>> don't listen to the judge and the courts and everything. you've got it, show it off. you only live once. >> it's a pretty inspirational message from a very unlikely place. that's it for us. thanks for watching. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com may is for mayhem, weather wreaking havoc tras the country, tornadoes, dust storm, heat wave. we'll tell you when and where to prepare. a shocking arrest in the explosion that rattled disney's toontown. a park employee now behind bars. and tears, disbelief and rage. the american grandmother jailed in mexico, accused of drug smuggling, speaks out from behind bars, first on cnn. and high-flying descent. incredible video this morning as a b.a.s.e. jumper leaps off mt. everest. >> oh, my goodness!

crazyville! >> wow. >> that is an awesome picture. good morning. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans this thursday, may 30th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. developing this morning, a persistent, unrelenting threat of severe weather in parts of the country already torn up by tornadoes. we could see more dangerous storms today. meteorologist inarea petersons following all of us for us. good morning. >> good morning. storms have hit the country hard this week, and unfortunately, there is more on the way. storms raged from texas all the way to new england and had nearly half of the country in the danger zone. and in texas, dangerous hail and fierce winds causing many to worry. >> look at this hail! we're going to have broken windows. >> reporter: this video was shot in corinth, texas. look at the hail bouncing off of the ground. the diamondbacks and rangers game postponed wednesday night when heavy rain and lightning moved in very quickly.

the ground crew struggled to gain control as heavy winds ripped the tarp right out of their hands. in amarillo, texas, heavy wind gusts were blamed for blowing down this iconic billboard, ripping its post from the ground. owners of the business watched as the 30-year-old sign fell to the ground. >> my sales associate actually went to open up the overhead door to get ready for them because the winds were really strong and then we heard him holler, so we all came running and that's when we saw the billboard actually falling down. >> reporter: these residents in truxton, new york, south of syracuse, had a close call trying to get a glimpse of the storm from their back porch. >> i was trying to film, and all of a sudden, a tree cracked down right above us, and i told her, we've got to run inside. >> it was crazy. i mean, all around us is just trees and glass and everything. it's nuts. >> reporter: just as crazy, floodwaters caught on this surveillance video from tuesday. torrential rain caused flooding that burst down the doors at an illinois college.

and all that wild weather continues again today, the northeast bracing for what could be a heat wave. temperatures really going up. and look at these temperature jumps, 15, even 16 degrees from just yesterday. keep in mind, just two days ago they were seeing temperatures in the 60s with rain out there. so, what we're looking at, a heat wave. we have three days of 90-degree temperatures out there, and it looks like, yep, we're getting pretty hot out there. new york today looking for 91 degrees, boston so close, 89 degrees, and it looks like towards d.c., 90 there, but of course, add the humidity to that and that really gives it that hot, sticky feeling. speaking of that hot, humid air, really big trouble-maker for us still today, all that hot, humid air continuing to mix with the dry air behind it, all that mixing with the low, and of course, the jet stream really fueling the severe weather. we have that threat again for you today. it looks like a good 15 million of you still under the slight risk for severe weather. again, today switching a little bit farther to the east, so the severe weather threat extends now from iowa through missouri and all the way through texas. we'll continue to monitor this through the day. we saw tornadoes yesterday and today, another threat out there

as well. >> crazy stuff, and it is hot here, indra. >> oh, yeah. >> downright hot. >> in here, too. >> thanks, indra, appreciate it. two letters containing threats against new york city mayor michael bloomberg have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. one was addressed to the mayor, opened at a new york city mail center, and several police officers who came in contact are reportedly being treated now as a precaution. the other letter was opened by mark glaze in washington. he is the director of mayors against illegal guns, an organization founded and financed by michael bloomberg. >> the letter was obviously referred to our antigun efforts, but there's 12,000 people who are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 are going to commit suicide with guns, and we're not going to walk away from those efforts. >> both letters were postmarked from shreveport, louisiana, according to the american postal workers union. the fbi now investigating. new information this morning in that explosion at disneyland's toontown. a disneyland employee being held

on $1 million bail in connection with that blast. police arrested 22-year-old christian barnes, charging him with possessing an explosive device. they believe he's responsible for a dry ice blast that sent guests running for the exits. cnn's sara sidner now with more. >> reporter: disneyland's toontown turned into a ghost town after an improvised explosive device went off in a trash can on tuesday. >> it was loud. it startled us, you know. we kind of ducked and looked up, and i looked a little higher than the ground to see what was going on. >> reporter: crowds evacuated as the bomb squad responded. not the kind of scene visitors ever expected to encounter. police say no one was hurt, but they did discover evidence of a small explosion. >> when our officers arrived, they found the remnants of a water bottle, which is kind of indicative of a dry ice type explosion. >> reporter: that's right, this stuff, dry ice, often used for special effects. it turns out, exploding dry ice bombs is a popular form of fun in some circles. if you don't believe me, just check out all the videos on

youtube. >> we're going to show you how to make a dry ice bomb. >> reporter: and the results when they do. what the videos don't tell you is that creating and detonating an ice bomb is a crime. you could be charged with a felony if you're caught. 22-year-old christian barnes, a vending cast member at disneyland, is being held on $1 million bail on suspicion of possessing and detonating an explosive device. >> there is potential any time this occurs for there to be injury, there is potential for someone to get injured to the point where they lose their life, and that's why the charges are so serious. >> reporter: disneyland officials say barnes had the dry ice in his vending cart where he sells items that need to be kept cold. police say that barnes is cooperating. across the country in disney world's animal kingdom, a grandmother found a loaded gun on the seat of the dinosaur ride as she boarded with her grandson. the gun owner said he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon but told authorities that he didn't realize that guns are not allowed in the park.

the happiest places on earth turning scary for some visitors until both situations were under control. sara sidner, cnn, anaheim, california. six minutes after the hour right now. and if president obama can't figure out a way how to work with republicans, he's hoping at least to out-number them next year. the president in chicago last night for a democratic fund-raiser. he says while washington appears to be broken, he's holding out hope it can be fixed, and if the gridlock remains, he says there's always plan "b." >> if day in, day out, what we confront is obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism, then we've got to figure out a way to work around that. and one of the best ways to work around it is to have a democratic house of representatives. [ cheers and applause ] >> roughly 150 people paid up to $5,000 apiece to hear the president speak about gun control, education, infrastructure and climate change at a private fund-raiser afterward, a little more exclusive, couples paid up to

$32,000 each to dine with the commander in chief. new word this morning that president obama will nominate a former high-ranking bush official to run the fbi. james comey served as deputy attorney general under president george w. bush. he would replace robert mueller, who's stepping down as fbi director in september. cnn's brianna keilar has more on comey, who nine years ago played a major role in one of the most dramatic episodes of the bush administration. >> reporter: like a scene out of a hollywood thriller, a critically ill attorney general is in intensive care at a washington hospital. two of the president's top aides rush to his bedside, hoping to pressure him to sign off on a secret wiretapping program the night before it's set to expire. this was real, though, and what happened that night, march 10th, 2004, put james comey, president obama's pick for his next fbi director, in the headlines. >> i was very upset. i was angry.

i thought i had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man. >> reporter: comey was attorney general john ashcroft's deputy, and with ashcroft very sick, comey was the acting attorney general when then white house counsel alberto gonzales and chief of staff andrew card visited ashcroft's hospital room, a last-ditch effort to get his endorsement of a warrantless eavesdropping program he thought was illegal. comey caught wind of it and ordered his driver to speed through the streets of washington, sirens blaring, and beat them there. >> attorney general ashcroft then stunned me. he lifted his head off the pillow, and in very strong terms expressed his view of the matter and then laid his head back down on the pillow, seemed spent and said to them, "but that doesn't matter because i'm not the attorney general." >> reporter: cnn contributor fran townsend was one of president bush's top national security advisers at the time. >> this is a man with a very

strong sense, internal sense of right and wrong and what is appropriate, and he's going to follow that sort of moral compass. >> reporter: as a federal prosecutor, comey handled the khobar towers terrorist bombing case following the 1996 attack on a u.s. military facility in saudi arabia that killed 19 service members. he also took on the mafia, putting john gambino behind bars as well as the diva of domesticity. comey brought charges against martha stewart and found her guilty of insider trading. michele bachmann has a trial date. the lawsuit against her will go to court in may of next year. it claims bachmann stole and misused an e-mail distribution list from an iowa home-school group during her failed 2012 presidential campaign. the plaintiffs say they suffered emotional distress and loss of business opportunities after the bachmann campaign sent two unapproved e-mails to the iowa christian home educations network. so, incredible, new video you need to see this morning.

a b.a.s.e. jumper leaping off of mt. everest. holy cow! 48-year-old russian valery rozov made the jump on may 5th to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of everest. the feat took four years of planning, four days of arduous trekking and only one minute for the actual jump, not to mention a giant set of guts. in that 60 seconds, he reached speeds of 125 miles per hour, soaring down more than 23,000 feet. that's four miles. that's a long way and that's fast. this seasoned daredevil made nearly 10,000 jumps, including one into an active volcano, so he knows what he's doing, but he says this one was particularly tough, both physically and mentally. >> two years of planning, four days to get up there, one minute to come down. >> and a giant set of guts, as we like to say. >> i didn't know that guts came in sets. >> they don't, but my other options weren't so tenable. coming up, her desperate, terrifying cries for help. first on cnn, the american

grandmother jailed in mexico' accused of smuggling drugs tells her side of the story. why she believes thoferts aauthe trying to frame her. and aerosmith, james taylor, even new kids on the block, some of boston's biggest music icons, all, all on stage to rock out for a good cause. >> "dream on," baby. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. how can i help you? oh, you're real? you know i'm real! at discover, we're always here to talk. good, 'cause i don't have time for machines. some companies just don't appreciate the power of conversation! you know, i like you! i like you too! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and talk to a real person. it's not a candy bar. 130 calories 7 grams of protein

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let's get started at capella.edu. good morning. welcome back. the american woman accused of trying to smuggle 12 pounds of marijuana is frommexican jail. the soldiers who arrested yanira maldonado were supposed to appear in court wednesday, but defense attorneys say they never showed up. hearings in the case will resume tomorrow. cnn's rafael romo is the first reporter to interview maldonado in jail. he has more from nogales, mexico. >> reporter: yanira maldonado was emotional from the moment she saw us, escorted into the prison administrator's office to be interviewed.

>> i'm not a criminal. i'm just here by mistake because people are not doing their work. this is not right. i need to be back with my family. i need to be out of here. i need to get home. >> reporter: maldonado and her husband were returning by bus from the funeral of her aunt when mexican soldiers stopped the vehicle at this checkpoint. passengers were taken off and the bus searched. the soldiers said they found several packages of marijuana under her seat, 5.7 kilos, more than 12 pounds, and she says asked her to pay $5,000. >> it's a lie what they're saying. and they say they found something under my seat, but i never said anything, they didn't show me anything. it was just amazing all what they did. >> reporter: maldonado says authorities did not make it clear at first that she was a suspect, but she knew she was in

trouble when federal agents started questioning her husband and her. >> i was in shock when they said that it was me, because first they said that it was my husband. >> reporter: taken into mexican federal custody, she was transferred to this state prison last friday where she is being held in a temporary cell away from other inmates. family members have been allowed brief visits. now, your husband, gary, and your children, are going to be listening to this and watching you. what do you want to tell them? >> that i love them very much, that i'm going -- that they know that i'm innocent. >> reporter: and that belief is also held by a mexican state official with extensive knowledge of the case who told cnn it would have been almost impossible for her to carry that much marijuana on to the bus without someone noticing. >> they have cameras on the terminal in the bus, and they haven't checked that.

why they don't check for fingerprints? i don't have -- my fingerprints are not in those package or on the package or whatever they're saying that they found. >> reporter: maldonado says she has not been mistreated, but she's rethinking the advice she used to give friends about traveling to mexico on vacation. >> i used to tell people, come to mexico. it's not true what they're saying. i go every year to visit my family, and look what's happening to me now. >> reporter: all this devout mormon can do now, she says, is pray. rafael romo, cnn, nogales, mexico. >> i need to get out of here, she says. 18 minutes after the hour. new this morning, seven people are dead after a tractor-trailer collided with a minivan in upstate new york. police say the trailer disconnected and struck the minivan, which was headed in the opposite direction on a two-lane highway near syracuse last night. seven of the eight people in the minivan were killed. the police officer killed in what a state trooper called an obvious ambush will be laid to rest today.

kentucky officer jason ellis was shot and killed over the weekend, but it's not clear if he was the intended target. the police chief in bardstown promising to avenge his death. before the funeral today, police will hold a news conference and may announce a reward in that case. a not guilty plea by a 12-year-old california boy charged with stabbing his little sister to death. 8-year-old leila fowler was found murdered in her home last month. her brother is due back in court at the end of july. that's when a trial date will be set. a florida islamic group is calling for an independent investigation following reports that ibrahim todashev was unarmed when he was fatally shot by an fbi agent. todashev was a friend of boston bombing suspect tamerlan tsarnaev. todashev was shot and killed last week in orlando after allegedly attacking the agent during questioning. the fbi conducting an internal investigation. some famous boston natives will share the stage tonight at a benefit concert for the marathon bombing victims. steven tyler of aerosmith will

be among the headliners. james taylor will also perform along with a lot of other musicians and comedians, new kids on the block, jay giles band. awesome, awesome lineup. proceeds will support the one fund boston charity, established to help those most affected by the bombings. all right, coming up, new information in the dramatic rescue of that newborn baby from a sewer pipe in china. why the mom will not be charged by police. i don't make any decisions about who to hire without going to angie's list first.

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good morning. welcome back. "minding your business" this morning. all these record highs in stocks have investors a little nervous. the dow fell more than 100 points yesterday. futures are flat this morning. the market is really being dominated by the federal reserve. there's more talk of the fed dialing back its massive stimulus program, $85 billion a month is going straight into the economy from the fed. the boston fed president yesterday said that policymakers stand ready to increase or decrease that stimulus program. big question -- is the economy ready for that? today we'll get some answers. the second reading on first-quarter gross domestic product comes at 8:30 a.m. it was 2.5%, was the annual pace the economy grew last month when that number came out, good, but not good enough. also watching tokyo today. its main stock market, the nikkei, plunged 5%. >> big. >> that's a big move. the nikkei down now 10% from its peak just a week ago. that's officially a correction. >> in a week? 10% in a week? >> in a week. that's a big move there. a lot could be riding, though, here on that gdp report at 8:30,

so i think that's going to give us the direction for stocks today in the u.s. an american company being bought by the chinese for nearly $5 billion. smithfield is the world's largest pork processor. last year, a chinese company bought movie chain amc, but this is the biggest deal yet of a chinese company buying an american company lock, stock and barrel. smithfield pork will still be produced in the u.s. analysts say this deal is more about getting our pork to china because, quite frankly, there is a veracious appetite figuratively and literally in china for raw food goods. this has to be reviewed, though, by the u.s. government for national security and economic security reasons. they have to look. any time there is a big purchase, but from the chinese of a big american company, they have to look at that as well. >> $5 billion is a lot of bacon. >> it is a lot of bacon, yes, it is. >> 25 minutes after the hour. coming up, twisters tearing through the plains, relentless and dangerous. we will tell you who is in the bull's eye this morning. and new information this morning on that newborn baby

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dangerous storms rumbling across the country, tornadoes tearing down buildings, flash floods leaving communities under water, and there's a lot more on the way today. happening now, one of the men accused of butchering a soldier on the street faces a judge. we are live. and a new mystery virus spreading like wildfire. no prevention, no cure, and it's killing half the people it infects. the new warning from the world health organization. welcome back to "early start."

i'm christine romans this morning. >> and i'm john berman. 29 minutes after the hour. right now we'll start with the dangerous weather threat. it is growing this morning, and really, a lot of states are in its path. many of those states are the very same ones that were dealt such a severe weather blow just a week ago. people in central and southeastern michigan surveying the damage after tornadoes destroyed homes and uprooted trees last night. unfortunately, more is on the way. >> in illinois, security cameras captured the moment, the very moment a flash flood just about ripped the doors off a college building. >> look at that. >> this happened at carl sandburg college. the rushing water was so strong, it also tossed the furniture around there. >> and look at this video, weather drama on the field during last night's texas rangers/arizona diamondbacks game. the rangers grounds crew rushing to try to get a tarp on the field, really struggling to control it. i've never seen anything like this, and i watch a lot of baseball. suddenly, rain, wind and lightning moved in. the weather, as you can imagine, definitely postponed the game. >> wow! look at them trying struggle to get a hold of that tarp.

>> that's crazy. >> seems to be no help for the storm-weary. >> indra petersons is tracking all of this for us, outside in the heat. >> hard to believe. it's 5:30 in the morning and already a little sticky, about 75 degrees in new york. don't let the fog fool you, 70 degrees, 70% humidity and we have another about 20 degrees to warm up today. that's what it's going to feel like today in the northeast. let's look at the maps. we're expecting a heat wave, three days of temperatures in the 90-degree mark. that's a big jump. look at these temperatures, up about 15 degrees from yesterday, 16 from yesterday, definitely a lot of heat out there. let's go ahead and click to the next map, if we have that for we're talking about, yes, 90s. new york 91 today, friday, boston looking at the 90s. west virginia all the way to new england continuing to see this warm-up. all right, let's keep these maps moving! we're talking about definitely some severe weather out here. we're looking at the warm, moist air really mixing in with that dry air behind it. so again today, that severe outlook is still going to continue with us. today that severe outlook stretching really kind of

shifting to the east, so today really from iowa down through texas, we're looking for that threat for the severe weather. that's a good 15 million of us. we saw these tornadoes picking up yesterday. similar picture expected today. heavy rain, large hail and the threat for tornadoes. right now we're seeing a slight risk. there is a potential we will upgrade that because we're looking at a lot of instability in the atmosphere, and unfortunately, that means we're going to be staying very vigilant today. we saw what happened just a few weeks ago. just a few minutes can save somebody's life, so the key here is pay attention. >> thank you, indra. important words of warning. barbara has been downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall in mexico, packing 75-mile-an-hour winds. it crashed ashore on the southern pacific coast. barbara could dump up to 20 inches of rain in some spots before dissipating later in the week. the chinese baby rescued from a sewer pipe, a dramatic video seen around the world, is home this morning with his maternal grandparents. the newborn known only as patient 59, was drinking formula as he was nursed back to health at the hospital.

rescuers had to carefully cut the pipe surrounding him in sections in order to get the baby free. so far, police do believe the 22-year-old mother's story, that it was all a terrible accident. >> translator: the girl was at her rental place. that day she felt stomach aches, so she went to the toilet. it was close to her due date and the baby just slid out. >> hmm. so far, no charges have been filed. firefighters and other rescuers involved visited the baby at the hospital and sent clothes, formula, powder and diapers to the family. we're going to have a live report from china on how that baby is doing. that's coming up next hour on "early start." happening now, one of the two prime suspects in last week's brutal hacking death of a british soldier is due in court this hour. 22-year-old michael aid beigeo formally charged with murder yesterday. he and another suspect ran over their victim. frederik pleitgen live from

london. what do we expect to happen in court today, fred? >> hi, good morning, christine. yeah, essentially, this is an arraignment that's going to be happening here. it's not going to take very long. what usually happens is the suspect, in this case michael adebolajo will be asked for his name and place of residence. it will not be much more than that. one of the things authorities are doing here, though, is they want to get everything in this case right. it took a long time for them to file these charges. if you recall the murder of that british soldier, lee rigby, is a week ago, and the charges have just been filed now. one of the reasons, of course, was that after all this happened, there was a standoff with the police and michael adebolajo was shot and was recently released from hospital, but the police is still gathering evidence, which may seem quite strange because there was so much out there, so many videos out there, but they are still asking people to phone in, to give them new details, because they want to make this case air-tight, and that's one of the reasons why it took so long.

so, today's going to be a formality, but then this trial will be done in a very, very professional way, christine. >> what can you tell us about lee rigby? his family has released a statement? >> reporter: yes. his family has released a statement. his fiancee, of course, released a statement as well, saying that she's obviously heartbroken by all of this, that he was a great fiance, them basically talking about their grief, and then, of course, issuing a thank-you to the nation of england, because one of the things that's happened is there's been this big outpouring of support and grief for this family. there's a big sea of flowers at the scene that's over 100 yards long. it is something that many people are comparing with the death of lady diana so long ago, that the outpouring of support is that big. so, they issued their thanks for that. one of the interesting things that's been going on is that the support comes from all sides of the community here in england, of course, from the islamic community as well. >> all right, frederik pleitgen, thank you so much for that

report. staff sergeant robert bales about to plead guilty to the massacre of 16 afghan villagers in order to avoid the death penalty. bales' lawyer says military prosecutors at joint base lewis-mcchord in washington state have agreed to the plea, but a spokesman for the base would only say a plea hearing is set for next week. the gruesome shooting spree last year is considered to be one of the deadliest war crimes by a single u.s. soldier after september 11th. iran is lashing out at senator mccain over his visit to syria to meet with foreign-backed militants. iran's foreign ministry accuses mccain of meddling in syria's internal affairs. a ministry spokesman says mccain's meeting with commanders of armed opposition groups goes against u.s. claims that it is seeking a political solution to the situation in syria. ahead on "early start," a dire warning. health officials say it is their greatest concern on earth right now, a virus with no known cure. it appears to be spreading. we'll tell you who should be concerned, coming up. we used to live with a bear.

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welcome back, everyone. 40 minutes after the hour right now. chaos at costco when a woman with a knife started acting strangely while serving pizza samples in the store. other employees called police to arrive and told the woman to put the knife down. when she refused, they tased her, but she kept coming at them, and that's when the bullets started flying. >> people were screaming and running for the doors, and i said, okay, the guy from behind the counter, the employee like leapt over the counter and ran

out the door. i'm like, well, this is real! so, i think i'm also going to make my exit and just get out of here. >> the 38-year-old woman died. one of the deputies was treated for injuries that may have come from a ricocheting bullet. this morning we're hearing for the first time from the humble hero who helped expose the plot to blow up his high school. 17-year-old truman templeton said he was not the only one aware of fellow student grant acord's bomb-making obsession, but he became increasingly worried that his friend was not just bragging or joking about blowing up the school. truman says when he no longer felt safe at school, he told his mother what he knew. >> the tipping point for me was when i was, you know, just worried about being in school and i thought at that point, okay, this school's supposed to be a safe, secure environment. >> the mother told a law enforcement friend who notified police. during a search of acord's bedroom, police say they found two pipe bombs, two molotov cocktails and explosives made from drain cleaner. >> quite an arsenal. a scary, new warning from

the world health organization about a virus they say could threaten the entire planet. there are already 49 cases of this new strain of a coronavirus in eight countries. there's no prevention, no cure and it's killing half of the people it infects. cnn's mary snow reports. >> reporter: hollywood movies like "contagion" are sobering reminders of the real threat of deadly viruses. >> the average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute. in between, we're touching door knobs, water fountains and each other. >> so, we have the virus, no treatment protocol and no vaccine at this time? >> reporter: reports of a new strain of a coronavirus overseas is nowhere near the movie version of an outbreak. so far, there are no reported cases in the united states. its name, the middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus. the world health organization is calling it a threat to the world. >> this is of grave concern to us here internationally in w.h.o. because there are so many unknowns around the virus which so far has killed 55% of the

confirmed cases. >> reporter: cases have been linked from the middle east to the uk, germany, france and tunisia. so far, 27 people have died with the largest number in saudi arabia. 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. >> reporter: ian lipkin is leading a team of scientists at columbia university to investigate the virus, which is in the same family as sars and the common cold. symptoms include fever and severe respiratory problems. patients have also developed pneumonia and kidney failure. officials have found some clusters of cases where the disease has been transmitted between family members or in a health care setting. researchers are looking at whether it was 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 and the sequence of this virus that it also originated in a bat. >> reporter: where? >> well, probably somewhere in the middle east. >> reporter: health officials don't know much about how the virus spreads, but at this point, travel warnings have not been issued. >> 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 pre-existing or severe underlying medical conditions. >> reporter: the world health organization is so concerned about this virus because there's no known treatment and no way to make a vaccine, not just yet. doctors are currently working on that. in the cases that have been found in eight countries, all have been linked to the middle east. mary snow, cnn, new york. >> those stories always terrify me, those, you know, unexplained, we don't know what it is and how it's killing people, but it is. there are only eight cases, but

it travels so quickly because just like that movie clip, we touch our hands, we touch our face, we touch everything so many times during the day. things spread so quickly. >> yeah, and the words that scare me are no cure. >> exactly. >> all right, 44 minutes after the hour. coming up, the exercise fad that will explode your brain and make you ask why. why? prancercize, it's really and it's coming after you. hide the kids. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter... because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. do you want the long or the short answer? long i guess.

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sunrise over new york city today. it's always nice when the sun comes up, so much better than the alternative. it is going to be a hot day, though, here in the city. >> your intro was pointing out, it's going to be 24 degrees hotter, 24 degrees. that's, wow! >> 97, it says later, 97 degrees there. oh, my goodness! i didn't even see that. that is unfair and unnecessary. >> all right. just stay inside.

some of the country's biggest music stars are coming together to raise money during a huge tornado relief concert. country music star and oklahoma native blake shelton joined by usher and many, many others. shelton's wife, miranda lambert, broke into tears while she sang. then everyone welled up when a tornado victim spoke. >> i just want to say that when bad things happen, good people step up to help. and i want to thank everyone who stepped up, who is stepping up to rebuild the place we call home. thank you. >> rascal flatts, reba mcintyre, vince gill it was a really, really packed stage last night with pretty big names all trying to help oklahoma. >> good for them. what a great show. being overwhelmed by your inbox? google is making organizing g-mail users' inboxes automatic. they say this will help. the new customizable version groups mail in categories that appear as tabs -- primary,

social, promotions and updates. it's supposed to let users quickly see what's new and decide which e-mails to read and when. this rolls out in the next few weeks. if you don't like it, g-mail will let you go back to the classic inbox. i'm pretty sure this will mean i will not respond to e-mails for six months, so i apologize in advance. all right, too cute alert! an extremely rare set of baby twin giraffes! >> one's very much taller than the other. >> just -- come on. >> oh, maybe those aren't the twins. >> they're just taking their first baby steps. the brother and sister, named nikato and waswa were born on a wildlife preserve in texas earlier this month. >> welcome to them. >> very cute. all right, there is a trail-blazing, and frankly, terrifying workout that is setting the internet on fire. it's called prancercize, and it may sound crazy to you now, but i guarantee, when you hear about it, crazy doesn't begin to cut it. there are simply no words. our jeanne moos has the story. >> reporter: wild horses couldn't keep us from reporting

on this new exercise routine. why exercise when you can prancercize? is it a workout or is it a spoof? it is definitely something to behold. let's pick up the pace. >> with the prancercise strut. it's really hot. >> reporter: the outfit, the jewelry, the '80s style. is this real? when you prancercise, what's it make you feel like? >> um, it makes me feel liberated. >> reporter: 60-year-old joanne a rohrback of florida started it years ago. >> it didn't start catching on until this week, i think. >> reporter: when blogs started featuring the video she put online last year, she had already written a book and created a website. she describes prancercise as -- >> springy, rith nick movement forward, similar to a horses gait, ideally induced by

elation. >> she's elated by the web's sudden discovery of prancercise, even if much of the commentary is mocking. on the "huffington post," it was put on the comedy page. the web can be kind of harsh. >> i know it can, but you know what? i'll take all of it, the harsh, the goof, everything, because hey, that's what getting famous is about, right? >> reporter: the lady's got horse sense. there are four modes of prancercise, most of them done wearing ankle weights. >> we're going to really cut the noose and let it loose with the prancercise gallop. >> reporter: joanna says prancercise is great aerobic exercise, low impact on the body and lots of fun, reminded us of an episode of "friends," in which rachel discovers that running unself-consciously, like a goofball, can feel great. >> i feel so free and so graceful! see? >> reporter: see, even jennifer

aniston prancercises. >> now it's your turn. >> reporter: i'm channeling my inner horse. pz exhausting. as for all the mockery, joanna takes it in stride. >> well, maybe my presence, because i'm not a youngster and i'm not wearing, you know, the usual pierced earrings and the punk hairdo. >> reporter: she's a horse of a different color, all right. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> looks like she's in good shape, john. >> i actually want to ri re vies my ridicule. i'm thrilled if this woman has found a way to stay fit. fitness is important, but i'm not sure it's real still. i still can't believe something like that actually exists on earth and is legal. anyway, still ahead, the expandal that has maroon seeing red. what maroon 5's adam levine said on "the voice" that has people questioning his patriotism. [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisors envision planning process, it's easy to follow the progress you're making toward all your financial goals. a quick glance, and you can see if you're on track.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. trending this morning, memo to adam levine, the mike is always hot. the maroon 5 front man finds himself pledging allegiance to america after muttering some rather unpatriotic words on an episode of "the voice" this week. when two of his team members were voted off. listen to this. >> i hate this country. >> ooh, that comment where he said "i hate this country," that led to some angry tweets for levine. for example, "i think i hate maroon 5 just as much as adam levine hates america," and "adam levine just said i hate this country on tv. not a smart move, dude, not smart at all." levine tweeted by responding

that they shared the definitions of joke, humorless and misunderstanding. he later released a statement saying i obviously love my country very much and my comments were made purely out of frustration. a new cartoon hero set to debut this week is sure to raise some eyebrows. it's about a 12-year-old boy named guy who uses a magic ring to turn into a superhero who is not a guy. that's right, shezow is a girl superhero. critics call the show gender bending and say it is too confusing for a cartoon aimed at 7-year-olds. the hub network compare shezow to bugs bunny, saying she's a lighthearted cartoon character who makes kids laugh. >> i don't think it's any different than a character who turns into a helicopter. >> or a sponge who lives in the bottom of the ocean. >> which is really confusing when you think about it. tonight is the night. a new spelling bee champion will be crowned. 281 finalists wihittled down to

42 last night. this year's contest is tougher than ever because not only do kids need to spell, but they need to know the meanings, that. >> then the vocab came along and i thought this is going to be harder. >> it overwhelmed me a little bit. it definitely made things a little harder. >> kids that are like 10,000 times smarter than i am russ heat wave, americans from coast to coast bracing for brutal severe weather today. new developments in the explosion at toontown. an american grandmother speaks out for the first time. her emotional words from jail. what do you hear it. so heartbreaking. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans.

it's thursday, may 30d. dwoning this morning, a persistent, unrelenting threat of severe weather in parts of the country already torn up by tornadoes. >> we could see some dangerous storm threats today. >> it's been such a tough week. unfortunately as you go through todayen ev today, even more severe weather could be back in the forecast. >> storm raged from texas all of the way to new england and had nearly half of the country in the danger zone. and in texas, dangerous hail and fierce winds causing many to worry. >> look at this hail. we're going to have broken windows. >> reporter: this video was shot in corinth, texas. look at the hail bouncing off of the ground. the diamondbacks and rangers game postponed wednesday night when the heavy rain and lightning moved in very quickly. the ground crew struggled to gain control as heavy winds

ripped the tarp right out of their hands. in amarillo, texas, heavy wind gusts were blamed for blowing down this iconic billboard. ripping its post from the ground. owners of the business watched as the 30-year-old sign fell to the ground. >> my sales associate went to open up the overhead door to get ready for them because the winds were strong. we heard him holler. we all calm arunning. that's when we saw the billboard falling down. >> reporter: just as crazy, flood waters caught on this surveillance video from tuesday. torrential rain caused flood that burst down the doors at an illinois college. >> we oh, yeah, definitely some tough weather out there. the northeast today. look how above normal you are temperaturewise. temperatures are soars 15, 16 degrees, warmer and compare this from just a few days ago. 20, 25 degrees warmer. heat wave is here. temperatures expected to be in the upper 80s, low 90s for the next three days. unfortunately you take all that

warm humid air and you bank it up against all that cool and dry air just west of us. and that's what's bringing the severe weather threat. that's what's going on. we have the low in the rockies. still talking about the jet stream allowing the rotation in the storms. today, we're going to see more of the storms. as far as where the bull's-eye is, a little tilt here, looking at them stretching from missouri down through texas today. a good 15 million of you seeing the threat for storms. keep in mind all the heavy rain in the midwest we're going to continue to add rain so the flooding is also a major concern. >> thanks so much. a twoing story here in new york. two letters containing threats against mayor michael bloomberg testing positive for ricin. one was opened at a new york city no, nail center. a reportedly being treated in area hospitals as a precaution. the other letter was opened by mark glaze in washington. he's the director of mayors against illegal guns.

that's an organization founded and funded by an undaunted mayor bloomberg. >> the letter was obviously referred to our anti-gun efforts, but this 12,000 people are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 are going to commit suicide with guns and we're not going to walk away from those efforts. >> both of those letters were postmarked in shreveport, louisiana. this is according to the american postal workers union. the fbi is investigating. new word this morning that president obama will nominate a former high-ranking official from the bush administration to be his new fbi chief. james coserved under president bush. he will replace robert mueller. cnn's brianna keilar has more on the man who was a hero to some democrats nine years ago because of his role in a white house drama. >> like a scene out of a hollywood thriller, a critically ill attorney general is in

intensive care at a washington hospital. two of the president's top aides rush to his bedside, hoping to pressure him to sign off on a secret wiretapping program the night before it's said to expire. this was real though and what happened that might march 10th, 2004, put james comey, president obama's next pick for fbi director in the headlines. >> i was very upset, i was angry. i thought i had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man. >> reporter: comey was attorney general john ashcroft's deputy and with him sick he was the acting attorney jern. when then white house counsel and chief of staff andrew card visited ashcroft's hospital room, last ditch effort to get his enforcement on a warrantless eavesdropping program illegal. he caught wind of it and sped through the streets of washington, sirens blaring and beat them there.

>> ashcroft then stunned me. he lifted his head off the pillow and in very strong terms expressed his view of the matter and then laid his head back down on the pillow, seemed spent, and said to them, but that doesn't matter because i'm not the attorney jern. >> reporter: cnn contributor was one of president bush's top national security advisers at the time. >> this was a man with a very strong sense, internal sense of right and wrong, and what is appropriate and he's going to follow that sort of moral compass. >> reporter: as a federal prosecutor, comey handled the towers terrorist bombing case following the 1996 attack on a u.s. military facility in saudi arabia that killed 19 service members. he also took on the mafia, putting john gambino behind bars as well as the diva of domesticity, he brought charges against martha stewart and saw her convicted for insider trader.

brianna keel, cnn, washington. >> david petraeus has a new job. he's joining the giant private equity firm kkr, known for corporate takeovers and is hoping his experience and contacts will help it find new deals. he will be chairman of an internal institute there focusing on communications, public policy and investments in emerging markets. >> making serious, serious money there. >> yeah. attorney general eric holder's plans to meet with the media hit a snag. major news organizations including the associated press, "new york times," and huffington post said they will not take part if the meetings are off record. the justice department says they are off the record to encourage a full exchange of ideas. holder is under fire for two cases involving secret subpoenas or searches of journalist phone records. if they're believed to be involved in reports of leaked classified information. the white house and irs have

no comment so far this morning to the latest lawsuit filed over the tax agency targeting tea party group. american center for law and justice filed a suit on behalf of 25 tea party and other groups that it says had their constitutional rights violated. the suit names attorney general eric holder, jack lew and several irs officials. two other lawsuits were filed last week. new information in that explosion at disneyland's toontown. a disney land employee being held on a million dollars bail in connection with the blast. police arrested 22-year-old christian barnes charging him with possessing an explosive device. they believe he's responsible for a dry ice blast. cnn is following these developments. >> reporter: disneyland's toontown turned into a ghost town after an i'm pro voiced explosive device went off in a trash can on tuesday. >> it was loud. it startled us. duktd and looked up and i looked higher than the ground.

>> reporter: crowds evacuated as the bomb squad responded. not the kind of scene visitors ever expected to encounter. police say no one was hurt but they did discover evidence of a small explosion. >> when our officers arrived they found the remnants of a water bottle which is indicative of a dry ice type explosion. >> reporter: 22-year-old christian barnes, a vending cast member at disneyland, is being held on a million dollar bail on suspicion of possessing and detonating an explosive device. >> there's potential, any time this occurs, for there to be injury. there's potential for someone to get injured to the point where they lose their life. that's why the charges are so serious. >> reporter: does any land official says barnes had the dry ice in his vending cart where he sells items that need to be kept cold. barnes is cooperating. that's right. this stuff, dry ice, useford special effects. it turns out exploding dry ice bombs is a popular form of fun in some circles. if you don't believe me, just check out all the videos on youtube. >> we're going to show you how

to make a dry ice bomb. >> reporter: the results when they do. what the videos don't tell you is that creating and detonating an ice bomb is a crime. you could be charged with a dell felony if you're caught. across the country in disney world's animal kingdom a grandmother found a loaded gun on the seat of a dinosaur ride as she boarded with her grandson. the gun owner said he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon but told authorities he didn't realize that guns are not allowed in the park. happiest places on earth turning scary for some visitors until both situations were under control. cnn, anaheim, cal. nine minutes after the hour. so we're getting our first glimpse in a new jersey governor chris christie's eating habits as he tries to slim down. in an interview, he says he often skips breakfast since these days -- having weight loss surgery in february because he just doesn't feel as hungry as he used to. christie says he doesn't drink coffee or diet soda, never

needed caffeine. he prefers milk instead, he says. he is also not a fan of vegetables, except there are exceptions, green beans, lettuce, and cucumbers. a big vegetable exception there. >> that's a big vegetable. and breakfast is the most important meal of the day. it sets your clock for the day. >> that's why i get up at 1:30 to make sure i have time to prepare for my breakfast. >> you make so much fun for my breakfast. >> if you saw what she ate all morning every morning you would make fun of it, too. >> don't tell these secrets. is this an intervention? >> help me help you. >> all right. coming up, you've got to hear this interview from a mexican jail. desperate, terrified cries for help. the american grandmother jailed in mexico for smuggling drugs. she tells her side of the story to cnn. why she beliefs she's being framed. geological ticking time bomb. how an und ground cavern threatens to swallow parts of a new mexico town. new mexico town. that's next.

(guy) we should totally do that. (girl ) yeah, right. (guy) i wannna catch a falcon! (girl) we should do that. (guy) i caught a falcon. (guy) you could eat a bug. let's do that. (guy) you know you're eating a bug. (girl) because of the legs. (guy vo) we got a subaru to take us new places. (girl) yeah, it's a hot spring. (guy) we should do that. (guy vo) it did. (man) how's that feel? (guy) fine. (girl) we shouldn't have done that. (guy) no. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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appear in court wednesday but defense attorneys say those soldiers never showed up. hearings in the case will resume tomorrow. cnn's rafael romo is the first reporter to interview maldonado in jail. he has more fors this morning from nogales, mexico were yanira maldonado was emotional from the moment she saw us. she was escorted to be interviewed. >> we weren't doing that work. it's not right. i need to be with my family. i need to be out of here. i need help. >> reporter: maldonado and her husband was returning by bus from the funeral-ore aunt when mexican soldiers stopped the vehicle at her checkpoint. passengers were taken off and the bus searched. the soldier said they found several packages of marijuana under her seat. 5.7 kilos, more than 12 pounds,

and she says, asked her to pay $5,000. >> it's a lie what they're saying. >> they say they found something under my seat. but i never said anything. they didn't show me anything. it was just amazing, all -- what they did. >> reporter: maldonado said authorities did not make it clear at first that she was a suspect but she knew she was in trouble when federal agents started questioning her husband and her. >> i was in shock when they said that it was me they want because first they said that it was -- that it was -- it was my husband. >> reporter: taken into mexican federal custody she was transferred to this state prison last friday where she's being held in a temporary cell away from other inmates. family members have been allowed brief visits. >> now, your husband gary and your children are going to be listening to this and watching you. what do you want to tell them? >> that i love them very much,

that i'm going -- that i'm innocent. >> reporter: that belief is held by a mexican state official with extensive knowledge of the case who told cnn it would have been almost impossible for her to carry that much marijuana on to the bus without someone noticing. >> they have cameras in the -- on the terminal on the bus and they haven't checked that. why they don't check for fingerprints. i don't have -- my fingerprints are not on the package or whatever they're saying that they found. >> reporter: maldonado says she has not been mistreated but she's rethinking the advice she used to give friends about traveling to mexico on vacation. >> i used to tell them, come to mexico, it's not true what they're saying. i go every year to visit my family, and look what's happening to me now. >> reporter: all this devout mormon can do now she says is pray. rafael romo, cnn, nogales,

mexico. police in new york is investigatinge ing ing a horrif accident. police say the trailer portion somehow unhitched, striking the minivan coming from the opposite direction pft seven of the eight people inside the van died. one person now is in the hospital. no word on their condition. a 12-year-old california boy charge with stabbing his little sister to death is is pleading not guilty. 8-year-old leila fowler was found murdered last month. her brother is due back in court at the end of july. that is when a trial date will be set. islamic group in florida is calling for an independent investigation following reports that ibrahim was unharmed when he was fatally shot by an fbi agent. todashev was a friend of tamerlan tsarnaev. todashev was shot and killed last week in orlando after allegedly attacking the agent during questioning. the fbi is now conducting an internal investigation.

so experts call it a ticking time bomb. we're talking about sinkholes and the potential death and destruction that they really can cause. florida is usually the first people to think of these days, the place people think of when they hear of sinkholes. the ground is unstable in other parts of the country as well. cnn's ed lavandera has more. >> reporter: part of this dusty new mexico landscape disappeared back in 2008 into two massive sinkholes, triggering shockwaves of confusion and anxiety that more would follow. >> i think it's quite likely that a sinkhole will form here. >> it's not a matter of the, it's when. >> yes. i would say that's probably the case. it's not a matter of the but when, but when can be a century from now or it could be next week. >> reporter: but here is the problem. if a sinkhole craters on this spot, it wouldn't just be happening in the middle of nowhere, wide open oil field in southeast new mexico, it would actually be happening at one of the busiest intersections here in the town of carlsbad, new mexico. >> potential sinkhole.

>> reporter: lewis lachbd is a geologist and sinkhole expert at new mexico tech. >> as best we can tell, the lateral extent from the -- roughly where that traffic light is and then that way beneath the canal and underneath the northern edge of that mobile home park. >> reporter: that welcome to carlsbad sign -- >> that's right exact lie right. >> reporter: disappear in a second. >> i always try to have my camera with me just in case something happens when i drive by. >> reporter: when the first two sinkholes emerged experts figured out they weren't a natural occurrence, they were manmade made. they opened up above two salt mines. they quickly shut down the mining operation in this third site but lewis land says this place is still a time bomb waiting to implode. >> it not a stable configuration. i think that there is -- we know there's a cavity beneath was because they were mining it out. >> reporter: look at this krask cross section of the ground under this corner of carlsbad. all of the blue you see is in the unstable salt well cavern.

land says it's so close to the ground surface it could collapse at any time. because of the sinkholes the company operating here inw was fined $2.6 million and declared bankruptcy. a former company official told us inw was wrongly targeted and had followed state-approved mining regulations. the experts say the next sinkhole could easily be several hundred yards in diameter. ed lavandera, cnn, carlsbad, new mexico. >> how would you like to live near that? >> some of the realty firms have modeling across the country so you can see for a house you're going to buy, for example, if there's potential for a sinkhole there. isn't that interesting? >> it is. >> thousands and thousands of these locations around the country, very interesting. coming up next, the rich getting richer, at least when it comes to taxes. why wealthier households are getting a bigger break in tax deductions.

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welcome back. minding your business this morning. the federal reserve kills another rrd on wall street, sort of. the dow fell more than 100 points and futures are flat. the problem yesterday was the talk -- talk that the fed might be dialing back the massive stimulus program. today investors are waiting on several big reports on economic growth, job, housing market. over the long term though one person is especially bullish, this gets a lot of attention. black rock ceo larry fink thinks the dow can get to 28,000 by 2019. >> what? >> it's at 15,000 right now. 28,000 -- dow 28,000. he runs a lot of money, by the way. he's got a lot of money. huge portfolio. big gain. remember facebook's ipo? remember how it was a mess? now the nasdaq is going to pay $10 million because of those problems. trading started late. some orders didn't go through for hours. today settlement with the s.e.c. is the biggest penalty ever for

a stock exchange. the s.e.c. says the nasdaq system had a design problem that caused disruptions, made it difficult to buy and sell. this was a year ago. it was such a disaster. that facebook ipo which was supposed to be available to everyone, common people, we're all supposed to be able to buy a piece of that, i think a lot of people are missing this stock market rally buzz they mistrust wall street in part because of that debacle of facebook ipo. no comment from the nasdaq. a new study says one group benefits the most from tax breaks. who do you think it is, john? >> the rich people. >> it is. the cbo looked at the ten biggest tax breaks. $163,000 enjoys half of those breaks. they get it from mortgage interest deduction, lower rates on capital gains, at the low end households making less than $50,000 claim about 8% of tax breaks. that's new breakdown from the congressional budget office. >> so unfortunately unsurprising, i have to say. one thing you need to know about our money?

>> in some housing markets sellers are calling the shots. a new century 21 survey says a third of home buyers have been looking for a long time and they're willing to make compromises to close the deal. compromises like paying more, buying the home as is, or being flexible on the closing date. there's not a lot of inventory either. so if you want to buy a house, in some places you don't have a lot of choices. >> big, big turn around. >> sure is. 26 minutes after hour. coming up, twisters tearing across the plains and forecasters say the threat is not going to stop today. we will tell you who is in the bull's-eye next. potential bombshell in the michael jackson death trial. the concert promoter grilled about who hired jackson's daughter -- doctor, rather, we have the deposition in a cnn exclusi exclusive. the verizon share everything plan for small business lets you connect up to 25 devices on one easy to manage plan. that means your smartphone, her blackberry, his laptop, mark's smartphone but i'm still on vacation. still on the plan. nice!

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bombshell in the michael jackson wrongful death suit. why newly revealed e-mails could end up costing concert giant aeg billions. you'll hear it only on cnn. and the video that captivated the world. infant rescued cut out of a sewer pipe. this morning that baby boy headed home. we have new information that his mother will not be charged. we have an update live from china. and video you have to see to believe. two years of planning for a 60-second base jump off mt. everest. that incredible story coming up.

welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it's 30 minutes past the hour. a dangerous weather threat growing this morning in a lot of states in its path. many states are the same ones that were dealt a very big severe weather blow just a few days ago. people in central and southeastern michigan surveying the damage after tornadoes destroyed homes and up rooted trees last night and more, more is on the way. amarillo, texas, a strong wind brought down a billboard. the severe weather damaged two pools of the business and tore down a radio tower and skylights. check out this video. weather drama on the field during last night's texas rangers/arizona diamondbacks game. the rangers ground crew rushing to get a tarp on the field struggling to control it. and then, you know, rain, wind, lightning moved in. the scary weather postponed, obviously postponed that game. >> that is terrifying and dangerous for the grounds crew. there seems to be no relief

for the storm here. pictures coming from across the country. our meteorologist is tracking all of this for us outside in the heat wave here in the east today. it. >> feels pretty good right now. temperatures, they're in the 70s. that 70% humidity. sticky factor is here. i've been checking everyone out here we behind me. i want to know if they t got the memo. i'm seeing the shorts. they know it's expected to be in the 90s today with all that humidity, sticky weather definitely in the forecast. a heat wave, in fact, really for three days we're looking for these temperatures in to the 90s. definitely sticky. good 15, 20 degrees above normal. we are talking about the severe weather. it's warm moist air banking up with the dry air. we're concerned where the dry line is. that's the separation between the moist air and dry air. it looks to be just west of oklahoma city today. with that looking for a severe threat to be enhanced. there is who at risk today. shifting to the east of the threat going to missouri all of the way down through texas. that's a good 15 million of us still at risk for severe weather. we're talking not only tornadoes

but strong winds out there. we see a lot of damage and straight line winds and even large hail that remains in the forecast as well. with that, of course, we're talking heavy rain. we already saw the midwest pounded earlier. now looks like more heavy rain continue to inundate the area so flood threats are in the forecast. severe thunderstorm watches are already here. >> ouch. >> not welcome news. thanks. appreciate it. tropical storm barbara withering away in mexico. that sto came ashore as a hurricane packing 75-mile-an-hour winds. barbara could dump up to 20 inches of rain in some spots before dissipating later in the week. so it's a stunning piece of evidence that could help determine the outcome of the jackson family's lawsuit against concert promoter aeg live. an e-mail from aig live co-chairman said michael jackson's personal physician needed jackson in shape to perform on stage. cnn obtaining the deposition

exclusively. >> a potential bombshell in the trial against ae gerks. the concert promoter managing michael jackson's "this is it" comeback tour. ♪ aeg has long contended that they did not hire dr. conrad murray, the physician convicted of administering the lethal dose of the anesthetic to jackson. aeg man taned it was the king of pop that hired murray. but in an e-mail the jackson family attorneys are calling the smoking gun co-ceo of aeg live allegedly pressured murray into having jackson ready for rehearsals despite his ailing health. he writes, quote, we want to remind murray that it is aeg, not mj, who is paying his salary. we want to remind him what is expected of him. he says he doesn't recall the message. >> i don't remember this e-mail. >> reporter: cnn has exclusively

obtained his videotaped deposition that was shown to the jury. >> based on the assumption that aeg is your company and mj is michael jackson, do you have an understanding of what that means? >> no, i don't understand it because we weren't paying his salary. >> why would you write that? >> i have no idea. >> let's go on to the next sentence. when you say his salary, who are you talking about? >> i don't know. >> reporter: cnn digital reporter allan duke has been in the courtroom since the beginning of the trial. >> to watch paul try to dance around it and explain this e-mail was very interesting in court. at times today there was laughter because of his -- the perception of his evasiveness. >> reporter: the jackson family is suing aeg stating they negligently hired and supervised murray for serving time for involuntary manslaughter. if aeg is found liable it could cost the company billions of dollars. >> so much money at stake here. you know, paul gongaware's long

career began with elvis presley's final concerts. currently managing the rolling stone's north american tour. he said that rick james is the only artist he ever knew who was using drugs on tour. robert baels about to plead guilty to the massacre of 16 afghan villagers in order to avoid the death pen smallity. his lawyer says military prosecutors in washington state have agreed to this plea but a spokesman for the base would only say a plea hearing is set for next week. the gruesome shooting spree last year is considered to be the deadliest war crime by a single u.s. soldier after 9/11. 36 minutes after the hour. this is a stunning discovery on a remote island in the arctic ocean. the frozen body of a female woolly mammoth that could be up to 15,000 years old. that sun believable. and get this, the carcass was so well preserved in ice that russian scientists said that

blood was still flowing freely out of it. the muscle tissue recovered was virtually fresh. scientists call this the best preserved mammoth in the history of paelentologielentologpaelent. 15,000 years old. coming up, new information that dramatic rescue of a newborn from a sewer pipe. who he's headed home with and why his mother likely will not get in any trouble. we're in china live next. and leap off mt. ef vest and into the record books. the incredible base jumping video you don't want to miss this morning, coming up. i'm the next american success story. working for a company

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new information this morning about that newborn in china hafs rescued from a sewer pipe. the baby boy has left the hospital after being nursed back to health. police also say the child's mother will not -- not be charge with a crime. cnn's david mckenzie joins us now on the phone from china. david, where is this baby this morning? >> the baby is with its -- the

maternal grandparents, baby 59 doesn't have a name yet. rescued earlier this week. police are telling us that they're not going to charge the mother. they say that this is really just an awful accident. the mother is a young mother. her boyfriend and her broke up six months ago. she felt ashamed. unexpectedly, according to the police and the teenager giving birth and basically panicking, calling the landlord, calling the police that came over and rescued the child. certainly some unanswered questions still but does seem like the child is doing fine, that the mother and the family is asking for privacy and this could have been really terrible accident. >> police calling it an accident. that seems awfully hard to believe, david. that aside, what is the reaction from the chinese public? >> reaction from the public, a

lot of soul searching going on about this, the mother, giving sympathy to the mother as well. there's a lot of taboo here about people having children outside of being married. so that definitely seems to play into this situation. while the mother certainly many people saying was negligent, of course, they did say that she faced some difficult choices. she didn't want her parents to know what that she was pregnant, was in this terrible situation. also some sympathy from her and also a lot of siympathy for the boy and lot of relief that he will be okay. >> relief, i think, all around the world that that boy will be okay and gratitude to the surgeons and the workers who so bravely rescued him from that sewer people. david mckenzie in china for us, thank you. here in the u.s., yellow school buses are a common sight but in some countries the lack of transportation can make it hard to get to school. the cnn film "girl rising" deals with the challenges some girls face getting an education.

today we introduce you to a young girl from a small mountain village in peru. >> translator: my name is eulalia. i have six brours and sisters. where i live, there are no schools. every monday we ride on motorcycle to go to my school. when my dad is not home, i walk to school. it takes two hours. >> translator: i want to help eulalia go to school because i want her to have a better education than mine. >> translator: i like math, especially multiplying. during the week i sleep in the school dorms. for me, it's difficult to be far from my parents. when i am with my classmates, they make me smile. on saturday and sunday, when i'm at home, i do my homework with

my mother. s >> translator: she teaches me addition and subtraction. i can't read well, either, so she shows me how to read. >> translator: i want to be a teacher. >> to learn about the organization that helps this young girl attend school and the ten times ten fund for girls education, go to cnn.com/girlrising. the cnn film premiers june 16th at 9:00 p.m. eastern. "early start" back right after the break. [ female announcer ] girls don't talk about pads... but they do talk about always infinity.

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it was a big night for some young spelling all-stars after this news this afternoon semifinals. 12 kids will compete for tight of spelling bee champion as cnn's athena jones reports. this year's event is more challenging as ever as if it needed to be more challenging. there is now a new twist. >> holy, h-o-l-i, holy. >> who will win the coveted title of national spelling champion. >> escargot, escarg escargot. >> we'll find out tonight in the finals of the scripps national spelling bee. nearly 300 contestants came to

washington from all 50 states, several u.s. territories, and eight countries, including the bahamas, canada, ghana, china, and japan. the winner gets a trophy, a $30,000 cash prize, and maybe even a picture with the president. >> overall i think i've land over 4,000, 5,000 words. >> reporter: this year a new rule added to the challenge. to advance to the semifinals and finals competitors had to know not just how to spell a word but also what it means, which meant more studying. can you define weissemito? >> i think that kind of overwhelmed me a little bit. it was definitely -- it made things a lot harder. >> reporter: after two computer based tests and two preliminary rounds 42 contestants get a chance to vie for the title this afternoon in the semifinals. and no more than 12 are expected to advance to tonight's

championship finals. it's a real cliff-hanger. >> precipice. >> precipice. >> and that word i mentioned, it means an indefinite, unknown, or imaginary place in case you were wondering. john, christine? >> i have no idea what they just said. there were like a lot of words i know 0% of them. >> and we couldn't work any of them into anything we are talki talking about this morning. tiger woods gearing up to defend his title at the hememorl title but all they want to talk about is his spat with garcia. >> good morning. tiger spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since sergio made that racially insensitive remark last week in england. he says he expects this controversy to end whether he speaks with sergio or not.

the war of words between these two started back at the players championship when they were paired together in the third round and it became more heated last week when sergio made a fried chicken comment when referring to spending time with woods. sergio who is not playing in the memorial has apologized publicly and to tiger's agent for the remark. while tiger said he is done talking about sergio, yesterday he did speak about dealing with racial issues during his career. >> i live it. it's happened my entire -- entire life. and it's happened my entire care career. so that doesn't surprise me. it exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf. it exists everywhere. >> tiger tees off today at 1:16 eastern in round one at the memorial. in the nhl playoffs last night it was winner take all between the blackhawks and red wings. seven in the western semifinals. nicholas scores. chicago thinks they've won but

the goal was waved off because of penalties behind the play. overti overtime. extra period. brent seabrook wins it for the blackhawkss. they become the 21st team to rally p from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. for the second time in nhl history the final four teams remaining in the playoffs are the four most recent stanley cup winners. the long ball was on display last night in baltimore. nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman only had three home runs coming into the game but by the end of the night he would have double that. zimmerman homered in his first three at bats. usually a three-home run game from one player would lead to a victory but the orioles chris davis hit two himself. leads in 19 home runs. baltimore wins the slug fest, 9-6. one of the top stories right now features the most amazing juggling of a golf ball you will ever see. check this ridiculous trick out. the golfer's name is romaine

bashu. he's currently ranked 1050th in the world right now. but he's got to be number one when it comes to golf juggling. these are just amazing tricks. he can do spinning the ball right there on the top of the club. just amazing. you know you saw tiger woods and that old nike commercial in 1999 doing some of these and he seemed to do this the other way around. he perfected the golf game, then started working on the juggling but bechu is doing it the other way around, seems to be juggling more than working on the golf with his ranking being so low. >> juggle it into the hole, maybe he will have something. that's amazing. incredible video to show you this morning. take a look at 48-year-old russian base jumper leaping off mt. everest. he made this record shattering descent on may 5th to commemorate the anniversary of the first assent of everest. it took two years to plan, four

days of ardouos trekking. in n. that 60 seconds he reached speeds of 125 miles per hour, soaring down 23,000 feet, four miles. he's a seasoned daredevil, of course. he's made nearly 10,000 jumps including one into an active volcano but he said this one was particularly tough both physically and mentally. >> would you do that? >> no, i wouldn't hike up, i wouldn't jump off, i wouldn't go so fast, i don't like to be cold, i don't like to work too hard. >> that's a maybe? >> absolute no. all right. that is all for "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans.

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in our "starting point" this morning, outbreak, twisters, giant hail, flash floods, all wreaking havoc from texas to new england. look at this. water busting through the doors of this college building. unbelievable. we have more severe weather on tap for today. if you are in this red section on this map, it is going to be a scorcher. all right. the american mother jailed in mexico on what she calls made up drug charges. she speaks out to cnn from behind bars. >> i need to be with my family. i need to be out of here. i need to go home. >> hear her emotional side of the story for the very first time. >> tough to hear. also, cnn exclusive. in this video the smoking gun in the trial over michael jackson's death, could it be?

the jackson sffamily thinks so. it could bring them millions of dollars. you can see it only here. and love, hate, and adam levine. "the voice" sparks a fire storm when he's caught on a hot mike saying he hates america. this morning, his explanation. good morning. i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. thursday, may 30th. welcome to "starting point." we begin to what is turning into one wild spring across the entire country. if you weren't dodging hail and thunderstorms last night, you may be today. if you're in the northeast, it's going to be really, really, really hot. meteorologist peterson is here with a look at that. >> unbelievable. storms have hit the country hard this weekend. it looks like there's going to be much more still on the way.