i'm fredricka whitfield. the man responsible for one of the deadliest terror attacks against americans has died. abdul bassett al megrahi is the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland. al megrahi's family says the former libyan and intelligence officer passed away today at a hospital in tripoli. he was 60 years old. his death comes 2 1/2 years after his release from a scottish prison. al megrahi was let go on compassionate grounds because he had prostate cancer. he was expected to live only a few months. at the time of his 2009 release, the victims' families were outraged after he received a hero's welcome in libya. >>> 270 people died when pan am flight 103 went down just minutes after takeoff from a london airport. the plane was bound from new york and more than half of the passengers were american. joining me now from new york, burt amorman. he lost a brother in that attack. he's also a former spokesman of an organization representing the victims' families.

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin in syria, where there are reports of more gunfire and terror gripping much of the country. information is limited, because most foreign journalists are not allowed to enter syria. cnn's ivan watson has just returned to turkey after being in syria. ivan, what did you see? >> reporter: well, fredricka, we just got back from syria a couple of hours ago. and what is striking is that it's 15 months now that syrian have said protesting and conducting this uprising against their government. we have seen incredible amounts of violence, by conservative estimates, more than 9,000 -- people killed, with artillery and tanks and helicopters against opposition demonstrators. and they have grown increasingly armed. and despite that incredible loss of life, there is no sign in sight that the population is willing to give up this rebellion. you have people proudly flying the flag of the opposition. we met rebels that are -- that look to be better armed than we've seen in months past. they hav

i'm fredricka whitfield. a major shake-up in political leadership in one of america's biggest allies. you're looking right now at french president nicolas sarkozy who is now -- now conceding to that race. the voters in france just now elected someone else, francois hollande, winning by a narrow margin. a change in leadership in france could delay negotiations on europe's debt crisis and that could impact the u.s. economy. more on that story later on. >>> and then there are the parliamentary elections in greece. state tv says early exit polls show steep losses for the two main parties that have supported painful austerity measures. polls show an ultra right party making significant gains. today's vote is expected to have an impact on u.s. markets tomorrow. cnn's chief business correspondent ali velshi joins us live in a few moments to tell us how the markets might be reacting to this and what impact exactly these two elections, both in france and greece, just might have on the u.s. economy. >>> back in this co

fredricka whitfield. millions of americans enjoying the holiday weekend, but mother nature is not going to cooperate for everyone. if you're on the east coast, lock out. tropical storm conditions are heading your way. jacqui jeras is tracking all of this. >> it's a subtropical storm and it is going to bring in rough weather tonight and tomorrow. and the places we're most concerned about is the georgia coast and northern parts of florida. as you look at the satellite picture, this doesn't look like a lot, does it? maximum winds around 45 miles per hour. it has some characteristics of a tropical system and a regular area of low pressure. that's why it's called subtropical. it is expected to move toward the coast through the holiday weekend. some of the big threats we have to deal with is everybody wants to go to the beach. all of the rain has been up the shore. however, there is a very high risk of rip currents. so if those red flags are fl flying, you don't want to get in the water. go to the pool instead

. >> newsroom continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield.g. >> good morning. good to see you. of course, you know, president obama is officially restarting or starting again his campaign. any similarities to what we saw in springfield back in 2008? >> good question. >> we're going to find out. ohio and virginia are the places he's officially beginning the campaign. >>> fineders keepers, usually that's the case. what happens if you find the lottery ticket in the trash and it turns out to be a winning tibet. do you get to cash it in and keep it forever? our legal guys will be joining us. this case has gotten pretty heated. in fact, it involved the winner of that ticket -- the original owner of the ticket gets to reclaim p it. the finders keepers rule doesn't apply. we'll explain. >> i was at jazzfest, this is the second week of the jazzfest, it's an incredible conglomeration of music, fun. >> we saw you walking around, enjoying yourself. >> i got to stop off and talk to some greats like this man, one and only al green. of course i asked him ab

newsroom continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield. hello. >> good to see you.al guys will be along and talking more about that mountain of evidence. >> 183 pages. >> to whose advantage, defense or prosecution. they will examine that. our legal guys will talk about suspended nfl player, new orleans saints player. eaves you turning the tables and suing because of the bounty scandal involving new orleans saints. similar to at home pregnancifest, how about at home hiv tessing. some medical experts say it is just as effective as in the doctor's office blood test, at home saliva test to see if you test positive for hiv. we're going to be exploring that. >>> cloud computing. what is it? is it more effective, this form of computing, more effective storing the information from your computers on hard drive or is cloud computing the way to go? is it secure for information. we're going to go through that cumulous matter. >> i'm trying to figure it out. remember when blog was the new word. cloud is new, blog is part of our every day. cloud isn't something i've embraced yet.

i will hand it off now to fredricka whitfield. >> all right. you have a great afternoon. >> see you tomorrow morning. >> thanks so much. >>> from the church pulpit to the campaign podium, the debate over same-sex marriage is heating up this weekend. about an hour ago republican presidential candidate mitt romney defended that position on the issue during a commencement speech at liberty university of evangelical christian college in virginia. >> culture, what you believe, how you value, how you live matters. now, as fundamental as these principles are, they may become topics of democratic debate from time to time, so it is today with the enduring institution of marriage, marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman. >> now, several prominent african-american pastors are also voicing their opposition to the president's decision to support gay marriage. and the issue is expected to be a focus of sermons in churches all across the country this mother's day. ahead of sunday's services a group of civil rights leaders, include al sharpton

i'm fredricka whitfield. you're in the in the ann romney newsroom.urning fires intensifying and being intensified by the stiff winds, and they continue to pick up those flames and then for a second they die down and within minutes the flames are now moving twods the prescott national forest. the biggest fire called gladiator threatens the historic mining town. and the officer on the scene is joining us at crown king with an update. give me an idea how difficult this plays is to battle. >> well, good afternoon, fredricka. you know, crews have been fighting this fire for just about a week now, and the last couple of day have been really a task experiencing high winds, sustained winds. 25, 30, gusts up to 40, 45 miles an hour. today we finally got a little bit of a break with it calming down. we're really in the 10 to 15 mile range giving the crews a real good opportunity go in and re-assess our strategy. we're able to gelt our hand crews in today. also a lot of air resources committed. >> people are being evacuated. to what extent? >> three towns under

i'm fredricka whitfield at the cnn headquarters in lant.gupta's "the next list" starts right now. [ bees buzzing ] >> maybe it begins as a hobby and maybe it might work up into a small business and then it's just an

fredricka whitfield. fredricka whitfield. fred? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> we begin with the big news out of france. president nicolas sarkozy has lost his bid for re-election, his socialist challenger, francois hollande, is the winner with more than two-thirds of the votes counted. in sarkozy's concession speech, he told his supporters to rally behind the president-elect. >> translator: the new republic, the president, france has a new president. this is a republican choice, francois hollande is the president of france. he must be respected. >> we'll tell you how the french election will impact the u.s. economy in a live report from paris just minutes away. >>> also, big election, france isn't the only euro nation witnessing a political shakeup. in greece, early exit polls show the two main parties have suffered big losses in parliamentary elections. those centrist parties supported painful austerity measures. polls also show an ultra-right party making significant gains. today's vote is expect to have an impact on

fredricka whitfield. fredricka whitfield. fred?tac -- www.vitac.com >>> we begin with the big news out of france. president nicolas sarkozy has lost his

i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of the cnn newsroom at the top of the hour. up next, sanjay gupta, md. >>> today, we have food for the body and the mind, and fit or fat, more than 80% of all women have cellulite. we're going to show you the first now fda approved long-term treatment. also a new idea to get better food on all of our plates. how to make better choices available for everyone. first i want to tell you about an incredible experience i went through. it begins with henry lewis jr., skip, asked if i would be part of his television experience called finding your roots. i of course said sure, absolutely. i was born in michigan, but my parents were born and grew up in india. and like a lot of immigrants, they thought they would never be able to learn their whole family history. that was lost, they thought, in the old country. but i always wondered, and so i gave professor gates the names of my immediate relatives along with a cheek swab of my dna. here's some of what he found. >> to dig even deeper, we sent sanjay's cousin to hardwar, located on the gan

i'm fredricka whitfield. "your money" starts right after this. >>> buy, sell, or like?tion to ask as facebook goes public in a week. should you buy it? welcome to "your $$$$$," i'm ali velshi. facebook stock begins trading on friday. the ipo price is expected to be somewhere around $35 a share. but you have to be in the top 1% if you want a crack at that. for the other 99% you're looking at an initial price that could be $90 or $100 a share. we could talk endlessly about facebook the company, its growth prospects, how it will manage as a public company. but the question you should be asking is, will you make money if you buy the stock? that is the question i'm posing to three guys who should know. ned reilly is the chi

i'm fredricka whitfield at the cnn headquarters in lant. sanjay gupta's "the next list" starts right now. [ bees buzzing ] >> maybe it begins as a hobby and maybe it might work up into a small business and then it's just an obsession and then there's no turning back. it's like crack. >> put them in, shake it. >> i don't know what's so obsessive. i just enjoy doing it. i enjoy doing it, very much, almost everies a%. even the stings have their place. they humble me and remind me of who and what i am. >> reporter: urban bee keeping. >> it's exciting and scary at the same time. >> reporter: it's a surprisingly addictive trend taking over rooftops from chicago to shanghai. a few beekeepers have the global reach of andrew cote. >> andrew has been instrumental in establishing bees in the city of new york. >> reporter: from the heights of new york's most luxurious hotels to the far reaches of the african bush. >> we've kept bees for millennia, thousands and thousands of years. >> reporter: he's spreading his love of these remarkable creatures to pe

i'm fredricka whitfield. the news continues as world leaders galther in the u.s. for two important summits. police in chicago arrest three activists they say plan to violently riot. their bail has been set at $1.5 million each. among their targets, according to chicago police, president obama's chicago campaign headquarters. let's bring in cnn's paul. he has been following the fast depping story in chicago. so paul, what are you learning about the plot? >> well, fredricka, serious charges leveled here in a chicago courthouse today. among other things, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, they're chajed with, possessing explosives. and along these lines, they suggested these young men were planning these attacks not only on bo obama's campaign headquarters, but rahm emanuel's office, and part of this was going to be a diversion so they could caro out other terrorist acts. listen to what the prosecutor husband to say. >> specifically, plans were made to destroy police cars and attack four chicago police department stations. with destructive devices in an effort to u

i'm fredricka whitfield. outrage over a civilian massacre in syria is spilling out on to the streets. this was the scene in several cities today, of people so angry over the killing of 85 people in the town of hula, they risked retribution to turn out in force. video of some of 34 children killed in hula has surface ed online. children, some under the age of 10, some with missing limbs and severe head wounds. the u.n. security council is meeting on the crisis right now. cnn's mohammed jamjoom is following this story for us from beirut, lebanon. so mohammed, cnn can't confirm the authenticity of the video. what do we know about what happened in this village? >> reporter: fredricka, opposition activists tell us horrifying tales about what happened on friday in the town of hula. they say that, first, mortars were raining down on town. that the syrian government was with shelling the town and then that after that was over, the pro-regime militias entered the town and started indiscriminately slaughtering entire f

i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of the cnn newsroom at the top of the hour.next, sanjay gupta, md. >>> today, we have food for the body and the mind, and fit or fat, more than 80% of all women have cellulite. we're going to show you the first now fda approved long-term treatment. also a new idea

newsroom continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield.ow are you? very busy morning. this is big commencement weekend across the board. we're not going to talk about that so much as we will be joined by our legal guys, of course. >> they are always fun. >> you fly a lot, i fly a lot. there's a case of one young lady that says southwest airlines has not treated her kindly. twice she says she has been discriminated against because of her weight. she had a word or two for southwest airlines. she says it's time for a policy change. southwest articles has a comment or two for her. our legal guys will weigh in on this case. then, is your commute long to work? do you spend a lot of time on the road? >> no. well, try not to. >> that's good. >> with these hours i don't have much traffic. >> a big difference in your health. 35 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour. all of that could potentially shorten your life. the doctor will be along with us to join us and talk about you what need to do and how you need to curb your commute. >> start biking more. >> may

i'm fredricka whitfield. a federal appeals court is now considering their case. cnn's jason carroll joins us leave. jason, four of these men are u.s. vets. tell us what happens when you end up on a no fly list like they did. >> according to these plaintiffs, fredricka, it's a very uncomfortable situation. manl arriving at the airport, you've never done anything wrong, you're told you can't board the aircraft and you don't know why. that's the situation that a former marine found himself in. he was heading from chicago to spokane for his dog training business. federal agents surrounded him and told him he couldn't go. he found out later he was on no fly list and months later he said the fbi offered to get him off the list in exchange for being an informant at a local mosque. he declined that offer. he along with 15 are suing the government over the no fly list. a lower court threw out the case but the appeals court heard the arguments yesterday in portland, oregon. now, michelle says being on the list has really hurt him, hurt his family, and fredricka, he says it

"cnn newsroom" continues with fredricka whitfield. >>> i'm fredricka whitfield in for kara phillips.west. it is the shock on wall street felt around the world. jpmorgan chase rolled the dice and lost big time to the tune of $2 billion. the bank says it was triggered by a massive trading bet that backfired. jpmorgan chase shares fell sharply at the opening bell. right now the market is weathering the storm wi

i'm fredricka whitfield. sudden severe weather off the carolina coast that could sgeefl a tropical storm. bonnie schneider, this taking place less than two weeks shy of hurricane season actually beginning? >> that's right, fredricka, and not uncommon to see tropical activity flare up before hurricane season officially begin, june 1st for this part of the world. the area highlighted is just off the coast of south carolina pap concentrated area but it has been rapidly developing. that's why the national hurricane center is keeping a close eye on it. the latest advisory says this could develop into a tropical depression or maybe even a tropical storm as early as sunday. possibly later tonight as we see we've had a lot of convection, meaning thunderstorm activity developing with it and enhanced here. you can see areas here in red and yellow. those are the higher topped thunderstorms. something to keep watch on and the first name of the season is alberto. we'll keep a close look at this already active season that h

i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of "newsroom" with alina cho in for don lemon.eat week. [ woman ] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪ >>> hi, everybody. thanks for joining us. you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm alina cho in for don lemon. just moments ago, the u.n. security council released a statement condemning the massacre in the syrian village of hula and directly blaming government forces for the killings. the council met in a rare closed door session and while they were talking residents of hula were burying their dead. 108 victim, 49 children. it could be considered crimes against humani

i'm fredricka whitfield.tarts right now. >>> an historic ipo turned into a wall street debacle and a legal mess over just the course of a week. welcome to "your $$$$$." m

i'm fredricka whitfield with a look at our top stories.g of flight 103 over lockerbie scotland has died. abdul bassett al megrahi passed away with today at a hospital in tripoli. the former libyan intelligence offiha

"cnn newsroom" with fredricka whitfield. >> it is, indeed, a holiday weekend but also a big hassle forthe coast, et cetera. thi

i'm fredricka whitfield. breaking news out of syria. u.n. the yeas of force is unforgettable. rows of bodies. a mass funeral for the 92 people killed friday. the opposition accused the syrian military ofhe

i'm fredricka whitfield. breaking news out of syria. u.n. the yeas of force is unforgettable. rows of bodies. a mass funeral for the 92 people killed friday. the opposition accused the

i'm fredricka whitfield. much more of "newsroom" with alina cho in for don lemon.eat week. [ woman ] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪ >>> hi, everybody. thanks for joining us. you are in the cnn newsroom. i'm alina cho in for don lemon.

. >>> cnn news continues with fredricka whitfield. >> have a great day. >> you, too. >> we're going to begin in camp david where members of the g-8 countries are on a unified front. in fact, two major international summits going on here in the states over the next three days. president obama kicking off that diplomatic marathon today. he is huddling with g-8 leaders at camp david right now. tonight he heads to chicago for a meeting of nato leaders. europe's economic crisis and the impact it could have on the u.s. is a big focus of today's g-8 talks. here is what the president had to say as the summit got under way. >> this morning we're going to be spending a lot of time on economic issues. obviously the eurozone will be one topic. all of us are absolutely committed to making sure that both growth and stability and fiscal consolidation are part of an overall package all of us have to pursue. >> cnn's brianna keilar at camp david. the eurozone crisis entering year three. you can see watching the arrival of the leaders it is. it's top priority for them. >> that's right. we saw angela mer

i'm fredricka whitfield with a look at our top stories.g of flight 103 over lockerbie scotland has died. abdul bassett al megrahi passed away with today at a hospital in tripoli. the former libyan intelligence officer had prostate cancer and was released from a scottish prison on compassionate ground back in 2009. >>> and today president obama joins leaders from 50 countries in chicago for the nato summit. thousands are expected during anti-nato demonstrations this afternoon. >>> and blind chinese activist chen guangcheng is spending his first sunday in the u.s. later this hour, i'll chat with an nyu professor who helped navigate a tricky the diplomatic process to get chen here. "the next list" with sanjay give up starts right now pmt. >>> what happens one one man rooted in history makes the unexpected impression of a lifetime? master silver smith and also recent recipient of a

. >>> hello again, i'm fredricka whitfield. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> abdul al megrahi died today at a hospital in libya. he was 60 years old. his death comes two and a half years after his release from a scottish prison. al megrahi was let go on compassionate grounds because he had prostate cancer. he was expect to live only a few months. at the time of his release, victims' families were outraged after he received a hero's welcome in libya. they believe he was just a small player in the bomb plot. i spoke to a former spokesman for the victims' families who lost a brother in the attack. i asked him when he heard about al megrahi's death. >> i received the phone call about 8:30 this morning. i'm pleased he's finally left this earth. it was tempered because of, i was exhilarated when gadhafi was overthrown and killed last year. he was the big fish in ta that story. this is not the last chapter in pan am 103. >> he and other family members suspect there are people right now in libya, syria and iran who played a part in the bombing. and should be brought to justice. cnn's

cnn this morning continues with fredrick fredricka whitfield. the most hyped ed ipo is here. we will see the facebook effect on the stock market for the very first time. ceo mark zuckerberg rang nasdaq's opening bell from the headquarters in california as the stock goes public. we have facebook's ipo covered from coast-to-coast here in the u.s. we have ali velshi and dan si n simons is outside the headquarters outside menlo park. facebook's price will be showing at the bottom of your screen. let's begin with christine romans in new york. give us the starting price of "fb" the ticker name. this is the third largest public offering behind gm and visa, right? >> reporter: that is right. it could be the second largest by the time all of the trades are said and done. we are still waiting for the indications at nasdaq where it could be. it looks like it will be higher, obviously, no price there. we have not seen the trades cross yet. we are watching the matching buyers and sellers. we are trying to figure out what it will open at. there is a lot of hype about it. it can take a whil

. >>> and "cnn newsroom" continues we fredricka whitfield. hello again. >> hello to you. the legal guys will join us to talk more about the obstacles in the john edwards trial. >> what a drama. >> it is. we're talking about the campaign trail for year this year, president barack obama holding his first official campaign rally in a critical battleground state of ohio. he narrowly won that state back in 2008 and now he's going on the offensive to keep it out of mitt romney's hands. cnn's jessica yellin live at the rally in columbus a pretty good crowd. what message from the president in what appears to be a mostly college crowd? >> reporter: yeah, mostly college. mixed crowd, fredricka, still not full but they have an hour to go. the message you'll hear is effectively the president preempting a tax on the economic conditions in the u.s. he expects the romney campaign is going to attack the unemployment rate and the president's stewardship on the economy, so you'll hear him talk about how hard the economy was hit before he got in office, what he inherited, and how he made th

cnn "newsroom" continues now with fredricka whitfield. >>> live from the cnn headquarters in atlanta, eastern time, 9:00 a.m. on the west coast. i'm fredricka whitfield in for suzanne malveaux. >>> the commander in chief has returned home from the afghan war zone. president obama marked the first anniversary of the killing of osama bin laden with an unannounced trip to afghanistan. >> i will not keep americans in harm's way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security. >> within two hours of the president's departure, a suicide bomber rocked kabul. at least seven people were killed. the taliban is claiming responsibility for the attack. >>> hillary clinton is in china. she's there to talk economic strategy, but the name on everyone's lips is chen. that's chen guangcheng who we are told is in a hospital in beijing. he's the blind human rights activists who was convicted and thrown in jail for leading protests against the government. he spent six days under american embassy protection after escaping house arrest. it's still not clear if he left the embassy b

"cnn newsroom" continues with fredricka whitfield. >>> i'm fredricka whitfield in for kara phillips. it's 11:00 on the east coast. 8:00 on the west. it is the shock on wall street felt around the world. jpmorgan chase rolled the dice and lost big time to the tune of $2 billion. the bank says it was triggered by a massive trading bet that backfired. jpmorgan chase shares fell sharply at the opening bell. right now the market is weathering the storm with the dow up 34 points. we'll keep a close watch on the markets. so jpmorgan says the blunder was triggered by a massive trading bet that backfired. and the ceo, jamie diamond, is taking the blame, saying the bad bet was the result of error, sloppiness and bad judgment. for the nuts and bolts on this fias fiasco, it's the impact on the markets and your own investments. alison kosik joins us now. just what was this massive trading bet all about? before it went south? >> reporter: fredricka, what jpmorgan essentially did was made a big game am. they made risky bets and lost. the bets they made were to protect against possible losses on jpm

i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. here are some of the stories we're following.ng the finding on a highway that links mexico to texas. mexican officials found the bodies of at least 49 people. most had been mutilated. the remains were found in plastic bags along the highway between the cities of monterrey and reynosa, near the u.s. border. a message left on a nearby wall refers to the zeta's drug cartel. >>> and in a little more than a week, a u.s. secret service director, mark sullivan, and acting inspector general charles edwards will face a public grilling over the secret service prostitution scandal. the u.s. senate homeland security committee scheduled a public hearing for may 23rd. it's one of four congressional committees looking into the scandal, which camo

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin in japan where two american men are being questioned in the strangulation death of an irish exchange student. the dead woman is identified as nikolai furlong. shef was found in a tokyo hotel of one of the americans. ken law explains how the victim and two americans may have met. >> we know that her name is nicolay furlong. she is an exchange student from ireland. she was studying here in japan. and she had just recently celebrated her 21st birthday. what tokyo police are telling us is she died by suffocation by cervical compression, and that does sound like it's strangulation. the kyoto news agency said she and a friend went to a concert, where she was approached by two americans. she and her friend ended up with these men at a hotel in a party area here in tokyo. the police confirm that she was hours later found dead in the hotel room. and that in that hotel room was one of these americans. and at this point, the police say that they are trying to figure out how these two me