fundraiser at our house in manhattan. we raised over $1 billion for him. he has my full support and i'm going to do what i can to help that he gets a second term in office. >> i'm alison kosik in atlanta, have a good night and a great week. week. breaking news, a shocking development from hollywood overnight. director tony scott, the man behind "top gun," he's taken his own life. details just ahead. >> at least five people hurt when a race car crashes into a crowd. this was at the missouri state fair. what went wrong? and political firestorm. a u.s. congressman creates a major controversy when he says

this -- >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> now he's backtracking. >> good morning to you and welcome to "early start." >> it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> we do begin with breaking news overnight. we're following three big developing stories. first of all, the director of the movie "top gun "so i dead. he reportedly jumped off a bridge. christine romans is here. what you have found out? >> we found out that hollywood waking up to news really sad news. mourning the death of "top gun" director tony scott. they're treating this case as a suicide. saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday in san pedro, california. his death take the entertainment industry and insiders by

surprise. >> we use the word shocking all the time when we hear about these deaths. but to think of tony scott, brother of ridly scott, one of most prominent and successful directors we have jumping off a bridge is almost impossible to contemplate. >> scott directed many blockbusters like "top gun," "crimson tide." he also produced a number of films with his brother including this summer's movie. the next reality series is called "coma." according to box office mojo,ie in theaters. this morning, hollywood is taking this in this morning, taking to twitter to talk about their sadness over this news. also a developing story in missouri. an investigation under way after a race car driver at the missouri state fair lost control and slammed into a fence in a

pit area. five spectators were injured including two people seriously hurt. the races were stopped for the night after that accident. a dramatic rescue off the coast of alaska, reuters reporting that 76 people were taken from a sight seeing vessel after it ran aground and filling with water in alaska's glacier bay. none of the passengers, none of the crew suffered serious injuries. the coast guard is investigating that accident. 76 people. >> turning to politics. the republican national convention is just one week out and there is no letup in the campaign attacks from both sides. just minutes ago mitt romney unveiled a new ad which accuses president obama, again, of gutting bipartisan welfare reform by eliminating, so says mitt romney, the requirement that welfare recipients work. take a look. >> one of the most respected newspapers in america called it "nuts," saying "if you want to get more people to work, you don't loosen the requirements, you tighten." mitt romney's plan for a

stronger middle class will put work back in welfare. >> we found all sorts of problems with the claims behind this ad. we're joined by cnn's dan loathian. he is following the developments from our washington bureau. what do you make of this ad? >> first of all, it's not new. the romney campaign is hitting the obama campaign on this issue because they believe this really resonates with voters specifically the voters in their base. and what they're trying to do is essentially paint mr. obama as the entitlement president. so that's why their pushing this. the obama campaign, the white house pushing back saying that what these waivers would do is give states more flexibility. you get more people on welfare back to work even former president bill clinton signed this welfare reform law back in 1996 has been supporting the administration on this issue. other administration officials calling these charges categorically false, blatantly dishonest. as you pointed out, independent

fact checkers also pushed back on this. that's a drastic distortion of the planned changes to temporary assistance to needy families by granting waivers to states. the obama administration is seeking to make welfare to work effort mores successful, not end them. and what's more, the waivers would apply to individually evaluated pilot programs hhs is not proposing a blanket and national change to welfare law. essentially though what the romney campaign is trying to do here is put the obama campaign on the defensive, leveling the charges so that the obama campaign will have to answer back. >> now it's a tact that the obama campaign knows. the president is not immune to muddying the factual waters. over the weekend it was on the issue of tax policy, right? >> that's right. going after paul ryan, saying that his tax policies will benefit the very wealthy and hurt the people, the hard-working men and women.

and what the obama campaign is trying to do essentially is paint mitt romney and paul ryan with the same brush saying that paul ryan is pushing for something, then that is the same thing that mitt romney is going along with. take a look at what the president had to say. >> his new running mate, congressman ryan, put forward a plan that would let governor romney pay less than 1% in taxes each year. that's a pretty good deal. just paying 1% in taxes. you're making millions of dollars. now here's the kicker, they expect you to pick up the tab. look, we have tried this kind of trickle down neighboring oil before. it didn't work then. it won't work now. >> you see the obama campaign not only on this issue but also

on medicare charging mitt romney with essentially buying into or embracing the plans that paul ryan has put out there. why are they doing this? they hope these kinds of charges will resonate with their base as well. both sides leveling attacks on each other as we get closer to the convention and closer to the election in november. >> one week away. thank you dan loathian. missouri republican congressman todd aiken trying to douse a political firestorm after his comments about legitimate rape rarely results in pregnancy. the congressman now running for the senate says he misspoke in a tv interview when asked if he thought abortion should be legal in the case of rape. >> it seems to me first of all from what i understand from doctors that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> in a statement aiken said he has deep empathy for rape

victims but maintains his opposition to abortion in those cases. >> he set up a firestorm on overnight. >> all abuzz, yep. >> all right. new developments overseas in one of the biggest political scandals to rock china in decades. a court found gu kai li guilty in the murder of neil haywood. the wife will not appeal the verdict or the death sentence which will be commuted. she'll not face execution. a former household aide was sentenced to nine years in prison for helping her carry out this crime. >> talk about a bizarre story. there. people barely outrung the flam -- outrung the flames. take a look. serious threats supposed by the raging fires. major fires are fueled in idaho, oregon, utah, montana, and california. one fire in rural parts of northern california forced the evacuation of 2,000 homes.

this is since saturday. evacuees are telling horror stories of their narrow escape from the fast moving flames. >> i was on the road and there were flames on the road on either side. i looked up and everything was black. it was like i was in a block box. i just drove through it. i can't breathe. and then it was fire everywhere, like, you turn around everywhere it's on all sides of you. >> can you imagine that? many of the fires were sparked by lightning strikes. we have storm systems which we're watching for you this morning. they're heating up in the tropics right now. let's get to karen mcguinness in atlanta. how are things looking in the tropics right now? >> very active. and we're beginning the very peak of hurricane season. at least for the atlantic basin. 20% chance this area across the southwestern gulf of mexico will develop into a tropical system. it is going to be kind of the focal point for a lot of rainfall along the gulf coast associated with a stationary

front there. four, five, six inches of rainfall in some regions. but this is going to be the most interesting thing as we go into the next week. and, yes, a week from today the republican convention. here we go. 80% chance we could see tropical development from this system that is expected according to the computer models, the spaghetti models as we say, expected to move across the lesser antilles and perhaps move towards the florida peninsula, maybe into the caribbean. we'll just have to see how this plays out. it's still a long way away. but we've got very conducive atmosphere for that to develop as we go into the next four, five days. keep you updated on that. we're still looking at quite a bit of rainfall along the gulf coast and very warm again in the northwest. >> all right, karen mcguinness, a lot of people watching that storm. thanks very much. she is 63 and trying to swim 103 miles through shark infested waters.

she is now beginning day three of her swim. day two of the swim was an awesome day. her operations chief saying the water is flat and calling the day classic. she was stung by jelly fish on her lips, forehead, hands and neck the night before. she called it off. >> it's an awesome day. >> wow. >> she tried three other times to make it from cub key west to havana. >> be careful. watch out for the jelly fish. >> not to mention the sharks. >> sounds like an awesome day. one of the world's most wanted men speaks after being grant aed asylum. we'll have a live report from the ground in london next. it's a brand-new camry. i just bought this. really? i just thought i'd take a looka. sure, you can. this malibu eco features e-assist. it offers an epa estimated 37 miles per gallon highway.

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nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. . welcome back to "early start," everyone. glad to have you with us this morning. it is 15 minutes past the hour. wikileaks founder delivers a message to the united states saying the war on whistle blowers must end. >> i asked president obama to do the right thing. the united states must renounce its witchunt against wikileaks. >> in the first public speech in five months, he said wikileaks is about freedom of expression. but mentioned nothing about the

rape charges against him in sweden. asank has been confined to the nebs london since june now. our reporter was there for his speech. she joins us now live from the london bureau. you've been camped out there since the very beginning. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, he is still stuck inside the embassy. britain still insists this is about extraditing him to sweden for questioning on those sex crime allegation that's he faces for both britain and sweden this is not a political issue. this is a criminal one. but that's not how julian assange but it yesterday. it was a political rally where he described this witchunt on wikileaks. and he particularly called for the case of bradley manning, you might remember bradley manning is the u.s. military officer who allegedly leaked all the classified documents to wikileaks and is now undergoing a military trial. take a listen to what assange said about his case yesterday.

>> bradley manning did as he is accused, he is a hero and an example to all of us. and one of the world's foremost political prisoners. bradley manning must be released. >> reporter: now assange insists the reason he doesn't want to face questioning in sweden is he fears sweden will then extradite him to the u.s. as part of this on going investigation against bradley manning and himself. >> what is the latest from uk officials as to how they will proceed in the standoff? we were reading something about an obscure rule or law. do you think they'll barge into the embassy to arrest him? >> i don't think they will. this seems to have been a diplomatic misstep. they could strip the embassy of diplomatic status. that could take months of legal wrangling and would hotly be

contested. more likely britain wants to take the temperature down a bit, negotiate, figure out a compromise. >> live in london for us, thank you very much. >> amazing pictures of julian assange standing in that window over the weekend. really interesting to look at. it is 17 minutes after the hour. we want to get updated on the top stories with christine romans who has more on the tragic death of one of hollywood's top directors. breaking news. hollywood stunned by the death of "top gun" director tony scott. they're treating his death as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge. scott directed blockbusters like "top gun," "crimson tide," "days of thunder." he also produced a number of films with his brother ridley. tony scott was 68 years old. a terrifying scene on long island, new york. a small plane crashing into a neighborhood yesterday and new this morning, we now learned that a second person onboard

that plane has died. a third person on the plane was injured. no one on the ground was hurt. the plane hit trees. it damaged a car and an industrial trash bin when it went down. in texas, the aerial assault on mosquitos that care i didn't think west nile virus just wrapped up minutes ago it's expected to resume later. planes were grounded most of the weekend due to bad weather. health officials say west nile virus has killed ten people in the lone star state. the centers for disease control reports nearly 700 cases nationwide with 26 deaths this year. west nile cause something concern. curiosity breaking out the laser. the rover zapped small rock about 30 times in 10 seconds to identify chemicals on the planet. each pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one billionths of a second.

it is one of thousands of rocks they hope to analyze over the next two years. >> you know what i thought of? i thought of r2-d2. >>effective way of thinking about it. we want to get a look at the early read of the news that's making big headlines in your local papers. first off, from the "herald sun" in north carolina this is very interesting. the latino credit union there is offering a special loan to assist immigrants who are applying for the citizens and immigration service. they're calling this the dreamer law. this will cover that very high application fee, the $465 application fee. april they must be members of the credit union and proof of residency. let's move on from the "san francisco chronicle." a scheme hatched by giants outfielder melky cabrera.

the report says he created a fake website with fake product to try to prove to major league baseball that he inadvertently purchased a ban substance. the trick backfired. major league baseball suspended cabrera for 50 games for using testosterone. a 50-game suspension ban may be the least of his problems. the justice department is now investigating as well. >> he could be in huge trouble. this is fascinating. what he tried to do was create -- when they found out that baseball was on his trail, he tried to retro actively create this paper trail showing that he got this stuff legally. of course, he didn't. now the investigator on barry bonds and roger clemens and the most famous drug investigators in the business is investigating this. >> i can't believe he thought he could get away with this. >> trouble. >> shocking. >> he could be in big trouble. for a look at all our top stories, head to our blog. it is 21 minutes past the

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>>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. . we're minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell this morning. >> the dow closed higher last week for the sixth week in a row. christine romans is here. why so good? >> the dow is up 7% so far this year. all of the things we're concerned about with europe and

slowing u.s. economy. the dow is up 7%. the s&p 500, that's the index that your stocks and your 401(k) are most likely, you know, pegged to. about 11%. that's up this year. really, really interesting the moves we've seen. six weeks higher in a row for the dow. this week we're going to get a whole bunch of housing news. so i'll be looking to see if there are more signs of the housing market is bottoming. we're going to get minutes from the fed this week. that will be really, really important. will the fed be signalling even though it didn't do anything new and interesting to try to juice the market or juice the economy? will the fed chief -- did the fed board talk about doing new things? we'll be watching that. still watching europe. there are a lot of concerns about europe. so far, the u.s. economy has weathered the european storm pretty well. hasn't had a double dip recession here like they have in other parts of europe. still plugging along at a little bit of growth in the u.s. that's what people and markets are looking at.

>> so talking about the drought for the last month. you wnt home with a little fact-finding mission in iowa. >> i found a lot of farmers are resigned this is going to be a bad year. there is a crop progress report later today from the government that's going to tell us how bad this corn crop is going to be. one thing about farmers that's really important to note here. most of them, 90% of them, do have insurance. and some farmers are grumbling a little bit you keep hearing they have insurance, don't worry about the farmers. they're going to take a big pay cut. they're not going to go out of business. they're not going to buy a new truck and not be able to -- they're not going to save for college for their kids. so it's a pretty big story there. there was some rain. i'm happy to report there was some rain. that's good for the beans. august is soy bean month. that's the brought map. you can see even with the rain, there is a lot of orange and red on. there not great. the beans could do a little bit better. we've had some rain in the midwest. the corn crop is cooked, i'd like to say. so we'll hear from the u.s. government later today exactly

how cooked it is. >> all right. christine romans, thanks so much. we'll be watching for that. don't mess with this granny. how a 73-year-old woman was able to fight off her attacker. she is 73. this is how she fought off her attacker. we'll tell you more about it in a second f you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desktop or mobile phone. just go to cnn.com/tv.

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growing demand for vice president biden and the white house to apologize for that chains comment. the latest on that controversy. a major rescue in alaska this morning. 76 people brought to safety

after their ship ran aground. 9/11 families versus the 9/11 memorial. who gets to say where the remains of the unknown will be kept? >> tough one. welcome back to "early start." we're really happy you're with us this morning. >> it's 31 minutes after the hour right now. we begin with breaking news this morning. hollywood simply stunned by the death of "top gun" director tony scott. they're treating his death as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday in san pedro, california. fellow filmmakers offering condolences on twitter. everybody's talking about this on twitter. ron howard tweeting, no more tony scott movies. tragic day. adam shankman with. this my heart stopped when i heard of the tragic death of one of our most inspiring directors tony scott. rest in peace, tony. you will be missed so.

tony scott was just 68 years old. >> sad, sad story to wake up to this morning. moving on to politics now. serious backtracking by missouri congressman todd aiken. the six-term republican running for senate say he misspoke in a tv interview in which he was asked whether he would support abortion in the case of rape. this is what he said. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. but let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. you know, i think there should be some punishment. the punishment ought to be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> the words he chose there set up a firestorm on twitter overnight. paul steinhouser is in washington right now. this is a senate race in missouri. could this play on a larger stage, say, in the presidential campaign? >> the romney campaign did put out a statement. i think they felt they needed to

distance themselves from this candidate. this is what they said from one of the spokes people. "governor romney and congressman ryan disagree with mr. akin's statement and they would not oppose abortion in the instance of rape." missouri, listen, let's be honest, some people consider in play and some say it is kind of safe for the romney-ryan ticket. but, john, the senate race is very important one. and one where the republicans think they can have a very good shot at winning back the seat held by a democratic senator. akin is one of the most conservative in a very veshgs cro -- very, veriy cro very crowde. >> it is interesting, paul. the romney campaign put out a statement saying that romney-ryan administration would offer exceptions for rape and incest. paul ryan is on the record in the past opposing some of those exceptions. so you will hear, i imagine, from the obama team today on

that. moving on now to vice president biden, talk about controversy. a lot of people calling on him to apologize for those chains comments he made. a lot of volume on the sunday shows. >> it sure did, john. this started back on tuesday when he made the comments in danville, virginia on the campaign trail. he was criticizing the romney proposals to loosen restrictions on wall street and speaking in front of a crowd that contained a lot of african-americans. as you know this was a firestorm all last week and continued on the sunday talk shows. here's a little bit of a taste. >> last week that was an absolutely blatant appeal to racism. it was they're going to put balk in chains. emphasize the word back. and it was on a teleprompter. now that's disgusting. >> there isn't a racist bone in joe biden's body. and to suggest that is i think is over the edge. the fact is that joe biden throughout his career has fought for equality and opportunity and

to suggest something else, it may have been a misuse of words, but to take it to that extreme is just too much, mr. mayor. >> of course, rudy giuliani, a m major supporter of the romney-ryan campaign. vice president is back on the campaign trail this week. minnesota, missouri, no apology coming from the campaign. >> all right. politics heating up on the trail. thanks very much. 35 minutes past the hour here. saudi arabians with tribal ties to syria are reaching deep into their pockets to help syrian rebels. fundraisers have raised $150 million during the month of ramadan alone. sources tell cnn the money will be used to buy weapons as well as pay for medical care in the war torn country where an estimated 150 people die each and every day. >> police in central texas say they have a suspect in custody in a shooting in a walmart parking lot.

four people were injured when four people gathered for a fight early sunday morning. one person opened fire. no walmart employees or customers were hit. the investigation into what caused the fight that, continues this morning. 17 members of people killed in the world trade center attacks are fighting the september 11th memorial museum over where unidentified victims remains will be kept. the museum wants to keep the remains underground near the museum. some families say they weren't meaningfully notified nor consulted and many have objected now. the family members are appealing, lobbying for contact information for all 2,749 families in order to get their fee back. >> mark david chapman is up for parole this week. chapman could go before the parole board as early as tomorrow. a decision expected by week's end. chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life for john lennon's murder in 1980. his last parole hearing was in

2010. 73-year-old margaret jackson says houston police called her gangster granny after she fought off a home intruder with, get this look at. that right there. a barbecue fork. jackson said her dog spotted someone outside her home on friday afternoon. she grabbed a pair of scissors and a barbecue fork and surprised the teenager at the back door. >> he was pushing on me. he turned around. when he turned around, that's when he messed up. i got him right in the neck! >> oh, my goodness! right in the neck she says. all right, so jackson says she's lucky that the suspect didn't have a weapon. good thing she recognizes that. next time she says she will call the police. >> christine romans says she almost never use that's barbecue fork. >> now there's a purpose for it, right? oh, my goodness. that was one surprised teen. >> right in the neck. it is 38 minutes after the hour right now. it's really one of the most famous mysteries of the last 100 years. could we finally know what happened to amelia earhart 75

years ago? next, the new video that may actually hold the key -- the key to one of the biggest mysteries of our time. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. but not for your eyes. they're still so tired looking. with olay challenge that, with regenerist anti-aging eye roller. its hydrating formula with caffeine conditioning complex, perks up the look of eyes. it works in the blink of an eye.

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right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber 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. . welcome back to "early start" everyone. 42 minutes after the hour. a 75-year-old mystery could be closer to getting solved this morning. there's potential new evidence surrounding the disappearance of amelia earhart.

scientists with the international group for historic aircraft recovery launched a $2 million underwater expedition last month near the area where she was thought to go down. it is a string of islands where she is thought to have landed or crashed on july 2nd, 1937, while trying to fly aren't world. so after combing through hours of footage, they stopped at this image that you're looking at rit there. might not look like much to you. but it could be the evidence that they are looking for. rick gillespie is executive director of t.i.g.e.r. he is live from philadelphia. so nice to welcome you back to "early start." thank you. >> thank you. >> so we have that image up there. tell us what you found. >> well, what we found was something that looks like what we're looking for in the place that we hope to find it. unfortunately, at the time we didn't have the high definition

video that we could see in real time. or we would simply swum up to these things with the rov and poked at them to see if that's what we're looking for. we had to wait until we got home to process the video and really review it. yeah, there's man made material there in the debris field. >> i want to put that image back up again. i'm not sure what we're looking at. you can walk us through. we have arrows pointing at stuff. we're not sure what it is. can you tell us what you see? >> well, we're not sure what it is. >> i see the upper most arrow has the same shape and dimensions as the fender on the landing gear of a lockheed electra. the thing in the left hand most arrow is -- could be a pully,

sort of box like. it is definitely man made. down to the right, seemed to be other components of the landing gear. you know, it was a landing gear that we saw on the reef in the 1937 photo. and we're wondering if maybe we found the thing that we see in the 1937 photo. although now broken into pieces. >> this is a rough area at the bottom of the ocean. so can you access it so you can study it? >> if we continue to develop this evidence and it does appear to be aircraft wreckage, we have to go back -- we can go back into that area with submersibles and retrieve it.

but it sure looks interesting at this point. >> it does. i want to go back to that photo taken in 1937, shortly after she disappeared. this is a photograph taken on october 15th, 1937. three months after she disappeared. i was taken by a british colonial service officer would was visiting the island on an expedition. they were checking it out for future settlement. he just snapped a picture of the western end of the island to get a pictures of the ship wreck there. that is the e.s.s. new york city that went aground in 1929. we noticed there is something sticking up out of the water on the left hand side of the frame that shouldn't be there. the forensic imaging experts look at that and parse it and do their magic. and what they see is something that's consistent with the landing gear assembly of a

lockheed electra aircraft. >> so that's what took you to this place. this is fascinating stuff. will you come back and share more with us? we're all fascinated by your pictures. >> well, thank you. i'd be happy to come back with more information. >> all right. thank you very much, richard gillesp gillespie, executive director of t.i.g.e.r. >> he has really good eyes. >> he does. >> he has that trained eye, right? he knows what he's looking for. >> exactly. >> 46 minutes after the hour. we want to get you up to speed on the latest headlines including very sad news overnight out of hollywood. hollywood is mourning the death of filmmaker tony scott. they're treating this case as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday in san pedro, california. scott is probably best known for directing "top gun" and "crimson tide." fellow directors are taking to at which timer to share their thoughts including ron howard. he tweeted, no more tony scott

movies. tragic day. tony scott was 68 years old. a developing story in missouri this morning. two out of five spectators injured when a race car crashed into the missouri state fair. they remain in the hospital this morning. police say they were watching a charity race near the pit area when a driver lost control, left the track, crashed into them. the battle of the badges races featuring old police cars were canceled froefrt of the night. 76 people rescued off the coast of alaska when a sight seeing vessel ran aground in glacier bay. passengers were transferred to a cruise ship after the boat began taking on wear the number serious injuries reported. the coast guard is investigating the accident. and the u.s.s. constitution, all iron sides, set sail again yesterday. it is the second time it moved under its own power. the second time since 1881. that's why john remembers, he was a little kid. the constitution set out on

boston harbor to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the bat that will earned the ship her nickname. her victory over a british ship during the war of 1812. >> we won that one. >> yeah, baby. >> i'm from boston. >> i know. >> we're very proud of her. >> all right. thank you. >> very proud of iron sides of boston. >> 48 minutes past the hour. after $60,000 worth of steve jobs' personal items were stolen, one of his ipads ended up in some unusual and colorful hands. one clown's really unusual download seriously coming up next. you can watch us any time -- i could not make that up, john. on your desktop or mobile phone go, to cnn.com/tv.

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52 minutes after the hour. we're taking a look at what's trending on the web this morning. madonna sued in russia for viewing her support for guy rights. she asked concert goers to wave pro guy pink arm bands distributed at her show. russia legalized homosexuality after the fall of the soviet union. but only stopped classifying it as a mental disorder in 1999. anti-guy attitudes still run high in the country. part of this lawsuit had to do with the fact that there were children 12 and under in the audience and they said that, you know, they didn't want the messages to reach their fans. >> she's a big supporter of that punk rock band there, too. what you would do with steve jobs' ipad? if you're a clown, kenny the clown, that is, you download a pink panther theme in michael jackson. the "san jose mercury news" says

the professional clown ended up with the late founder's ipad when stolen from jobs' home earlier this month. we reported on this before. kenny the clown says he received the ipad from a friend who was later arrested for that break in. he said het ipad for a few days before police came asking for the tablet. he happily returned to jobs and his family. he says he never really dug for any jobs' secrets but did he go to itunes to download songs for his act. he is a clown, as we said after all. $60,000 worth of computers, i phones, personal items were stolen from steve jobs' home. >> as soon as he logged in, police were at his door. >> right away. >> last week when we reported this story. this guy had given the ipad to his daughter. so maybe -- >> thinking he had more than one. >> several. he took quite a bit. >> all right. getting wet and arrested for a lapped mark home run ball. listen to this. check it out. that's chicago white sox slugger

adam dunn belting out the 400th home run of his career. so an overzealous sox fan in the bleachers flipped over the railing, jumped into the waterfall in left center field -- >> did he jump in or roll in? >> maybe did he fall in. so he did get the ball, too. but he didn't get it for long. usa today says stadium security arrested him and took the ball away from him. there are signs at kauffman stadium warning fans they will be arrested if they decide to take a dip. you know what? he should take this video and show them that he fell in. it doesn't look like he's jumping over. >> he is not left with the ball and goes to jail but he has a memory he'll treasure forever. >> but the fine is like $2,500. >> it is 55 minutes after the hour. top stories straight ahead. first, it called mitt romney a wimp but now the cover of "newsweek" is saying hit the

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. breaking news overnight in a shocking development from hollywood. tony scott, director of "top gun" has taken his own life. we have details just ahead. >> hit the road, barack. that is the new cover on "newsweek" magazine. what is behind this head turning title? we'll have a live report just ahead. and i'm sorry. say what? a u.s. congressman creates a

major controversy when he says this -- >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> we're going to talk a lot about that. he is now backtracking. >> good morning. welcome to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> glad you're with us this morning. it's just about 6:00 a.m. it's just about 6:00 a.m. in the east. >> hollywood stunned at this news, "top gun" director tony scott has apparently killed himself scott jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday in san pedro, california. the "l.a. times" is reporting scott left a suicide note in his office. they would not confirm that to us yet. roger freeman joins us now by phone. roger, do you know anything more about in investigation this morning?

>> unfortunately i don't know any more details but just people in hollywood are very surprised and saddened. tony scott was, first of all, worked with his brother, ridley scott, for many -- his entire career and i'm sure ridley scott is just heart broken. we want to send condolences to him. they worked together a long time and tony scott produced a lot of movies and directed a lot of great movies, "top gun" i guess being the most famous one. he was also the guy who brought quent quentin tar teen know into the world because he wrote "modern romance." worked with gooen hackman and denzel washington and made a huge contribution to hollywood with terrific combination of terrific films and films that

made a lot of money. >> i'm a huge fan of "true romance." tony scott. he was a player in hollywood, you knew a tony scott film and he does leave behind this impressive legacy. >> oh, yeah. and also, you know, not just the films but more recently the scott brothers had been doing a lot of television, produced "the good wife" together and a lot of films like that. and then tony was getting ready to do a "top gun" sequel in the works. and the sequel to "the warriors." he had a lot of projects so that's what's the real shock of it is, it's not a person who was unsuccessful in any way and great family life. whatever the reason was, it's worse than ever because you can't explain it. >> a terrible loss. there are so many questions this

morning. roger friedman, thank you very much for joining us. >> it is two minutes past the hour. it wasn't long ago "newsweek" called mitt romney a wimp. this story takes direct aim at president obama saying it is time for him to go and suggesting romney's running mate, paul ryan, has the obama administration running scared. dan, the author of this particular hour, worked for john mccain's campaign and never been a fan of president obama. so what has sparked in urgency now. >> that author is neil ferguson an adviser with mccain's campaign. and his argument is that president obama has not delivered on his promises made during his inaugural address, from job creation, to transforming education, he says the president's record is quote,

pitiful. he talks specifically about how unemployment should have been by now at around 6%. it has consistently been above 8%. he also goes after the president on national security saying that the president has not handled iran or syria well. and then he sort of puts it all together as saying that's why paul ryan is a threat to the obama administration and president obama himself. ryan psychs obama out. this has been apparent ever since the white house went on the offensive against ryan in the spring of last year. and the reason he psychs him out, unlike obama, ryan has a plan as opposed to a narrative for this country. organize, the obama campaign would say the opposite. their narrative is paul ryan and his policies and his plans for a number of things, including medicare are simply too extreme. >> let's talk about ryan. when he was picked as a running mate and there's a lot of talk

about medicare, a lot of folks said he would be campaigning with his mother in tow. tell us about that because he did that this weekend, right? >> we saw him in florida campaigning with his mother. he's trying to counter the criticism from the obama campaign that his plans for the future of medicare would be harmful to seniors. he's out with his mother talking about how family members have benefitted from medicare. >> medicare was there for our family for my grandma when we needed it then and medicare is there for my mom while she needs it now and we have to keep that guarantee. >> the charge is president obama from taking money from medicare in order to fund health care reform. in addition, he's trying to put seniors at ease, saying no one under 55 would be impacted by his plans, so no current seniors

would be impacted at all. >> dan lothian, nice to see you. >> the romney xpan is distancing itself from remarks made by tom akin regarding rape and pregnancy. the six-term republican congressman says he misspoke while trying to explain his stance on abortion in cases of rape. >> from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. >> now, a romney campaign spokesperson says a romney/ryan administration would not oppose abortion in rape cases. we have a developing story in missouri, an investigation is under way into the cause of a crash of a race car at the missouri state fair. police say a driver lost control and slammed into a fence in a pit area. there he was right there. five spectators were injured, two people were seriously hurt.

the races were stopped for the night after this accident. >> crazy. dramatic rescue off the coast of alaska, 76 people were taken from a sight seeing vessel after it ran aground and filling with water in alaska's glacier bay. none of the passengers or crew suffered serious injury. the coast guard is investigating that accident. in a developing story in china this morning, one of the biggest political scandals to rock china in decades, a court has found her guilty of murder in the poisoning death of neil heywood, the wife of disgraced communist leader will not face execution because her death sentence has been commuted to life in prison. a former household aid was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in that murder. new evacuations in parts of rural california where raging wildfires continue to burn out of control. high temperatures and strong winds and dry conditions are

also fueling major fires in idaho, oregon, utah and montana. many caused by lightning strikes. there are some storms developing in the atlantic and tropics. what can you tell us? >> we've got a weather disturbance riding right along the east coast in the gulf of mexico. this has about a 20% chance of development but lots of deep tropical moisture will produce rainfall in the panhandle area of florida. even more important, we're watching this area in the atlantic. anything could happen but there's an 80% chance according to the national hurricane center we could see this be the next tropical system. a week out anything can happen, but computer models are suggesting this system will move over the lesser an till lees and

towards the caribbean. if it does develop, brings it towards the bahamas and other into the caribbean. we'll have to play it by ear at least for now. until then, plenty of tropical moisture from jacksonville to tampa. we could see anywhere between 4 and 6 inches of rainfall. >> all right, karen, thanks very much. she is 63 and trying to swim 103 miles through shark-infested waters. diana night yad beginning day three of her swim. her website says day two was awesome. saying the water was flat and still stung by jelly fish on her lips and forehead and arms and neck -- >> and that was a good day. >> she has tried three other times to make it without success. we are hope and betting she makes it this time. >> i love this story. she does not give up. he's now serving a 50-game

suspension for using a banned substance. now a bizarre story about a scheme hatched by cabrera in an attempt to duck the ban. ka better ra created a fake website to create evidence he inadvertently purchased a banned substance. he has been suspended for 50 games. a 50-game ban must be the least of his problems. the justice department is said to be investigating now. >> that's going to be going on for a while. britain's prince phillip is out of the hospital. he was getting treatment for a bladder infection. buckingham palace described his admission as a precautionary measure after an occurrence he suffered after the diamond jubilee conference in june. we have raw video of a natural wonder.

a water spout forms over the great lakes. look at it! it's got some friends too. we'll show you more coming up. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

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sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. julian assange says the war on whistle blowers must end. >> i asked president obama to do the right thing. united states must renounce its witch hunt against wikileaks. >> that amazing picture from the window, his first public speech in five months. he said wikileaks is about freedom of expression but mentioned nothing about the rape charges in sweden. he is confined to the embassy since june. atika joins us from our london bureau. what's the latest on what the u.s. plans to do with its side of the investigation? >> reporter: we don't know that much. we do know there does appear to be a grand jury investigation but no indictment that we know. we don't know specifically what kind of investigation they are

following. all we know that it has to do with those classified documents that were leaked allegedly by bradley manning, that military officer leaked to wikileaks then published online. those thousands of diplomatic cables and afghanistan and iraq war documents. it's a point assange made in his speech yesterday and made a call to free bradley manning. fay a listen. >> bradley manning did as he is accused, he is a hero. and an example to all of us. and one of the world's foremost political -- bradley manning must be released. >> reporter: now, bradley manning of course is undergoing his own military trial at the moment. but so far nothing against julian assange. that is the reason he says he doesn't want to be extradited to sweden because he fears he'll be

extradited to the u.s. as part of that investigation. >> there were british muscle flexing last week suggesting they might send in troops to get assange if they have to. but doesn't look like anybody is breaking down the walls of the ecuador embassy. >> reporter: it appears to be a bit of a bluff in essence, we're going to put pressure on ecuador to try to get them to move on this case. unfortunately had the opposite reacti reaction, they granted him asylum. they said they want to negotiate, come to some sort of compromise, may mean involving sweden questioning him on the sex crime accusations within the embassy. where do they go from there? nobody knows yet. >> it is 17 minutes past the hour. christine romans has this morning's top stories. >> hollywood stunned by the death of tony scott.

the l.a. county coroners office is treating the death as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday. the l.a. times is reporting he left a suicide note in the office. the coroner would not confirm that detail to us. he directed "top gun", crimson tide" and "days of thunder" and number of films with his brother, ridley scott, including this summer's premethius. passengers aboard two united airlines flights, a boeing 757 returned after an engine became overnighted and caught fire. less than 12 hours later, a seattle bound 757 had to turn around after the pilot reported a smoke condition. five simultaneous water spouts were captured over the weekend in wisconsin. weather questions could trigger

more. they are telling boaters to be on alert. >> i never thought about the negative side of that, boy, that's so beautiful. >> it is beautiful -- >> but not when you're in a boat. >> thank you, christine. it is 18 minutes past the hour. it sounds like something out of star wars but may be the norm sooner than you think or your mom can grasp. technology becomes a part of revolution and bionic people are routine. a double amputee shares his vision on "the next list." take a look. >> what will happy feel is that now in society we have a very narrow view of what beauty is. a beautiful woman kind of looks like this and beautiful man looks like this. and in that future, you can have all kinds of different human beings with body types and

different types of minds. and it won't be ugly. because it won't -- the conversation won't be about disability, it will be about capability, about ability, about expression. so i call it the death of normalcy. my friends, that is but a tease, it is a fantastic story. do not miss the entire inspiring story on "the next list", sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. 19 minutes after the hour. the drought hitting a huge portion of the country. it could have far-reaching effect in several marketses. now the big question, should we use corn for food and fuel? some answers coming up. a route map shows you where we go. but not how we get there.

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we are minding your business this morning. should we use food as fuel? >> christine romans talked to people on both sides of the story. ethanol is the fourth rail in iowa. >> you have farmers who are trying to feed live stock and others trying to satisfactory contracts they have to grow corn for ethanol plans. what's in your tank is gasoline and ethanol. it's the law you blend ethanol blamed from corn into your gasoline. it's a heated debate in the midst of this big drought we should be dropping those

standards and shouldn't be burning corn. we should be eating corn only. here's a farmer i talked to in iowa recently. he really crystallized the question for farmers and consumers about the ethanol debate. >> corn is food, feed and fuel now. so with the high price of corn, what's going to give first? who's going to blink? >> who's going to blink? farmers have to supply the ethanol industry and supply the export market and feed the livestock and food -- it is food. the ngos, the big world food people, say that american policy is hurting poor people around the world because the prices are going up because of the big demand for corn. others say you don't make policy based on one year of drought. so far all of those laws for how much corn we'll be using in the gas, they are staying the same. it's an interesting debate, i

think. we've never had a drought like this where we've had these requirements for food and fuel at the same time for corn. >> that's a big thing and political argument to say the least. what's the one thing we need to know today? >> stock futures are looking higher and your stock investments are probably up for the year. the s&p 500 up 11% this year -- >> it's a big year. >> but this week we'll get key information on your biggest investment, your house. i think you're going to see evidence this week that the housing market is bottoming out. you've heard me say it before, more evidence of that this week. >> all right, christine, thank you. 26 minutes after the hour. it went on and on and on and on. this was the longest game of major league baseball this year. you will not believe how many innings it went. we'll tell you. that's coming up. whoa, look at all those toys.

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shocking news overnight, a big time hollywood director, tony scott, leaps to his death. a mentally disturbed girl arrested in pakistan. a mob storming the area and people fearing for their lives. too big for peewee football, 6'1", 297 pounds and banned from the league. we're going to hear from him, his mom and the league.

that is straight ahead. >> welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. >> breaking news this morning, fellow film makers stunned by the death of tony scott. ron howard tweeting, no more tony scott movies, tragic day. great knowing you buddy. thanks for the inspiration and advice and encourage. and decades of great entertain. . treating scott's death as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge in california. the l.a. times reporting scott did leave a suicide note in his office. the coroner would not confirm that. he directed "top gun"" crimson tide". >> a switch rebuke following missouri congressman's akin's

remarks. he was asked if he would support abortions for women who were raped. here's what he said. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female bodies has ways to shut that whole thing down. let's assume it didn't work or something, there should be punishment but it ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child. >> akin is running for missouri senate seat. his opponent clair e mccaskill said his comments are beyond comprehension. paul, could akin's comments play a role in the presidential campaign? >> they will and that's a very close contest right there, a seat the republicans think they can win back. yes, it will have an effect at the top of the ticket as well. the romney campaign very quick

to respond from their spokeswoman. governor romney and congressman ryan disagree with the statement and they would not oppose an abortion in instances of rape. it seems to be a bit at odds on congressman ryan's stance on abortion. i reached out to the romney/ryan campaign and spoke to a spokesperson with the vice presidential candidate who says that's correct in the personal view but the position on the statement is the position on the ticket. my translation is number one trumps number two on the ticket. you see this all the time. maybe hear from congressman ryan and governor romney later today, team up for the first time in a week. in new hampshire later today and speak to a television station up there. pay attention to seshl conservatives and see if they speak out on this. they may be upset about this new statement from the ticket and let's see what the obama campaign does. >> that is an interesting

statement that they released. all right, so we have also new names on who's going to be speaking at the democratic national convention september 3rd in charlotte. what can you tell us? >> just a few minutes ago the democratic national committee releasing more names, two weeks to go. here's big names speaking at the convention. rahm emanuel and former virginia governor tim cain running for the senate seat and john kerry, 2004, the democratic presidential nominee. and governor patrick, who is close with the president. rising stars you may not know, camala harris, the attorney general of california and considered a rising star in the party. and governor john hingenlooper from colorado, considered a rising star in the democratic party. >> paul, thank you for that. >> 34 minutes after the hour. just into cnn, cnn has just

confirmed that a jetblue flight from new york to l.a. had to be diverted to denver due to a disturbance involving a passenger. flight 677 left kennedy airport with 150 passengers on board. the plane was met by fbi agents and denver police when it landed about 11:30 local time. one person is in custody this morning and charges are pending. we do not have any other details about the incident. >> that seems to be happening more and more, right? >> absolutely. residents of a christian neighborhood in pakistan are in fear for their lives after a girl was called with blass femi. she told them she mistakenly burned pages from a koran for cooking. we'll have a live report in the situation from islamabad in the next hour.

striking miners facing an ultimatum, return to work on lose their jobs. 3,000 workers walked off the scene. this video may be a bit hard to watch. last week police open fire on a group of striking miners. 34 were killed. nearly 80 were injured. police say the miners were armed with machetes and they fired in self-defense. two 12-year-old boys lucky to be alive. they were rescued from san francisco bay after the wind blew their row boat far into the water. a hero jumped into the water and swam nearly a mile out to the boys and hauled them to the closest pier. >> it was a pretty gnarley situation, i was a little freaked out too because there was no boat and i was holding two jackets with one hand and

doing the side stroke up to the pier. so -- but we made it happen. >> every parent wants him around when their kids are in trouble, right? >> the three were rescues by the coast guard and the humble hero says it was just the thing to do. >> very cool thing to do. there's a hero right there. this was the longest game in major league baseball by innings and time. after six hours and 17 minutes, 19 innings, pittsbur$19 innings outlast the cardinals in st. louis. won the game 6-3 on the home run by pedro alvarez. >> was anyone left in the stands? >> long game. scored a run in the 17th to keep the game going. both teams ran out of position players an inning later. next, dr. evil would be proud. the mars rover breaks out the laser. we have the pictures to prove it coming up next. s year. in that time there've been some good days.

and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

welcome back. 40 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. glad you're with us. here are your top stories with christine romans. >> breaking news we've been following for you out of hollywood. hollywood reeling from the news that "top gun" director tony scott apparently killed him self. the l.a. coroner's office treating this case as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge. the "la times" reported he left a note. directing "top gun" and "crimson

tide." tony scott was 68 years old. a developing story in missouri. two out of fire spectators injured when a race car crashed at the missouri state fair. two of the fire refive remain in the hospital. they were watching a charity race near the pit area where a driver left the track and crashed into them. the battle of the badges races featuring old police cars were canceled the rest of the night. 76 people rescued off the coast of alaska when their sightseeing vessel ran aground. passengers were transferred to a cruiseship after the boat began taking on water. no serious injuries were reported. the coast guard is investigating the accident. take that, mars, curiosity breaks out the laser, they zapped a small rock, 30 times in ten seconds to identify chemicals found on the planet. the rock was the first of thousands of targets they hope

to analyze over the next couple of years and john is geeking out. >> curiosity packing heat on mars. thanks, christine. soledad o'brien joins us now. >> so much ahead. coming up this morning on "starting point," the former republican senate candidate from delaware who took to the cameras to pro claim i am not a witch months ago. is looking to make trouble in tampa during the republican national convention. she's hosting the so-called troublemakers fest. christine o'donnell will join us to talk about that. endourns swimmer diana nyad is swimming back to the united states in an attempt to become the first to swim from florida to cuba without a shark cage. her crew is traveling alongside her in the boat and we'll get an update on her progress this morning. the gospel diva and actress,

tamelamann stops by. we'll talk to her straight ahead. >> a live progress report from diana nyad. >> not her, but the crew. stop swimming so i can ask you questions. no. >> looking forward to that. a 12-year-old told he cannot play pee wee football because he's too big. if it's a safety issue, why did they let him practice with the team? we'll from the boy and his mother coming up next. at usaa, we believe honor is not

exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

welcome back to "early start." it is 47 minutes past the hour. we're happy you're with us this

morning. >> a 12-year-old boy from texas says he just wants to play football but the local peewee association says he's too big to play. he is 6'1" and weighs 297 pounds, more than twice the weight than the rule book allows in his grade. we're joined by elijah and his mother cindy. i have to ask you elijah, when they told you you couldn't play, when they told you you couldn't stay out on the field, how did that feel? >> i felt sad and kind of down because i started practicing with them for three weeks and then they told me i couldn't play. >> just doesn't seem fair. i want to ask your mom, they say there are other options, he could play in other leagues and play for the local school. why aren't those options good enough? >> the options are good enough and elijah will play football, that's not the issue.

it's just that we put in a lot of hard work with that team and he went out there and was dedicated to that team for three weeks, blood, sweat and tears, every single night. and that's -- he wanted to play for them. >> and elijah, you are a big guy, you would be a big presence on that football field. and a lot of your friends and other kids playing with you, not as big. do you ever worry about hurting anyone? >> sometimes but not all the time. >> they take precautions when you're playing to keep everyone safe? >> yes, sir. >> and again, to your mom here, if ee elijah were playing with somebody that much bigger than him, is that something that would make you nervous? >> i have to look at it from both perspectives. i have a big kid and see little kids too. me, personally, no, i'm a football fan. i love football and it's a contact sport so you know, boys

play football. that's what they do. >> and this story has gotten a lot of attention since it broke last week. i understand you've had a lot of offers, including one to practice with a pro football team. tell me about that. >> yeah, we get to go to san diego and he's going to be practicing with the defensive line of the san diego chargers next week. >> all right, guys, ee elijah and cindy, thank you so much. we hope you can play somewhere. we really do. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >> that did not seem to bring a smile to his face, the fact he plays with pro players. we'll turn to ronnie henderson, the president of the mesquite pee wee association and supports the fact to not let him play on the team. i'm hoping you were listening and his mom said he put a lot of hard work, three weeks because he was allowed to practice with the team.

he says it's unfair. why was he allowed to practice and then not play? >> well, it's one of those things where he -- i didn't know about his -- i didn't know he was on the team, didn't know he was practicing with him or anything about it. we all practice at separate sites and it was oversight by the coach. >> once you did find out, what action did you take? did you remove him immediately or have a conversation as to what the problem is with him playing with that team? >> well, he came to our weigh-in. he came to the weigh-in and when he did, everybody pointed him out in the line. i went over to the head coach and said, coach is this boy in seventh or sixth? i he said seventh. i said, well, he can't play this year, he's over our weight limit. he can't play. there's no need of letting a boy go through the weigh-in. i did that and called upon myself to do that and mother and son said that i did them wrong,

hurt their feelings and i apologized to the kid for doing that. i didn't want to do anything to hurt anybody's feeling. >> i know you have exceptions for sixth graders when they are overweight for certain positions. why the exception for the sixth graders and not the seventh graders. >> because the sixth players can't play school ball in mesquite. we have great facilities and everything here. they don't have a spot to go play. and the seventh graders have the school team. we want the seventh and eighth graders to play school ball, big enough and strong enough and should be playing football. i mentioned that to cindy when we were talking monday night a week ago and she said her son was not ready to participate against those boys but it's all right for the little boys to participate against her son. we're worried about safety and the safety -- we don't want him to hirt anybody. i think that would bother him as

well as the person who got hurt. it's a safety issue and we have rules. rules are there for a reason. >> now, i understand that the coach who was allowing him positive participate, allowing elijah to participate has been removed. did you fire him? >> no, ma'am, that's another rumor out there. so many false rumors out there. i did not have anything to do with that. i support it and i'm behind the organization for doing what they did. they have code of conduct and steps they are supposed to go through and this coach didn't follow any of the steps to go through. so they met with him and told him -- and he was removed and then of course everybody called me and started cussing me and everything else because i did that but i had nothing to do with that. >> i'm sure it's been difficult for you as well sir. >> it really has. >> in light of everything that happened, are you going to do better with maybe explaining to the coaches what the rules are? >>. >> yes, ma'am, we'll do that. we'll change the wording to make

it even simpler to read and meet more with the coaches. everybody should have known this. i really feel like this is just a bad mistake that was made. maybe the coach didn't know. i'm not sure real sure about that. we hate it has taken off like this. it's not helping our organization at all and we hate that part of it. >> all right, ronnie henderson, president of mesquite pee wee football association. thank you for spending time addressing this and explaining it this morning. we really appreciate that and good luck with the upcoming season. >> thank you. thank you, we'd like to see all of this die down. >> we hope so too. our best advice from mckay la maroney and i'll bet you'll be impressed. at usaa, we believe honor is not

exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

it is just a few minutes before the hour right now. >> we wrap it up as always with best advice and christine roman is back to deliver it. >> today is from miss not impressed gold medal gymnast mckayla maroney. >> my mom said to always be myself because you're just born the way you are and to love everything about yourself because god made you that way and always love life and be true to yourself. it's so important and it means so much to everybody just to love who you are. >> love who you are and stick the landing every time.

>> unimpressed by her own best advice this morning. >> unimpressed by us based on the screen right now. >> i love this girl. >> we love mckayla nonetheless. >> score another one for mom who has most advice in the best advice column. >> mom is always right. >> that's all we have, i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> welcome, our starting point this morning, a hollywood tragedy, tony scott known for films like "top gun", "days of thunder" jumps to his death from a california bridge. another developing story to tell you about, a race car crashes into the crowd at the missouri state fair, injures several fans late last night. and fight aring for the edge. mitt romney and president obama ready tore