so the number one message you need to get this morning is here in london the army is in charge of security. basically, you're looking at protecting heads of states, governments, prime ministers, presidents from around the world. you've got kings and squequeenst are going to be here, celebrities from all over the world. hollywood's a listers hosting amazing parties and attending the games as well. you have the athletes and the fans. so security has to be topnotch. i want to look at the numbers just to give you a breakdown of what's happened here. the private security company called g4s was not able to supply 10,400 guard as they promised. so at the 11th hour, they said, oops, we can't do it, so the uk had to draft in the military. so today they said they were going to deploy an extra 1,200 troops, and that's on top of the 3,500 that they had already deployed. so we're looking at a total security, police as well as military, in london, at 18,200.

the british government is saying this is such a big deal, they want a no risk approach. also it's a totally logistical nightmare too. for example, take a head of state. russian president vladimir putin. don't know if he'll be here at not. he could come at the last minute, and that could cause a lot of security protocols to be kicked into place at the last minute. so they need to get their game on. >> give us the bottom line. with all the last-minute changes, it makes for some uncomfortable feelings as far as the athletes are concerned too. >> you know, the athletes and a lot of the british people are saying that with the army and the military in charge, and the uniforms, boots are on the ground, that they feel a lot safer. you're going to have the military, who is accustomed to fighting wars, also going to be handling things like bag checks, x-ray scanners, metal detectors. there's an electric fence around the stadium. you know, cctv, this is one of the places where anything that

you do can be seen in this country. so that will be on. and then there's six surface-to-air missiles in east london on top of buildings all the for security. so people say with the military, they feel safer. >> zain verjee reporting live for us from london. let's turn our attention now to colorado. bursts of gunfire killed and wounded so many in minutes, but police say james holmes may have spent months plotting the sophisticated death trap inside his own apartment. we now have a better idea of why bomb experts spent more than 24 hours assessing the booby trap before making their first move. inside the apartment, 30 improvised explosive devices. one law enforcement official says the setup was unlike almost anything found in the united states. it's more similar to what insurgents use in iraq or afghanistan. the ieds were wired to a central control box that had to be diffused, and that task was

daunting. the source says that the complexity looked like spaghetti. poppy harlow has been working with her sources to bring these exclusive details to light. she is joining us by phone from aurora. tell us what else was inside that apartment. >> reporter: we know as you mentioned, carol, there were 30 of these ieds. there were also containers, glass containers and gas cans, filled with what i'm told from law enforcement officials about 10 gallons of gasoline. those were taken offsite with the ieds late saturday and exploded. but i want to read you a quote that came from my source. what my source says is that this person rigged the apartment to, quote, enhance the thermal effect of the explosion. i'm told that imagine the fireball you would have in an explosion that would knock down walls of nearby apartments. that flame would have consumed the entire third floor of the apartment complex. and by the time the fire trucks would have arrived, i am told they would have arrived to a building that would have been, quote, completely consumed in

flames. so what you're looking at on your screen is what police detonated, those gas containers, far away, east of denver. but imagine if that would have exploded, carol, inside the apartment building. one other thing that my source told me that stood out to me is that they believe the apartment was rigged in the, quote, right way, that it would have successfully blown up. we were told it was someone who knew what they were doing. it was not crude. it was done correctly. and as you mentioned before, this was more similar to something they might see in iraq or afghanistan. they did tell me they have seen things similar to this in the u.s., but very, very rarely. >> poppy, a question. so would it -- would the apartment blow up if someone opened the door? and then the other question i had, did the suspect tell police his apartment was booby trapped? and if he did, why? >> reporter: to your second question first, yes. we are told that james holmes when he was arrested told police -- i don't know if he said it was booby trapped but he

told police there were explosives in his apartment. so that's a big question. did he have this moment of clarity, carol? if so much time was spend setting up this apartment in such a complex way, booby trapped to explosives, why tell first responders who would likely have been the ones to go into that apartment. and as the police chief has said, it was rigged to kill. make no mistake about that. so why did holmes tell police? that is a question that no one has an answer to right now. your second question, carol, remind me of your second question again, carol. >> i just wondered was the apartment rigged to explode when the door was opened. >> reporter: it appears that way. it appears that way. that's not clear. that wasn't made clear to me by the source. but the way that all of these were tied, and that, quote, unquote, trip wire, that was the first thing disarmed by the robot on saturday afternoon that went in. and that was key. that was the first sort of obstacle for law enforcement. disarm that trip wire. then use water to basically

disarm the control box in the kitchen. so the thought here is, yes, that if the door was open or someone entered the apartment that this would set off. and remember, carol, there was loud techno music blaring out of this apartment. and a neighbor from downstairs went upstairs to inquire, complain about the techno music. felt that the door to this apartment was unlocked. and then made the last-minute brilliant decisi frankly not to go in. if she had gone in, what could have happened? she had told cnn that obviously she was very afraid having known what was in there now. but, you know, that could have ended her life. it could have, you know, ended the lives of all of the people in that apartment complex or first responders. so i think the big outstanding question now, and i don't know that we'll ever get an answer, is why would he tell police that there were explosives if it was set up to detonate and kill. >> yeah. so many questions. poppy harlow reporting live for us. james holmes, the suspect, his first appearance in a colorado courtroom was bizarre. was he slipping into madness?

was he faking it? he was sporting that mop of orange hair. and his expressions ranged from shock to confusion to sleepiness. cnn's jim spellman was inside the courtroom from that hearing -- for that hearing, rather. he is joining us from aurora. jim, describe what it was like inside that courtroom. >> reporter: there was a lot of anticipation. people were there an hour and a half, two hours early. one-half of the room was press. the other half was family members and some court officials. the main thing everybody at first wanted to know was will he have red or orange hair. of course we saw that right away. he came in shackled, so he was sort of shuffling. the thing that immediately struck me was how small and weak he seemed. he seemed almost frail. he scanned the crowd quickly. then he sat down and looked more or less in the direction of the judge. and i didn't see him look towards the crowd again. now the family members that were in the seats in the courtroom, though, i saw most of them not take their eyes off him for the entire 15 minutes. even while the judge was talking

and the prosecutor, defense attorney, they were just staring at him. it took so much courage, i think, for some of these people to even show up. mikhaila hicks still has a bullet in her jaw. she watched him, and she seemed so strong to me while he looked so weak with his orange hair and his prison jump suit. it was really intense for family members. afterwards, they went to a special room where they could see a replay of the event themselves. of course, they can't make any noise or express anything in the courtroom. there they were allowed, and a lot of anger came out. one woman cried and broke down and left and just couldn't look at him anymore, carol. within moments of the bizarre court appearance, the internet buzzed with speculation. was he already building an insanity defense? we want to get some perspective from paul callen. >> good morning. i wanted to go back to poppy's

question about why he would have told police if we have one second. i think the reason he admitted to the police that the apartment was wired is that the wiring and the bomb setup was meant as a diversion. he was hoping that the loud music would cause the neighbors to call the police. they would respond, trip the bomb. you would have a massive explosion. and there would be a huge police response to the apartment building. that would be going on while he was shooting people in the theater. so i think maybe it was a diversion. and of course once he was caught, there was no need for the diversion anymore. that's one possible theory that's out there as to why he did it. >> ok. so with that theory in mind, i mean, people looked at this guy in court and said, he's faking it. he's like -- his attorneys wanted him to act like that. and that's why he was -- but if he had planned all of that, and had a definite plan in mind, how likely is it that he is suffering from some sort of mental illness? >> well, one can suffer from very severe mental illness and still be capable of planning.

but in terms of using the insanity defense at trial, it's very, very difficult. if you have the type of mental illness that still allows you to understand the difference between right and wrong and to plan, it's called the mcnaughton test. and if you understand the difference between right and wrong, and you can plan a crime, generally you are not going to be able to prevail with the insanity defense. so all of this planning is really going to hurt a potential insanity defense in this case for him. >> paul, it's difficult to fathom how holmes went from a bright teenager to what he looked like in court yesterday. take a look. i mean, how will his attorneys play this, do you think? >> well, i think they'll play it in a couple of ways. i think first of all whatever they come up with in terms of mental illness, and i'm betting they're going to say that he suffers from some sort of schizophrenia that doesn't manifest itself until you're in your 20s. but that remains to be seen. they are obviously going to juxtapose those pictures of what he looks like now and what a

successful, normal, kid he was to say that obviously he was insane when this happened. the second thing, of course, this is a death penalty case. and they will be using his prior history, his prior success in life. you know, he was a good student apparently, and succeeded at least in that realm, to try to get the jury to say, you know something, we're not going to give him the death penalty. so i see two aspects for using the mental disability defense, if it were. >> paul callan, thank you for joining us. another kind of evil this morning. this is a new video, new from the taliban, and its attack on what it claims are american soldiers. this video posted to a taliban website shows what the taliban says is a huge attack on an american base last month. abc news says a suicide bomber

detonated a 10-ton bomb outside of camp salenro in afghanistan wounding two american troops and wounding dozens of others. the blast was so powerful it reportedly was felt for miles. cnn has not been able to confirm the story, the video, or the sourcing. in syria, a new threat this morning from the assad regime to use chemical weapons on any countries that might attack. that announcement evoked a harsh response from president obama. >> we will continue to make it clear to assad and those around him that the world is watching, and that they will be held accountable by the international community. >> mohammed jamjoom is joining us. >> reporter: for the first time, syria revealed that it actually had chemical and biological weapons. the spokesperson for the foreign

ministry in syria said yesterday that those weapons would not be used against syrians. they would only be used if syria was faced with foreign threats, foreign aggression. but today, you're seeing the syrian government walking back from those comments. in fact, the spokesperson who gave that press conference yesterday tweeted out earlier that his comments were taken out of context, saying that his comments were only a response to false allegations by the international community that syria had a weapons of mass destruction program. so interesting that syria kind of backtracking on this big announcement they made yesterday. yet concern is still growing, especially inside syria. we spoke with a member of the rebel free syrian army today who said that they have intelligence that the damascus regime has moved some of their chemical weapons stockpile about 15 days ago. that some of those stockpiles went to the southern border of syria and another to the coast of syria. carol? >> mohammed jamjoom reporting live this morning. finally, some good news on the housing market.

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the debate over gun control is going nowhere. as you know, friday's movie massacre in colorado has once again raised the question of whether it's time for tougher laws. today we definitely know that's just talk. but, hey, at least the candidates agree on something. they agree to do nothing. here's mitt romney on cnbc and then you'll hear the president. >> i still believe that the second amendment is the right course to preserve and defend and don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this type of tragedy. >> i hope that over the next several days, next several weeks and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country. >> john avalon is a cnn contributor and senior political

columnist for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." welcome, john. >> hey, carol. >> do you think we'll really reflect months from now on ways we can stem the violence in this country? >> i think if we don't do it now and in the coming weeks, hoping for collective action in the coming months is a bridge too far. here is the ironic thing. both romney and president obama have backed for example assault weapons bans in the past. but because we have a divide over gun legislation in this country that isn't left versus right as much as urban versus rural. in fact, we use our guns differently in urban and rural areas. principles get put aside, and even practical problem solving gets put aside, in pursuit of swing voters in swing states. and it really holds a rational discussion about this issue back. >> we can't even have a discussion about it, because if you even begin to discuss it

you're either anti or you're for. there's no middle ground. >> that's right. it's politically incorrect to even have a policy discussion about this. but over 80% of americans believe that there should be perfectly stringent and increasingly stringent background checks before people buy guns. a reasonable debate about why a 100-round magazine cartridge is so readily available. there is common ground on this issue, but politicians have been cowed into not wanting to deal with it because they don't believe that the headache is going to be worth the progress they may or may not make. it takes leadership. and we last saw this in 1994 when bill clinton took on the nra and we had an assault weapons ban for 10 years. so it does take leadership. but the poll support is there for reasonable restrictions that are consistent with respecting the second amendment. >> when you look at other polls, john, you have to admit it's not a top concern that americans have right now, so why get into

it? >> no. well, that's exactly the rationale. you add that to the 10-1 lobbying split between the nra and groups like the brady organization. and that's exactly what politicians say. look, we have had over 180 deaths because of mass shootings in the last five years alone. but we have 10,000 gun deaths a year in this country. so the real question becomes if not now, when? can't we have this conversation? because it's a reasonable rational conversation to have, and there is common ground to be found. the nra is very fond of saying that guns don't kill people. people kill people. that is true. but it's also equally true that people with guns kill people. unfortunately, sometimes a lot of people. and we can have a conversation about ammunition, about increased background checks, without artificially polarizing this debate. it's called problem solving. and it takes a little bit of principle and courage, but it's the right thing to do after we honor the victims, moving forward as we reflect on incidents like this. >> but it's probably not going to happen. i'm just being a realist.

you heard what mitt romney and president obama said. we're not going to have that conversation. in a few weeks, we won't even be thinking about it. >> that's right. and here again it's both these individuals backed assault weapons bans in the past. but it's not considered worth it politically. so it does come with the question, you know, after congresswoman gabby giffords was shot, there was a bill put forward about restricting not guns, not gun sales, but these excessive magazine cartridges that really aren't consistent with the purposes of hunting or self defense, which is what most people use their guns for. gun are a part of american culture. it is protected in the constitution. we can respect that. but we shouldn't be kept from having a reasonable conversation, especially in the wake of tragedies like this. when people in congress think it's not worth the political headache, the people who suffer gun violence every day should make them feel the heat a little bit more, because this is a real concern for people across this country. >> john, thank you for being here this morning. >> thank you, carol. what was he thinking? that's the question a lot of people are asking after seeing

the accused colorado massacre shooter in court. but should we be talking about him at all? or even show you his picture now? it's our talk back question today.

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now is your chance to talk back one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter? the blogosphere and media are abuzz with questions about james holmes with how he looked in court, with the bright red hair and the nodding off. we asked ourselves what's wrong with him? this man doesn't care. if it were up to him, we'd never see his face again. >> i'd like cnn come out with a policy saying, moving forward, we won't say his name. a coward walked into a movie theater and started shooting people. he will not see the light of day again. >> it's a question that media outlets have wrestled with

before. remember this mugshot of jared lee loughner? he is smirking, almost defiant. some newspapers blew up the pictures. others reduced it, highlighting other photos that were involved in the shooting. experts say that why the crave for safame may be one reason fo killing, some seem to love killing for the sake of killing. shirley lynn scott, quote, serial killers are human black holes, an embodiment of the darkness, desire, and power that we must repress within ourselves, end quote. perhaps then it's worth exploring why these people kill. if only to try to prevent it from happening again. so the talk back question this morning, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour.

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you can hear it there. the opening bell on wall street. stocks have had a bad few days. the dow dropped more than 100 points yesterday. alison kozsik is at the new yor stock exchange to tell us why. >> after that rough monday, let's see if stocks with stabilize. the news overseas is mixed. on the one hand, investors are weighing the upbeat report in china showing that manufacturing contracted but at a slower pace. and moody's cut its outlook for germany's credit rating from positive to negative. and with the potential for more bailouts in europe and germany footing most of the bill, a full-blown downgrade could have implications that are wide reaching for financial markets.

here in the u.s., corporate earnings continue to roll in. earnings from u.p.s. are a big disappointment. their report is a reflection of the global economic slowdown, especially overseas. there were fewer exports from asia to the u.s. and europe. wall street not taking that well too. u.p.s. falling 3%. the overall market not moving too much, but the day is still young. >> alison, thank you so much. for the first time in 22 years, the international aids conference is back in the united states, and the u.s. is pledging millions of dollars more in the global fight against aids. in washington, the aids quilt now on display drew a huge crowd. cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is at the conference. good morning, sanjay. >> good morning. >> so what are some of the big things going on there? >> well, you know, one thing i want to point out right off the top is this is the first time, carol, you may know this, but the first time in 22 years that

they have had this international aids conference here in the united states. a lot of people ask why that is. it's a yearly conference. it's because really, and this may surprise people, up until 2009, officially people who had diagnosed hiv/aids from other countries were banned from entering this country. so despite all we have known about transmission over the last couple of decades now, that ban was in effect up until three years ago. so this is a big deal sort of in the world of international aids conferences, having the conference here in d.c. the last time was in 1990 in san francisco. a couple of big things that people are going to be talking about, carol. quickly, first of all, there's a medication that just got approved by the fda known as truvada. it was on the market already to treat people with diagnosed hiv/aids, about but now they are talking about it as a prevention. if it carries through and it seems to have the efficacy that it did in trials, it's a big deal.

sort of a 30-year milestone if you will, carol. and something else, in just a little bit i'll be talking to a guy named tim brown. he is also referred to as the berlin patient in the medical literature. as far as we know, and we'll verify this later on, he may be the first and only person in the world to have been cured of aids. >> wow. >> in the form of a bone marrow transplant. but it's a lot -- it's a big area of research for people out there. so we are focusing on in on these two things. there are 20,000 people here. activists. elton john, annie lennox, a lot of scientists who are part of this discussion as well. >> we'll talk to you more about that. fascinating story. see you next hour. thank you, sanjay. america remembers a space pioneer. sally ride, the first american woman in space, has died. she had been battling pancreatic cancer for nearly a year and a half. ride flew into space twice, both

times on the space shuttle challenger. after retiring from nasa, she worked to encourage young girls to get into science and math. ride was 61. and this morning we honor this amazing woman. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves.

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"showbiz tonight's" aj hammer is joining me from new york. seriously? >> yeah. carol, this seems to be a family battle that's just spiraling out of control. it was reported a scuffle which took place at katherine jackson's home that she shares with michael jackson's children. according to a los angeles county sheriff's spokesman, a battery report was in fact taken after the incident but no arrests were made, and he wouldn't identify exactly who was involved because the investigation is ongoing. however, a source that has first-hand knowledge is telling us that janet, jermaine, and randy were all on the scene there. and this of course is the latest drama to happen just as los angeles county sheriff's detectives closed a missing persons case that was open for katherine jackson, who was found to be with her daughter reby in arizona. they say katherine is fine, but her lawyer is not satisfied, saying that the sheriff's deputies who tried to talk to her in arizona were blocked from seeing her and the attorney is now asking for the fbi to investigate of the so you have a scuffle, have you the fbi, you

had katherine supposedly missing, and now fine. yeah, huge drama. >> and on top of all of this, the family is tweeting about it. >> yeah. and this is really odd to me. nothing really ever surprises me with the jacksons. but it's wild how public they are making this. i want to read to you what paris jackson tweeted last night about being out of touch with her grandmother, katherine. she said eight days and counting. something is really off. this isn't look her at all. i want to talk directly to my grandmother. jermaine jackson called this a farcical false alarm, and said that his mother is safe and well and in arizona with her daughter resting up on doctor's advice. she is merely an 82-year-old woman following doctor's orders to rest up and destress away from phones and computers. so they have taken this very public, carol, and it will be interesting to see if that continues, because it can't be good. >> i just got word, aj, we have

surveillance video of the scuffle. i hope you will look at that and bring us that video in the next hour. >> i will look into it. absolutely. >> thanks, aj. aj is also back next hour with details about mariah carey's new million dollar job as a judge. security concerns in london just days from the start of the summer olympic games. more than 1,000 british troops are being added to the military force already deployed to protect athletes and the like. i'm serious, we compare our direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that.

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45 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now, more problems for pennsylvania.

the justice department demanding the state produce detailed documents about their voter i.d. law within 30 days. this formal investigation is looking into whether the state's law requiring a photo i.d. to vote discriminates against minorities. in money news, home prices are on the rise for the first time in five years. according to the real estate listing website zilo, nationwide home prices are up .2 of a percent from last year. in weather news, still no break from the scorching heat. parts of the mississippi valley will see heat indexes over 100 degrees. and that will stick around until friday. this morning, we are learning more troops are needed to keep the olympics secure. great britain deploying 1,200 more troops after calling up 3,500 a few weeks ago. a private security contractor said it could not provide all the security personnel it had

promised. now it's time for an olympic trivia challenge. which of these odd-sounding competitions will take place at the london games? each of these events are real. they really happened at one point or another. two of them will be featured in these summer games. so your choices, race walking, solo synchronized swimming, trampoline, roller hockey, and live pigeon shooting. really? >> actual events. >> actual events. we'll have the answer for you in a few minutes of which of these sports are in these olympic games. for one u.s. olympian, the biggest hurdle she has to overcome is her health. rob marciano is here to explain that one. >> yes. her name is kerry johnson. and she is not only a kayaker, but a speed kayaker. she has been battling a disease

that causes intense pain, fatigue, and suddenly weight loss. not good news for an athlete. she'll have to keep that at bay again in order to have a shot at goi gold. kerry johnson starts graduate school this fall to become a veterinarian. but before she hits the books, she is hitting the water. sprint kayaking in her third and final olympics, she'll race in both the 500 and 200 meter sprints. johnson has yet to earn a medal, but she is determined to finish strongly. >> every athlete is lining up on that start line, you know, with the goal and the dream of winning an olympic gold medal. but i think if you can paddle away and say, i did absolutely everything that i could do, then you have to be satisfied with that. >> reporter: johnson won gold in the 2011 pan am games, but her success hasn't come without struggle. she has crohn's disease, an incurrable intestinal ailment that also causes fatigue. >> when i have the harder days, i have a real appreciation for

just being able to train. >> while it kept her out of the water for a little while, johnson views her disease as extra motivation, pushing her through nearly six hours of training a day. >> what's going through your mind technically? how long do you want that paddle in there, and how strong is the stroke, and how are you balancing? there's got to be a lot of things to think about. >> using your legs is actually a really important part of paddling, which people don't realize. that really starts the rotation that brings the boat forward. >> and all of this while not falling in? >> yes. >> because the boat that you're on is pretty skinny. >> uh-huh. the widest part is just pretty much write enough to get your hips in. so it is very unstable if you're not used to it. >> and if you're just some reporter getting in there, what are the odds of me staying afloat? >> we've never had anybody get into the boat for a first time and stay up. even the olympic rowers. >> so i'm going in? >> you're going in. >> grab the cockpit.

and step in with one foot. step behind and sit down. grab the paddle right around where the grips are. >> yeah. >> oh, there's no way. there's no way. no way i'm staying up. how in the world do you balance on this thing? oh, my gosh. >> don't hit your head on the dock. >> yeah, ok. there's no way. you're right. one second. that's impossible. an olympian i am not. clearly. >> that's for sure. it was like sitting on a tight wire. i have never felt so unbalanced before. >> it's weird you felt right away you were going to tip over. >> yeah. and you were asked me how fast

she goes. it's she competes in the 200 meter and the 500 meter race, and sh seconds. >> that's 12 miles per hour. >> pretty much. >> pretty much? >> i can't run that fast. >> i can't imagine how strong your core must be to balance. >> you saw her shoulders and arms. it's an underfunded event. her coach is a fireman and he comes out a couple times a week to train her. this is one of those things where you have to have serious personal perseverance. she's battling crohn's disease as well. august 7th, kind of late in the games, tune in august 7th. >> we will be rooting for her. stick around. here is your chance. >> yes. >> so do all of you and rob know the answers to our trivia question? two of these wacky but real olympic events will be played in london. race walking, solo synchronized swimming, trampoline, roller hockey, live pigeon shooting. so which of those will actually be played at the london games?

>> how can there be solo synchronized swimming? isn't that a contradiction. >> that's weird. that's what they call it. >> i know trampolining because we did a segment on that a couple months ago but the other what? >> race walking. so the people with the weird hip movements, they're in. >> i know that live pigeon shooting is big in the bronx but probably internationally hasn't gotten there yet. >> they just use sling shots instead of guns. >> that helps. >> thank you, rob. we'll be right back. sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair.

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we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for new morning, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter? from david, the victim would say like us to all stop talking about it. we should let them start healing and they can't do that with

people talking about it on every tv station in the country. this from xavier, we should. we still don't know how he is as a person, even though he is playing us all in a courtroom. this from peter, one of the surviving victims believes it was all an act in the courtroom. the shooter, no, i won't say his name, is acting this way trying to avoid the death penalty. this from wes, for the same reason we talk about adolf hitler or any other horrible person in history, we need to understand who these people were and why they committed such atrocities. and this from fred, he should not be our focus anymore. once convicted, okay. but for now we should focus on the brave, the heroes, and the strength of the survivors. facebook.com/carolcnn, more of your responses in the next hour of "newsroom." also coming up -- also, the next hour of "newsroom" starts right now. now get an incredible offer on the powerful c250 sport sedan. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event

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happening now in the "newsroom," guns and ammo. just how easy was it for accused colorado shooter james holmes to stock up on bullets? joe johns with a cnn exclusive. >> you have 100 rounds. how long does it take to get 100 rounds off? >> 30 seconds. >> dried up and urgent. a call to help america's farmers seemingly calling on deaf ears. the farm bill is stuck in washington gridlock and partisan bickering while crops literally die on the vine. congress waits and waits and waits. and summer vacation is finished for the nfl. over the next week every team will open training camp, and how about this to get you jacked up, the open game cowboys and giants, about six weeks away. and good morning to you. i'm carol costello. new developments this morning out of london. just days from the start of the olympic games, the british government calls up more troops to help secure the olympics.

today another 1,200 troops are being added. zain verjee is in london to explain. >> zogood morning, zain. >> reporter: good morning. the message from london is the army is in charge, it's okay, the games will be safe and secure. there was a private security company that was supposed to handle all the security and they totally messed up. they said it was a logistical nightmare and they were not able to deliver the numbers they promised for the games. here is what happened. the army has been drafted in. today the uk had said this. take a look at them. they said they're going to deploy an extra 1,200 troops. carol, that is on top of the 3,500 they have already drafted. so the main thing is now you've got the defense forces and the military beefing up the metropolitan police so you have a number of 18,200 security out on the streets of london. they are saying that they want these games to be successful and the message to the public, to

the fans, to the heads of states, to all the celebrities that are here, to the athletes, to kings and queens that are here to enjoy the games, that you will be safe. the policy is no risk. carol? >> i'm just curious, shall are these troops coming from? >> reporter: they're drafting them from out in the field. they're boots on the ground militarily in all places like afghanistan, for example. in fact, if you look at the troop number here, carol, it's about the same as the maximum troop deployment that the uk had made during the war in afghanistan, so the military is in. a lot of people are saying they feel safer seeing uniforms and the military around. they're going to be doing things they're not used to though. they're not going to be dealing with ieds and snipers. they're going to be dealing with bag checks, extra scanners, metal detectors, cctv. there are even surface to air missiles, six of them, on buildings in east london. the residents are really mad about that, but the government is saying, well, security is number one. we need to send the message that the games are safe because there

have been terrorist threats, and they have been foiled, and there's some real concerns that terrorists might try to take advantage of the situation, but the message is that london is safe. >> zain verjee reporting live from london for us this morning. let's head to colorado now. bursts of gunfire killed and wounded so many in minutes, but police say james holmes may have spent months plotting a sophisticated death trap inside his own apartment. >> reporter: we now have a better idea of why bomb experts spent more than 24 hours assessing the booby trap before making their first move. inside the apartment 30 improvised explosive devices. one law enforcement official says the setup is unlike almost anything found in the united states. it's more similar to what insurgents use in iraq or afghanistan. the ieds were wired to a central control box that had to be defused, and that task was daunting. cnn's source says the complexity of the wiring looked like

spaghetti. >> cnn's poppy harlow has been working her sources to bring so many of these new exclusive details to light. last hour poppy told us about the reason for the ten gallons of gas in the apartment. >> reporter: what my source says is that this person rigged the apartment to, quote, enhance the thermal effect of the explosion. i'm told imagine the fireball you would have in an explosion that would knock down walls of nearby apartments. that flame would have consumed the entire third floor of the apartment complex, and by the time the fire truck would have arrived, i am told they would have arrived to a building that would have been, quote, completely consumed in flames. though what you're looking at on your screen is what detonated those gas containers far away east of denver, but imagine if that would have exploded, carol, inside the apartment building. one other thing that my source tells me that really stood out to me was that they believe that this apartment was rigged in the, quote, right way. that it would have successfully blown up. we've been told it was a very

sophisticated setup. this was someone who knew what they were doing. it was not crude. >> poppy harlow reporting. james holmes' first appearance in a colorado courtroom was bizarre. was he slipping into madness or faking it? he was sporting a mop of orange and red dyed hair. jim spellman was inside that courtroom for the hearing. he joins us now live from aurora. any evidence that he was on some kind of drug, jim? >> reporter: absolutely not, and we asked folks from the sheriff's department there, and they said we don't know, and if we do, we wouldn't tell you. but we have no indication he was drugged. it's so hard, you hear all of poppy's reporting about the details about what he allegedly set up in the apartment and you hear from eyewitnesses what happened inside that theater. and then to try to square that with this image of this guy kind of shuffling into court. to me he just struck me as being small and weak. he scanned the room quickly, then sort of stared away blankly

with this bizarre look on his face. it's so hard to put together how somebody who looks to me so ineffectual and weak could have potentially put all of this together. it's just bizarre to try to figure out, and for family members in the courtroom as well, they, of course, want to get some sort of clue as to why, and at this point we don't have any, and it's likely they'll never get a satisfactory answer to that question, carol. >> when is his next court appearance, jim? >> reporter: it will be next monday. that's when they will officially charge him. so far they've just said they have probable cause for first-degree murder. those documents are sealed. we haven't gotten a look at those. on monday they will have to formally charge him. we can expect at minimum 70 counts, one for each of the people that are injured, likely many more related to the explosives and other stuff. probably not long after that they'll ask for a competency hearing to see if james holmes is competent to stand trial. that would be different than any element they may use in an

insanity defense but they have to decide whether he's mentally capable to participate and understand the proceedings before they can go forward with a trial, carol. >> jim spellman reporting live. two handguns, an assault rifle, a shotgun, and thousands and thousands of rounds of ammunition. they're all weapons and ammos police say the aurora attack suspect purchased legally. joe johns talks to a gun store worker about these guns and the ammunition and why buying them isn't likely to raise any red flags. >> reporter: a small arsenal. these are the types of guns and ammo purchased by james holmes, the suspect in the colorado theater shooting, and he did it in just a matter of months through local gun stores as well as online. we asked chuck nesby, an instructor at a northern virginia gun store, to walk us through the weapons and their potential fire power. >> this is an eight-shot basically military and police shotgun. capable of carrying three inch and two 3/4 inch --

>> so it's pump action? >> yes. >> reporter: the ar-15, which in this case would have also had a drum capable of holding 100 rounds. you got 100 rounds in there. how long does it take to get 100 rounds off? >> 30 seconds. >> reporter: that fast? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and two 40 millimeter glock handguns. how many rounds do they hold? >> 16. >> reporter: okay. and so you can get off 16 pretty fast with that, right? >> sure. >> reporter: whatever you think of the guns, it's also the amount of ammunition the shooter was able to buy that's got gun control advocates fired up. we're talking about 3,000 rounds for the ar-15, another 3,000 rounds for the glock, and over 300 shotgun shells. that would be more than six cases of total am mission, six times what you see her on the counter. in fact, small gun stores like this one don't keep that much ammo on premises, though there is demand from some customers to

buy in bulk. >> competition shooters, very common. they go through -- they burn through a lot of ammunition in practice and in competition. they would buy it in the thousands. >> reporter: where is it easy to get a lot of bullets? online. in fact, there are websites where you can purchase ammo 1,000 rounds at a time. there's no federal i.d. or background check required for purchasing ammunition, which gun control advocates see as a problem. >> by and large across our nation, there's very limited -- there's very few restrictions on the sale of ammunition. >> reporter: a few states and even a few local governments do have laws controlling the sale of ammunition, though gun control advocates say on their scorecard colorado is one of the most permissive states in the country. >> it's appallingly low. on our state scorecard colorado gets a score of 15, which puts them near the bottom. >> reporter: we reached out to the national rifle association for comment. they've opposed restrictions on

online ammunition sales in the past. they say they're not making any comments to the media right now. the nra has said that now is the time for families to grieve and for the community to heal and that there will be an appropriate time down the road to engage in political and policy discussions. joe johns, cnn, washington. other news we're following this morning, civilian worker this morning is accused of setting a fire that caused $400 million in damage to the submarine "uss miami." investigators say casey james fury admitted to starting the fire and claims he had extreme anxiety and wanted to get out of work. in philadelphia the highest ranking u.s. catholic church official charged in the child sexual abuse case will be sentenced today. monseigneur william lynn was found guilty of covering up rape accusations against priests. he could face seven years in prison. take a look at these flooding streams and rivers.

now they're dry as a desert. extreme heat and drought is not only drying up rivers and streams, it's also sourcing some cities to look for alternate water supplies. the nfl rarely is a player's job untouchable. everybody tries to strut their stuff at training camp. carlos is here to tell us which players and teams to watch. >> i have dibs on this screen for my sunday watching of the games. if we could watch football on this screen, that would be awesome. can i do na? >> i'm coming with you. >> by the way, you will see a lot of happy co-workers today because nfl training camps are starting today with the arizona cardinals and the new orleans saints starting today and then other teams starting, you know, throughout the week. and you have several high-profile players to talk about. with the saints you're talking about them coming off of one of the most drama-filled off-seasons they've ever had with, of course, head coach sean payton being suspended for a year for his alleged role in

boun bountygate. jonathan vilma not being at camp today. drew brees will be at camp after he signed his $100 million contract. fans started lining up at 6:00 a.m. this morning to show their support for their embattled team. >> new orleans nmight not be so good that year. let's talk about andrew luck and some of the high-profe hhigh-pr quarterbacks. >> you have andrew luck and rg3. they went one and two in the draft in april. the big question is how will they do? back several years ago you had peyton manning and ryan lief and peyton manning won that battle. now luck against robert griffin iii. it will be interesting to see how they do as they enter training camps with their respective teams. you talk about peyton manning, peyton manning is in a brand new uniform with the brok --

broncos. the fact he's coming off that neck surgery and he hasn't played football in the nfl for over a year. >> seems like such a super man though. my bet is on peyton manning. >> you're still a fan. >> exactly. let's talk about -- we have to talk about tim tebow because what football conversation would be complete without talk of tim tebow. >> here is the funny thing about new york, you have mark sanchez and tim tebow. who is the man in new york? what about eli manning? he won the super bowl last year with the giants and nobody is talking about him. you have mark sanchez coming in as the starting quarterback. rex ryan says he's our guy. tim tebow is just there to help out. how many times does mark sanchez overthrow a wide receiver in camp? tim tebow guy. the drama starts this week with teams around the nfl, and no more eyes than watching the jets

to find out what kind of drama happens there. >> carlos, diaz, thanks so much. >> i want dibs. it looks like a football field. it's bigger than a football field. it's unbelievable. >> thanks. a car plunges 30 feet when flooding washes out a bridge in china and as rescuers frantically try to reach the driver, more ground gives way. a. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. ♪

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16 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now. video posted on a taliban website claims to show what the taliban says is a huge attack on an american base. supposedly this happened last month. abc news is reporting it was a suicide bombing and killed two american troops and wounded dozens of others. the blast reportedly felt for miles. cnn has not been able to confirm this story. working flight attendants are going to find it easier to get through security. the tsa is adding flight attendants to the known crew member program. they won't get the full search like passengers. they just show identification and pass through, something pilots already do. in weather news, still no break from the scorching heat. parts of the mississippi river valley will see temperatures topping 100 degrees, and that

heat is going to stick around at least until friday when things could cool off. temperatures expected to be just about 90. and in flood ravaged china, video of a driver's dramatic rescue. his car was part of a wedding caravan and it plunged 30 feet when that bridge collapsed. rescuers lowered themselves by rope, broke open the sunroof, and managed to pull the driver to safety. he reportedly had some broken bones, but -- oh, my gosh, that's scary, but the driver is expected to be a-okay. today another piece of the joe paterno legacy crumbles on the penn state campus. workers demolished the wall that served as the backdrop for his statue. that statue taken down over the weekend. the cover ever "sports illustrated" captures the grim mood of the football program. the familiar boast of the school now we were penn state. we know farmers are

suffering from the worst drought in 70 years, and we know eventually we'll be paying higher grocery bills because of that. what is congress doing about it? nothing. there's a farm bill on the table which would reinstate expired disaster assistance but it's stuck in the house of representatives. why? democratic congressman peter welch is here to help us understand. good morning. >> good morning. >> if this farm bill passed today, how would farmers benefit? >> number one, we'd restore the safety net. number two, we would reauthorize the food stamp program. number three, a lot of those drought-stricken farmers, there's relief programs there, and, of course, they're facing the worst drought in decades. but bottom line, america needs a farm bill. this was passed in a bipartisan vote. the agricultural committee really is the last best hope of bipartisan action in the house. about 80 of us have sent a letter, a republican from north dakota and i got about 80

members to send a letter to our leadership saying let's bring this to the floor. this is the first time in history where the ag committee passed a bill and it wasn't taken up on the floor of the full house. we've got to act. tough job, but it's not an excuse for congress not to do its job just because it's difficult. >> congressman, this is from a critic, congressman jim jordan from ohio, he said it went from $600 billion to almost $1 trillion. it's bloated, he says, and we simply can't afford that at this time. how much will this farm bill actually cost taxpayers? >> well, it actually reduces -- it eliminates 100 programs that existed before. it eliminates direct payments, so this is going to be about $35 billion less than it was in the previous bill. so there's actually savings in this. the debate in congress is among those like mr. jordan who think we should have more savings, and many on the democratic side who

think we should have more spending on the food stamp program. these are both very legitimate debates. my position is bring it to the floor. let mr. jordan have his say. let mr. mcgovern, who is the champion of food stamps, have his say, let the house vote, and then move it into conference and work it out. the fact we have these disagreements is not an excuse to stonewall and not bring this to the fore. >> let's talk about, you know, this farm bill that includes crop insurance, right? and it guarantees a certain amount of income under all conditions for farmers. i know a lot of business people who would love to have that luxury. so why should farmers get this kind of assistance? and not other business people? >> here is why, and the right level is always a fair debate, but farmers do not have any control over nature, so many of our farmers right now are suffering as a result of this drought. that's an act of god. they can't do anything about it. so we in this country have always had some safety net program to help farmers through

those things that are beyond their control and even beyond market forces. so what's the right level? that's a fair debate, but the necessity to have an opportunity for farmers to stay and survive so they can grow the next year, i think that's essential and it's been supported by republicans and democrats. as i say, the right level of support, that's a fair debate, and we're cutting it back. but to totally take away the safety net i think jeopardizes america's capacity to produce its own food. >> critics also talk about food stamps. i don't think many people know that food stamps are under the farm bill for some reason. think tanks say 80% of this bill goes to food stamps. it's something that's not popular with many americans. is there any compromise on this issue? i mean, should 80% of this farm bill go toward food stamps? >> you know, we got to feed america. we've got the highest rate of poverty in this country since the '50s. people are hungry. the downturn in the economy is

increasing demand for food stamps, so i do support a vigorous food stamp program, which by the way is good for agricultural. on the other hand, if there's any waste, fraud, or abuse in food stamps or there are reforms that can be implemented in order to make certain food stamps are used properly and not used as a rip-off, let's do that. i'm totally in agreement with doing it. but we've come a long way on food stamps. you know, the original ryan budget cut them by $130 billion. the house bill from the ag committee is down to $16 billion. in the senate it's around $4 billion. i think we can work it out and address the legitimate concerns about that program, but we've got to have a food stamp program in my view. it's good for farmers and good for nutrition for americans. >> congressman welch, thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. what was he thinking? that's a question a lot of people are asking after seeing accused colorado shooter james holmes in court. but should we be talking about him at all? should we be showing his picture

right now? it's our "talk back" question for today. you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day.

the question for this morning, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter in the blogosphere are all abuzz with questions about how james holmes looked in court, with bright red hair, the bug-eyed stare, and the nodding off. we asked ourselves, is he psychotic? what is wrong with him. tom, whose son died, doesn't care. if it was up to him, we would never see holmes' face again. >> i'll give you a challenge. i would like to see cnn come out with a policy that said moving forward, we're not going to talk about the gunman. what we're going so say is a coward walked into a movie theater and started shooting people. he's apprehended, the coward is in jail, he will never see the light of day again. >> it's a question media outlets have wrestled with before. remember the mug shot of jared lee loughner who is accused of shooting congresswoman gabrielle giffords? it's smirking, almost defiant. some newspapers blew up the

picture, others reduced it. other way the photo was burned into our consciousness. experts say while the craving of fame may be one reason people kill, it's certainly not the only reason. henry lee lucas blamed his crimes on his abusive upbringing. some like ted bundy seemed to like killing just for the sake of killing. serial killers are human blag holes and the embodiment of the darkness, desire, and power that we must repress within ourselves, end quote. perhaps then it's worth exploring why these people kill. if only to try to prevent it from happening again. the talk back question, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter? facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

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i'm carol costello. thank you for joining thus morning. stories we're following in the "newsroom." video, listen. >> allah akbar. >> this video posted on a taliban website shows what the taliban says is a huge attack on an american base. supposedly this happened last month. abc news is reporting it was a suicide bombing that killed two american troops and wounded dozens of others. blasts reportedly felt for miles. cnn has not been able to independently confirm this story. in syria there is a new threat today. the regime threatens to use chemical weapons on any foreign powers that try to intervene in its conflict. thousands reportedly have died since the uprising began more than a year ago. chilling new details from inside that apartment of james holmes. investigators found ten gallons of gasoline and 30 homemade grenades connected to a control box which rescue workers disabled by using a remote

controlled robot. more problems for pennsylvania. the justice department is demanding the state produce detailed documents about their voter i.d. laws within 30 days. this formal investigation is looking into whether the state's law requiring a photo i.d. to vote discriminates against minorities. and this just into cnn. startling new claims from the ousted president at penn state. graham spanier says he would not have ignored accusations of child sex abuse at the school because his childhood was tormented by, quote, massive and persistent abuse. the claims made in a letter to the university's board of trustees. susan candiotti has a copy of that letter. she joins us by phone. what does it say, susan? >> reporter: well, among other things, carol, it says that when he was a child that his father used to beat him and that he was a child of that kind of physical abuse. and he also says that because of

that in his background, that mr. spanier says if he had known about any kind of child sexual abuse, suspicion, or allegations, he must certainly would have acted upon it. this is in direct contrast to what investigators for former fbi director louis freeh have concluded in his report that found that dr. spanier was one of several officials at penn state who knew that they had a problem on their hands with now convicted child predator jerry sandusky and yet did nothing about it. it also appears, carol, because it also stands in contrast to e-mails that we first reported several weeks ago before the freeh report came out in which -- which followed a 2001 shower incident. you might remember that at the time dr. spanier is involved in e-mail traffic in which he states that he's aware of a plan and signed off on the plan not

to report the suspicious incident to authorities because they were going to first talk to jerry sandusky about it first, and he wondered about being vulnerable down the road, as he put it, for not having reported it. so this is a letter in which he's presenting now to the board of trustees as a way of explaining his position on this, carol. >> so just clear this up for us, graham spanier is no longer president of penn state, but he's still employed by the university, right? >> reporter: not employed by the university. he is not, no, but he is also under investigation according to sources by state prosecutors who are examining whether he may have some criminal liability along with others who have already been charged with possibly failing to report child abuse. >> so the university is no longer paying mr. spanier. >> reporter: it does not appear

to be the case. now, whether he is getting some kind of compensation after having left. he's no longer president. that remains a bit unclear at this time. however, he did write this letter to the board of trustees to make them aware of what his position is following the freeh report and following the sanctions by the ncaa. >> yeah. i just wondered why he would send the letter to the board of trustees and not hire an attorney and maybe keep that information confidential until he needed it. >> reporter: carol, he has a lawyer. he's had a lawyer for quite some time because, remember, he's also testified before the grand jury last year in connection with this case, and the grand jury did not find any evidence at that time to charge him in connection with the injury yea sandusky case. however, they did jarge wcharge other people. at the time they conducted the investigation, they were not aware of the e-mails i was talking about or other information that was turned up

in documents by the freeh report. so it remains to be seen where this is all going, but it is very curious, and you do ask a very good question why he -- and he is represented by a lawyer -- would have sent this lawyer to the board of trustees to explain it to them, to explain his position. >> it's a very complicated story. you do a great job. susan candiotti reporting live with information just in to cnn. there is a new threat this morning from the assad regime in syria. to use chemical weapons on any countries that might attack during its bloody unrest with opposition forces. the syrian foreign ministry spokesman said this on syrian state tv. >> all the talks of this these weapons that the syrians possess are monitored and guarded by the syrian army. these weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of external aggression against the syrian republic. >> president obama responded to

that comment. mohammed jamjoom joins us from abu dhabi to tell us more. >> reporter: good morning. that announcement you mentioned by the syrian foreign ministry yesterday was significant for a lot of reasons, not least of which because it was the first time the regime has actually admitted publicly they have stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. a new twist to the story. earlier today, the spokesperson, the man who gif that press conference yesterday, actually seemed to start backtracking from those comments. he tweeted out earlier in the day that the media was misrepresenting what he was saying. he said that his presser yesterday was a response to false allegations from the international community about syria's weapons of mass destruction arsenal. nonetheless, the concern is only growing, and especially within syria. today we spoke with a member of the rebel free syrian army who told us that they have intelligence that stockpiles from syria's chemical weapons,

that they were moved to two different parts of the country about 15 days ago and that that is seen as a threat to international powers. carol? >> so, mohammed, what is the united states and israel saying about this? >> reporter: well, really they're expressing growing concern and outrage. yesterday you had the israeli president shimon peres telling cnn that israel is preparing contingency plans. if israel is directly threatened by syria's chemical weapons, that they plan to attack syria's chemical weapons arsenal. the u.s. for its part also expressing more concern. u.s. state department spokeswoman victoria nuland said she was hor frified and shocked. she also reiterated they need to be very responsible and that they need to safeguard their chemical weapons stockpile. >> mohammed jamjoom reporting live this morning. the international aids conference under way in washington. one of the biggest topics is a possible cure.

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the possibility of an aids cure is a hot topic at the international aids conference in washington, d.c. we're learning more about a man who says he's been cured of hiv. let's head to washington and cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. this patient is often referred to as the ber minute patielin p. you just talked to him. >> reporter: i just talked to him. i'll preface by saying when people toss around the word cure with regard to hiv aids it was usually hyperbole. a lot of people in the scientific community very careful for good reason as you might imagine with that word, but they are using that word and they're using it around a guy named timothy brown. i want you to hear from him in a second, but, carol, he's a guy who was diagnosed with leukemia

several years ago and as part of his treatment for leukemia he underwent a bone marrow transplant. they believe it was that transplant that ultimately led to his cure. again, a term that scientists are using. listen to how timothy brown put it to me. does that mean that you have no symptoms, you have no virus? how do you describe it? >> i quit taking my hiv medication on the day i got my first transplant. unfortunately, the leukemia came back and so i had to get a second transplant about a year later, and after the first transplant i did very well. i gained most of the weight and went back to work and everything was great, but the leukemia came back. my hiv was gone after like three months after the first transplant. totally eradicated from my body. >> completely gone. >> completely gone. >> reporter: so, carol, what

you're hearing there, again, is how he is describing a cure, how his doctors are describing him being cured, and scientists here behind me describing it as well. again, you know, it was sort of a la borous process for him, undergoing the bone marrow transplant, but those potentially a lot to learn from him, which is why he's the focus of so much study now, carol. >> so why don't other aids patients undergo bone marrow transplants to see if it works for them? >> well, you know, it's a hard thing. first of all, bone marrow transplantation, there's hardly enough donors for people who are getting bone marrow transplants for cancers such as leukemia, which is what originally was the reason he got his transplant. so it's probably not going to be the answer for people around the world who have hiv aids, but, carol, here is the thing. there's something about that bone marrow that he got that basically turned his cells into cells that were resistant to the hiv virus. the question that a lot of people are trying to answer now

is, is there another way to do that using some sort of genetic therapy. could you make a slight tweak in cells so they are essentially resistant to the virus entering those cells? it is one of those things that may not come in drips and drabs. it may be a sea change in terms of our knowledge in this area. >> so this timothy brown, has he been poked and prodded through the years by different doctors and scientists trying to figure out how he underwent this miracle? >> reporter: yes, absolutely. he's been tested pretty extensively, as you might imagine. it's worth pointing out that even a couple months ago there was a little controversy around him, in one of the examinations they found some evidence of the hiv virus, but what they concluded though was the hiv virus that was in his system was essentially dead, dead virus. it wasn't active. it wasn't capable of replicating. even though they found some evidence of it, it wasn't the kind that can actually cause a problem. he is not on medications.

his appetite is good. he's gained his weight back. again, his doctors are using the word cure for him and now trying to figure out what it means for everybody else. >> wow. dr. sanjay gupta, thanks so much. the jackson family, they can't seem to catch a break. this is surveillance video. yes, things got physical right outside michael jackson's mother's home. i'll show you more. so you're no marathon man.nnou, but thanks to the htc one x from at&t, with its built in beats audio, every note sounds amazingly clear. ...making it easy to get lost in the music... and, well... rio vista?!! [ male announcer ] ...lost. introducing the musically enhanced htc one x from at&t. rethink possible. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time.

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okay. so this is new surveillance video shot right outside of katherine jackson's home. that's michael jackson's mother. i think that's janet jackson. supposedly things got a little physical here. the man in the know though is a.j. hammer. he's in new york. i know you have been looking at this video. so tell us more. >> it's really interesting looking at the video. it's pretty clear it was shot with a camera taking video of a monitor which was of a surveillance camera that was somewhere at this jackson's home. there was a reported scuffle there yesterday. this is the home that katherine jackson, michael jackson's mother, share was michael's children. those would be her grandchildren, and that's who she has guardianship over. according to a los angeles county sheriff's spokesman, a battery report was taken after the incident. you can kind of see from the video at least what we're able to see, it didn't seem to get too physical looking at it here.

the slifsheriff's department is identifying who is involved. this investigation is still ongoing. a source with firsthand knowledge of the incident says that janet, jermaine, and randy jackson were all on the scene. katherine was not there. los angeles county sheriff's detectives, of course, just closed a mtiissing person's cas who was found with her daughter in arizona. the lawyer says the sheriff's deputies tried to talk to her in arizona on monday and were blocked from seeing her. the attorney is asking for the fbi to investigated. carol, this really could just be the start of an even bigger family feud. we're following up on reports of a new fight now between the executors of michael jackson's estate and the adult members of the jackson family. this is obviously a very, very tangled web. >> so this all boils down to michael jackson's money. >> it seems that it would. we can't know for sure. there are a lot of allegations about the legitimacy of the will out there. there are a lot of things floating around. we're looking for the real

answers right now and that's what we'll be dealing with tonight on "showbiz tonight." we have a whole day to try to sort this out. i'm sure you will. >> many thanks to you. want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, watch "showbiz tonight" at 11:00 p.m. eastern on hln. there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer

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we asked to you talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question, should we talk about the accused colorado shooter at all? this from lacy, i think yes. i also would like to hear what his mother has to say, his teachers, et cetera. not to place blame on them, about you to know the warning signs. this from heather, talk about the heroes of the day and not the idiot that did it.

don't let him have the fame, let the victims have the fame. this from elizabeth, yes, we need to talk about the perp. it's part of the healing process. even if you're a victim, you still can't hide from this. from gerald, it's a really sad day when we give murderers this much publicity. focus on the victims and their families and others connected to the tragedy. please keep the conversation going. thanks, as always, for your comments. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me today. cnn "newsroom" continues right now with kyra phillips. >> i'm kyra phillips. it's 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 on the west. we're three days out from the 2012 summer games. time for britain to beef up security again. chemical weapons in syria. that threat igniting a furious international fallout. and honoring a pioneer of u.s. space flight. sally ride went where no american woman had gone before.

we begin with the house of horrors allegedly rigged by the suspect in the colorado theater rampage, james egan holmes. a law enforcement source tells cnn that holmes was bent on using the explosion and fire that would, quote, consume the entire third floor of his apartment complex. neutralizing that network of homemade bombs was a complex and life-threatening process as my colleague randy ki kaye reports from aurora. >> reporter: members of the atf, fbi, aurora police, bomb experts, even chemists gather at the suspected shooter's pardon me and devise a plan to get inside. they call it a controlled debt nation. >> first and foremost is we need to render the area safe. the most immediate threat is the trip wire. >> reporter: it's just after 8:00 a.m., and this team has already been at it for more than 24 hours. trying to figure out a way to defuse or detonate explosives the suspect set inside. through the window of his third floor apartment, they can see a

web of trip wires, and a living room full of about 30 homemade ieds strung together with firecracker shells. there are also jars of black powder and liquid accelerant, cans of gasoline, too. at 10:33 a.m. progress. >> we have been successful in defeating the first threat, which includes defeating the trip wire and the first incendiary device. >> reporter: a robot driven by a bomb technician does the dangerous work humans can't spraying water on the control box in the kitchen wired to the ieds disabling explosives while preserving evidence. >> this apartment was designed, i say, based on everything i have seen, to kill whoever entered it. and if you think we're angry, we sure as hell are angry. >> reporter: a couple hours later, just before noon, firemen shout fire in the hole, and then -- at 12:08 p.m. confirmation the most serious threat is over. e