>> we will not forget. we will never know your pain, and we only wish that we would have stopped this to reduce the number of victims. the international game of cat and mouse. the man who told the world about the government secret spy program on the run and may be on the move within hours. where he's going seasoned is there anything the u.s. can do to catch it? nelson mandela in critical condition this morning. his health taking a turn for the worst. a live update ahead. did you see this or were you too scared? no harness, no safety net. nick walla that.

>> welcome to this special early edition of "early start." i'm christine romans. >> it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. edward snowden says he leaked information about the nsa is in moscow expected to board a plane for cuba, then south america. he asked ecuador for asylum. the obama administration issued objections for letting him stay there. we look at all options available to expel him back to the u.s. to face the crime for which he is charged. we are in moscow. >> reporter: at the airport, the government was playing a role in the aid of snowden. the flag was the give away.

this is the ambassador's car parked outside. this official somehow got lost inside the terminal. >> i'm not taking any comments. >> are you here in relation to snowden at all? >> reporter: the world learned of his departure when he was already in the air. a big group of russian and international journalists went to meet him. snowden stayed inside the terminal. the government of ecuador confirmed he asked for asylum. he's protecting another man, wikileaks founder, julian asang. he's been living there for a year. wikileaks said snowden asked find an organization to help protect him. he is bound by a democratic nation and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers

from wikileaks and made furious about where snowden plans to go after russia. the u.s. government asked ecuador, venezuela and cuba to deny him and his american passport was canceled. the russian government hasn't declared if they will let him leave or if it will help the united states reclaim one of the most wanted citizens. cnn, moscow. >> next stop on this odyssey for snowden may be havana cuba. he's expected to fly there in a few hours enroute to ecuador. pat is live for us. good morning, pat. what is the latest there? >> good morning. we know that edward snowden is in moscow. we know he's trying to get to ecuador. how does he do that? it's a huge challenge when you

look at the countries he has to pass through. as he begins the journey, he has to find country that is won't turn him over to the united states and bend to the u.s. pressure. one is a country where i stand now. cuba is under the united states embargo. they haven't weighed in what they would do if snowden shows up. he's a close ally. they want better relations with the united states. edward snowden is getting a hero treatment here. officials here are happy with the secrets he's divulged. cuba engages in spying tactics. officials haven't weighed in. it will be surprising if they answer the u.s. call and turn over snowden, should he appear here today. >> why ecuador? it's not a country many americans know about. what makes it a good situation

for the government there? >> you know, it's an interesting question. you have to go back to the former president of cuba, fidel castro, the leader of venezuela, hugo chavez. they had a vastly different view of the world of the united states of political power and acted to encounter the power. rafael -- they continued with the efforts. these are country that is look at u.s. power differently. they are all too happy to embarrass the united states and learn intelligence in the process. >> looking to make a statement. in havana, in the next 12 to 14 hours, mr. snowden may be landing. >> to south africa now in the health of nelson mandela.

the former african president took a turn for the worse. his condition has been downgraded from serious to critical. robin is there for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. as you can see, there's tight security outside nelson mandela's hospital with new that is he is now in a critical condition. the president coming out late sunday saying doctors are doing everything they can for him and he's in good hands. his family telling me he's still fighting. ♪ >> reporter: on a cold winter's night, they came to sing for nelson mandela. behind one of these hospital windows, the 94-year-old mandela battles a lung infection in care.

his wife sleeps here during the night. >> i want him to be comfortable. >> comfortable, is that all you can do for him now? >> when you see all that can be done now, no. they haven't stopped treating him with all the best medication there is in the world. >> reporter: do you think he's at peace? >> yes. i believe he's at peace. i think he's at peace with himself. he has given so much to the world. >> reporter: he is at peace, they are angry and comfortable with the intense media interest. >> it is our dead. it is our dead. nelson mandela's blood gives us the space to be with our father. whether these are our last moments or there's longer, there must be a -- >> reporter: for them, mandela

is not the global icon. he's a father, grandfather and husband, who they don't want to share with the world at this critical time. >> we are claiming him. we are his prodigy. >> they wait and hope. >> i strongly feel that whatever covenant he's made has not been fulfilled. when that is fulfilled, he will bow out in a way that he chooses. >> reporter: flames flicker, hymns are sung, family asks for space and the man fights. now, the media contingent outside this hospital has grown on the new that is his condition had worsened. that, of course, is not going to be happy news for the family who really seemed to be struggling with the spotlight and of course, nelson mandela still in the hospital behind me battling it out.

>> thank you. >> the president, president obama heads to africa later this week. that will be interesting. a deadly shooting in pakistan. an american is said to be among the victims. it happened at the base of pakistan's highest peak. gunmen burst through a hotel, opened fire and nine people were killed. the associated press says one was an american. a group claimed responsibility saying after foreign tourists in revenge to a drone strike that killed a taliban leader. the president meets with ceo and business owner that is could lead to reform of the immigration system. the senate expected to take a vote on a deal to beef up more security in change for allowing millions, millions of undocumented workers to become legal. the supreme court could issue rulings in major case that is impact millions of americans.

the court has 11 decisions pending including same-sex marriage, voting rights, affirmative action, the biggest issues facing the country. they do not expect all the opinions today, but easily one. the court is likely to add at least one more decision day later this week when it could issue other rulings. >> people in western canada bracing for more flooding. alberta is luged with water. meantime, 65,000 calvary residents are returning home. the flooding is blamed now for three deaths. >> we are tracking this all. any relief from the flooding in sight? >> it looks better. we are seeing scattered showers across the area, generally light. nothing like they saw last week. there's rain in the forecast overnight and into tomorrow.

you can see through the beginning of the week, conditions improving. less chances by wednesday. partly cloudy conditions. speaking of the rain, i want to show you something unusual for this time of year. this moisture barrelling into northern california and the pacific northwest. this is something we don't typically see this time of year. it's good news. more rainfall is not that impressive for a wintertime storm where typically you can see eight to ten inches of rainfall. we are talking one to three inches of rain. two to four inches this time of year is extremely rare. that's the good. the plus side of this. unfortunately, the bad side, cold air up to the warm air. it means strong winds over the rockies. good for them. bad in the rockies, higher wind and lower humidity as a result. thunderstorm chances from the dakotas to iowa today. what does that mean? the college world series. they are not going to like that so much.

gusty winds and rain for them. >> rain delay. >> just a tad. >> thank you so much. this is a weather issue. an atmospheric story. did you see the super moon? these pictures coming in from around the world. no, the moon did not suddenly get bigger sunday morning, but closer to earth. the closest point of the year when it's a full moon. it looks 14% wider and 13% brighter. you can see by the stunning pictures, it really lit up the sky. it's all over twitter. one example of how the sharing is so phenomenal. coming up, police at the home of an nfl star. a star caught in a murder mystery this morning. new developments. >> nick wallenda completing the tight rope walk. no harness, no safety net. no good sense in that man. it's after the break. lactose-free lactaid®ove

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it was a breathtaking challenge to walk across the grand canyon on a two-inch tight rope. nick wallenda did it. we were watching. >> the shoes feel slippery. there's dust on the cable. >> it didn't start well. >> need to relax well. it's hard to relax when you are over a canyon. >> reporter: death devying, vert go endeucing thrill.

a two-inch thick cable stretching across the little colorado river. >> i'm not liking it. >> reporter: the most hair-raising part -- >> help this cable to calm down. >> reporter: the balance pole began swinging, tweetering higher and higher. >> the winds are worse than i expected. >> reporter: was he losing control? twice he stopped to regain composure and stop the wire from quivering. without a safety harness, he sounded more like a preacher. >> thank you lord. >> reporter: high wires and high tension are a family trait. kate hat a lesson with him. >> you make nervous into focus? is that how you -- >> yeah. once it's time to go, it's time to go.

after the first step, there's no turning back. >> reporter: another family trait, carl wallenda put the flying wallenda's together in 1972. in 1978, he fell ten stories to his death. >> he said life is on the wire, everything else is waiting. this is life. >> reporter: life on a wire, cheating death, one more day. >> on a scale, one to 10, what he did tonight was unbelievable. i would give it a ten. >> reporter: for the finale, he ran to the finish. miguel marquez, cnn, arizona. >> i had to sleep so i didn't see it live. the shaking in the middle and the kneeling, that is crazy. >> wow. wow. >> that's all romans can say, wow. wow. >> there are things i don't understand and that's one of them. climbing. people who kill themselves to

summit a huge mountain. dangerous. they feel terrible. their head is going to explode. they trained. they spend all this money. i don't get it. >> he sounded nervous. when the wind was blowing, i have never heard him so unnerved before. it's 19 minutes after the hour. for aaron hernandez, another search of his massachusetts home. police are trying to find out his connection to the death of a semiproplayer. saturday, authorities went through his home again. hernandez has not been charged for a crime, nor has police said what they are looking for. it is not the supreme court, twinkies. twinkies and other snacks will be on store shelves. the new owners say they tweaked a few recipes and changed how they deliver products. they reduced the number of

bakeries thoo produce them. would you eat a gluten free twinkie? hostess laid off thousands of workers. snack cakes have been in short supply ever since. i will get to the bottom of tweaking recipes. >> how do you tweak the twinkie? >> i don't know. we will see. coming up. july 15th, you have to reserve judgment. >> we are doing a countdown. >> get ready to pay more. starbucks coffee on the rise. why you'll be paying more for your morning jolt. more beautiful every time you wear it. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin. neutrogena® cosmetics.

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welcome back to "early start." >> stocks are weaker. the dow and nasdaq fell 2%. the s&p 500 more than 2%. a 5% move for china, not good. they closed at the lowest level since 2009. stocks fell across asia as well. that's to tell you things are still nervous this morning. most americans living paycheck to paycheck. 50% of americans have less than a three month cushion. 27% no savings at all. 24% have enough money to cover at least six months of expenses,

that's your goal and only one in four of you are doing that. people say after paying debt, housing and child care, they don't have much money leftover. the fact this has been persistent over the past three years is worrisome. fewer americans are traveling this fourth of july. it will keep more people close to home because of how it falls. americans have a four-day holiday instead of a five-day weekend. people will stay home for a staycation. stay home. it's fine. starting tomorrow, you are going to pay more for your starbucks latte. it's true. they are going to raise prices by an average of 1%. it will affect brewed coffee, tea and es espresse.

rising rents triggers the move. 25 minutes after the hour. >> it's not a reason to be grumpy. >> at 4:25, i don't need a reason to be grumpy. the trial begins for the neighborhood watchman who killed trayvon martin. what the jury will not hear in court, coming up next.

diplomatic drama. the man who exposed the government surveillance program getting international help to escape. where he's trying to seek asylum this morning. >> it wasn't self-defense. was it murder? opening statements in the george zimmerman trial accused of killing teenager, trayvon martin in the street. an american held by the taliban. a new hope he may soon be set free. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it's 4:30 in the east. edward snowden may soon be on the move again. the nsa contractor, former contractor turned leaker left for moscow this weekend and may be headed to ecuador. he's asked for asylum. the obama administration is not

happy with hong kong and china for letting him leave. they want russia to release him to the u.s. to expel him to face justice for the crimes which he is charged. next stop for snowden is cuba before he heads to ecuador. we have in havana covering the latest developments. what is the latest? patrick? >> we are waiting to see what edward snowden's next move is. does he get on a once a day air flight to havana as has been speculated and reported by others? once he arrives in havana, the u.s. begins to run out of options. if they can't convince countries like hong kong and russia to hand over snowden, countries the u.s. has working relationships

with, much more concrete ties to, they don't have much of a chance here in cuba where there is united states economic embargo, they are barely on speaking terms. the officials haven't said what they will do. they are monitoring the situation. ek wa dor is close to cuba. >> in ecuador, perhaps eager to embarrass the united states. thank you so much. i should add, this flight from moscow to havana is scheduled to take off in an hour and a half, which is why we are here covering this for you. >> the prosecution and defense in george zimmerman's murder trial will make their first impression on the jury in opening statements. six florida jurors, all women and all mothers will see if he

was murdered in self-defense. >> reporter: in the second degree murder trial against zimmerman, the first thing jurors will hear, opening statements. >> all bets are off. >> reporter: don west opens for the defense. their goal is to say george zimmerman acted in self-defense the night of february 26, 2012. zimmerman was a man in a fight for his life. he admitted to killing and shooting 17-year-old trayvon martin. john guy will open for the state. prosecutors must prove that zimmerman was the aggressor. they will argue a profile continues to per sue trayvon martin after a dispatcher told them not to. there's also the question of who was screaming for help on this 911 tape, moments before the fatal shot. >> you think he's yelling help? >> yes.

>> reporter: prosecutors may call on witnesses who claim it was trayvon martin screaming for help. over the weekend, the judge denied the testimony of the audio experts. cnn legal analyst called it a setback. >> it was a major corner stone of their entire case. from the beginning, we are saying whoever's voice it was crying for help showed that the other person was the perpetrator. >> the jury was sworn in last week. a panel of all women. five who attorneys say are white. one is black/hispanic. their identities kept anonymous to protect their privacy. george howl, cnn, florida. former mob boss james whitey bulger resumes in florida. he's charged in connection of 19 murders while running the winter hill gang in the '70s and 80s.

bulger is free to tell his story on the witness stand. a shocking story from jacksonville. a registered sex offender releaseed from custody three weeks ago faces murder and kidnapping charges. donald james smith abducted an 8-year-old girl from a walmart where he told her mother he would help buy food. hundreds gathered to remember this little girl at a church not far from where she was found. in new orleans, a mother arrested for murder after her 5-year-old daughter shot and killed herself. the mother left the girl home alone locked in a bedroom. when she came back, her daughter was on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head. >> devastating. >> this is a difficult time for the whole family. >> the girl was taken off life

support sunday. her mother is facing second degree murder charges. to mississippi where a church argument turned deadly. police shot and killed the son of a deacon. they returned fire, killing him. the argument at a church north of jackson was whether over to fire the pastor. they agreed to settle the argument. three police officers were leaving the church when the man showed up with a gun. the officer who shot him is on leave. the family of james gandolfini will pay their final respects on thursday. his body arrived here last night. the "soprano" star is getting a tribute. flags will be flied at half staff. the wreckage of a plane that crashed during an air show in ohio this weekend. with a crowd of thousands watching, the plane plunged to

the ground, caught fire carrying a pilot and stunt woman. athena jones has more. >> reporter: more more than a decade, this is how jane wicker lived her life. saturday in dayton, ohio, this is how it tragically ended. >> oh, no. as planned, her plane turns upsidedown. then suddenly, disaster. her and her pilot are killed instantly. the key question, what caused the plane to become to unbalanced during a standard part of her routine? >> we are going to ask that you turn your kids away from the scene. >> terrible. i never seen it happen before. we never expect to see something like that happen. it's awful. >> reporter: the ntsb is investigating but says it's way too early to know what went wrong. >> we are doing the data

collection. we are not going to have findings or probable cause at this point. >> reporter: fellow performers say flying so close to the ground, there's no room for error. >> very focused as wing walkers and have a lot of trust for our pilots. we put our faith in them. >> reporter: her daredevil career began here at the flying circus in virginia. >> in 1990, i answered an ad in the newspaper. no experience necessary. >> reporter: danger is always a factor in the air shows. unlike the crash in reno, nevada that killed ten, none were injured in dayton. a day before the crash, wicker thought she, too, would be safe. >> i'm one of the few in the world that actually will walk in front of a crowd, along the wings of an airplane. >> athena jones, cnn, washington. >> so sad.

108 square miles and growing. three fires coming together and threatening a tourist area in southern colorado. the blaze threatening hundreds of people near southfork to evacuate. donations pouring in to help victims of a fire in prescott. crews made significant progress. it is the calm after the storm in minnesota where 5,000 people in the twin city lost power alt the height of awful weather this weekend. no one more lucky than this guy. a close encounter with a big old tree. >> i thought i hit something. but, i kind of look up and see there's a tree in my car. the first thing i thought is, it's so close. if it had been inches one way or the other or if i had left maybe a little earlier, i i don't know

what would have happened. >> that is crazy. nearly 100,000 people are still in the dark there this morning. >> we are tracking the weather this morning. they had crazy weather through there. >> yeah, i want to show what the radar looked like. if you were there, look at the storms that continue to push through the area. all the warm, moist air pushing through. it builds up. you have a lower, cold front that takes the energy and blows up the storm. as far as today, we are going to see rain across the country. nothing too heavy. a stationary front that brings rain. half inch in the northeast. maybe an inch or so in the southeast. to the west, heavy, unusual rain for this time of year. where we have thunderstorms, we are going to see the heavier rain. we are talking the dakotas to iowa. we are going to deal with flooding. they had a lot of heavy rain throughout the weekend. we are talking flooding in iowa today.

we are watching for that. otherwise, the other big story, it's raining. hot, humid, rainy weather. look at the country, a lot of 90s in the northeast. 80s in the southeast. the cooler weather in the pacific northwest where the unusual storm is bringing cooler temperatures and much needed rainfall. i want to mention hurricane season in the pacific. we have a storm brewing out there. the only good news, not a tropical storm yet. it's expected to build into a hurricane. we are not expecting danger with that one. nothing atlantic yet, either. >> thanks. >> all right. look at this video. this texas cop got a lot more than he bargained for while trying to do his job. >> right here? >> oh! >> yes. >> what? >> that is a monkey snapping at the officer who is trying to hand over an electronic device. the driver had -- look at that.

that is a crazy monkey in the backseat. the driver told the officer he was in the truck. he's trained to make appearances at carnivals. i don't think it bit. just lunged at the cop says you are trained to be on guard at all times, but he was not on guard for a monkey. i don't think the police academy has be on the guard for monkey training. >> the monkey is now in custody for questioning. i made that part up. i don't think that's true. coming up, an american soldier believed to be held captive by the taliban. there's new hope he may soon be coming home.

an american soldier long believed to be held cabtive by the taliban could be the latest pawn in peace negotiations giving the family hope. the chances for talks are falling apart. here is ed. >> reporter: peace talk that is could help bring beau home appear to be crumbling. the taliban is willing to exchange the only known captive

soldier for five leaders. the afghan's anger over the newly opened office threatens to derail the talks. >> it's been a step back for them. now we need to see if we can get back on track. i don't know if it's possible or not. >> reporter: half a world away, his father is making a passionate plea for all sides to talk. >> the people in afghanistan, it's a lot more. may the peace of god and the blessing that is come from god be upon you. may we somehow, after 12 long years find peace in afghanistan so that our soldiers and our american personnel can come home. >> reporter: yellow ribbons line the streets of his hometown. banners hanging from store fronts show years of weathered strain.

>> reporter: there's little information about his condition until a few weeks ago when his parents received what they believe is a handwritten letter from their son delivered to them from the red cross to the taliban. at the rally, you could sense his parent's anguish. >> a father does not leave his son alone on the battlefield. i do not live here, i live in afghanistan. my cell phone is set on afghan time. i will not leave you on the battlefield, bowe. these people here will not leave you on the battlefield, your country will not leave you on the battlefield. >> reporter: they sense this is the best chance they have had to bring bowe home. they pray this moment doesn't slip away. cnn, idaho. >> you have to feel for that family. >> 48 minutes after the hour. john kerry waking up in new delhi. he is hoping to talk about global warming and climate change. india is the second stop on the

two-week swing through asia and the middle east. the strategy for dealing with the climate change issue. a journalist missing for a year in syria. his parents are traveling to try to find him. he was said to be on his way to lebanon when he was detained. a spokesman tells cnn they want to find people to help with his release. the syrian government says they don't know where he is. a protest expected to pick up. 1 million protesters thursday. demonstrations began more than a week ago. they quickly morphed into something bigger. anger over a variety of issues. the cost of staging major sporting events.

the world cup set to be in brazil next summer. taking on protesters in his own country, defending riot police over the weekend. they fired tear gas and clashes in and around the square where crowds gathered to remember. no sign of a missing oklahoma teen a week after he disappeared on a trip to ecuador. he was hiking with his family sunday when he vanished. his father says another search on the mountain has not turned up clues. his father says he remains baffled by what happened to his son. a touching tribute to the winner of the marathon. he returned his medal to the city saying he wanted to honor those who lost their lives in the bombings. thousands who gathered -- excuse me, sports should never be used as a battleground. a moment of silence held for the

victims in the attack. slow but steady progress for the pennsylvania girl with the live-saving lung transplant. he woke up friday night on a ventilator. she's unable to speak. she's responding to questions by shaking her head. her family went to court and won the right to allow her to be placed on an organ donation list for adults. paula deen may be losing an endorsement deal. home shopping network and qvc are reviewing her contract. deen has apologized. her fans have over taken the food network's facebook page, upset asking management to reconsider. it's a true collectors item today. one of the first ever apple computers goes on the auction block. the apple one is one of 200

built in 1976. only a few dozen survived with eight kilobytes of memory. it's considered the forerunner for everything apple has done since. it was picked up by a school psychologist in california in 1980 and used it to teach special needs children. it may go for $500,000. you had a commodore 64, right? >> we did. in my parent's garage we have several of these, nothing as old and valuable as that. >> 52 minutes after the hour. this is an interesting story, coming up. jim carrey getting support from his latest film. why he doesn't want his audience to see it. [ jen garner ] imagine a makeup so healthy your skin can grow more beautiful every time you wear it. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin.

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the gorge washington bridge, a beautiful look at new york city. just a short while ago, a super moon hanging over the city, now a super morning. >> taking a look at the top cnn trends. >> monsters versuses vampires.

monsters won. the second biggest opening for a pixar film ever. zombies came in second. a respectable week. it's on pace to earn back the nearly $200 million it cost to make. >> it's a budget film. jim carrey is not happy with his latest role. he's distancing himself from the movie, "kick ass ii." it's set to come out. he lets dogs protect enemies. i did a month before sandy hook. now, i cannot support that level of violence and apologized to those involved. i'm not ashamed, but recent events caused a change in my heart. he's surprised by the criticism since he had the screen play for some 18 months. >> that was before sandy hook.

that clearly affected him. more trouble for an actress. she's been arrested for possibly driving drunk. they noticed signs of intoxication. she was released on bail last november. she and her husband were arrested in connection with a disturbance at their home. for other trends, head to cnn.com/trends. this special edition of "early start," so much news continues right now. wanted, on the run. the man who exposed the government's secret spy program, creating a diplomatic drama. where he's headed this morning and who the u.s. is blasting for helping him so far. former south africa president, nelson mandela taking a turn for the worst. the world is watching this.

he is in critical condition this morning. we'll have a live report from south africa ahead. did you see this stunt? daredevil nick wallenda tight rope walking across the grand canyon. no harness or safety net. it gets windy. the line starts to shake. it's dramatic. >> christine romans said wow at least 78 times this morning. i would describe it as wow. good morning. welcome to this special edition of "early start." >> i get paid to talk. i'm christine romans, it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> we are going to begin with breaking news. it deals with edward snowden. the leaker charged with espionage. he is in moscow. he's expected to fly later today, maybe an hour from now to cuba enroute, per happens to

ecuador, a country which he's asked for asylum. the obama administration not happy hong kong let him leave and wants russia to return him. it's an international game of mad libs here. we expect to government to look at all options available to expel him back to the u.s. to face the crimes with which he's charged. we have a report from phil in moscow. >> reporter: at the airport, there were early signs the government of ecuador was playing a role in the escape of snowden. this was the ambassador's car parked outside. this official got lost inside the terminal. >> no comments. >> are you hear in relation to mr. snowden at all? the world learned of his sudden departure from hong kong when he was already in the air.