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.

>> 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 actually went to open up the overhead door to get ready for him because the winds were strong. we heard him holler. we all heard him running. 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.

>> oh, yeah, definitely some tough weather out there. the northeast today. >> everything, it's nuts. >> 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. >> oh, yeah, definitely some tough weather out there. the northeast today. look how above normal you are temperaturewise. look at that warm-up. a heat wave expected. temperatures, 15 to 16 degrees warmer than average. definitely right there. a lot of 90s for three days here. the severe weather threat does remain. that is the big story. it's the warm humid air that we're feeling banking up as that cool dry air and shifting to the east. let in iowa down through texas. that's 15 million of us. we're really watching the dry line here in oklahoma city. unfortunately we could see that bump up to a moderate risk. a lot of instability. take a look at this. all this lightning out there,

that is what we're worried about especially as we go through the afternoon today. yes, everyone still needs to remain vigilant. oklahoma city, debris on the ground. very tough day. >> ominous story. thanks so much. cnn learned the president is set to appoint a new top man at the fbi. james comey would replace robert mueller. mueller is stepping down in september. comey was at the center of some heated debates over counter terrorism in the bush years. brianna keilar is live at the white house with more. >> good morning, christine. this is a night in march 2004 like a scene out of a movie. john ashcroft, the attorney general then, was very ill and in the hospital. so ill that his deputy comey was the acting a.g. this was the night before a warrantless wiretap program was set to expire. the then white house counsel alberto gonzalez and chief of staff andy card went to ashcroft's bedside to get him to endorse this program that he and

comey felt was illegal and comey actually caught wind of it and ordered his driver to the hospital. sirens blaring, so he could head them off. in the end, ashcroft didn't sign on to this but it made for one of the most remarkably dramatic scenes of the entire bush administration, christine. >> he was praised, widely praised foreseeing past politics in that event when he came to the aid of the very ill attorney general john ashcroft. what was that legacy? >> yeah, that is certainly part of his legacy. i think that's something that you see a lot of democrats and republicans pointing to when they say that they expect that he's going to be confirmed rather easily or they think that this is someone that a lot of democrats and republicans can get behind. one of the hitches for comey, i'll tell you this, has to do with his hedge fund experience. general counsel at a hedge fund. we've already heard from the top republican on the senate judiciary committee chuck grassley raising concerns about this, saying if he is confirmed as fbi director he would have to build a case perhaps against some of his former colleagues.

so he'll get some tough questions before the senate for sure. >> we certainly know those confirmation proceedings, all of those ties are very closely scrutinized, especially when you're talking about the business ties with the hedge fund industry, private industry and the like. on this day when the president is prepare fog tom nate a new director of fbi, two apparent cases of domestic terrorism or at least violence in this country are capturing the bureau's attention. letters containing threats against new york no, mayor michael bloomberg testing positive for the deadly poison ricin. and this, disneyland employee in kusz to difficult for alleged li setting off a dry ice bomb in toontown. i'm going to start with pamela brown tacking the latest developments in the ricin case. >> good morning, john and christine. the fbi now working to determine who sent new york city mayor michael bloomberg two letters laced with trace amounts of ricin. new york city deputy police commissioner paul brown said a suspicious pink, orange, oily substance were found in both

letters who were sent from shreveport, louisiana, according to the american postal workers union and contained threats on the mayor and mentioned the debate of gun law in which bloomberg is an outspoken critic. bloomberg had this to say last night. let's take a listen. >> there was a letter who threatened us. let me tell you, i have confidence in the nypd and the fbi and their procedures. >> do you feel threatened? >> one of the letters was received at new york city's government mail facility and the emergency service workers who handled the letter showed minor symptoms of ricin exposure but they have subsided. the second letter was opened by mark glaze, directors of mayors against illegal guns, funded by bloomberg. he indicated that he showed no symptoms of exposure to ricin in is the third case of ricin-laced letters being found. of course, a couple months ago there was letters sent to

president obama, u.s. senator, there was an arrest made in that case. and, of course, fbi is trying to determine who could have sent this letter. >> pamela brown, thanks so much. disneyland employee being held on $1 million bail in connection to that explosion in toontown. christian barnes is responsible for the dry ice bomb that rocked the theme park. cnn's sarah following developments live from disneyland in anaheim, cal. good morning, sarah. >> good morning, christine. investigators are still looking at evidence in this case. that suspect who worked insfid of the park has not yet been charged but police and disneyland saying they are taking this case very seriously. and you can imagine, toontown is a place where very young children hang out with their parents. it's where mickey mouse's house is so people were pretty scared when they had to be evacuated. disneyland's toontown turned

into a ghost town. >> it was loud. it startled us. ducked 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: disneyland official says 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. 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: 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. across the country in disneyworld'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 the largest employer in the aa so people are concerned about what happened but so far things have gone smoothly.

it was a couple of hours that people were out of that section of the park. people have been coming back and forth ever sense. we're joined now by cnn counter terrorist analyst. you hear about a explosion going off in disney world. if you're a parent like us that sounds frightening. is this serious or a daumb pran? >> from my time in the white house, disney happens to be a company i know the security arrangements probably better than any other company in the country. they take this stuff incredibly seriously in terms of their training of employees, their screening of people. and i talked to two people inside disney. this really was a prank that turned bad. the employee saw something on the internet. thought it would be cool to see what it did. didn't intend to hurt anybody. has been fully cooperative. nobody was hurt. it's naturally frightening to patrons. i think what people need to understand is just how seriously disney takes these sorts of incidents, looking at it,

understanding how and why it happened, making sure that those who visit the park are really very safe. >> something that doesn't look like a prank, the ricin letters now to mayor bloomberg. that's sort of an interesting and frightening trend. you see these things kind of come up in twos and threes it feels like. what do you make of these letters to bloomberg and to also the person who runs as mayor against illegal guns and what kind of a serious threat that may be? >> the problem here is that the ricin recipe is basically the components of very easily obtained. it comes from caster -- ground up castor beans. it's not that hard to make, one. two, they recipe like most of them these days is available on the internet. the counter terrorism community had first seen it, the recipe in al qaeda training manuals. that's the context in which people have heard of this. here's the thing. to weaponize ricin is -- takes a little more sophistication. we think of anthrax, that wasn't this. this was very crudely made.

this description in reports now is of the sticky orange material. it would have been very hard. the only way you could have been poisoned by that is ingesting it. it's not a contact poison. they're taking it seriously. we're seeing more of this because the information is available. but it's clear, at least so far, that no one in this particular incident was seriously hurt by it. >> james comey, a man who has worked in republican administrations but may be popular with some democrats. >> i think it's a terrific pick. we should be very clear, jim comes comey also worked in democratic administrations and prosecutor, u.s. attorney. he and i were colleagues when we were young lawyers in the u.s. attorney's office here in new york. this is also the man who picked pat fitzgerald, the u.s. attorney in chicago, to invest gate a republican in the bush administration for the valerie plame leak. he's dedicated and very experienced. i think he will be well respected in the fbi.

>> fran townsend, appreciate you being here. the chinese baby rescued from a sewer pipe in dramatic video seen around the world. that baby is home this morning with his maternal grandparents. known as patient 59 is drinking formula and is being nursed back to health. left the hospital now with his maternal grandparents. rescuers had to carefully cut the pipes surrounding him in sections in order to get that baby free. so far, police believe the 22-year-old mother's story that this was just a terrible accident. she is not facing any charges. so interesting the world has watched this baby for the past several days. this is not really a widely told story within china. >> it is so hard to believe that it could be an accident. 13 minutes after the hour. ahead on "starting point," the american mother, grandmother jailed in mexico speaks out from behind bars making a desperate plea. hear her tearful defense, next. and cnn exclusive, could this be the smoking gun in the michael jackson case? the testimony that t. jackson family believes could win them a lot of money in court.

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a new development this morning. arizona mother of seven accuse of trying to smuggle 12 pounds of marijuana is now speaking out from inside a mexican jail. the soldiers who arrested yanira maldonado was supposed to appear in court on wednesday at her hearing but 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's reporting to us from nogales, mexico. she was just so emotional. as soon as she saw you, she was emotional, wasn't she? >> she was very emotional, christine, because we were essentially the first outsiders to yanira maldonado. she says she's been surviving by reading scriptures and praying

constantly. >> i'm not a criminal. this is a mistake. 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 to go home. >> 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 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 saw 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. >> yanira maldonado told me last saturday was her first wedding anniversary. she and her husband gary had plans for a big celebration. instead she spent the day behind

bars. john and christine? >> rafael romo, thanks so much for that. this has been going on day after day after day. this is international incident. i'm surprised even with an official in mexico saying, yeah, it looks like she was framed that she's still sitting there. >> heartbreaking to hear her. she seems to frustrated and powerless almost in that jail. all right. ahead on "starting point", a cnn exclusive. why this testimony could be the bombshell that michael jackson's family has been waiting for in his wrongful death trial if video you can see only here. then, "the voice" judge adam levine forced to prove his patriotism this morning. his explanation for why he said he hatsz america, coming up. i'm the next american success story. working for a company where over seventy-five percent of store management started as hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it,

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all those record highs, 22 of them for the dow this year, making investors may be a little nervous. dow fell more than 100 points yesterday. futures are flat so far this morning. you can blame the federal reserve for that or you can at least blame what everyone is speculating about, the federal reserve about that. policymakers are talking about ending the fed stimulus program which is helping to prop up the economy right now. but there's a lot of wonder if the economy is really ready to take the training wheels off and we'll get more answer on that today when the latest report on the gross domestic product comes out. are you overwhelmed by your inbox? google is making organizing g mail users' inbox automatic. it's a customizable version that groups mail into 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 when. which ones to automatically delete. it rolls out in the next few weeks. if you don't like it, g mail will let you go back to the classic inbox. do you feel overwhelmed by your e-mail? >> i'm confuse bid that already. >> i'm overwhelmed in general. i feel like everything should have an out of office response, do i need to read this, do i need to be on this and if not i'm going to delete it. >> wow. >> i get like 300 e-mails a day. >> you should send it back, i'm ignoring you. >> you have never replied to one of my e-mails so maybe you are ignoring me or are you filtering me out? >> take the hint. up next, it could be the smoking gun in the michael jackson wrongful death trial. cnn got the exclusive testimony that his family has been waiting for. that's coming up next.

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point." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john ber plmanberman. we are following the unrelenting threat of severe storms in part of the country already torn up by tornadoes. we want to quickly check back in with meteorologist. >> looking at the severe weather threat. west of oklahoma city will be watching that as it builds for the afternoon. currently, the northeast, the heat wave, 15, 20 degrees above normal today. it's all that heat that's expected to stay with us over the next several days that's banking up that cold against that cold dry air. today the threat pushing farther to the east. looking at the storm stretching from iowa down through texas. again, the biggest area of concern today is right west of oklahoma city. unfortunately we're going to be watching as those storms pop up. the other threat other than the rain no, isolated tornados will be threat for flooding. a lot of activity early hours currently right now. we'll monitor that. >> wow. what a week it's been. >> all right, indra, thank you. moving on now to other news.

the michael jackson civil death trial. meanwhile, eric holder planning to immediate with the media into white house leaks hit a major snag. major news organizations including associated press, the "new york times," and huffington post say they will not take part if the meetings are off the record. the justice department says they're off the record to encourage a full exchange of ideas. holder is under fire for two cases involving secret subpoenas for searches of journalist phone records. if they're believed to be in involved in reports of leaked classified information. the family of the late penn state coach joe paterno is going to sue the ncaa due to the jerry sandusky child sex abuse scandal. they will be party to this lawsuit which is expected to be filed today. it should be noted penn state says it will not be party to any suit against the ncaa filed by the paternos. the sheriff's department in virginia standing by the use of deadly force by two of its deputies at a costco store. employees called police after a

woman contractor who was serving pizza slices started acting strangely when she refused to put down a knife she was holding, they tased her but she kept coming at them, they say. at least four shots were fired then if woman 28-year-old scott died. one of the deputies was treated for injuries that may have come from a ricochetting bullet. now the michael jackson trial. stunning new piece of evidence could help determine the outcome of the jackson family's wrongful death suit against concert promoter aeg live. it'sen aerks mail from aeg live's co-chairman barning that michael jackson's personal physician had to get the king of pop in shape to perform on stage. and in a cnn exclusive, we will show you paul gongaware's response when questioned by the jackson family's attorney. >> a potential bombshell t in the trial against aeg, concert promoter managing the "this is it" concert 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. instead, aeg has maintained that 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 paul gongaware, allegedly pressured murray into having jackson ready for rehearsals despite his ailing health. gongaware 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. gongaware says he doesn't recall the message. >> i don't remember this e-mail. >> reporter: cnn has exclusively obtained gongaware's 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 gongaware 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 who is serving time for involuntary manslaughter. if aeg is found liable it could cost the company billions of dollars. >> so paul gongaware has wourktd some pretty big names during his career including elvis presley and led zeppelin. currenting managing the rolling stones north american tour. in tm gongaware said rick james was the only artist he ever knew was using drugs on tour.

interesting side note there. let's bring in debra, joining us from los angeles right now. deposition br debra, that was pretty remarkable testimony from paul gongaware. tell me your immediate reaction to see that. >> my immediate reaction is he's on the hook. he's co-chairman and he negotiated a contract for the price. and he basically is dancing of i don't recall and i don't know. as a litigation attorney, my favorite use of the discovery is a videotaped deposition because he got hooked a long time ago and he was merely in court trying to dance around his statements from quite a while ago. >> our reporter alan duke in the courtroom there said there were laughs actually when that was being played in front of a jury. that can't be a good sign. >> yeah. well, videotaped depositions are very strong, powerful discovery tools in a courtroom because it basically makes a fool of the person on the witness stand. and they're usually used to

challenge what they're saying on the stand. so this was embarrassing for them, the co-chairman, and that taken into consideration his statements as to the contract and i don't recall and the amount, i just negotiated and i don't recall. in my opinion, he made a fool of himself and i think this was the sealing piece of testimony for the jackson family who i've said from day one are going to win big in this case. >> and that e-mail, you believe it is the smoking gun of the family, clearly thinks it is? >> that's one of the smoking guns. just sit, stay tuned. >> all right. i also want to is you about the courtroom itself, the courtroom dynamics because michael jackson family members, allowed two in there every day. his mother has been there everyday, janet jackson was in there yesterday. what impact do you think that has on the jury? >> well, the judge must have determine determined against aeg and that's why there was a limitation of my understanding of only two jackson family

members per day. so, of course, it's going to be very powerful but in my opinion, i've said this, too, just the presence of katherine jackson and she's a plaintiff is going to be enough in my opinion. she's the mother, the grandmother, and i just think her being there every day is so telling for the jury. but that taken into consideration with the other evidence and the testimony is going to be fantastic for the jackson family. >> if this case is the slam dunk you think it is, and i'm not sure you're totally impartial but if it is the slam dunk is, who what should aeg be trying to do right now? >> first off, i don't think it's a slam dunk, per se. you have a lot more witnesses and testimony. it's only the plaintiff's case. i'm not really impartial because when i do this -- these interviews i try to be a litigation attorney. but i do know the jackson family and i did have conversations during that preparation for the tour and i can tell you, aeg is

not going to leave this trial looking good. >> it could be a very, very expensive for them. >> yeah. >> debra opri, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. ahead on "starting point," all eyes on chris christie's shrinking waistline. what's he doing to keep the pounds off after his weight loss surgery? we have a look at his new diet. you have to look at this. breaking records from the top of the world. we just have this amazing video. base jumper leaping off of mt. everest. and adam levine getting his own wake-up call. the star of "the voice" caught on a hot mike saying he hates this country. what he's saying now, coming up.

top stories making maid lines today. seven people traveling in a minivan in upstate new york were killed when a tractor trailer crashed into it. it happened at a two-lane road near syracuse. police say the trailer portion somehow disconnected and hit the minivan coming from the opposite direction. just ripping it apart. one person inside the van survived. two people in the truck also not injured. a florida islamic group is calling for an independent investigation following reports that ibrahim todashev was unarmed. he was a friend of the boston marathon 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. a may 2014 trial date has been set for minnesota representative michele bachmann. a civil suit said she misused a distribution list from a school group. the plaintiff said they suffered emotional distress and loss of business activities after they sent two unapproved e-mails. today's a.m. house call, chris christie revealing some of his eating habits as he tries to slim down. in an interview christie says he often skips breakfast since having weight loss surgery in february because he doesn't feel hungry. he says he doesn't drink coffee or diet soda. says he's never needed couaffei. he prefers milk instead. not a fan of vegetables although there are exceptions, green beans, let's us the, and cucumbers. the cucumber caucus is quite

happy. >> he needs more greens. he's getting more fit but new jersey's cities are nowhere to be found on the latest list of the 50 fittest u.s. cities. according to the emergency college of sports medicine denver come out at number five. san francisco is number four. portland, oregon, is number three. washington, d.c. is a runner-up. the fittest city, the twin cities, minneapolis, st. paul came out on top for a third year in a row. >> congratulations to them. tiger woods at the memorial tournament but all everyone wants to talk about there is his ongoing spat with sergio garcia. >> we have more in the "bleacher report." >> tiger spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since sergio made that racially insensitive remark last week in new england and expects this controversy to end whether he speaks with sergio or not. war of words between these two started back at the players championship when they were paired together in the third round. it became more heated last week when sergio made a fried chicken

comment when referring to spending time with tiger. sergio who is not playing in the memorial has since apologized publicly and to tiger's agent for the remark. while tiger said he's done talking about sergio, yesterday he did speak about dealing with racial issues during his career. >> i live it. it's happened my entire life. and it's happened my entire 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. nhl playoffs last night, it was a winner take all between the blackhawks and red wings in game seven of the western conference semifinals. 2:00 to go in the third. chicago thinks they have taken the lead but the goal was waved off because of penalties behind the play. we go to overtime. in the extra period.

his shot wins it for the blackha blackhawks. they become the 21st team to rally from a 3-1 deficit. second time in nhl history the final four teams remaining in the playoffs are the four most recent stanley cup champions. long ball is on display last night in baltimore. nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman only had three home runs coming into this 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 for one player would lead to a victory but the orioles chris davis hit two himself and he leads the majors with 19 home runs this year. baltimore will go on to win the slugfest, 9-6. one of the top stories in the line yup section on bleac r erreport.com features the amazing juggling of a golf ball. this is romaine bechu and his tricks is ridiculous. it goes on for more than four minutes. now, he names all of these moves, guys.

this one right here called the spiny shake. i have no idea how you would figure out how to do these tricks. bechu may be the best golf juggler in the world the best finish in pro tournament 49th, ranked 1550th in the world. he might spend too much time on the juggling. >> too much time on the spiny shake. p if things don't work out on him on golf, he could join the circus. >> thanks. ahead on "starting point," adam levine not feeling the love. the pop star under fire for unpatriotic comments he made on "the voice." was it a misunderstanding or does the singer have serious explaining to do? you're watching "starting point." aaah! aaaaah! theres a guy on the window! do something, dad! aaaah! aaaah! what is happening?

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welcome back, everyone. top stories right now. police officer killed in what a state trooper called in an obvious ambush will be laid to rest today. jason ellis was shot and killed over the weekend. not sure if he was the intended target. police will hold a news conference and may announce a reward in this case. apparently it pays to be behind bars in new jersey. the state sent nearly $24 million in unemployment, welfare, wengs and other benefits to 20,000 people ineligible because they were in prison. nearly half the money went to inmates receiving jobless benefits, despite a state law requiring them to be available for work. obviously you are not available for work if you are inkarst rated. governor chris christie's administration blames a lack of oversight at the state

department of labor. adam levine could not escape controversy of a comment made during an episode of "the voice." some people are questioning his patriotism. a developing con from versy. pamela brown has more. >> you have to he about careful when your mike is hot. the singer's candid comments came after a shocking elimination, when america voted off one of his meantees. >> america saved amber carrington, moves on to the top six. >> being kicked off a singing competition is tough for talented contestants, but this time the coach seemed to take the elimination hardest, after realizing he would lose at least one of his team members, adam levine made this off the cuff comment during the live broadcast. >> i hate this country. >> immediately setting off a firestorm of angry tweets. >> i think i hate maroon five as

much as adam levine hates america says one. and another said adam levine just said i hate this country on tv. not a smart move, dude. not smart at all. he turned to twitter quickly to apologize. >> people were saying that he should be fired from the show, deporlted, which isn't a possible thing. he tweeted the definition of joke and misunderstanding. he was very cheeky about it. >> reporter: many viewers were shocked when one-time front-runner judd itith hill wa booted. the voice made hill a standout. she had come close to stardom prior to the show, a backup singer for michael jackson. the tour canceled when jackson died in 2009. ♪ i just can't stop loving you

>> reporter: many of the remaining contestants are country singers. who is watching, who is voting? >> when you get people that are more geared toward country music, i think that tends to be more of a -- a safer option, a more kind of comfortable option for a lot of people than someone who is more of a pop voice or an r & b voice. >> reporter: after "american idol," chris daughtry and lauren hudson went on to have very successful careers despite not winning. >> talent doesn't come out on top. >> oh, completely. almost never the case where the most talented person ends up being the victor. and cnn obtained a statement from levine, explaining his controversial remark. it reads i obviously love my country very much and my comments were made out of frustrati frustration. he said he was invested in seeing artists succeed and his

comments were based on personal dissatisfactions with results. >> you have to be careful. >> the mike is always hot. thank you, pam. ahead on "starting point," confirmed. two threatening letters mailed to new york mayor michael bloomberg laced with ricin. and a connecticut woman comes face to face with a 200-pound black bear in her backyard. where she decided to kick it instead of running for cover. and incredible video of a daredevil, free falling four miles in 60 seconds off mt. everest. you're watching "starting point." ♪ ♪ ♪

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our "starting point," dangerous tornadoes and hail to the west, a sweltering heat wave to the east. tracking severe weather that's taking hold across the country. what you can expect where you live, coming up. then for the first time, we're hearing from the american mother being held in a mexican jail on drug smuggling charges. what she's begging authorities

to believe. >> i'm innocent. that i'm innocent and i'm a good mom. >> we have her full, heart-breaking plea. >> plus, hero mom. the mother who fended off this giant black bear, saving her daughter, her dog and herself. >> i kicked it! i kicked it. >> i kicked it. apparently it works. a new record, heart-stopping heights. you cannot miss this incredible individual yf a base jumper, leaving off he's, i'm afraid of heights. welcome to "starting point." >> we begin with what is a turbulent and relentless spring across the country. if you weren't dodging hail and thunderstorms last night, you may be tonight. in the northeast it will feel like the middle of summer. indra petersons follow all of this. >> more storms on the way,

unfortunately. storms raged from texas to new england and had nearly half of the country in the danger zone and in texas, dangerous hail and fierce winds cause many to worry. >> look at this hail. we're going to have broken windows. >> this video 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. and heavy winds blew down this iconic billboard, ripping the 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 the overhead door, because the winds were really strong, and we heard him holler, we came

running and saw the billboard falling down. >> these residents in new york had a close call trying to get a glimpse of the storm from their back porch. >> trying to film and all of a sudden, a tree cracked down right above us, and i told her we got to run inside. >> crazy. i mean, all around us is trees and glass and everything. it's enough. >> reporter: just as crazy? floodwaters caught on surveillance from tuesday. torrential rain caused flooding that burst down the doors at an illinois college. it looks like a heat wave for the northeast. temperatures a good 15 to 20 degrees above average. hot, humid weather the next several days, and it's drier to the west and the severe threat still here today. 15 million of us under the threat for severe weather. the difference between today and yesterday, it shifted farther to the east. today, we're seeing it stretch from iowa right down through texas. paying attention just west of oklahoma city.

there is the dry line, expected to see storms popping as we go through the afternoon. of course, keep in mind debris on the ground. really seeing that threat out there today, instability right now. a lot of showers already out there, expected to get worse today. >> vengeful end of may certainly. thank you, indra. president obama reaching across the isle for the fbi chief. the president plans to nominate james comey. he has extensive track record in and out of the government. he served as assistant attorney general under george w. bush and became a hero somewhat to democrats. briana keilar has more. >> reporter: good morning, christi christine. james comey, law professor at columbia university and on the board of a financial services firm. nine years ago, number two at the justice department. yes, when george w. bush in the white house and it was during that time that he played a major role in one of the most dramatic

episodes of the bush administration. 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 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 10, 2004, put james comey, president obama's pick for next fbi director, in the headlines. >> i was very upset, angry. i thought i had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man. >> reporter: comey was attorney general to james ashcroft. and with ashcroft very sick, he was acting attorney general. andrew card visited ashcroft's hospital room, a last-ditch effort to get his endorsement of a warrantless eves dropping

program he thought was illegal. comey caught wind and ordered his driver to speed through the streets of washington, sirens blaring and beat them there. >> attorney general ashcroft stunned me. lifted his head off the pillow and in very strong terms, expressed his view of the matter and 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: fran townsend was one of president bush's top national security advisers at the time. >> this is aan with a very strong internal sense of right and wrong and what is appropriate and he's going to follow that sort of moral compass. >> reporter: comey handled the terrorist bombing case following the 1996 attack on a u.s. military attack in saudi arabia that killed 19 service members and took on the mafia, putting

john gam binno behind bars and the diva of domesticity. he saw martha stewart convicted for insider trading and comey sits on the board of a financial services firm and served as general counsel to hedge fund and i think this will be the issue you may see in his confirmation process. we've heard from chuck grassley, raising concerns, saying, hey, if he is the fbi director, he may have to build a case against one of his former colleagues. >> he has a history of working with democrats and republicans. what are they saying overall about how the confirmation process will go? >> the expectation at this point is that this is a pick that would be safe, someone else who may have been considers a top national security adviser to president obama, lisa monaco, recently coming into the

position here at the white house, but had some experience when it comes to the issue of benghazi, so she may have certainly created more of a flashpoint. you talk to observers here, they think this is a safe bet for president obama to get bipartisan support. >> thank you, brow anna. and one of the suspects in the hacking death of a british solder is appearing in court, charged with murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. and he another suspect allegedly ran over soldier lee rigby and then killed him on? broad daylight on a south london street, using cleavers and nifz. a developing story in new york city. two letters containing threats against michael bloomberg have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. one was opened at a new york city mail processing center, and several police officers who came in contact with it are being treated at a hospital.

the other is mark glaze. he is director of mayors against illegal guns, founded and financed by an undaunted bloomberg. >> the letter was obviously referred to anti gun efforts, 12,000 people are going to get killed this year with guns, 19,000 will commit suicides with guns, and we won't walk away from those efforts. >> both letters post parked in shreveport, louisiana. the fbi is investigating. police in upstate new york investigating a deadly crash between a tractor trailer and miniv minivan. happened on a two-lane roadway in the town of truxton, near syracuse. seven people were killed. no one in the truck was hurt. islamic group in florida, demanding an independent investigation, following reports that ibragim todashev was unarmed when he was shot and killed by fbi agents.

he is a friend of tamerlan tsavraev. he was shot in orlando after attacking the agent during questioning. the fbi is currently conducting an internal investigation. a new career for david petraeus, joining the private equity firm kkr. known for corporate takeovers and banking on his experience, rolodex to find new deals. former general will be head of a new institute. >> have to believe that will pay pretty well. new information about the newborn in china rescued from a sewer pipe. the baby boy has left the hospital after being nursed back to health. and the child's mother won't be charged with a crime. david mackenzie joins us on the phone from china. where is the baby exactly this morning? >> reporter: john, the baby has

been taken away from the hospital. baby 59. quite extraordinary after the ordeal that happened here in china, the fourth floor of this building. that child dropped into the toilet. given birth to into a toilet by his mother. had to hack away at the sewage pipes, take him to a nearby hospital and pry open to reveal this young child. took about two hours still he survived. police won't target this woman in any way through prosecution. there is a sense from the neighbors here, this woman might have been very young and very afraid. take a listen. >> after she became pregnant, she moved out of her parents' house. she said she couldn't explain to her parents how come she was carrying a baby when she was so young and single. she has no solution but staying at this place and day after day, her belly was growing.

>> certainly people are scratching their heads a little with the situation and a lot of soul searching going on in china with people wondering what exactly happened. both anger and sympathy for the mother in this case. asking for privacy, but the good news is, that that child is doing okay. >> the explanation to the police seem willing to accept right now, david, this was some kin of accident. explain the reasoning there. >> reporter: the reasoning, they say this woman knew she was pregnant, but she was very ashamed of her situation. police and the hospital say he had gotten pregnant, her boy friend split up with her and she felt a lot of shame and when she got the stomach pains, maybe didn't know exactly what was happening to her. when she went to the toilet and the baby was born, she panicked. went to the land lady,

apparently didn't tell the land lady that it was her child that was stuck there, she just said i heard noises, come quickly, come quickly and then it came out she was, in fact, the mother, and there is a sense the police are still investigating this. but that they want to respect the family's privacy. the child has been taken by the mother's grandparents, and the police say they will help raise that child, but certainly, you know, some unanswered questions, it seems like this is a case of a desperate young woman who took desperate measures or had a terrible accident. >> david mackenzie in china for us. the important thing is the baby is safe and doing well. ahead on "starting point," world health organization calling it a threat to the world. should we be more concerned about a new corona virus taking hold overseas? and a black bear charging for your beloved pet and straight toward your back door.

this happened to a connecticut wome woman, who took on the bear. ♪ ♪ 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 little things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. ensures support, a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease. we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call or donation adds up to something big.

brand new video of a the very moment when a freight train crashed into a garbage truck, near baltimore. it was captured by a local business owner on tuesday. the truck driver, seriously injured in that accident. investigators -- whoa. >> you can see on the top right hand of the screen. >> driver seriously injured. the world health organization, concerned about a new virus which would kuo be a threat to the entire world. 49 cases of the new strain in eight countries. no reported cases in the u.s., but the question is, should we be concerned? mary snow joins us with more. >> good morning, john, christine. what is really concerned the world health organization are the unknowns about this virus.

health officials are saying some good news is they are not seeing sustained human-to-human transmission, but because it's an emerging virus, it's being tracked closely. hollywood movies like "contagion" a sober reminder of vy viruss. >> we have no treatment protocol and no vaccine. >> reporter: reports of a new train of a coronavirus overseas is nowhere near the movie version of outbreak. so far, no reported cases in the united states. ity name? middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus and it's being called a threat to the world. >> a grave concern to us at who, because there are so many unknowns around the virus, which so far has killed 55% of the confirmed cases. >> reporter: cases 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 when there is an emerging infectious disease. we don't have ways in which we can predict, project and proep ra appropriately prepare for some of these. >> reporter: this man is leading a team at columbia university to investigate the virus, in the same family of sars and the common cold. symptoms are fever and severe respiratory problems, patient have also developed pneumonia and kidney failure. some clusters of the cases have 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 vir us in sars was a bat.

and we think based on our analysis of the sequence of this virus also originated in a bat. >> reporter: where? >> 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 anywhere in the world right now. but be aware of it. most cases of illness are associated with the elderly and those with preexisting or severe underlying medical conditions. >> one of the big reasons for concern, right now, there is no known treatment and no way to make a vaccine. but doctors are currently working on that. >> no known treatment, that's scary. >> and it's called the middle east respiratory syndrome. yet they are calling it a global threat as well. what's the difference here? >> it seems to go against the message that world health organization was trying to get out this week, but because all of these cases traced to the

middle east, hence the name. world health organization in the message this week, what they are trying to do is get scientists from around the world to gather resources to tackle this vir discuss they say no one country can fight this alone. >> thank you, mary. >> appreciate it. ahead on "starting point" who invited the t-rex? this could possibly be the best wedding picture ever. the creative use of photo shop inspired by jurassic park, next.

good morning. welcome back to minding your business. dow 28,000 is that even possible? larry fink says yes. who is he? the ceo of black rock.

he thinks the bull market has another six years left, with gains to 10% annually which would put the dow at 28,000 by 2018. investors are waiting on the latest gdp report which will give us an indication of where stocks should trade today. some market sellers are calling the shots. a third of home buyers have been looking for more than a year and many are willing to make compromises. like putting more cash down, buying the home as is or being flexible on the closing date. and walmart, cvs? most cut throat business in the country? no, fast food. mcdonald's and subway. >> trending this morning, pizza. the final frontier. 72-year-old actor sir patrick

stewart. who traveleded the galaxy in "star trek: the next generation" apparently just ate his first piece of pizza. tweeted this picture, with my first ever pizza slice. please note the authentic new york fold. the hub children's network is stirring up controversy. the first episode hasn't even aired yet. this is about a 12-year-old boy named guy who uses a magic ring to turn into a superhero who is not a guy. she-zow, a girl superhero. critics say it's too confusing for an audience of 7-year-olds. >> you can point out, a talking sponge is pretty confusing. >> sponge, a lot of confusing

about cartoons. cartoons are not your life models. >> and this morning, being called the greatest. >> a picture for a wedding that are dinosaur lovers. they ran toward the camera for with the best terrified look and the t-rex photo shopped it looks like a scene out of jurassic park. look at that, there, coming for us! >> as long as i'm two steps ahead of you, berman. ahead on "starting point," america's heartland in the crosshairs of dangerous tornadoes and hail. and oppressive heat wave in the east. following weather next. a b.a.s.e. jumper takes a world record, leaping off mt. everest. hits speeds at 125 miles per

hour. unbelievable. you're watching "starting point."

welcome back to "starting point." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. >> the midsection of the country bracing for extreme weather. the unreenting risk of severe storms. we have seen frightening videos tape in the eye of the storm. chad myers had a chance to get an up close look at nature's fury. joins us now live from oklahoma city. good morning, chad. >> good morning, john. you know, yesterday we went storm chasing out with the chasers in west texas into oklahoma and also western kansas. as it turned out, we got chased instead of we chasing the storm as they chased us all the way back to oklahoma city. another severe weather day because of this. tilt up here, this is what we

call a rolling sky. all of this gulf of mexico moisture is heading to the north, heading into nebraska, kansas, to oklahoma, and obviously coming from texas. another severe weather day today. let's take you back to tuesday. start with michigan. tornadoes in michigan. and tornadoes all wait down to the south. here is the damage in central michigan here. a much bigger tornado, though, came through kansas. bennington, kansas. a werge tornado on the ground. and another tornado not that far from corresponding, kansas. when we arrived on the ground. landed in wichita and planned on driving all the way to dodge city yesterday. so we drove to dodge city, hooked up with storm chasers that were doing scientific research. saw virginia tech chasers there as well doing research for their meter og program and we got to texas and the storms popped. they blew up, moved right over the top of us, and we got hit by hail. hit by hail so loud, i couldn't talk to the driver of the car. my photographer was driving, he

couldn't shoot any pictures, because he was driving. the producer driving behind us took the pictures here. so loud in this cashing we were yelling to try to communicate, try to get this car out of this hail core, and this is what we'll see again today, with the moisture in the air, waiting for sunshine. the sunshine is the key, john and christine. when the sunshine comes out, you think, wow, this will be great, a great day, because it's warm. the warm is the problem. like a hot air balloon, the warm air the couldn't creates wants to go up, like a big bubble, hot air balloon. the ground warms the air, the air goes up, storms get bigger, expect big storms in this area again today, a place that's already been hit, a place that knows it very, very hard. >> pay attention to warnings today, chad. obviously could be more trouble in the region. appreciate it. for the first time, the arizona mother of seven accused of trying to smuggle 12 pounds of marijuana is speaking out from inside a mexican jail.

the soldier who's arrested yanira maldonado were supposed to appear in court on wednesday, but they didn't show up. rafael romo is the first reporter to interview maldonado in jail. he joins us from nagales, on the border with arizona. she wants the world to know she's innocent. >> reporter: that's right, christine. good morning. something i found personally sad about what she was telling me, she said last saturday was her first wedding anniversary. yanira maldonado and her husband gary had big plans to celebrate the occasion. instead, she found herself behind bars. yanira maldonado was emotional from the moment she saw us. >> i'm not a criminal.

i am 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 go home. >> reporter: maldonado and her husband, returning by bus from the funeral of her aunt when mexican soldiers stopped the vehicle at this checkpoint. passengers taken off, and the bus surged. the soldier said that they found several packages of marijuana under her seat. more than 12 pounds and they asked her to pay $5,000. >> it's a lie what they are saying. and they say they found something under my seat, but i never saw anything, they didn't show me anything. it was -- it's amazing, all the -- what they did. >> reporter: maldonado said authorities didn't make it clear 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 that they said it was me. at first they said it was -- it was -- 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. your husband gary and children will be listening to this and watching you. what do you want to tell them? >> that i love them very much. that i'm going to -- they know i'm innocent. 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 to her to carry that much marijuana on 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 fingerprint are not on that package or whatever they are saying that they found. >> maldonado says she has not been mistreated, but rethinking the advice she used to give to friends to travel to mexico on vacation. >> come to mexico, it's not true what they are saying, and i go every year to visit my family. that's what i used to say. and look what's happening to me now. >> reporter: all this devout mormon can do now is pray. and hearings in her case will continue this morning across the border from where i'm standing, just a few hundred feet from here. yesterday, the soldiers who found the packages of marijuana under her seat were expected to testify. that did not happen. that's considered a victory of sorts for the defense. christine. >> what is her mood like? obviously emotional there. she is trying to sort of get out her side of the story.

she seemed to be bearing up. what is her mood really? >> reporter: what she told me, when i asked her, how are you holding up? she said i'm surviving because i have a lot of faith in god and reading scripture, but i'm very sad with the situation. she said this is an injustice, what happened to me. pointing to the fact that she did not get access to an attorney within the first 24 hours after her arrest. that authorities have not checked surveillance cameras. both at the bus station and inside the bus that she was traveling in. so a number of different irregularities that have happened and she says due process did not happen the way it's supposed to, christine. >> any specific information that she has, that she received that would indicate her release from prison is imminent? she's very hopeful that on friday, when a third period of

72 hours, xi ne and i need to e this to you. she has requested two extensions to a 72-hour period by mexican law, that is established, so that the defense can gather more evidence. we're now on number three, and that expires on friday. by then, the judge may make a ruling, essentially what the family is hoping that they will say the evidence presented by the defense so far is compelling enough that they can set her free. but, again, that's only hope and there is no guarantee that will indeed happen. >> rafael romo in nagales, arizona, thank you. let's run through top stories. eric holder's attempt to meet with media has hit a snag. major news organizations say they won't take part if the meetings are off the record and cnn has declined to participate

if the meetings are off the 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 for searches of journalist phone records and other information if they are believed to be involved in report about leaks classified information. the death of a 15-year-old girl was a kidnapping gone horribly wrong according to maine authorities. 20-year-old kyle dube intended to kidnap the victim, niccole cable, hide her in the woods and later fin her. her body was found last week. she had frequent contact with this man through a bogus social media account. is he now charged with murder. the sheriff's department in sterling, virginia, standing by use of force of deputies in a costco store. a woman contractor, serving pizza slices started acting strangely when she refused to put down a knife she was holding. they tased her, but she kept coming at them.

four shots fired. the woman, 38 years old, died. one of the deputies was treated for injuries coming from a ricocheting bullet. extraordinary new video of a b.a.s.e. jumper leading off mt. everest. vanch alery rozov did the jumping. the feat two two years of planning and four days of trekking and 60 sections for the actual jump. he reached speeds of 125 miles an hour. soaring down 23,000 feet. ory four miles. that's fast. pretty scary. the seasoned daredevil, made nearly 10,000 jumps, including one into an active volcano. >> a whole bunch of steps i wouldn't do. the planning, the climb. to save her dog, her daughter, herself, a woman takes on a 200-pound black bear.

>> i kicked it, i kicked it! >> she kicked it. her fearless encounter, next. music superstars from country to pop come together to raise money for the oklahoma tornado victims. we'll bring you the highlights of this emotional moment with miranda lambert is talking about. you're watching "starting point."

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a connecticut woman rov the ring after a run-in with a black bear. this bear i decided to pay a vit

to her home. >> talk about being fearless. instead of the woman running awashg she kicked it near the face. in an effort to protect her dog. it was the backyard surprise nobody would want. >> it was a really a deep throaty growl. >> reporter: sharon in her hartford, connecticut, home, when her daughter spotted this giant black bear. >> my daughter yells there's a bear. and i open the door, and my little dog comes running from the neighbor's yard, hops the fence and bee lines in the house and there is this huge bear, right there. >> reporter: and the bear didn't stop. the female bear charged the house, chasing the dog, trying to get in after it. sharon couldn't close the door fully and the bear was almost in the home with her, it's mouth open, her leg almost in it. that's when sharon did the only thing she could. >> i kicked it! i kicked it! and then it kin of looked and i

screamed again is and it went running off. >> ended up with puncture wounds and scratches on her legs, her dog, however, unharmed. immediately called in officials who were able to find the bear, but ultimately had to euthanized it. the bear killed a dog in the neighborhood before. for flannery, a terrifying encounter. >> i definitely want to get that close to one again. that was once that was enough. >> reporter: for her son, mom's actions nothing short of heroic. >> pretty impressive. i don't know if i would have the confidence to kick a bear in the face. >> a lot of us probably wouldn't. and officials say they had to euthanized the bear to test it for rabies due to her puncture wounds. she was with the cubs. the cubs were tranquilized and released into a wooded area. >> that's good news. i would not kukick a bear. i would scream and then i would run and then i would scream again. and maybe after that i would think about kicking.

five things i would do before that. >> john berman, our hero. >> i'm there for you guys. just so you know. >> i'll call on you if a bear is chasing after me. >> i'll scream very loud. >> all right. thanks, pamela. for big and scary to too tall, too cute. an extremely rare set of baby twin giraffes. the brother and sister were born on a while life preserve in texas earlier this month. >> they look so much alike. >> are you afraid of them too? >> a big fan of twins and giraffes. ahead on "starting point," the exercise fad that will make you ask why? why? this is very real and it's coming for you. hide the kids. >> and blake shelton gathered famous friends for the oklahoma tornado victims. highlights, including this duet with usher, that's next, you're watching "starting point." (girl) what does that say?

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♪ >> a tear from myrrh anna lambert welling up as she tries to sing at last night's benefit who's had their homes destroyed in oklahoma city. her husband, oklahoma native blake shelton organized last night's show, featuring many of music's biggest stars. we have a wrapup of a special show. emotional, emotional for miranda

lambert, for blake shelton, for everyone there last night. >> miranda and blake still live in oklahoma, christine. in tish mingo, two hours south of oklahoma city. it affected her as it did so many different people. a different scene here at chesapeake energy arena. last night as you saw, all about community, country music, and sooner spirit. ♪ >> reporter: some of the music industry's biggest stars coming together to help those affected most by last week's deadly tornado in oklahoma. ♪ i lost my way >> reporter: blake shelton with wife myrrh aniranda lambert per. >> when blake gave us the call,

and we dropped what we were doing. >> no brainer, i was coming if i was asked. >> reporter: featuring usher, rascal flatts, reba mcintyre, darius rucker. for many, the catastrophic damage hit close to home. >> where i group, ten miles from where the path came through. >> i think i'm the one noncountry oklahomian representing today. >> a night of charity and hope at the chesapeake energy arena in oklahoma city, just a short distance from the tornado-rav aimed town of moore. >> we had a hard time deciding what songs to do. are we going to go for the heartfe heartfelt, crying and sad? we didn't want to do that. >> oklahoma's initials are o.k. and they will be okay. >> we are literally building houses tonight. which is incredible. >> hang in there, are y you are

you will persevere and you will help others. you always have, and you always will. ♪ >> reporter: well said, reba mcintyre. not word yet on much money was raised, but the proceeds go to the united way of oklahoma may tornado relief fund. any amount raised is a plus. music and giving doesn't stop. tonight the boston strong concert in boston. more giving, more help. >> nischelle point out the boston strong concert that money goes to support the marathon bombing victims. steven tyler and aerosmith, jay gilles band, new kids on the block. it supports one fund boston

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setting the internet on fire. called prancer-cize. it may look crazy, but take a closer look and crazy doesn't begin to cut it. june . >> reporter: loud horses couldn't keep us from reporting on this new exercise routine. why exercise when you can prancer-cize? is it a workout or spoof? definitely something to behold, let's pick up the pace. >> with the prancer-cize trot. it's really hot. >> reporter: the outfit, the jewelry, the '80s style. is this real? when you prancercize how do you feel? >> liberated. >> joanna pock, 60, invented

prancercise 25 years ago. >> it didn't start catching on until this week i think. >> reporter: when blogs featured the video, she had written a book and created a website. she describes prancercise as -- >> springy rhythmic movement forward, similar to a horse's gait, ideally induced by elation. >> reporter: she is he elated by the internet's sudden discovery of prancercise. on huffington post, her fitness routine is put on the humor page. the web can be harsh? >> i had take all of it, the goof, the laugh, but, hey, that's what getting famous is about. >> reporter: the lady has horse sense. four modes of prancercise, most of them done wearing ankle weights. >> we'll really cut the noose and let it loose with the

prancercise gallop. >> reporter: joanna says prancercise is great aerobic exercise, easy on the joints. where rachele says running like a goof ball can feel great. >> i feel so free and so graceful. >> reporter: see, even jennifer aniston prancer sizes. >> now it's your turn. >> i'm channeling my inner horse. it's exhausting. as for all the mockery, joanna takes it in surprised. >> mimi presence because i'm not a youngster and not wearing the usual pierced earrings and punk hairdo. >> reporter: a horse of a different color all right. janua jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> good and good for you. >> looks like she's in good shape. >> i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. >> cnn newsroom with carol

costello begins rut now. happening now in the "newsroom," letters loaded with ricin sent to mayor michael bloomberg. >> the letter was obviously referred to our anti gun efforts. >> the poisonous message? you will have to kill me before you take my guns. also -- >> look at this hail. we're going to have broken windows. >> strong storms whip through texas. ground crew scrambling to save the rangers field. plus, from local hero to paid public speaker. >> barbecue with this dude. we eat ribs whatnot, listening to salsa music. i knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. >> charles ramsey's words of