testified to. earlier in previous hearings, he had smiled when the charges were read against him. he had also had loud out bursts and had to be tackled by guards. this time he was able to communicate with the judge, respond to questions. this was a bit of a different person. he also said 19 times, i plead guilty. his mother sat right behind me. she did cry as her son said that each time. and it's important to understand, also, that there were victims in the courtroom. and they also responded every time that he said that as well. here's what one victim told us shortly after the hearing. >> this is the system doing its best. it's not a perfect solution. the perfect solution is one that we can't have. what we want is not available to us. >> reporter: and that is the woman who brought 9-year-old christina taylor green to the

congress on your corner event. she is the youngest victim of the six people who died. we also did get a statement from mark kelly. he is the husband of former congressman gabrielle giffords. here's what he says. he says, quote, gabby and i are satisfied with this plea agreement. avoiding a trial will help us and we hope the entire southern arizona community to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. >> that was really tough to watch them grapple with that. thank you. >> reporter: much. coming up at 6:30 eastern we'll talk to retired army colonel bill badger. he helped disarm and bring down loughner even after he took a bullet. the gunman who killed six people at a sikh temple in a milwaukee suburb left no obvious clues about his motives. fbi teams have gathered some evidence from the home of wade michael page. oak creek's police chief says this case is unusual because mass murderers typically leave some sort of clue. obvious letters or something else about their plan.

page did not. >> you look for the obvious, you know, somebody said he said this. he posted that. he did that. we're not finding anything like that. we may end up with just a lot of facts of what he's involved with, who he may be associated with. but we may never know that motive because he died. that motive died with him. >> also interesting development this morn ing. the l.a. times and other sources are reporting police arrested page's former girlfriend on a gun charge. officers found an unthorsed weapon in the home of misty cook in the home she once shared with the sikh shooter. they reported she shared his interest. a man from ohio is facing arrangement today after police say he was caught packing a pistol at a showing of "the dark knight rises." police in west lake say 37-year-old scott smith had a loaded 9 millimeter handgun and

three knives in a bag on saturday. smith's lawyer claims he had no intention of using the weapons. he merely wanted to protect himself in case someone tried to imitate last month's deadly shooting at a theater in colorado. authorities say he did not have a concealed carry permit for that weapon. hundreds of tourists on the run this morning after hurricane ernesto slammed into mexico's yucatan peninsula. the storm came ashore packing winds of, get this, 85 miles an hour. ernesto became a minimal hurricane as it passed along the honduras coast. parts of the country could see up to a foot of rain from it. let's go straight to alexander steele. she is tracking this all in the cnn weather center in atlanta. give us a sense of how serious this is. >> good morning, guys. we no longer have hurricane ernesto. the latest advisory just out moments ago has downgraded it now to a tropical storm. so it is tropical storm ernesto. it was the first landfalling hurricane, though, from the atlantic. but we could see it emerge as a

hurricane once again. so here's the latest. now, again, down 70 mile per hour winds. from the center of circulation, about 35 miles out from the center, that's where we have the 70 mile per hour winds. not 80 now. also, it is moving west at 15 miles per hour. and that track and that movement is expected to stay. so here's what happened. here's the yucatan peninsula. it came ashore as a hurricane, minimal hurricane. what we're going to see you, because, of course, any interaction with land does weaken it. a hurricane or tropical storm needs these warm waters to kind of give it its energy. of course, the expectation was for it to weaken. it has. but it will emerge here into the bay of campichi, emerge as a hurricane again and make a second landfall as a hurricane in mexico as well. all this expected to happen the next day or two. in terms of rainfall, especially through the sierra madre mountains, helping to enhance

the rain. there's the yucatan. could see more than a foot around the mountainous areas. of course, very strong winds we're seeing now and the rain. but it is a swift mover. what we are going to see, though, is no impact to u.s. soil of any kind. just a mexico scenario. but we will see a second hurricane once again emerge one more time and then continue and then weaken and then finally dissipate. back to you. >> wow, it's very busy. alexander steele, thank you. seven minutes past the hour. a man blows past a nevada check point approaching the hoover dam, sparking a standoff. take a look at this. he couldn't outsmart a s.w.a.t. paem. they raised a barrier trapping the man's vehicle between the barrier and their truck. he had nowhere to go. so he surrendered peacefully. no word this morning on why the man did not stop at the check point. this just in. gas prices on the rise for a tenth day in a row. the average for a gallon of unleaded, $3.65. a lot more than that here if new york, that's for sure. >> yeah. a lot of places around the

country. i'll see your romney hood and raise you an obamaloney. the two candidates going tit for tat, coining phrases to cut each other down. it started yesterday when the president attacked mitt romney's tax plan. it didn't take long for the gop candidate to return the behavior. behold. >> it's like robinhood in reverse. it's romneyhood. >> if i were to coin a term it would be obamaloney. >> we'll see if the name calling continues today. the president travels to colorado for a two-day, four-stop visit. romney holds a campaign rally in des moines, iowa, scheduled for later this morning. a scoring controversy in women's gymnastics in the olympics involving american ali raisman. a scare in weightlifting. the reigning olympic champ drops a 432 pound weight on his neck.

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>> i'm hoppy harlow. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. usa women's gymnastics finishing on a high note in london yesterday. ali raisman winning gold in the floor exercise and taking home bronze on the beam. but not without some drama surrounding it. fellow american and all-around champ gabby douglas didn't fair as well. she took a fall on the beam to finish seventh. amanda davies live in our olympic bureau. let's start with ali raisman there. what happened? >> reporter: morning, sunny olympic park today for day 12. yeah. u.s. captain ali raisman, she's largely been overlooked in the last few days because of everything else that's been going on with gabby douglas and jordyn wieber. but she's now matched gabby in terms of gold medals won after the gold on the floor. she also took the bronze on the beam as you said. disappointment, though, for gabby douglas. she'd been saying that all the

distraction of everything that had gone before or after that individual all-around title and once again for her second individual event, she really struggled to register. also a little bit of concern about jordyn wieber. she didn't put in a particularly good performance and then was spotted leaving the arena with a supportive boot on her foot. there's some suggestion jordyn wieber might have aggravated an existing stress fracture. really a sad end to the olympic games for her given everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks as well. >> we were talking about ali raisman and some controversy surrounding her. what was that all about? >> yeah. there was controversy about her score. we'd seen before in the all-around that -- to do with tying of scores. it was -- this time it went in her favor with her performance on the beam. she had gone before and missed out narrowly on a bronze medal. here we are today, she did get the medal. she was very pleased about that. the usa gymnastics were very pleased about that as well. >> no kidding.

as were her parents. they've been a big part of these olympics as well. a big day on the track for the americans as well including a photo finish in the women's 100-meter hurdles final. >> reporter: yeah. that was last night. it was a bit of a cruel end, really, to the athletes on the track. people watching on tv had seen that australia's sally pearson had taken the 100 meters hurdled gold ahead of america's defending champion, dawn harper. the athletes were left to stand and wait in the rain, watching up at the big screen with their fingers crossed. there was quite a considerable wait. in the end it did show that pearson had taken the gold, much to her delight. dawn harper was very happy with her silver as well. celebrating. no medal -- no love lost for lolo jones after all the buildup and the angst in the cap. she kind of walked off the track without even congratulating the medalists. it's a very big day again today for the u.s. women on the track because of the 200 meters final. of course, it was the jamaicans

who dominated in beijing. but this year the u.s. could do a one, two, three themselves. allyson felix is in contention hoping it will be third time lucky for her. sanya richards-ross, she's also looking to add to her 400 title. and then carmelita jeter. she's spurred on by the fact she's had a cheetah named after her this week after her success. >> we're going to be talking to jackie joyner-kersee later about the races coming up. amanda davies live in london for us, thank you very much sfwlnchts pretty scary moment at the games. 2008 weightlifting gold medalist matthias steiner, got to see this video. he drops a 432-pound barbell on his neck. >> oh, gosh! >> this happened yesterday. amazingly, he was able to get up on his own. he, of course, had to withdraw. he was taken to the hospital for x-rays. we don't have any final reading on any impact. but good that he could get up and walk away. that is a good sign.

obviously we'll be following it. unbelievable. you were saying they're so strong. those neck muscles from so strong. if anyone can sustain it, someone like him. >> boy, i hope so. that looks horrifying though. terrible. 17 minutes past the hour here. checking the medal count. very important. china has the most medals. 73. and the most gold, 34. we're not far behind. team usa has 70 total medals, 30 gold. great britain and russia each have 48 total medals. today's big events, it's a historic usa versus usa matchup for the women's beach volleyball gold. misty may-treanor, kerri walsh jennings face jen kessy and april ross for the olympic crown. may-treanor and walsh are going for their third gold in what they say will be their final match together. also team usa's men's basketball team takes on australia in the knockout phase of the games. 18 minutes after the hour. let's get you up to date on the morning's top stories. first off, tucson massacre suspect jared lee loughner will be sentenced in november for

killing six people and wounding 13 others. he pled guilty yesterday to 19 different counts in court in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole. it was january last year when loughner shot then congresswoman gabrielle giffords and the 18 other victims. giffords is still recovering from a bullet in her brain. [ gunfire ]. >> heavy gunfire, rocket propelled grenades going off. fighting raging in aleppo and damascus and other hot spots in syria as well. this amateur video showing heavy clashing and several explosions. cnn cannot confirm the authenticity of this video. opposition groups say at least 170 people were killed across the country. this was just yesterday. all this as the former prime minister, who bolted syria, arrived in jordan. i think this is a really interesting story. twitter is now agreeing to comply with the new york police

department handing over information about a twitter user that officers say threatened to attack a broadway theater. police say the user claimed to be planning an attack on mike tyson's one man show. somewhat similar to the movie theater massacre just a few weeks ago in aurora, colorado. twitter had initially refused to cooperate with police saying that it wasn't a threat. yesterday, though, the nypd issued a subpoena. cia director david petraeus shooting down vice presidential talk this morning. that buzz started after a story surfaced yesterday on the drudge report saying president obama was overheard whispering that mitt romney might pluck the retired four-star general from his administration. a cia spokesman for petraeus says the director feels privileged to serve in his current position and will not seek elected office. j lo suing her former driver for 20 million bucks. accusing him of trying to blackmail her for nearly $3 million. that dispute began back in april

when the driver sued lopez and her management for breach of contract when they dropped him from providing security for a video shoot. it is 20 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early read on local news making national headlines. the faa is now imposing stricter rums on airline traffic after the really scary near collision at reagan national airport. that was last week. we told you all about it. this is coming to us via "the washington post." what they're doing here is the faa is temporarily banning aircraft from flying in opposite directions as they arrive and they depart from the airports. this is going to affect all of the airports across the country. last week an air traffic controller accidentally sent two commuter flights into the path of a third jet that was inbound. that is what caused a near collision. the faa says a suspension of two-way traffic is being taken out of an abundance of caution while it considers other measures.

they say this is standard practice. absolutely standard practice. i thought one of the interesting things that they found here is the real problem was a lapse in communication. >> of course. >> between air traffic controllers flying in air space that's just a little too close. hopefully they'll look at that. they also said that somebody who's overseeing operations in towers should not be managing administrative tasks. >> i would agree. >> which they were doing. >> that stood out to me in the article as well. i thought about this landing last night. i was coming back from wisconsin. we were landing at laguardia. i was on a commuter jet. i thought about this. glad to hear the abundance of caution. >> absolutely. until they figure it out. >> how about for good? this story really struck me this morning. all the major u.s. pro sports leagues and the ncaa, so the nba, nfl, mlb, nhl, they are all suing -- this is interesting -- over a law that would allow sports betting in the state of new jersey. it's in the new jersey star ledger this morning. here's what's going on. they filed a federal lawsuit. the federal lawsuit came in court on tuesday basically to

block new jersey from allowing this sports betting to go on. you know, it's interesting. chris christie, the governor of new jersey, is a big proponent of sports betting. obviously they want to help atlantic city be revitalized. this would do that. chris christie thinks they're going to prevail. he said it's going to be a big fight in court. but chris christie came out and said i don't believe the federal government has the right to decide that only certain states can have sports gambling. look, zoraida, he's pointing to the fact that nevada, delaware, oregon and montana have legal sports betting. >> he doesn't back off from a fight. >> he doesn't ever back off from a fight. >> to the bitter end. for an expanded look at our top stories head to our block. cnn.com/earlystart. it is still tough out there. we're talking about jobs, of course. there are a few signs if you are looking for a job, things might be getting a little brighter. why it might be a good time to start sending out that resume again. we'll explain sfwl good news. i love that. ♪

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above 1400 for the first time in four months. you care about that because your 401(k) will likely track that closely. investigators are taking a breather from the debt crisis and europe and slow growth in the u.s. august is historically a pretty rough month for the markets. still early. we've got a few weeks yet to see how the month plays out. let's talk about jobs first. good news for the job market. u.s. employers posted the most job openings in four years in june and layoffs fell as well. that's according to a new report just out from the labor department. this could signal a pickup in the job market for the fall. that's very key in this election, of course. keep in mind it usually takes one to three months to fill a job. competition is very tough. there are about 3.5 people looking at every single job that is open. let's talk about the housing market. probably your biggest asset. more signs the housing market is slowly picking up steam. home prices rose in the second quarter by 6% from the first quarter. that's the biggest jump we've seen in seven years according to new data out from core logic.

the rise in home prices is mostly because there's actually, believe it or not, the beginning of a shortage of homes for sale. you've got mortgage rates at a 60-year low. evidence is housing is picking up. i saw on all this, jobs and housing, it all depends on where you are and what your position is. we can give you the numbers and say jobs look better, your chance for getting a job looks better. it all depends on your personal situation. so many people i talk to every day are struggling. 28 minutes past the hour. ahead on "early start" a school's controversial plan to give teen girls pregnancy tests under fire now. that story straight ahead. ♪ and it starts every morning with gillette fusion proglide. get your great start... with gillette fusion proglide. ♪ with gillette fusion proglide. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel

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if i were to coin a term it would be obamaloney. >> and the political puns keep oncomi oncoming. romneyhood versus obamaloney. what do voters think about the new name calling? new polls out this half hour. could a dry summer cause a blue christmas? how the deep drought is already affecting the holidays and why it may be cheaper to pop for a phony tree this year. he couldn't get the cash so he settled for a yogurt parfait. we're not kidding. a bizarre break-in at a mcdonald's. maybe the easiest arrest ever. >> i love the yogurt parfaits. welcome back to "early start." i'm poppy harlow in for john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 32 minutes past the hour. romney's poll numbers are ticking up. not the way the campaign would like. in a brand-new poll released overnight by "the washington post" and abc news, romney saw

his unfavorability rating jump four points since may from 45% to 49%. the president, well, he remains steady with 53% feeling favorable towards him and 43% with an unfavorable view. cnn's political editor paul ste steinhauser is joining us now. so nice to see you. let's talk about those poll numbers. i think you have some additional ones for us as well. >> yeah. those are all americans. what about independent voters? take a look at this. it's a similar story. mitt romney's unfavor numbers in negative territory. basically the opposite for president obama. zoraida, we've seen this in some other polling as well. when it comes to the economy, mitt romney has a slight advantage. when it comes to favorability, he has a deficit. we've seen that maybe grow a little bit over the last month or two. maybe it has to do with all those negative ads from president obama's campaign team.

maybe not. mitt romney gets another chance maybe to reintroduce himself at the republican convention just a few weeks away. >> those independent votes that you were talking about earlier, those are really crucial to both candidates. >> they really are. independents are so crucial. the battle for the white house is not a national battle but a battle for states and their electoral votes. brand-new numbers out in the last hour or two on crucial states. virginia, both candidates spending a lot of time there. this is from cbs, "new york times" and quinnipiac university. the president with a very slight advantage, you could say, four points in virginia. in wisconsin the president with a six-point advantage. he won both those states four years ago. he also won colorado four years ago. this poll indicates mitt romney with a five-point advantage in colorado. where is president obama today and tomorrow? colorado. guess who else is there? rob portman, the senator from ohio who a lot of people are saying may be the next -- may be mitt romney's running mate. he is there to bracket president obama all day today in colorado,

zoraid zorai zoraida. >> i want you to tell me whether this is true or false. i want to talk about romney's new welfare commercial. i think politifact gave it a pants on fire. true or false? >> a lot of people are saying it's false. they came out with their pants on fire. there's proof right there. seems to be good evidence for that. take a listen to the ad. then we'll talk about it. >> president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check. and welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare. >> here's the thing. the obama campaign is saying, guess what? when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts he supported those changes as well. they also say some republican governors are very much in favor of these changes. maybe the ad is also trying to

drive a wedge between president clinton, very popular still with americans, and president obama. take a listen to this statement from president clinton just a couple hours ago. governor romney released an ad today alleging the obama administration has weakened the work requirements of the 1996 welfare reform act. that is not true. we need bipartisan consensus to continue to help people move from welfare to work even during these hard times, not more misleading campaign ads. so a lot of pushback from the obama campaign on this one. zoraida? >> i know the clinton camp also says that the different states have a right to go and try to figure out how it works for their particular state. paul steinhauser live in washington, d.c. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. what was hurricane ernesto has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. but it's still packing quite a punch. it struck mexico's yucatan peninsula as a category 1 hurricane overnight. winds of 85 miles an hour. the storm also bringing very heavy rain. alexandra steele is monitoring ernesto's progress this morning from the cnn weather center in atlanta. it's getting better, right,

alexandra? >> oh, yeah. what we're going to see, just a mexico affair. very small, tight center of circulation. as you said, it's no longer hurricane ernesto. tropical storm ernesto meaning 70 mile per hour winds now, not 80 mile per hour winds. you know, we can see right here. here it is. made landfall last night in the yucatan peninsula. you can see how small and tight this center of circulation is. only about 35 miles out from the center are we seeing those 70 mile per hour winds. so what we'll see, winds, heavy rain, especially in the mountains. maybe a foot of rain. mudslides, landslides. those will be the biggest impacts. here's the track. again, right now we're seeing it on the yucatan peninsula. but it will emerge here in the bay of campeche, restrengthen as a hurricane. then make a second mexico landfall as we head toward really tomorrow night into early on friday. so no u.s. impacts. but, again, it is the first landfalling hurricane of the atlantic season. we'll have more on that coming up as well. >> thanks so much, alexandra.

moving on to other news this morning, jared lee loughner will spend the rest of his life in prison, no chance of parole. entering guilty pleas in connection with last year's mass shooting in tucson in order to take the death penalty off the table. six people were killed in the shooting, 13 others wounded including then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. one survivor talked about the need to be more compassionate towards the mentally ill. >> it's truly sad that he didn't receive attention prior to this. my thinking is, we really got to, you know, kind of be our brother's keeper here and reach out when we see people struggling. >> for one survivor, there was no closure yesterday. suesy heilemann who was shot three times trying in vain to protect 9-year-old christina taylor green who died that day says the wound will always be open. more than 20 suspected islamic terrorists killed by egyptian air strikes in sinai

overnight. the attacks follow clashes between armed gunmen and egyptian security forces at check points near the israeli border. last sunday 16 border forwards we guards were killed at the hands of suspected palestinian terrorists. a school in louisiana is now asking attorneys to reveal its controversial pregnancy policy after the aclu publicly challenged it as unconstitutional. the policy forces girls suspected of being pregnant to be tested. any student who is pregnant will be kicked off campus. the school says it will make any necessary revisions so that that policy is in compliance with constitutional law. 39 minutes past the hour. still to come, record heat and a lack of rain are already having an impact on the price that you pay at the supermarket. why this summer's drought could make for a charlie brown christmas. you're watching "early start." n? well, plaque quickly starts to grow back. [ dr. rahmany ] introducing crest pro-health clinical rinse.

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welcome back to "early start." it is 43 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm poppy harlow. what is that music? it's like '80s. >> i'm not sure what that tune is. >> fwogood morning. president obama is pleading with congress to step up relief for u.s. farmers suffering under what has become a historic drought. the white house yesterday announced $30 million in new drought aid for individuals and businesses. but obama says that's not going to be enough. he wants congress to pass a $500

billion farm bill. >> needs to pass a farm bill that will not only provide important disaster relief tools, but also make necessary reforms and give farmers the certainty that they deserve. that's the single best way that we can help rural communities, both in the short term, but also in the long term. >> experts are now saying this drought could bring the smallest corn crop in six years. that could drive up food prices all over the world. alexandra steele is live in atlanta. alexandra, the u.s. has suffered from one of the hottest and driest summers on record. i come from minnesota where, you know, very close to where a lot of that corn comes from. corn and soybeans are key right now. give us a sense of just how bad this is in comparison to past years and past droughts. >> well, you know, poppy, it's not just a few states. let's talk a few states compared to years past. really it's so much of the

country. the aggregate as a whole. here's the country. where you see the dark red is extreme drought. almost all of the country under some sort of drought. i want to show you two key states. places like missouri, one year ago they had no drought of any sort. look at where they are. about 100% of the state under some sort of drought. that was missouri. take a look at illinois. a similar scenario. again, last year, zero percent of the state. this year 100% of the state in some type of drought. so you can see, incredible in terms of the scope. also the extreme nature of it all. i want to also show you, this is the entire country. taking a look at the percentage of drought, you can see, the only worst year we've ever seen was 1934. over 60% of the country now in some sort of moderate or greater drought. of course, heat and drought go hand in hand. certainly one exacerbates the other. the midwest, just talking about the midwest alone from april to

june, seventh warmest, ten driest in the u.s. the third driest june in 118 years. top ten warmest. really kind of record breaking. now as we look out -- look at the heat and look at the drought and the dry conditions, now, this is the tendency for the period all the way through the end of september. so what will happen? we know how bad it's been. is there relief? is there help? is there rain? is there cooler temperatures? and really the answer is no. anywhere you see the brown, this is where we're going to see drought persisting or even intensifying through the period as we head until the end of september. so with that, looking at the temperature profile, looking out through the computer models through october, look at how much of the country is above average, meaning warmer. and now, of course, look at how much of the country stays drier than average as well. so, of course, part and parcel to this drought, the heat, the lack of rain. they work hand in hand. certainly exacerbate each other. we've seen it. we're seeing it. and the problem is, poppy, we're going to see it as we head out

through the fall. >> that's the big concern. just looking at the numbers, the forecast now, corn output could be cut by 15%. august, this is the critical month for soybeans. if he could get some rain in the next few weeks that would be a big help. what i'm hearing you say is no matter what, this is going to affect us all the way into christmas? >> that's right. even the christmas trees that are being grown in wisconsin, in minnesota, in illinois, supposedly being affected now. older christmas trees, more mature ones, it takes about seven to ten years for a christmas tree to kind of develop. older trees are more drought resistant. the newer trees that have recently been planted are going to be affected. potentially they're shorter, not as full. of course, we'll pay higher prices because there may be fewer of them. that's looking down the pike five to seven years from now possibly being affected. >> appreciate it. we'll continue our conversation on the record breaking drought. coming up 7:30 a.m. this morning on "starting point" we're going to be talking with agriculture secretary tom vilsack.

48 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on this morning's top stories. the next time we will hear from tucson shooter jared lee loughner will be in november at his sentencing. yesterday he pled guilty to 19 charges in order to avoid the death penalty. loughner also waived his right to pursue an insanity defense. loughner killed six people, wounded 13 others outside an arizona supermarket 19 months ago. among his victims, then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. violent threats at a madonna concert have pushed authorities in russia to step up security. officials say they received a threat of an attack against fans and performers at madonna's show scheduled in st. petersburg for tomorrow. u.s. officials are urging any americans headed to that show to remain aware of their surroundings, be vigilant of themselves, of course. leave the cash, take the yogurt. a strange break-in caught on camera at a mcdonald's. this is in indiana. the suspect seen there on surveillance video trying to steal a cash register.

no luck. so, he decides he's going to settle for a few yogurt parfaits from the refrigerator. there he goes. one of the arriving officers recognized the suspect on the video as a man named christopher mclaughlin. mclaughlin walked by the store. police say he was covered in broken glass that matched the broken windows at the store. and he had yogurt parfait all over his mouth. just kidding. >> at least he wasn't hungry. she's kidding. this is reassuring. imagine you're on a plane, look out the window and you see this. that does not look good. a note on a broken wing saying, we know about this. it's okay. the airline's story and the backlash, straight ahead.

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oh, my gosh. we are freaking over this story. >> we don't like to fly. >> no. welcome back to "early start." poppy harlow along with zoraida sambolin. we're happy you're with us this morning. we're looking what's trending on the web. i know you fly a lot. how would you feel if you looked out of the window of the plane and you saw this? take a look at that. first of all, that's the wing. right? it's clipped there. then there's a little note that says, "we know about this." a passenger on alaska airlines saw this. she looked out the window and saw what looked like a damaged area. clearly it does. with that handwritten note on there. this happened july 28th. it sparked, as you can imagine, a huge backlash on twitter and on social media. the airline says the plane is safe and there was absolutely nothing to worry about. they have apologized. a spokeswoman says a maintenance technician wrote to let the flight crew know that it was an approved repair. so that nobody would, you know, say, hey, you got to look at

this. they said the message was the result of someone's good intentions, but the note was not appropriate and did not follow company procedures. apparently the note was immediately removed. once they landed. alaska has apologized for any alarm that that moment may have caused. >> we fly so often. neither of us really loves to fly. i would like to see full wings every time i fly. >> you've got to think somehow that would affect the plane. but it does not. >> they wouldn't have let it fly if it wasn't safe. we know that. big apology from the airline on that one. all right. hillary clinton, we teased this earlier, she got her groove back. take a look at the secretary of state in johannesburg, south africa. dancing. look at that. a little -- wow. a little dancing from hillary clinton. this was right after she was actually caught showing off her moves in malawi. this is her dancing at a dinner hosted by her south african counterpart.

looks like she had a great time. >> i love that she lets her hair down. >> i do. and she's got some rhythm. i think she's got a little more rhythm than pete, our floor director. >> absolutely. very nice. 55 minutes past the hour. late night laughs. stephen colbert has found the formula for choosing a vice presidential nominee. take a look. >> everybody wants to know who romney will pick. well, now there's a new way for us to figure it out. >> perhaps you can just look to wikipedia. because the day before sarah palin was named as john mccain's running mate, her wikipedia page was updated 68 times. >> 68 times. that's impressive. considering that once she was on the ticket, she did not edit herself once. so the number of times a wikipedia page has been edited predicts the chances for the vp

slot. folks, that means we could be looking at vice president season 6 of "buffy the vampire slayer." >> top stories straight ahead, including ernesto's changing fortunes. a tropical storm that briefly reached hurricane status is now back to a tropical storm again. but don't count ernesto out just yet. we're tracking the storm putting a real damper on vacation hot spots. the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com life without parole. tucson gunman jared lee loughner takes a plea deal.

>> if i were to coin a term it would be obama loney. >> a frightening moment at the olympics, a champion weight lifter loses his grip on the bar bell. >> we're happy you're with us. it is 6:00 a.m. here in the east. first the beginning of closure for the scarred community of tucson, arizona, jared loughner facing a lifetime in president on after killing 6 people and almost killing gabby giffords. the u.s. attorney prosecuting the case says loughner's mental state was a big factor in this decision. >> the doctors who have treated and observed mr. loughner since the shooting agree that he suffered from a severe mental

illness, that is severe schizophrenia at the time of the shooting and before the shooting. the fragility of his continued competency to stand trial was taken into account. >> we're used to see loughner like we did in a photo now. did he look different to you yesterday? >> very, very different, zoraida. when he walked in, he had more of his hair grown in and when he looked at the public and family, some of the victims and reporters, he had an unusual look on his face, almost leak a bit of a sneer, but he was very calm in demean, this is different than what the public has seen before. the people sitting in court. in previous appearances and his very first appearance he looked down and smiled as charges were read against him and another time he appeared in court, he had a loud outburst and had to be subdued by the guards.

this time he was more calm. sat very still, listening intently and able to talk to his lawyer and respond to the judge's question and he did say 19 times very clearly i plead guilty. >> the victims here, a lot of them were present, it must have been a very difficult day as well, do you have something on their reaction. >> they would have liked another outcome of what they wanted most of all, to avoid a long and painful trial. here's what one of them told us. >> this was the system doing its best. it's not a perfect solution. the perfect solution is one that we can't have, what we want is

not available to us. >> what she wanted really is to try to turn back the hands of time and it is something she cannot do. that is the woman who brought christina taylor green to the congress on your corner event to meet representative giffords. green just 9 years old, the youngest of those killed that day. we did get a statement from representative giffords through her husband, mark kelly, gabby and i are satisfied with the plea agreement, avoiding a trial will allow us and we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. >> it's tough to make sense out of senseless acts. we'll talk to retired army colonel big badger, he helped disarm and bring down loughner even after he took a bullet. >> we may never know what

motivated wade michael page to kill people near a sikh temple. oak creek's police chief says this case is unusual because mass murderers usualry leave behind letters or some obvious clue about their plans. page did not. >> you look for the obvious, somebody said, he said this, he posted that, did that. we're not finding anything like that. we may ends up with a lot of facts of what he's involved with and who he may be associated with. but we may never know that motive because he died and that motive died with him. >> meanwhile, milwaukee police have arrested page's former girlfriend on a gun charge. officers found an unauthorized weapon in the home misty cook once shared with the sikh temple shooter. the 31-year-old waitress was active in two neo-nazi

organizations. movie viewers getting a scare when a man is armed with a loaded gun and knives at a showing of "the dark knight rises." his lawyer claims he wanted to protect himself if a gun entered the theater. investigators say he did not have a concealed carry per minimum for the weapon. new york police slapped twitter with a subpoena. they are trying to get information about a twitter user threatened to attack a broadway theater. he claimed to be planning an attack on tyson's one man show. twitter had refused to give up the user's information to authorities. >> ernesto has been downgraded to a tropical storm. it sent tourists on the run. hurricane ernesto packed winds

of 85 miles per hour and a lot of rain. and could still make a second landfall. alexandra steele joins us with ernesto's latest whereabouts. what can you tell us? >> no u.s. impacts with this. again a tropical storm downgraded from a hurricane. maximum sustained winds now at 70 miles per hour. this is the center of circulation, it did make landfall last night about 11:00. look how small and tight it is. again, 70-mile-per-hour max mux sustained winds but only 30 to 35 miles out from the center. a small, tight center. here is its track. yucatan peninsula, land weakens these things. don't count ernesto out. expectation is for it to move in the warm bay of campeche and make its second landfall in mexico as a hurricane thursday into friday. the biggest threat with this,

especially in the mountainous area, could see a foot of rain, storm surge as well and the strong winds well we'll see. a pretty small narrow quadrant of concern, no u.s. impacts at all with this. >> thank you, alexandra. two presidential candidates playing can you top this, mitt romney, president obama, coining catchy phrases to take each other down. it didn't take long for the gop challenger to bite back. >> it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> if i were coin a term it would be obamaloney. we'll see if the name calming continues today. the president travels for a four-stop visit in the state. it is a scoring controversy

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join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. welcome back to "early start." i'm poppy harlow. >> the usa women's gymnastics ending on a high note. aly raisman took bronze on the beam but not without drama.

gabby took a fall on the beam to finish seventh. amanda davies, i want to start with raisman, she walks away with the could haveted prize, bt was the drama all about. >> she likes to deep everybody on her toes, doesn't she, aly raisman for the second time in this olympics, she went to a tie breaker and the first time in the all around final. she lost out on a medal, the ruling went against this time on the beam she wwas tied. she appealed the difficulty scoring on her beam and in the end the judges ruled in her favor and gave her a higher difficulty rating so she came away with the bronze medal on the beam. perhaps more importantly, she also came away with the gold medal on the floor. she's now tied with gabby douglas in terms of gold medals won at these games. the u.s. captain missed out on the headlines because of

everything else surrounding jordyn wieber and gabby douglas but this was her moment. gabby didn't put in a good performance at all. she was talking about how many distractions had been put in her way in the last few days since she won the coveted individual title and jordyn wieber, we've got to give a note to her as well, she limped out with her foot in a fixed cast. some suggestion that she's aggravated an existing stress fracture so not a good end to the games to her as well. >> a good day on track for the americans. tell us about that. >> reporter: it was really tense finish last night, a little bit unfair to the athletes on the track because those watching on television could clearly see that australia's sally pearson had taken the title in the 100 meter hurdles. but for the athletes on the track, it was a nervous watch and wait with the rain falling

down and both herself and the defending champion from america, left staring at the screen to see who had taken the title. it was sally pearson. australia had been watching her with pressure on her. lo lo jones not so, she walked off the track without congratulating anybody else. the big night for america, the 200 meters could go for a 1-2-3. allyson felix and jeter, i think jamaica may have something to say about it. >> i know, we'll wait and see.

>> a man who was allegedly injured 24 hours previously was something of a laz russ like rebirth for the al year yan athlete. he had been in the 800 meters heat. he wanted to pull out but a bit of paperwork hadn't been put in in time so he was made to compete, got 200 meters and decided to walk off. so he was disqualified for not giving his best. as it was, it was reinstated, competed in the 1500 meters and blew the rest of the field away and gone home with gold and leaving everybody else wondering what on earth happened. amanda davies, thank you very much. a scary moment at the games, 2008 medalist steiner drops a

432 bar bell on his neck. amazingly he was able to get up and walk away. he of course, had to withdraw. he was taken to the hospital for x-rays. no word on any long lasting injuries but very good he was able to walk away. very hard to watch as well. >> let's hope those muscles are nice and strong -- >> if anyone can. >> checking the medal count. china has the most at 73 and almost the most gold at 34. team usa has 70 total medals and 30 of them are gold. great britain and russia each have 48 total medals. in today's events, historic all american match for women's beach volleyball gold. men's basketball team takes on aus trael i can't in the knockout phase of the games and men's volleyball quarterfinals and track and field, a likely thriller, 200 meter final. you heard amanda davies talking about it. >> it's 17 minutes after the

hour. let's get you up to date on this morning's top stories. jared lee loughner pleading guilty to 19 criminal charges to avoid the death penalty. he'll be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in november. he killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then congresswoman gabrielle giffords when he open fire outside a tucson supermarket in january of last year. the east coast of china is being hammered by the third typhoon in less than a week. the typhoon came ashore with winds over 100 miles per hour and heavy rain. the storm is losing strength as it moves inland. it is capable of dumping another 6 to 10 inches of rain on the region. if you purchased reebok easy tone or run tone sneakers you may have a check in the mail. today customers are receiving refunds as part of a federal settlement over claims of

deceptive advertising. they claims their shoes were better than others at strengthening muscles. to get a refund, customers must have filed their claim by the april deadline. >> i love this story. i'm so glad i get to tell it to you. a new poll has chosen toad suck arkansas as having the most infortunate name. they take its name from an old drinking spot for boaters on the arkansas river where locals say they suck on the bottle until they swell up like toads, beat out climax, georgia, boring, oregon, hooker, oklahoma. the producers called the local diner so i wouldn't mispronounce the last one. >> good job, poppy.

>> unreal. from curse words to pass words, a frightening hack attack on a supposedly savvy internet user. what you need to know to protect yourself. like how a little oil e can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we 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. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com. ♪ three, six, nine ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ pat it on your partner's hand ♪ ♪ right hand ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ cross it with your left arm ♪ pat your partner's left palm

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we are minding your business this morning. it is the hack attack heard all over the internet. a personal and scary story about how he was hacked late last

week. and that story is the way his accounts were hacked and it could happen to anyone. >> what we're seeing here, zoraida, what seems to be a loophole, a blind spot in what secures your account. let's talk you through it. here's what happened to matt. the hackers that attacked his account used his amazon account to get into his apple account and basically wreak total havoc from there. they called amazon and said they wanted to add a credit card account. the hackers had the e-mail address with the account and they handed today other and that was it. they handed amazon back saying they lost access to that account for verification, they just needed to provide a name, billing address and credit card associated with the account, which they had because they just added a new credit card number. gaining access allowed them to

altd a new e-mail to the act and change the password. by getting access to the last four digits to the credit card on file on the amazon account, the hackers could then get into his apple account from there they could get into icloud, g mail, twitter, wipe out data on the three devices. look at this tweet, clan vv 3 and phobia hacked this twitter and cnn money is reporting this morning that amazon and apple are working closely to close the lo loophole. there's nothing he could have done, that the user could do differently. so the companies are working on this. a lot of detail if you're interested in the cnn money report. >> it's incredible how they can access information. that's scary. >> it's all online and there's nothing in this case you can do to protect yourself. >> we have a blue print of how it happened. >> unbelievable.

>> ahead on "early start," a 4 foot long alligator found in the backyard. you know where this is, florida. no, it's not florida. we're going to tell you where. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself,

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sitting congresswoman. we're talking to the man who took a bullet in the massacre taking the gunman down. bring the rain, ernesto downgraded after it slams one of the hottest tourist spots on the continent as a hurricane. if i were to coin a term it would be obamaloney. >> what do voters think about all of the name calling? new polls we'll share with you. >> i'm poppy harlow in for john berman. he shot a sitting u.s. congresswoman and killed six people. now jared lee loughner has struck a plea deal. he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on 19 different charges. it spares him the death penalty and he will be formally sentenced to life in prison without parole. retired army colonel bill badger was one of the 13 people wounded that day.

he didn't even realize he had been shot before he helped take down loughner. thank you so much for your bravery and all of the people you helped that day. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> can you give me a sense of how you're feeling right now? there has been some outcry, some people saying loughner should have faced the death penalty. they feel they were cheated in this way. what is your reaction? do you agree or do you feel this puts the whole episode behind you and you can now move on? >> it puts the whole episode behind me and we can now move on. i think we will start to heal now and i've talked to all of the other victims and that's pretty well the consensus of opinion, that we're glad that we don't have to go to a trial. we think it would have been a long trial and so we feel a sense of relief right now and we're satisfied with the decision that was made for him

to plead guilty and get life in prison. >> you have a rare perspective on this because you were there that day. you were shot, but at the same time, you grabbed loughner and held him tight on the ground. you saw him up close and saw his face. can you give us a sense of the man you saw that day and the man we saw in court yesterday? >> well, the day that he did the shooting when i took him down with the help of roger, why, he had his stocking cap on and his glasses. his glasses fell off when he hit the sidewalk. and but he had this medium hair. it is not shaved like a lot of pictures you see of him now and just looked like a young man. >> i know, sir, you spoke out after the aurora, colorado shooting a few weeks ago. i was there covering it firsthand. i just came back from wisconsin covering the temple shooting.

a far too common these days the use of violence with hand guns and you said after the shooting in colorado, how in the world could something like this happen again and again? you've been outspoken at the forefront part of the campaign among some mayors to put more restrictions on gun ownership in this country. you've been disappointed with your senator there in arizona, john mccain, on gun control issues. i want you to listen to what he had to say to cnn two days after the aurora shooting. >> i think the strongest second amendment rights people would be glad to have a conversation, but to somehow leap to the conclusion that this was somehow caused by the fact that we don't have more gun control legislation, i don't think has been proved. >> what's your reaction to that? >> well, see, i disagree because when i look at the gun control we had that was let expire in 2004, i don't understand why.

because president clinton signed into law the brady act and also he signed into law the law where you couldn't have assault weapons, like the 47s and also you could only have magazines with ten clips in it. then in 2004, why, these expired. and you know, the laws are all there. if just takes somebody, some of our congress to go back and implement again the laws that we had during when clinton was president. >> colonel, we're so sorry for what you went through, what everyone went through that day. i'm glad for you, at least, that you can put this behind you now. very brave actions that day that everyone is grateful for. thank you sosh for joining us. >> i would like to say one more

thing. we would like to see the plan from president obama or governor romney, on what they plan to do if they are elected president for the next term? and as far as gun control. all we're getting so far is rhetoric. and we would like to see some action. and that's what we're working on right now. >> i think it's absolutely going to be a topic and it's going continue to be a focus into the election. thanks very much, sir, we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> it is 34 minutes past the hour. first it was a tropical storm. then it was a hurricane. now ernesto has been downgraded again to a tropical storm. it struck mexico's yucatan peninsula. alexandra steele has been tracking this one. it's kind of like the lull again before the storm. >> something like that. we've seen the tropical storm or

hurricane, move on land, they lose their breathing, their fuel, which is the warm water, right? so we saw it downgraded to a tropical storm. maximum sustained winds at 70 miles per hour. but take a look. here's the center of circulation. look how small and tight it's gotten. maximum sustained winds only extend out about 30 to 35 miles per hour. of course as expected, it did weaken as it has come on land. but bay of campeche is very warm, the expectation tomorrow into tomorrow night, expected to restrengthen and become a hurricane once again then make its second on land mexico landfall. this was only the first landfalling hurricane we've had in atlantic basin. rainfall and the winds and storm surge, about 2 to 4 feet above tide level expected. so that is the biggest threat. the most severe aspect, pretty tight and small corridor. >> alexandra steele, thank you very much, live at the cnn

center. a louisiana school is putting a policy under review that forces girls to take a pregnancy test and pregnant students to be kicked off campus. the acla has challenged this policy as unconstitutional. the school is asking toes to make necessary revisions to make sure it is in compliance with constitutional law. one man's pet is a neighborhood's pest. animal control officers called out to remove a gator at the cleveland man's backyard. it was being kept in a tub covered with a metal grate and bricks. the owner faces charges. the neighbors say he's already in jail in an unrelated incident. so who was watching the pet? >> that's absolutely my nightmare. new polls out and voters falling out of favor with mitt romney. the new numbers straight ahead. [ female announcer ] the coffee house.

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a cool 77 degrees and up to 93 and i'm sure humid in d.c. later. glad you're with us this morning. mitt romney's poll numbers are actually ticking up but not the way the campaign would like that to go. in a brand-new poll released overnight by the "washington post" and abc news, romney saw his unfavorablety rating jump from 45% to 49%. and the president remains steady with 53% feeling favorable towards him and 43 with an

unfavorable view. paul, you have some more numbers for us on independents. >> let's talk about that. they are the voters who could decide come november who wins the race for the white house. you can see the same story, the president has the advantage here. just the opposite for mitt romney, zoraida. other polls have indicated the same thing and you've seen a lot of attack ads going after mitt romney over the last couple of months. national polls indicate he has a slight advantage on the economy over the president. that's the top issue. talking about that, new state polls as well. remember this is a battle for states and their electoral votes. take a look at this from virginia, a state the president won four years ago. wisconsin. president won it by double digits four years ago and a six-point lead here and colorado, a five-point advantage for mitt romney. the president is in colorado and

senator rob portman of ohio who a lot of people are thinking may be mitt romney's running mate is there to campaign for mitt romney. a lot of speculation there. >> a lot of speculation. i want to move onto the new commercial that romney has about well welfare to work and suggesting the obama administration is taking the work part out of welfare. a lot of talk about this yesterday, true or false? >> politifact is saying pants on fire. they are going with false. let's take a listen to the ad. >> president obama quietly announced a plan to get welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work or wouldn't have to train for a job. they just send you your welfare check and welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare. >> interesting thing here, mitt romney was talking about this on the campaign trail. it's a push by romney in the

campaign to get rid of work requirements. obama campaign points out, the memo they released earlier last month, gives states more flexibility and some republican governors actually like this. when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts, he was also in favor of such ideas and plans. this seems to be an attempt by romney to maybe drive a wedge before president obama and former president clinton. very popular with americans according to polls. take a listen to his response on the ad last night. he says, governor romney released an ad alleging that the obama administration weaken theed work requirements of the welfare reform act. that is not true. we need bipartisan consensus to get people to move from welfare to work even during these hard times, not more misleading campaign ads. a tough statement from president clinton there. we'll hear more about it today, i'm sure. >> i'm sure. paul, thank you. let's get you up to speed on

the morning top stories, jared lee loughner will be back in court in three months after pleading guilty to 19 charges in order to avoid the death penalty. he also waived his right to ensue an insanity defense. he'll be sentenced to life in prison and no chance of parole. outside an arizona supermarket, 19 months ago. details of a rush rescue to save an american in antarctica, to help with a medical emergency at the u.s. base, helping to transport an expeditioner from the station. the station is is the largest base on antarctica and negative 22 degrees there. the medical team will head to christchurch new zealand today then fly to the station when weather and light permit.

when they update us, we'll pass the information on to you. a passenger on an alaska airlines flight took this photo after she looked out the window to see what looked like a damaged area of the plane with a note on it, we know about it. maintenance actually wrote the note and the airline says the plane was safe to fly but they apologized. the spokeswoman saying a maintenance technician who wrote that was not approved to do so and it was an approved trim repair to the wing. but they didn't follow policy by writing that. >> good gracious. hillary clinton showing off her moves yet again. look at her go. the secretary of state mixing dancing with diplomacy during her tour. she danced at the dinner hosted by her south african counterpart, even did a little bumping and grinding. it followed her busting a move in malawi as announcing that

they will strengthen that agriculture system. >> it's nice to see her chill and relax a little bit. john berman and brooke baldwin are doing starting point this morning. >> she was getting down. good morning, how are you? >> good. >> we have a lot coming up. it's come to this. you've been talking about it, romney hood versus obamaloney. like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> if i were to coin a term it would be obamaloney. have we hit a new low in campaign tactics? we have andrea saul for the romney campaign and stephanie cutter, deputy manager for the obama campaign. we have both sides and there very well could be fireworks. also this morning, this louisiana high school under attack for a policy that forces girls to take pregnancy tests

and bans them, yep, out of school if they are pregnant. is it too much? also, we're vam ping it up this morning, true blood star debra ann woll stops by. you can watch cnn live on your computer or at work, wherever you are, go to cnn.com/tv. see you at the top of the hour. >> such a "true blood" fan. excited. >> ahead on "early start," olympic update, we'll talk with the last american woman to win the gold in the long jump. jackie joyner kersey. what are america's chances today? that's straight ahead. [ female announcer ] how do you define your moment?

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welcome back, a come from behind effort from to win a medal and disappoint for lolo jones. a shot for the american women to medal in long jump, an event that hasn't been won by an american since 1988. who knows about those events more than jackie joyner kersey, the last american to win gold in the long jump and world record points holding in the heptathlon. lolo jones, now that you had two bitter tweet olympic it's like, man, i don't know, every time i come here i get burned. do you think it was all of the pressure and hype going into the

olympics? >> i think it's part of the preparation and process. you had two other american hurdlers, don harper to won the gold medal in 2008 and also got the silver medal last night and kellie wells who came away with the bronze. this year she's gone through a lot of ups and downs and had back surgery and to see her back on the track running, i know she was disappointed but i don't think it was about the hype. i feel going into the games she was just as a threat as anyone else. >> i want to talk about a surprise silver in the 1500 meters. leo was not expected to win but he came from behind. the first u.s. medalist in the race since 1968. how does something like that happen? >> you know, it's all part of preparation. these are olympic games. you never count yourself out or look at the record books. if you're ready, you're ready and last night showed he was ready. he was pulling, you know --

>> it was like beyond ready though, right it was like beyond ready. like something kicked in and it was just a remarkable moment. >> yes, it was a remarkable moment. in his mind, he wasn't beyond ready. in the minds of other because it hadn't been done in so many years or decades, but he was ready. >> we have women's long jump, two americans trying to be first medal since you did it. they are facing a very tough crowd. delosh is considered the best american chance today but britney reese broke your indoor jump record. she has the best jump in the world this year. you said you have been waiting for something like this to come along. what advice would you give her? >> my advice -- there are two most consistent long jumpers, both jumped over 23 feet in olympic trials, britney reese, it's a matter of her finding the board.

if she hits the board and janai has been hitting the qualifying mark. i think in britney's case she has the ability to go beyond as well as janai. >> jackie joyner-kersee. >> up star. >> today's best advice from ty pennington coming up. no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers.

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we wrap it up as always with best advice. >> and we asked ty pennington the best advice he's ever received. >> i've been given a lot of advice. but i would say the most res nant would be be passionate, believe in yourself or nobody else will. >> it is good advice. >> it is good advice. i think that dose of energy he has, if he could figure out how to get that in best advice. >> how to bottle it. >> he's working on a project where they are building a home, a democratic and republican effort and they are going to come together and build a home for veterans. >> a bipartisan effort, that's great, i love anything they do to help vets. >> that's it for "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm poppy harlow. take it away, guys. >> thank you both, i'm brooke

baldwin. >> and i'm john berman. soledad is off this week. guilty, jared lee loughner takes a plea deal for going on a rampage and killing six people. he will avoid the death penalty. >> arrested. cnn has learned overnight police have hauled in the ex-girlfriend of the gunman who open fire in the sikh temple. and the response to romney hood. obamaloney. >> we've been watching the president say a lot of things about me and my policies and they are not right. if i were to coin a term, it would be obamaloney. >> i didn't even say it right. obamaloney, a sharp dive into the absurd. andrea saul and deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter. also coming up tom vilsack and "true blood" star, debra ann woll. "starting point" begins right

now. >> good wednesday morning, thank you so much for being with us here. we want to begin with our starting point this morning being jared lee loughner, admitting he's guilty now and faces life in prison. >> he changed his plea to guilty on 19 different charges amidding to killing six people and wounds others outside a tucson grocery store. gabby giffords survived and is still recovering. he will avoid the death penalty. after the hearing a number of survivors came together outside the courthouse. >> give up this hopelessness in this country that we can't do anything. because we can and we must. >> these taboo words, gun control can be spoken plainly in the halls of congress again. >> one of ways i believe we can make good come out of this, is

to begin some common sense discussion about who should bear arms. what hands should firearms go into. >> kyung lah was in the courtroom. >> he seemed calmer than previous appearances. clearly medicated. when he first walked into the courtroom, he did have an unusual look on his face as he looked at the public at his family and reporters and some of the victims. he looked very briefly at everyone and sat down. he was very calm. he sat very still and he was able to engage with his attorney as well as respond to questions from the judge. this is different from the jared lee loughner ha reporters had seen in the past. in his first appearance he smiled when the charges were read against him. in another appearance, he had a loud, very sudden