top five ridiculist crimes all week. number three airs tomorrow night. you can still vote for your favorite at ac360.com. that does it for this edition of "360." thanks for watching. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com no holds barred. the vice president sparks what might be the nastiest attacks yet in the race for the white house. too close for comfort. an explosion detonated just outside a hotel housing u.n. monitors in syria. the american west in flames. look at this. fire crews struggle to contain more than 60 blazes. those are burning right now. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." thanks for being with us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. just when you thought the race for the white house couldn't get any nastier, it did.

mitt romney now claiming that president obama is, quote, angry and desperate, intellectually exhausted and a, quote, disgrace. the white house firing back suggesting the former massachusetts governor is coming, quote, unhinged. it was vice president joe biden who lit this fuse on this latest firestorm. listen to what he said about romney in southern virginia yesterday. keep in mind, hundreds of african-americans were in the crowd. >> he said in the first 100 days he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they're going to put you all back in chains. >> that comment got romney and the republicans all riled up. and biden had to jump right back in later and do some damage control. take a listen. >> another outrageous charge just came a few hours ago in virginia. and the white house sinks a little bit lower. his campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless

accusations that disgrace the office of the presidency. >> if you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies. and the effects of their policies on middle-class america. that's what's outrageous! >> so are you feeling the love? cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live in washington. paul ryan was supposed to lift the level of rhetoric in this campaign. we're three or four days later. hasn't really happened yet. >> paul ryan's name as mitt romney's running mate has changed the makeup of this campaign. it is a choice election now. before it was a referendum on barack obama. that is true. what hasn't changed is the nasty rhetoric. the biden comment getting a lot of play yesterday. pushback from mitt romney and his campaign. rick santorum who ran a pretty tough campaign against mitt romney in the republican primaries but now is somewhat of

a surrogate, he was on piers morgan last night. take a listen. >> the way he said it, put you all back in chains, that to an audience that was, you know, a lot of african-americans in that audience, that's -- that's just -- that's just the kind of stuff that you would expect from -- from a campaign that has played special interest politics more than any campaign in the history of this country. >> you know, the candidate himself, governor romney, also reacted. you played a little bit of that sound from ohio last night. he went on to say mr. president, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to chicago. as you mentioned, the obama campaign responding, saying that mitt romney had become unhinged. they also pointed out, wait a minute. isn't mitt romney putting a lot of negative ads out there and pouring millions of dollars into it? both sides laying it on. we asked in a poll, what do you think? is one side more negative than the other? americans are divided. they don't think either campaign is more negative than the other. i guess they're getting used to

very, very nasty talk. >> the president was in iowa yesterday on the stump. a lot of people including me, frankly, were surprised he weighed in on the issue of shamus. the old romney family dog. subject of late night comedy for years now. the president went there. let's take a listen. >> during a speech a few months ago governor romney even explained his energy policy. this is twha he said. he said you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. that's what he said about wind power. you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. i mean, maybe he's tried it. he's put other things on the roof. >> you know, he had a smile when he said it. still, that's the president making a shamus joke, paul. >> you know, not only is it once, twice, three times. three different stops in iowa yesterday he did it. used a different variation of that line. of course, he's talking about the story of shamus the dog, romney family dog. they took a family trip.

put the dog in a crate and put it on top in the roof of the car. it came up in the 2008 campaign. there you go, the president talking about that. it seems everything is fair game in this campaign. whether that's good or bad, i'll let the voters decide. >> we haven't even hit the conventions yet. paul steinhauser in washington, thanks very much. five minutes past the hour. president obama and the first lady will speak at two campaign stops, that's in iowa today, before they return to the white house. vice president biden attends a rally at virginia tech. mitt romney spends a day fundraising in north carolina and alabama. paul ryan heads to ohio for a campaign rally at miami university. >> his alma mater, by the way. moving on, the west, it's burning. a pair of fires in lake county north of san francisco has already torched 7,000 acres. three buildings have been destroyed or damaged. nearly 500 homes are threatened. in washington state, the national guard has been activated. more than 60 homes have been burned and at least 900 people have been forced to evacuate

because of a fire in the central part of the state that's now charred 28,000 acres and counting. this morning there are 62 mostly uncontained fires raging in idaho, nevada, utah, washington state and california. and in idaho, a firefighter was killed. >> wow. take a look at that map. let's go right over to rob marciano. this is just unrelenting. >> you notice something about that map. obviously the intermountain west. we had very little snow this year. without that snow pack you've got not a whole lot of runoff and very dry land. that's part of the reason. the heat as well. good morning again, guys. we're looking at red flag warnings across the intermountain west in spots including the pacific northwest as well. temperatures there 90s. winds gusty at times. here are some of the record highs we continue to see especially across the desert southwest and southern california. needles seeing 117. phoenix another record high of 113. redding, california, 112. that's where some of those fires are burning. we do expect to see similar numbers today.

along the immediate shoreline, it's cool. that's the deal. you go into the inland valleys including the i-9 corridor from eugene up through seattle, next couple days they're going to see temperatures that will approach in some cases 100 degrees. that's going to cause a threat for fires in those areas as well. we do have video out of sage, california. a number of fires. there's one in northern california that where actually they jumped fire lines. this one in southern california. one burning in the joshua tree national forest as well. up and down the western coastline we're seeing some of this action. also should point out, guys, severe thunderstorms potentially across the western great lakes today and the extreme eastern coastline. we'll talk more later about a potential cooldown in the midwest. cooldown. that would be nice. >> some people will enjoy that, actually. thank you very much, rob. all right. seven minutes after the hour right now. unrelenting violence in syria. syrian state tv reporting an explosive device on a diesel

tanker detonated behind a hotel housing u.n. monitors in da m damasc damascus. the monitors are safe. this west nile virus is out of control. a state of emergency after the nation's worst outbreak of west nile virus. 16 people have died in texas. nearly 200 have been infected with west nile. health officials say an unusually warm winter and rainy spring in the dallas/ft. worth area have made it an ideal breeding ground for mosquitos. >> it is getting really bad down there. you have to take a look at this. a plane pileup on the runway at nashville international airport. you don't see this very much. >> that's something you don't want to see. >> investigators trying to figure out how these two private jets collided on the runway and one ended up on top of the other. our affiliate wtvf says no passengers were on board and no one was hurt. luckily. >> no kidding. you feeling lucky this morning? >> always. >> good. you might want to play the power ball. the multistate power ball

jackpot is growing. it now stands at $320 million. of course, it could very well keep climbing. the big drawing happens tonight. we'll have more power ball fever in a live report in about 25 minutes. what are you chances of winning, right? we always, they're just so poor. there's actually an interesting spin on this. we're going to share that with you. >> after the big craze this may, i'm surprised people are still buying. nine minutes past the hour right now. an attempted robbery at the home of the late steve jobs. foiled, get this, with the help of apple technology. that's what the police say. we'll tell you how coming up. with the spark cash card from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back

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welcome back to "early start." it is 12 minutes past the hour. they're already lining up in houston, texas. you're looking at pictures from outside the mexican consulate where today young illegal immigrants there and across the country will begin their quest for a temporary reprieve from deportation. they can aply for a two-year deferral under a program put in place by the obama administration. immigration officials are expecting a flood of applications. we spoke with a student here in new york city about the reprieve and how it could change his life. >> rorter: more much of antonio's life, his parents have gone missing. >> i live most of my life without them. >> reporter: they left him in mexico at the age of 6 to work illegally in the united states.

they brought him across a desert to the united states at 11. but then they were forced to go back for good. >> i stay here. i think i have better future in education in the united states than mexico. >> reporter: to this day he feels he made the right decision. now 17, he is one of as many as 1.7 million illegal immigrants who today became eligible for a two-year break from prosecution according to the pew hispanic research cent zbler. >> this is not amnesty. this is not immunity. this is not a path to citizenship. it's not a permanent fix. >> reporter: the election year executive order helping the so-called dream act kids came even as the obama administration deported record numbers of immigrants. >> obama has deported more people than any other president in this country's history. >> reporter: even as he is under attack from conservatives for being too soft. >> because an executive order, of course, is a short-term matter. it can be reversed by subsequent

presidents. >> reporter: the new immigration rules also allow the students to apply for u.s. work permits. >> we have profound unemployment levels, structural problems in the labor market. and now all of the sudden right before the election, he's claiming this newfound authority to virtually -- allow virtually limitless numbers of people to come in. >> reporter: why do you deserve to be here? >> well, i think i contribute to this country. we pay -- i'm going to pay taxes next year. so i think i'm part of this country, too. >> reporter: once his papers are processed and approved, he can visit his parents in mexico. what do you miss the most about your mom and your dad. >> for example, graduation they weren't here for me to be there. i was part of student government. i was on the stage. they weren't there to see me, like, be one of the business students in the city. >> reporter: the next time he sees them, he will be just starting college. >> for this young man and for all of the kids yesterday that i visited at that place here, it

was in queens, you know, they've made a huge sacrifice. they're working really hard in order to get some rights. that paperwork that was supposed to be released today actually got released early while we were there. these kids were crying, hugging each other. because for them it means hope. the big question here remains if there's a new administration come november, what does it mean for them then? >> but they're all looking at this as a life changing moment. >> it is. but it's a daunting process. i have to tell you. the paperwork was five pages with a six-page explanation on how to fill it out. that is so that they could stay here in the country legally. on top of that you have to fill out the paperwork in order to be able to work in this country. it's quite a process. some people are saying that it could be bad because now they're going to be able to track you. they're going to know exactl where you live and they're going to know you're in this country illegally. in our next hour at 6:40 eastern we'll talk with illinois congressman luis gutierrez, democratic chair of the congressional hispanic caucus immigration task force. we're going to ask him tough

questions about this. he'll rallying the troops and saying come out and fill out this paperwork. should they, is the question. >> it is now 16 minutes after the hour. we want to get you up to speed on some of the other headlines. presidential politics taking a nasty turn. it started yesterday with vice president biden saying republicans would, quote, unchain wall street and put voters back in chain. he said this in front of a largely african-american crowd. mitt romney calling that remark outrageous and a disgrace to the office of the presidency. biden returned fire later on saying what's really outrageous is rom romney's policies. >> police on new york's long island are investigating, look at this, an explosion that destroyed a home. it also killed an 18-month-old boy. it sent 14 others to the hospital. there's nothing left of that two-story house in the suffolk county community of brentwood. police and firefighters have been sifting through all of the rubble. they are trying to determine a cause. investigators say there are no natural gaslines in that area. but 200-pound propane tanks were

found right outside the home. seven people were inside when it blew up including that little toddler. >> house completely gone. >> horrible. more bad news for chad ocho cinco johnson. his wife of six weeks is filing for divorce after johnson allegedly head butted her last weekend which led to his arrest. vh1 pulled the plug on the couple's reality show after the altercation. the miami dolphins released johnson. in a statement he apologized for the recent events that have occurred and says, quote, i would like to wish evelyn well and will never say anything bad about her because i love her to death. i will continue to be positive and train hard for another opportunity in the nfl. apple has been granted a major tv patent. it will allow apple tv viewers to use a cable box to watch both regular and cable channels as well as recording programs. it could significantly boost the popularity of apple tv whose greatest asset has been connecting with apple devices.

all right. 18 minutes after the hour. we're getting an early look at your local papers and the headlines making news around the country. we were just talking about apple. in palo alto where steve jobs had his house, his house was burglarized. there's a suspect in custody. 35-year-old kareem mcfar land entered the home last month in palo alto. it was empty. no people were inside. but he walk aid way with $60,000 worth of loot. ipods, iphones, macs, ipads. even steve jobs' wallet which only had $1 in it. police caught this guy because he allegedly tried to go online on the internet with some of the devices he found in the house. the police nabbed him. >> he actually gave one of the ipads to his daughter. a special story. all right. another one for you. a homeowner in connecticut realizes she's being billed for electricity used to power street lights right near her home. and that she has been paying for it for 25 years.

this story courtesy of wtnh. her name is grace edwards. and she realized that, you know, there was this error because she was selling her home. looking through everything. noticed i'm paying more than i need to. she contacted the power company. they did nothing. she contacted media. apparently media did nothing for her. she contacted a third party who in two days solved this problem. get this. more than $10,000 she had overpaid. moral of the story. check your light bill very, very carefully. >> check all your bims very carefully. >> unbelievable. >> you never know what they're sneaking in there. >> she was persistent, though, which i like about her. >> 10,000 bucks. hope she uses it well. for an expanded look at our top stories head to our blog, c cnn.com/earlystart. people show their confidence in the economy not on wall street. they show it at the mall. what the latest sales figures say about the recovery. that is coming up. [ male announcer ] when this hotel added aflac to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ]

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minding your business this morning. stocks are set for a slightly lower open. although futures are close to the flat line. things could easily turn around. a new report on inflation could impact trading today. >> ready for some good news? good news on the economy? americans are shopping again. cnn's poppy harlow is in for christine romans. why is this so important? >> because what we spend, consumer spending is two-thirds of our gdp. our growth. it's really the driver, the economic engine of us getting back on track. what we know now is that in july

things turned around. you're spending more at the mall, on cars, et cetera. retail sales rose for the first time in four months. it shows that the u.s. economy is rebounding a bit in the face of all the troubles in europe. what it also shows is the fed may step back because we had a good jobs report in july as well, relatively good. they may say we don't necessarily need more stimulus at this point in time. that's going to be important out of their september meeting. this is only one month's data. we can't read too much into it. but it is a shift. what we all spend is very important to this economy turning around. it's a little bit of good news. michael kors, interesting tidbit, seeing luxury doing well. michael kors just went public in december. their sales were extreme lly go. earnings nearly tripled. luxury dng well. ralph lauren, saks, et cetera. little tidbit. luxury doing better than others. >> we're learning a lot every day about paul ryan, vp pick for the republican party. one of the things i'm hearing, he's good at the stock market thing.

>> he's very good. what we got is this disclosure. every congressman has to put out. 2011 disclosure. we know what he held in 2011. a lot of blue chips. very interesting investments he's done very well at. home depot up 30%. didn't buy lowe's. apple up 56%. amazon up 35%. wells fargo, priceline.com. i think some of the most interesting things are he owns nike. he woe heknow he's a workout ph. he owns mcdonald's. he owns some berkshire hathaway stock, the company founded by warren buffett. he doesn't like the buffett rule. he doesn't like buffett telling people to pay more in taxes. just from tidbits, he's done really well. in the story it's pointed out there's not a paul ryan ticker in there, the ticker is available. if the vp thing doesn't work out. >> a lot of people would be following him. 26 minutes after the hour right now.

he admits he's not politically correct. but the congressal candidate once known as joe the plumber, he may have crossed the line this time withomething he said. we'll let you be the judge, coming up. vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around

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do you feel lucky? the power ball jackpot growing every minute. $320 million and counting. >> john berman says, that's not much money. the final chapter in the exxon valdez saga. the infamous oil tanker from the '80s meets its end. come on down! "the price is right" is looking for a few good men where only

women have gone before. >> are you going to go? they're looking for a few good men. >> i don't measure up to that. that's not me. welcome back to "early start." half past the hour. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida samsambolin. tonight's power ball jackpot spelling to $320 million. stoking players' wildest fantasies. how about yours? jason carroll is asking ticket buyers that very question. what would you do with all the money? you know what i want to know? where do i buy the winning ticket? >> you can buy a winning ticket here where we are. seven-11 in times square. we saw a lot of folks out here yesterday trying to cash in on their dreams, buying tickets, trying to do what they can. using whatever strategies that they may have to pick numbers. but, you know, the distinction of luckiest states actually does not fwo go to new york. that distinction goes to indiana and wisconsin. indiana with 46 winners in the past. wisconsin, 41 winners. that's not stopping new yorkers from coming out, trying to buy

tickets. listen to what some of them have to say about what they would do with the money. >> what i really want to do is travel. i want to travel to all the countries in the world. you know, so when i got my money, it's going to be hard to find me, you know. >> the biggest thing, i guess a nice -- nice car. luxurious car. maybe a mercedes or a jaguar. you know, get a limousine. i don't know. >> quit my job. yeah. not that i don't like -- i like my yjob. hello, boss. but you have to. >> reporter: what would you do with the money? would you keep your job? would you still keep working? i don't know. i don't know if i'd be doing live shots here at 5:30 in the morning if i win the power ball. just kidding. i'm kidding, i'm kidding, i'd kidding. i would. i would keep my job. >> his pockets are stuffed with tickets right now. overflowing. >> be careful what you say, mr. carroll. this could get you into trouble.

the megamillions last time was 600-some million. this is just $320 million. but it could keep growing. >> reporter: yeah. i mean, if there's no winner tonight, it is going to keep growing. without a doubt. so you can imagine how many more people are going to try and cash in on this. you have to talk about the odds here. when you get to the odds, what, it's 320 million? x number of people are playing. odds are 175 million to 1. i was just reading something. forget about those odds. i have just been reading that it's actually healthy to dream about winning and to dream about having money. so even if you don't win, it's a healthy dream to have, you know? >> wait a minute. i have something here that says that the odds aren't bad that players will win something. but those are 1 in 32. >> reporter: you know, you could win $4, zoraida. that might buy you a cup of coffee here in new york. >> you take the $4. i'll take the $320 million.

all right? >> jason, buy us some tickets while you're out there. >> reporter: i will. for sure. >> but we are coming back even if we win. >> as is jason. thank you. it is 33 minutes after the hour right now. we're talking politics and the race for the white house taking a decidedly nasty turn. mitt romney calling president obama angry and desperate and a disgrace. the white house is firing back suggesting the former massachusetts governor is becoming what they call unhinged. it was vice president biden who started this all. listen to what he said about romney and the republicans in southern virginia yesterday followed by romney's response. >> he said in the first 100 days he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they're going to put you all back in chains. >> another outrageous charge just came a few hours ago in virginia. and the white house sinks a little bit lower. his campaign and his surrogates

have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the presidency. >> it's important to note biden made those comments in front of a largely african-american audience. today president obama and the first lady will speak at two campaign stops in iowa before they return to the white house. vice president biden is still in virginia. he attends a rally at virginia tech. mitt romney, he'll be in north carolina and alabama for fundraisers. paul ryan heads to ohio for a campaign rally at his alma mater, miami university. the cast of the hbo series "the wire" will host an obama campaign fundraiser tonight on martha's vineyard. president obama will not attend the fundraiser. the president has said "the wire" about life on the streets in inner city baltimore is his favorite show. >> slightly different martha's vineyard thabaltimore where "the wire" was set. >> joe the plumber has his own unique solution to america's illegal immigration problem. some people call offensive. he's running for congress in ohio. he was attending a fundraiser in arizona saturday for a local

senate candidate when he stirred things up with this comment. >> for years, i've said, you know, put a damn fence on the border going to mexico and start shooting. i'm running for congress and shah should be a bad thing to say. but you know what? that's how i feel. i'm going to speak like i like to speak. >> he was asked if he'd like to retract the comments. he refused. >> linda mcmahon wins connecticut's primary. the former wwe wrestling executive. she'll take on democratic congressman chris murphy in november for the senate seat being vacated by the retiring joe lieberman. she ran unsuccessfully in 2010 for the state's other seat. george zimmerman's lawyer says florida's stand your ground law does not apply to his client. attorney mark o'mara now believes the killing of trayvon martin is just a basic self-defense case because he claims zimmerman never had the option to retreat from being

attacked. o'mara's now claiming his client is so poor he may have him declared indigent so the state will pick up the legal expenses. it may be fitting for a ship responsible for one of the worst oil spills in u.s. history. the exxon valdez is being dismantled and sold for scrap. back in 1989 the tanker spilled 11 million gallons of oil into alaska's prince william sound. it ended its sea bearing days caring ore. he was best known as the wisecracking sweat hog. ron palillo has died of an apparent heart attack. he was a shakespearian actor before hitting it big. 63 years of age. >> so young. all right. if you are a guy, listen up. >> i am a guy. >> you know how to showcase your good looks. how about that, mr. berman? maybe even a toaster.

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good morning to you. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. 42 minutes after the hour. overseas a blast absolutely rocking damascus. syrian state tv reporting an explosive device on a diesel tanker truck detonated behind a hotel housing u.n. monitors in the syrian capital. three people reportedly injured, but the monitors are said to be safe. then there's this. [ gunfire ] youtube video that reports to show the fight for a district of aleppo. cnn can't independently confirm this. the video was uploaded yesterday. it shows how intense the fighting has been lately in that neighborhood. senior international correspondent ben wedeman and his crew have made a really dangerous trip in and out of

aleppo, dodging sniper fire to get the story. >> we are literally just a few meters from our destination here in aleppo. car's run out of gas. we're pushing it up a hill. i don't know where we're going to get any petrol. all right. well, we made it. we left our safe house at 11:00 in the morning. it's ten minute past 10:00 at night, and we finally made it to aleppo. all right. we're now going in the direction of salahadin where, of course, all the fighting has taken place. he's saying -- they're saying here there's a sniper that's shooting. >> there's a sniper. >> get down, get down, get down.

>> hit the deck. >> okay. we made it. >> again, that was ben wedeman reporting, showing how incredibly dangerous it is to try to get the truth out of syria. 57 member states of the organization of islamic cooperation meet today. they will consider whether to vote on suspending syria from their group. the group represents 1.5 billion muslims. >> so sad to continue seeing that happen over and over and over again. all the destruction and devastation and death. you know, to see him going in there. >> courageous. >> risking his life. 44 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date with this morning's top stories. vice president biden igniting a firestorm by telling voters in virginia, many of them in the audience african-american, that republican policies will put them, quote, back in chains. former presidential candidate rick santorum entering the fray, blasting the vice president and the obama administration for trying to divide americans.

>> there's no end and no depth that this campaign won't go to try to solidify votes and to try to polarize this nation. and to see that out of president -- vice president biden was really sickening. >> santorum also praised romney's selection of paul ryan as his running mate calling the wisconsin congressman's ideas, quote, innovative and bipartisan. police in joansboro, arkansas, revealing a video to back up their claim a 21-year-old suspect shot himself in the head while handcuffed in the back of a squad car. this video you're looking at shows an officer re-enacting how vhavez carter could have killed himself after he was picked up on an outstanding warrant in july. the fbi has been called in to investigate carter's death. >> wow. after 49 years in a prison cell, the longest serving female inmate in america is free. betty smithey tasting freedom

for the first time since 1963 monday, following an order from arizona governor january brewer and the agreement of the state clemency board. smooitey was just past her teens with a history of mental illness when she killed a toddler she'd been hired to babysit. smithey says she turned her life around after the child's mother send her a letter forgiving her 19 years after the killing. you have to check out these pictures out of northeastern maryland. a propane tanker loses its brakes, overturns and slams into this condo complex. the driver was taken to a hospital. we don't know his condition. there was apparently a small leak in the propane tank. luckily there was no explosion. bad enough the truck flipped over and landed in the condo complex. these buildings were evacuated as a precaution. >> no kidding. that is incredible video there. your cell phone knows where you will be tomorrow give or take about 60 feet. an article in slate says a team of british researchers has

developed an algorithm that uses tracking data on people's phones to predict, predict where you are going to be in 24 hours. listen to this. the average error? just about 20 meters. seriously? i want them to test it out on me. >> that's spooky. you'll be asleep. >> tomorrow morning they know where i'll be. beyond that, that would be interesting. >> dangerous. dangerous, dangerous stuff. 47 minutes after the hour right now. get this. hooter's, high heels and beer. >> what do they have in common? >> let me tell you. they all have to do with your money and maybe the economy. big picture economy. that's a tease. we'll tell you why coming up. >> for so many reasons, mr. berman. if you're leaving your house, don't worry about it. you can watch us all the time on your desktop or your mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tv. it's really hard to look fierce when your clothes don't match so i switched to tide total care to keep all my colors looking great. and by all her colors she means... black. my wife's a ninja. i'm not a ninja.

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welcome back, everyone.

about ten minutes before the hour. i'm john berman along with zoraida sambolin. we're taking a look at what's trending on the web this morning. >> weird but true, folks. economic indicators they don't teach you in business school. this is incredible. business insider compiled a list of 36 bizarre signs of how the economy is doing. one of them? the hooter's index. >> i want to hear this. >> here's the idea. the hotter the waitress, the closer the economy is to the brink. some analysts say physically attractive people can leverage their looks in down times to get better paying jobs. makes sense. i have the beer intex. he's speechless. the concept behind this. people often save money by drik drinking at home. a lot of these make sense. here's another one. the high heel index. >> this one i don't buy. >> in an economic downturn, heels go up. you can interpret that so many

different ways. analysts say consumers turn to more flamboyant fashions as a means of fantasy and escape. i have proof for you. during the 1920s, low flapper shoes gave way to high pumps during the depression. stilettos surged over the dot com boom. heels reached new heights over the 2008-'09 crisis. >> my heels haven't changed one bit. >> what about your wife's? >> this also trend ing. he is always trending. tim tebow. on the cover of "gq." it's not the cover causing the stir. it's a picture inside that shows tim tebow shirtless posing in a somewhat christlike pose. people on radio talking all about this. calling him a narcissist and the like. this photo is not even close to new. "gq" recycled this photo from when tebow was in florida. they made it black and white and

photoshopped it. it is causing a quite a stir. tim tebow, backup quarterback in the news every day. >> can we put the cover back up. i think maybe we missed this. it says "brothers, have you accepted tim tebow as your sunday savior?" i think it's the women they were really appealing to. >> i don't know who they're appealing to. not jet fans. shark week fans taking a bite out of their tvs. this was a head squacher for me this morning. here it is. discovery channel launch add viral campaign on twitter under #photochamp ing. the network was asking people to tweet pictures of themselves champing on their tv sets to promote shark week. the first 25 chompers got a free t-shirt. i participated. >> we want to make sure you get the free t-shirt. there she is. zoraida sambolin biting a tv. >> i got so close i actually did bite it. my tooth hit the tv. >> well done.

>> i still don't get it. >> maybe you'll win. we'll all get lucky here. coming to a city near you. america's fierce five. the gold medal winning women's gymnastics team. they're set to embark on a 40-city post-olympic tour. first they paid a visit to david letterman. >> some of these events like the thing, you know, where you go running as fast as you can run and you see the thing right there -- >> the vault. >> you got to get over it. what do they call that? that's the vault. >> that's the vault. >> exactly. is the vault related to the pommel horse? >> no. we don't do a pommel horse. >> that's for men. >> only the men do the pommel horse. do the men also do the vault? >> yes. >> oh. but tell me about the vault. you're running as fast as you can. and then what happens? >> you flip over it. >> you do a round up on the floor. you put your hands on a mat. then you put your feet on a springboard. you do a back hand spring on the table and block as hard as you can to go high.

>> and flip. >> is it as -- it looks frightening. is it frightening? >> yeah, it is pretty frightening. >> why do they make you do that? >> i don't know. >> daredevils. >> you're daredevils. it kind of looks that way. >> that's why we're the fierce five. >> you are the fierce five. >> i like how they all squeezed on to the same couch. >> the fierce five. they coined that phrase. that's how they wanted to be known. they are actually going to be on "starting point" tomorrow. you know how i know this? i walked in this morning and the guy from security says, zoraida, tell me it's true. gabby is going to be here. he has got the "people" magazine with her on the cover and he's pointing to her. he's so excited to meet her. they will be on "starting point" tomorrow. stay tuned for that. this morning's top stories are straight ahead for you including the race to save homes out west from dozens of wildfires. they are raging right now. you're watching "early start." [ male announcer ] when a major hospital wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac

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down and dirty. the vice president sparks what might be the nastiest attacks yet on race for the white house. a huge blast in damascus. an explosion detonated just outside a hotel housing u.n. monitors in syria. pileup at the airport. two planes left -- we'd call this an awkward spot after a collision on the runway. i want to tell you everybody onboard is okay. we're going to explain this to you. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. if you prefer your politics on the nasty side you are loving the 2012 presidential race right

now. it took another ugly turn. mitt romney now claiming president obama is angry and desperate, intellectually exhausted and a disgrace. those are among the nice things he said. the white house firing back suggesting the former massachusetts governor governor is coming unhinged. it was vice president joe biden who lit the fuse. listen to what he said about romney in southern virginia. hundreds of african-americans were in this crowd keep in mind. >> he said in the first 100 days, he'll let the big banks write their own rules, unchain wall street. they are going to put y' all back in chains. >> that comment sure got romney and the republicans all riled up and biden jumped right back in. listen to this. >> another outrageous charge. this came a few hours ago in virginia and the white house sinks a little bit lower. his campaign and surrogates have made wild and reckless

accusations that disgrace the office the presidency. >> if you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies. and the effects of their policies on middle class america. that's what's outrageous. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser join u.s. some is theater and politics but it does seem they are getting under each other's skin. >> we talked about the naming of paul ryan and how that transformed this campaign to a true choice campaign. but one thing has not changed, the nastiness. it's there right now. the comments from vice president biden seem to be the most egregious but both sides guilty of the trash talk. mitt romney in ohio, he went on to say, mr. president, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to chicago. and the campaign from barack

obama in chicago responded pretty quickly saying governor romney's comments seem unhinged and particularly strange coming at a time when he's pouring tens of millions of dollars into negative ads that are false. we did a poll last week, is one side more negative than the other and the americans seem to be divided on that issue. >> one of things that did come up on the trail, even the dogs, shamus, president obama talking about it on the campaign trail in iowa. >> during a speech a few months ago governor romney explained his energy policy. he said you can't drive a car with a wind mill on it. that's what he said about wind power, can't drive a car with a wind mill on it. i mean, maybe he's tried it, he's put other things on the roof. >> all right, paul, that

surprise you? >> a little surprising there. the president trying to point out his differences on renewable energy, especially in iowa. we're talking about shamus the dog, romney family taking a trip many years ago and putting a dog on the crate and putting a crate on the roof of the car. his detractors in the last presidential election used it against it and it came up this time. he used that line three times yesterday in ohio. it seems both campaigns are comfortable playing small ball. what's your take on all of this? >> i think a little bit of the outrage is staged and overly theatrical, mitt romney as well as anybody knows how to run campaigns and they can be bruising battles. he's familiar with this. i do think, however the obama team has found a way to irritate mitt romney. and i think mitt romney's response is strong and genuine

but i think he's irritated. as long as the obama team can pull romney off the jobs message, the obama people are probably happy with it. >> two and a half months to go. social media is blowing up all over the joe biden comments today and back and forth. you can tweet us at early start cnn or facebook. look at the pictures on top there. >> that would be the two of us. i'm having this conversation also on facebook because the chains comment, i want to know how people were feeling about it. i was shocked he did it with an audience with so many african-americans in it. i want to know how they felt about that comment. president obama and the first lady will speak at two campaign stops before they return to the white house. vice president biden attends a rally at virginia tech and romney spends the day fund raising in north carolina and alabama. paul ryan heads to ohio for a campaign rally at miami

university. >> and the west, out west, big really upsetting pictures out there. a pair of fires in lake county north of san francisco torched 7,00$7,000 acres. three building have been destroyed or damage and 500 homes are threatened. in washington state, 60 homes burned and 900 people have been forced to evacuate because of a fire in the central part of the state which has charred 28,000 acres and counting. there are 62 uncontained fires raging in idaho, nevada, utah, washington state and california and idaho, a firefighter has been killed. let's go right to rob marciano for a weather update. you feel terrible for these folks. a firefighter dead now. any reprieve? >> not immediately at least. 60 uncontained large wildfires out there and we've got red flag warnings posted for parts of western oregon and also parts of the intermountain west.

dry conditions and low snow pack from the previous winter. and also the heat that's been building, especially across parts of the california and the desert southwest. needles california, 117, phoenix, 113 and redding, 112 as well. we'll see more in the way of heat here. we did have fires across the northwest, northern california, but also southern california. this video out of sage, thgs just outside of riverside where a fire was burning there. and it destroyed a couple of structures as well. firefighters having a hard time getting a handle on that with the excessive heat there. the immediate shoreline it's cool and that's where the heat is building and will stay there the next couple of days. excessive heat watches for the pacific northwest. seattle back to yeugene. could be severe across the immediate shorelines of the east

coast. right now moving through connecticut and eastern massachusetts. back up to you. >> thank you very much, rob. >> six minutes after the hour. no end to the violence in syria. syrian state tv reporting an explosive device on a diesel tanker detonated. three people were reportedly injured. state media reporting the monitors, however, are safe. authorities on new york's long island are investigating an explosion that destroyed a home, killing an 18-month-old boy and sending 14 others to the hospital. police and firefighters have been sifting through that, all of that rubble. it was once a two-story house. they believe the explosion may be gas related. two, 200-pound propane tanks were found near the rubble. seven people were inside when it blew up, including that toddler. take a look at this, it looks like a plane pileup at nashville international airport. two private jets collided on a ramp. one ended up on top of the

other. no one was on board either aircraft. we're curious how it happened. one plane was being towed when it broke loose and romed into a second park plane. >> and perhaps even a pilot on board. nobody was on board either one. >> that is good news then. feeling lucky? you might want to buy a powerball ticket. it could keep climbing if folks cleep buying tickets. the big drawing happens tonight. >> i'm getting out there. >> so border war is brewing between the u.s. and canada with a big box store caught right in the middle. that story is coming up.

welcome back to "early start," i'm john berman. >> that is a nice welcome. i'm zoraida sambolin. we're very happy to have you with us. you might say it is d day for young illegal immigrants. people had been lining up. today they can begin applying for a deportation deferral. and also a two-year work permit. the obama administration program puts into effect elements of the so-called dream act even though congress you very well know failed to pass it.

cnn's rafael romo is following the developments. unlike the dream act, this does not offer a permanent path to citizenship. you talked to some people who are not so enthusiastic about this opportunity. what are they saying to you? >> zoraida, this is not a permanent fix. it's only going to suspend deportation for two years and nobody knows what will happen after that or what will happen if there's a change in the administration in november. i had an opportunity to talk to several kids who may qualify and they are certainly nervous about that. and about many questions regarding the application, the fees, the kinds of documents that he must submit. so one of them said that even though it's something that has

many questions that she has many questions about, it's the only hope. let's take a listen. >> how do you feel about the fact that yes, they are giving you an opportunity but it's only for two years and nobody knows what's going to happen after that? >> i'm nervous. i'm really nervous that it's not going to be what i expect it to be. so i'm scared to get my hopes up, hoping there's a big thing that's going to happen and then feel like it's here one minute and the next minute it's gone. at the same time, i want to take the chance while i have it then let it slip by. >> and of course, zoraida, the dream act has failed multiple times in congress, in the house, in the senate and like she said, right now this is all they have. >> but it is a risky move. rafael. the government says that information and these requests could be referred to i.c.e. or

other agencies for the purposes other than removal. i have the document here. it's a five-page document and then there are an additional six pages to explain to these kids how to fill this out. if they do not qualify, could they be deported? >> the short answer is yes, although immigration officials will tell you that they don't really have the resources or manpower to go after 1.8 million young immigrants who may qualify under these deferred action. that's what they've been saying all along. they concentrate and focus on criminals and focus on those who have evaded authorities for whatever reason. i had an opportunity to talk to immigration attorney about this point exactly and this is what he told me. >> nobody is going to get a green card out of this or nobody is going to get anything more than a promise over the next two years we won't deport you. it gives hopes to kids and you see great benefits in community. >> now, the positive thing about

this is that those who qualify and go through the process in maybe three to four months are going to get a work permit, which would allow them to get a driver's license in most of the united states. this is definitely a great, great benefit for these kids. >> for those who qualify, certainly there are a lot of good benefits. but i would caution them to read the fine print. rafael, thank you for that. >> big, big day here. it is 16 minutes after the hour. presidential politics taking a decidedly nasty turn, started yesterday with vice president biden saying republicans would unchain wall street and put voters back in chains. he said this in front of a largely african-american crowd. mitt romney called that remark outrageous and disgrace to the presidency and biden returned fire saying what's really outrageous is romney's policies. president obama buyi a round. the president campaigning at the iowa state fair after he checked what he had in his wallet, he

bought a few beers for the crowd, everyone but one person. >> i'll tell you what -- >> for more beers! >> here's what i'm going to do, except for the person with the romney sign -- i'm teasing. i'm going to buy ten beers. who wants one? >> the owner of the famous bud tent he may have lost 25,000 in business because of the president's security. but he did appreciate the historical significance of it. >> a beer with the president. >> steve jobs homes has been burglarized. mcfarland entered the home of the late apple founder while fs it was renovated and took

$60,000 worth of ipods, ipads, even jobs wallet. he was caught when he tried to use jobs gadget to connect to the internet and apple investigators tracked him down this way. attention canadian shoppers. get out. that is a message from locals in bellingham washington, upset at the number of canadians coming across the border in search of bargains at the local costco. it's making harder for tax paying americans to park and shop. >> canadian plates. costco is a nightmare, even on like a tuesday afternoon when -- don't these people work? >> all right. the anti-canadian campaign spawned a facebook page suggesting american only shopping times and describing those border crossing canadian bargain hunters as obnoxious and

rude. >> no respect for neil young -- >> they are spending money. if you are looking to buy a house at the bargain price, shuffle off to buffalo. one of the most affordable cities for home buyers but it's not number one. we'll tell you what is number one coming up. head to our blog, cnn.com/early start. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico.

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22 minutes past the hour. we're minding your business this morning. stocks are going to be under some pressure, wall street is waiting from earnings from target and staples and expect a lower open. it's getting harder for americans to afford a home but that could be good news for the housing market. poppy harlow is here to explain. >> because home prices are going up and that shows us this market is recovering. that's the upside. this study came out from the national association of home builders and wells fargo. they found in the second quarter, 74% of homes sold in the u.s. were affordable. that's down a little bit from the record high of 77.5%. they use a household of $65,000 anally as a gauge. the good news the reason this is happening is because home prices are going up. this is what we've been waiting so long for for the recovery to really take place, whether we've hit bottom in housing. i'm not going to be the one to

call that. we need to see for a long time home prices go up. but they are inching higher across the board and that's why homes are becoming less affordable. we're still near the record high affordable. >> which cities are the most affordable? >> youngstown, ohio, it has gone through a hard time. steel city. they are coming back because of energy production, fraking there, indianapolis, indiana, modesto, the thought is because of the high unemployment rate. talk about least affordable. no shocker, we live here. new york city. median household cost of a home, $430,000 compared to $80,000 in youngstown, ohio. and san francisco and santa ana, california and los angeles. >> almost better living in youngstown and commuting to new york. >> i think so. if you're thinking about buying a home, it is still a very good

time. during the housing boom in 2006, only 40% of homes on the market were considered affordable. so today at 74%, it's still a very high number. remember, mortgage rates near record lows. you may have to put more money down and have a higher credit score but a good time to buy a house. >> i'll be the debbie downer because i've been going through this and it is next to near impossible to buy a home. >> they make it very hard. >> poppy harlow, thanks anyway. >> good news/bad news. >> mosquitos carrying a deadly disease caused a state of emergency in texas. that story coming up. ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3.

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the powerball jackpot growing every minute. $320 million and counting. >> million. the final chapter in the exxon valdez saga, the tanker meets its end. >> golden gloves, the first olympic woman to win gold in boxing, claress shields is in the studio. >> i was hoping you could spar with her. >> that would go really well. >> it's 29 minutes after the hour right w and tonight's powerball jackpot is swelling to $320 million. which is a lot of money.

this is stoking player's wildest fantasy about what they'll do with the money, including jason carroll, asking buyers what they are going to do with it. what are they saying? >> reporter: a lot of things, everything from buying yachts to new apartments. still trying to figure out what i would do. what would you do if you won $320 million? it's mind boggling to think about it. there's a guy behind me buying a powerball ticket. yesterday throughout the city folks were showing up at places buying powerball tickets, talking about what they would do, how they would cash in on their dreams. listen to what some of them had to say. >> i probably would buy a giant parcel of land and start an animal rescue. >> i would buy a racehorse. >> reporter: that's the most extravagant? >> and an apartment on fifth avenue. >> i guess i would pay off my big bill and buy a house and

invest. and my family, go back home for a while, the islands. and then charity, i like stuff like that. >> reporter: i'm going to buy mine right nowust in case, i'll take three. thank you. so i'm going to cash in on my dream as well. even though the odds are clearly not in your favor -- thank you very much, hope i win. the odds may not be in your favor but it can happen. one of my friends actually won mega millions. she won $266 million. >> friend. >> she was the sole winner. so it can happen. >> she's still a friend. absolutely, it can happen. >> first of all, i don't know why she's not paying for you to go on vacation if she's a friend. the odds are really, really low. what are the odds? >> reporter: it's about 175 million to 1.

but if you don't play, you can't win. >> don't think about the odds but dream about what would happen if you did win. >> the jackpot, $320 million but it could be higher, right? >> reporter: absolutely. officials are saying if there is no winner tonight, based upon how many people have actually played, it would be tough to guess timt but no winner tonight, you can imagine the pot will keep going up and up. >> jason carroll, good luck with the tickets. >> i'm assuming those are our tickets he was purchasing. >> we've been talking about what you would do with $320 million. well the question of what could you do, well, you could pay for an entire high school graduating class to go to space on a commercial flight. that runs about $200,000 a piece. you could take 16 trips to the international space station, $20 million a piece. you could buy 3.2 of the most expensive apartments here. they are $100 million. you could buy 3.2 of them.

or buy 16 million shares of facebook stock. that's about half of what mark zuckerberg sold initially. or my personal favorite, you could buy 320 million four-piece chicken mcnuggets off the dollar menu which equals 1.3 billion mcnuggets overall. we want to hear what would you do with all of the money. would you leave your job? i'm keeping mine. i just started this. tweet us at early start cnn. we're dying to know what you think. >> what would you do? >> college, mortgage, things like that, family and then charity and lots of vacations. >> and i think i would do about the same thing. i don't know about in that order. i may start with the vacations, dream on, folks. the race for the white house getting nastier. mitt romney is calling president obama angry and desperate and a disgrace. the white house firing back

saying the former massachusetts governor is becoming unhinged. vice president biden ignited the latest firestorm. listen to what he said about romney and the republicans in southern virginia yesterday followed by romney's response here. >> he said in the first 100 days he's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. they are going to put y' all back in chains. >> another outrageous charge. this came a few hours ago in virginia and the white house sinks a little bit lower. his campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the presidency. >> president obama speaks at to stops in iowa. and vice president biden attends a rally at virginia tech. mitt romney spends the day fund raising in north carolina and alabama and paul ryan heads to ohio for campaign rally at miami

university. a state of emergency after the nation's worst outbreak of west nile virus. this is a growing source of concern. 60 people have died in texas and 200 have been infected with west nile. health officials say an unusually warm winter and rainy spring in the dallas ft. worth area have made it an idea breeding ground for mosquitos. >> very scary. >> may be a fitting end for a ship responsible for one of the worst oil spills in u.s. history. the exxon valdez is being dismantled and sold for scrap. in 1989 it spilled 11 million gallons of oil into the prince william sound. it carried ore under the name oriental nicety. they are waiting in line. we have young people waiting for a chance to stave off deportation thanks to a new immigration rule going into effect today. we're going to get info on that with our next guest coming up. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. good morning, my beautiful hometown of chicago. it is 69 degrees right now. a little bit later it's going to be 86 degrees and partly cloudy and we're there for good reason. thousands of young people, many who have been living in the united states illegally since they were children are lining up across the country now to apply for what's known as deferred action. this program goes into effect today given 2 million illegal immigrants a chance to

deportation for two years. they will be able to obtain work are permits and social security numbers and apply for financial aid for college. it was announced by president obama back in june after congress failed to pass the dream act. >> this is not a path to citizenship or a permanent fix. this is a temporary stop-gap measure that let's us focus our resources widsly while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented-driven, patriotic young people. >> the president used his authority to change the homeland security policy. a move that was criticized as giving a.mnesty to illegal immigrants without the approval of congress. we're joined by luis gutierrez.

good morning, congressman, it's very nice to see you. >> good morning, zoraida. >> i know you worked tirelessly and today you have a forum designed to have the kids come forth and pill out the paperwork. some people will say this will create a database available to the federal government of undocument the kids. why would you say this is a good idea? >> because we fought for it and our community matured to the point where the young people will be in line today. what we're attempting to do is take about 2 million young people and try to make some sim met tri between -- they are really much more american than they are immigrant. and today we're going to begin the process where their status, their immigration status and reality of their american life and being being, that there's sim met tri between the two.

this has happened before through temporary protection status when there was the earthquake in haiti, thousands of haitians that applied for temporary protective status. it's happened before. these programs work. they are not perfect. but young people are brave and by showing up in line, they are changing and making the process ir reversible. there is no one that will take away those work permits, those social security cards, those driver's license and their future of being an american for them once they step forward. >> but congressman, there is no guarantee,right? somebody could take it away. i want to play something that mitt romney said about this very specifically and then i want to talk about it. >> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is that i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. as president, i won't settle for

stop-gap measures. i'll work with republicans and democrats to build a long-term solution. >> so congressman, the deferrals expire after two years and we have the general election in november. if mitt romney gets into office and he decides, hey, i don't really like this program, i'm going to remove it until i come up with my own plan, then what happens to these kids now that there's a database to them? should they be fearful? >> no, they shouldn't be fearful because they are not. the reason we're at where we're at today because they showed no fear. here's what we learned zoraida. by staying in the shadows and staying in on security, not telling our story, what we last in the last three and a half years is massive deportations. by coming forward and challenging and letting america know who we are and telling our story. and i only hope that you and

other members of the media go out there and talk to these wonderful young people across this country because as they tell their story, these compelling stories, these american stories, look, america will not tolerate -- >> congressman, i want to interrupt you for a moment. >> i would like to see someone do that. >> there have been a record amount of deforations in the obama administration and you have championed these efforts. don't you feel he is simply not doing enough and this was a last minute tactic. as critics have said in order to get the latino vote in the coming election. >> zoraida, our community said, mr. president in the absence of action in the united states, i was there, you reported on it. they passed the dream act, 216 to 208, a majority. already the senate and the house have spoken and the country has spoken. what the president has done is said, in the absence of action,

and political lack of action of the congress of the united states, i'm going to set aside 1.7 million young people who are american in everything but the piece of paper and put my enforcement. i applaud this president and excited and happy. across this country today there is great enthusiasm. you will see the lines of young beautiful people. and america will be better because of it. so i applaud the president's action. look, the congress of the united states failed to act, even though there was a majority of both members of the senate and the house. shame on us for not having acted. >> well, the president had an opportunity. he's been four years in office and had an opportunity to do something earlier. i wanted to point that out, the criticism in the 11th hour. >> congressman, i appreciate your time, thank you very much and good luck to you. >> been wonderful.

thank you. >> representative luis gutierrez. and the other side. debate. soledad will talk to the president for the federation for american immigration reform, which is against this new policy. john? >> it's about 46 minutes after the hour. presidential politics taking an ugly turn. it started yesterday with vice president biden saying republicans would unchain voters and put voters back in chain. and he said that in front of a largely african-american crowd. mitt romney called that a disgrace to the president. and biden returned fire saying what's really outrageous is romney's policy. >> 60 fires rage, a pair of fires north of san francisco have already torched 7,000 acres, three buildings have been destroyed or damaged. 500 homes currently threatened. in washington state the national guard has been activated.

more than 60 homes have burned and 900 people have been forced to evacuate because of a fire in the central part of that state. a blast absolutely rocking damascus. syrian state tv reporting an explosive device on a diesel tanker detonated behind a hotel. three people were reportedly injured. take a look at those black fumes. state media reporting the monitors are safe. we'll switch gears here. are you feeling lucky? the multistate powerball jackpot keeps growing, $320 million and could very well keep climbing. the big drawings -- drawing happens tonight. >> i want to win that so badly. >> soledad o'brien, you have your tickets. >> i don't yet. i wish. i need to go and get tickets. i think i could win. every time it's big, i start thinking i could win. here's what's ahead on "starting point," we'll talk more about this already divisive

presidential race taking an uglier tone. mitt romney telling obama to take his hate back to chicago. and obama camp saying romney is unhinged. we'll be talking to connecticut's governor mall oy and tim pawlenty. both will be joining us this morning to talk about the tone and substance of the campaigns. also, the new movie "lawless" kind of violent but it looks really good. the actor dane dehon will be with us. >> we're looking forward to meeting him. how about this? golden gloves, the first american woman to win gold in the ring in the olympics, coming home to a hero's welcome. claressa shields joins us next. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk.

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so this is about as cool as it gets. 17-year-old u.s. boxer claressa scored a triple knockout, the first women's boxing middleweight competition and the only american boxer, man or woman to win a gold at all in london. the second youngest boxer ever to win gold. she's pretty much just awesome. accept it. shee got a hero's welcome in her hometown of flint, michigan. obviously very emotional. take a look at that. she's joins us now live. congratulations. you're looking at the pictures too, pretty cool, right? >> huh?

>> a lot of people said you were too young, you were just 17 and said for a long time, women shouldn't be boxing. your own father tried to keep you out of ring initially. how does it feel to prove them wrong? >> it felt good. i mean, it felt even better because it was my dream so, proving them wrong was good too but just accomplishing my dream was -- meant a lot to me. >> you have an interesting style in the ring. by that i mean, i thought it was interesting when you stuck your tongue out of your opponent in the olympics. explain what's going through your head. >> that match, i was thinking that was the gold medal match, having been under control in the first match and second match. to be in the finals i was going to be as comfortable as i could be. i stuck my tongue out, that was not on purpose. >> it wasn't on purpose, it just happened. >> so you're just trying to do that in every fight from now on,

it will be your thing. i also understand you're pretty tough in the ring. but you also wear betty boop socks. explain that to me. >> i wear the betty boop socks in remembrance of my granny. she was a big fan of betty boop, dolls and candy and covers and everything. and i happen to buy me a quilt -- brung me a quilt to london and slept with it every night. it's just something to remember my granny by because she's always in my spirit. >> that's really nice. you're 17 with a gold medal. what do you do now? you have to go back to your senior re seni senior year, right? >> of course i'm going to keep boxing. i'm not going to quit. i don't know what i would do without boxing. that's something that makes me feel not stressed out, keeps me fit. i love boxing, being around

certain people. but just going back to school and take it a day at a time and see how everything goes. i don't know what to think. how the airport was, is school is going to be like that, i'd rather be home schooled. >> you make us feel great watching you. congratulations and we look forward to seeing you at rio. thanks for joining us. >> boxing is not for girls, huh? she proved that wrong. >> she did. >> 55 minutes past the hour. the best advice from one of the key players in president obama's re-election campaign is coming up. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future

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in he presented himself asdent obamasomething different. i had hoped that the new president would bring new jobs. not major layoffs, not people going through major foreclosures on their homes. he did get his healthcare through, but at what cost? he said he was going to cut the deficit in his first term. i've seen zero interest in reducing spending. he inherited a bad situation, but he made it worse. i think he's a great person. i don't feel he is the right leader for our country, though. i still believe in hope and change, i just don't think obama's the way to go for that. the president has not earned re -election, in 2012, in my book. i've seen his now definition of hope and change. it's not the hope and change i want, and 's not the hope and change i thought i was going to get. i don't feel that i helped my grandchildren by voting for president obama and i regret that. americans for prosperity is responsible for the content of this advertising.

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best advice. >> stephanie cutter, the campaign manager for the obama campaign. >> work hard but don't take yourself too seriously. >> we said it was quick. don't take yourself too seriously. important when you're in the trenches every day in the campaign like she is. >> i think those are words you live by, actually. >> don't take myself too seriously? >> yes. >> that's it for us. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> good morning, welcome, everybody, our starting point this morning, lashing out. listen. >> they are going to put y' all back in chains. >> mr. president, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to chicago. >> both the romney and obama camps attacking each oer