happening now in "newsroom" breaking overnight colorado tinder box. >> i thought i had about an hour and it turned out to be about 20 minutes. residents literally running for their lives. the massive black forest fire living up to its name. >> we do have very dry conditions. the possibilities for this fire to continue to spread are extreme. also -- dollars denied. >> we needed about 50 more houses to blow up or five more firemen to die to make it a disaster. >> fema denying governor perry's request for money to rebuild schools, homes and lives.

was this promised from the president? >> we spend with you and we do not forget. we'll be there, even after the cameras leave. plus, marine missing in mexico. armando torres kidnapped with his father and uncle. and roger and the redskins. the nfl commish saying it is a unifying force that stands for pride, courage and respect. looks like first down and miles to go on this one. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you for being with me. we begin this morning in central colorado where strong winds are pushing two wildfires across tinder dry brush. the numbers are staggering.

take a look at this live picture. close to 100 homes now lost. 9,000 people on the run from those advancing flames. right now evacuation orders blanket a sprawling 55 square miles and the inferno shifting with the winds. >> the fire has now doubled back properties that we identified as standing are now engulfed in flames. >> cnn's dan simon joins us now from colorado springs. good morning, dan. >> good morning, carol. this fire is still 0% contained which is pretty remarkable considering all these aircraft you have fighting this fire and dozens of aircraft dropping water and dropping retardant and now 500 firefighters on the ground. just goes to show you that the weather still has the upper hand. multiple wildfires burning out of control across colorado. forcing thousands more to flee their homes. hundreds of firefighters trying

to gain control of the wind whipped flames as the evacuation areas grow. >> we've had incredible wind shifting and the winds have remained pretty consistent and that has done a lot of things we were not really expecting. >> reporter: on wednesday the fires roared through thousands of acres in mere hours, fueled by hot temperatures, dry brush and gusty winds. >> we watched the plumes of smoke as they were rolling, as the fire was rolling over our neighborhood. >> reporter: and there is no sign of slowing down. this boy scout camp heeding the warnings and heading out of harm's way. >> we do want to make sure that they're going to be safe. >> reporter: cows and horses taken to safety and this baby deer carried out by a firefighter as the out of control inferno puts everything and everybody in danger. >> go! >> sheriff came down and said you're going now and this part, not knowing whether i have a house or don't is the worst. >> reporter: about 60 miles to the southwest, a smaller

wildfire threatening the iconic royal gorge suspension bridge. its structural integrity now being evaluated. this image snapped at a local baseball game gives a glimpse of the unpredictable fires. things have gotten so bad that at one point one of the evacuation shelters had to be evacuated itself because the smoke was just so thick in the area. carol, as you can tell, a bit calm. temperatures a little cooler, but we're expecting temperatures in the 90s today and winds expected to kick up. you might see gusts as much as 40 miles per hour. >> thdan simon reporting live fm colorado springs. high winds and hail headed towards washington, d.c., area today. left a path of destruction across the midwest. this funnel cloud hit near the town of belman, iowa. trees and power lines taking a direct blow, creating a

dangerous situation. those storms also pounded chicago. check out that amazing image. the city's tallest building struck by lightning. meteorologist indra petersons joins us now. tell us more. is this the derecho coming or is it done? >> over 240 miles long of strong wind. a lot of the winds aren't as low to the surface. the threat is still there, but much less than what we saw yesterday. either way, you can tell the reason we're concern would that. we're looking at the long line of storms. we started near iowa and push off to the east coast and bans moving to new york and d.c. and heavier rain now pushing through. what we're going to be monerterring here is the severe weather threat as we continue through the afternoon. the low pushed a little further to the east. with that, we saw the jet dip and you can tell where that low is where we have the moderate risk. it's not d.c. pennsylvania

through virginia and pennsylvania all the way down through the gulf states and with that 70 million of you have that threat, again. not just for tornadoes and wind, but heavy rain. a lot of flooding. keep in mind, carol, we're talking about places five, six inches of rainfall this time of year. rain that we do not need. >> indra petersons, thank you so much. breaking news to tell you about right now to that philadelphia building collapse last week. a man inspected the building before its demolition has committed suicide. police believe he died of a gunshot wound. in the meantime, the man who was operating the crane that knocked down the building has been charged with six counts of manslaughter. as we get more information on this story, of course, we'll pass it along to you. the head of the national security administration, the nsa, now says he will try to declassify secret court opinions and make it possible for the government to snoop through your phone records.

and in his first appear ps since the nsa leaks, the agency's director defended the surveillance program. >> i do think what we're doing does protect american civil liberties and privacy. we are not trying to hide something because we've done something wrong. we're not. we want to tell you what we're doing and tell you it's right and let the american people see this. i think that's important, but i don't want to jeopardize the security of our country or our allies. >> general keith alexander says collecting millions of phone records prevents terrorists attacks but he was not specific and today another bomb shell from the contractor that leaked classified information. edward snowden saying the u.s. has been hacking computer networks around the globe for years, including hundreds of computers in china. the paper says it views documents supporting the claim

but was not able to verify them. anna has more from hong kong on the whereabouts of snowden and i assume he's still underground, anna. >> he has certainly broken his silence after revealing his identity speaking to the "south china morning post" here in hong kong. no mistake to why he chose the newspaper. he wants to directly address the people of this city asking them to decide his fate and not the u.s. government. he is still here in hong kong and still in a safe house and he says that he wants to stay. now, there have been a lot of questions as to why he chose hong kong as his refuge and this was his response. "people who think i made a mistake in picking hong kong as a location misunderstand my intentions. i'm not here to hide from justice. i am here to reveal criminality." as you mentioned, carol, snowden dropped an explosive bomb shell during that interview accusing

the united states of hacking computers here in hong kong, as well as mainland china since 2009. now, the "south china morning post" view these documents but have yet to verify them. if true, this certainly complicates the relationship between the united states and china. for months now america has been accusing china of cyberhacking. this is something that was brought up between president barack obama in california last weekend. now, snowden says that washington is bullying hong kong to extradite him. he said he will fight any extradition and the u.s. government, a process that could take months, if not years. carol? >> anna coren reporting from hong kong. leaking information to glenn greenwald the columnist from "guardian" newspaper. now coming under fire from politicians like congressman peter king who claimed he was threatening to disclose names of cia agents and suggested that

journalists should be punished for publishing classified information. the journalist greenwald responded on cnn's "anderson cooper 360." >> i was really staggered that a united states congressman, the chairman of the house homeland security committee could actually go on national television and make up an accusation. literally fabricate it mainly that i have threatened to uncover the names of covert cia agents as a way of arguing for my arrests and prosecution inside the united states for the crime of journalism. it's bad enough to call for that. it's extraordinarily menacing that he did so based on a complete falsehood. the idea that i ever threatened that. i did not, nor would i ever. >> he did not respond to a cnn request to clarify his comments. deadly explosions at a fertilizer plant leave a small texas town absolutely decimated. 15 deaths and many homes and businesses leveled. that was the scene in west texas

just two months ago. now, as people there try to rebuild, they're learning fema may not pay out as much as initially thought. ed lavandera joins me now from west texas to tell us why. good morning, ed. >> good morning, carol. well, the city of west needs more than $100 million to repair things like infrastructure, the school you see behind me. but it's caught up in a political showdown between the obama administration and texas republicans. and in this political showdown over who is going to off aer up the most disaster aid, the town of west is caught in the middle. >> well, this, the webers here, they just moved out. they'll be destroying their house and rebuilding. >> reporter: on a drive around town west mayor knows the longer it takes to rebuild his city, the more likely his neighbors will never move back. >> my job is to get this town back built up. >> reporter: but the mayor's job is getting harder. the federal emergency management agency has denied rick perry's

request for disaster aid to rebuild schools, roads and water and sewage line. the news stinks. >> we needed about 50 more houses to blow up or five more firemen to die to make it a disaster. i don't know. i don't know -- i don't know what their definition is of a disaster. >> reporter: after the explosion, politicians rolled into town making big promises. governor rick perry. >> we will never forget what happened. >> reporter: and president obama. >> we stand with you and we do not forget. and we'll be there, even after the cameras leave. >> reporter: our cameras are still here and this little town needs help. in a letter to governor perry, fema says the remaining costs for permanent work is within the capabilities of the state and affected local government. state officials accuse president obama of turning his back on the people of west. but even despite texas' robust and healthy budget, state

officials haven't provided enough disaster relief to cover the rebuilding costs either. >> we're third page news. >> reporter: the mayor says the city has a $2 million yearly budget and needs $17 million to repair the damaged infrastructure. and the school system is lacking about $25 million to rebuild two destroyed schools. the mayor says without the disaster aid, he might only be able to afford gravel roads in the destroyed neighborhoods. when you tell folks here in town they might drive on gravel roads in these neighborhoods. >> i haven't told them yet. they're going to understand. they're going to have to understand. >> reporter: while the politicians haggle, the mayor and his neighbors sit and wait. fema says it has already provided a great deal of support, including 70% of the cleanup and individual residents who have applied for help. but texas governor rick perry says he will appeal this latest

fema decision. so, the town folks here in west continue to wait, carol. >> what about the fertilizer plant, the people who own that. do they owe the town any help monetarily? >> well, the insurance policy they have on that plant is very minimal. it would come no where near close to paying for what is needed here in this town. so, not a lot of help expected from that. other insurance policies and that sort of thing that are paying for the school rebuilding, but even then that's about $100 million they need for the schools. the insurance policy there accounts for almost $160 million. so still about $25 million short on what they're going to need there. the school behind me. this is the high school. might look okay from the outside. i walked through it. you would be stunned at the amount of damage. the shock wave alone from the explosion caused there. they're trying to figure out whether or not they'll be able to salvage a portion of this high school or rebuild altogether. >> ed lavandera reporting live from west texas this morning.

the racing world mourning the death of jason leffler killed in a crash at the new jersey speedway. taking part in a sprint car race. it flipped on the track. leffler won two races and having 107 top ten finishes. the single father leaves behind his 5-year-old son. 10-year-old sarah murhghan is recovering this morning after getting an adult set of lungs. sparked a national debate over transplant rules. earlier this week a transplant committee who sets those rules temporarily changed its policy to give kids younger than 12 equal access to adult organs. cnn national correspondent jason carroll is in philadelphia. so, jason, how is sarah doing? >> well, she's still resting, carol, as you can imagine, after such a difficult long surgery.

a surgery lasting about six hours. yesterday her parents throughout the morning and throughout the day yesterday have been by her side nonstop. waiting for her to wake up. they want to be there for her as soon as she opens her eyes to let her know what has happened to tell them in their own way what has happened to her. as you know, doctors yesterday said that they face no special challenges in resizing the lungs so it could fit into sarah. her parents basically been telling me how excited they have been when they got the news that a lung donor had become available. this has been a very traumatic time for the family throughout the past several weeks leading up to what happened yesterday. as you know, sarah had been very, very sick and that's part of the reason why the surgery took so long. she was so sick, extra special care had to be taken in her situation to make sure the transplant went off as successfully as it did. when i spoke to sarah's mother, she wanted to drive home the point of who she was most

grateful to for making this day possible. >> do we know anything about the donor? >> they don't tell you anything. but that donor is her hero. our hero of this story. but she wouldn't have had access to that hero if it weren't for the change. this is an adult donor and this is a lung that she wouldn't have had the opportunity to have access to just two weeks ago. >> from this point on, carol, the family is just taking it one step at a time. one day at a time. they still know it is a long road to recovery. but, once again, they're very grateful that sarah is finally on that road. carol? >> and there is a chance that her body could reject the transplanted lungs, right? >> that's very true. there's always the risk of rejection. also, the risk of infection, as well. so, still a lot of variables to do for sarah to have to deal with for the family to have to deal with. but they've been prepared for

this for quite some time, carol. they knew about the risks and they knew about everything that a lung transplant patient has to go through post surgery. so, once again, all they can do at this point is take it one step at a time. >> jason carroll reporting live for us this morning, thank you. flag on the play, coming up in "newsroom" the controversial nickname redskins is under fire and so is a top power player who is defending the nickname. this is your two-minute warning. just ahead in "the newsroom." if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin dedicated to your eyes, from bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients.

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21 minutes past the hour. time to check our top stories. the nfl commissioner roger goodell under fire after defending the redskins nickname for washington, d.c.,'s team. in a letter to congress, goodell backed away to condemn the name and instead said it represented courage, pride and respect. the native american group called the nickname insulting and racially incentative. . supposed to do some sound there, but there wasn't.

as you can see, there she is. >> royal princess. >> all right, that was duchess of cambridge. she's christening the royal princess. kate middleton carried out the honors for the cruiseship this morning. another christening on the horizon, too. she's due to deliver reportedly in about a month. turning now to your money. home repossessions are on the rise, while that may be bad news, that is bad news for homeowners, but turns out good news for others. alison kosik is at new york stock exchange to explain it all. good morning, alison. >> clearly, carol, it's not good if you are the one being kicked out of your home. there is a silver lining because the silver lining is for those looking to buy a home. it means even more properties out there on the market for those buyers or perspective buyers to choose from. foreclosures actually rose 11% in may from the previous month and we're seeing increases happening in 33 states.

now, because of how high demands for homes have been lately. the supply of homes on the market has been getting tighter and tighter. this line of foreclosures will wind up boosting inventories and help keep prices under control. of course, you know, this is good for banks because as the economy has been stabilizing, home prices have been rising, so, banks have become more comfortable with the value of the properties that they're holding and ultimately completing the foreclosure process and getting them back out to the market. with the rise in prices, they're able to recoup more of the losses they took on these homes in the first place. carol? >> that probably means the banks more aggressive when it comes to repoing homes. if you are under water on your mortgage, what should you do? >> that is the by-product and analysts say they should expect to see a notice coming soon. banks have little motivation at this point to hold back on foreclosing now. if you haven't paid your mortgage in months or even in years, you should brace yourself because the pace is also picking up. because banks are getting big back logs out of their

pipelines. these foreclosures are artificially depressed for a while and following the housing kriss including government regulations that slowed the rate of these banks seizing these homes. but what we're seeing happen now is that this is picking back up, again, as things get back to normal in the housing sector. carol? >> alison kosik reporting live from new york stock exchange. still ahead in the newsroom. seriously, it's happened, again. another comment about rape and pregnancy lands another congressman in trouble. >> before when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject because, you know, the incidents of rape and resulting in pregnancy are very low. >> well, tell you what representative trent franks says he really meant to say.

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oh, welcome back. back tracking from another politician over comments about rape and pregnancy.

now, republican representative trent franks of arizona is telling his staff to fasten their seat belts. athena jones has more for you. >> reporter: new controversy this morning after republican congressman trent franks said this about rape. >> the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low. >> reporter: his remarks came during a discussion in congress about a proposal to ban abortions after 20 weeks. and brought an immediate challenge from a fellow house member. >> there is no scientific basis for that. and the idea that the republican man on this committee think they can tell the women of america that they have to carry to term the product of a rape is outrageous. >> reporter: franks later tried to clarify his remarks saying that he meant to say the number of abortions due to rape after the sixth month of gestation would be low. he blamed democrats for taking his words out of context. remember missouri republican

todd akin. here's what he said last fall. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> reporter: a self-inflicted wound many believe cost him and the gop a senate seat. and politicians aren't alone when it comes to remarks that many women find offensive. listen to this from billionaire hedge fund guru paul tudor jones in april. >> you will never see as many great women investors or traders as men. >> reporter: tudor jones was explaining his view that children were the ultimate career killer for female traders. >> as soon as that baby's lips touch that girl's forget it. every desire to understand, every desire to understand what is going to make this go up or going to go down is going to be overwhelmed by the most beautiful experience, which a

man will never, which a man will never share about a motive connection between between that mother and that baby. >> reporter: tudor jones later said his comments were about global traders who were on call all the time. but that did little to end the outrage or the feeling that some men are just out of touch. >> athena jones joins us. way out of touch. so, going back to congressman franks and his comments about pregnancy and rape. what is he saying today, athena? >> good morning, carol. congressman frank said after this situation played out yesterday that he thought that democrats were trying to stoke this controversy. to shift the debate away from the issue of whether abortion should be banned after 20 weeks to something else for this issue of rape. they were trying to distort his words, but heed a ed ed admitt word choice didn't help him in the matter, carol. >> abortion banned after 20

weeks, that includes women who have been raped. that includes all pregnancies. no exceptions at all, not for the mother's life, not in cases of rape or insist. so, what's happening with this bill? >> i can it elyou it did pass the house judiciary committee by a vote of 20-12. passed by an all-male group of republicans. the point is even if this goes through the house, it has bad chances in the senate and not to mention what would happen if it were to ever reach the president's desk. not something he would be likely to support. that's where things stand now. looks like more a matter of debate and not something that will end up making it all the way through, carol. >> athena jones reporting live from washington. thanks. good morning, i'm carol costello. stories we're watching in "the newsroom" at 30 minutes past the hour.

it's quiet, actually, on wall street. the fed may start cutting the stimulus program. the bell has just rung. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. and stocks were down sharply yesterday and down a little bit already today. >> looks like stocks are trying to buck the trend of what overseas markets did. nikkei plummeting overnight. a rise in retail sales and a fall in jobless claims to help limit the losses for stocks here. get ready for another volatile session. dow has fallen three sessions in a row. the longest moving streak in a year and how bullish the market has been so far and how the situation has changed this month. wall street is worried that the fed may start gradually cutting back its monetary stimulus efforts. that will pull money out of the economy right at a time when growth is still modest at best. because of that, we're seeing lots of swings in the market. look at just yesterday the dow

rose 100 points during the session and then ended down more than 100 points. the main gauge of fear in the market that is jumping, as well, carol. it has a long way to go to signal a really high level of fear like we saw during the recession. carol? >> that's a good thing. alison kosik reporting live from new york stock exchange. heavy rains hitting washington, d.c. right now. look at the live pictures as storms move in. same storms produced heavy lightning in chicago and lightning actually striking willis tower, aka sears tower. today the entire east coast is likely to see some of that storm system hit. coming up next in "newsroom" a marine's trip to visit his father in mexico turns into a kidnapping mystery. now some members of congress are joining his family in a fight to bring him home safely. his sister and his wife share their story, next. [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisors envision planning process,

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a family anxious and fearful as the fbi continues to search for a missing american marine. his name is armando torres and he was kidnapped nearly a month ago now in mexico along with his father and uncle. he was visiting his father's ranch when the fbi said armed gunmen took the three men by

force. let's bring in armando's sister christina torres and his wife, melissa estrada joins us by phone. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> and, christina, the fbi has asked for the public's help. can you give us any sort of update on the search? >> as of right now, they're still investigating. we don't know anything at the moment. >> and melissa -- >> there hasn't been any demands. >> no demands at all. melissa, is that surprising to you because you would think you would hear from these kidnappers by now. >> they're still investigating. they haven't, they don't have anything. nothing that we can speak on yet. >> i understand the need for secrecy on some things. there have been suggestions that the kidnapping was based on a land dispute.

melissa or christina, let's do you, christina, can you explain. >> the land dispute is still under investigation. the fbi is still investigating that is really the motive. and they still haven't said for sure, you know, that's the reason why. >> melissa, do you think that everything that can be done is being done to find your husband? >> i get that question a lot and a lot of people question and i can assure everyone that everything that is being done is being done. i am in contact with the cia every day and i have left this up to them and kind of put my trust in strangers, his life in a stranger's hand, basically.

>> christina, what has this been like for your family? >> it's been hard. especially for my mother and for his children. >> i understand that several members of congress have actually sent a letter to secretary of state john kerry saying it's critical to show the kidnapper's actions, "will not be tolerated." has the state department reached out to you, christina? >> the state department, no. but congressman has contacted my mother and he said he's doing everything he can, in his power to help bring my brother back. >> and, melissa, if by chance these kidnappers are listening, what would you like to say to them? >> we won't stop looking for him. we want an answer.

we want to pressure officials and we're writing and calling and doing everything we can because we want our government to step in, you know, kind of exhaust all the resources in finding them. you know, he is the father, a son, a brother, a friend. we do want answers. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> you're welcome. fans of an 11-year-old singer jump to his defense after his rendition of the "national anthem" brings more hate than applause. the racist tweets about an 11-year-old boy's rendition of " "star spangled banner. "we'll be right back after this. ♪

♪

it's just plain wrong and vicious, quite frankly, to say mean, racist things about anyone, but especially about a little boy who was proud of his heritage and proud to be an american. those comments, those mean, racist comments came after sebastian de la cruz sang the national anthem at the spurs/heat game. ♪ for the land ♪ and the home of the brave >> he did a great job, right? beautiful rendition. and you hear the applause from the audience, they were very appreciative. some people took to twitter to express their disdain because of

this little boy's mexican heritage and what he was wearing. this tweet from daniel gilmore. why they got a mexican kid singing the national anthem? this one from andre lacey, how you singing the national anthem looking like an illegal immigrant? let's bring in nischelle turner. it's disgusting. this little boy, he's talking about it. >> he sure is. he is talking loud about it and proud about it. this is a case of folks amplifying the voices of a small portion of americans. and most of those accounts, if not all, have now been deactivated as their owners, i guess, have decided not to face the public scrutiny coming their way. this negativity is being met

with an outpouring of support for 11-year-old sebastian and he seems to be taking all of this in stride. listen to what he had to say after all of this. >> i think that the people were talking bad because of what i was wearing and it's not my fault. it's what i love. and i'm just proud to be a mariachi singer and it's their opinion. if they don't like it, i love it. >> he has been singing since he was 5, carol. he had hopes of winning to help his younger brother get surgery for his hearing problem, but, you know what, this is not the first time he heard racist comments. according to his father when he was on "america's got talent" he got it there, too. a third of the country is hispanic, i don't know what people are looking at or thinking about or upset because

an 11-year-old had on mariachi. come on. >> come on. not that it matters, but he's born in the united states, his father is in the military. it's like -- >> and not that it matters, but he sang "the national anthem" beautifully. >> it was a great rendition. you can see all of this online and also on cnn.com. by the way, too, sebastian will be on "cnn newsroom" today at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >> terrific. >> we're back in a moment. ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib:

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some families will sacrifice anything to make sure their children have the opportunity to go to school. some families in india are even living on the street. it's part of cnn's film girl rising which documents the struggles girls face around the world to get an education. >> reporter: in india, homes made of plastic tarps are a common sight. for some people, it's their only option. but for girls like roxana, her family lives on the street so she can go to school.

>> translator: my name is roxana. i'm in the fourth grade. next to the tree is a building and under that tree we have a home. here i'm sleeping. >> reporter: roxana's family left their home in a nearby village so they could give her an education and encourage her talents. >> translator: i like to draw. it comes from my heart. >> reporter: the screen writer met roxana during the making of the girl rising film. and sees her drawings as an important means of expression. >> the art is also fantastic, so i think it can open us up to a lot of interior feelings and to reveal what's going on inside. >> translator: i want to change where we live on the street to a better home. >> reporter: education is a chance for girls like roxana to see the possibilities ahead of them. >> roxana is excelling in school

and is now in the sixth grade. to learn more about the campaign behind the film, go to cnn.com/girl rising. and by the way, the cnn film girl rises airs this sunday june 16, 9:00 p.m. eastern. [ female announcer ] think all pads are the same? don't.

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your trip begins at michigan.org. we're headed the same way, right? yeah. ♪ [ panting ] uh... after you. ♪ [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] it's all in how you get there. the srx, from cadillac. awarded best interior design of any luxury brand. lease this 2013 cadillac srx for around $399 per month, with premium care maintenance included. what a way to start the stanley cup finals. took nearly five hours to decide game one. andy schultz is here with bleacher report. >> good morning. fans definitely got their money's worth in chicago last night. the blackhawks and bruins needed three overtimes to decide the

winner in game one. this is the first finals between the bruins and the blackhawks. and boston had a 3-1 lead in the third period, but that's when chicago would get two goals. second coming when the shot deflects on of a bruins skate and goes in. that sends it into overtime. and after nearly five hours, blackhawks finally said enough is enough, this shot redirected twice goes in. chicago wins 4-3 in triple overtime. the fifth longest game in stanley cup finals history. game two saturday night. jason kidd is back, but trading in his jersey for a clipboard. yesterday kidd was named head coach of the brooklyn nets. the move reunites kidd with the franchise he led to consecutive nba finals. he's never coached at any level, but his knowledge of the game and relationship with darren williams reportedly gave him the

edge. he'll be introduced at a news conference later today. and tonight, game four of the nba finals. a must win for the heat. tipoff at 9:00 eastern. play this morning at the u.s. open has been halted due to more bad weather that has come through the philadelphia area. the delay means we will have to wait a little longer to see the all-star opening threesome of the top three players in the world. they will be grouped together for the first two rounds of play. this is the first time that tiger and rory will be paired together in a major. for the first time, a telerobotic pitching machine threw out the first pitch in a game. nick legrand has a rare blood disorder that doesn't allow him to attend games, so google built a replica baseball stadium near his home and from 1800 miles away, nick threw the pitch and at the same time, the robot on the mound fired it in.

this was a cool deal because that robot had a camera on top that was leave streaming the video of what it could see back to nick in kansas city and then nick was on the big screens at the oakland stadium. and all the fans gave him a big standing ovation. >> he had a great windup, too. >> better than the robot. >> true. thanks, andy. the next hour of cnn newsroom after a break. there's a new way to fight litter box odor. introducing tidy cats with glade tough odor solutions. two trusted names, one amazing product. woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child

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happening now, breaking overnight, massive wildfires out of control in colorado. >> i can't imagine sitting there watching on tv and wondering if my house is gone. >> thousands forced to flee. and it's getting worse. also, apple picking. thieves grabbing your phone right out of your hands. cell makers called together to come up with a plan to stop it. plus, success. sarah gets her lung transplant as her family prays for the donor. >> so my heart goes out to them and they really are the heros of this story. >> a live report on sarah's condition. you're live in the cnn newsroom. good morning. i'm carol costello. we start this morning with another bombshell from the former nsa contractor who leaked

classified information on the government surveillance programs. edward snowden told the south china morning post the u.s. has been hacking computer networks around the globe for years including hundreds of computer this is china. the paper says a few documents supporting that claim but was not able to verify guy them. the claims come not long after america complained about chinese hacking institutions. snowden remains in hiding and is believed to be staying at a safe house. he says he will fight extradition to the united states. also getting under way right now on capitol hill, the house judiciary committee holding a hearing on fbi oversight. and we're expecting the top secret program prism to be a big topic. robert mueller is in the hot seat today. dan lothian joins us live. i know the hearing is focused on the fbi in general, but surely the nsa leaks will come up. >> reporter: it has to come up because that's been sort of the

big concern for a lot of lawmakers here in washington this week. there are concerns that, yes, while they may have understood the programs were in place, that perhaps they may have gone too far. some lawmakers saying they didn't understand the scope of these programs, one saying that they might even be unconstitutional. and so there are a lot of tough questions that lawmakers have for these various agencies involved in the intelligence sector. nonetheless, as we saw yesterday, one top intelligence official is insisting that these programs work. edward snowden is hiding out with his secrets, perhaps in a hong kong safe house. now accusing the u.s. government of a global hacking operation. thousands of miles away on capitol hill, the director of the agency snowden once worked for argues the controversial surveillance programs work. >> it's dozens of terrorist events that these have helped

prevent for both here and abroad in disrupting or contributing to the disruption of terrorist attacks. >> automatic of those million, dozens have been critical. >> that's correct. >> reporter: most of the details he says are classified, but alexander was more than willing to admit this intelligence helped stop a plot to attack the new york subway system. leading to suspect pleading guilty to terror related charges in 2010. >> so it was the one that allowed us to know it was happening. >> reporter: but the target of the investigation, former nsa contractor snowden, remains defiant, believed to be in hong kong, telling the south china morning post, i would rather stay and fight the united states government in the courts. he accuses the u.s. of hacking network backbones like huge internet routers, targeting hong kong and china, and proclaims he is neither traitor nor hero. but what to call him is less of

an issue than how a high school dropout ended up privy to the super secret surveillance programs. >> i ask you if you're troubled that he was given that kind of opportunity to be so close to important information that was critical to the security of our nation. >> i have glrave concerns over that. the access that he had, the process that we did. and those are things that i have to look into and fix from my end and across the intel community. >> reporter: now, today alexander will hold an unusual classified briefing for all senators where he will give more details about some of these government surveillance programs. he's been under heavy fire lately, but he says he'd rather be criticized than jeopardize the nation's safety. >> dan lothian reporting live from washington this morning. the columnist from "the guardian" who snowden was leaking information to is now fight back against list own

critics. republican congressman peter king says journalists who help leak classified information should be prosecuted. >> if they willingly knew that this was classified information, should be taken. i know the whole issue of leaks has been gone into over the last month, but something on this magnitude, there is an obligation both moral and legal i believe against a reporter disclosing something which would so severely compromise national security. as a practical matter, i guess there have been in the past several years a number of reporters who have been prosecuted under it. so the answer is yes. >> king went on to claim that greenwald was threatening to disclose names o secret cia agents. anderson cooper asked greenwald about that. he said that's not true. >> the last thing i would try and do is read the mind and what goes on internally in the swamp of peter king's brain.

what i do know is he has a history of all kinds of radical and extremist 125i67statements. he was a supporter of terrorism for several decades when it was done by the ira. so i don't know if he decided to make it up or if he that luose natured or what. but the claims were false and very serious charges that i think he ought to be held accountable for. you can't for the arrest and prosecution of a journalist and tell outright falsehoods without consequences. i was really staggered that a united states congressman, chairman of the house homeland security committee, actually could go on national television and fabricate an allegation, namely that i have threatened to uncover the name of covert cia agents, as a wave argy of argui my arrest and prosecution inside the united states for the crime of doing journalism.

it's bad enough to call for that. it's extraordinarily menacing that he gohe did on based on a complete falsehood. >> so when people are staying in a you will put american lives at risk, do you believe that at all? >> no. and anderson, that point you just made in my opinion is really the crucial point for anybody listening to takeaway. every single time the american government has things that they have done in secret exposed or revealed to the world and they're embarrassed by it, the tactic that they use is to try and scare people into believing that they have to overlook what they have done, they have to trust american officials to exercise power in the dark rest they be attacked, that their security and safety depend upon putting value in political officials. and i think it's the supreme obligation of every citizen when they hear an american official say this story jeopardizes national security to demand

specifics, what is it that has jeopardized national security. because if you look at the stories, we were careful to never disclose anything that could even conceivably harm national security. >> congressman king did not respond to a cnn request for clarify his comments. nelson mandela is responding better to treatment. that's according to the current south african president. mandela has been hospitalized since the weekend with a recurring lung infection. children are now leaving hand drawn get well cards outside mandela's home and family members of course have been visiting him in the hospital. a new development in that deadly building collapse in philadelphia last week. a source telling cnn the man who had inspected the building before its demolition has now committed suicide. police believe he died of a gunshot wound. in the meantime, the man who was operating the crane knocking down the building has been charged with six counts of manslaughter. nascar driver jason leffler

was killed last night in a crash during a sprint car race in new jersey. "usa today" reporting leffler's car flipped and then hit a wall. leffler spent most of his career in the nationwide series winning two races and having 107 top ten finishes. the single father leaves behind his 5-year-old son, charlie leffler. in central colorado this morning, strong winds are pushing two wildfires across tinder dry brush. these are images that came into us just a little while ago. the numbers are staggering. actually these are live pulls e pictures we're showing you. 9,000 people are on the run from the advancing flames. evacuation orders actually blanket a sprawling 55 square miles and the inferno shifting with the winds. dan simon is live in colorado springs to tell us more. >> reporter: this fire is still not contained at all. 0%. that's even after having 500 firefighters on the ground.

and dozens of aircraft dumping water, dumping retardant. shows you the weather has the upper hand. multiple wildfires burning out of control across cold coal. forcing thousands more to flee their homes. hundreds of firefighters trying to gain control of the wind whipped flames as the evacuation areas grow. >> we've had incredible wind shifting and the winds have remained pretty consistent. and that has done a lot of things we were not really expecting. >> reporter: on wednesday, the fires roared through thousands of acres in mere hours, fueled by hot temperatures, dry brush and gusty winds. >> we wanted the plumes of smoke as they were rolling -- as the fire was rolling over our neighborhood. >> reporter: and there is no sign of slowing down. this boy scout camp heeding the warnings and heading out of harm's way. >> we want to make sure they will be safe. >> reporter: cows and horses taken to safety. and this baby deer carried out by a firefighter as the out of control inferno puts everything

and everybody in danger. >> sheriffs came down and said you're going now. and this part not knowing whether i have a house or don't is the worst. >> reporter: about 60 miles to the southwest, a smaller wildfire threatening the iconic royal gorge suspension bridge. its structural integrity now being evaluated. and this sobering image snapped at a local baseball game gives a glimpse of the incredible size of the unpredictable fires. and we just got word that the mandatory evacuation order has k3 pa expanded. 10,000 people under that order. we didn't know when things will start clearing you. obviously the temperatures will go up today. supposed to get into the 90s and we may see wind gusts in 409-mile-per-hour range. things are gotten so bad now that federal authorities are now taking control of the separations. federal incident commander is on

the ground preparing to take things over. >> dan sign mon reporting live. the midwest continues to clean up for thing a line of powerful storms as the east coast now prepares for its turn. a funnel cloud hit near the town of belmond, iowa. no one hurt, but one home and several businesses were destroyed. storms also pounded chicago. check out that picture. the city's tallest building tru struck by lightning. the mid-atlantic is under threat with moderate risk of damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes and flooding. they were told you're not alone, but many in the damaged city of west, texas feel they are certainly alone. as fema says it cannot help them rebuild. [ panting ] we're headed the same way, right? yeah. ♪ [ panting ] uh... after you. ♪

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16 past the hour. time to check our top stories. pentagon has beaten back a proposal that would have removed military commanders from a growing problem, sexual assaults. a recent pentagon survey estimated 26,000 troops were sexually assaulted last year.

some lawmakers said the number could be reduced if commanders were removed from the initial judicial process. >> the chain of command has told for us decades that they will solve this problem. and they have failed. take it from the victims who have said to us over and over again that they do in the report because they do not trust the chain of command. >> it is the chain of command that can protect victims of sexual assaults. >> senator carl levin won the argument against allowing military trial lawyers to decide which cases to prosecute so those sexual assault cases will remain in the military's chain of command. we're hearing for the first time from the foreman of the jury that found jodi arias guilty of murder. he was one of four jurors who voted against giving her the debt penalty. he spoke with ktvk about the

trial's impact. >> the tension was so high in there all the time, you know, the magnitude of it. how much i was shaking when i signed the guilty of first-degree murder form, i literally had to hold my hand down. i literally had to hold my wrist so that i could sign it. i just wanted people to understand the human side of it, what the toll was it took on 12 people because it took a hell of a toll. >> because the jury could not unanimously agree on arias' punishment, a new jury will be seated to decide if she gets life in prison or the death penalty. jury selection set to start july 18th. the duchess of cambridge christens the royal princess. she carried out the honors this morning. another christening on the horizon, too, of course. she's due to deliver reportedly in about a month. enjoy watching sports in 3d? apparently not so much especially on espn.

the sports network is pulling the plug on its 3d channel. 3d tv sales are up 39% this year, but the audience for that programming just a not there. it will bring the channel back if and when 3d tv takes off again. it's been almost two months since explosions leveled a texas fertilizer plant. now rebuilding that devastated area will be much harder. remember that massive explosion that literally leveled the town of west? now fema says west, texas is not a major disaster area and additional federal aid has been denied. ed lavendera is in west, texas to tell us more. good morning, ed. >> reporter: carol, this is a move that has a lot of people here in the town of west scratching their heads. the city says it needs more than $100 million to repair all of

the things that need repaired here. infrastructure, streets, roads, water and sewage lines as well as two schools. and the city is caught in the middle of the political showdown between the obama administration and texas republicans. >> well, the webbers here, they will be destroying their house and rebuilding. >> reporter: on a drive around town, the west mayor knows the longer it takes to rebuild list city, the more likely his neighbors will never move back. >> my job is to get the town back built up. >> reporter: but the job is getting harder. fema has denied rick perry's request for disaster aid to rebuild schools, roads as well as wear and sewage lines. the news stings. >> i don't know if we need 50 more houses to blow up or five more firemen to die to make it a disaster? i don't know. i don't know what their definition is of a disaster. >> reporter: after the explosion, politicians rolled in to town making big promises.

governor rick perry. >> we will never forget what happened. >> reporter: and president obama. >> we stand with you and we do not forget. and we'll be there even after the cameras leave. >> reporter: our cameras are still here and this little town needs help. in a letter to governor perry, fema says the remaining costs for permanent work is within the capabilities of the state and affected local governments. state officials accuse president obama of turning his back on the people of west. but even despite texas' robust and healthy budget, state officials haven't provided enough disaster relief to cover the rebuilding costs either. >> we're third page news. >> reporter: the mayor says the city has a $2 million yearly budget and needs $17 million to repair the damage infrastructure. and officials say the school system is lacking about $25 million to rebuild two destroyed schools. the mayor says without the

disaster aid, he might only be able to afford gravelled roads in the destroyed neighborhoods. so when you tell folks they might be driving on gravelled roads -- >> i haven't told them yet. but we'll see. they'll understand. they will have to understand. >> reporter: while the politicians haggle, the mayor and his neighbors sit and wait. now, carol, fema says that it has already paid out about $7 million to residents who have applied for help, individual residents, swes as well as appr 75% of the debris removal. but governor perry says he will appeal the decision. in the meantime, folks sit and wait. as one city official told me, kneel like they have two strikes against them, but still at the plate batting away. >> and another community may be grappling with this very problem. we'll let you go from west. we do have breaking news to tell

you. there has been a chemical plant explosion in geismar, louisiana. it is close to baton rouge. we understand it's right along route 30. emergency workers tell us there are possible fatalities there. there are injuries. we don't yet know what kind of chemical plant this is. when we confirm these possible fatality, of course we'll pass the information along to you. but right now, it is a major incident, emergency crews now on the scene. again, a major chemical plant explosion in geismar, louisiana along route 30 near baton rouge. 113 smartphones go missing every single minute. we'll tell you who is trying to make sure your loss isn't someone else's gain. music ... music ...

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so you can. we understand the u.s. supreme court has made a major ruling this morning.

the decision is in on whether -- a decision is in in a case examining whether human genes are patentable. right now only one company can . this has been in the news because of angelina jolie's case. john king is following the story. i'm sorry, we don't have -- i'm sorry, we'll go to sanjay gupta. sorry about that. explain this case for people, why only one company can own your genes. >> what the company is saying is that -- and we're talking about the mutated gene as you pointed out, first of all, not only women have them. fewer than 1% of women have them. but simplistically, the company is saying in order to take out those genes, in out to isolate those genes, it requires a very

sophisticated technique and in the process of doing so, they're changing the gene. you can't take it out without the sophisticated technique. so it is changed and therefore patentable. people who say it should not be patented say essentially what a lot of people might think and that is that, look, it's my gene. why should someone else be able to hold a patent to my gene. it came in my body. and therefore it is mine. not something that can be owned or patented by somebody else. >> and it's also interesting that you can only go to this one company to get that test. there a are no other companies u can go to in the country. >> that's why they're being sued and other people are saying we should be able to create that test, isolate that gene ourselves. but this comes up in the larger contest of not only genetic testing, but myriad, the company at the heart of the lawsuit will say we're the ones who are able

to isolate the gene and we did this fist wirst with a lot of research and development and that is what we're trying to patent. but again, the reason this has gone to the supreme court is because it's controversial, a lot of people can disagree on this. >> all right. as i said, the u.s. supreme court has ruled on this. we have people out there in the field, including john king and jake tapper, reading that ruling right now. when they have either i dotted, every t crossed, we'll pass the ruling along to you. we'll take a quick break and be back with more. choose its favorite park through our coca-cola parks contest. winning parks can receive a grant of up to $100,000. part of our goal to inspire more than three million people to rediscover the joy of being active this summer.

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#%tia[ have hail damage to both their cars. ted ted is trying to get a hold of his insurance agent. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com. a lot of breaking news happening this morning. want to upgate you on the big chemical plant explosion in louisiana. geismar, louisiana right along route 30 near baton rouge.

we understand geismar is a little closer to baton rouge. authorities tell us there are possible fatalities as a result of the explosion. there are injuries. we're still working to get more information for you. in other top stories this morning, two major wildfires churning across central colorado. and there are staggering numbers to report. nearly 100 homes destroyed. 10,000 people in shelters and some 55 square miles under evacuation orders. remarkably, not a single confirmed injury so far. new data from the census bureau shows for the first time ever, asians are the fastest rising ethnic group in the united states. the population rising by nearly 3% last year. the majority of that growth came from international immigration. nfl commissioner roger goodell is under fire after defending the red skins nickname for washington's team. he backed away from calls to

condemn the name and instead said it represented courage, pride and respect. some native american groups called the nickname insulting and racially insensitive. 10-year-old sarah murnaghan is recovering after getting a new set of lungs. her story sparked a national debate over transplant rules. the committee temporarily changed its policy to give kids younger than 12 equal access to adult organs. jason carroll is in philadelphia. how is sarah doing? >> reporter: she's still they have l havely sedated and resting. her family wants to be there when she wakes up. even before she went into surgery, she was so sick she had to be heavily sedated. but throughout that sbhir period of time, her mother and aunt tell me they continued to talk

to say rauks continrah, continu her where the thought she was still hearing them. and now that the surgery is over and now that we have this at least temporary change in national policy, the family is using this moment to also recognize the broader implications of what has happened here. >> we feel really good that it's not just sarah. we never wanted it to be just for sarah. but it's all the children in this position. we really can get adult lungs and thrive on them. so we're thrilled about that. >> and sarah still has a very long road ahead of her when you're dealing with this type of complicated sensitive surgery. and there is always the risk of infection, always the risk that her body will reject the organ donation. but her family at this point just has to take it one step at a time. that's all they can do.

and that's really all they ever really wanted to do. they wanted to be that the moment where they are now. >> of course. and going back to that rule change, it is temporary. other children are ken bbenefit it for a year. is anyone pushing for the rule change to become permanent? >> reporter: that is what a lot of folks in the medical community are talking about. there is still a lot of research that has to be done on the subject and that's what will take place over the next year. they will look at things like mortality rates of people who are waiting, children waiting on these -- waiting to receive lung donations. these are just some of the variables as they look further into the issue to find out whether or not this temporary change will some day become a permanent one. >> jason carroll reporting live for us this morning. thanks. still ahead in the newsroom, a marine kidnapped in mexico. what his family has to say about the ghuattempts to find armando torres. nnouncer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all?

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a marine missing in mexico for nearly a month after being dead napped at gunpoint. earlier i spoke with his wife about the government's efforts to find her husband. >> a lot of people questioning is the government doing everything they can. i can assure everyone that everything that is being done is being done. i have been in contact every day and i have left it up to them and put my trust in -- his life in a stranger's hands basically. i do believe they're doing what they can. >> and the family is getting help from capitol hill. several members of congress have

september a letter to the state department asking for its help to bring armando torres home. this just in. we've been talking about this for the last couple of minutes. u.s. supreme court has made a major decision in the case sgiisgi i deciding whether human genes can be patented. let's bring in jake tapper. when's t what's the decision? >> there has been a compromise decision as to whether or not gchlt dna can be patented. let's go to joe johns to find out more. what did the supreme court decide and was it a unanimous decision or split? >> reporter: this was a decision that was about genes and whether they can be patented, the simple question was about a company called myriad that isolated a couple genes that if they mutate

would create much greater chance for the individual who had those genes to develop breast cancer. and the question was whether this company could pat tent those genes. because the company essentially cornered the market on the test, if you will, to determine whether these genes, brca 1 and 2 were present in an individual. the court determined that if a gene we're talking about occurs naturally, that is occurs in nature, then you can't pat tent it. but if the gene on the other hand is actually synthetic, something called composite dna, then it is susceptible to a patent. so it's a very important ruling because there had been a lot of questions about how much money was charged for this testing because this company had essentially cornered the market, jake. so we to have a decision from the court that says if it occurs

in nature, it can't be patented. and that of course leads to the next question which is whether eventually tests for these genes which create breast cancer can become less expensive. back to you. >> let's go to our legal team now for analysis as to what this means. jeffrey toobin, obviously this biotech firm in utah, myriad, wanted many, many pat tents. they wanted to be able to singularly test individuals and hold the patent for testing individuals, women and men, for breast cancer whether or not they had a propensity to develop breast cancer. what does this mean for them? obviously this is not a 100% against them ruling because there is will this synthetic part of it, but this has to be bad news for them. >> i think so. supreme court opinions are on which boring and impenetrable.

this opinion today is actually very clear, readable and interesting on this question. because clarence thomas basically says anything that occurs naturally, whether an arm, a nose, part of our dna, the government cannot give you a patent for that. that is available to everyone to investigate, to look at. but as soon as you start doing something to that stretch of dna or you have a -- you create a test to use that dna, that can be patentable. so this is bad news for myriad the company that came up with this patent and has now been denied the pat teent, but it doesn't cut off the research in the area. so it does seem like the court compromised. this is a very politically polarized court. this was a unanimous decision. all the justices joined justice

clarence thomas' decision. so it seems like a healthy development for all concerned. >> and jeffrey rosen, i want to bring you in. the idea that this firm, myriad, was seeking patents, their argument is, and the argument of many biotech firms, is we need to have this ability to patent this, we need to make money so that we can continue to innovate, to find ways to help people survive. of course from a civil liberties perspective, there is another point of view. explain that. >> there is indeed. this was a dramatic clash between pharmaceutical companies like myriad and doctors, researcher, innovators who august argued if the u.s. patent office continued to grant broad ability to patent human genes, then research would become difficult and innovative treatments would

be difficult in the future. here the supreme court split the baby. it refused to defefr fer for the patent office and signaled it was not going to give a green light to broad patenting. but it said if a company genuinely contributes something on its own as the synthetic dna in this case qualified, then they could have a patent. so not only legally significant as jeff toobin said, it has huge practical implications and it really suggests that the obama administration has won. they were the ones who urged the court not to be so differential about human gene patents. in this sense the big winners were the obama administration and academics, researchers, doctors who believe that they will be able to innovate much more in the future. >> i'm told myriad's stock is up 6%. let's bring in dr. sanjay gupta on the phone. there has been a lot of talk, a lot of discussion in the media and the medical community about breast cancer. a lot of it kicked off because

of angelina jolie discussing the fact that she had double mastectomy a prevent difference measure since she had according to this testing a propensity to develop breast cancer. practically speaking, what does this ruling mean for the millions of women and men who might develop breast cancer in the coming years? >> it probably means that the cost of the test and the availability of the test will be easier for them. it will be cheaper and easier to access probably as a result of this. but this is a very interesting ruling and pretty interesting scientifically. let me try and explain a couple things i think that are important. when we're talking about the gene specifically the sequence of dna, it sounds like they're saying that is naturally occurring. that cannot be patented. but what is important in a situation like this from a

scientific perspective is that you take that sequence of dna in order for to be useful in the lab, you have to essentially make a copy of it and then that copy you have to take out some of the junk, if you will. and that's what the body will do sort of naturally, but this is what you have to do in a lab to make that gene useful for study. that copy is called complementary dna. that complementary dna in order to get to that stage does require human intervention. no longer naturally occurring. and from reading again this opinion here, that is pat tentablten entable. there are companies that can go it using slightly different techniques and perhaps they get the competition that way. but this is a nuanced decision scientifically. >> does it mean, before i let you go, that the breast cancer

test that myriad had worked on, that that is patentable? does that involve the synthetic dna that the supreme court affirmed is patentable as opposed to the naturally occurring dna that the supreme court said is not patentable? >> it does mean that the breast cancer synthetic -- the technique to get to that point is patentable. but i think what's important is that other companies could potentially come up with a technique to also create that synthetic form or that complementary form of dna. so they didn't so much assay the gene itself at the very top of the food chain here is patentable, but one layer below that, where you have to create that copy, that's patentable. but other people could create their own techniques. so i think that may be where the price of the test comes down and competition is encouraged.

>> dr. sanjay gupta on the phone. jeffrey toobin, jeffrey rosen and joe johns, thank you very much. i'll throw it back to carol costello. coming up in the newsroom, police solve a cold case that may lead them to a serial killer. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

new to an incredible story out of florida. officials say they have arrested this man, jose martinez, in

connection with a double homicide cold case from 2006. according for martinez, those aren't the only murders he's responsible for. he claims he's killed 30 people across the united states. a what alaina made cha dough is following the story. >> dna was found from a cigarette in the victim's truck. those results pointed to martinez. and that's when investigators started digging and they realized martinez was also wanted in alabama for an unrelated homicide. now, authorities arrested him in arizona and he was extradited back to alabama for a first-degree murder charge. now, here is where things got interesting. florida detectives travelled to alabama to talk to martinez and they say that's when he confessed to not only the 2006 double homicide, but also to dozens ever other murders. and investigators say martinez

told them he committed his first murder when he was 16 years old. >> so he claims he's committed these 30 murders. do police believe him? >> that's what investigators are trying to figure out exactly how many of these murders he committed. but so far, they say they have been able to confirm at least 11 murder victims that martinez allegedly confessed to killing. >> so what happens now? >> investigators will try to figure out exactly how many of these victims were actually martinez -- he allegedly confessed and that's what they will try to pinpoint. he remains in custody in alabama. he'll have to go through the murder charge there before he's sent to florida to face additional charges. >> wow. thank you very much. still ahead, with speculation swirling over a possible white house run, hillary clinton takes center stage in chicago. [ male announcer ] it's intuitive and customizable, just like a tablet. so easy to use, it won a best of ces award from cnet. and it comes inside this beautifully crafted carrying case.

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hillary clinton back in the political spotlight, backed up by her family. she's speaking at the clinton global initiative meeting in chicago at the top of the hour. erin mcpike is covering it. tell us more, erin. >> well, hillary clinton as you know sent out her second tweet about an hour ago saying thanks for the to wit ter wewitter wel. she's already using social media

to drive people to her. what the speech will do, she'll talk about the renaming of the clinton foundation which will include both her and chelsea. she's also going to be talking about putting herself in the newly renamed foundation and that's where she does the base of her philanthropic work. and we also know that she'll have an announcement at cgi tomorrow and she'll be previewing that a little bit. and that has to do with a focus in the foundation, so she'll be doing a lot more with the foundation in the next year or so and she'll be previewing some of that. >> what's interesting, chris christie, another possible 2016 contender, he appeared to jimmy fallon's show doing the slow jam. and in the midst of the slow jam, erin, the topic of christie possibly running for president came up and he said to jimmile fallon, are you kid somethingdi? i wouldn't announce that on your

show. so interesting both of these powerful people are making so many public appearances. >> and this will be a very interesting two day event. we'll be seeing president bill clinton throughout the next two days and he would be appearing on stage with chris christie tomorrow afternoon. so it will be a very interesting two days, lots of politics i'm sure. >> boy, you're not kidding. thank you so much, erin mcpike. we appreciate it. and thank you for joining me today. cnn newsroom continues right now. i'm ashleigh banfield. nice to have you with us. and we indeed have breaking news. a major explosion and fire at a chemical plant in geismar, louisiana. it is along highway 30 and the pictures tell quite a story. take a look at that fireball and the ensuing black smoke.

our affiliate wafb says it is the william oliphant plant. we're getting reports of multiple injuries. authorities are trying to get the fire under control. we'll bring you more details on the story as we get them. but as you can imagine, this is just unfolding now and we are just starting to see some of the pictures. and as the first responders get on scene, i think we'll have a clearer picture of just what that fire balm was able to inflict in terms of damage. but there is some video heading towards the chemical plant in louisiana. we'll watch this for you. there you see where it is in relation to new orleans on our google map. keeping a close eye on it here at cnn. and we will bring you more as we get it. and there you have it, as well, supreme court sdwiing. we're getting this to you, as well, as breaking news. if it's june, this is the