the campaign trail as we are a week away from the republican national convention. packed show for you this morning. republican congressman from texas, mike bergess is our guest and congressman richard neil will join us, tea party favorite, christine o'donnell will join us and tam elamann is joining us. and laura keppeler. starting point begins right now. our "starting point," tragic news coming out of hollywood, famed director tony scott has died. he was known for "top gun" and "days of thunder." christine romans has the latest for us. >> good morning, hollywood waking up to the stunning news. the l.a. county coroner's is treating this as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent

thomas bridge yesterday. his death took 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 ridley scott, one of the most prominent and successful directors we have jumping off a bridge is almost impossible to contemplate. >> if you have seen "top gun", "crimson tide", you're familiar with his work. he produced a number of films with his brother, including the promethius, "coma" is set to appear next month on a&e. scott's movies as director and producer grossed more than $1.6 billion. robert rodriguez tweeting this, tony scott, great knowing you, buddy, thanks for the inspiration and advice

encouragement and decades much great entertainment. a lot of people -- a lot of people very, very saddened by this. let's bring in roger friedman for parade.com. soledad? >> thank you, roger, are you there by phone? >> good morning. >> good morning to you. what a tragedy. >> it's a real tragedy because first of all, the scott brothers were very close and it's a terrible thing for ridley scott. they worked on a lot of projects together and had a company called scott free productions and they produced "the good wife" on tv and doing a lot of tv shows recently. everything they do is a success and that's what raises a lot of questions about what happened here. >> i was going to ask you that. i think that you talk about a family that had been so successful and had done so many projects and in the middle of

projects that were successful. was there any history that people knew about or were people completely stunned? >> they were shocked and saddened this morning and there's going to be some kind of explanation whether there's a lot of speculation maybe he had -- was ill in some way and people didn't know it yet. it's amazing to focus on, he made these great films and he went easily from making blo blockbusters like "top gun", "days of thunder", to also making cool films like domino, a wonderful film with kira knightly. and hunger, the first thriller that people talk about. he was planning a "top gun" sequel with tom cruise. and there were -- there were quite a few other things in the offing. he never had a failure.

really except "the last boy scout" didn't do well. big stars wanted to work with him over and over again because he was so good. >> what an incredible tragedy and so many questions remain. thanks for being with us, we appreciate your insight. >> let's turn to john berman now. >> news just in, cnn has conf m confirmed a passenger is in custody after a jetblue flight had to be diverted to denver. flight 677 left with 150 passengers. the plane was met by fbi agents and denver police when it landed. charges are pending. no other details about this incident have been released. also, we're just learning britain's prince phillip is out of the hospital. the 91-year-old duke was released after spending five nights for treatment of a bladder infection. this is the third stay in the last several months.

he had to miss some of the diamond's jubilee celebrating her 60 days on the throne due to poor health. we have new video of a startling race crash in missouri. five spectators were hurt. a race car crashed into missouri state fair. police say they were watching a charity race near the pitt with when the driver left the track and crashed into them. the battle of the badges races were canceled for the rest of the night. the u.s. coast guard is investigating an accident off the coast of alaska in glacier bay. 76 people were rescued from a vetsle that ran aground and was filling with water. most of the passengers were safely transferred. no serious injuries reported. the republican national convention now one week away and we're learning more this morning about the tone of the romney campaign is hoping to set there. meantime the cover of "newsweek" is saying, hit the road, barack

and that's stirring up a few flames. joining us this morning, congressman mike burgess, the chairman of the congressional health care caucus and doctor as well. thanks for being with us. we appreciate it. let's talk about -- >> good morning. >> good morning to you. this cover story in "newsweek," i don't know if you had a chance to read it yet. the headline is hit the road barack, that gist is that president obama has not kept his promises. but his gist is there were promises and haven't been kept up and writes this. in his inaugural address, he promised to create a new foundation for growth and promised to build roads and bridges and electric grids and promised to restore science to its rightful place and raise health care's quality and lower cost and transform schools and

colleges and universities and meet the demands of a new age. the president's score card on every one of the bold pledges is pitiful. the gist of the entire article is kind of like that. some people would say completely unfair assessment when you look at the numbers inherited at 7.8 unemployment rate, went down to 10 unemployment rate in october of 2009. do you think that's a fair criticism of him, sir? >> well, you know, you go back to the first two years of this administration and you just as a member of the minority here couldn't effect much. you had to wonder, where was the laser like focus that a bill clinton would have put on the economy? we had an administration doing everything under the sun but being concerned about jobs after making those promises in the inaugural address. we watched in the joint economic committee, members of president's team come in, lawrence summers and they seemed

lost at sea. >> the stimulus passed immediately? that was a big thing. >> the stimulus passed earn what have we found out in the years since then, some of these projects like solyndra where doctors were flowing out the door to people who had no business receiving the money, then obviously when the company couldn't make it, the administration suborder natured loans to venture capitalists which was in direct violation of the law. >> and i think there are firefighters and teachers and police officers whose jobs were kept, would not have had jobs, because of the stimulus? i think we can do an entire two-hour debate on the stimulus. >> but you had things like cash flor clunkers and putting caulk in people's windows that had nothing to do with rebuilding the economy. and these things almost seemed to be payoff for people who supported the president during his 2008 campaign.

there were. better ways to go about this doing this. the chairman of the transportation committee begged for more funding to go into infrastrukt stur and got 7% of the stimulus bill. if you're going to borrow money like that, do it for improvements not operational expenses. >> if the stimulus hadn't been passed, what would have happened to the economy? didn't that to a large degree help the economy? you're not going to argue it didn't? >> i don't think that it did. you look at some of the projects that were started during that time and they really did not seem to be designed to improve the economy. the other as speblgt that was unfortunate during those first two years, they spent so much time, the administration spent so much time trying to link health care to the economy and in order to get the president's health care law passed. but honestly when you look back at it, this has been one of the

things that has inhibited the recovery. it's been a wet blanket on job creation and honestly is still a problem today two and a half years later, billions of dollars -- >> i'm sorry. i want to understand, you're saying the stimulus has been a wet blanket on job creation, you think it slowed -- >> affordable care act was a wet blanket on job creation, the cap and trade bill and financial regular bill, all pushed by the president in the first year and a half of his administration. >> let me talk to you about what we've been talking a lot on medicare. and as a doctor i have to imagine you probably know more or better than your colleagues about the intri catcies on health care. i'll throw out the words, gutted, killed, blood on the hands, ending medicare as we know it. i have to imagine that rhetoric is not useful for people at

home. do you think it's possible to have a fact-based conversation about medicare in an election year? >> during an election year, i don't know. historically it has not been, you go back to 1996 when the new republican congress tried to actually talk about some changes to the program and the clinton administration very famously did their mediscare routine -- >> look at 2010, which kind of a reverse similar thing happened but go ahead. >> but -- no just talking strictly in the medicare realm. and now we're to a point in 2012 where we're rapidly approaching the day where there will have to be some significant cuts made. the president acknowledges this by setting up a board that's going to make cuts in medicare where congress will have little impact after the board decided. this is a change people aren't aware of in the president's health care law. this independent payment advisory board, the brain child

of tom daschle. wanted to set up the federal reserve for health care. does that sound like a good idea right now? not really. the biggest change, now you'll have this board to tell people when to get their car and how much care they can have and when they've had enough -- >> then that board as you know, right, will discuss those issues then goes to the president and through congress. this is not a 15-person board that makes up their own decisions, as you know. >> except the deck is stacked and when this board makes their decisions, if the congress corrects the decisions then great, if the congress cannot agree and when has that ever happened before? then the recommendations of the board go straight to the secretary department of health and human services for implementation. it is different from anything we've ever seen before as far as trying to put budgetary controls on spending. >> it sounds like you're saying there will be no conversations about medicare that are not sort of partisan based because it's

such a third rail type issue in this election year? >> well, the independent payment advisory board, no conversation at all. the board puts forward its recommendations and congress will have its typical disagreements and the clock will run out and the board recommendations then get implemented. with again, very little accountability back to the people. the changes that occurred in medicare to date have all been directly -- people can get unelected over their stance on medicare. this board will be relatively insulate from that type of activity. the decree of accountability will be gone and that's the biggest change that no one is talking about now. >> well, i would say it's not the biggest change but one of the major changes on both sides because big changes are coming to medicare, regardless of who you're talking about changing it. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> we'll talk to congressman richard neal from massachusetts and christine o'donnell, i former republican candidate from

delaware. she's organizing what she's calling a troublemakers fest. during the rnc next week. still ahead, our get real, a missouri representative under fire this morning after saying that women can't get pregnant when they are raped. we're tracking diana nyad in her final attempt to swim from florida to cuba. we're going live to her boat. we're back in a moment. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. in that time there've been some good days.

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she's doing the diana nyad thing. the first night we experienced a lot of jelly fish. they were everywhere. she expected several stingz as did some of our shark team divers. but she did the diana nyad thing and powered through it. yesterday we had an incredibly beautiful day out here. super flat and calm, picturesque and we were all able to see that famous nyad stroke that you all heard about so much. last night we had a great night in terms of jellyfish with almost zero sightings at all. >> when is she expected to get to key west? >> you know, i'm not going to answer that question because this is not an exact science as i know everybody at cnn knows, you've been so gracious following this -- >> we love it. are you kidding me? >> you guys are the best. we really appreciate everything you've done for the team.

it's not an exact science. i don't know an exact number but that's -- >> i lost -- >> we'll let everybody know when we'll be getting in. >> we couldn't hear you because your audio dropped out. this is diana nyad fourth attempt. the first back in 1978, two attempts last year and she says this is going to be the last one so we're certainly rooting for her to make it. thanks for being with us. tell diana i said hey when you yell to the water at her. >> team nyad, we say, onward. >> still ahead on "starting point," a u.s. congressman created a firestorm when he said this about rape and pregnancy. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> yeah, there's so many

questions on that. what's a legitimate rape? what's he mean by female body shuts that down? it's our get real this morning. our "starting point" team to head in. ben smith and celeste headily and will cain. good morning. but we're imperfs living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we're at our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

welcome back, everybody, ouch, that hurt. welcome back, everybody. introduce you to our team this morning, ben smith is the editor and chief of buzz feed. celeste hedly, the anchor of your vote 2012 and pbs channel and will cain, a columnist for theblaze.com. >> it really feels like fall,

huh? >> not quite ready to let go of summer yet. >> i said it feels like fall, didn't say are you ready to let go of it. our get real is a troubling story. missouri congressman todd akin has killed up a firestorm with his comments in an interview. he was asked if abortion should be allowed when rape results in pregnancy and this was his answer. >> it seems to be 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 that shut that whole thing down. >> what? i mean, really, what? he says he misspoke, yes, he did. the romney campaign distancing himselves from that saying that neither mitt romney nor paul ryan would apose abortion in rape cases. claire mccaskill said his

comments are offensive and beyond comprehension. can we play that one more time? it makes no sense. what is legitimate rape? then -- play that one more time. >> it seems to me, 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. >> the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down? >> don't forget it's not true. doctors did not say it's rare for a rape to result in pregnancy, from the first statement, it's not true. >> we will hear about this today on the presidential campaign trail, even know the romney plan put out the statement saying the romney/ryan administration would not oppose in the case of rape. paul ryan has opposed the rape exception in the back. >> but what it does is it brings up these remarks again on the campaign trail. >> to be fair, akin is an

extreme conserve tifr. if you look at his voting record and the comments he'd made in the past, this isn't entirely -- the statement is false, i'm not in any way shape or form -- >> that's not fair. the connection between being extreme conservative and the indefineable thing of what a legitimate rape is has no connection. >> you're right. >> this is 2010 all over again, in the sense they were the last guy they wanted to be an easy race or win. they got the tea party base who mitch mcconnell knew this was going to happen -- >> claire mccaskill ran ads which were clearly in support of todd akin because that's who she wanted to face in the general election. >> they'll be dealing with that today. i'm ready to move on. >> soledad is speechless. >> the whole entire things makes no sense. >> makes no sense. >> i wish the interviewer had jumped in and said what the heck is legitimate rape? what are you talking about?

that's just odd. move og on. blass blasphemy for what appears to be a little mistake. dangerous beauty caught on tape. five huge water spouts dance across lake michigan. look at these. possible solution to one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century. a man who says he knows what happened to amelia earhart. this is "starting point." we're back in a moment. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover.

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turn to senokot-s tablets. senokot-s has a natural vegetable laxative ingredient plus the comfort of a stool softener for gentle, overnight relief of occasional constipation. go to senokot-s.com for savings. welcome back, in a few minutes we'll talk to congressman richard neal,

stumping for president obama. also ahead, there she is -- >> reigning super bowl champs, if you're watching, call me. >> miss america, 2012. she's going to join us live as well. talk to her about her new mission which involves big brothers and sisters. now to a developing story out of pakistan, an 11-year-old girl described as mentally challenge as under arrest for allegedly burning pages of the koran. she told authorities she didn't know it was the koran when she was looking for fuel for a fire she was making. joining us from skype, this is causing a tremendous stir among christians. the girl is christian and muslims as well, right? >> as do all blasphemy stories out of pakistan. we have to clarify that the claims that she was mentally disabled have yet to be verified. we spoke to a police official

and he denied she had down syndrome. they still say they are trying to work out the details. but an 11-year-old is in police custody after being accused of burning pages of the koran which is of course a violation of pakistan's blasphemy law. the incident happened last thursday. witnesses according to officials saw her burning pages of the koran in poor communities, especially christian communities, it's not usual for families to burn scrap pieces of paper for cooking fuel. that's apparently what she was doing. but her family said that she wasn't burning pages of the koran and it's not clear if she was. but apparently the neighbors were outraged and demanded police to arrest her and that's where things stand right now. >> reza, thank you for monitor the story. >> john berman has other stories. >> breaking overnight, hollywood reeling from the 234uz that top

gun director tony scott apparently has killed himself. the l.a. county coroner's office treating the case as a suicide saying scott jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday. he directed "top gun" "crimson tide" and a number of other films with his brother, ridley scott. tony scottas 68. an investigation is under way in missouri into a race car crash at the missouri state fair that injured five spectators. police say they were watching this charity race near the pit area and that driver lost control. you can see it there. leaving the track and crashing into the stands. the battle of the badges features old police cars. the races were cancellinged for the rest night. a developing story, 76 people rescued off the coast of alaska what their sightseeing vessel ran aground near glacier bay. passengers were transported to a cruise ship after the boat began

take on water. no serious injuries are reported. the coast guard is investigating. check out this water show, fitting for the great lakes, five simultaneous water spouts captured on tape over the weekend on lake michigan. forecasters say weather conditions could trigger more. this is the dangerous beauty part though, boaters being urged to be on alert because of potential danger in the middle of it. >> what is a water spout, like a tornado on the water? >> i think it is. but we'll get back to you. some of our best people are here right now. >> i asked for a question and there she is. >> what's the answer? >> it's the warm water, you got very warm water, you've got cold air aloft. generally these are kind of cold air related funnel clouds that are dangerous to people out over the water. very short lived and not as intense as a tornado. we are watching it's peak

hurricane season. about a 20% likelihood we could see development in the western gulf of mexico. 20 years ago this week, hurricane andrew devastated south florida and then went on to make a second landfall along the gulf coast and that's why we're paying attention to this. 80% chance from the national hurricane center saying we could see the development of tropical storm possibly hurricane isaac that could develop in the next several days. certainly very conducive environment with very warm water temperatures and a week from now, in tampa, the republican convention and the spaghetti models are saying, this is a long way out but john, something to keep our eye out for as we go into the next week or so. it will be critical. >> you better believe republicans are keeping their eye on gulf watching those storm closely. they are well aware tampa could be in the cross hairs. thank you very much, karen. >> mitt romney and paul ryan together again on the road in

new hampshire at a town hall, likely to face more questions about the medicare plan when they promoted separately. ryan brought his mom to campaign in florida on saturday. >> 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. >> congressman richard neal is a member of the house ways and means committee, ranking member of the select revenue measures subcommittee and with us this morning. nice to see you. thanks for talking with us. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the new cover story in "newsweek," the title is hit the road, barack, why we need a new president. one of the things he writes, it's the president's job to run the executive branch effectively and lead the nation. here's where his failure has been kbraltest. on paper it looked like an economics dream team. not to mention peter or zag,

paul voluuker. and it goes on and on, it's a really long article. first, does he have have a point do you think? >> did he mention january 19th, 2001 when bill clinton said good-bye to america considering we were looking at the surplus estimated over ten years to be north of $5 trillion? that's the point. i think this argument that this problem started on barack obama's watch is really one that doesn't stand up under the imagine fiing glass. >> that's his argument back, right? he's saying to that exact argument that you just pos ited, yes, but he had a dream team of people and they weren't able to do it. >> had obama not taken the positions he had taken, then the economy would be in far worse shape today. when you look at the turnaround from what happened during the clinton years through the next eight years it is stunning.

two wars, $2.3 electrictrillionf tax cuts and budget turnaround was the largest in american history. >> let me ask you though, are you worried that it's a message that's going to get out and turn the focus -- it's on the front page of "newsweek" says, hit the road barack. that has to be concerning. >> i hope that the media as the referee would point out there are a number of serious issues that confront the country. and there's a unique opportunity during the course of a campaign to talk about the big issues that confront america. this ought to be done in the form of a long conversation and not just in sound bites. the result of which i think would uplift not only the spirit of the american people but give greater confidence to the economy as well. >> since we're seeing so many negative ads, i have to tell you, i'm highly not convinced that's going to happen -- >> i agree with you. >> hope springs eternal, right. let me ask you about what republicans have been talking a lot about if you look at

interviews over the weekend, which was joe biden and his comments from last week to this audience in danville where he talked about y' all, now there have been calls -- rudy giuliani was the last to call for an apology. >> he think he walked back the words in a matter of hours and the result in context changed radically. the vice president's position is okay. >> i think he explained what he said but i don't think he walked back his words. >> he tried to walk back his words and i think again, words blurt out in the course of a campaign that take on different meanings and i think the vice president did what he had to do and simply said that's not what i meant to say. >> the conversation keeps going. do you think it needs -- it's going to be enough to say, he said what he's going to say? >> i think these are prifral issues and they do arise and the candidate has to figure out how to handle them. >> would you rather be having the conversation about jobs or

medicare? >> conversation about jobs, medicare, social security and also not to understate what's happening in syria right now even as you and i speak. >> that's true, nobody is talking about syria because we've been following the medicare debate. all right, what do you think is going to be happening? we have a week until the rnc then the dnc. >> the conventions now or not similar to the ones that occurred back in my youth. it's all changed. these conventions are carefully manufactured, the script is held to and there's no doubt we know the outcome on both sides. it's the chance to command center stage for a matter of hours during prime time television. >> it sounds like you're saying it's a fophoto-op and it's goin be boring. thanks for being with us, we appreciate your time. >> delighted to be with you. >> we'll talk to christine

o'donnell, the former senate candidate from delaware. she is organizing something called the troublemaker fest, which is going to run alongside the republican national convention. >> it's already making trouble. >> you know, i think she likes making trouble. we'll talk to her about that. what exactly is the plan? >> scripted plan. >> i believe todd akin kicked them off for them. >> still ahead, researchers may have found amelia earhart's plane at the bottom of the ocean. plus, miss america, 2012 laura keppeler, six months into her reign. she's stopping by our studio. she is so smart and pretty, just what a like in a woman. we're going to talk to her and share a personal story as well. at usaa, we believe honor is not

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a 75-year-old mystery to be closed to being solved. scientists with the international group for historic aircraft recoveryaunched a $2 million underwater expedition near the republic of kir vatty, where earhart is thought to have crashed on july 2nd, of 1937. after combing through hours of footage, they stopped at this image. it might not look like a heck of a lot. forensic experts say it could be the evidence that they are looking for. rick gillespie talked about what the trained eye sees in the images on early start. listen. >> it was a landing gear that we saw on the reef in the 1937

photo. and we're wondering if maybe we've found the thing that we see in the 1937 photo, although now broken into pieces, it's been 75 years. >> that's pretty amazing. >> you know what's fascinating to me, granted i'm not someone read up on amelia earhart over the last 20 years. the story is they landed on this island -- >> may have crash landed. >> but their airplane was swept out to sea leaving them stranded on the island for all that time. that's in the end apparently how amelia earhart -- >> could be. >> but i think i always assumed it was just a plane crash and would have perished in the plane crash. >> it would be remarkable. and every time they make more progress, they are able to raise more funds to get people to fund the next step in these -- >> these are incredibly expensive expeditions. >> they didn't know the detail until they brought them back. >> they combed the island.

>> they were disappointed when they found nothing on the island itself. if they have found under water, they say they may have found a strut and wheels. if that's the case, congratulations to them because i know the team was disappointed -- >> you think they would have gone under the water with the titanic, we should be able to find that. we being them actually. if it's there, it seems like it's something you would be able to with the technology we have today. >> it's an expensive proposition. >> yes, it is, every day they get more access to funding. still ahead this morning, there she is, miss america, laura kaeppeler joins us off the break. she's on a mission to lend a helping hand to those in need. we're talking mentoring. welcome. >> thank you. >> congratulations. "starting point" is back in just a moment. mr. berman we're going to give up your chair. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality.

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welcome back 0 to "starting point." a quick couple of few headlines before we get to miss america who is sitting right next to me. saudi arabians with tribal ties to syria are reaching deep into their pockets to help rebels. fund-raisers 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. 150 people die every day now. wikileaks founder julian assange delivers a message to the u.s. saying the war on whistleblowers must end. in his first public speech in it about five months he said wikileaks is about freedom of expression. he mentioned nothing about the rape charges against him in sweden. assange has been effectively confined to the ecuadorian embassy since june. ecuador granted him diplomatic asylum but britain won't let him leave.

miss china is miss world 2012. the 23-year-old beat out 150 other contestants. the winner is a music student who hopes to become a music teacher and work with the poor. it's the second time a miss china has won miss world title. well, we can top that. she may be miss america but laura kaeppeler is making a name for herself through a mentoring program for at-risk kids. she knows how kids can benefit from this experience firsthand. she is here to talk about that, big brothers and big sisters is really the organization you are focusing on. it's nice to have you. >> thank you, thank you. >> six months you've been miss america. has it been grueling? your travel schedule is crazy. >> yeah, a lot of people see the pageant that one saturday night and they don't really realize miss america is on the road for an entire year and it's a full-time job for an entire year. i travel about 20,000 miles a month. i'm on an airplane every other day or so.

>> excellent frequent flier miles. it's a grueling schedule. you focus on mentoring and you're focusing on big brother and big sister. i know a little bit about them here in new york. why was mentoring your focus? why is that important to you? >> i do a plethora of things and speak to a number of causes but my personal platform is for children who have parents in prison and that stems from a personal experience of mine and m mentoring goes hand-in-hand with that. when i experienced that and without a few key mentors in my life i certainly wouldn't be the woman that i am today. i highly doubt let alone miss america. through working with big brothers and big sisters and speaking for one of their ad council videos, i've been honored to be their spokesperson and encourage not only myself mentoring these children throughout my year but other people getting involved in big brothers and big sisters and mentoring kids as well. >> it was your dad who went to prison, and you were a teenager, right? >> i was a teenager.

he spent a year in federal prison. i was embarrassed for something that i didn't do. i was ashamed and my friends in school couldn't understand what it was like to visit my dad in jail on weekends and go back to school and act like a normal kid. and looking back, had i not had those mentors it would have been really easy to go down a negative path. it would have been really easy to turn to peer pressure and not go to school or not study and not get good grades. and that's the same for any child who has a parent in prison. >> i assume some of the kids you are mentoring have parents who are incarcerated so you are able to show them you're -- let me run your psa because i think that explains it better than anything. let's play that. >> knowing that the past does not have to limit your possibilities and does not have to limit who you are or what you will become is one of the main messages that my mentor instilled in me and is something that i carry through my journey as miss america and trying to instill in other children as

well. >> i love that, that your past doesn't have to limit your possibilities in the future. the kids you mentor have parents also incarcerated. >> primarily they have a parent in prison. big brothers/big sisters are roughly about 25% of those children have a parent in prison. but otherwise they are at-risk children. whether they have experienced that or not, there is some kind of positive reinforcement, positive guidance, and it's been rewarding. that was my main gold this year was to let kids know that no matter their adversitadversity, past holds, doesn't have to define them. i certainly didn't think the girl whose parent was in prison could become miss america. and being that living proof to them has been a wonderful experience. >> an interesting question asked earlier, one of the challenges for big brother and big sister -- >> it's tough to get people to come in and be a mentor for young kids. when a kid in a really difficult situation having a parent, one or two parents who are in prison. >> right. thankfully the big brothers/big

sister organization carefully matches their bigs to littles. they have to go through a screening process and they are educa educated on what to do and how to help that child, but one easy way to do it if you don't want to become a mentor, if you don't want to become a big to a little is to go to their website and find a way to either donate your time aside from mentoring a child or financially. really just believing in the program. i think believing that one child -- helping one child can make the difference in their life so profoundly that you have no idea. you could mentor the next president of the united states, the first doctor to cure cancer, the next miss america. >> or just a kid who needs your help. i got an e-mail from a young woman who is now almost 35 and i was her big sister, just the other day. >> and you probably had no idea the impacts that you had on her life. >> it was an incredible thing. it terrifying that she is 35. that's a longer story. so great to have you. thank you for coming in to talk to us and bringing your crown. i'm going to touch it if i can.

it's beautiful. thank you for being with us. stale ahead this morning, the story of a stolen bike at a sting operation. how one man in oregon found his bike and then caught the thief on camera. we'll talk to him and his camera crew about how they did it. plus, christine o'donnell from delaware took to the cameras once to say i am not a witch. well, she says she's going to make some trouble in tampa during the republican national convention. those are her own words. we'll chat with her about that. ? get two times the points on travel, ? with chase sapphire preferred. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you.

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welcome back, everybody. our "starting point" this morning is something that's been developing overnight. a tragedy in hollywood. blockbuster movie director tony scott, known for films like "top gun" and "days of thunder" jumps to his death from a california bridge. we're talking to some of his colleagues around hollywood. another developing story, terror at the racetrack. crashes into the crowd at the o missouri state fair, injuring several fans. it happened late last night. we'll tell you the status of those injuries. and christine o'donnell will join us, planning a so-called troublemaker fest during the republican national convention. in addition to miss o'donnell, talking to dallas mayor mike rollins who will join us live and "sparkle" actress tamela mann will join us.

welcome, everybody. our team ben smith is editor in chief of buzz feed. celeste is the anchor of your vote on pbs world channel. will cain is with us for the blaze.com. john is bringing us the news this morning. nice to have everyone with us. i realized when i said the date, it's my brother's birthday. i'll have to call him after the show. >> why don't you say it right now? >> consider this your phone call. moving on, a developing story which is truly a tragedy, this news out of hollywood, the famed director tony scott, the brother of ridley scott, known for blockbusters like "top gun" and "days of thunder" and "beverly hills cop 2" has committed suicide. to christine romans for an update. hollywood is shocked by this news. the case is being treated as a suicide saying tony scott jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday in san pedro, california.

now the coroner's office is saying a passerby actually saw him jump and called 911. scott's death took the entertainment industry and insiders by total surprise. >> we use the word shocking all the time when we hear about these deaths, but to think of tony scott, brother of ridley scott, one of the most prominent and successful directors we have jumping off a bridge is almost impossible to contemplate. >> in addition to the blockbusters like "top gun" and "crimson tide" he was producer of a number of films with his brother. they've worked on "the good wife." their next collaboration is a creepy medical miniseries called "coma" set to premiere next month on a&e. director and producer grossed $1.6 billion in theaters. the sudden death of the filmmaker has hit hollywood

hard. celebrities are mourning his death on twitter including the director ron howard tweeting, no more tony scott movies. tragic day. and from director adam shankman, quote, 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 kfs 68 years old. >> the question is why, christine. and i'm not sure it's going to be answered anytime soon. everything he touched did well. he was wildly successful. >> he had a lot of projects still going on. that's why a lot of people are asking why. he had a lot of things still going on. >> yeah, really. thank you. john berman has a look at other sto stories making news this morning. new overnight a passenger in custody after a jetblue flight had to be diverted to denver. there were 150 passengers onboard. it was met by fbi agents and de denver police when it landed

about 11:30 local time. charges are pending. no other details about this incident have been released. new video this morning of a startling race car crash in missouri. five spectators were hurt in this including two seriously when that race car crashed. it was at the missouri state fair. police say they were watching this race near the pit when the driver lost control on the track and he crashed into them in the stands there. the battle of the badges races were canceled for the rest of the night. scary moments for dozens of pa passengers onboard a sightseeing vessel in glacier bay, alaska. the boat ran aground and began taking on water. reuters reports 76 people had to be rescued. no serious injuries. the coast guard is investigating that accident. britain's prince fphilip is out of hopped this morning, released after spending five days for treatment of a bladder infection. this is his third hospital stay in the past eight months. the prince had to miss part of the quaen's diamond jub will he celebration marking 60 years on

the throne because of his poor health. but he's out this morning. >> thank goodness. everyone has been watching that closely. thank you, john. this morning expecting in under two hours mitt romney and paul ryan to be together again after a week apart on the campaign trail hosting a town hall in new hampshire. after spending the week trying to sell their medicare plan that included paul ryan bringing his 78-year-old mom to a campaign stop in florida on saturday. president obama is leaving new hampshire before mitt romney and paul ryan arrive. his campaign is still facing some attacks over the comments the vice president, joe biden, made last wednesday which suggested that mitt romney and paul ryan would put audience members, quote, back in chains. all that brings us to christine o'donnell, a form er republican senate candidate from delaware. she is organizing a troublemaker fest during the republican national convention. it's aimed at young voters. it's nice to see you. thanks for talking with us this morning. why do you call it a

troublemaker fest? >> why, did you say? >> why? i can kind of guess but would love to hear why you call it a troublemaker fest. >> that's a great question. in the '60s young people, young radicals were called the troublemakers and they were challenging the policies of the establishment. and that's exactly what we see happening here. throughout my campaign and the years following i've been around so many young people who are genuine troublemakers who are challenging the establishment. however, the ironic thing is the roles have reversed. these young people are the ones who are actively championing the principles of a free market and it's the government who's champion marxism. so in that same spirit of trouble making we're leading and mobilizing young people who have the most at stake in this election to stand up and let their voices be heard and to educate their peers. >> as you well know, there are lots of people who will disadpre

with you but let's talk more about the young people that you are talking about. you have to worry when you look at some of the polling that they're not inspired. for example, if you look at the definitely likely to vote in the age group that you're interested in, 18 to 29 years old, 78% back in -- sorry, 81% back in 2004. 78% by 2008. down to 58% now in 2012. that number has to concern you. or even if you look at your own tea party, pretty small percentage is in this demo that you're looking for, 7% in that 18 to 29 year range. 75% are 45 and older and, finally, if you look at the numbers when they are interested in voting, who lean for president obama, 73% and look at mi mitt romney or lean romney that's 25%. i have to imagine all those sta tis particulars have to be

concerning for you. >> they are alarming. you are right, soledad, to bring that up and that's why we're doing this. in this election cycle you hear all these stats and figures that policy wants like me love. when you hear i don't love the stats, i don't like the news that's coming from them, but we feed on this stuff. the debt to gdp ratio hit 100% but the young people, they hear that and they say, you know, what does that mean? what's in it for me? and we need to translate that for them. what that means when your debt to gdp ratio hits 100% is that the economy could completely collapse and while that may not mean anything to you right now when you start buy a home, when you start to plan for your own child's college, these opportunities aren't going to be there for you. and the other thing, you're right, a lot of people would disagree with me to say when they hear these i believe marxist soundbites coming from their own president. >> you say the word socialist

and marxist around that are not necessarily, i think, anchored in definitions of socialism and marxism. so give me the definition. >> well, they absolutely are. but let me -- i'll get to that but let me say what we're trying to do at this troublemaker fest is kicking off the whole week with the first ever tea party versus occupy wall street debate where people from that side of the movement get to pick their own panelists, pick their own questions, and we are jointly working together to present both sides of the movement to address things like that. some say they're marxist because of the things that you hear coming from him about share the wealth, economic equality, and these soundbites might sound good and noble on the surface but the problem is there's quantifiable data that prove that they simply don't work and we're a free market economy that's supposed to empower the individual, let each person use

their gifts, use the rewards to create a better life for themselves instead of what barack obama is posing, a tax code that punishes hard work, a tax code that reduces everybody to exactly the same. >> there's so much to hop in on here so i'll do that. so you're a policy wonk now? when did that happen? >> well, i've been involved in politics for 20 years. that's what got the me involved. >> policy wonk. >> that's what got me -- policy junkie, political junkie, we read these reports. we read, you know, when people say which person is going to destroy medicare worse than the other, but most people don't especially the young people, and that is why they're so apathetic. that's why those statistics are so alarming. and what i want to do, my vision, especially for the tea party versus occupy debate, is for each side to present their message to the young people and

then say you pick because what voters are going to face this election cycle is a stark contrast, depending on the outcome. >> it this tea party versus occupy thing. there's some controversy with it? someone who is now saying it was an idea that was stolen, you took his idea and you kind of ran with the ball. will cain, am i right about that? >> there's a story on the website on the blaze.com that suggests this idea, this concept, occupy versus tea party was one that wasn't christine o'donnell's and she -- >> that's not true. >> sold that to al gore's current tv. it's a story that's out there, miss o'donnell. >> and it's a shame. it's a shame because this gentleman is putting out there is flat out lying and the young people i've been working with will tell you we've been working together for months and it was lauren windsor's idea. she bumped into a friend of mine back in february, and they were talking at a bar after a rally.

wouldn't it be great. >> do you think it will hold into a lawsuit? it sounds messy. >> it shouldn't. the guy has no weight. here is the bottom line. you can't trademark a movement. and i think this it guy is a publicity hound. >> you can trademark a tv show idea, right? >> this isn't a tv show. it's a debate. it's a debate. it's a shame. it's a shame and, again, this is one time when the young turks and i will stand in agreement that we've been working on this together for months. i've had the venue reserved for months. it's been on the convention calendar for months. i mean, since we planned it. it was one of the first things we put on the calendar and we've been organizing behind the scenes before we release d it. i sent out a press release to my supporters probably about two months ago. i don't know the exact date but it's absolutely absurd. and the same man who put this

out is the man who when i tried to reach out to him and have a discussion about how we might be able to work together because the idea of getting both sides of our message -- you though, the occupy and tea party out there to voters is important, he swore at me, he used the "f" word, he raised his voice. this is not a rational human being. >> when was that? >> this was a couple nights ago. we had our team and the young turks both on this conference call, and he jumped in uninvited. he heard about the conference call, jumped in uninvited, started swearing is at all of us. it's a publicity stunt. it's a shame we're talking about that -- >> covering a lot of ground. i think we covered a lot of ground. we will see you when we are in tampa because we will be at the rmc. >> the aptally named troublemakers. still ahead on "start iing point" a man goes the distance to reclaim his stolen bike. a little clip of it. >> and this is my bicycle. >> all right. >> okay. i would like you to apologize.

>> that's never good when someone says this is my bicycle, i.e., you stole it. we're going to tell you how he set up an elaborate sting operation and was able to get his bike back. plus, a 73-year-old man in alabama is fighting city hall to keep his late wife buried in the front yard. i have to tell you, i see all your faces on that one, it's our tough call this morning. i support this guy. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe... scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry.

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tweet it be surprised be productive. make a sale make some lunch make it movie night. play a game or an old favorite. do it all more beautifully, with the retina display, on ipad. an alleged bicycle thief was caught red-handed in a very elaborate sting operation by the victim who then caught it all on tape. he had his $2,500 bike stolen

earlier this month. turned up in a seattle craigslist ad. so he and his friends hatched this elaborate plan. they create add fake online persona and then traveled 160 miles to confront the alleged thief in person, film the whole thing. this is what it sounded like. >> here is the deal. i live in portland and you stole my bicycle and this is my bicycle. >> all right. >> okay. >> so what are you saying? >> i would like you to apologize. >> for what? i bought this bike off craigslist. >> no. no, you're under citizen's arrest. stop now. >> citizen's arrest don't seem to work. he chased the suspect down on his stolen, now recovered, bike. authorities arrived on the scene, the guy was arrested, charged with trafficking in stolen property. the three vigilantes posted this on youtube and got a million views in five days. take a look. >> today is a good day.

today is a good day. >> he has his soda. he has his bike. he is happy. nice to see you, jake. he's with his friend, shannon hardy, who helped shoot all of that, the cameraman. nice to see you both. i have to ask you, jake, were you crazy to go confront somebody who, you know, at least on the surface seemed to be a criminal? >> i don't think we were crazy, maybe a little bit brave and pretty confident in our abilities. we had a couple of friends waiting close by and shannon was one of those guys. >> talk to me about how the sting went down. you create this had online persona as if the person you were pretending to be lived in seattle so wouldn't flag him that you were coming in from out of town and then you drove all that way. how did it go down when you first confronted that guy? >> well, i had my two friends waiting in the car close by and our plan initially was to have me sit there and ask him questions about the bike and

take it for test raids until the police showed up. and that just took a long time. so i had to talk to the guy for about 40 minutes. >> oh, my goodness. >> he became nervous and i just kind of changed the plan. i told him that i was, indeed, going to buy the bike and we shook hands. told him i was going to go inside a nearby bank and get $1,000. when i went into the bank i told the teller what was going down and the teller was good enough to call security and i texted my friends and told them to get ready to start filming and get ready for the confrontation. >> what was it like? i can't tell where the camera is in all of this. he had no idea you were shooting or how did you work that? it. >> well, when you see me initially just kind of holding my phone up in his face there is when i just started filming him and my friends at the time were approaching from behind and you see the other two shots of the confrontation when he runs away. >> hey, jake --

>> didn't really have any idea i was coming. >> this is will cain. you have to delay this guy for something like 40 minutes while you're waiting for the police to show up. you go inside the bank and ask the tellers to help you out to get the police to come. when you come out, they're still not there, right? there's video of you chasing this it guy after you warn him police are on the way. how did that shake out? you had to chase this guy down? >> yeah, i had to chase him down. we had three goals with this whole thing, one was that we were all going to get home safe and keep it nonviolent. the second goal was to get my bike back and once we had that down our third goal was to get the guy arrested because we knew he was committing a felony and it was our goal to put him in jail. >> did you catch him or did the police catch him? >> the police detained him. i followed him on my bike and he ran across this four-lane highway and i just started following behind him. as soon as he heard the sirens, though, he took off and the police chased him down. >> you said you wanted an apology. did he ever apologize? >> no, i don't think he's that big of a person. he's still denying that he stole it. he's claiming that he bought it on craigslist and that he didn't

know it was stolen. i think he was surprised to see he did admit on camera he knew the bike was stolen. >> you know what they say, maybe admit that go on camera would be problematic for him and his lawyer. jake gillum and shannon hardy, thank you for talking with us. we like your web movie. be careful the next time you do that, please. i'm glad that it ended well, though. still ahead on "starting point" an alabama man is fighting to keep the remains of his late wife right where he dug her grave which is in the front yard of their home. should it be allowed? will cain is shaking his head no. it's today's "tough call." you can follow us on cnn live. go to cnn/tv. the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason

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a tough call this morning, an alabama widower locked in a legal battle over the rate to keep his late wife's remains buried in his front yard. his name is james davis and he buried patsy ruth davis a few feet from their front porch in 2009. the state health department says burial plots are allowed on private property but city officials sued to have 0 her disinterred, dug up, because he lives on the main road through town. the county judge agreed with them but it's all heading to an appellate court so patsy will stay put at least for now. so tough call because i support this guy -- first of all, if you go through many parts of this country, people have cemeteries, entire, giant cemeteries, in their front yards. that's how people used to bury people. i don't think there's going to be some mad rush to bury somebody in their front yard. here is a guy -- >> he's in a downtown area. >> of stevenson. >> yeah, but still, we don't

live in that city. the city officials -- >> and flowers. this is her gravesite. >> should be allowed to have some control -- they should be allowed in their own city to have some control over something which is a public health issue. >> it's not a public health issue. >> you could see this as the next brooklyn. they let them get away -- >> will you stop? >> always brings you back to brooklyn. >> first the homemade beer. >> no, i don't think so. >> i'm with soledad. this guy should be able to do it. it is not a public health issue. that was clear. you are allowed to bury people in your front or backyard. >> why would you say public health risk? >> again, i just don't want to -- >> you're grossed out. that's what it is. >> i'm not grossed out. he's not in the middle of the country. this isn't the 1800s anymore. i understand it's an established tradition but i don't want to second-guess the courts or the

city officials who have more information. >> do not second-guess bureaucracy. >> i totally disagree. hey, a beautiful spot, flowers, nice gravestone. stevenson, it doesn't look like -- look -- >> how can you frel that picture? >> i can't. >> a picture says 1,000 words. >> will cain are in agreement. today you and i together. still ahead this morning on "starting point" the biggest outbreak of west nile. another victim died yesterday. we'll talk to the mayor of dallas about what that city is doing to keep their scitizens safe. and then caught on tape, five water spouts all at the same time on lake michigan. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars.

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update from texas on the aerial assault on mosquitos that carry the west nile virus. dallas mayor mike rollins will be our guest just ahead. first to john berman who has a look at the day's top stories. good morning again. good morning, soledad. hollywood is waking up this morning to some stunning news. the director of "top gun" tony scott, the director, apparently killed himself. the l.a. county coroner's office treating the case as a suicide saying he jumped off the vincent thomas bridge yesterday morning in san pedro,c california. scott directed many blockbusters including "top gun" and "crimson tide" and a number of films with his brother, ridley. tony scott just 68 years old. caught on tape a terrifying race car crash in missouri. five spectators were hurt including would seriously when this race car crashed into the missouri state fair. police say the people in the stands were watching a charity race in the pit area when the driver lost control, left the track, and crashed into them. the battle of the badges races which featured old police cars were canceled for the rest of the night. another story developing this morning, the coast guard looking for answers after 76 people had to be rescued off the

coast of alaska when their sightseeing vessel ran aground in glacier bay. the officials tell reuters passengers were transferred to a cruiseship after their boat began taking on waters. that had to be one scary sightseeing trip, soledad. john, thank you very much. with weather is slowing down the battle against an epidemic of west nile in dallas. it has claimed the lives of 26 people nationwide. so far this summer. dallas is declaring a state of emergency. the latest challenge came in the form of rain. rain grounded some spray planes and officials spoke about that on saturday. >> we think that the aerial perspective as well as the ground approach is working. of course with weather being a factor, either way we hope we get good weather but i think between the two effectively we'll be able to address the west nile virus outbreak here in dallas county.

>> the spraying resumed last night over dallas county and with us now is dallas mayor mike rollins. thank you for talking with us. we appreciate it. >> good of you to have me. >> spraying because of that weather, we were just talking about, you worry about that lost time or are you going to be able to make up for it? >> i think we are. last night we were able to get the whole area covered that we wanted to. we had been delayed a couple of nights, had done spargs spraying. we have four planes up and we were able to cover all the areas we targeted. tonight we go back at it. we have a fifth plane and by that time we should have everybody done this time tomorrow morning twice. meanwhile, we're continuing to work on standing water. >> i was going to ask you about that. the rain brought more standing water, right, so there's another problem right there. >> right, right. and that's one of the big things because that's a house by house,

block by block issue, so we're asking residents to make sure there's no standing water. if there's some big ponds they can't get to, to call us. we'll come out there and spray it with larvaecide. the center of the outbreak and we have to take this seriously. >> a guy wrote a letter to the dallas morning news and his position was essentially that by doing this spraying, you are trying to kill an ant with an assault rifle. dallas county has a population of 2,240,000. there have been 210 cases of west nile. that cyphers out to a penetration rate of a minuscule .000094% yet our learned officials called it a major public health crisis and trotted out the aerial spraying campaign. what would you answer to him? >> well, i would say, first of all, the science is behind this.

we're talking about millions of ants not just one. we have to do it efficiently, and l and listened to the epa, a very conservative organization. the cdc says this is the right way to do it. our state officials do. we have to get every crack and crevice so we can't just go in every neighborhood and do it hand-to-hand combat. that's why i think this approach is the most effective. we're getting results back, initial results look very positive. we'll get the final results back today to show folks this is, in kt if a, the way to do it. >> mike rawlings is the mayor. thank you for your time. still ahead on "starting point" new evidence this morning that suspected cheating on state tests in philadelphia schools is far are worse than they originally thought. is it, in fact, the tip of the iceberg? and from the movie "sparkle" tamela mamn stops by.

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results so far show cheating happened across multiple grades and subjects and years and an alarming rate of answers being erased and changed from wrong to right on the test. we're seeing cases of this all across the country from atlanta, stories out of denver to los angeles to new york, steve perry is a cnn education contributor. steve, this is so dismaying, i think. you know what i find so interesting about it, you talk about cheating, you talk about students cheating, the idea teachers are cheating is so depressing. what's going on? >> reporter: it's disarcina ggu. it's the principals and vice principals doing it. the principal of your school have to sit down in a room and call out answers and erase them and go through each child's examination. so the process itself is disgusting. but, more importantly, is what

it does to the child in the community because it would be like you going, taking your child to the doctor and the doctor lying, literally, about your child's health condition and you finding out years later the thing they were supposed to be cured of they're, in fact, not. and certificaservices that were to be offered to them are not going to be offered. you can't get back the second grade. once it's gone, it's gone. >> but wouldn't they argue, steve, well, all of this is because of the test that you have the teachers now have to make a certain grade, so to speak because if they don't, then it comes down to, you know, it has an effect, that by putting those kinds ofonerous t in. there could be an argument here. >> reporter: it's a foolish argument. last year our scores went down and no one cheated to get the scores back up. they're back up because we literally put our nose to the grind stone, worked our behinds off and got our scores back up. it happens.

they ebb and flow. when you're doing your work you don't need to cheat on the test if you are doing the work. it will show in what you do. the biggest issue here, soledad, the children and the parents don't know what they don't know and we can't help them. we can't help a child. i'm not just a principal, i'm a parent. at least one of my sons this summer has been altered because of his performance on some of these examinations. there are things we are doing because i want to see better results from him. >> there's now a manual to fix teacher led cheating in philly. there are criminal penalties. why are you shaking your head no. you don't think it's going to work? >> reporter: i don't think that's going to work, no. it's like putting a stop sign up that's not going to be followed. the way in which you stop the cheating is you begin to create a new system. there's enough technology available to us for us to get rid of the paper and pencil tests and have the children sit in front of a computer, logon at a particular time, log off at a particular time.

that would mean in order to cheat the principals would have to hire an army of teachers to stand over the shoulders of every single child to go in and make sure they wrote the right answerses. this way by using it technology as it currently exists every child could take the test n. addition to that we need to stop taking the tests all at once, meaning in march. there's no good reason to take it in march. take it throughout the year, make the tests smaller so we can use the results more effectively. even if euroyou're not cheating getting the results in the summer when they're already in the third grade doesn't do anything for us as educators. >> when i got my daughter's grade it was like, thanks, but now what do i do? it's the summer. they're not studying anything right now. steve perry, nice to see you, steve. >> reporter: thank you so much. mice to see you as well. still ahead, actress tamela mann is in the most talked about movie of the summer. we'll talk to her about "sparkle." that was the last movie for whitney houston and the first for jordan sparks.

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welcome back to "starting point." i'm john berman. a quick check of the headlines now. john lennon's killer, mark david chapman, is up for parole again. the hearing this week will be the seventh. he gunned down lennon 32 years ago t. could happen as early as tomorrow, a decision on his release is expected by week's end. chapman is serving is 20 years to life for lennon's murder. madonna sued in russia for $10 million for voicing her support of gay rights. reuters says anti-gay activists are suing the singer after she asked concert goers to wave pink

arm bands that were distributed at the show. local law makes it illegal to, are quote, promote homosexuality to minors. he has been suspended for 50 games for using testosterone but the which melky cabrera tried to beat the wrap, created a fake website with fake products, how he inadvertently purchased a banned substance. the 50 game ban stands and now the federal government is investigating melky could be in some big trouble. >> here is the problem -- you know, you shouldn't try to harness the power of technology unless you're really a really good hacker, right, because you create this digital footprint that now anybody who is able to crack that is going to be able to look back and say -- >> or the problem is do not cheat and continue to lie and cheat afterwards to cover up.

>> that's a bigger problem. but, also, it's kind of falling under the dumb criminal thing. stop. just don't do it. >> exactly. >> thank you, john. all right. whitney houston's final movie "sparkle" is now out in theaters. it opened in the fifth spot at the box office earning $12 million. houston plays the overprotective mother of a girl singing group haunted by her own memories of show business. the film stars jordan sparks of "american idol" fame and actress tamela mann, an award winning gospel winner. a new album out called "best days." she plays the role of whitney's best friend in "sparkle" and joins us now. i love gospel and every day i'm talking about gospel, so now they brought you in to come and hang out with us. >> yes! >> we certainly appreciate it. you're almost in every single scene with whitney houston. what was that like? >> it was wonderful. it was nothing like i heard. she didn't come in acting like a diva. she was very professional. very pleasant to work with.

we had a lot of fun. we sat and talked about god a lot on the set and kids, of course, and singing. she was actually one of the first persons to hear a couple of my songs before they came out. >> you were playing your album. >> i said, do you mind? she was like, yeah! she was like, yeah, baby, get to this part. just ride it. but it was really wonderful working with her and, again, she was very professional. >> there are people who said -- i think it was "entertainment weekly" had a quote that said this would be the first step not in a comeback with but a major reinvepgs for whitney houston. do you think that's true? >> i think so because she had done so well especially when we got to the church singing. there was not a dry eye in the church. so, i mean, it really was good. she was just good at what she was doing and she was c co-producing the movie, so she really did good. she was trying to put it out for

the last ten years to get this movie out and for everything to go down like it did, i mean, you know. god knows. it was really great working with her. >> you're an actor, you're a singer, obviously. you started with the franklin family. and now you're doing a tv show, too. you cook. can you cook? >> i can cook. look at me. and i love cooking and i love to watch people eat. >> we need to talk. >> i do. >> we could be friends. >> and she sings gospel. >> presentation is very important to me. once i cook the food, even for my family on a sunday, i pull out my good dishes and set it all up. >> you do the show with your husband? >> it's call hanging with the manns, a cooking adventure show. we base the cooking off the adventure. in one instance we did a ranch. we rode horses and we did this game -- i don't know if you've ever heard of it, you're way up

high here in new york, but it's called -- the game is goat dressing. have you ever heard of it? you have to catch a goat, catch a goat and put a skirt on the goat and you put a bandanna on the goat's neck. >> the goat doesn't like that, does he? >> he was crying a little bit. we didn't hurt it but she was crying, the one i had. she was very cute. >> what do you do when you catch it? >> i'm from texas. that's called saturday night. >> it was great. we would go and made homemade chili. i made corn cakes and apple crisp in a hot iron skillet. that type of thing. it's like you base the cooking off the adventure. >> you may need to send is some of that food here to the set. >> i would love to. if it's coming from texas, it will be cold.

>> congratulations on all your doing and "sparkle" especially. it's nice to have you in. i'm such a big fan. >> "best days" is out. >> congratulations on that, too. we have to take a short break. 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,

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you've stolen a bike, allegedly, whether you've said something about legitimate rape, you have to be very careful about who is filming and think before you speak. >> or don't speak at all. >> the danger of speaking without thinking. so how about don't steal the bike. how about, understand the stupidity of what you're saying on or off the camera and odd medical facts that no one seems to understand. >> i'm not sure this is an issue of them speaking or being on video, it was that he thought that. >> there you go. >> one of the other things particularly if you're anywhere near a presidential campaign and you say something insane, it's going to be everywhere. >> and republicans are racing to distance themselves from akin. todd akin's remarks about legitimate rape were embarrassing to the gop. other republicans saying he should drop out of the race. >> you think this has