happening now in the "newsroom," inside a tornado. the tornado intercept vehicle takes us into the fury. also, high school bomb plot thwarted. drano bombs, napalm. did a neuropsychiatric disorder lead a teenager to violence? yet another cruise from hell. >> the emergency lifeboats have been lowered. we're on deck at 3:00 a.m. in our lifejackets. >> frantic moments from "grannure of the seas." king james, good-bye basketball, hello football? live in "the cnn newsroom." good morning, thank you so much for being with me. i'm carol costello. this morning, near eugene,

oregon, students returned to west albany high school. and the classmate accused of plotting a murderous plot is in court. he is due in court. he intricately plotted an attack inspired by the columbine massacre. the only difference? he wanted to wrack up a higher death toll. miguel marquez joins us live from corvallis, oregon. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. very disturbing claims police are making. they say this was a mature plot and not for the -- a tipster, a friend or family member turning him in, he may have carried it out. police say 17-year-old grant accord planned and was prepared to carry out a coordinated bomb and gun attack against his school. >> this is a case of aa planned assault on a target-rich

environment and that target-rich environment is west albany high school. >> reporter: police found six explosive devices hidden your honor the floorboards of his mother's house. >> me and my friend were just in shock. how could someone even like think of this? that wouldn't even crossed our minds. >> reporter: accord will be charged with manufacturing and possessing distrukttive devices. unlawful possession of a deadly weapon and attempted aggravated murder. authorities laid out their theory. >> in this case, we would be relying upon evidence of plan, in other words, what is the intent, diagrams? checklists, a plan to use explosive devices and firearms. to carry out a plan specifically modeleded after the columbine shootings. >> the 1999 attack carried out

in columbincolumbine, colorado. killing 13, wounding 21. authorities are not saying how far along this planning was. neighbors say he was a quiet teen and doesn't fit the bill carefuller. >> you don't think that will happen in your neighborhood. you know, and especially by a quiet young man. >> reporter: the 17-year-old will be charged as an adult. now, authorities say we'll know more about this plot and how mature it was and how far off he was from carrying it out, 1:30 local time, 4:30 eastern. he will be arraigned and charged as an adult. very serious charges. carol. >> miguel marquez reporting live. it was a tip that al lettered them to the alleged plot and that decision to come forward that may have thwarted a deadly attack. >> these things never occur in vacuums. kids knew about what was going on and we're learning that as we go along.

luckily, in this incident. somebody had the courage to come forward and say this is what i know, reported that to us, and we were able to investigate that. and because of that information, we were able to stop a horrific event from occurring in our community. >> joining us is captain eric carter of the albany police department. captain, welcome. >> good morning. >> can you tell us where the tip came from? a friend or family member who called 911? >> i'm not able to state at this time specifically who it was. it is somebody who is a friend with grant cord and that information passed on to a person who reported that to us. >> because there were interviews done with a couple of students who said, yeah, this kid came up to us, said he was making bombs, but we never thought he was going to bomb the school and they didn't share the information with their parents or teachers or police. >> and that's something we'll follow up on getting today, to get into the school, talk with students, to fin out what it is they knew and why they didn't bring it forward. >> why do you think they din

share in information in light of what happened in newtown, in light of what they know happened in columbine? >> that's a great question. i can only surmise, part of the is a sense this could never happen here, this person certainly couldn't be serious with what it is they are talking about. >> as for the suspect himself, when he was placed under arrest, what was his demeanor? >> i haven't been briefed on what his demeanor was, he spoke with investigators for several minutes before he was taken into custody. >> i know his mother says he has this rare form of ocd, which might have playeded in einto th alleged bomb making plot. did he appear as far as you know, did he appear normal? >> nothing that i was briefed on that led us to believe that there was anything abnormal at the time he was taken into custody. we'll certainly look into what his history and background is and how that played into what it was that he was planning on

conducting. >> and a final question about the school. the high school. i know you've swept it, and you say it's clean of bombs, no danger there. but you will provide extra security anyway. why? >> just as a precaution and we know there is an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety with the number of cases such as ts we've seen popping up around the nation. we want to do what we can to proactively address that, have a good presence, and really hope to be able to gain a dialog with the students about if they do hear these types of things, no matter how insignificant it is, to bring that information forward. it could be critical and crucial, not only in this case, but in what potentially cocome in the future if other people attempt such types of plans. >> captain eric carter, albany police department. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> and in the next hour, we'll take a closer look at the claims by the suspect's mother, that a rare form of obsessive compulsive disorder has left him

mentally ill. called pandis. a psychiatrist will join us next to explain. one week after that monster tornado tore through moore, oklahoma. a daring crew of storm chasers gives us the view from literally inside a twister. look at this. >> go for it! ears are popping. >> i know this is crazy. the tornado turns day to night. in northern kansas.

winds 175 miles per hour, which would make it an extremely dangerous ef-4 tornado. cnn meteorologist indra petersons walks us through the remarkable video. my first question, why would you want to go in the middle of a tornado. not that you did it, but come on! >> you learn something so much. it's so rare and at this point in time, so many things we don't understand about a tornado. even multiple vortexes and things like that. we're still trying to learn. let's talk about how they got in the thing. they rated 150 to 175 miles per hour winds. winds so strong, it tore off the door, instruments off the top. specially designed vehicle. a dodge ram 3 with armor on top of this guy, and you add bullet-proof windows to it, because that's one of the biggest concerns, don't want to be driving in a tornado, not to mention that debris could hit

you, but the coor could go flying, and now picture they have this bed skirt, hydraulic bed skirt of metal that goes straight to the ground to shield from high winds and from debris getting underneath these things and picture these missiles that go straight down to the ground, like spikes that hold this guy in place. great shot of that, and all of this keeping them safe. tested up to ef-5 winds and seen minor damage. >> do they penetrate the wall of the tornado, how do they get inside of it? >> they literally drive. put this car into it, put the spikes down, hold themselves in place. >> sounds like a really loud car wash to me. i'm sure it is more frightening when are you in it. >> if your ears work, right? >> incredible. thank you for the explanation, we appreciate it. in southern california, firefighters scrambling to contain a wildfire in santa barbara county. it roared to life yesterday afternoon. flames have raced across 1,000

acres, crew has to evacuate 6,000 people enjoying a long holiday weekend at a popular campground. fires moving away from homes and deeper into the loss padres national forest. more than 2,000 royal caribbean passengers being blown back to baltimore on charter flights after "grandeur of the seas" caught fire. royal caribbean diverted to the bahamas, canceled the rest of the trip. one of the passengers, danielle miller, talked about what happened. >> the first thing i thought was the boat could have been sinking. when we went through that, it was extremely wavy, rolling around in our beds, we were on the deck for about a half hour before they announced it was a fire. when we did get on the deck, we saw the lifeboat being lowered. we were just freaking out and a light sparking and catching on fire.

other than that we didn't see smoke coming up from deck three and we didn't know it was a fire until they announced it. >> still, danielle and her friends say they will likely take another cruise in the near future. aaron erin mcpike it at baltimore international airport, waiting for passengers to a. do what we know what started the fire? >> reporter: we don't know what started the fire. it started just before 3:00 a.m. monday morning. once it happened, the crew got on the ship's intercom and going through the cabins to wake up passengers, make them put on their lifejackets and go to some of these assembly stations where they way edwaited for several h. we have seen pictures of some of the passengers in their lifejackets in the ship's casino. now, once they put the fire out, they rerouted the ship to freeport, some of the rooms were so damaged that passenger has to get off the ship and stay in hotel rooms there, others were

able to stay on the ship, but today, royal caribbean is chartering flights, today and tomorrow, for all of those passengers to come back here to baltimore. the other thing we can tell you, even though we don't know yet what started that fire, royal caribbean ceo adam goldstein made it to the ship yesterday to begin inspecting damage. and national transportation safety board and coast guard launched teams yesterday to get to the ship and investigate what happened. carol. >> will the passengers be compensated in any way? >> reporter: they certainly will. theme g they'll get a full refund for this particular cruise. cut short. left on friday, weren't supposed to come back until this coming friday, but yet, their vacation cut short and get to come here to rainy baltimore, but on top of this whole refund, they will also get a voucher for another free cruise if they want to put themselves through it again, but

the same ship was supposed to go on another voyage on may 31st, and vacationers scheduled to go on that can't get on the damaged ship, so they get a full refund as well and half off a future cruise too. carol. >> it's raining hard, i'll let you get out of the weather. thank you, so much. raining hard. it's less than two weeks until george zimmerman goes on trial for the death of trayvon martin. zimmerman's attorneys are asking for a delay in the start of the trial. the pretrial hearing started just a few minutes ago. the judge must decide if a voice identification expert should be allowed to testify for the prosecution. should there be a gag order imposed in the case? should the jury be kept anonymous and sequestered during the trial? victor blackwell live in sanford, florida. good morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, carol. right off the top, you mentioned the request by the defense to keep this testimony from an expert on voice analysis outside

this trial and that is because the defense team believes that it just does not meet the minimum standard, and the analysts agree. there were two teams that were hired by the prosecution to analyze the calls for help, the screams and the background of a 911 call on the night martin was shot. the analysts say there is a minimum, the industry standard is a minimum of ten seconds cumulatively to answer analyze. only eight second. that is a technical reason, as it relates to the argument. one analyst says that the voice was heard just before the shot was fired was trayvon martin saying stop. he says that, because he believes that the voice came from the younger person instead of the older person. of course, that would not work well to the defense's storyline. he's asking for a hearing to make that testimony and the information inadmissible, carol. >> likely the trial will start on time?

>> it is. the judge in this case, debra nelson, displayed a commitment to start on time. jury selection scheduled for june 10th. third request from the state for a gag order as well. first two were denied. but their claim is that if mark o'meara and don west, the attorneys for zimmerman, continue to talk to the media, it will be very difficult to get an impartial jury. >> all right. victor blackwell, as we're watching mark o'meara plead his case before the judge this morning. we'll get back to you. just ahead of "the newsroom," six weeks since two bombs went off in boston and victims still pulling shrapnel from their wounds. their stories, next. that perfect spot. a special place we go to smooth out the ripples of the day. it might be off a dock or on a boat. upstream or in the middle of nowhere. wherever it may be, casting a line in the clear,

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it's 18 minutes past the hour. time to check top stories. senator john mccain has met with rebel commanders in a surprise visit to syria. the commanders pleaded with mccain for weapons and ammunition as they keep up the fight against armed forces. he is the highest ranking member

to visit syria since civil war broke out two years ago. obama and governor chris christie are reuniting on the jersey shore. these scenes just before the november election when the storm hit. at the time, christie caught flak from republicans for inviting the president to see it first hand. julie hermann says she will not resign over allegations she abused players while volley ball coach at the university of tennessee s tennessee. players on herman maman n's for sea team accused her of mental and verbal abuse. bombs ripped through the boston marathon six weeks ago. survivors try to heal from mental and physical scars,

investigators continue the search for answers, national correspond respondent jason carroll joins me from boston. good morning, jason. >> reporter: good morning to you, carroll. behind me, when i look at the memorial, so many people coming out, bringing by cards, flowers, so the memorial here, still very much an active part of the city. meanwhile, investigators still trying to determine if those suspects had any help at all in making those bombs. >> federal investigators continue to focus on tamerlan tsavraev's extended visit to daghestan. he told friends he could not relate to american culture. did he spend six months to reconnect with his american homeland or to make contact with islamist militant groups? we know he visited this music, so did nadal, he later joined a militant group. still unknow in tsavraev met

nadal or any other militant. authorities believe he and his younger brother dzhokhar may have acted as so-called lone wolves, but are investigating tamerlan tsavraev's contacts overseas and at home. his wife, katherine russell, according to her attorney, continues to cooperate with investigators, he says she nz the government's position and why they want information, but the constant questioning may be taking its toll. it's very difficult. she is a young woman trying to bring up her baby without a dad and dealing with all of this. the sooner this is over, the better. the bombing killed three people and injured 275. one res hospitalized. some released still rehabilitation. challenging at times for jp norden, who we first met two weeks ago. >> hate going down, when i get down there, i feel awesome. >> j.p. and brother paul both

lost a leg. jackie's injuries would have been worse if it were not for the brothers. >> throwing me over the barrier when it went off, ultimately saving my legs. week into the hearing, shrapnel and other debris starting to surface. >> these are tiny bits of metal still in fingers. >> yeah, and i just pull them out. >> last week, a bb came out right here. >> this was a bb. >> yes, right here and you can see this one is trying to force it's way out. this one in my elbow, starting to force its way out. >> the brothers honored at a bruins playoff game on saturday. as for the city, boyleston street looks normal again. >> it doesn't feel right, doesn't seem real. it seems weird u.s. so normal again. >> it's a place that will always hold a special place in any heart and someplace i think i will never forget. >> reporter: so, carol, just

about six weeks out from the bombing, the victims are hoping they won't forgotten in the weeks and months to come. carol. >> i cannot believe shrapnel still comes through the skin is it painful? >> that was incredible and this is not just happening to the nordens, but many victims as well and not just shrapnel, bbs, wood coming to the surface as well. and some things had to be removed early, such as food caught underneath the skin. amazing in terms of part of the healing process, that these things start to rise to the surface, apparently it's not painful, carol. they say, for example, with the bbs, when it comes to the skin, just to be a little bit fwrafgr, sort of like a zit. you just pop it, it comes out. >> unbelievable. >> yeah. jason carroll, thank you so much. new numbers on home prices, and you might be happy about

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you can tell a lot about the economy by looking at home prices. christine romans is tracking the latest report for us. hopefully you will tell us something good. >> i am, carol. this is more evidence that the housing recovery is real. not a boom in the housing market. not back to boom times, but a recovery and these numbers show it. home prices up 10.9%. biggest gain since april 2006. case schiller in decks. only 2 of 20 cities saw mo over month price declines, that would be new york and minneapolis. atlanta, 19% rise in home prices, las vegas, phoenix, san francisco, all gains more than 20%. a few reasons for rising prices in those cities, lots of investor activity.

foreclosures falling, with fewer foreclosures, seeing price increases that look better. still important to remember, home prices down, about a third almost from the highs of 2006, carol, we keep hearing inventory limited. demand might not be as hot as it looks, in some neighborhoods, 50-year lows of available homes for sale. people can't afford to put it on the market quite yet. mortgage rates quickly, really driving things, 3.59% for 30-year fixed. if you have a 30-year, boys and girls, in the 5 or 6% range, time to get refinanced, rates low, drifting up a little bit the past few weeks. >> i'm trying to convince cp

brian to the terrible explosion there. we'll talk to a first responder and survivor who was literally blown out of his boots. aaah! aaaaah! theres a guy on the window! do something, dad! aaaah! aaaah! what is happening? they're rate suckers. their bad driving makes car insurance more expensive for the rest of us. good thing there's snapshot from progressive. snap it in and get a discount based on your good driving.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. stories we're watching in "the newsroom," 32 minutes past the hour.

opening bell on wall street rang a few minutes ago. stocks up more than 100 points after the memorial day break. let's check in with cnn business correspondent zane ain asher. >> japan's central bank has kept it will keep the cheap money flowing and good news about home prices that christine just mentioned. up 11% compared to last year and a report on consumer confidence out in about a half an hour. expected to rise in the highest levels since november. and finally, earns from a company reaping the benefits of a more confident consumer, jewelry retailer, tiffany & co reports a 9% rise in sales. tiffany shares up roughly 6%. >> thank you so much. briefly, sanford, florida. a pretrial hearing under way in the george zimmerman case. attorneys for george zimmerman

are arguing they be allowed to introduce into evidence at trial that trayvon martin had a history of fighting and wanted to introduce past drug use, texts from trayvon martin and they wanted to introduce cell phone pictures from trayvon martin's phone. we understand that judge deborah nelson has ruled that the jury will not -- will not -- hear any evidence of prior marijuana use by martin, and regarding the history of fighting, the judge has ruled there will be no mention of his prior fighting incidents, unless, of course, the defense can find a way around the hearsay rules of evidence. so this pretrial hearing is ongoing, there are many matters to settle before the actual trial gets under way on june 10th. it has been nearly six weeks since explosion leveled a texas fertilizer plant and as the cause is narrowed down, the small town of west slowly works to rebuild. on april 17th, the explosion

left 15 people dead. many first responders, several hundred homes were destroyed. and the damage left behind will cause millions of dollars to repair. ed lavandera in west, texas, this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. you know the official cause for what caused the fire that led to the explosion for now has been ruled as undetermined. it's a ruling that many people in this town will have to grow to live with for now as investigators continue to work. they may never find out answers, but that is not all these people in west have to worry about. many people not only rebuilding homes, but rebuilding their own personal lives. are you okay? >> right in the middle of chaos, firefighter robert payne, which makes seeing him now, six weeks later, all the more remarkable. the explosion, do you remember it? >> don't remember it at all.

no. watch it in video and see how violent it is, how loud it is, no, i don't remember any of that at all. i don't really remember anything until the next morning, waking up in icu. >> reporter: this was the blast site. payne trying to retreat, made it about 35 yards away behind a fire truck, which apparently shielded him just enough. the truck was left a mangled ruin. somehow robert payne survived. >> when i visited with the guy th rescued me, brad, he filled me in on a few things about where i was found and about the fact that i was blown out of my boots. my boots were in one place, and i was -- he described i think about 35 feet away. >> reporter: payne has nerve damage in his right arm, broken ribs, broken facial bones and bone chips in his leg and needs surgery to repair his right eardrum. but he's alive. 12 others weren't so lucky. the mayor took us to the fire

station. the names of the firefighter who's died are still on the lockers. there are two new donated fire trucks and west firefighters just resumed handling calls again this past week. got to be hard for guys to come in here. >> may want to get back on the horse, but they have to get back on the horse. when the whistle blows, we're in charge of this place, we have to get on the trucks and go. >> rorter: the hard work is just beginning. >> this is foundation from the building that just blew up. >> there are pieces all over the place. >> reporter: the mayor needs $4 million to fix sewer and water lines and several hundred homes need to be rebuilt. he says one building won't be welcomed back. the fertilizer plant. >> we don't have the ability to say you can't -- you can't build here. >> reporter: what would the town reaction be? >> the town reaction would probably be to the point where they don't want to rebuild anyway. >> reporter: we heard from a spokesman of the owner of that

plant, the spokesman says it is highly unlikely that the federal lieser plant will be rebuilt. a former ems worker arrested several weeks ago on an unrelated firearm charge. brice reid still in jail and we're told that he's still awaiting trial and several city officials over the past few days say they don't believe he had anything to do with this explosion, but investigators say that that has not been ruled out. the fact that perhaps this fire might have been intentionally set. still one of the things they are looking at, carol. >> and he hasn't been charged in the west, texas, explosion? correct? >> no, not directly to that. on an unrelated firearm charge. >> just wanted to make that clear. ed lavandera live from west, texas, thank you. the u.s. supreme court about to change america, momentous rulings could come down today, on same-sex marriage and

affirmative action. we'll talk about that. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before.

four weeks, four major legal rulings that will change the country in important and controversial ways. the u.s. supreme court expected to release its rulings on same-sex marriage, affirmative action, voting rights, and gene patents, all of those decisions expected by june 24th. so let's talk about that, with george washington university's jonathan turley, a supreme court observer and constitutional law professor. >> i good morning. >> i can't believe they will all be decided in the same month. >> it's an intense period. they will affect people's lives in many different ways. >> we remember large demonstrations for making

same-sex marriage constitutional. everybody at the time thought we everybody at the time thought we don't think the court

this court very hard on fun interest groups, environmentalists, civil libertarians, trying to bring cases. rejecting an effort by civil libertarians to review surveillance policies. in order to get to the merits on these policies, they have to walk back a bit from earlier standing decisions, so a very easy out. if they want to stay consistent and just simply say in both of these cases, they are not sure if these are the parties that should be bringing the case.

>> interesting. okay. let's move on to affirmative action, so in a nutshell, a white student named abigail fisher says she was denied college admission in part because she is white. it appears the court with its conservative members will rule race should not be a factor in the university of texas's college admission. give me your take? >> well this is a -- an enormously important case. the fisher case. in 2003, the court decided by 5-4, a decision called greuters. a close decision obviously. and justice o'connor who left the court, upheld affirmative action program. but a controversial decision, because o'connor said she didn't think we needed to do this beyond 25 more years and everybody felt that came out of head of zeus or o'connor and didn't have much of a basis. now we have essentially a redo.

and justice kagan has recused herself. it will be a case decided by eight justices. >> so that means they could tie. >> they could tie. if they tie, it would be good news for the school. because it would uphold the lower court decision that said this affirmative action program was okay. but kagan is coming from the wrong side of the ledger. likely voted for the school. once again, as you know, all eyes are on our swing voter, and justice kennedy could decide the issue. >> we'll see. when they see very soon. and you will stick around in case a decision is made. a ruling is made. jonathan turley. professor of law at george washington university. thank you so much. >> thank you, carol. up next in the "newsroom," like mardi gras or disney world, except it's a real life house of horrors, the cleaveland home

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it's been three weeks since the dramatic rescue of three women in cleveland after they spent years in captivity. amanda berry, gina dejesus and michelle knight were all arrested. they arrested ar yaiel castro. he is being held on $8 million bond. pamela brown is in cleveland and

talked to neighbors in that neighborhood. >> reporter: you see ariel castro's home behind me, boarded up, guarded by a fence. people from all over coming by to take a look at it. we spoke to just to come see the house in person and take pictures. while it's become a bit of a tourist hot spot, it's also a haunting reminder for neighbors. >> reporter: anthony lives two doors down from the home where a decade-long secret came to a dra thematic end. >> is it sort of a creepy feeling to think they were just two doors down? >> with the the boogeyman. >> reporter: he's talking about areal castro. now neighbors say they are just trying to adjust to their new normal. >> if we were to spend a day with you, after what happened right next door, what would it be like?

>> almost like a mardi gras, a constant stream of cars. >> reporter: it's more of an eyesore for others. >> every time you wake up, you have a 16-foot gate around the house. you know it's the same. i wish they could knock it down. >> reporter: though what allegedly happened has left a mark, the women's courage has inspired people in this community and beyond. >> the e-mails keep coming and coming wanting to help. we're trying to channel those more towards the contributions to the fund. >> reporter: chris kelly runs the courage fund, the fund set up for the women raising $650,000 with the funds to be equally distributed into four separate trusts. >> what does it say about the girls that they chose to put it in a trust rather than take the money directly. >> they have the savvy and sense

to know that they want to have the money protected. >> reporter: those who know the women say they are drawing on the same strength that helped them survive so many years in captivity. >> they are exceptional human beings. having gone through this ordeal and come out of it and start to heal and move forward so quickly is amazing. >> reporter: in addition to the courage fund, there's been a slew of free services offered to the girls including a free college tuition for four years, free dental care, free spa services. but the biggest need right now is the financial help. carol? >> and privacy. thanks very much. pamela brown reporting from cleveland. if you'd like to donate to the fund for these women, visit cnn.com/impact. there you'll find a link to the cleveland courage fund. mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004.

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age is only a number, at least what the san antonio spurs are proving. they advance to the nba finals. we have more in this morning's bleacher report. >> good morning, carol. the spurs big three have been together now for 11 seasons. they continue to prove why they are one of the best groups to ever play the again. tim duncan and tony parker are heading to their 4th nba finals together. now in last night's closeout game, it was the tony parker show. the spurs point guard scored a season high 37 points.

san antonio won 93-86. he promised last year they would make one more great run together and enough the spurs are back in the finals for the first time since 2007. >> every year it gets tougher and tougher. every team wants to beat you. that's why it makes it more special to go back after all those years playing at a high level with the same coach, the same big three. >> on bleacherreport.com, brittn brittney griner's debut. she throws it it down with the one-handed slam. moments later she'll go up for the two-handed dunk. this is the first time in wnba history a player has dunked twice. a week ago robert griffin

iii showed a picture of the empty boxes from his wedding. now he's busy sending out thank you notes. a fan received a thank you note and tweeted a picture including a handwritten message and an autograph from rg3. pretty cool deal there. lebron james currently trying to lead the heat back to the finals. could nfl be in his future? it's not likely former great joe thooiz man thinks lebron could be a star quarterback. he's already the most tremendous physical specimen in sports and his skills would translate to the game of football. lebron is asked if he could play quarterback after a game three and he said, if he put his mind to it, he'd be pretty good. >> he played in high school. funnier things have happened.

thanks so much. the mexico hour of cnn "cnn newsroom" after a break. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes.

do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. here to take your lettuce from drab to fab

with new lean cuisine salad additions. just byol. first, thaw your dressing. next, steam your grilled chicken and veggies. then, dress it. add your crunchy toppings. and voila. enjoy. happening now, the grander of the seas on fire. yet another cruise from hell. refund sure, but please explain. also inside a tornado.

two men did it on purpose. winds up to 175 miles per hour and they made it out alive. and the girl scouts motto, beprepared, but not for this. campgrounds for sale. parents now furious. you're live in the cnn you're live in the cnn "newsroom." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. not a drill. that's how one passenger describes the chaotic moments when guests were awakened and told to put on life vests after a fire broke out on the ship. royal caribbean is doing its best to help those passengers and hope they end their travel nightmare flying them back to baltimore. erin mcpike is standing by in

baltimore where those passengers are expected to begin arriving later today. any update from royal caribbean? >> reporter: yes, carol, the ship is actually based here in baltimore, but it's going to be dry docked in the bahamas so it can undergo repairs. those passengers are going to be on some charter flights. some are already on their way and we expect those passengers will be arriving all day today after what was really a hellish ordeal for them early monday morning. the entire back end of a massive ship scorched. more than 2,200 passengers aboard a bahamas-bound cruise were aroused by a terrifying wakeup call monday morning. >> the emergency lifeboats have been lowered. we're on deck on 3:00 a.m. in our life jackets. not a drill, not a drill. everyone is freaking out. >> reporter: for the third time this year, mechanical problems

caused a major cruise ship to up ends a caribbean vacation for thousands of passengers. this time it was a fire. passenger katie kohlman told cnn in february it was an engine room fire on the carnival triumph shutting downpour and the sewage system for days. one month later carnival's dream lost power from a generator failure while in port. and now rival royal caribbean has its own set of problems. royal caribbean said in a statement "on monday, may 27th, at approximately 2:50 a.m., the ship experienced a fire on the morning area of deck three. the fire has been extinguished. in an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to get to emergency stations." some complained there was fainting and vomiting as they

waited for hours. it was just renovated last year. it was rerouted for an evaluation and the ceo already surveyed the damage. the national transportation safety board and the coast guard will investigate. now, carol, royal caribbean has said they will issue a refund to all of those passengers and give them vouchers for a free cruise. because the ship is undergoing repairs right now, another voyage that was scheduled for may 31st will not be go on as planned and those customers too will get a refund as well as half off a cruise next time too, carol. >> wow. erin mcpike live in baltimore this morning. happening now it's a big blow to george zimmerman's murder defense. a florida judge ruled the defense cannot use any evidence

of marijuana use by trayvon martin, the florida teen zimmerman is charged with killing. zimmerman's defense cannot use martin's toxicology report or mention his marijuana level at the time of his death. plus zimmerman's attorneys have been barred from using any evidence showing that martin is familiar with guns. he's supposed to go on trial for second-degree murder in two week and a pretrial hearing has been going on for an hour. victor blackwell is there at the trial. >> reporter: george zimmerman himself is not in court today. we contacted his team and said it was a last-minute decision. that defense team suffered even more blows than you mentioned. the school records of trayvon martin will not be introduced in front of the jury. neither his history of fighting, social media postings, photos of martin with gold teeth. that pretty much wipes out all

of the the evidence released by the defense last week. the photographs that smoke coming out of his mouth, the picture with the gold teeth, the small growing marijuana plant, the gun, all of those elements, the text messages, those will not come up in front of the jury. i want you to listen to this exchange can between the defense attorney and the judge. this was during the decision to keep out the familiarity with guns. listen. >> the drugs and the history of his chronic use of drugs and his familiarity with fighting and to a certain externt his familiarity with guns is relevant to the theory of defense. so how could you keep us from arguing our theory of defense? >> because the rules of evidence keep you from doing it. >> reporter: now, o'mara has said there was no guarantee he was going to introduce it, but if the state went after george zimmerman's character he thought the jury should know those elements about trayvon martin.

those will not be introduced. i want to talk about the toxicology report for a moment. the test that came back after the medical examiner's autopsy showing that there was the presence of thc, which is in marijuana, was in trayvon martin's blood system. she said there would be no mention of it during the opening statements. but she will hear from an expert to determine if the jury should hear it during trial. still to be decided if there will be this gag order. this is the third time it was requested by the state. the first two were denied. also if there will be a delay of trial. the defense has asked for six weeks to continue to prepare for the case. the way that the judge is running through the motions today and she has shown a commit m to stay on trial, that's a tough call. >> i know you'll monitor this pretrial hearing. victor blackwell from florida this morning. one week after the monster tornado tore through moore, oklahoma, a daring crew of storm chasers gives us the view from inside a twister.

inside a tornado. take a look. >> ears are popping. >> that's amazing, isn't it? the tornado turns day into night. these pictures were taken in northern kansas. winds were as high as 175 miles per hour, which would make it an extremely dangerous ef-4 tornado. this is how the storm chasing crew stayed safe, relatively

speaking. this is the rolling fortrous known as the tornado intercept vehicle. it has spikes that anchor it to the ground and it's like a tank. it has bullet-proof glass and can survive inside a tornado, even an ef-4. amazing. kind of crazy. in southern california firefighters are scrambling to contain this wildfire in santa barbara county. since roaring to life yesterday afternoon, the flames have rushed across 1,000 acres. people were enjoying a long holiday weekend at a popular campground. the fire is moving deeper into the national forest. also this morning near eugene, oregon, students returned to the high school after a 17-year-old was planning a bomb attack. he built a half dozen bombs and

intricately plotted an attack inspired by the columbine massacre. the only difference, they say, he wanted to rack up a higher death toll. bloodshed may have been avoided only because someone had the courage to call 911. >> these things never occur like this. kids knew what was going on and we're learning that. luckily, somebody had the courage to come forward and say this is what i know. they reported that to us and we were able to investigate that. because of that information, we were able to stop a horrific event from occurring in our community. >> we have more from oregon. >> reporter: good morning. it makes your blood run cold to think how terrible this plot could have been. police thankful they made this arrest. from what they are telling us about this plot, they say they are going to tell a lot more when the arraignment happens later this afternoon, there were six bombs found in the floor

boards, a secret compartment at his mother's house. this is a 17-year-old who will be charged. there were pipe bombs and bombs made out of drano. his friends say he talked about bombs before. >> we gave him a funny look and said no. he kind of just started going over the different materials to make a pipe bomb. surprised more than anything. it's disturbing that he wanted to blow the school up. >> reporter: they are also saying that a the lot of them didn't put much stock in this. this was a very quiet kid and never expected him to do this sort of thing. the one charge that authorities are talking about is the aggravated murder charge. the attempted aggravated murder charge. that they will have to prove he had the diagrams, the checklists

and all of that to carry out a columbine-like attack. his mother says he suffers from a rare disease called pandas, it's like ocd. it's not clear how much that played into this plot that place say was fairly far along. >> we want to take a closer look at what we just shared with you. that rare form of ocd. it's called pandas. joining us is gail salts, an associate professor of psychology. hi, doctor. tell us about this condition. it's called pandas. it's a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. >> i have to state first it's really a hypothesis. there hasn' been a definitive shown cause and effect, but the

hypothesis is that kids who get. strep, a very small subsection may go on to develop this pandas disorder, which is essentially symptoms of ticks or movements like ta rets or obsessions and compulsions that look like a child that would get ocd. >> she said it caused her son to have outbursts of violence or anger i should say. >> along with those symptoms of ticks and obsessions and compulsions can be emotional ability and anxiety. there's nothing in the disorder to suggest violent behavior or violent thought. so i don't know that one could directly make the case. but kids who suffer from ocd are

often bully ied. if we want to think about this kid doing something that was done say in the columbine situation, you know, bullying can often lead sadly to aggressive behavior on the part of the kid who has been bullied. but again, i don't think you could say that, you know, this psychiatric condition leads to violent or aggressive behavior because it's not known to. >> thank you so much for enli t enlighting us. more than a week after a deadly tornado ripped through their community, survivors in moore, oklahoma, are beginning to pick up the pieces and rebuild. we'll take you to moore, next. ♪ ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ let me play among the stars ♪ and let me see what spring is like ♪ ♪ on jupiter and mars

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the brooklyn bridge is back open after a security scare. it was shut down for awhile yesterday after an unattended vehicle was found in the right-hand lane that goes into manhattan. after police checked it out, they gave the all clear to reopen the bridge. the suv didn't have license plates or a vin number. julie hermann says she will not resign after allegations of abuse. she was hired by rutgers to rebuild its sports program after basketball coach mike rice was fired for abusing his players. players on her former team at tennessee accused her of verbal and mental abuse. she says that's not true and rutgers is backing her up. in the next hour, president obama heads back to the enginje shore to tour rebuilding efforts seven months after superstorm sandy. he will be joined by republican governor chris christie. they gave each other tons and

tons of praise. our chief white house correspondent jessica yel lin is there. >> reporter: there's political bromance going on there. it's been seven months and in that time, carol, the federal government has helped new jersey with more than $1 billion in recovery aid. the boardwalk has reopened so the nation should come and visit and spend their hard of earned dollars here. it's also an opportunity for the president to remind americans for his own politics that government can work. this is an example of government at its best in the white house's

view where fema can come in and make a difference. that's important to this president and white house especially after these last few weeks when the stories have focused on government dysfunction. here's a positive story when the president has managed the ship of state to help the people. >> let's talk about chris christie now. we know he had surgery to lose weight. we suspect he did that because he wants to run for president at some time in the future. how will the president's visit help chris christie since it hurt him last time? >> first of all, chris christie says, no, no, no. not running, he did it it for his family and himself. that's not stopping you and me from prognosticating about this. the politics, he was harshly criticized by other republicans because he embraced president obama during sandy, right before the election. and the momentum broke some of the momentum pundits said of

romney's rise at that time. today christie again says he's not going to blow off the president when he's in the state. this will draw enormous media attention to the boardwalk to bring people here, bring dollars here. and for chris christie he will be judged on his effectiveness in managing this recovery. he's highlighting his own management through this recovery. at this point, a pretty positive one for the state. >> jessica yellin reporting live from the jersey shore. a week after the devastating tornadoes, residents begin the difficult task of picking up the pieces and starting over. we'll take you live to moore, next. and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions

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enough time finding our keys in the the morning, but moore, oklahoma, resident todd bridges was able to find an envelope with $2,000 amid-all the rubble of his home. he found that envelope last

week. >> when i found it, i just sat down and started crying. prayed for me that i found it. 20 minutes before that came through. prayers were answered. >> that was his money. he wanted to find it and he did. he prayed hard. he actually lost pretty much everything in the tornado. he calls this a miracle. he actually found his wife's diamond earrings and they are worth about $1,000. good for him. more than a week after those deadly tornadoes ripped think oklahoma, residents are slowly beginning the process of cleaning up and trying to move on. george howell takes us through the past week and a look at the oklahoma standard. >> reporter: block by block, neighborhood after neighborhood, words alone don't seem enough to describe the devastation in this

part of oklahoma and nearly everyone here has a story. >> i was in that tornado shelter when it it came. i was home hearing the news. i got my dogs and got in there. >> reporter: first an ef-4 tornado tore through the town prior killing two. the next day an ef-5 tornado hit moore mangling communities, destroying an elementary school full of students. we were there during the desperate search for survivors. >> they are saying that if you have kids in the school to go look for them. >> i would imagine as parents you are thankful to have your children here right now. >> yes. i thank god that i got there in time to pick up my nieces, my nephews, my son. i don't know what i would have done. >> reporter: 24 people died that day. ten were children. among them kyle davis, whose

funeral was this weekend. >> there should be a place if this ever happened again during school that kids can get to a safe place. that we don't have to sit there and go through rubble and rubble and rubble and may not ever find what we're looking for. >> reporter: the mayor is pushing for a city ordinance to make storm shelters mandatory in all new construction. this weekend president obama met with first responders and promised federal aid dollars to storm victims. >> everywhere fellow americans are praying with you. they are thinking about you and they want to help. >> reporter: and help has come tr all over. on the campus of the university of oklahoma, the president opened the doors of the schools dorms for homeless families. the ou football coach donated a stack of gift cards to help tornado victims get back on their feet. >> i heard this thing called the oklahoma standard. what is the oklahoma standard? >> well, you know, everybody has

seen over this past week it's just persistence and a great positive attitude by the people to never give in. >> reporter: that's what you see here. neighbors helping neighbors. >> here's a bunch of the championship rings through the years. >> reporter:. even coach stoops was impressed by a family he met that drove in from colorado just looking for ways they could pitch in. >> we're not special that we're here doing this. there are people from all across the country that have come down to help. >> reporter: along tornado alley, it could take months before the debris is cleared. >> you just move it, rebuild and start over. >> reporter: another example of the oklahoma standard. back live with the picture of the view here in moore, oklahoma. you see this memorial that's been set up on this chain link fence that surrounds what used to be plaza elementary school.

it's unclear whether they will rebuild the school. that's the thing. you see the winds picking up here. this area is under the gun yet again for another round of severe weather that could last through this week. >> george howell reporting live from moore. oklahoma this morning. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare

when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver

or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. we noticed something cooky about the dow. it's going crazy up 200 points. we wondered what was going on. who knows the answer to that question? that would be christine romans. >> strong economic data. i told you about the housing numbers. it showed a gain over house prices. consumer confidence is now at a five-year high. so you have stock investors, stock markets reacting positively to both of those economic reports. keep in mind here as the president is in washington in controversies and knocked off

message, the underlying message that the president was hammered on during the campaign about the economy, the public is saying they are feeling the economy get a little bit better here. even as they are not talking about it it anymore in washington, you're seeing it it get. better here. in this consumer confidence report that just came out, what people said there is future prospects and job prospects are looking a little better. that's why they are a little more confident. so another thing that economists like to say is time heals all wounds. it's been five years. the worst of the crisis is behind us. and people are seeing more value in their homes, more values in their 401(k)s. most people are able to refinance and get a little more money on the table. they are starting to buy cars again. you're seeing the slow heal iin in the economy. that's what the dow jones is reflecting right now. the bottom line, five-year high for consumer confidence. that's something we have been waiting a long time to be able to say. >> you're not kidding. let's hope it keeps ongoing.

thank you. six weeks after the boston bombings, there are still questions about who one of the suspects visited while he was in russia. we go digging for answers, next. [ male announcer ] tenacity plated in chrome. determination covered in mud. fight firing on six cylinders. the new ram 1500 with best-in-class fuel economy. guts. glory. ram. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year.

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good morning. welcome back. it's 37 minutes past the hour. six weeks after the boston bombings, questions still remain about who suspect tamerlan tsarnaev met with in russia on a visit there in 2011. nick paton walsh traveled to try to find some answers. >> reporter: it's been awhile since the parents of the alleged boston bombers were in the public eye. now they are back in dagestan and tired of questions.

collecting the sick father's medicine, they are distraught. >> they are not hearing us. they see that the evidences are right there. >> reporter: they and a group of internet supporters insist the tsarnaev brothers are being framed. unanswered questions remain about tamerlan tsarnaev's six months here. he innocently prayed, went to the beach, even as militants swarmed around him. playing around with three to four friends of his on a beach like this just outside. the people who showed me the video wouldn't let me hear the audio, but it shows tamerlan tsarnaev with a thick, black, bushy beard and aviator

sunglasses. though his friends are wearing swimming trunks and some are buried up to their necks in sand, the demeanor of relaxed playful man at a time where in the city and outskirts just behind me police were regularly in clashes with radicalized militants. but u.s. officials have one question. did tamerlan meet with a key militant, the 19-year-old was killed in this standoff with russian special forces last may. police video shows women and children allowed out, but negotiators said he didn't want to give himself up so troops moved in. among the ruins, neighbors ask why. >> translator: he was afraid to get into their hands, that man says. afraid that something worse than death awaited him if they got him. >> reporter: in the violence that engulfed this house, the victims of the boston bombings

lost the clearest chance they had of learning whether or not one of the alleged bombers tamerlan tsarnaev had key meetings with a militant here in dagest dagestan. answers that may never be heard. >> nick paton walsh joins me live now. do we know anything for sure about tsarnaev's time in dagestan? >> it's a hazy picture. he arrived there in january. relatives report seeing him there from march. we know nadal, who investigators are asking who he met. nadal died in may. that video i referred to earlier, that was shot at some point in june. i only saw it once quickly. he seemed relaxed. but the key issue that prosecutors are going to have to face as they put dzhokhar on trial, they are going to have to explain how he became associated with explosives.

where did he get that training? it's going to be hard, perhaps, for them given at this point investigators haven't found any place in the u.s. where he could have picked those skills up. it's going to be hard for that six-month period in dagestan not to feature somehow, i would guess, in the fbi's explanation as who to how he became that proficient. >> nick, thank you. still ahead in the "newsroom," the obama administration struggling to advance its agenda amist a perfect storm of controversy. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers.

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while president obama is on the jersey shore today to review the recovery from superstorm sandy, his administration is still weatherings i own perfect storm. brianna kooeler is at the white house. >> reporter: benghazi, the justice department surveillance of journalists and the irs, controversies are swirling at the the white house and republicans smell blood. >> we're seeing an arrogance of power. >> reporter: three congressional hearings so far on the irs targeting swept groups seeking tax-exempt status. >> it's inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about it and i'm angry about it. >> reporter: the head of the irs's yupt was placed on administrative leave last week. >> i have not done anything

wrong. >> reporter: after invoking her fifth amendment rights before congress, the justice department launched a criminal investigation, but it's the justice department at the center of another controversy, seizing phone records as well as personal e-mails from fox news reporter james rosen. even though attorney general eric holder told congress this. >> with regard to the potential prosecution of the press fors disclosure of material, that's not something that i have ever been involved in or heard of or we think would be unwise policy. >> reporter: justice officials seeking a search warrant to get rosen's private e-mails, a warrant that alleged he could be a co-conspirator. the president has asked to consult with media organizations. >> i'm troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalist that

holds government accountable. >> reporter: a conflict of interest republicans say. >> but allowing the very person that authorized the two things we're aware of today to investigate whether or not he did that appropriately is inappropriate. >> reporter: and then there's benghazi, did the administration down play the role of terrorism in the attack in libya that killed four people including u.s. ambassador chris stevens? questions continue as several suspects have been identified, though not arrested, in libya. thomas pickering, co-author of a state review, has agreed to brief members of congress. so how is president obama weathering all of this? quite well, at least so far, and that may have to do with the economy. his approval rate has held steady. you look at the unemployment

rate it's down to 7.5%. in a recent cnn orc survey, one-third of americans polled said that the economy, that economic conditions are good. that's up from march and up significantly from december. >> it's all about the economy. . stock markets going crazy today too up 200 points. brianna keilar, thanks so much. 47 minutes past the hour. checking top stories. more severe weather threatens the heartland. strong storms produced torrential rains in iowa. it's closed roads in the area. in springfield, illinois, cleanup is underway. good news for coffee lovers. prices are going down. they are at their lowest level in three years. heavy rains in brazil did not damage the harvest of coffee beans as expected and stockpiles are still high. popular brands including maxwell house and folgers are already lower at the grocery store.

nascar fans tried to warn about the cable that fell injuring ten people. that's the work from jeffrey miller who witnessed it it firsthand. he says people went as far as throwing cups of beer on the track to stop the race. it's still unsure what caused the mishap. and the widow of a slain kentucky police officer is remembering him today. early saturday morning jason ellis was gunned down while heading home from his shift. he was removing debris from the road when he was shot multiple times. investigator says he was ambushed. we have more on what amy ellis, his wife, is saying today. >> amy ellis is heartbroken. this family lost a husband, a father. he had two young boys, a 6 and 7-year-old. we heard from amy ellis. there was a news conference that's just wrapping up. we want to have you listen to what she had to say about her

husband. >> he was a family man. he loved our family, he loved our boys, he loved me. he was dedicated to his job. he loved the people he worked with. i just want everybody to know what an amazing man he was. the only reason why i can get up here right mow is because of prayers and god is, you know, picked me up off the bathroom floor. i didn't want to live another second without him. now i know that i have to be strong for our kids and i can just feel the prayers and the support. i truly do. i wanted to thank everybody for that. >> now that was amy ellis, jason ellis's wife.

she was visibly distraught. the pain is easy to see on her face. she's having a tough time about the loss of her husband, but also so far, police have said nothing about leads. the last thing we heard was that they have no solid leads in this case. there's also no arrest that has been made. so this mystery continues as this family is trying to come to terms with what happened. >> interesting. thanks so much. coming up in the "newsroom," boycotting cookie sales. that's what some girl scout alum fly and supporters are doing to stop sales of girl scouts camp sites. we'll talk to one of the scout leaders when we come back. ♪ ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ let me play among the stars ♪ and let me see what spring is like ♪ ♪ on jupiter and mars ♪ in other words [ male announcer ] the classic is back.

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it's a tradition for girl scouts across the country. ones that's as old as the organization itself. heading off to camp where students and volunteers work on the organization's mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character. but now some of those camps viewed as too costly to keep open could be sold and that's sparking outrage for some alums and volunteers. joany kin see is a troupe leader in iowa city, iowa. she started a petition to fight the sale of her campgrounds in the area. welcome. >> thank you. nice to be here. >> it's great to have you here.

so you say that by selling these camps, the girl scouts, quote, are selling their soul. really? >> yeah, i'm afraid so. there's so many aspects to this story, but camping has been fundamental to girl scouts since it was founded 100 years ago. julia lowe bought the first camp and girl scouts have owned camps ever since. camping is essential not only to the girl scout organization, but to building what the girl scouts like to call leadership. it's only through rustic camping where girls are put in situations that they are not familiar with, not necessarily comfortable with, but they bond with each other, they bond with the camps, they learn to love it and they learn to be creative and resourceful in those new situations. camps are absolutely essential. >> the girl scouts would say they are expensive to keep open. they are dealing with declining membership and they can't afford the camps. >> i would say and many others who are working to save the

camps would say that the girl scouts have not done everything they can to make the camps viable. they have dropped off all sorts of marketing in the ways that used to happen. volunteers would be very happy to help them find alternatives of getting girls and troupe leaders back into camping. the councils and the national membership, the national administration really are not doing everything they can or we would say that, to make the camps viable, keep the camps viable. they were very successful for decades. >> the other reason i think that the girl scouts are moving in another direction and selling off these campgrounds is they are trying to make the girl scouts more hip and more modern. because membership has declined according to the "new york times." 13% in the last decade. they are concern ed about that. so they want to move over to

what modern girls are more interested in and apparently it's not camping. >> so they say, but we would argue that for all sorts of reasons, getting outdoors is even more important today than ever before. what with what's been called nature deficit and the girls and people generally being preoccupied with technology. it's all the more important to get them away from those things and let them realize the wonders of nature and the wonders of life when you're confronted with situations that take you back to those situations, those experiences that are unlike anything else. >> i know you have a lot of signatures. >> last i checked we had a couple thousand. this is just for our own council. our own camp situation, but there are others all across the country that are facing the same situation. there are literally probably hundreds of thousands of people who are concerned about this

situation. what we're trying to do is to create a national movement that would begin to raise consciousness and efforts that will, in fact, bring these camps back to life and bring membership back to the camps. >> joni, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much for your help. >> any time. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. cnn "newsroom" continues after a break. la's known definitely for its traffic, congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. how old is the oldest person you've known?

we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ capella university understands nurses are dealing with a than wider range of issues.e years. and there are ever-changing regulations. when you see these challenges, do you want to back away or take charge? with a degree in the field of healthcare or nursing from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to advance your career while making a difference in the lives of patients. let's get started at capella.edu. ♪ je t'adore ♪ c'est aujourd'hui

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hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. coming your way this hour, could this have been the next columbine? a teen had moll tov cocktails and drain cleaner bombs stashed under his floor. his mom is blaming an ocd disorder. he's about to face a judge and a murder charge. the bombing that sent shock waves, six weeks after the mayhem of the marathon. how far survivors have come as investigators search for links to other terrorists. and grab. toto and hang on tight. we're going to take you right into the middle