i liked a bilingual program but it i competed with "zoom." if you watched it, you know this this zip code. >> 1350134. zoom! >> 021 -- send it to zoom! that archive footage from "zoom" which was basically made of stuff sent in by people who watched the show. that means the show is made up of stuff sent in by the kids who watched the show. zoom was awesome. via allegra was better. but the idea of basing a show around stuff your viewers send you was a good idea when "zoom" did it. i believe it is still a good idea. at least i can assure you that as an idea it still workings.

a viewer this california told us about the national republican party sending out in the mail what looks like a presidential primary ballot with a due date and everything. had we not seen that mailer sent to us by a viewerer we would not have thoen the national republican party was doing this this. it's interesting ha the republican party is doing this. the republican party has a bazillion people running already. they are running more people for the nomination than ever before. on top of those people who are running, this rnc mailererer which looks like a ballot. so people will think they have actually voted when they send it in, this mailer actually adds to the list of real candidates. it adds to the real list. so in addition to all the people

running they say john thune is a potential contender, sarah palin, condoleezza rice, nikki haley and herman cain. it's every republican you have heard of. presidential primary ballot. make sure you vote. there is no vote happening here. it is another call for you to send money to the republican party. because a viewer forwarded this to us we got to see this news we would not have known about. we now know the republican party is further over stuffing their over stuffed primary presumably as a way the to raise money from people who don't want to vote for the other zillion people running but want to vote for john thun, condoleezza rice, whoever. it is common wisdom the republican party is embarrassed by the giant field. this shows they are not embarrassed. they wish the field was bigger.

we rely on stuff you send us all the time. especially now in this campaign season. in that spirit, in this election season starting now, whatever you are seeing out there in your hometown, whatever you get sent to you unsolicited this the mail, whatever you see in terms of posters, bill boards tv and radio, all of it is potentially news. particularly about the cap pain. it's often wrong. we hear the ground truth. if you get something you think is news, send it to "zoom." send it to rachel. we have sendittorachel.com. can we make it less disco? very good. that's the stern version. sendittorachel.com. when you go, you will see the m many ways there are. you can send us stuff by mail

like this postal ballot, fake ballot. stuff by e-mail. there are other ways. if it happens in your life or town and feels like news, if it feels like, ai, somebody should talk about this, send it to us, please. thank you in advance. we do everything we can to try to follow what's really going on out there. unfortunately some days, often in a way that's entertaining. but usually unfortunate. we try to follow that we signed up for all the candidates infer shall spam mailing lists. et can be overwhelming. that's how we leashed today that poor brad pitt is being dragged into the republican presidential nominating process through no handsome fault of his own. the subject line, to you from lindsey graham, subject -- brad

pitt. dear friend. i will get right to the point. under the current debate rules supported by the r this, c, brad pitt would have a better not of being on the debate stage than real candidates for president. poor brad pitt. what did brad pitt do to deserve the? lindsey graham makes some good points. after saying good points he makes sewer he says brad pitt again. under the rules from the media and supported by the rnc the only way to get a ticket is to have a high national polling number. this favors celebrities and candidates who have run previously with name recognition. lindsey graham in this blast he sent out today set it up as a petition. so you sign the petition by which he means you have to send your e-mail address if you agree that the criteria for getting into the republican debates is stupid. in the p.s., if we don't act now, brad pitt with his

celebrity status would have a bet wither chance of getting on a debate stage than blah, blah, blah. did i mention brad pitt? brad pitt, brad pitt, brad pitt. it's a weird way for lindsey graham to get lekted to be next brad pitt. i mean the next president. but if one big obvious way, his think of me when you think of brad pitt strategy. in one way it does make sense. as of last night we are a month out from the first debate which the republican party and the fox news channel say will only include ten republican candidates based on who places hemoglobinest this this national polling. the republican primary debates will exclude five, six or seven or more canada dantonios purely on the basis of national poll numbers. at blumberg politics they crunched the data and found if you take a snapshot now, these seven candidates are fairly safe when it comes to tear prospects

for making the top ten fox news kuts-off in national polling so they can compete in the debates. the top seven are jeb bush, donald trump, marco rubio, rand paul, mike huckabee, scott walker. at least by one calculation these top seven are fairly safe in terps of making the debate. but in terps of the last three slots it's a war. these nine candidates at least will be competing for the last three slots. in terms of their numbers they are all close to each other. any of them could make it. but fox fes this -- news says only three of them could appear in the debates. ted krus, chris christie, rick perry, rick santorum, george

pitaki and whoever else jumps in. the only grounds they can compete for the three spots. only grounds they can compete over the course of the next month, national poll numbers. that's it. forget how you're doing in iowa, new hampshire or south carolina. forget endorsements, money, anything. national poll numbers, that's it. how do you make national poll numbers? lindsey graham conjuring up the old brad pitt handsome magic. maybe it's not that weird an approach. how else do people notice you and say yes to pollsters when they hear your name. think andsome? next time the e-mail won't just say brad pitt. next time it will be brad pitt naked! see brad pitt with his clothes off.

my name is lindsey graham. i don't think the senator is happy about this being the way he has to run or this being the way fox news says republicans have to run for president this year. i don't think he likes it. at least he understands that this really is how the presidential nominatinging contest worked this year in the united states of america. >> it's a methodology that excluded how you perform in iowa, south carolina, new hampshire, where all 16 of us go. so nationalizing the terms of entry into the debate, marginalizes the effect of the early prime ary states. we have polling based on iowa, new hampshire and south carolina. it's one place we can compare to each other. so the nationalization by the rnc and fox network is going to basically over time erode the

early primaries. if i have a choice i have to bump up my numbers. i look at focusing on getting the numbers up, coming to new hampshire. >> if i have a choice i have to bump my numbers up. where do i spend money, time. i will focus on getting the numbers up. i will be in new hampshire less. that's lindsey graham speaking with a new hampshire radio station saying fox news and their debate criteria mean et's no longer nationaler for presidential candidates to keep going to iowa and new hampshire, the early voting states if the thing that determines whether they can compete for the nomination is votes in the early voting states and just national poll numbers. he then in the same radio interview went on to bring up brad pitt again. >> if the goal to get into the debate is to have are a fascialle polling number, number

one brad pitt would be in the debate because it's just a name we know. >> i think there is a new campaign slogan here. brad pitt and lindsey graham. at some level, it makes sense. feel free to use it. i don't know if lindsey graham will up his national poll numbers enough for fox news's tastes by mentioning celebrities. we'll find out. it seems more rational than bobby jindal's strat by the. his super pac ran tv ads the if iowa today. that might be a fine strategy if you have a place at the debates and you are looking ahead to february to win. but jindal won't make it to a month from today in the presidential campaign. forget february. he won't make it to mid august unless he headaches it to the first debate stage august 6.

his approval rating in iowa promised votes at the iowa caucuses will have nothing to do with it. it's only national polls. somebody may want the to suggest some of lindsey graham's brad pitt magic instead of oh jindal and he is supporters dumping money down the iowa rabbit hole tanks to the fox thus channel and how they have killed the early nominating states and thaer role in choosing who is a contenderer for the pub nomination for president. down with jindal and linz gram. john kasich gave the saddest presidential contender press conference today. >> as you probably know, i will have a big announcement on the 21st. anybody coming? yeah? it could be about my political career or it could be that i'm going to hollywood.

we'll see. we'll have fun that day, i hope. it will be a busy day. >> maybe he didn't get the enthusiasm he wanted when he was talking about his expected announcement for president. then he opened it up for questions. generally he's great for the press. could have been fun. this was not fun. >> how concerned are you that the presence of mr. trump in this race is going to keep you off the dethe bait stage in a couple weeks? >> i'm not thinking about that. i have other issues. >> how much of a hindrance will it be if you don't get into the debate august 6th? >> let's not put carts before horses. we have a month to go. we'll see what happens. we'll see. >> with the party and the campaign, the two-term sittinging governor of ohio is un certain it will be a

cleveland debate less than a month from now and someone known for being a reality tv star will be on the stage. what does it say about the campaign? >> you judge that. >> sir? >> you judge it. >> how about you, sir? >> i don't have a comment. >> it's your state. >> there will be a debate, the convention. we are excited. next year we hope the cavs will win the title. i'm not going to put carts before horses here. we have a month to go. we'll see what happens. >> will you be there? >> i don't make predictions. i i left it to muhammed ali years ago. >> muhammed ali and brad pitt may help them. might not. at least the end of the candidate list they have psychological comfort. guys now in a community of candidates who fox news isn't allowing to compete in the presidential primary debate. they can take psychological

comfort today. they got another addition to the number today. today, another candidate as he's jumping in that end of the candidate pool. it's my guy! it's jim gilmore. only my guy because his press office calls us back and nobody else does. jim gilmore, chaer man of the national republican party in 2001. he ran for president for a hot minute in 2007. in 2008 he was in the debates before dropping out of the presidential race. that year he ran for is that the in virginia where he lost to mark warner by 31 freaking points in that senate race. he's in the richmond times dispatch today that he's running. he will declare around the time of the first debate which he and other republican presidential contendererers won't be allowed into because fox news says they can't. he will be the 17th major candidate the to announce.

fox news says they are only taking ten. by the dictate from fox news that makes the next three weeks something not just critical. existential importance for these candidates and my man jim gilmore. these guys plus jim, only three will make it to the stage. this is now a dog eat dog zero sum game. only three of the people can make it. the only way they can compete for three spots is by being outrageous enough or brad pitt enough or something else news worthy nufr to make themselves pop in national polls within the next three weeks. otherwise politically they are deadment that's it. over. and you will see how they do it. you are going to see campaign stuff over the next three weeks that will be unexpected and deliberately outrageous. if it comes to you in the form of direct mailer or you see it

the in your town or on your local fews or in your paperer, on a freaking bill board, let us know. save the mailer. take a picture. let us see it. the next three weeks will be off the charts bizarre. we have never tried to run a presidential nominating process like this before. fox news made it this wayment it is unprecedented in american history. it's tend of the line for at least six candidates. seven, maybe more. they have to fight to the political death over three weeks. whatever you see, send it to rachel.com. the ethics three weeks are crucial. let us know what you see. how do crest 3d white whitestrips compare to a whitening toothpaste? let's see. the paste didn't seem to do much for me. the whitestrips made a huge difference. that's not fair! crest whitestrips work below the enamel surface to whiten 25 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste. crest whitestrips. the way to whiten

today is day two of pope francis's trip. he's held gigantic masses for hundreds of thousands of people. tomorrow he'll get very, very

high at la paz the in bolivia. it's so high visitors frequently get altitude sickness while there. they have a traditional cure for that -- the coca leaf as in the leaf from which you make cocaine. while cocaine is illegal in bolivia, chewing coca leaves is not. it's a national past time. there are festivals celebrating it. bolivia's president is seen chewing them in public. ahead of the pope's visit bolivia's culture minister told reporters in advance of the visit from the pope the pope specifically requested that coca leaves be made available to him during the trip to help with

altitude sickness. the vatican said the pope might chew the coca, he may not. quote, the pope will do what he thinks is is right. that's always true. for the record, if the pope does partake of bolivia's national stimulant he would not be the first pope to do so. john paul, ii, drank tea brewed with coca leaves in his trip to bolivia which helped him cope with the altitude. pope francis arrives tomorrow afternoon where apparently there will be coca leaves waiting for him. the bottom line is his holiness will do what he thinks is right with the leaves. i would tell you to watch this space. this time it seems rude. he'll do it if it seems right. otherwise, none of our business.

well, this was a moving thing today. clement pinckney, one of the nine people killed in the charleston, south carolina, church massacre a few weeks ago. he was the pastor at the church and a beloved, well respected democratic state senator in south carolina. look at this. today in south carolina his widow, jennifer pinckney, on the left side of the screen. she came to the floor of the state senate. her late husband served in the senate nearly 15 years. he had not been replaced since he was killed. his desk is still there, draped in black. today, his widow came to the

senate herself to show uh thanks to his colleagues fsh for support they have shown her and her family since senator pinckney was killed. jennifer did not speak publically on this visit. the the outpouring of support for her from other senators was public and very moving. >> this state loves you and your girls. they love the entire pinckney family. we can keep our arms wrapped around you and this family forever. it's the least we can do for our brother clement. >> members of the senate former presidented a receiving line for jennifer pink any. one by one the members came forward to pay their respects. it was a moving moment there on

the senate floor in south carolina. that's what happened in the south carolina senate today. immediately after that same body gave final approval to remove the confederate flag from the grounds of the state capitol. the final vote was 36-3 following it up with a receiving line clement pinckney set up uh. now the legislation passes to the other house. for a little while this afternoon it looked like the house would take it up immediately and pass it as quickly as the senate did. the senate took it up yesterday are and passed it in final form today. they are done. in the house, it looked for a wile like they might move that fast. especially when voting toer consider it on a fast track. they voted to avoid the committee process. put it straight to the floor. that could put the house on schedule to move it tomorrow to have it done by the day after that.

to have the confederate flag brought town forever by day after tomorrow. but then republicans started adding amendments onto the bill that way you would attach an anvil to a speeding car, then a mill stone and then a ton of bricks. maybe we should have thoen it was -- known it was coming. shortly after the pass kerr -- massacre haley said it was time for the con ted fed rat flag to come down. tafs display of unity. the gover nor making the call next to the biggest political names in the state. not only republicans but democrats. the congressional delegations in south carolina. both u.s. senators came home to south carolina to be there for that. not everyone was there. even that day, one republican in

the house told the courier, i'm for leaving the flag where it is. absolutely. if i have to put 500 amendments on this thing to keep it there, then i will do it. 500 amendments if that's what it takes. turns out that's how they are trying to stop it. tonight 26 amendments have been piled on it. most of them by one republican lawmaker. he's offered haemts to take down monuments, put up monuments, fly half a dozen different flag ifs the old confederacy, pledged to bring this debate to a grinding halt with a cascade of amendments. the question is north carolina is whether the house is going to follow what the senate did in the looming moral shadow of senator pinckney's death. whether that will happen in the house or whether this group of republicans in the house will find a way to stop everything. joining us now, south carolina house minority todd rutherford,

the top democrat in the legislature. thank you for helping us stay apprised of the story. nice to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> we talked about it last night as a strategy. am i right to say these amendments are the thing that conceivably could not just slow down the process of taking down the flag but could stop it? >> you're right. one of the reasons we had a press conference this morning was to talk about the fact that we need a clean bill. we have to make sure not one single amendment passes tomorrow. that would delay the process. we are hoping tomorrow we can get second reading on the bill which we only need a majority for. thursday we can get a third reading and we need two thirds of that. i believe we are on track to get it. i think the 26 amendments put up by representative mike fitz to talk about everything from the flag upside down on top of the dome to a binding referendum that those will be cast by the

wayside and we can embrace senator pinckney's widow the same way the senate did. >> in terms of the process here. the representative you just describeded added more than 25 amendments today. has the process of suggesting haemt s, adding amendments to the bill, proposed amendments, is that now over? will we see more than 25 plus amendments we saw today? is that going to continue? >> it is not over. it will continue tomorrow as long as we are debating the bill. the only thing to stop additional amendments is the if we invoke cloture to take it from 20 amendments per member to three minutes for and three against per amendment. it would stop new amendments from beg added. i don't an 'tis hament a lot of us want to hear why representative pitts thinks this is necessary and why the flag should not come down. most see it as a symbol of hate. it is timer for it to come down.

>> do you think 's a one man band or will it be tough to get that vote in the end? >> he will have several amendments with buy-in from republicans. in fact, i was told one of the amendments had as many as 50 republicans on it. i don't know that they are still there. i though there were up to 50 people. that's not enough to sway the debate. the republican leadership is working to make it a clean bill as well. >> south carolina state representative todd rutherford. thanks for helping us understand that. i appreciate you being here. >> thank you. >> this south carolina process has been remarkable. obviously the state has been through hell and high water. watching them move in a moving way and seeing it go into a different culture in the house is fascinating. the republicans trying to stop it but the republican leadership is trying to outmaneuver them and get it done.

working with the democrats. fascinating dynamic. south carolina is going through something nobody could have ever anticipated in a million years. we'll be right back. look at that beautiful hotel on tripadvisor. wait. why leave the site? don't you know the tripadvisor you've always trusted for reviews, book! now checks over 200 websites to find the best price? book...book...book! over 200 sites checked to find the best price. so don't just visit tripadvisor... book at tripadvisor.

the bermuda triangle, one of the great mysteies of planet earth. also big foot and the loch ness monster. what happened to jimmy hoffa? how many licks does the it take

to get to the center of a tootsie pop? why do alabama and mississippi look alike but backwards? gov for jan brewer. explain that. and why did seattle throw instead of handing it to mar shawn lynch. did jeff white finish that ge tar solo or is it still going onner somewhere? so mysteries on planet earth. we have a new one today. a real mystery, totally baffling. perhaps you can help. it involves florida naturally but it is a truly unsolved history. that's at the end of the show. it's amazing. stay tuned for that.

progressive insurance here and i'm a box who thrives on the unexpected. ha-ha! shall we dine? [ chuckle ] you wouldn't expect an insurance company to show you their rates and their competitors' rates but that's precisely what we do. going up! nope, coming down. and if you switch to progressive today you could save an average of over 500 bucks. stop it. so call me today at the number below. or is it above? dismount! oh, and he sticks the landing!

do you want to see something ter the identifying and russian? -- terrifying and russian? this is a russian made nuclear powered monster ship. you know monster trucks? the purpose of the ship is to crush stuff in its path. the name translates in english to oh 50 years of victory. a reference to russia's great military triumph. it wants to destroy everything in its path, specifically ice.

check it out. >> the ship is breaking through the ice. it's remarkable. that's six, seven feet thick and it's cutting through at the moment. there is a strong wind. we are moving through the hard packed ice around 15 or 16 knots. the u.s. coast guard has a small fleet of ice breakers, two. but it's nothing compared to what russia has. these are neither russianer nor americanment they are finnish, from finland. they are used primarily to escort other ships through the baltic sea.

the icebreakers are available for rent. have having a party soon? these specific finnish ice breakerer vbs rented to an international company that's in the market for ice-breaking services in the northern climes of the earth. that's shell oil. shell oil contracted out the two ice breakerers from finland to help then start drilling the arctic. if you are already sensing how the story ends, that's because you know how things go for shell in the arctic. this is crunch time now in terms of their plans to the drill for oil. they would like to start arctic drilling this month. they have been getting sip this is place like the finnish ice breaking ship. another part has been getting the permission to drill mainly because of how shell keeps botching things this the ark technical.

the u.s. government gave them the historic go ahead to start drilling in the arctic. it went badly. this is shell's drilling rig "the noble discoverer" after it ran agrund. it started drifting and a crashed into the island. a few pos months later the ship caught fire in port after an explosion. a few months later the coast guard detained the ship in port after turning up more than a the dozen potential safety violations leading to eight felony convictions from the u.s. justice department. that was one of two rigs shell sent in 2012. this was another one which crashed into an island in alaska after breaking free from a towline. that's how it went for shell the first time around. a comedy of errors including a critical piece of safety equipment being crushed like a

beer can during a safety test. it was just a nightmare of their own making. they were not up to the task. shell said they were the best in the world in this. if anybody could be trusteded to drill the arctic surely they are the company to do it. they got permission promptly the equipment all melted down when they got the chance to drill. three years later, shell is trying to try again. but guess what happened. no, really. guess. today we learned one of the icebreakers, one of the finnish icebreakers shell is renting from finland has a giant hole in et. it's been seriously damaged on its way to shell's drilling site. they haven't even started drilling but the ship has a three-foot-long hole in the hull. discover bid crew members when it left port in alaska. it is not clear what ripped the hole in the hull. depending on how significant the damage is, what it will take to repair the hole, shell could have to revise the drilling plan

which would require a whole new authorization to drill. shell proved yet again how they really can't pull it off. there's been a huge determined activist effort to try to stop shell. the kayak protests, boarding rigs bound for the arctic. there is a huge move to stop the drilling. maybe the thing that stops shell from drilling is shell can't figure out how to drill the arctic. they can't operate their equipment, keep ships working. they might be incapable of doing what they are trying to do. if they are the best the in the world maybe it can't be done. joining us mow is an energy reporter for the houston chronicle. it's nice to have you here. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> am saying your name right?

>> you are. >> we're done. let me ask you if we know anything about what caused the damage. i think of icebreakers asthma cho vessels. hard to believe this has a three-foot long hole in it. >> ke don't know what happened to cause it. as you said it is a meter long gash in the hull of the vessel. the path it took, the water was essentially deeper than the vessel. it could have been caused by scraping against another water hazard that wasn't charted. do you have a sense of what the cut off is in terms of whether or not this incident with the ice breaker will be an existential challenger for the project. do we knee what would be a permissible amount of timer for repairs that would allow shell to goer forward with the plan is this. >> i think a lot depends on how significant the damage is and how much repair work needs to be tone.

if it can be repaired on site it can be done quickly, be ready to go again. that's obviously what shell is hoping for. is this going to go to a dry dock for significant repairs? you're looking at two weeks to get down to a port in washington state to do the work. repair time and coming back. that's a significant time. it's crunch time for shell. they have three pos to operate in the waters. they may be looking at trying to get a new vessel if the seneca needs dry dock repair. what's interesting is we are in uncharted territory here.

most operations in the gulf of mexico don't have the large fleet shell has bring to the arctic and don't deal with this challenge. you have here shell has gotten its exploration plan approved by the interior department. that plan specifically outlines what ships will be used in all cases including emergencies. the seneca is part of that plan. if it is sidelined shell may have to get the department's approval for significant depar cure from that plan. it could include a new vessel. regulators indicated that the emergency equipment that's on the seneca would have to be used the case of an emergency. they will be looking for the change no matter what. >> jennifer deloughey. this will be fascinating to watch. shell seems very star-crossed in these ever efforts. thanks for helping us understand tonight. appreciate it. still ahead, a deep weird

legitimate mystery. stay with us.

we have -- we have -- i'm sorry. i got excited. we have genuinely almost purely happy news about which i'm excited. it comes with champions and a xylophone and we have a mystery at the end of the show. you may help us solve it. stay with us.

it's not too smart to start smoking. so next time somebody offers you a smoke, just tell them where to stick it. >> thank you, sean hayes from "will and grace." nbc's the more you know campaign has been amazing. we developed our own lame version of it for when a story lands on a cliff hanger. you think you know what will happen but don't know for sure until you do. for us it is not the more you know. it is you know more now. ♪ thanks, nick. the u.s. women's national team, the newly crowned world cup champions, today they were greeted by thousands of fans in l.a., a big party celebrating their world cup win. the parties keep rolling. tonight new york city city mayor bill de blasio announced they are going to get a ticker tape

parade down broadway in new york city this week, friday morning, 11:00 a.m. i'm so excite i could throw up. it's going to be amazing. ticker tape parade in new york city. one person, who we know is not going to be there is the man responsible for forcing the women to play the world cup on artificial turf and once suggested the women should wear tighter shorts if they want to draw bigger audiences. it is sepp blatter. the corruption investigation. the did not attend the world cup games and speculated the reason he didn't go. he was scared of getting arrested if the stepped foot on canadian soil. we don't have to speculate about that anymore. he stated that in fact the reason he skipped the world cup is because he was scared he would be arrested if he went.

the told the german newspaper, quote, until everything has been cleared up, i'm not going to take the risk of traveling. not go ing to take the risk. see, we thought sepp blatter would skip the world cup games because he was afraid of getting sent to the clink and now we know. and if he is afraid of going to canada he is probably not riding a float down broadway on friday either. so -- ♪ you know more now. thanks, nick.

mystery. along the gulf coast of florida there's a tiny place, cluster of islands really called cedar key, home to 700 people. the biggest draws are the annual spring arts festival, pristine beaches, good fishing opportunities and particularly bird watching.

that's because cedar key is also home to one of the bird refuges along the gulf coast of florida. it is called sea horse key. it is a small island five miles from the shore. nobody lives there. it is hard to get to. accessible only by boat. 150 acres of federally protected land and over the years it has been home to thousands of birds. some years up to a half million birds during nesting season. it is all kinds of species, brown pelicans and yellow crown herons and tricolored herons and all of these birds flock to this one island and build nests wherever they can. they build nests on shrubbery, in a tree, on top of a cactus, anywhere. they get their privacy from march through june. no human is allowed to set foot, no human is allowed to disturb the birds nesting there.

like this year like every other year went like clock work. mid april, everything was going as it should, but all of a sudden they were gone. 15,000 birds vanished in a matter of hours. one of the island's caretakers showed up and noticed there were literally no more birds left on the island. there were thousands of abandoned empty egg shells along the ground, there were dozens, not thousands but dozens of dead birds. local biologists were shocked and they tested them for injury to see if someone got on the island and shot the bird s, tested for parasites or disease. turned up nothing. they looked at potential reasons. usually when birds leave like that it is maybe because a food source has moved away. that doesn't appear to have happened. maybe a storm scared them off. it is florida in the spring, storms happen all the time and

birds have been coming here every year for 50 years. nothing is unprecedented in terms of the weather. they have turned to other theories, possibly a helicopter or drone came too close and scared the birds away. so far no evidence that happened. so the question remained what happened? and where did they go? this fish and wildlife service biologist tonight told us a dozen or so returned since the disappearance but nowhere near the tens of thousands they are used to seeing around this time. we know a few hundred birds fled to a smaller island a couple of smiles away, called snake key that. is a couple hundred. couple dozen and the rest are unaccounted for. they have been fielding calls nonstop from folks trying to help them solve the mystery but so far no dice. if this were fiction, thousands of birds suddenly fleeing their home leaving no trace, this would be with followed by and alien landing or something. this is real life.

i'm stumped. amazing story. that does it for us tonight. amazing story. "first look" is up next. it's wednesday, july 8th. right now on "first look" u.s. ratchets down number of military. startling details around the gun used to kill kathryn steinly. a close call for a u.s. state trooper on the rain slicked highway. new details on the collision between a fighter jet and plane. good morning everybody. thanks for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. all right. we are new details act a federal