ran out of time, that's does it for us. thanks for watching, "early start" begins now. ♪ breaking news overnight. ariel castro the man who kidnapped and tortured three cleveland women for upwards of a decade found dead inside his prison cell. we are live with the latest. the crisis in syria. new developments, president obama picks up crucial support for military action in congress. but overnight, a fresh warning from the russian president. you'll want to hear it. and shot right through. >> how close was it your face? >> like this much. a few inches away.

>> a close call for one driver, when a surfboard smashes through his windshield. look at that picture. >> not what you want to see. >> and he's smiling. we're going to hear more from him. >> good morning. welcome to "early start" everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's wednesday, september 4th. it's 5:00 a.m. in the e. we're going to begin with shocking news out of ohio. ariel castro the man admitted holding three women in his home for years, he's dead. officials say he was hanged in his prison cell just weeks after learning he'll spend life in jail. michelle knight told cast tro in court i spent 11 years in hell, now your hell is just beginning. well, life behind bars turned out to be just weeks. how did this happen? scott taylor of cnn affiliate woio tv is in cleveland this morning.

he joins us on the phone. scott, what do we know? >> right now, we know that prison officials checked on ariel castro around 9:00 o'clock last night. then they discovered at 9:20 that he hanged himself. so we're not sure exactly what happened in those 20 minutes. a medical team rushed in, john, tried to work with him. they eventually took him by lifeflight, we believe, a helicopter to ohio state medical center, within an hour, he was pronounced dead. i think the big question now is how did a high profile inmate like ariel castro end up commit suing side when he's in protective custody, john, and they're checking on this guy every 30 minutes which is a lot different when he was here in cleveland in the county jail, they were checking on him every ten minutes. so i think some big questions are going to be sent to prison officials to try to figure out how in the world this happened.

>> you a high profile. one would think the highest profile in the state there. you said there were procedures in place. they were checking at him every 30 minutes at staggered intervals. anything else they were supposed to be doing to make sure something like this didn't happen? the one thing you would think they were prying to prevent from happening. >> well, i think they would probably be checking on his emotional state when he was here in cleveland, in the jail, they brought teams of doctors in. he was under suicide precaution. they did not think he was going to hurt himself here. he was a high profile inmate. they wanted to make sure he was okay. you would think prison officials were doing that as well. they were sending in teams of doctors, checking on his emotional state. eventually, he would be put into general population. but as far as i know right now, he was locked up by himself. he didn't have access to any other inmates, he did receive mail, and he did receive phone calls but this is just really

shocking the entire community. a lot of people here were reacting on twitter and facebook, basically saying that they're upset that prison officials allowed him to escape this life sentence. we have not yet heard anything from amanda berry, michelle knight, or gina dejesus. we do know that castro's family have been notified. and i also know that amanda berry, and gina dejesus, one of the two girls they wanted him to serve the rest of his life in prison. they did not want the death penalty for ariel castro. it looks like he might have taken the easy way out. >> a lot of questions this morning. what was in his cell, how did he get there. scott taylor of cnn affiliate woio in cleveland. scott, thanks a lot. >> also on the phone, maria

castro-monties. i appreciate you taking the time to joins, you can tell us how you found out and how you felt when you heard the news? >> i found out through a text message from my younger brother at about 12:19 this morning. so obviously, i was sleeping. i got a text, and when i looked at it, it was just my brother saying did you hear that ariel killed himself? and i immediately, you know, sat up in the bed, turned on the tv to search for the news to see what had happened. and then, you know, we saw a local reporter in front of what used to be the house reporting on the incident. >> i spent a lot of time with you and your family, you know, when this case really received all of this media attention. >> you did. >> and i asked you this morning how you felt when you heard the news. >> right. >> you told me, you cried? >> i did. >> why?

>> i cried for several reasons. initially, my first thought was, oh, my gosh, do the girls know? you know, does nancy know? >> when you say the girls, maria, i don't mean to interrupt you, what girls are you talking jab >> i'm talking about the victims. obviously, gina, amanda and michelle. i was wondering had they heard, had someone notified them or would they just be sleeping soundly not knowing that this had happened. that this transpired. i immediately thought of them and did they know, and if so what was going through their minds, you know, as a mom, i was thinking about what nancy would be thinking right now. and then my thoughts just kind of went to, you know, the memories of the person i used to know. or that i thought i used to know. and just thinking about his mother. obviously, you know, that's

still her son. she had been visiting him in the jail, along with her daughter. so, obviously, now this is just a whole other level of, you know, suffering for her. because regardless, he did some really horrible things, but she's still his mother and she still loved him. and now she's got to, you know, deal with all of this as well. so, yeah, i cried. it's tough. and at the same time, i just thought, i guess this is how it needed to be. i don't know. so, you know, it is what it is. it's unfortunate in so many ways. i know these girls wanted him to live out his sentence. i'm glad he didn't get the death penalty because i didn't want them to have to testify and relive all of their horrible memories and thoughts. and everything they'd gone through. but, you know, maybe this is for the best. maybe this is the only way that

he will be out of the spotlight because i think he was just always going to be in the spotlight. it seemed like every day, some new news report was coming out. and i don't think they were ever going to find peace if he was still alive and in prison. >> we have very few details about what happened. we just talked to a reporter. what do you think happened? >> i don't know, you know, knowing that they have been watching him. knowing that he was supposedly on a suicide watch. one of my initial thoughts was, did he really do this to himself? or could possibly someone else have gotten to him? you know, obviously, it is a jail. there's a lot of criminals behind those bars. and even some of those criminals and some of the horrible things they may have done, obviously, probably were not as bad as some of the things he did. you know, people always have an eye out for someone that has

done something as horrible as these things that he's done. so i really have to wonder. but, you know, i guess at this point, it doesn't really matter. but they say that suicide is a cowardly thing, and obviously, he took the coward's way out. but i still really find it hard to believe, that after everything that he did, he somehow mustered up the strength or the so-called courage to take his own life. somehow, i just find it hard to believe. >> and you knew him for years. i know we're just spectating here. i really appreciate your thoughts on this. i don't want to leave you without talking about the community there. you know, they suffered with all of this for years. they kept on looking for these girls when they thought they had found them. and the media attention and the scrutiny for the community. do you think this helps the community heal? do you think this will bring

some level of closure? >> i don't know, you know, obviously, i haven't been out in the community. i haven't spoken to anyone to this yet, not even anyone in my family because the news did break so late. i've heard on the news you know, about the twitter and facebook reactions, that kind of thing. obviously, there's mixed reaction. you know, this was a very difficult thing for our community. obviously now, it's going to -- and it has, started up a whole new media storm for the moment, hopefully, that dies down quickly. i think people just need to move on and, you know, focus so much on the fact that he, you know, escaped a life sentence. you know, we just need to take it for what it is and move on. and, you know, just close that chapter of our lives. like i said, previously, hopefully, these girls can heal and move on. you know, no matter what, i

think at this point, justice has been served. it may not be our justice now that's served. you know, there's only one person of justice that's going to be served and that's his lord. he's got to meet him now. and he's got to do his explaining. and, you know, we obviously have to be satisfied with whatever. his life or his afterlife is going to be now. he's in the proper hands. that's the final judge and jury, and i think we just need to let it be, you know, that's what comes of it. >> maria, thank you again for joining us this morning. i appreciate the time. i know that this is a very difficult time for your family. our thoughts and prayers are with all of you as well. thank you for the time this morning. >> we certainly do appreciate her words there. she talked about justice. one thing is clear. this not what the justice system intended. >> right. >> this was not the than she was handed down and there are procedures in place to make sure

this doesn't happen. yet, it did. very serious questions. and michelle knight, the victims didn't want -- >> michelle knight in particular. >> she said i will live on. you will die a little every day as you think about the 11 years and the atrocities you inflicted on us. not the end, the people who survived this terror or the justice called for. >> had intended. actually, it was one of the things that maria when i called her on the phone this morning. it was one of the first things that she talked about. it doesn't make any sense to me. the family, they were up all night talking about this, what actually happened in there. you heard her say she just doesn't believe he had the courage to do this. we'll find out more details as they became available. how can something like this happen. he had been on suicide watch. they knew there was a potential problem. how does this happen >> we'll find out. 12 minutes past the hour. now to the debate over syria and the latest surprising

developments that could mean air strikes against the assad regime. two of president obama's biggest rivals, the top republican in the house, speaker john boehner and eric cantor now say they back the president's call for reaction. that as the senate committee prepares to vote on use of force. the language is carefully crafted and different than what the white house originally asked for. here's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. >> reporter: the revised authorization limits strikes against syria to 60 days with an option for a further 30 days. it also explicitly bans u.s. troops on the ground, though, it would permit a rescue mission if needed. the bill comes after secretaries kerry and hagel and general dempsey, three veterans who know the immense cost of war, delivered an impassioned case to senators that military action is right and necessary. >> are you going to be comfortable if assad, as a

result of the united states not doing anything, then gases his people yet again. and the world says, why didn't the united states act? >> reporter: attempting to thread a political needle, the administration had something for both supporters and skeptics of military action. who dubs strict limits on the scope and duration of any attack. many the hawks making sure the strategy also including strengthening, for syrian opposition. senator rand paul demanding that the president abide by the congressional vote, win or lose. >> if we do not say that the constitution applies, if we do not say explicitly that we will abide by this vote, you're making a joke of us. you're making us into feeder. >> senator, i assure you there's nothing meaningless and there's everything real. >> only if you hear what we vote on. honl if our vote makes a difference. >> reporter: from senator mccain, a long supporter of more

vigorous involvement, builter criticism of the president's delay of action. >> we need to tell the enemy we're going to attack them they're obviously goes to disperse and try to make it harder. >> that was jim sciutto reporting. and i would like to welcome my friend jim to cnn. overnight, a fascinating twist to the story from russian president vladimir putin. he said he's not convinced that the assad regime was behind the attacks. he's told the associated press and state television there's still a plan that he believes that the rebels themselves committed the atrocity. he did say that russia could go along with the reaction if the united nations approves it. but he cautioned any unilateral strike against the syrian government could be considered an act of aggression. meantime, france's parliament is set to debate takes action against syria but no vote is scheduled but the president said

he will not call for a vote until the u.s. congress makes its decision. as i said, the comments from vladimir putin were fascinating. the tone very different than we've heard before. coming up in the next half hour, phil black will join us live from moscow to break down what the russian leader said and what it all means. meantime, president obama has arrived in stoke home this morning. there you see him departing air force one. he's there for meetings in st. petersburg. he was originally supposed to go to moscow first but the white house scrapped a meeting with president putin after russia granted temporary asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden. and coming up -- >> i just see this red thing coming up, it turns out it's a surfboard crashed into my windshield. >> you can imagine that? it stopped just inches from his face. a surfboard crashes through one driver's windshield. how did this happen? that's coming up next. ♪

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so, we've all had to dodge strange things when driving. little pieces of wood. road kill and a bouncing tire. >> i've had a piece of a tire coming at me. >> but nothing, nothing like this. what are we talking about here? yes, folks. >> look at that. >> that's a surfboard, ladies and gentlemen. that's a surfboard it crashed through jarod qing's windshield in honolulu over the weekend after apparently falling off a school bus and bouncing on the windshield before smashing into glass there. just inches from the driver's face. police do not know whose board it was. the driver, as you can imagine, wants to know as well. >> the surfboard, i don't know, the windshield -- >> is he saying -- he's obviously a good driver. how do you survivor that if you're not good. he's obviously very kwluk and happy. >> look at that.

some scratches on his arm and face. that's it. >> that is amazing, walking away with a smile with just a few scratches. >> i hope the owner of that surfboard surfaces somewhere and apologizes at the very least. >> how do you drop a surfboard? >> i have noed. coming up, beating apple to the punch, samsung is set to unveil its first smartwatch. "money time" next. e fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!

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it's the "money time" dance. >> you can dance? >> not like that. >> you can't dance at all, you can? >> it's not going to help ratings. we're doing a brand-new "money time" dance. alison kosik is here. >> i'm not joining you in that dance. >> thank you >> it was a big, big say for samsung, actually it's going to debut its smartwatch called the galaxy gear. it ended up making a big splash. samsung's smartwatch is going to try and hit that sweet spot among consumers who might want to track their own health and also have the convenience of a cell phone without having to dig it out of their purse. analysts have a theory on how big this device is, $10 million to $50 million over the next five years. samsung joins google glasses in what's expected to be an iwatch

that is delivered later this year. >> berman is skeptical, do you see him have >> i always lose my watch. i don't know, i'm curious to see if it catches on. >> i thought it was an age thing. and you thought it wouldn't be large enough for to you read. >> are you calling me old? >> i thought maybe it was a demographic issue, your age and stuff? >> i don't think you want to start with the age. >> i just wonder how fashionable this is going to be. >> the young hip crowd, that could be cool. it looks cool. a famous real estate developer is saying a big thank you to his alma mater. a $200 million thank you. steven m. ross is going to become the university of michigan's biggest benefactor with the single largest gift in history. ross say real estate developer who also owns the miami dolphins. he graduated from michigan in 1952 and describes him as just an average student. "the wall street journal" said the gift will be distributed between the business school

already named after him and the athletics program. i like what he said. he was quoted in "the wall street journal" saying i believe you give until it feels good. this is a 73-year-old guy who is actually a transfer student from the university of florida. >> $40 million feels pretty good. i hope it gets to the students who need it. thanks, we appreciate it. we'll be right back. [ bottle ] okay, listen up! i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies -- you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here!

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♪ the stunning news while you were sleeping. the he kidnapped and tortured three cleveland women for nearly a decade. this morning, ariel castro found

dead inside his jail cell. we're live with the latest on this breaking story. striking syria. russia's new warning to the u.s. should congress vote to punish syria's government for allegedly using chemical weapons to poison its people? >> about anything you make with chicken you were make with alligator. >> and meet the men who captured the 727-pound alligator. how they made this giant catch. i guarantee you, the alligator's not smiling. we'll tell you how they made this catch their very first time hunting. >> not in that picture, but he looked like he was smiling. welcome back to "early start." i'm happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. 30 minutes after the hour. we're going to have more on the top story. the death of cleveland kidnapper ariel castro he was found hanged in a jail cell where he was

serving out his life sentence for admittedly holding three women captive for ten years. scott taylor of woio from cleveland joins us on the phone. scott, what do we know? >> reporter: zoraida, we do know that ariel castro was in a single cell away from other inmates. we understand, though, he was not on suicide watch. if he was on suicide watch, they would be checking him probably every ten minutes like they did here in cleveland when he was here for three months in the county jail. they checked on him around 9:00, and then 20 minutes later, within that time period, he found something in his cell to hang himself with. a medical team rushed in from the prison. they performed cpr on him. he was eventually transported to the ohio state university medical center in columbus which is about 20 minutes away. he was pronounced dead. and about an hour just before 11:00 o'clock. and cleveland is really in shock here.

you have to wonder how ariel castro is placed in a state prison. he's only been there really for less than 30 days. he was a new arrival, still being evaluated. how in the world something like this happens. >> you're absolutely right, we were talking earlier to his cousin who is asking the same question, how is that possible. i just want to clear something up, you said he had been on suicide watch earlier, i guess when he was first taken into custody. then he was being checked every ten minutes. would you say he is being checked over half hour, do we know? >> when he was in the cleveland jail, had was initially put on suicide watch. then he was put on what's called precautionary watch. in other words, they don't think that an inmate will hurt themselves. but their high-profile. but they want to make sure they keep an eye on him. here's what they did at the county jail. got the cell logs every week, every ten minutes they wrote

down exactly what he was doing. when he was transported to the state prison he was not put on suicide watch. he was actually placed as a high profile inmate and checked on every 30 minutes. >> scott taylor, lots of unanswered questions. we appreciate it, thank you. >> as we said a little while ago, you did speak to ariel castro's cousin maria castro-montes. maria said she actually cried when she heard the news. >> maybe this is the for the best. maybe this is the only way that he will be out of the spotlight. i think he was always going to be in the spotlight. it seemed like every day some new news report was coming out. i don't think they were ever going to find peace if she was still alive and in prison. >> i want to clarify the reason why she said she cried it's because she has the memories of while they were growing up and

those are fond memories. i want to make sure that you understand that the man that he became is not the man that she knew. >> she also made clear it was for the three women captive. >> she said the word nancy. it was ariel castro's daughters, his mother and the girls. that's who she said she felt for, his mother, because she was still in prison visiting him, and his sister. it's conflicts emotions. >> one thing we can't make clear enough. this was not supposed to happen >> no. >> this is not what the justice system wanted to happen. the victims, the survivors wanted him to serve a long time. michelle knight called it his hell. i want to move on to syria, a very important vote by a key senate committee on whether to authorize the military response by the chemical weapons attack that the administration said left more than 1,400 people

dead. the senate is set to vote on giving the obama administration power for air strikes. 60 or 90 days to do it. and cannot put troops on the ground. >> equity is of state john kerr? defense secretary hagel and joints chairman dempsey will be back testifying before the house foreign affairs committee. that after two republican house leaders now said they're now on board with taking military action. speaker john boehner and majority leader eric cantor says the united nations has an obligation to respond if national security is threatened. >> france's parliament is set to debate its own authorization for military action against syria. all it will be is a debate. no vote is scheduled. france's president will wait for one until after the u.s. votes. also we're hearing from vladimir putin.

russia's president is making it clear that he is not convinced that the assad regime is behind the chemical attack but he's not ruling out joining military action against syria although that seems unlikely. phil mott in russia. what did the russian leader say? and his tone sounded different than what i've heard in the past? >> john, initially, it sounded like a possible shift in the russian position, perhaps a softening when vladimir putin says he doesn't exclude the possibility of backing military action against syria in order to punish them for using military weapons. he said that would have to involve the united nations it would have to involve undeniable proof. but he also made it very clear he doesn't believe that evidence exists in his words he believes it's ludicrous to suspect the syrian government from using these weapons. a direct quote, from our point of view it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces

which are on the offensive today and in some areas have circled so-called rebels and finished them off and in these instances would be using forbidden chemical weapons. he does not think that's likely because the syrian government knows that would trigger some international response. so the divide between president obama and the issue is still pretty intense as president obama is set to arrive in the russian city of st. petersburg for the g-20 economic summit. despite the relations between these two men have been poor the russian president said they can still work together even though they sometimes irritate each other. >> no, it's much more intense, much more combative words from the russian leader, especially since obama is heads to st. petersburg. and the russian leader did make the point that some of the aide that the riggses have sent to syria in the form of a key air defense system, some of that now is on hold? >> what he's talking about is the s-300 missile system which

is considered a very sophisticated, very capable anti-aircraft missile system that syria had agreed to purchase from russia. russia says this was in the days before the civil war. that this particular arms deal predates that. but russia, the russian president says, while some components of the system have been delivered, the rest of the sale is suspended. russia has been under a great deal of pressure from the united states and also with israel not to follow through with this sale. but president putin said in the event there is some military strike on syria which he doesn't approve of, then the issue of just who these sensitive weapons are sold to could be revisited, john. >> a not so thinly veiled threat fob sure. phil black, thank you very much. bill clinton is going to bat for obama care. the former president will be speaking in little rock. he'll be pointing out how president obama's health care is already affecting millions of

americans. health care places are set to open october 1st. more good news for yosemite national park, that huge massive fire burning there for several weeks is 80% contained. it does not appear to be growing. and evacuation orders, they have finally been lifted but crews do remain on watch. there is the potential the fire could spread again with try timber and brush nearby. >> we ask every day. that's what it feels like, every day asking what does mother nature have in store. are they able to continue fighting the fire and be successful is the big question? >> right. we're hoping so because the weather is not really this huge factor. temperatures are in the 70s nice and mild and no red flag warnings. winds are generally light. i say this, keep in mind, when you have a fire, especially one of this magnitude, it creates its own weather pattern. they're still battling strong winds within the fire itself. especially on the steep terrain. otherwise, if you look at the

location, they're in between the monsoonal moisture we hope would reach them for. and in the pacific northwest, it doesn't look like they'll get that rain. it's good in the sense it's nice and mild. i want give you an update on yesterday's cold front. almost a stationary front down in the south, looking for more rain as we go through the weekend. typical for a summer in the southeast. we do have showers there, about two to four inches maybe in the panhandle. but the change in the northeast is going to be another cold front making its way through. here's the good news, it's pretty dry so we're not looking for a lot of rain with it. the big story is temperatures. they're going way down. we're talking low temperatures and maybe frost -- >> what! >> -- in the mid-atlantic. either way, definitely cooler. >> no one asked for that indira. thank you so much. >> thank you. all right. this next image, it sends chills up many spines.

this huge record-breaking gator caught in mississippi. this is not a toy. it is the stuff of nightmares. and no, it's not smiling, zoraida. >> it looked like it was smiling there with the guys. >> it weighed more than 720 pounds. 13 feet long. one very big one, overweight happy alligator. now we're hearing from the guys who caught this obese alligator. dustin and ryan bachman and their friends are amateur first-time gator hunters. and shockingly, they say catching it was not easy. >> we actually tried for three hours to get this gator in a boat. and we couldn't do it. we just had to drag him to a sandbar and sit and wait for a cole and another friend to come load him in the boat. >> by the time we got home, we started checking record books and taking measurements of him. we actually got a tape measure and realized we got a fairly

large gator. >> you can hear the excitement exploding in their voices there. the question, what do they plan to do with this alligator? they say they're going to turn him into all kinds of mementos. and yes, they will have plenty of gator meat to go around which is how i know that alligator is not smiling there. >> ooh. >> tastes like chicken. >> really? i had some in front of me, and i just could not bring myself to try it. if you know what it tastes like, give us a tweet. coming up -- >> i was disrespected pipe was offended. i was hurt. >> a lawsuit with a racial slur in the workplace ends with a big verdict for an employee. what the jury decided coming up next. for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card

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46 minutes past the hour. a new york woman has won her lawsuit against the nonprofit where she worked. at issue, her boss' use of a racial slur. the "n" word. she is black. her boss is black, too. and he argued that he used it as

a form of tough love. she recorded one of their conversations. listen. >> both of you, you know this both of you [ bleep ] and i'm not saying -- using the term derogatory, [ bleep ] sometimes, a description [ bleep ] y'all act like that all the time. >> i'm really offended by that. >> you can be offended but it's true. >> no one deserves to be treated the way i was. hopefully, it's an example it won't be tolerated, no matter what your race is. >> a federal jury ruled her boss must pay $25,000 out of his own pocket, on top of another $255,000. from the nonprofit. his lawyer says, they are considering an appeal. that was a very interesting conversation. and i think one that probably a lot of people would admit happens a lot. >> a lot to talk about there. >> interesting. >> lots to talk about this

morning. big news morning, let's take a look at what's coming up on "new day." chris cuomo, kate bolduan. what's coming up, guys. >> a lot coming up in the show. >> well, we know the head line. we know ariel castro apparently committed suicide. we're going to take a look at why and how this happened. we know the background on the story. we're going to talk to the family, and the circumstances that may have led to the story. we'll take that on first. >> and we're, of course, going to be following the latest developments politically, as well as in any front in terms of conversation about syria. the senate foreign relations committee is set to vote on a resolution as early as today authorizing a military strike against syria. we're going to be talking live to one of the authors of this resolution, the chairman of that committee, senator robert menendez. he'll have lots to say. >> kate and chris, you're hosting a town hall on this issue tomorrow night. that should be fascinating as well.

48 minutes past the hour. unbelievable foul ball catch by the oakland a's. >> oh, my goodness. >> could that be the catch of the year? >> oh, wow. "bleacher report" reporting up next. the boys used double miles from their capital one venture card to fly home for the big family reunion. you must be garth's father? hello. mother. mother! traveling is easy with the venture card because you can fly any airline anytime. two words. double miles! this guy can act. wanna play dodge rock? oh, you guys! and with double miles you can actually use, you never miss the fun. beard growing contest and go! ♪ i win! what's in your wallet?

when serena williams is on. she is on. >> yes, she is. >> the world's number one women's tennis player just needed 52 minutes to win her quarterfinals match last night at the open. >> andy scholes, tell us how it happened on the "bleacher report." >> good morning, guys. well, fans barely had time to settle into their seats before serena barreled through carla suarez navarro in less than an hour. they call that a double bagel in tennis.

it was the first time in 3 and a quarter years at flushing meadows. serena just three wins away from winning the title. one of sports longest losing streaks is no more. the victory over the brewers, pittsburgh pirates reached 81 wins ending their streak of 20 straight losing seasons. the pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992. right now the buccos have a two-game lead over the cardinals in the n.l. central. plenty of lineup on bleacherreport.com. oh,land a's josh donaldson goes after the foul ball. dives over the tav. >> i want to see it. >> take a look, guys. he holds the glove up the whole time just to make sure that he actually made the catch. >> no regard for life or limb there. >> i love that. that is committed to the game. >> no doubt he's going to make that. i love the mullet he's got going on. a's lose the game, though, 5-1.

all right, guys. nfl season kicks off with the broncos hosting the ravens. more than 26 million people will participate in fantasy football. women, surprisingly, account for 20% of fantasy players these days. the fantasy sports industry says it will bring in more than $1.4 billion this season. las vegas has the broncos and the 49ers in the super bowl. guys, i thought this would be a good time to put our picks on record. berman, i know you have the patriots, right? >> no as much as i'd like to, i think the broncos are overrated. but the 49ers are a good pick. >> seriously? >> i am. >> dude, you are so smart. >> in the afc, i have no idea. maybe the colts. >> i'm a homer so i'm going with the houston texans. >> we'll see. >> thank you, andy. we appreciate it. we'll be right back. it's not a candy bar. 130 calories

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oh, no >> it is, it's true. >> that's it for "early start." time for "new day." >> take it away, chris and kate. hey guys. >> take a look at your clocks. it's the top of the hour. you know what that means, time for us to give you the top news. ♪ this is going to be so much easier, you don't deserve that. you deserve to spend life in prison. >> breaking news, ariel castro, the so-called cleveland monster, found dead in his prison cell. his family reacts live. we have all the breaking details. happening now -- president obama arrives in europe, set to

make his case for a strike against syria as a key senate committee prepares to vote today on whether to give him authority. the next big thing, samsung announcing today the high-tech gadget for your wrist, the smartwatch. the wave of the future? >> your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. good morning, welcome to "new day." you are looking at the prison where ariel astro was found dead in his prison cell. one of his victims said his hell would be in prizion, he didn't deserve the death penalty. we'll talk to one of his family members live in a moment. also this morning, president clinton is getting back on the political stage today. president obama has kind of

joked that clinton should be the secretary of explaining stuff. well, the man who may be able to sell obama's policies better than he can, today he takes on the task of defending the president's health care law amid xwroeg opposition. the photos can he can't stop talking about. these are all alligators. we'll hear from the man who caught them coming up and there is controversy surrounding this sport. let answer get straight to the breaking news out of ohio, arial castro found dead in his prison cell. castro, who held three cleveland women captain over a decade apparently hanged himself in his cell a month after he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years for his crimes. pamela brown following the story for us. >> yet another shocking, bizarre twist in the story. ariel castro convicted of rapes and kidnapping three women for more than