tv Early Start CNN April 12, 2013 2:00am-4:00am PDT
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innovation in mega tall buildings. >> in other words, more than a century and a half after otis started his small company, business is still looking up. tom foreman, cnn. >> that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. nuclear crisis in korea. secretary of state john kerry in the south right now as the north may indeed have the power to make good on its threats. explosives mailed to the man who called himself america's toughest sheriff. was this a plot to take out joe arpaio? and word of more storm deaths with the threat continuing at this hour. look at that. and fight on the field, benches clear in san diego after one of baseball's best pitchers out of action for weeks. good morning, welcome to "early
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start." i'm christine romans. zoraida is off today. >> i'm john berman. it is friday, april 12th, it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. happening right now, secretary of state, john kerry, touching down overnight in seoul trying to diffuse the missile crisis on the korean peninsula just hours after the dramatic and unexpected revelation that some u.s. intelligence sources believe that north korea has the technology to make a nuclear weapon and put it on a missile. with so much at stake, kerry will make three stops, beijing and tokyo are up next. and the secretary of state is expected to lean very hard on china to help rein in the north. here's kyung lah. >> reporter: secretary kerry is in seoul, it's a trip built as a getting-to-know-you trip. he's getting to work quickly because there's a lot on his plate, a whirlwind 18-hour tour in south korea. he's already met with top u.s. commanders in the region, he's
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already met with the president of south korea and is now on his way to meet with the foreign minister. he has a two-part mission here. first, it will be to reassure south korea that the united states will protect the country that they are bound by treaty and that they are important allies, but the other is to seek some sort of diplomatic off-ramp with north korea, to try to send that message to try to find a new solution to an old and what is recently become a more threatening problem in this region. from here we'll head to beijing and tokyo throughout this region, what will follow him is this pentagon intelligence assessment that north korea may be able to deliver a nuclear weapon via ballistic missile, a very stunning report, especially for the united states and this region. kyung lah, cnn, seoul. let's go to the pentagon for new assessment on the nuclear capabilities. chris, it appears the obama
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administration is attempting to do damage control over the release of that information yesterday. >> reporter: that's right, christine. just this morning the u.s. official was saying that they do not believe that north korea is as far along in their nuclear program as was suggested in that first assessment. this is coming after the director of national intelligence had to put out a statement late last night basically saying this was one assessment in that other intelligence agencies didn't necessarily come to the same conclusion. but i think the bottom line is north korea has clearly moveded the ball and is continuing to make progress. >> they demonstrated their willingness to invest in missile technologies in violation of their international agreement. and we do think that over time they might develop a greater capability. >> reporter: the one thing that the assessment does say is that the north koreans still have problems with reliability. that means when you push the
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button, does that particular missile actually fire and can you hit what you're aiming for? >> all right. do we have any more information this morning on how that piece of information got declassified? >> reporter: yes, this is what you don't see publicly, christine, and a defense official told me basically this was a let's stake. and another official told cnn normally in a classified report like this you don't see one sentence of a classified report unclassified. again, they are saying it was a mistake on their part. they are not blaming congressman doug lamphorn, but he says, look, he felt it's something the american people need to know. >> and i do that properly in that this was declassified, whether it was a mistake or not, i can't answer that, but given the seriousness of the threat, this is something that people do need to know about. >> reporter: again, he put the
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word out. and the officials here saying it was a mistake. christine? >> chris, what about the weapons we do know north korea has, how long of a range do they have? give us a sense of what we know they do have. >> reporter: we know they have missiles, some have been tested and proven to work, others haven't. take a look at this map. basically they have gun missiles, they have the nodong, though can region 5,000 kilometers. they tested missiles that can go a lot further, but those tests haven't been successful. take a look at the other map, the musudan missile believed to be the latest launch, that may have the ability to reach guam but has never been tested. >> chris lawrence, thanks. we are awaiting a press con frons live from seoul and we'll bring that to you when it happens. authorities in flagstaff
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intercepted a specific package addressed to joe alpiro in phoenix. experts blew it up, nobody was hurt, but they are trying to figure out who sent this package. he has received many packages for his outspoken ways and the government is suing him for violating the rights of latinos. 31-year-old thomas guolee is under arrest for the murder of tom clements. guole, is an associate of evan ebel, the suspected gunman. new developments in the senate with a debate on gun control legislation is underway. 16 republicans joined democrats in pushing aside a filibuster that attempted to stop debate from taking place. a number of senators, both democrat and republican, thank relatives of the victims of the connecticut school massacre for lobbying senators to at least bring legislation to the senate
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floor for discussion. >> there's darkness, lies, misinformation, and when people see you, it means much more than when they hear me or anybody else. so we've made a huge difference. >> the amendments that will be debated include expanded background checks on gun buyer, separate amendments on banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. another record high for the dow and s&p 500. the dow now in reach of 15,000. yesterday the official closing numbers, 14,865, that's two record-high finishes in the last two days. the s&p 500 also closing at an all-time high, now less than seven points from the 1,600 mark. but the bulls could be taking a breather, the now, nasdaq and s&p 500 futures all pointing lower at signals of a possible pause at the opening bell. all right. brace yourself, baseball fans,
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it's a very costly bench-clearing brawl during last night's dodgers/padres game in san diego. yes, take a look at this. that's zach greinke who hits carlos quentin with a pitch. greinke says he saw quintin charging the mound. he breaks his left collarbone in this process. greinke was unable to continue. not clear how much the pitcher has to sit out and how much time it will take, one of the best pitchers in baseball. that's the third time that greinke has hit carlos quintin over the years. they are still -- you don't charge the mound with a bat. he did drop the bat, but not many people are looking at carlos quintin's actions fondly right now. >> wow, look at that. >> uh, the third time he's hit
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quintin over the years. he's never hit anyone as most as carlos quinn fbi. round one of the masters is in the books. tiger is lurking four strokes off the lead. how about 14-year-old chinese phenom here, four bogeys for an impressive 1-over par. here's your leaderboard, sergio garcia and mark leishman on top. then dustin johnson and fred couples. >> couples looked awesome yesterday. a lot of players had really low scores yesterday. tiger was fine but he could have been doing a lot better than he actually is. >> you are sports consumption. >> i have all afternoon to watch now. from the florida panhandle to ohio, the threat for severe storms and even tornadoes
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continues at this hour. we'll have the latest on this storm's path coming up. and we are awaiting a news conference from secretary john kerry talking to reporters in seoul in the rising tensions with the north. we'll be right back. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. aaah! aaaaah! theres a guy on the window! do something, dad! aaaah! aaaah! what is happening? they're rate suckers. their bad driving makes car insurance
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[ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! the tornado watches have been extended for these states after a series of powerful twisters. and wild weather tore a path of destruction from texas all the way to the dakotas killing three, injuring several others. cars tossed around like toys, homes destroyed and entire neighborhoods trashed. at least one person was killed as a vicious twister ripped through mississippi. seven counties in that state suffered major damage. david matingly is live with the latest. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, christine. the storm was deadly but also massive leaving behind scenes of destruction for hundreds of miles. >> that's where the worst damage is. >> reporter: for the second
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straight day, severe damage menacing more than a half dozen states. the hardest hit, mississippi. this tornado caught on video. in wine county one person was killed, five injured. there was a path of destruction at least 30 miles long extending into west alabama. >> as i was cleaning up a spot to fix to put another mobile home, i went home and heard the siren going off. that's when i jumped in my clothes and come out of the house quickly. >> reporter: the storm system swept across the southeast knocking out power to thousands, toppling trees and damaging homes. into the night, watches and warnings, storm damage all the way into georgia. >> i have lived up here about two years. this is the third or fourth one to come through this area, so we are just in a tougher graphical situation here where the storms come right through here. and it is very powerful. this one is pretty impressive,
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especially the way with throwing the metal around into the trees. >> reporter: many are emerging from a colder than normal spring. these storms a sign that the season is heating up fast. it's not unusual to see about 100 tornadoes in march, but because it was so cool, we only saw 19. that's why april is roaring in like a lion. christine? >> david mattingly, thank you. >> it is not over yet. tornado watches have been extended in north carolina and south carolina. for more on what to expect today, let's go to samanthamore. hey, samantha. hi, john and christine. the focus is going to be in eastern and north carolina over the next few hours as we still have tornado watches in place, even though it shows the one still in place in georgia. it is being shipped away as most of the energy is moving towards coastal south carolina. so that includes myrtle beach and charleston and also in north
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carolina, raleigh, durham, we could end up still seeing hail, up to an inch and an inch and a half. and a wind gust extending with the stronger severe thunderstorms. and then, of course, on the northern side, that cold air is rushing in. so wintry weather across much of the northern plains still for yet another day. most of that freezing rain has transitioned over to snow, but it is still coming down in the twin cities and into northern minnesota. so here is our fofocus along th carolinas into cape hatteras where we could see damaging winds as well as isolated tornadoes. there's that strong front moving along the east coast today that will impact the northeastern airports in through newark and laguardia, jfk, we do expect to see delays piling up this morning. and then the rain moving into boston throughout the afternoon and evening commute. so another wet, messy day all along the east coast with that threat of severe primarily in
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the carolinas this morning, christine and john. >> sounds like it is shaping up to be a tough day here in the east. thank you, samantha. 15 minutes past the hour. john kerry is in the middle of the korean missile crisis now. he arrived in seoul overnight. the secretary of state will meet with south korean officials before heading to beijing to try to convince chinese leaders to use their influence on north korea to ease the missile crisis. he'll address the crisis at any moment in a live press conference, probably within the next hour. we'll bring it to you when it happens. three teen boys in northern california all 16 years old charged with a sexual battery of a 15-year-old girl. days after the alleged crime, audrey pott hanged herself. the victim passed out at a house party and pictures of the attack ended up on social media. just hours before herred is, pott posted on her facebook page her life was ruined. this happened in september but authorities were not ready to make arrests until yesterday. reebook has ended their
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relationship with rick ross who rapped about drugging and raping a woman earlier this year. rock has denied the lyrics condoning rape. a collision with an ipad. this went viral with nearly 2 million views. a georgia woman said she saw something flying at her car but did not realize what it was until later. here's the amazing thing, this tablet, the ipad, still worked. can you believe that? it's now back with its owner. apparently what happened is someone left the ipad on top of their car and started driving. it flew off while the other was driving and, boom, stuck in the bumper right there. >> unbelievable. >> crazy, right? coming up, another record day for stocks. how long are we able to ride this wave and what's the chance of dow hitting 15,000? next. [ lane ] do you ever feel like you're growing old
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bell. that could be the big driver for the stock market today. right now futures are lower, but i think that all of the clues for stocks will come later this morning. and i'll tell you that it's crazy, investors are piling in with a vengeance into the stock market. >> this may not be unprecedented in terms of a run, but this is a seriously historically big run we are on. >> it just keeps hitting records. every day this week has been higher. it wouldn't be a surprise to see a pull-back today, but if you look at the 401(k) statement, you look at the averages for the year, up double digits, you look within the market, dividend-paying stocks have been doing so well. those are kind of a safe play. they have been doing well, so some investors are very happy. >> 15,000 in sight. >> 15,000 in sight. also, remember the facebook ipo? last year the botched facebook ipo was going to cost the ceo half a million dollars. he cut his bonus by more than 60% saying he, quote, explicitly considered the facebook ipo in his job review. you may remember the
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highly-anticipated debut was hand-strung by technical problems at the nasdaq to confuse trader. and analysts say jcpenney is likely sitting on $100 million worth of martha stewart products that it can't sell. >> that's a lot of towels. >> that's a lot of towels. the merchandise wrapped up in a lawsuit brought up by macy's over who has the right to sell martha merchandise. macy's says we are the only one who can. martha stewart made a deal with jcpenney. jcpenney's says we can, too. a ruling is expected today. the analyst said jcpenney is also expecting to fire ron johnson this week. and those current on their payments can refinance for another two years. it is called h.a.r.p. it helps 2 million borrowers to refinance. 1.75 percentage points knocked
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off the interest rate. 2.2 million more are eligible. the government will extend it for two years. you have to be current on the loan but you want to try to lower your mortgage rate. 24 minutes after the hour. new this morning, the deadly crash of a tour bus full of seniors en route to a casino. we are learning more about the man behind the wheel this morning. "early start" back after the break. it only matters that it shows up and makes things better. in that spirit, verizon is proud to announce the powerful answers award. 10 million dollars in prizes for the best ideas. ideas so big, they have the power to change everything. whether it's our inspiration, or yours, the world's biggest challenges deserve even bigger solutions. the powerful answers award from verizon.
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north korean nuclear threat. haunting last words from a teen driver. his text cut-off mid-sentence before a crash. the national hockey league bold statement against homophobe ya. talk that a pro athlete may soon come out of the closet. will other big league sports join this cause? welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans in for zoraida this morning. secretary of state john kerry trying to negotiate an end to the missile crisis on the korean peninsula. kerry arrived in seoul a few hours ago and we expect to hear from him in the next ten minutes or so. he'll also visit tokyo and beijing to convince chinese leaders to do more to rein in north korea. jim clancy is live from seoul this morning. tell us what secretary kerry is doing in seoul today and what might we expect him to tell us this morning. >> reporter: well, it is pretty tough to say exactly what he's
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going to say, but i think after talking with u.s. military commanders, on one hand, talking with the president on the other hand, there's a window of opportunity here. if the north wants to sit down and talk, speak their mind, the south koreans have indicated they are willing to do so. now, you've got to understand it takes two people for a dialogue, and i think we all do understand that. and the problem right now is that north korea doesn't really want a dialogue. instead, they want to dictate. then the absence of that dialogue, there's no other course of action to take but deterrent. that doesn't mean anybody is giving up hope by any stretch of the imagination, but i sat down to talk to andrew rasmussen a short time ago, nato's secretary general is here, and he made it clear he thinks there's really only two things that can be done in this situation. listen. >> i think the best way is the
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talk trap approach, one is defense and deterrence as a means to avoid attacks. and the other track is dialogue with the aim to find peaceful solutions to these attentions. >> reporter: finding those peaceful solutions, that's going to be the difficult problem. in taking in the point of view here in south korea, secretary kerry is going to be able to move on to his next stop in beijing for what could be the tougher end of the talks. really hoping to bring china along to put some pressure on pyongyang. it was only today that they announced they were forming a new ministry. a ministry of nuclear industry. it seems that north korea is trying to dictate straight along the course. christine? >> a u.s. official told cnn that north korea is believed to be
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working to develop a nuclear warhead, but it's premature to say they're capable of launching one. south korea has been watching north korean missiles closely, any new intelligence coming out of seoul? >> reporter: well, you know, because north korea is so closed off, christine, it is very difficult to come up with any kind of reliable intelligence. but, you know, south korean officials here at the defense ministry were quoted today as saying that they do not believe that north korea is in the position right now to have a miniatureized nuclear warhead that could put atop one of its ballistic missiles. having said that, nobody is quite sure how far along they are. the real question here isn't what they have right now, it's their determination to move forward. and it poses that question, where will they be in ten years, even five years or three years? christine? >> jim clancy, thank you. new developments in the deadly bus crash on a texas toll road that killed two people and
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injured dozens more. the charter bus carrying a group of senior citizens was en route to an indian casino in oklahoma when it weaved across the lines and toppled over. this was not the 65-year-old driver's first incident. cnn's ed lavendera has more. >> reporter: just seconds after the passenger bus flipped on its side, witnesses helped to rescue the elderly victims trapped inside the bus. >> broken bones, bleeding -- >> there was fuel pouring out of the side of this. >> you don't expect to see this, but when you do, you do everything you can to help. >> reporter: what caused the bus to crash isn't known yet, but texas state troopers say the bus collided with what's described as a crash cushion in front of a cement barrier and then lost control. >> it went back across the lanes of traffic into a grassy area and struck the concrete median. he rode up on top of that concrete barrier and then rolled on its right-hand side where it
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came to rest. >> reporter: the bus was headed to an oklahoma casino for a fun day of gambling. two people were killed in the crash, including 81-year-old sue taylor, who organized the casino excursion. she had made so many of these trips in the past that she was known as casino sue. >> i can't even tell you the emotions that i'm having. i'm just -- i'm shocked that it's so close to home. >> reporter: the bus driver was lloyd reed, his granddaughter described him as a veteran driver. >> he was fine and he went to the doctor not that long ago and he was good. >> reporter: now he's one of the 44 crash victims. he's in critical condition. federal records show the bus company operator cardinal coachline has a satisfactory safety record and no major violations in the last two years. >> well, it happened pretty quick. >> reporter: survivors like 73-year-old daniel rizik never imagined a bus ride for a day at the casino would be a risky and deadly venue.
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>> people were on top of people screaming, hollering, yelling for help. it wasn't very pleasant of a situation to be in, to say the least. >> coming up, we'll hear from that man you just saw that survived the deadly bus accident in texas. daniel rizik joins us at 7:30 eastern time on "early start" this morning. a man who lost their college-aged son in a fatal car crash hope to educate people on the dangers of texting and driving. they hope this image of their 22-year-old's phone hits close to home. this happened in greeley, colorado. height was looking down when the fatal crash happened. a little boy whisked away to cuba has no idea he was caught up in an international drama. cole and chase hakken's
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grandparents say they were well taken care of. the boys apparently think they went on a fun trip. >> they have been told that everyone heard about their trip to cuba, another country as they called it, and their airplane ride back to america and that everyone wants to take their picture. we ask that there be no mention of any events of the past week. >> the boy's parents face nearly a dozen charges including kidnapping and child abuse. >> when you are a 2-year-old and 4-year-old, they are just so young. >> you hope they don't remember. new this morning, the latest cnn/orc poll shows the mood of the nation is improving. when asked last week how things are going in the country today, 50% of respondents said things are well. that's a big jump from back in august when only 36% believed things were okay. it's important to note that 50% also think things are going badly. >> sort of a glass half full, literally. the national hockey league
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reaching out to lesbian, gay and transgenders encouraging them to get on the ice. check out this ad. >> if you can skate, you can skate. >> if you can shoot -- >> you can shoot. >> if you can score -- >> you can score. >> quite an ad. this is a partnership between pro hockey and the you can play project that pushes for a conclusion in lbgt athletes. this is the first time a major sport has made a conclusion and official policy. >> i have heard more about locker room equality in the last six months than ever before. >> i think we are in a moment right now. gun control advocates clearing a key hurdle in congress for the battle is just getting started. the latest from both sides coming up next. et, and you'll dump your old mop. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady?
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legislation underway in the senate. and while the bill is fiercely opposed by most republicans, it's an achievement that this measure even got to the floor for debate. senators on both sides of the aisle give credit to the families of the victims of the connecticut school massacre for that. dan lothian has more. >> reporter: even with threats of political retribution from the national rifle association, a watered-down gun bill is now headed for a major congressional debate. >> a hard work starts now. >> reporter: how hard? the amendments are piling up. there's the bipartisan break through on background checks brokered by republican senator pat toomey and democratic senator joe manchin. >> we didn't i fringe on any individual's rights. >> reporter: there's an attempt to ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and others on mental health and school safety. >> we want to have a bill that is the boldest common denominator that we can pass. >> reporter: the critical senate
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vote that blocked a filibuster was viewed as an important step forward by many of the newtown families lobbying lawmakers in washington this week. >> we have been in darkness for 20 years when it comes to gun control, darkness, lies, misinformation. and when people see you, it means much more than when they hear me or anybody else. so we've made a huge difference. >> reporter: but it causes view from house speaker john boehner about how the final gun bill will look. >> my hearts and prayers go out to the families of these victims. and i fully expect that the house will act in some way, shape or form, but to make a blanket commitment without knowing what the underlying bill is, i think would be irresponsible on my part. >> reporter: dan lothian, cnn, washington. >> and there's this side note to the national conversation about guns, this weekend the washington state republican
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party holds its annual fund-raising dinner. the seattle times reports that one of the items up for auction is an ar-15 rifle. that's the type of assault weapon used in the connecticut school massacre. the head of the state gop said that auctioning off the weapon is not meant as a political statement, it is merely they say a way to raise money. patriotism on the chopping block. how budget cuts are affecting the all-american event. and if you're watching us at home, you can watch us on cnn.com/tv. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!
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46 minutes after the hour. we'll bring you up-to-date. happening right now, john kerry smack in the middle of the north korean missile crisis right now. the secretary of state arriving in seoul overnight with talks with south korean officials. he'll also visit tokyo and beijing. he's expected to pressure china
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to use its influence to rein in the north. we are expecting secretary kerry to speak any minute now and bring you that live when it happens. you're looking at a live picture right now. new this morning in this country, authorities in flagstaff intercepted a suspicious package addressed to maricopa sheriff joe alpiro in phoenix. the package had black powder. experts blew it up, nobody was hurt, but they are trying to figure out who sent it. alpiro is seen as controversial in many outspoken ways and he was sued for violating the civil rights of latinos. new this morning in colorado, 31-year-old thomas guolee is under arrest for the murder of tom clements. he was taken into custody as a person of interest. he's an associate of evan ebel, of course, the suspected gunman. newly released surveillance video from the university of central florida. you see a student pulling a fire alarm in a dorm. that was the first move in a campus attack last month.
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30-year-old james oliver instead went into his room and shot himself. he was not open rolled at classes at the time. the school had been trying to evict him. also in kansas city, reportedly a man is back to visit his sick partner. roger goley was arrested earlier this week when he refused to leave his partner's room. the two have been in a civil union for five years and make medical decisions for each other. he claims the hospital staff refused to recognize their relationship and forced him to leave. the hospital tells a different story as officials say goley and his partner's brother were cursing and fighting in the room and that was why he was booted. kansas city media reports that the hospital will let him return. can you help fleet week without the fleet? federal budget cuts threatening to sink the annual festivities in new york harbor next month. the military put a hold on optional events like the big fleet week celebration. those cuts have scheduled appearances by the blue angels, the flight navy aviation
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squadron. good riddance. sandy has been retired from the official list of the atlantic hurricane names because of that severe damage that the storm caused. sandy is the 77th name to be taken out of play by the world meteorological organization. it joins the life of katrina, rita, dennis and irene. >> that's almost creepy like we are retiring a number in sports but it's the reverse. happening now in the ca carolinas or virginia, severe weather is happening. >> several tornadoes ripped through the area. where is this headed next? samanthamore is live with these storms and more. >> good morning. what a nasty morning it is all across the carolina coast. and that line of thunderstorms is stretching into the west coast of florida. they are just about ready to come ashore here. so i think the morning is going to be pretty nasty here along the coast and in the tampa area they expect to see strong rip
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currents. so the word out there to all the spring breakers if you're vacationing. it could be pretty dangerous out there in the water. but yes, our shift area of severe weather is shifting to the east here from north carolina to virginia now until 9:00. we have that tornado watch in place, large hail, gusty, damaging winds still possible as well as some isolated tornado activity. so we'll be watching for that. and then all across the northeast is going to continue the downhill pattern throughout the day as the clouds thicken up and the rain rolls in across d.c. and new york. we have had a few dozen flights canceled in newark and we expect numbers to go up throughout the day. and then there's the wintry side, all the freezing rain in sioux falls yesterday sent trees crashing down. now we still have all the snow wrapping around across northern minnesota in through the u.p. of michigan where it is going to be piling up in terms of around several inches today. so here are winter storm watches and warnings that are in place in the pink here. minneapolis is under a winter
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weather advisory. still will stay wintry throughout the day today. then across the northeast as well as that winter weather moves into upstate new york and northern new england where we are going to see that mix of freezing rain and snow. and then we're going to end up seeing those cold temperatures moving on in with that cold air moving in behind the severe weather maker. so we are shivering this morning with temperatures down around freezing across much of eastern oklahoma and northern arkansas and southern missouri. so they have really gotten a basket full of weather this week, guys. >> thank you, samantha. if you are in the carolinas, keep your eye open for the possible tornadoes. thank you so much, samantha mohr. we are standing by for secretary of state john kerry in south korea to come to the podium any second. you can see him right there with the south korean foreign minister right now. >> he's going to be in seoul, tokyo and beijing trying to contain and ration down a missile crisis on the korean
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peninsula. sounds like the introductions are beginning now. let's listen to opening statements. >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening. >> translator: secretary kerry and i had a very productive meeting, but before discussing the results of our meeting, allow me to welcome secretary kerry once again. it is not only secretary kerry's first visit to korea as secretary of state, but it is his first visit to korea altogether. also, korea is the very first stop on the secretary kerry's asian tour. and so i believe that it is all the more meaningful. as you are well aware, secretary kerry and i held our first min sterile meeting in washington, d.c. last week. and today just ten days after we held our second meeting here in seoul. this is quite exceptional, but it demonstrates how closely our two administrations are working
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together and the importance we place on this alliance as well as how strong our two ties are. during our meeting today, secretary kerry and i discussed a variety of regional and global topics ranging from north korea and the nuclear issue to the upcoming visit of going to the united states. >> we are joining the news conference there of john kerry and the foreign minister from south korea. we'll bring you back to that the second john kerry is talking. this happening in the midst of the nuclear crisis on the korean peninsula. >> this is the first stop in secretary kerry's trip to tokyo and beijing. the issue here is what kind of leverage does china have in this and what message will he bring to china to bring down the missile crisis with china's neighbor. >> we'll bring you the comments from onkerry and the day's other
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but, we have talked since by phone and we have been working with our staffs in leading up to and preparing for this meeting, so it's fair to say we have had an extraordinary amount of exchange of thinking, and we are very much in line and very supportive of each other's positions. but i thank you for welcoming me the way you did here today. despite many trips to asia over the last 30 years, actually, over the last 45 years, this is ironically my first visit to seoul. and i am very, very pleased to finally be able to get here and honored to be able to be here as
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secretary of state. we are working together on a number of critical challenges. i want to thank the republic of korea for its leadership, its willingness to step up in a very significant way globally, and not just on the immediate question of what is happening with respect to north korea, but on a host of other issues regarding stability in the region, in asia, and indeed even on issues reaching far beyond here. for instance, the asisstance that the republic of korea is giving to syria and cooperation on global climate change and other issues. the united states and the republic of korea are working closely on all of these critical challenges because it is safe to say that over the last 60 years
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we have built one of the strongest partnerships on the planet. our security relationship is now 60 years old. it takes or dates back to the time of the or misit is a and the bilateral agreement upon which we have lived all these 60 years. and i think if you look around the world, there are very few stories as significant as the story of the development and emergence of the republic of korea as an economic and democratic and humanitarian force on a global basis. and president obama and i join together in saluting a successive number of governments and the people of the republic of korea who have made this happen. in the visit that we had in
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washington last week and now today, we have covered a great deal of territory. and i want to reiterate, perhaps most important thing with respect to the immediate tensions that exist here in this region. neither the united states nor the republic of korea, nor the international community, we are all united in the fact that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. the rhetoric that we're hearing from north korea is simply unacceptable. by any standard. and i am here to make it clear today, on behalf of president obama, and the citizens of the united states, and our bilateral security agreement that the united states will, if needed,
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defend our allies and defend ourselves. i also want to emphasize, very much in keeping with the conversation that i had a little while ago with president park. president park was elected with a different vision for the possibilities of peace. and we honor that vision. she has expressed an articulate view about trust politic. and we hope that that vision is the one that actually will take hold here. we want to emphasize that the real goal should not be reinforce i reinforcing the fact that we will defend our allies, which we will. but it should be emphasizing four everybody the possibilities of peace. the possibilities of reunification. the possibilities of a very different future for the people
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of the republic of korea, and ultimately for the dprk. the united states and the republican of korea both want to see a peaceful korean peninsula. and that means it must be free of nuclear weapons. we are committed to working with the republican of korea and the other six-party partners in ort to get the north to live up to obligations that the north freely accepted, and adopted. and we are prepared to work with the conviction that relations between the north and the south can improve, and they can improve very quickly, and the world would be much better off if the leaders of the north, and one leader in particular, would make the right decisions. so i want to emphasize, that's
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our vision. and that's the vision that we think the people of the world share. the foreign minister and i also continued our conversation from last week about a number of bilateral issues. including our civil nuclear cooperation, furthering -- >> you've been watching secretary of state john kerry delivering remarks in seoul. right in the middle of this nuclear crisis right now. we believe that the north koreans are poised to test one of their missiles. u.s. intelligence sources also saying they believe that perhaps the north koreans have the capabilities now to put some kind of nuclear weapon on top of one of these missiles. that's the context where john kerry is speaking right now. and he said a few things of real note here. number one. he said that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. that language very strong. he also said that the current rhetoric coming from the north koreans is unacceptable. and thirdly he said that the u.s. and the south koreans will defend themselves, and the u.s. will defend its allies if necessary.
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>> he also did mention a pathway to peace. and reunification on the peninsula. but he said that there can be no peace on the korean peninsula if there are nuclear weapons. a nuclear north korea will not be allowed. let's bring in jim clancy live from seoul this morning. jim, you're listening to these remarks, i assume, as well. what are you hearing here from the secretary? >> what i'm hearing, or maybe what i'm not hearing, is that after weeks of all of this coming from kim jong-un. did you hear his name? did you hear him mentioned in that press conference? no. he's not mentioned at all. but he did call in a direct reference here, he said to the leaders in particular, and particularly one leader, make the right decision. and he's really there calling for him to back down, and to come to the table, to start discussions. now, in his talks with president park geun-hye, it is believed that she has assured the president, i know she assured
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the nato secretary-general, that she was open to such talks to turn down the tell turl on the peninsula. so there's a take-away from all of this. the u.s. is sending out a message here. you know, one of the things, and he started it all off, he held up south korea saying it had become an economic and a humanitarian force in the international community around the world, drawing a contrast there to the state of pyongyang today. john? >> jim, quickly, do you think that was an off-rarn when he said the relations and information can improve quickly if that nameless leader changes his right rick? >> absolutely. what they're trying to do is take away, you know, control of the situation, and say, look, we've reached this point. we think that the rhetoric is wrong. we think your declarations of going ahead with the nuclear ministry is wrong. but we think the right thing for you to do, the right choice for
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you to make, is to sit down, and talk with the people on the peninsula, and beyond, and sort this out in a peaceful manner. and turn down the temperature. on the korean peninsula. >> jim clancy for us this morning. thank you, jim. jim live in seoul, south korea. where the secretary of state is visiting right now. >> now let's go to pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. chris, kerry said we will not accept north korea as a nuclear power. but overnight we heard officials saying north korea already has some nuclear capability. the secretary of state saying there cannot be peace on the peninsula if north korea continues to move toward being a nuclear power. >> that's right. and they are moving towards being a nuclear power, if they're not already there, christine. you had this assessment, this military assessment by the defense intelligence agency that wascyted a by congressman in an opening hearing yesterday that basically concluded that they thought, yes, worth korea has
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nuclear weapons capable of being used on a ballistic missile. later officials came back behind that and said they don't think right now, today, they're able to make one small enough to fit on a warhead. but without a doubt they're clearly moving the ball and moving in that direction. and when secretary kerry says that north korea will not be allowed to be a nuclear power on the peninsula, just yesterday the director of national intelligence said, in a similar hearing, that he thinks the goal of all this rhetoric, that the end game for kim jong-un, is just that. to be recognized and accepted by the united states as an emerging nuclear power? >> wlrt, chris lawrence. thanks. secretary kerry still speaking in the press conference with the foreign minister of south korea. also he'll be going to beijing and tokyo as well. this trip just beginning. a new development in the senate where debate on gun control legislation now under
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way. 16 republicans joined democrats in voting down gop-led filibuster that attempted to stop the debate from taking place. senators from both parties thanked relatives of the victims of the connecticut school massacre for lobbying lawmakers to at least bring legislation to the senate floor for discussion. >> -- in darkness for 20 years when it comes to gun control. darkness. the lies. the misinformation. and when people see you it means much more than when they hear me or anybody else. so, we've made a huge difference. >> the amendment to be debated include expanding background checks on gun buyers and banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. another record-breaking dow day for the dow and the s&p 500. the dow is now within reach of the 15,000 mark. closing at 14,85 yesterday. that's two record high finishing in the last two days for the blue chip index. that is the kind we like to see. the s&p 500 closing at an all-time high yesterday, less
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than seven points from the 1600 plateau. but, futures tell us the bulls could be taking a breather this morning. the dow and gymnast, s&p 500 futures all pointing lower this morning, signaling a potential sell-off of sorts at the opening bell. >> we get a lot of data, bank earnings and retail sales report and inflation report all before the opening bell so it's just too early to say whether we'll have another record or a pullback. an ugly bench clearing brawl turned out to be very costly for the los angeles dodgers last night. take a look at this. l.a.'s 147 million dollar right hander greinke hit carlos quentin with a pitch and he charges the mound. the two players collide and greinke winds up breaking his left collar bone. as john berman tells me is a very bad thing for a pitcher. once order was restored greinke was unable to continue. it's not clear this morning how much time the 2009 cy young award winner might miss. >> not a good thing. that was the third time greinke hit quinton in his career. other sports news, round one
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of the masters and four dr. time champ tiger woods is doing fine but certainly not fantastic. he poepsed a 2 under par 70 putting heim hynde a dozen golfers and tied with ten others at four strokes off the lead. how about the 14-year-old chinese phenom. five birdies and four bogeys in his first competitive round. he's impressive at 1 over par at 73. he's the low amateur ahead of last year's champ bubba watson. this is a lack at the leader board. sergio garcia, and australian mark leashman on top at 6 under, one better than american dustin johnson and tied for fourth the 1992 master champ, 53-year-old fan favorite freddy couples. he loves that course. and he looks great. >> from the florida panhandle to ohio the threat for severe storms even tornadoes at continues at this hour. the latest on the storm's path coming up. with the spark miles card from capital one,
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wild weather tore a path of destruction from texas all the way to the dakotas. cars tossed around like toys. homes destroyed. entire neighborhoods just trashed. at least one person was killed, five more injured, as this vicious twister ripped through mississippi. look at that. seven counties in that state suffered major damage. cnn's david mattingly is there live with us with the latest this morning. good morning, david. >> good morning, john. this storm was deadly. but it was also massive. leaving behind scenes of destruction for hundreds of miles. >> it was probably the worst damage. >> reporter: for the second straight day, severe weather, menacing more than a half dozen states. the hardest hit, mississippi. this tnd caught on video. in one county, one person was killed. fitch were injured. in one rural area, there was a path of destruction at least 30 miles long, extending into west alabama. >> as i was cleaning up the spot
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where i'm fixing to put another mobile home and i went home to take me a quick bath and i heard the siren going off. that's when i jumped in my clothes and i come on out the house quickly. >> reporter: the storm system swept across the southeast. knocking out power to thousands. toppling trees and damaging homes. into the night, watches and warnings, storm damage, all the way into georgia. >> i've lived up here about two years. about the third or fourth one that's come through this area. so we just seem to be in a top graphical situation where the storms come right through here. it's very, very powerful. this one is pretty impressive the way it threw the metal around in the trees. >> reporter: the southeast, accustomed to severe storms, is emerging from a colder than normal spring. these storms, a sign that the season is heating up fast. typically in the month of march we'll see about 100 tornadoes across the country. but because of the lower temperatures we saw less than 20 this year. and now, we're seeing april
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roaring in like a lion. john? >> all right. thanks, david. david mattingly in mississippi. here's the thing. this weather not overyet. as we mentioned tornado watches have been extended in north carolina and south carolina, as well as virginia this morning. let's go to samantha more live at the severe weather center. >> here going to have a lot of impacts across the east coast today and as it moves into the megalopolis we'll see major delays at the airports. we've already had a few dozen consequenceleations out of newark. we're expecting to see major delays at all of our major metropolitan airports in the new york city area. philly, boston, minneapolis, and detroit could see delays. but most likely, staying under an hour here. but definitely will be some travel woes as this line of thunderstorms pushes to the east. this very strong area of low pressure. a lot of cold air associated with it. of course it was warm and moist and unstable ahead of that, and still is, here, along the coastal carolinas. so we still have our tornado
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watches in place for primarily north carolina, and into central virginia. this one in south carolina will expire at the top of the hour at 7:00. so we should start to see things slowly improve here. but definitely, still under the risk for some large hail, and gusty, damaging winds could exceed some 70 miles per hour. so we're not out of the woods yet in the coastal carolinas, and that includes elizabeth city, washington, north carolina, hadlock and wilmington. we'll be keeping you apprised of any severe weather that develops here. then there is that wintry side. a loot of freezing rain across the northern plains and snow will still be piling up there, as the day wears on. this has been a storm that has affected millions of people. christine and john? >> that's right. and not over yet. samantha mohr, thanks so much. 17 minutes after the hour right now. happening right now, secretary of state john kerry right in the middle of the korean missile crisis. kerry is speaking to reporters in seoul, calling rhetoric in
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north korea simply unacceptable by any standards. he said the u.s. and south korea agree that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. kerry is going to meet with south korean officials before heading to beijing where he will try to convince chinese leaders to use their influence on north korea to ease the ongoing missile crisis. a 15-year-old northern california girl hanged herself after she was allegedly raped. now three teen boys are charged with sexual battery. prosecutors say audrey pott passed out at a party. pictures of the attack ended up on social media. just before the suicide she posted on her facebook page that her life was ruined. this happened in september but authorities weren't ready to make arrests until yesterday. the suspects are all 16 years old. >> rapping about rape has cost rick ross a deal with reebok. the shoemaker has ended a relationship with him. ross rapped about drugging and raping a woman earlier this year. django unchained abruptly
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pulled from theaters in china yesterday. no official reason why. it comes after reports that scenes from the quentin tarantino film were edited to conform with the wishes of chinese censors. ipad versus nissan and it ended up in a draw. you may have seen this on facebook. a georgia woman says she saw something flying at her car but she didn't realize she had a head dash on collision with a tablet until later. you may even think the ipad still worked, it's now back with its owner. apparently the owner had left it on top of the car and went driving when it flew off and hit that car. >> it's not clear if apple cares it's still active anymore. if a motorcycle and a car had a baby it might look something like this. a company called elio motors plans to roll out this, three wheels, two seats. this is classified as a motorcycle but it's said to drive like a car. an american car. >> we believe we're going to be
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able to bring this market with 95% north american content. so it's an american car company, built in america, with american parts. >> green, a lovely color. maybe it will come in more colors than that green. certainly an eye-watching color. the car should be able to go more than 600 miles on one tank of gas. it shouldn't cost more than $10,000. and the owner of the company there also says it can go up to 100 miles an hour. you can get a ticket in this car. don't think because it's small it's slow. >> you can probably get a techate just for that color green. there's probably laws against that somewhere. so timing is a big factor when shopping for a new home. and now, now might really be that time. we'll have the details next.
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the stock market is on fire, too. will we set another record today? three straight record closing highs for the dow this week. that makes a total of 14 record closing highs in the last two months. it puts the dow less than 150 -- 150 points away from 15,000. we have never been in this territory. the s&p 500 also at a record. the nasdaq hit a 12-year high yesterday, we're looking at futures this morning. they're pointing lower. we get a lot of data between now and the opening bell. we're going to have retail sales. a bunch of bank earnings. so that could change all of this. lots of news coming out that could dictate where the market goes today. a 2% gain for the dow this week. the best four-day winning streak since september money is pouring back into the stock market. already this year, $61 billion put into mutual funds and other stock market funds. that's more than in any calendar year since 2004, and it's only april. more than any year since 2004. it's only april. we've spoken to several people this week who say there's even more room to run so it may still
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not be too late to get in. now may also be the time to buy for first time home buyers according to clark howard. i sat down with him yesterday. he told me that despite big-time investors helping to push some home prices up, the first-time buyer, this is the chance of a lifetime. >> this is an absolutely great time to be a first-time home buyer. you don't have a house to dump. even with these increases we're talking about, houses are so much cheaper than they were years ago, in so many markets. and interest rates, this is virtually a once in a lifetime opportunity. with these ultracheap interest rates. >> be careful of those buying frenzies in some of those places. you heard of these flash sales where people can't get in and get a house. that will go away. but look at these low rates. average on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage 3.43% this week. only a little bit higher than the record low of 3.31% from last november. you can see the rest of that interview with clark tomorrow morning on my show "your bottom
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line." >> with these record highs you can mind my business any time. that's all i can say. what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> have you heard about the justin bieber prepaid debit card? i don't like it. here's the biebs promoting the card on youtube. to make a budget properly. prepaid cards are almost universally a bad idea. why? because of the fees. this one will cost a flat flee of $3.95 a month. up to $2.95 every time you add funds. you don't use the card for 30 days there's a $3 fee. look at those fees very carefully. lose the card $7.95. get something out of an atm, $1.50. that really adds up. you want to teach your kids about money there are better, less expensive ways to do it. go to the personal finance section of cnnmoney.com. be careful of prepaid cards. he's getting paid $3.75 million so that you can pay every month to use your own money. don't pay to use your own money.
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>> beware of bieber. 26 minutes after the hour right now. coming up, gauging the mood of america. is the glass half full or half empty? we have intriguing results from a cnn poll brand new this morning. >> think bieber would come on and argue with me about whether it's good? >> that would be awesome debate. ♪ haters best get to bloggin' in it ♪ ♪ so hot right now that our designer ♪ ♪ sunglasses be foggin' ♪ this crowd is classic ♪ so we play 'em like rachmaninoff ♪ ♪ just hooked 'em up with score alerts ♪ ♪now we're about to set it off ♪set it off like a score alert ♪ beep beep what?
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north korean nuclear threat. haunting last words from a teen driver. his text cut off midsentence, just before a crash. the national hockey league's bold statement against homophobia and talks that a pro athlete may soon come out of the closet. will other big league sports join the cause? welcome back to "early start" i'm christine romans in for zoraida. >> i'm john berman. it is friday, april 12th. happening right now, secretary of state john kerry trying to defuse the north korean missile crisis this morning. this coming on the heels of that dramatic and unexpected revelation that some u.s. intelligence sources believe that north korea has the technology to make a nuclear weapon, and put it on a missile. >> kerry arrived in seoul just a few hours ago for talks with south korean officials. here's some of what he said. >> we want to emphasize that the real goal should not be reinforcing the fact that we will defend our allies, which we
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will, but it should be emphasizing for everybody the possibilities of peace. the possibilities of reunification. the possibilities of a very different future for the people of the republic and korea, and ultimately for the dprk. the united states and the republic of korea both want to see a peaceful korean peninsula. and that means it must be free of nuclear weapons. >> we're also just hearing that president obama has ordered a number of exercises not to be undertaken. kerry said, in that news conference, that quote, we have lowered our rhetoric significantly and are attempting to find a way of for reasonableness to prevail here. >> secretary of state john kerry making clear that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. >> he did not say kim jong-un's name in the beginning of the speech, as well. he said the leaders in north korea, and one in particular. so, also putting the pressure on
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him that way but not really publicly naming him. and that is what many people say kim jong-un wants. he wants attention. >> other news right now. breaking news just in to cnn. police in taiwan say 600 passengers have been evacuated from a high-speed commuter train after explosives were found on board. the explosives consisted of five liters of gasoline. they were found in luggage placed in a bathroom on board. the train was bound for taipei. we have no word on injuries. we're going to bring you more information as soon as it becomes available. we're following new developments this morning in that fatal bus accident on the dallas area highway that left two people dead, more than 40 injured. the charter bus carrying a group of senior citizens was en route to an indian casino in oklahoma when it swerved across lines -- lanes of traffic, struck a concrete median, flipped on its side. we know now this wasn't the 65-year-old driver's first incident. cnn's ed lavandera joins us live from dallas. what's the latest on this investigation now? >> many of the patients are
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still being treated at area hospitals, as more than 40 people were injured in this horrific accident, and people who were around the crash scene rushed in to help. -- the passenger bus careened across a busy highway and flipped on its side, witnesses rushed to help rescue the elderly victims trapped inside the bus. >> broken bones, bleeding. fuel pouring out of the side of it. >> you know you don't expect to see this but when you do you do everything you can to help. >> reporter: what caused the bus to crash isn't known yet. but texas state troopers say the bus first collided with what's described as a crash cushion in front of a cement barrier. then lost control. >> went back across the lanes of traffic, into a grassy area and struck the concrete median. it rode up on top of that concrete barrier and then rolled on its right-hand side where it came to rest. >> reporter: the bus was headed to an oklahoma casino for a fun day of gambling. two people were killed in the crash. including 81-year-old sue
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taylor, who organized the casino excursion. she had made so many of these trips in the past, that she was known as casino sue. >> i can't even tell you the emotion that i'm having. i'm just -- i'm shocked that it's so close to home. >> reporter: the bus driver was lloyd reed. his granddaughter described him as a veteran driver. >> his health was fine. he had just went to the doctor not that long ago and they said he was good. >> reporter: but now she says she's one of the 44 crash victims. he's in critical condition. federal records show the bus company operator cardinal coach line has a satisfactory safety record and no major violations in the last two years. >> happened pretty quick. >> reporter: survivors like 73-year-old daniel rizic never imagined a bus ride for a day at the casino would turn out to be a risky and deadly bet. >> people were on top of people, screaming, hollering, yelling for help. it wasn't very pleasant
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situation to be in, to say the least. >> christine, the national transportation safety board has been brought in to investigate the accident. it says it will take several months to figure out exactly what caused the accident, what went wrong, and caused the bus to lose control. as for that stretch of interstate where this accident happened. it is back up and will be running cleanly here this morning for the rush hour commute. christine? >> all right. ed lavandera live for us this morning from dallas. later on "starting point" at 7:30 we'll talk to one of the men you just heard from, daniel rizic, who survived that bus accident. >> 36 minutes after the hour. a grieving colorado family hopes to educate people on the dangers of texting and driving. with this image. it's their 22-year-old son alexander's phone and what appears to be the message he was texting the moment he died. they're hoping this photo can deter others from making the same mistake that he did. the fatal crash happened in greeley, colorado, on april 3rd. witnesses say he was looking down when his car swerved into
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oncoming traffic and off the road, killing the college student. the little boys kidnapped and sailed away to cuba had no idea that they were caught up in international drama. cole and chase hakken's grandparents say the boys were well taken care of during the ordeal, save for a few bug bites. they think, the little boys, they think they went on a fun trip. >> they have been told that everyone heard about their sailboat trip to cuba. another country. as they called it. and their airplane ride back to america, and that everyone wants to take their picture. we ask that there be no mention of any event of the past week. >> the boys' parents face nearly a dozen charges including kidnapping and -- of course the parents do not have custody of the child of the children those grandparents do. >> new this morning who is responsible for mailing explosives to controversial sheriff joe arpaio in phoenix? a federal investigation going on right now in arizona, trying to answer that question. you know, this man, no stranger
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to controversy. cnn's shannon travis is live in washington with the latest. shannon, what can you tell us? >> hey, john, let's remind our viewers who we're talking about here. he's the tough-talking arizona sheriff who became famous for forcing his prisoners to stay in tent cities and too wear those pink underwear. someone trying to actually hurt him? as you mentioned someone sent the sheriff a package with a bomb in it. that's according to police. officials fortunately got to the bomb before it got to the sheriff. now, a bomb squad neutralized the bomb last night, the sheriff's office said. this happened in flagstaff, some 150 miles outside phoenix. the local post office there screened the suspicious package, and called police. they even had to evacuate the post office as a precaution. now, of course, this investigation is ongoing, as you mention, and the sheriff's office says there's already been progress, in addition to forcing his prisoners to wear those pink underwear sheriff arpaio also is a hero to many conservatives for his tough anti-immigration
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stance. those have caused critics to accuse him of civil rights violations. but the 80-year-old sheriff has denied those accusations. >> interesting. shannon travis, thanks so much. good work by that post office to find that package before it caused any harm. >> i've been out there in the jails in the desert. he makes them wear pink underwear, pink clothes and i said, this is, people could say this is not really fair treatment of somebody who's awaiting a verdict, right? and he said this is how our troops in iraq and afghanistan live out in the desert with no air conditioning, you know, in tents, no reason why somebody who's in the criminal justice system couldn't live that way, too. >> as we said a controversial figure. >> oh, yeah. new this morning the latest cnn/orc poll shows the mood of the nation is improving. when asked last week how things were going in the country today, 50% of respondents said hey, things are well. a big jump from last summer when only 36% believed things were okay. of course, 50% also think things are going badly these days. so i think it's a pretty even split. >> all right. so the national hockey league reaching out to lesbian, gay and transgender athletes. encouraging them to get on the
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ice. check this ad out. ♪ >> we stand together. >> shoulder to shoulder. >> with purpose and in solidarity. >> we are teammates. >> we are friends. >> we are family. >> we play with integrity. >> we honor liversty. >> we respect all athletes. >> if you can train, you can train. >> if you can coach, you can coach. >> and if you can play, you can play. >> if you can play, you can play. >> if you can play, you can play. >> you can play. >> you can play. >> it's part of a partnership between pro hockey and the you can play project. which pushes for inclusion in lgbt athletes. this is really the first time a major men's pro sport has made inclusion an official policy.
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the founder of the you can play project will join us along with nhl commercialer gary bettman on starting point live at 8:35 eastern time. >> go gun control advocates clearing a key hurdle in congress but the battle just getting started. plus, patriotism on the chopping block? coming up, how budget kits are affecting an all-american military event.
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world prepares for north korea to launch a missile a test seems imminent. his trip comes amid new intelligence that finds that the north has the capability, perhaps, to arm a missile with a nuclear warhead. and a deadly storm system strikes the midwest and the southeast bringing rain and -- look at those tornadoes. we're live in one of the hard-hit areas. >> then we're going to meet an unusual victim of gun crime. carol, an elephant, with the ringling brothers barnum and bailey circus was hit by a bullet in a drive-by shooting. we're going to get an update on our condition and talk with her trainer. >> and the future is here. the co-creator of this amazing 3-d pen joins us live for a demo ahead on "starting point." >> super exciting. >> 45 minutes after the hour. new developments this morning on capitol hill. debate on gun control legislation under way in the senate. and while the bill is fiercely opposed by most americans, it's an achievement that the measure even got to the floor for debate. senators on both sides of the
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aisle give credit to the families of the victims of the connecticut school massacre for that. here's dan lothian. >> reporter: even with threats of political retribution from the national rifle association, a water-down gun bill is now headed for a major congressional debate. >> the hard work starts now. >> reporter: how hard? the amendments are piling up. there's the bipartisan breakthrough on background checks brokered by republican senator pat toomey, and democrat joe manchin. >> we did leave loopholes in the gun shows. we did not leave loopholes in the internet. we didn't infringe on any individual's right. >> reporter: there is an amendment to ban assault weapons. high capacity magazines. and others on mental health and school safety. >> we want to have a bill that is the boldest common denominator that we can pass. >> reporter: the critical senate vote that blocked a filibuster was viewed as an important step forward by many of the newtown families who've been lobbying lawmakers in washington this week. >> we've been in darkness for 20
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years when it comes to gun control. darkness. the lies. the misinformation. and when people see you it means much more than when they hear me or anybody else. so, you've made a huge difference. >> reporter: but a cautious view from house speaker john boehner about how a final gun bill will look. >> our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these victims. and -- and i fully expect that the house will act in some way, shape or form. but, to make a blanket commitment without knowing what the underlying bill is, i think, would be irresponsible on my part. >> reporter: dan lothian, cnn, washington. >> so an annual rite of spring, new york's fleet week may be sunk by across-the-board federal spending cuts. the military has put on hold an optional events like the big fleet week celebration. those cuts have already scuttled appearances by the blue angels,
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the navy's famed flight demonstration squad. still ahead on "early start," two years after she came out of a coma, a 79-year-old woman gets to fulfill her rock 'n' roll fantasy. you might say she's working on some night moves. that's ahead. plus, all-out war on the battle on the ball field with a big-time player really hurt. >> this is serious. be the first time you met. you brought the flex in... as soon as i met fiona and i was describing the problem we were having with our rear brakes, she immediately triaged the situation, knew exactly what was wrong with it, the car was diagnosed properly, it was fixed correctly i have confidence knowing that if i take to ford it's going to be done correctly with the right parts and the right people. get a free brake inspection and brake pads installed for just 49.95 after rebates when you use the ford service credit card. did you tell him to say all of that? no, he's right though... all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked.
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my, oh, my, gee carter here with the "bleacher report." >> good morning, guys. no official word yet but looks like it could be about six to eight weeks. you know zack greinke is an important player to the dodgers. the club just signed him to a fat contract in the fall. six years, $147 million. this brawl went down in the sixth. greinke hit the padres carlos quentin with the pitch. he ends up breaking his non-throwing left collar bone because the two collide football style. the dodgers matt kemp also gets involved in this little brawl. and then he would, after the game, as well, words were exchanged between him and quentin in the club house. tunnel which spilled out into the parking lot. again there's no official timetable on zack greinke's return but a broken collar bone typically takes six to eight weeks to rehab. let's talk a little golf. after one round at the masters tiger woods is not at the top of the leader board but he is playing good enough to be there on sunday. he shot a 2 under par 70.
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he's four shots behind the co-lead co-leaders. and one of the key loaders just happens to be famed sergio garcia. for the first time in 49 tries at the masters, he finished a round in the lead. he shot a 6 under par 66. this is a guy a year ago who said he would never win a major championship. sergio is tied for first with australian mark leishman, both one shot better than dustin johnson and tied for fourth and favorite, '92 masters champ freddy couples in a sixway tie for fourth. the 14-year-old from china has everybody's attention now, after 18 holes, tianlang guan posted a better score than ten guys who have won major championships before. he's even beating defending champ bubba watson. guan shot an impressive 1 over 73 and if he posts the same number or better today he's going to make the cut. >> i feel good to play a first -- first round here, and i
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just a little nervous on the first tee, and i hit a great key shot and after that i just feel -- >> so after some crazy weather passed through augusta last night, round two will go off on time for all things masters, of course check out bleacherreport.com. all right you remember this video it first surfaced last september, got more than 2.5 million views on the net? the detroit lions liked this guy so much they brought him in for a tryout and then signed him to the team. norwegian rugby player, harvard rugland will join david akers as detroit's two kickers in the fall. the lions just cut jason hampton after 21 years in the league. now this trick shot video is titled kick alicious. rugland also tried out with the new york jets. guys for the past few months, he decided really to put his focus into the nfl, working with a former nfl kicker in florida,
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and obviously signing a deal in the league. that practice obviously paid off big time for him. >> that's really cool video. >> and now you've got like scouts all over the place now looking at youtube. >> how many place kickers are there in the nfl right now? that's fantastic. >> what a great story we first told you about yesterday a michigan woman who woke from a coma after five years. she woke up, and the first thing she asked, was to see bob seger in concert. last night 79-year-old eve very brandon got her wish. she was the guest of honor as ciger performed at the palace in auburn hills. she got to show off some of her own night moves. >> shook my hand and said hi. i'm so happy to meet you. and i said, so nice to meet you. >> listen to her. she couldn't speak she was in a coma. evie says she's living proof to never give up on your dreams.
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>> that is amazing. that is all for "early start" i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. stay with us for "starting point." secretary of state kerry just finished speaking to reporters in seoul. we're going to have live reports for you from the region and a lot of great analysis. [ male announcer ] does your prescription medication give you the burden of constipation? turn to senokot-s tablets.
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[ male announcer ] engine light on? come to meineke now for a free code scan read and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke. good morning, everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm christine romans. our "starting point," secretary of state john kerry sending north korea a strong warning in seoul this morning. >> north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. >> that as we're learning north korea may have the ability to put a nuclear weapon on a missile.
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