that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. another key clue in the boston terror attack. what investigators are saying about a fingerprint found on a bomb fragment. so politics turns into punches. take a look at this all out brawl that left some lawmakers bloody and bruised. not supposed to play like that. >> no, you're not. the calendar might say may, but the calendar says something else. you're not going to believe it -- snow. yes, you are going to believe it because we talked about it yesterday. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin.

look who's back. what's it like to be sitting on the set and having people dote on you. >> but i'm wearing a tie. >> that's the bad start. >> we are back in new york. we're going to start in boston. there's a lot of developments in the investigation up there. we'll begin with one man's terrifying encounter with the bombing suspects. tsarnaev's carjacking victim known only as danny is coming forward describing a scene of sheer terror, his daring escape, and the 911 call he made to help take the brothers down. all this as investigators uncover key evidence, spotting at least one fingerprint on bomb debris. and another intriguing development as well. for the first time, we're hearing tamerlan tsarnaev speak out on a video that just surfaced. pamela brown is in boston with the latest. good morning, pamela. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. a very busy week in the investigation. we're also getting unique insight into tamerlan and

dzhokhar tsarnaev from the carjacking victim who spent a harrowing 90 minutes in car with them. for days after the bombings, tamerlan and dzhokhar tsarnaev hid in plain sight until they killed m.i.t. police officer sean collier and then carjacked an suv. the man inside the suv, a chinese immigrant that moved back to cambridge only days earlier. he wants to remain anonymous and calls himself danny. he's describing the terrifying moments in an interview with cbs news. >> they asked me a question. and he said, yes, i did that, and i just killed a policeman in cambridge. >> reporter: danny told me in a face to face conversation off camera that the older brother was outgoing, talkative, but also threatening, at one point warning him, don't be stupid.

if you're cooperative, i won't kill you. danny finally saw his chance to make a run for it when they pulled over for gas. >> i was just counting one, two, three, four. just do it, and i did it. tamerlan tried to grab me. i was running as fast as i can and i never looked back. >> reporter: this as investigators continue painstaking forensic work. sources say they found a fingerprint on the remnants of one of the bombs, but as of yet, no match. scrutiny of a different sort as critics question the fbi's handling of information received from russia about the older brother. president obama defends them. >> the fbi investigated that older brother. it's not as if the fbi did nothing. they not only investigated the older brother, they interviewed the older brother. >> reporter: for the first time we're hearing tamerlan talk, introducing himself in this boxing video that aired on

"entertainment tonight." >> why not? you know. >> reporter: meanwhile, tamerlan's widow has given the medical examiner's office consent to release his body to his family. and one more sign the city has changed forever. on tuesday the women's semiprobasketball team announced it's changing its name from the boston bombers to the boston bulldogs. >> you also had a chance to sit down with this boston carjacking victim, danny, he's being called. what did he tell you about that night? >> reporter: i spoke with danny for about an hour and 15 minutes in a face to face conversation, john. what's so interesting is he was really able to paint a picture of the relationship between dzhokhar tsarnaev and tamerlan tsarnaev during the 90 minutes in the car. danny told me it was very clear that tamerlan was the ring leader, that he was the one calling the shots and spearheading everything. he said that tamerlan kept

asking questions, was very talkative, very outgoing, and that dzhokhar, once he aban ndod his car and got in the car with them, was very quiet, only asked a question or two, asked how much his car payments were. whenever tamerlan wanted something done, he would ask dzhokhar, and dzhokhar would immediately do it. it seemed like, according to the victim, that dzhokhar was at his beck and call. interesting to learn more about their dynamic there. john? >> so interesting. what an unbelievable seat this guy had next to the whole thing, and he's lucky to be alive and quite brave too. >> reporter: yes, indeed. >> pamela brown, thanks very much. new developments this morning in the mississippi ricin investigation, and the arrest of suspect james everett dutschke. he's accused of sending letters laced with ricin to president obama and two others. items recovered from his former martial arts studio tested positive for ricin and traces of the poison were found on the

floor of the studio and inside the drains as well. it also says a witness told agents dutschke claimed to know how to make ricin, but there's no mention of a possible motive. in valley springs, california, a vigil for 8-year-old leila fowler. the little girl was found stabbed to death in her home on saturday. the mourners gathered at jenny land elementary school wearing purple and pink, leila's favorite colors. leila fowler's mother addressed the crowd. >> i just want to thank the community and our family and friends for the overwhelming support that you've given my family. it will never be forgotten. >> the calaveras county sheriff's department are now interviewing sexual offenders who live in that area. and the fda approves a morning after pill for girls 15 and older. that means they'll be able to buy the plan "b" emergency

contraceptive over the counter. earlier this month, a federal judge in new york ruled there should be no age restrictions for plan "b" and also no requirement for parental consent, i might add. new york police planning to remove a plane part discovered at ground zero. they're doing that in just a few hours. this is believed to be from one of the jets that crashed into the world trade center in 2001. it was found in a narrow alley between buildings. crews are expected to begin hauling it away at 8:30 eastern time. in venezuela, life after hugo chavez is proving to be pure chaos. the country's disputed election leading to violence in parliament. that's where the mess we showed you earlier happened. amateur video captured some of the mayhem, opposition leaders trading punches with members of the united socialist party. the opposition angry they were not allowed to speak unless they first agreed to recognize

nicolas maduro as chavez's rightful successor. maduro won the election with just 51% of the votes. the opposition is protesting the votes. >> we always complain about the gridlock and the partisanship in our congress. you don't see that on the floor of congress, as bad as things are, you toedon't see those dud fighting. >> all those punches. hopefully, they'll figure it out. new this morning, the threat of historic snow. in fact, it is may, and a winter-like storm front is bearing down on the rockies in high plains. we're expecting unprecedented snowfall. jennifer delgado is tracking the system from the severe weather center, and jim spellman is live with a heavy jacket on in boulder, colorado. jim, let's start with you. you poor, poor thing. look at you. what's going to get hit by this storm? >> reporter: look at this, john. i have the very first snow of may here in boulder, colorado. just shifting over here, as we

speak. could be up to ten inches in cheyenne, wyoming. could be three to four inches in denver. they're doing the usual, de-icing planes at the airport. it's not unprecedented to have snow in may here. they usually get 1.7 inches. yesterday i was wearing flip flops, today snow boots. that is always unusual. all of this moisture is heading into the midwest and down into the deep south. last week in missouri and illinois there were some communities along rivers that were hard hit. they're going to have problems dealing with this extra moisture. here in colorado, it's a real godsend, though. it's really helping with the outlook for wildfires. monday i was up in the mountains for the first time in probably two years. i saw the signs that said "fire danger moderate." for what seemed like forever it had been on extreme. we're appreciating the moisture here in colorado. >> from flip-flops to snow boots, jim, you always have the

proper footwear. thank you so much for that. >> he's finally wearing a hat, which is good. conditions have to be just right for a storm to dump significant snow. jennifer delgado live in the cnn weather center, what can we expect? it does say may 1st on the calendar. >> it's may day. conditions do have to be right, and they are. we are going to see snow piling up today, tomorrow, even into friday. look at the radar for denver. as jim just said, they're starting to get the snow working. yes, it's coming down in cheyenne, but as we look to the north, we're still looking to heavy rain. that is going to be changing over to snow as well. what's helped track this for you, as we start this, we're looking at winter storm warnings in place over the next 24 hours. totals going to be impressive in parts. parts of colorado, denver, cheyenne, we could see 6 to 12 inches of snowfall. for areas like nebraska, you're going to be looking like snow. can you tell where the freeze line is, where the snow is going

to be setting up for parts of minnesota. and that location, maybe three inches of snowfall. the good news is, because it has been so warm, a lot of this is going to be melting. it is still eventually going to be piling up. down towards the southeast, it's a different story there. have a little questionable area of low pressure just spinning right off the gulf coast. that is going to continue to bring storms as well as a lot of lightning to parts of florida as well as the potential for flooding problems. on a wider view today, severe storms across parts of texas as well as oklahoma due to that boundary system. as we've been talking about the snow, cold air, of course, is going to be filtering in. you can really see where the blue is, and that signifies the change. 33 degrees for denver. the day before, 83 degrees. this is a shock to the system. temperatures will continue to fall over the next couple of days. in new york, you're going to get spoiled. zoraida, you're always asking for more better weather. you're going to get it through the end of the week.

>> she's always asking for something. >> thank you, jennifer. we'll take it. we appreciate it. >> some nice weather. that's nice. >> but the folks who are suffering, i really feel for emthem. especially when they had rain and there's more rain on the way, and they're trying to figure out how to clean up their homes. still ahead, i am not a murderer. words from amanda knox, speaking publicly for the first time about her murder conviction, the year she spent in prison, and even contemplating suicide. there's fusion proglide. our micro thin blades are thinner than a surgeon's scalpel for our gentlest shave. switch to fusion proglide. gillette. the best a man can get.

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15 minutes past the hour. welcome back. it is amanda knox in her own words. knox is speaking publicly for the first time just over a month after italy's highest court ordered her to be tried again for the murder of her roommate meredith kircher. knox and her boyfriend spent four years in prison in italy before their convictioned were tossed out in 2011. now with a memoir out of the

way, she is out to set the record straight. more from cnn's nick valencia. >> i was in the courtroom when they were calling me a devil. it's one thing to be called certain things in the media, and it's another thing to be sitting in a courtroom, fighting for your life, while people are calling you a devil. it's not true. for all intents and purposes, i was a murderer, whether i was or not. >> in an exclusive interview with abc news, amanda knox opened up for the first time in years about her murder conviction and her ordeal in the italian courts and prison. knox talked about meredith kircher, the girl she was convicted of murdering, and what happened in 2007, the day that would change her life. >> it bothers me when people suggest that she wasn't my friend. i was stunned by her death. she was my friend.

>> reporter: but that's not how much of the media saw it at the time, as prosecutors painted a picture of a kinky sex game gone wrong. knox was dubbed the femme fatale, and the media ate it up. at the crime scene in the immediate aftermath of her roommate's death, it was actions like this, kissing her ex-boyfriend, who would eventually be convicted along with knox in kircher's death, that made critics question her innocence. >> people kept saying, where is the anguish? where is what we think we would do if this happened to our friend? >> i've seen the same picture, liking kissing just can't stop. and that's not what that was. i want the truth to come out. i'd like to be reconsidered as a person. >> which is why she agreed to the interview and released a memoir. she hopes it will help clear her name. >> did you kill meredith kircher? >> no. >> were you there that night? >> no. >> do you know anything you have

not told police, that you have not said in this book? do you know anything? >> no. i don't. i wasn't there. >> amanda knox's freedom is now back on the line. an italian court has ordered a retrial of her appealed conviction, and knox may once again finding herself pleading her case in an italian court, proclaiming her innocence. >> when asked whether or not she would return to italy to be tried, she said her family has absolutely, positively said no way, but she is actually thinking about it. >> her lawyer thinks it's a bad idea. i don't think that will happen. >> i don't either. >> is fascinating to hear her talk about this. let's bring you up to date. danny, the man who was carjacked by the boston mabombing suspect is telling his story of terror, talking to cnn news about how he feared for his life and talking

about his decision to make a very daring escape. >> i was counting. i was counting, one, two, three, four. and i just do it, and i did it. and i can feel tamerlan trying to grab me. >> a law enforcement official says investigators have uncovered potential key evidence, lifting at least one fingerprint from bomb debris. the death toll on that devastating building collapse in bangladesh has now risen above 400. word overnight from a military official on the scene that 402 people are now confirmed dead, and the bodies are still being found in the rubble. a full week after bangladesh's deadliest industrial disaster, hundreds of people are still believed to be missing. police in honolulu say that a 21-year-old woman who told authorities she found a newborn baby girl on a sandy beach is actually the baby's mother. she was arrested tuesday for filing a false report and released after posting $250 bail. the 8-pound newborn is said to

be doing well at the local hospital. the state department of human services is investigating this case. and garden staters will be seeing and hearing a lot more from their governor in the weeks ahead. chris christie's bid for re-election is about to go into full swing. team christie is spending $1.5 million on a 60-second spot to appear on broadcast and cable stations statewide. >> that is a big, expensive buy for the campaign. >> it's not cheap. why would a company sitting on billions of dollars in cash need to borrow money? the story behind apple's big financial maneuver coming up. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep, and lunesta eszopiclone can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. do not take lunesta if you are allergic to anything in it. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day

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[ female announcer ] new acne cream cleanser. only from neutrogena® naturals. we're minding your business this morning. the headlines from wall street are just amazing. s&p 500, record high. nasdaq, 12-year high. >> hooray. >> take a look at the numbers for april. the major averages are all up nearly 2%. the s&p's winning streak is now six months and counting. we haven't seen a streak that awesome since 2009. >> doesn't that make you nervous? another record on wall street, this one from apple. the company is selling $17 billion in corporate bonds, the biggest sale in u.s. history. cnn's zane asher is here for christine romans. >> no other company has done this in history, issued this much debt. what you've got is apple taking advantage of low interest rates to get their hands on more cash.

people are asking themselves, why does apple need any more cash than it already has? it actually already has $144 billion worth of cash on its books already. the problem is all of that cash is actually parked overseas. companies typically for tax reasons keep their cash overseas. when it's time to repatriate those funds, they end up having to pay a huge tax bill. one of the ways around this problem is by issuing debt. they're issuing $17 billion worth this time around. tim cook basically wants to give investors back dividends. that's what he's trying to use the money for. i'm going to show you why apple's stock price has literally plummeted by so much in the past year. we've all heard the stories. literally painful to watch. $705. that's what it was trading at in september. now it's trading at roughly $444. part of the reason is the disappointing launch of the iphone 5. also facing increased competition from samsung. but the good news about the $17 billion actually is that it's

proved to be unbelievably popular. investors tripping over themselves to get their hands on this debt. we did reach out to apple for comment. their lips are sealed. they're not saying anything at all. >> is a way to avoid taxes and make investors happy all at the same time. >> all at the same time. >> thank you, zain. coming up next on "early start," why florida's controversial stand your ground law will not be part of george zimmerman's defense. we are outta here! finding you the perfect place. hotels.com. where does goddess begin?

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his bold move helped bring

down two terror suspects. we are hearing in person from the man carjacked in boston by the tsarnaev pros. and she is a hero who likely saved lives at a local starbucks. what one customer did to keep people from drinking poisoned orange juice and helped police catch the suspect. so sheriff's deputies on safari in a helicopter. here's what they saw overnight while on the trail of a black bear. you're going to have to see this to believe it. >> oh, my goodness. >> that's crazy. welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> i love that video. thanks for being with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. it's wednesday, may 1st. one man's night of terror with the boston bombing suspects. the victim, now known only as danny, is describing in detail the fear that he felt, his bold getaway, and the 911 call that he made that helped take out two terrorists. also developing this morning,

investigators uncovering a potentially key piece of evidence from the bomb debris. it is a fingerprint. pamela brown is in boston following all of the latest developments for us. good morning to you, pamela. >> reporter: good morning to you. i spoke to that carjacking victim who was asked to be called danny, and fore an hour and 15 minutes in an off-camera conversation. he told me he's having a tough time recovering from the nightmare of being carjacked from dzhokhar and tamerlan tsarnaev. he was trying to relax and pulled over to send a text message. that's when tamerlan tsarnaev walked up. danny rolled down the window to hear what he had to say. tamerlan reached in, unlocked the car, got into the passenger side, and that's when the nightmare began. dzhokhar was following behind in a car. tamerlan was threatening danny, saying that only if he cooperated, he wouldn't kill

him. he kept asking questions, danny said, about his chinese heritage. he said he hated americans. at one point he said this feels like something out of a movie, doesn't it? after the 90 minutes, danny made his brave escape. let's take a listen. >> he took out his gun, pointed to me, said to me like, you know i am serious. don't be stupid. he asked me a question like, do you know the boston explosion on monday? i said yes. and then, you know, i did that, and i just killed a policeman in cambridge. i need to figure out a way to save myself. i was counting, i was one, two, three, four, just do it, and i did it. and i can feel tamerlan try to grab me. i was running. i was just running as fast as i can, and i never -- i never looked back. >> reporter: danny says at one point he heard the carjacker say

manhattan. it turns out, according to authorities, they had made spontaneous plans to go to new york and set off explosives in times square. so had danny not made his escape, there could have been more lives lost here, but danny says he does not consider himself a hero. >> pamela, what was it that danny did that may have saved his life? >> reporter: well, it's important to point out that danny, despite feeling fearful for his life, was able to stay calm, and he kept his composure throughout the 90 minutes. after talking to tamerlan and knowing how much he hated americans, danny played up his chinese heritage, played up his status as an outsider, played down how much money he has, saying that he paid less for his mercedes suv than he really did. so he was taking strategic steps in the midst of this to try to

humanize himself and say things that would really play to what tamerlan liked. and he tried to talk to him about phones, about girls, anything that humanized him. we spoke to a criminology professor, and he said that might have saved danny's life, the fact they looked at him as a human. so that was a very important part of all this. >> you've got to wonder, had he not escaped, would they have spared his life? that's the big question. pamela brown reporting live for us. thank you. a starbucks customer who allegedly left two bottles of poisoned orange juice on a store shelf is behind bars on attempted murder charges this morning. the unidentified hero told employees that the suspect quickly left the store and got into her car. the customer, the hero, also had the presence of mind to write down the car's license plate number, helping police make a quick arrest. the suspect is charged with attempted murder because the juice contained a lethal dose of rubbing alcohol. so far, there's no apparent

motive. >> we're still very much in investigative mode with this case just because she is off the streets doesn't mean that we're still not trying to double-check and make sure there are no threats to the public. >> starbucks stores were notified of the incident and told to check all their juice bottles. no other tainted products, we should tell you, have been found. >> that's scary. 35 minutes past the hour. george zimmerman will not seek a stand your ground defense at his murder trial next month. instead, his lawyers plan to claim he shot and killed trayvon martin in self-defense. zimmerman has reportedly gained more than 100 pounds since he was arrested. he is facing second degree murder charges. sheriffs in mesa, arizona, had their hands full tuesday night tracking down a black bear. >> come over to the tv. >> look at this. seems the bear had been wandering too close to a nearby neighborhood and elementary school. you do not want the bear near an elementary school. the maricopa sheriff's department was able to subdue

the bear with a tranquilizer gun. and new this morning, an unprecedented may snowstorm. it's targeting the rockies and the northern plains. jennifer delgado is monitoring this historic weather event from the severe weather center in atlanta. jim spellman is live in boulder, colorado. jim, we are going to begin with you. i was looking at the newspaper. i actually pulled it to make sure it said may 1st. >> reporter: just lost you there, zoraida. i'm going to go ahead and tell you about the snow. >> we've got you. >> reporter: i am declaring this the best snowfall of the season so far. it's just shifting from freezing rain to snow right now. i don't think we're going to get a lot of sticking on the streets for a while because it's been so warm. yesterday 66. the day before, 78. in denver, only in the 30s today. all the way from cheyenne, wyoming, to the denver area, nine, ten inches to three, four inches. de-icing at the airport and all

of that. really glad for the moisture, even though it may not be as pleasant to switch from flip-flops to boots as we like. we do need the moisture to help with the drought and with the wildfires. good news if we can just get through this. everybody here has spring fever. we're ready for this to be gone and spring to be here. i can't hear you guys. i'll send it back to you, zoraida. >> he's obsessed with his flip-flops. plus he can't hear us. so we can say whatever we want. this is awesome. thanks to jim. snow storms in may in this region are extremely rare. why? because it's may. conditions have to be just right for significant accumulation. jennifer delgado in the cnn weather center, explain why these conditions are so right. we're going to get a surge of cold air returning once again. jim is going to see more of the snow working in, especially as we go later into the afternoon, into the evening hours. right now it's starting to come down for areas like denver. jim mentioned earlier this hour he started to see rain changing to snow for cheyenne as well as into casper, you're looking at

the snow, and it's spreading into parts of nebraska, and it's going to be moving up towards the northeast. where you're seeing rain, a lot of this is going to be changing over to snow. that includes minneapolis, sioux falls. as we go through thursday, some of these locations, we're talking a foot of snowfall. for areas right around colorado as well as into wyoming, for the front range on those east slopes, we're talking a foot of snowfall. for denver, we're expecting four to seven. and as jim mentioned, temperatures have been rather warm. a lot of this is going to be melting. some of this will be piling up. for areas like minneapolis, six to nine inches of snow. we could even see more of that snow arriving on friday on the back side of that low. as we track this for you, thursday, 6:00 a.m., the snow starts to come to an end for parts of colorado. then it continues for areas up in the northern plains. it's not just snow. we're talking about a low right along the gulf coast looking very interesting. we're going to be watching that. that is going to be creating showers and thunderstorms. very heavy rainfall, some flooding lows. if in addition to the lightning.

severe storms in the forecast for parts of texas and oklahoma. that frontal system is going to be bringing in much cooler temperatures. we're talking temps running 25 degrees below average. you can see how the temperatures are going to be dipping. look at dallas, 85 for today, 63 for friday. for new york city, we're going to have some of the best weather as we go through the next couple of days. sunshine. you're going to get spoiled. john, it's nice to see you in a suit and tie next to zoraida. you've been gone for too long. >> i agree. great to have him back. >> great for the anchors, purple on purple. >> it's purple day. >> the old john berman's back. up next, an unsealed affidavit shedding light on the mississippi ricin investigation. we're finding out more about that suspect. do we know his motive? #%tia[ [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long...

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yesterday shows why officials arrested james everett dutschke. he's the man accused of sending letters tainted with the toxic substance to president obama and two other people. but the affidavit does not provide a motive. here's alina machado. >> reporter: we now know what led federal prosecutors to charge james everett dutschke in the ricin investigation. in an fbi affidavit, agents say their surveillance team saw dutschke remove items from the former martial arts studio he owned in tupelo and dump them in a trash bin. one of those items, a dust mask, tested positive for ricin. ricin was also found inside the martial arts studio in sink drains and on the floor. dutschke ordered 100 castor bean seeds last month through ebay. castor bean is used in the production of ricin, which can be deadly and has no antidote.

the fbi found publications on how to safely handle ricin and how to detect it on his computer. also, agents say they spoke with a witness who told them that dutschke knows how to make a poison that could be sent to elected officials, and, quote, whoever opened these envelopes containing the poison would die. dutschke denied any involvement in this youtube video made prior to his arrest. >> i met with the fbi. i consented to a search saying, go ahead and search the house. i don't have anything at all to do with this. >> reporter: his lawyers have not yet commented on the information in the affidavit. the fbi says dutschke filed a civil lawsuit against the same person the fbi identified as its witness, but it was dismissed by a mississippi judge. that judge, sady holland, received one of the ricin laced letters. we spoke with judge holland's son, who beat dutschke in a race for the mississippi state house about a year earlier. >> i've actually decided that i

might have been the target, not my mother, but i'm a momma's baby of extraordinary proportions. maybe he just said, what the heck, if i get his mama, i've got him. >> reporter: the fbi also mentions a series of texts sent from a cell phone to dutschke's wife saying, get the fire going, and we're coming over to burn some things, later identified as "my paperwork and personal things." the fbi has not said whether any more arrests are likely in the case. alina machado, cnn, oxford, mississippi. jason collins' former fiancee offering words of support for the nba player's decision to reveal he is gay. carolyn moose, herself a former player in the wnba, had an eight-year relationship with collins. they even had plans to be married. last night on "piers morgan live," she said they had spoken a bit over the past couple of days, and it is a bit

overwhelming. >> i did spend eight years with him and shared dream and vision, and i value that. i had to rewrite the script. i still am rewriting it. it's been very challenging. >> moos then went on to say she hopes collins can be more comfortable with himself. >> he's never been happier in his life. >> it's interesting to watch if this psychologically works in his favor and the hopes he can help others as well, right? >> i think helping others. still ahead, new details about new jersmichael jackson's. the latest from los angeles on the wrongful death trial pitting jackson's family against aeg live. [ female announcer ] total effects user kim scott still looks amazing. but with kids growing up fast, fighting seven signs of aging gets harder. introducing total effects moisturizer plus serum. for the ninety-two practices, two proms, and one driving test yet to come. she'll need our most concentrated total effects ever.

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it is 49 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. danny, the man who was carjacked by the boston bombing suspects, is now speaking publicly about his night of terror. listen to his encounter with the tsarnaev brothers just days after the boston marathon bombing. >> he took out his gun, pointed it at me, and he was like, you know i'm serious. don't be stupid. he asked me a question like do you know the boston explosion on monday? i said yes. and then, you know, i did that, and i just killed a policeman in cambridge. >> investigators have uncovered a new piece of evidence in the case, lifting at least one fingerprint from bomb debris. the united states is stepping up aid to syrian rebels in the wake of suspected chemical weapons used by the assad regime. officials announcing the u.s. is doubling commitment of nonlethal aid to $250 million. the obama administration is now saying all options are on the table, including, possibly,

providing arms to the rebels. day three of the michael jackson wrongful death civil trial in los angeles. jackson's mother is suing concert giant aeg live. she claims that they're liable for billions of dollars because they hired and supervised dr. conrad murray, who administered the powerful anesthetic propofol that killed jackson. the first witness in the case gave graphic testimony about the day the pop star died. >> reporter: one of the paramedics who responded to michael jackson's home the day the superstar died in 2009 took the as the first witness in the jackson family's wrongful death lawsuit against music giant aeg. he said he first thought that jackson looked like a hospice patient, like someone at the end of a long disease process. he described seeing the singer who suffered the overdose of the anesthetic propofol, in this room, pale, not breathing, and

apparently dead. at the heart of this case, did aeg live employ and supervise dr. conrad murray, a physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter, for administering the fatal dose of propofol. the jackson family contends e-mails show the concert promoter pressured murray to push jackson to perform at all costs. >> the gist of the plaintiff's claim against aeg is that you control dr. murray and you used your control over dr. murray to pressure him into taking unnecessary and excessive risks with michael jackson, leading to michael jackson's death. >> reporter: aeg says they never paid murray nor was there a contractor, and he worked only for michael jackson. >> aeg cannot control what happened with jackson's doctor. >> reporter: and the testimony was that michael jackson's death was related to murray's financial troubles, that he

would do whatever he had to do to get paid. the judge barred jackson's siblings from the courtroom because they may be called as witnesses in the case. the attorney argued that 82-year-old katherine jackson, a plaintiff in the case, needed a child by her side. a judge allowed that but only one jackson at a time. jackson's siblings would not comment on the decision. catherine jackson and michael's three children are seeking billions of dollars in damage, money they say the singer could have earned had he lived. casey wian, cnn, los angeles. >> our thanks to casey for that. big sports news. jettisoned by the new york jets, tim tebow already has a job offer, if you can call it that. we'll have the details coming up. more... step! [ mom ] my little girl...she loves to help out on big jobs. good thing there's bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet.

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welcome back. 56 minutes past the hour. welcome to the top cnn trends on the web this morning. the offers are pouring in for tim tebow after being cut by the new york jets. there's this. >> the omaha beef of the champions professional indoor football league have offered tebow a contract. sounds great, right? it's not exactly nfl money. if he takes the deal, tebow would make how much? >> $75 a game as the beefs' new quarterback. and guess what? he also has a chance to pose for pictures with the team's mascot, sirloin the cow. >> that's an awesome benefits package. >> that's awful. >> go to cnn.com/trends. from cheating in the nba,

tim tebow's tough week, a porn bed in india? time for late night laughs. >> a guy -- listen to this -- playing a toss the ball game at a carnival lost his entire life savings. it has been one tough week for tim tebow. >> nba player jason collins' former fiancee. she did say he had no clue he was gay. she went on to say he didn't cheat on her. so she also had no clue he was in the nba. >> well, president obama held a press conference earlier today, and he said he still wants to close the guantanamo bay prison facility, but he doesn't know how to do it. do what he always does, declare it a small business and tax it out of existence. it will be gone in a minute. one month, it will be out of there. >> officials in india want to ban porn because it gives men unrealistic expectations.

at which point they went back to watching a movie where 300 people start dancing because a man met a woman at a coffee shop. >> "early start" continues right now. it could be a key clue in the boston terror attack. what investigators are saying about a fingerprint found on a bomb fragment. and politics turns into punches. this is not d.c. take a look at this all out brawl that left some lawmakers a bit bloodied and bruised. the calendar says may 1st, but the forecast says something else -- trouble. ♪ let it snow let it snow let it snow ♪ >> it's may. that's not a may song. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's wednesday, may 1st, as you said. 6:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with one man's terrifying encounter with the boston marathon many bombing

suspects. the man known as danny is now coming forward describing his sheer terror, his daring escape, and the 911 call he made that helped take the brothers down. this spotting at least one fingerprint on bomb debris. in another intriguing development for the first time we're hearing tamerlan tsarnaev speak on a video that just surfaced. pamela brown is in boston where she met with the carjacking victim. good morning to you, pamela. >> good morning to you, zoraida. that's right. i spoke with the carjacking victim face to face for an hour and 15 minutes here, getting unique insight into the two broth brothers, from this carjacking victim who spent a harrowing 90 minutes in the car with them as he feared for his life. for days after the boston marathon bombing, tamerlan and dzhokhar tsarnaev hit in plain sight, until investigators say they killed m.i.t. police officer sean collier, and then carjacked a mercedes suv. the man inside that suv, a

chinese immigrant who had moved back to cambridge only two months earlier. he wants to remain anonymous and is calling himself danny. he describes his terrifying minutes with the two alleged bombers in a taped interview with cbs news. >> they asked me a question like, do you know the boston explosion on monday? i said, yes. and then, you know, i did that. and i just killed a policeman in cambridge. >> reporter: danny told me that face-to-face conversation off camera that the older brother was talkative, outgoing, but also threatening. at one point warning him, don't be stupid. if you're cooperative, i won't kill you. danny finally found his chance to make a run for it when they pulled over for gas. >> i was counting one, two, three, four. and i just do it. and i did it. and i can feel tamerlan trying to grab me. i was running. i was just running as fast as i can and i never, i never looked back. >> reporter: this as investigators continue

painstaking forensic work. sources say they found a fingerprint on the remnants of one of the bombs. but as of yet, no match. scrutiny of a different sort as critics question the fbi intelligence received from russia about the older brother. the president staunchly defending the agency's handling. >> the fbi investigated that older brother. it's not as if the fbi did nothing. they not only investigated the older brother, they interviewed the older brother. >> reporter: and for the first time we're hearing tamerlan talk, introducing himself in this boxing video that aired on "entertainment tonight." >> are you excited? >> yes. why not? you know. >> reporter: meanwhile tamerlan's widow has given the medical examiner's office consent to release his body to his family. and as for that carjacking victim, he says he remembers hearing the word manhattan when he was in the car with the two brothers. it turns out that they had made spontaneous plans to go to new york and set off more explosives

in times square, according to authorities. so had danny not escaped, setting off a massive manhunt, more lives could have been lost. still, danny told me he does not consider himself a hero. >> and pamela, you sat down with the carjacking victim, we understand, for over an hour. what did he tell you specifically about that night that stood out to you? >> well, zoraida, what really stood out to me was how he described the dynamic between tamerlan and dzhokhar. he said it was clear tamerlan was the ringleader from the get-go, from the very beginning of the carjacking tamerlan was the one that walked up and got in the car while dzhokhar followed along. he said that tamerlan, once dzhokhar got in the car was firing off orders and dzhokhar seemed to be at his beck and call, such as telling dzhokhar to go get money out of an atm. he said dzhokhar just quickly jumped to do that. so anything tamerlan said, dzhokhar would do. so he said basically that it was clear tamerlan was the ringleader here and that dzhokhar sat in the back seat in

the car and was very quiet. he didn't really ask any questions. he said the only question he can remember that was a personal question was, how much he paid for his mercedes suv. he said tamerlan, on the other hand, was very outgoing, very talkative, kept asking him questions about his chinese heritage, so there was a stark difference here. i spoke to a criminology professor about the relationship with the two brothers and he said the fact that dzhokhar followed behind in the car, was in the back seat, is symbolic of the relationship between these two brothers. >> interesting, because his uncle also said the same thing, right? that he was basically manipulated by his older brother. a young brother there. thank you so much, pamela brown, reporting live for us in boston. appreciate it. >> new developments this morning in the mississippi ricin investigation, and the arrest of suspect james everett dutschke. he is the man accused of sending letters tainted with ricin, which is a deadly substance, to president obama and also two others. an fbi affidavit says items recovered from dus ski's farmer martial arts studio tested

positive for ricin and that traces of the poison were found on the floor of the studio and also inside drains. the affidavit also says a witness told agents that dutschke claimed to know how to make ricin but there was no next of a possible motive. it is unimaginable heartache in a small california town. mourners gathering in valley springs, california, yesterday to hold a vigil for 8-year-old leila fowler. the little girl was found stabbed to death in her home on saturday. here's cnn's stephanie elam. >> she was kind. i remembered that leila liked purple. >> reporter: in an array of pinks and purples, hundreds turned out for a candle light vigil to remember leila fowler. the 8-year-old girl stabbed to death in her northern california home on saturday. the motive for her killing is still a mystery. >> it does not happen to a person you know, much less a child you know.

and this cannot happen to a child in your very own class. she will be carried in our hearts forever. >> reporter: leila's family stood front and center, arm in arm as the vigil began. before moving to the stage so they could see all the people present to remember their little girl. the family also spoke for the first time. >> i just want to thank the entire community and all of our family and friends for the overwhelming amount of support that you've given my family. it will never be forgotten. >> i'm not saying good-bye to leila. i'm going to say, i'll see you later. there's no good-byes. -- take care of my sister. >> madison was friends with leila for three years. >> she was very kind to everybody. and she helped everybody. she made everybody feel good.

>> reporter: her mother says she's having a hard time understanding tat her friend is gone. >> she's going to be here the next day, no, she's going to be here. we have a play date on friday, and it's like, no, baby, i don't know what to say. >> reporter: kayleah used to live across the street from leila. she sobbed uncontrollably during the vigil. >> she was always over at my house. she said she would sleep over for one day and she would sleep over for like a week. >> her and my daughter became friends and leila spent every summer with us. we were just talking about spending this summer together and what we were going to do. our summers have changed forever. >> reporter: stephanie elam, cnn, valley springs, california. >> awful. what a tragedy. our heart goes out to that family. new york city police preparing to remove a plane part discovered at ground zero in less than three hours. it's believed to be from one of the jets that crashed into the world trade center in 2001.

the rusted chunk of wing flap support was found last week in a narrow alley between buildings. crews are expected to begin hauling it away. in venezuela life after hugo chavez is proving to be chaotic. that country's disputed election leading to an all-out brawl in parliament. look at this video, it captured some of the hey mem. opposition leaders trading punches with members of the united socialist party. the opposition angry that they were not allowed to speak unless they first agreed to recognize nicolas maduro as chavez's rightful successor. maduro won the election with 51% of the vote. >> you do never see this with john boehner and nancy pelosi. >> i hope you never see something like that on our soil. >> all right. new this morning the threat of historic snow in may. a winterlike storm front bearing down on the rockies and the high plains. and unprecedented snowfall is a real possibility.

jennifer delgado is tracking the system from the severe weather center and jim spellman is live right in the middle of it. jim, let's go to you. >> looks like it's getting nasty there. >> yeah, it's really starting to snow. here's what's going on. take a look. surfaces like this bench already piling up. maybe half an inch of snow or so. but on the ground, it's not. because the ground is so warm here. yesterday it was 66. monday 78 here. so, that warmth, it's been just sunny, beautiful here. the hippies would normally be out here, pearl street mall in boulder this time of year. now with the snow coming down though, not sure if we'ring with to see them later or not. great news here because we need the moisture for the drought. we need it to help prevent wildfires later in the summer. not so good news for illinois, missouri, and most states in the midwest down to the south. already at flood levels there along some of the rivers. in that region they're going to get a lot of this moisture as this storm works its way east. sort of a mixed blessing. here i don't think we're going to have huge problems because

the ground is so warm. i don't think we're going to have any school closures or massive traffic backups. the plows will be out and they'll be de-icing at the airport. >> throw that snow ball. go for it. oh, nice try. missed us. jim spellman missing us in boulder, colorado. keep trying, buddy. >> i told you you were talking about him. ten minutes past the hour. conditions have to be just rate this late in the season for a storm to dump accumulating snow. just what are the conditions and who is on deck to get the worst of it? jennifer delgado live in the cnn weather center. good morning. >> good morning, zoraida. and john, i have to tell you, i think jim needs to work on his baseball game. that throwing arm was really weak. i'm feeling for the hippies as he said. they're going to be suffering. they're not going to be able to go outside. know is coming down through parts of denver and starting to change over as well as to the northeastern parts of colorado. now today for areas like the front range, the eastern slopes, they could pick up a foot of snowfall.

but it's not just colorado. we're talking about cheyenne, as well as into nebraska, even iowa. they're going to see some snow. and the moisture you're seeing on the radar right now, that is going to be changing over to snow. and that means areas like minneapolis, you're going to be picking up snowfall. we're getting to the totals. we start off right now across nebraska and colorado, as well as wyoming. 6 to 12 inches in some parts. for denver, we're saying 4 to 7. as we move into the upper midwest, 6 to 9 for minneapolis. and for areas in the western part of wisconsin, 3 to 6 inches of snowfall. by about midnight tonight all that snow is going to be done for areas like denver, but of course, as i said, up towards the northeast, and as it does, we're still talking potentially snow coming down through friday morning on the backside of that low, affecting parts of minnesota. but want to point out to you, look where that freeze line is, so again, minneapolis we're expecting snow but for areas to the north as well as to the south, they are going to be looking at some rain. on a wider view today, severe storms across the midwest.

of course the snow means colder air in place. look at the high temperatures today. and look at that gradient there. 75 for kansas city. 34 for denver. this is after 80s, and of course the northeast looking good. the southeast some showers and thunderstorms out there. but, last time we saw snow was back in 1944, it was 7.8 inches in denver. so we could potentially get close to that. >> wow. >> and that was on may 1st? >> no -- yes, may. i was having a blonde moment there. >> jennifer delgado, thank you so much. still ahead, amanda knox in her own words. she is speaking publicly for the first time about her murder conviction. the years spent in an italian prison and even thoughts of suicide. we'll tell you all about it. ennt powerful sunscreen feel great? actually it can. neutrogena® ultra sheer. its superior uva uvb protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer, all with the cleanest feel. it's the best for your skin. neutrogena® ultra sheer.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. we have new revelations from amanda knox. she is speaking publicly for the first time about her long legal ordeal. back in march, italy's supreme court ordered the 25-year-old to stand trial again for the murder of meredith kercher. knox and her former boyfriend spent four years in italian prison before their convictions

were tossed out in 2011. now, she is out to set the record straight. we have more now from cnn's nick valencia. >> i was in the courtroom when nay were calling me a devil. i mean, it's one thing to be called certain things in the media, and then it's another thing to be sitting in a courtroom, fighting for your life, while people are calling you a devil. it's not true. for all intents and purposes, i was a murderer. whether i was or not. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview with abc news, amanda knox opened up for the first time in years about her murder conviction and ordeal through italian courts and prison. speaking to diane sawyer, knox talked about her roommate meredith kercher, the girl she was convicted of murdering, and what happened the day in 2007 that would change her life. >> it bothers me when people suggest that she wasn't my friend.

i was stunned by her death. she was my friend. >> reporter: but that's not how much of the media saw it at the time. as prosecutors painted a picture of a kinky sex game gone wrong, the media played it up. at the crime scene and immediate aftermath of her roommate's death it was actions like this, kissing her then-boyfriend who would eventually be convicted along with knox in kercher's death that made her critics question her innocence. >> people kept saying where is the anguish? where is what we think we would do if this happened to our friend? >> i have seen the same picture, and like the kissing just can't stop and that's not what that was. i want the truth to come out. i'd like to be reconsidered as a person. >> reporter: which is why she agreed to the interview, and released a memoir. she hopes it will help clear her name. >> did you kill meredith

kercher? >> no. >> were you there that night? >> no. >> do you know anything you have not told police, that you have not said in this book, do you know anything? >> no. i don't. i wasn't there. >> amanda knox's freedom is now back on the line. an italian court has ordered a retrial of her repealed conviction and knox may once again find herself pleading her case in an italian court, proclaiming her innocence. john, zoraida? >> it is so interesting to see her speak, you know, in her own words for the first time. >> yeah. and you kind of understand. she's got this demeanor, which diane sawyer was alluding to, you have no emotion. that's what people are really questioning. >> people are going to look at this and judge her. the fbi wants to know who tampered with the chemical settings at a water treatment plant in northern georgia. about 400 customers are now unable to drink water from the plant because of increased chlorine and reduced fluoride

levels. investigators believe someone broke into the plant last friday. and tiny robots called quad rotors told big promise in the future. in time the technology in these autonomous mini aircraft could be used for surveillance, and it actually may save lives. we took a trip to the university of pennsylvania to check them out in this edition of technovation. they navigate through windows, fly in formation and take off and land with ease. and these tiny unmanned aerial vehicles called quad rotors are doing it on their own. >> this is a robot that completely is autonomous. and by that i mean there is no remote control in the background. >> reporter: most of these test flights are done here at the university of pennsylvania's lab decked out with a state-of-the-art motion capture system. students give the quad rotors simple commands via computers but the vehicles decide how they will go from point "a" to point "b" on their own. >> we have the bicon system or

the red light which allow us to figure out where the robot is. then we're able to send it commands about what we'd like it to do and group behaviors that you'll see. >> reporter: other quad rotors at the lab have worked together to carry cargo, build structures and have been equipped with cameras and lasers to create 3-d images inside buildings. with better batteries and a bigger payload capacity, they could one day be used in the real world for surveillance and search and rescue. >> we can send these in ahead of people, and detect for dangerous situations. and this is potentially life saving for first responders. >> reporter: for now, most of the research on these remarkable robots is still done in the lab. but you could say, their potential is sky high. >> they're pretty cool. >> they are very cool. and to know that they could save lives one day. >> 20 minutes after the hour. remember she took a lot of heat when she banned telecommuting at yahoo! coming up marissa mayer takes another benefit move. one that a lot of workers may like.

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good morning to you. we're "minding your business." a record-setting day on wall street. the s&p 500 will open today at a new record high. isn't that good news? most-watched stock index also closed the books on april with a gain. its sixth monthly gain in a row. >> other big news, yahoo! ceo marissa mayer making headlines again. a few months ago it was the ban on telecommuting. but now she's got a new parental leave policy for workers, and it's more generous than before.

>> yeah. >> interesting. cnn's zain asher here with the details. >> marissa mayer takes scrutiny for everything she does. at least this time, positive, absolutely great news for any expectant mother who works at yahoo! yahoo! said in a statement and i'm quoting, doing this is to support the happiness and well-being of yahoo! and their families. let me break down what you get. fathers get eight weeks of paid leave. mothers get double that, 16 weeks of paid leave. she's also throwing in free cash, $500 worth of free cash for people to sort of spend on baby clothes. >> on diapers. >> that kind of thing. it does sound great but it's a little bit behind what other tech companies offer. it's behind google, which offers 18 to 22 weeks. for new moms. facebook, by the way, 16 weeks of paid leave for both mums and dads, by the way. they also offer $4,000 in baby cash. so it's a huge amount. and dads get 16 weeks of paid

leave, as well. so marissa mayer clearly trying to revive perks, she wants to be competitive. but she's also trying to right the wrongs. you mentioned the whole telecommuting ban. that was a scandal, a pr nightmare. and also, you know, she only took two weeks off when she had her baby. >> maybe she gave it a little bit of thought. not such a great idea. >> people said she's setting a bad example. also want to mention that she is making headlines in another way, by the way, this time around, it's her pay package. she made $6 million since she started at yahoo! that's basically a million dollars every single month. >> good for her. >> and her pay package is worth $71 million. includes stocks and things like that. >> what is the one thing we need to know about our money? we know how much she made. >> her money. this may be the beginning of a really weak period for stocks now. that's why traders say sell in may and go away. but, with recent record-setting runs does that still hold up?

some analysts say that as long as the fed keeps pumping money into the economy, the old adage might not carry as much weight as usual. >> all right, zain, thank you very much. 26 minutes past the hour. next on "early start," the new rules for the morning-after pill that some parents may have a big problem with. ls. hairbands. and now hot pink toes. seems tough for a tough dog like duke. but when it has to do with gwen, he's putty in her hands. for a love this strong, duke's family only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep his body as strong as a love that can endure any fashion trend. iams. keep love strong. now you can keep love fun with new shakeables meaty treats.

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his bold move helped bring two terror suspects down. we are hearing in person from the man carjacked in boston by the tsarnaev brothers. and she's the hero who likely saved lives at a local starbucks. what one customer did to keep people from drinking poisoned orange juice. >> can you believe this? >> and helped police catch a suspect. sheriff's deputies on safari in a helicopter. here's what they saw overnight

while hot on the trail of a black bear. >> crazy. >> just incredible. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it is wednesday, may 1st. we begin with new developments in the boston marathon bombing and what could be a key piece of new evidence. a law enforcement official says investigators have lifted at least one fingerprint from bomb debris. meantime the tsarnaev brothers' carjacking victim known only as danny, chinese immigrant, he is speaking out publicly, describing in detail the fear he felt, his bold get away and the 911 call he made that really helped take out the two suspected terrorists. pamela brown is in boston with all the details. you spoke face-to-face with the karnlging aing victim. what did he have to say about the ordeal? >> that's right. i spoke to the carjacking victim danny for more than an hour in an off-camera conversation. he told me that he is still recovering from the nightmare of being carjacked by dzhokhar and

tamerlan tsarnaev shortly after the boston bombing. he told me it was a thursday night, he was trying to relax driving around in boston. he pulled over to send a text, all of a sudden tamerlan tsarnaev walked up to the passenger side, he rolled down the window to hear what he was saying, and tamerlan got in, told danny to drive while pointing a gun at him. he eventually abandoned the car he was driving while tamerlan got into the driver's seat. danny says tamerlan was very talkative the entire time and made it clear he hated americans. he kept asking danny about his chinese heritage. and at one point he even said, this is like something right out of a movie, isn't it? after a harrowing 90 minutes of feeling he may lose his life, danny made a brave escape at a shell gas station in cambridge. here's what he told cbs. >> he took out his gun, pointed to me, and like, you know i am

serious. don't be stupid. he asked me a question like, do you know the boston explosion on monday? i said, yes. he said, he did that and i just killed a policeman in cambridge. i was counting, i was counting, one, two, three, four. and i just did it. i can feel tamerlan trying to grab him. i was running. i was just running as fast as i can and i never, never looked back. >> and as danny told me at one point during the conversation, he heard them say manhattan, and as it turns out, the two brothers had made spontaneous plans to go to new york and set off more explosives in times square, according to authorities. so, had danny not made his way of escape there could have been more lives lost. i asked danny if he considers himself a hero. he says no and that he was just trying to save his own life. >> pamela, one of the most

interesting things, most mysterious facets of this whole investigation is the relationship between the two brothers. what did danny tell you about the dynamic between these two men? >> it's really interesting, john. danny said it was clear what role each brother played. he said that essentially tamerlan was the ringleader. he was spearheading everything. he was the one that was calling the shots, and dzhokhar was just following his lead, as dzhokhar was at his beck and call according to danny. he said that from his get-go tamerlan was the one that came up to the window with a gun. dzhokhar was the one following behind in the car. dzhokhar was the one who eventually was in the back seat, and was very quiet according to danny. he said dzhokhar didn't really ask too many questions. the only question he can remember him asking was how much he paid for his car. contrast that with tamerlan who was very talkative, very outgoing, kept asking danny about his chinese heritage.

so, it was clear that there was this dynamic at play, a criminology professor who said the brothers were emboldened by allegedly setting off the bombs. allegedly the secret between them solidified their bond. >> pamela brown at the memorial site in boston. thanks so much for being with us this morning. appreciate it. >> 35 minutes past the hour. a customer who allegedly left two bottles of poisoned orange juice on a starbucks store shelf is behind bars facing attempted murder charges this morning. the unidentified hero told employees the suspect quickly left the store, and got into her car. the customer also had the presence of mind to write down the car's license plate number and help make that arrest. the suspect is charged with attempted murder because the juice contained a lethal dose of rubbing alcohol. so far there is no apparent motive. >> we're still very much in the investigative mode at this stage, just because she is, you know, off the streets doesn't mean that we're still not trying to double-check and make sure there are no threats to the

public. >> nearby starbucks stores were notified of the incident and told to check all of their juice bottles. no other tainted products have been found. a potentially controversial move by the fda approving over-the-counter sales of the so-called morning-after pill for women and girls 15 and older. the plan "b" one step emergency contraceptive will now be available on store shelves. customers will not have to ask the pharmacist for it. earlier this month a federal judge in new york ruled there should be no age restrictions for plan "b." fda officials say the decision is not in response to the court case. sheriff's deputies in mesa, arizona had their hands full tuesday night. take a look. they were tracking down a black bear. it seeps the bear had been wandering a little too close to a nearby neighborhood, and an elementary school. the sheriff's department was able to corner the bear, subdue him, capture him with a tranquilizer gun. >> can i make my joke again? >> it was a bear on the lam.

not working for you? >> no. >> tweet if you're in support of my joke. new this morning, strange weather setting the scene for an unprecedented may snowstorm in the rockies and northern plains. jennifer delgado is tracking the historic storm from the cnn weather center. oh, my gosh. jim spellman is in a blizzard. it's may, jim, what's going on there? that's real snow. >> oh, my goodness. >> i know. it's ridiculous. it's really coming down now. take a look over here you can see all the grass is getting covered with snow. but over here the pavement is not. that's because it's been so warm. 60s and 70s the last couple of days. going to try to hit the camera again, john. and -- just shocking to have this big shift. to have this big shift. but i did some research. the last recorded snow, latest recorded snow in denver, june 12th of 1943.

it's still hard to say good-bye to these wonderful spring days, and have to deal with this snow here. and the kids i don't even think are going to get the day off because it's not sticking to the roads at this point. >> the big kid gets to play this morning. it looks like you're really enjoying all the snow fall. >> the throws are getting better and better. those snowflakes look huge. they're like monster may snowflakes out there. >> it is. it's really wet snow. usually we get that powder snow that's great to ski on. horrible for snow balls and making snowmen. but this is really, really dense, heavy, wet snow. >> yikes. boulder, colorado. jim spellman, thanks to you. >> so the conditions have to be just right for significant accumulations this late in the season. that's why snowstorms in this region are so rare. jennifer delgado is live in the cnn weather center. tell us why the conditions are so right? >> so right. because the cold air has returned down to the south, that jet stream and you saw the video coming out of denver with jim

and it looks like some big flakes. you're right. it's the big wet stuff out there. a lot of that is not going to be sticking because the temperatures are so warm. on the radar the snow coming down along interstate 70 for denver into cheyenne, even spreading into areas like nebraska and iowa at this hour. the snow will get heavier as we go throughout the morning and the afternoon, as the temperatures continue to dip. and in the snow you're seeing coming out of nebraska, into minnesota, that is going to be changing over to all snow across many parts. minneapolis we are talking for you, potentially roughly right around six inches of snowfall. but the big stuff along the front range, the hippies are going to be mad because the snow coming down, especially in the eastern slopes for denver. 4 to 7 inches of snowfall. and for the upper midwest, 6 to 9 inches. 3 to 6 for parts of wisconsin. and it's not just snow. i haven't forgotten about down in the south. we are looking at showers and thunderstorms. these are going to be some big rainmakers, as we go through the next couple days. louisiana all the way over to florida with a lot of lightning

out there. and with the snow, of course, comes the cold. you can see where the cold air is going to be in place, dipping those temperatures down for st. louis as well as into dallas. today, high of 85. friday, 63. there's a reality check for denver. at least your temperatures warm back up into the upper 50s by friday. so snow is bad. bear on the lam, it's not working. >> thank you. sort of, for that. jennifer delgado, thank you so much. 40 minutes after the hour. just ahead an unsealed affidavit shedding now light on the mississippi ricin investigation. we're finding out more about the suspect right now. but do we know the motive? you're watching "early start." hey! [squeals] ♪ [ewh!] [baby crying] the great thing about a subaru is you don't have to put up with that new car smell for long. introducing the versatile, all-new subaru forester.

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welcome back. john berman and i are co-hosting "starting point" this morning and here's a look for you at what's ahead. the man who says he was carjacked by the tsarnaev brothers for a terrifying 90 minutes is speaking out about that unforgettable night. we'll bring you his chilling interview, and get some insight. >> former cia and nsa director general michael hayden and law enforcement analyst tom fuentes will be here to talk about the whole story. >> and the desperate search for missing mother jessica heeringa continues this morning as police try to identify a possible suspect. we'll talk with her mother and fiance about the search. >> and it is may 1st. but you would not believe it in boulder, colorado, also the midwest. they can expect serious wintry weather this week. we're going to have a live forecast of what's behind the temperatures at the top of the hour. >> and sheryl crow is on a mission to feed 50 million americans at risk of going hungry.

she is going to join us live with her call to action. looking forward to talking with her. >> very exciting. >> 44 minutes past the hour. there are new developments in the ricin investigation in mississippi. an fbi affidavit unsealed yesterday shows why officials have arrested james everett dutschke. he is accused of sending letters tainted with the toxic substance to president obama and two others but the affidavit does not provide a motive. here's alina machado. >> reporter: we now know what led federal prosecutors to charge james everett dutschke in the ricin letters investigation. in an eight-page affidavit fbi agents say their surveillance team saw dutschke remove items from the former martial arts studio he owned in tupelo and dump them in a public trash bin. one of those items a dust mask tested positive for ricin. ricin was also later found inside the martial arts studio in sink drains and on the floor. the investigators say dutschke ordered 100 castor bean seeds

late last year through ebay. they're used in the production of ricin which can be deadly and has no known antidote. dutschke denied to investigators he purchased the beans. the fbi found publications on how to safely handle ricin, and how to detect it, on his computer. also agents say they spoke with a witness who told them dutschke said he knows how to make a poison that could be sent to elected officials and, quote, whoever opens these envelopes containing the poison would die. dutschke denied any involvement in this youtube video posted prior to his arrest. >> i met with the fbi. i consented to a search, signed a paper saying go ahead and search the house. i don't have anything at all to do with this. >> reporter: his lawyers have not yet commented on the information in the affidavit. the fbi says dutschke filed a civil lawsuit against the same person the fbi identified as its witness. but it was dismissed by a mississippi judge. that judge, sadie holland, received one of the ricin-laced

letters. we spoke with judge holland's son, who beat dutschke in a race for a seat in the mississippi state house a year later. >> i've about decided that actually i might have been the target, not my mother. but, i'm a momma's baby of extraordinary proportions, and maybe he just said what the heck, if i get his momma, i've got him. >> reporter: the affidavit also mentions a series of texts sent from two cell phones registered to dutschke's wife, saying get the fire going, and, we're coming over to burn some things. later identified as, quote, my paperwork and personal things. the fbi has not said whether any more arrests are likely in the case. alina machado, cnn, oxford, mississippi. >> so many bizarre twists and turns there, right? all right 47 minutes past the hour. he broke the barrier for major league sports and coming up, we're hearing more from jason collins on his decision to come out of the closet. leanser.

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51 minutes after the hour. the united states stepping up aid to syrian rebels in the wake of suspected chemical weapons use by the assad regime. officials announcing the u.s. doubling the commitment of nonlethal aid to $250 million, and the obama administration is now saying all options are on the table, including possibly providing arms to the rebels. police in honolulu, hawaii, say a 21-year-old woman who told authorities that she found a newborn baby girl on a sandy beach sunday night is actually the baby's mother. she was arrested tuesday for filing a false report. she has been released after posting $250 bail.

the eight-pound newborn is said to be doing well at a local hospital. we're happy to report that. the state's department of human services is now investigating. the turkey hunt is now under way in jefferson, oregon. city officials say about 60 wild turkeys have been causing trouble around town, tearing the paint off cars and damaging the roofs of homes. >> what? >> for the safety of the town the green light to start shooting the wild birds. an experienced hunter will first shoot three of the male large tom turkeys in hope of scaring off the others. you could say they are turkeys on the lam. >> you're really stretching this morning. what are they going to do with the turkeys once they kill them? >> i don't know the answer to that. >> so, are you wondering how this happened, folks? take a look at this. unbelievable. this is a memphis police cruiser and it's up a pole. we're told the officer was attempting to pull over a driver when he lost control, hit a guide wire attached to the utility pole and rode it all the way up. the good news here, no one was

hurt. >> that is an amazing picture. >> it really is. just days after revealing that he is gay, nba veteran jason collins is speaking out and telling the world why he chose to reveal the details of his personal life. andy scholes joins us now with more on today's "bleacher report." >> good morning, guys. collins said it was never his intention to become the first active professional athlete to be openly gay. but now that he's done it, he's the happiest that he's ever been. collins, a 12-year nba veteran has received an outpouring of support from his peers since making the announcement. yesterday he spoke about his decision to come out and how he hopes it helps others have the courage to come forward. >> i hope it will encourage others to live an honest and genuine life. it's important for everybody to make decisions in their life that makes them happy. once you've put on that mask, and you know, live an authentic life, it's liberating. and you don't have to hide anymore. you can just be yourself.

>> collins will be a free agent this off-season and he says he hopes to continue his nba career next season. the playoffs continued last night with the warriors looking to eliminate the nuggets. this game could get a bit chippy first quarter. curry tripped as he comes through the lane. after the game mark jackson said denver was sending hit men after his star player all night. the warriors would retaliate. there's the rebound. that was a flagrant foul. the nuggets would win the game to stay alive in the series. and curry clearly frustrated with the physical play by the nuggets and got into it with a fan on the way out before being restrained by his teammate. game six of the series is tomorrow night in oakland. meanwhile last night in the big leagues, tim hudson had himself quite a night. the braves ace pitched seven innings to earn his 200th win of his career in front of his wife and kids. in the fifth inning hudson comes up to the plate and hits a home

run! his wife kim starts dahling in the stands she tweeted there's no crying in baseball but if there was, holy cow, go baby, go. nhl playoffs kicked off last night in chicago, and nascar driver danica patrick was on hand to take part in the puck shooting contest. check this out she's going to send her first shot right through the goal. that has to be blackhawks good luck charm. ho hometown team, 2-1 in overtime. check out bleacherreport.com. unfortunately for the black hawks danica is not going to be able to make it to game two of the series. she's going to be dealing with her day job, practicing qualifying for sunday's race at talledega. >> andy scholes, thank you so much. that is all for "early start" i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we are back with "starting point" right after this. i reme? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so.

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morning everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. our "starting point," the man carjacked by the boston bombing suspects speaks for the first time. details in the terrifying night, including the moment he decided to run for his life. >> then, a community in mourning. a mother thanking them for their support. >> i just want to thank the entire community and all of our family and friends. >> an emotional vigil for 8-year-old leila fowler as police search for her killer. >> plus the calendar says may

but for the midwest it's more like february. take a look at these live pictures. unbelievable. >> and then check out this picture. >> yeah, it's may 1st but it feels like the middle of winter. snow is falling in colorado. >> jim spellman with the bad snowfall toss. and check out this video, venezuela parliament erupts in violent. imagine if our congress did this. we will tell you how this happened. >> and she's a singer on a mission. sheryl crow is here live with her fight to end hunger in america. it is wednesday, may 1st, "starting point" begins right now. we'll begin with new developments in the boston bombing investigation. a law enforcement official says investigators have lifted at least one fingerprint from bomb debris. meanwhile the tsarnaev carjackers victim known only as danny i