the independent state department review on the ben gghazi attack they demand a public hearing. plus, you still have a chance, the powerball still up for grabs and the jackpot perhaps will reach an eye-popping $475 million. good morning. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans, thursday, may 16th. "starting point" begins right now. >> we do begin with the dangerous deadly tornadoes. outbreak overnight killing at least six people, more than 100 others injured in north texas. right now this morning, 14 people are missing. terrifying funnel clouds bearing down on the hardest hit area. that would be granbury, texas. that is where these six people were killed in a habitat for humanity neighborhood. most of the homes were destroyed. 120. victor blackwell is in granbury for us. victor, what's the latest this

morning. >> there's a rescue task force coming from dallas to search for those 14 missing persons. also here, look over here, the heavy machinery has just pulled up. bulldozers over here to start to clean up the mess left by what the sheriff calls a monster that created a war zone. >> take a look at this. video from a storm chaser in north texas wednesday night. and this. this is what a tornado looks like in the dark, lit up by lightning. >> it's just hug them and pray to god as loud as you can. >> reporter: that's what this man did when the storm hit. he rode out the storm with his family in his bathtub. the roof collapse and the twister there. it's horrible. >> reporter: they say it hop scotched through the area touching down and lifting up as it cut through north texas.

as storm passed, reports of injuries and fatalities came in. >> i've had information that people were found in homes, they were hard hit, those homes i've been told were collapsed, destroyed, as they were probably hit by flying debris. made their way out of their homes while crews worked to free people trapped inside buildings. >> the top of the hill, you could tell where the tornado went through directly because it's just wiped out. trees gone, houses completely demolished. >> reporter: officials sent school buses to the hardest hit areas to help with evacuations as residents cope with losing everything in an instant. >> there's just nothing left, i'm sorry. there's just nothing left. >> reporter: 250 people were taken out of the community that was hit hardest and coming into the community, volunteers. firefighters from other communities in other cities. and there are now donations of food and clothing and offers for

people to stay with relatives and friends now that this tornado and these tornadoes will get a final number from the national weather service, have created so much destruction. back to you. >> victor, we're getting our first look at live pictures from the air of the damage there. it is still dark. we do see roofs ripped off of homes there. lots of damage on the ground. obviously as the sun does begin to come up there, we will get a much better sense of the scope of the damage there. we will come back to you because we want to stay with this all morning. thank you, victor blackwell. we also want to look at where the storms might be headed right now. meteorologist jennifer delgado is in the cnn center in atlanta. good morning. >> good morning, christine and john. we're looking at the radar. things have quieted down since yesterday. you can see just scattered showers well to the southern part of texas. for areas hit by these tornadoes, things are going to be quiet as we go through the next couple of days but let's take a look. from north texas down to central

texas. this is where we're hearing the three reported tornadoes came down. those numbers could go up. now we're hearing possibly ten tornadoes moved through central as well as northern texas. this looks like the work of several supercells. now, as we examine this a bit more, granbury, texas, that's the area we're following, this tornado right here or this storm actually took a right turn and then moved into cleburn. typically for the month of may, you usually see about 322 tornadoes. right now we've only had reports of three confirmed tornadoes. a lot of that is because it's been so cold. so we haven't had that severe weather. pointing out to you as we go through the next couple of days. it's going to be very hot. for people who don't have homes and sun rise comes today at 6:28. survey teams will be out there at 6:00 a.m. surveying the damage within four counties. these numbers continue to go up. >> jennifer gel gado, thank you.

a first on cnn. attack on the u.s. consulate in bengha benghazi. the two men who headed up the state department's review of the events are demanding a public hearing to defend their reputation. in a letter obtained by cnn to congressman darrell issa, admiral michael mullen and general thomas pickering say it's not in the public interest for them to be questioned behind closed doors. they write, in our view, requiring a closed door proceeding before we testify publicly in an inappropriate condition. the letter concludes by saying, quote, what the committee is now proposing is highly unusual in the context of senior officials who are not fact witnesses but instead are reporting on their own independent review. meantime, one head had rolled but that's not likely to stop thehe irs irs targeting political groups. president obama is expected to face more questions today about the irs scandal during a joint appearance with turkey's prime minister. we're going to get more from dan lothian on white house control.

>> reporter: trying to step out of a political sinkhole, president obama expressed anger at misconduct within the irs. >> it's inexcusable and americans have a right to be angry about it and i am angry about it. i will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency. >> reporter: the agency's acting commissioner steve miller was asked to resign and president obama bound to put in place new safeguards and work with congressional investigators. >> i will do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again but this scandal threatens to run much deeper. the justice department has launched a criminal investigation, and attorney general eric holder was on the hot seat wednesday, pressed for answers by the house judiciary committee. >> i would strongly encourage this administration to get out front, get all the facts out, let the chips fall where they may. >> anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable. >> reporter: the irs scandal has drawn bipartisan outrage, but some top republicans already seem convinced laws were broken. >> my question isn't about who

is going to resign. my question is, who is going to jail over this scandal? >> reporter: this is a white house under siege, from the irs case to the ap phone records probe to benghazi, all threatened to overshadow the president's second term agenda. on the defensive, the white house released 100 pages of e-mails wednesday as first reported by cnn jake tapper. it's part of an effort to prove politics played no role in crafting the so-called talking points that followed the deadly attacks in libya. but republicans are seizing on all these scandals, releasing this tough new video using the president's own words. >> the way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. >> reporter: white house spokesman jay carney, battered in briefings all week, insisted the president has set a high standard and won't tolerate anything less. >> he wants and instructs everyone who works in the government, whether they work for him or our civil service, to

hold themselves to that standard. and when he finds out that there have been failures, he acts on it. >> dan lothian, cnn, the white house. attorney general eric holder grilled over why the justice department secretly tapped into the phone records of the associated press. holder said, he would remove himself from the investigation. at times, the hearing which touched on other administration scandals became heated, especially during this exchange with congressman darrell issa. >> i'm sure there must have been a good reason why only the to and from parts were -- >> yes, you didn't want us to see the details. mr. attorney general -- >> no, no. >> -- knowing the to and from -- >> that's what we typically do. i'm not going to stop talking now. characterize something as something -- mr. chairman, would you inform the witness as to the rules of this committee. >> is too consistent with the way you conduct yourself as a member of congress. it's unacceptable and it's shameful. >> during the hearing holder was accused of not taking responsibility for what happens at the justice department. bring in cnn chief national

correspondent john king. john, there was a whole lot of activity all at once last night. the president pushing out the head of the irs, the irs releasing 100 pages of e-mails on benghazi. it felt like the end of "the godfather," taking care of all of the five families all at one time. >> maybe washington can learn some tips from the godfather. it was an abrupt, quick, pivot, you might say, about face in the white house. the night before the president released a statement saying jack lew was going to look into this. if there's wrong doing, we'll be mad about it. if, if, if. the president last night, bang, this guy is fired. i'm going to do more. earlier throughout the week, we're not going to release these e-mails. part of a deliberative process. no administration releases these internal conversations about big policy decisions. bang, they release 100 pages of e-mail to try to put this down. why this happened, it is trademark classic obama. he pushes things away.

he's a bit detached me says let's not rush to judgment unless and until they reach a conclusion, this is beginning to hurt them and him personally. and then they act quickly. >> duke that on benghazi they will act any differently than they have so far given they have been swift about the irs scandal at this point? >> you mentioned at the top, that admiral mullen, ambassador pickering want to go back and defend themselves and defend the finding of their investigation which essentially says the administration got some things wrong but there was no cover-up, there was no plot to mislead the american people. that's part of the administration's step. you also saw it was a question on another subject. but you saw the animosity between eric holdered and issa on the government overnight and reform committee. that what is driving this. legitimate questions. four americans died. there are some legitimate questions about what happened in benghazi, why security warnings were ignored and why the administration acted in those early hours and days. those are legitimate policy

questions but at the same time there is a deep undercurrent of politics and animosity here. benghazi is not going anywhere. >> one other aspect of this sudden damage control, john, is it did seem like the white house was beginning to lose democrats. particularly on the issue of the irs and the scandal there. do you think the actions here might put democrats at ease and do you think now that there are more legs to this irs scandal. >> there are more legs to this irs scandal because they want to know what happened, how much was in the cincinnati, how much was in california, how much was here in washington. this one has legs because of the scope of it and because of the outrage. if part of the white house pivot was because democrats were starting to walk away, in a second term when you already know the opposition party, the republicans are standing up to you on just about everything, if you are starting to lose your own party in the second term, ask bush, it's over. that's when katrina happened and he could get nothing done in his final few years. that was part of the administration's urgency. the question now, john, do they turn the democrat volume down enough to get the democrats to

get the answers to the irs but let's not beat up our president and pummel the white house. >> if you're going to watch one thing today in washington, watch the democrats on the irs issue. that could be the canary in the coal mine. o.j. simpson on the stand. long shot bid for a new trial. jodi arias back in court has the jury offered the convicted killer another blow. nancy grace breaks down the legal case and only nancy grace can. the video today that you have to see to believe. a deer crashing through the windshield of a bus. find out how it ended. i'm talking for the deer. you're watching "starting point." how do you get your bou? i just stick the bar in the dryer like this, and it freshens my laundry for me so i don't have to think. wait. what was the question? [ male announcer ] how do you get your bounce? [ man ] stick it and forget it.

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the final phase of jodi arias murder trial begins later today with jurors ultimately deciding whether she receives a sentence of life or death. they found that she was exceptionally cruel when she murder her ex-boyfriend. that verdict means she is el viable to receive the death

penalty. the prosecution hammered home its case. >> she made sure that she killed him by stabbing him over and over and over again, and then finishing him off. >> the defense will try to convince jurors that arias should not be executed. she may make a statement asking that her life be spared nchtz waiting to find out whether f. she lives or dies, with o.j. simpson finding out if he will get another trial. we want to bring in a woman who knows these legal issues like no one else, nancy grace. you will be hosting the upcoming "nancy grace behind bars." nancy is joining us now. thank you for being with us this morning. appreciate it. >> good morning. >> now we understand thatted in jodi arias penalty case, the burden falls on the defense now. explain to me what that means and what they will be trying to do. >> well, now the state has carried the burden so far. as you know, the burden is

almost always on the state. and they must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. that being guilt, innocence phase as well as the aggravation phase, to show that there was one aggravating factor, one or more, in arizona. and this time they showed that this murder was conducted in an especially cruel way. now, the state is going to push for the death penalty. the defense is going to bring on mitigation to help convince this jury not to give arias the death penalty. i expect that you will hear brief opening statements. then you will hear from travis alexander's family. i predict his two siblings who have been in the courtroom from the get-go will speak to this jury. typically they read from a victim impact statement that they have prepared and, interesting note, the defense filed motions to keep the family from testifying live to the jury. they wanted them to testify on video and only allow the jury to

see that video while the family is sitting right there in the courtroom. how odd is that? we'll hear from travis' family. then i expect a long parade of witnesses, kindergarten teachers, sunday schoolteachers, you name it, to convince this jury that jodi is a good person and should be spared the death penalty. >> we have seen a mitigation exmee expert sitting behind jodi arias for a long time now. where does this, pert play in this? >> the expert is someone like a jury consultant that speaks to certain lawyers that need help picking a jury. and mitigation expert has experience in death penalty mitigation and steers them along the way as to who they should put up. you'll probably see some of her friends. i expect childhood friends, former boyfriends, particularly daryl brewer, her live-in lover

before she met trav disalexander. >> these are people who will try to convince the jury to spare the life of jodi arias. what about jodi arias herself? do you think it will help her cause to take the stand again? >> please. the last time she took to the stand for 18 days, she got a guilty verdict. do i think it will help her? no. i think when you don't know a horse, look at the track record, last time she testified she got a guilty verdict. but i don't think there's any way you can keep arias off the stand. wild horses couldn't drag her aw away. last night she was tweeting from behind bars again. >> part of the issue is that the jury needs to be unanimous. part of the issue is that there are very, very few women on death row in arizona. so how likely do you think the death sentence is here? >> well, statistically the likelihood is very, very low that arias will get sentenced to the death penalty. the last time an execution took place in arizona was 83 years

ago. it was eva duggan as i recall convicted of murdering a fellow rancher. there are two other women on death row right now in arizona, coincidentally one of the women -- one wasre by martinez, the prosecutor in the arias case, but the likelihood in arizona, as everywhere, is low to get, a, a conviction on a woman and, b, to get her on death row. i think the most important thing for me and many others was the verdict, a verdict that speaks the truth, a true verdict. it's so distressful when the system fails and you can't even get a true verdict. sentencing is very, very subjective, so we may see a hiccup in the death penalty phase. >> i want to move on with the time we have left to the o.j. simpson plea for a retrial in las vegas. we saw something very unusual yesterday which was o.j. on the stand himself. and what a sight it was.

i want to play one clip of him explaining the legal advice he now says was bad advice and is the reason he deserves a retrial. >> the overall advice he gave me was is, you have a right to get your stuff. he gave me an example. that if you were walking down the street and you saw your laptop with your name on it in a car, you can use force to break the window of the car to get the laptop. >> he's looking for a new trial in the robbery, kidnapping, burglary charge he was convicted of. he was fwhn prison for four years. how do you think he did yesterday, nancy? >> i think in his own mind he was very charming and did a great job. the reality is that i don't find him even remotely charming or attractive. you know, every time i look at him, i see the two murder victims with their heads nearly chopped off, lying in the front yard. so that kind of ruins the whole

attractive former star thing for me. but what he said actually has no legal merit. he tried to explain to the judge that he was drunk out of his gourd off of jack daniels and coke and bloody mary's. intoxication is not a defense under the law. you can't pull a pistol and say, oh, i was drunk, sorry. it doesn' work that way. galanter is no idiot. i doubt very seriously he told simpson he was authorized under the law to seize items belonging to him, which i want to point out before you go to a commercial break, these items were removed from simpson's home way back then so the goldman family could not get them for that $33 million civil judgment. so that's where those items went. simpson was trying to hide them from the law. so sheriffs could not seize them and now all these years later, that act comes back to haunt him. >> nancy grace, thank you so much. it's a treat for us to have you on the show.

>> stu. do not forget to watch "nancy grace, behind bars." two-night special event coming soon on hln. nancy goes behind bars to talk to female inmates at the very same jail where jodi arias now awaits her fate. if you have $2 and a dream, play powerball but only if you are fully inveed in your 401(k). no winning ticket last night. we'll tell you how big this jackpot could be by saturday's next drawing. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers.

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welcome back. looking at live pictures this morning of a tornado damage in

granbury, texas. there are fatalities. there are people still missing. there are at least 120 homes in habitat for humanity complex, i guess, that had been built, complex that had been destroyed by these storms that rolled through overnight. >> six people dead. we're told now 14 people still missing. more than 100 injured. these pictures you're looking at are of large homes. this is not the habitat for humanity area that was destroyed. so clearly, the scope of the damage here as dawn breaks in texas, quite large. perhaps larger than people expected overnight. you can simply see just the roofs torn off those homes. shredded. very large home there's. >> rescue workers are searching at this hour for the missing. they're surveying the damage here. it is the early morning hours if sun is coming up p. they know now, they're getting the visual impact, i guess, of what was a very terrifying night in granbury, texas. it is in hood county, texas. slightly southwest of dallas/ft.

worth. there were a couple of other towns where there were reports of sirens going off, the sounds of tornadoes, and some of the storm chasers say that it was just a terrifying, large, large system that went through here. >> the media says how powerful the storm was and how quickly it blew through. victor blackwell was telling us a story about how one rescue worker was about to race outside to get in his truck to survey the scene but he went outside and his truck was gone, completely gone. the truck had been lifted off the ground, blown away in the power of this storm here. again, we're getting a sense of it from the air right now for the very first time as the sun comes up in granbury, texas. >> may be up to 100 injuries. we know it wasn't just hood county. it was hood county, tarrant county, dallas, parker counties. tornadoes may have touched down several times. and other reports are there were at least three twisters that came down here. winds up to 80 miles per hour. you can see how it skipped, a telltale sign john of tornadoes

here, how it touches down, explodes a house, lifts a car, throws a silo, that's exactly what cuyou're seeing here. >> debris is littering the roads right now. stay with us for this because right now as we said, we're looking clearly at a neighborhood right now where there are a few homes pretty much obliterated there. a community habitat for humanity community with 120 homes, we are told that most of those homes were destroyed. so the scope of the damage there obviously very large. >> all right. ahead on "starting point," we will continue to breaking coverage. police, firefighters, all of the local officials on the scene are going to let us know what they're finding there this morning at dawn. plus, what exactly happened the night police and the tsarnaev brothers engaged in that deadly gunfight. we have shocking new details. it's a video you have to see to believe. a deer crashes into the windshield of a moving bus. what happened next. you will be surprised. you're watching "starting point." your sm like other precious things that start off white,

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this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome back to "starting point." >> we're following breaking news. as many as ten tornadoes touching down in texas. you're looking at live pictures of the aftermath in granbury, texas. rescue teams right now assessing the damage on the ground there. >> wow, look at that. >> looking for 14 people missing. the hood county sheriff says six people were killed in a habitat for humanity neighborhood. most of the homes in that neighborhood were destroyed. people in the area, as you can imagine, absolutely terrified. >> the only place in our house that was probably safe enough was our hallway. i got a mattress and, you know, i -- there's just nothing left. i'm sorry. there's just nothing left. >> emergency medical provider says at least 100 people were injured. >> wow. we'll continue to follow that. also following a large

wildfire in northern wisconsin. 95% contained this morning. it broke out tuesday, spread quickly, engulfing 9,000 acres. 47 buildings were destroyed. next door in minnesota, a wildfire in the northern part of the state is only 25% contained this morning. that fire has already consumed more than 7,000 acres in minnesota. now the investigation into the violent night in watertown, massachusetts, when the manhunt for the boston terror suspects hit a fever pitch. the tsarnaev brothers allegedly using explosives and exchanging gunfire with police. the watertown neighborhood riddled with hundreds of bullet holes. drew griffin pieced together that night. drew joins us now from boston. good morning, drew. >> good morning, john. you know, 300 shots were fired just within five or ten minutes. now we're learning almost all of them came from the police. and as these details emerge, we're learning just how close this came to another tragedy. this one in watertown.

this is all police knew at the time. >> officer down. >> reporter: m.i.t. officer had been shot and killed. hours earlier, the phish hfbi r these pictures of suspected bombers. tensions were high all across this city when this alert went out. get to watertown. police raised to the intersection of laurel and dexter streets to face what amounted to chaos. >> they have explosives, some type of grenades. they're in between houses down here. loud explosions. loud explosions. >> reporter: the tsarnaev brothers were in the middle of the street firing bullets, throwing their homemade bombs. in return, facing a massive barrage of police bullets.

two local law enforcement sources tell cnn the tsarnaevs had just one gun between them. and when the older brother, tamerlan, was tackled by police, that one gun was empty. it was the moment his younger brother tried to make a run for it in a stolen suv. >> there was a lot of gunfire at that point. that was probably the highest point in gunfire. really as soon as the suv turned around in the street, it was just accelerated gunfire, all coming from the officers. >> you grabbed your iphone? >> i grabbed my phone and immediately jumped on to the bed and started taking pictures. >> reporter: andrew crouched in his second floor window taking these dramatic pictures, saw that escape. so did eyewitness jamd jane dyson looking down on officers from a third floor window. at that moment, she told the boston globe, it appeared to me

that an individual at the corner fell to the ground and had probably been hit by gunfire. >> that would have been transit officer richard donahue who was standing right here. at the time he was shot, tamerlan tsarnaev was laying on the street. his brother dzhokhar was driving away. only the police were firing. officially, state police tell us the matter remains under investigation. law enforcement sources tell cnn, officer richard donahue was struck by a bullet fired by police. only the heroic actions of his fellow officers to stop the bleeding in his thigh saved his life. it was a close call. there would be many. that's because when all the shooting finally finished, neighbors surveying the damage in and out of their homes found bullet holes everywhere. in this apartment above the street at the firefight, in this home across the street.

this is a half block behind where the tsarnaevs made their last stand. the home has three bullets. unless the brothers turned around and fired away from police, these bullets, too, came from law enforcement. this is the bullet here that penetrated into our dining room. >> reporter: harry wasn't home the night of the shooting but his niece was. and says she heard and felt the bullets whizzing by inside his house. >> these are two bullets found in your home. >> yeah, this one here came through. that landed right near our staircase near the pedestal and the other one up in the closet, went through one, exited that one, went to the other closet on the other side of the entrance to the house and landed in front of the staircase as well. >> reporter: those bullets were later recovered by the fbi. on that night officers from several police forces converged on this chaotic scene. nearly 300 rounds of ammunition were fired in minutes. almost all of them by police.

a shooting barrage described by experts in just one word, contagious. >> in con tatagion shooting, ifu look back in cases of the past, we find that if one person starts shooting, it immediately causes a contagion or other people to start shooting. >> reporter: john is a criminal justice professor at the university of new haven. he spent 32 years as a cop, 7 of those years as a police chief in branford, connecticut. he says he was reluctant to be interviewed because he, like other critics of what happened on this street, still believe police responded heroically. >> in a situation like this, it almost becomes a war zone. and things that occur in the very dynamic moments of a situation like the one that was unfolding in boston and watertown, are not necessarily, no matter how hard our police work, what they are trained to

do. >> reporter: he tells us what several experts who wouldn't go on camera also told us. they believe police did not receive enough firearms training and that local and state forces do not train together enough. the shooting has not dimmed the praise for police who put themselves in harm's way. >> it's right underneath my son's bedroom. >> reporter: but at laurel and dexter streets, each bullet hole is a reminder of just how close those heroes came to causing a tragedy. >> john, though it's understandable, the shooting of transit officer richard donahue is being investigated by the middlesex county district attorney. what's also being investigated is another shooting that is not quite as understandable. we have learned that a boston police vehicle, unmarked, was shot at and hit that night as it raised to watertown. shot at by state troopers who mistakenly thought that it was the get-away car of the tsarnaev

brothers. police who shot at it had no idea who was inside. john? >> drew griffin for us today in boston piecing this together a month later. we are still learning so much new of what happened that night. thanks so much. prince harry returning to england after wrapping a week long tour of the u.s. he spent his final day in connecticut mingling with a crowd at the polo club. harry is a noted polo sportsman. that's him in the light blue shirt. he and his teammates were victorious. raised a million dollars for african children's charity he sponsors. >> a sport for the common man. you want to play polo, this is the way to do it. no one won it last night, so the jackpot for the next powerball drawing saturday night, estimated $475 million. buy your own polo field in is the second biggest prize in powerball history. the third biggest overall. meantime, the rival mega millions lottery if you want to double up tomorrow night is $190

million. >> you have your chances of winning are just about the same as entering the nba at the age of 50. the average joe. a bus driver in johnston, pennsylvania, got the surprise of a lifetime when a deer came crashing through the windshield. the deer scrambled around for 20 seconds until the driver managed to get the door open and the panicked deer dashed off. only one passenger on board at the time. she was understandably shaken up. but otherwise, unhurt. the driver suffered cuts on his hands from broken glass. the bus is now in for repairs. >> the deer just walked off. can you believe that? >> i can't believe it. wow. >> all right. ahead on "starting point," more troubling details about the abuse that michelle allegedly endured at the hands of castro. breaking news in texas. we're going to show you live pictures this morning of the path of destruction. tornadoes, maybe up to ten of them, wow, overnight. the sun is rising.

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welcome back. updating you now on the break news about the tornado touchdowns in texas. this is a live look at the ground there. people picking through the debris right now. rescue crews getting a chance to see the devastation in the light of day for the first time as they look for 14 people still unaccounted for. the hardest hit area is granbury, texas. the hood county sheriff says the storms killed six people in a habitat for humanity neighborhood. we're told there are about 120

homes in the neighborhood. most of them destroyed. emergency medical provider says at least 100 people were injured. new developments this morning about what rescuers in cleveland saw when they arrived last week at ariel castro's house. he allegedly kidnapped three women and held them captive for a decade. pamela brown is in cleveland with the latest this morning. good morning, pamela. >> good morning to you. we've been speaking to family friends of the victims and other sources and we're learning the girls are bouncing back and enjoying their new found freedom. according to a source, gina dejesus and michelle snooknighte talked on the phone. one of the girls asked to speak to the other after they were rescued. we're learning they're thinking at their appearance. in fact, gina dejesus' sister posted on her facebook page that she said, everyone knows i can do hair so i gave my sister a makeover. talking about her sister gina dejesus. and also according to sources the girls are learning how to

use new technology and not so new technology. they're just now discovering how to use an iphone. really just puts it into perspective. but a bit of a bright spot here in all of this that these girls are trying to move forward and being proactive about that. >> so, pam, first responders were honored last night. they spoke about their experience. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. they were able to hail these first responders as heroes last night during a ceremony. and it was a pretty emotional time for these first responders re-living the experience of coming here, rescuing the girls. some of them talked about how they had spent so many years searching for them, responding to tips, finding the girls, looking at their missing persons posters and then that excitement of arriving on scene and seeing them in person. one afser, barbara johnson, talked about that unforgettable moment of seeing michelle knight for the first time. let's take a listen to what she had to say. >> you've seen her poster on the poles here and there.

and i think all of us in the second district on the west side have seen those fliers. we've all gone to houses, whether it's a tip, a dead angle. still follow-them up and take all of them serious. it was amazing. seeing her there peering through the window. >> michelle saw me first. and, boy, you can't describe the feelings when someone is clutching you and saying, please don't let me go. it just rips your heart out of your chest. >> and the first responders say they don't consider themselves the heroes. they say they consider the girls the heroes in all of this. >> palm brom brown, thanks so mr all of your work up there. thanks, pam. ahead on "starting point," caught on camera, may not be your fault. find out why residents are outraged about red light traffic cameras.

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. it seems more than ever, drivers are targeted for ticket. financially strapped governments are looking for new revenue streams, and let me tell you, not paranoia if they really are out to get you. to the naked eye, you may not be able to see the difference between this and this. but in florida, a subtle

maneuver has drivers seeing red. a lot faster. the florida department of transportation quietly shortened yellow light intervals by milliseconds. at intersections with red light cameras like this one, that means more hefty $158 fines. motorists are fired up. >> my issue is not with the ticket, my issue is with you trying to squeeze the law to make it unsafe for drivers. >> reporter: fractions of a second can make a huge difference according to research cited by the federal highway administration. increasing yellow time can dramatically reduce red light running. running red lights is big money in states like florida. research shows red light cameras generated more than $100 million last year in florida alone. even state legislators say the department of transportation needs to pump the brakes on the newly reduced yellow lights. >> if they changed it without legislation, they ought to be able to fix it without legislation, and i'd be willing

to bet they are getting phone calls about that. >> reporter: in new hampshire, a different type of traffic jam. the city keene is suing a group of men that call themselves robinhood and his merry men for filling parking meters. >> what we've got here is failure to communicate. >> reporter: one thing is for certain. no one likes getting a ticket. and parkers in keene, new hampshire, are no doubt seeing red. just not as fast as people in florida. we should point out, parking officers in keene, new hampshire, say that the robinhood group are doing more than just filling meters, they say they are harassing officers. the group says they are just

talking to officers. tornadoes rip through texas. we have pictures for you. at least six people are dead. there are at least a dozen missing. live in the lone-star state with breaking news. the white house under fire for the politically charged irs scandal. president obama forcing the agency's acting commissioner out. are more heads about to roll? you're watching "starting point." ...in tuscan, romana, and mediterranean style varieties. just mix it in... ...and take play to new places. three cans in every pack. new beneful medley's.

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god dang it. sun of a gun. we have to go check on those people. >> tornadoes tear through texas, killing at least six people.

injuring 100 others. homes thatened, neighborhoods gone. >> first on cnn, their integrity has been questioned, accused of lying, now the two men responsible for the independent state department review on the benghazi attack demanding a public hearing to clear their names. will congress listen? >> rebranding abercrombie and fitch. a man behind a new viral video campaign, blasting the company for targeting only skinny and attractive people, giving their clothes to the homeless. good morning, i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. it's thursday, may 16th. "starting point" begins right now. and we do begin with this deadly and dangerous tornado outbreak overnight. at least six people killed. more than 100 injured. schools in claiborne have been canceled in texas. rescue crews getting a chance to see the devastation in the light of day as they look for 14 people unaccounted for.

overnight, terrifying funnel clouds boar down on granbury, texas. in a habitat for humanity neighborhood, most of the 120 homes there were destroyed. victor, the sun is up. what is the latest? >> reporter: well, we expect to learn one hour from now from the sheriff here if they have found any of those 14 people who were unaccounted for. called a news conference for 9:00 a.m. eastern. also, we're hoping see the full impact of this series of tornadoes. take a look at this. >> go! >> reporter: video from a storm chaser in north texas wednesday night and this. this is what a tornado looks like in the dark. lit up by lightning.

>> just pray to god as loud as you can. >> reporter: that's what this man did when the storm hit. rode out the storm with his family in his bathtub. >> you could see the roof collapse and see the twister just there. facing you. it's horrible. >> reporter: it hopscotched through the area as it cut through north texas. as the storm passed, reports of injuries and fatalities came in. >> we had information that people were found in homes, they were hard hit, those homes, i'm told were collapsed. destroyed, as they were probably hit by flying debris. >> reporter: those who could made their way out of homes, and crews worked to free people trapped in flattened buildings. >> top of the hill, you could tell where the tornado went through. ith wiit's wiped out. >> reporter: school buss were sent to the hardest hit areas to

help with evacuations. residents cope with everything. >> there is just nothing left. i'm sorry. there is just nothing left. >> reporter: power companies are here trying to restore power. after yesterday's tornadoes. look over here. the cherry pickers, there is a worker going up now to try to restore some of these lines. we know that there are also heavy machinery, other heavy machinery here and on wait to try to clean up after what the sheriff says looks like a war zone. back here in granbury, texas, we know this is not the only community that was hit. claiborne and other community were hit. the national weather service will have to determine how many tornadoes touched down and they will give those ratings as we expect them to come out in the next day or so. terrori christine, john. >> we are looking at the damage that occurred overnight.

victor blackwell in granbury, thank you. let's see where the storms may be heading next. jennifer delgado in the cnn weather center. >> over the last hour, starting to see redevelopment of lightning in the areas to the east of texas in the dallas area. we'll continue to see a few of those as we go through the late morning, but overall, the severe weather throat eat is over. some homes damaged. history of the storms, we're hearing three tornadoes for areas like claiborne and into millsap and down toward granbury. the area there, where we are seeing video from, you can kind of see where the storms moved through. not the case of a tornado hopping around. these are separate supercells and we're seeing injuries out of granbury, we're hearing reports of damage out of claiborne.

that storm system looped on the radar. not done with the severe weather. as we move into the weekend, guys. for saturday, sunday, monday, potential for tornadoes to break out. it's a very quiet may, and typically, may is the busiest month for tornadoes, but we could see real action for the weekend. back to up. >> be on alert the next few days. >> absolutely. >> jennifer delgado, thank you. reid timor on the ground in texas. thank you for joining us. tell us what you and your team, what you were doing, what you saw out there. >> well, the forecast models the day before weren't indicating. we chase for channel 4 in oklahoma city. and mike morgenson is a high probability of a tornado outbreak in texas, we dropped south, saw first tornado just south of the red river, a large tornado, quickly became wrapped in rain, then we dropped south to the next storm and every single supercell down the line

was producing tornadoes and we heard of that report of a mile-wide tornado moving due north, changed directions and headed straight for claiborne, texas. worst-case scenario. the greenberg, kansas, storm did the same northward turn. you know when it turns to the north it will be a very dangerous situation. as storm chasers, we try to provide the ground troops underneath the storm that help people stay warned in the path of these things. a tornado of that strength if you are not underground or in a shelter, taking safety precautions, very difficult to survive. that's why you need to take warnings seriously. >> grapefruit sized hail, 80 miles an hour winds, flattened homes, what you saw after these things rolled through? >> we saw lots of damage, and actually just east of decathe d indicate decatur. we saw downed trees, massive trees and strong tornado there

and that blocked us from getting that storm and then downtown dallas, a tornado warning there. a rotating wall cloud over downtown dallas, traffic jams on i-35, people seeking shelter underneath overpasses, a huge mistake if a tornado goes over the overpass it acts as a funnel, accelerates the flow. it could have been worst-case scenario for dallas. a tornado touched there. but for folks in claiborne and west and hood county there, it was the worst-case scenario, and a mild-wide tornado and very violent and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of that tornado. and it's going to be a long recovery effort and, yeah, we feel for those people and just beginning, this weekend, a massive trough will come in and more tornado outbreaks in store. >> that's a good point. in your experience, chasing these storms and watching storms, what should people do? not necessarily get under an

get in a basement if you can. more storms, what are you supposed to do in a life threatening situation like this? >> pro activity is the key. have a noaa weather radio, batteries charged. if you don't have a tornado shelter yourself, find the nearest neighbor that has a shelter, below ground and above ground tornado shelters, for example, storm rooms is a website you can check out for an above ground tornado shelter, very important to be proactive and when severe weather strikes, tornado warnings are issued, assume the worst-case scenario. you shouldn't just -- can't take it lightly. take the warnings seriously and in this case, the worst-case scenario unfolded. >> the pictures are just amazing. reed timor, thank you for joining us. >> the forecast for more potential danger on the way. so people in the region, please

be alert. >> i didn't know the underpass, not necessarily the safest place. i didn't know that, it make as a lot of sense, on the road in a car, you see one of the monsters, what are you supposed to do? >> eight minutes after the hour. first on cnn, new development on the u.s. attack on the consulate in benghazi, the two men who headed up the review are demanding a public hearing to defend their reputation in a letter obtained by jake tapper to darrell issa, former ambassador thomas pickering say it's not in the public interest for them to be questioned behind closed doors. in our view, requiring a closed door proceeding before we testify publicly is an inappropriate condition and the letter concludes that what the committee is proposing is highly unusual in the context of senior officials who are not fact witnesses but instead are reporting on their own independent review. >> the white house trying to get under a major scandal.

irs of targeting of conservative political groups. the acting head forced to resign. that may be the easy part. members of congress want to see prosecution. dan lothian following that for us. >> reporter: trying to step out of a political sinkhole, president obama expressed anger at misconduct in the irs. >> inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about it. and i am angry about it. i will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency. >> reporter: the agency's acting commissioner, steve miller, asked to resign. and president obama vowed to put in place new gave guards and work with congressional investigators. >> i'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again. >> reporter: this scandal threatens to run deeper. of the the justice department launched a criminal investigation and attorney general eric holder on the hot seat wednesday, pressed for answers by the house judiciary committee. >> i would strongly encourage this administration to get out

front, get all the facts out. let the chips fall where they may. >> anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable. >> reporter: bipartisan outbraj over the scandal, but some top repuck i had c republicans seem convinced laws were broken. >> my question isn't who will resign, my question is who is going to jail under this scandal? >> reporter: this is a white house under siege. all threaten to overshadow the second-term agenda. on the defensive, the white house released 100 pages of e-mails wednesday as first reported by cnn's jake tapper, as part of an effort that politics played no role in the talking points that followed the deadly attacks in libya. republicans are seizing on all the scandals, releasing this tough new video using the president's own words. >> the way to make government responsible is to hold it

accountable. >> reporter: jay carney, battered in briefings all week, insisted the president has set a high standard and won't tolerate anything less. >> he wants and instructs everyone who works in the government, whether they work for him or our civil servants, to hold themselves to that standard, and when he he finds out there have been failures, he acts on them. >> reporter: the white house will try to turn attention today to international issues that the president meets with the turkish prime minister here at the white house. we expect that syria will be on the ajenna. during the joint news conference following the meetings, we expect that most of the questions will be on tough domestic issues. after the president made the irs announcement yesterday, rnc chair says it wasn't enough and that the president owes the american people, especially those who were targeted, an

apology. ahead, o.j. simpson takes the stand in his own defense. will a judge believe him? a stroller with a baby inside goes over the edge of a subway platform. we'll tell you what happened. you're watching "starting point." lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love. lactaid®. for 25 years, easy to digest. easy to love. ♪ [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but bounty basic can handle them. in this lab demo one select-a-size sheet of bounty basic is 50% stronger than one full sheet of the leading bargain brand. bring it. bounty basic. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function.

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ó? welcome back to "starting point," everyone. o.j. simpson spent much of the day on the witness stand in los angeles. he was trying to convince a judge he needed a new trial in his robbery case. he says he was the victim of legal misrepresentation which led to o.j. spending the last four years in prison. cnn's paul vercammen with more from las vegas. >> reporter: more than 4 1/2 years after being sentenced, o.j. simpson testified for the first time. he said he repeatedly told his

then-lawyer, yale galanter, about plans to confront memorabilia dealers to get his stuff back. >> if you saw your laptop with your name on it in a car, you can use the force to break the window of the car to get the laptop. he told me on -- not only then, but the night before that i cou couldn't go in a person's dwelling. >> the plan to retrieve your property evolve based on his advice to you? >> yes. >> you talked to him how many times do you think? >> four, five, six. >> reporter: o.j. said he wanted no guns involved when he led the raid. >> did that plan involve any discussion of weapons?

>> weapons was never an issue. >> reporter: simpson at times jovial. the former actor says that galanter constantly assured him he would not be convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping, and assault for his role in the confrontation. >> relax, relax. o.j., i got it. i got it. i'll take care of it. i'm getting out of this. you are not going to be convicted. >> did you trust mr. fwal anter? >> yes. >> did you believe he would get you out of it? >> i believed i was innocent, yeah. >> simpson said galanter failed to properly inform him of a prosecution plea deal offer. and what are prosecutors saying about this? very little in public, but in court documents, they say that plea deals and testifying, that's the business of the defendant. in effect, a big so what? also, don't forget, the judge will make the ruling on this, and as you know, most judges don't run on the platform of soft touch and lenient. back to you. >> that will be interesting.

paul vercammen, thank you so much. the latest on o.j. simpson's latest appearance, nancy grace was not impressed. >> i think in his own mind he thought he was charming and did a great job. the reality is that i don't find him even remotely charming or attractive. you know, every time i look at him, i see the two murder victims with their heads nearly chopped off lying in the front yard, that ruins the whole attractive former star thing for me. but what he said actually has no legal merit. he tried to explain to the judge that he was drunk out of his gourd off jack daniels and coke and bloody marys. voluntary intoxication is not a defense your honor the law. you can't pull a pistol and say, oh, i was drunk, sorry. it doesn't work that way. >> don't forget to watch nancy grace "behind bars," a two-night

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looking at live pictures from texas. the site where those tornadoes, the national weather service tells us, ten tornadoes touched

down there in granbury, texas. the area completely leveled. look at the debris. you can see where homes once were. now they are simply gone. >> concrete slabs really. >> we're getting a sense of the scope of the damage there. habitat for humanity community with 120 homes, we're told most of those homes were destroy. i don't know if that's what we're looking at here, but clearly they are waking up to serious issues, a serious recovery effort right now in granbury, texas. >> let's switch gears, talk about the murder trial of kelly soo park. julian a redding, found strangled. park was hired to kill redding by a doctor who paid her a quarter million dollars. here is more from los angeles. >> reporter: it took a little less than an hour for the

prosecution to outline its case to the seven-man, five-woman jury. prosecutors say they believe kelley soo park killed juliana redding with her bare hands. the assistant county attorney says she can prove it based on dna and a fingerprint found at the crime scene matching the defendant's. >> you will hear, a sample was obtained from the defendant and matched to the samples from julian julianna's tank top, obtained from julianna's neck from the sample obtained from the cell phone. >> reporter: when the defense had its opportunity to present its opening statement to the jury, it did so in just over a minutes's time. there was no motive for killing redding, and forensic evidence did not prove that she was response i believe for her death. >> dna evidence doesn't prove

when it got there or how it got there. >> the defense took a hit when the judge didn't allow certain evidence. >> we are deprived of being able to milwaukee a defense. we're not making this up. we will file papers asking for an immediate stay. can the court give us a day to do that? >> no. >> seeing that the court of appeals will look at that? >> no, you can file whatever you are wanting to file. i'm not continuing this matter or staying this matter. >> reporter: park listened intently, showing little reaction. may be hard to tell she was on trial for murder as she had lunch in the courthouse cafeteria. later, left the building, free on 3$3.5 million bond. and they openly worked as prosecutors showed graphic photos from the crime scene. first of many emotional days for her patients as details of her

murder play out in court. stephanie elam, cnn, los angeles. ahead on "starting point," day break in texas. left behind by a string of ten tornadoes that touched down. live with the latest developments. a down right frightening moment as a baby in a stoler rolls onto a philadelphia subway track. the incredible video, and the incredible rescue that followed. the backlash of abercrombie and fitch takes a twist as one tries to rebrand the company. the man behind this will join us. new car! 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.

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a deadly tornado outbreak in north texas. six people killed. live look at the devastation in the town of granbury. ten tornadoes touched down overnight. rescue crews searching for 14 people. overnight, terrifying funnel clouds bore down on granbury. most of the 120 homes there destroyed. victor blackwell there this morning. what can you tell us? what are they finding, victor? >> reporter: we're finding a lot here. you saw the live pictures of the damage. the sheriff says it looks like a war zone. also seeing now some of the response. some of the help coming in from not just here in granbury, but from other cities across north texas. i can show you right over my shoulder, cherry pickers are working to get power back to the homes that survived the tornadoes that came through here. also seeing people drive up to a local church that donated clothes and food, offering

places for people to stay. we also know that there is that rescue task force here looking for the 14 people still unaccounted for. especially in the neighborhood of rancho brazos, where the habitat for humanity homes are. listen to the sheriff's description of that community. >> there is about 110 homes in that residential area. and there is a number of them that are fairly new within the last five years that were built from habitat for humanity. i have not been out there myself, but i've been told, most all of that is in heavy damage to totally destroyed conditions out there. it was a -- a war zone i guess like we saw in the past with hurricanes from the coast. it's -- it was bad from what they have told me. >> reporter: listen, every element of the story is tragic. but if you have ever seen a family receive that habitat for humanity home, the keys to the home, they actually worked on it

to help to build, you remember that facial expression, you can only imagine their facial expree expressions now that those homes are destroyed. >> any word on the warning these families got? we're looking at live pictures and some of these homes look as though it's a concrete slab underneath. doesn't look as though there is a basement. maybe some people have basements or shelters. how much warning was there, victor? >> reporter: well, we're told minutes, and it ranges from 10 to 15, maybe 20 minutes, a system put in place that was led by ems here in the county and by the county sheriff's office, we spoke with a spokesperson for the county and described how much headway, how much warning the residents received. listen. >> the sheriff's office sent out a reverse 911 call prior to the storms passing through, advising

of severe weather. they -- you know, they had the early warning system. the sirens went off, so the best information we can get is about 10 to 15 minutes of warning they had. >> reporter: so there was some warning here and people got into their hallways and dove under tables and there were many tornadoes, the city of claiborne, other cities here in around the dallas-ft. worth forth area, dealing with the same thing, and the loss of life, still searching for 14 people. >> victor blackwell, thank you so much. >> we're getting word, that search down to six or seven people still unaccounted for, so apparently they have found a few of those people who were believed to be missing. we'll get much more information on this in a press conference that will happen within a half hour. of course, we'll bring that you information the minute we get it. victor blackwell, thank you so

much. we want to bring in pastor dean porter, he was leading a bible study when hail started raining down. thank you for being with us. you were leading a bible study group. there were kids there. describe the scene as it unfolded. >> yes, sir. thank you very much. there was -- there were some reports that tornadic activity was quite possible for the evening and not to be taken lightly. we were in the middle of a bible study. the bible group next door, we went to a brick building where we began to take cover. watching the whole thing unfold in front of the church. at this tyke point, the clouds at the time the first tornado touched down, what we were seeing in front of us, was a formation of the tornado in the

sky. funnel cloud began to form, and the -- the debris was being pulled up into a rotation. kind of what tripped us to bringing everybody back inside and get under tables. that particular tornado that we were watching i understood later is the one that was on the ground for i think it was 2 1/2 minutes, and went through rancho brazos and i believe from my understanding, it touched down at the very, very back edge of our property and had affected a -- a house next to us. i think it -- the natural gas pipe had been crashed or loosened, where it was leaking. power lines were pulled down into the road. it was amazing. it was devastating.

>> pastor, you were hiding under tables with the people in your church. i should ask you this morning, are you doing okay? everyone in your church community doing okay? people hunkered down with you at the moment and the greater community. chance to contact people? >> we have been getting reports from families that were out there in that particular neighborhood, and at this point, just about all of the them have been accounted for and are fine physically. but so many of them have lost their homes. as i stated before, the children's ministry that we have on wednesday night, we had released them early in an effort to get them home before the storms hit. unfortunately, and fortunate on the same grounds i guess. they were with their parents, but they were home when the tornadoes hit and their homes were destroyed.

all of them were accounted for and their families accounted for. there were no casualties, just a complete loss of house and property. >> pastor, we're looking at live pictures in granbury i believe. and the pictures are simply devastating. large buildings that were destroyed. these cars that have just been shredded are standing on piles of debris right now. i don't know if you had a chance to take a look around and see the situation. have you been outside at all? >> last night we tried to make an effort to get around the block to help people we understood were walking the streets. they were in no way able to get anywhere else. no traffic able to come in or out. debris across the road. people were walking away from their homes to try to get to a place of refuge.

our church was open to them and still is to come and eat and rest as well as first responders and the other workers in the area. but they nevertheless, we'll try to make our way out this morning and find out how much damage was done. >> can i ask you about the early warning and specifically in that region where you are, do most people have basements? >> no, ma'am. no. basements really aren't a common thing around our area. >> even if the warning was 10 or 15 minutes, people had to scramble to fin the safest place in their home or building. >> they really did. there were ten reports of tornadoes forming in some capacity at some place in our area. the sirens were nonstop. i remember what seemed to be an hour, an hour's time, almost a

non stop siren. very hard to detect which siren was for which area and what families in what area needed to be prepared. it was just a nonstop of warning after warning. obviously it was terrifying. >> pastor dean porter, so glad are you okay. hope everyone you know and are associated with is okay. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> we are expecting a news conference at 9:00 a.m. from officials there. we'll take it live when it happens. hope to get more information about the number of people who may have been affected by the terrible storm. christina, i want to say. you are pointing out. no basements in the area. you grew up in iowa, you have seen your share of tornadoes.

>> i lived through a tornado in 1981. you can get to the basement, and the storm tears off the roof, caves in some -- you know, caves in some doors or walls, but safe in the basement if you are not exposed to the outside. a lot of people where there aren't basements, they aren't common, they have storm shelters, a storm cellar, above ground or underground. you need the time to be able to know that the storm is real and get in there, get secured. the basement is still a safest place. a lot of times when there aren't basements, people go to an interior room, people go to the bathroom. you heard witnesses victims say they pulled mattresses over them to protect themselves from flying debris. if you are not in a basement or storm shelter, so much flying around. >> live pictures from granbury, texas. ten tornadoes touched down overnight. they are literally picking through pieces on the ground right now. we will bring you the latest as

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just in to cnn. new information about the night dzhokhar tsavraev was found hiding in a boat. susan candiotti with a message that dzhokhar tsavraev left in the boat. susan, what do you know? >> reporter: good morning. it turns out he wrote a message literally on the inside of the boat while lying there injured and bleeding from injuries that he and his brother obtained in the shoot-out with watertown police hours earlier. dzhokhar apparently used a pen or some kind of writing instrument according to a u.s. law enforcement official, and he scribbled that he would not miss his older brother tamerlan and expected to be joining him soon. in the makeshift message, according to our source, it indicated a motive for the boston bombing. that it was payback against the united states for attacks against muslims in afghanistan and iraq. according to our source.

that those killed in boston were in so many words, collateral damage. this seems to match messages we have seen in the past in suicide bombers in other attacks, including the one in london a few years ago. the source added that what he wrote inside the boat is something that dzhokhar later told investigators, mainly the same thing. interrogated bedside at the boston hospital after his capture, explaining why he and his brother carried out terror attacks. fascinating we are still getting details about this a month after the investigation. >> susan candiotti, thank you. what kind of evidence can that be? how can they use that in a trial against him? what he wrote inside of the boat? >> investigator has that the whole time too. 46 minutes after the hour. angelina jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy sparked

a national debate on breast and ovarian cancer. zoraida sambolin, very forthright about this story. >> angelina jolie's story a little different than mine. every woman must make the decision about what course of treatment is right for her, all of the publicity may cause some of us to have unnecessary tests and procedures. the revelation about having a double mass being technicality mimi have had the intent she wanted. to start a conversation. >> today, the brave mother of six is making headlines. for the next step she may be taking to reduce her chances of getting cancer. "people" reports that she may undergo additional surgeries, this time to remove her ovaries. in her "the new york times" op-ed, she wrote "my doctors estimated that i had a 50%

chance risk of ovarian cancer. the risk is different in the case of each woman. ovarian cancer took the life of jolie's mother, marchelein bertrand at the age of 56. surgical recally removing ovari an easy decision. i sat down with four women, and what she said about over removal surprised me. >> i was in new york, getting tested. a great job, felt comfortable. ovarian cancer, well, we hope we can -- we'll do our best with what we have, but we don't really have a test to help you. that's really not acceptable and what are we going to do about this? >> what was the answer? >> oophorectomy. >> had you your ovaries out? >> i'm going to. >> even though i don't have the gene. >> i met with the doctor, and i

said i have such bad news. when you are 35, i recommend you get your ovaries out. and i said that's fantastic. you think i'm going to live until i'm 35? and he said that never occurred to me. >> i was diagnosed when i was 28. i just wanted to hit 30. >> jolie's announcement about her experience will no doubt raise awareness, but sparked discussion in the medical community. some doctors concerned that her public op-ed will cause many women to seek out unnecessary testing and aggressive treatment. >> my greatest concern is really unnecessary testing for a woman not brca positive, who doesn't have a history of ovarian cancer, i don't think there is a need to consider removal of ovaries. >> reporter: genetic tests can be expensive. i sat down with the founder of susan g. komen for the cure. >> we would like to see people have access to this as much as possible and hopefully in the

near future, people will have access. wide access to this. it is expensive. >> reporter: i have chose tony have a double mastectomy. reconstruction covered by insurance companies? >> it usually is today as an option for women. >> reporter: jolie made it clear is her number one priority is to be around for her six children. her partner, brad pitt said yesterday, "all i want is for her to have a long and healthy life with myself and our children." >> i have to say, a lot of different opinions on what you should choose to have done or what you shouldn't have done. there has been a really great dialog created. i did a piece on cnn.com and a lot of people have asked me specifically, why are you having a double mastectomy when you were diagnosed with dcis in one breast? that's a very valid question and if i'm going to put my life out there, i'm going to go ahead and continue the dialog. i'll do a piece that talks about

why i chose this. because it is more complicated. at the end of the day, we just need to empower each other and support the decisions that we're making, because this is very personal. and it's a very difficult decision to make. i cannot imagine any woman making lightly. i cannot. >> thanks so much. they make their decisions for themselves we want to support them. >> absolutely. >> 51 minutes after the hour. ahead on "starting point," major backlash from abercrombie & fitch, stemming from the comments from the ceo. we're watching "starting point." ? long i guess. chevy is having a great-deal- on-the-2013-silverado- but-you-better-hurry- because-we-don't-want-to-see- a-grown-man-cry-spectacular! what's the short answer? nice. [ male announcer ] the chevy memorial day sale. during the chevy memorial day sale,

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ó? abercrombie & fitch, major bash lash after a 2006 interview with the ceo resurfaced and went

viral. he told "salon" a lot of people don't belong in their clothes and can't belong. >> a lot of people are protesting the stores. and a new piece called fitch the homeless. >> abercrombie & fitch only wants a certain kin of person to wear their clothes. today, we're going to change their bran. i traveled to a los angeles good will, where i scoured the racks for abercrombie & fitch clothing. my expedition, a huge success. >> creator greg carper with us now. explain to us why you have made this video, which is now wildly successful. >> like a lot of people, i was very upset by the ceo's comments that resurfaced into our collective consciousness last week and i wanted to do something to show him and other

people that this wasn't acceptable. >> we're showing a picture. what was his message? his message was there is a clie clientele for abercrombie & fitch. a target market and that irritated you? >> he didn't just say there was a target market, he said that certain people can't ever belong and that sort of message of exclusion is a horrible thing for a giant, massive retailer of clothing for teens and young adults. >> you clearly struck a chord. your video has 4.2 million hits. do you ever think you would get that kind of success so quickly? >> no. absolutely not. the last video that i uploaded before this one got 71 views. so this was completely unexpected. >> you know, even like entered the public conscience.

you look at kirstie alley. >> i have two kids who will never walk in those doors because of his view of people. forget women. his view of just people. >> do you feel like this could be the beginning of a groundswell against the retailer? >> absolutely. i think that's where my video fits in. part of a much larger movement against him and hopefully against these sort of bullying marketing strategies. >> all about the cool kids. with this wild success you had. these 4.2 million hits and counting, what are you going to do with this? where will you take it next? >> i hope it just didn't become a retweet and forget thing. i hope people actually go out and they donate to the homeless and they engage with homeless people and help reduce the stigmatism that homeless people

face in our society. a great way to not only stick it to a corporate ceo, but also to make a positive different in our society. >> if you could speak right now directly through this camera to the ceo and top executives of abercrombie & fitch, what would you tell them? >> to stop being such jerks. >> if you were trying to be blunt with them, what would you say? >> i can't say that on cnn. >> just kidding. thank you for being with us. such an interesting video and we appreciate the message you are trying to send here. thanks a lot. >> a side note. abercrombie & fitch is the only second retailer to join the bangladesh pack. abercrombie & fitch, the second retailer to join. >> "starting point" back in a moment. [ female announcer ] what does the anti-aging power of olay total effects

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cc for yourself. straightaway to north texas, right now. where ten tornadoes touched down overnight. killing at least six people. a press conference from officials there. the first we're hearing from them this morning. >> on 377, and some have left. and the total is 22. the red cross let me know as of 7:30 this morning and a recap of everything -- the injuries we had last night, we had estimated around 50 people that responded up to the hospital weeither wit people or with injuries, and the

total by granbury medical center, 37 total people and 15 were transferred to the metroplex. 19 treated and released. and this morning, only three admitted or still in the hospital. last night i reported there were 16 transported straight from the scene up to ft. worth. wasn't counted in the group. that's what granbury medical center has. everything running smooth, looking good. we have a press release we'll put out that came to me from the granbury medical center. chief of staff combs put out a paragraph and the ceo put out a paragraph. we'll make sure everybody that needs it gets it. but the hospital is running smooth, t