and it's a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant at home and abroad and protecting our nation and in protecting friendly nations and peoples like india and others. >> more details from washington, d.c., we're talking to republican congressman from new york, peter king, he's the chairman of the homeland security committee, also with us this morning, cnn national security contributor frances townsend, former bush homeland security adviser. congressman king, give me some more details of this plot as you know this and the man at the center of the plot whom we haven't heard much information about. >> soledad i really can't give you all the details. this is an ongoing operation. it was an unmetallic device, i can tell you it involves a number of countries and that at no time did the bomb ever make it on to the plane but as far as even the country it originated

from, all of that for various reasons is not being disclosed but it is ongoing, involved sophisticated intelligence and it's something where i don't think the government expected it to be coming out yesterday because it's ongoing and the device is being tested by the fbi, and as you raise the issue about whether or not our current level of detection is enough to be able to find this type of device. this seems to be a new level of sophistication by al qaeda, probably al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. it's an indication that the war unlike the president said is not going to end in afghanistan. the war will go on for many years. >> where was the plot foiled? was the individual found inside of yemen, outside of yemen? >> soledad i can't go into any of that with you. this is sensitive information on the ground. i can just tell you that the person who actually had the bomb is no longer a threat. >> meaning he's dead?

or he's alive? or being held somewhere? >> i can only tell you that the white house person i spoke to said the terminology they are use something he is no longer of concern. >> congressman king i'll have you stand by while i bring in fran townsend. we're hearing a lot and yet there's not a lot of detail. before i get to the device itself, talk about the person, the individual who has not been named yet. peter king said he's no longer a threat as he's been told from the white house? >> i talked to a senior administration official yesterday using the same language. he's dead or in custody f he's not a threat he's got to be one of the two. overnight we were steered away from the notion he was dead, sounds as though he's in custody but it might not be u.s. consist di. we understand they have possession of the device and logically, soledad, what that says to me is wherever the device was seized probably so is

the would-be suicide bomber. he's in custody wherever the device has been seized. >> what are the implications of where it's been seized if caught inside yemen, outside yemen, if he's been able to get on a plane successfully and transport the device, all would be relevant. >> all would be relevant. the senior administration official who has direct knowledge asecured me and others that this device never made it to an airport, much less never made it to a plane. one has to presume if this began in yemen, it was u.s. forces working with foreign partners. it may have been the saudis. we've heard information like that. the saudis have the best insight to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. presumably the saudis working with the u.s. disrupted this plot perhaps inside yemen, seized the device, turned that over to the u.s. and the yemenis or saudis have custody of this

guy. >> let's talk more about this guy before i get back to congressman king. non-metallic, it wouldn't set off the detectors as you walk through the airport. >> al qaeda is known for petn, the explosive very difficult to detect, it can be a pudy type substance, and we saw the use of pted type of components so no one concerned it's petn but petn is a non-metallic subsatancesub. >> a drone attack was held to kill al quso. the drone attack was successful in foiling this plot? >> yes, i was told by the white house they are connected, they're part of the same operation, and that's why i said this operation is still ongoing.

everything that fran townsend said is usual, makes a tremendous amount of sense. i'm not in a position to say all of the things that fran does because of the restrictions that i have but if you listen to fran townsend you're getting a pretty good idea of what happened. >> we fully understand, sir. i'll go back to fran for a moment. tell me the connection then. we know there is this connection between the drone attack that took out quso and this foiled plot. >> quso was the head of external operations for al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. as the head he would have been aware and directing any ongoing plotting so they have a target of opportunity over the weekend, take him out in a drone attack and you see the disruption of this plot also in time related. it was described as a one-two punch. you take out the external chief, operations chief, and you

disrupt a plot and throw the organization into a little bit of chaos, which explains congressman king's remark that this is really, remains an ongoing operation. >> we could expect more information. congressman king before i let you go, when we were talking about this treasure trove, for lack of a better word of information that was coming out after osama bin laden was killed and all that material had been vetted, and we talked a lot about the drones and the panic almost that bin laden had about the drones and on the one hand it seemed there was a tremendous vulnerability and on the other hand we're seeing tremendous flexibility especially as al qaeda in this region continuing to come back hard and flexibly changing their plans and strategies. where do we stand today in terms of safety and security? >> well in many ways we're safer than we were on 9/11. however, al qaeda and its affiliates can metathesis and morph. they find a new method, they are

very able scientists, and doctors working for them, these are sophisticated people, they never stop. that's why it's wrong when people in the national arena somehow say the war on terrorism is over or al qaeda is defeated. certain parts of the united states question never let our guard down. people are not surprised, they can use all the drones they want and they are effective. al qaeda will find other ways and we have to constantly stay with them and ahead of them. congressman peter king and fran townsend, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> you bet, congressman. let's get to christine romans this morning. >> good morning, soledad. one month after dropping out of the gop race rick santorum is

officially endorsing mitt romney. santorum met with romney last week and released a late night e-mail to supporters saying he has a better understanding of where his former rival stands on conservative issues. he writes "above all else we both agree that president obama must be defeated. the task will not be easy. it will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. governor romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win, this the most credital election of our lifetime. romney has the chance to pick up more delegates with primaries in indiana, west virginia and north carolina. romney needs about 300 delegates to clinch the nomination. the focus in north carolina is mainly on amendment one, that measure aims to ban same-sex marriage. evangelist billy graham has taken out full-page ads in 14 state newspapers supporting the amendment. former president bill clinton recorded a robo call denouncing it. in indiana the main focus is focused on "360" term senator dick lugar, the senate's longest

serving republican and may not survive the challenge from tea party backed richard mourdock who is up in the polls. new this morning the fbi redoubling efforts to track down the alleged kidnaper of a tennessee family after the mother and one of her daughters were found dead. authorities say 31-year-old jo ann bain and her eldest daughter were buried in shallow graves in the backyard of the mississippi suspect adam mayes. they say mayes is considered armed and dangerous and they fear for the safety of the two other young daughters. mayes who is a family friend is suspected of kidnapping them two weeks ago. markets could open 75 points or so lower. concerns about the future of greece's government pushing markets down worldwide. new research about congress and your money. the center for responsive

politics reports democrats on capitol hill are worth on average $878.500. median net worth for republicans $957,500. the average american's net worth is about $96,000. who are the richest? jean casarez, much comes from his wife's fortune, car alarm tie condarrell issa $448. these are the people talking about fairness, equality and who pays what in taxes. is mcdonald's bribing bloggers? the fast food chain is assembling an army of a million burger friendly bloggers to respond to critics. some 400 bloggers are receiving gifts and party invits in exchange for positive posts. last year mcdonald compensated mommy bloggers, so-called, for writing about the new healthy meal happy meal offerings.

>> we get fries, sounds like a bit of a deal. a new documentary on a teenager who is sent away, his parents trying to pray away the gay. this is a debate over same-sex marriage heats up with president obama under pressure from his own party. a woman who had surgery without anesthesia picks up her pain killers in cvs and ends up spending the night in jail. it's john fugelsang, abby huntsman and will cain. good morning, welcome, guys. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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fascinating, new documentary takes a look at the controversial practice of using religion to turn someone who is gay into what they call ex--gay, it focuses on love and action, the ministry group and a

16-year-old boi, boy, zach stark. the movie documents what happens after zach takes to myspace and starts blogging about the refuge program and what he calls its draconian practices, in it the founder talks about why he started the program. listen. >> i started hearing a lot more stories and experiences of teenagers moving into homosexual promiscuity, homosexual behavior and pornography on the internet. we thought we could offer a day program where we could begin to kind of help these kids with some of the tools that we knew were valuable. >> in a founder, john smid, joins us this morning. since left love and action and also joining us is the director of "this is what love and action looks like." morgan john fox. >> good morning. >> you didn't start as the

filmmaker, you started at a protest. because the 16-year-old is blogging his friends go to refuge and start protesting outside of where he's being held, it's too dramatic but stuck inside at his parents' request. what was happening on the outside? >> it was a whirlwind. luckily it was the summer so zach's friends had a lot of time on their hands and they looked at it as a friend being bullied and they commend them for having the guts for something they thought was important. >> this is back in 2005. you opened the doors for the teenage program refuge. what was your take on what was going on outside? >> i got to the office that morning thinking this is a day as usual, we're going to start this program, and all of a sudden someone came into my office and said john there's a protest outside and obviously it

upset my apple cart. i didn't know what to do. i heard all the mega phones outside barking my name, john smid, what are you doing in this there, and i was just overwhelmed. >> what were some of the measures, the kids, zach called them draconian, what were doing to get them to become ex-gay, not turning them straight but ex-gay. >> there's a couple components, one was to give them opportunities to talk and share things that were going on in their heart and lives but the other was educational, as a conservative christian ministry that it was, we wanted to teach the wrongs of homosexuality, why it was sin, why it was wrong, how it could harm their lives not realizing that stuff was going on in their hearts that we wouldn't really allow them to share. >> a lot of this documentary is about the big changes that happened to you. >> yes. >> you eventually left refuge and shut it down. when did you realize what you had been trying to teach kids was wrong? >> i think it started with meeting morgan, the protest.

i want to say the protest was effective, not too many can see an effect from a protest like we did, but in morgan's effect on my life i saw a man i really respected and appreciated and started to listen to his heart and through that started to evaluate what we were really doing. >> you started having regular conversations. you actually instead of screaming at each other which i think protests often have -- you sat down and had conversations, each realizing i'm not going to belittle the other person but hear them out and have that person hear me out. was that the crux of the doc and what was successful? >> yeah, i think our protest was important because it got a certain amount of attention that was required but at a certain point when i set face-to-face with john i decided as opposed to debate him, i told my story, where i came from, i told about my emotions and my struggles and how my life was better for having a partner who is now my fiance. you know, and i think what that did was allowed a certain amount

of trust so when we started to discuss the issues we didn't have to yell at each other. we were able to not be defensive and listen to each other and that laid to some real change. >> it took years and years and years. i'm making it sound like it happened over a two-week period but took many years. >> we didn't talk about homosexuality or the program or probably about two years or more. we talked about one another's lives, what our passions are, what we're interested in, who we are as people. the issue of the documentary came up when we started talking about the program and it helped me a lot to evaluate what we had really done. >> what had you really done? >> for the teen program the main thing that we did, we didn't educate the parents so the kids were brought into the program and the parents weren't involved in the program. >> kept out. >> they were spending time doing other things and i saw that and realized we were setting these kids up for failure. the home they left, very conflictive in many cases became

no different after the program so they went home to a place that was conflictive still. now as i look back there is no change in orientation, and yet at the same time we really believed that somehow we were going to rescue these kids from a life of homosexuality, but the truth is, they are gay, and they will be gay the rest of their life, and so we set them up really for a facade. we set them up for a false image of what we tried to help them think life would be like but it never was going to be like that. i was in complete denial about that at the time. >> are you guys both christian? >> yeah, i am. >> i consider myself christian. i don't necessarily -- yes, i am christian. >> do you see a tension between that christian belief many say is the genesis of seeing homosexuality as wrong and what was your purpose before of trying to turn people into ex-gay? i guess my question is this, it seems that's where the debate should lie, at the place of religion.

seems like this program you used to take part in, john, seems like a natural revolution if you believe homosexuality is wrong. >> i don't believe it's wrong and i think in fact the bible doesn't really say it's wrong. >> i don't get your question. back up, what? i'm sorry, i don't. >> the place the debate should be had is at the place of religion. most people who believe in christianity believe homosexuality is wrong. >> i disagree. >> in the record, christ never said anything about homosexual relationships. no one in this country follows all the rules of leviticus. we'd be killing children for talking back to their parents. >> i'm not advocating. i'm not a believer and i believer in gay marriage. >> the majority of americans identify as christians and support marriage equality. >> the majority of americans do not support marriage equality. that's not the current statistics.

>> what do you hope that americans take from this? this is obviously a big issue now in politics. >> what do you think of gay marriage? we know carlotta was the reason we have this conversation. what do you think? >> the worst thing to do where people can't talk about the lives and can't live authentically who they are. >> is that a support of gay marriage? >> i think people must have the freedom to pursue relationships they feel convicted or desire for their lives, and i certainly believe that should be done with equality. >> and you see no tension between christianity and homosexuality? >> tremendous tension, absolutely. >> you see a difference between the teachings of christ and homosexuality? >> jesus doesn't say anything about it. >> thank you, exactly. >> what is that tension and how do you resolve it in. >> the tension is an unequalled base of the evaluation of other

people's lives. in christianity it's obvious people pick and choose what they want to say is wrong and don't want to say is wrong and both could be seen as wrong or not wrong. >> you see the tension in the application of christianity and not in the teachings. >> yes. i've lived in that place for many years i would say i don't see hoe row sexuality as worse than any other sin but an entire ministry and program and virtually everything i spoke publicly did communicate homosexuality was worse than any other. >> this is the place the debate should be had at the application of christianity. >> it's political implications so it can't be had at this level. >> tim: conversion therapy, maybe that's the place for your next focus. >> i'm sure he appreciates your advice on that. thank you, gentlemen, we appreciate you joining that. >> congratulations on being an ex-gay ministry. >> not many can say that. >> for me what's most interesting is love and action and similar ministries promise

change is possible. it turns out it is, but the change is different. >>as a christian i'm inspired by what you've done. >> it's deviating from 23 years of my life. it's a huge process and i'm writing a book. >> when your book is out we'll have you back. >> it will be out soon. >> i appreciate it. our get real talks about a woman who had a legitimate prescription, crutches to prove she wasn't faking it so why did she end up behind bars when she went to cvs to grab her prescription? watch cnn live on a computer, mobile phone, go to cnn.

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♪ i'm gonna party tonight because honestly i just don't care ♪ that's abby's playlist hot chelle rae. our get real focuses on ann leinhart hiking in haiti doing humanitarian work when she fell 30 feet down a cliff. after a 33 1/2 hour trip they had to walk her to the nearest hospital in port awe prince. she underwent reconstructive surgery without general anesthesia. returns home to dallas, goes back to local cvs to refill prescription for pain so bad she has an iv stuck permanently in her arm, cops meet her there and they say we believe you have a forged prescription, and they take her off to jail and she spends the night in jail, the

pharmacy apparently tried to call her doctor and it didn't happen. turns out they called the wrong doctor. >> how does that happen? >> i don't know, but guess what? her lawyers are going to find out when they sue, because she's now suing cvs pharmacy for false imprisonment and i'm sure somehow the dallas pd will be roped into this as well. they say cvs, we are investigating how this unfortunate incident occurred. she also then had to get a note from her attorney, so she could go back to work because of course she spent the night in jail. >> i hope she was at least on the prescription drugs when she was in jail. i can't imagine -- >> apparently not. they never filled it so she sat in jail no prescription, reconstructed knee, done in haiti, after the earthquake, without any general anesthesia. >> she's a tough woman, fell 30 feet, surgery without pain killers, sits in jail. >> any american civilians who do

volunteer work in haiti deserve anything they get. give this woman all the drugs she wants. >> all's well that ends well and there will be a lawsuit i'm sure. still ahead on "starting point," obese nation. scary new numbers to talk b breaking down how fat we are as a country and how much fatter we're going to back and scarier still, how much this will cost in healthier. also coach's orders, play dumb apparently an ex-new orleans saint opening up about the bounty scandal, keeping it under wraps. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge!

welcome back to "starting point," everybody. let's get to christine romans with a look at the day's top stories. >> good morning, soledad. the fbi on an intense manhunt for a man accused of murder and kidnapping. police found the bodies of a missing tennessee mother and daughter. they say two other daughters may be in extreme danger this morning. adam mayes is considered armed and dangerous, he's a family friend who allegedly kidnapped

the four nearly two weeks ago. cnn's martin savidge is live in atlanta following developments. >> horrific story, the identities now made clear that jo ann bain and eldest daughter were found in a shallow grave on adam mayes' property, located in mississippi. the discovery of the graves made over the weekend, the identity of the mom and daughter released just last night by tennessee officials the neighboring state, part of this investigation. adam maize, this is the person that authorities are trying desperately to find because in his possession right now are two other daughters, an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old. adam mayes is close family friend, 35 years of age, his whereabouts right now unknown. however, authorities are closely focusing on the area of western tennessee and northern mississippi, and they are using heavily armed s.w.a.t. teams as they set up road blocks and check neighborhoods there.

this family went missing april 27th but it really became urgent when authorities checked out mayes 'property, found the shallow graves and why they believe the two remaining daughters are in extreme danger, christine. authorities just cannot make it more clear, they need the public's help to find this man. >> martin savidge, thank you, from atlanta. a former speechwriter for john edwards is expected to testify later today in the former senator's corruption trial. she's expected to tell the court edwards admitted mowing about nearly $1 million in donations from wealthy supporters was being used to cover up his extramarital affair. yesterday the attorney for a 101-year-old billionaire donor at the center of the trial told jurors his client knew the $725,000 she gave the former presidential candidate was not being used as a campaign contribution. two cops in fullerton, california, face criminal charges for the beating death of a homeless man, a beating death

caught on camera. warning, you may find this video hard to watch. >> get on the ground now! get on the ground! get on the ground! >> i'm sorry, dude. i'm sorry, dude, please. ahh! ahh! >> roll him over. roll him [ bleep ]. >> ahh! >> at a preliminary hearing spectators saw photos of 37-year-old kelly thomas before and after officers beat him last july. the mentally ill homeless man died five days after this incident. the officers, ten year veterans face charges ranging from second-degree murder to felony use of excessive force, both officers pleaded not guilty. shocking statistics in a new cdc report. america's obesity epidemic is expected to get worse and the

new rates will send health care costs soaring by hundreds of billions of dollars. 35% of americans are considered obese. experts predict 42% obese by 2030, 30 million more americans in just 18 years tacking on an additional $550 billion to american medical costs. experts say that's a conservative estimate because it doesn't factor in childhood obesity. it's been said yogurt helps in the fight against obesity. researchers at mit found yogurt made mice slimier and sexier. they had thicker, shinier coats, mated faster and produced more offspring. scientists believe the probiotics might be the reason. a big catch josh hamilton lost his bat, it flew into the stands, the fan who caught the bat made a bigger gesture, handing hamilton's bat over to a

young fan. soledad, look, i like that. >> sexier mice, so disturbing this early in the morning. >> yes. >> neither one of us needs any nor offspring between the two of us so stay away from that. former player for the new orleans saints is speaking out to say that coaches told him to hide the team's bounty program. ex-defensive lineman anthony hargrove said he was told to deny the existence of bounty or bounty program. they said when the nfl asked me about any bount y or bounty program, i should play dumb. he did as instructed back in 2010. vitt is denying the accusations. larry holder is co-host of "the sports hangover" on wist radio

and writer for cbssports.com. does this change the investigation in any way? >> i don't think it really does change the investigation, because we knew as of last week when the nfl came out with their findings and suspensions for the players that the nfl said that anthony hargrove did sign a letter of declaration. i do think it does paint the saints in a negative light once again. we know gregg williams and joe vitt have been suspended for their actions already. i don't know if this is a major surprise but to see it in writing and to see anthony hargrove's signature on the bottom of this document just kind of brings home a little bit more that this whole thing existed and it is certainly sketchy to see that according to this player, the coaches told him to lie and he did originally but got caught and then came clean later. >> you kind of had this i guess contrast between the players' association right and the nfl as well because the declaration

came out on the side of the players' association. >> yeah, and that's really bizarre. i think the strategy for the players and the union are saying anthony hargrove was "following orders" and roger goodell, the commissioner of the nfl had already come out and said he's not buying that because the players embraced the system, and so you could -- i think this may end up backfiring because it shows the existence of the program, which some of anthony hargrove's former players say jonathan vilma and will smith, two other guys who were suspended really say didn't exist and another former player saying the same thing so it's a stark contrast, players versus players really. >> larry, this is will cain. couple weeks ago we had video we played, some audio clips of that locker room incident where gregg williams was saying go after the head, go after the knee of various players on the san francisco 49ers, that was videotaped and we learned later that williams had actually been

warned by the nfl several times before that videotape and now we have this story that williams says to hargrove that the nfl has been trying to get him for years. how do you explain this defiance on the part of the new orleans saints coaches towards the nfl? >> it's really curious and kind of started around winning the super bowl. you feel like you're bullet proof and i know throughout this whole process you look at some of the coaches and the way they reacted and the way that the nfl saw them reacting say, sean payton, he lied to the nfl to the bitter end about all of this bounty scandal and that's why you saw such harsh penalties and gregg williams also eventually came clean even though there are reports now saying he was misrepresented but still obviously the figureheads of authority did not tell the truth to the nfl. that's why so many of them saw harsh penalties. gregg williams is suspended indefinitely, so we don't know when his suspension will end and

sean payton is out for at least this entire season. >> do you think the bounty issue has become much more relevant or worse for those of us watching from the outside because of all these players now filing this lawsuit or even the junior seau, we try to figure what happened to him, why did he kill himself. do you think it's risen, raised, whatever the correct english grammar term is, sort of how people are watching this? >> i think it has, because you have a thousand plus players who are suing the nfl currently because of concussion-related lawsuits and that sort of thing and i feel like that's why the nfl is taking such a big stand, and yet on the other end of this, a lot of the speculation and from people in new orleans and from around the country are saying well, look, you haven't put out the evidence, envelonfl should we trust you at your own word. the nfl is hesitant to put out the evidence. you're curious why, maybe they

don't want to show some of the things they possibly knew and could get them in trouble and potential lawsuits down the line. i think there's some mistrust on both ends and this story is far from over, unfortunately. >> yes, i would agree with you on that, larry holder, thank you, appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point," it was an endorsement but certainly hidden, wasn't it? rick santorum made a slog through something like 16 paragraphs, 13 paragraphs in a late night e-mail to figure out, does he want to endorse mitt romney or not. we'll take a closer look at what he was really trying to say. also, the sole survivor of a navy s.e.a.l. ambush in afghanistan decides to go back to war. why marcus latrell says revenge is a powerful motivator. we'll share his story in a moment.

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pittsburgh, but he didn't at that moment come out to endorse the governor. he sent an e-mail finally late last night talking about all kinds of things including his own victories and the role of the family, 16 total paragraphs, finally in paragraph number 13 he actually mentioned an official endorsement saying this above all else we've got to agree that president obama must be defeated. this task will not be easy. it will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. prompter, you're just killing me so i'm going to just ignore you and keep going. it's quite an interesting letter because he sort of walks his followers and supporters through -- >> his emotional journey. >> very much, absolutely. emotional journey is a good word. >> what i found interesting at the bottom, paragraph 18. >> probably 19. p.s. >> p.s., very soon i'll have my own announcement. i may be wrong but almost sounds

like he's moving toward 2016. let's get this show over with and -- >> he says p.s., as promised very soon we'll be making another big announcement and i'll be asking to you join forces with me so it was burying the big lead. i ended that forgetting about the endorsement of governor romney, what is rick santorum going to tell us? >> it's all about rick santorum. these guys hate each other so much they could both sing lead in "oasis." it's great to see governor man on dog endorsing governor dog on car. that's like jeb bush's non-endorsement in the editorial, like breaking up with someone via text. >> as abby pointed out what you get through the first 13 paragraph sps the emotional journey to how i got to my idea that i will endorse governor romney. it's not a laundry list of other stuff and oh i'll endorse him. >> the dog jokes are endless and

bipartisan at this point as well but this santorum issue people say it's going to help mitt romney with his base and enthusiasm. i point to one thing in "the wall street journal" this morning there's an interesting poll, "wall street journal"/nbc poll that talks about enthusiasm. i wanted to blow this up, shows the number of voters highly interested in the election, 74% of republicans, 64% of democrats. i don't think that mitt romney has an enthusiasm problem. i think rick santorum's support here was almost beside the point. >> i think both numbers say they both have an enthusiasm problem. >> i agree. >> really the people i want to hear from are the independents, how enthusiastic are they? >> lower than both, here? >> come on, will. you didn't put it on your chart. >> we have to take a short break. he survived one of the deadliest days of the ten-year war in afghanistan and then deployed to iraq. retired navy s.e.a.l. is going to join us to talk about how revenge played a role in his decision to go back to work. thank you for being with us. welcome.

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a navy s.e.a.l. is here with us now. a rescue chopper was downed killing eight navy s.e.a.l.s. marcus survived. a year later he went back to war. this time he went back to iraq. he talks about his journey in his new book called service. a navy s.e.a.l. at war. he joins us with his service dog this morning. sacked out on the floor right there. nice to have you. i thought your book was fascinating. i wanted to understand. you were injured that terrible day that you wrote about in your first book. you decide to go back to war when you could have said i'm out. i'm done. >> that's my job. no quit in any really. a firefighter doesn't stop being a fireman after he makes a bad fire and cop doesn't stop being

a police officer after a bad incident on the street. it doesn't mean i would stop doing what i loved. it was what i was born to do. >> what was your state of mind at the time? >> i was scared to death. i had to go. i couldn't let that beat me. that was one of the main things that pushed me back in there. we were talking earlier revenge is a solid motivator. i never acted on that. rape, revenge and robbery, three rs you don't mess around with. it got me back in the fight. the casualty that we sustained in afghanistan and casualties that we sustained in iraq, when you lose your buddies like that, it's a personal hit. you want to get back on the line and get back out there and fill the void. >> did you have survivor's guilt, too? >> i don't want to say it like that. as a medic, they were my best friends. my job to patch them up and keep them alive. i took a heavy hit on that.

i felt personally responsible for that. i know i did everything i could to make sure that they did survive. i just couldn't get it done. it was out of my control. >> going back into iraq you admitted that you were scared. were you more scared going into iraq after what you have been through in afghanistan or first time you went to afghanistan with the unknown ahead of you? >> that's exactly right. it's that gun shy kind of thing. when i went back into iraq after everything i had been through in afghanistan, i remember the first time i went outside of the wire, when bullets started flying, i caught myself just kind of holding for a second and then get over this. it was tough. >> your book focuses on service and why people serve. that's the thing that motivates you to go and serve your country? i know you really interviewed a lot of people to figure that

out. >> yes, ma'am. a lot of people gave us different answers and stuff like that. i went around to a lot of people. >> how about for you? >> for god and country. bottom line. for my family. it's just the way it is. and then every answer towards the end when everybody put it out there, bottom line it boiled down to guys to the left and right of you. men and women you serve with. it all came with that answer. >> i have two brothers coming up in the navy. you talk about revenge but how you don't have a desire to avenge your dead comrades. how do you get in that mindset and not let, you know, the fact that some of your closest friends have been taken down in combat, how do you separate the two and not let that control your actions? >> that's a tough one to get over. i'm not going lie to you. it is. that's what the training is for. our training pipeline and regimen is so rigorous and stuff like that, it's just -- we're

not murderers. you have one of your guys taken out. it's in your head. we have to get this guy. we have a job to do like everybody else. we're professionals at it. we make sure we stay that line. >> the book is called service. a navy s.e.a.l. at war. i understand that mark is going to play you in the movie version. >> i understand that too. >> no pressure there. >> have you met yet? >> i talked to him the other day for a little bit on the phone. >> here's notes on how to play me. >> thank you for having me. >> we're back in just a bit. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork.

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welcome everybody. an al qaeda foiled plot to blow up an airliner. just who tipped off homeland security. plus, a moderate voice now in

trouble. the senate's longest serving republican is fighting an intense battle for his political life today. will six-term senator dick luger of indiana eke out a win? he'll join us live coming up. pilots refusing to fly the most expensive stealth jet. it's tuesday, may 8th. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> i love rolando. i love it when he says hola soledad. how come you don't sing that to me? >> it's a long show to explain that. >> joining us is will fugelsang. abby huntsman is with us as

well. daughter of jon huntsman and will cain at the far end of the table. new details about how the cia stopped an al qaeda plot to blow a passenger jetliner out of the sky. we're learning it was a tip from saudi arabia that led the cia to the bomber. a senior official says the intended user of the bomb is not a threat anymore. we don't know if it means he's dead or in custody. congressman peter king breaking news here short time ago saying the drone strike over the weekend is in fact connected. are these two things linked? the drone attack over the weekend that was by u.s. accounts successful in foiling this plot? >> yes. i was told by the white house that they are connected.

they are part of the same operation and that's why i said this operation is still ongoing. by the way, everything that fran townsend said as usual makes a tremendous amount of sense. i'm not in a position to say things that fran does because of restrictions that i have. >> everything barbara starr says at the pentagon makes a tremendous amount of sense as well. let's begin with what exactly we know about not only the bomb but also the bomber. where is he? >> we don't know where he is and why isn't the administration telling us, soledad? by all accounts as the congressman said and number of officials are telling us intelligence operations remain in their words ongoing. what congressman king just said to you a little while ago is really critical. if you just parce what he said, there are operations going on with al qaeda in yemen known as al qaeda in the arab peninsula.

aqap is the network of al qaeda that concerns the white house the most. this potential bomber incident is now the third or so that they have tried to get in action against the united states. the underwear bomber, the bombs on printer cartridges going on u.s. airliners and now this one. their ability to reach out and touch the u.s. is one of the most critical threats right now that the cia is working on. no surprise that drone strike over the weekend, this takedown of a potential bomber, all of this really tied together to go after that network in yemen. >> i think it's interesting that it is now being confirmed that tip came out of saudi arabia. >> absolutely. the saudis have one of the four most counterterrorism intelligence operations in that region of the world. yemen their next door neighbor. they keep a close eye on al

qaeda in yemen because they worry about them coming across the border destabilizing their government. we should expect to see more drone strikes and more operations against this al qaeda organization. the critical thing right now is to make sure that there are no more devices out there and no more direct operations aimed at the u.s. administration says they have no direct intelligence about any direct threat to the u.s. but you can bet around the clock they are looking for any information they can get their hands on. >> barbara starr at the pentagon for us, barbara, thanks. it's primary day in indiana and in north carolina and in west virginia and perhaps the most watched race of those three is indiana where the longest serving republican in the u.s. senate is now fighting for his political life. senator duke luger being challenged by the state's treasurer. he's backed by many who are in the tea party movement. according to one recent poll, he leads senator luger 48% to 38%.

he's been chipping away at luger's lead by insisting that the 80-year-old is out of touch. listen. >> since 1976, dick luger has voted for the brady bill, the bridge to nowhere, the t.a.r.p. bailout, raising the debt ceiling, dick lugar, no wonder he's called obama's favorite republican. >> senator lugar joins us this morning. he's the ranking member of the foreign relations committee. we want to mention before we get to our interview we invited richard murdoch on our program as well. he told us he was voting and wouldn't able to join us. senator, you served for 36 years. now you find yourself in a position of being the underdog. how did you get here? >> a vigorous campaign. i believe in fact that we'll win the campaign. we've invited everybody in the state of indiana who is a

registered voter to vote for me today and we see a good turnout here. people are streaming in and people that i've had a chance to visit with have indicated they're supporting us. >> the polls do not show that same support and at that could spell trouble for you. is it indicative that someone who is a moderate is going to have a very tough fight on their hands this go around? is that what we're seeing? >> we've had a vigorous campaign but the bulk of the money being spent on the campaign has been by so-called outside interests. people have run negative ads for millions of dollars and not only super pacs but various well known organizations. i believe that hoosiers will vote for me today. we invited all hoosiers, not narrow group of persons who

might have been polled and found shorthanded with that group. >> senator lugar, i wanted to bring in senator hatch in the conversation. you guys have similar situations. you both have been in the senate for four decades. he's recently gone through -- he's had to separate himself and you've had to do the same thing to appeal to the base today. what does that say about the current system and the republican party? >> we need to make certain that we enlarge our party and we have people who will be independents favoring our party. our party at least in indiana is only about 35% of the electorate. in order for anybody to get majority, they're going to have a lot of other people. i'm appealing to all of the people of indiana.

i emphasize all. ask for republican ballot today and to vote for me. >> so let's say as a hypothetical your challenger is able to pull off a win. would you do as some others have done who have a lot of experience in their position to go third party? >> no. we cannot have a third party race in indiana unlike alaska or various other situations. this is it. today is the day. and i've emphasized that and i'm very hopeful that people will respond. >> senator, good morning. are you concerned that the far right of your party is actually marginalizing the republicans? >> i'm not going to characterize any part of the republican party as marginalizing the rest. it's very competitive race for the republican nomination. all i've said is that to be successful in the fall and in general we need to be a party that has a large majority of

hoosiers and americans. i tried to enlarge the party. been successful in the past. i believe we'll be successful today in the general election. all of the polling that i've seen indicates that in a general election i would win if not by landslide, by a very large amount. this leads me to believe that a majority of hoosiers are for me now and it's a question of getting those folks to the polls and turnout today. >> senator, the debate is being set up between a moderate and someone on the far right ring, between the tea party and establishment. i'm not sure that's the debate that indianaians are having right now. you'll be 86 by the end of your next term. is it a legitimate issue for people to look at your term and say when is enough enough? >> i don't think it's legitimate issue. i would just say i'm the only person to finish the capital

challenge race the last 30 years and i intend to compete again this month. we're not only 80 years of age but we're still running. not only for office but physically. i'm very grateful that god has given me the strength and vigor but we have it. we want to continue with it in the best interest of all hoosiers. >> good luck today. we'll check in with you tomorrow to see how the results were. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> you bet. time to get to other stories. christine has a look at those. >> good morning, soledad. new fears this morning about the safety of two missing young tennessee girls after the fbi identified the bodies of their mother and older sister. they were found buried in shallow graves at a home in mississippi where the man suspected of abducting the family had been staying. there's a manhunt for the suspect. adam mays. police consider him armed and

dangerous. new research about congress and your money. democrats on capitol hill are worth $878,500. republicans even more. 957,500. median net worth for average joe is about $96,000. who are richest lawmakers in washington? senator john kerry is worth $231 million. much of that money comes from his wife. and car alarm tycoon darrell issa is worth the most. u.s. stock futures down indicating markets may open lower at 9:30 eastern. concerns about future of greece's government pushing markets down worldwide overnight. facebook fever comes to boston today. ceo mark zuckerberg kicking off a cross-country road show yesterday in new york meeting with potential investors wearing his hoodie drumming up excitement for the company's ipo

one week from friday. facebook executives will be in boston today and then to baltimore and chicago. not sure if zuckerberg surrounded by police will make it to every stop. twitter congratulating justin bieber this morning after he announced he officially earned his high school diploma. he stuck to it for his mom. congrats to biebs. he's now a high school graduate. we're so proud. >> we add our congratulations as well. proud of him. good for him. all right. moving on. >> his name was mentioned on tv. i have two at home that will love christine's joke. he was on tv. they do their own little tweets.

still ahead, you might remember the driving force behind the so-called ground zero mosque. this morning we'll talk about where that mosque is and get his latest on the terror threat that we've been discussing all morning and continue our discussion about the image of islam. plus, marilyn monroe's 50 years after her death we'll show you rare photos that are for sale. "i want to be loved by you." need any help? uh, nope. just, uh, checking out my ad. nice. but, y'know, with every door direct mail from the postal service, you'll find the customers that matter most: the ones in your neighborhood. print it yourself or find a local partner. and postage is under 15 cents. i wish i would have known that cause i really don't think i chose the best location.

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>> welcome back, everybody. you may remember him as the imam behind the mosque at ground zero. today imam has a new book called moving the mountain to a new vision of islam in america. he joins us this morning. nice to see you. we spent a lot of time when the mosque at ground zero as it was being called -- we did a long interview and lots of conversations came out of that. you talk about this new vision

of islam in america. i wonder how hard it is to come up with a new vision and push it forward on a day like today when the top story is about a bomber, maybe in yemen trying to get explosives onto a plane headed to america. do you feel like you are constantly pushing against what is a stereotypical take on muslims outside of america. >> absolutely soledad. and what people need to remember is that we are the primary victims of this kind of suicide bombing and terrorism. >> how do you mean? >> the majority of those who have died as a result of suicide bombing in yemen, in iraq, in afghanistan, in pakistan have been muslims. the statistics have shown that in tens of thousands so we are the ones suffering the most. we are the ones who play from this. >> not to mention reputational

reputationaly. >> we are going through what catholics went through and jews. catholics were accused of being an agent of the pope and catholic church and church was feared as catholics will take over america and talk about catholic steam roller and we feel that it's now our turn to go through this baptism by fire. i believe just like american catholic identity, the american catholic bishops and writings of people played a very important role in bringing about vatican 2. the need to develop a robust american muslim identity in terms of theology and how we deal with gender equality and in terms of how we deal with our local society to develop a

muslim culture that is american just like -- this is happening right now. it's happening in the stories of girls dancing in detroit or high school football teams doing their practices at night. >> are american muslims looking for leadership? do they feel disenfranchised caught between the muslims that people think of overseas maybe even coming to the united states to do harm and fighting that image problem? >> there is a tension between the immigrant community which wants to hold onto its old world culture and second generation and third generation which is more american rooted. there's always that tension between generations. it happens in all immigrant communities. it typically takes three generations for a new identity to evolve and new generation to emerge. this is the important message of the book. it's a message of hope and that we need this american muslim

community and need to encourage it because they will be the ones who will be the best bridges between america whom we are 99% loyal to and to our faith community and it's very important because america has enormous interest in the world. we have a basis in all of muslim world and economic interest. >> what does that mean 99% loyal to. what's the 1%? >> there's never 100% on anything and always a percentage of people, a small percentage of people who, you know, who are extremists who are radical and this is a battle that we all have to wage between our faith communities because i believe again i make this point very strongly that the real battle front is not being islam and west and muslims and christians but moderates of all faith traditions against extremists of all faith traditions. we need to develop this

coalition across the faith communities to combat extremists in our midst. >> what's happening with the mosque? ground zero mosque as everyone used to call it? >> the dream is still alive. i always had this dream for the last 20 years to establish a place where muslims and people of all faith religions can come together and worship together and come together and have recreation and eat together and learn about each other in an atmosphere of peace because this will help what i speak about but also build that coalition across the faith communities that will enable us to combat common issues we have which is extremism. >> thanks for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. the new book is called "moving the mountain beyond ground zero to a new vision of islam in america." still ahead on "starting point" this morning, three countries in three days. hillary clinton says forget the makeup. she opens up exclusively to cnn about the focus on her looks. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment.

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how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies.

hillary clinton is wrapping up her visit to india this morning. cnn is the only network traveling with her. our jill dougherty had a chance to sit down with the secretary. she joins us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: hey, soledad. >> so tell me a little bit about what secretary clinton was filling you in on. a lot of your conversation was about her travels but you got into personal conversations with her as well. >> reporter: yeah. i started -- we sat down for this interview and really you

have to look at her trip as starting and ending with this issue of mr. chen, chen guangcheng, the activist in china. it really blew up as the secretary was there in beijing at the beginning of the trip. it really kind of dogged her throughout. so when we sat down, i wanted to find out and the question i asked was will the government of china followthrough on its promise to let mr. chen come to the united states to study. here's what she said. >> i think that we're looking forward to welcoming him to the united states. he is still in the hospital receiving medical treatment, some of which was recommended by the embassy doctors who examined him. we remain in close contact with him. we know that chinese officials have visited him in the hospital in order to begin processing necessary papers. we're doing the same in order to

prepare the way so that he can come here and pursue his studies. >> reporter: you know, soledad, also, on this trip, no matter where you go and especially at a town hall in calcutta, there was an issue of hillary clinton herself personally what she's like, what she's like as a woman. she talked about the glass ceiling and double standards. and low and behold now in the blogosphere there's talking about hillary without makeup. hillary with glasses. so i asked her about that from sublime to the ridiculous and this is what she said about that. >> i feel so relieved to be at the stage i'm at in my life right now, jill, because if i want to wear my glasses, i'm wearing my glasses if. i want to pull my hair back, i'm

pulling my hair back. at some point it's just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention. if others want to worry about it, i'll let them do the worrying for a change. >> reporter: >> i agree with her. >> reporter: let hillary be everybody. >> i feel like standing up saying we hear you, sister. wouldn't it be great to do the show hair in a pony tail, no makeup, sweats on. >> i told abby how great hillary clinton looks with her hair long again. i feel shame. >> shallow. >> we never look about men's appearance. >> she's secretary of state. talk about her hair. talk about what she's doing. >> i like that too. >> people are likable when they are not running for something. i disagree with her on so much but when she's not running trying to please other people, she's very likable. most people are. quit running. >> wisdom from will today as we go to commercial break.

>> if you are not running for something, you are likable. >> still ahead on "starting point" -- >> i'm not running for anything. coughing, dizzinesdizziness, he. talking about pilots refusing to fly a fighter plane because it's making them sick and congressman that helped those pilots come forward will be up next. an ex-new orleans saints is anticipating up about the bounty scandal. we're back in just a moment. sweet! [ male announcer ] the solid thunk of the door on the jetta. thanks, mister! [ meow ] [ male announcer ] another example of volkswagen quality. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month. i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant

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enjoying your holiday? ooo no. the hotel lost our reservation, so nonsense! you book at travelocity, your reservation's guaranteed. well, i didn't book with travelocity. you didn't use travelocity? i did not book with travelocity, okay?!? [ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee anywhere when you book with our new app. you'll never roam alone. the air force is fighting back against pilots who say the f-22 next generation jet is making them sick putting them at risk for serious accidents. the air force says they'll keep using those jets. it's the air force most expensive aircraft. two captains say they and others have become too disorientated to fly them. >> several times during the

flight i had to really concentrate on just doing simple, simple tasks and our training tells you if you suspect, something is probably going on, pull your emergency oxygen and come back home. when i did make that decision to pull the emergency oxygen ring, i couldn't find it. >> turns out that oxygen ring had moved. he was so confused he couldn't find it. right now we believe that risk although it's not as low as we would like it, is low enough to safely operate the airplane at the current tempo. congressman kinsinger is giving those pilots whistle-blower protection. when you first heard their story, what did you think? >> you know, i was pretty much overwhelmed and what was amazing to me is 18% of raptor pilots have experienced this condition at some point or another. this is a real issue. you know, i think the f-22 is an important piece of our arsenal.

it can do great harm to our enemy and we need it. we need to figure out what the issue is and solve it so these pilots can safely fly the aircraft and defend our country. >> the air force said 14 unexplained incidents before the may 2011 standdown and 11 incidents after september 2011 return to flight, represent an incident rate below 0.1% whether considered in terms of sortie numbers or flight hours. how do you respond to that? >> here's a couple issues. number one, what is actually being reported? pilots know if they go in and complain of headaches or a cough or any severe symptoms, in many case it is could mean the flight doc grounds them and they may be able to fly again. i can tell you as a military pilot myself, if you have a physical ailment, the first thing do you is not run into the flight deck. you don't want that known. the other part of that is 18% of

pilots of raptor pilots have had some kind of an incident. i don't think there's an attempt to coverup a problem here. i don't think there's any scandal going on. what i think is important is we get to the bottom of what this problem is and i want to make sure that pilots that have come forward are not being judged or potentially in disciplinary action where they have wings taken away because we are taught from the very beginning if you suspect an unsafe condition, it's not just your right but your responsibility to come forward and make that condition known. >> how are you going to do that? the thing you learn is don't run into the dock the minute you have some kind of a flight where there may be an issue and everyone is trained that way. don't run into the doc because you may be grounded. how do you move from getting accurate statistics that could ground the f-22? >> we've requested information from a survey done of an f-22 pilot. air force claimed executive privilege on that where they can come forward and talk about their concerns and culture built

around safety. josh and jeremy were very brave in coming forward. these are heroes that love to defend their country and love flying the f-22. they made known this issue to say let's fix it to go back to flying f-22 and not worrying about whether our judgment isn't all there. let's get focused on training to shoot bad guys out of the sky. that's what they can do well and what we need to be focused on doing. >> other defense contractors are facing a lawsuit from the wife of another pilot who died when he was flying his f-22 on a training mission in 2010. here's what lockheed martin said about that. we do not agree with those agencies and we will respond accordingly. >> i was asked to make a decision that day whether i wanted to fly or find another line of work. >> fly or you're out?

>> that's it. >> what do you think of that decision? you have flown in the air force yourself. you are now with the air national guard. are they being put in these impossible positions to make that kind of a decision not only about careers but also career versus potential safety? >> i think so. and again in pilot training we're taught that if there's an unsafe condition it doesn't matter the rank of the person. you have a responsibility to come out and say that. again, the concern is if there's another accident, god forbid or if there's a problem, they have a clear conscience they have come forward and talked about it. i don't believe there's a big coverup on the air force side. if you have pilots that are uncomfortable flying this plane but they are heros and ones every day stay up i want to fly and protect my country, they shouldn't be threatened with having wings taken away, with disciplinary actions and one pilot is being threatened with disciplinary action because he came forward with a problem and because he's not flying this aircraft. >> congressman, republican from

the state of illinois, thank you for being here. appreciate it. >> great being here. >> time to get to christine romans for an update on the top stories. a former speech writer for john edwards is expected to testify later today. wendy button is expected to tell the court edwards admitted knowing about nearly $1 million in donations from wealthy supporters that was being used to cover up his extra marital affair. yesterday the attorney for a 101-year-old billionaire donor at the center of the trial told jurors his client new the two $725,000 she gave the former presidential candidate was not being used as a campaign contribution. a former player for the new orleans saints says coaches told him to deny the team's bounty program. anthony hargrove submitted a signed statement accusing coaches of telling him to "play dumb." hargrove says he did as he was instructed denying knowledge of the program to an nfl security

officer back in 2010. bidding on marilyn monroe's last sitting. a set of rare prints from monroe's last photo shoot. they'll be up for auction today in new york city. monroe posed topless for these pictures. they were originally taken for "vogue" in 1962. just six weeks before marilyn monroe's death. police in springfield, massachusetts, releasing surveillance video showing a woman being confronted at knife point while with her 4-year-old daughter. after refusing to give up her purse, the woman runs away leaving her daughter. luck i go the girl was able to get away too. the mother was stabbed in the collar bone. she's okay but police still looking for that attacker. >> wow. >> you can't hear audio so you don't know if mother is telling the daughter to run. it also looks like he grabbed

the daughter's collar or shirt too. a very chaotic moment there as the mother and she was stabbed trying to get away. >> it goes so fast on that tape. my goodness. okay. thank you. still ahead on "starting point," if america doesn't shape up, we're going to soon be shelling out billions of dollars in medical costs. disturbing new numbers about obesity this morning and mitt romney famously opposed the auto bailout. so why is he now taking credit for the auto industry's success? you're watching "starting point." back in just a moment.

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welcome back. mitt romney says he deserves a lot of credit for rescuing america's auto industry. the former governor has been blasted by democrats and republicans alike for his view in 2008 that we should let detroit go through a managed bankruptcy. listen to what he told a reporter in cleveland yesterday. >> the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help and frankly that's finally what the president did. he finally took them through bankruptcy. that was the right course i argued for from the very beginning. when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. i'll take credit for the fact that this industry has come back.

>> okay. >> he'll take a lot of credit for it. >> for the industry coming back versus i'll take a lot of credit for the fact that i had an idea that eventually parts i did were used in how they managed the bankruptcy of what was happening in the auto industry. >> we were saying when it took place, he wasn't in a government position to speak out about this or to really be listened to by people that made the decision so to now take credit for it -- >> i'll write about it in the op-ed. interesting. >> when history looks through its rearview mirror and looks at the auto bailouts, i don't know that they'll say it worked. he wants to take credit now. >> if it doesn't work out, can he say he was never for it. >> he's in the best position of all time. >> i could have made that joke. >> it's like bill taking credit for for winning game six in the world series. this is another flip-flop. that's why republicans are so

angry at the governor. >> he's arguing that he influenced the process of pushing the car companies into some managed bankruptcy process to renegotiate pensions and union contracts. >> i'll take credit for saving -- >> i'll take a lot of credit for it. >> thanks, mitt. still ahead on "starting point" -- >> he did say cadillac. ann has a couple of those. >> new obesity numbers are spelling trouble for waistlines and wallets too. we'll explain straight ahead. c. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. if you made a list of countries from around the world...

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♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. >> staggering warning this morning. 42% of the u.s. population could be obese by 2030. it is predicted that would lead to an additional $550 billion in medical bills over that same time frame. let's get to cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta in atlanta. before we get to numbers, explain to me why we are getting that fat so quickly? >> you know, if there's any good

news in this and i'm not sure there's a lot, the numbers are actually originally expected to be worse. they said 51% at one time they predicted the nation would be obese. this is adults by the year 2030. 42% is still nothing great obviously. 11% they think will be severely obese. you will hear a lot of the same sort of things you heard for some time. you've been covering this for a long time as have i. too many fast food restaurants. all of those things keep coming up. despite the fact those messages have been heard and understood, the problem just keeps getting worse. there's a lot to it at the individual level simple things can help. simply eating more food in the morning they find. getting up and walking around. there's a larger problem. it's not just how much we eat but what we're eating as well. sugar, for example, to give you a quick example. probably behaves differently in the body than any other calorie.

makes you gain weight but it also creates these lipids that are really bad for the heart and raises insulin levels and makes you store even more fat. for a long time we thought health foods were low fat, high sugar foods. as we became that country that ate that diet, the problem became worse. >> and more expensive. you have a story this morning about a young woman inspiring girl who uses horseback riding to get over an injury. tell us about her. >> she's amazing person. imagine this. you're 14 years old. you have your whole life in front of you. you wake up one morning and suddenly things are different. what would you do? take a look. >> x circle left 20 meters. >> riding horses has been her passion. first came lessons and shows and worked at a barn. two years ago that came to a screeching halt for 16-year-old

crystal. >> i was getting a shower. i felt some muscle cramps in my mid back. >> got out and got dressed. >> i felt a sharp explosion of pain. >> by the time she arrived at the hospital, she couldn't walk. the cause, a ruptured disk in her spine. >> they told me i had a bruised spinal cord and that i was a paraplegic from the waist down. >> narrowing of the spinal canal that encases the spinal cord. >> it is very, very intensive therapy for at least two hours twice a day every day. >> she pushed herself hard, determined to walk again and get back on a horse. >> i wanted to get back to my normal life. i didn't want to sit and mope. >> seven months after leaving

the hospital, she was competing in horse shoes again. doctors call her recovery remarkable. she's regained movement in hips and knees and sensation has returned to her legs. >> eventually i do want to walk again. i can see that mentally as a realistic goal. >> i tell you, i know you ride horses as well. the whole idea of riding a horse for someone who has weakness in their legs, it actually is good at mimicking some of the movements you need in your upper legs to try to regain walking. sh she's doing this and encouraging other kids with women problems to do the same. >> what a great experience to walk if you can't be on a horse and jump and ride and do those things is amazing for a young woman. that's a great story. appreciate it. end point with our panel is up next. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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>> john fugelsang will kick off us. >> i'll be in madison on friday and remember being gay is natural and hating gay is a lifestyle choice. >> i don't know how to follow that. >> where are you appearing? >> i'm not appearing anywhere. i did get to meet marcus who has been a hair yo hero of mine. people like him make us grateful with uncertainties going on in the world today. that was my. >> he was truly inspiring. >> that was my end point. meeting guys that are former navy s.e.a.l.s are honestly what superheroes are. it's hard to meet them and not be in awe. >> i love when he says he's afraid. i love the honesty that goes with that. >> superheroes are human beings as well. >> we agree together, will, on something today. it will be a good -- what are we on tuesday? it's going to be a good tuesday. still ahead on "starting point" tomorrow, he's a senator and

former olympic gold medalist and nba star. senator bill bradley is going to join us. also the brown family from the tlc reality show and. that's going to be on air tomorrow. >> you'll be in madison. >> "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins tomorrow. i'll see everyone else back here tomorrow morning starting at 7:00 a.m. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. good morning to all of you. i'm carol costello happening now in the "newsroom." your flight and your safety. after the cia bust an al qaeda plot to blow up a plane, new concerns about what the x-ray machines can really catch. the device is undetectible so why aren't security procedures at your airport changing? mitt romney saying he would take a lot of credit for detroit coming out of the red despite a call four years ago to let the