nasa satellite showing extensive power outages and swinging westward to west virginia, it has led to a food crisis. the red cross expects to provide 25,000 meals today. 22 people have now died in the storms and the dangerous heat. major progress in the battle against the most destructive wildfire in colorado's history. the wald owe canyon fire is now 90% contained. that's a bigs improvement. the fire scorched nearly 18,000 acres and destroyed 350 homes and the fire fighting season is far from over with 45 large fires still burning across the country. we'll go to rob covering these in and around colorado springs. good morning. >> good morning. moisture starting to increase so that's good news and maybe thunderstorms that will dump rain but parts of utah and the western u.s. is still enduring

fires. heavier thunderstorms moving through cleveland. intense complex that rolled through detroit last night. severe thunderstorms that could dump hail and certainly some gusty winds and nothing like what we saw nearly a week ago. we still had 700,000 people without power. this is where you will see the bulk of the action as far as severe weather goes. south of that it is hot and even more humid and that's where we have the heat advisories and warnings. you get 12 to 20 states affected. big cities like chicago, st. louis, excessive heat warnings that includes philadelphia as well and dangerous heat continues and continue to set records and st. louis 105 degrees again. chicago got to 102. that's the second time this year they have broken the 100-degree mark and haven't done 100 degrees since 2005. we'll continue that streak in chicago. you may very well get it again today. off to a running start. 86 degrees right now in st. louis. that's without the sun and obviously that will cook things up in a hurry. 100 in d.c. and 91 in new york city.

the cooler air doesn't come until we get towards the latter half of the weekend and the beginning of next week. >> it is warm already. thank you so much. a tragic fourth of july evening on a long island sound in new york and at least two people are dead after a boat carrying 27 people capsized. coast guard officials say 25 passengers were rescued by midnight. one is in critical condition. witnesses say none of the passengers was wearing life vests. what better way to celebrate the nation's birthday than with a perfect display of rockets red glare set to music. take a look. thousands of people lining up on manhattan's west side to watch the annual macy's fourth of july spectacular, some 40,000 fireworks lit up the hudson river. here is my favorite. you can call this a fireworks fail. an entire fourth of july fireworks show, boom, exploding all at once. this was san diego.

people in san diego were a little confused last night. they call it the big bay boom kind of went bust because all the fireworks that were part of this whole elaborate 17-minute show, oops, accidently went off all at the same time. five minutes before the show was even supposed to start, so thousands of people told see you, we're done, go home. event producers are investigating that glitch. soledad, can you imagine? they're thinking it looks like a finale and it is really the beginning and it is over. >> that's awesome. >> i love it. >> wow. all right. that's it. five minutes. go. done. mitt romney is now saying that the health care law mandate is a tax after all and not a penalty. it could present new problems for his campaigning because he is contradicting his top strategist. here is what he told dana bash

campaigning in new hampshire. listen. >> the supreme court has the final word, isn't that the highest court in the land and they said it was a tax. it is a tax. of course. if that's what they said. >> earlier this week his top advisor said that romney actually greed with president obama that the mandate was not a tax. romney's new message falls in line with republican attacks against the president promising voters he wouldn't raise taxes. allison stewart is the former president secretary and former communications director for congressman michele bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign and republican strategist and joins us this morning. nice to see you. i know you're not representing the campaign. as a republican strategist, i am confused. is it clear whether mitt romney thinks this health care mandate is a tax or a penalty? what does he personally believe? can you tell? >> what he made really clear yesterday in the interview with another network was that while he agrees with the dissent, that this was unconstitutional, that

at the end of the day the final word came from the majority of the supreme court this is constitutional as a tax. like it or not, the final word is in. the verdict is in. it is a tax. he made it quite clear he agreed with the dissent, but he understands that the final word is this is a tax which is different than what we heard from the president when he was arguing for passage of this and he promised repeatedly the american people this was not a tax. several times he said that. yet he said to the solicitor general before the supreme court arguing that it is a tax, so i think the american people need to question president obama, is this a tax or is it not? governor romney made it clear the final word is in from the supreme court and this is a tax. >> you said the first half is he agrees with the dissent and the dissent says it is not a tax. he is going to defer to what the supreme court now ruled and he actually believes it is not a tax, that's what the dissent believes, right? >> what he said is the time word is in. like it or not, the supreme

court ruled and the majority says this is a tax and that's what the american people have to accept. >> all of that is not the same thing. forgive me for interrupting. it is not the same thing as saying i believe it is a tax. he said he believes it is not a tax, the dissent says we believe it is not a tax. what it sounds like and in fact you're just agreeing with the way i was reading this, so i just want to confirm it, sounds like you're saying that mitt romney is even though he believes it is not a tax he is going to go along with what the supreme court has ruled because of course the supreme court makes the final decision. is that correct? >> exactly what he said was that while he agrees with the dissent, the final word from the court is that this is a tax which is in line with what majority of republicans believe and the important vote as the i understand pends nearly 60% do believe it is a tax. as i said, the president has spoken out of both sides of his mouth on this issue and it is the question the american people

need to ask it is in terms of how much it will cost. it costs a tremendous amount more than what he promised. there is a tremendous promise gap from the president. >> and i think you definitely had both sides speaking out of both sides of their mouths on this one. the wall street journal said this. i will read a little to you. it says the campaign, talking about the romney campaign, the campaign looks confused in addition to being politically dumb. this latest mistake is of a piece with campaigns staff and strategy that are slowly squandering historic opportunity. mr. obama is being hurt by an economic recovery that has weakened for the third time in three years and mr. romney hasn't been able to take advantage and if anything he is losing ground. confused and politically dumb is what they're calling it in the wall street journal. do you agree with that? >> no, i don't simply because if you look at the polling data he is neck and neck with the president and what we're seeing here is that the important issue here is what governor romney

made quite clear yesterday, his position on this is that like it or not, the board is in no disagreement in terms of what we have the power to do at this point is the supreme court has ruled this is a tax and we must move forward with that. he has always promised that when he is elected president on day one he will repeal and replace obama care and that will begin with the waivers to all 50 states and working with both sides of congress in order to come to an agreement on obviously repealing and replacing it and putting in its place free reforms on health care which is what the american people want. >> i will argue with you and say i don't think anybody made it clear and now it is confuse and had contradictory but moving on to what was done in the state of massachusetts. here is what mitt romney said to cbs news about the difference between what happened with the health care law that the supreme court of the looking at and what he did in his state of massachusetts. listen. >> actually, the chief justice in his opinion made it very

clear at the state level the states have the power to put in place mandates. they don't need to require them to be called taxes in order for them to be constitutional and as a result massachusetts mandate was a mandate, was a penalty, was ascribed that way by the legislature and by me. >> massachusetts is different he is saying than what has happened here nationally. he is saying that he completely supports making people pay a penalty for not having insurance if you're not personally responsible and you will pay for it. you're compelled to buy insurance. is that a correct reading of that? >> the important distinction here is what he quoted from the argument from chief justice roberts is that states have the policing power in order to issue mandates or penalties when it comes to health care. there is not the same kind of power on the federal level and what the governor issued in massachusetts was a plan that worked for massachusetts. it is not a one-size-fits-all plan for the entire country and

he made that quite clear. it worked in massachusetts and it is not something that he has argued for on the national level and that's the clear distinction. states have the policing power in order to do this where as chief justice roberts made it clear that's not the way it works in terms of commerce on the national level. >> isn't mandated health care even at the state level something that republicans as a whole would be against, right? if you have to, you compel people to buy insurance and penalize those who do not in a state, isn't that against what republicans believe a government mandate for health care? >> republicans wanting more than anything is we want free market reforms. we want to get government out of in between the patient and their doctors. that's the kind of plan that governor romney wants to implement nationwide. that's what will work across the country. it was different for massachusetts as opposed to the country and that's what he is saying time and time again. >> i am sorry. forgive me for continuing to

interrupt. this is very complicated. what was done in massachusetts was inserting the government, right? wasn't that a government insertion as a middle person into the free market of health care, correct? >> as he said, there is a tremendous need for health care reforms in massachusetts and he put in place what worked in massachusetts. it is not something that would work across the country. >> why not? >> what he said -- >> why not? >> what we need it free market reforms across the country. >> why would that not work across the united states. >> it is not a one-size-fits-all plan. it worked in massachusetts. there are different needs in every state across the country. what he has said is we need free market reforms. we need to allow people to buy insurance across state lines, and he has already agreed and promised the american people what he plans to do will not only bring costs down and increase the choice and the quality of health care as opposed to the president who promised that health care costs

would come down and quality would go up where that is certainly not been the case. he promised that costs would go down about $2500 per person and we're already seeing it is 5,000 more per person as a result and the congressional budget office said it will cost about 800,000 jobs. this is not only bad for quality of health care but bad for the economy. >> after this was done there two tweets from two well known business leaders, tweeting this. hope mitt romney is listening to murdoch advice on campaign staff playing in a league with chicago politicians and no room for amateurs and the murdoch treat was tough chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires real pros. doubtful. what do you make of those tweets from these top business leaders? >> all you have to do it look at the polls.

>> what do you make of the tweets? >> everyone is entitled to their own opinion and they can certainly say whatever theyment and everyone wants to play arm chair quarterback. see it in every campaign i have ever worked with, people outside of the campaign think they understand how to run a campaign better than the next person. at the end of the day the proof is in the pudding. governor romney is running neck and neck with the president in many polls and most importantly 73% of americans say the economy and jobs is the number one issue in this campaign and trust that governor romney has a better solution and ideas in order to turn the economy around and create jobs and also doing very well in independents and those are the people that will help decide this election. things are doing well and the team he has in place is obviously doing well to put him in that position at this stage of the game. >> always nice to have you. thanks for being with us. >> thank you, have a great day. >> likewise. still ahead, ben labolt is obama's press secretary and he

will join us later this morning and in 20 minutes we'll talk about lobbyists in washington. jack abramoff, remember his scandal, he will join us live, a former lobbyist and spent more than three years in federal prison for a corruption scandal. he believes the health care ruling will open the floodgates for more taxes straight ahead. ahead this morning on "starting point" the nba's long time director of security won't get to guard the u.s. women's team in london. she says it has to do with a basketball coach and her allegations of sexual harassment against him and get real this morning, a lifeguard fired for doing his job and saving a drowning man but he was outside of the ropes. ♪

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if you're tired of going around in circles, get headed in a new direction. ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. remission is possible. the wall street journal reports that apple is preparing to release a mini ipad by november. that screen reportedly just under 8 inches. a little bigger than an iphone. checking the u.s. markets, futures pointing to flat open and we'll find out in the european central bank decided to lower interest rates to boost the eurozone. it could move markets but investors are waiting to see

ahead of the big u.s. jobs report set to be released before the opening bell tomorrow morning. surveys expect 80,000 jobs added to the u.s. economy in june, not enough to bring down unemployment. >> thank you very much. there are accusations of sexual harassment swirling around the usa women's olympic basketball team and its head coach. a lawsuit has been filed by the nba's long time director of security. her name is kelly hardwick. she claims the legendary coach forced her out of her job after he tried to force himself on her. i spoke with hardwick about her story. kelly hardwick was at the top of her game, a security director for the nba, she traveled to the playoffs, met celebrity athletes and got her dream assignment guarding the women's team at the olympic games. that's kelly posing next to the great wall of china, 2008 beijing. >> do you love your job. >> i absolutely love my job.

>> what do you love about it? >> fascinating people. traveling. just experiences that i would not otherwise be able to have had. >> those days may be over. the nba has taken away her olympic security duties. she believes it is because she complained that team usa coach gina oriema tried to force himself on her during a trip to russia. >> i am putting my key in the door and he put his hand on my left arm and kind of startled me so i guess simultaneously to him touching me i turned around and when i turned around he leaned in to kiss me. >> did he kiss you. >> no, no. i was able to put my hand over his face and push him back and screamed a couple of things, profanity lading things and he better back up or he was going to get hurt. >> this former police officer who spoke exclusively to cnn is not the only one accusing the nba of ignoring allegations of sexual harassment.

former nba security director warren glover says he complained to his nba bosses years ago on behalf of three female employees. >> my complaint was that there was a series of employees, female employees, who complained on a number of occasions of sexual harassment by supervisors and other employees and no beings awas taken after it was reported. subsequently as a result of this i was terminated. >> glover filed an employment discrimination suit. in court papers the nba denies they discriminated against him. >> the nba is part of a culture in america. it is no different than any other corporation. >> some corporations treat women well. >> some do and some don't. these allegations and these two complaints deal with different aspects of that problem. the problem is discrimination in the workplace against women. >> in the hardwick case usa basketball said this about her allegations. while it is the policy of usa

basketball not to comment on pending litigation, i assure you that we will defend against the claims strenuously, they said. usa basketball has a lot of information to communicate, and we will do so in the near future through the legal process. he is legendary for leading the uconn huskies to seven national championships and spoke of the charges at a recent celebrity golf tournament. >> i am not surprised. like my wife said, the people that didn't like me like me less and the people that like me like me the same. i guess it is no great loss. >> any hesitancy in coming out for a public event. >> no. it is what i do. i am not going to let anything change the way i go about my job and about my life. >> hardwick says she immediately reported the alleged sexual harassment to her colleague rachel shannon who remembers her saying this, you're not going to believe what he did. he tried to kiss me and i just pushed him away.

she said she had to push him off her. players like team usa's cash say they're trying to keep their focus on the olympics and not the allegations against their coach. >> that situation we have no control over so i think all the girls and i are focusing on what we need to do on the court. >> the nba issued this statement in response to kelly hardwick's employment discrimination lawsuit. we are proud of our confirmed status as an equal opportunity employer and a welcoming and non-discriminatory workplace. we will not be commenting on the litigation. coming up next, a lifeguard jumps into actions, saves a drowning man off the coast of florida and instead of getting rewarded he is fired. it is our get real and our starting point team is heading in. who is with us this morning? you're watching starting point. we have to take a short break. back in a moment. did you miss me? a speed bump! [ wife ] a beached whale! lawn clippings! a mattress. a sausage link.

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good morning. welcome back to starting point. i am brooke baldwin with a quick look at headlines. mexico has begun recounting ballots in the disputed election. early polls indicated pena received the most votes. a profoundly man made disaster is the conclusion of this japanese panel investigating the crisis at the fukushima power plant in japan. the report says the tsunami induced disaster, and i am quoting, could and should have be foreseen and prevented. the final report on the crash of air france flight 447 comes out today.

you know the story. all passengers and crew tied when it plunged you about the atlantic ocean more than three years ago. the report is expected to show a combination of instrument failure and pilot error caused the crash. >> all right. thank you. appreciate the update. i take a couple of days off and get a lot of sleep and i can't speak anymore. look at you. i can't even reach you. i miss you, too. margaret hoofer is with us, the author of american individualism and ryan is a washington correspondent. >> i do love vacation. >> more rested. >> i did until this morning at 2:30. not so much. kind of a crazy story in helen dale, florida, which i don't know where that is. >> i grew up there. >> you did? >> a man is drowning. 1,500 feet outside the area

protected by the buoys, and lifeguards, and a beach goer rushes up to tell the 21-year-old lifeguard thomas lopez that this guy is drowning. he runs to the zone even though it is not in his jurisdiction and he says the guy was struggling, turned blue, and he rushes into the water and pulls him out and saves his life. a hero. >> a hero. >> except then he is fired. the company that hires the lifeguards jeff ellis and either sos says lifeguards are not allowed to go outside the perimeter of the beach they're watching and say they're supposed to call 911 when they see someone drowning which is insane and apparently mr. lopez, the 21-year-old lifeguard got the other lifeguards to watch his zone so it is not like he left the zone unattended and several other lifeguards quit in protest. they say they would have done the same thing and ellis and associates is telling the sun sentinel they will review the situation. >> and thomas lopez is hoping to

get his check in the mail and afraid to pick it up. >> he will get another job. >> the worst part is not that they fired this guy but they fired some of the other lifeguards at the company because they went on the record saying they would have done the same thing. >> i think they will change their mind. the last thing i said, they're now reviewing? come on. the outpouring of anger, you know, i was a lifeguard many moons ago. >> i was. >> you can't swim. >> i am the guy, exactly. >> i would rescue you. the way we were always taught was that it is sort of the equivalent of fire fighters, like no matter where you are you go and save someone who is drowning. even if you're off duty because you have a duty because you can perform the service. >> in their defense -- >> i have to hear this. >> yes? >> my understanding is that they have some liability issues, and -- >> it is a drowning man. >> and their insurance does not

allow the lifeguard to go outside the zone. >> and may not be able to help defend him should he encounter overly litigious -- >> imagine the lifeguard on duty that doesn't go in says my company, j.r. ellis and associates, told me that i am not allowed to save somebody's life. you don't think that would be like you're weighing things, the p.r. disaster versus -- >> and someone would be dead. >> right. >> who will hire -- >> i would. >> the company? maybe not. the kid? >> i think you get tired at 25 these days. >> we all agree. they're wrong. the kid is right. still ahead on starting point, the body yas sar arafas take

being taken out of the grave today. he did some hard time, washington's seedy side. we'll talk to jack abramoff warning that lobbyists could take advantage of the supreme court's health care ruling and tax you for doing nothing. he is joining us next. here he is. good morning. you're watching "starting point." back in just a moment. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. do you have any idea where you're going ? wherever the wind takes me. this is so off course.

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welcome back to "starting point." let's begin with breaking news. there have been six people arrested in london in an anti-terror operation we're told, five men, one woman, suspected of terrorism offenses have been arrested as part of an intelligence led operation. we're being told an investigation, the ages of the six range between 18 and 30 and now eight homes in west, east, and north london are being searched as well. we are told by reports that the arrests relate to a possible plot involving islamist extremists with potential

targets in the u.k., the arrests, though, we're told by police are not linked to the olympics which will begin in 22 days or the para olympics. security sources described the arrests as significant but there is no suggestion at the moment of any kind of imminent attack. we'll obviously bring you up to speed and keep you up with this breaking news story this morning. other stories making news, brooke baldwin has that. >> good morning again. george zimmerman may find out later today it he will be allowed to get out of jail as he is awaiting his trial. a judge may rule whether the neighborhood watch volunteer will be allowed to post bond. he is facing second degree murder charges in the shooting death of unarmed teenager trayvon martin. and a widow of yasser arafat wants his body exhumed to find out if he was in fact poisoned. new test results on his personal belongings turned up high levels of radioactive substances.

he died back in 2004 and the palestinian authority says it does not object to exhumings body if the family supports the move. a change in the weather could actually affect whether or not you have a migraine. this is a conclusion from researchers who kept track of these people that regularly suffer from these headaches so changes in temperature are believe to have triggered about a fifth of migraines, most of which they say were mild. they say colder weather was more likely to set off a migrate headache. grab an extra glass of o.j. here is what we're finding out. a dose of vitamin c could lower blood pressure. clinical trials at the johns hopkins school of medicine found men and women that took 500 milligrams for eight weeks lowered their blood pressure by a couple of points. supplements are not the only way to get the essential vitamin. fruits, vegetables, red pepper

kiwi, the best sources of this antioxidant rich vitamin. put down the cheerios. watch this video again. joey jaws chestnut, you hear the announcer, a little excited over this holding on to the mustard yellow belt winning his sixth famous hot dog eating contest yesterday in the fourth of july. you heard the announcer, he said he tied his own record, 68 hot dogs and bunning, choking them back and also the black widow, 100 pounds. she is tiny. sonia thomas won the contest breaking her record with 4r5 dogs and buns. soledad, i don't really know where to leave you with that. >> have you seen that in person? >> i have never seen that. >> they take the hot dog and they dunk it in water to make it squishy so already disgusting and smash it in. >> and choke back. >> yeah. >> oh, it doesn't make you want

to run out and get a hamburger or hot dog. move on. they'll do it again next year and i am sure he will win again. thank you. appreciate it. mitt romney is calling the health care laws individual mandate a tax. earlier this week mitt romney's top strategist says the candidate disagreed and felt the provision was a penalty and a little earlier today i spoke with alex stewart and said i felt it was a mixed message. here is what she said. >> he made it clear he agreed with the dissent, and he understands that the final word is this is a tax which is different than what we have heard from the president when he was arguing for passage of this. he promised repeatedly the american people this was not a tax. >> the decision to call by the court to call the mandate a tax may have created an unexpected problem. jack abramoff says the court opened up an opportunity for congress to tax americans on inactivity. he says the president could change the way congress looks at new laws. abramoff is a former washington lobbyist and the author of

capital punishment referring to a little bit of time he spent in jail, three years in a federal prison. thanks for joining us this morning. you have an interesting article that you layout what you say are the implications of this health care law and what the supreme court decided. >> i try to look from the point of view of a lobbyist. >> you're barred from being a lobbyist. >> i am not barred but a little fool hardy to jump back into the pool and i look at it in terms of how i know the lobbying world thinks, looking for opportunities. basically you have up to 30,000 people sitting in washington looking for loopholes and things that are possible and what happened with the decision in part is they open up a new vista for a lobbyist to look at government activity and you have clients who want to use the government as a bludgeon against competition. >> give us examples. you're a lobbyist living in your office. the supreme court ruling comes out and you say the first call i am going to make is? >> perhaps if i represented a company that made solar panels, i would call them and say,

listen, we have an opening now and it will be tough by the way but certainly with the republicans but i would say what do we work to say our particular solar panel, the composition is something that is certainly economically and environmentally sufficient, let's say that if you don't have the solar panel in certain regions to start will you get a penalty. you will get a tax. the big question is is this a penalty or a tax? we will tax you for your inactivity. i think lobbyists and i have talked to a number of them, they're looking for opportunities now. they're not easy opportunities, but they're looking for a new way to in essence involve the government in our lives and it is very disturbing. >> health care, there is a public policy reason for wanting to do this. solar panels are different. i think theoretically how that works but in practice. >> a lot of what lobbyists do is so completely under the radar.

99% of any lobbying fight is not going to surface to where it makes it to any i understand could of show on tv, and so lobbyists are looking for opportunities to reformulate something so the members who are supporting and have the basis on which to move forward and this gives them another basis. >> what's not under the radar is taxing. what conservatives say is the genius of the decision is while they made it easier to tax, politically it is almost impossible to pass taxes. the genius of the court's decision is supposedly in the constraining of the law so it allows for a narrowing and while it has allowed for taxing to be easier, politically it is so difficult to get across maybe there is a net conservative gain from this ruling. >> what lobbyist will say i have a great strategy, tax people more, they love that. >> i don't think they will frame it as taxes so much as the administration will tax it. what it gives them is a legal

framework in which to operate now. the discussion often with the lobbyists going to a congressman and saying here is what i want and trying to achieve and they're pressured to understand what's going on and they'll say it can't work and one of the big objections is that the government can't attack inactivity. now the government can. so that's what opens up that. >> all the articles and arguments i have read about the fall from the roberts decision, this is the least convincing i have seen. there is no politician that is going to propose putting a tax on some product. the health care law was completely unique in that health care economics require for insurance to work that everyone get in the pool and that is it is reason we have mandates, penalty or taxes, whatever you want to call it is because the market for health care was completely unique. it was literally no other market in the country whether it is solar panels or these other

things you mentioned. >> i think what i am trying to -- the point i am trying to make -- >> the argument is what do you make in forcing americans, what would the argument -- >> it was being a bit tongue in cheek in the article. i think the thing is obviously you all naturally don't think like lobbyists do. thank god you don't. unfortunately for me i can't expel this from my brain in terms of how lobbyists operate within the system. it is not a matter of saying let's create a new tax. no one will ever say that. i don't remember at least in the discussion let's put a new tax on the american people, let's create -- in fact, there are 20 people taxes in the health care bill and the mandate is only one of them. what i am seeing is what they opened up is a new window approach how the government can in fact be involved with inactivity and that's the biggest thing.

>> i don't buy it. seems like part of a broader conversation and broader attempt to beat up on the roberts decision and make it seem as it is leading to downward spiral towards more tax and more bureaucracy and i agree with you, i can think of a concrete example where it is possible the government would intervene. >> nobody qualified it is possible that a supreme court justice would write an opinion that the government should have a penalty or tax towards inactivity. this was a new notion as well. i know it is possible we aren't thinking of something today that may be happening, but i can assure you in the finds of washington right now percolating are thoughts and i talked to them and examples i used for -- >> when you start saying severe examples, come back and talk to us about them. >> always nice to have you. we appreciate it. talking about facebook, part frat house, mart mad men, one of the original employees joins us

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facebook chief operating officer cheryl sandberg is now

the company's lone female board member. some call her promotion to facebook's response to criticism about the company's male dominated culture. there is a new book out illustrating how hard it is for a woman to work alone with the employees of the facebook staff. she started working at facebook in 2005. she was employee number 51, and she writing this, humor around the office usually had a warring, masculine bent that came from the top. domination, mark was always saying, joking in a way that he also, you know, >> and the book is really to capture some of the excitement of being at facebook in the early days but also to talk about what it was really like at a time when it was a pretty male-dominated culture. >> and not just sort of cultu l culturally, but literally. >> i was one of the first real

employees who was, you know, working on the product or helping the users and really interfacing with facebook. >> how did it manifest itself? more your experiences you saw. not gosh, not only are there no men here, the culture is really male. >> there'd be graffiti on the walls that had women with skimpy tops and that kind of thing. so, you know, you definitely felt you were in the presence of young men. >> you say that back in may of 2006, zuckerburg's first day, an e-mail went out and advised people how to celebrate. tell me what happened. >> well, they told us that the women in office would be wearing shirts with his picture on them. and the men would be wearing his typical sandals, so i decided to stay home because i didn't really want to do that. i thought it was just a little bit odd. >> you write this, the gender coding was clear, women were to declare allegiance to mark and men were to be mark.

did zuckerberg love the idea of himself as the boy king? >> i think facebook did feel like we were building an empire and he was the leader, so i think there were aspects of that to it. >> you write about this, introduction to cheryl samberg back in 2010. and his intro is really odd, i think. i'll read it to folks. when i met sheryl, the first thing i said she had really good skin. and she does. he said gesturing toward sheryl whose face was admittedly creamy and tone. everyone should have a crush on sheryl and some engineers -- some engineers claimed a thread immediately after the meeting to have the requisite crushes. what did you take from that

introduction of sheryl samberg? >> she's a very powerful woman. she's held high positions at google and in the treasury department. and i thought it was interesting to introduce her by way of her appearance when she's had so many accomplishments and she really brought a lot to the company in terms of her skills. so, you know, i noticed that you probably wouldn't introduce an engineer that way or someone -- another male employee with the reference to his appearance. >> was that more about mark. people who have interviewed him and know him say he's sometimes strange is a word i've heard a lot. was it more of an esch issue of or the culture? >> i think he was well-intentioned with it. i think it was an aspect of the culture that something that people weren't thinking about and something i wanted to talk about. >> you had a job of really writing in his voice and getting inside his head to capture his voice accurately. how was that? what was that like? >> it was really fun. kind of like a game. you would figure out how would

someone say this? i want to say it differently, but i want to speak in this voice. so it was really fun. i had a good time. >> has he read the book? what has his response been to your book? >> i haven't heard from him, but i've heard from my fellow friends and colleagues at facebook and they think it's really interesting. >> it was an off-hand comment about the book, though, was the catalyst for writing a book? >> yeah, he said we're going to write a book about us. and i thought, i think i would have different things to say on the culture. >> and that gave you an idea of writing another perspective on facebook. really, really interesting. the book is called the "boy kings: a journey into the heart of the social network." thank you for being here. >> great to be here. got to take a short break. back in a minute. breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected. gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized

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welcome back, everybody. we've got much more coming up in the second hour of "starting point" this morning. following two breaking news stories. a terror alert, six people arrested in london for planning an attack. also wikileaks is announcing the largest release yet in the syria files. we'll update you on both of those stories at the top of the hour. a 17-year-old from brooklyn, new york, becomes the second african-american woman to make the u.s. olympic swim team. going to talk to her straight ahead. and taco bell. going gourmet, they've decided to drop off some of the food to us this morning. we'll tell you how it is all when "starting point" continues back in a moment. why not try someplace different every morning? get two times the points on dining in restaurants

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insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh woah. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. welcome back, everybody. our starting point is breaking news in terror. a terror alert in london. six people arrested for planning an attack. we'll bring you the latest on that story. plus, mitt romney's mixed messages now getting in line with the rest of the gop calling the individual mandate in health care a tax not a penalty. why the change of heart? we'll take a look. desperate to stay can cool, 700,000 people still without power six days after that big storm in west virginia.

some haven't eaten in days. blazing a trail, going for gold, she is the second african-american woman to ever make the u.s. women olympic swim team. it's thursday, july 5th, and "starting point" begins right now. . all right. welcome, everybody. breaking news, six suspected terrorists, five men, one woman have been arrested in london in two separate raids. apparently one, which was near olympic park in london. police reportedly used smoke grenades and a stun gun on one suspect during the raid. there is no imminent threat of an attack. they are not related to the olympic games which begin in about 22 days. separate incident today, a major terror alert shut the m-6 toll heading into london. after a passenger was reportedly

spotted pouring liquid into a smoking bag. also breaking news this morning, the whistle-blowing website wikileaks at it again. started publishing nearly 2 1/2 million e-mails from syrian politicians and businesses dating back six years. they describe them as embarrassing. the website says the files, "shine a light on the inner workings of the syrian government and economy." but they also reveal how the west and western firms say one thing and do another. other stories making headlines today. brooke bolduan has the update. >> good morning. about 700,000 people yet again waking up today without power. take a look at the map here. 11 states and the nation's capital. it's been six days. and look at this picture, an interesting picture, all the way from space.

this is washington's massive power outage showing extensive power outages in washington and the baltimore areas and in west virginia. empty shelves here, the heat and power outages have led to a food crisis in this state. the red cross expects to provide 25,000 meals today. 22 people have now died of the storms in the dangerous heat. firefighters in the west gaining ground here on the most destructive wildfire in all of colorado's history. the waldo canyon fire near colorado springs is now 90% contained. that's a vast improvement. this fire has scorched more than 18,000 acres, destroyed nearly 350 homes. but keep in mind, this firefighting season is far from over with as many as 45 large fires burning across the country. and let's go to rob marciano who has been covering for these wildfires for us and talking about heat today. rob, good morning. >> yeah, heat and humidity. we'll get into the monsoon

season which brings in the circulation that increases the moisture. july through september, and we're starting to see that now and the next couple of days. so the forecast for colorado springs and other areas out west and during the fires we'll look for increased humidity. and not only chance for thunderstorms, but thunderstorms that drop some rain. we'll take that. meanwhile, the heat 101 is the forecast high for chicago again today. we expect 106 again in st. louis. record-breaking high temperatures and the heat spreads across d.c. when will we see the relief in the heat? well, here comes a cool front from our friends in canada. not going to see it tomorrow. a little bit on saturday. saturday pushes through chicago and eventually through the northeast sunday into monday. and at that point, temperatures right around where they should be for this time of year. in many cases, that's 20 degrees cooler than where they are right now. >> bring on the cool. rob marciano, thank you. a tragic fourth of july on new orleans long island sound.

two people confirmed dead after this boat carrying 27 people capsized. coast guard officials say 25 passengers were rescued by midnight. one of them is in critical condition. we're told none of the passengers was wearing life vests. fourth of july, big bang in the big apple. take a look at this. yes, thousands of people lined up and down the west side to watch the annual macy's fourth of july spectacular. 40,000 fireworks lighting up the hudson river. pretty pictures there. speaking of fireworks. stay classy, san diego, because this is what happened last night. check it out. if you're thinking, man, that's a lot of fireworks, you're right because the entire fourth of july fireworks show exploding all at once. whoops. the show was supposed to last 17 minutes, lasted all of a couple of seconds five minutes before the show was supposed to start.

they're investigating the glitch. not sure how that happened. >> i bet they are. you know how expensive those things are? >> incredibly expensive. >> that's a ton of money that went up in 22 seconds. >> seconds. see ya later. our "starting point" team this morning so far -- so close, yet so far. >> exactly. >> he knows i can't hit him. >> exactly. >> different oxygen down there. >> margaret hoover is an author, american individualism is her book and the washington correspondent for the "new yorker." >> good morning. >> let's get going. mitt romney says he believes the health care law's individual mandate is a tax not a penalty. a change of heart there. could be problematic for his campaign because here's what he told dana bash while he was campaigning in new hampshire yesterday. >> mitt -- >> the supreme court is the

highest court in the land. they said it's a tax, of course, that's what they say it is. >> okay. but one of his top advisers said, in fact, that romney agreed with what president obama agrees with and said that the mandate was not a tax. romney's new message is now aligned with the republicans who are criticizing president obama for raising taxes. all that brings us to the obama campaign national press secretary. nice to see ya, thanks for being with us this morning. mitt romney has said it's a tax because the supreme court says it's a tax. the president's advisers say it's a penalty. the president himself in the past has said it's absolutely not a tax. let's play a little bit what the president said. >> for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. what it's saying is we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you. any more than the fact that

right now everybody in america just about has to get auto insurance. nobody considers that a tax increase. >> okay. ben, so does president obama consider this to be a penalty as his spokesperson told me the other day, or does he think it's a tax as the supreme court has now said? >> well, we're the ones that have been consistent here. we believe it's a penalty. and it actually includes the largest health care tax cut in history. $4, 800 for 19 million americans. what hasn't gotten a lot of attention is mitt romney not only disagreed with his campaign advisers yesterday but disagreed with himself as recently as 2009 he referred to his plan -- the mandate -- >> i'm not talking about mitt romney. let me stop you there because i'm talking about president obama. does he believe this is tax or a penalty? he hasn't said yet, as i'm sure you know. his spokesperson sitting here with me said it's a penalty. supreme court has said it's a tax. what does he believe? >> that it's a penalty. you saw our arguments before the

supreme court. you see what the president has said over the past several years that it's a penalty. for that 1% of the population who can afford health insurance but hasn't chosen to get it. because the fact is that has led the rest of us to pay a hidden tax of $1,000 a year, folks already covered, driving up our premiums. >> he disagrees with the supreme court decision that says it's now a tax. >> that's right. he's said it was a penalty. you saw our arguments before the court. >> your argument also said -- one of the side arguments, like the backup argument was that it was a tax. so i did see the arguments before the supreme court. >> it never referred to it as a tax. it never referred to it as a tax. it said it was a penalty. and that's under the section of the law that is the tax code, but it said very specifically it's a penalty. >> let's talk for a minute about what the strategy is. does the campaign want to continue talking about the health care law and whether it's a tax, a penalty, or, you know,

the various synonyms that go with that? or is it more comfortable for the campaign to talk about the economy? is that more challenging? >> well, i think we're going to talk about -- we're certainly going to talk about the economy. that's the core contrast on the ballot this fall and what the president's going to be talking about for the next two days in ohio and pennsylvania. voters have the opportunity to break the stalemate at the polls. are we going to assume that the market will take care of the rest like mitt romney has suggested? or are we going to restore economic security for the middle class by investing in education? investing in research and development? that will be the core contrast. but the fact is, mitt romney is going to have to explain what his alternative to the affordable care act is. he said kill obama care dead on the first day. where does that leave the millions of people who have pre-existing conditions in this country? is he going to allow insurance companies to continue to

discriminate against women and charge them $1 billion more a year for their health insurance? all the public polling shows that the american people do not want to see the affordable care act repealed. mitt romney has presented no alternative. the republican leadership senator mcconnell has proposed no alternative. and then he will have to explain how he's going to have to deal with this issue. >> right. >> ben, it's ryan, how are you doing this morning? >> doing well. >> i wanted to go back to something soledad said there when she was pressing you on the government's argument before the supreme court. chief justice roberts pressed your solicitor general or the obama solicitor general on this issue, really had an opportunity to say this was a penalty but instead he said chief justice, this is administered by the irs. they talked about how it was under the tax code. the argument before the supreme court was if you don't agree that this is constitutional

under the commerce clause, surely you agree it is constitutional under congress' power to levee taxes. and that is the argument that the supreme court took. so how can you sit there and say you guys didn't go before the supreme court and make that argument? >> review the court script -- the court transcripts, ryan. at no point did any of the government lawyers say it was a tax. >> but he said it's administered by the irs. what does the irs do? >> on april 15th, tax day -- >> nowhere during the arguments -- we are the ones who have been consistent here. consistent it's a penalty. mitt romney has disagreed with his own campaign advisers and disagreed with himself about whether his own mandate is a tax. he made clear it was a tax. >> let me ask you a question about the ohio and pennsylvania. if you look at polling in pennsylvania, president obama is ahead slightly, 45% to 39%.

in ohio, similar numbers, 47% to romney's 38%. but when you take a look at overall in the battleground states, 15 battleground states, this is a poll that was done at the end of june to the beginning of july, mitt romney is leading 51% to 43% for president obama with a sample error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. what's the strategy there? that compared to your other numbers in ohio and pennsylvania is pretty bad. and especially these are states, those 15 that would be critical to the election and the analyst would tell you. >> well, i think there were -- there were some states like indiana and missouri in that poll that campaigns can dispute whether or not those will be the key battleground states in this election. when it comes to ohio and pennsylvania, you know one of the things that has allowed those states to make progress was the president's decision to grant rescue loans to the auto

industry. when the pundits recommended against it. >> i was talking about the 15 others and it's problematic, i would assume you look at these numbers in the campaign and say in these 15 states, we're in trouble potentially. >> definitely, definitely. as you know, you guys are about to hit the road on a rust belt tour today and tomorrow and the next day. and probably the jobs numbers we expect to come out tomorrow which we probably expect to be not that good. i would imagine this is you guys doubling downgoing on the offense because it's not going to be about health care, it's going to be about the economy. >> well, well -- we -- we've said all along it'll focus on the core economic contrast. look, the number of jobs you've seen created in these states over the past several years, nearly 150,000 private sector jobs in these states. many of them were linked to the recovery of the manufacturing sector and that specifically

because of decisions that the president has made. and we'll talk about the contrast with mitt romney, somebody who cut funding for worker train in community colleges. went to detroit last june and attacked the president for encouraging young people to go into manufacturing as he was betting on american workers and investing in reviving this sector. >> forgive me for interrupting you there, but do you think that strategy's going to work? throw that graphic up again, it showed the jobs numbers, the jobs reports and job creation has gone down every month. it was a very startling. and all those things you're listing about what mitt romney has done or has not done in his record in the state of massachusetts. when you look at this and you're a voter, how much of a problem is this graphic for the obama campaign? >> well, i -- i can't see the visual that you're showing, but -- >> it's a chart that looks like good going down, going down, and

april and may job growth numbers for 2012. from january to may, you know, it's really small. it's got to be problematic. >> the president has had a plan on the table since last september to create 1 million jobs right now. put teachers back in the classroom, cops back on the street, construction workers, rebuilding roads and bridges. mitt romney has opposed that plan. the president's got a short-term plan and long-term plan. that long-term plan involves investments and things like education to make sure our workers have the skills that match with the jobs that are available on the market while the president doubled funding for college scholarships, mitt romney, the budget plan would cut funding for that by 20%. so what we do now to create jobs and in the long run with be a major contrast during this campaign. >> we'll be watching. and we'll be talking a lot between now and then. nice to see you, nice to have you as always. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. still ahead, is america still the land of opportunity? this morning we'll take a

serious look at the price we could be paying for income inequality. and whether the poor can make it anymore. it's the new article that's come out. today's tough call. a cupcake crackdown. considering a ban on homemade treats. no the because of the peanut allergies because not healthy. that's kind of the point isn't it? here's mark's play list. what is this? >> "vibrant thing." >> back in a moment. ♪ hello...rings ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪

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welcome back to "starting point." setting up a life where the kids can do better than their parents, but that might be harder to achieve than realized, especially for the poorest in our population. income for the wealthiest 1% grew by 275% between 1979 and 2007. but for the bottom fifth of the population, they saw income growth of only 18% during that same period. here's another statistic. if you made $1 million 20 years ago, you're now making $2.3 million. if you earned $20,000, you're making a little more than $47,000 to date all based on inflation. is it possible to move up in society and do better than our parents did? bloomberg news reporter anita perez exploring that in her new article called "poor forever." a story focused on bridgeport, connecticut, which you said is the home of the biggest income disparity in the entire nation. is that right? what kind of disparity do you

see in bridgeport? >> it's right northeast of new york city, and that's the home to the highest income divide in the u.s. extreme pockets of poverty up against extreme pockets of wealth. it was high poverty rates, low unemployment, low incomes, and you have it right next door to greenwich which has obviously hedge funds and lots of people that work in the financial industry that commute into manhattan every day. >> you talk in the article about the curve. >> the gatsby curve. the measure of inequality against how wealth is transferred through generations. and so what that curve shows is that countries with high inequality also have low mobility or they tend to. so the u.s. -- if you look at the where the u.s. is on the graph, you see at the very top which signifies we have high

inequality and extreme mobility at the same time, which is something we don't think of when we think of the american dream. >> what most impacts mobility? it seems to me people who are compassionate, believe in the american dream, we believe people can make their way up in the world. the ability to at least improve your circumstances and be able to transcend the circumstances you were born in. that's the most concerning thing to me about your article is the freezing of the social strata almost. what impacts social mobility? >> so what this economist that i reference in my article says impact mobility. it's family, of course, the material, the advantages both material and not we pass on to our kids. how education is an important driver to get a good job, and then also just how level the playing field is. it's really dependent on public policy, as well. and what we see is that if you're born into poverty today, kids born into poverty almost half kids born into poverty will

stay stuck there until they die. that what we don't think of as the american dream. >> how many people born in middle class will slide down into poverty. >> you have a roughly equal chance if you're born in the middle class to slide down or move up. except if you are born -- if you're a black child born to middle income parents, half of black children fall down into poverty while it's only 16% for whites. there's a racial disparity, as well. >> what are the public policy implications of this? what can we do? what can we install to change this, shift this? >> the biggest thing my reporting over the past seven months has showed me, there's not one policy solution, that's why we haven't fixed it yet. if you take education, for example, education is one of the most powerful drivers of economic mobility from the bottom to the top. but it's also, you know, the people in poverty don't get a college education as often as others because they don't have the money to pay for it and they also don't have the academic

preparation for it. >> you focused on a woman who had a great education and went to less work to get a great education and ended up really making less money at the end. >> exactly. that shows you how complex it is. education is so important and we know it's one of the most important drivers of upward mobility. but even for the woman i profile in the story, even that didn't work for her. so it's a mixed bag. it's complex. >> are we less mobile than we -- is the american dream this idea -- and i agree with you -- that you can come to this country -- that's my parents' story. i know a million people this is their story. is that a myth? or are we seeing a change this year from say ten years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago? >> it's not so much mobility has changed, inequality has gotten worse over time since 1979. but mobility is really not different. so as new data has come in and we're able to learn more about mobility and how wealth is transferred through generations,

it seems we have less now than we've assumed. it's not necessarily it's changed. >> it's nice to have you. thank you very much. i don't know how i feel about that. i agree with you. the american dream is what when he hold on and hold out for. >> it's this core -- every politician assumes that american mobility is the same as it has been. and what you're reporting is eye opening. it's not true. >> thank you, we appreciate it. your article's terrific. >> thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," why new secrets about the next ipad have apple lovers in a tizzy. and the schools want to ban cupcakes and cookies from all school celebrations. we'll tell you why straight ahead. ] we believe small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. purina one discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. with this kind of thinking going into our food, imagine all the goodness that can come out of it.

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welcome back, everybody. in today's tough call, banning baked goods from home in school because they're unhealthy cupcakes, cookies, candy, et cetera. no more homemade sweets. instead, there's a list of safe foods that fit the wellness policy. happy birthday, here's a bowl of fruit. applesauce, raisins, crackers, cereal, the school committee in charge says this we want to get

the focus off of junk food. yo uh can celebrate a birthday without a cupcake. that's true, you can, but it's no fun without a cupcake. >> healthy food is fun. >> this is different. i don't want to overregulate this. you can have it in your lunch bag, give it to your kids, sell it in a school store or back to school night stuff. but every time a kid has birthday, they don't need a box full of -- >> it's not a box full, it's one cup -- you know what i do? couple of times of year, i do my only baking and i make a zillion cupcakes for class. >> well, there's at least 20 kids in the class. >> okay. >> and there's a bunch of birthdays and they're always snacking, always eating. every day my daughter comes home and says we had a birthday day, or it's arbor day, and that's why kids are fat. >> this is -- >> that's not why kids are fat. that's not why. >> it is. because we teach them that we have to celebrate with fatty

stuff. it's not birthday celebrations that make them fat. >> how about smaller cupcakes? how about not a giant cupcake? a small cupcake. >> i would take one cupcake for every six kids and divide it up. >> having kids not have the cupcakes for snack i think is not the way to keep everybody healthy. the way is to have some kind of moderation and balance. >> it makes the kids want it more to tell them they can't have it. >> i know, i do. >> and this is the creeping bloombergization of america. >> oh, boo. >> boo, i don't agree -- >> and you know what? i actually don't have a problem with the soda ban. i really don't. i just think that in school it's okay -- the message for the kids should be a whopper with cheese every once in a while is fine. a big mac every once in a while is fine. for a birthday you can have a cupcake. >> let the kid have a cupcake when it's your birthday. >> do you have children? you're going to let -- >> that's all -- >> that's what i would do. one kid can eat a cupcake.

>> one child in the classroom -- >> it's their birthday. put a tiara on or something. >> and everyone else has to watch eating carrot sticks. >> no, carrots should not be a punishment. >> no, but -- >> they should feel good. we get a carrot. >> we're moving on. we're following this breaking news that terror alert near the site of the london olympic park. six people arrested. we've got the latest on that story coming up next. and this young lady may be a household name in a few weeks. her name is lia neal, aiming for the olympic gold, the olympic swim team's second black woman ever. vampire weekend, the kids don't stand a chance. we like that. watching "starting point," back in a moment. man: there's a cattle guard, take a right.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." we're starting with breaking news from london. six suspected terrorists, five men, one woman have been arrested. took place over two separate raids. one happened near london's olympic park. police used smoke grenades and a stun gun. authorities say there was no imminent attacks or no imminent threat of attacks. the arrests are not related, we're told, to the olympic games which will begin in 22 days. in a separate incident, a terror alert shut the m-6 toll heading into london. armed police surrounded a coach bus. police are now saying they're not treating this as a counterterrorism incident. no suspects were taken into custody. for the rest of the day's top stories, let's get to brooke

baldwin. >> just into us here at cnn, weekly jobless numbers, 374,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week, that is fewer than expected, down 14,000 from the week before. tomorrow, we will be getting the big monthly job reports economists surveyed by cnnmoney.com, suspects 80,000 jobs were added in the month of june. and that's going to give us a broader picture of how the job market is doing. those numbers tomorrow. george zimmerman could be finding out later today whether he'll get out of jail. the judge may rule today on whether the neighborhood watch volunteer may be allowed to post bond. zimmerman is facing charges in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager, trayvon martin. one of the most wanted underwater figures -- believed to be a top operative in the la bonita drug cartel.

saying they had confirmed her identity using her fingerprints. mexico put a $375,000 reward on her, she's accused of marijuana trafficking, also kidnapping and extortion. the widow of yasser arafat wants his body exhumed. hoping to find out if he was poisoned after test results on some of his personal belongings turned up high levels of radioactive substance ca. a report expected to be released any moment now detailing exactly what happened in the crash of air france flight 447, all 228 passengers and crew died when it plunged into the atlantic ocean more than three years ago. it took investigators two years to finally find the place's voice and flight data recorders some 10,000 feet below sea level. and that report, again, any moment now is expected to show a combination of instrument

failure and pilot error caused the crash. reports are circulating that apple is ready to unveil a mini ipad this year. so if this is true, the device they say will be smaller than the ipad, bigger than the iphone, right around 8 inches. so add that as yet another device in our arsenal. >> so a smaller ipad, isn't that an iphone? >> it's in between an iphone and an ipad, which is good for me because i've gone through a few iphones. >> isn't it samsung who makes those? maybe that's why, they need the mid-sized market. >> i'm going to buy it just because apple -- >> it's just like, apple makes it, i'm in. >> they could make iunderwear, and i'd buy it. idrawers. i'd buy it. >> tmi. tmi. mitt romney is changing his message and his campaign strategy it seems. now says the health care law's

individual mandate is a tax it's not a penalty. romney's comments, directly, of course, contradict his campaign strategist who said the candidate agreed with the president that it was, in fact, a penalty. romney spoke to cnn's dana bash. >> the supreme court is the final word, radio igt? they said it was a tax, didn't they? it's a tax, of course. that's what they say it is. >> well, he's now aligned with the conservative voices in his party. they've been hammering the president for breaking his promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. michael crowley is the deputy washington bureau chief for "time" magazine joins us this morning. what does it all matter? the debate between penalty, is it a tax? obviously there's a look from my perspective to see who is flip-flopping on the issue. and both seem to be changing their tune a little bit. but in the big picture for people at home, why does it matter? >> well, look, for people at home, i think they can choose to call it whatever they want. first of all, i think, virtually no people at home watching right now are going to deal with this one way or another. the estimates of the number of

americans paying anything as a result of this law is quite low. you have to be able to afford health insurance and choose not to get it and then you pay a pretty small penalty and it can be as low as $695, i think it tops out at 2.5% of your income. the question of campaign message and tactics. and i think what you had here was the romney campaign came out in a way that left a lot of other republican candidates high and dry. there was failure to coordinate the message. and i think conservatives were upset at the romney campaign. this is a typical problem you have when the standard bearer of the party has to be on the same page with other candidates. >> well, here was alice stewart when i spoke to her and she used the words, well, he's made it quite clear. which is ironic, i think, since it's been anything but clear. here's what she said. >> he made it quite clear he agreed with the descent, but it's clear this is a different. he promised repeatedly to the

american people this was not a tax. >> in return, the representative of the obama campaign said this. >> well, we're the ones that have been consistent here. we believe it's a penalty. and it actually includes the largest health care tax cut in history. $4,800 for 19 million americans -- >> is this ultimately really a question of flip-flopping? is that what this debate is over? am i a flip-flopper? no you're a flip-flopper. >> i don't know how much people are flip-flopping here. they're being evasive and trying to play the best short-term message that will, you know, be a political winner for them. but, you know, i think -- there is some irony here. where democrats were running away from the idea it was a tax. now they've been bailed out by this argument constructed by ironically republican appointee, chief justice john roberts, actually not the argument they wanted to make to the public, but it's what saved them. but you know, yeah, they vacillate a little bit on their position. but in both cases, each side has

been clear on the policy. obama will defend this law. he's happy it was upheld, and romney wants to appeal it. it's not clear whether he'll be able to. but i think for, again, the average viewer at home. they're probably not going to pay any taxes or penalty as a result of this law. it's a clear choice, you vote for obama, the law is going to stay in place and probably strengthen. if you vote for romney, there'll be an attack to repeal it and he might succeed. that's the choice we're in now. the rhetoric is flip-floppy, but the choices are clear. >> let me ask you about the feedback coming in from folks weighing in. here's alan west first. >> i think that the governor probably needs to look at who he has within his circle of advisers and probably get them to provide the right type of counsel and advice. >> okay. tea party favorite there. then you have rupert murdoch. he said drop his old friends

from the team and hire some real pros. doubtful. and jack welsh businessman, he tweeted -- look at all these guys tweeting. i find that really interesting. he says hope mitt romney is listening to murdoch advice on campaign staff playing in league with chicago pols, no room for amateurs. what do you think of the inconsistencies? or as you say everybody trying to get on the same page? is that problematic or is this just -- >> well, you know, i don't know. i don't think there's a crisis in the romney campaign at this point. however, sometimes these perceptions do lead to changes. and sometimes if a campaign is feeling pressure from party leaders and donors, sometimes they may not believe internally they have to make a change. but i think they do, sometimes, you know, throw somebody to the lions in a kind of sacrificial way. personally i don't think there's a big crisis. i think they weren't straight on this one. they goofed up. i don't think it's going to cause great lasting damage to the campaign. i will say an interesting thing about romney's circle.

it's a lot of people from the boston state house. massachusetts political pros who he has known since the early 00s. he's got some of those guys from down here in washington. not necessarily what you would expect, you know, for republican nominee. and i wonder if all along there was some national republican operatives wondering if those were the best people to be running a presidential campaign. >> i would agree with you. michael crowley, deputy washington bureau chief, nice to see you, thank you. >> nice to see you, thanks. still ahead on "starting point," the second african-american woman to ever swim for team usa. 17-year-old lia neal. first, reviews of taco bell's new gourmet menu items right here on our set. dropping off the food. we're going to take a bite. stay tuned for the verdict. you're watching "starting point," back in a moment. [ male announcer ] this is the at&t network.

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so excited for the olympics. so you probably have not heard the name lia neal, but she's one of the athletes to watch at the summer games. she is in the 100-meter freestyle. lia does not have your typical swimmer's pedigree. doesn't come from a swimming hub like california or florida. from brooklyn. trained in manhattan and as you may know, that's not an area that produces a lot of olympic swimmers. she's also the second -- only the second ever african-american to be on the u.s. olympic swim team. she's going for the gold on july 28th. hey, lia, good morning to you. nice to see you. thanks for being with us. the race, i know, is in about three weeks. >> good morning. >> what are you doing besides obviously training. are you anxious? what are you doing at this point? >> so right now i have three

days that the usa team let us come home for. so yesterday i just got back two days ago. so yesterday i spent pretty much the whole day with my entire family and today i'm going to spend the day -- well, i just had morning practice so i'm going to spend the rest of the day doing some more -- a few more interviews and having another practice in the evening and spending some more time with the rest of my team. and by saturday, i'll have to leave for tennessee for training. >> so you're going to have to squeeze that all in. we were talking about your pedigree, meaning that when you think of areas where fine swimmers, elite caliber swimmers are created. new york city is not one place you think of. and also there are not a lot of african-americans who are elite-level swimmers, as well. why do you think you're different? >> i've just been so lucky to be

given this opportunity to swim with agua. i've been on the team since i was 8, and i'm 17, so it's been nine years. and it's funny how i got started in the sport. because it actually started when i was 6 years old. so when i was in the first grade, my classmates and friends were taking swim lessons and they and their parents suggested i also take swim lessons too. so i got involved in it. and after two years, the swim instructor told me i should probably join a swim team. so i got introduced to it, and i think after two years swimming on it, i was put on to the swim for the future scholarship. >> wow. wow. >> and they've been, yeah. they've been helping me ever since. >> so the percentage, 70% of african-americans cannot swim. that's a huge number. and it's compared to white kids

at 42% of white kids cannot swim. what do you think will change that number? do you think if you're able to do well at the olympics you literally could be the difference between a kid who is a kid of color saying i'm going to learn to swim because i want to be like lia? >> maybe. i've been asked like if i'm flattered by the fact that some people look up to me as a role model. and if i can represent the u.s. while at the olympics and hopefully influence other kids to join the sport or start taking swim classes, then that's like -- that'll be really great. because i think everyone should be water safe and, if not that, then it's great that anyone is joining the sport for fun, hopefully swimming competitively. >> lia neal. congratulations to you. congratulations for making the team. we're going to be excited to

watch you in the olympics from london and, i know you're already a role model. my kids are so excited to watch you compete. thanks for being with us this morning, we appreciate it. enjoy your last few minutes. >> thank you. >> hanging out with your family. coming up next, the first bite of taco bell's new upscale menu is being launched today. you're going to get to see it here on "starting point." back in a moment. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite.

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so we told you about this last month. today is day taco bell is going gourmet. she developed the new upscale menu, trying to give the chipotle a run for its money. today we get the first bite. i like spicy stuff -- >> it is delicious. it's good, right? >> remember, she told us, she's insane about cilantro. >> which i love cilantro. there's a genetically, some people don't have the receptors in their palate to be able to like cilantro. it's flavorful, healthy. >> i just like food. food. >> what they're telling us too, sometimes you go out to chipotle

and can get it without the rice. you can do that at taco bell too. they'll customize it however you want. >> you can still get the old-school taco bell, right? >> you can still get the non-healthy taco bell. >> i like it. two thumbs up. >> these chains are trying to push healthier food. that's a good thing. >> like i was saying earlier. >> is that what you were saying earlier? >> that's right. >> all right. so thumbs up? thumbs down? >> two thumbs up. >> we basically also just like having food. so anyone else who wants to drop food first thing in the morning, we'd love it. "end point" is up next, back in a moment. ... and now you can make them even more special... with new fancy feast mornings. mornings are delicious protein rich entrées... with garden veggies and egg. each one perfectly designed... to start her day with a little love.

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time for "end point." who wants to start? >> i think we're going back to, you know, jack abermoff, he's making the point that somehow the ruling is going to open the flood gates for taxing people. i think what it's done and what conservatives say maybe he was -- maybe he's opened the door to taxing, but politically, how viable is that? politically you can't get taxes through. and by restraining the commerce clause, we think many conservative justices i've talked to suggests this will open the flood gates for more cases that will allow for a narrowing of the commerce clause, restricting of government, more limiting of

government. >> ryan? >> just quickly, big news of the day i think this is this "wall street journal" editorial attacking romney from the right. >> that was harsh. >> and his team really. >> and his team. and this is a recurring thing. every month or so there is an eruption from the conservative base and romney scurries to take care of it. it happened recently with the mark rubio v.p. vetting story. and so the long-term story of romney having trouble with his base is not going away. >> mark, guess what? you don't get to do any. we went very long. you can keep eating, though. >> i'll keep eating. tomorrow on "starting point," live in new orleans as the essence music festival gets going. it celebrates black culture and music. we have an all-star lineup. comedian jay thomas is going to join us. vanessa williams will be with us, mitch landrieu will be with us and bill cassidy also talking with us and many more. "cnn newsroom" with don lemon begins now. hey, don, good morning. >> new orleans, you're going to

love it, love, love it, soledad. condition critical, powerless and starving. west virginia this morning without basic necessities, food, water, thousands of emergency meals on their way. we're going to speak with the red cross coming up. in court, george zimmerman and the money trail all in question this morning. should trayvon martin's shooter be set free before his trial? plus this -- >> i'm not going to put my job over helping someone again. i'm going to do what i thought was right. >> a life guard credited with saving a life then getting the boot, fired. six of his coworkers quitting in protest. and 21 tomas lopez tells us his side of the story. an ipad mini? a smaller version of the popular ipad. rumors are heating up saying it's already in production. we'll separate fact from fiction straight ahead.