five times the speed of sound. that's fast. that's what engineers are hoping to achieve today over the pacific ocean as they test a hypersonic, unmanned aircraft called the wave rider. if the test goes well -- >> i love the name. >> this would usher in the next generation of military aircraft, spare spaft, even cool passenger planes. imagine flying from new york to london in under an hour. look at this. this could be so cool. we'll take a closer look at the technology in a live report. that's coming up in a half hour. >> so cool looking. >> totally. travel in style. two men spent a quarter

century behind bars for murder they say they did not commit. now a facebook chat has helped set them free. that full story, coming up. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. but not for your eyes. they're still so tired looking. with olay challenge that, with regenerist anti-aging eye roller. its hydrating formula with caffeine conditioning complex, perks up the look of eyes. it works in the blink of an eye.

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because we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice no. laugh... awe uch ooh, yeah hmm nice huh book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com welcome back to "early start." 14 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. we're getting an early look at some of the local news making national headlines from around the country. first up from the detroit free press, two men, thomas and

raymond highers are free this morning, at least for the time being. they walked out of prison last night after spending 25 years behind bars for a 1987 murder. new evidence, apparently has come to light over the last several months. it happened on a facebook chat. people noticed on a facebook chat a couple years ago there were people saying they were witnesses to this crime. it may not have been these two brothers. you can see here obviously delighted to be free. a judge has released the men on bail for now. while they hear more from these two witnesses and decide whether to hold a new trial. they spent last night apparently at their aunt's house. their first night free. >> it was very low bail. $1,000. $10,000 bond. >> the judge said they weren't a threat. he thought they should get a break. >> they said on the facebook chat, folks say they saw walk up and heard gunshots were black. at the end of the day these were white guys. perhaps they weren't involved. happy for them to be out.

the person that was killed, their family, that's a tough one on them this next story comes from "the chicago tribune." this morning we are learning that congressman jesse jackson jr. has bipolar disorder. his staffers and doctors are not discussing a timetable for his possible return to office. this is -- the 47-year-old son of civil rights activist jesse jackson sr. he's been on medical leave for the past two months. a lot of speculation as to what was wrong with him. he's being treated at the mayo clinic in minnesota. he's up for re-election in less than three months. the doctors released a statement yesterday saying he's regaining his strength. i had spoken to jesse jackson sr. about a month ago and asked him how his son was doing. he said he had a mood disorder. jesse jackson jr. had gastric bypass surgery a few years back.

he's also under investigation in the rod blagojevic scandal also. >> a lot going on. get this, the miami herald, a giant monstrous python. two records set here, the largest python ever found in florida, 17 1/2 feet long. that thing is huge. get this. they had 87 -- this python had 87 eggs inside of it when it was found. pythons are not native to florida but they are well established there at this point. i will not be traveling to the evergrades anytime in the near future. i know. these things are bad and they're big, apparently. there you have it, a join the python. >> that reminds me of dissecting back in high school. >> that reminds me of godzilla. >> those eggs are huge. >> for an expanded look at all our top stories, head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. >> it is 17 minutes after the hour right now. new jersey governor chris christie tapped to deliver the keynote along at the republican

convention later this month. he said he's working on the speech, on his fourth draft now he said. paul ryan heads to the suburbs of denver for his second solo campaign event since being tapped as mitt romney's running mate. he'll then head to las vegas tonight for a campaign rally and private fund-raiser at the venetian hotel. day one on the trail proved bumpy for ryan. he was heckled at the iowa state fair. at one point, demonstrators tried to climb on to the stage but they were dragged off by police. >> a startling find during a new jersey drug bust. police searching an alleged gang member's apartment say they found the man's 44-year-old girlfriend padlocked in a bedroom. they say she may have been held against her will for extended periods over the last two years, maybe longer. he was arrested. she was taken to the hospital for evaluation. detectives say they found 4,000 prescription pills with a street value of $100,000. >> wow. a group of islamic foreign ministers voting to suspend

syria from a regional organization ahead of an emergency two-day summit in saudi arabia. this move comes after syrian rebels claimed they shot down a military plane. their video shows a jet catching fire and falling out of the sky. the syrian government denies the jet was shot down, saying technical failure caused that crash. president obama calls to congratulate nasa saes curiosity team saying their work embodies the american spirit. giving a special shoutout to mohawk guy. really? the flight director. the president says he's revisiting the idea of trying out a mohawk for himself. >> i understand there's a special mohawk guy that's working on the mission. i in the past thought about getting a mohawk myself but my, my, my team keeps on discouraging me. >> he's very active on twitter

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we are minding your business this morning. stocks are set for a higher open. wall street is hoping a new retail sales report will show an increase and of course, they must be excited about the start hour at the new york stock exchange. >> there will be a bunch of girls screaming outside. in the midwest, droughts are ravaging corn crops and sending animal feed prices soaring. the rn farmers te of $170 milli million. alison kosik is in for christine romans today. they're spending a whole lot of money on some meat. >> they are. think of this as a stimulus package like what the fed has done in the past for the economy. this is something the government is doing, you though, for farmers who are struggling because of this drought.

you look at feed prices right now, feed prices are so high, because corn is so expensive. it's too expensive for these farmers to keep altheir cattle. the government is coming in, taking this meat off their hands. i'm talking millions of dollars of chicken, pork, lamb, catfish. it will go to the government assistance programs, it will freeze part of it. this is happening because the feed costs are becoming so high, farmers are having to slaughter more animals. that is actually lowering the price of meat. but don't get too excited says the analysts. what the government is essentially trying to do is stabilize the market and help out the farmers having hard time. >> president obama said don't worry, we have i allo lot of freezers. >> yes.

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the gop's jersey touch. chris christie's key role at the republican convention. >> we just got news about someone else who has a key role also. we'll tell you that in a second. sliced apples at the center of a listeria scare. a voluntary call in effect for 36 states. the legendary johnnie pesky has passed away. i'm so surprised you didn't talk about this this morning. >> it was dominating my evening.

he was a special man. i'm john berman. it's half past the hour. i'll talk to another red sox fan about politics, first off, the blunt and always entertaining governor of new jersey will be the keynote speaker later this month at the republican national convention. chris christie confirming he's working on his speech, telling "usa today" he'll be delivering some very direct and hard truths to the american people. >> i think it's -- i think it's become so -- like i said, she must not be from iowa. hey, all right. >> what you're seeing there is paul ryan face something hard truthsn the trail, mitt romney's new running mate got heckled when he was on stage yesterday at the iowa state fair, his first solo campaign stop. we're getting breaking news just now back about the republican national convention in tampa about who will be introducing mitt romney. it is one of the few remanning

key coveted speaking positions there and cnn's political director mark preston joins us live from washington this morning. who will be introducing mitt romney? >> well, john, this is just developed in the past few minutes, marco rubio, that rising republican star from florida will be introducing mitt mney on the final night of the convention. this is a key role for marco rubio. very important role for the republican party as they try to not only reach out to latinos but also to reach out to all minorities and show they're a big-time party. the "tampa bay times" was the first to report it. a senior republican official confirmed that in fact this is true. this comes as just a few hours ago, we learned that chris christie as you said, will be delivering the keynote address at the convention. the final pieces, john, of this republican convention are starting to fall into plac >> of course both rubio and

chris christie seen as rising stars. another one of these faces is paul ryan, of course, the pick for his vice president. there are poll numbers that indicate right now that he's getting a lit by of an underwhelming welcome from voters, mark. >> yes. this is certainly not news that the romney cam pan was hoping given the fact they were looking for a big bump from the paul ryan announcement. let's look at this snapshot from "usa today" right after mitt romney announced paul ryan as his running mate. it shows there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm right now for paul ryan among the american people. only 39% described paul ryan's pick as excellent or pretty good. look at that number, john. 42% described it as fair or poor, not very about. when you look at the all-important independent voters, the voters who will decide the election, let's look at these numbers right here. again, they mirror what the numbers are nationally with the general public, only 35% of

independents said that it was an excellent or pretty good pick. 43%, john, said it's only fair or poor. >> one of the thing that's interesting about the numbers, historically speaking, these tend to be the high water mark for high presidential picks. they get a honeymoon. on their first pick, people tend to like them more by election day. it may be that this is as good as it gets for paul ryan. >> "usa today" notes that these numbers haven't been this low since 1988 when dan quayle was chosen to join george h.w. bush on the republican presidential tick zblet mark preston in washington. thanks very much. president obama and the democrats doing everything they can to link mitt romney to paul ryan's controversial house budget plan. the president made an unscheduled stop athe iowa state fair yesterday, passing up cinnamon rolls for a pork chop and a cheer instead. he didn't pass up the opportunity to point out that the ryan plan, in his view, would mean a $2,000 tax hike for many middle-class americans.

>> this is 2,000 today's give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. let me just see a show of hands. how many folks are making more than $3 million a year? okay, this guy back here. i'mlooking for a campaign contribution. >> president continues campaigning in iowa today while mitt romney's bus tour makes three stops in ohio. a new tougher crash test apparently too tough for most new luxury cars. of the 11 midsize luxury models, 8 flunked a frontal crash test by the insurance institute for highway safety. the test mimics the most dangerous kind of front-end impact when the car hits another car or object such as a tree or a pole. the mercedes c-class, lexus 250,

lexus es 350 and audi a4 earned a poor rating. some diced or sliced apples sold at mcdonald's, burger kings and grocery stores across the country have been recalled because of listeria concerns. the recall affects 36 states and d.c. listeria can cause fever, nausea or diarrhea and can potentily be life-threatening. as of now, no reports of anyone getting sick. >> where does your state stack up in the battle of the bulge? the trust for america's health in the robert wood johnson foundation found 26 of 30 states with the highest obesity levels are in the midwest and south. the worst offenders, mississippi. followed by louisiana, then west virginia. the top 12 states have adult obesity rates of more than 30%. the study found that the leanest state is colorado with hawaii

second, massachusetts third. >> she was the original carrie bradshaw. helen gurley brown has died. the former editor in chief of "cosmopolitan" magazine was a pioneer for the modern woman. her 1962 book, "sex and single girl" created a stir. the book wassen 0 the best-seller list for more than a year. helen gurley brown passing yesterday morning in a new york hospital after a brief illness. she was 90 years old. we have one more passing to note. johnny pesky has died, the boston red sox legend. he was player, manager and broadcaster for red sox and a baseball career spanning more than 60 years. he's so much part of red sox lure, fenway park's right field powell pole is named the pesky pole. it is so close, even johnny

pesky could hit a home run past it. he was 92 years old. he was a great teammate, good ballplayer but more importantly, a very, very good man. a five-minute test flight today could change history. coming up, how the wave rider, this is what they're calling it, could impact the future of air travel. wave rider. you can actually use. but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars.

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welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. five minutes going five times the speed of sound. that's what aerospace engineers are hoping to achieve today with the flight of a hypersonic unmanned aircraft called the wave rider. it is fast enough to fly from new york to london in less than an hour. can you believe it? it could usher in the next generation of missiles, military aircraft, spare craft, even passenger planes we understand. pentagon correspondent barbara starr is following all of the developments. barbara, we're trying to wrap our brain around five times the speed of sound. how fast is that? >> well, it's pretty darn fast. let's get into some of the details here. zoraida, you remember that line from "star wars," fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. >> appropriate. >> this in fact may be in. x-51 wave rider, sounds cool and it is. so basically look at the picture. what they're going to do off the

coast of southern california, fly a converted b-52 with this thing unmanned, hanging under it, drop it off, test it. the idea is it will fly for 300 seconds at mock 6. how fast is that? that is about 4,500 miles per hour. >> oh, my gosh. >> for about 300 seconds. why do all this other than the fact it's really cool? well, you know, it's exactly what you just said. they want to see if they -- the air force wants to see if this is feasible. if it is you're talking about putting missiles on target within minutes. you're talking about being able to deploy troops around the world within minutes and hours. it's the kind of military technology that really would give the u.s. an advantage, the pentagon believes. civilian aircraft, could you develop a civilian aircraft that could fly you that fast? if this works theoretically. it doesn't get to the point of how much time you'll spend on

the tarmac before your plane takes off. >> military officials are saying this technology would have been useful to them as early as 1988, right before september 11th in the hn had the for osama bin laden as well. it says it's promising for evading and wrought routrunning fire. >> it's an interesting question. look at the practical applications for the pentagon. back in '98 they used tomahawk missiles to attack a training camp they believed osama bin laden was hiding at. but by the time they got them ready and sent them to the target, bin laden by all accounts was long gone. this compresses your military decisionmaking time into minutes. you can get to that target before your enemy flees. that's what the pentagon believes the real advantage would be. >> barbara starr, thank you for that sneak peek. very cool technology. we appreciate it. >> i want it now. i don't want to wait. we'll get you up to date on

the top stories of the day. new jersey governor chris christie has been picked to kick off the republican national convention. christie says america should expect hard truths when he delivers the keynote address later this month. he says he's on the fourth draft and will focus on the case of electing mitt romney. murder charges have been filed against an ex-con accused of stuffing his girlfriend's body in a suitcase. david dorsey is still at large two days after officials discov discovered stewart's body. an army soldier sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to reduced charges in a hazing suicide case. specialist ryan offet was the second soldier to face

court-martial. chen shot himself last year in afghanistan after being hazed over his ethnicity. louisiana state police investigators say they have found no evidence to support allegations of electronic eavesdropping against the nfl's new orleans saints. an espn report, if you remember back in april set saints gm, mickey loomis, had rigged wiring at the superdome to intercept opposing team's radio communications. police say no state laws were broken. the fbi is investigating the charges as well. google trying to become the place to go before you go anywhere. the giant search engine purchasing frommer's travel guides. it comes a year after they bought zagat. the hard copy guide books are expected to stay in print at least for now. coming up, the new words from merriam webster's dictionary.

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there she is, new york city. that's a look over central park. we're showing it to you, because as they say in the control room, there are really pretty colors there. >> it is 73 degrees right now. 83, scattered thunderstorms later for all of us in new york city. welcome back. 50 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with john berman. taking a look at what's trending on the web. there's a reason i'm carrying this big monster this morning. >> new words in the merriam webster collegiate dictionary, including such phrases as f-bombs and sexting. they're going mainstream right

now. those are two of the 64 words included in the update. some other words, an aha moment inspired by -- >> oprah winfrey. >> bucket list. >> e-reader and man cave. >> that's not one word, two words. >> these aren't words. these are phrases. i don't understand what they're doing in the dictionary. >> i don't think they're in the dictionary i was carrying. that's an older one. i love this story. a mesa, arizona family with five siblings walked down the aisle on the same day. the dad said oh, my gosh, can you imagine if i had to go five separate weddings. it was his idea to do them all together. it was tough for the kids because they said they want their individual weldings. they did have the ceremony, each ceremony was done individually. the big celebration you're

seeing was everybody together. >> one of the sisters not getting married was a brides maid in four weddings but not five. >> what happened to the other one. >> interesting. something has explaining to do. from weddings to birthdays, an amazing 104th birthday celebration for a woman named alice oho. she joked to her daughter she wanted to climb a mountain on her 104th birthday. they trekked up oregon's mt. hood. they didn't climb up exactly. they took a chair lift up the thing. she climbed it three times before with her husband. family piled into the chair lift, rode up the ski lift. we have sound talking about it. >> so far, the mountain is just the same as it ever was. it's very nice. i enjoy being up here. >> she looks great! >> andounds great. she had all her faculties. as they were going up, she was

talking to her grand children about the last couple times she trekked up. it was before children. so it was a long, long time ago. she had full memory recollection. it was great. >> happy birthday, alice. michelle obama sitting down with jay leno on "the tonight show" and the first lady setting the record straight about the recent kiss cam incident at a preolympic basketball game. >> i just walked in and sat down and i just saw my face on the jumbotron. i'm still a little embarrass. i didn't see the kiss cam part. i didn't know we were supposed to kiss. then malia came over after we got booed for not kissing and she was just disgusted with us. >> really? >> she said why didn't you kiss? i was like kiss what, what are you talking about? you were on the kiss cam. you were supposed to kiss. we were like, we're not paying attention. >> let's see what happened. here's your daughter.

>> there you go. exactly. >> she orchestrated that second try, because after the second half we came back, she said i've arranged for you to get another chance on kiss cam. and then she came and sat with us to make sure we didn't mess it up. >> wow. >> she was like, get ready, it's coming. that's when she was like, okay, go, now, kiss, do it. >> the pressure of the white house is nothing compared to the pressure of kiss cam. >> she orchestrated. i love that. >> on a similar note, what do you do when your mega heartthrob and girlfriend is caught making out with another dude? you go on oprah or maybe not. maybe you do on "the daily show." robert patterson stopping by for post breakup ice cream with jon stewart. >> listen, the last time i had a bad breakup, ben and jerry got me through some of the tougher times. so i thought you and i could

bond over this and talk about, boy, you are better off, kick her to the can. >> that's priceless. >> that was pattison's first interview since the cheating scandal with kristen stewart. >> i don't understand what was going on there but it was funny. >> kick her to the curb. this morning's top stories straight ahead, including vice presidential candidate paul ryan heckled on campaign trail. have you seen it? we're going to show it to you. plus, the first poll numbers on mitt romney's pick. >> she must not be from iowa. to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going.

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new polling on paul ryan, what voters think of mitt romney's running mate. saved with seconds to spare. a driver plucked from the water after a 40-foot plunge from a bridge. >> crazy picturethere. and the lost pyramids found in the egyptian desert. the discovery made with the help of a rather common modern day technology. good morning to you. welcome to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. first some news breaking overnight about politics. new jersey governor chris christie will be the keynote speaker at the republican national convention. christie revealed the news in an interview with the "usa today." he says his speech will focus more on the case of electing mitt romney rather than the case against president obama. marco rubio will be introducing mitt romney at the convention when romney formally accepts the party's nomination. he was also in the vetting process for vice president

before paul ryan became the pick. on the trail, it's day two all alone for vp candidate paul ryan as he tries to convert the positive republican reaction to this election into votes. ryan will campaign in colorado after spending yesterday at the iowa state fair. it's his first taste of being all alone on the stump and big stage. he got a largely friendly welcome but wasn't all smooth sailing. he was followed by several hecklers and a few were hauled off by iowa state police. it wasn't that bad. eric erickson was among the first that suggested paul ryan be mitt romney's pick, very active on twitter, i follow you and love your tweets. great to talk to you. let me ask your reaction to both christie giving the key note and now learning marco rubio will be giving the introduction to mitt

romney. what do you think of these slots at the convention? >> i think the republican national convention is going to be very carefully orchestrated. they want to put their best foot forward. competing with a incumbent president. getting chris christie who is popular with the base and marco rubio popular with independents to introduce mitt romney helps them build mitt rom nigneromney likability. >> is it safe to say you're more excited about paul ryan as the vice presidential nominee than mitt romney as the nominee? >> yes, absolutely. i think paul ryan was a good pick. mitt romney wasn't my favorite. he's the nominee i'm supporting but paul ryan does a better job articulating why we should support free markets and why we should trust the american people to live their lives than mitt romney has been able to do since the primary.

he has a hard time talking about such's and his success. but paul ryan doesn't have that problem. >> mitt romney has been asked repeatedly yesterday on the stump about what his difference might be with paul ryan's medicare plan and budget plan. i want to listen to a little sound what he said when asked to ee numrate. >> we're on the same page as i said before. we want to get america on track to a balanced budget. there may be -- we'll look at the differences. well the items we agree on outweigh any differences. we haven't gone through piece by piece. i can't imagine any two people who exactly the same positions on all issues. >> i guess i have three questions here. first of all, was that a politically astute response and do you think there should be space between mitt romney and

paul ryan and do you think romney should embrace the ryan plan? should romney have been more prepared with the question. didn't look like he was ready with an answer there. >> it sounds very much like the response you get from democrats and republicans who haven't actually read the paul ryan plan. i'm sure there are differences between the two but to his credit, paul ryan has a plan, neither barack obama nor mitt romney have a plan with the specificity. paul ryan has a 90-plan outline and something neither the president or mitt romney have had. when you bring paul ryan on the ticket, a guy who the democrats in 2011 were already running commercials with a paul ryan lookalike shoving a grandmother off a cliff, you can't distance yourself from that. i personally thought it was a bad move on the romney's campaign part, on the day the ryan candidacy was announced and send out a bullet point, are we

embracing ryan's plan, say mitt romney has his own plan. one, it's not in writing and paul ryan has embraced his plan. >> thank you so much for joining us. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> it is three minutes past the hour. president obama and democrats doing everything they can to link mitt romney to paul ryan's controversial house budget plan. the president made an unscheduled stop at the iowa state fair and passed up s cinnamon rolls for a pork chop and beer. >> this is $2,000 to give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. let me just see a show of hands. how many folks are making more than $3 million a year.

okay, this guy back here. i'm looking for a campaign contribution. >> the president continues campaigning in iowa while mitt romney's bus tour makes three stops in ohio. a deserved honor for candy crowley. she's been named moderator of the second presidential debate becoming the first woman in two decade to be chosen for this prestigious role. it will take place tuesday, october 16th, at hoster university in hem psted new york. the commission picked her and and they are splitting the debate duties between men and women. and this is the first time that's happened in these presidential debates. and in the next half hour on "early start," we'll be joined by congressman fill gingrey, a medical doctor and big believer in paul ryan's plan for medicare. he's going to explain why. the latest in the trayvon

martin shooting case. attorneys for george zimmerman doing everything they can to get the judge tossed off this case. they've already asked seminole judge lester to step down and he refused and they filed an appeal to have him removed. in the wake of jerry sandusky child sex abuse cover-up. penn state university has been warned that its acreditation is in jeopardy. they ak credit schools in the mid-atlantic and asked penn state to submit a report by the end of this month detailing the steps it is taking to comply with standards on leadership and governance as well as integrity. the man of a mother suspected in a deadly shootout says her son was ill. police shot him after he allegedly killed two people just blocks from the campus. a law enforcement officer serving an eviction notice was killed along with an innocent

bystanding. a alabama woman is expected to make a full recovery escaping injury after losing control of her car and plunging 40 feet off a bridge. rescue workers got to 39-year-old melissa morris sunday afternoon, holding her afloat in the water until a boat could arrive and bring her to shore. police say morris was going too fast when she lost control of the car and flipped over the side of that bridge. a few more seconds had passed, police say she might have gone under with her ford mustang convertible. that's scary moments for that woman. discovery for the ages, the lost per mids of egypt found with a tool we probably all used on the web. that story coming up. >> how do you lose a pyramid? they are pretty bi >> we're going to find out. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb

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welcome back, it is ten minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. >> two separate fires, one big headache in northern california. more than 5,000 acres have burned in lake county, california. three subdivisions were under mandatory evacuation orders including close to 500 homes in long valley and spring valley. people in wilbur hot springs were told to leave their homes. evacuation orders were lifted last night in spring valley. one of the fires destroyed three structures. one firefighter was injured. meteorologist rob marciano is following conditions in the western united states. we also understand we have excessive heat warnings out there. >> that's not helping, you get temperatures in the triple digits this time of year, that

gets us into the peak of fire season. 59 large uncontained fires right now across the west, especially the intermountain west and inland valleys of california. north of napa valley and northwest of sacramento as well. 20 to 35% containment with these but they have to deal with heat today. no critical fire danger, winds will be sporadic, more gusty across the northern mountain west, including western montana. the desert southwest including so cal will be hot today. 81egrees in chicago. the past five days, chicago has been below average for temperatures. that hasn't happened since fall of last year. bump it up a couple more degrees today. as we get towards the weekend, we sink into a cooler than average scenario for parts of the central part of the country. that's good enough for the drought. not a whole lot of rain.

rain from new york, d.c. back through erie. some of that could be severe. some of the thunderstorms firing up across the area right now. just garden type showers and thunderstorms but later on in the afternoon, she's could get more active, including parts of the southeast, where atlanta is getting into the act as far as some boomers are concerned. keep your eye for the storms heading towards the big apple later today, guys. >> thank you very much, rob. >> it is 13 minutes after the hour. the top stories of the morning, new jersey governor chris christie tapped to deliver the key note address at the republican national convention. he's already working on the fourth draft of the speech and americans should expect direct and hard truths when they heard it. paul ryan heads to denver today for the second day of solo campaigning. he'll head to las vegas tonight for a campaign rally and private

fundraiser at the ven eegs hotel. he was heckled at the iowa state fair and protesters tried to climb on the stage but they were removed from the police as you're seeing there. >> space age technology and archeologist think she discovered the locations of some of egypt's lost pyramids. and she did it using google earth. the two sites stand 90 miles apart, one includes a triangular platte toe and scientists are looking to see if they should examine them further. >> wow. that's very cool looking. happy birthday to arguably the world's most famous toy. lego turned 80 years old. did you play with legos? >> i still play with legos. >> because you have 5-year-old twin boys. otherwise you wouldn't, would you? >> i don't know. >> plastic colored stacking

bricks, lego is the third largest manufacturer of play materials. there are many grown men who play with legos and women. >> it's a thank you lego because you occupy hours of my day every day. >> you have legos in your office, don't you? >> i do. >> like a boy scott, a seasoned traveler should be prepared. here's alison kosik with items you might want to add to your bag. >> the good thing about these are, you don't have to spend money and if you do, they only cost a few dollars. budget travel magazine is recommending packing a multisokt power strip in your carry-on. just like this. see how small it is? you can ask someone to share a multioutlet with your strip. you can plug electronics into one place making it easier to keep track of them. i hate running around the room.

>> or leaving one behind. >> what happens if you have a wardrobe malfunction on the road. travel experts say duct tape and safety pins work in a pinch. they can be patched with duct tape or reuse it to remove lint or pet hair. if you're missing a button or zipper pull, use a safety pin. another item you shouldn't leave home without, according to budget travel magazine is a travel mug with the secure screw top. it's a great hiding spot for valuables if your hotel room doesn't have a safe or place for sunglasses. you can always fill the cup up with your favorite drink, coffee, whisky. >> your sunglasses smell like coffee -- >> you wash the mug. >> i didn't know that was an option. duct tape is the most useful tool on planet earth. >> i remove lint off my clothes with it. >> great travel locations. >> girl scout. >> and luckily you're going to be back because it's your money

but managing it from afar is far from free. banks of every shape and size going up. details coming up. for an expanded look at the top stories head to cnn.com/early start. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more [ russian accent ] rubles. eh, eheh, eh, eh. [ brooklyn accent ] 50% more simoleons. [ western accent ] 50% more sawbucks. ♪ [ maine accent ] 50% more clams. it's a lobster, either way. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. with a 50% annual cash bonus, it's the card for people who like more cash. [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet? and sounds vying for your attention.

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robert pattinson will ring the opening bell. he is promoting his new movie. >> he's all over our show today. >> he's all the talk. after that we're expecting to see stocks movehigher and investors are betting july retail sales will rise, a good sign for the economy. >> also rising bank fees. a.t.m. fees, service fees, the list goes on and on. alison kosik, why is this? >> it's one more reason why we love to hate the banks, don't we? a big shocker here, it's more expensive to have a checking account. i guess you didn't need me telling you that. money rates.com looked at more than 100 banks and variety of fees they are charging and guess what they found. they found fees went up in every single category. for one monthly service fees are averaging $12 a month, $145 a year you're paying. if you have a paycheck direct

deposited, you get a discount. the minimum balance, jumped to $4,436, overdraft fees, a.t.m. fees also up. also, just to open a checking account you need more money, a bigger minimum balance. they are doing this because there's a new law that went into effect that limtits the amount from swipe fees. banks usually take a portion of the retailer fee and they can't do as much as they used to so they are trying to make up the revenue. as much as we hate the banks, they are a business just like any other. not like i'm defending the banks. >> they are a business, we need them. >> we can't afford them. >> don't be afraid to go small. smaller banks aren't getting hard with the wall street reforms and less likely to charge as many fees and consider getting a checking account by an online bank and credit unions

are still a good bet. a good portion of credit unions still offer accounts without monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. the one down fall is you don't have that convenience. if you're at bank of america, you can go pretty much anywhere and find one. convenience is a big factor, you have to weigh what's most important for you. >> what's the one thing we need to know. >> one thing you need to know today, know your banking style. if you overdraft a lot. pick a bank with lower overdraft fees. if you keep a low balance, pick a bank that doesn't require a minimum. if you know your limits, you can balance your charmgz. >> i switched banks when i moved from chicago to new york and i was shocked at the balances i had to keep in my account. you have to shop around. thank you, alison. 6:23 on the east coast. the most comfortable rides on the road might not be the safest. luxury cars crashed on purpose

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trying to play to seniors. >> sliced apples at the center of a listeria scare. a voluntary recall in effect for 36 states. from new york to london in under an hour. a test flight today could be the first step in making that a reality for you. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's a big week on the campaign trail, the first on the trail for paul ryan and the battle over medicare he is raging. the significant issue really is his budget and in it is a controversial plan to convert medicare into a system that provides subsidies or vouchers, to purchase private insurance or stay in the current medicare plan and it would not affect current seniors but start with people under 55. both sides are predicting doom and gloom if the other party takes control. >> if mitt romney and paul ryan became president and vice

president of the united states, they would be able to end the medicare guarantee, shred the health care safety net it provided for years. >> it's ryan and romney who protect senior citizens. >> they have a different plan, a very different radical plan, which will lead to the end of medicare. >> he stole $700 billion from medicare to fund obama care. if any person in this entire debate has blood on their hands in regard to medicare, it's barack obama. >> a lot of charges being flung around here and there. we're joined by congressman phil gingrey, a republican from georgia and supporter of romney and chair of the gop doctors caucus. congressman gingrey, there is a lot of discussion about the so-called ryan plan. he is the number two person on the ticket. number one is mitt romney and he was asked about the differences

between his own medicare plan and that of paul ryan. let's listen to what he said. >> i'm sure there are places that my budget is different than his, but we're on the same page as i said before. we want to get america on track to a balanced budget. we'll look at the differences. >> the items we agree on, i think outweigh any differences there may be. we haven't gone through piece by piece and said here's a place there's a difference. i can't imagine any two people, even in the same party who have exactly the same positions on all issues. >> so congressman, what are the differences between the two plans and would you like to see mitt romney give a more full some embrace of the ryan plan? >> there may be subtle differences in their plan. it's the same game plan, even though you may have a different center fielder. the straw that stirs the drink amitt romney and paul ryan will

be the vice president. they'll tweak around the edges but it's essentially a similar plan, and that is that you face up to the reality of the entitlement items going off a cliff. that's what the house republican budget has done for last two years. we know democrats have no plan and no budget for the last three and a half years. i'm so happy about the choice of paul ryan as mitt romney's running mate. >> i was talking to a couple of democratic strategists overnight who were not actually affiliated with the obama campaign and in some cases they are running races where they are positioning their democrats in opposition to the president. but they do say that the so-called ryan plan is like from heaven from them. they are running against it hard and plan to put new ads up as soon as they can. the democrats see this as a winning issue for them. are they wrong? zpl they are absolutely wrong.

this running from reality is not going to get it from the american people. the american people understand the cbo has said it and medicare trustees have said it, medicare is insolve vent by 2022 and totally irresponsible to ignore that reality and create this new entitlement program called the affordable care act, unaffordable care act, obama care. they gutted the medicare program of $720 billion to create a new entitlement program for the young. when we were marking that up in committee, i had an amend that said, any medicare savings it goes back into medicare and the democrats led by waxman and pelosi, they rejected that. didn't want to save medicare. >> one of things ryan suggested over the years, all but limiting medicare and replacing it with a voucher system. >> premium support is not

voucher. a voucher you hand money to a senior and say, go find your health care. this would be run by the medicare trustees by cms committee on medicare and medicaid services and the money would stay there. and the premium support would be more for someone who comes into medicare with preexisting conditions and increase as a senior ages. and last but not least, it is the ryan democratic senator's plan and strictly voluntarily. if a senior wants to stay on the program, a fee for service traditional medicare, they can and will do that. in fact, they will be required essentially to do that if they are over age 55 or already on the medicare program. >> congressman, there's a great deal of enthusiasm over the weekend. pictures were terrific from the campaign trail. a lot of people were a little surprised to see polls that came out yesterday which talked about the relative enthusiasm in the voting public for the paul ryan pick and i want to read you

some. according to usa today gallup, only 39% rate it excellent pretty good. 42% vote it only fair and 43% it's say it's only fair or poor. don't you need these independents and if paul ryan is not helping among them, aren't you in trouble? >> it would indicate at this point in time the democrats are doing a pretty good job of continuing to scare seniors. but the only poll that really matters as you know, john, that poll on november the 6th and we get the final count. we're going to have a 45th president, not going to be a repeat of the 44th failed presidency with he put an additional $5 trillion on the debit side of the ledger and 42 months, 43 months straight of unemployment above 8%. this is a failed president. the american public are not going to accept that.

we need a bold plan and honesty with the american people. that's what they have not gotten from barack obama. >> congressman gingrey, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> it is 34 minutes after the hour and it's 7:00 a.m. eastern. soledad o'brien will be joined by john sununu, give us his take on chris christi e giving the key note address. a new crash test, too tough for luxury cars. eight models flunked a frontal crash test by the insurance institute for highway safety. the test mimics the most dangerous kind of front end impact, when the car hits another object such as a tree or pole. the mercedes bens and lexus 350

and audia 4 are in the worst rating. some diced or sliced apples sold as mcdonald's and grocery stores across the country have been recalled over listeria concerns. the voluntary recall affects 36 states and d.c., it was found in equipment, ulsed by the supplier for ready pack. it can cause fever, nausea or diarrhea and could be life threatening. no reports of anyone getting sick as of now. where does your state stack up in the battle, 26 of 30 states with the highest obesity levels are in the midwest and the south. the worst offenders, mississippi followedly louisiana then west virginia. the study found the leanest state is colorado with hawaii second and massachusetts third.

a baseball legend and hero in my hometown has died. johnny pesky was part of the red sox organization for 60 years, a player, manager and broadcaster. so much a part of the red sox, the right field foul pole is named the pesky pole in his honor. he had six past that. johnny pesky was 92 years old. >> five minute test flight today could actually change history. coming up, how the wave rider, an experiment, could impact the future of air travel.

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five minutes going five times the speed of sound, that's what engineers are hoping to achieve with the flight of a hyper sonic unmanned aircraft called the wave rider. it's fast enough to fly from new york to london in less than an hour. if it is successful, it could usher in the next generation of missiles, military aircraft and space craft and even passenger planes we understand. barbara starr is following the developments. barbara, five times the speed of sound. walk us through this. >> 4500 miles an hour, zoraida, if it all works. science fiction comes home. it really does. this is the wave rider 51-a, according to the u.s. air force, that's what they are calling it. later this morning, the air force will fly this converted b-52 off the coast of california and drop this from a wing. it's an unmanned vehicle. it's basically and test article. they are going to try to fly it for 300 seconds and see if they

can make all of this work. you know, why is it so important to the military other than its totally cool? because it has real applications, of course. if you can turn this kind of propulsion technology into a missile, you can put weapons on target around the world within minutes. if it becomes a cargo plane, put troops on board. fly them to a hot spot in perhaps an hour or just even less than that. what does that give you? it gives you the ability to be there before the enemy can react. that's why it's of such military importance to see if it can work and if they can turn it into a passenger plane, we get there faster, don't we. >> as we're looking at it, it's not really a plane but it's a technology you're talking about that could perhaps be used for future travel, is that right? >> that's exactly right. what they are really doing, the pentagon likes to use the phrase

test article. this is an unmanned thing that has the propulsion technology demonstration on board that they want to see if they can make work that begin to see can this achieve flight at these huge altitudes at these speeds. can they fly it for 300 seconds? that's what this test is all about. this is really just the beginning step. a demonstration, if you will. you and i are talking about, if they can take it all the way and really make it work and turn it into something, but baby steps right now. but what baby steps they are. >> is it an expensive test? do you know? >> well, you know, there's some analysts have looked at it and estimate the program itself was costing about $140 million. by all accounts, no. but you know, if this can be the first step to the kind of revolution that you're talking about, well, then it could be worth it. >> kind of pays for itself in the long run, right?

>> barbara starr, thank you for that. >> sure. >> really cool pictures there. soledad o'brien joins us with a look at what's ahead. >> good morning, ahead on quts starting poirnt, the presidential race shifts into high gear with the candidates wasting no time, trading jabs on medicare and the economy. is mitt romney's new running mate holding his own out there? we have all of political angles covered we'll talk to the senior romney campaign adviser john sununu and david axelrod will be our guest as well. cnn's chief political correspondent candy crowley, she's been named a presidential debate moderator, first woman in 20 years. we'll chat with her. also debate coach brett o'donnell will be back with us and we'll talk to him about strategy. another guy who knows about prerk you are is the olympic gold medal diver, david boudia. did you know he has a fear of heights? >> it's amazing.

>> how stunning is that? we'll talk about how he could get over that fear and be successful. you know him from "man versus food" adam richman stops by to taste test the best sandwiches in america. you can catch us at the top of the hour in roughly 15 minutes. we'll see you then when "starting point" gets under way. >> there is more fallout in penn state over the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal. involves more than the football program. we'll explain coming up.

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welcome back. 48 minutes past the hour.

>> so glad you're with us. chris christie has been picked to deliver the key note address at the republican national convention. and he says america should expect direct and hard truths, telling "usa today" he's already on the fourth draft of his speech and will focus on more why to pick romney. trying to get a new judge in the trayvon martin case. they asked judge lester to spep down but he refused. zimmerman lawyers claim judge lef lester cannot be impartial after revoking their client's bail. 35-year-old thomas koppel was fatally shot after he allegedly killed two people. police say a law enforcement officer was one of those killed. he was serving an eviction notice at a home when the suspect started shooting.

residents getting out. hundreds of firefighters going in. more than 5,000 acres have burned in lake county, california. three subdivisions under mandatory evacuation orders, is

most buzzable politician on facebook, beating out president obama and his running mate, mitt romney. why is ryan at the top? part of the decision-making process is based on the increase in chatter. positive and negative about ryan on facebook and as well as the number who have liked ryan's facebook page, 575,000 people as we speak right now have liked his page in the last couple of days. to give you some perspective, ryan is just one point below what michael phelps reached on the same scale when he -- >> no way. >> amazing when he became the most decorated olympian of all time. you know, zoraida, ryan's facebook page not only grew to over 575,000, it grew to this number in just a few days, ever since saturday when he was first announced. >> in this partnership that we

have with facebook, can they actually look at the demographics and let us know whether or not he is galvanizing the youth vote? that's something we haven't been talking about. >> they can. we'll dig deeper into the public analysis of this data, this public data on facebook. the average age of the person who liked president obama was 28 years old. mitt romney was 46 years old. look at that right there. paul ryan, 43 years old. zoraida. the question is, can he, he being paul ryan, help with the youth vote. right now it's not necessarily showing that but let's look a gender as we have it on screen. it's pretty much sit down the middle for obama and romney, look at this, 63% of ryan's fans are men, while 37% are women, zoraida. >> that is fascinating information. john is sitting here wanting to chime in. >> that's really interesting.

>> mark preston, we appreciate it. >> thanks. >> it's 53 minutes after the hour. we're going to get the best advice you can ever get. today it's dished out by well known chef and restaurant man, marcus samuelsson. his best advice coming up. the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service

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it is just a few minutes before the hour.

as always, we're going to wrap up the show with best advice. >> today we hear from swedish born chef marcus samuelsson. take a look. >> my best advice that i received is from my father, he didn't know cooking in the industry but he always knew to work hard and had to be a team player and listen to my chef. yes, chef. and be passionate, that's what he did, took himself from being a fisherman boy to become a geologe geeologist and ph.d.. he didn't know cooking but new the art of hard work and passion and being a good guy. >> his father was a geologist. >> when you can take your passion and turn it into a job, that's golden. >> and especially when it's a good restaurant. that's "early start." i'm john berman.

>> i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> welcome, our starting point this morning, it is confirmed, the gop rising star, chris christie will be delivering the key note address at the republican national convention in two weeks. in jeopardy, the organization that acredits penn state has put the university on warning status. record breaker, 17-foot long, 1 foot wide monster python discovered in the florida everglades, 87 fertilized eggs are inside. packed show ahead from the political arena, senior adviser to the obama campaign, david axelrod will join us live. from the romney campaign, john sununu and candy crowley will be first female moderator in 20 years. plus, olympic gold medal diver,