because much of the south was horrified by what booth did. it's not about booze being a good or bad thing, it's about the fact that it's always in the room, always shaping things whether we like it or not. >> more on the interview with mike ro work e go to cnn.com/video. thank you for watching. good night. crunch time in the race for president. barack obama and mitt romney trade prime time shots at each other with just six weeks left in the race. >> disaster at 20,000 feet. dozens still missing after an avalanche on one of the world's highest peaks. and upset at the emmys. a new upstages "mad men" and grabs the top trophy. good morning.

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. our big story off the bat, tensions rising in the race for the white house. mitt romney promising to get more aggressive in the final six weeks of the campaign. he said the president has been intentionally misleading voters about his positions. we have two telling pieces of sound to play. first, listen to president obama's heated words responding to criticism on his foreign policy. then listen to romney counter about the president's attacks on his own positions. >> i've executed on my foreign policy. it's one that the american people largely agree with. so, you know, if governor romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so. >> i'm not going to try to fool people into thinking he believes things he doesn't. he's trying to fool people into thinking things i don't. that ends, i think, during the debates. a lot of pointed rhetoric there. i'm joined by paul steinhauser live from washington this

morning who is monitoring everything going on in the race. paul, just seconds ago, literally, we have a new ad from the obama campaign targeting that 47% comment from mitt romney. >> it was just one week ago that the hidden camera tapes came to light. it's no surprise, you know. the super pac supporting the president came out with an ad last week. take a listen. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of americans who pay no income tax, including veterans, elderly, the disabled. >> my job is not to worry about those people. >> doesn't the president have to worry about everyone? mitt romney paid just 14.1% in taxes last year. he keeps millions in bermuda and the cayman islands. he won't release his tax returns before 2010. maybe instead of tacking others on taxes, romney should come clean on his. >> taxes in there as well. we know the romney campaign

releasing those tax returns from 2011 just the other day. mitt romney is fighting back on this we heard him try to explain those comments. he did it again in that "60 minutes" interview. here you go. >> i wonder if any of that criticism gets through to you and whether you are concerned about it or not? >> that's not the campaign. that was me, right? that's not a campaign. >> you are the campaign. >> i have a very effective campaign, doing a very good job. but not everything i say is elegant. i want to make it very clear, i want to help 100% of the american people. that's his new line. john, i think we'll hear both candidates argue over that one for quite some time to come. >> you hear mitt romney there in the interview, but there were a lot of moments of extreme tension in these exchanges. it was surprising. particular particularly barack obama, the president, pressing on where he didn't measure up in his first term. >> he talked about this on the

campaign trail in the last couple of weeks, when he said one of his biggest disappointments was he couldn't change the culture in washington. >> i think that, you know, as president i bear responsibility for everything to some degree. one of the things i've realized over the last two years is that that only happens if i'm enlisting the american people much more aggressively than i did the first two years. >> and barack obama says if re-elected he would enlist the american people quite a lot in his second term as he tries to get things done. he also blames the republican congress for hurting him as he tries to get things done. >> i want to shoot to foreign policy. the administration's response on attacks in libya have been evolving at best, contradictory at worst. whether or not there were warnings that chris stevens may have been ignored is there any sign this is effecting the race? when might this become a problem for the obama administration?

>> it is dominating coverage. this is supposed to be an election about the economy, but we heard a lot about the economy since those mideast attacks. here's a poll number that the president's re-election campaign would like you to look at on who would better handle foreign policy. the president with a 15 point advantage, and we have seen similar numbers from other surveys. go to the president's approval rating on foreign policy. this was conducted just after september 11th, after those attacks happened. the president's rating slipping a bit from august to september. one thing, though, overall foreign policy on the campaign trail when it comes to amecan voters, it's very small compared to the economy, other social issues. but remember, one of the debates coming up is focused entirely on foreign policy. yes, it could very well play a role on dictating who wins on november 6th.

>> paul, thank you very much. world leaders are gathering in new york city ahead of the 67th united nations general assembly session which begins tomorrow. president obama will be one of the first speakers. on wednesday, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad gives his address. he sat down with an interview with cnn's piers morgan and was asked about a possible military conflict with israel. >> do you fear that war is imminent? do you fear that there will be military conflict perhaps even before the end of this year between your country and israel? >> translator: of course the zionists are very adventuresome, and they see themselves at the end of the line, and i see that they are trying to create opportunities for themselves. >> piers also asked about the

death of osama bin laden. listen. >> were you pleased that osama bin laden was killed by american navy s.e.a.l.s on the instruction of president obama? >> translator: i would have been happier to see a transparent tri trial, a formal trial and find out the root causes of all of the events of the last few years. >> you can see the full interview with the iranian president on "piers morgan tonight" 9:00 eastern time here on cnn. the eighth annual bill clinton global initiative is underway. more than 50 current or former heads of state are attending. the former president's wife, hillary, is scheduled to speak this morning. president obama and mitt romney speak tomorrow. the clinton global initiative goal is designed to solve the world's most pressing problems. dozens of mountain climbers are unaccounted for in nepal.

at least eight were killed yesterday when snow and ice gave way on the eighth highest peak. we are following developments from delhi. what are the latest developments there? we understand there are many climbers missing? >> we know that three helicopters went out this morning to try to bring back some of those bodies and also to see if there were other survivors. we know eight mountaineers have died so far. we also know that 21 climbers were rescued between yesterday and today. they are right now in various hospitals in the capital, in kathmandu being treated for various things. one american is among them, glenn blake who is a skier. he was part of a group trying to -- who were intending to ski down mt. manaslu, he was at base

camp three with his colleagues when the avalanche hit about 4:00 in the morning. and he spoke to a filmmaker of epic tv, which makes documentaries on extreme skiing and climbing, he had the following to say. >> about 4:45, he was reading his bible. reading his daily devotional. they heard a sound and greg turned to him and said did you hear that wind? a second later, he said, no, that's an avalanche. he said immediately the avalanche hit him, there was about 25 tents at camp three. it took them all out. he said it swept him about 300 meters down the mountain. >> i was reading that some of the climbers have been complaining about the conditions in nepal. they say it's getting more dangerous. what can you tell us about that? >> that's correct. i was talking to some of the climbers a bit earlier.

climbers who go out to these peaks regularly, at least once or twice a year. they are saying the conditioning are changing in nepal. they have seen a lot more -- it's a lot warmer up in the mountains. they've seen a lot more snow melting. a lot more avalanches as well because of the weaker snow. they basically say global warming is one of the main factors. we have no way of actually determining that. this is what most of these climbers have been saying. and the avalanches are not just more freak went but a lot bigger as well. >> all right. thank you very much for those details. we certainly hope they find those climbers. hopefully some survivors. >> so scary. lots of sweeps overnight at the prime time emmy awards. >> and the emmy goes to "homeland." >> "homeland" won for best tv drama ending the four-year rein

of "mad men." claire danes and damien lewis were also winners. modern family was also the top comedy series. and speaking of streaks, jon stewart's "daily show" won best variety show for a tenth straight year. an emotional win for the ravens over the patriots. ravens receiver tori smith catching two touchdown passes in one night after his younger brother was killed in a motorcycle accident helping the ravens win 31-30 and a last-second field goal for justin tucker. it was a rough sunday for the nfl's replacement referees. they admit to making two mistakes in minnesota's victory over san francisco. they incorrectly granted jim harbaugh two video challenges in the fourth quarter. he was out of challenges.

the detroit/tennessee and cincinnati/washington games, the refs marched off too much yardage on critical penalty calls. who would think we would miss real referees. a controversial move by schools in new york city. they are giving the morning after pill and other contraceptives to high school girls without telling their parents. kind of sort of. we have more on that coming up. 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? [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed

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[ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! 50 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." >> some controversy in new york after some new york high schools are offering students morning after pills and other birth control pills, and when they take them their parents may have no idea. it's part of a pilot program to stop teen pregnancies. alina cho is here to explain. >> good morning. did your jaw drop when you read this? >> i read it, re-read it and was

shocked. >> it's getting attention in new york and nationwide. the pilot program which could be the first of its kind in the nation has been quietly going on since january of last year. so far, according to several local reports, including the "new york times," more than 1,100 students in 14 high schools have been given the morning after pill and other contraceptives. the schools were picked because the students there had a higher average of getting pregnant. the most surprising thing is many parents may be clueless about it. the students do not need parents approval to get the pill. the default is they are allowed

to get the pills unless the parents opt out of it with a signature on a letter. under federal law, kids under 18 need a prescription for plan b. health department doctors have been writing those. the program, which, by the way, is called c.a.t.c.h., connecting adolescence to comprehensive health, does have critics. some say it may promote promiscuity since kids can walk into the nurse's office the next day and get a morning after pill. and parents are outraged that they have been left out of the decisionmaking process. according to the cdc and the new york city health department, nearly half, 46% of new york city teens have had sexual intercourse. those are just officially what the stats are. 7,000 city girls get pregnant by age 17. 9 out of 10 of those pregnancies are unplanned. 7 out of 10 drop out. so you can see why the city

wants to hand out these pills. there is still no proof that this program has made a difference. as one staffer at a school said you can't hand out a tylenol without a prescription. how is it possible we can do this. >> the school says there's a letter that goes home and lets parents opt out. if they don't opt out, the kids can get these pills. >> that's right. as i mentioned, the letter was september two ways, both sent home with the students and also mailed home to the parents. you know how kids are. you were a teen yesterday or a few days ago, you remember, if you were kid is, and you don't want your parents to see this letter, you will find a way to not get it in their hands. >> you don't bring it home and you intercept the mail. >> that's right. when you look at the statistics, the city says between 1% and 2% of those parents signed the letter and opted o. you would think, perhaps, the percentage would be higher if more parents got that letter. >> do we have a sense of public

opinion in the school districts effected on this? >> we don't yet. this story is just coming out. clearly there's outrage about it. parents are saying i don't want my kids getting this pill without my knowledge. so, you can bet there will be a lot of public discussion about this we'll see how long this pilot program lasts. >> i was shocked it was legal. i would want to know what the side effects are. i would want to be totally involved in a decision like that. thank you. appreciate it. 19 past the hour, here is christine romans with the top stories. mitt romney is planning on getting more aggressive, spending more time on the trail and less time fund-raising the final six weeks of the race. he also claims the president is misleading voters about his positions and insists that will stop when the debates begin. the president is responding to romney's claims that he is weak with enemies and allies alike.

rcesearchers say the number of suicides in the u.s. is greater than the number of deaths caused by car accidents. a study shows a 25% decrease in the number of fatal car crashes, while suicides are up 15%. in 2009, roughly 37,000 americans took their own lives, while close to 34,000 were killed in car accidents. firefighters were battling a wild brush fire east of san diego. it ignited sunday afternoon. the cause is unknown. the fires burned 1,000 acres. dozens of homes are threatened, so some mandatory evacuations have been ordered. there are no reports of injuries, thank goodness, at this point. >> thank you, christine. it is 20 minutes past the hour. time for your local reads, your local news that is making national headlines. we begin with a story in the ""l.a. times"" allegations of sexual hazing at a high school. the l.a. county sheriff's office

is investigating after a soccer player complained to authorities. law enforcement sources say the hazing may have gone on for years and allegedly involved 14-year-old and 16-year-old boys. detectives say they have no information about faculty or coach involvement. all right from south carolina, the state down there and some family politics. nicki haley's daughter was on the state payroll this summer. she may have been the only 14-year-old to hold a state job this year. no other 14-year-olds have been employed by the state in the past two years, haley's daughter worked part-time in the state house gift shop, which critics point out is run by the parks department who answers directly to the governor. some people say this is a 14-year-old getting a job. what's the big deal? other people say this is nepotism and that the governor is a little tone deaf on this issue. controversy down in the palmetto state. >> lots of controversy. coming up, production shut

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in the u.s., see what economic data around the world is saying about the underlying health of these economies. that's one reason why futures are down. a lot of folks are talking about it will be hard to hold on to almost five-year high forces fo stocks. we have 99 days now until the fiscal cliff. your congress went home earlier in an election year than i can remember, certainly, with a to-do list full. the fiscal cliff will be the biggest tax increase to you in history. the biggest cuts to service you use in history. it is still on the list for january. science and innovation is very important here. people are concerned about the hit to research and development the fiscal cliff will hit. it will be the equivalent of 200,000 job cuts in research and

development. the cost to gdp over ten years could be over 200 billion to 800 billion. what does that mean? at the low end of estimates, the low end, the hit from the fiscal cliff to research and innovation, the equivalent of new vehicle purchases over six months, two years of airline travel, six years of professional sporting events. that's how big the hit to that industry would be to give it a bit of context there. incredible to watch there, the fiscal cliff. you should be mad at your congress people. the third thing i want to tell you about, the people who make your iphone and gadgets, foxconn is a company in china that supplies a lot of the labor to apple. there's a big plant there that's en shut down because of a riot that sent 40 people to the hospital, some 2,000 different people involved in the riot overnight in central china at this plant. production is halted temporarily.

it will resume tomorrow, the company says. the company described this as a personal dispute between a few employees that escalated to thousands. this is a picture from someone in town. someone inside the plant said there are groups of ten police roaming the facility making sure everything is calm. just a reminder as you love your gadgets, they are made far, far away by mostly young people living in dormitories, thousands and thousands of people who spend hours on end doing the precise work of putting your gadgets together. >> for not much money. >> for not much money. a lot of the human rights folks watch what happens in these plans and take notice when something like this happens. >> thank you. 28 minutes past the hour. will hillary clinton run for president in 2016? her husband, the former president was asked that very question. you will see what he says coming up. it's a really interesting answer. the tree-hugging type. but i am the saving money on energy type.

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foreign policy front and center this week. with president obama set to address the u.n. general assembly. the gloves are off. mitt romney planning to get more aggressive as the campaign enters the final six weeks. and key issues. the candidates on gun control. cnn in depth with mitt romney and the president. their positions on this thorny issue. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. the world comes to new york city this week for the united nations general assembly. the 67th annual session gets

underway tomorrow. >> growing anti-western sentiment in the muslim world and the nuclear showdown with iran are expected to be the top issues. elise is in the studio with thus morning. the general assembly comes as these protests are continuing in the middle east. how much of an issue is this likely to be? >> you have what's going on in the general assembly and what united states secretary clinton will be doing on the world stage on the sidelines. this will be very important, john. they will be meeting with the president of libya today to talk about they would protect u.s. diplomats in tripoli. she will be meeting with the presidents of yemen, tunisia. nobody will be meeting with president morsi. you see what happened over the last week. the united states not happy about how he was treating the united states in the wake of

those protests. but the side issues of how the u.s. will engage with the middle east going forward will be one of the biggest issues. >> so secretary of state hillary clinton will be meeting with benjamin netanyahu, but president obama will not. yet he's in town today appearing on "the view." >> that's right what jay carney had said, his press secretary, is that in keeping with the presidential campaigns, the president won't be meeting with world leaders, leaving all of that to secretary clinton. the truth is in the past presidents running for re-election have met. in 2004, president bush met with pakistani president zardari and others, and bill clinton had a lot of meetings when he was running for election. you are seeing criticism from prime minister netanyahu of president obama of not setting red lines on iran, how far would iran would go before the u.s. got involved. president obama not really inclined to give prime minister

netanyahu a meeting. so he's not meeting anybody. so secretary clinton willing do be the heavy lifting. >> that issue of iran will come up. how do you think that will fair? >> i think that's an issue between the u.s. and israel and everybody is waiting to see what will happen. the big question is israel going to attack iran. >> if israel does launch a strike against your country, what will your response be? >> translator: the response of iran is quite clear. i don't need to explain that. any question and any nation has the right and will indeed defend herself. my question is this, why should the world be managed in such a way that an individual can allow

himself to threaten a rich and deeply rooted historical, ancient country such as iran? a great country such as iran based on an excuse of his own fabrication? >> now, of course nobody wants a nuclear iran, but people are asking that question. why can israel be looking to possibly make an attack against iran which will throw the whole world, oil markets, leave a lot of western countries vulnerable, the united states, for instance. obviously everyone is thinking about israel's security, but also thinking about their own. >> elise labbot, thanks for coming in. 36 minutes after the hour. you can see the full interview with the iranian president on piers morgan tonig at 9:00 here on cnn. the two retired navy s.e.a.l.s who tied in bengahzi

were killed after rushing to help colleagues. the two were there as part of a larger security force, not as a security detail for u.s. ambassador chris stevens. stevens, computer expert, sean smith, doherty and woods died in the attack. ads are going up in new york subways today, and they read in any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. support israel, defeat jihad. city transit officials originally rejected that ad, but a judge ruled it is protected speech. >> with just six weeks to go before america votes, mitt romney sounds like he's ready to rumble. the gop nominee says he will be getting more aggressive in the next six weeks, and he's blaming the white house for his own campaign problems. he claims the president has been putting words in his mouth and he plans on putting a stop to

i it. >> focused its advertising in many cases on very inaccurate portrayals of my positions. they've been very aggressive in their attacks, both on a personal basis and a policy basis. >> the president is firing back at romney's claim that he is weak with our allies and our enemie enemies. >> i said i'd end the war in iraq. i did. i said that we'd go after al qaeda. they've been decimated in the fatah. that we would go after bin laden. he's gone. if governor romney is suggesting we should start another war, he should say so. >> the president will be in new york today for the united nations general assembly. >> so will she or won't she? the big question. if secretary of state hillary clinton plans to run in 2016, she's playing it close to the vest. and if you think her husband might have a clue, think again. >> she's tired. she's worked hard. i think she's done a fabulous

job. i'm very proud of her. but she wants to take some time off, kind of regroup. write a book. i have no earthly idea what she'll decide to do. >> no earthly idea. hillary clinton will be speaking this morning in new york at her husband's eighth annual clinton global initiative. >> before he said she plans to retirement that's a subtle shift. >> that's what she says. she will take the time off. well-deserved time off. houston police are defending the fatal shooting this weekend of a double amputee confined to a wheelchair. they say the man cornered one officer with his chair and threatened him with an object that turned out to be a pen. when he refused to drop the object, a second officer opened fire. when it comes to gun control, mitt romney and barack obama are not so far apart in terms of action on the issue. cnn goes in depth coming up. wa,

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welcome back. gun control has become a hot topic in the wake of the recent massacres in colorado and wisconsin. according to reuters this are 88.8 firearms for every 100 people in america. the highest gun ownership rate in the world. all this week, cnn is going in depth on the issues that will impact the race for the white house. this morning deb feyerick has a look at the candidates positions on gun control. >> reporter: on one side, gun control is a threat to all law-abiding gun owners, on the other side, gun control is the only way to stem gun violence and potentially prevent tragedies like the colorado movie theater massacre and the wisconsin temple shooting. so where do the candidates stand? when it comes to the second

amendment both president obama and challenger mitt romney say, y they support it. >> i believe in the second amendment. i believe in peoples lawful right to bear arms. >> i will protect the second amendment rights of the american people. >> reporter: both stick to the american constitution, with president obama trying to pacify critics to the national rifle association. >> i will not take your shot dunn awgun away, i will not take your rifle away. i won't take your handgun away. >> all that first-term lip service to gun owners is just part of a massive obama conspiracy so deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the second amendment during his second term. >> reporter: romney has been actively cultivating the nra, speaking at this year's convention. it's a switch for the once tough on guns governor consider the

assault weapons ban. president obama is a yes, but with an asterisk. mr. romney moves from a yes to no. here's why. in 2004 governor romney signed a permanent assault weapons ban in massachusetts. now candidate romney says he opposes any new laws. >> we need a president who will enforce current laws, not create new ones that only burden gun owners. >> reporter: after aurora, mr. obama stressed the need for a ban on weapons. >> a lot of gun owners believe ak-47s believe in the hands of the military, not in the hands of criminals. >> reporter: in four years no new gun control laws have been enacted. under obama's weapons, concealed weapons are now allowed on amtrak trains and in national parks. >> he has continued to pay lip service on those things but has not shown real leadership in

pursuing changes. >> reporter: yes, background checks have gotten more thorough under obama for people buying guns in gun shops, but the big problem is gun shows and the internet. specifically up licensed dealers selling firearms to buyers with no background check needed. president obama supported closing the gun show loophole, but the white house says his emphases now is on existing laws. >> there is no particular change in law that will keep people who are intent on doing harm from doing harm. >> the majority of gun owners agree we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons. >> reporter: so while president obama says he wants tougher gun laws, little was done during his first term. republican challenger romney has done more in the past but now says it's enough. both candidates apparently not so different now when it comes to gun control.

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it's 50 minutes past the hour. here's christine romans with the top stories. good morning. mitt romney is ready for another campaign reboot. the gop nominee is promising to be more aggressive in the final six weeks of the race and plans to spend less time fund-raising and more time campaigning. he claims the president has hurt him in the polls by misleading voters about his positions. the president is responding to romney's claims that he is weak on foreign policy.

he says if governor romney says we should start another war, he should say so. sadness at the national zoo in washington after a newborn giant panda cub died yesterday. the cause of death is not known. only last week the cub's birth was joyously announced. the panda exhibit is closed temporarily to make sure the mother is okay. the four-year emmy run of "mad men" came to an end last night. "homeland" won best drama series. "modern family" is the king of comedy. the abc show was named best comedy series for a third straight year. homeland security may get fishy in the future. the agency is funding robotic tuna. the unmanned underwater vehicles would patrol and defend ports and inspect ships. >> i feel totally safe now with

robot tuna on patrol. >> it will confuse dolphins everywhere. 51 minutes after the hour now. we want to check today's way. here is meteorologist rob marciano. hopefully with some sanity after robot tuna. >> now they can't call it the chicken of the sea anymore. little tough for m.o. good morning, john. chilly weather across much of the eastern half of the country. gorgeous weekend for a lot of folks. you're paying for it in the form of some freeze advisories across the midwest and western great lakes. cold enough over those warm great lake waters to get lake effect rain streams coming in to parts of western new york. eastern half of the country looks fantastic. fire threat across north texas, oklahoma, and it continues to be toasty down across southern california. they were sweating it out on the red carpet yesterday for sure. pasadena saw 100 degree temperatures. van nuys, 99. burbank, 98 degrees.

slightly cooler there today but still warm for this time of year. 84 expected in l.a. 70 in chicago fall arrived on time on saturday and it feels like it this morning for a lot of folks. >> thank you very much, rob. >> at least it's official now, so we don't have to beat up rob marciano. a packed hour ahead on "early start." mahmoud ahmadinejad is in town and talking to cnn about whether a war with israel is coming soon. next hour we'll talk to international security analyst jim walsh who will be meeting with iran's president. later on "starting point" the star of "ugly betty" and alexis, bledel, their efforts to lift girls out of extreme poverty. first, the dance craze that is sweeping the world.

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welcome back to "early start." 57 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with mr. john berman. >> bully joe armstrong is in rehab from greenday, after a guitar smashing meltdown in las

vegas. the clip from the i heart radio music festival on friday went viral, and happened when billy joe was told they only had a minute left. he stopped mid tune and went off. take a look at this. >> look at that [ bleep ] time right now. one minute. i'm not [ bleep ] justin bieber you [ bleep ]. let me show you what one [ bleep ] minute means. >> that didn't go well. >> maybe rehab is in order for him. get on your horse. the korean pop gangnam style is the most liked video in the history of youtube. ♪ gangnam style >> the video has been viewed

close to 260 million times. has 2.6 million likes and has inspired flash mobs around the world it is also number one on itunes. it has been shared by celebrities and is covered by the likes of maroon five. even the u.s. naval academy made a parody video. the video refers to the lavish gangnam districts of seoul, korea. we were waiting for mr. berman to demonstrate this morning. >> it makes me feel bad about the state of humanity, i have to say. >> we need to get lost if these moments, that's what folks are doing. "saturday night live" going after both presidential candidates. take a listen. >> mitt romney on friday released his 2011 tax returns which showed he paid a 14% tax rate, so just a little less than what restaurants add on for parties of six or more. the 14% tax rate is less than

the 20% paid by the average american. how did he pay the low rate? he claimed 47 million americans as dependents. president obama said you can't change washington from the inside, you can only change it from the outside. gaffe from th brings us our segment, what are you doing? i'm not saying what you said isn't true. i'm saying why are you saying anything during this romney tailspin? i mean, let's review. on monday, a secret tape is released where romney insults half the country. then that same day, he stands by those remarks. on wednesday, he does a town hall and friday paul ryan gets booed by the aarp. and then, instead of on just going that, you go, hey, remember my campaign slogan, everybody? yeah, i can't do that. don't make this hard on yourself. you're like the criminal who gets away with murder and then

sending the cops huddled to figure it out. >> early start in the real news continues right now. crunch time in the race for president barack obama and mitt romney trade prime tooit time shots at each other with just six weeks left in the race. plus, disaster at 20,000 people. dozens still missing after an avalanche on one of the world's highest peaks. >> controversial and constitutional as the critics call hate to muslims go to display today for the whole world to see. >> good morning. welcome to early start today, everyone. hap to have you with us. >> first, the race for the white house is getting even more intense with just over six weeks to go. can you believe it? mitt romney promising to get mo aggressive in the last six weeks of the race. we have two telling pieces of sound to play for you here.

first, listen to president obama responding to his opponent's criticism about his hamming of foreign policy. then listen to romney counter about the president's attack on his position. >> i've executed on my foreign policy and it's one that the american people largely agree with. so, you know, if governor romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so. >> i'm not going to try and fool people into thinking he believes things he doesn't. he's trying to fool people into thinking i think things i don't. and that ends, i think, the during the debate. there's still more. cnn political editor paul steinhauser is joining us. i understand you have a brand new ad from the obama campaign using romney's 47% comment. please share. >> it was a week ago those comments came to light. a super pac supporting the president used some of those comments from the 47% quote last

week. now the obama campaign is out with a new ad. take a listen, zoraida. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of american who pay no income tax, including veterans, elderly, the disabled. >> not to worry about those people. >> doesn't the president have to worry about everyone? >> mitt room know paid just 14.1% in taxes last year. he keeps millions in bermuda and the cayman islands. he won't release his tax returns before 2010. maybe instead of attacking others on taxes, romney should come clean on his. >> on friday, the room know campaign released those 2011 tax returns. romney has only released two years of tax returns. obama campaign says she want to see more. we've seen a lot of incoming fire at the romney campaign over the last week, some of it even from republicans. here is what he said on 60 minutes. >> i wonder if any of that criticism gets through to you

and whether you're concerned about it at all. >> that's not the campaign. that was me, right? that's not a campaign. i've got a -- you are the campaign. >> i've got a very effective campaign that's doing a very good job. not everything i say is eloquent and i want to make it very clear. i want to help 100% of the american people. >> we've seen a slew of polls in the crucial battleground people. they appear to show the president's lead widening. romney was asked about that and he said, you know what? i'm not worried about the polls. >> in the meantime, president obama continues to face questions about not measuring up. will that be a recurring republican theme, do you think? >> i think it will be. he did talk about his biggest -- you know, not biggest accomplishment, his biggest mistake, or the thing that he wishes he could have done in his first term was change washington from the inside. the president was asked about it in a "60 minutes" interview.

here is what he said. >> oh, i think that, you know, as president, i bear responsibility for everything from some degree. and unof the things i've realized over the last two years is that that only happens if i'm enlisting the american people much more aggressively than i did the first two years. >> and he seas if he's re-elected to another term, mrb says he wants to he list the american people through crowd his second term. >> and i know people say the economy is the most important things to americans, but the attack could affect the consul. >> we saw in the "60 minutes" interview the president talking about israel and the middle east and iran, as well. and the romney campaign last night, moments after that interview jumped on the president on those comments on foreign policy when he was campaigning in colorado. take a look at these numbers. these are numbers the obama camp would like you to look at. this is a pugh research center poll when it comes to foreign

policy. you see the spt a 15-point advantage. other polls show similar things. look at them, though. this is from nbc "wall street journal." 54% approval in august, 49% now. foreign policy overall play aes small role in the minds of americans compared to the economy and compared to other domestic issues. but we have a debate coming up just on foreign policy. guess what? tomorrow in new york city, both president obama and mitt romney, you know it's going to come up there, as well. >> all right. paul steinhauser, live in washington for us. thank you very much. and this is what i was talking about, nearly 120 world leaders are convening earn heavy security in new york city fort 67th united nations general assembly session. president obama will be one of the first speakers. on thursday, iran mahmoud ahmadinejad gives his address. he sat down with an interview

with piers morgan and was asked about a possible military cop flikt with israel. >> do you fear that war is imminent? do you fear that there will be military conflict, perhaps even before the end of this year between your country and israel? >> of course, the zionists are very adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricate things and i think they see themselves at the end of the line. and i do firmly believe that they seek to create opportunities for themselves and their adventurous behaviors. >> piers asked ahmadinejad about the death of osama bin laden. listen. >> are you pleased that osama bin laden was killed by american navy s.e.a.l.s? >> i would have been happier to see a transparent trial, a

formal trial, and find out the root causes of all of the events of the last few years. >> and you can see the full interview with the iranian president on piers morgan tonight at 9:00 p.m. an ad is going up today reading, quote, in any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man, support israel, defeat jihad. city transit officials initially rejected that ad, but last month a judge ruled it was freedom of speech. the search is still on for people missing in nepal. we are following developments from delhi this morning. what is the latest from there? >> reporter: the rescue

operation is now over for the day, but we know three helicopters went out this morning and they've recovered about eight bodies in total. out of them, four were french nationals, one german, one expand yard, one spaniard and one nepali. we know there were 21 survivors, 21 climbers who have been rescued and they're now back in kathmandu undergoing treatment. most of them are suffering from some sort of frostbite. among them is an american climber/skier glenn craig as he was with his colleague up in camp three when the avalanche hit around 4:00 in the morning. and he spoke to a documentarian earlier about his experience. >> about 4:45, he was reading in his bible, reading his daily devotional. they heard a sound and greg

turned to him and said, did you hear that wind? and a second later he said, no, that's an avalanche. he said then immediately the avalanche hit them. there was about 25 tents at camp three. it took them all out. and he said it swept him about 300 meters down the mountain. >> climbers tell us that this is one of the easier 8,000 meter markets to climb, so a lot of climbers tend to go to mt. manassiu before they go to others. there were a bunch of sweeps at the prime time emmy awards last night. >> emmy goes to homeland. >> "homeland" won for best tv drama enning a four-year rein of

"mad men." modern family was the top comedy series of the third year in auto row. and speaking of streaks, none quite like jon stewart's "daily show" which one for best variety series for a 10th year. >> and he loves surprises. it was an ae emotional win for the baltimore ravens over the patriots on sunday night football. helping baltimore win 31-30 on a last-second 27-yard field goal by justin tucker. >> it is 11 minutes after the hour right now. there is a big controversy here in new york city after a move by the schools. they're giving the morning-after pill and other contra septemberives without really telling their parents, some critics say. more coming up. of course, some stories are bigger than others.

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...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. welcome back to "early start," everyone. >> very controversial program that may have been operating under the radar for months. >> some high schools are offering students morning after pills and other birth control drugs thou. if they take them, it's possible their parents may have no idea what's going on. >> it's all part of a pilot program to stop teen pregnancy peps alina cho is here to explain more of the details. at first glance, it is baffling. >> this has been going on quietly for quite some time until it came out in the news

yesterday. the pilot program called "catch" which can be the first of the kind in the nation has been going on since january of last year. so far, according to several local reports, more than 111 is 00 students in 14 high schools have been given the so-called morning-after pill known as plan b and other birth control pills. the city department of health says the schools in the program were picked because the students there were known to have a higher risk of getting pregnant and lower access to health care. one of the schools involved actually -- listen to this, actually dropped out because students were overloading the medical office. and the most surprising part about all of this is that many parents may actually be clueless about it. the children do not need permission from the parents to get the pill. the default is that they're allowed unless those parents opt out of the program by signing a better. the question is, are those parents getting the letter? it was both mailed, we're told, and sent home with students. but the department of health

says no more than 2% of parents at each school sent those letters back signed. under federal law, kids under 18 needs a prescription for plan b. over 18 you can buy it over-the-counter. those prescriptions are being handed out by health department doctors. according to the cdc and the new york city health department, 46% of new york city teens have had sexual intercourse. 7,000 new york city girls get pregnant by the age 17. 90% of those pregnancies are unplanned. 7 out of 10 of those pregnant teen moms drop out of school. now, the new york city health department released a statement saying in part, we are committed to trying new approaches like this pilot program in place since january of 2011 to improve a situation that can have negative consequences that can last a lifetime. that's one side of it. the other side of it is parents

saying they're being left made out of the decision-making process and they want to know if this is going on. now they do. >> the department of education and new york city, it gives out free condoms toll high schoolers, as well. >> and that's been going on for a long time. >> but this is different because it's a plan b, a prescription drug that has to be given out by doctors. how are the parents reacting to this? >> you mentioned condoms have been handed out and this pill has been going on since january of last year. one school staffer said, you know, you can't give tylenol out without a prescription. how is it possible this is going on? as you can imagine, a lot of parents are divided about this. some are quite angry. some are saying, listen, students are going to do this, anyway. why not make the access? >> i don't think that any kind of contraception, including the morning-after pill, will alter teenage behavior. i am the mother of a teenage boy

and kids do what they want to do. >> the parents can't control whether she has sex or not, she certainly should be able to control that she doesn't get pregnant. >> i absolutely believe this is a wonderful thing. >> so there you have it. it's interesting to hear both sides of -- parents obviously have strong opinions on both sides of this. we'll have to see how it shakes out. for now, it's a pilot program in 13 schools and we'll keep you posted. >> you know what surprised me about this is that teen pregnancy nationwide is down. but these are certain pockets where they're trying this. >> that's right. >> thank you so much. 19 minutes after the hour right now. this weeks on the next list, it's a good deed double shot. people cleaning up one of the prettiest spots on the planet and recycling trash to give people a place to live. check it out. ♪ >> this is an eco-brick.

this is the container and this is where you stuff all the wrappers, all the plastic bags, everything that is considered inorganic trash. then you have an eco-brick ready for construction. i'm susanna, the founder of this movement. >> do not miss the next list sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. 20 minutes past the hour. beware of your bank. what to watch out for, coming up.

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welcome back. if you feel like your bank is nickel and diming you, you're right. >> bankrate.com is out with new information showing fees are going up. >> savers are taking a bit hit. you've got the fed rate keeping interest rates low, you've got your money in the bank and worse, you've got more and more fees for having your own money in the bank. what bankrate found, free check sg on the decline.

bankrate says only 39% have free checking accounts. overdraft fees are rising, surprise, surprise. the fee right now is about $31. don't opt in for this. please do not opt in for this because when you get hit, you're going to get hit hard. the average atm surcharge is rising. the atm charges $2750. the 100% i was talking about, 100% of the banks now charge for using someone else's atm. even your own bank is going to charge you maybe another $ 1.57 for using an atm that's not affiliated with your bank. so it could cost you $3 or $4 to get your money out. this is something really important. go look at credit unions. they tend to have low checking and less fees. never use an out of network atm.

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iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad one-on-one, he's talking about this president and more. after a wheelchair double amputee is shot and killed by officers. an edgy psychological drama pulls off an emmy night surprise. it knocked off "mad men," as well. welcome. >> it is 31 minutes after the hour right now and the world is coming to new york city this week for the united nations general assembly. the 67th annual session gets under way tomorrow. the traffihas already started. that's when president obama will speak. growing anti-muslim sentiment in the world and relations are iran are likely to be hot topics. >> this comes amid still lots of

tension in the middle east. >> lots of tension in the middle east. they're -- basically the secretary of state hillary clinton will be meeting today with the president of libya not just to discuss obviously protecting u.s. personnel but investigations and she'll be meeting with president zardari of pakistan, afghan president karzai, all of these regarding the protests that were rocking the region last week and a lot of discussions as to how the u.s. is going to engage going forward. syria, there will be a lot of talks about syria this week and also iran's nuclear program, big back drop for this week's festivities. >> and hillary clinton is taking those meetings because president obama, we understand, will be on "the view. on ". >> he's going to be on "the view" and secretary of state will be doing the heavy lifting on diplomacy. what the white house says is that the during campaigns presidents don't meet with royal leaders. not so true.

president george bush and president bill clinton met with leaders. it stemmed from a couple of meetings that president obama didn't want to take the time. egyptian president morsi is really upset about what happened at the u.s. embassy in benghazi and saying he's foot dragging of really giving iran full consequences. so president obama, instead of not meeting, said he's not going to meet with anybody. the secretary is really holding down the fort this week. >> everyone waits to see what mahmoud ahmadinejad will say. the secretary general told him, my understanding, is that you may want to be a little careful. >> this is his week to come on the world stage. he's always very interesting. he loves to give a press conference where he's very fiery. basically what -- although everyone has concerned about iran's behavior in the region and its nuclear program, what

president ahmadinejad says sometimes does resinate with a lot of countries in the nonaligned world, countries who feel that the west, some of these u.n. security councils are the only ones who have the say in the world. so he does have an audience. i have one more question. hillary clinton 2016, what do you know? >> personally, she doesn't tell me anything. first of all, she's tired. she needs a big nap and she wants to kind of go out, do some of these issues that she cares about like development, poverty, women's issues. she's going to write a book. i think that come 2013, i think that her supporters ar going to come out and say, listen, if we're going to, you know, have a woman in the white house in our generation, it's got to be you. i think right now she really believes that she's not going to run, but i think we haven't seen the last of hillary clinton on a political stage. >> you heard it here.

>> thanks. we appreciate it. >> and the world will hear from iranian president mac plume ahmadinejad wednesday morning. he already spoke to our very own piers morgan about a war with israel. >> do you feel war is imminent? do you feel there will be war perhaps before even the end of this year between your country and israel? >> translator: of course, the zionists are very much -- very adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricatethin. and i think they see themselves at the end of the line. and i do firmly believe that they seek to create opportunities for themselves and their adventurous behaviors. >> joining me now to discuss the iranian leader's comments are international security analyst jim walsh who will be meeting with the iranian prime minister am ma dean jad when he was in down. what was your reaction to what

mr. ahmadinejad said there? >> he's been in office eight years. this is not my first rodeo. i'm used to him coming into town, giving interviews beforehand, often softer interviews than giving a speech at the united nations which is a fiery speech and then heading back to iran. so i think you can expect the full gamut, the full range of remarks. some will be constellatory and some will be inflammatory. >> israel has been saying it thinks that iran is six months away from having material for a nuclear bomb. there's a lot of opinion on this. obviously on both sides. and it's crucial here. are there facts? is there any way to know for sure what's going on? >> i think there are facts. in fact, i was part of a roort that was released last week by a group, 35 retired generals and former national security advisers that advise both republican and democratic

presidents. the a lot of facts. at this pointer national atop inge agency is in their nuclear facilities almost on a weekly basis issuing reports every three months. we know a lot about where their nuclear program is at. in addition, iran is the most watched country in the world. it's not just the u.s., it's not just israel. russia, france, britain, saudi arabia, we're all focused watching every move that iran makes. do we know everything? no. but we have a pretty good idea. and i would say this. as the secretary of defense has said, they are some distance from having a nuclear weapon. yes, they have the basic capability, but we would know at least a year in advance if they decided to go from a capability to a bomb. so i think there's time there, time for the u.s. and others to apply pressure, to engage in diplomacy to try to put this on a different path. >> there's obviously a lot of saber rattling going on here on all sides. and the senior commander in

iran, he would launch a preemptive strike against israel if iran got any sense that israel might strike against them. listen to what ahmadinejad said to piers about this last night. >> if israel does launch a strike against your country, what would your response be? >> translator: the response of iran is quite clear. i don't even need to explain that. any question that any nation has the right and will indeed defend herself. but my question is this. why should the world be managed in such a way that an individual can allow himself to threaten a rich and deeply rooted historical ancient cub such as iran? a great country such as iran based on an excuse of his own fabrication? >> so what is the message there exactly and who dpktly is he sending it to?

>> well, i think part of it, he's sending it to not just the u.s. audience, but an international audience. iran, over the summer, hosted the meeting of the nonaligned nations, the sort of developing countries of the world. and what he's saying is to that audience, to the developing countries of the world, not to europe, not to the u.s., but too poorer countries, hey, what's up with this? why is it that israel is able to publicly, you know, threaten to attack us every day? countries aren't allowed to do that. why are we allowed to do that? and that speaks to israel's unpopularity in certain quarters and also to what they're trying to sell, what ahmadinejad is trying to sell is that it's an unfair standard, that some countries are allowed to do suv, other countries aren't. you'll see a lot of that, john, over the next couple of days. he's going to have audiences here in the u.s. and he's going to have audiences back in iran and messages for other countries he's hoping to persuade to be with iran so iran is not so

isolated. we're going to see a lot of that over the next few days. >> jim walsh, thank you very much. enjoy your meeting with the iranian president. i know that will be interested. you can see he has a full interview between piers morgan on piers morgan tonight at 9:00 eastern time here on cnn. 39 minutes past the hour. mitt romney sounds like he's ready for a fight. the gop nominee says he'll be getting more aggressive in the next six weeks for the race and he's blaming the white house for his own campaign president. he says the the president has been putting words in his mouth and he plans to put a stop to it. >> i think that the president's campaign has focused its advertising in many cases on very inaccurate portrayals of my position. they've been very aggressive in their attacks both on a personal basis and on a policy basis. >> meanwhile, the president is firing back at romney's claim that he's weak on foreign policy with our allies and our enemies. >> i said i'd end the war in

iraq. i did. i said that we would go after al qaeda. they have been decimated. i said we would go after bin laden. he's gone. if governor romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so. >> the president will be in new york today for the u.n. general assembly meeting. >> houston police are defending the fatal shooting this weekend of a double amputee confine to go a wheelchair. they say the man cornered police and threatened him with an object. it turned out to be a pen. when he refused to drop the object, police shot him. across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different.

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44 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." >> very glad you're with us this morning. the search is back on this morning for dozens of mountain climbers unaccounted for in nepal. it's happening on the world's eighth highest peak near the border with china. at least eight people were killed yesterday. an injured american climber told a filmmaker he was swept about 1,000 feet down. firefighters are battling a brush fire that's burned about 1700 acres. it started yesterday afternoon. there is no word on what sparked it. dozens of homes are threatened. some mandatory evacuations have been ordered and so far there are no injuries reported. >> so if hillary clinton, the secretary of state, plans to run for president in 2016, she's playing it real coy. and if you think her husband might spill the beans, think again.

>> she's tired. she's really worked hard. i think she's done a fabulous job. i'm very proud of her. but she wants to take some time off, kind of regroup, write a book. i have no earthly idea what she'll decide to do. >> no earthly idea. hillary clinton will be speaking this morning in new york at her husband's eighth annual clinton initiative. >> and so soledad o'brien joins us now. >> lots happening at the top of the hours on starting point. leaders have been arriving here in new york city for the united nations general assembly. tensions between israel and iran getting high. is he going to listen to that warning? we have team coverage this morning on what to expect and what is at stake. also, some insight today from ambassador nicholas burns who will be my guest. and you've been talking about

this controversy, as well. students at new york city skills given birth control and the moep morning after pit without their parents' permission. are the schools crossing a line? we're going to talk to people who disagree about this on both sides of the issue. also, singer smokey robinson is going to join us this morning. he has this new thing called smoke alarm in which he lends this voice to a great cause that could help change the world. he sent it out only on twitter to amass lots of support. he's going to talk to us about that this morning. and they became big stars on "ugly betty" and "gilmore girls." they're going to join us and tell us how they're focused on ending poverty all across the world. that and much more at the top of the hour. i'll see you then. >> totally. it was a night of surprises at the emmys. big surprises. upset in the drama categories and a practical joke on the

audience by host jimmy kimmel. what was it? we'll have the highlights, coming up. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh whoa. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire.

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welcome back to "early start." it was a nice of surprises and streaks, some ending and some that just kept going. careen winter has a wrap-up. >> welcome to the 64th prime time emmy awards. >> like the categories they honor, the emmy awards were filled with drama. >> oh, my god. comedy. >> i forgot my glasses. >> and for others, the reality that they won the biggest award

in television. julianne moore is now a huge whipper. >> i feel so validated because sarah palin gave us me a big thumbs down. >> "modern family" did it again. winning a total of four emmys, including best comedy series, supporting actress for julie bowen and supporting actor for eric stonestreet. >> i never knew i would be on tv as a gay man. but i love those pictures you're sending me. >> and the emmy goes to -- "homeland." >> after four consecutive wins, "mad men" was dethroned by "homeland" starring damian lewis

and a pregnant claire dane. >> my husband, my love, my life, my baby daddy, this doesn't mean anything without you. while jimmy kimmel live didn't end up -- he did host the emmys with a twist. >> i would like the people who are at home watching the emmys right now to help me pull a big prank on the people who are not watching. the late night funny man asked the audience and viewers at home to post tweets and messages indicating that tracy morgan had passed out on stage. >> just like there for about, i don't know, ten minutes or so. >> but instead of kimmel, it was once again "the daily show" with jon stewart that won his tenth variety show in a row. >> years from now, aliens visit, they will find a box of these and they will know just how predictable these [ bleep ].

>> laughter, tears, talent and cheers, tv's goaden night once again reminded millions of what host jimmy kimmel has known all along. >> i've got to get out less. >> zorida and john, back to you. >> thanks for that. >> temperatures on the red carpet yesterday approaching 100 degrees. out west, pack lightly balk it's more like summer than fall which, by the way, arrived on saturday. we have cool air moving across the great lakes, not lake effect show, but lake effect rain showers across parts of western europe. other than that, we're looking great. a couple of showers across the intermountain west. and the west coast looks to be dry. 70 in chicago. a chilly start across the

northeast and the south, but rebounding into the mid 60s and 70s in atlanta. guys, back up to you. >> thank you very much. today's best advice comes from th man, the head of starbucks, howard schultz. we hear from him after this quick break.

i'm barack obama and i approve this message. romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side? the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around

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juflt a few minutes left now. >> we wrap it up with the best advice. >> and today's best advice comes from the ceo howard schultz. we asked him about the best advice he's ever received. here is what he told us. >> the best advice i've ever received is do not let anyone in your life tell you that your dreams cannot come true. in fact, i would say keep challenging those people. keep believing in yourself and whatever you do, do not give up on the dreams that you have to yourself, your future and your family. >> so, john, next time i tell you your dreams can't come true, that's wa -- >> i'm never going to let you say that to me again! >> that is all from early start this morning. >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. morning. welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, the gathering of world