>> glad he has a sense of humor about it. because frankly my nerves are fried. so consider yourself on notice, barbecue chip bandits. leads ri to the ridiculist. >> that does it for this edition of "360." thank you for watching. thank you for watching. "early start" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com battleground wisconsin. it used to be obama country in the race for president. now it's a toss-up. aerial assault. firefighters take to the sky in an all-out fight against devastating wildfires. diplomatic standoff. police surround an embassy building in london with a wanted man, wikileaks founder julian assange, hold up inside. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> glad you're here. i'm john berman. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. we begin this morning with breaking news.

this morning, a uniformed afghan police officer has killed two u.s. service members in the farah province. the u.s. military says the man turned his weapon on the troops before being shot and killed himself. it is the latest incident in a string of similar attacks on u.s. forces, and it follows a taliban statement. the group has infiltrated afghanistan security forces, which cnn cannot verify. the incident is under investigation, and of course, we will bring you the latest details as they develop. >> been a tough, tough week in afghanistan. politics now and the paul ryan factor. a new poll shows there's now a much tighter race in a key battleground state, wisconsin. a new cnn poll of registered voters in wisconsin finds that 49% say they back president obama with 45% saying mitt romney. that is within the margin of error, and that means wisconsin, which has been leaning toward president obama, is now up for grabs. john king shows us how this could swing the race. he does it on the magic wall for

us this morning. >> we have wisconsin and its ten electoral votes leaning towards the president, but now because of the new poll, because of the paul ryan pick, because of our reporting in the state, we're switching wisconsin to a true toss-up state, which makes the math closer. it takes 270 to win. the president now has 237 electoral votes, the dark blue and the light blue states. light blue leaning democratic, dark blue solid obama. governor romney at 206 right now, a little bit behind, but wisconsin tightens the math a bit. look at what's left. under any scenario, people say romney has to win florida to get to the white house, probably has to win ohio. if he can do those two and add wisconsin, that would give you a much more competitive race, and in fact, would give governor romney the advantage. if he can do florida, ohio and now wisconsin. if you look at the map, that's one way to look at it. here's another way to look at it. you come out to the national map and go back to 2008. if you look at this part of the country, the midwest was absolutely pivotal for president obama's huge electoral victory. look at all that blue here.

why are the romney forces confident they can do better in the region this time? look at 2010. look at the senate races across that same region, all red, meaning all republican. that's why they think the ryan pick, plus the economy helps them out in the midwest region. and again, if you come back to the electoral map, finally as we finish up, if you can put wisconsin in play, you can put ohio in play for the republicans, if governor romney can carry iowa as well, look at that, that would dramatically change the map from 2008. the midwest key now, key now, part of the ryan pick and key to governor romney's strategy. >> that was john king. you know, wisconsin is a state the president won by 14 points in 2008, but it has been close in the past. in 2000, al gore beat george bush by fewer than 6,000 votes, so it can be close in wisconsin. three minutes past the hour. mitt romney says he never paid less than 13% in personal income taxes over the past ten years. in an effort to defuse criticism over his refusal to release more tax returns, romney told reporters in south carolina that he re-examined his records.

>> i did go back and look at my taxes, and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6% or something like that. so, i paid taxes every single year. >> romney went on to say that senator harry reid's charges that he did not pay those taxes are false. president obama's campaign quickly reacted with this statement -- "mitt romney today said that he did indeed go back and look at his tax returns and that he never paid less than 13% in taxes in any year over the past decade. since there is substantial reason to doubt his claims, we have a simple message for him -- prove it." romney has released his 2010 filing and a 2011 filing estimate with a pledge to release the full document but says there will be no further tax disclosures. many families dealing with the agony of losing their homes this morning and everything in them as the west coast wildfires, they continue to rage. dozens of large fires are burning in 13 states west of the

mississippi, most of them in california, nevada and idaho. in western washington state, there is a new concern, lightning. much of the region is under a rare fire weather watch. still, fire commanders there are cautiously optimistic. they declared the taylor bridge fire 33% contained last night, and they hope to have the 22,000-acre fire completely contained by sunday. that is their hope. meteorologist rob marciano is in cle elum, washington. rob, a handful of evacuees were allowed to go back to their homes, right? >> reporter: yeah, just a few, john, but the residents who live in the homes just behind me, they have not been allowed to go back and probably won't be allowed to go back for quite some time. take a look at the glow in the hills. this is just beyond what's called hidden valley. we're on the northern flank of the fire there. you can see the glow, and in some cases, the flames lighting up the tree tops on this part of the fire. as you mentioned, 33%

containment, but still have some work to do here before they can really say they've got a handle on this thing. and of course, the heat continues to build and that's become a huge, huge issue there. so, firefighters dealing with the heat, the low levels of humidity, and at times, unpredictable winds. as you mentioned, there have been a few people that were allowed to go back home. we caught up with a couple that had not gone back. they're lifelong residents. and they talk about what it's like to lose their home. >> we built 14 years ago and we've been up on the property for 20 years. it's just hard to comprehend when you lose, you know, your home and where you've lived. that's our dream place. i'm going to be buried up there. >> reporter: he talks about cle elum with such passion. the building behind that, larry, he actually built. that's a senior center, and he built it, kind of overbuilt it in anticipation for it being used for instances like this. the red cross is using that as a shelter.

there you see some of the dramatic pictures coming out of cle elum, washington. the heat the big issue, not only here, but across the west side of the cascades. take a look at some of these record-high temperatures, and in some cases, just plain old hot weather in areas that typically this time of year would see temperatures in the 70s and maybe touching 80 degrees. 105 in medford. portland hit 100. vancouver, washington, hit 100, and seattle hit 91 as did olympia. we have some heat warnings again today for the same area. temperatures expected to get close to 100 degrees. excessive heat warnings out for the west side. red flag warnings out as well along with fire weather watch. the red flag warnings have been posted for the last couple weeks, but when you add a red flag watch, fires could be anticipated over the weekend. why? because we've had the heat obviously, but now the threat for thunderstorms will be picked up saturday and sunday, and that could mean lightning strikes that could cause more fires, not only east of the cascades where it's typically dry, but on the west side where the sun and the

heat has been baking that area that has some similar growth that could ignite quite rapidly. so, we're concerned right through the weekend, even though we have 33% containment there. >> watching that weather over the weekend. rob marciano in washington, thank you very much. seven minutes past the hour here. the west nile aerial assault begins in texas. dallas county conducting aerial spraying in order to control the mosquitos and hopefully put a stop to the west nile epidemic. at least 230 people there have been infected. ten of those people have died. in neighboring oklahoma, 61 people have been infected with the west nile. three people have died. a 10-year-old boy is dead and a search is on for a 6-year-old boy. they were both swept away into the merced river at yosemite national park. they were taking a break from hiking with their family wednesday when this tragedy happened. the 10-year-old is the park's third drowning victim this year. >> poor families. two workers had to be rescued from an expanding louisiana sinkhole. the sinkhole first appeared two

weeks ago in assumption parish, louisiana, and has since grown to the size of a football field. look at it. >> this thing's been amazing. >> unreal. so, officials say the two cleanup workers were in a boat tied to a tree when another 50 feet of earth gave way. >> look at that. >> oh, my gosh! operations at the site have been suspended because this is very dangerous. >> and this has been going on all week. >> yeah, and it just keeps on growing. look at the size of that thing. >> nine minutes after the hour. u.s. customs turns into a giant shoe closet after they seized thousands of fake christian louboutin shoes. the counterfeit shoes could have raked in $18 million if they had reached the underground market. i don't even know what these shoes are, nice shoes? >> they're very expensive, and the tell tale is the red sole. when you have a red sole, you have a louboutin, and you sit, you don't walk, because they're very, very high heels. >> five shipments of these have been seized between july and

august, so i guess that's a big deal. >> not surprising that it would rake in $18 million. all right, nine minutes past the hour. one of the world's most controversial figures, julian assange, granted asylum in ecuador's london embassy, asylum that great britain refuses to honor. who will blink first? we're going to go live to london for more details coming up. e spd from capital one, sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. what8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor?

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it is now 14 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. nice to have you this morning. well, there is a standoff outside an embassy in london right now. one of the most controversial men in the world is inside. julian assange has been granted diplomatic asylum in ecuador, but really, nothing has changed for the wikileaks founder. british authorities say safe passage is simply out of the question. police have surrounded the ecuadorian embassy in london where assange has been hold up for the past two months to avoid extradition to sweden, but wikileaks says assange will make a public statement outside the embassy on sunday. cnn's atika shubert is following the diplomatic standoff. he is live in london right outside of the embassy. paint a picture for us and what exactly is happening. >> reporter: well, seems like all parties are raising the stakes, not only in wikileaks saying that julian assange will come out, will be in front of the ecuador embassy making a live statement on sunday, his

first public appearance in months, ecuador has now called an emergency meeting of south american nations to discuss this diplomatic standoff. and as you can see behind me, there are plenty of british police here ready to arrest and extradite julian assange, should he come out of this embassy. and britain insists that they do not recognize this diplomatic asylum and that they will continue to pursue him and extradite him to sweden. here's how william hague, foreign minister, put it yesterday. >> we remain committed to a diplomatic solution that allows us to carry out our obligations as a nation under the extradition act. it's important to understand that this is not about mr. assange's activities at wikileaks or the attitude of the united states of america. he is wanted in sweden to answer allegations of serious sexual offenses. >> reporter: now, britain insists it's not going to storm into the embassy and arrest julian assange, but this sort of

protracted negotiations and diplomacy means that he could be in there for a very long time. >> and atika, assange is still the subject of a criminal investigation here in the united states. what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, what i want to do is actually play you a clip from ricardo patino, who is ecuador's foreign minister, and his description of what assange faces in the united states. take a listen. >> that the judicial evidence shows clearly that if extradited to the u.s., mr. assange will not have a fair trial, he will be tried by a special military court and a cruel treatment would be applied and he may be sentenced to life imprisonment or death. >> reporter: now, that sounds very scary, but the truth seems to be somewhat more mundane. there does seem to be a grand jury investigation into julian assange as the wikileaks founder

and editor, but there's no conclusive evidence of an indictment so far or where that investigation is going and even if he faces any criminal allegations at this point. so, it's still very murky details, some investigation, but we just don't know what he faces in the u.s. at this point. >> wow, there is so much drama surrounding this face and scotland yard is actually out there 24/7? >> reporter: that's right. police have been out here throughout the night, into the day. they're here, i think mostly for protesters, but obviously, on the steps outside, they could be arrested, and julian assange also has supporters here night and day. >> atika, thank you very much. >> i think this story is fascinating, a diplomatic standoff, like something out of the cold war. >> all these entries weighing in as well. it will be interesting to see how this pans out. >> 17 minutes after the hour. let's get youp to date. big election news to tell you about. cnn is now calling wisconsin, paul ryan's home state, a toss-up. in a new cnn poll of registered voters in wisconsin, 49% say they'd back barack obama, the

president, with 45% supporting mitt romney. that is within the margin of error. wisconsin hasn't voted for a republican for president since ronald reagan. and in a show of solidarity, president obama and mitt romney will not run campaign ads on september 11th. similar steps were taken during the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. priorities usa action, a pro-obama super pac, has also agreed not to run any spots. the pro-romney super pac, restore our future, did not immediately respond regarding their plans. >> i think it's a safe bet they won't. >> probably not. army suicides to report. more than a death a day in july. a new report says a record 38 active-duty and reserve soldiers killed themselves last month. that total is up from 24 in june. that's bad enough. so far, 187 active-duty and reserve soldiers have taken their lives in 2012. the suspect in a shooting at the family research council's washington, d.c., office has been ordered to undergo a mental health exam.

28-year-old floyd corkins is being held without bail. he is charged with assault with intent to kill. corkins allegedly said he hated the conservative group's politics before he opened fire, wounding a security guard. and a suspect's family told authorities he has strong opinions about gay rights. corkins had volunteered at a center serving the lgbt community. a horse-drawn carriage ride in midtown manhattan goes terribly wrong. the horse was spooked. it broke the carriage in half and then went galloping up broadway yesterday afternoon. >> oh, my goodness! >> this all happened outside our building at cnn. at one point yesterday afternoon, i was here and everyone had their noses pressed to the windows looking outside, seeing what was going on. well, thankfully, the two passengers and the driver suffered only minor injuries, but this was a really stunning sight to see. >> oh, my goodness. i always worry about them getting spooked, right? too much going on. 19 minutes past the hour. we're getting an "early

read" on your local news that is making national headlines. >> we'll start with "the boston herald," my hood. in a controversial wind farm project it gets the all clear from a key government agency. what happened here is the faa says the cape wind project's 130 turbines, they say they will not interfere with air traffic and can proceed. this has been a controversial project. it's planned for the nantucket sound. this could be the nation's first offshore wind farm. it's faced political and legal criticism for years, and what's really interesting is it's pitted people who you might think are environmentalists, might be in support of wind farms, against the project. the kennedy family, of course ted kennedy, the late ted kennedy, who we like to say was an environmentalist, was opposed to the wind farm in nantucket sound. a lot of people think it would hurt property values in nantucket and the cape, and also it's an eyesore. >> i imagine that. "the livingston daily." a 12-year-old texas boy is told he is too big to play pee wee football.

elijah earnhardt stands more than 6 feet tall. there he is right there. tips the scale also at nearly 300 pounds. the rule is that any seventh grader over 135 pounds is barred. he also says earnhardt has gone to meetings and was advised, so he doesn't understand why there's an issue with all this. earnhardt's mother says he was allowed to practice for three weeks and she plans to protest. why was he allowed to practice but not play is her argument. >> you know, you feel badly for a kid caught in the middle of this and you hope he gets to play somewhere. >> something somewhere. >> for an expanded look at all of our top stories, head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart, worth checking out. and if you've got mouths to feed and you're out there looking for a job, unfortunately, the odds are not in your favor lately. am i telling you anything you don't know? we're going to have a complete story coming up. sleep-aid. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing. ♪ zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil.

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it's an ultrabook. he signed the purchase order. with an ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. introducing the ultra sleek, ultra responsive ultrabook. a whole new class of computers powered by intel. we're "minding your business" this morning and u.s. stock futures are trading flat this morning ahead of today's market open, that's after facebook's stock fell 6% on thursday. >> joining us now is poppy harlow to talk about some interesting stats on jobs. >> this has to do with how the job recovery, we're seeing it edge up slightly each month, is favoring single people. interesting numbers out from the labor department. so, you ask, why is that? companies can't technically favor someone if they're single or married, and they're not. there's a number of things going on here. when you look at the data, here's what it shows you. during the financial crisis,

single people lost 5 million jobs and they have regained 90% of those. married people lost 6 million but have only regained 22%. what's driving that? a few things. an economist at the university of chicago pointed out that married people can take more time generally looking for the job they want, the right job. they've got generally that second salary to bank on. also, people 35 and under are getting hired more. people between 35 and 55 are having a harder time getting jobs, so younger people are more often single. also, flexibility. someone that is younger will move somewhere else for a job. they're also going to be willing to take a lower salary. and this pew study was so interesting, guys. it said that almost half of adults under 35 have taken jobs they don't want just to pay the bills. they're more willing to do that. and also, this has to do with marriages are down. marriages were down 5% in 2010, and that continued last year, it's continuing this year. so, there's just more single people out there. but i think a big, big driver of this is just younger people being a whole lot more flexible. >> yeah. >> that's interesting.

>> isn't it interesting? >> so, i have two kids, twin boys, 5 years old. i love them a lot, but they're not easy and they're not cheap. >> so expensive. and child care is just, it's killing a lot of families in this country, especially when they're taking jobs that pay less after the recession. so, this new report came out on thursday that child care in america report. it showed that in almost half the states, the cost of center-based child care, so not even a private nanny, for one kid exceeded the annual median rate. and if you talk about two children, the cost of that exceeded your annual rent in all 50 states. so, let's take a look at 4-year-olds. the cost of child care for 4-year-olds went up 4% in the last year. in mississippi, it's $3,900 a year. in massachusetts, it's almost $12,000 a year. >> oh, my goodness. >> and then they took a look at the different states. and in terms of least affordable states, it takes the median income and compares out the cost of child care. new york, no surprise, is the

most expensive, but then it's followed by minnesota, oregon, colorado and illinois. and when you're talking about 11 million kids under age 5 in child care in the u.s., you see why this is hurting so many families. they often have to make the decision, do i work -- >> exactly. >> -- or do i stay home? >> daunting. >> i'm really surprised at some of the states you have on there. >> it's because the median income there is lower. >> ah, all right. >> thank you, poppy. it is daunting information. do you ever get annoyed by people who talk on their cell phones while they're out to eat? >> oh, my gosh, yes, yes! >> all right, well, one restaurant has a plan to crack down on these table talkers. >> you should check your phone in at the door. >> well, listen to this! check this story out coming up next, and this could save you some money, too. the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately.

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wisconsin up for grabs. good news for mitt romney after the paul ryan pick. fight for the right to rock. a free speech bale in russia. a female punk rock band set to find out if they'll be sent to prison for slamming vladimir putin. and bill clinton, meet bill clinton! the former president has lunch with the ugandan boy named after him. i wonder if they're going to end up -- >> look at that sweet picture when he was born and then older. that's very sweet. welcome back to "early start," everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have you this morning, 32 minutes past the hour. ten key electoral votes that the republicans haven't had since 1984. big election news for you this morning. cnn now putting the state of wisconsin in the toss-up column. obama at 49% and romney at 45%. that is within the margin of error.

it appears the paul ryan pick may be paying off, at least for now. cnn political director mark preston live in washington. good news for the romney camp, at least for now. >> reporter: yeah, no doubt about that, zoraida. and in the past 30 minutes or so, we've received a memo from the romney campaign which talks a little bit further about the benefits of the paul ryan pick. in fact, they've said in less than a week, they have raised more than $10 million online. they have signed up 45,000 new volunteers. now, zoraida, let me note that this is not the fund-raisers that paul ryan and mitt romney attend every day. this is online donations. and the romney campaign, zoraida, says that this is directly related to the paul ryan pick. >> gosh, i wonder if there's an average that people are donating. that's a lot of money in a very short period of time. but let's switch gears here to romney's tax returns. they're now back in the spotlight after comments he made at a press conference. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: well, we have new details right now from mitt

romney's taxes, or at least that's what he's telling us. yesterday in south carolina, he was asked the question again and he provided further details about his tax returns. let's listen to what he had to say. >> i did go back and look at my taxes, and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6% or something like that. so, i paid taxes every single year. harry reid's charge is totally false. >> reporter: and who mitt romney's speaking about right there is the senate democratic leader, harry reid, who has come out and said that, in fact, he has learned that mitt romney has not paid taxed. harry reid put a statement out through his spokesman questioning mitt romney's information there, that in fact, he has paid those taxes. let's take a quick look at this on the board, and i'll just paraphrase it. harry reid says we'll believe it when we see it. until mitt romney releases his tax returns, americans will continue to wonder what he's hiding. zoraida, i have to tell you this, there is no question about this, this will be an issue all

the way up to election day. democrats are glad about it. it will come in and out of the discussion, but the fact of the matter is, until and if mitt romney releases those tax returns, democrats will continue to talk about it. >> yeah, and they'll continue to talk about it because they'll continue to bring it up. mark preston live for us in washington, d.c. thank you. and we are following some breaking news this morning. a uniformed afghan police officer has killed two u.s. service members in the farah province. the u.s. military says the man turned his weapon on the troops before being shot and killed himself. it is the latest incident in a string of similar attacks on u.s. forces. it's been a very tough week in afghanistan. this comes a day after seven u.s. troops were killed in a helicopter crash there. the incident is under investigation. we'll bring you the latest on today's developments as they materialize. well, it's begun. the controversial keystone xl pipeline has broken ground. construction officially started near livingston, texas. it was met with heavy protests yesterday. at least one group has

threatened sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience. approval for the international portion of the pipeline is still pending there. president obama rejected that permit in january over concerns a rupture might threatening a sensitive aquifer in nebraska. two michigan brothers who spent almost 25 years in prison for a murder they say they did not commit are free thanks to facebook, and now they're talking. raymond and timothy highers say they were in the detroit neighborhood the night a drug dealer was killed back in 1987, but a witness was wrong about them fleeing the scene. a chance facebook exchange in 2009 led to new testimony from a man who says he was one of the teens who ran, not the highers. did the brothers ever consider a plea deal? here's what they said on cnn's "out front." >> something was asked to our attorneys at the time, and they didn't even consider it. there was no doubt in our minds that we wasn't going to do that.

so, when they told us there was a plea on the table, we said absolutely not. >> under a michigan law, a judge still has to review the highers' conduct in prison in a new trial, even if their convictions were set aside. president bill clinton reunited with bill clinton? take a look at this picture or pictures. 14-year-old ugandan native, bill clinton, born the same month clinton first visited the east african country, was reunited with the former president during a recent trip. president clinton encouraged his namesake to keep working toward a medical degree and even offered to fund his education. >> that's great. >> priceless. did you ever sit through a meal next to someone who was yapping on the cell phone or sitting across from a friend looking at their cell phone the whole time? one los angeles restaurant feels your pain. they are offering a 5% discount for leaving your phone in this box for the duration of their meal. get this, they estimate that 40% to 50% of their customers had

opted in and ditched their phone since they started the offer. so, you save money and do something you should be doing anyway. >> this is an excellent idea and i hope it rubs off across the country and people start offering it, make it a rule. you cannot eat at your establishment if you take the phone to your table. isn't that terrible? you can't have dialogue with people even at your own table. >> if there's an emergency, you have to pick up your phone, but don't just sit there and -- >> what did we do before we had cell phones, right? >> i don't remember. i couldn't survive. >> sure you could. 38 minutes past the hour. outrage around the world as members of a russian rock band wait to learn their fate in court. the free speech controversy coming up next. e about this country? trick question. i love everything about this country! including prilosec otc. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so you can enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies. and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day, block the acid with prilosec otc..

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[ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! welcome back to "early start." it is 42 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. glad you're with us. there is outrage across the globe this morning as members of a russian punk rock band learn their fate in court. three members are on trial for protesting inside moscow's biggest orthodox cathedral. they rushed in, did a dance -- you just saw it at the altar -- and called for russia to be set free from president vladimir putin. we're expecting this verdict very soon. each of them now faces up to seven years in prison for this stunt, and protesters in support of the band are happening all around the world. they were happening yesterday in new york. superstars like madonna and paul mccartney are calling for their release. our phil black is at the courthouse on verdict watch in mass cow. let's hear him.

>> reporter: in an hour's time in a court just down the road, a judge is about to be reading a verdict in the case against three women that have become known around the world as pussyrat. they have been recommended a three-year sentence and under the law could spent seven years. they have already spent months in custody and during that time, many people are debating what would be an appropriate punishment for their alleged crime. the charges, hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. the women deny that and insist they didn't mean to offend anybody and their act was just a political one. whatever the result, it will be interpreted by many people here in russia and beyond as an indicator of the russian government's tolerance for dissent. the impact of that performance in moscow's main cathedral, which only lasted a few minutes, has been far greater than those women could have possibly imagined. pussy riot's name, their colorful outfits have become a symbol of protests around the

world and it's why many people will be watching today's judgment with great interest. >> phil black on verdict watch for us in moscow, all going on this morning, so stay tuned. >> and it's viral. i mean, everybody's weighing in on this controversial here. 43 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. big election news to tell you about. the vp bounce. we're calling it a bounce. cnn now calling wisconsin, paul ryan's home state, a toss-up. look at this. in a new cnn poll of registered voters in wisconsin, 49% say they back president barack obama with 45% supporting romney. that is within the margin of error. wisconsin is now the eighth state cnn considers a true toss-up. some more election news. vice president joe biden's debate prep partner has been picked. sources tell cnn congressman chris van hollen -- he's been on our show this week -- will play vp candidate paul ryan. ryan is the house budget committee chairman and van hollen is the top committee democrat, so they know each other well. president obama's debate partner

will be john kerry from massachusetts, so he knows romney. the romney campaign has not announced their debate team, but it is suspected rob portman will help as he has for years. jesse jackson jr. received a visit at the mayor clinic by longtime friend patrick kennedy. he traveled to spend time with jackson, undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder. kennedy, who received treatment for depression at the same clinic told nbc news it was clear that jackson has been dealing with deep depression but is confident that he is finally making some progress. an enormous and terrifying find inside one milwaukee home. look, folks. a 70-pound alligator. the reptile is now with animal control after it was removed from a south side home. the gator, named wally, is 5 feet long and was living off fish, crickets, ew, and frozen rats. sorry if you're in the middle of breakfast. the owners said they didn't know

keeping an alligator as a pet is illegal. >> looks like a nice alligator. >> very friendly, i'm sure. talking more politics now. this is the part of the campaign where the candidates like to charge each other with dipping to new epic lows, and it's also the part where the media wonders if it's the not negative campaign ever. so, i wanted to help answer that question. is it the most negative ever? well, no. mitt romney. the ad implies he was more or less responsible for a woman dying. >> and she passed away in 22 days. >> a stretch, to say the least. barack obama. the ad says he wants to end welfare reform. >> you wouldn't have to work. >> not really true, either. no, mitt romney and barack obama do not agree on a lot, but they do agree this campaign has become positively negative. >> there's so much negativity and so much cynicism. >> what's different this year is that the president is taking things to a new low. >> different? different than, say, mitt romney's campaigns against rick

perry, rick santorum and newt gingrich? >> are you calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. >> or for that matter, barack obama's campaign against hillary clinton. >> shame on you, barack obama. >> if history has taught us anything, it's that every campaign in history seems like the most negative in history. >> 2010 likely to have the most negative campaign ads ever. >> the most negative campaign in memory! >> the most negative campaign any of us can remember. >> yes, negative campaigns existed even before super pacs. lyndon johnson implied barry goldwater would start a nuclear war. grover cleveland accused of having a child out of wedlock -- ma, ma, where's my pa? andrew jackson accused of killing a man and having a wife who was a big mist. john quincy adams, it was said he procured prostitutes for the russian czar. thomas jefferson? john adams' supporters once said

his election would result in murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest. so, until we have charges of robbery, nuclear war starting or prostitute procuring, maybe this will have to wait. >> the president is taking things to a new low. >> they might be mean, cruel and cynical, but negative campaigns are not lights on history, they are our history. so to me, the one thing that seems different about the campaign, it's not that the negative campaigning started so early, it's that the complaining about negative campaigning has started so early. >> i had a full conversation about this yesterday. i was in detroit, and you know, that was the question -- do you think this is the most negative campaign? but apparently not. history shows us this is pretty mild. >> this is how we roll in america. >> wow. thank you for that. >> all right. >> nice to put that in perspective. >> 48 minutes after the hour now. the printer, it's not jammed, it's hammed. >> what? >> how the meat of the future may come from your printer. >> oh, no way.

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welcome back, everyone. it is about 51 minutes after the hour right now. i'm john berman along with zoraida sambolin, and we are taking a look at what is trending on the web this morning. >> all right, would you eat printed meat? >> no. >> the answer's no, right? but let me try to explain this to you. according to cnet, the billionaire founder of paypay is investing at least $250,000 into a start-up company that is developing something called bioprinting, not like printing on a machine. basically, they're looking to serve up slabs of meat that are made on a 3d printer. it's really a hard concept to wrap your brain around. the goal here is to produce meat in a more economical and humane way than growing livestock.

scientists have already been experimenting with bioprinting for things like organ transplants. i said bring in bill nye the science guy to explain this to me. >> i still really don't understand. i don't think it's like an hp printer, it's laserjaegt out your meat, but it's basically a machine that can fabricate meat from acellular level. i don't even know what that means. >> sounds delicious. #awkward. robert pattinson was giving an interview to journalist david carr and it got a little weird when the reporter drew a parallel between pattinson's situation with kristen stewart and princess di. >> so, if you and kristen have trouble, it's like charles and di having trouble or -- [ booing ] >> i think this would lead to -- >> next question! >> in defense of david carr, they were actually -- robert pattinson brought up the subject

of the royals. he wasn't talking about his own relationship. what he said is that in america, we treat actors like the royals because we all want them to be, you know, royalty, we all need something to follow. then he said actors live in a world of meritocracy and that in itself was controversial, so david carr taking it to a new level. obviously, pattinson not overjoyed to talk about his breakup. >> and it was in the public eye, everybody knows all the details, but anyway, it was awkward. the campaign rhetoric is heating up and the late-night guys are taking names. >> joe biden has a new slogan -- "change you can believe in!" y'all be in chains! y'all be in chains! well, even though he made a number of gaffes this week, president obama says he's sticking with joe biden as had i running mate and biden is thrilled. of course he's thrilled. do you want to be looking for a job in this economy? i don't think so. i don't think so. and mitt romney and paul ryan are now campaigning separately.

they didn't want to, but chick-fil-a threatened to pull their campaign contributions. you know, they were getting a little too close, little too close. >> do you have paul ryan fever? >> oh, who doesn't? >> oh, man. he looks like a guy who owns his own chain of nursing homes, you know? paul ryan likes to catch a catfish barehanded. anybody ever done that? actually, he'll wade into a river and catch with his bare hands, take just a giant and pull it out with his bare hands. chris christi likes to reach into the tank at red lobster. that's what he likes. >> you know, when i found out about paul ryan and the noodling, i thought about you, because you've actually done that. >> i have. i didn't know paul ryan was a noodle noodler, catching barehanded. >> all right, 55 minutes past the hour. coming up, the key battleground state that president obama won in 2008 is now considered a toss-up.

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battleground wisconsin. this used to be obama country in the race for president. now a toss-up. aerial assault. firefighters take to the sky in an all-out fight against those devastating wildfires. we have a live report just ahead. diplomatic standoff. police surround an embassy in london with a wanted man, wikileaks founder julian assange, inside. good morning and welcome to "early start," everyone.

i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have you with us this morning. it is just about 6:00 a.m. in it is just about 6:00 a.m. in the east. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we start with bricking news, two u.s. service members have been killed in the farah province, a uniformed officer turned his weapon on the troops before he shot and killed himself. it is the latest incident in similar attacks. this incident today is under investigation. >> to politics now and the paul ryan factor. a new poll shows there's a tighter race in a key battle ground state, wisconsin. in a new cnn poll, 49% say they back president obama with 45% supporting romney. so that means wisconsin, which has been leaning towards president obama is now really up for grabs. john king shows us how this

could swing the race on the magic wall. he joins us this morning. >> we had wisconsin and its ten ere ee lek tore ral votes leaning -- it takes 270 to win and the president has 237 electoral votes. governor romney a little behind but it tightens the math a little bit. look at what you have left, under any scenario people tell you romney has to win florida. if he can win wisconsin, that would give you a competitive race and give governor the romney an advantage, if he can do florida and wisconsin and ohio. here's another way to look at it. if you come to the national map and go back to 2008. if you look at this part of the country, the midwest was pivotal

to president obama's huge victory. why are the romney forces confident they can can do better? look at the senate races across the region, all red, meaning all republican. that's why they think the ryan pick, plus the economy helps them out in the midwest region. if you come back to the electoral map, if you put wisconsin play, you put ohio in play and romney can carry iowa, that would change the map from 2008, the midwest key now, part of the ryan pick and key to governor romney's strategy. >> thanks to john king there. wisconsin is a state the president won by 14 points. no republican has won it since 1984. >> ronald reagan. more politics now. mitt romney paid at least 13% in taxes each of the past ten years. addressing criticism over his refusal to release tax returns, he told reporters about his tax revelation. >> i did go back and look at my

taxes and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. the most recent year is 13.6, something like that. so paid taxes every single year. >> romney went on to say senator harry reid's charges that he did not pay the taxes are false. president obama's campaign responded. mitt romney today said that he did indeed go back and look at his tax return and never paid less than 13 percent. we have a simple message for him, prove it. he has released his 2010 filing and 2011 filing estimate with a pledge to release the full document. but he says there will be no further tax disclosures, he has released 12 years of tax returns and so did romney's dad in 1968. in 2009 the cbo said it was 17.4%. so mitt romney saying he hasn't paid less than 13%, but you can

get it's less than the average. >> we had dialogue as to why. there are tax breaks that he is able to take advantage of. i'm curious as to when we will stop talking about this. i suppose not until he decides he will release. >> mark preston, our political director says never. >> medicare also a key issue in this election for voters, well above the 2010 health care law. a new poll shows 73% of those surveyed said medicare would be extremely or very important to their vote. that was tied with the cost of health care and health insurance also at 73%. but less people found this extremely important. that was followed by medicare and providing health coverage for the uninsured. the poll was conducted before the selection of paul ryan. many families are dealing with the agocies of losing their

homes and the west coast wildfires continue to rage. in 13 states west of the mississippi river, most of them, california, nevada and idaho. in western washington state, there is a new concern, lightning. much of the region is under a rare fire weather watch. still fire commanders are saying they are cautiously optimistic and declared the taylor bridge fire 33% contained last night and hope to have the 22,000 acre fire completely contained by sunday. rob marciano is in washington. rob, that's good news. yesterday when he was talking to you, i think you were saying 10% contained. >> reporter: yeah, they've got a nice line of containment on some parts of the fire. and along the southeastern flank if you were able to go back and see their homes.

residents who live in the hidden valley will not be going back to their homes any time soon. this is an area the firefighters were working very hard yesterday trying to get containment line set up here. we caught up with one survivor who described what it was like to escape the flames going from calm to chaos. >> the fire started over on the right-hand side and it shot over that mountain so fast, like i said, we were -- we went out to get horses when the fire was clear over here. six or seven miles away. i told everybody, don't panic or scare the horses. let's take our time, we've got all day. all of a sudden a wall of flames came up over the ridge and you know, like 100 foot high. so then i said, okay, let's don't panic, but i think we better hurry. >> reporter: and they got out of there in a hurry for sure.

they are not the only ones. over 60 homes destroyed and many more structures than that. the fire fighting effort continues. the aerial assault in full force, chin ook and others getting into the act trying to establish containment lines and mop up areas that have been burnt. they are dealing with excessive heat yesterday and today. look at the high temperatures across oregon and washington. it was excessive for sure. touching 100 degrees in some spots including the temperate zones of cooper, washington. excessive heat warnings are posted today so that will add to a fire danger along with low levels of humidity. one more fly in the ointment, tomorrow and sunday a threat for thunderstorms in the baked and dry cascades. range has issued a fire weather watch through the weekend. that's what has residents and

fire officials concerned as we try to get containment on this thing but we have other issues, mostly weather to deal with for the next several days. >> we're going to continue to monitor. thank you so much. rob marciano live in washington. the west nile aerial assault has begun. dallas county beginning spray to stop mosquitos and west nile epidemic. 10 people have died and 61 have been affected with west nile. >> d.c. office has been ordered to undergo a mental health exam. he is being held without bail. he is charged with assault with intent to kill. he allegedly said he hated the conservative group politics before he opened fire wounding a security guard. the suspect's family told authorities he has strong opinions about gay rights.

he had volunteered at a center serving the lgbt community. an expanding louisiana sinkhole. look at this picture. that first appeared two weeks ago and since grown to the size of a football field. officials say the two cleanup workers were in a boat tied to a tree when another 50 feet of earth gave away. operations at the site have been suspended because it's simply too dangerous. >> this is huge and growing. we'll continue to watch it. a terrifying crash caught on camera. the car is obliterated and flipped down this mountain. this is during the pike peak international climb. miraculously -- >> you would think the folks would be dead. >> the folks survived and they talked to piers morgan last night. check out their incredible nonchalance. >> the moment when i knew it was

all over for us is when we started to get towards the gravel and flying off the edge. i had a slightly delayed reaction but after that it was tumble, tumble, try to hang on and hope for it to stop as soon as possible. >> look at that, he says tumble, tumble, like no big deal. >> i was shocked when i saw this. i thought for sure somebody in there had died. one of them has a sling. >> piers asked him if they would attempt racing again. said probably not tomorrow but time will tell. >> i would definitely never go near that curve again. too big for peewee football, a 12-year-old told he can't play because of his size. why did they let him practice in the first place? [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing

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welcome back to "early start." it is 13 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. glad you are with us. rising are tensions with wikileaks founder julian assange at the center of this dispute. he has been granted political asylum in ecuador but can't get there without risking arrest. if he leaves the embassy in london, they will extradite him to sweden to face sexual assault allegations. there's words he plans to speak publicly sunday for the first time since march. cnn is live outside the embassy where it's going on. atika, how are things this morning? >> reporter: wikileaks supporters are still here and the police are still here and as

far as we know assange is still inside. wikileaks has said that he will be making a live statement on sunday, his first public appearance in front of the ecuador embassy. the british more than minister, william hague, has said as far as britain is concerned, he is not under political persecution and wanted for questioning for sexual offenses in sweden and britain has a duty to extradite him. >> we will not allow mr. assange safe passage out of the united kingdom now is there any legal basis for us to do so. the united kingdom does not accept the principle of diplomatic asylum. it is a far from universely accepted concept and the united kingdom is not a party to legal instruments which require us to recognize diplomatic asylum in this country. >> reporter: william hague

making the distinction between political asylum and diplomatic asylum. as far as britain is concerned, they still have the duty to deliver him to sweden. >> the cops waiting to see if they have any sign of assange. but he is still under criminal investigation here in the united states. how are officials in this country responding to the controversy? >> reporter: well, this is still -- still murky details about what exactly he's being investigated for in the united states. of course, the leak of all of those documents, but is there a criminal investigation? we do know there's a grand jury investigation, but we don't know if there's been any indictment or what the evidence is against him. this is what fueled speculation overseas, including from ecuador who granted him asylum on those stords. listen to what the more than minister of ecuador had to say. >> translator: it shows clearly that if extradited to the u.s.

mr. assange will not have a fair trial. he will be tried by a special or military courts and a cruel treatment will be applied and he may be sentenced to life in prisonment or death. >> reporter: it looks like julian assange will make a direct challenge to british authorities by making his statement outside of the ecuador embassy on sunday. later on "starting point," soledad will talk to john n negroponte. >> it will be interesting to what he has to say. let's get you up to date. big election news to tell you about. cnn is now calling witnesconsin

toss-up. 49% say they back president obama with 45% supporting romney. that's within pt margin of error. wisconsin has voted for a republican for president since ronald reagan. five people are in custody after the shooting deaths of louisiana deputies. a shooting at a steel plant led officers to a nearby trailer park where they are ambushed. get this, a horse drawn carriage ride in midtown manhattan went terribly wrong. the horse got spooked and broke the carriage in half and went galloping up broadway yesterday afternoon outside our cnn studios, thankfully, two passengers and the driver suffered only minor injuries. they were treated at the nearby hospital. >> that's good. the first video showed a guy lying on the street. 12-year-old texas boy told he is

too big to play pee wee football. he tips the scales at almost 300 pounds. the rule is any seventh grader that weighs more than 135 pounds was gamed. he has gone to meeting and was advised about this. however, his mom said he was allowed to practice with the team for three weeks. so she now plans to protest that decision. that's the odd thing here. why do you allow this child to practice then say he can't play. >> just wanted to play somewhere. >> yeah. mitt romney trying to put all of the talk about his taxes to rest, saying he paid at least 13% in each of the past ten years. how does that compare to the rest of us. we'll take a look coming up. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars.

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we are minding your business, u.s. stock futures are mostly flat ahead of today's open. stocks ended higher on thursday, althou althou althoughfacebook shares showed a drop. >> this debate has been going on and it's not going to end, frankly, before the election. this battle continues, senate democratic leader harry reid said romney has paid no taxes. romney took issue with that. i want you to listen to what he

said yesterday on this issue. >> i did go back and look at my taxes, over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. the most recent year is 13.6, something like that. i've paid taxes every single year. >> so what is his effective tax rate. he's only released two years of information, 2010 and 2011. his effective tax rate is 14.5%. in comparison, 80% of the americans, according to the tax policy center pay a rate below 15%. you're probably scratching your head and saying i pay more than that because the effective tax rate is lower than your tax bill. doesn't include credit and exemptions, et cetera. a family that makes between 50,000 and $75,000, effective rate of 7.5% and 200,000 will pay 10% effective tax rate. then you add these other things on top of it.

the obama camp came out late yesterday and said prove it. we need to see more tax returns. obama has released 12 years and interesting will in political history, mitt romney's father when he was running for office, released 12 years as well. we can tell you 14.5% is his effective rate. >> this has to do with how mitt romney makes his money. >> off of money, as warren buffett put it. he pays a lower rate because they make their money off investments, capital gains, dividends, the law is the max those can be capped at is 15%. the obama administration wants to raise that, ryan and romney said for some people they want to eliminate or significantly lower that. >> 25 minutes past the hour. bill clinton meet bill clinton, 14 years later. the former president reunites with his name sake. that story behind these adorable

pictures just ahead. siri, what's my day look like? [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. ah, it's terrible, terrible! driver, driver! cut across, cut across, we'll never make it downtown this way. i like you siri, you're going places. [siri] i'll try to remember that.

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find out if they are going to fridays on for slamming vladimir putin. we're live on verdict watch. >> cruising in a vet with one of the greatest drivers on the planet. that is jeff gordon sitting next to me and he let me drive. >> wow. >> it was kind of cool. you can't see it there but -- >> you look like a natural in that car. >> i don't know if they will show you how unnatural i was at one point but anyway, welcome back to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. very glad you're with us. we're going to talk politics and medicare wars because the obama campaign just released a new ad this morning going after the man on the other side of the ticket who is number two on that ticket, paul ryan. here's a first look at this ad. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> now mitt romney is attacking the president on medicare, the nonpartisan aarp says obama care cracks down on fraud waste and

abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits. and the ryan plan, aarp says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors and experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees costs by $6400. get the facts. >> both campaigns on offense on issue of medicare which is fascinating. pa mark preston is live. >> reporter: that ad with run in serve battleground states, including virginia and florida and on monday where mitt romney and paul ryan will be together back again. medicare has become the issue of the campaign. the romney campaign says they are going on the offense and tried the last couple of days, including yesterday, when mitt romney addressed it. let's hear what he had to say. >> with regards to seniors, those are people who are 55 years of age and older. today's seniors, if you will.

my plan presents no change. the plan stays the same. medicare -- excuse me, well, let's see -- there we go. by $716 billion. >> who needs an ipad when you have a white board. the late, great tim russ certificarussert may want to give him lessons. medicare has become the big policy issue. as you said they are both going on the offense, paul ryan will be in florida tomorrow, ground zero for the fight on medicare. the person at his side will be his mother, who herself gets medicare. >> you're breaking out your mom. that is serious politics.

mark, the other thing that's been happening, mitt romney and taxes. yesterday he said he's gone back and looked now and over the last ten years, never paid less than 13% in his effective tax rate. this issue go away now? >> reporter: absolutely not. it is a political football will go up and down the field until and if mitt romney decides to release his taxes. though he is giving us more details. let's hear what he had to say about his taxes, john. >> i did go back and look at my taxes and over the past ten years, i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6, something like that. i've paid taxes every single year. harry reid's charge is totally false. >> john, he's speaking about the democratic leader harry reid who lodged this controversial charge that in fact he learned that mitt romney wasn't paying taxes and in fact harry reid responded yesterday to mitt romney. let's take a look at what he had to say. we'll believe it when we see it.

until mitt romney releases his tax returns, americans will continue to wonder what he's hiding. heading into election day, this is going to be one of the major issues we'll hear from democrats. >> mark preston, great talking to you today. 33 minutes past the hour. the former president of the national border patrol union has been indicted by a federal grand jury. terrence bonner is accused of diverting union funds for personal travel and sports tickets and portable drives to store pornography. the controversial keystone pipe line has broke ground. it was met with heavy protest yesterday. one group has threatened sit-ins and other acts of civil diso bead yens, official for the international portion. pipeline is still pending. president obama rejected that permit in january over concerns that a rupture might threaten a

sensitive aqui for in nebraska. the west nile aerial assault begins in texas. conducting spraying to stop mosquitos, 230 people have been infected and 10 have died. in oklahoma, three people have died. it is 35 minutes after the hour. you had the best day ever yesterday. >> so fantastic. >> i'm extremely jealous. you got behind the wheel with nascar legend, jeff gordon. he talked about a lot. but most importantly i want to see if he let you drive. >> he did. >> don't give it away, it's a tease. >> the answer despite what zoraida says coming up. you've been busy for a dead man. after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i'd lost you. surfing is my life now. but who's going to ....

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nascar, hot dogs, apple pie and chevrolet. racing great jeff gordon is one of six drivers battling for two wild card spots this weekend in michigan and there to mark the 60th anniversary of a legendary car, a true american classic, the corvette. i got to go for a ride with him and put the wedges to the pedal myself. take a look. >> wow. yes. yes. >> that's all -- >> it's that moment. >> that moment right there is why people have all kinds of power under the hood. >> what goes through your head when you're racing? >> my mind is focused on pushing

the car to the limits. >> we have 86 wins, four-time cup champion, three-time daytona 500 and the list goes on and on. >> i get frustrated because i want to win. at the end of the day i can move past it fairly easily. i have a wonderful family. i have incredible resume. you know, great work i'm doing with my foundation and i get to come out here and drive a convertible 427, 60th anniversary corvette. life is not bad. >> what's the one thing nobody would believe about you? >> everybody always thought for me i was this clean cut kid. i was a break dancer, skateboarder, bmx -- >> i didn't know you were a break dancer. don't worry about him. he is in very good hands. >> it's not her driving skills,

it's the wedge. those wedges. >> he's worried about my shoe u.s., the wedges make you uncomfortable. >> i have a driver's license. so far so good, right. >> that's good. i like it. >> how long do you think you'll do this? >> as long as i'm healthy and enjoying myself and competitive, then i'll keep doing it. this might be a bit of a frustrating year but it's not that bad yet. >> what is the best advice you have ever gotten? >> well, i think it applies in life to racing for sure. you know, in racing, you race people the way you want them to race you. i feel like in life, you treat others the way you want to be treated and you want them to treat you. so that's something my parents taught me was you know, you put out what you're going to get back. and that's the way i try to live

my life. >> i had such a great time with him. he is such a family man. we talked about everything under the sun and talked about somebody who has been suspended in race car now for the first time ever for doping, for illegal substances in his system. he said, i'm okay with the illegal substance or performance enhancing drugs but i'm worried about what could happen on the race track because he said performance enhancing drugs would have to be for the car, wouldn't they? i thought about you because the last story i went out to door, i bought your boys viking hats, how to train your dragon. take a look at this. he started racing when he was 5 years old, your twin boys are 5, right? >> i'm terrified. yes. >> i got something for them but you have to pay for it. >> how much will this set him back, he needs two for the boys? >> quart i'll bet for maybe

1500, $2,000. >> that's bad enough but it's the thousands and thousands of damage they would do to everyone in the neighborhood that i'm mostly concerned about. it's the thought that counts. >> $1500 per child. and i brought back something else for you. it says john, best wishes, jeff gordon. but i want to show off mine. >> enough about you, let's talk about me. >> zoraida, come back and drive my car on the race track, i have it in writing folks. when he wins this weekend, i'm hoping he does, i'm going to go back -- i'll let you come out and look at the car. >> great story. we want to get you up to date, including on a developing story out of afghanistan. two u.s. service members have been killed in the farah province, the u.s. military says a uniformed officer turned his weapon on the troops before being shot and killed himself. this is the latest incident in a

string of similar attacks on u.s. forces and it follows a reported taliban statement that the group has infiltrated afghanistan security forces. some progress in wildfire fights in california. the buck fire in riverside county is now 90% contained. the lightning complex fire in san diego county is 71% contained and dozens of large fires are burning in 13 states west of the mississippi river. most of them are in california. >> happening now, we're waiting for a verdict in a free speech case that sparked rallies around the world. a russian court set to decide the fate of three members of 'female punk rock band for performing a protest song critical of vladimir putin. around the world, including in london and washington, there was a demonstration here in new york yesterday, the band's plight has

gotten the attention of paul mccourtney and madonna. president bill clinton reunited with bill clinton. 14-year-old uganda native billion clinton born the same month clinton visited the east african country was reunited with the former president during his trip. president clinton encouraged his young namesake to stay focused on his dreemg of getting a medical degree and offered to fund his education. >> that's cool. take him up on that. >> someone named a cat after me once. >> did you meet the cat? >> yes, it was badly trained evil cat. it's not like a baby, is it? >> ahead this morning, i'm just telling you, in the wake of arizona governor jan brewer's constitutional throwdown, what they've been calling it, with the white house over benefits for young illegal immigrants, we're going to talk to sheriff joe arpaio, proclaimed himself the toughest sheriff in america.

we'll see what he thinks. paul ryan could be changing the race for the white house. wisconsin has turned from lean obama to a true toss-up on the ee llectoral electoral. map how the campaigns are responding. we'll talk to cathy castor from florida and speak to republican congressman jason chaffetz and the winners of the national geographic photo contest. these are amateur photos, 12,000 from across the globe and they are stunning. they are stunning. we're going to show you some of the 12,000 and also show you the winners as well. that and much more at the top of the hour in about 14 minutes. >> that does not look like amateur work. >> maybe it's amateur, but they are supposed to be amateurs. she made olympic history as the first american to take gold

in judo. but she had to triumph over tragedy. kayla harrison is joining us live coming up next. there she is. >> love her, great. [ kimi ] atti and i had always called oregon home. until i got a job in the big apple. 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.

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good morning to you, atlanta. it is 73 degrees in your fine city. later it will be 86 degrees. the sun is coming up and it looks absolutely gorgeous. this young lady here is part of olympic history. kayla harrison won the first gold medal in judo for the united states at the 2012 olympics. you know her well. she set out to be an olympic champion going into the games and succeeded and she's only 22

years old. her road to victory was filled with struggle and her story proves how strong this young lady really is. kayla harrison joins us now. congratulations. >> thank you. >> we're very excited for you. love you brought the gold along with you. >> i don't go anywhere without it. >> that's good. i hope you have a team sur roupding you as well. >> i can handle it. >> i'll bet you can. you can take them on. you have had two goals in life, to win the world championship and become an olympian. you have accomplished them both. how are you feeling? >> i'm on cloud nine. i don't think my feets have touched the ground since the left london. i don't dream at night because all of my dreams have come true. >> we had a picture up of you when you were accepting the gold medal and you looked back and said i haven't even watched the match yet. you didn't watch that incredible history-making moment? why?

>> one i've been busy and two, i usually watch video of myself to learn and to fix my mistakes but as my coach has told me, i just won the olympics, there's no tournament to train for right now. >> what is next for you then? >> immediately what's next is i'm going to go ring the bell at the stock market to start them off. >> cool. >> other than that, we've got a lot of media plan and fun stuff planned. i'm going to patriot games and red sox games -- >> that's my co-anchor in the background you're hearing going whoo hoo. i read here you changed weight classes, you had to gain 30 pounds in order to move into another weight class. what made you make a decision like that? >> well, i had been struggling for a long time to make the weight class i was in and probably cutting 20 pounds and i was 17 years old. when you're a 17-year-old girl, cutting 20 pounds is dangerous

and not healthy. they made the decision, we're going to move you up and lift weights and get strong and powerful and you're going to win. and i didn't believe them but, they were right. >> it ended up paying off for you. >> society puts pressure on women when it comes to weight. did you struggle with that at all? >> i did. again, being 17, feeling like there was a certain body type i should be or certain way i should look or certain way i should dress and how i should feel about myself. it was hard for a while. but being in judo and being in a sport that you know, i was good at gave me the confidence to be like, i don't care what people think of me. i know how i look and i feel great about myself. >> you struggled throughout your life. sexual abuse as well. how did you overcome that? that was with a coach, right? >> yeah. honestly, it wasn't just me. i moved through when i was 16 and at that time i was in a really bad place, at rock

bottom. but my teammates got me up every morning and made sure i ate breakfast and my coaches and family. it was definitely -- it was them that sort of pulled me out of ashes and made me realize that i had a second chance in life and had an opportunity and i had something special. >> i'm proud of you for the courage to talk about it because it will help a lot of people out there. i can't let you go without asking about a wedding you put on hold. do we have a date? >> my other bling. >> congratulations. >> yeah, my whole life has been about the olympics, i say i'm going to go to school after the olympics and get a real job after the olympics and get married. my fiance proposed last november but this wasn't what i had planned. i'm still young, so maybe in a

few years. >> enjoy the engagement for a while. >> congratulations to you, we're very proud of you. we'll take a quick break enbe right back. can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com.

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go long. just a few minutes left, and as always we wrap it up with best advice. >> today we hear from famed actor and director, larry charles. >> the best advice was from bob dylan, he had a strange line he wanted to put in the script. even in this movie, that line is going to be misunderstood. he said to me, what's so bad about misunderstanding and i thought to myself, that is interesting. we spend our whole lives just as

we are right now trying to communicate and be understood and trying to be clear but he has spent his whole life in that mode. he's interested in going past that, what kind of truth you can get to when things aren't understood so quickly. and i found that to be a very interesting trusting of the instinct and that was a great piece of advice i held on to. >> excellent advice. more advice, have a great weekend. >> i'm looking forward to that. >> that's all for us. >> "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning, welcome, everybody, our starting point this morning, romney and obama neck in neck. the key wing state of wisconsin changed to a true toss-up. this fierce battle is getting closer. a direct attack on the president's political strengths. this. >> mr. president, you did not kill osama bin laden, america did.

the rk