smashing through a bus window as the bus driver somehow jumps out of the way. but it's what he does next that's even more amazing. it's wednesday march 27th, and "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning a public apology from the former cia director david petraeus. new this morning, the retired four-star general is breaking his silence. five months after resigning in disgrace over an affair with his biographer paula broadwell. casey wian is live for us in los angeles this morning. casey, good morning. >> good morning, dole dad. it's very clear what's going on here is the beginning of what's likely to be a long effort by general petraeus to rehabilitate his public image. retired general david petraeus picked a receptive audience to launch his comeback from the sex scandal that cost him his job at the cia and his reputation with the military. >> so please allow me to begin

my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply i regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the cia, and caused such pain for my family, friends, and supporters. >> reporter: supporters were abundant. petraeus was a four-star general who commanded american forces during the surge in iraq. he also wrote the field manual for how u.s. troops fight insurgents. >> i join you, keenly aware that i am regarded in a different light now than i was a year ago. i'm also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing. >> reporter: his undoing was an affair with paula broadwell, the woman who co-authored his biography, both were married. it came as a shock to many when an fbi investigation into an unrelated matter uncovered his relationship with broadwell. he resigned as cia director three days after president obama was re-elected, and ten days before he testified about the

attack on the u.s. embassy in benghazi. now petraeus has re-entered the public stage and is reported to be talking to potential employers. >> general petraeus is just an enormously, gifted, talented guy. he had a great career. he can have a great career going forward. he's got to navigate through this the right way. it looks like he's starting in the right direction. >> i know that i can never fully assuage the pain that i inflicted on those closest to me and on a number of others. i can, however, try to move forward and as best possible to make amends to those i have hurt. >> reporter: chief among them, his wife holly, who did not attend petraeus' speech. the event was sponsored by usc, which has long-standing close ties to the military. and yet is located comfortably a continent away from the pentagon and the cia. i also should point out, soledad, that reporters were kept away from the general. not allowed to ask any questions. >> did i tell, casey, what the response was from the audience

that was listening to that apology? >> very enthusiastic and supportive response. most of the members of that audience were either members of the rotc at usc or veterans who attended the university. they were very happy to hear the general. there was a long line after his speech to get pictures taken with the general. they seemed very pleased to hear what he had to say. >> casey wian for us this morning. appreciate it. let's get right to cnn military analyst retired general james "spider" marks. he's known general petraeus since high school. nice to have you with us, appreciate it. >> hey, soledad. >> give me a sense of the why now for this apology. there's been a fair amount of time that's passed. he could have done it before. what do you think is the strategy for right now? >> well, clearly he has been on a self-imposed isolation for the last six months or so. a little short of six months. and i think, you know, soledad, it's simply a feel that dave has for his relationship with his family. there are two very important groups that he had to get right with. number one is his family.

and i won't speculate, that's extremely private. i'm hopeful that that's going well. and also he needs to get right with the army. this is a guy who went to west point, spent over three decades in the military, served immensely well in very tough spot throughout his entire career, and he has a huge band of supporters, followers, and he let them down terribly. so he needs to get right with that group, too. this is a good effort on his part when he speaks about veterans, there is nothing that you can say to criticize that. there will be criticism for him, but if he moves forward, that will be muted over time. and when you speak about veterans and veterans issues, everybody can get on board and rally behind that. >> i have to imagine, then, that this is the first step in that. do you think having a military background makes the making it right, as you call it, more difficult? less difficult? >> well, it's -- it's a very difficult thing to do.

look, when you sign up to be in the army, you immediately, on day one, instance one when you raise your right hand, you underline the army's values and you begin to do those and then after three decades they're part of your dna. the very first army value is loyalty. he completely abandoned that. he wasn't loyal to his family. he wasn't loyal to his team that was in the army. and i'm sure he is terribly troubled by this. a mistake he made, his eyes were wide open, and he made this terrible mistake. and this is an effort on his part to get going, to redefine himself, and we're all very helpful that he can, because he's such an immensely gifted guy. he's got a lot to give going forward. >> general james "spider" marks. coming up in our next hour we're going to hear from lee reynolds, an army reserve officer who served under general petraeus in iraq. he also attended last night's event. now to the historic showdown over same-sex marriage in just a

few hours the supreme court will take on doma, the defense of marriage act. hearing arguments for and against its repeal. doma denies same-sex couples access to federal benefits under its definition of marriage as a union betwee a man and a woman. but there's a new cnn/orc poll and it shows that a majority of americans, 56%, believe the federal government should recognize same-sex marriages from states where it's legal. crime and justice correspondent joe johns is outside the supreme court for us this morning with that. and much more on yesterday's arguments, too. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. today's case is much more about the pocketbook. the tangible economic damage that the federal government does when it treats same-sex couples differently from straight couples. the focus is on a woman in her 80s from new york who got hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional estate taxes when her spouse died. it comes one day after the court took up the controversial issue of california's proposition 8.

same-sex marriage week at the supreme court. day one. culture war on the docket. >> the place for the decision to be made regarding redefining marriage is with the people. not with the courts. >> reporter: charles cooper, the lawyer in favor of california's proposition 8, argued that traditional marriage must be preserved for straight couples, because it's all about pro-creation. but justice elena kagan picked apart the premise, asking whether a state could deny a marriage license to people over 55. >> if you're over the age of 55, you don't help us serve the government's interest in regulating pro-creation through marriage. so why is that different? >> your honor, even with respect to couples over the age of 55, it is very rare that both couples -- both parties to the couple are infertile. and the traditional -- >> i can just assure you if both the woman and the man are over

the age of 55, there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage. >> reporter: just us it antonin scalia repeatedly tried to pin down attorney ted olson on when gays and lesbians first got the right to marriage. >> i'm curious, when -- when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? >> if i may answer this in the form of a rhetorical question. when did it become unconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages? >> reporter: the question even got asked whether same-sex marriage has been around long enough to understand its social impact. justice anthony kennedy questioned whether the court should have taken up the case at all. but he also seemed worried about almost 40,000 children of same-sex marriages, already in california. >> they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. the voice of those children is important in this case. >> reporter: justice kennedy is seen as the swing vote by many

in the event proposition 8 is a close case. neither of these cases is likely to be decided until june. soledad? >> joe johns for us this morning. thanks, joe. in a few minutes we're going to talk to cnn's senior legal analyst jeff toobin. he'll weigh in on this for us. and later we'll talk to florida governor rick scott, get his take as well. he has been against gay marriage. we're also following a developing story out of north korea this morning. christine has that and some of the other stories making news. >> good morning. new this morning, more rising tension on the korean peninsula. north korea now claiming it has cut off an important hotline to the south. this hotline is key because it allows south koreans to cross the border to work at a jointly run industrial complex in the north. another hotline dealing with the red cross was cut off earlier this month. cnn's matthew chance live in yeonpyeong near north korea. matthew, other hotlines are still working. so what makes this so significant?

>> well, there are already about eight or so hotlines that exist between this very closed-off kingdom in the north, north korea, and its rival in the south. and so, the fact that one of them has been disabled now by pyongyang obviously has an impact on the ability of the two sides to communicate. and that's important because we're experiencing a very heightened period of tensions on the korean peninsula, of north korea tested a nuclear device last month. it carried out what many people believe to be a long-range rocket test in december of last year. and since then the tension has been ratcheted up as we've been reporting, almost on a daily basis. this is just the latest step along that road. >> all right, matthew chance for us. new this morning, buildings shaking in tie pay, aftershocks jolting central taiwan after a powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook the island earlier this morning. this is what it looked like. it felt like from inside a tv station. taiwan is said to be largely intact. no reports of major damage. "the wall street journal" says at least eight people were

injured. mostly by falling objects. death on the high seas. a developing story this morning. the fbi investigating what it calls the suspicious death of a 64-year-old passenger aboard a royal caribbean cruise ship. the woman from virginia was found dead by her husband in their cabin on sunday. the ship, "enchantment of the seas" returned to baltimore on monday following a seven-day cruise to florida and the bahamas. no word why investigators are calling this death suspicious. the secret service has a new director. it's julia pierson. the first woman to ever head up the agency. she inherits a $1.7 billion budget, 7,000 employees, oh, yeah, and a department tarnished by scandal. here's tom foreman. >> reporter: julia pierson is 53 years old, and she has been with the secret service for 30 years. working her way steadily up the ladder to become chief of staff, building what many describe as an exemplary record along the way. what helped open the door for her appointment, however, was a

scandal. one year ago the service came under fire amid allegations of agents on assignment in colombia hiring prostitutes. a half dozen were forced out. others lost security clearance. the whole affair tarnished the record of outgoing director mark sullivan and put pressure on the president to clean it up. >> we're representing the people of the united states. and when we travel to another country i expect us to observe the highest standards, because we're not just representing ourselves. we're here on behalf of our people. >> reporter: so where did pierson come from? according to an interview she gave to smithsonian.com six years ago, her childhood interest in police work gained traction during a high school job at disney world where she says i wore one of those character outfits. to this day i think the experience of dealing with large crowds at the park, had a good influence on my ability to do that sort of work with the secret service. during college she worked for

the orlando police department, and she joined the secret service in 1983. beginning with investigations into credit card fraud. since then she's been on security details for several presidents, and she's experienced virtually every aspect of secret service operations, including fraud, and counterfeiting investigations. in her new job, however, her political skills may be tested first. because even though some congressional critics of the secret service scandal are praising her appointment, they're also saying she has a lot of work ahead to repair the agency's battered image. tom foreman, cnn, washington. next hour you're going to hear from the former secret service agent who worked with julia pierson at the white house. market futures pointing lower this morning for all three major indexes following another record setting day on wall street. stocks surged tuesday. the dow finished up 111 to close at a record 14,559. all eyes on the s&p 500 this morning, that index yesterday at

1563. that's just two points shy from an all-time closing high. all right, a bus driver in china is being called a hero for somehow stopping his bus after a light pole came smashing through the windshield. hard to watch. the incredible surveillance video will make you hit the deck. that's exactly what the driver did with only a split second to spare. he suffered a ruptured spleen. but he managed to bring the bus to a stop, he unbuckled his seat belt and escaped. there were 26 passengers on board. despite his injury, he helped each and every one of them off the bus, and soledad, amazingly, no one was seriously hurt. >> it is so incredible how everybody kind of moved the right direction because when you watch what happened with that pole, and where it went as it kind of swung through that bus everybody's initial dive was exactly the right thing to do. >> what i don't know is why the light pole came in the front -- wow. but he must have -- you could see him sort of bracing and leaning to the right. he must have somehow in the

corner of his eye seen this was coming and just barely missed him. i mean, hard to watch that. >> still ahead this morning on "starting point," the supreme court takes up the federal definition of marriage this morning. up next we're going to talk to cnn's senior legal analyst jeff toobin about what we can expect today. and then when a mother and grandmother leave a baby on a train platform we'll tell you what police say happened that makes it even worse. [ man ] i got this citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. we'll leave that there. you got a weather balloon, with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. go. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is! [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] earn points with the citi thankyou card and redeem them for just about anything.

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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. welcome back. now more on our top story this morning. day two of same-sex marriage arguments taking place at the supreme court. today the justices will hear arguments for and against doma. the defense of marriage act. yesterday we were talking about california's prop 8 which bans gay marriage. we want to get to analysis from jeff toobin, cnn's senior legal analyst. he was in the court yesterday. jeff, always nice to talk to you, of course. let's start with doma, and i guess some of the arguments from yesterday, i think, look like they could be foreshadowing what's going to happen today. here is chief justice roberts talking about the label of marriage. let's start with that. >> if you tell a child that somebody has to be their friend, i suppose you can force the child to say, this is my friend. but it changes the definition of what it means to be a friend. and that seems to me what

supporters of proposition 8 are saying here. all you're interested in is the label and you insist on changing the definition of the label. >> so hearing that, what would you take away from that that frames how you think this is going? >> well, i think the confusion and ambiguity of yesterday's arguments really raises the stakes for today. because today is actually a somewhat more simple case. they don't have to worry about defining marriage or anything like that in this case. this is a case about states that have already defined marriage. these are not -- this is a law, the defense of marriage act, that only applies in the nine states that have same-sex marriage and here in the district of columbia, and the question is, will the federal government treat those married people, who are married, as if -- in the same way as they treat straight couples? it's a much more simple legal question. >> justice kagan, on the other

side, was digging into the argument about pro-creation being sort of the basis for -- the basis of the argument against same-sex marriage. i want to play a little chunk of what she had to say. i thought this was really interesting. >> i suppose if states said, because we think that the focus of marriage really should be on pro-creation, we're not going to give marriage licenses anymore to any couple where both people are over the age of 55. would that be constitutional? >> no, your honor, it would not be constitutional. >> so, did that seem to dig a big hole in that particular argument? and what are the implications of that on today's conversation? >> well, that's certainly one of the strongest arguments that same-sex marriage supporters have. which is, that marriage is not just about pro-creation. older people, people who are incapable or uninterested in having children, are welcomed to get married, as long as they are of different genders.

so that is an argument very much in favor of same-sex marriage, that it is not just about childbearing. i think the relevance today is that this case won't have to deal with very difficult questions like that of why do we have marriage. this is a case much more simply about discrimination. the federal law says tax benefits go to straight married people, not to gay married people. it's really a case about money. about benefits. and who can be denied those benefits. i think same-sex marriage supporters probably are, and should be, more optimistic about this case because anthony kennedy so often the swing vote has really been sensitive on the issue of discrimination against gay people, and they think he will make a fifth vote with the four democratic appointees. that's what we think going in. we'll know a lot more when it

starts at 10:00. >> i know you described it as kind of confusing coming out of yesterday. >> it really was. you know, oftentimes, and as many people know, i have definitely, definitely been wrong in my predictions about how oral arguments turn out in the voting. but usually you can at least tell what they're going to decide, if not how they're going to decide. yesterday it wasn't even clear how they viewed the issue as framed. today, we should at least have a clearer sense of what they're going to -- what issues they're going to address, if not precisely how it's going to come out. >> jeff toobin for us standing outside the supreme court as you mentioned. it's going to start at 10:00 this morning. appreciate it. >> all right. >> still ahead on "starting point," north dakota now has the nation's toughest abortion law. bans abortions once a heartbeat is detected. that could be just a matter of weeks. other states with similar measures. coming up the legal case for and against when we come back. s thit is better than being slow?

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good morning. welcome back to "starting point." john kerry heading back to the u.s. later today following his first mideast trip as secretary of state.

kerry is meeting with business leaders in paris before flying back to washington this morning. during the trip, secretary kerry traveled with president obama to israel, and met with leaders in iraq and afghanistan. a moral victory for the u.s. in its world cup qualifier against mexico. last night's match ending in a 0-0 tie. a huge disappointment for mexico. they traditionally dominate the u.s. team. the mexican team had many more opportunities to score, taking ten shots compared to just one for the u.s. team. the world cup will be held next year in brazil. call it jaws two. that's right. scientists say the first-ever two-headed bull shark was discovered off the gulf of mexico. a fisherman made the rare find when he cut open a pregnant shark back in 2011. the two-headed shark died shortly after. scientists say the rare creature also had two hearts, two stomachs but only one tail. very, very rare. >> and very weird, huh? still ahead this morning on

"starting point," amanda knox is facing a retrial for murder in italy. would the u.s. state department let her go back? and man's best friend to the rescue. how a dog saved a hiker who was trapped for days. [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left.

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for national journal and joe solomonese is joining us for the first time. formerly director of the human rights campaign. nice to have you with us. new information on the breaking news story about amanda knox. we were talking about that yesterday with her attorney. after an italian court ruled that she could be retried in the death of her roommate in perugia, italy. the big question this morning is could she be forced to go back in order to stand trial. foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is at the state department for us this morning. good morning. >> hey, soledad. it's a complicated question. as a lot of legal questions are. and you can bet that lawyers here at the state department are looking at this anticipating what might happen. but all of it is governed by this agreement, an extradition treaty between the united states and italy that was signed in 1984. and as in most legal things you have to look at the fine print. amanda knox has been back in seattle for a year and a half.

>> give them some time. >> reporter: trying to live a normal life. so does tuesday's decision mean she have to return to italy? >> the question of whether she would have to go back to italy for a trial will come down to how the extradition treaty between the united states and italy is construed. >> reporter: former federal prosecutor david laufman says if amanda knox had been convicted and acquitted in the united states, she'd be protected by double jeopardy, which prevents a defendant from being tried for the same crime twice. but it happened in italy, which has a more flexible legal system. so italy could, he says, ask the u.s. to extradite her. >> now, that doesn't mean the united states is necessarily going to extradite her. there will likely ensue a fevered dialogue between, you know, justice ministry officials

in italy, and the department of state lawyers, maybe department of justice lawyers, possibly even the head office of formal extradition request. >> reporter: in other words a diplomatic and ultimately political solution. but amanda knox's attorney is hoping any new trial would end up with the same verdict, acquittal. >> there's no reason to believe that any further review will result any differently. keep in mind, there was no physical evidence against her, and anything that was reviewed was considered unreliable, inaccurate, insubstantial. >> and then there's another question. could she be tried in absentia? in other words, not physically being in the courtroom or being in italy. there is precedent. there were cia officers who were convicted in italy without being there in absentia. they kidnapped a terror suspect and they are free. but if they go back to europe

they do risk arrest. soledad? >> hmm, interesting. so they were never extradited. jill dougherty for us, thank you. friday night watch anderson cooper's special called "murder abroad: the amanda knox story." let's get to christine now. >> good morning again. investigators in texas say they found bombmaking materials in a car that belonged to evan ebel. he's the suspect in the shooting death of a colorado prison official. ebel died in a shoot-out with sheriff's deputies in texas last week. one texas deputy stopped and approached ebel's vehicle before the deadly shoot-out was grazed by a bullet to the head. he lived to talk about his encounter with the suspected killer. >> as soon as i approached the passenger side, stuck my head over, all i saw was a gun. at that point in time i remember seeing the gun shoot off a number of times and i could see the car just fly out. >> texas officials also say they

found handwritten directions to the home of tom clements. he's the colorado prison chief who was killed. who would do this? take a look at surveillance video from a philadelphia train station. a mother and daughter team were so busy trying to figure out how to dodge the train fare they both took off in different directions, leaving the baby behind in the middle of a busy station. you see the baby there in the covered stroller. transit police decided not to arrest the women. quite a payday for a new jersey man who claimed the fourth largest lottery jackpot in u.s. history. pedro quezada held up his powerball check like a champion as he claimed his prize. the deli owner bought the winning ticket at a local liquor store. he chose the cash value option so he'll end up with about $151 million after taxes. >> not bad. >> not bad. >> firefighters in riverside, california, say a dog named mole is a hero for leading his master to a hiker who was trapped in some rocks on a mountain. the man was trapped for several

days. the victim had no food, no water. listen to mole's owner explain what happened yesterday. >> he pulled me over, pulled me, crying, and i said what's going on, boy? so it was dark. still dark. and see this face with the eyes and i thought it was an animal. and i talked to the person, he don't talk to me. he was too weak. >> wow. he gave the victim water, called for help. a rescue team pulled him out of the rocks, took him to an area hospital where he's being monitored this morning. >> terrible. good luck for him. this morning the state of north dakota has one of the nation's toughest anti-abortion laws. the governor jack dalrimple signed a measure yesterday confirming it's a direct challenge to roe v. wade the supreme court's landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion. so this law bans most abortions after six weeks of conception and that's roughly the time that a fetal heartbeat can be detected. it's also roughly many people are pregnant well past six weeks before they even realize they're

pregnant. dalrimple is asking the legislature to set aside money for legal battles he is expecting. this is really interesting. and of course clearly the governor points out strategy is exactly that. to do this so that they bring this legal challenge to the fore. i think this could be politically a challenge. >> i think so. i think what you see with what the governor is doing, what struck me so much, was the parallels to the same-sex marriage arguments today. right? we're looking for a definitive ruling from the supreme court but clearly, we have a definitive ruling 30, 40 years ago on abortion but states are still trying to make laws still challenging it. that this is kind of a never-ending process. so even if we get to the definitive out of the supreme court in june on gay marriage that won't stop stating from continuing to try to push the boundaries as south dakota is doing. >> the thing is to be as definitive. you can look at supreme court making decision in the affordable care act. where is the battle now? on the state level, as well.

so states have always made the argument, look, there are state's rights and federal rights and that's part of the problem here. and so the real battle in public policy are not taking place in washington, d.c. on the state level, you have 30 republican governors in this country. republicans now control more state legislatures than democrats, as well. don't just focus on d.c., look at 50 states. >> that has been the fight since roe to roll back reproductive rights in this country state by state. in some rather nefarious ways. they've generally gone at zoning issues, they go at planned parenthood. redefining planned parenthood so that for instance in some states you have to have a pharmacist on duty for 24 hours. >> everyone is figuring out what transvaginal sonogram actually meant. >> yeah. >> that was a low point in that state. >> the mississippi law where they say you have to have credentials at a local hospital. and the hospital wouldn't grant credentials. >> but it's interesting that you bring up the parallel to same-sex marriage because if you

rarely find anyone nowadays who finds the notion that you're going to undo roe to be a palatable political argument, boy there are lots of ways around the edges that they can go at this. and i wonder, you know, about what that forecast could be around same-sex marriage and how they might go about that. >> absolutely. we're also waiting for day two of that same-sex marriage debate happening p/e supreme court. the justices are going to hear arguments for and against doma, the defense of marriage act which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. doma also prohibits same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits of marriage regardless of what their state law says. joining us to talk more about that is governor rick scott from the state of florida. thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. >> so, soledad are you moving to florida? everybody's moving to florida. >> you know, i'm thinking about taking a little vacation to florida. i've got a little time coming up. i love miami. going to visit my friends in a few days. let's talk about that, governor. let's talk about this first, actually. >> sure. >> give me a sense of where you

think this conversation around same-sex marriage is going? because i was trying to figure out if this was something that you were -- i believe you were against it, just from some of the things that you said about your, your opponent back in 2010. so why don't you state your position on the record for me. >> well, first off, as you know, in florida we're a traditional marriage state. in 2008 the voters put in the constitution that marriage is between a man and woman. as you know, i've been married since i was 19. so i believe in traditional marriage. but, soledad, in florida, we're focused on jobs. we -- and that's why you probably saw the ad we put up that we are -- we are -- we're going to become better braggers than texas about how we are getting more jobs to turn our economy around, there's a stunning contrast to the four years before i became governor. it's jobs, jobs, jobs. >> so, i've been married since i was 30, which is probably a couple years less than you've been married. and actually i'm sort of a believer in -- >> a couple years now. >> about two years almost, we're working on. and i kind of believe that marriage is, you know, pretty

much for anybody who feels like they want to enter into what can be kind of a crazy time. i'm curious to go back to that before we go to jobs. how do you feel that these two cases that are now before the supreme court are going to turn out? prop 8 and doma. give me a sense of where you realistically they they're going to end up. >> you know, soledad, i'm not very good at picking what the supreme court's going to do. i'm not a very good pundit of those things. if you ask me about where jobs are going, but i'm very good about how picking where the supreme court goes. >> i capitulate. let's talk jobs. clearly we're not going to be talking about marriage or the supreme court. our hands are tied. let's move on. so you have a new website that, that, that talks a lot about your job record. and i want to play a little of that before i ask you a question about that. let's play a little bit, guys. >> i've been fortunate enough where since i've run this facility i've had the opportunity to hire over 150 people. put food on the table. takes care of the families. >> what do we want more in florida? we want more florida jobs.

>> so you've raised a lot of money already for this and so i guess we're already looking at, at 2014 and your re-election campaign, right? i mean that's what that ad is saying even though we're only at the beginning of 2013? >> what it really is, is i want florida to learn to be a better, brighter than texas. we've had a stunning contrast in the last few years as far as you know what's happened. the four years before i became governor we lost 800,000 jobs. in less than two years, a little over two years we generated about 300,000 jobs. so governor perry's always bragging about how great texas is. look, 230,000 people moved here last year. almost 300,000 private sector jobs, a little over two years. first time in five years we're below the national average in unemployment. so there's a stunning contrast, so i want everybody to go to it's workingflorida.com and see what we're doing. and i want you to move to florida. there's 260,000 job openings right now in the state and you'll love it. we have better weather. >> i thought you were just asking me personally.

now you're just opening up to pretty much anybody. i see how it is. when you look at the polling -- >> soledad i'll just focus on you. >> okay, thank you. as the anchor i always appreciate that. listen, let me ask you seriously about your challenges. when you look at the polling and this is a quinnipiac poll, vote for florida governor, looking at registered voters, you're far behind charlie crist if he is going to challenge you in the election were today, you would lose handily. >> well, as you know, the election is not today. so, it's november 2014. and the real poll that matters is the third friday of every month, is what unemployment is. now, you know the president's going to come down on friday, down to miami, and he's going to brag about what we're doing. and as ronald reagan said something like it doesn't, it -- you don't care who gets the credit, you can get a lot of things done. i'm glad that florida families, all families, have the opportunity for

>> i'll see you. >> i'm going to check -- >> you can keep trying. it's all good. >> moving on. ahead on "starting point," pity the fool who challenges mr. t. on ice. we'll tell you why he suited up at the chicago black hawks game coming up next on the bleacher report. and then tom hanks is making his broadway debut in nora ephron's final work. we'll talk with his co-star courtney vance about his highly anticipated play. what if you could shrink your pores just by washing your face?

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time for bleacher report. joe carter joins us with today's sports. good morning, joe. >> good morning, soledad. andy enfield, the head coach of the florida gulf coast eagles. this guy, andy enfield, virtually unknown last week, and seems a lot of people are talking about him and his team this week. of course they're the cinderella story of the ncaa tournament. enfield and his wife amanda, who is a former cover girl model, sat down with cnn's rachel nichols yesterday and it's clear during their discussion that their three kids also enjoying dad's basketball success this week. >> my oldest daughter's focus is to go to target, buy dinosaur from the dollar bin because that was the -- that was promised after we got back from the tournament. >> i told her if she won the first game she could get a dinosaur, and my other daughter would get a barbie. >> what do they get if you win game three? >> they get more. i've already agreed to that. >> all parents can definitely

understand that kind of bribery. the florida gulf coast eagles shocked the sports world. they are the first 15 seed to advance to the sweet 16. they will play friday night against third seeded florida. that game is at cowboys stadium. tip-off time 10:00 p.m. eastern. the story getting the most buzz this morning on bleacherreport.com has to be manti te'o the linebacker made up for a disappointing performance from the nfl combine by running a faster 40 yard dash at notre dame's pro day yesterday. some experts say his new time greatly improves his draft status, up to a possible first round pick. others are saying we're not quite convinced he's an nfl star quite yet. chicago native mr. t., yes mr. t. was at a black hawks game last night. the legendary '80s actor had this to say before a shoot the puck competition. >> what is your prediction for shoot the puck? >> pain! i pity that puck! i pity it! >> mr. t. was involved in a slap

shot contest during an intermission of the blackhawks game. look at that. he took three shots. made the third one. crowd went wild. i don't know what's better, soledad, the prediction or the shot itself. i pity the puck. >> equally good. and you know, that's a man who has taken a line and just run with it for his entire career. we celebrate that. he's working that. >> hey, work it. >> thank you, joe. >> ahead this morning on "starting point," he starred in the hit show "law & order: criminal intent." now courtney b. vance is back on broadway.

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from hollywood to the great white way, tom hanks making a broadway debut as a columnist. and courtney b. vance says the play's editor three-time academy norah ephron's final work. the play is getting rave reviews, and the lineup, george h. wolf, won a couple of tonies.

an amazing cast. tell me what it feels like to do something that is incredibly special. >> i'm so thankful to be aboard. we did the reading about a year ago, and i -- it was amazing. i got a nice note from norah afterward, we spent four days with her, with george c., and i thought that was the end of it, and i heard it was back again, and i have to say that george c. wolf's vision, i think we all agree, the cast would agree, the vision is so enormous, we had no idea the play was as big. he always says -- irehearsal, h says there is an easy way to do this play and we're not doing it it's massive, complex. >> logistics are hard. you are in a way, set the tone with the way you sort of set up the feeling of sort of tabloid

new york at times. maybe a little slower. what did you like about the role of the guy who is editing, a guy who is a little out of control? >> right, a very interesting journey, because i was just about to get starting talking to harrison's wife at the beginning of the rehearsal process, and we couldn't talk to them, the producer asked us not to talk to the people for legal reasons, and by the time i was freed up, i heard i could traumatic to her, we were in the middle of rehearsals and i didn't have time. i didn't have a chance, and it was like harrison was like a ghost. i couldn't find anything on him. so the fact that this play is -- has been done, it's -- it means so much to harrison's wife and family. because he was an editor, so there is not a lot on him, the information is really on mcelroy, so i'm just thankful

that because of this, people get to know a little bit about hap harrison. i couldn't find anything on him. >> a two-time tony nominee. last time on broadway, it was 20 years ago. >> had to say it. >> do you have the angst zit, you know tom hanks must be having, making his broad way debut. >> i did a play with my wife about eight years ago at the gut rhode island. and i had anxiety. as soon as i stepped on stage, it all came back. she said, well -- we were on stage together and i took off. wait, hold on. it's in my body, it's in there. as soon as you step on the stage, it starts again. i'm glad to be back. been a couple of years, and i'm

glad to be back. >> you normally play these cool, reserved characterses, like are you right now. do you want an outrageous role where get to be buck wild crazy? >> yes. because you said that -- >> now it's done. >> watching all of your movies, you are the cool man, but never just outlandish crazy. >> the play is "lucky guy." buck wild. nice to have you, courtney. >> courtney b. vance, starring in "buck wild." >> let's move on. david petraeus speaking out publicly for the first time since his affair went public and he had to leave the cia. and julia stiles back on the big screen with a new comedy about the end of the world. she joins us with a look at her new movie called "it's a

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welcome, everybody. the supreme court taking up the defense of marriage act. hours away, a case that could redefine marriage. one day after they took up same-sex marriage in california. >> when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? >> so are there any signs so far in how they will rule? we'll take a look at that this morning. david petraeus speaking out. the former cia chief's first public words since the extramarital affair that cost his him job. a woman takes over the

secret service for the first time in the 104-year history. can she turn around the culture and public image. the rescuer becomes the rescued. find out what happened in a moment. and julia stiles, the actress, a new movie out called "it's a disaster. "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. our team this morning, roland martin, chris frates, reporter for national journaly. joe solo mncsolommonese. this morning, unfolding in the supreme court, the justices are taking up doma, defense of marriage act, and we're hearing arguments before and against its appeal. it denies same-sex couples access to federal benefits.

new cnn/orc poll to share with you this morning, a majority of americans, 56% believe the federal government should recognize same-sex marriages in states where it's legal. crime and justice correspondent joe johns outside the supreme court for us this morning. hey, joe. >> good morning, soledad. the federal defense of marriage act has been in place since 1996. it denies federal benefits to same-sex couples in nine states where same-sex marriage is legal. the question is whether that violates equal protection. this comes one day after the supreme court took up the controversial issue of california's proposition 8. >> same-sex marriage week at the supreme court. day one. culture war on the docket. >> the place where the decision to be made regarding redefining marriage is with the people, not with the courts. >> charles cooper, the lawyer in favor of california's proposition 8 argues that

traditional marriage must be preserved because it's all about pro creation. but justice elena kagan picked it apart, asking if a state could deny a meaning license to people over 55. >> if you are over the age of 55, you don't help us serve the government's interest in regulating pro creation through marriage. so why is that different? >> your honor, even with respect to couples over the age of 55, it is very rare that both parties to the couple are infertile. >> i can just assure you, if both the women and the man are over the age of 55, there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage. >> justice antonin scalia tried to pin down attorney ted olson on when gays and lesbians first got the right to marry. >> i'm curious, when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? >> may i answer this in the form

of a rhetorical question? when did it become unconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages. >> reporter: the question even got asked whether same-sex marriage has been around long enough to understand its social impact. justice anthony kennedy questioned whether the court should have taken up the case at all. but he also seemed worried about almost 40,000 children of same-sex children already in california. >> they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. the voice of those children is important in this case. >> reporter: and justice anthony kennedy is seen by many as very important here. he could be the swing vote in the event this is a close case. the court is not expected to decide these cases until some time in june. soledad. >> joe johns for us this morning, thank you, joe. david petraeus back in the public spotlight. apologizing for the affair tra brought down his career. he delivered a speech last night at the university of southern

california and says he hoped to move forward after "slipping my moorings,." this is what he said. >> let me allow me to begin my remarks by reiterating how deeply i regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the cia and caused such pain for my family, friends, and supporters. >> the retired general has reportedly hires an agent, shopping for a book deal none of that is surprising. lee reynolds attended the event where petraeus spoke. he is currently a professor of military science for the rotc program. nice to have you with us. are you surprised he started off his remarks with really a sfrat forward apology that was to those listening, but to a broader audience as well? >> no, i wasn't surprised at all. i think, you know, he had to

address the elephant in the room, we had all kinds of media that were there. and this is his first public appearance since he left the cia. so i think it made sense. it was appropriate. the right thing to do, and i was inspired by his comments. he took complete credit or blame. >> yeah. he took blame for the incident and, you know, he -- said how much he regrets it and it was a personal affair. he needed to make things good with the family, but now it's time to move on, i thought also his comments saying that, people looking at him now a year later in a different light, but, you know, general petraeus has so many great things he has done in his career, the man needs to be looked at. his whole body of work, not just for this one incident. ball the of the great things he has done for our country. served our country in many

capacities. his whole adult life. and that is how he needs to be assessed. this whole body of work. >> hang on for one second for me. let me turn to the panel for a moment. it's interesting what lee said. sort of one year out. now people can sort of say, now let's -- with a broader lens, take a look at the man himself and not necessarily what everybody is sort of looking at him through the lens of this scandal that hazem broiled the cia and came completely messy. do you agree with that? >> i think what we'll see with the book deal, he's shopping around washington, trying to tell the broader story, put his career in perspective and create a narrative that does talk about petrae petraeus, the general, petraeus the cia director, and petraeus the man who made a mistake. i think he's trying to move on. >> lee, you attended the speech he gave -- or dinner i guess he was attending the night before, and you had an opportunity to talk to him, because you know

him personally. what did you talk about? did he give you insight into his future? >> yeah, he really hosted a dinner for all of the rotc staff at university of southern california. and his focus, he really opened it up to us, if we had questions for him. you know, as part of the military profession, he knows he's had some great experiences and he wants us to -- really gave us the floor to ask questions. but the focus really was on the military profession, on moving forward and some questions looking back at the war their rack and about his work with counterinsurgency and how he led the american forces through the surge. that was really the focus of our discussions. >> lee reynolds, assistant professor for the rotc program. thank you for talking with us. it will be interested to see the next chapter of his life. thank you, appreciate it.

>> thank you. >> christine has a look at other stories making news. new this morning, tensions escalating on the korean peninsula north korea has cut off an important hotline to the south. that's significant, because this allows the south koreans to cross to work at an industrial complex in the north. matthew chance is following all of this. and we'll bring this to you and why this is so important, and what prompted this when he is available. a desperate search for a 16-month-old boy. amber alert for landon cole barnes and his mother. the boy seen yesterday awn. the mother, who does not have custody is bipolar and not taking medication. hours after, the mother texted her father saying she did not want to live. reports of another possible sinkhole in the same florida neighborhood where a man was

swallowed up and killed in his own bedroom. two families who lived in this duplex evacuated after they discovered cracks in the floors and walls. fire rescue officials came by to check the home. still not clear if the problems are caused by a sinkhole beneath the house. a fire captain from dayton, ohio, in serious condition after attempting to rescue a vehicle. look what happens when another car comes crashing into them. >> grab the truck [ bleep ]. >> captain berry krone thrown 25 feet through the air. fellow firefighters carried him to safety. the 25-year veteran firefighter's injuries are not life threatening. worst fear of first responders when you have icy conditions. it is spring, but you need jackets and scarves, even in florida. a freeze warning for northern

parts of the state. temperatures drop to the upper 30s and mid 40s around tampa bay. the record low is 39, set back in 1894. a warmup will begin by friday with highs expected in the 70s. 27 down, 6 to go. some heat in florida, and it's the heat. lebron james and the heat taking it to chicago. the 28th straight win against the struggling bulls is what they are going for. they will be just five wins short of the all-time win record set by the lakers in 1971. 53 days since the heat last lost a basketball game. the knicks on there. bulls tonight, we'll see, five more games to go. >> duane wayde, every night, they will give books to kids. huge night tonight. doing a great thing for education. >> rooting for him. >> we like dwayne wade. >> yes, we do.

and i am telling you, i predicted the whole heat thing, way back in the day. >> you got five nba teams. >> no, i don't. just the heat and the knicks, because i'm a new york girl. moving on, for the first time in its 148-year history, a woman in charge of the secret service. we'll speak with a former secret service agent who works with the newly appointed head. and punxsutawney phil under fire. we'll tell you about this story since last week when an ohio prosecutor filed a lawsuit this morning phil and his handler, bill, phil and bill, i'm not making this up, will join us. because the whole thing has become a legal nightmare from their perspective. that ahead. this is so sick!

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the president and takes over an agency recovering from a prostitution scandal. president obama said this. julia has had an exemt lear career, and i know these experiences will guide her as she takes on this new challenge to lead the impressive men and women of this important agency. this morning, we're joined by former secret service agent. he has worked with julia pierson, nice to see you. there are not a large percentage of women at the agency. give me a sense of what julia pierson, whom you know, will bring to this environment? >> she has touched every operational outfit in the secret service. more than qualified. fantastic resume. the secret service is a unique job. i hate that word. unique. very overused word. in this case, perfectly appropriate. nothing like us. we -- there is no other

operational security element anywhere in the world that uses the kinds of assets the secret service does. she knows what it's like to stand out there on the long hours on the road to miss birthdays and holidays and really understood the trials and tribulations to the average rank and file agent. i think she will be terrific. >> a sense that you and i have talked about this the past year that the agency might need a six of the culture is that something that can be done from the top down? and is it something that a woman can specifically do? >> well, you know, there is always a political component. i don't want to take away from her accomplishments, i think she's a great pick. the male-dominated culture, we have spoke about this four or five times. the men in the secret service kind of laugh at this, they find it hysterical. my shift, when i worked for president obama, my operational

shift was over a quarter women. they weren't looked as women agents. they were just looked at women agents. >> i thought only 10% of the agency was female. >> right. i'm talking my shift, not the entire agency at large. i was on shift d, and i don't want to give away the specific numbers. but it was a quarter women. some shifts only had one or two women. the shift at that particular time was populated a quarter by women and the men find it kind of funny, this illusi willlusio masculine culture. >> the whole prosecution scandal, do you have a sense of guys being guys, goingan on these trips, et cetera, et cetera, a woman being in charge will change. am i reading too much into her appointme appointment? >> i think so. obviously we can put people in these boxes and the appointment,

black, white, male, female. she is a good agent. she went up through the ranks and has that esprit de corps that i don't think other agencies have. we took a real black eye on that. she lived through that. she knows the pain. i experienced it. first time in my life when i told people i was a former secret service agent there was a snicker. that was devastating. very devastating to her as well. and that's why i think an inside pick, contrary to some of the other pundits, was the best selection. she won't let that happen again. >> nice to have you with us. thank you. >> prince harry planning another trip to the united states. don't expect any naked vegas party antics like the last time he was here. could be a little jersey shore in his future. we'll explain. straight ahead. ♪

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welcome back to "starting point" minding your business. the stock market posting down in the futures. we'll see if the s & p 500 can get the two points it needs to hit a record closing high. an old saying, sell in may and go away. stocks have dropped 10% to 20% in april. jeff cline at lpl financial has ten indicators that he looks at to determine the health of the market. only two waving red flags right now, so proceed with caution, it is impossible to tell when the rally will end.

a growing number of bears are saying that a drop may happen in june. >> sell in may and go away. >> go on vacation, because you just made a ton of money. dionne warwick has fallen on hard times, despite selling millions of records. the 72-year-old signinger filing for bankruptcy. her financial problems can be blamed on bad management that left heroing penalties and taxes to the state of california and the irs. chris christie promising to keep a close eye on prince harry. he has a bit of a reputation on past visits to the u.s., including naked pictures of him at the hotel in vegas. the governor says no schenn an begans when he tours the towns devastated by hurricane sandy in may. >> i'm thrilled that he wants to come and see the destruction

himself, first hand, and he wants to be helpful. and i'm going to be spending the entire day with prince harry, and so believe me, nobody is going to get naked if i'm spending the entire day with him. >> prince will make stops in colorado, washington, d.c., new york and connecticut during his trip. interesting to hear chris christie, always really -- >> such a tough guy. >> and delivers a great guy. charming his voters every step of the way. >> get re-elected. that's what he wants. >> no pictures of prince harry and snooki in the entire universe. >> you know. ahead, more on the shooting arrests in the death of a 12-month-old baby. why the suspect's mother and aunt are now in custody.

and a border trip between the u.s./mexico border. and punxsutawney phil and his handlers, phil's forecast failed. legal attacks, now they are facing them and piling up. we'll talk about that, after the break. for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready. for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin.

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welcome, everybody. you're watching "starting point." punxsutawney phil joins us live to answer about his early spring prediction. he can't speak, so you don't

know how he will literally answer. and julia stiles joins us with her new movie called "u.s. a disaster," it's about a penning disaster, but a comedy. very funny. >> good morning to all of you. you and punxsutawney phil. a defense lawyer claiming it was jodi arias and not her murdered ex-boyfriend that was the victim in the relationship. here is what the defense expert told the court. >> isolation doesn't have to be as obvious as you never get to see anybody that you care about. isolation can be that are you not talking to anybody what's going on in your life. that's common in domestic violence relationships. they want people to like their partner. >> if she's found guilty, arias faces a possible death sentence. new developments in the

murder of a 13-month-old georgia baby boy. the mother and aunts of one of the teens charged in the case have been arresteded. accused of making false statements, this is according to an official complaint. the women have been leased on bond. two teenage boys accused of shooting the baby to death, as they tried to rob her before firing at her child. >> four big-name senators working on immigration reform legislation will hold a press conference on border security this will happen right after their tour of the arizona/mexico board every. the bipartisan group consists of john mccain, democratic new york senator chuck schumer. republican senator jeff flake of arizona and democratic colorado michael bennet. and justin bieber accused of battery and threats. a confrontation tuesday morning outside bieber's home in

calabasas, california. a member of the entertainer's security team says the neighbor entered bieber's property and words were exchanged, but there was no physical contact. officials are deciding whether charges should be filed. uninvited guest at a five-star resort in southern california. a rescue crew in seaworld was called after a lion needed a place to relax. he was really hanging out on the chair. and didn't freak out. people were figuring out what to do with him, calling authorities and the like. >> probably dehydrated, probably ugh. >> i need a massage. >> ain't no credit card, just chilling in the lobby. shall we transition to punxsutawney phil. a bit of a credibility problem. he predicted an early spring back in february. and much of the country hit by cold temperatures, and we're in

spring already. cool temperatures across the country this morning. butler county, ohio, prosecutor so mad about the long winter, he indicted phil for fraud. he has apparently dropped the charges since then. but where is phil? joining us from punxsutawney, pennsylvania, is phil, the groundhog, the president of the groundhog club is bill deeley and ron is phil's handler. nice to have you with us, bill, we'll all jump in and start with you. i guess the legal hatchet hanging over your necks going away the prosecutor has decided he drop thad lawsuit. but are you feeling bad? feeling guilty? everyone in the country is blaming you? >> well, we're feeling a sense of relief. truly nobody wanted to go to jail. i don't want to go to jail, phil didn't want to go to jail. so we're relieved it's over. not phil's fault, guys. it's my fault. i'm the guy, and i goofed.

i totally made a mistake. you got to give me credit for making a mistake. for owning up to it or whatever. >> if you could see how phil is looking at you. look how phil is looking at you while you are saying at you? staring at you in the head? >> well, as the president of the groundhog club, we are given this arcadian contain, passed down from generation to generation, president to president, and with this cane, it gives us the power to speak in groundhogese, and phil is telling me stupid, stupid, stupid. it's cold in punxsutawney, we can't wait until we get some warm. >> have they started impeachment proceedings against you as president? i was in detroit monday.

snowing, 30, and it's almost april. bill, i think you should do the nation a favor and actually resign. >> oh! >> well, i'll be truthful, we had no school here in punxsutawney on monday because there was a snowstorm. two weeks ago, they elected me as president for another year. i did hear at the coffee shop there was an impeachment process being thought of. so far, it hasn't happened. now i know what bill clinton feels like. >> this is a coverup. i think you're taking the wrap for a really bad forecast, and economic and stock market forecasters around the country getting nervous about how much grief the world is giving punxsutawney phil. what do you think about the ohio prosecutor and his original contention, maybe it was time for punxsutawney phyllis, maybe a woman could do the job better next year? >> throwing down the gauntlet for a feminist cause. >> still male shovist ins in

pup punxsutawney. >> the apology only goes so far. >> we definitely were upset with the prosecutor when he said that the death penalty. you know, maybe he was punishing us by making a trip to ohio to grote some folks out there. because ohio is not one of those good states anyway. >> oh. he can come right back. you know, he had moved on. he had moved on. you never want to make a prosecutor angry. >> a college battle there, pennsylvania/ohio. >> phil, bill, and ron, thank you so much for being us with. i'm glad that you are off the hook, litigation wise. i'm confident you are going to figure it out for next year. >> impeach bill! >> hopefully the impeachment calls will die down as well. nice to have you this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you very much for having both phil, ron, and i on the show.

thank you from punxsutawney. >> you bet. my kids at home are like, oh, my god, that was the best thing ever. my mom interviewed a groundhog. >> what am i doing? >> but my kids are saying my mom interviewed a groundhog. that was awesome. >> i'm with christine on the coverup. i think he's taking the fall. >> i am more fascinated with phil now. >> the supreme court taking up the defense of meaning act. plus, actress julia stiles preparing for the end of the world literally in her new comedy, called the disaster. >> ever went scuba diving, never went to the ballet, never been in love. i have never even watched "the wire." >> julia stiles, up next. you're watching "starting point."

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in about 90 minutes, the

supreme court will take on doma, or the defense of marriage act. we'll talk about it with the panel. we heard about same-sex marriage, prop 8 in california and jeff toobin said he left listening to that conversation more confused and made a couple of bad calls as he would admit. not always 100% right. but he seemed to say it was unclear what they were going to do in doma, which is what they are hearing today? >> seemingly unclear what they are going to do about yesterday's case, the standing, whether they should even hear the case, and the different outcomes, which could have implications across the country. today's question is much more straight forward, which is in states where marriage is already legal, the nine states plus the district, ought there be federal benefits conveyed to folks in

those states? >> what has been the argument against that? >> there wasn't much of a question against marriage equality generally. there is not -- really, a straight-forward question, limited to states where same-sex marriage is legal right now. >> legal benefits. >> so it's difficult to make an argument against it. and i think the important part, a lot of people don't realize that the sort of things we're talking about, the kinds of safety net that marriage provides when you are at your most vulnerable, social security survivor benefits. estate tax issues, the federal benefits that are conveyed with marriage and the sort of benefits, even in a state like new york or d.c., where marriage is legal, that we still don't have access to it. >> and the thing about yesterday, when you listen to the analysts, all the different angles and the pieces.

justice ruth bader begins berbebe ginsberg. do they get too far ahead of the public? let the states decide is a little bit longer, we come down later, and alito saying we are not elected. brown vs. board of education, and almost 50 years later, we're talking about equality in education. the legal arguments are interesting, and i don't think anyone can figure out what the decision is based on the discussion yesterday. >> you have to be careful when are you watching arguments. so many questions yesterday, and analysts and i remember -- i wrote a piece yesterday. "the new york times" saying it looks like health care is in

peril, mandates are doomed, and it was upheld. >> all across the spectrum of justice, a lot of questions about children and the consequences of children in same-sex relationships. what was lost in the conversation, this social safety net of marriage really is about protecting all stakeholders in the relationship and marriage is something that protects children, just as it protects men and women. >> watch cnn on saturday for a speci special. it is called "the marriage warriors," showdown at the supreme court. two former rivals teams up to fight for marriage at the supreme court. that's on saturday, 7:30 p.m. eastern. still ahead, it's the end of the world, but being punctual still matters. listen.

>> getting laughed at here. >> maybe you should learn to show up things on time. >> huh? >> the new dark comedy, called it's a disaster, you're watching "starting point," back with that, next. she may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec®. powerful allergy relief for adults and kids six years and older. zyrtec®. love the air. the walmart low price guarantee. that's your receipt from another store? yep. let's go! check out that price. that's walmart's every day low price. that's what i'm talking about! yes, yes! oh my goodness! that's the walmart low price guarantee! bring in your last grocery receipt and see for yourself. save more on the candy your family loves. with low prices on reese's eggs and bunnies, cadbury creme eggs, and all their hershey's favorites. get more easter for your money, guaranteed. with our low price guarantee backed by ad match. walmart.

welcome back, everybody. it is sunday brunch, and the world is about to end. basically the premise of a new movie called "it's a disaster." a dark comedy starring julia stil stiles, an obligatory couples brunch. >> who is this other guy in the

picture with tracy? >> that's roger. >> that is roger. >> so the couples eventually learn they are in the middle of an attack. julia stiles joins us to talk more about it. the director said he wanted each character to sort of portray a stage of grief. what stage is tracy? >> i think he told me denial. but everyone is denial. everyone has crazy moments of distracting themselves with mundane things. whatever problems they are having in their relationships as opposed to really confronting the idea that the world is about to end. >> kind of a crazy premise to do a comeby about the serious threat on the outside. not the joke, which is the chemical attack. that is happening and what's happening inside the house that everybody is creating to it that becomes very hilarious.

how weird to balance those two things? >> i thought it was hilariouhil. most of the guys are more upset they can't get the football game on tv. all of the technology is gone, and refuse to come to terms with -- it's an abstract idea, the idea of a dirty bomb going off outside, but it's more about the people inside the house than what's going on outside. >> your character starts to freak out about all of the things that she has not had an opportunity to do. and i should say that guy are you with is kind of a relatively new -- >> i play the perpetual singleton. >> let's play a little bit of that. >> okay. yes. >> hi. >> okay. >> hi.

>> where did you and tracy meet? >> online. >> how are you holding up? >> you know, i never went to europe. never. not once. i never even went to montreal, which i hear is very european. i never went scuba diving. i never went to the ballet. i have never been in love. i have never even watched "the wire." >> all of those things are overrated. except for "the wire." it's really good. >> did you guys crack up through the entire -- so many great lines in this film. >> it's the kind of thing i feel like if you watch the second time, there are even more funny one liners, davis cross, such a huge fan, and really hard to impro fiz with him too, because i had a really hard time keeping a straight face. >> none of that was improvised? >> all written.

>> that scene all written. but a lot of improvisation in other scenes. >> cracking up. >> totally ruining takes and inappropriately messing up. >> do you like doing that? some people like being rigid. this is what i want to read in the script, and others say, look, i love the freedom to add stuff and go with it. >> todd, our director, had so many great lines we wanted to keep, like the structure of a scene and get to a punchline, but we could improvise a little bit. a structure, so not overwhelming, the pressure on to make the entire scene funny. >> any tips for people for not laughing inappropriately? as a professional. >> it's all about you. >> what was your initial reaction to the subject when you first got the script? >> todd berger, the writer and director and a bunch of other guys in the movie i had been friends with and we did a few

short videos together and todd sent me the script and i was laughing out loud when i was reading it. he has a very specific clever sense of humor i just really appreciate. and i was like, yeah, i totally want to be part of this. >> the whole thing done in one house. >> one house, yes. >> is that weird? >> it was really good for me, because i have navigational problems, so driving to work every day was easy. i knew exactly where i was going. >> you can't actually make it to the set without getting lost. >> exactly. it was really great, because instead of having trailers, we would have our downtime in the house across the street, which happens to be the house that marvin gaye died in i understand de incidentally. >> we have to take a break, "end point" is up next. you can part a crowd, without saying a word...

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time for "end point." roland, want to start us off? >> shaka canc shaka kahn celebrated her 60th birthday party. >> third party. one in l.a., one last night. >> all leading up to the 40th anniversary of her first album. >> fabulous. >> happy birthday, shaka.

>> everybody will be watching the supreme court. i'll be watching arizona and the four senators talking about immigration reform, see if they will make any news. will they come back to washington with a plan? will we see something happen? >> what do you think? >> i think we will see something start to happen whether they come back next week after easter and passover recess. >> interesting. >> i'll continue to watch the supreme court while are you watching arizona. and i predict we will continue to see a long parade of unconventional characters coming forward in support of marriage equality. particularly more republicans. >> you do? >> i do. >> republican elected officials. rob partman who really talked about his son and we heard from karl rove, right? who set us back. not necessarily did a big endorsement. >> today, it's been retired folks,