let's get you caught up. burning out of control, thousands chased from their homes by one of the biggest wildfires in arizona's history. chaos in yemen. i'm christine romans. president salah undergoing surgery in saudi arabia after an attack on his compound. the u.s. with very serious concerns this morning about al qaeda potentially stepping up to fill that void. and i'm kiran chetry. hackers hit nintendo. the gaming giant becomes the latest company to suffer an on-line security breach. find out if your personal information is at risk on this "american morning." good morning. welcome to "american morning." it is monday, june 6th. >> good to see you all. breaking news out of yemen. right now the country on the edge of an all-out civil war.

a cease-fire seems to be holding with thousands of people celebrating in the streets. the country's president ali abdullah saleh is now in saudi arabia. he's had two operations there after he was wounded during an attack on his palace. his supporters, though, are vowing he will return. >> mow mam head jamjoon is live in abu dhabi this morning. the u.s. not so sure he's ever coming back. growing concerns about the void left by his departure and who might fill it, right? >> oh that's right. as so many concerns right now, you've got people in yemen speculating as to whether president salah will come back. right now the vice president is nominally in charge. you have to remember in yemen even though the vice president has taken the raines of the country the head of the central security forces there, the counter terror unit, that's ali abdullah saleh's nephew. the head of the republican guard, that's president salah's son. so a lot of power still concentrated within the hands of the salah family.

that's leading to speculation there could be more clashes even though a cease-fire announced between the country's vice president and tribal leaders of a tribe that's been battling it out in the streets of the capital for two weeks with government forces. today we hear three tribesmen were killed by snipers. the spokesperson says that government forces fired on these tribesmen at some point after the cease-fire was declared and even though the tribesmen are holding to the cease-fire they're worried the government will try to kill the tribesmen and might lead to more warfare in sanaa. >> we'll keep checking in with you in the fast-developing story. mow mam med jamjoon in abu dab joob israeli security forces firing on hundreds of pro-palestinian demonstrators along the border with syria. the violence erupting on the anniversary of the 1967 war when israel captured the gulan height. authorities say 25 people were killed and more than 350 others

were injured. the u.n. is condemning the violence calling on both sides to use restraint. at home thousand forced from their homes as one of the worst wildfires in arizona's history burns out of control. fire fighters are trying to hold a 30-mile line against the wallow fire near the town of springerville. that fire has burned 180,000 acres. 2200 people told to get out. the flames so intense, right now, that fire fighters can't get to close to see whose homes are burning. one resident is hoping the house he built with his own hands will make it through. >> person don't realize how hard it is to face something like that. you think you're prepared for it. you think you're mentally prepared for it, physically prepared for it, you're not. i cried all the way down. >> you did? >> it's hard. i got to go. >> forecasters say all of

northern arizona is under the threat of wildfires this morning because of the wind. reynolds wolf in the extreme weather center. just a dangerous situation. people can't get close enough to see -- fire fighters don't know which homes are burning at this point. >> absolutely. >> one of the big issues in parts of arizona is that it is just the opposite of the fires we've seen throughout much of texas where you're on a flat prairie type area. here the topography is a lot of rough terrain and plenty of foliage. a lot of people think desert. you have a lot of scrub oak, pine, plenty to really fuel the fire. certainly some rough times. let me show you what else we have. let's go to the maps quickly. a couple areas in the four corners where we have extremely critical conditions also in parts of texas and into arizona. now what we could really use would be precipitation. if you happen to look farther back to the west, the way the weather patterns move from west to east across the continent, you have this storm system, area of low pressure and frontal boundary. the problem is it's going to keep the moisture to the north of the fire area but at the same time it's going to enhance those

winds much stronger winds, through the fire zone today, from 30 to 45 miles per hour. with some gusts that may be stronger. we're going to talk more about this and we've got a severe thunderstorm watch and, of course, we're watching the flooding in parts of the northern plains. pitch it back to you in new york. >> that's another big concern. thanks, reynolds. coming up in a few hours the former head of the international monetary fund will be formally arraigned on attempted rape and sexual abuse charges. dominique strauss-kahn is expected to plead not guilty to the alleged attack on a maid at new york city hotel. deb feyerick is following the latest developments live outside of the courthouse in lower manhattan this morning. hi, deb. >> hey there, kiran. we've been told even since this happened back in the middle of may, may 15th, that, in fact, dominique strauss-kahn would be pleading not guilty. his lawyers saying that evidence will suggest that, in fact, this was not a forced act that happened in the hotel room, but something bordering more along the lines of a consensual incident. now he is expected to be here at

the courthouse today. this is where a lot of criminal cases are charged, sexual assault cases are tried. he's going to be leaving a nearby townhouse where he has been living for the past couple weeks. he has been busy preparing his legal defense. he has hired some of the best lawyers in the city including ben broadcaaftman and those law actually not too long ago, fired off a letter to the prosecutors saying that the police department had been leak something critical information, including alleged forensic reports as well as witness statements and in that letter, dsk's lawyer demanded access to the same material but the prosecutors are playing hardball and brought in some of the most seasoned prosecutors to try this case and their response for that so-called evidence we will be happy to provide it in due

course following normal discovery procedures. now as far as the housekeeper, the hotel housekeeper from the sofitel, she has hired her own high-powered legal defense team, brought on to basically protect her, but obviously that suggests there's going to be some sort of civil litigation at some point along the way. she has also lawyered up. dominique strauss-kahn, on house arrest on $6 million bail. recently last week, he actually suspended his website, remember he was running for president or he was expected to run for president of france as the leading contender but, in fact, he suspended his website saying that since the incident, the site had received some 20,000 unique visitors and he said that you will understand the reasons that bring on the suspension. so again, he is now focused 100% on clearing his name and making sure that his reputation is restored. keeren. >> >> all right. deb feyerick following the

developments for us, we'll check in with you throughout the day. thanks. new this morning a potential break through for patients with mel know marks one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. new research shows two drugs can extend the life of melanoma patients, one blocks cancer cells and shrinks tumors, the other stimulates the immune system in people with advanced melanoma. patient in clinical trials showed a 63% reduction in the death rate. >> seen as a shift in the war on cancer. a lot of scientists excited this morning. >> scientists sabean sprouts from germany are the likely source of the e. coli outbreak that spread across europe. 22 people have died, more than 2,000 people have gotten sick. officials say there's in indication the outbreak has peaked and said to be the deadliest outbreak of e. coli ever. trace adkins lost his home in a devastating fire over the weekend. he and his wife were not there but their children were. his wife says everyone got out

okay, they were with a babysitter and followed the plan that the family had in place to meet at a tree in front of their house. the neighbor saved the family dog. the nanny reportedly says she heard a spark before the fire, but it's not clear what caused it. and nintendo says hackers gained access to one of its servers in the united states. the gaming giant says no consumer information was stolen. a group that has hacked into the servers of sony pictures and pbs has claimed responsibility for the attack. the miami heat back on top in the nba finals. the heat holding off the dallas mavericks to win game three 88-86 in dallas. chris bosh got the go ahead shot with 39 seconds and dirk nowitzki misfired on a shot that would have tied the game in the final seconds. the series resumes tomorrow night, game four, in dallas. raphael nadal the king of clay again. the spaniard captured the record-fiing sixth french open title on sunday beating roger

federer in four sets, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7 and 6-1. the victory ties him with the legendary beyorn borg. >> we were calling it the clash of the titans this weekend. they're both so incredible. good for nadal. >> ahead on "american morning," a bouncy house blown away because of severe winds. children were inside at the time that this happened. the parents and kids are talking about some scary moments. >> sarah palin is on the freedom trail. now okay, what is this controversy about the midnight ride of paul revere? did she mess it up? what does history say? we'll have it after the break. [ male announcer ] who's feeling power hungry?

who's ready to break through more barriers, from brick walls to budgets. then let's get our hands on some of those tools that only live on orange shelves. cause when we come home with that fistful of doing, and keep that pocketful of savings, there's nothing we can't conquer. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. power more projects, with this ryobi starter kit or dremel multi-max, each just 89 bucks.

unlike fish oil, megared softgels are small and easy to swallow with no fishy smell or aftertaste. try megared today. parents and children this morning shaken up after a freak accident during a carnival on long island, new york. a gust of wind sent a bouncy

house ride flying through the air. the kids are still inside there. terrifying. a mother captured it with her cell phone camera. the first house took out two other inflatable houses. parents, frantically trying to chase it down. one little girl barely escaped being strangled when a rope hooking down the ride ended up around her neck. >> just felt like someone was grabbing my neck and i was -- they were dragging me. >> i was getting hot dogs and i just happened to turn around and i saw the slide blowing in the wind and i just -- i couldn't believe. it was like something out of a movie. >> you could see from all over, the men ran to get the balloons, you know, the bouncy structures, down and everything like that. yeah. and it to make sure nobody was inside. >> 13 people wound up in the hospital. luckily mostly bumps and bruises. all of them walked out without any serious injuries. >> wow. >> look at the pictures that is pretty amazing. no word on how many heart

attacks the parents had. the republican field getting bigger, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is expected to make it official he is in the race for the white house. >> will that be overshadowed by the latest sarah palin situation? she's undeclared but found herself trying to explain a little history lesson she gave on the freedom trail this weekend. jim acosta live for nous washington, hey jim. >> she billed this bus trip last week as a tribute to american history, so it wasn't out of the question that some intrepid reporter out there was going to ask her a question about american history and that's what happened up in boston late last week. she was asked about paul revere and the significance of that midnight ride a couple centuries ago -- more than a couple centuries ago and here's what she had to say about the significance of that ride, something she says she didn't get wrong.

>> so this came across as a bit of a gaffe. the historical significance of paul revere's ride to warn the british were coming, the american patriots the british were coming. she was asked about this on one of the sunday talk shows on fox news sunday working for fox she's a paid contributor and she claims that she did not get this wrong. here's what she had to say. >> you know what, i didn't mess up about paul revere here's what paul revere did. he warned the americans the british were coming and going to try to take our arms. it wasn't just ride. he was a courier, a messenger. part of his ride was to warn the british that were already there, hey, you're not going to

succeed, you're not going to take american arms. i answered candidly. i know my american history. >> she didn't get the historical significance of the paul revere ride wrong. however, she does have a little bit of a point, paul revere was eventually captured after that midnight ride and he did warn the british that the americans were amassing this large militia and they better watch out. she does have a small point there. but she did get the historical significance of the occasion wrong there. and i got to say, guys, it's too bad she didn't just come out and say, hey, guys, i got this wrong. she sort of blamed it on a media gotcha question as she called it. she is a part of the media now, she has to expect these sorts of questions, especially about american history, when you're on a bus trip paying tribute to american history, it's not out of the question you're going to be asked about american history. >> she's a part of the american media now. >> she is. >> that's tu shay. >> rick santorum, his grandfather settled in somerset

in 1927 that's where he's going to declare today? >> this is a long shot run for rick santorum. he lost his senate six in 2006, lost by 18 point in that race to bob casey. a lot of republicans see this as sort of a long shot deal. he is banking his success on evangelical conservatives, social conservatives who play a significant role in places like iowa and south carolina and he does have a shot. i was in iowa a few weeks ago and talked to some social conservatives out there and said they're watching rick santorum. he does have this announcement later this morning in pennsylvania and he may do well out there in iowa. but we just talked about sarah palin a few moments ago. she is the x factor in this race right now. you know, she is not listed, you know, we have a graphic we can put up a full screen, not among the candidates confirmed running for president at this point abobut if she gets in she cuts into support for rick santorum, michelle bachmann who may be

announcing she's jumping in any minute now. one final thing we have a plug to mention, the cnn political team is hosting a debate, one week from today up in new hampshire, and it's going to be interesting because rick santorum will be part of that bunch. who knows if he can try to break out of that pack. that's his only hope at this point. >> we'll be there live, of course, only on cnn that debate. thanks, jim. one of the early front runners for the gop nomination, mitt romney, will sit down with piers morgan tonight. his first prime time interview since jumping in, live at 9:00 p.m. on cnn. more politics, evening, morning, all day long. >> romney is banking on economic issues when he runs hoping he can prove that hey, i led a state, i was also a businessman, and i'll probably be better than this current administration when it comes to the economy. we wanted to ask you, what is the single most important issue facing america today? >> send us an e-mail, give us a tweet, tell us on facebook, we'll read some of your

responses throughout the morning. >> all right. coming up next on "american morning," steve jobs is taking a break from the medical leave that he's been on because he's going to make a big announcement today. we'll have details on what the apple ceo is going to unveil later on. >> also defense secretary robert gates like you've never seen him before, saying good-bye to u.s. troops in afghanistan. 20 minutes past the hour. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] and just like that, it's here.

a new chance for all of us: people, companies, communities to face the challenges yesterday left behind and the ones tomorrow will bring. prudential. bring your challenges. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has today. a large part of that is oil sands.

this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

golan. it's 23 minutes after the hour. minding your business, markets open after five weeks of declines in a couple hours. it's the longest losing streak for the dow since july 2004. the longest slump for the s&p 500 since july of 2008. also weighing on investors greece dealing with a debt

disaster this morning. the country is expected to need a second bailout. now that worries economists because it could add more pressure to the international banking system, which has been trying to regain its footing. a flu report expects state and local governments to cut as many as 110,000 jobs in the coming months with teachers and other school employees bearing the brunt of the layoffs. the new fiscal year begins next month and many states are facing multibillion dollar budget deficits. americans opting not to wake up to a bowl of cereal. sales falling more than 2.5% in cereal in the past year according to one research group. americans spend about 13 minutes eating breakfast and choosing breakfast sandwiches or breakfast bars instead. despite being on medical leave apple's ceo steve jobs will kick off apple's conference today. he's expected to announce a new on-line service for storing called icloud. x marked the spot, "x-men:

first class" took in an estimated $56 million. it's the fifth installment of the "x-men" franchise "hang over ii" and kung fu panda 2 wrapped out the top three. whether we've reached a turning point in the fight against moammar gadhafi. too much on your plate? no matter when you get around to booking, hotels.com will have a great last minute deal waiting for you. like at the hotels.com 48 hour sale. this tuesday and wednesday only. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. ♪ ♪

membership rewards points from american express. they're a social currency with endless possibilities. you know, the ones who do such a super job, they're backed by the superguarantee®? only superpages®.

wherever you are, wherever you're going, you'll find the super business you need. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book ... on your phone or online.

good morning. 28 minutes after the hour. let's bring in your top stories now. high winds blowing a massive wildfire across northern arizona right now. the wallow fire as it's called has burned more than 180,000 acres, containment is zero at the moment. 2200 people have been chased from their homes. >> it's arraignment day in new york city for dominique strauss-kahn. the former head of the international monetary fund.

he's expected to plead not guilty today to charges of sexually assaulting a maid at a manhattan hotel. it's his first court appearance since being released on $6 million bail. yemen on the edge of an all-out civil war this morning. one-week cease-fire seems to be holding. thousands of people celebrating in the streets. the country's president ali abdullah saleh is in saudi arabia. he's undergone two surgical procedures after being wounded during an attack on his palace on friday. we'll have more on that. also in libya, nato forces stepping up their air assault on moammar gadhafi's regime. a significant turning point here. look at these. this weekend for the first time, british and french attack helicopters were deployed against gadhafi troops in tripoli. >> could this mark a turning point in the effort to remove gadhafi from power? cnn's dan rivers is live in the libyan capital for us. hi there, dan. >> yeah, good morning. this could be really significant, the apache longbo the british forces have deployed

for the first time from a ship out in the med ter rare yan is a fierce weapon equipped with missiles and cannon that some military analysts think could be a real game changer here. >> reporter: this the turning point in libya. nato hopes so. french helicopters lift off and for the first time, a striking pro-gadhafi forces. here, british apaches are hitting military targets near the strategically important town of al brega. military analysts say it might just tip the momentum towards the rebels. these are u.s. apaches on training exercise in south korea last year. the pilots told me there's nothing to match their maneuverability and firepower. in libya their deployment could be critical, but their low-level flying will make them much more vulnerable than the high-level jets that had been the main attack force until now.

nato says that part of the campaign is continuing. here british tornadoes hit targets in al brega, but there have been more air strikes in the capital tripoli. which were taken to -- we were taken to a church by government minders southwest of the capital. the priest claims nato bombs have been falling all around for five days. there were some broken windows, but that was all. the lack of damage in this church, perhaps, speaks more of the accuracy of some of these nato air strikes. in fact, we can't see any damage at all in here, yet right next door, what looks like a military installation has been completely destroyed. government officials didn't want us to film this building, next door, apparently some sort of military installation, which looks like it's been bombed. this 9-year-old had taken shelter in the church with her father when the bombs fell. >> i was feeling that the place i was sitting in, would fall at

me and -- but that didn't happen. i was very, very afraid or scared. >> reporter: the visit to this church was carefully orchestrated by the libyan government. the turmoil these children are living through is very real and they, like everyone here, have no idea when and how this will all end. the government's regime here has continued to take journalist out to alleged sites of nato air strikes. they say they've hit residential areas. it's impossible for us to know whether that's the case or not. we were taken to one and shown a crater with what appeared to be some sort of remains of a rocket in it and were told children had been injured. we were taken to a hospital and shown a 7-month-old baby in a coma. but staff passed a note to one journalist saying, in fact, that baby had been injured in a car crash and not as a result of the missile strike. a lot of spinning going on here to try to give the impression

that nato are hitting residential areas. the truth, while nato are denying that and frankly it's very difficult for us to know one way or the other. >> all right. well good reporting, dan. thanks so much. defense secretary robert gates delivering an emotional farewell to u.s. troops in afghanistan on his final visit as defense secretary. gates told the troops he feels, quote, personally responsible for making sure they have everything they need to succeed and return safely home. >> i just want you to know i think about you every day. i feel your hardship and your sacrifice and your burden and that of your families, more than you can possibly know. you are, i believe, the best our country has to offer and you will be in my thoughts and prayers every day for the rest of my life. thank you. [ applause ]

>> gates is leaving his post later this month. it's the start of week three in the casey anthony murder trial in orlando. the young mother is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. so far testimony has revealed a web of lies, but prosecutors still must link the young mother to physical evidence in her daughter's death. this weekend, an fbi forensic expert testified about a nine-inch stronds of hair that was found in the trunk of casey anthony's car. >> what i was looking for were any hairs that exhibited characteristics of apparent decomposition and then that hair i compared to hair recovered from the hair brush which is identified as belonging to caylee. >> karen lowe, who you heard there, told jurors based on her microscopic analysis, the strand of hair was consistent with hair that was found in caylee's hair brush. a touching story from the

scene of devastation in massachusetts. a family reunited with their puppy that was literally carried away by a twister last week. police say that a state trooper heard barking and crawled under a pile of splintered wood and broken glass and pulled out the puppy named shadow from the rubble. one family member described the terror of watching him being torn away from them. >> hear his nails being dragged across the floor and he was crying, you could hear him hitting the walls as he was being pulled out of the house. it just completely broke my heart. he jumped all over us and licked us and he's doing great. he's tired and hungry, but besides that, he's in great shape. >> wow. amazing. shadow was unharmed. he was a gift for the family's daughter who is in remission from cancer. >> wow. >> reynolds wolf in the extreme weather center. that's the thing about tornadoes, almost like the fingerprint of a tornado that you don't know where the

destruction is going to be and where you're going to find a miracle in the rubble and that's what happened for shadow. >> no question about it. those conditions are very random when you have those tornadoes. certainly as evidence by what we heard in the story in massachusetts. in stories in joplin, missouri and tuscaloosa, alabama, hit by the tornadoes. speaking of tornadoes seems like we've had a lot of rough weather also knot with just those twisters but with flooding. hone in a few key spots it's been bad in parts of the dakotas, south dakota near pierre, and parts of nebraska more of the same. we have video to prove the story. let's go right to it. you have the water levels rising and a lot of people, of course, taking their belongings and moved out. certainly very dire conditions there. hearts go out to the men and women, the families suffering from the floodwaters at this time. let's go back to the weather computer and as we do so, something else, some severe thunderstorm watches now in effect as we make our way from the storm system that pulls from

parts of minnesota and iowa, into wisconsin. might see some flash flooding in places like caribou and madison. nothing severe at this point but the potential later on today. more on your forecast in a few moments. let's pitch it back to you in new york. >> reynolds, thanks very much. we'll check in with you again shortly. the miracle on the hudson plane is on the move. remember this story? it's heading to charlotte, north carolina, where it will have a permanent home in a museum there. the plane left a new jersey warehouse on saturday. there was a bit of a delay after it got stuck at an intersection. you remember back in 2009, the u.s. airways jet piloted by chelsea sully sullenberger, struck a flock of geese, lost engine power and landed safely in the hudson river. the plane is expected to arrive in a week or is with the museum inviting all 155 crew members and passengers to the reception there. >> where are the wings? >> you have to take them off to transport it. i don't remember them having come off. the passengers were standing on the wings.

>> it was basically attached. >> people thought it was a movie set, they thought they were filming a scene. >> only in new york can you go to the harbor and be there's a movie out there. >> we're so jaded must be a movie. >> coming up on "american morning," some signs of optimism in the economy. >> john edwards said to have nixed a plea bargain before being indicted. we'll tell you what the dealbreaker was. your advertising mail campaign is paying off! business is good! it must be if you're doing all that overnight shipping. that must cost a fortune. it sure does. well, if it doesn't have to get there overnight, you can save a lot with priority mail flat rate envelopes. one flat rate to any state, just $4.95. that's cool and all... but it ain't my money.

i seriously do not care... so, you don't care what anyone says, you want to save this company money! that's exactly what i was saying. hmmm... priority mail flat rate envelopes, just $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

breaking news this morning out of iraq.

five u.s. service members have been killed. the deaths are the single largest loss of life among u.s. troops in iraq in months. the military is not releasing right now how they were killed, but according to two iraqi security officials, the service members were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. the military says that the names of the service members are being withheld until families are notified and we'll bring you more details throughout the morning as we get them. new this morning, jail time was apparently the reason a possible plea bargain for john edwards collapsed. a source telling cnn that talks broke down when prosecutors insisted edwards serve six months for allegedly violating federal campaign finance laws. edwards wanted the deal to have a minimal impact on his children. the former north carolina senator and presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to using campaign funds to hide an extramarital affair. florida governor republican rick scott is defending a new controversial law that will

force people applying for welfare to submit to a drug test. he spoke to our t.j. holmes over the weekend. >> our tax payers are not interested in subsidizing drug addiction. it's no different than think about it if you go to apply a job they're not saying you use drugs. in that work environment they don't want you to use drugs. in this case we do not want to subsidize drug addiction. we want to give everybody an increased incentive not to use drugs. it's better for our families, the individual and doesn't waste taxpayer money. >> democrats are slamming the law sayings the tests are anvation of privacy. massive protests in greece. tens of thousands of people taking to the streets last night upset about new taxes and spending cuts required to get a second international bailout package. the first aid package to help greece bay down its debt was 161 tlm. not a lot of optimism when it comes to the nation's economic outlook. to put it simply last week was not a good week and this morning

many are concerned about the week ahead. i'm here to tell you not all is doom and gloom. in fact, there are some reasons to be optimistic. let's take a look at a few key areas. the first one when we talk about a lot, the markets. take a look at this. this is the dow. since the beginning of the year. your 401(k) investments may reflect this. went up, we had a big drop down there in march, then up again, and now we saw a big drop again. this was not a great scene in the month of may and the dow has lost value for the past five weeks. but take a look at the bigger picture. the dow where it stands right now is still up compared to where it started the beginning of the year, up 5% actually. that's not bad for half the year. the s&p 500 also up since january by 3.5%. when people tell you it's all bad it's not necessarily all bad. gasoline prices has been occupying us for months. it doesn't feel like it should be a bright spot but with memorial day behind us many experts predict that the price at the pump could continue to

decrease. this morning, the national average for a price of unleaded gasoline if you fill it yourself $3.77. overall, that decline is good for the economy. and finally home sales that's what started the bad news last week, there hasn't been much reason for optimism here but look a little deeper and there is a glimmer of hope. take a look at this graph and this is based on data compiled by lps applied an lytics. this is the number of delinquencies for homes. it shows a 16% drop in the last year in the number of home loans that are at least one month past due. a decrease. seriously delinquent loans, those that are 90 days overdue or already in foreclosure, those are down 11% over the last year. you combine the decrease in delinquencies in foreclosures with low home prices and record low mortgage rates and this continues to be an ideal time in some parts of the country to buy a house. seven republican presidential hopefuls are ready

to go head to head in new hampshire in a live nationally televised debate. it's a week from tonight right here on cnn. but it's one potential candidate who hasn't even declared her intentions, sarah palin, who seems to be stealing the spotlight. with more on the state of the republican party, here's cnn host of "state of the union" candy crowley. >> reporter: sarah palin capped off the first week of her "this is not a campaign" tour aboard a "this is not a campaign bus" with a "this is not a campaign appearance." >> what president palin would do is cut the federal budget. >> reporter: unclear is whether palin's hide and seek tease tour will continue this week or not. somewhere in pennsylvania, rick santorum is hoping not. making his bid official monday, santorum could use some oxygen for his campaign. >> it's been great to be out on the mustings, been to new hampshire, i think this is my 15th time. >> reporter: who knew? not many. a recent survey by pew research found fewer than half of voters who lean republican have ever heard of the former senator from pennsylvania.

counting santorum there are seven people known and not so much known know officially running for the republican nomination for president. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty will yacht line his cure for what ales the economy this week in chicago, illinois, need we say more. >> president obama's policies have failed. >> reporter: in the cycle of presidential elections, this is big dream season. >> i am so delighted to see you involved in our revolution. >> reporter: texas congressman ron paul is on round three. he first ran for president as a libertarian 23 years ago, preaching lower taxes and less spending. >> mainstream is moving in the direction that i have been talking about for a long time and, therefore, nobody knows what the outcome will be in this election. during the last campaign i knew what was happening. you know, they mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my monetary policy. no more. >> reporter: and finally on capitol hill, where the campaign runs through it, this may be big

miracle season. >> there is a bipartisan discussion going on that is civil and constructive and that they've come to some areas where they can possibly reach agreement. nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. >> reporter: what the house democratic leader will not agree to is cuts in medicare which sounds like square one. nancy pelosi is not known for her sunny outlook on bipartisan deals. time is running out to raise the debt ceiling and throughout capitol hill history, deadline pressure has always outperformed miracles. this could be the week or not. candy crowley, cnn, washington. there's only one place to see next week's republican presidential debate here on cnn live at 8:00 p.m. eastern a week from tonight. he almost didn't get there. the connecticut teen previously banned from his prom finally made it to the big dance on saturday. remember james tate, originally told he couldn't go to the prom after he plasted his prom proposal in thick letters on the

side of his high school. after thousands of people rallied behind him, even a facebook page, the school caved. james and his date arriving at the hawaiian themed prom. while there had been calls to name him prom king the honor did go to another man. >> the school did the right thing. >> totally. it was sweet. >> the moral is don't post anything on the school walls. >> can't clamp down on old fashioned romance. that took effort. i mean once that story got out, you must have thought, you both must have thought he was going to go to the prom. >> i was surprised how firm the school was having a zero tolerance policy and he did fix it to the side of the school. >> i admire the school for saying we really do have a policy, but they did cave to romance a little bit. >> there you go. wait until next year when it gets more elaborate when they paste a billboard to the side of the school. you let him go. >> and romance is not on the list of what we're expecting to be getting on our question of the day. >> what is the single most important issue facing america today? >> lack of romance be.

>> send us an e-mail, tweet, tell us on facebook. we've been getting some good ones. but, i have to support my family, so how do i go back to school? university of phoenix made it doable. a lot of my instructors were principals in my district. i wouldn't be where i am without that degree. my name is dr. carrie buck. i helped turn an at risk school into an award winning school, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

♪ [ alarm buzzing ] another victim of frequent flyer red tape. [ tires screech ] seat restrictions got him stuck in a vicious circle. it's just not right! i keep earning miles, but it seems like i can never use them. the all-new rapid rewards doesn't have any of that nasty red tape. here he comes again. let's set him free! [ male announcer ] join rapid rewards and enjoy unlimited reward seats, no blackout dates, and no red tape. ♪ 51 minutes past the hour. your headlines. yemen could be on the brink of civil war. a cease-fire negotiated by saudi arabia is holding this morning. the president ali abdullah saleh is in saudi arabia recovering from two operations after being wounded during attack on his compound. 2200 people chased by a

massive wildfire in arizona. it's already burned 180,000 acres and is still out of control this morning. there's encouraging news in the treatment of the deadliest form of skin cancer. researchers say that two new drugs slow the progress of melanoma and can extend the life of melanoma patients. it's week three of the casey anthony trial that gets under way this morning. an fbi forensic expert testified this weekend a 9 inch hair found in the young mother's trunk could belong to her murdered daughter caylee. law makers in alabama passing a controversial new immigration law that requires businesses to verify the legal status of all new hires and also permits police to stop drivers suspected of being in the country illegally. and the miami heat now just two games from an nba title. they overcame game two meltdown to beat the mavericks last night in dallas, 88-86, to take a 2-1 lead in the nba finals.

you're caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" is back after a quick break.

saleh. imperial beach, california, is a mecca for surfing. even dogs are catching the waves. cnn i-reporter chris morrow sent us this video of the lowe's surf dog competition, held over the weekend. check this out. some 60 dogs took part in the event. >> he looks thrilled. >> yeah. doesn't look that happy. >> being dragged out into the surf. >> the benefit goes to the group donors choose.org. >> you would never get a cat to do that. >> that dog looks very cat-like. >> all right.

sinking stocks and disappointing jobs numbers threatening our economy. it's already been a pretty shaky recovery, but will that be the deciding factor at the polls? >> leads us to our question of the day. what is the single most important issue facing america today. we got a lot of varied responses. >> george on facebook said jobs jobs jobs and more jobs. >> i thought that would be sort of the theme, jobs or debt. >> people unemployment 39 weeks the longest on record, you can see why people are upset. shelby said debt control which in some way, jobs and debt control, work cross purposes. >> jean from twitter writes, human induced climate change. what else matters if the world is no longer inhabitable. cynthia on facebook, health care. >> and jim koresh she on twitter rights innovation, falling behind in new technologies and not focusing on infrastructure. keep your comments coming. e-mail, tweet, facebook. we'll read more of your thoughts later in the show. our top stories are minutes

away including a very fragile cease-fire in yemen. the president is undergoing surgery in another country after being wounded in an attack on friday. this an opening for al qaeda? we'll discuss it with jamie ruben when we come back. what really moves you about this car? i mean, it's definitely the styling, from an aesthetics point of view, um, so that was something that just kind of instantly appealed to me. lauren, tell us how you use your sync? i'm using it for business. i'm using it to talk to my friends who send me text messages. it reads everything outloud. the funniest one, i think, was when it said g r r r r r r for "grrr". do you the fiesta is appropriately named? it is a party on wheels.

[ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. 8% every 10 years.age 40,me. we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke.

their president has fled, the people of yemen celebrating in the streets. as a fragile cease-fire holds the u.s. with serious concerns will al qaeda rise up to fill the void on this "american morning." good morning to you. thanks so much for being with us. it's monday, june 6th. welcome to "american morning." >> we begin with five u.s. service members killed in iraq, the single largest loss of life among u.s. troops in iraq in months. two iraqi security officials say the service members were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. iraq's interior ministry telling cnn at least 17 people were also killed and dozens of others were wounded in a series of explosions across iraq. the military not saying how many service members were killed and

it says their names are being withheld until families are notified. to america's anxiety over yemen a nation on the brink of civil war. the country's president has fled to saudi arabia. his name is ali abdullah saleh. he's been -- he's had two surgeries there. he was wounded during an attack on his compound on fwroi. his supporters insist he's coming back. >> mohammed jamjoon live from abu dabby. a saudi brokered cease-fire seems to be holding up in yemen but the u.s. still concerned about who could rise up to fill the void left by his departure. >> that's right. so much concern about the power vacuum they believe is going on in yemen right now, and just to underscore how concerned they are about al qaeda, in the past day, i've heard from government officials in yemen who have said that al qaeda has emerged as actually a suspect in the bombing of the palace of president ali abdullah saleh in which he was injured and then had to go to saudi arabia. also in the past couple of days

we've heard of more attacks by islamic militants and al qaeda in the arabian peninsula sdrektsed at soldiers. ten soldiers were killed by two ambushes by aqap. a lot of volatility in yemen and for months because of all the political turmoil there has been concern that al qaeda would try to step in, try to take advantage of that political turmoil. a lot of opposition figures in yemen maintain al qaeda has nothing to do with this. there is an al qaeda problem in yemen and the west and u.s. have been concerned for a number of years because al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has a base in yemen, even though only a few hundred members by most accounts they've been able to launch spectacular attacks against the u.s. and saudi arabia from their base in yemen. very much concern about what's going to happen with this power vacuum, who's going to step in to fill it and if the militants will try to take advantage of strife going on. >> all right. mohammed jamjoon, thank you so much. we're going to be joined by former assistant secretary of

state james rubeen and ask him what happens next and how it might impact this country. israeli security forces firing on pro palestinian demonstrators along the border with syria on sunday. the violence on the anners have of the war which israel captured the golan heights. 25 people were killed and more than 350 others injured. the u.n. is condemning the violence calling on both sides to use restraint. thousands of people are being forced from their homes this morning as one of the worst wildfires in arizona's history burns out of control. fire fighters are trying to hold a 30-mile line against the wallow fire as they're calling it, near the town of springerville. that fire has already burned 180,000 acres, 2200 people are being told to get out. the flames are so intense right now, fire fighters can't even get in to see whose homes are burning. one resident is hoping the house he built with his own hands is going to make it through.

>> person don't realize how hard it is to face something like that and you think you're prepared for it, you think you're mentally prepared for it, physically prepared for it, you're not. i cried all the way down. >> you did? >> it's hard. i got to go. >> wow. forecasters say all of northern arizona is under the threat of wildfires this morning because of high winds in the area. reynolds wolf in the extreme weather center for us. good morning, reynolds. >> hey, guys. not only are they battling the fire but insane conditions. high topography, lot of mountains and ravines and plenty of fuel, pine for the fires to burn. one of the biggest issues they're fighting is going to be the weather itself. very low humidity, strong winds. as we go to the weather maps you see the places really under the gun, not only parts of the four corners but into texas, even into oklahoma and kansas. we can anticipate the wind is actually going to increase because we've got a storm system that's going to be passing a

little bit farther to the north. it's not going to bring any rainfall whatsoever. zero moisture to the region, but it will provide the stronger winds, 30, 40, maybe some gusts up to 50 miles per hour through the afternoon and we expect that dry trend to continue. certainly have their work cut out for them. meanwhile we're going to see the chance of some strong storms developing across the plains and into the great lakes. high temperatures nationwide are as follows, 92 in atlanta, 80 new york, 82 in billings and 65 in los angeles. 100 in el paso and dallas. so, guys, i wish you could say better conditions for the fire fighters but really, they have the deck stacked against them in a very big way. back to you. >> certainly hoping for the best as they try to get a handle on that. >> researchers are excited about two drugs to prolong the lives of patients with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. one blocks cells and shrinks tumors and the other stimulates the immune system. clinical trials showed a 63% reduction in the death rate

compared with those on chemotherapy. >> "the wall street journal" playing it up big this morning as a major shift in the war on cancer. you know, a shift away, just what they're learning on this cancer they're hoping targeted therapies for other cancers as well. exciting developments for cancer doctors. scientists say bean sprouts in germany are the likely source of the e. coli outbreak that spread across europe. 22 people have died and more than 2,000 people have gotten sick. officials say there's no indication yet that the outbreak has peaked and said to be the deadliest outbreak of e. coli ever. nintendo says hackers gained access to one of the servers in the u.s. the gaming giant says no consumer information was stolen. a group that's hacked into the servers, sony pictures and pbs has claimed responsibility. >> two more wins and the miami heat will be the nba champs. the heat holding off the mavericks to win game three in dallas and take a two games to one lead in the series. chris bosh hit the go ahead shot for the heat with 39 seconds

left and then dirk nowitski misfired on a shot that would have tied the game in the finals seconds. 88-86. and the series resumes tomorrow night in dallas. and the king of the clay courts done it again. raphael nadal captured his record-tying sixth french open title on saturday. beating roger federer 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1. the victory ties him with bjorn borg for the most career wins at roland ger ras. its leader has fled the country, might not come back undergoing surgery in saudi arabia. is this the perfect opportunity for al qaeda to take control? we'll ask jamery ruben next. trace atkins, his home burnt to the ground, wasn't in the country, his wife wasn't home, his kids were. they say having a family plan may have saved them.

fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to ...get in the way. not anymore. ink introduces jot. a real time expense app that lets you track and categorize expenses on the go. so you can get back to the business you love. jot, the latest innovation from chase. only for ink customers. download at chase.com/ink

i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor,

and take care of what you have to take care of.

welcome back to "american morning." we want to bring you up to date on the sfwhags yemen which distribution situation in yemen. raising questions about the country's future. take a look at president ali abdullah saleh. he's been in power for more than 33 years and the u.s. considers him to be a key ally in the fight against al qaeda. he's been under pressure since january to step down, but two weeks ago, when violence erupted, he refused to sign a deal to step down. let's take a look at some of the video right now here out of yemen. on friday he was injured in fighting between the government and opposition forces. and he was then flown to saudi arabia for surgery. his vice president assumed power and quickly signed a cease-fire which is still holding this morning, but scenes like this have been common throughout yemen since then. there have been celebrations in the streets. so far most of them have been

peaceful. but there have still been a lot of questions about the future of the country and also what this could mean for stability in the region. and also a big question is, what happens to saleh now? will he return from saudi arabia or is this really it for him and his reign? joining us to talk about president saleh's departure from yemen, the likelihood he'll return and al qaeda finding a footing in that country is executive editor of "the bloomberg view" jamie ruben. >> people are celebrating in the streets of yemen and on the surface this would seem like good news. this is a little more complex, sis this isn't a case of totalitarian government and people who would like a piece of the regular action. >> as the arab spring has happened and people have looked at the democratic change, we've all talked about the time in which our principles, our ideal of democracy, will run up against our national security interests. this is the place where that

probably happens most clearly because president saleh has been such a complete ally for us in the fight against al qaeda, letting us come into the country, use our military forces at will, coordinate special forces, operations, all the things you need to do to actually destroy terrorist cells from al qaeda. and his departure, therefore, might, we don't know yet, but it might make that battle against al qaeda more difficult. >> we're in a tough situation because we have been exerting pressure to get him to step down, right? we even had people sent by the president this past week to go talk about a negotiating a way out for him. why do we want to get rid of him? >> you're exactly right. we had john brennan, the most senior terrorism official in the u.s. government, who also happened to have served in the region, go there because we concluded that saleh's presence was going to cause some sort of civil war and an agreement had

been negotiated by the saudis and this is a reasonable solution from the u.s. standpoint of having him step down but have immunity and have an orderly transition to a kind of government that, again, we could work with in the fight against al qaeda. this whole thing collapsed when he refused to sign the agreement, refused to leave the country, and now we've had these rather dramatic street battles in the capital and the resulting attack on his palace and him going off to saudi arabia. >> you mentioned the saudis. the u.s. and saudis are in the interesting predicament really because the saudis, mostly the arab spring has not been good for saudi arabia, they've been trying to prevent the same thing happening in their country yet find themselves in a position where they are bringing in saleh and they have to maybe send him back. what does it mean for saudi arabia and how big a po youer with broker are they for this? >> i think you're exactly right. the united states and saudi

arabia have not been in sync during the revolutions in egypt. >> right. >> and tunisia and libya, et cetera. but in this case, i think the administration is right and has been doing an excellent job in coordinating its policy with saudi arabia because saudi arabia really is the regional power broker in this area. yemen is a neighbor of saudi arabia, but a poor neighbor, and if the saudis can manage this problem, they have the same interests we do in al qaeda. remember, if yemen becomes a so-called failed state which is what everybody is worried about, al qaeda gets a base in yemen, its target is going to be saudi arabia which is the original target of osama bin laden, may he no longer be able to lead, but that was his original target and so we in the saudis have exactly the same interests in preventing yemen from becoming that kind of failed state. so allowing the saudis to take

the lead here, i think, is very wise policy. >> we've seen an attack in iraq this morning, five u.s. service members have been killed, reports there may be 20 more people having been killed. you know, kiran made a good pint here, our troops are there, we talked about the end of combat operations in iraq and the fact that combat operations, combat soldiers have been pulled out. clearly servicemen are still being killed there. >> iraq is a war zone. it's still a war zone. it's been a war zone ever since 2003. what's changed is that iraqi forces are increasingly capable of handling the security problems themselves. but we're there, we're there in tens of thousands. we're very concerned and rightly so that as we try to leave the opponents of the united states, we'll want to find a way to try to humiliate us in our departure. so these kind of attacks are going to happen over and over again as we get our forces out.

these are war zones. >> it's not just attacks on the united states, although this is terrible, these five u.s. service members killed, but there seems to be unrest in other parts of the country as well, some i guess people blaming sunry ins for a couple of attacks, some bombings and saddam hussein's former hometown of tikrit. does our policy change if iraq continues to appear to be unstable? >> i don't think our policy really changes. perhaps the exact, precise pace of withdraw. the idea here is that the united states and the government of iraq, sovereign government, a democratically elected government, is increasingly capable of defending its own territory. we're working with that government. if they feel that they really need some additional help, from us, i think we're prepared to give it to them. i don't think that looks very likely. the overwhelming political motivation to finally get american combat troops out will probably outweigh their real security needs which as you can

indicate from all these attacks it's very real. they need our help, but i think it's more important to them and i think we're ready certainly the american people are ready, for our troops to come home. >> jamie ruben, thanks very much, the former assistant secretary of state and the editor of "the bloomberg view." good to see you. >> thank you. ahead on "american morning," two new drugs show promise in treating melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer? just how promising? one showed a 63% reduction in the risk of death compared to chemo. what could be a major shift in the war on cancer after the break.

21 minutes after the hour. minding your business. futures are down ahead of

today's opening bell. investors are on edge after the dow closed 97 points lower on friday following a weak jobs report and other economic data. last week marked the fifth straight week of declines for the dow losing nearly 3%. the nasdaq and s&p 500 were also down. also weighing on investors, greece dealing with a debt disaster this morning. the country is expected to need a second bailout and that worries economists because it adds pressure to the international banking system which has been trying to regain its footing. a new report expects state and local governments to cut as many as 110,000 jobs in the coming months with teachers and other school employees bearing the brunt of the layoffs. the new fiscal year begins next month and many states are facing multibillion dollar deficits. despite being on medical leave apple's ceo steve jobs will kick off apple's annual conference today. he's expected to announce a new on-line service for storing music and other files called icloud. say good-bye to burger king's king mascot.

the company getting a make-over in an effort to battle sliding profits. the fast food chain is adding healthier options including an asian chicken salg lad but the whopper sandwich is here to stay. the latest news about your money check out the all new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" back right after this break. [ male announcer ] finally. the place they've been searching for. staples. the one place that makes it easy to buy a new laptop. ♪ or get one fixed. ♪ with highly trained tech experts, staples makes trouble-shooting and repairing technology just the way you want it -- easy. easy to buy. easy to fix. easy to save. staples. that was easy. ♪ i thought it was over here... ♪

[car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪

25 minutes past the hour. it's being called a major break through. research shows two new drugs to treat melanoma the deadliest form of skin cancer can extend the lives of melanoma patients. dr. george sledge, president of the american society of clinical oncology joins us from chicago to talk about this exciting development. thanks for being with us this morning, dr. sledge. >> good morning, kiran. >> this came out of the cancer conference that took place yesterday in chicago and the headline is that these two drugs are considered game changers. explain why? >> well, these are two very different drugs. one drug gooses the immune system to fight the cancer. the other drug is a drug that interferes with the critical growth pathway for the cancer.

melanoma is a disease that starts in the skin, but spreads outside of the skin to other organs and once it does so, is uniformly fatal. these two new drugs are the first drugs in decades that have significantly altered the course of the disease. both drugs induce remissions. in some cases prolong remissions. both drugs improve survival with patients with advanced melanoma. a real change in our treatment of the disease and very exciting for the members of our society. >> some patients apparently see results in as little as 72 hours, which is quite amazing, but at the other end of this nine to ten months they say the cancer cells start to outsmart the drug and become resistant. so what does it really mean for patients who are trying to fight melanoma? >> well, first, of course, it does improve survival for those patients, but going forward, we're going to take these drugs and use it for earlier stage patients and hopefully there it will actually prevent patients from developing advanced

disease. of course, since we have two new drugs we're likely to combine those agents as well and see whether or not we get more bang by putting the two together. so doctors look at this as an exceedingly promising beginning. not a solution, not an end or cure to melanoma, but a really good start. >> and so you're saying they're going to -- it was tested in people who had advanced melanoma, as you said before fatal in almost all people that have it. would you be able to use this beyond skin cancer? >> well, we'll be able to use the same principles beyond skin cancer to say mobilizing the body's immune system against cancer which one of the drugs does is being explored in a number of other cancers, interfering with a growth mechanism that's caused by mutation in the cancer cell, we're employing that principle in several different cancers. so i think both of these approaches are going to be widely applicable, even though the individual drugs are fairly

specific to melanoma. >> i got you. also other interesting news out of this conference for the treatment of breast cancer a drug already being used to treat breast cancer but may be used to prevent it. how would that work? >> that's correct. so this is a drug that's been available for many years for patients with advanced disease and early stage disease that we now know if you take this drug and give it to women who have never had breast cancer but who we predict are at high risk for developing breast cancer we can roughly cut in half their risk of developing that breast cancer. >> that's amazing. side effects? are there significant side effects to this? >> so this is a drug that lowers estrogen levels in women who are post-menopausal. and because it lowers estrogen levels there are deprivation side effects, in particular bone loss, joint aches are the two most common concerns that we have with this drug. >> all right. well again, some promising news on the cancer front. especially for people living with this or who have family

members and friends who are. very interesting. dr. george sledge, president of the american society of oncology, thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me. breaking news from iraq, five u.s. service members have been killed, the single largest loss of troops, loss of life amongst troops in iraq, in months. two iraqi security officials say they were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. iraq's interior ministry telling cnn at least 17 people were also killed in a series of explosions across the country. at the top of the hour we'll speak to a "new york times" reporter in baghdad. former international monetary fund chief dominique strauss-kahn expected to file a not guilty plea this morning at his arraignment on sexual assault charges. he's accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in a new york city hotel last month. in his first court appearance since being released on $6 million bail, that's what he's expected to do he's under house arrest at a luxury manhattan townhouse.

high winds blowing a massive wildfire across northern arizona right now. the wallow fire as it's called has already burned more than 180,000 acres. containment is at zero. 2200 people have been chased from their homes. bring in reynolds wolf in the extreme weather center. looks like conditions are just perfect, unfortunately that's not a great word, but perfect there in the northern part of arizona? >> absolutely. unfortunately, around the nation we do have a story of the haves and have nots. parts of the desert southwest what they could use would be heavy rainfall to douse those showers. other places you a surplus of water like in parts of the northern plains. to be more specific in the dakotas, flood warnings that remain in effect along the missouri river. you have plenty of evacuatio evacuations pierre and fort thompson and nebraska. speaking of the heavy rainfall we've got some of it in the western great lakes. this morning a band of shower activity now moving from wisconsin into very close to lake michigan, eventually we could see the showers as far south as rockford, perhaps even chicago, before the day is out.

any travel plans that will take you through chicago, be prepared for those delays. but again as you mentioned towards the top, very dry conditions in the desert southwest. wind is really going to be enhanced in the afternoon with some gusts topping 40, perhaps 50 miles per hour by late afternoon. very warm for you in the central and southern u.s. high temperatures in the 100s for places like dallas, houston with 98. the high humidity it's going to feel like it's beyond the century point with st. louis 96, 96 your high for atlanta, 84 washington, d.c., 80 new york, 75 boston, salt lake city with 82 and san francisco into los angeles, highs into the 50s and 60s. that's your forecast, guys. let's pitch it back to you in new york. >> thanks, reynolds. a couple weeks ago he was raising money for tornado victims. now star trace atkins dealing with his own tragedy, his home in tennessee burned to the ground on saturday. atkins and his wife were not there at the time but their children were. his wife says everyone got out okay and that they followed the plan the family had in place to

meet at a tree outside of their property. the nanny reportedly said she heard the spark and got everybody out before the fire. it's not clear, though, what caused it. >> when we come back we have a new presidential candidate joining the gop field. we'll tell you about that when we come back. >> and we want to know what are the issues motivating you, but we're also going to talk about the issues motivating voters. it's an interesting list. we'll bring it to you after the break.

the republican field is

getting bigger today. former senator rick santorum is expected to make it official he is in the race for the white house. san totorum who lost re-election pennsylvania has hit early voting states like iowa, new hampshire and south carolina several times. >> former massachusetts governor mitt romney coming off his first official weekend on the campaign trail and after sharing the spotlight with sarah palin in new hampshire, he'll be one on one tonight with piers morgan. sarah palin is not showing up. it's romney's first time, first prime time interview since he made it official, that's 9:00 p.m. eastern time today. radio talk show host and former pizza executive herman cain climbing into the polls, in iowa taking part in a family leader lecture series in iowa and sioux city. a gallup poll showed kaine with the higher voter intense sti score of any contender and his name recognition has doubled from march from 31 to 37%. >> he had a funny on tv saying donald trump and sarah palin

shouldn't be eating pizza with a knife and fork, ate it the old-fashioned way with his hands. the undeclared sarah palin found herself trying to explain history lesson she gave on the freedom trail this weekend, said paul revere's iconic ride was to warn the british. listen. >> >> palin later defended her take on revere's midnight ride saying she didn't mess up american history and paul revere's warning was essentially a message to the british that the revolutionaries were not going to back down. >> which it subsequently was after he got captured. >> but not the midnight ride. the midnight ride buzz was designed to be silent.

>> yes, very surreptitious warnings to the patriots because british had lived there, and he couldn't be firing shots. >> and ringing bells. >> or he would have -- unfortunately done what he intended not to do which is tip off the british. >> presidential candidate ron paul says no one is laughing at his ideas anymore. when he ran for president in 2008 he warned about rising deficits and out-of-control spending but he said no one wanted to listen. yesterday on cnn's "state of the union" he blamed himself for that. >> i came into the conversation a good many years ago and my goal was to shrink the size of government, pay the bills, have sound money and live within our means and mind our business. i haven't done a very good job. seems like we're going in the wrong direction. as for the rest of the gop field, paul says he is not impressed. he says his opponents all represent the status quo. in 17 months when americans go to the polls to elect a president, the economy could be the deciding factor. unemployment is above 9%.

and the number of long-term unemployed is rising. our next guests hear those concerns every day, two nationally syndicated talk show hosts with very different points of view, ben ferguson a conservative commentator and host of the ben ferguson show from memphis, and from washington, tom hartman, host of the tom hartman radio show which has a more liberal audience. let me start with you ben, interested in what people are talking about in terms of jobs at this point. you've got this dual mission of deficit reduction and getting the fiscal house in order of this country, at the same time jobs are a problem and big deficit cuts to programs could be more public sector job losses. what are people saying about that conundrum? >> people are really concerned about the economy mainly because they saw unemployment numbers go up. they're not feeling the relief. the government programs that this president has been advocating for the last two years, really aren't working for the average american. i mean we just saw even people

looking for summer work, young people, 24% unemployment with those between the ages of 16 and 19. i had a summer job every summer and most kids are used to that now, so they're feeling it and therefore the parents are seeing morality of this. but i think one of the things people get frustrated with, you have a president that goes out last week and champions the car dealerships and says the big three are making money again. at the same time they're seeing a report that says we're not going to get paid back billions of dollars we lent them. why are they making money sh. >> talk about jobs then, though. so the bailout of the car industry saved some at least 20,000 jobs by most estimates. >> sure. >> and nonpartisan estimates. conservative listeners want to say get the government out of my life that's going to mean more jobs lost? >> it's an issue of leadership and their issue is why did we bail them out and not at least break even if they're making emoney off of our money why are my kids unable to find a summer

job when this president is going out and former dnc chair woman said illegal immigrants are part of the backbone of the american economy and necessity. a lot are saying i'm unemployed they have my jobs, not the back bone of our economy and not a necessity and i don't have a job because of it. >> switch gears and talk to tom. tom, jobs is aig problem, of course, we all agree that's a nonpartisan statement, yet the partisanship comes up in how to fix it. you look at fixing jobs from a liberal perspective and people saying we need more stimulus, we need more spending, we need more juice to the economy at this moment, otherwise it's like 1937 when we pulled our foot off the gas and went into another big let down in the economy? >> yeah. absolutely. what we're seeing right now is the republican plan for the 2012 election. which is basically starve the economy until then, keep jobs down like they did with the stimulus bill. they took a third and turned it into tax cuts and no stimulus at

all and obama had to go with that to get anything. crash the economy and blame it on obama the republican plan here. >> not the plan at all, tom. it's not. >> it is absolutely the republican plan. >> they want -- let me finish. i'm a conservative. >> pretty up front about it. >> i'll answer for my side if that's okay. we've never had a policy of actually crashing the economy on purpose. that may be the most ridiculous. >> answer for yourself but if you look at what mitch mcconnell said and the elected republicans in the house have said, they're not going to allow this president to grow us out of this economy. and mitch mcconnell said up front his main political goal is not jobs, it was to make obama a one-term president. >> what it always goes back to, back to conservatives who blame this president for our economic situation, liberals that blame the last president for the tax cuts and wars that led us to this situation. we'll never get people to change their mind on that. it's interesting, tom, when you talk about where we go from here, we do have to happen

deficit reductions and fiscal austerity have to be in mind down the road. i mean there's no question about that. what are liberals -- >> i think there is. >> saying about how we do that in a thoughtful manner. >> right now our jet is 90% of it gdp, after world war ii, 96% of gdp. we were more broke after world war ii and truman and eisenhower didn't cut anything, no nation has ever cut its way to prosperity. they spent money like crazy. the gi bill gave people like my dad a free college education, back buying houses. dwight eisenhower building highways and schools. look at the infrastructure around this country built in the 1950s by the republican eisenhower. they stimulated the economy to the point that we had within ten years, paid off a debt that was 126% of gdp. they did not cut their way to prosperit

prosperity. >> you're talking about economic policies that did work, what, we're talking years and decades ago. >> that have worked every single time in history they've been used. >> let me finish. you already have highways. we can't go out and build a bunch of roads to nowhere just because you think it's going to fix the economy. >> one country that's cut it ways to prosperity. china is building bullet trains. we have nothing. >> we're doing more in this country than in world war ii and for you to act like -- >> let's have no more schools? >> again, let me finish. if you want to hear what i have it to say you can let me finish and i'll tell you. but to act like america and what obama ran on was the same economic type policies that we had after world war ii, is a sad, sad story about our economy right now in this country. we are in a global economy, totally different. >> tom you get ten seconds to wrap it up, tom. >> your guy had the house, the white house, and the senate and his policies didn't work. >> ben i said tom, you get ten seconds. this is why people love talk

radio. learn how to come out of your shells and give your opinion with more force. tom hartman, thank you so much. ben ferguson we have to wrap it up. that's it. >> thanks for having me. >> that in a nutshell is the voice of the people on talk radio. >> wow. >> you know, we asked our question of the day, what is the single most important issue facing america today and some people said it's the partisan politics. >> yeah. >> can't get over it, can't make it solve problems as long as that continues. we had other interesting responses as well. twitter writes -- dave on facebook -- >> that's the point these two guys disagreed on. on twitter says -- and @roaring jake -- a lot of you are writing in saying education is important. >> as you were saying, kiran, we got one from somebody who said partisan politics, we lack the

ability to negotiate solutions to problems. >> we can't even afwre on what the problem is or root of the problem. how do you get to solutions. >> you hear politicians and pundits saying the single biggest problem facing this country, it's very clear that while our polling indicates that really jobs is the number one, people do disagree on what -- >> the number one issue is jobs and all these reasons as you heard our guests all these reasons people think are feeding jobs, politics, policy, ideology. >> taxes, the deficit. >> stimulus, budget cutting. it's all of these different things. >> well, so we are going to continue to take your responses and read more in the next hour as well. investors brace for some turbulence. wefrp're going to look at the futures in a moment. >> yemen, president saleh undergoes surgery after wounded in an attack on the presidential compound on friday. there's been a cease-fire under way. it's holding right now. a lot of people worried yemen is devolving into full-out civil war. we'll tell you about that on the other side. 46 minutes after the hour. nges .

two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. ♪ wireless puts the world at your command.

a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

49 minutes after the hour. a lot going on this morning. here are your headlines. breaking news from iraq, five u.s. service members have been killed. two iraqi security officials say the service members were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. this is the single largest loss of life among u.s. troops in iraq in months. a cease-fire is holding in yemen. thousands taking to the streets to celebrate the departure of president ali abdullah saleh. he fled to saudi arabia where he's recovering from surgery after an attack on his compound. yemen's powerful hashib tribe and possibly al qaeda are poised to fill the power void. dominique strauss-kahn will be back in new york city courtroom in a couple hours for arraignment on sexual assault charges. the former head of the international monetary fund expected to enter a not guilty plea. he's accused of trying to rape a maid at a hotel in new york last month. rick santorum makes it

official today. the former republican senator from pennsylvania will announce he's running for president. he will he a do it from the coal fields of western pennsylvania where his immigrant grandfather once worked. 2200 people chased by a massive wildfire in arizona. it's already burned 180,000 acres and is still burning out of control. out of control. 600 people in southwestern iowa were ordered to leave their homes after the missouri river breached a levee. crews trying to stop the leak from getting any bigger and dropping sandbags from the air. and in the markets, futures are down after a fifth straight week of decline. the dow was off friday by about 97 points after a disappointing jobs report. the nasdaq and s&p 500 were also down. you're caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" back after the break. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet?

natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after you do retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach.

skyscrapers in new york city right now. it's 66 degrees. a little bit later, though, it's going up to a high of 80 degrees and it will be mostly sunny. >> terrific weekend here. >> yes. it was a little chilly, actually. >> it was actually a little cool. >> but come wednesday, we're looking at 90 -- above 90s. >> really?! >> it's going to be sweltering. >> summer is here. we've been talking about the government ditching the food pyramid for a plate. >> that's right. it's supposed to encourage folks to load up on their fruits and vegetables. >> one thing i've heard more and more about this, wait, half of our food is supposed to be fruits and vegetables, that could be a lot more expensive. if you're worried that eating healthy won't be able to fit into your family budget, think again. eating healthy doesn't always have to cost a lot of money. >> reporter: it's a message from the very top. >> fruits, we're going to do some fruits here, we're going to do somberies. >> a call to arms from the first

lady, her let's move campaign to combat high rates of childhood obesity and promote healthy eating and exercise. >> we're all here today because we care deeply about the health and well-being -- >> but many people think eating healthier equals spending more money. >> not so, says deputy secretary of agriculture, kathleen merrigan. >> i've been trying to say, you can afford to eat fruits and vegetables much more than people think. >> reporter: the usda calculates -- >> less for vegetables, a little bit more for fruit, but if you boil it all down, it's 50 cents a cup. so that means for a 2,000 calorie a day diet, you would spend between $2.18 and $2.50 to meet that half a plate recommendation. >> reporter: it's not always easy, but you can actually save money. >> we know that in this country, on average, a family of four is

spending about $185 a week on groceries. if you follow a healthy diet plan, as we propose, you can bring that cost down to $175. >> reporter: buy fruits and vegetables while they're in season. frozen and canned are also okay. and have a plan when you hit the supermarket. and of course, there's always your own backyard. it's so interesting to see little first graders with their shovels talking about composting and running a household where you're healthy. you try to pack sustainable lunches where there's no waste. tell me about that? >> it gets a little dicey sometimes. at 7:35, you're trying to make all the snacks and all the lunches for the day, but i find the kids are watching over our shoulders saying, don't put that in a wrapper, put that in a container that we can bring home and wash again, and it means the food you're backing is better too. >> here's the hard part. if you're shopping for your family, you can make up the difference with slightly more expensive fruits and vegetables by staying out of the processed

aisles. go around the edges. but if you are struggling, the 99 cent menu is still very attractive, and that's something that -- >> and also, working two jobs and doing all this stuff to keep your family afloat, it's harder to prepare fresh foods. >> that's why there's this big campaign to get everyone kind of on the same page, to start thinking about this, from school lunches, to how is our family viewing food, to make sure our kids are eating that half a plate and we're eating that half a plate of fruits and vegetables. >> i think the myth is that it's not doable. and it is doable, but it takes a little work. kids constantly push back against vegetables. it's a whole re-education campaign and starts with this new message. >> and also starts with the kids. the kids were something that were learning this at school and pushing it back. for information about budgeting your money, we've got more about

that in my new book. our top stories, coming up after the break. hi, i'm jill duggar. >> and i'm josh duggar. >> we can make a difference with tornado relief. >> and tornado relief in job lynn, missouri. >> we were here hwhen the tornao hit. we packed everything up and got water bottles and gatorade. i've been around emergency situations, and working as a volunteer firefighter. being that jill, janna and john had their active duty of volunteer firefighters, they were able to plug right in. giving them hope by being there, i think, really inspires them to continue on. join the movement -- >> impact your world. >> go to cnn.com/impact. [ wind howling ]

[ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes.

with xerox, you're ready for real business. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 if you could use any atm, at any bank, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 anywhere in the world... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 without having to pay to access your own money. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking® account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 zero atm fees. a great interest rate. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 no minimums. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and it's fdic-insured. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking® account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 the biggest thing in checking since checks. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 open an account at 1-800-4schwab or schwab.com.

it's back to court this

morning for the disgraced former head of the international monetary fund. i'm christine romans. dominique strauss-kahn is expected to plead not guilty to sexual assault charges. strauss-kahn is accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in new york city. research shows that two new drugs can reduce the risk of mel know ma. yemen's president has fled the country, the people of yemen are celebrating as a cease-fire holds for now. but a lot of anxiety here in the u.s., where with there are worries that al qaeda will rise up to fill the power vacuum on this "american morning." good monday morning to you. it is june 6th. welcome to "american morning". >> we have some breaking news out of iraq this morning. five u.s. service members have been killed. iraqi security officials say

that they were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. >> and that makes it the largest single loss of life among u.s. troops in iraq for months. joining us on the phone from baghdad, "new york times" reporter, jack healey. jack, what do we know so far? >> well, we're still trying to find out some details about how this happened. at this point, the u.s. military is only saying that five service members, as you said, were killed today in central iraq. some iraqi security officials are telling us that the attack occurred on an american military base, in the east part of town, and that somewhere between three and six mortars or rockets were fired into the base. now, militant groups, you know, have kept up these attacks against american military in recent months. even as violence has dropped.

and you know, firing these kinds of explosives on to military bases is one of the tactics that they use. and then frequently you'll hear the air raid alarms go off, you know, outside of the green zone, where the american embassy and some other military installations are, rockets are lobbed in that direction. >> that's the part that's curious about this situation, because there is some reporting that about 20 people may have been killed in this, five u.s. service members, that's at least being confirmed by our military. as you said, this is a quite common thing. i mean, this is what some of the militants try to do. it seems that it's pretty startling that they actually got this many people -- they were able to kill this many people. >> yeah, again, we don't know the exact details of what happened. i should say that about 20 iraqis died in attacks across the country today. there were a series of

shootings, suicide bombings, and other sort of explosive attacks in different cities in iraq that were aimed mostly at security officials, iraqi army guys, and some of the militant groups -- excuse me, the militias that had joined up with american forces to fight al qaeda. so that was the sort of 20 iraqis that you alluded to earlier. and those, at this point, appear to be separate. but, again, you know, we're still trying to figure everything out. >> okay, jack heealy of "the ne york times," thanks for joining us. just about an hour and a half from now, dominique strauss-kahn will be back in a new york courtroom. >> he's being arraigned on sexual assault charges in connection with alleged attempted rape of a hotel maid last month. the former head of the international monetary fund is expected to plead guilty -- not guilty, i'm sorry, to the charges. >> cnn's deb feyerick is outside

of the courthouse in lower manhattan. expect any surprises today, or is this procedural? >> reporter: well, the arraignment itself is procedural, but we really want to set the scene for you down here at the courthouse. the spectacle of what is dominique strauss-kahn and the incident continues. take a look at all of the media that's here. many of them french, of course, this is a man who was a presidential contender. he is credited with saving portugal, greece, and ireland. if you cross the street, now, something unexpected that did happen. we apologize for the subway noise just below us, but a bus load of housekeepers from hotels across the city got off, just a couple of moments ago. they say that they are here supporting the woman who is at the center of this alleged sexual assault. you can see the front of the courthouse, we are told, by court officers that, in fact, dominique strauss-kahn will arrive between 8:30 and 8:45. he will enter the main door, the front door. he's not going to be allowed to

go from behind. he'll have to go through the metal detectors. of course, he's wearing that ankle bracelet, so that's likely to sound when he does go through, but this is procedural. he will appear before the judge, enter a plea of not guilty. that's what his lawyers have been saying all along. they say, in fact, when all the evidence comes to light, it will be very clear that this was not a forced encounter, as the housekeeper alleges it was. but, again, he is charged with seven counts, including attempted rape and forcible sexual assault. you know, it's interesting. he is surrounded by a team of very high-powered attorneys. one of them used to representing rap stars, also athletes. they know what they're doing. they fired their first salvo about ten days ago when they accused the nypd, the new york city police department, of misconduct, saying they've been leaking information that could potentially jeopardize their client's right to a fair trial, and that included potential

forensic evidence on the housekeeper, dna evidence that is alleged to match dsk. they want all those documents. christine, ali, kiran? >> deb feyerick with the latest developments, thanks so much. jail time was the reason why a possible plea bargain for john edwards collapsed. the talks broke down when prosecutors insisted that he serve six months. edwards wanted the deal to have a minimal impact on his children. the former north carolina senator and presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to using campaign funds to hide an extramarital affair. in orlando, week three in the casey anthony murder trial. the young mother is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, caylee. so far, testimony has revealed a web of lies told by casey, but prosecutors still must link the defendant to physical evidence in her daughter's death. well, this weekend, an fbi forensic expert testified about a 9-inch-strand of hair found in the trunk of casey's car.

>> what i was looking for were any hairs that exhibited characteristics of apparent decomposition, and then that hair, i compared to hair recovered from the hair brush, which is identified as well belonging to caylee. >> she also told jurors that based on her microscopic analysis, the hair was consistent with hair found in caylee's hair brush and also consistent with signs of decomposition. all right, he went from super bowl hero to behind bars in less than two years. today, nfl wide receiver plaxico burress will be walking out of a prison in new york. the former new york giant accidentally shot himself in the leg with a pistol that he wasn't licensed to carry at a nightclub back in 2008. he's spent the past 20 months in prison. burress caught the game-winning touchdown for the giants against the undefeated patriots back in 2008. >> and he comes back to some uncertainty in the nfl.

nintendo says hackers gained access to one of its servers here in the u.s. no company or consumer information was stolen. a group that's also hacked into the servers of sony pictures and pbs has claimed responsibility for this new attack. promising news this morning in the war on cancer. researchers say that two new drugs can extend the lives of patients with with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. earlier on mer"american morning dr. george sledge talked about how these drugs work. >> these are two very different drugs. one drug, in essence, gooses the immune system to help fight the cancer. the other drug is a drug that interferes with a critical growth pathway for the cancer. melanoma is a disease that starts in the skin, but spreads outside the skin to other organs, and once it does so, is uniformly fatal. these two new drugs are first drugs in decades that have significantly altered the course of the disease. >> dr. sledge says that both drugs induce and prolong

remissions and both increase survival for people with advanced melanoma. >> such a great development. >> they hope they can use it earlier on for melanoma, and perhaps expand it out to other forms of cancers. >> and targeted therapies is so exciting, take a look at what you have and find ways to -- it's an exciting development, no question. scientists say that bean sprouts from germany are the likely source of the e. coli outbreak that has spread across europe. at least 22 people have died. more than 2,000 people have gotten sick. officials say there's no indication yet that the outbreak has peaked. okay. so apple's ceo, steve jobs, will make a rare public appearance today. you know, he's on medical leave, taking care of his health, but he will make a rare public appearance today to unveil the long-awaited icloud. he tends to come out -- >> when he comes out, it's a big development. big developments in yemen. this country is on the brink of civil war. the president wounded in an attack on his compound on friday. he flew out to saudi arabia. what's going on in yemen and how

does it affect us? we'll discuss that on the other side. also, fire destroys country star trace adkins' home, but his wife says it was their family's fire plan that saved their kids. it's ten minutes after the hour. a guy named his own price, wants a room tonight for 65 dollars.

we don't go lower than 130. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil?

he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal.

massive protests in greece. tens of thousands of people taking to the streets last night. they're upset about new taxes and spending cuts required to get a second international bailout package. the first aid package helped to get greece to pay down its debt. it was worth nearly $161 billion, and now a sense that they may need a second one. bloodshed along israel's border with syria. israeli forces firing on hundreds of pro-palestinian demonstrators on sunday. the violence erupting on the anniversary of the 1967 war. 25 people were killed and more than 350 others injured. the u.n. is condemning the violence and calling on both

sides to use restraint. in yemen, on the brink of civil war this morning. the country's president has fled, triggering celebrations in the streets. >> ali abdullah saleh is in saudi arabia. he's recovering from two surgeries after being wounded in an attack on his compound on friday morning. his supporters insist he'll return. >> mohammwho's in charge? >> his vice president's in charge. there's a real question as to how much power the vice president wields. and that's causing a lot of concern, because in yemen, you still have a lot of the power concentrated in the hands of saleh family members. the head of the republican guard there is saleh's son. one thing the vice president will have to contend with with the crisis, the multiple crisis in the country, are the security forces, and in order to do that,

he has to talk to the son and the nephew of president saleh. nobody knows what these two guys are going to do. more and more support is being expressed for the vice president at this point. more opposition leaders are coming out, saying they're willing to give him a chance, but that's very tentative, and even the cease-fire that's going on right now seems very tentative, and a lot of people are worried that could dissolve into utter chaos at any time. >> it's very easy for us to look at governments versus the people in some of these many countries, but the truth is that it's more complicated than that. the parties involved in yemen make this a more complicated way of looking at it and wondering who should be in charge. >> oh, absolutely. you look around yemen right now, ali, there's so many different flashpoints. now, you've got, politically, you've got the opposition. these are political parties that are opposed to the president. they have been for quite some time. now they're backing the vice president, at least tentatively. but you also have the tribesmen,

some very powerful tribes in yemen that have been fighting government security forces for the last two weeks. now there's a cease-fire, but that seems tentative. that could be disrupted at any time. beyond that, you also have hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators that have been emboldened, that have been encouraged to come out into the streets in various cities across yemen for months now because of the arab spring uprising movement. they're saying no matter what they're going to continue their resolution until they get a functioning government, a non-corrupt government. and even though yesterday they were celebrating that the president had left, they realized it wasn't because of their political movement, it was because his injury and realizing maybe they were celebrating too soon. so many bits of chaos, so is the country on the verge of all-out civil war? how will that affect the region and security for the rest of the world in a region where al qaeda has a real hub. >> they've certainly got a

foothold. mohammed jamjoom in auby dhabi, thanks. now goldman sachs is on the offensive. >> you remember those hearings that led up to that. and larry king, the king of comedy? >> yeah, he's going to be joining us right here on this couch. forget the desk. he's going to be sitting right here with us, to talk about what he's up to, way in on some of his favorite interviews of all time, and tell us what he's up to. >> and a few jokes, we hope. where do you go to find a super business?

you know, the ones who do a super job? superpages.com®. for local maps, reviews and videos & it's the only local search site with the superguarantee®. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book, on your phone or at superpages.com®. it's a curious thing that happens.

it seems that when we get to a place where no one knows us, we become most ourselves. try new things. make new friends. laughing out loud. and dancing in the streets. its time to venture out. who knows just who we might discover... as we come alive under the spell of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.

20 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. goldman sachs reportedly accusing the government of,

quote, drastically overstating goldman's role in the financial crisis. "the wall street journal" this morning reporting that goldman may release documents to show a senate report was inaccurate and incomplete. a new report expects state and local governments to cut as many as 110,000 jobs in coming months. teachers and state employees will bear the brunt of those coming layoffs. many states are facing multimillion dollar deficits. the dow, nasdaq, and s&p 500 futures down slightly this morning after five straight weeks of declines. that's the longest losing streak for the dow since july of 2004. the longest slump for the s&p since july of 2008. the airline industry cutting its profit estimates in half because of higher oil prices. the international air transport association estimates the industry will earn $4 billion this year. that's down from the estimated $8 billion back in march. the world's largest passenger aircraft cleared for takeoff. air france begins flying its airbus 380 today. in fact, the first flight from

paris expected to touch down at dulles international airport this afternoon. and apple ceo steve jobs will kick off apple's annual conference today. he's expected to announce a new online service for storing music and other things, it's called icloud. and what do you think is the single most important issue facing americans today? tweet us at or contact us on facebook. "american morning" back after the break. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox

to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. [ golf clubs clanking ] [ husband ] i'm good! well, almost everything. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance.

[ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore.

a shot of the white house this morning, as we take a look at washington, d.c. sunny and 71 right now. a little bit later, going up to a high of 84 in the nation's capital. the republican field for president getting bigger today. former pennsylvania senator, rick santorum, is expected to make the official announcement that he's in the race for the white house. he was already on tv this morning saying, quote, i'm in it to win it. santorum has already hit early voting states like iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina several times. former radio show host and former pizza executive herman kaine is rising in the polls. the conservative gop candidate will be in iowa today, taking party in a family leader lecture series in pella, iowa city, and in sioux city. wow, those are three cities far apart, kind of. last week, he had the highest gallup poll of any gop

republican contender, and his name recognition has jumped since march. >> so the voter intensity poll is people who like him really like him. former massachusetts governor mitt romney coming off of his first official weekend on the campaign trail. and after sharing the spotlight, albeit, reluctantly with sarah palin in new hampshire, who actually apologized, she said, he'll be one on one tonight with piers morgan. it's romney's first prime-time interview since he made it official. don't miss it, 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight. >> she kind of came in the way of his announcement, but rick santorum is announcing today, but sarah palin is still in the news. she's trying to explain a little history lesson she gave on the freedom trail this weekend. she said that paul revere's iconic midnight ride was, in fact, to warn the british.

>> he, who warned the british that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and making sure, as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells, that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed. >> great thanks. >> super posing a couple of actual facts. it was a midnight ride, meant to be surreptitious and he didn't ring any bells or shoot any shots. later, palin said she didn't mess up and that paul revere's warning was essentially a message to the british that the revolutionaries were not going to back down. >> well, after he was captured, didn't he say, look, we've got a big militia, be be afraid of us. >> it was a superimposition of a couple of stories with the addition of bells and guns. >> right. presidential candidate ron paul says no one's laughing at his ideas anymore. when he ran for president in

2008, he warned about rising deficits and out of control spending, but no one wanted to listen. yesterday on cnn's "state of the union," he blamed himself for that. >> i came into the congress a good many years ago and my goal was to shrink the size of government, shrink the deficit, pay the bills, have sound money, live within our means, and have good business, and i haven't done a very good job. seems like we're going in the wrong direction. >> as for the rest of the gop field, paul he's not impressed. >> be sure to join cnn exactly a week from tonight when seven gop candidates for president debate. hey, there's more room on the stage if anyone else wants to jump in between now and then. it's monday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern, live from new hampshire. >> reliable sources tell us we can find more room on the stage if necessary. >> our question of the day, which will be useful for that debate, what is the single most important issue facing america today? >> j.w. from twitter writes, "unemployment." and tom mcmahon, "a country can

only be as great as its population is educated and its infrastructure is built and maintained to support commerce. we are failing at both." >> "probably being at the forefront of innovation and creativity. aside from the obvious, america needs to ensure more higher-degree students." >> travis on facebook says, "job creation and repealing the tax cuts." and he has an exclamation point behind that. and "america has lost its ability to dream." i keep thinking of that susan boyle song. sing it for me, ali, but you know, dreaming, the american dream. >> it sort of goes in with the whole notion of innovation and making sure our future students are educated and future generations are educated. a lot of people concerned about that, definitely. we have some breaking news from iraq. five u.s. service members have been killed. this is a new video coming into us from -- coming into cnn from

iraq. iraqi security officials say they were killed during an early morning mortar attack at a u.s. military base in southeastern baghdad. it is the single largest loss of life among u.s. troops in iraq in recent months. iraq's interior of ministry also telling cnn, at least 17 people were also killed. there was some confusion as to whether or not it was the same attack, but the clarification is that people were killed in a series of other explosions that took place across iraq today. also, just into cnn, former international monetary fund chief, dominique strauss-kahn arriving at court for his arraignment. there is the picture that we just got. he's expected to enter a formal not guilty plea on sexual assault charges. he is accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in new york city last month. and high winds blowing a massive wildfire across northern arizona right now. the wallow fire has already burned more than 180,000 acres. containment is still at zero. 2,200 people have been chased

from their homes. it's proving to be a very, very difficult and treacherous fire to fight for those who are on the ground trying to fight it. >> a lot of heat, no water, and high winds. reynolds wolf is in the extreme weather center for us right now. any relief in sight for them, that will give them a hand from the weather side, at least? >> unfortunately, none whatsoever. what we're going to see over this region, especially the four corners, where the fire is at its most intense, and zero containment, we'll have a storm system that will pass to the north that will bring not rainfall, but very strong wind, sustained winds of 30 to 40 miles an hour, some gusting approaching 50 miles an hour and stronger through those high mountain passes, so it's going to be fanning the flames, pushing those flames in many spots. plus, there's a lot of vegetation up there, a lot of ch chaparral. so dry conditions across the desert southwest. central plains, more of the same. very warm conditions from the central plains westward into the plains of texas.

the southwest, very muggy conditions can be anticipated. maybe a few stray showers in central florida, but for the most part, no real release from the heat whatsoever. great lakes, different story. fairly nice in terms of temperatures in some places. but i'd say 90s still in chicago. i think that's going to come later on in the day. detroit, upper 80s. storms developing and the southeast of memphis, very warm with 97 degrees. the expected high, 100 in dallas. it's going to feel like it's 103, in not a bit warmer. salt lake city, 81. san francisco, 65. also, mid-60s in los angeles. that's your forecast. let's pitch it back to you in new york. >> reynolds, thank you? parents and children still a little shaken this morning after a freak accident at a carnival in long island, new york. a gust of wind sent a bouncy house ride through the air with kid inside. look at the parents. you'll see them in a second, running toward this thing. a mother captured the video you're looking at with her cell phone camera.

>> now, the first house took flight and then took out two other inflatable bouncy houses. parents frantically trying to chase it down. 13 people wound up in the hospital, luckily, with mostly bumps and bruises. all of them walked out without any serious injuries. one little girl got the ropes -- nearly strangled by one of these ropes hanging down one of these bouncy houses. >> she's okay as well, but i can't -- the winds must have been fierce that day. >> these things were tethered, they were on the ground. >> and 13 people jumping inside, that's some weight on it. >> another reason to keep your kids at home in front of television. just a couple of weeks ago, country music star trace adkins was on our program and others, talking about raising money for tornado victims, now he's dealing with his own tragedy. a big scare, his home in tennessee burned to the ground on saturday. adkins and his wife weren't home, but the children and the nanny were. everyone got out okay, they

followed the family plan in place to meet at the tree. the nanny reportedly said she heard a spark, and that's when she grabbed the kids and ran out right before that fire. it's still unclear what caused it. >> do you have a fire plan? >> i'll make one now. >> a simple thing like that. where do you go afterwards? a great idea. the naacp is suing the city of new york to stop them from closing schools and changing some schools into charter schools. a discussion about that after the break. and what's so funny about larry king? 80 minutes of larry king on stage, a one-man comedy show coming up, a new book, and of course, it's larry. larry will be with us here on the couch talking about all of that, his favorite interviews, and interviews that got away. we'll have that after the break. (rambling phone conversation)

when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal.

kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. no matter when you get around to booking, hotels.com will have a great last minute deal waiting for you. like at the hotels.com 48 hour sale. this tuesday and wednesday only. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. with your host, betty white. featuring lifetime aarp member, betty white.

and betty white. i'm sorry, betty isn't here. [ male announcer ] with outstanding performances by the bettys. if you're 50 or over but hesitant to join aarp because you think it makes you old, i have a very important message: [ all ] get over it! [ male announcer ] joining aarp is only sixteen dollars a year. so call in and get a free travel bag when you join now. ♪ the sun is still at a low angle in atlanta. see those buildings in shadow. 77 degrees right now. mostly sunny, heading up to a

toasty 92 degrees in atlanta. let's bring it back to new york for a second. the naacp has sparked controversy here in new york city by joining a lawsuit that would stop the city from closing 22 of its worst-performing public schools and allow 20 charter s eer schools to set up in public buildings. advocates of charter schools says more charter schools means a better education. some critics say the plan is a form of segregation, and that's where the naacp gets involved. steve perry is one of the critics of the naacp's action. he's founder of the charter school in hartford, connecticut. he joins us now. capital prep is not a charter school? >> no, i run a public school. i have never worked in a charter school. i'm an advocate of school

choice. i'm an advocate of children having access to quality education, the education that makes the most amount of sense to them. and the naacp has become a jobs program. what they're doing is they've come into bed with the teachers union for one purpose. that's to protect teachers' that's to protect teachers' jobs, not the children, but

some companies are worried. some, not so much. thanks to a network that secures it all and knows what to keep in, and what to keep out. outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco.

. .

the u.s. military did not say how they died. iraqi security officials saying there was a rocket attack on a u.s. military base in baghdad. yemen teetering on the brink of civil war. thousands taking to the streets to celebrate the departure of president ali abdullah saleh. he fled to saudi arabia, where he's recovering from two surgeries after an attack on his compound last week. yemen's powerful hashib tribe and possibly al qaeda poised to filler the power vacuum. dominique strauss-kahn is expected to plead not guilty in the alleged sexual assault of the maid at a new york hotel last month. and doctors are calling it a breakthrough in the fight against cancer. two new drugs can extend the lives of patients with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, and there is hope it will lead to more advances for other types of cancer in the

future. the republican field for cancer grows a little bit bigger today. rick santorum is expected to announce he's a candidate. santorum has already visited iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina to test the waters. and markets open in 45 minutes. at last check, the dow, nasdaq, and s&p futures were all down after falling for a fifth straight week. well, you're caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" is back after the break.

♪ 50 minutes past the hour right now, a look at new york city this morning, where it's

sunny, it's 68 degrees. a little bit later, we're going up to high of nearly 80. >> and no clouds, no rain, no nothing? >> beautiful. >> going back out in my speedo in central park. >> that a threat or a promise? >> his interviews have made us laugh, made us cry. larry king these days more about just the laughs. >> the living legend is launching a new comedy stand-up tour, and he has this new book out, truth be told, with fascinating nuggets about some of his most famous interviews. >> larry king is here this morning. >> what a shirt! >> i love the shirt. >> yes, i'm shocking, and it's shocking. and this book will shock many. >> it will shock many. you've been looking for many, the big one that got away. you haven't done castro yet. you would like to do an interview with castro. >> we were in havana last year, great city. have you been in havana? beautiful people, great city, music. they have pictures downstairs of

mafia leaders who ran cuba. we'd accept raul or fidel. there's a story raul may do one more interview, and we do four specials a year. we've got johnny depp coming. he is for an hour. and we've got a big one on harry potter's last movie. that will be in july. but fidel would be my all-time. only one that would top him would be the pope. >> larry, let's talk about what's going on in the middle east, the arab spring. you have interviewed -- >> all of them. >> all of them there. one of your most notable interviews was about the middle east. you had the leaders of jordan, of israel, and palestine, yasser arafat at the time -- >> they're all gone now. >> they're all gone. >> that was historic in the sense that i got calls from the state department, you're about

to do diplomacy tonight. it was really interesting because -- >> what year was that? >> '92, '94, in there. >> back when it looked like there could be some breakthroughs. did you have a lead that was close? >> sure, because they were all very decent and they all had interesting responses. the problem with the middle east is, you nodded when each one spoke. you know, they each had a point of view that made sense. >> exactly. >> we were born to this land. and i think as bill clinton told me once, this problem is almost at the point of insoluble. it's just, these are -- these are cousins. these are cousins fighting over land that the bible, you know, it's not generally done, but deane atchison, when he was secretary of state under truman, had a deal worked out, and he brought this to truman, that

braz brazilia, that huge portion of brazil, would be given to truman, and they would transform all the jewish people from eastern europe to there, because they would have productivity, and make brazilia something. and he said, you don't understand, it's not about the place, it's their land. look at all the lives that would have been saved. >> that's amazing. i also want to ask you about this comedy tour. you've done more than 50,000 interviews. how different is a talk show, a television, a live television environment, and doing stand-up comedy? >> well, for years, i've worked conventions. i spoke with aarp, general motors, and always told funny stories. >> so my nephew, scott zeiger -- >> a great broadway guy. >> my brother's son, and my father-in-law used to manage marie osmond all got together and said, look, now you've got some free time, you write books,

why don't you go out and do a comedy tour, we'll package it like a broadway show. so there's backdrops -- the only thing is, i have to be disciplined. when i tell story "x," i have to follow with story "y" or the backdrop will be screwed up. but what i like better about it is when you stand on a stage, man, you walk out on stage, there's no moment like that, if you know you're funny and you're going to get them going for you, the energy, the rush. you never get that on television. >> a camera doesn't love you back, like a live audience. >> like this, we're being seen all over, and i love that, but this saturday night i'll be at the mirage hotel in las vegas, going out on stage, my wife's going to sing first and then i'm going to go out on stage and i've got an hour and 20 minutes. and if you know you've got good material and you're in sync with

the audience, the heart starts pumping, it doesn't matter how tired you are, and it's a high. it's better than sex. well -- >> it's a tie. but i find it interesting, because there are people like me, you're right, we're talking to thousands, potentially millions of people, but i'm not the least bit nervous. if there was a live audience here, i would be shaking in my boots. did you ever have that type of -- when people talk about stage fright, you don't usually mean when you're talking to a camera. >> it's the number one fear of people, stage fright. i wrote a book about how to talk to anyone, anywhere, years ago. this is, by the way, truth be told, is my 16th book. the truth is, you tune that out when you go on stage. you tune it out. look above it. or pick one person and do it for him or her. the rest will come around. but work off him or her. if you've got that going, that'll energize you.

but it's particular interesting, i'm doing wesbury in september, and that's in the round. >> all right, i'm going to do that right now. larry, good to see you. we are going to enjoy looking forward to it. and to you out there, we're taking a quick break. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] only yoplait original has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value. pass on the news and make sure you and everyone you know is getting the calcium they need. ♪ twenty-five thousand mornings, give or take,

is all we humans get. we spend them on treadmills. we spend them in traffic. and if we get lucky, really lucky, it dawns on us to go spend them in a world where a simple sunrise can still be magic. twenty-five thousand mornings. make sure some of them are pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

we're back. we still have larry king with us. >> larry's sticking around for a couple minutes, because we're talking about this very important question of the day. what is the single most important issue facing america today, and we've got some of your responses. >> that's right. @topcleric says, "bad money management by uncle sam." >> "get off the deficit stuff, it's a red herring, we need infusion." >> and one from twitter, "the biggest thing is jobs for people who want work but can't get it. it's depressing." larry king, you've talked about all these issues. >> kids who misplace your clicker. >> speaking from the dad of an 11 and 12-year-old, right? >> you know why? the problem with the deficit is, it don't call you. the ci