skeleton of the triceratops ever found. >> in case you don't remember from science class, triceratops three-horned plant eating dinosaur lived 67 million years ago. very cool stuff. >> yeah. very cool. that will do it for me. thanks for watching "around the world." i'm out of here. you're sticking around. >> "cnn newsroom" starts now. a levee breach in missouri forces hundreds to leave their homes. could get worse today. we are live from the flood zone. and while fires raging in three states threatening thousands of homes. plus -- protests turn violent in turkey and they show this signs of letting up. this is "cnn newsroom."

i'm suzanne malveaux. parts of the midwest under water right now. there is more rain in the forecast. crews helped hundreds of people get in safe ground. this was in west alta missouri after a levee broke. everybody worried about staying safe. >> people could be locked into their house if they can have a way to get through the water, if the water gets two, three foot deep, they're stuck in the house if edon't evacuate. >> i want to be safe than sorry. i don't want to take chances. >> it's hard to believe, five months ago people in this community were dealing with a drought. well now west alten, missouri, coming with another disaster. >> reporter: take a look at this. i'm standing on a road that leads into the small town of west alton, missouri, it's closed, the road. but that's because of what's happening. this is the mississippi river that is literally washing over

the road and heading directly into town. the second into tflood they eve area's seen. the levees, sandbags all under a lot of strain. last night there was a breach and that forced several hundred people to be ready to evacuate. a number of residents said they didn't have to be told twice. they were ready to move too higher ground. there is a concern for many areas all along the mississippi river north of st. louis. their hope is that the river is going to crest today. as bad as this is, it could have been worse. but until the water recedes, no one's going to be breathing easy. >> all right. thank you, martin. firefighters continuing to battle to beat back the wildfires. that's out in western united states. the fire just north of l.a. about 60% contained. people get a chance to go home. but as you can imagine, they

suffered serious damage. >> we've had the smoke coming over in years before but never this close and never that big. >> the whole canyon's going to blow up literally. the whole canyon's going to blow up and we're going to be screwed. >> dan simon in the fire zone. you're at a checkpoint where folks are hoping to get back to houses there. you heard the woman saying, she thought things were not going to work out so well. is there a certain sense of anxiety as people look to see if their homes are still standing? >> reporter: there is some of that, suzanne. i think there's also relief that the evacuation orders have been lifted and people can go back to their homes. we're at a checkpoint. you can see the highway patrol officer there checking people's i.d.s, making sure that residents are, you know, going back to the appropriate places. as far as the fire is concerned, suzanne, you said 60% containment. 32,000 achors burn.

and the important thing to remember, the fire is burning away from residentle areas. there's relief there. we've seen a number of helicopters in the sky, firefighters still tackling the fire aggressively. but the good news is that the fire is burning away from homes. >> so, dan, this is within fire burning away from the houses. but all indications that this is going to be an active wildfire season. are they going to expect more of these? >> reporter: absolutely. you know this is just a preview. the reason why is there's not a lot of moisture in the ground and that's because there wasn't a lot of rain in the area. not a lot of snow either. and the important thing also to remember is that in a lot of these areas, the brush hasn't burned for many decades. you have so much quote/unquote fuel on the ground, just waiting to be burned. so national fire center monitor the while fire situation in california and throughout the west coast and say this is going

to be an active season. what they're telling homeowners to do is be pro active and clear brush around their homes to see if they can alleviate some. >> this is a tough story here. this business a mother's fight to get a lung transplant for her dying 10-year-old daughter. this battle now is on capitol hill. this is about sarah, she has cystic fibrosis since birth. she could die within weeks without a transplant. her mom, janet has asked kathleen sebelius, secretary of health and human services, to change the rules to allow her to have a transplant because right now children under 12, they don't have priority over adults on a waiting list who also need lungs. there are not enough children's lungs to go around. the secretary has asked that these rules be reviewed. but today, during a hearing on a

separate issue, georgia congressman tom price asked secretary sebelius to explain why more cannot be done. >> first, as a mother and a grandmother, i can't imagine anything more agonizing than what the family is going through. i talked to janet, the mother of sarah, about this case. what i've also done is looked very carefully at the history of the rules around lung transplant and organ transplant. >> secretary -- >> dr. price. >> i'm going to reclaim my time. it simply take yours signature. a study, i know you have ordered, and i appreciate that. but a study will take over a year. this young lady will be dead. i want to move on to a concern -- >> others will -- >> madam secretary. >> want to bring in jason carroll following this. it's a very, very tough spot that she is in.

in all fairness to her, and this hear, this proceeding, is she doing that she possibly can? >> well, its a tough situation for sebelius. arguably it's a tougher situation for children like sarah and for that matter adults who are waiting for a lung transplant or any sort of transplant. but let's get back to, first, what happened just a few hours ago. it was just posed to be a budget hearing that sebelius was. but she faced very tough questions about whether or not the department guidelines are standing in the way of this little girl getting the medical care that she needs and needs desperately. sarah's parents say their daughter, if their daughter does not get that lung transplant she will die. could now be a matter of weeks or months for her. right now she is on the wait list for children but not the one for adults. her parents are asking that guidelines be changed so that sarah and for that matter all

children in critical situations like her can then be moved to the adult list. sebelius was continually pressed on the issue just a few hours ago. >> unfortunately there are about 40 very seriously ill pennsylvanians over the age of 12 also waiting for a lung transplant and three other children in the philadelphia hospital at the same acuity rate as sarah waiting for a lung transplant. the worst of all worlds have some individual pick and choose who lives and who dies. you want a process where it's guided by medical science and medical experts. >> and because she wanted to know more about that process, sebelius has in fact ordered a transplant policy review. but you now know that a policy change, if that were to take effect, could take years. the family doesn't have that

kind of time. they heard about what sebelius said during the hearing and issued statement, secretary sebelius has said that if she makes an exception for sarah, she will have to make an exception for all children. we are confused to say the least, by this. we haven't asked that an exception be made just for sarah. what we are asking is that all children in similar situations be treated the same as adults in the system for the allocation of lungs. basically what the parents are saying, suzanne, they just want a fair system for everyone whether you be a child or an adult. >> this is such a hard thing to see unfold because, jason, you know, it is just weeks that they have to resolve this at least in terms of this little girl and what ends up happening, her fate. please keep us posted. appreciate it. also watching this. this is a battle against sexual assault in the military. it's led to what is being called unprecedented hearing. this is on capitol hill today.

top leaders of the army, the navy, the air force, the marines, all called to testify before a senate panel. look at that picture there. they are considering a controversial bill that would give uniformed prosecutors instead of commanders authority to investigate sexual assault cases. the military's brass is against this proposal. >> the role of the commander should remain central. our goals should be to hold commanders more accountable, not render them less able to help us correct the crisis. >> removing commanders, making commanders less responsible, less accountable, will not work. >> commanding officers are charged with establishing and training to standards and uniformly enforcing standards. a unit will rise or fall as a direct result of the leadership of its commanding officer. commanding officer never delegate responsibility. they should never be forced to delegate their authority.

>> well, there are advocacy groups and lawmakers saying a change is needed because commander failed to address the pervasive problem. after a 11 surgeries, that's right, the last boston bombing victim is leaving the hospital. but she wants your help. she is looking for the woman who never left her side during frantic moments after the blast. and a mom's 3-year-old boy just playing in the backyard when someone in a mask tried to snatch him. what she did might have saved her son's life. plus -- mcmansions making a comeback. that is right. people moving back into bigger homes. is it a sign that the economy's getting better? [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit.

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want to bring you breaking news out of new york. there is a gas explosion that took place, this is in new york nyack college, 19 miles north of manhattan. there was a gas, apparent gas explosion. we have been told that one person is injured. this is -- the school was not in session an the time of the

explosion. you might have not heard of this school but it's a small christian college that is in nyack, new york. all we have here, you see on the ground there are crews. but that one person was injured and the explosion happened earlier in the day. no chass in session. and the colorado movie theater shooting suspect james holmes was in court today. a denver area judge accepted his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. his previous not guilty plea was entered by the judge on behalf. that was in march. now holmes is accused of opening fire in a movie theater during "the dark knight rises." 12 people died from that shooting and holmes faces murder and other charges in the july shooting in aurora. holmes will be taken to a mental health facility to be evaluated. you hear this all the time about kids being abducted but this is not something you often here. a woman say there's was a person

wearing a mask trying to take her 3-year-old son while he was playing in the backyard. this happened near seattle. she believes it was a man she say his got pretty far before she was able to grab and stop him. she said she had the child but tripped and dropped him. she didn't want to be on camera. but she does explain what happened during that moment. this is through kcpq. >> i kind of like went after him and he took a couple of steps and fell, tripped or fell down. as he fell my son fell with him. my son hit the ground. as soon as my son was on the ground i jumped on top of my son and he started hitting and punching me and i continued to kick and punch him back and get him away from me. >> amazing story. she describes the man, tall, lanky, wearing a black ski mask, black gloves and black clothing. another story, house

republicans demanding answers from the obama administration who gave the order to target tea party groups that applied for tax exempt status. we are looking here, a live picture, and they are taking testimony from folks who say they were unfairly targeted by the irs. >> as of today, i've been waiting for 29 months without status. in the interim i lost $30,000 launch grant from a reputable nonprofit whose executive director advised me he had never seen such treatment of 501c3 applicant of this in 25 years of making grants. >> hearing on chill napitol hil the only problem for the irs. irs spending now. want to bring in dana bash on capitol hill who's got her hands on the report. how damaging is is it? >> reporter: those people look

at irs and thinking what could be worse they haven't read this report. you have to read it to believe it. the focus for the most part is on one conference that the irs had for over 2,000 employees in anaheim, california, 2010. they spent $4 million. let me go through some of the specifics which again are shocking. they spent on outside event planners $66,500 each, what each was paid. they were hired outside though the irs has a division inside to do exactly this. not just that, they got 5% commission on hotel rooms. so no incentive at all to negotiate lower prices. in addition to that, there were speakers brought in. one of them was paid $17,000 for what was called leadership through art. what that speaker did was painted real-time u2's bono, lincoln, einstein and others. employees who attended got take them home, others sold for

xharxhart charity. a second speaker paid $27,500 including air fair. speaking workshops. one called political savvy, how not to shoot yourself in the foot. >> if it wasn't real it would be comical. does this have anything, those videos that we've seen from the irs that have been playing, cupid shuffle, star trek spoof, you broke the stories, are these all part of the same conference that they're talking about in the report? are these other conferences that were taking place where they're using funds for this kind of thing? >> reporter: these videos were made for this particular conference. this is another thing that's shocking and infuriating. you can say that objectively. here's why. the inspector general says they believe that these videos cost $50,187 to make. they believe that it was 62 staff hours at $50 an hour.

here's the kicker. the irs isn't sure how much all of this cost because they didn't save the documents on how much they spent. so again, this is the irs which requires all of us to save all of our documents when we do our taxes. the takeaway may be next time you or i or god forbid audited should say i'll show you mine if you show me yours. >> look at star trek video. unbelievable. one thing i'm confused by. why did they make videos? what is that all about, really? >> reporter: they said they were leadership training videos, star trek keeping with the theme, leading into the future. they insisted in a previous report that they saved money because they could show this video not just the conference but around the country at various offices. but again, the fact that this report says that they spent $2400 just to get the tv studio in maryland to do this.

never mind what it costs tar trek makeup and everything else. they admitted irs it was ill advised. the irs is making very clear that this would not happen today. they said that the policies, procedures, that the rules have changed so that they insist this kind of excess won't happen right now. the other thing is, the time frame this was 2010. almost exactly when the targeting of tea party groups happened and the irs has said part of the issue is they were overwhelmed, understaffed. maybe some of the money being spent on conferences. >> there you go. thank you so much for bringing the insight on that report. this controversy's not going to go away as more information comes out about the enormous waste there. bigger homes making a comeback. after downsizing, people are ready to move back into those

mcmansions. what does this mean for the economy? plus -- the new google glasses. they can pretty much do everything, right? but gambleabing, watching porn,f the list. la's known definitely for its traffic, congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.

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so this is interesting. people who own google glasses not able to watch porn, that's right. google banned sexually explicit content on the eyewear. google glasses allow you to look at photos or video. porn app went on in hour but a dozen actually have that. the company behind the porn app will make changes with the new policy. it shows gratuitous violence, hate speech also banned on google glass. a plane that uses sun for power finishing a flight from dallas to st. louis as part of the solar impulses attempt to make a record breaking tour across the united states one leg

at a time. so earlier this month, the impulse became the first manned plane to fly for 24 hours on nothing but solar powered batteries. this is only the beginning for solar powered flight. the plane's tiny cockpit can only hole the pilot, no passengers, no bathroom. the rest of the plane mostly wings carrying lots of solar panels to soak up the energy. it goes 43 miles an hour. and looking at the economy, now that it's improving, americans demanding bigger houses. could it be the return of the mcmansion? alison kosik live from the new york stock exchange. all right. houses are getting bigger. do we think it's going to last? >> reporter: it could. home builders are getting back to the attitude bigger is better. a new census bureau report shows over past three years the average size of a new home has

grown 8%, 2300 feet last year. some speculated that that's the end of the mcmansion. but as younger buyers moved into smaller places, they dabecause baby boomers wound up downsizing after kids moved out. but analysts are saying it's not that people wanted less space. they just couldn't afford it. now that the economy is improving, people are making more money, they've got stable jobs and they can now afford it. the national association of home builders found buyers prefer a median home size over 2200 feet in line with the census average. that jives with what builders are seeing. gl homes says their four-bedroom home outsells the three-bedroom one. >> so, people are saying they want bigger homes, more space. anything else, any other things that are pushing people to buy

much bigger houses? >> reporter: we all love families to stay with us, right? one factor could be that a lot of families, these days, are doubling up, meaning multiple generations are living unone roof. next gen houses with a separate suite for a mother-in-law or child who moved home after college are becoming popular models. the people who get approved for big loans, they tend to be more affluent. once the credit lines loosen up and lending returns to normal lower income borrowers a will st buying again and they'll be buying smaller houses and that could push the average home size back down. >> makes sense. sandwich generation. thank you. good to see you. this started out as a protest against constructing a park, right? now it's turned into much, much more. live in turkey next. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us.

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protesters in turkey back in the streets again today. the situation in istanbul a little bit calmer. but the anti-government demonstrators show no signs of letting up. watch this. so all started with a sit-in, protesting plans to demolish a park. but then the demonstrators turning their anger against the prime minister as well as the police. earlier on "cnn newsroom," carol costello talked by phone with one of protesters. listen to this. >> we are actually -- protesters here are actually concerned about these government's interventions in people's daily life, like abortion rights or medical practice and child delivery or couples kissing, hugging in the street. i think it's a buildup of

frustration. >> you say the government's cracking down on everyday life in turkey and maybe -- i mean is the government becoming more religious, is that it? >> well,er ra gone recently said he's trying to build a religious generation. however, that's -- that doesn't represent the entire turkish people at the moment. it doesn't even represent his -- >> the demonstrations have spread across the country now. nick paton walsh live from the cap kol ankara. we talked to you last hour. looked like things were getting tense. have things calmed down now as it gets later in the evening? >> reporter: they have, suzanne, in truth. what you see behind me now, those same lines that we talked about earlier on, police in their armored water cannon vehicles, but a substantial buffer between them and the first line of protests.

that line stretches back to, 2,000, 3,000, here in substantial number. one important factor, the golden rule, it started to rain. it did dampen spirits. a day that the police have decided not use tear gas at all. different from previous days. causing a calmer reaction from protesters, discussions between two sides in which the police say don't throw stones at us, we don't tear gas you back. >> nick, you have the deputy prime minister apologizing for what he called aggressive action by the police following protests. than was what was so surprising here use of tear gas and water cannons. is that something that protesters are accepting, accept the apology and perhaps will not be out in days and weeks to come? >> reporter: from the few we've spoken to, no, that wasn't enough. it wasn't the prime minister, it was his deputy, in words of one of them, still had the arrogance

of the administration that they are protesting against at moment. they are sorry to the environmentalists in the park that sparked all this but others had gone forward and destructioned the normal lives of other and perhaps police had the right to deal with them. it's fair to say, as hours go by, since last time police used tear gas spirits are getting slightly calmer. there is great uncertainty about how the stand-off behind me, substantial number of protesters and police, will actually turn out. >> certainly is. keep us posted. hopeful hopefully everything will be peaceful. let us know if anything develops further. i want to show you this picture, it's disturbing. taco bell employee licking the taco shells. yeah. investigation into what happened there and what's being done. up next. la's known definitely for its traffic,

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kind of gross, disturbing picture of taco bell worker posted on facebook. you might have to be rethinking fast food option. this and fast food restaurant incidents. pretty tough. >> reporter: wonder what goes on behind closed doors at fast-food restaurants? you certainly hope it's not this -- a gross picture of an employee at a california taco bell licking a stack of taco shells. it's the late nest cringe worthy fast food employee incidents. this picture made it on to taco bell's facebook page. >> absolutely disgusting. >> absolutely horrifying. >> should be fired right away. >> reporter: taco bell officials

are investigating the restaurant and employees involved. when we learned of the situation, we immediately contacted the restaurant's leadership and believe its a prank and the food was not served to customers we are conducting a full-scale investigation and will be taking swift action against those involved. >> i think i'd give them the benefit of the doubt and think maybe he was doing it ace funny thing with his co-workers and maybe it was going to throw them away hopefully. >> reporter: the damage might be done. the photo has been shared thousands of times on facebook and, yes, has now gone viral. >> i'm not completely sure what's one with social media where everyone posts bad behavior on facebook. it's kind of like you don't post that on the internet. not a good idea at all. >> reporter: taco bell's not alone when it cops to disturbing employee post. a kfc worker fires after this photo posted on facebook. appearing to show her licking a pile of mashed potatoes. last sum air photo of this

burger king employee standing in two containers of lettuce posted onion line forum with the words this is the lettuce you eat at burger king. that employee shown the door. prank or not, these images are still hard to swallow. >> pretty hard to swallow. for more, visit eatocracy on cnn.com. ordering room service in a hole commonplace. soon that could be a thing of the past. this is according to a consulting group that demand for room service is down. so, the hilton midtown new york getting rid of it. the company's going to end room service. that's going to happen this summer. instead offer 24-hour self-serve market. other hotel chains, however, like the marriott, no plans to drop room service. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] you know what happens when we take away the late fees and penalty rate?

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people of new jersey both a choice and a voice in the process and the representation that they deserve in washington. whoever is going to be our next united states senator should be nominated by a primary of the people and voted on by all of the people of the state of new jersey. and that's why, as is clearly indicateded by new jersey law, i'm calling for a special election to be held this year. first, the issues facing the united states senate have too critically important and decisions that need to be dealt with too vital not to have an elected representative making those decisions who has voted on -- who has voted on and decided on by the people of the state. these decisions should be made by an elected official who represents the will of the voters of new jersey. yes, new jersey statute does allow me to name an appointment to serve for the remainder of senator lautenberg's term with a

primary and general election taking place in 2014. but i firmly believe the decisions that need to be made in washington are too great to be determined by an appointee for a period of 18 months. we must allow our citizens to have their say over who will represent them in the senate for the majority of the next year and a half. people of new jersey deserve to have that voice. secondly, we have to move swiftly to fill the seat and ensure there's both a primary and general election as soon as possible. as dictated by new jersey law, i have today issued a writ that will specifically designate the cause and purpose of this special elections and the dates the primary and general elections will be held. the process to fill this u.s. senate seat must allow the people to have a choice to determine their nominees. this is simply nonnegotiable to me. i will not permit the insiders

and a few party elites to determine who the nominee of the republican party and the democratic party will be. a primary election is necessary. the people must choose. as such, pursuant to the provisions of new jersey state law, the primary election for the united states senate will be held on tuesday august 13, 2013, which is 70 days after the issuance of this writ today. and then 64 days thereafter, the general special election will be held on wednesday october 16th. the statute provides for the governor of new jersey to make this decision if the governor deems it advisable to have a special elections. i deem it advisable to have a special election. in fact, i deem it necessary. dates are what the statute

requires. and at the same time, there is enough time to guarantee a fair process and voter engagement throughout. the special election must honor the electoral process of the will and rights of the people to have a choice, a voice, and timely elections. and while there will be a cost associated with the special election process the state will be responsible for all of the costs of the election. we are calling the special election, we will be responsible for all of the associated costs. as such the secretary of state's office will oversee this process and the mechanisms required to ensure that it runs smoothly and i have complete confidence in their ability to do so. in the end, the cost associated with having a special primary and general election, in my mind, cannot be measured against the value of having an elected representative in the united states senate with so many consequential issues are being

debated and determined this year. the citizens of new jersey need to have an elected representative to the united states senate and have it as soon as possible. i have yet to make a determination as to who i will appoint to hold this seat between now and the results of the october 16th special election. but when i determine who that person is, i will make that announcement promptly. questions? >> governor, in terms of some people might say that it would be a great cost involved, any reason why you wouldn't want to have it on a general election? seems like a common sense approach. >> i want and elected senator as soon as possible. you know, there's 70 to 76 day, 64 to 70 days. i want to do it as quickly as possible. it's three weeks before the

general election. so, no, there's no political purpose to this. the political purpose is give people the voice. the option to are it on the general election is not an option. the only option i have do it in 2014 or special election in 2013. i believe that it is and a choice. and the statute clearly and unequivocally allows for the governor, in my sole discretion, to make that decision. i have made that decision. it is final. it has been signed. and it's over. brian? >> governor, in going over who you might appoint to fill this role in the general election in october, do you have any preconceived notion it should be a republican, could be a democrat or possibly an independent? >> i haven't made my decision about who it will be. i will make this decision the same way governor kane made his

decision in 1982. and that was on the merits. i will pick the person who i believe will be the best representative for new jersey and the united states senate and that will be the determination. >> irrespective of party affiliation? >> brian, i do have a preference for one party over the other, so that might color my judgment a little, but -- matt? >> -- wasn't an option on the table. >> sure. >> and -- >> because i'm not going to play politics with this, matt. the fact is i believe the people -- we're talking a long time now. 18 months is a long time. there will be a lot of consequential things that will be decided in the -- or could be decided in the united states senate in that 18 months. and i just thought it was too long a period of time for any person to have the sole authority to pick who represents us in the united states senate. i believe the people have the right to make that decision.

they need to have a voice and a choice. and i'm giving it to them because i think it is the right thing to do. i understand the political advantage that would come to me if i just -- if i was the sole person who decided who would be in the senate representing new jersey for 18 months. but i just did not feel comfortable doing that. the right thing is to let the people decide and let them decide as quickly as possible. and on august 13th, the parties get the chance to nominate the candidates and on october 16th, they'll get a chance to pick a senator. that means on october 17th, an elected person could tate oake oath of office. >> jim acosta for analysis of this. he's allowing a special election. he had the authority to go ahead and simply name a temporary replacement, either a conservative republican, an independent or democrat. and could have angered any one of those groups if he hadn't picked the person he wanted to align themselves with. what does this do for him politically? >> well, suzanne, very simply

put, having this special election on october 16th means that whoever is running for this special election for this open senate seat will not appear on the same ballot he will be on and november when he's running for re-election for new jersey governor in november. and so he's spared the possibility and a lot of people have been talking about this with respect to the race that just in case -- it is expecteded he will, the mayor of newark, cory booker, jumps into this race, there are some in new jersey who felt that chris christie just did not want to appear on the same ballot as cory booker. now, keep in mind, these are two separate races, why would that be important? there are some thoughts out there that the governor was concerned that cory booker running for the senate seat, running for the open senate seat might draw a very large turnout and that in turn might aid his democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race this fall. barbara bono.

so there are some political calculations, some say in all of this, but you heard governor christie just a few moments ago, suzanne, say there were no political calculations in this and that what he wanted to do was what was best for the people of new jersey. >> he's been criticized by the conservative republicans when he appeared with the president after the big storm that hit his area, his region, for aligning himself with the president here. does he do himself any favors in what he's decided now with the conservatives? >> i think that remains to be seen, suzanne. a lot of people were saying, wait a minute, governor christie, you come across as a fiscal conservative, you're selling yourself as a fiscal conservative by setting a special election for october, instead of just having everything done in november, that is going to come at some cost to the state. and governor christie is saying that's a price to be paid in order to get somebody in there as quickly as possible. and he said that, you know, he had the -- he had the latitude, if he wanted to, to go ahead and

appoint somebody temporarily to serve all the way through the remaining period of senator lautenberg's term, all the way until the end of 2014, and he said he just wasn't willing to do that. obviously everybody is going to be looking at all of this from a political standpoint of not only because he's running for re-election this fall, but what does it say about 2016. it seems what he's doing here is threading the needle, knowing full well if he goes and names a temporary replacement, this thing is going to end up in court. and if he doesn't do that, if he goes ahead and moves forward with this plan, there might be people who are happy about it on the democratic side. and keep in mind, if he wants to run for president in 2016, you know, his brand at this point, suzanne, is having some independence from the rest of the republican party and it seems this decision is consistent with that. he wants to keep that going. >> absolutely. all right, jim, we'll get more news on this after a quick

break. but very interesting decision that the governor has made there as jim mentioned, threading the needle here, but obviously has big political implications as well. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] yoplait greek 100. 100% greek. 100% mmm... wow, that is mmm... it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. yoplait greek 100. it is so good. ythto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with

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replacement, a conservative, an independent or democrat. he did not do that. and potentially avoiding risking -- angering any of the groups for a 2016 presidential run. what do you make of the outcome of what he's decided? >> no matter what he did he was going to be criticized. obviously this decision is going to be criticized especially by republicans who will no doubt as governor christie giving up an opportunity to put a republican in a senate seat for a year and a half. look, there will be votes, very important votes, votes in a very narrowly divided senate, where democrats have a just very small majority about immigration reform, perhaps about the debt ceiling, about tax reform, about a whole number of very important issues. this could be a republican that governor christie could appoint but he's not doing that. governor christie is up for re-election himself and very sensitive to interpretations of him doing something for anyone other than the people of new jersey. but whatever he did,