the san francisco bay area. which is some analysts suggesting that could bring gas prices there into california and west coast area, up to $4 a gallon, that's obviously a big mark. in the short-term, the residents near the refinery have been telling us, talking about how miserable the whole experience has been. >> you're putting this poison out here, killing us. >> do i have to look forward to having cancer? does my grandchild have to look forward to having cancer? >> my people ain't for sale. these nickels and dimes that you pay us around here are no good for none of them. >> zoraida, the question is at what point will these gas prices start kind of leveling off and going back down. some analysts suggest as we head into the fall, that we should start seeing the gas prices kind of leveling off or dropping back down. but in the short term, expect

more of the same as the gas prices continue to tick higher and higher. zoraida? >> thank you vermuch. a major shake-up at the nation's largest breast cancer foundation this morning, susan g. komen for the cure. the president liz thompson and founder, nancy brinker, stepping down from their post. it's being seen by many as just more fallout from komen's decision earlier this year to briefly suspend funding for planned parenthood. and the next hour of "early start," we'll talk about the politics behind the komen shake-up with laura bassett. the political reporter from "huffington post." the mindset of the man behind the aurora, colorado theater killings. james holmes is expected back in court this morning. public defense lawyers wand investigators to hand over the

packet of documents that he sent to his psychiatrist. the package was seized by authorities under a search warrant last week. the defense says it's privileged doctor/patient communication. holmes is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at a midnight screening of "the dark knight rises." you hear screaming, as military fighter jets, choppers and tanks unleashed on a virtually devastated parts of aleppo, that was once syria's most populated city. the syrian government and the opposition offering different accounts of who controls a key neighborhood. a syrian opposition network says at least 167 people were killed across the country yesterday alone. the first day in the murder trial for china's so-called jackie kennedy has adjourned just a few hours ago. gui kailai, wife of a communist

official is accused of poisoning a british businessman, in an attempt to save her son, who experts say was caught up in a money dispute. the heat is definitely on this summer, we certainly felt it, i'm not forward to my air conditioning bill. this july, folks, hottest on record. meteorologist alexandra steele is in tlaatlanta. i was down there, and it was 106 degrees. we've all felt it, right? these are historic highs. >> absolutely. and now just coming down off the presses last night, officially, guys, july, hottest month for the entire u.s. since 1895, even surpassing the july of those famous dust bowl years of 1936. so it certainly felt hot with the temperatures in the 100s, now for the record books, it

surely has been. top ten warmest julys, we had it in 32 states. and the last 12 months have been the hottest on record. so as an aggregate as the country, individual states have had the warmest and the last 12 months have been the warmest. so what's the outlook, is the heat continuing? you've got it. here's the forecast. the computer model projection through october, temperatures remain above average. and part and parcel to the heat, and the drought, and dry conditions, you can see for portion of the country as well. yesterday at this time we were talking about ernesto making landfall as a hurricane. you can see where it is now. tropical storm once again, winds back up to 70 miles per hour. expected to make its second landfall, potentially as a hurricane, but there's just not a lot of time, limited time over the water. for really any more intensification. our attention turns from ernesto to potentially gordon. tropical outlook in the atlantic. 70% chance for this to become our next tropical cyclone.

if so, it will be gordon and all our eyes and attention will focus to gordon. that being said, we'll have to watch it and see what happens today. >> absolutely. thanks so much. the martian crater where nasa's "curiosity" rover landed looks a lot like earth. a california scientist compares some early pictures of that crater to the mojave desert. both are said to have looming mountains and a lingering haze. the "curiosity" successfully and very memorably touched down on mars sunday night. >> that's my favorite video of the week. >> it's adorable. they're so thrilled. a perfect execution there. the end of an olympic era, a dynamic duo cap off their career and put team usa on the top. we bring you live to london, next. ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ pat it on your partner's hand ♪

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welcome back to "early start," it is 11 minutes past the hour, i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's just another historic day at the beach, did you watch? the u.s. now on top in total medals at the olympics, thanks in part to that history-making beach volleyball team. three-time champs, misty mae-treanor and kerri walsh-jennings. it wasn't just an all-usa volleyball final. it was a final match for these

two gals as a team as well. i actually watched this one because i wanted to watch history in the making, i think everybody expected them to win. >> it was great occasion, wasn't it? misty mae-treanor signed off saying now it's time for her to be a wife and mom after the third olympic gold medal with kerri walsh as you said, people here talking about a three-peat on horse guard's parade, definitely one of the most stunning venues and prince harry was there watching and david beckham was there watching. now it's very much a case of handing over the baton to another american pair, jennifer kesy and april ross, the world champions from 2009. so the end of an era, but possibly the start of another one for usa beach volleyball. >> wouldn't that be wonderful, amanda, we would love for that to happen. so it was also golden in track and field, tell us about that? >> an incredible three gold medals in the 30 minutes.

not exactly bad going. allison felix kicked it all off in the women's 200 meters, she held off a really strong field and of course she got two silver medals in this event in the last two olympics. but then went on to claim gold and her smile, mega, megawatt smile lit up the olympic stadium. carmelita jeter took bronze in that one. and ares merit decided to get in on the act. he was treating the final as if it was a practice run. he did pretty well. he went on to take gold. and in a personal best time as well. and then britney reece stepped up for the long jump. she only recorded two jumps, enough to give her the gold medal as well. we haven't had any of those medal ceremonies yet. but it will be the star-spangled banner all the way when those get handed out. >> go team usa. coming up today, the potential for drama is very high as the u.s. women's soccer team takes

on japan. >> yeah. this one is massively anticipated, isn't it. it's expected to be the biggest crowd ever for a women's olympic football match at wembley stadium. it's usa against japan. a repeat of the world cup final from last year, that japan won in frankfurt on penalties, very interesting, the media call yesterday, the players lined up, one from the usa, one from japan, all arm in arm, all looked incredibly happy and friendly. and then abby wambach said that's not how it is going to be tomorrow. i all about revenge for last year. usa looking for their third gold medal in four olympic games. >> love all the action. thank you so much for bringing it to us, amanda davies, live in london. in addition to the women's soccer final between the u.s. and japan, the men's 200 meter final is on tap today, also, women's platform diving. i love diving and also men's beach volleyball, the final is

ahead. 15 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on the morning's top story. gas prices may surge above $4 a gallon on the west coast as well as rise across the nation because of a fire at chevron's richmond, california refinery. those are the pictures. the plant is partially shut down and it's one of the region's biggest suppliers. we'll have a live report for you. and we now know the final shot fired by the sikh temple gunman, wade page, was into his own head. the fbi saying surveillance video confirms that page committed suicide after being wounded in the stomach by a hero police officer on sunday. listen to this, a delaware pediatrician and his wife arrested for allegedly waterboarding their 11-year-old daughter. dr. melvin morris, a noted researcher in near-death experiences and his wife, paul ian, face reckless endangerment charges. the couple's daughter telling

police her father held her face under a faucet at least four times in the last two years to punish her while her mother stood by and watched. and country singer randy travis out on bail after troopers in northern texas allegedly found him lying naked on a remote road, apparently smelling of alcohol following his car careening off a highway and was charged with d.u.i. and felony retaliation, for threatening troopers. back in february he pleaded no contest following public intoxication. so sick american being evacuated fromntarctica. the team landed on an icy runway during a narrow window of twilight in an arctica's dark window. the patient was picked up from mcmurdo research station,

temperature 13 degrees below zero fahrenheit. the person is said to be in stable condition. it is 17 minutes past 5:00 in the morning. we're on the east coast. we're getting an early read on local news making headlines. it is enough to shock sin city. vegas police have been flooded with calls about people very disturbed by that image. so here's what you're seeing. this comes out of the las vegas review journal. that's a billboard, and that is man kin hanging from the billboard. but drivers on the road thought those were real people. i would probably crash and then call 911. i want to tell you one of the billboards said, dying for work, another one said hope you're happy, wall street. police saying this is vandalism, not ads. police are investigating it. it's interesting, in this

article they talked to a representative from occupy las vegas, occupy said they're in no way responsible for this. but they support it. saying it's not surprising that radical consciousness will find its expression through various forms of art. >> dangerous and in poor taste. 18 minutes past the hour. a michigan judge thrown out of office after being found guilty of misconduct, may wind up back on the bench. i do not get this story. this is from the "detroit free press." so ousted district court judge, sylvia james won the most votes in a primary election. she'll now be allowed to run for the seat she was thrown out of in the general election. inkster, 30 minutes outside of detroit. she joined the court in 1988 she was removed after being found guilty of misconduct. she was the top vote-get anywhere the tuesday primary. she will run in the november general election. this, you know, just a

head-scratcher. they found out that she misused court funds intended for crime victims and used the money to pay court employees instead. also accused of nepotism. she lied during the investigation and hearing and yet she's running again and she could potentially win. >> she has her supporters. >> a lot of supporters. so that's who is voting for her. kind of crazy. >> we'll see what happens in the general election. for an expanded look at all the top stories, head to our blog, cnn/early start. pay for your coffee withoutor taking your hands out of your pocket. more on the new innovation at starbucks. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener.

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visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. we are minding your business this morning. let's check in on the markets. u.s. stock futures trading higher this morning. european and asian markets up, too, on hopes of more stimulus for the world's largest economies. and poppy has the rest of the business headlines this morning. we've got you working triple duty this morning. >> let's start off with food prices, the drought across the u.s. is pushing food prices higher. corn prices jumping 23% july worldwide. according to new data out from the u.n. this morning. the u.n. warns that prices could increase further this year. certainly if the drought doesn't ease up. talking about mobile phones, google's android taking a big bite out of apple's market

share. android phones accounted for 68% of the global smartphone market last quarter. this according to research firm idc. a lot of folks are holding out, waiting for the iphone 5 that may come out in september it could be part of what we're seeing play out. and the blackberry, do you have one of those? shipments sharply down in the quarter only about 5% of the market share is blackberry now. they're easier to text on, we'll talk about that later. also, starbucks teaming up with a mobile payment company called square. the company created by the co-founder of twitter. square will begin processing all of starbucks credit card payments and here's the goal of the partnership, folks. when you walk into a starbucks store, your photo and your name will pop up on the screen at the register. they'll read the data from your phone. and then when you're ready to pay, you give them your name, they'll match your face to the photo on the register, that's all, you won't need to take out your phone or your credit card

or anything to pay. they're developing that technology now, so if it works, you'll see it in stores, no date yet on when it will happen. interesting, too, zoraida, starbucks invested $25 million in this company so they're getting the tech space, too. >> the little square device, do you have to have it on your phone in order for it to work? >> they have it, they're installing it. >> very cool. people in detroit office building never knew it, but they had been working right next to a bomb in the office for weeks. wait until you hear how it got there, that is coming up. and if you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desktop, mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. and this is what inspires us to create new technology. ♪ technology that connects us to everything the world has to offer and vice versa.

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sky-high flames earlier this week at a california refinery. take a look at those pictures. now sky-high gas prices 'cross the country are expected as a result of that. well, we weren't expecting you, authorities, to find out how a plane ended up landing on the wrong runway at the wrong airport. all seeing, new york city's new futuristic digital eye to track crimes. critics asking if there's any privacy left. but it's very cool technology. we're going to be talking about it. welcome back to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm poppy harlow. it is 30 minutes past the hour from the state of washington, to the state of california, gas prices could go way up and the rest of us may be seeing pain at

the pump pretty soon as well. here's the culprit. chevron's richmond, california oil refinery. a huge fire breaking out on monday, partially shutting down production at one of the nation's biggest refineries. ed, two concerns, first of all, health concerns, people were irate at a town hall meeting about this and gas prices, one of the big drivers is the fact that you've got limited refineries on the west coast, pretty separated from what you've got in the gulf, closer to where you are. >> reporter: it's an issue that you're not only seeing on the west coast, but it's a problem that's plagued refineries over the last couple of weeks. that's why we've seen, one of the reasons we've seen the jump in gas prices, if you blinked, you've missed it. it crept up on everybody. over the course of the last month, gas prices, the national average have shot up about 30 cents and this morning, the

national average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.66. there's a great deal of many factors that go into this, worldwide issues and issues of demand. what we've seen is a question of disruptions, problems not only at the refinery in richmond, california, the san francisco bay area, but refineries from the midwest down to oklahoma, disruptions, pipeline ruptures, those types of things that have really slowed down the production and the flow of oil into gas stations and that's why we've seen these jumps. but many of the people who live near the fire in richmond, california, very angered by what they're dealing with and also very frightened. >> you putting this poison out here. killing us. >> do i have to look forward to having cancer? you know, does my grandchild have to look forward to having for sale. >> my people ain't for sale,

these nickels and dimes that you pay us around here are no good for none of them. >> reporter: poppy, the question now is at what point will we see gas prices start to level off? many opinions floating around about that. in california on the west coast, they're talking about gas prices perhaps reaching $4 a gallon in many places. they expect to see gas prices continue to tick up here over the next several days and weeks. some analysts also suggest that as we head into the fall, demand will start to curtail a little bit and perhaps we'll start seeing it then. in the short-term, the dreaded phrase -- pain at the pump, is a very real reality. >> i think you're right, that only relief is heading into the fall. if we do see the demand taper off a little bit. i was looking at the numbers, we're only 11% shy of the record high we saw a few years ago with gas at $4.11 a gallon as a national average. so we're not that far off and the refineries are a big, big

problem, a big part of that. ed, thank you. an incredible story out of detroit. a new report detailing how a bomb in a bag right there, set inside a federal building for three weeks. before it was actually found. this is according to the report, it was just released by homeland security. a security guard at the mcnamara building found the bag with an ied in it. february of 2011. he tossed it under his desk. and at least two employees x-rayed it, but failed to identify what it was. a federal inspector also overlooked it during four separate checks until two guards eventually grew suspicious and called in federal agents. three guards have been fired, a fourth resigned. five others were suspended. a michigan man was later caught and charged with placing the device outside the building. well federal investigators trying to figure out how a regional commuter flight landed

at the wrong west virginia airport earlier this week. united express flight 4049 supposed to fly from morgantown to clarksberg on tuesday, landed instead ten miles away at fairmont municipal airport. the flight's operator, silver airways apologizing to the 11 passengers on board. and the flight crew has been removed from service while the faa tries to figure out what happened. well no wildfire relief for central and northern oklahoma. take a look at that. emergency officials say the risk of fire danger will be very high to critical today. forecasters expect high temperatures, increased winds and decreased humidity. there's a bit of good news here. firefighters say they are close to controlling the lincoln county fire near stroud, which is about 60 miles east of oklahoma city. and this story is pretty cool right here in new york city. they're unveiling a new high-tech crime-fighting tool for cops. it's called domain awareness system, or das, develop aid long

with microsoft. it lets law enforcement officials keep tabs on the city in real-time using street cameras, license plate readers, other resources that they have. on the flip side, civil rights groups already expressing privacy concerns. they don't like big brother looking in. in the next hour of "early start," we talk about the new system. how it might help, if it's too invasive? we'll talk about it all request with lou palumbo, director of the elite intelligence and protection agency. >> this is potentially a great opportunity for the city to increase revenues as well. >> they'll make money. >> some people are saying in maybe in high-crime areas it could be a helpful tool as well. it's very interesting. i can't wait to learn a little more about the technology. >> lou is great, he knows all that stuff. 35 minutes past the hour. the field may be narrowing in the mitt romney veepstakes, ohio senator rob portman, one of romney's closest allies sounding

like he has little desire to be number two on the ticket. he made five appearances for romney at campaign events in colorado yesterday. and told cnn he likes what he's doing now. >> i'm in the senate, i just got elected two years ago, i think that's where i could end up staying and right now congress is paralyzed. we're kind of a partisan gridlock. we need leadership. i thinky really help in there. >> he says congress is gridlocked. they need leadership. romney will be attending fundraisers in new york and new jersey. the president has campaign stops in pueblo and colorado springs before returning to washington, d.c. tonight. >> i think it's interesting in terms of when we're going to find out who romney's veep choice is. wolf blitzer saying smart bets are on next week. not that far off. but three main contenders now. >> a lot of talk about them. >> well a stunning development in the courtroom. a murder trial involving the so-called jackie kennedy of

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well another great thing about all this walking i've been doing is that it's given me time to reflect on some of life's biggest questions. like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call? see, the only thing i can think of is that you can't get any... bars. ah, that's better. it's a beautiful view. i wonder if i can see mt. rushmore from here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ pop goes the world ♪ it goes something like this

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neal haywood. many analysts say the verdict could have political consequences as well. gu is the wife of disgraced communist official, bo xilai. he is currently under investigation by party leaders for unspecified discipline violations. cnn's reporter haimit is in beijing. prosecutors say gu poisoned haywood in order to save the life of her son who was caught up in a money dispute. haywood's body, i understand was cremated. do you have any details as to how authorities believe this happened? >> the authorities' explanation after the verdict today, was that gu kailai in november had invited the british businessman in chongqing, where she lived with her husband. and they had beer and tea in his hotel room in chongqing. and haywood somehow got drunk

and at this point, the family aide forced poison into his mouth, which led to his death. now, what possible motive? the chinese official account says that gu kailai and the british businessman had disputes over so-called economic matters. and that she poisoned haywood out of fear that he might harm their son who graduated at harvard last may. now very recently, bo guigua sent an email that said i already submitted my witness statement. i another my mother will have the opportunity to review them. i have faith that facts will speak for themselves. now justice here is very quick. so we expect a verdict in the next day or so. zoraida? >> i know that they adjourned. and here, china has a conviction

rate of 98%. so most experts expect gu will be convicted in this case. now, i know that she tried to hire two lawyers. but they gave her their own lawyers. can you explain that to us? >> that's right. usually court cases like this, once they reach the court, it's already, it's just a formality. it's usually very swift. the trial is closed-door, in this case, yes, the families of the accused were not even allowed to use their lawyers, their appointed lawyers. instead the state appointed government lawyers. the lawyers were not really allowed to cross-examine the other witnesses, if there were. or to examine the evidence. so people expect this to be a quick you know, kind of choreographed trial. and it's because it's such a high-profile trial, that they were forced to have a spokesman kind of explain, especially to

the media, who were there, in court today. zoraida? >> such a complicated case. when i found out the guy was cremated, you wonder about all the evidence in the case. but fascinating, we do appreciate having you this morning, thank you very much. it's 44 minutes after the hour now. let's get you up to speed on the morning's top stories. gas prices expected to skyrocket across the u.s. after an inferno at a chevron refinery in california. the plant is partially shut down, and it's one of the biggest suppliers on the west coast. the nypd is back searching a manhattan basement to look for clues in the eton patz case, he vanished on his way to school in 1979. investigators have been to the site at least three times since april. they removed at least five large paper bags and used tools, including a shovel from the basement. investigators won't say what they're looking for. in may, police arrested a new

jersey man, pedro hernandez, who allegedly confessed to killing patz. and cops in louisiana say they've caught the man shown here tossing a puppy over the fence of an animal shelter unbelievable. shelter workers say the puppy is a hound mix. they've named him gymy. adorable. he seems to be doing okay. the suspect, 39-year-old richard hawn, charged with cruelty to animals. in china, landslides caught on tape. china's eastern coast is being slammed with flooding and landslides after a typhoon touched down wednesday. roads and bridges have completely washed out. leaving hundreds of people stranded. so far, no deaths have been reported. china is till recovering from two other typhoons that hit last weekend, that killed more than 20 people. and on top of uk hacking scandal, newscorp. dealing with a pretty rough quarter, the

company posting a $1.6 billion loss in the three-month period. on the heels of booking a $2. 8 billion write down. it's currently restructuring its australia newspaper division after shutting down "news of the world" last summer. and still plenty of medals to be handed out, but already, the guessing games have started for the closing ceremonies in london. george michael tweeted he will be performing and the band, muse, who performed the official track for the olympics told a magazine, that they would also be involved. but organizers insist they're keeping everything secret like the opening ceremonies. the show will air sunday night. it is expected to be watched by close to a billion people around the world. it will include handover to the next host city, which is rio. i love that people think they can keep things secret in the days of facebook, twitter and instagram. >> twitter actually i think gave away all the secrets in the last one. can tweet out a novel in the time it takes to you say --

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welcome back to "early start," it's 50 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with poppy harlow. we're looking at what's trending on the web. do you have fast fingers? >> kind of. not on my iphone. >> i'm going to put you to the test. the fastest fingers in america. 17-year-old austin worshki won the u.s. national texts championship, held in times square, he outtexted the competition for the a second year in a row as the fastest and most accurate texter. he won $50,000, he will now

compete in the upcoming global texting championship. did you know we had one of those? 11 contestants from around the united states competed, all using the same type of cell phone, an lg phone, with a keyboard. the competition tested three skills, speed, accuracy and dexterity on four different challenges. >> what is the same here? >> that they're all young. >> they're all under 25 years old. they grew up on these things, i cannot even begin to do that on my iphone. i'm going to take him on in the next hour. >> all right. i think i'm going to put my money on him, poppy. love you, but -- >> who gets $50,000? that's like a really good-paying job. i love this story. hotdog at the ballpark or the movies, you think that's expensive? take a look at this one -- price tag for this hotdog -- $145.49. it's called the capital city dog. it's in sacramento, california.

so what is on it. it's in the guinness book of world records, 18 inches, all beef, swedish moose cheese, italian white truffle butter on the top. french mustard, garlic herb mayonnaise, smoked maple bacon from new hampshire. i'm so hungry i told our producers i would pay $200 for that right now. i'm starving, i can't get used to the hours, there's no food. here's a twist. in 2011, the restaurant was named the city's best spot for cheap eats. and now i guess they're trying to change their image a little bit. >> you know i want to taste it. just to see what an almost $200 hot dog tastes like. >> that's the american excess at its finest. wow. late-night laughs, conan o'brien saying politics is getting catty. >> the presidential race is getting very nasty. have you noticed that. have you noticed it's getting particularly nasty. today a political analyst for

cnn compared the level of bickering between the two presidential candidates to fighting on the "real housewives" shows. yeah, after hearing this, president obama said don't blame me, blame that lying [ bleep ], mitt romney. scratched him. he scratched him. threw champagne. >> i would pay to see you know how after "the real housewives" they have two hours of -- >> i've never watched. i work the schedule. >> you're totally throwing me under the bus for watching really bad television. moving on. this morning's top stories straight ahead, including the toxic refinery fire that has people fired up in one community. soon people all over the country are going to be impacted by the price at the pump. you're watching "early start." ♪ ♪ three, six, nine ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand

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price spike at the pumps, a fire at a major refinery expected to burn gas customers across the country. the aurora shooting suspect heading back to court. lawyers are expected to battle over the contents of a package that could shed light on his state of mind right before the massacre. hot enough for you? it turns out that last month was hot enough for an all-time record. good morning and welcome to "early start," i'm poppy harlow in for john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin, nice to have you with us this morning, it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. up first, the california fire that's about to cause a whole lot of pain at the gas pump wherever you live. this was the scene monday at chevron's richmond, california oil refinery.

a huge toxic blaze partly shutting down production at one of the nation's biggest gas suppliers. expected to send pump prices skyrocketing on 0 the west coast. within days the rest of us feeling it. ed, there are two big issues, health concerns for people living in richmond, california and the financial hit that everybody could be facing if gas spikes above $4 a gallon. >> and that's really interesting. when you look at what's been slowly creeping up on everyone at the gas pumps. across the country. we have seen now the national average for the price of gasoline is now at $3.66, 11 days in a row that the price of gas has gone up. this is actually climbed considerably in the last month. where we've seen gas prices go up in the last month, about 30 cents per gallon. a lot of reasons for this. obviously the reasons of a global demand and that sort of

thing. what we've seen here in the united states over the last few months is also a problem of refineries highlighted this week by the major fire at the richmond, california, in the san francisco bay area, that chevron refinery. but we have seen problems at refineries almost everywhere. from the midwest down to oklahoma. questions where disruptions of pipelines have kaued disruptions in the delivery of fuel. and that continues to cause problems across the country. and the refinery fire in california not only causing a lot of problems here in the coming weeks at gas pumps, but for the residents around the refinery this has been a very stressful time as well. >> you putting >> you put this poison out here and killing us. >> do i have to look forward to having cancer? >> oh, yes. >> does my grandchild have to look forward to having cancer? >> nickels and dimes that you pay us around here.

no good good. >> officials are saying they have been monitoring the air quality and found in problems so far but will continue to monitor. what does this mean for gas prices in the near future? many analysts say we have spoken with say they should probably continue to see gas prices continuing to climb up, especially along the west coast where it could easily reach over $4 a gallon in many places and obviously for the rest of the country they expect to see that continue uptick for the next several weeks as well as gas prices continue to climb high. a little good news in all of this is that several analysts we talked to as well say that as the demand starts to trail off here heading into the fall months, that gas prices should continue to maybe will come back down but for the time being we'll see them continue to go up at gas pumps across the country. >> all right. thank you very much.

we could soon find out his mindset before the massacre. aurora shooting suspect james holmes is expected back in court this afternoon for a hearing on lifting parts of the gag order in the case. public defense lawyers want investigators to hand over documents and a key package that holmes sent to his psychiatrist at the university of colorado. that package was seized by authorities under a search warrant last week and the defense says it is privileged doctor/patient communication. holmes is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at a midany screening at the "dark knight rises." coming up in 25 minutes we'll talk with a criminal defense attorney and former public defender about what we should expect to happen in the hearing in court today. turns out the final shot fired by wade paige went into his own head. the fbi says surveillance video confirms paige committed suicide after being wounded in the stock

by a police officer on sunday. he killed six people, wounded three others before taking his own life. the martian creator where nasa's curiosity rover landed looks a whole lot loik earth actually. scientists compare early pictures coming back to us to the m o.j. ave desert. the curiosity successfully and memorandumably touched down on mars sunday night. look at all those guys cheering. so neat what we're seeing. the heat is definitely on this summer. you have been feeling it. july burned up the record books. it was the hottest on record. alexandria steele is in atlanta with more on the historic highs and it goes way back. >> way back. as far as records have been going, since 1895. even surpassing the famous dust bowl era of the '30s.

this july had been the hottest for the lower 48 as aggregate but since 1895 this july certainly has been the hottest. what about the next few months as we head into fall? looking at the computer models through october, temperatures for the balance of the country look to be above average continuing, but here is some good news. it has been incredibly hot, especially the upper midwest and finally today a heat break, not a heartbreaker, a heat breaker. it will come with a price and that price is severe storms. temperatures, illinois, indiana, michigan, 10 degrees below average. running 15 degrees to 20 degrees above average, and finally it cools down and again coming at a price. if you're traveling through indiana, we have a flood advisory through 8:00 this morning and strong storms expected there and believe it or not we could see about an inch, inch and a half of rain and not going to do anything for the corn. certainly could settle the dust a little bit. that is the big picture. of course we're watching the

tropics as well. ernesto made landfall in mexico, look forward to make a second one tonight or tomorrow. believe it or not, all eyes on the atlantic, what we could see potentially, the hurricane center giving this a 70% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. >> thanks so much. i appreciate it. emotional and historic day at the beach, olympic beach volleyball team misty may-treanor and kerri walsh jennings already have two golds and just added a third. they beat jennifer and april ross yesterday in an all american women's beach volleyball final. the win was bittersweet and marked the end of an era. it was their last match together. >> that all american beach volleyball final along with solid track and field showings have pushed the u.s. past china in total medals 81 to 77.

china still leads, however, 36-34. russia is in third with 52 total medals. lots of drama in store today as the u.s. and japan face off in the women's soccer finals and also today the men's 200 meter final. some other big events on tap include women's platform diving. poppy's favorite, and the men's beach volleyball final which everybody around here seems to love. >> you love beach volleyball. >> i am not a fan. i watched yesterday because that was history in the making. it was incredible. >> it was. it was. good for them. a major shakeup at the largest breast cancer foundation this morning. two executives at the susan g. komen for the cure out of their post. we'll talk about the politics behind it with the reporter that first broke the story straight ahead.

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it is nine minutes after the hour. susan g. komen for the cure, the largest breast cancer foundation announced a major shakeup with several top administrators following months of public outcry over its attempt to defund planned parenthood. that was earlier this year. the organization says that the president liz thompson will resign next month and founder

nancy bricker will leave her role at coo to focus on fundraising. in response cecile richards, the president of planned parenthood issued a statement, and it reads the komen funded planned parenthood programs have helped thousands of women in rural and under served communities get breast health education, screenings, and referrals for mammograms. we're proud to continue this work together. we're joined by laura bassett, political reporter with the huffington post who broke the details behind the planned parenthood controversy back in february. so this was back in february when all of this started to happen. why the resignation now? >> i think there has been a lot of pressure internally for this to happen. it first when the whole thing went down it was external pressure, people coming on the website, people stopping donations. i think race participation went down 30%. this latest slew of resignations and just power shakeup in general is coming from the

presidents of the affiliates who have been pressuring ann thompson for months to step down. >> she is stepping down but not walking away. she says she will focus on fundraising. what will her role be? do you think it will help? >> i think it will help. i think this is exactly what people were positivelyilling fo. i think people on the inside knew that nancy bricker had a lot to do with it and liz thompson and she weren't satisfied and i think stepping into a different role is very symbolic. regardless, it shows komen is sorry about what they did and ready to start a new path. >> she says we're ready to move forward. we saw that planned parenthood is standing behind them. they do great work. do you think that they're going to be able to reconcile these issues and move forward and my other question, too, is i know

they lost 30% in the race. has it been across the board where they have lost funding for their programs? >> it hasn't been across the board. it has been spotty. in some places the funding is up and some places down. i think they will continue their partnership with planned parenthood. a lot of races are already particular affiliates are continuing to fund planned parenthood already. i think the real long-term problem that sort of a wait and see kind of thing is whether komen's reputation has been permanently damaged over this. >> we certainly hope not. we do know that they have done some absolutely wonderful things for communities. i want to make sure i say this. this is according to komen's statement wednesday. it says the foundation has invested 1.3 billion in community programs over 30 years to pay for screenings, education and financial and psychological support for those who are fighting breast cancer, so at the end of the day we certainly wish them luck. laura bassett, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. 13 minutes after the hour. get to the morning's top

stories. gas prices expected to surge across the u.s. after a fire at chevron's richmond plant earlier this week. it is partially shut down and one of the west coast's biggest suppliers >> the first day in the murder trial for china's so-called jackie kennedy has adjourned. the wife of ousted communist official bo shili is accused of poisoning a british man. experts say the case outcome could have major political significant. country singer randy travis is out on bail after troopers in northern texas allegedly found him lying naked on a remote road apparently smelling of alcohol following his car careening off a highway and hitting several barricades. this all led to a pretty rough mug shot. he was charged with dwi and felony retaliation for allegedly threatening to shoot and kill the troopers working the case.

back in february he pled no contest to public intoxication following the super bowl. it is enough to shock sin city. take a look. vegas police are flooded with calls over disturbing billboards that have popped up in the city. each sign has a dangling mannequin attached hanging from a noose. they appear to be protest art. one reads dying for work. another reads hope you're happy, wall street. police are working to find out who is responsible calling it a clear case of vandalism. imagine the surprise when a dc man ordered a flat screen from amazon and instead received a military grade assault rifle. this really happened. he didn't even realize what it was at first. >> there was metal parts and i thought, oh, these go with the tv with what's going on recently in the mass shootings, and i

don't want to be in a situation where this type of weapon can just show up on someone's doorstep accidently. >> shows you how accessible they are. he called police who took custody of the weapon and his tv still hasn't arrived. >> oh, my goodness. >> i couldn't believe that story. it is true. >> so how would you like to pay for your starbucks coffee without taking your hands out of your pocket? i wish you didn't have to spend money either. there is an app for that. find out how it works and go to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. the capital one cash rewards card

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we are minding your business this morning. what app really blows your mind? there are over 500,000 to choose from in apple's app store and about the same amount in the android store as well. poppy has interesting new apps that are in the works. she will tell you all about them. >> the first has to do with starbucks if you're heading out to get the morning coffee. interesting news, just announced this yesterday. they teamed up with a mobile payment company square, actually created by twitter's co-founder and they'll take all credit card payments using square technology. the exciting part is what they're trying to develop using gps technology. what they say they think they'll be able to do is have when you walk into a starbucks store be

able to identify who you are because your phone will alert them and then they will pull up your name and your picture on the register screen and you can say your name and what you would like to order and that's it. they will match your face to what's on the screen and if it works out, you wouldn't have to pull out your phone or credit card to pay. >> you will have a registered credit card. >> i want to know more about the security. >> so do i. >> i don't want to pay for someone else's latte. that's what's coming. they're advancing. also, bank of america, the biggest bank in the country just came out with a check deposit app. you can take a picture of the front and back of your check and capacity it mobilely without going to an atm. they're not the first. chase had this as well. it is showing how advanced things are becoming. my favorite app, though, is not the most exciting one. i love the delta app for my flights because i love to be able to check in online and as i said check my status on the upgrade list. i am just not that app savvy.

>> i said on my phone if you look on my phone there are all sorts of apps and they're all child related and my daughter spends hours on this mannequin and you can do makeup and jewelry and all sorts of stuff. that's the most popular on my phone and i was stuck on a flight and i did a tracker app. >> for the airlines. >> you get to choose which airline you would like to track. >> was it accurate? >> no, it wasn't. nobody seemed to be accurate that day. we were having all sorts of problems landing in new york. anyway, that's cool. i worry about security also. i worry, you know, who else, especially the checks, what if something is deposited into the wrong bank? >> i like the traditional way. i walk mine to the bank. >> that's for us. >> 21 minutes past the hour. they never knew it. people in one detroit building were working with a bomb in their office for weeks. why didn't it detonate? i don't know. what is more troubling is how it got there. that story coming up. if you're leaving the house now you can watch us any time on the

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the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. courtroom showdown over the aurora shooting suspect, at issue today what is in the package he mailed to his doctor right are before the massacre? >> sky high gas prices across the country expected as a result. >> watching you, new york city's new futuristic digital eye to track crimes. critics asking if there is any privacy left?

welcome back to "early start." thanks for being with us i am zoraida sambolin. >> it is 26 minutes past of the hour. later today accused aurora shooter james holmes is expected to be in a courtroom again for another hearing. a colorado judge will decide whether to lift parts of the gag order to release evidence in the case against holmes. this as new reports of more red flags raised and paint a disturbing picture of a tragedy that may have been prevented. sources tell our affiliate that dr. lynne fenton, the psychiatrist, asked for a back ground check on james holmes from the police to see if he had any criminal history. now, you will recall that fenton was the psychiatrist tweeting holmes who was so concerned about him that she alerted a campus threat assessment team about him, but in court a more fundamental question today, media companies including cnn plan to ask the judge to unseal more documents in the case. because of the seal lawyers representing the media don't

even know what two of the documents are about or what a number of documents may be. lisa wayne is a criminal defense attorney and former public defender that joins us now. thank you for coming in this morning. we appreciate it. >> good morning. >> you have some interesting perspective on this, least a correct me if i'm wrong. didn't you train holmes' two public defenders? >> tammy brady and dan king were lawyers that were underneath me when i was doing training in the public defender system, yes. >> so give us, first, big picture here. what can we expect at the hearing today? we know what the media wants. they want a lot of those documents unsealed. they say the public has a right to see these documents. they don't even know what's on the court docket because in the rare case that has been sealed as well. >> well, what the media is asking for is a release of the affidavits. they want to see what's been going on in terms of the

litigation on this what's dr. fenton supposedly got in the mail. they're asking to see all of that and the judge will have to balance whether or not he wants that to be released to the public, whether or not the public has a right to see that in balances the defendant's right to a fair trial. it will be a big fight with the media saying we want all of this, and we have a right to see that. >> you bring up an important point. that is the right that every american has to a fair, just trial by a jury of their peers. is the concern here that if you release those documents those get so widespread through mass media you have a very hard time with jury selection? >> well, absolutely. i mean, what the judge wants to balance here is we want this to be transparent. the public does have a right to know what's going on in that courtroom. on the other hand, will that pollute and taint potential jurors and how much should be out there for public consumption? at the end of the day this does not want to be a media circus.

this guy deserves the right to a fair trial. that is the balance that this judge is going to have to strike in this case. >> it is also expected this afternoon holmes will be in court for this hearing. i was out in aurora, colorado, covering this, and the day that he was in court he just looked bizarre. people say he looked medicated. there were questions about that. he looked perplexed. there were times he was nodding off and didn't utter one word. any comments that you would expect from him today or a similar presence by the defendant? >> it is speculation. what his appearance looked like someone who was out of it an that would not be surprising based upon what we have here. it is speculation. we don't even know if he will be there today. he may not necessarily be there today. we're not sure what is going to happen, but i would expect that it is probably going to be much of the same that we have already

seen from him. >> certainly doesn't have to be there. what is your take on whether or not this judge, you know, you have a better read on this judge than we do. is this judge someone that would likely unseal those documents or will they stick to that very tight gag order? >> well, you know, i have to say colorado has a history on high profile cases. our judges are very concerned about what is out there for the public consumption again and so i think this judge wants to make sure whatever goes forward it is not going to be tainted in terms of what he is releasing out in the public before it should go out there. there is a preliminary hearing set in this case in november. at that point the public will get to hear all of the details of this case and i think that is the better balance to have in terms. >> you think the judge is correct in this at least thus far. >> absolutely. you want to be fair here. we know the case is proceeding

and how much more do we need to know? i mean, we're going to hear everything about this case later on, so, again, i think you want to be conservative. you want to make sure that you're ensuring the defendant's right to a fair trial and the victims in this case. you don't want coming back because you made a mistake early on. >> a technicality. yeah. thank you. >> thank you. >> gas prices are expected to spike well above $4 a gallon on the west coast and possibly nationwide because of a fire at chevron's richmond, california, refinery. that was earlier this week. the plant is partially shut down now and one of the region's biggest suppliers as well. right now the average price of a gallon of unloaded is $3.66 nationwide. that's up another 1.5 cents over night. >> an incredible story out of detroit to tell you about. a bomb sitting in a bag in a federal building for three weeks before it was found according to a report just released by homeland security. a security guard at the building

found the bag with an ie d inside of it outside in february 2011. he tossed it under his desk and at least two employees eventually x-rayed it and failed to identify what it was. a federal inspector also overlooked it during four separate checks until two guards eventually grew suspicious and called in federal agents. three guards have been fired. a fourth resigned. five others were suspended. a michigan man was later caught and charged with placing the device outside the building. >> very bizarre story there. federal investigators are trying to determine how a regional commuter flight landed at the wrong airport. this was west virginia earlier this week. united express flight 4049 was supposed to fly from morgantown to clarksburg tuesday night but landed instead at fairmont municipal airport about ten miles away. the flight's operator silver airways is apologizing to the 11 passengers on board and the flight crew has been removed

from service while the faa tries to figure out what happened. >> no wildfire relief for central and northern oklahoma. they say the risk of fire danger will be very high to critical today. forecasters expect high temperatures, increased winds and decreased humidity and there is a bit of good news. fire fighters do say they're close to controlling the county fire near stroud about 60 miles east of oklahoma city. >> a sick american is being evacuated from ant art ka. an australian medical team picked up the patient and is on its way to new zealand. they landed on an icy window during a narrow window of twilight. we were talking about this yesterday, would they be able to land and what was the perfect timing? the patient was picked up from mcmurdo research station, the temperature 13 degrees below zero fahrenheit. we're happy to report the person is said to be in stable condition now.

this story is just making headlines across the country. a pro bam super pac is defending a controversial ad that links bain capital to the death of a factory worker's wife. here is a clip. >> when mitt romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care. my family lost their health care. a short time after that my wife became ill and i took her up to the jackson county hospital, and admitted her for pneumonia and they found the cancer and by then it was stage 4. there was nothing they could do for her. >> to give you a little background, this worker worked at a steel company that bain capital invested in. he lost his job eventually there, and they're tying him losing his job and insurance to his wife eventually dying from cancer. critics are accusing the super pac priorities usa of trying to

blame romney for the woman's death. a strategist slammed the claims on cnn's ac 360. >> my goodness, we don't. we would not. those fact checks presuppose that's what we were trying to do and that's not the point of the ad. the point of the ad is to tell the story of the impact that mitt romney had on the lives of thousands of people when he came to town they lost their jobs and lost their health care. they lost their pension benefits and that impact is felt still today in those communities. >> the romney camp says if anyone should be criticized on health care, it is president obama. >> if people had been in massachusetts under governor romney's health care plan we would have had health care. there are a lot of people losing jobs and health care in president obama's economy. >> the obama campaign says it had nothing to do with the ads and does not know of the facts of the case but, zoraida, this is a really controversial ad and

will roll out in the next few days in a lot of battleground states. >> absolutely and wiping their hands because it is a super pac ad and the campaign didn't pay for it. >> right. >> wow. >> i suggest people watch brianna kahler did a strong fact check and you can find it on cnn.com if you want to see the details. they say we're not making the link but that's what you walk away with. >> you are absolutely right. 36 minutes past the hour. like something you would see on csi new york, a high tech super security computer watching and recording your every move. we'll talk about how effective it might be and the privacy concerns that it presents with a security expert coming up. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you.

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good morning, new york. it is 75 degrees right now and later mostly sunny for you and 88 degrees is our high, not too bad. a lot of the country is scorching. we should consider ourselves lucky here. looks like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. the high tech surveillance system is the real deal. the domain awareness system allows the new york police department to access over 3,000 closed circuit cameras already in place in realtime as well as license plate scanners and radiation detectors across the city and they can coordinate computers and databases to nab potential criminals or terrorists before they even know they're under suspicion. it is run from a single command center located in lower manhattan where michael bloomburg announced the collaboration with microsoft on

wednesday. >> our administration has consistently as you know championed the use of technology when it can be used to help solve crimes and save more new yorker's lives and that's what this system really is all about. >> with us now is a retired nassau county police officer and director of the elite intelligence and protection agency. you weren't directly involved with this. you do know how it works. can you explain it to us? >> basically it is just a very high tech sophisticated most recent generation surveillance system that enhances the city's ability to monitor activity on various levels, even to the extent that the detection of raid indication which is critical at this point. >> i was reading the details of this and somebody i guess that was there yesterday was saying like a package was left at a theater, and they called 911 because they didn't know what was in the package. instantly all of these cameras are focused on it and they can

actually at that point check radiation in that particular package. >> yeah. they seem to have the technology in place for microsoft that will allow them to triangulate the location of a parcel or something of interest and determine if in fact it is emitting radiation, that's correct. >> so what do you see as the downsides of this? >> i don't. >> you don't? >> i think anything that enhances the safety and the security of the residents of the city of new york and its visitors is a positive. i know there are concerns about big brother, but i hate to break it to everyone, the horse has already been out of the stall. if you look at cell phone technology they're able to locate you any time they want, triangulate you and give you directions to locate you. they're already -- it is already a very, very comprehensive and high tech surveillance camera system that exists with the city of new york and with private business owners. you can't go into times square, down to wall street, rockefeller center, up madison avenue, any number of places without being

under video surveillance. >> what happens if let's say they're focusing in on a person and how much personal information comes up and how instant is it? >> the interesting thing about this system is it doesn't lend i was to facial recognition which would actually be another asset. i think they would have to have a bit more information or data regarding an individual such as dates of birth and social security numbers or information that would lend itself to the person's pedigree, for example, prior criminal history. they're going to continue to move into the next generation of technology just like we have with cell phones. this is going to continue on. it is going to continue to blossom. there is no downside to it. >> i think another upside at least what mayor bloomberg is saying is this could be a revenue stream for the city. talk about that. >> that's kind of interesting. i have been digesting that. i am not sure where i stand on that. i gather that based on the program that we implement here might be adapted in other cities

which i think would be great, and they indicated as much as 30%. >> 30% of revenue stream. >> yeah. >> why do you have a problem with that? >> whenever you start getting involved in receiving any types of money on programs or referrals you have to watch this conflict of interest. i am not saying that exists here. i am saying they have to be very, very careful on how you proceed with this project. you know, i refer clients at times to certain individuals that maybe vendors such as someone that does camera work or stereos are on any number of things and i make it very, very specific that i do not receive any money on a referral. i just want them to work to the expectation of the client. this way my hands are clean. >> it will be interesting to see this as it roltz out. thank you so much forgetting up early with us. we appreciate it. poppy, back to you. >> all right. first off, gas prices examine wanted to sky rocket across the

nation after a blaze at a chevron refinery in california. the plant is partially shut down and it is one of the biggest suppliers on the west coast. military fighter jets, choppers and tanks unleashing on virtually desserted parts of aleppo. that was one of syria's most populated cities at one point. the syrian government and the opposition offering very different accounts and who controls the key neighborhood there. a syrian opposition network saying at least 167 people were killed across the country yesterday. >> a stunning shakeup at the nation's largest breast cancer foundation susan g. komen for the cure. president list thompson and founder nancy brinker both stepping down. thompson will leave next month and brinker will surrender her title to focus on fundraising and planning. more fall out from the decision

earlier this year to suspend funding for planned parenthood. >> emotional and historic at the at the beach. they already have two gold medals and they just added a third. they beat jennifer and april ross in an all american women's beach volleyball final. the win was bittersweet and marked the end of an era. it was may trainer and walsh jennings last match together. loved it. >> they're so impressive. >> yes, they are. >> john and brooke are in for soledad this morning and john will join us for a look at what's happening on "starting point." >> just trying out all the seats here. a great show. a fight over birth control and religious freedoms. mitt romney ripping president obama in a new attack ad but the president attacking back. he says romney wants to take women's health care back to the 1950s. we'll do fact checking this morning. republican congressman marsha blackford from teem romney joins us and tim romer from the

president's corner here, too. also ahead, look around. it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. the martian neighborhood. the mars rover curiosity takes its first gander around the red planet and space geeks will want to hear it, michael meyer, the lead scientist for the exploration program is here with us live. we all know nba superstar jeremy lin joined the houston rockets last month. among those devastated here in new york, a 5-year-old boy named naie. check out this must-see video. >> what's the matter? >> i am so sad. >> they didn't trade him. they just didn't sign him. >> why? why didn't they sign him? >> i don't know. i don't know. >> maybe they don't like chinese lin. >> i know. i know it is sad but i promise it has a really happy ending. they will stop by here with such

a cool update since he made that video. you will want to stick around to see why. that's all ahead on starting point. >> i love that. what a great, great thing. >> thank you. >> up next we go one-on-one with the teen who has the fastest thumbs in the nation. >> you go one-on-one. >> i go one-on-one, zoraida is scared to take him on. meet the national texting champ coming up next. ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand, pat your partner's right palm ♪ [ male announcer ] it's back. the volkswagen beetle. that's the power of german engineering. sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work?

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>> our next guest is the winner of the texting championship. he out texted the competition for the second year in a row as

the fastest and most accurate texter in the annual contest. >> he won 50 grand and will now go onto compete in the upcoming global texting championship. wonder how much you win there. he joins us now to tell us the secrets of all of his success and i told him right you will have a hard time with your first job because most jobs don't pay 50,000. good luck on that. congrats. give us a sense, first, of what it was like, what's your strategy? how do you win and get that accuracy down? >> i think it all has to do with nerves. when people get up on the stage, especially this year in the middle of times square with all of the people surrounding just watching, i think that just gets the best of people. they get really nervous and i think that was to my advantage because i did have that year of experience under my belt. i think it worked to my advantage. >> how do you train to do something like this. >> i text a lot. i text my friends. i text my family. as i am riding passenger in the

car i text street signs as we're driving by and anything with words or symbols on it. >> do you worry you're missing the world around you because you're like this? >> i am not really because i can text without looking like yesterday there was a -- >> no way. >> you were blindfolded. >> yes, there was a blindfold and i got first in that round. >> did you take first in all rounds? >> i did, yes. >> e, my goodness. we want to put this to the test. i am really bad. i told poppy she has to compete with you. >> you have to sing. >> sing? >> i am going to try. i will try. >> we'll do the popular song of the summer, austin, we're watching you. no false starts. call me maybe, you know this song, i listen to it daily. all right. in 3-2-1. wait. >> we need the lyrics up again, guys. >> like you don't know it. >> hey, i just met you. >> no, it is hey i just met you. >> here's my number.

>> i am a little faster than you are. so call me maybe. >> are you done, austin? >> no. >> what? >> you're not? >> i think i had a false start. >> now i am done. >> my accuracy is terrible. >> my accuracy was pretty bad but i had to go back and change. >> you went back and changed stuff. you had time to do that? >> let's see a close up. see if you got it right. >> see if you got it right? really? >> hey, i just met you and this is crazy, but here is my number so call me maybe. awesome mine says this is crazy vucher miss my number call me maybe. >> work on accuracy and maybe i will see you next year. >> congratulations. >> $50,000 for accuracy there. >> today's best advice from tv's true blood. [ mrs. hutchison ] friday night has always been all fun and games

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we wrap it up with best advice. >> here is true blood stall debra ann wahl. >> my father always used to say stay hungry and humble. it is a really good combination. >> it is good combination and as our producers just said in our ear, especially for a vampire to stay hungry. >> that is "early start." i am zoraida sambolin. >> i am poppy harlow. starting point starts right now. >> good morning, everyone. i am john berman. >> i am brooke baldwin. soledad off this week. our "starting point," sticker shock, how a fire is sending gas prices climbing and possibly 13 cents here in one week alone and no signs of slowing down.

a shakeup at the top, the president and founder of susan g. komen for the cure are both stepping down after the ruckus over funding planned parenthood. the request he is why now? >>. and talking more about campaign attacks. mitt romney ripping president obama's stance on birth control in a brand new ad out today, but the president says romney wants to take women's health care back to the 1950s. we are doing our fact checking. >> we have a packed show ahead. republican congressman marsha blackburn, former u.s. ambassador to india, tim roemer, rebecca soni and if that's not justify jordyn wieber. >> we're excited. it is thursday, august 9th. "starting point" beginning right now. our starting point, gas prices heading higher. they're up another 1.5 cents over night for national average

of 3.66 a gallon and a fire in california is about to make things worse. >> here is why. you see these pictures? you see the flames? this is chevron's richmond, california, oil refinery. this is a devastating fire. it happened monday. look at the smoke. partially shutting down the facility, dramatically cutting production at one of the region's biggest fuel suppliers. it is expected to send gas prices sky rockets, not just in california, folks, across the country. >> and ed is joining us live from dallas, texas. we have a couple of things going on here. obviously health concerns over the people in richmond, california, near that refinery fire plus the financial hit we're all going to take if gas prices spike make above $4 a gallon. >> it has been going on for several weeks now. you blinked and it seems like you missed it. over the course of the last month or so gas prices have gone up about 30 cents, the national average now $3.66 a gallon, up about 30 cents and in the last

month. the fire in richmond is just one of the problems. obviously there is a great deal of global issues and concerns that go into gas prices but what we have seen over the last few months is a disruption in service and flow of gas at refineries across the country from the midwest down to oklahoma where we have seen problems with pipelines and other issues and the infrastructure and this fire in california this week highlighted even bigger problem where now because of this fire many analysts are predicting gas prices to go well above $4 a gallon along the west coast and for those residents who live near that refinery in the san francisco bay area, this has been a very scary time as well. >> you put this poison out here killing us. >> do i have to look forward to having cancer? does my grandchild have to look forward to having cancer? >> my people ain't for sale. these nickels and dimes that you