controversial now won't seek re-election. we're taking a closer look at the surprising reasons behind michele bachmann's announcement. a new tornado threat in the midwest. severe weather possible right now literally at any moment. we have storm chasers on the ground. and governor chris christie opening up the new jersey governor talking candidly about his political future and his weight loss surgery. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." she rode the tea party ascension like a wave becoming one of the most visible vocal and controversial members of congress. she became a household name with a presidential campaign that wilted under the national spotlight. but now a surprise announcement from republican congresswoman michele bachmann. she has decided to leave congress. our brian todd is taking a closer look. he is joining us now with more. what do we know? >> wolf, it's hard to imagine

right now but in spite of her reputation for gaffes michele bachmann was for a brief moment the leading contender for the republican presidential nomination. with this announcement today, she's once again exhibiting a knack for drawing attention. >> i fully anticipate the main stream liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision not to seek a fifth term. >> reporter: a surprise announcement from a leading light of tea party conservatives. >> i will continue to do everything that i can to advance our conservative constitutional principles. >> michele bachmann will complete her current term and said neither an investigation into her 2012 campaign finances nor fear of facing re-election pushed her out. in recent election cycles she certainly had a knack for making headlines. >> i just want to make an announcement here for you, john, on cnn tonight. i filed today my paperwork. >> she electrified the grass roots on the right hitting a high mark when she won the republican presidential straw poll in ames, iowa in the summer

of 2011. but that campaign surge was short lived. it was tripped up in part by a reputation for unscripted remarks like this widely disputed comment about the hpv vaccine on nbc. >> her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. >> they often caught her firing off inaccurate statements. >> the president of the united states will be taking a trip over to india that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. >> we are also the ones who are paying for someone to walk the president's dog. >> when cnn's dana bash tried to verify that last one -- >> what about dog handlers and there are four americans killed? >> congresswoman, you are the one who brought it up. >> she also came under fire for her strong opinions about sexuality. and obama care. >> let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women,

kills children, kills senior citizens. >> if you're involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it's bondage. it is personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement. >> bachmann drew sympathy when "newsweek" magazine put an unflattering snap shot of her on the cover. "saturday night live" also made her a favorite target. >> i hope you enjoy a future that will be littered with death panels, re-education camps, and forced immunizations all ending in an iranian nuclear bomb that will bring about the rapture. >> but for her supporters michele bachmann is a visionary who stood against regulation, big government, and debt spending. and was antiabortion, pro family, and a defender of liberty. >> she made the tea party case in a way that really excited the grass roots. i mean, similar to the way sarah palin did or herman cain. she made the case against obama better than anyone else according to a lot of the tea party folks. >> some early hand capping for

michele bachmann after she leaves office? there is speculation she could become a cable news commentator as other former candidates like mike huckabee, newt gingrich and sarah palin have done. but, interestingly, so far in 2013 she has not been booked once on the sunday talk shows. wolf? >> brian, what is the status of the investigation into her 2012 presidential campaign? she is under investigation by an independent congressional panel. most of this has to do with questionable transfers of funds. bachmann's attorney insists she has done nothing wrong and they're cooperating with these investigations. >> she will stay in congress though to finish up her term which ends at the end of next year. so she is going to be around at least in washington for a year and a half. all right. we'll have more coming up later. thank you. conservative groups who say they were targeted by the irs are taking the agency and some top obama administration officials to court. they're seeking vindication and money for what they say was unconstitutional conduct. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is working the story for us. what are you learning?

>> wolf, the attorney representing these groups insists that the idea this was the work of rogue irs agents is not believable. he wants top officials found guilty of wrongdoing and he wants ten clients he has who still have gotten no word from the irs to have their cases resolved. we talked to one of those today. diane belsom applied for tax-exempt status for her tea party group three years ago. still no decision from the irs. >> at this point in time we haven't been approved. >> reporter: in a skype interview from her south carolina home she described excessive irs questions she called inappropriate. >> do you honestly believe based on the kinds of questions that you were getting from the irs that you were targeted for your political views? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: her lawrence county tea party group is one of 25 organizations that today filed suit against the federal government accusing federal officials of violating tea party groups' constitutional right to free speech and the irs's own policy against discrimination

based on a political point of view. this attorney is representing them. >> unfortunately the irs primarily was engaged in a witch hunt about who the members were and what the positions of the members were and what the position of the organizations happened to be on various issues none of which the irs was entitled to. >> cnn reported earlier this month that some of his clients received lengthy irs questionnaires asking for mountains of information. including names of donees, recipients, and grantees. some bearing the signature of now former tax-exempt division chief lois lerner whose former boss has insisted that doesn't mean she is guilty of anything. >> her signature was on 70,000 applications so let's not personalize this one to ms. lerner. >> reporter: but this lawsuit is personal. singling out top irs and obama officials for wrongdoing. >> these were the decision makers, the people in charge of the offices or the divisions that we've sued and the idea here that you're just going to

blame the line agents i found to be offensive from the beginning of this. >> he says he is hoping to win damages for clients who had to pay for accountants and attorneys to help answer those lengthy irs questionnaires. wolf, up next week, congress is going to be back in town and will have yet another irs hearing. this time they're going to call representatives from the tea party groups who say they were targeted and they want to really use this forum, public forum to allow them to formally share their experience. these committees are going to be talking to the irs officials and these tea party groups and going to be talking to them privately and in public for a very long time. this investigation is going to go on for months. >> i suspect it will. we'll be learning a lot more in the course of the next few months. thank you. let's turn to another story we're following. a new twist in another huge controversy embroiling the obama administration right now. the government seizure of reporters' phone records to track unclassified leaks, classified leaks i should say. we're getting important new

information about whether or not fox news' parent company the news corporation was notified about the investigation into one of its reporters james rosen. our national political correspondent jim acosta is over at the white house getting new information. what is the latest? >> well, wolf, as you know the justice department has been working to lower the temperature, lower the heat in this james rosen matter. one thing that the justice department did confirm is that attorney general eric holder will be meeting with bureau chiefs for the various news organizations here in washington over the coming days to talk about some of the issues. something else that came up earlier this afternoon. the justice department is telling us here at cnn, wolf, that it showed a fox news notification according to the justice department of this james rosen investigation nearly three years ago. to back that up, earlier this afternoon justice and law enforcement producer carol

crowdy was shown by a law enforcement official documents indicating as much of this notification to the parent company of fox news, news corporation happened three years ago and also want to show you the statement that the justice department is passing along to us, wolf. here it is. it says, quote, consistent with the department policies, and procedures, the government provided notification of the subpoenas they're saying for phone records and other pieces of information nearly three years ago by certified mail, fax, and e-mail. we should go on to say that, wolf, we have been in contact with the man who was the general counsel at news corporation during this time in question and that man has told cnn he has no recollection of receiving that notification from the justice department but we should also point out justice department officials do caution that this does not take away from the fact that the attorney general eric holder remains concerned about these investigations, these federal investigations into the activity of journalists here in

washington but we should also point out republicans say they are concerned about what eric holder has been saying in all of this. they are concerned that he has not been telling the truth and are pointing to a hearing that occurred just a couple weeks ago up on capitol hill. they're raising questions about whether or not holder may have perjured himself in sworn testimony at that hearing and we'll be talking about more of that in the next hour, wolf. >> this story continues obviously as well. jim acosta, thanks. as jim said we'll have a lot more on what is going on, more developments in our next hour right here in "the situation room." up next, she is an american mother of seven. she is a mormon. she's in jail in mexico accused of smuggling drugs. her very, very anxious family is speaking out and now the mom is speaking out exclusively to cnn as well. plus senator john mccain talking exclusively also to cnn's anderson cooper about his secret trip inside syria.

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she is accused of drug smulg know but it might be hard to find a more unlikely suspect than this mother of seven who is sitting in jail right now as the nightmare unfolds. what's the latest in this case? >> reporter: wolf, the family is on edge, increasingly tense as the fate of this mormon mother of seven remains in the hands of a mexican judge. her family hoped she would be released at a hearing in nogales, mexico tuesday but the mormon mother of seven accused of smuggling marijuana will remain in a mexican jail for at least another day. the family insists she has no involvement in drugs and is being framed. >> whoever was the cause of

this, that's who i am angry at. the people that hurt my mom and put her in prison. without having evidence. >> maldonado was arrested last week after mexican authorities said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under the seat of a commercial bus she was riding home in from a funeral with her husband, gary. gary maldonado said he was asked to pay a $5,000 bribe for his wife's freedom but as he tried to raise the money, she was shipped off to jail. the family says it is encouraged by the evidence presented in court so far. the case is not unusual in mexico where there has been a struggle to modernize its notoriously corrupt judicial system says mexico expert george grason. >> the judicial system there is even more corrupt than the police, and when you're brought into a judicial proceeding, you don't get to face your accuser. you don't have an automatic

right to a lawyer. you may be held before you're brought to trial for some weeks and it's a closed proceeding. >> reporter: in this case the judge has the power to hold maldonado in prison up to four months before trial. that would likely only bring more pressure from u.s. authorities. the office of senator jeff flake of arizona says, senator flake has been in contact with the family as well as officials in mexico and the u.s. regarding the case. he will continue to monitor the situation. that situation is resuming today in a mexican courtroom where expected to testify members of the mexican military who apprehended yanira maldonado last week. the family remaining very hopeful the situation could be resolved by the end of this week. >> we'll have a lot more in our next hour including my interview with her eldest daughter, who is very, very concerned obviously.

thanks very much for that report. in other news we're following senator john mccain now talking about his historic trip to syria for the first time speaking exclusively to cnn. senator mccain made a surprise visit monday, briefly crossing in from neighboring turkey to meet with rebel commanders making him the highest ranking u.s. official to visit syria since civil war broke out more than two years ago. mccain says the rebels don't understand why the united states won't do more to help them topple the al assad regime. listen to what he told anderson cooper. >> has been there, you know, shaking these people's hands, looking them in the eye being on syrian soil, has it changed or intensified your feelings in any way? >> it's intensified because when you look at the faces of these people and hear their stories, so many of them have lost family members. so many of them have lost friends. this is a pretty bloody business that they've been in and of course it's been as you might

imagine identified, intensified because these are human beings that are trying to achieve the same thing that we have shed american blood and treasure for for well over 200 years. >> you can see anderson's entire exclusive interview with senator mccain later tonight on ac 360, 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. when we come back a red cross building targeted in a deadly afghanistan blast. we'll have the latest on that plus a wedding that began along a lake ends with the entire wedding party in it.

authorities are searching for answers in a former nfl player's mysterious death. our mary snow is monitoring that. some of the other top stories here in "the situation room." mary, what happened? >> well, wolf, searchers found the body of coen fin erty not far from a boat he left near michigan river. he had been missing since sunday and according to authorities called his family to say he was nervous but they aren't sure why. investigators have found no evidence of foul play. an autopsy is expected today. finnerty was a college football star who later went on to play briefly for the baltimore ravens and denver broncos. two attackers and a security guard were killed in a massive assault on a red cross building in afghanistan and a gun battle between police and militant. a parliament official says it started with one attacker blowing himself up and others storming the building. seven people were rescued and one international red cross staffer is said to be slightly

injured. take a look at this. this is unbelievable surveillance video of raging illinois flood waters breaking through the doors of a college campus building and dismantling computer desks from their foundations. carl sandberg college has closed its main campus indefinitely. when one couple planned to have their wedding along with a popular atlanta area lake, it probably didn't plan on it ending up in it. that is exactly what happened when the entire wedding party posed for a picture on the deck and it suddenly flipped over, plunging all 27 of them in, including the bride. fortunately, everyone was okay and they all seemed to get a good laugh out of it. wolf? >> they may have gotten a good laugh but i'm sure they're not happy about that. thank you. when we come back we'll be joined by the newest members of

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plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? happening now a tea party icon calls it quits in congress. won't seek re-election next year. ahead what michele bachmann's surprise announcement could mean for the future of the movement. plus, the midwest bracing for another round of what could be vicious tornadoes. our chad myers is live with a storm chaser right in the middle of it all. he is standing by at a slimmer, trimmer governor, chris christie opening up to "people" magazine about his state, his lap band surgery, and what could be a very bright political future. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

out of the blue a surprise announcement today by michele bachmann the tea party darling and former presidential candidate says she is leaving congress after this term. >> be assured my decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being re-elected to congress. and rest assured this decision was not impacted in any way by recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or former presidential staff. >> let's talk about this with our brand new cnn political contributors and democratic strategist stephanie cutter the republican strategist kevin madden and our chief political analyst gloria borger is here as well. first of all to our newest contributors welcome to cnn. we'll talk a little bit about that shortly. kevin, why do you think michele bachmann is saying this? what are the factors right now that made her decide it's time to announce she won't seek

re-election? >> look, wolf. i believe she genuinely -- she is being honest when she says it is time to move on. there's different ways to serve. there are different ways to serve in a policy capacity and different ways to serve in a political capacity. when she said that the investigations and some of the pressures she is feeling from re-election had nothing to do with her not running that means they had a lot to do with her not running. the pressures these candidates go under, we shouldn't dismiss it as something that is not normal. i mean, the pressures these candidates undergo of the need to raise money, the constant pressure to campaign, the constant pressure that they have from adversaries, you know, that is something that does take its toll on a lot of folks. there is a very human element to that. i think it had a big factor in her stepping down. but also, i do think what was most important about her announcement, which was that thee still thinks she can play a role. i think we haven't heard the last from michele bachmann. it may not be as an elected official but i think she still has a future in your the

movement. >> my own sense, stephanie, is that in part she is following what i call the sarah palin playbook. at least she is not quitting in the middle of her tenure. she is going to finish her term as a member of congress but remember sarah palin quit as governor of alaska. she's made millions if not tens of millions of dollars in all sorts of ways since then and i suspect that michele bachmann has a pretty significant future ahead of her in similar kinds of areas. >> well, that may be true. you know, good for her. i give her credit for trying to do that. i think kevin is right. that if you're putting in a video where you're announcing your resignation that you're not doing it because you may have done something wrong then you probably did something wrong. let's remember just a couple weeks ago she was launching her first campaign ads so there were some realities she was facing. a tough re-election. she doesn't have the stature in the tea party she used to have. there are others that are taking

her place. senator cruz and, you know, you can speak to this more than i can. senator paul. i think that they are a much more focused and deliberative and thoughtful in their communications to the tea party than michele bachmann was. this was not a great day for democrats when michele bachmann is resigning. >> she won last time around by less than 5,000 votes. mitt romney, your guy, won that district by what, 15 points or so. the person who ran against her last time is going to run against her this time had she decided to run again. she had a problem there. she is facing ethics investigations in the house which by the way go away if she leaves congress. she has other investigations she is facing. i think the lady doth protest too much. >> the lady doth protest too much fan she wants to make those millions of dollars sarah palin did if those investigations continued or she lost her

primary they get wiped away. >> i don't think this is an admission of guilt as much as an admission that there is, this has been a burden weighing on her tremendously. >> we've seen a lot less of her. >> right. >> we have seen a lot less of her in congress where she used to be much more visible. suddenly dana bash has to chase her down a hallway if you'll recall. so that's been difficult. >> one thing you'll remember about michele bachmann's career, she was always, routinely under estimated. i also think that she oftentimes exceeded a lot of expectations people had for her because she was a very gritty, determined person who had a very, very good connection with a lot of the base of the party. i think that was something that did carry her. there were a lot of people who would have written her off after a year or two. >> i think that if republicans are looking toward presidential elections, having michele bachmann as part of that process is completely not helpful to you. >> right. i also think we should point out that being an ex-presidential candidate doesn't always work well for you in your political

career. look at someone like dennis kucinich or chris dodd. it doesn't always take you to the next level politically. >> sometimes there is no down side to running for president because you have a national profile you never had before. now there is a lot of scrutiny that comes with that but you still have a national profile where a lot of members of congress are still struggling. >> she has an audience. >> we certainly aren't hearing the last from michele bachmann. she is going to be on the lecture circuit and make a ton of money that way. she'll probably become an analyst on some news network or whatever. she is going to be around even after she leaves congress. i wouldn't rule out necessarily her running for other office. whether she succeeds is another matter. let me pick your brain quickly on eric holder. you served in the justice department during the bush administration. if you were giving the obama administration some advice right now how would you handle this whole eric holder issue that has come up given these controversies that are out there? >> well, one of the big problems right now is that there seems to have been a canyon between the

white house and the department of justice about some of the most available, ready information that you need in order to combat some of the questions that many folks have about what went on with the doj investigation, whether it was ap or whether it was with james rosen. those are things right now that have to be bridged. i think the white house, a lot of folks will say well the white house and doj have to be separate. that is still the president's attorney general. the information flow that goes between those two buildings and offices has to be clamped down a bit. they have to do a better job of sharing that information. that way they can answer what by their nature are very political questions right now and a lot of questions related to oversight. they have to do a better job of getting a command and control structure in place between the white house and doj on that. >> look, stephanie, to you, the president obviously strongly standing by eric holder but a lot of people think holder is bringing the president, the administration down right now. what do you think? >> i think that if the president

took action every time a house republican criticized a member of his cabinet we'd have a pretty empty government. so, no. i don't think he is bringing the president down. i think for average americans they're not paying attention and they're wondering, you know, why shouldn't the department of justice investigate, you know, intelligence leaks about some of our most pressing national security issues? let's also remember that it was republicans who requested this investigation in the first place. so the hypocrisy is pretty widespread. >> yes. but the question of press freedom goes directly to the question of everybody's freedom in this country. that's a connection that people are going to start to make. i would argue that it's not just a press issue that people don't care about but that eventually they'll understand how important a free press is and having a secret subpoena takes it a step further where members of the press can't say, wait a minute. why does it have to be so broad?

why can't you narrow it? why do we have an opportunity to fight this? it's a bit chilling and i honestly believe it is something if eric holder had to do all over again i don't know for sure but i bet he might reconsider. >> hold on, guys. because we're out of time. i want to just make sure that everybody knows we're warmly, warmly welcoming stephanie cutter, kevin madden, two cnn, you guys are going to be around and help us better appreciate what is going on. you both understand politics really well. i want to introduce you once again. both of you to our viewers out there. they remember you from the obama campaign. from the mitt romney campaign. now you're both here as cnn contributors. we're happy about that. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> all right. gloria of course. >> gloria is clapping. >> i'm applauding. >> she can't do a standing ovation because of where she is sitting but she would if she could. >> we're in the sit room. >> appropriate. >> good place to be.

thanks, guys. just ahead weather conditions ripe for disaster right now. a huge swath of the midwest is facing the threat of devastating tornadoes. we're going there live. and the new jersey grapefruit chris christie opening up about a possible white house bid and the drastic action he took to try to lose some weight. we went out and asked people a simple question: 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. ♪

the national weather service has just issued tornado watches from texas to nebraska. our meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers is chasing the bad weather with a storm chaser. chad is joining us now. what is the latest, chad? >> reporter: wolf, we're seeing all the flags across texas,

kansas, even through parts of oklahoma are stretched straight out pointing from south to north. wind blowing here 40, 50 miles per hour and the air is just muggy. not a bad hair day because of the wind but because of so much humidity. it's going to be pushed up into the sky and thunderstorms are going to develop and continue to develop all night long. here is the problem now. we're starting to get dark. not quite yet. we have a few hours. but the storms may go until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. that is when some of the storms are the most dangerous. the warnings are not as fast as they could be. spotters can't see the storms as well and you might be asleep. tonight is the night to make sure that noaa weather radio is working properly, wolf. >> it could be literally any minute, a few hours, but we anticipate severe weather, right? >> we do. in fact, i'll just step out into the wind and sort of away from the building. we have a line of weather moving into the oklahoma city metro area. so far no tornadoes with that. but there are tornadoes here in

the texas panhandle, not that far from wheeler, texas. we'll watch those from a distant location. if you are in oklahoma city expect gusty winds, lots of lightning, hail, and maybe even a small spin up. this is not a back seat tornado kind of day, not an ef-4 type of tornado day but still when your house is already half damaged or you have shingles missing already any more damage obviously would be very quick to occur with a storm that could even be a hundred to 120 miles per hour, wolf. >> we will stay obviously very, very close touch with you, chad. be careful over there. chad myers on the scene for us as we await really, really extreme weather on the way. other news we're following right now, really shocking story. serial rapists on the loose even though police have their dna and many cases the evidence has never even been looked at, sitting forgotten for decades in storage facilities. cnn's randi kaye has more.

>> reporter: in june, 1984, carol barrd endured the most terrifying experience of her life. she was only 24. did you think you were going to die? i did think i was going to die that night. i believed he was going to kill me. >> reporter: around 1:30 in the morning carol returned home from a night out with friends. she was just feet from her door in this dallas apartment complex when a man grabbed her and forced her back into her car. he then pulled the car around beside a dumpster and spent the next three and a half hours raping her. >> if i screamed or cried he threatened me that he would kill me. >> reporter: when it was over, carol drove herself to the hospital where doctors took swabs from her skin, hairs and fibers from her clothes. all part of what's called a rape kit. it was humiliating, but carol endured it because she thought the material collected would help police catch her attacker. more than two decades later, carol's rapist still hadn't been

identified. but a routine call in 2008 to check in on the case revealed something shocking. carol's attacker was still on the loose because police had not exhausted every lead. he was still out there because the most crucial piece of evidence, that rape kit, had never been processed. how did you feel about the fact that your kit had been sitting on the shelf for so many years? >> they had just let them stack up and stack up and stack up. and that's just unacceptable. >> reporter: you heard right. carol wasn't the only one. years earlier dallas police sergeant patrick welch discovered a huge backlog of rape kits and started a sexual assault cold case program. how critical would you say the rape kits are in helping you solve these cases? >> they're vital to our investigations. no question about that. >> reporter: sergeant welch turned to the team here at the southwestern institute of forensic sciences.

he asked them to test every single untested swab sitting in their freezer. there were thousands of them dating back to 1970. not a single one had ever been processed. the sergeant says decades ago law enforcement just didn't have the tools to solve these cases. dna technology wasn't available to them until the 1990s. >> we solved well over 80 cases from the early '80s and '90s. >> reporter: from the rape kits. >> from the rape kits. >> reporter: and carol's case was one of them. just four months, four months after carol's kit was located and analyzed, the man who raped her was identified. but adding insult to injury, joseph houston couldn't be charged in carol's case because the statute of limitations had run out. it turns out after carol's rape he kidnapped another woman and exposed himself to a child. carol believes if her rape kit

had been analyzed years ago her attacker might have been picked up and others wouldn't have been harmed. livinia masters' case had been cold too. she had been raped at 13 back in 1985. >> i woke up with a knife to my throat and someone spreading my legs apart ripping my underwear from me. >> reporter: her rape kit sat on a shelf for 21 years until livinia called sergeant welch. after 21 years they first had to unearth your kit. how frustrating was that? >> i felt i was on the shelf and forgotten about. >> reporter: a few months later sergeant welch got a hit. he showed her a photo of the man who had raped her all those years ago. >> i was like oh, my god that is him. that is him. it was just amazing to me to see what dna could do and how it changed my life. >> reporter: too many years had passed for livinia to bring charges and it turns out the man was already in prison for raping

two other women at knife point. he was up for parole but his parole was denied after a dna match was finally made in livinia's case. this isn't just a texas problem. it's estimated as many as 400,000 rape kits are sitting untested nationwide. 400,000. detroit has just started testing their backlog of 11,000 kits. and of the 300 they've tested. they've gotten 119 hits. and of those, 29 have been i.d.'d as serial rapists. it's all beyond frustrating for carol bart. >> i could understand one city maybe being negligent but a nation? being negligent with rape kits? i don't understand it. this is a felony crime. >> reporter: a felony crime that still has police playing catch up. randi kaye, cnn, dallas.

>> really shocking story. i spoke about this with cnn legal analyst sunny hostin and she told me 20 states have no statute of limitations on rape but in more than half the country time is running out to see justice done. coming up his political profile is bigger than ever while his physical profile is shrinking. the new jersey governor chris christie opening up about both. plus, details of an embarrassing beauty pageant blunder. >> denise gerrida! or good decisions? ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow. here's to good decisions. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your family's future?

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interview with "people" magazine, speaking openly about his state, his weight, and his political future. chris christie may have a slimmer profile these days, but he's having a very high-profile week. first, he toured the partially rebuilt jersey shore. and rekindled his unlikely bromance with president obama. >> let me first of all say thank you to governor christie for that great introduction and the great work he's done here. >> now he's talking about his state, his political future and weight loss after lap band surgery. he says he's lost and regained weight before, so he says, quote, i'm leery of victory laps. but this seems, at least for the first 13 weeks, to be getting at the root of the problem, which is that i was hungry all the time. christie went on to say, i'm not nearly as interested in food as i used to be. but it hasn't all of a sudden made me a huge vegetable fan.

the governor insists he had the weight loss surgery for personal, not political reasons. he's not giving any new hints about rubbing for president in 2016. but he's following the advice his mom used to give him. do the job you have now well, and the future will take care of itself. >> i am not going to let anything or anyone get in between me and the completion of the mission to restore and recover our great state. >> lately, christie's job has focused on recovery efforts after superstorm sandy. he says, i couldn't get my head around how much damage there was. as the rebuilding continues, the governor is leading a pr campaign for his state, in an on-camera chat with people he says reality tv shows don't do justice to new jersey. >> this is not what new jersey is really like. what i say to people is, watch what they've seen in the last seven months on the news shows. about the way the people from new jersey have responded to this storm.

and how they've helped each other. they lifted each other up. they've worked hard to help rebuild the state. those are the real people. >> there's much more, by the way, in chris christie's fascinating interview, in "people" magazine. just ahead at the top of the hour, a killer virus recently discovered in humans takes its toll on the middle east. could the united states be next. i'll speak with a leading expert. plus, a dream come true gone horribly wrong. you're going to find out why this now former miss universe canada no longer has her crown. i am an american success story.

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it was a dream come true gone horribly wrong. a woman crowned miss universe canada only to have the prestigious title revoked because of an embarrassing mix-up. here's cnn's john berman. >> miss universe canada 2013! >> most beauty queens expect their reigns to last for a year. >> congratulations to a new miss canada. >> denise's run is miss universe canada lasting exactly one day. after stunning the audience during the competition, she thought her childhood dreams had finally come true. when she beat out 57 other women

for the crown. but less than 24 hours later, the pageant's organizers realized a terrible mistake in the results. they made a typo. which meant the first runner-up had actually won. and denise placed fourth. the pageant stripped garido of her title and apologized in a statement saying, we would like to offer our sin veer apology to denise for this human error while validating results. we have no doubt she will continue to succeed in her endeavors and we wish her well. risa santos who thought she had come so close only to place second is now celebrating her new title. santos won't have this same moment of glory, but will receive her crown in a private ceremony this weekend. meanwhile, garrido who is 26, is too old to compete again. but says she would hof to come

back next year, this time as a judge. john berman, cnn, new york. both women appeared on starting point this morning. and don't appear to be any hard feelings on either side. happening now, a deadly virus is spreading overseas, and the united states could be next. dr. anthony is here, to tell us why health officials are sounding the alarm. plus, republicans are turning up the heat on the attorney general, eric holder. did he tell the truth about the administration's investigation of journalists? and al qaeda incorporated. airing the dirty laundry, cracking down on a veteran fighter who didn't file his paperwork. i'm wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. around the world. you're in the situation room. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news in new york

right now. the new york city police department saying letters containing threats to the mayor michael bloomberg contain material that has now tested positive, initial tests for the poison ricin. the deputy police commissioner, paul brown, saying the letters were opened in new york on friday. he said the anonymous writer threatened the mayor, threatened mayor bloomberg with references to the debate on gun laws. civilian personnel in new york and washington who came into contact with the open letters haven't shown any symptoms. however, members of the nypd service unit who came in contact with the letter that was opened at the city's mail facility on gold street here in manhattan on friday, they are being examined for what are described as minor symptoms of ricin exposure. a very significant development. potentially very, very disturbing, letter sent to the mayor of new york, testing

initially positive for ricin. dr. anthony fauchy is joining us right now. doctor, tell us a little bit about ricin exposure, and what potentially this could mean to someone who went through to someone who touched that letter or inhaled what came from one of those letters? >> it's one of the most toxic and deadly substances that you can actually have. so the idea of exposing someone to it, where it could actually get into the system, can be really very destructive. so something like that is clearly an attempt to cause significant and serious damage to the person who would get exposed to it. >> i remember from the ricin -- you know, the anthrax letters that came out, you remember that whole crisis that we had. >> i remember it well. >> in washington and in new york, right after 9/11. all of a sudden anyone who came into contact started taking

cipro, the antibiotic. what should anyone would comes into contact with ricin be doing as a preventive measure? >> well, if you were really exposed, you'll get sick and you need to go to the emergency room if you get sick. but there isn't an antibiotic, because it's not a microbe, it's a toxic substance that interferes with the metabolic processes in the body. it isn't something that you can give an antibiotic for, because it isn't a microbe of any sort. so there really isn't any effective treatment when someone gets exposed, and the consequences are really very serious, if in fact it's ricin. >> if it's ricin, potentially, what i hear you saying is, that could be a lot more serious than the anthrax letters that we're all familiar with about a decade or so ago, because there really isn't a whole lot doctors can do, is that right? >> that's correct. there's no remedy for it. there's no antidote for it. there's no treatment for it, except to support the person who, good they get exposed to

enough of it, will get seriously ill. and they would need significant medical support. >> one more question before we move on to another subject. i know you're going to be sticking around for us. when they say that some of those here in new york who came into contact with this letter that is believed to have ricin, at least the initial tests tested positive, have what are called minor symptoms, what are you anticipating? what are the minor symptoms that people should be paying attention to? >> well, you could feel nauseated, you could feel sick, somewhat faint. again, people need to understand that ricin, unlike an infectious agent, blocks metabolic processes in the body and can shut down some of the systems. people can feel sick from a variety of things. just feeling some symptoms. you want to make sure they're real and not the shock of thinking they were exposed. they certainly need to be seen by a physician or medical facility that can examine them thoroughly. and if they do need support, to

get support. >> dr. fauci, don't go away, because there's another story we're following right now of the i want your expertise on that right now. the death toll rising from a respiratory virus that health officials are calling, and i'm quoting them now, a threat to the entire world. so far, 49 people have been infected in eight countries, most of them in the middle east. the world health organization said as of today, 27 of those patients have died. and that number will likely get higher, because experts don't understand how the virus is spreading. let's get some background now. mary snow is joining us. mary, what are you learning? how serious is this? >> well, wolf, the big reason the world health organization is so concerned about this virus is there is no known treatment for the moment. scientists around the world are looking for answeranswers, and includes a team here in new york. dozens of people have died. these scientists at new york's

columbia university hunt for the source of a mysterious new virus the world health organization calls a threat to the world. it's the middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus. ian lipkin is the director for the center for infection and immunity at the school of public health. should people be concerned about this? >> people should always be concerned whenever there's an emerging infectious disease, because we don't really know, we don't have ways in which we can predict and project, and appropriately prepare for some of these. >> lipkin is working with the government of saudi arabia, where it's believed the virus originated. the virus is in the same family as sars. and symptoms include fever and cough. that can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure. this man's father is believed to have died from it. >> he got something which we did not know about it. and he was like his condition was getting worse. >> reporter: the world health organization said it's unknown exactly how it spread. >> this is of grave concern for

us internationally in w.h.o., because there are so many unknowns around the very russ which has killed 55% of the confirmed cases. >> reporter: clusters of cases have been transmitted between family members or in health care setting. and it may have initially passed from animals to humans. >> the original host, the original reservoir for the virus in sars was a bat. and we think based on our analysis of the sequence of this virus, that it also originated in a bat. >> where? >> well, probably somewhere in the middle east. >> reporter: while the virus has spread from the middle east to some european countries, no cases have been reported in the u.s. while the world health organization is concerned about the potential for the virus, that concern shouldn't deter travelers. >> i don't think we should be concerned in terms of travel to the middle east, or to anywhere in the world right now. but to just be aware of it. most of the cases and illnesses have been associated with the

elderly, and those with preexisting or severe underlying medical conditions. >> and in the cases that have been found in eight countries, all have been linked back to the middle east. wolf? >> mary snow, thank you. let's bring back one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases, dr. anthony fauci is still with us. how worried are you, dr. fauci, about this virus? >> well, as dr. lipkin said, you always need to be concerned when you have an emerging new infection. and you don't know what direction it's taking. important point to bring out, is that although there are family clusters, there's not what we call sustained person-to-person transmissability. we hope it stays that way, or just disappears the way sars did ten years ago, wolf. but we don't know that. there's always the uncertainty, which is the reason why you have to be very vigilant in tracking

and following this. so when you say concerned, whenever you have a new and emerging infection, in this case, this now middle east coronavirus, this novel virus, you have to keep an eye on it very, very carefully. we don't know where it's coming from, as dr. lipkin said very correctly, if you look at the molecular structure, it likely originated from a bat. but we don't know if there's a secondary host, where the bat infected another animal. and that's the reason why people in the middle east have gotten infected. we still have to figure that out. we don't know that. >> doctors don't even know, correct me if i'm wrong, dr. fauci, how people are getting this disease. i assume that makes it much harder to fight? >> that is absolutely correct, wolf. we don't know how people are getting it. you can assume if it's directly from a bat, that it is exposure to a bat. but if there's a secondary host, a secondary animal like a

mammal, you don't really understand, because there's no direct ep edeem logically link of transmissability from the animal host to the human. there are just these cases that have popped up first in the middle east and then some cases that have actually traveled from the middle east to other countries like the uk, like tunisia, like france and other places, where they've actually had people in those european and other countries who got infected in the middle east and then came back, and there have been some, what we call family clusters of people who are very, very closely related to the individuals, either in a family or even in a health care setting, but again, to emphasize, sustained person-to-person transmission has not occurred. thank goodness. >> let's hope it doesn't. the united nations world health organization, as you know, says this is, and i'm quoting now, a threat to the entire world. here's the question for you, dr. fauci. how big of a threat right now

should we see this in the united states, within the united states, if it went from the middle east to europe, could it come here? >> well, it could come here, wolf, if someone has been in the middle east and gotten infected and came here, and a case came up. that would not surprise me. the thing that, again, to reemphasize is there has not been sustained person-to-person transmissability. although it's a threat, we don't know the degree of the threat. because if it's acting the way it's acting now and doesn't change. but if it assumes the capability of going more readily from person-to-person, that's what you need to be concerned about. but there's no way at all, wolf, where you can now predict the likelihood of whether that's going to happen or not. >> dr. fauci, as usual, whenever there's an issue like this, we come to you. thank you very much for your expertise. >> you're quite welcome, wolf. up next, even veterans of

the world's most famous terrorist groups have to answer to their bosses. al qaeda tells a jihadist to, quote, file his expense accounts reports. can the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, hold on to his job. the republicans are turning up the heat about the administration's snooping on journalists. ♪ ♪ 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. ♪ i love [ male announcer ] the all-new chevrolet impala. chevrolet. find new roads. ♪ you chevrolet. find new roads. and didn't know where to start. used a contractor before at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading.

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the repairs are guaranteed for life. so call... to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? now growing questions about whether eric holder can hold on to his job as the attorney general of the united states. he's launching a review of the justice department's controversial investigation into leaks of sensitive classified information. but republicans and other critics say he's a big part of the problem, in an administration that's been aggressively snooping on journalists. jim acosta is following this story for us. what's the latest, jim? >> despite growing concerns over the justice department's investigations of journalists, white house officials say president obama is still confident, still has confidence in attorney general eric holder. that is despite the fact that

house republicans are ramping up their pressure, questioning whether holder told the truth at a congressional hearing earlier this month. at a hearing on the recent revelation that the justice department had seized the phone records of associated press reporters, attorney general eric holder was asked a crucial hypothetical question, whether journalists could be prosecuted for espionage. holder gave this response under oath. >> with regard to the potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of the material, that is not something that i've ever been involved in, or heard of, or would think would be a wise policy. >> but roughly one week after that testimony, the justice department acknowledged holder was involved, in the decision to seek a search warrant for the private e-mails of fox news reporter james rosen. an fbi affidavit used to obtain it, called him an aider and abetter or co-conspirator in disclosing government secrets in a 2009 news story. republicans on the house

judiciary committee are conducting an investigation into the attorney general's testimony. saying the rosen case seems to be at odds with your sworn testimony. >> the testimony that he gave did not limit itself to a prosecution of a reporter. it was broader than that. and therefore, it seems to be contradicted by the facts. >> reporter: the white house press secretary jay carney stated rosen wasn't the one being prosecuted. >> is it the administration's opinion that the attorney general testify truthfully at that hearing? >> based on what he said, he testified truthly. i think every published report, the attorney general talked about prosecution. extremely large distinction between, you know, what's at issue here and prosecution. >> there are legitimate questions about the truth of holder's testimony. >> reporter: but constitutional law professor, a fierce critic of the bush administration, said

holder should resign. >> what eric holder did is he crossed a line, a very important one. he endangered a free press. if eric holder were a rational actor, he would resign. he's damaged goods. i'm not sure why he would want to keep limping along. if he refuses to go, he needs to be fired. >> reporter: president obama offered holder his full support. >> i have complete confidence in eric holder as attorney general. >> reporter: that hasn't changed. >> do you still have confidence in this attorney general? >> he absolutely does, yes. >> the justice department confirms the attorney general be meeting with the washington bureau chiefs of several national organizations to talk about these investigations of journalists. but holder has asked that those meetings be kept off the record. meanwhile, the attorney general has hired a new spokesman over at the justice department, wolf. that is a sign that he is staffing ip and not stepping down. >> jim acosta, thanks very, very

much. a terrorist is in trouble with his bosses. we have the story of an al qaeda leader who won't answer his phone or file his expense reports. also, we're hearing from another daughter of the arizona woman accused of drug smuggling in mexico. her family calls it a setup. [ indistinct conversations ] [ pizza dodging man's mouth ] ♪ ♪

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the story of a top al qaeda operative in africa. he has a fearsome reputation as a fighter but turns out, guess what, he's a huge headache for the people on his own side. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us now with details. what's going on here, barbara.

>> >> well, look, wolf, we all know al qaeda has a long history of ruthless killing. but there's no evidence they also have everyday problems. the notorious jihadist of north africa is a lousy employee. his bosses, the leaders of al qaeda's branch in the region, sent an extraordinary letter detailing his shortcomings. >> in the letter, they air out the dirty laundry. >> reporter: the letter found by the associated press in north africa, pulls no punches. the al qaeda makes clear in their world of terrorists, they are not happy with his performance. they complain he didn't answer the phone, failed to turn in expense reports, ignored meetings, and refused to carry out orders. belmokhtar just wants to be head

of his own company. >> he was part of the corporate board, think of it that way. but he saw them as all, and i hate to use the word, but prima donas who are not capable of doing the job better than he can. >> reporter: he did break away from the rest of al qaeda in north africa and then he launched new attacks, claiming responsibility for a deadly raid on a british petroleum plant in algeria, and an army barracks and uranium plant. make no mistake, experts say this guy is very dangerous. belmoktar appears determined to continue attacking western business and economic targets in north africa, and that he's got the money, manpower and grass roots support across a wide swath of the region to carry it all out. wolf? >> just when you think you know a lot about these terrorist organizations, something like this pops up. all right, barbara, thanks for sharing. appreciate it very much. up next, an american woman's

nightmare inside a mexican jail. i'll talk to her daughter about the fight to free her. her family said she's facing bogus drug charges. hcare. by earning your degree 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. like other precious things that start off white, it yellows over time. when it comes to your smile, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest whitestrips whiten as well as $500 professional treatments. guaranteed. crest 3d white whitestrips.

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happening now, breaking news. poisoned letters threatening new york city's mayor, michael bloomberg. we have new details from police on tests that show traces of ricin. a woman facing drug charges in a mexican court today. she said she's been set up. i'll speak live with her daughter. and how do you spell difficult. new rules are challenging contestants in the national spelling bee. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the "situation room." this is cnn breaking news. this hour.o the breaking news - the new york city police department now saying that letters that contained traces of the poison ricin were sent to

the new york city mayor michael bloomberg. mary snow's got the latest for us. update our viewers on the breaking news, mary. >> wolf, the new york city police department said preliminary tests show traces of ricin. the fbi says it's investigating. according to the nypd, one letter was opened in new york city on friday, and the other was opened on sunday in washington, d.c., by the director of mayors against illegal guns. that's an organization co-founded by mayor bloomberg. we don't know what the letter said, but the nypd said they did make references to the debate on gun laws. bloomberg has been an outspoken advocate of gun control laws. a law enforcement official tells cnn that both letters had the same postmark. the official would not identify the location of that postmark other than to say it was not d.c. or new york city. investigators, according to this

official, are checking leads in the city where the letters were postmarked. >> very worrisome stuff. especially if some symptoms are already being exhibited by some of those who may have come in contact with those letters. mary, stand by. joining us on the phone right now is cnn's national security correspondent fran. how commonly is ricin used out there and the problems that could result from this? >> wolf, we ought to start by saying that as mary reported, that the preliminary test has shown positive for ricin, and as we often know in these field tests, these drug tests, the preliminary results are oftentimes not confirmed. so we'll have to wait to see the final lab report. ricin is a sort of easily constructed poisonous substance. its basic component is from crushed cherry pits, if you can

imagine. and it is a poison that you have to come in contact with. and it enters your blood stream through your pores. we know that it has been used by al qaeda, and al qaeda cells in the past. we know that the recipe for it is, you know, it's another one of these things that's easily available on the internet. and intraining -- al qaeda training manuals. again, you know, they'll be working the clues, that is, what was in the letter, what was the postmark, and all the sorts of things that mary reported that, you know, they're going to follow those leads, where these letters were postmarked from. but again, we should remind people, these are preliminary test results and we'll have to wait to see whether or not laboratories actually confirm those test results. >> apparently the letter also contains direct threats to the mayor, and a lot of us remember, and you remember, of course,

very much a decade or so ago after 9/11, the deadly anthrax letters that were mailed out to government officials, some in the media, and that's a very different substance, anthrax, as opposed to ricin. they're reviewing it now, as you say, at the bioforensic analysis center in maryland. what will they be looking for specifically? >> the lab itself will look to see the strength of the compound, how competently was this poison constructed, if in fact they confirm it's ricin. in the meantime, the fbi will look for things like fingerprints. people who naturally handled the mail, naturally will have fingerprints on it. they'll try to identify those, eliminate people who would have legitimately had contact with it, and see if they can't get some forensics, whether it's dna, if you lick an envelope, whether there's hair or fingerprints, anything forensically that they can get

off these letters or the envelopes associated with them, to try and help them identify who would have been targeting and threatening the mayor. >> in the end of the statement that the new york city deputy police commissioner, paul brown, released a little while ago, he said the fbi joint terrorism task force and nypd intelligence division, which is responsible for the mayor's protection, are investigating the threats. what does it say to you that the joint terrorism task force is part of this investigations right now? >> it's actually the easiest mechanism here in new york city to coordinate between the state and federal government. you've got the joint terrorism task force has both local nypd investigators, and feds, from across the federal family, it's housed over at the fbi and led by an fbi agent. but they have access to all of the federal agencies, including intelligence from the c.i.a. let's remember, dave cohen, the deputy nypd commissioner for intelligence is a former very

senior operative with the intelligence agency early in his career. so this is a very sophisticated capability. they will look at the prior threats against the mayor, prior intelligence they may have on the use of ricin in the city by groups who may have targeted or threatened the mayor. >> i'm worried about some officials who may have come into contact with this letter. according to the statement put out by the new york city police department, they are being examined for minor symptoms of ricin exposure, that they experienced on saturday. but which have since abated. i hope they're going to be okay. i hope everyone's going to be okay. fran, thanks very much for that analysis. we'll, of course, have much more on this story as more information comes in. once again, a very worrisome story. two threatening letters to the mayor of new york city, now being further investigated after preliminarily being tested positive for the poison, ricin. other news we're following, she's an american, a mother and

a mormon. right now, she's in mexico. she's fighting to get out of jail and clear her name. her claim that she's been framed, getting attention around the world right now. joining us now right now are her daughter, brenda, and her son-in-law, sal, joining us from jordan, where they live. to both of you, thanks very much. i see your baby there with you. baby boy just three weeks ago. your mom, brenda, was there when your baby was born. what's the latest information you're hearing from mexico about your mom's condition? >> the latest information that we've heard so far is that yesterday they took, the court trial yesterday, about my mom being able to testify at her own will, and having also witnesses testify of her getting on the bus with nothing in her hands.

that was the latest, what we've heard. i know today they were going to talk to the military officials. >> and sal, your mom was there after the baby was born. the baby that you're holding in your arms right now. this must be so emotionally difficult for you and for brenda right now. walk us through what's going on. >> well, you know, we got the phone call originally that my father-in-law was going to be the one imprisoned. then that was just devastating to hear as well. because, i mean, just to be put in that situation, where you don't know what's going on, and we're so far away. and we just saw them. and then to hear, no, it's going to be my mother-in-law, it's heartbreaking for my wife, you know. and she was in tears. and just scared. you're scared. you don't know what's going to happen. she's been to mexico so many

times. they made that trip so many times. you never think in your wildest imagination that this is going to happen. it's just kind of very scary to think that if things weren't to work out, and, you know, she was to be incarcerated for so many years, it would be scary to know that her granddaughter right here wouldn't be able to see her and she wouldn't be able to watch her granddaughter, or grandson grow up. and it's very -- it's a frightening thought. but our hopes and prayers, and we're still thankful for all the help we've been getting, all the media, all the attention that we've been able to spread the news about her being a great woman, a great mother, and even greater grandmother. we're just hoping and praying to see her soon and be able to be there with her when she's freed. that's all i'm saying right now. and we're very hopeful that the judge will see it in her favor.

we're just very thankful that we're, you know, being -- this is being heard, and we're being heard. >> brenda, i spoke to your sister the other day, and she talked about your mom and told us a little bit about her. a mother of seven, and a grandmother as we see right there. tell us a little bit about your mom. what's she like, and why you believe this notion that she was trying to smuggle in, you know, ten pounds, or 12 pounds of marijuana into the united states is outrageous? >> it's very outrageous. my mom, you know, she does have seven children, two grandchildren. and it's just -- it's unbelief, honestly. her whole life, she's just been raising us, as a single parent. you know, me, my sister and my brother. and she's just a wonderful mom.

and a wonderful grandma. she would never jeopardize her life for, you know, to lose this. to lose her family. it's -- yeah. >> sal, you know your mother-in-law. you know her obviously well. is it even conceivable, within your furthest imagination, that she could be trying to smuggle drugs into the united states from mexico? >> not ever. you know, i've known my mother-in-law for quite some time now. and she is a great woman. you know, she would do anything for anyone, if you asked it of her. if we were back home, we would probably be over at her house every night, for dinner. and she's just a great supporter. she always has -- even when we're having issues, you know, with being away from home, she's always been so supportive of us. and it's just -- i could

never -- i know my mother-in-law would never do such a thing. she's very grounded in her morals. she's always been a very good, you know, a very good role model to her daughters. and i'm very thankful for her being my mother as well. my extended mother. and i'm just very thankful that she's -- her grandbaby right here in my arms. we're just praying, and hopeful that everything will go well. and we'll be able to see her soon. it's very sad and disheartened to hear this. >> brenda, i'll ask you the same question i asked your sister the other day. if mexican authorities are watching you, watching this interview right now, speak to them. tell us something about your mom you want to share, and why you think she's got to get out of that prison very quickly, and let her come back to the united states. >> she has to get out of that prison very quick, not only

because her family misses her, she also needs to be with my younger brother. my younger brother still needs her guidance. he's still in high school. and her grandkids are going to need her. i still need her. you know? being a new mom. i still need her advice. her guidance. you know, we heard the minimum is ten years. ten years is a whole life span. it's just -- you know, we don't have that time. ten years to be separated from your own mother. i just can't imagine that. i wouldn't want to be separated from my own daughter. so, please, to the officials in mexico, to please do your part, and really investigate.

because i know my mom has nothing to do with those illegal drugs. >> well, our hearts go out to you, go out to the entire family, sal, and brenda, and your beautiful baby. we hope only the best. we will stay on top of this story and make sure our viewers in the united states and around the world know exactly what's going on. good luck to both of you, brenda and sal. let's hope for the best. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. we'll take a quick break. more news right after this. i want to make things more secure.

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mary snow is here, has some of the day's top stories. what's going on, mary? >> wolf, for naep who appreciates country ham, the smithfield brand is instantly recognized. now the virginia-based company is being sold to a chinese meat producer that's paying $4.7 billion in cash. the deal is subject to review by u.s. regulators. if approved, it will be the largest chinese takeover of the u.s. company. rhode island governor is switching parties, again. democratic sources tell cnn chapian intends to seek a second term as a democrat rather than an independent. and how is this for breaking news. a correspondent in maine was getting ready to do a live report on the search for a missing man, when that man walked up behind him.

73-year-old robert mcdoneo who suffers from dementia hadn't been seen for 14 hours. fortunately he's okay. >> mary, thank you. still ahead, the national spelling bee isn't just about spelling anymore. we're going to see how contestants are coping with some brand-new rules. ♪

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the annual spelling bee and guess what? it's become even harder. mary snow is back. she's explaining what's going on. mary? >> wolf, think you have trouble spelling?

how about doing it on national tv with $30,000 on the line? it's what nearly 300 elementary and junior high school students are doing this week. and this time they're facing a new challenge. 281 spellers started on this stage. >> singular noun. >> i had this word last time i was here. >> reporter: for a few, the pel tolled. but before the third to eighth graders made it to the big stage, they went behind this door alone. to face down these computers and a brand new twist in the 86-year-old scripps spelling bee. >> i was only concerned about the spelling at first. but then the vocabulary came along. i thought this is going to be harder than i thought. >> reporter: for the first time, preliminary rounds demand not

only students know how to spell words but also know what some of them mean. this boy was minutes away from taking his test. >> i know this. my parents have always been telling me to calm down, take it easy. keep calm and spell. but that's all i can do, really. use everything that i've learned. >> reporter: afterwards -- >> it was multiple choice. so whether in doubt, go with c. i'm kidding. but i think i did well. >> reporter: and with knowing words like -- [ inaudible ] >> he has good reason to be confident and he made it through the first round on stage. bellicose. >> reporter: the point of the change, the organizers say, is to focus on more than just spelling.

>> this is all about a very demonstratable effort to inspire children to learn vocabulary as they participate in our program. >> reporter: more education or not, a rule change this big announced just seven weeks before the super bowl of spelling is causing some students a lot of stress. >> i'm not saying it's a bad change. i think they should have announced this for next year's bee instead of right before nationals. everyone is already stressed out enough right now. so i adding a whole other layer of competition on it kind of -- yeah, it really freaks people out. >> wolf, get this. the 12-year-old boy we met in the piece spent four to five hours a day for two months studying for the bee. and he's memorized the spelling and definition for 5,000 words. sadly, though, it wasn't enough. we just learned this hour that he won't be advancing to the semifinals. but, wolf, i'm very sure he has

a very bright future ahead of him. >> no doubt about that. he was a very, very impressive young man. mary, thanks very much. if you're wondering why i'm in new york today, here's why. i had the privilege of giving the commencement address at hunter college, part of the city university of new york here at radio city music hall today. it was really, really a moving experience for me to see all these wonderful young graduates of hunter college. so many of them have gone through so much to get where they are right now. i was so impressed with the class of 2013. the president of hunter college, jennifer rab who is a wonderful, wonderful host as well. thank you, hunter college. jeannie moos is next. [ male announcer ] running out of steam? ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle.

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jeannie moos has proof it's better to keep your hands to yourself. >> reporter: beyonce may be celebrated for her booty, but she almost had to boot out a fan for celebrating it a little too much. it happened at a concert in copenhagen. she was interacting with fans. she shared her mike with a guy then as she started to walk away, he gave her rear a little slap. >> she walked away. we're not sure whether the butt slapper went or stayed. fans captured the swat from all angles and debated it online. if you don't want it slapped, girlfriend, stop flaunting it in their faces versus just because she performs for a living doesn't give you the right to

violate her space. reporters wanting to ask beyonce about the butt grab might as well butt out number comment was all her record label would say. now beyonce is no stranger to administering a little booty love. her dancers and getting it from her husband jay z. she seemed to reward jay z for his playful pat. not so playful is how some overexcited fans acted in belgrade, serbia, pulling her hair and touching her face. earlier this month the fan rushed the stage where justin bieber was seated at the piano. security instantly jumped in, knocking down the piano and the scuffle while justin calmly walked away performing. and who could forget will smith when a ukrainian prankster tried to kiss him. >> come on man, what is the hell is your problem. >> i'm sorry, will. >> it's just awkward, dave.

>> reporter: oddest of all is when britney spears invited a guy on stage so she could perform a pole dance on him. he bit her. bit britney spears. and now the per son fiction of booty lishsness -- >> my body is too bootylicious for you. >> and to just turn the other cheek. jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, breaking news. a letter sent to new york city mayor michael bloomberg tests positive for the poison ricin. another letter also tests positive. plus, the mysterious death of a star quarterback and the call he made to his family before he vanished. plus, an american woman remains in a mexican jail