leaving a restaurant with toilet parts in his bag. it's safe to say the citizens of denver are relieved. >> we'll be counting down the top five ridiculist crimes all week. you canridiculist crimes all week. "early start" begins right now. raging out of control, dozens of wildfires intensify in the american west. >> the search for answers, the fbi investigating whether a shooting at a conservative group's washington headquarters was politically mote valted. america's newest multigazillionary. we know where they bought the $337 million powerbalticette. >> lucky dog. >> welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east.

this is cnn breaking news. we begin this breaking news. word that a flight from new york to moscow was diverted to iceland early this morning. u.s. law enforcement officials say they received an anonymous threat that there were five suitcases with womans on boar-- bombs on board. we don't know how many americans are board. we are gathering more information for you. >> first our lead story this morning, fierce fires just raging in the west. 70 large wildfires burning right now, already consuming 1.3 million acres. california has the most with 13. they've called the marines to help beat back the flames. folks in central washington state had been hit the hardest. the wind whipped tailor bridge fire torched 40 square miles at

this point destroying 06 homes. rob marciano joins us live from washington this morning. the issue here, it looks like these are going to get worse. >> yes, in many spots. the good news with this particular fire is the winds calmed down a little bit. with that, the heat will be building. this fire started monday night near a construction site and grew rapidly. this is an area and a weakness in the cascade mountains, during the summertime, the winds blow steadily out of the west. the big fear all the time here is if they get a wildfire to go, it's going to grow and grow rapidly. that's what happened monday night into tuesday. the aerial shot here it gives you an idea the extent of this fire, over 40 square miles burned. 22,000 acres. and numerous homes, 60 homes. some of the ground shots are heartbreaking as the winds whip these flames up and move them along the ground at such a rapid pace that people had to get out of their homes.

a story we've heard several times in other states, including colorado. they're battling for containment. they're cautiously optimistic, they'll get more than what they had as of yesterday, which was 10%. maybe by today they'll get to 25%. they're worried, john, that the fire could jump over highway 90 and residents that are evacuated, over 450 families evacuated, they might be able to go back and look, assess on friday but no word as to when they'll be able to go back. it's way too early to tell that. they'll be battling this for at least a week to get containment. one of the firefighters said they'll be seeing smoke and smelling ash until the snow falls this fall. >> dramatic pictures we're looking at here, rob. the wind is shifting but the weather conditions, dry heat, what are we looking at? >> dry and heat. oregon, washington, these are states that typically, you know, they're not as hot as 90 or 100 degrees. they'll get to that later on this week.

in california, they're still battling fires there. lake county fire just north of sacramento and in napa valley, that's a 75 -- 900 acre blaze. take a look at the numbers forecast for oregon and washington. excessive heat warnings posted for the next couple days. temperatures in portland could get to 100 degrees, here in seattle, over 90 degrees. the pnl for thunderstorms along the spine of the cascades could spark more fires or at the very least cause more in the way of gusty winds. they're hoping to take advantage of the low winds today but the heat is going to certainly take a toll on the firefighters. >> rob marciano in clellen, washington.

there's been a shooting at the headquarters of the conservative family research council. the suspect, 28-year-old floyd lee corkins is in custody. a security guard who was wuned withed in that shooting helped capture him. they say he recently volunteered at a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center. >> five minutes after the hour right now. president obama and newark, new jersey mayor corey booker defending vice president biden's controversial remarks about putting people back in chains. biden was referring to what he suggested were mitt romney's plans to deregulate wall street. the president told "people" magazine that biden meant americans will be worse off if we roll back financial reforms. on cnn's piers morgan tonight,

he's a victim of what he called sound bite politics. >> i beg america, listen to the whole speech by the vice president. don't let the sound bites that the media's presenting to you affect your mind. listen to the whole speech. this was a substantive speech about how we're going to reform wall street and protect consumers. >> for his part, corey booker says he's tired of politics fueled by superpac money and sound bites. rudy giuliani just ripped into joe biden, questioning his intelligence and his capacity to lead after the vice president's controversial remarks. listen to what giuliani told piers morgan last night. >> the vice president wasn't very nice yesterday. he did something disgusting yesterday. if vice president cheney did this or sarah palin did this, if paul ryan did this, it would have been on the front page of "the new york times" and you all would have been outraged. somebody had to get outraged and it's going to be me.

>> giuliani went on to say, in all his years he says he's never seen a vice president who's made as many mistakes or said, quote, as many stupid thingses ajoe biden. those are giuliani's words. a few hours ago, jan brewer signed a bill denying benefits to some recipients. governor brewer says the deferral program offers temporary legal stall us to some young illegal immigrants so they can work legally. it was created in june by president barack obama, the department of justice will now likely get involved. >> it's got to be emotional for those people signed up yesterday. >> i just cannot believe she can do that. it will be interesting to see how the federal government responds to that. it's a mandate, it's a new

program and everybody gets to participate. >> she's picking a fight, that's for sure. >> yes, she is. >> there's a hearing for two former penn stated amr ed admi r administrators. lawyers for the former athletic director tim curley and gary schultz will argue to have the case against their clients thrown out. both men are facing perjury charges. they are not expected to attend today's hear. penn state announcing they will be hosting a conference on sex abuse at the end of october. >> a hypersonic test flight spiraling out of control. >> this is too bad. >> it is too bad. >> it's crash and burn, folks. the wave rider aircraft was destroyed before reaching its target speed of 4,600 miles per hour. we previewed the test flight earlier this week with barbara starr at the pentagon. the air force is saying a problem with the tail fin caused it to spiral.

too bad. all right. put that retirement on hold unless you live in michigan. just one winning ticket was sold for last night's $337 million powerball jackpot. it was purchased somewhere in michigan. lottery officials say it is the tenth largest prize in the u.s. ever. here are the winning numbers. 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and the powerball is 21. if you are holding that number -- >> call us. >> call me and be my best friend. >> is that one of the states that jason carroll said typically wins. >> he said wisconsin or indiana. >> d-day for julian assange after hiding out in an embassy for two months, will the wi wikileaks founder and sex crimes suspect be able to leave london? s get messy. so we use tide free. no perfumes or dyes for her delicate skin.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. 13 monz after the hour right now. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. glad you're with us this morning. a suspect is in custody this morning after allegedly opening fire at the washington headquarters of the family research council. a conservative lobbying group. a security guard was shot in the arm but he helped detain the gunman identified by police as 28-year-old floyd lee corkens. a source tells cnn the suspect

worked at the d.c. center for the lgbt community. sandra endois live at the frc headquarters this morning. sandra, we know this was a full-scale effort now. the fbi launched a joint investigation with local police and the u.s. attorney's office. what is the very latest on this investigation? >> zoraida, authorities are still trying to figure out the motive in this case. as you mentioned, law enforcement officials say the 28-year-old suspect, floyd corkins walked into the family research council's building yesterday morning and was con front by a security guard. law enforcement officials say the alleged suspect allegedly made comments saying he was against the policies of the frc. now we done the know specifically what comments the suspect made but we do know the frc as you mentioned is a conservative christian policy organization which has been vocal against same-sex marriage. and authorities say that's when the altercation break out and

the suspect allegedly shot the guard in the arm and, of course, police are saying that is when police responded and the guard is being hail as a hero for allegedly wrestling the suspect to the ground. >> the security guard in this case is a hero as far as i'm concerned. he did not allow the armed person past the front. he did his job. >> and still this morning, you could see the blood spatter inside the lobby here at the frc. and we know that corkins, the suspect is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon. zoraida? >> can you give us an update on the victim's condition as well, please? >> reporter: fortunately, the guard is okay. he was taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition. we do know more information also about the shooter. we understand that law enforcement officials say that they found a 9 millimeter handgun that he purchased fairly

recently at a gun shop in virginia. they believe it was a legal purchase and also they found a backpack apparently belonging to the suspect inside the lobby. of course, the investigation is ongoing. zoraida. >> sandra endo, live at frc headquarters for us. thank you. 16 minutes after the hour. let's look at some of the headlines this morning. they've called in the marines to help fight the wildfires in the west. >> look at that. >> dramatic pictures. 13 states west of mississippi are battling at least 70 large fires. they've already consumed 1.3 million acres. the wind-whipped taylor bridge fire has torched 40 square miles and destroyed at least 60 homes. a decision is expected this morning from ecuador's government on wikileaks founder julian assange. british authorities have threatened to assault ecuador's embassy in london if they fail to hand assange over to them. wikileaks calls the threat

hostile and extreme. he's trying to avoid to being sent to sweden to face allegations of rain and molestation. parts of north texas taking to the air to get a grip on the west nile outbreak. the dallas mayor approved the spraying of insecticide for the first time in over 45 years. the question of when accused major nadal hasan will face trial is being held up because of his beard. they say his beard violates army regulations. he's accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the 2009 rampage at ft. hood. >> another health scare for britain's prince phillip. doctors say he'll likely have to spend a few more days in the

hospital fighting a bladder infection. he missioned part of his wife's jubilee celebration in june and suffered a blocked artery at christmas as well. >> we saw him at the olympics. >> yes, we wish him well. 18 minutes after the hour. we want to get an early read of the local news making national headlines. in florida, the orlando sentinel and a recognizable name from the casey anthony murder trial. you may remember jeff ashton, the lead prosecutor on that trial. didn't win but he lost. tuesday he did win. he won a preemry race to become the state attorney in osceola county in florida. he took on a 30-year incumbent in this race. he got a lot of publicity for losing the casey anthony trial. a lot of people think his name

i.d. for being on tv every day for nearly a year may have boosted his chances at the polls. >> kind of a household name, right? he owns about 1/15 of the nets. who am i talking about? >> jay-z. >> it is jay-zs role in building the nets in the arena. they are moving to the barclays center in brooklyn. his role is far greater, far greater than his ownership stake. why? because that's his hometown, right? he grew up there in a housing complex just a couple miles away. listen to this, he is going to perform eight soldout shows to kick it all off. everybody is buying into this and loving it. the partners say he has put his mark on almost every facet of that enterprise. >> i couldn't believe how deeply he's involved there, with the

stores, the champagne that's served. everything. >> i love that. it's total ownership of a place he really loves. it shows. he doesn't have to do this, he chooses to do it. good for him. >> if only the nets could play basketball. >> they'll get there. they have great soldout concerts. i want to go. >> for an expanded look at our top stories, head to cnn.com/earlystart. coming up, defriending facebook. it could be a tough day for the social network. the first day many investors have a chance to dump the slumping stock. could it be an tune for you? we are minding your business this morning. that's coming up next. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. [ male announcer ] isn't always the one you plan to take. whoa, check it out. hey baby goat... no that's not yours... [ hikers whispering ] ...that's not yours.

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with chase sapphire preferred. we're minding your business this morning. stocks are set for a higher open, getting help from a 5% jump in shares of cisco systems. the tech giant reported strong quarterly earnings and it's said to be raising its dividends. up to 270 million shares of facebook could hit the market today. >> this is a technicality when you have a public offering. often times people have to hold on to their shares, insiders at the company, big investment banks that got in so they don't flood the market with shares, they don't sell right away. people like cheryl samberg, the cfo of facebook or underwriters can sell their shares today. there's going to be 270 million

shares they could opt to sell. here's a reason why people might get out. since they went public may 18th it's down 45%, losing nearly half its value. some people say no way am i going to sell there. other people are going to want to get the cash if they think it's going to fall further. it depends on your feelings on facebook. this is a first in a series of the lockouts that will expire. between now and november there will be many more of those. by move, 2 billion shares will hit the market. the issue with a lot of shares hitting the market. people, as you said, defriending facebook if you will. the symptom value could drop even more. you had a big day for facebook, zuckerberg, the founder, ceo, he can't sell his shares until november. >> he's still a multi

gazillionaire. a lot of major retailers teamed up to take on google wallet or isis. they teamed up, they have over a trillion in annual sales. this is a power house deal. they're saying we're going to make a mobile payment system that you can use at any of these retailers to take on google wallet. these systems don't work together. they might work at those stores and then google wallet will work at certain places. they teamed up with citigroup and sprint. it's progression. >> i'm not there yet. >> they would need to convince me that it's more convenient than pulling out my credit card. >> it's not. what if your phone dies and also do you get the points? >> that's the big one. >> that's why i use my credit card. >> the most important question for journalists everywhere.

poppy harlow, thank you very much. the wildfires, they are getting worse now across more than a dozen states. they've had to call in troops to protect lives and homes. we're live on the ground in washington state with our dramatic pictures this morning. we'll have a full report coming up. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ...but you still have to go to the gym. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help.

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spreading heartache and devastation. dozens of homes burned to the ground. marines joining the battle against western wildfires going on right now this morning. shark scare off cape cod. you're hearing about this again. a tuna fisherman becomes the latest to spot a great white in the water. look, there it is.

this, a much prettier picture to look at. one of baseball's rarest feats pulled off for the third time this year and this was the best one of all. >> it was the best one of all. >> he is so good, so good. >> i can't wait to hear about that. >> i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 31 past the hour here. up first, dry heat, whipping winds and lightning strikes, leaving 13 states in a fierce battle with wildfires this morning. at least 70 large wildfires raging right now already torching 1.3 million acres. take a look at that map. california has the most. 13 there. they've called in the marines to help beat back the flames. but in central washington state, they've really been battered. the wind whipped taylor bridge fire scorched nearly 40 square miles so far, destroying 60 homes in that state.

to rob marciano in washington. they have brought in the reinforcements trying to fight this. >> it's the most devastating. it started monday night near a construction site on a bridge. and this is an area that gets wind nearly all the time during the summertime. there's a weakness in the cascades. you get westerly winds blowing 30, 40 miles an hour nearly every day. they always fear getting a fire started. that's exactly what happened. the pictures are heartbreaking of homes quickly being devoured, dozens of them, at last count at least 60 homes completely destroyed. likely over 100 other structures destroyed as well. aerials of this thing showing how big it is. 40 square miles or better, 22,000 acres. as of yesterday, they had just 10% containment. they're optimistic to get a little bit more than that. it will likely be a week before they see more containment. they're worried about highway 97. the town of liberty is being

told to get ready to potentially leave today. they're bringing in more manpower and resources to try to beat this back before weather conditions get worse. >> it's terrible to watch. you really feel for the people in that area. how is the rest of the west? what are they facing and what might we expect in the next few days? >> 13 states have large fires burning right now. and the core of that, the most -- the hardest hit stuff is across southern california. that's where the record heat started, just a few days ago. now it's beginning to build. in san diego, they have large fire there, about 15,000 acres, about 30% containment up the road in san bernardino. they have a large fire burning there, just 5% containment and the lake county fires, just north of napa valley. they had temperatures 110, 115. that heat surging into the bfk northwest where temperatures this time of year, typically 75, 80 degrees. take a look at the high

temperatures expected along the i-9 acorridor in western oregon and washington. well into the 90s, in some cases touching 100 degrees. excessive heat warnings posted. the heat, low levels of humidity, that's not good for firefighters. as we get towards the week and the threat for thunderstorms will creep along the spine of the cascades and that will only add another factor in the way of erratic winds and sparking more in the way of lightning strikes. >> terrible. will that water affect it positively in any way? i know the winds are really bad for them. >> you know, once in a while oour you'll get lucky and get beneficial rain out of the thunderstorms. more often or not, the gusty winds and lightning. we're obviously set up at a local middle school here. it's the command post which is quiet at this time of night. they are working around the clock on the fire lines to get ahold of this thing. they're optimistic for more containment today. still, large fire, hundreds of people evacuated and dozens of homes burned in central

washington. the worst fire they've seen in decades. >> rob marciano, we appreciate having you there, live in clee ellum, washington. . word that a flight from new york to moscow was diverted to iceland early this morning. u.s. law enforcement officials say they received an anonymous threat that there were explosives on board. the plane is from aeroflot, a russian airline. passengers are off and the plane is being searched. we'll keep you updated on this story as it develops all morning long. 35 past the hour. a california man found guilty of murdering five people who died of heart attacks after he deliberately set a fire. this was back in 2003. ricky fowler also convicted of two counts of 50s within special circumstances. it makes him eligible for the death penalty now. the fire he set burned 91,000 acres and over 1,000 buildings during a nine-day span.

>> more blood shed in syria. the organization of islamic cooperation which represents 57 nations and 1.5 billion muslims, this group suspended syria from its membership. the head of the group telling cnn they will not accept the assad regime killing its own people. 36 minutes past the hour. police in sparks, nevada, say a man with a gun accidentally shot himself in the butt in a movie theater during a showing of "the bourne legacy." cops got several calls tuesday night reporting gunfire inside the theater. by the time they arrived the victim had apologized to the people that were sitting around him and made his way to a local hospital to be treated. police say he had a permit for the weapon but may face charges for illegally discharging a firearm.

he was trolling for tuna. jut cape cod fisherman jeff fisherman got a 12-foot surprise. >> that's no tuna. >> it's a shark. a local shark expert says the one he spotted is likely a great white. estimated to be 12 feet long and about 1,200 pounds. let's go for a swim. >> i hate the shark sightings. but this i love. perfection becoming somewhat routine in baseball. seattle mariners pitcher felix hernandez tossed a gem last night. a 1-0 win over the tampa bay raise. this is the 23rd perfect game in major league history but the third this season. >> what's going on? >> interesting perfect games in major league history. 11 of them have come since 1990. the pitching is getting better over time. he had 12 strikeouts last night. the first perfect game ever for the mariners french fry -- oh, yeah. the mariners franchise. he's the best. i think he's the best pitcher in

baseball. hands down. >> good for him. he looked excited. >> he should be. >> beyonce is lending one of her hit songs to the united nations to be the anthem for this weekend's humanitarian day. why are you laughing. >> what if it's "all the single ladies"? >> the goal for sunday's event is people helping people. the lyrics from "i was here" is a great song for the event. >> it basically is all of our dreams, i think, that's leaving our mark on the world. i feel like we all want to know that our life meant something. >> very appropriate indeed, beyonce sang "i was here" during a performance at the united nations general assembly hall. it will be used as a music video

as well. organizers say they expect 75,000 people to attend the annual events this week. the king's ex-wife, priscilla and daughter lisa marie will be there for the events. it's so cool to be near graceland, near the aura of elvis. >> a lot of people still show up. i find that remarkable. >> it's worth doing. ahead on "early start," tilegate, the top young player caught in a scrabble scandal. it has nothing to do with steroids. drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪

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that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. good morning, washington. how are you this fine morning? it is 71 degrees right now. a little bit later, it will be hot for you. 91 degrees. welcome back to "early start," 43 minutes past the hour. glad to have you all with us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it's time to talk politics. because mitt romney repeating his claim that there is hatred in president obama's re-election effort. this as both sides try to frame a sensitive issue in their favor. we're talking about medicare.

cnn political director mark preston joins us live from washington. you wrote this in your latest column, your gut check column. you wrote that this is getting ugly. how ugly are we talking? >> john, i mean, it's gone in the last 72 hours from a discussion on policy or what we thought was going to be a discussion about policy on medicare to this nitty-gritty of raw politics and raw fighting. we saw it with joe biden making a strategic move when he said to an audience which had a lot of african-americans in it that the romney campaign, if mitt romney was in office, he'd put them all back in chains. very strong language. we saw then mitt romney come out and say that the obama campaign is running on a campaign of hatred, which is, again, very strong language. then we have president obama on the campaign trail bringing up shamus, the dog.

he put his dog in a carrier and strapped him to the top of the car and they drove up to canada. basically we're in the dog days of summer at this point. we shouldn't be talking about this. this is what we'd normally expect, john, to happen the last couple weeks of a campaign. >> you're getting charges going back and forth saying you're meaner than we are. one of the other interesting things i've been hearing is from senior republicans like john mccain, sarah palin and democrats like doug wilder suggesting that barack obama drop joe biden from the ticket and replace him with hillary clinton. what's going on here? is this mischief? >> certainly mischief. there's no way the obama campaign is listening to sarah palin let alone john mccain about what they should do. this comes up every once in a while about joe biden, certainly when he slips up and says something egregious, certainly in what he's done in the past couple of days. but it's never going to happen. hillary clinton will never join the ticket. barack obama is never going to move joe biden off the ticket. joe biden tends to be the

scapegoat, in this case, maybe he deserves it. but for the most part, he tends to be the scapegoat for the problems that the obama administration is facing, john. the bottom line is, it's not necessarily his fault all the time. he's very effective for president obama in certain key states, certainly in the midwest, states like ohio. >> interesting. they tend to build hillary clinton up also, which could be risky, too. mark preston down in washington, always good to talk to you. thanks very much. >> thanks, john. it is 46 minutes past the hour. now the marines have been called in to help fight the wildfires in the west. right now, 13 states west of the mississippi are battling at least 70 large fires that have already consumed 1.3 million acres. in central washington state, the taylor bridge fire torched nearly 40 square miles, destroying at least 60 homes as well. >> six former news of the world journalists appearing in a london court today to answer to phone hacking charges.

among them, andy colson, a former aide to david cameron and former editor at news of the world, one-time news corp. chief executive rebekah brooks is expected to appear in court next month. ikea plans to open 100 budget hotels across europe that cater to cross-country travelers. we'll have to assume that hotel guests won't have to assemble the furniture. >> what if they have the ikea meatballs in the mini bar? >> you like those? >> my kids love them. this has never happened before at a tournament, the players name is not being released because he's a minor. the national scrabble association confirms he was caught -- this is how you cheat -- concealing two blank tiles by dropping them on the floor. scrabble aficionados know the blank tiles are so valuable because they can be used for any

letter. not steroids, blank tiles. >> he put them on the floor to have them available for when he needed them later when he was in a bind. >> all righty. don't do that. 47 minutes past the hour. nike taking some heat. i have a cough drop in my mouth. i'm sorry. after a t-shirt meant to honor women ends up insulting some women. if you are leaving the house right now, watch us anytime, go to your desktop or mobile phone, cnn.com/tv. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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welcome back. it is 51 minutes past hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with john berman taking a look at what is trending on the web this morning. what are you starting with this morning. >> one of the things trending on the web this morning, a new t-shirt from nike to celebrate

the women olympians. the problem is what's on the t-shirt. look at what it says. >> why is this a problem? >> gold digging. obviously what nike means is that the women athletes are looking for gold at the olympics. these t-shirts only come in women's sizes. so apparently only women can be gold diggers and a lot of people, i can see why, think these shirts are sexist. >> didn't they win a record number of golds. >> they're calling women gold diggers. >> they're not. they're digging for gold. i think they're going to sell a ton of these t-shirts. >> prospectors out west, digging for gold. >> at the olympic games. i wasn't insulted by it. i like it. i guess it's because of the traditional thought about gold diggers. would you wear it? >> they only have it in women's sizes. >> i would wear a tank top, though. >> i love this next story. julia child auto tune for her 100th birthday. listen to this. >> bring on the roasted potatoes. this is what cooking is all

about. this is what good cooking is all about. >> okay, you said it was hilarious. i thought what an honor. i thought it was really cool. keep on cooking is a mashup of a child's voice. it would have been to celebrate her 100th birthday yesterday. she's widely credited with helping americans discover french cooking after world war ii. >> pbs has a fantastic sense of humor for stuff like this. i saw an auto tune for mister rogers. that made me laugh, too. another hilarious video, nerd alert. a group apparently ripped off, you know, i'm sexy and we know it, the lmfao video. and did a nasa version. take a look. ♪ this is what i see ♪ data streaming back from

curiosity ♪ ♪ i got stars on my hawk and i ain't afraid to show it show it show it show it ♪ ♪ we're nasa and we know it >> honestly, how funny is that? you have the mohawk guy right there. a rip-off guy of the mohawk guy. they can dance. i'm telling you, in the last two weeks for the first time in decades, nasa has become cool. >> and a bit sexy as well because of mohawk guy, right. >> nasa is cool and nasa is sexy. >> i love that. curiosity rover tweeted apparently, this fan-made video is awesome and i know it. the hash tag is msl and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. pretty cool, right. >> yes. nbc "nightly news" anchor paid a visit to jon stewart and talked about the loss of

political civility. >> lids talk about paul ryan. all i've heard from the news divisions across network platforms is how thrilled they are to have paul ryan, now they can finally talk substance. when is that going to start happening? >> as soon as we exhaust all of our reporting on his driving of the weinermobile while a young man. >> i know. >> the clothier here in new york had my favorite expression, radio commercials you and i grew up with, an educated consumer is our best customer. i always thought, good on the sims. he was right about being a haberdasher but he was also right about our business, i say ours, meaning mine and not yours. >> let me reframe the question. when are you going to start making nice suits? >> it's all out there -- [ laughter ] >> jon stewart looked at him with a sign of respect, oh, like you're funny.

just a few minutes before the hour right now. just ahead, the day's top stories, including desperate battle going on right now between the flames in 13 states. the terrible fires out west. we are live on the ground in the fire zone. you're watching "early start." ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays]

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raging out of control, dozens of wildfires intensify in the american west. the just department may take on the governor for blocking benefits to new immigrants. >> high-flying failure.

a highly touted test flight of a hypersonic test crashes and burns. >> that's fast when it works. >> it is. >> good morning. i'm zoraida it didn't work bec technology aboard was supposed to be fantastic. we'll see what happens. >> it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. spreading heartbreak and real devastation across the west. 13 states sweating out dangerous wildfires. hundreds on the run right now. the worst may be yet to come. at least 70 wildfires are raging now consuming 1.3 million acres. california has the most with 13. they've been forced to call in the marines to help 8,000 firefighters beat back the flames. folks in central washington state may have been hit the hardest. the taylor bridge fire has torched nearly 40 square miles so far destroying 60 homes. rob marciano joins us live from washington this morning. how are things there?

>> reporter: well, it's a somber mood for sure. quiet. 3:00 in the morning local time. on the fire lines they are battling the flames right now. we're based at a command post where later on in the day things will get more active you can be sure of that. monday night the sparks flew and the fire started near a construction site by this taylor bridge and winds took over from there. during the day on tuesday, dozens of homes engulfed in flames both in town and on the outskirts of town including some farm structure, livestock and other animals were sent fleeing as well. a lot of these homes now are torched to the ground. the people who have evacuated these homes have not been allowed back to even look yet. still about 450 families have been evacuated and remain that way and there's not a lot of hope to get them back to their homes any time soon.

more resources have been moved in yesterday. more manpower, more equipment to try to beat back the flames as winds calm down just a bit but the heat is beginning to build. in california, that's the other state that was hit very, very hard and they're battling flames as well. as far south as san diego across near san bernardino and up toward lake county just north of napa, we're looking at fires that continue to burn there too. as you mentioned, a number of states dealing with this but this is the largest uncontained fire in washington and unfortunately over 60 homes have been burned. >> rob, officials have to have one eye on the fire line and another eye on the weather forecast. what does it look like over the next few days? any chance for relief? >> reporter: the winds have calmed down but the heat from california with all of that record breing temperatures, that's now building into oregon and washington so temperatures here will be near 100 degrees in many spots. excessive heat warnings have been posted for some of the bigger cities. on the fire lines not only hot

but really, really low levels of humidity. they have the heat and low levels of humidity to contend with and this weekend potentially more in the way of thunderstorms which means gusty winds and lightning strikes. very little in the way of beneficial rains. >> all right. thanks, rob. rob marciano right in the middle of some of the worst fires in washington state this morning. take care. three minutes past the hour. a suspect is in custody after allegedly opening fire at the familiar research council, that's a conservative lobbying group. a security guard was shot in the arm but helped contain the gunman identified by police as 28-year-old flied lee corkens. authorities say he made comments about the council's policies before he started shooting. a source tells cnn he worked at the d.c. center for the lgbt community. sandra endo is live with more. we know there is an

investigation that's been launched. what's the latest that you have on this investigation? >> reporter: zoraida, we know that officials are looking into trying to figure out a motive in this case and as you mentioned, we know from a law enforcement source that the suspect, 28-year-old floyd corkens made comments he was against the council's policies. what we don't know exactly is what those comments were. investigators are looking into all of the details. here's what one eyewitness has to say about what happened right after the shooting. >> they just showed up pretty casual and walked into the building and told the guy to put the gun down and they moved in on him. my daughter actually saw the cops drawing their weapons and we just moved away. >> reporter: still this morning, zoraida, we see blood splatter inside the lobby here at the frc

headquarters. again, as you mentioned, corkens is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. zoraida? >> we know that the alleged shooter is a volunteer for a gay rights organization. the d.c. center for the lgbt community. what more details are you finding out about him? >> reporter: well, we do know from the director of the d.c. center for lgbt community issued a statement saying they are outraged by the shooting and of course they don't know how someone who volunteered for their center could do something as tragic and violent as this. we also know more about the shooter. we know from law enforcement officials he purchased a 9 millimeter handgun legally from a gun shop in virginia fairly recently and that's what they retrieved from the scene. they also retrieved a backpack belonging to the suspect and identified and taken his car which was parked by a nearby metro stop in virginia so of course those are all things they are going to definitely look

into as this investigation continues. zoraida? >> i know this organization has released a statement saying they don't support this type of violence. thank you so much, sandra endo. in 30 minutes here on "early start," brian brown joins us live to talk about the hate group label. now to the rest of the top stories. six minutes after the hour. a flight from new york to moscow has been diverted to iceland early this morning. u.s. law enforcement officials say they received an unanimous threat that there were five suitcases with bombs on board. the plane is from the main russian airline. it landed safely. all passengers were safely evacuated. we'll keep you updated with developments as this goes on this morning. president obama and newark, new jersey, mayor corey booker defending joe biden's controversial remarks about putting people back in chains. biden was referring to mitt romney's plans to deregulate wall street. the president telling "people"

magazine that biden meant americans will be worst off if we roll back financial reforms. on "piers morgan tonight," corey booker said the vice president is a victim of sound bite politics. >> i beg america to listen to the whole speech by the vice president. don't let the sound bites that the media is presenting to you affect your mind. listen to the whole speech. this was a substantive speech about how we're going to reform wall street, about how we're going to protect consumers. >> booker also says he's tired of politics fueled by super pac money and sound bites. the former new york city mayor rudy giuliani has been ripping into joe biden questioning biden's intelligence and his capacity to lead after biden's controversial remarks. listen to what giuliani told our piers morgan last night. >> if vice president cheney did this, if sarah palin did this, if paul ryan did this, it would

have been on the front page of "the new york times" and you all would have been outraged. someone had to get outraged and it's going to be me. >> giuliani said in all of his years he's never seen a vice president who in his words said as many stupid things or made as many mistakes as joe biden. eight minutes past the hour here. a few hours ago arizona governor jan brewer signed an executive order directing state agencies to deny benefits including driver's licenses to deferred action recipients. this happened yesterday. thousands of young undocumented immigrants across the country applied for deportation relieas after it went in effect yesterday but governor brewer says the deferral program offers temporary legal status to some illegal immigrants so they can work legally. the department of justice will now likely get involved and coming up on "starting point," we'll bring you even more information about governor jan brewer's decision to deny benefits to deferred action

recipients. i thought how do you do this legally? this is something that was mandated. never said anything you can opt out as a state through executive order. i wonder if other states will do the same. >> there must be a lot of questions for thousands of people especially in arizona who are waiting in line to get this status yesterday. >> what was interesting about this is there were so many unanswered questions in those documents for the kids and this will now become even more unanswered questions. i can't wait to see how they work this one out. >> we'll follow it all morning. nine minutes after the hour. there's a hearing later this morning for two former penn state administrators accused of lying to a grand jury in the jerry sandusky sex abuse case. they will argue to have the case against their clients thrown out. both men are facing perjury charges. they're not expected to attend today's hearing. penn state has announced that it will host a conference on sex abuse at the end of october. among those expected to attend,

boxing legend sugar ray leonard and utah kidnapping victim elizabeth smart. a hypersonic test flight spiraling out of control. the wave rider air destroyed before reaching the target speed of 4600 miles per hour. we previewed this test flight earlier this week. the air force said a problem with a tail fin caused it to spiral out of control. >> that was an expensive crash and burn also. one winning ticket was sold for last night's $337 million powerball jackpot. it wasn't you? it was purchased in michigan. unless you live in the great lakes state, call off that retirement party you were planning. here are the winning numbers for you. 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and powerball is 21. >> are you new best friend in michigan. >> give us a call. all right.

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over assange. we go live to london right now outside of that embassy. there are strong words going back and forth between these two countries. >> reporter: strong words has ratcheted up the tension. you can see the increased presence behind me. nobody looking like they're going to go into the embassy just yet. ecuador feels they have been threat and the embassy has been threaten threatened. britain says they want to resolve this diplomatically and what they did was give guidance and show that there was a diplomatic act that basically says if the embassy is being misused, they could revoke the diplomatic status. that's a long and complicated legal process. it's not likely that police will go in to arrest julian assange any time soon but it ratcheted up diplomatic tensions between the two countries and we're

waiting for this decision by ecuador on whether julian assange will get asylum and we believe that assange is inside the assembly waiting and watching. >> will he ever be able to leave the u.k. without being arrested? >> reporter: even if he gets asylum for ecuador, it means he's safe inside the embassy and ecuador, if he steps outside, he's back on british soil and police can certainly arrest him. as far as the british government is concerned, they feel they have a duty to hand him over to swedish authorities who are looking for him and because he's breached his bail conditions and should be arrested. the answer is no. >> all right. a tense diplomatic issue of whether he'll stay inside the embassy? we'll try to figure it out over the next few days. thank you very much. zoraida? >> thank you, john. it is 16 minutes past the hour. the marines have been called in to help fight in the wildfires in the west. right now 13 states west of the mississippi are batting at least

70 large fires that have already consumed 1.3 million acres. and central washington state the wind whipped taylor bridge fire has torched nearly 40 square miles and also destroyed at least 60 homes. in a court hearing scheduled today in the aurora movie theater massacre. it's not known if shooting suspect james holmes will be in the courtroom. the hearing was supposed to determine if holmes had an established doctor/patient relationship with a psychiatrist who received a package from the suspected shooter. the judge postponed that until next week. a web video featuring former special forces officers accusing president obama of taking too much credit for the killing of osama bin laden. it also takes him to task using classified information in leaking that for political gain. >> mr. president, you did not kill osama bin laden. america did. the work that the american

military has done killed osama bin laden. you did not. >> the group that produced this video claims it's nonpartisan but it shares an office with two republican political consulting firms in alexandria, virginia, and it's spokesman used to work for the bush administration. the 22-minute video blames obama for leaks without providing any information that the leaks are actually his fault. also in washington, talk about your do nothing congress. a report in "usa today" says this congress, the 112th is on pace to become the least productive session since world war ii. a dubious honor. just 61 bills have become law this year out of nearly 4,000 introduced by lawmakers. that's less than 2%. all right. hackers known as unanimous trying to hijack the curiosity rover. say it isn't so. a new york city firm spotted a chat message asking for help to hack into the signals nasa uses

to communicate with the rover. some online discussion groups say the message could be a fake or an attempt by law enforcement to trap those hackers. coming up, de-friending facebook. the first day many investors have chance to dump that slumping stock but could this be an opportunity? we're minding your business coming up next. at shell, we believe the world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

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we are minding your business this morning. we're expecting a positive day on wall street. investors will watch for new reports on weekly jobless claims and also on home construction and earnings from walmart will give some clues on consumer spending. >> while this is all going on, it could be a day of reckoning for facebook. the company's stock price many think it could plunge today. poppy harlow is in for christine romans. why today? >> the shares could flood the market. today is the day when the lockup of facebook shares ends. when the company went public back in may, the insiders, ceo, coo, et cetera, the big banks that underwrote the deal had to hang onto their shares for a set period of time. today they can start selling them. they can start selling their shares. 270 shares could be sold. will they be? we don't know. if a lot of them are, that will bring the stock price down. here's the issue with facebook. look at the stock over the past few months. went public may 18th.

down 45%. a lot of questions about strategy, mobile strategy, how do they make enough money on mobile there. zuckerberg will hang onto shares until november at least. he has to because these are the rules that dominate. if a lot of shares hit the market, this is the problem. >> we've been seeing the share price go down, down and down some more. the questions investors ask is should we be worried about facebook or is it a buying opportunity? >> it depends on what camp you're in. for these that think it's the future of advertising, it's a buying opportunity. if you think most people look at facebook on their mobile phones and having a tough time with monetizing that, you are not a buyer of facebook. i was interviewing warren buffett and i asked him if they like facebook. take a listen to what they say? >> we're not a buyer. >> even at this time google and apple now, you wouldn't be a buyer and you wouldn't short them either? >> i would not short facebook,

google or apple. they're fantastic companies. in terms of what they're worth five or ten years from now, i don't know. >> i don't invest in what i don't understand. i don't want to understand facebook. >> why? >> these are two old guys that invest in traditional companies they understand. do you believe that facebook has a long-term opportunity here or not? and just don't jump into things because they're a fad. look into this. spend your time before you buy or sell something like facebook. >> he sounded like i don't want to understand this. >> he totally doesn't get them. they put your personal information up there. and that was charlie munger, buffett's partner. they stick to more traditional investments. the one thing you need to know today is do not invest in things because they're a fad. if you are going to invest in something, look into why it has long-term opportunity. do not try to day trade. leave that up to professionals. a lot of people tried to do that

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the search for answers after the shooting at the family council headquarters. was it politically motivated? rescuers work to free a young boy. my goodness. somehow ended up stuck in this very strange spot. >> say it ain't so. there he is. the hero of major league baseball's all-star game suspended suspected of cheating. >> oh no. >> welcome back to "early start." >> it's 30 minutes past the hour. >> let's get you up to date with top stories this morning. 900 firefighters are trying to get the upper hand on a destructive wildfire that scorched 40 square miles of washington state. fire officials warn the worst may be yet to come. >> a word of caution. we have much hotter, drier temperatures along with instability thursday as we go into friday and then also very

big concern to us firefighters is lightning in the forecast for saturday. >> right now at least 70 wildfires are burning in 13 states west of the mississippi with 1.3 million acres burned so far. and in ten minutes we'll go live to rob marciano where firefighters are struggling at this very moment to get the upper hand on a fire that's torched 22,000 acres. this morning looking for a motive into a shooting at the headquarters of the family research council. the fbi says the suspect is 28-year-old floyd lee corkens ii. corkins shot a security guard who then wrestled him to the ground. he's charged with assault with a deadly weapon. >> the security guard was a hero in this case. he did an excellent job in stopping the gunman from getting any further into the building and from anyone else getting injured or shot by him. >> the guard is in stable condition but the motive is

still unclear. a source working with d.c. center for the lgbt community tells cnn the suspect worked as a volunteer at that center and joining us now is brian brown. the president of the national organization for marriage, a conservative organization against same-sex marriage. thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate your time. what was your reaction when you heard about the shooting? >> i was horrified, you know. immediately our thoughts and prayers went to the family research council and we're still thinking about them and praying for them. it's really horrifying that something like this would happen. all of the indications from multiple sources that were there say that the shooter actually came in and started attacking the policies of the family research council. at the end he said something to the guard that he wasn't going

after him. he's going after what the family research council stands for and there was supposedly chick-fil-a bags in his backpack. groups like southern poverty law center which labeled the family research council which is a mainstream group, a hate group, that sort of talk, that sort of labeling and attack, it's totally irresponsible and unacceptable and i think this incident makes that clear. >> the southern poverty law center has a long list of organizations on its website that they have labeled hate groups. none of those groups in the past have been victims of an attack like this. why do you think that this particular organization was targeted? >> well, again, when you take the family research council, which is again a mainstream group that does a lot of work in

d.c., the values voter summit is a huge summit that stands up for traditional values and you have a spokesman for the southern poverty law center saying this group is no different than the brotherhood, you've crossed a line. it's totally unacceptable. and again, the responsibility is on the shooter but we need to have a civil debate over issues like redefining marriage. we should not be attacking and labeling as hate groups those that we disagree. we should condemn violence of any sort but also be responsible. >> handling this with civility. let's focus on that for a while. the southern poverty law center says the reason they added this organization to their hate group is because they're defaming gays and lesbians. i want our viewers to see some of the things that this organization has put out there so that we kind of understand why they were labeled a hate group. they say one of the primary

goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the prophets of a new sexual order. isn't that hateful in your opinion? >> just because you disagree with that statement, you should argue with it. by no means can you say just because of a statement like that this is the same as the kkk. that's unacceptable. >> it is spewing hate, isn't it? it's hate spewing hate. would you agree or disagree with that? >> i would disagree saying that -- you can agree or disagree with the position but saying it's spewing hate and that we are going to therefore label you a hate group, that's totally irresponsible. i think the american people understand this. and this tragedy highlights how irresponsible something like this is. >> are you concerned now about your organization, the national organization for marriage? >> i think throughout the country we've all tightened up

our security measures even before this. we've received death threats. we had package sent to us a week ago that was clearly intended to intimidate us. we thought it was a bomb scare. we're going back to the d.c. police and saying this stuff needs to be investigated. so of course we are. but it's not going to stop us. the key point is that in america we disagree, we debate, we don't try to silence folks that we disagree with and it's just completely unacceptable to say that the family research council is the same as some sort of violent hate group. it's just totally unacceptable. >> brian brown, president of the national organization for marriage. we appreciate your time this morning. thank you. >> thank you. >> john, back to you. the milwaukee county sheriff's office released a new 911 call from the deadly shooting rampage at the sikh temple earlier this month. a 40-year-old army veteran

opened fire inside the temple killing six and wounding eight others. in this released tape, you can hear gun shots in the background as the caller tries to speak. >> the sikh temple since reopened. a dime size bullet hole has been left unrepaired there as a memorial to the victims. big news in baseball overnight. major league baseball suspending giants outfielder melky cabrera for 50 games.

cabrera was this year's all-star game mvp. he did not deny it. in a statement cabrera says he's deeply sorry for the mistake. apologized to teammates and fans for letting them down. his contract is up this year. he may have cost himself a lot of money. >> i will never understand that. amazing video of a young chinese boy getting rescued. the boy got his head stock in a stone. look at that. that's a stone opening on a balcony. he was freed using hydraulic spreading pliers and he does appear unharmed. kids will do the darnedest things, won't they. that's incredible. i have no idea what the hydraulic spreading pliers are. thank goodness they had those on hand. why go on a sleazy talk show to prove who or isn't your daddy?

this truck rolls through new york city and it offers dna tests. the owner says his clients are usually fathers who suspect their children may not be theirs. and in some cases he says they have been right and in one case he says it helped reunite a harlem man with his long lost 20-year-old daughter. so there could be good news there. >> i guess it's capitalism at work i suppose. 39 minutes after the hour. wide receivers are gwildfires a getting worse across a dozen states and have called in troops to help protect lives and homes. we're live on the ground on the fires in washington state coming up. stay with us. [siri] another busy day today. are you serious? [siri] yes i'm not allowed to be frivolous. ah ok, move my 4 o'clock today to tomorrow. change my 11am to 2. [siri] ok marty, i scheduled it for today. is that rick? where's rick? [siri] here's rick. oh, no that's not rick. now, how's the traffic headed downtown? [siri] here's the traffic.

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welcome back. dry heat and high winds leaving states in a ferocious battle with wildfires this morning. it's shaping up to be the worst fire in the season in decades. at least 70 large wildfires raging right now already torching 1.3 million acres. california has the most. they have 13 burning. they even called in the marines to help beat back all of the flames. in central washington state, they've really been battered. the taylor bridge fire has scorched nearly 40 square miles so far destroying at least 60 homes. rob marciano joins us live from cle elum, washington this morning. it is just brutal for those folks out there. >> reporter: they haven't seen a fire like this in decades. they are used to getting a wind. it's a weakness in the cascade

mountains where during the summertime they get strong west winds every day. the fear always is if they get any sort of sizable wildfire, it's going to grow in a hurry. that's what happened monday night. a spark flew near a construction site and then tuesday dozens of homes engulfed in flames and some of the video is heartbreaking. not only in town but on the outskirts of town as well some barns making livestock and other animals having to run as well. at least 450 families have been evacuated because of this fire. and at best they have 10% containment. maybe a little bit more today. the aerial show just how big this fire is. over 40 square miles over 22,000 acres and still some towns outside of cle elum that are threatened as well. it's in california as well. the heat building from california is now surging up this way but the slice of good

news, zoraida, is that the winds did die down yesterday and they are hopeful the winds will lie down again today but the heat is building. >> really sad that it's only 10% contained. rob marciano live in washington for us. thank you. authorities in washington, d.c. are investigating whether a shooting at the headquarters of the conservative family research council may have been politically motivated. 28-year-old floyd corkins is held on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. he made comments about the group's policies before opening fire. a security guard was shot in the arm. a source says corkins recently volunteered at a lgbt community center. president obama and vice president biden taking a break from the campaign trail for their weekly lunch. paul ryan will be on the stump with a speech in ohio before heading to a fund-raiser in

virginia. >> a decision is expected by ecuador's government on the request for asylum by julian assange. british authorities have threatened to assault the embassy in london if they fail to release assange to them. he's trying to avoid being sent to sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation. drought hit the mighty mississippi so far health officials in louisiana have issued a drinking water advisory. they say the water is perfectly safe to drink it's just higher in salt because salty water from the gulf of mexico is creeping in. people on dialysis or low sodium diets are encouraged to check with their doctor before drinking any of the water there. >> soledad o'brien is here now. >> some of the names like long

island, the indian names or french names or spanish names, sometimes they change. ahead on "starting point," the arizona governor jan brewer now is in another clash with the white house. it happened on the first day of the president's new immigration policy going into effect. the governor banning public benefits to young immigrants who are in the country illegally. some say it's a slap to the president. other questions about whether what she's doing is legal. we'll talk about that this morning. also, we're going to chat with the actor steven baldwin who will stop by to talk about political hot topics. he's from a big family where family members are on all sides of the political aisle. we'll talk about vice president's chains remarks and his thoughts about religion and politics. also, the lovely young ladies. there they are. the fierce five as they call themselves now take on new york. they come and visit us in the studio. it's funny.

they used to be the fab five and then they said this is a quote. there was some basketball team with the name fab five. yes. there was some basketball team. any way, they changed their name to the fierce five and they really are. we'll talk with them this morning. plus, there's a test. are you a real college football fan? there are rules that you have to follow. we'll tell you if you can pass the test. that's ahead on "starting point" this morning as well at the top of the hour. >> a couple old rivals saying vice president is dragging president obama down and it's time for him to call in the bull pen. could hillary clinton be the relief pitcher? is the race getting uglier? headlines are next. if you are one of the millions of men

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welcome back. we are so happy you're with us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> you know that you only thought the vice president speculation was over because instead of obama/biden in 2012, some political insiders should suggest that president obama should have secretary of state hillary clinton as his number two. what's really going on here. mark preston joins me now live from washington with all of the vp buzz. what is this about? biden is taking a lot of flak lately. >> he is. this happens every few months, right. we hear this all the time. not just when we talk about it on tv but for all of the democratic and republican operatives we talk to who might be frustrated by biden or that it might be helpful for the republican ticket if they could just talk about this. we heard this from doug wilder

yesterday, former virginia governor, a democrat. he suggested it. we also heard it from sarah palin. let's hear what she had to say. >> the strategists there in the obama campaign have got to look at a diplomatic way of replacing joe biden on the ticket with hillary. i don't want to throw out that suggestion and have them actually accept the suggestion because then a obama/hillary clinton ticket would have a darn good chance of winning. joe biden really drags down that ticket. >> john, bottom line is this was never, ever, ever going to happen. i'm not sure if it was ever contemplated. a great talking point. it's really interesting. why would hillary clinton want to join the ticket right now when she's done such a great job of secretary of state? she could run for president on her own merits in 2016 which she may do. >> she hasn't given a full endorsement of mitt romney. she's not as supportive as she could be in some cases. it's interesting to hear her

talk. there are some other sparks flying this morning over a new video from a group of former navy s.e.a.l.s talking about the president and osama bin laden. >> this is an organization that is very similar to the 2004 group called swift boats for veterans that went after john mccain -- john kerry for his military service. it has strong ties to the republican party and they put out this 22-minute video. let's take a quick look at it which is critical of president obama. >> mr. president, you did not kill osama bin laden. america did. the work that the american military has done killed osama bin laden. you did not. >> and let's put this in real good perspective here. the fact of the matter is they say they're a nonpartisan group but they direct their anger at president obama. they say his administration has been leaking classified information and they're mad at him for taking credit for killing of osama bin laden.

>> thanks very much. >> i always love hearing from mark. we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight.

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call or click today. just a few minutes left until "starting point." you are rushing out for something cool. >> i'm headed to detroit to meet with nascar great jeff gordon and i'm very excited about it. they asked me if i can drive a stick shift. yes. i'm very hopeful, i'm crossing my fingers i get to drive his car. i don't think so. maybe it's a different one. the fastest chevy ever he has it. i'm riding with him today. >> you've been looking to this for a long time. >> i always wanted to drive a really fast car. i've attempted to get these stories and they never give them to the girls. they give them to the guys.

this is my opportunity finally. if you have any questions for jeff gordon, send them to me. tweet me. i will be happy to ask them for you. >> don't miss your flight. that's all for "early start." >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, heartbreaking loss. >> everybody's house is gone. all my friends, my neighbors, people i care about and we're all going to have to move, rebuild, hug, shed some tears and start over. >> as wildfires intensify, ravaging california and washington, people are packing their most important belongings and running for their lives. decision day. wikileaks founder julian assange wanted in sweden for charges of rape. we're standing by for breaking news on his