Transcripts For CNNW Starting Point 20130207

The east coast could be walloped with close to three feet of snow. Well tell you what you need to know about this major storm thats approaching. New this morning, u. S. Secrets possibly exposed. Iran releasing data that it claims it hacked from a drone. Well have a live report ahead. Governor Chris Christie has some harsh words for a doctor who said she was afraid he would die in office. He says come see him or zip it. Until that time, she should shut up. New details about Lance Armstrongs efforts to get back into the game. And its confirmed, the Federal Reserve was hacked. Is our Banking System secure enough . Among our guests this morning, janet robinson, a superintendent of the newtown Public Schools. Anna deveer smith from the actress from nurse jackie is working with mayors against illegal guns. Shell join us to talk about this project. And Saru Jayaraman is exposing secrets of restaurants around the country. Plus Richard Simmons joins us to talk about his new project too. Its thursday, february 7th. Starting point begins right now. Welcome, everybody. Our starting point this morning is bracing for the big one. Right now theres a blizzard watch in effect for parts of new england. Theres a winter storm heading to the northeast. It could be historic because it is expected to leave behind more than two feet of snow in some places with the first flakes falling tomorrow. We want to get right to indra petersons, shes tracking the weather for us out of atlanta. Good morning. Back on february 17th and 18th of 2003, boston got 27 1 2 inches of snow. Were looking to see whether or not we break that record with this noreaster. Lets talk about how its expected to form. Were currently watching some Severe Weather potentially pushing through. We even had a Tornado Warning in Southeast Louisiana this morning. This now is forming into a low. Its pathology up towards the carolinas. With that well see heavy rain and wind. Then it merges with the Second System. Thats where we form this large noreaster. Everything is based on the positioning of this low. Tons of models are bringing in different amounts of snow and wind. Well be talking about if the low is closer to the coastline, youre going to see heavier amounts of moisture and heavier amounts of snow. If its farther away, smaller amounts. The other thing were watching is where that freezing line is. If the colder air sinks farther to the south, youll start off with snow rather than sleet and transition to snow. So this is what were watching. A huge portion of new england here looking for this winter storm watch. Blizzard watch goes into effect friday afternoon in through saturday afternoon. As far as the totals, weve already been talking about this, they vary but anywhere from 1 to 2 feet of snow. Even michigan has a winter storm warning as we are expecting that first little wave to push energy through that area before it makes its way through new england. So all of this again friday afternoon through saturday morning. Well continue to monitor here at cnn. Also new this morning, u. S. Secrets possibly exposed. Iran claiming its decoded now released some footage from a downed u. S. Drone. The man identified as a member of irans military narrated the black and white aerial footage as it was broadcast on Iranian State media. He claims that its a drone that iran downed back in 2011. Also this morning, president obama giving in to congressional demands. He will release classified documents that explain the legal justification for drone strikes that kill u. S. Terror suspects overseas. And adding to the drama, john brennan, the president s pick to head the cia and the architect of the drone policy, hell appear before the Senate Intelligence committee today. Lots to talk about with Barbara Starr whos following all these developments for us this morning from the pentagon. Barbara, good morning. Reporter good morning, soledad. All about spice and drones this morning, isnt it . Well, this video has not yet been confirmed as the Genuine Article by the administration, the pentagon or the cia but its getting a lot of attention. If you look at it, its perhaps not so compelling itself, but theres plenty to try and figure out. Lets get to that in a minute. But i want you first to listen to we translated some of the voice on the tape describing what youre looking at. Have a listen. Translator this air craft has had many flights in countries around iran. In operations that have taken place in pakistan, this aircraft has provided guidance. Reporter so a claim there of u. S. Spying on iran and thats really what this is all about. If this is the Genuine Article, the key question for u. S. Intelligence agencies will be what technology now is actually in iranian hands, what do they know and what are they planning to do with it. All right, then lets talk about the Drone Program under scrutiny here at home. Theres pressure now from congress and the president will release this classified information about this particular program. What can you tell us about that . Reporter possibly very savvy move by the white house releasing a classified memo on the legality the killing americans overseas involved with al qaeda. This is something the Senate Intelligence committee had been pressing for, for months. They have the cloerearances to it. The white house had held on to it hours before john brennan this afternoon will go before that committee for confirmation as cia director. Theyre giving the committee what they want, possibly trying to take some steam out of the hearing, but i think you can count on plenty of fireworks there as they question brennan about drone policy, what he knew about torture and interrogations, what he knows about leaks to the news media. Barbara starr at the pentagon for us. Thanks, barbara. The New York Times is saying a new set of restrictions is going into effect to force iran into a barter trade for oil because the cash for crude is being blocked from being sent to iranian accounts. The latest punitive step is part of the ongoing effort to convince iran to give up its nuclear program. Other stories making news, including this terrible story about this teenager chained by his parents. This is a shocking, shocking discovery out of kansas city, missouri. A teenager found chained to a pipe in the basement by his own parents. Local police found the 17yearold after responding to a tip from a neighbor who suspected he was being abused. The special needs teen told police he had been locked up down tlp since september. Casey wine is live for us in kansas city, missouri. Casey, what do we know about this . Reporter well, we know this is a very horrific incident, according to the Police Report, hard to imagine that a 17yearold young man, apparently a mentally challenged young man would be locked in a basement and handcuffed for much of the time to a steel pole since september. Now, let me show you where this took place. You can see the house behind me. Down at ground level you can see that sliver of light. That is the basement where the Police Report says they found this 17yearold teen handcuffed to a steel support pole. They say when they found him, he was on the ground in a fetal position and they said that the first words he spoke to them were i didnt do anything. I didnt do anything. They also said that he looked very malnourished and appeared that his cheeks were sunken in. He appeared very, very thin. According to the Police Report, the teenager told them that he was locked and chained in that basement, he was let out, if you will, let up three times a day to use the bathroom and to eat and he was fed basically ramen noodles and bologna sandwiches. This all came to light after neighbors reported their concerns about this young man, who they had not seen in quite some time. Heres what one neighbor had to say. I know there was a couple times i came over here after school and he was sleeping on her front porch because they wouldnt let him in the house. It was sad. Very sad. We cried a lot yesterday. Reporter now, that neighbor also saying that perhaps one of the motivations for this is because the teen had allegedly hit his mother. They thought he was not controllable and that was their solution, locking him up in this basement. The Investigation Police say is still under way. Police prosecutors will not say whether there are any charges that will be forthcoming against the parents. The boy was taken to the hospital and of course he is under protective custody right now, john. We certainly hope hes doing well. What an awful story, casey wian, thanks very much this morning. Warning that this next video may be disturbing to some of our viewers. A new york nanny caught on a hidden camera hitting a 5monthold baby repeatedly in the face. This is our first look at the video which happened january 28th. The 52yearold nanny was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest. So he confessed to doping during his incredible Tour De France run. Now Lance Armstrong could name names. Brand new this morning, the New York Times reporting that armstrong is in talks with the u. S. Antidoping agency to possibly disclose who helped him dope. This report came out only a few hours after the Antidoping Agency gave him more time to talk. Abc news is also reporting that the disgraced cyclist is under federal investigation for obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation. They call it an active criminal investigation. Also new details this morning on the tense hostage standoff in that underground bunker in alabama and the raid to rescue a child. Sheriff wally olson spoke to us and he said the bunker where ethan was held captive will be destroyed as everyone there tries to heal. It was very emotional time for me because i i had a lot of relief to know that he was okay, you know. The childr i have children of my own and i know how important it is to take care of them. Thats what we want to do for ethan. Authorities say inside the bunker, bunk beds lined one wall. Space was very narrow. We also know jimmy lee dykes, the kidnapper, was telling neighbors that bunker that was rigged to blow, he said it was a storm shelter. So in about an hour president obama is expected to open up on faith as religious and Community Leaders gather for the 61st annual National Prayer breakfast. This will be the president s first remarks to the Faith Community since announcing his support for samesex marriage. He is scheduled to speak in the next hour and we will take you there as soon as that happens. This may be the most talkedabout ad from the super bowl. That guy getting a very, very deep and meaningful kiss with supermodel bar refaeli foregodaddy. Com. Well, it turns out jay leno was hoping to get in on the action, but it did not quite turn out like he planned. Sgl any chance we could recreate the ad here . Sure. Pucker up. Dude gets around, thats all i can say. Hes such a nice young man. Totally nice guy. Hoping to parlay that into other roles. What a great gig. Okay, this morning Chris Christie firing back at the white house doctor, former white house doctor who said she was worried that he would die in office. This morning, shes responding after a after she went on tv and voiced concern that the governors weight might cause him to die in office. He said basically shut up. Its kind of turned into a little bit of an ugly fight, hasnt it . Reporter yeah, i think its safe to say that Chris Christie would like a Second Opinion. He responded to former white house physician Connie Marianos warnings about the new jersey Governors Health by calling the doctor a hack and, as you just said, telling her to shut up. The back and forth started earlier this week when he appeared on the late show with David Letterman. During the interview as he was joking about his size, christie, as we all saw, took a bite from a doughnut. That concerned former white house doctor Connie Mariano who has treated three different president s and she told me christie could die in office if elected president. She called his weight issue a ticking time bomb. At a News Conference yesterday, he took issue with the doctors diagnosis. Heres what he had to say. She must be a genius. She should probably be the Surgeon General of the United States, i suspect, because she must be a genius. I think this is listen, this is just another hack who wants five minutes on tv. And its and its completely irresponsible, completely irresponsible. My children saw that last night. If she wants to get on a plane and come here to new jersey and ask me if she wants to examine me and review my medical hiss toerks ill have a conversation with her about that. Until that time, she should shut up. Reporter so there you go. Christie was so upset. In addition to that, dr. Mariano says the governor called her to complain about her comments. When they had that phone conversation, was it friendly and they buried the hatchet . Reporter i dont think so. She said the governor was clearly venting his frustration. She tried to explain to him she was just trying to speak to him in a constructive way, but she says she has no regrets. Heres what she told Anderson Cooper last night. Well, it was rather shocking to hear those things. I was in clinic, so i did not hear his broadcast, but he used some pretty strong words there. Out of deference to him, im not going to comment on that, but i can only share with you that that phone conversation, when i think of it, the words gracious and appreciative do not come to mind. Reporter and dr. Mariano has offered to give the governor a full physical. You heard christie say she could come out to new jersey. She offered him basically the same deal, except come out to arizona and talk to her at her practice there. But based on their conversation, she says its unlikely the governor is going to make that appointment. Its interesting how what started as a joke has really become this big issue. All right, thanks. Appreciate that. Richard simmons, who we spoke to yesterday, he says he also would like to sit down with governor Chris Christie. I talked to him yesterday. He said that he believes that he could say some words to the governor to help him with his weight problem. Heres what he told me. All i would love to do is without a camera around sitting with him for just 15 minutes. And youd say what . I would turn it around for him. I would turn his life around. Thats the gift god gave me. Again, im going to say im going to go on a limb and say probably governor christie not interested, but i might be wrong. My entire interview with Richard Simmons and the new project that hes working on, thats coming up in the next hour of starting point. Up next, are newtown and its children being exploited . Well tell you why the School Summit is outraged about a group of kids that are going to perform at a pregrammy party. Not the same kids who performed at the super bowl. Also Business News today. Theres a new development in those major online open courses. Could it be a solution for the tuition bubble . Tiny first steps to those online courses actually becoming Traditional College credits. Sno] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] zzzquil™ sleepaid. [ snoring ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] its not for colds. Its not for pain. Its just for sleep. [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] because sleep is a beautiful thing™. [ birds chirping ] zzzquil™. The nonhabit forming sleepaid from the makers of nyquil®. Im here to pick up some cacti. It should be under stephens. The verizon share everything plan for small business. Get a shareable pool of data. Got enough joshua trees . On up to 25 devices. So you can spend less time. Yea, the golden barrels. Managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. Looks like were going to need to order more agaves. Ah oh ow . And more bandages. Thats powerful. Shareable data plus unlimited talk and text. Now save 50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola. This years super bowl was preceded by a really wonderful moment when the Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus prmp d performed america the beautiful. The performance was very emotional and brought emotional responses from the fans and the players and especially Jennifer Hudson got up and sang with them and she also connected to gun violence. So people were very moved. Now theres another childrens choir thats been grabbing its own headlines. They had this performance on Good Morning America last month and they have another performance at a grammys preshow during the weekend. All that has made some in the Newtown Community angry. The superintendent, janet robinson, is back with us this morning. Its nice to have you with us. I appreciate your time. So im a little confused. Are these two choirs connected . Good morning. No, they are not. The group that sang, the chorus that sang at the super bowl is a chorus of sandy hook students led by their music teacher. I do not know for sure who the other group is. So the group thats going to be performing at the pregrammy celebration is not this same group of Sandy Hook Elementary School students or students who are necessarily from santa hook or newtown schools . Thats correct. The sandy hook chorus, a group of students that were randomly selected to go to the super bowl, were our students. I do not know who the students are in this other group. Okay. So the other group is run by a woman named sabrina post and the name of the group is a newtown music project. Do you still hear me . It seems like we have lost lets see if we can redial her in and ill walk through the story with you because weirdly enough this is more complicated than it should be. A woman named sabrina post is now organizing this second chorus, and she has done this gma thing and is basically creating this fund, she says, that would go back into the community, but its angered a lot of members from the community. Are they from newtown, these kids . I take a long breath because its complicated of the of the 21 students in this second chorus, i believe some of them are affiliated with Sandy Hook Elementary School. Either were students or currently are, maybe as many as 12. So kinda is the answer to that. To the public, though, we see the pregrammy stuff, we think these are kids from newtown, this is supporting the newtown kids. Does it matter then, i guess is the question. This teacher used to be the choir instructor in the newtown Public Schools and had some legal challenges that forced her ouster back in 2005, which adds another wrinkle to this very complicated and tricky story. Heres what she said, sabrina post, about really why shes doing this. Anything that we are doing here is for the sole purpose of raising money so that it will go back to the town and to the children, especially, of the town. So the dilemma, of course, becomes when money is involved, these things become obviously both big targets for people trying to exploit, you know, the students and their story and figure out how they can make money personally, which is unclear at this point if in fact sabrina post is doing that or what exactly her aim is. Nothing that she has done so far or said so far. I mean she said shes not taking any payment, shes a volunteer. But you can see the challenges raised. If she doesnt want the newtown tragedy used for purposes of other choirs, then shes perfectly within her rights to say, look, this is not fair. Is she coming back . You know its interesting, were having obviously audio problems and cant get her back up. Well try to get her a little later while we fix those problems. But we have raised all the questions. They both sound nice, the choirs sound nice and theyre kids singing for a good cause. It ultimately makes some people in the community mad. Weve got to take a break. Still ahead this morning on starting point does the nba accept toddlers . Look at this kid. Hes awesome. Still in diapers. Well tell you more about him straight ahead. I just served my motherinlaw your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much. I told her it was homemade. Everyone tells a little white lie now and then. But now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] shes right behind me isnt she . [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. [ clears his throat ] all right thats a fifthfloor shes riprobleok. Me isnt she . Not in my house ha ha ha ha ha ha no no no not today ha ha ha ha ha ha jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico . Happier than Dikembe Mutumbo blocking a shot. Get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Discover card. Cashbacashback concierge . we have a concierge i know; its exciting wow what exactly is a cashback concierge . Well theres lots of ways you can get cash back im here to help you get the most bangforyourbuck. Its a personalized thing from discover. Its easy, we wont try and sell you anything, and its free. Free . I want that. Yeah you do this guy is great. Highfive through the phone yeah i did it. Did you actually do it . Oh, i did i totally did. At discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Cashback concierge get the new it card at discover. Com. Try our entrees, snacks and new salads. Wild salmon with basil, garlic Chicken Spring rolls, and now salads, like asianstyle chicken. Enjoy 100 delicious varieties under 400 calories. Lean cuisine. No they dont. Hey son. Have fun tonight. Back against the wall aint nothin to me aint nothin to me [ crowd murmurs ] hey [ howls ] welcome back, everybody. Our team this morning, ryan at the far end. What happened to you to get banished down to the far end . And washington correspondent for the new yorkers. Abby huntsman is back, daughter of the former president ial candidate, jon huntsman. Richard socaretes is here. Christine will start us off with Business News. U. S. Stock futures are up slightly ahead of another very busy day of corporate earnings. Well get reports or firsttime jobless claims, also Consumer Credit later today. The dow, as you know, about 200 points away from its alltime high. Will it hit it again . The main reason its up so high, corporate profits, and the fed stimulus. Speaking of the fed, it has been hacked. The fed downplayed the attack saying, quote, this incident did not affect critical operations at the Federal Reserve system. According to reuters, hackers compromised a database for communication between banks during a natural disaster. A huge milestone in music technology. Apple said wednesday the 25 billionth download from itunes, thats equivalent to selling more than three songs for every person on earth. The jam, take a listen. Its monkey drum by chase. How do you say that, the british dj thats big on the music scene. The guy who downloaded it is from germany. He got an itunes card for more than 13,000. I didnt even know they sold itunes gift cards that went up to 13,000. Thats what he got. Im surprised it wasnt justin bieber. Still ahead this morning on starting point, she stars in nurse jackie but shes getting a little political. Shell tell us why she wants to strengthen gun control laws straight ahead. Twins. I didnt see them coming. I have obligations. Cute obligations, but obligations. I need to rethink the core of my portfolio. What i really need is sleep. Introducing the ishares core, Building Blocks for the heart of your portfolio. Find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. Ishares by blackrock. Call 1800ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. Googles backyard for the wbing it on challenge. [fight bell ding, ding] whats your preferred Search Engine . Search engine, uhh, probably google. If we do a side by side blind test comparison, and you end up choosing google, you get an xbox. Ill bet you the xbox, you bet me your son. Well lets look up what you need. Okay, i would do the left. Yeah . What . i am a daddy bing wins it bing won. Bing did win. People prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. A hybrid . Most are just no fun to drive. Now, heres one that will make you feel alive. Meet the fivepassenger ford cmax hybrid. Cmax says ha. Cmax says wheeee. Which is what you get, dont u see . Cause cmax has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that cmax also bests in mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. And save hundreds with our best offer yet, now extended due to popular demand. Get an adt Security System starting at just 49 installed, but only for a limited time. Thats an instant savings of 250. Dont leave your familys safety to chance. Call or visit adt. Com tv. [ woman ] we had two tiny reasons to get our adt Security System. And one really big reason our neighbors house was broken into. What if this happened here . And since we cant monitor everything 24 7, we got someone who could. Adt. [ male announcer ] while some companies are new to home security, adt has been helping to save lives for over 135 years. We have more monitoring centers, more of Tomorrows Technology right here today, and more value. 24 7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of Carbon Monoxide starting at just over 1 a day. Now our best offer has been extended due to popular demand. Installation starting at just 49 a savings of 250. Adt. Always there. Welcome, everybody. Youre taking a look at some live pictures from the National Prayer breakfast which is taking place in washington, d. C. , at the d. C. Hilton. The president is expected to arrive at any moment and in 30 minutes or so hell be making his first remarks to the Faith Community, ever since he announced his support for samesex marriage. Well bring those remarks to you live. Were expecting those at 8 05 a. M. Eastern time. Other stories making news this morning, john has that. A big winter storm will be a big problem for us. Theyre talking about more than 2 feet in boston. This is about to blast the new england. Parts of new england are already under a blizzard watch. Two feet or more of snow could fall in parts of massachusetts and rhode island starting tomorrow. Much of the northeast will be facing freezing rain and damaging winds. Defense secretary leon panetta gets fired up in his final days on the job warning we are on the brink of the most serious readiness crisis faced by the Armed Services in more than a decade unless Congress Takes action to stop the acrosstheboard budget cuts from taking effect on march 1st. This is not a game. This is reality. These steps would seriously damage a fragile American Economy and they would degrade our ability to respond to crisis precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. Even as these budget cuts loom, the u. S. Air force just renewed its nascar partnership with Richard Petty motorsports number 43 car. Nascar says the air force will be the primary sponsor for two races and associate sponsor all season. Senator marco rubio tapped to deliver the republican response to the president s state of the Union Address next year. The florida senator will speak live in english while a prerecorded version runs in spanish on Spanish Language networks. The gop trying to reach out to hispanic americans. 71 voted for president obama in november. So recently made xbox contributor dick morris sat down with piers morgan wednesday night and they went over several topics. Heres what mr. Morris said about being so very, very wrong in predicting a mitt romney victory. Listen. The question really is why obama won by such a margin. And i think the answer is that there has been a fundamental demographic shift in the United States. And i thought that it surfaced in 08 because of a charismatic candidate. I thought it would go back down again and it did in 10. But in 12 they showed up in huge numbers and eight million whites stayed home. And i think the Republican Party has got to change in fundamental ways, otherwise it will never win another election. That was dick morris who again predicted the romney victory. So it has got to be the diapers. Check this out. A toddler showing off some pretty sick basketball trick shots. By all accounts, this video is totally legit. Oh, my gosh, even that one. 2yearold titus is his name. The guy who posted this video on youtube said he began shooting baskets shortly after learning to walk. He started filming sometime after that and totally got carried away. This video has close to two million hits on youtube. They say its real. I dont know. Youre just jealous. Yes, a, im very jealous. B, im not sure thats real. The one from lying down and shooting . I dont know. I love that this kid has the pacifier in his mouth. Oh, my god, thats hilarious. Fast forward 18 years. Were going to find out the kid will be in the nba. It will be like the bird who came down and picked up the toddler. I believe this one. And you know how cynical i am. I believe it. Lets talk a little bit about gun control this morning. If you do not know our next guest for her awardwinning onewoman stage shows you probably will recognize Anna Deavere Smith from her many recurring television roles, most recently on nurse jackie. Heres a little clip of that. Where are you going . Disneyland. When are they expecting you . Today. Now. This is not good timing. I know. Im sorry. Its a small window. If i dont get in, theyre going give my bed to somebody else. Well, yes, that is how disneyland works. Anna Deavere Smith is one of many celebrities speaking out against gun violence in capitol hill this week. Yesterday there was a News Conference that also featured the comedian chris rock, actor adam scott, singer tony bennett. They all urged congress to act on the president s plans to tighten the nations gun regulations. Anna Deavere Smith joins us this morning. Nice to have you with us. Nice to be here. Youre usually not political outside of your roles. Ive never i cant think of a time where ive seen you at a press conference taking a side politically. The work i do in the theater seeks to promote social points of view. But this is different. This is a time that i feel its important to come forward and take advantage of this dark moment to remind americans that we have also a history of nonviolence and we need to find ways to get automatic weapons off the street and to campaign for background checks and to make gun trafficking a federal crime. How did you start working with mayors for illegal guns . I was just invited to do so and im very proud of our mayor, bloomberg, and also mayor menino of boston. Mayors against illegal guns has been in operation since 2006. So the infrastructure is there. A lot of other grassroots organizations trying to control whats going on with guns and so this is a chance when the nation is looking, understands how tragic this is, that we ought to be able to get something to happen. What do you think celebrity can leverage in this . Im sure you saw that matchup of a lot of the celebrities who were criticizing or talking about gun violence and saying we have to figure out how to manager gun violence and they intercut with it those same celebrities using guns in their various roles and various movies. So can it rub both ways . Maybe theyre having a transformative moment, i dont know. Of course to think about hurting to think about getting all celebrities or all artists in one basket of anything would be like herding cats. And also, of course, its interesting that the first and Second Amendment are right there right next to each other. I think a lot of celebrities are coming forward right now to use the fact that people know them on screen to bring attention to this. Can i ask you, do you think this moment is going to be any different . Do you think its going to be different this time . I hope so. I hope so. What gives you hope to think so . I feel like ive now covered, john, you and i between us have covered ten, 12, 15, many, many of these sorts of shootings. It feels a little bit different to me as well. But history would tell me that its not different. Maybe its just the accrual of these horrible, horrible events over a short period of time that causes us to do some introspection and to ask more of our legislators. Soledad brought up the video of celebrities shooting the guns. Do you think hollywood has any responsibility here . A lot of people do make a lot about the violence in films and tv. Well, i think that hollywood, again, its like herding cats. Whats hollywood . Im hardly going to get a script at my door to be a guntoting rambo. Thats not going to happen. Id watch it. Sounds like something ive written. You would be perfect. I think its out of responsibility, its a privilege. I think its a privilege and an honor and an opportunity for any of us who get to be on your show or any other show to say, hey, lets get background checks. Lets get these highcapacity military weapons off the street. Would you turn down a role im sorry, abby. Would you turn down a role if someone said youre going to be toting an ar15. Its a great role and its rambo 4 and starring you. Well, i would, yes. Youd take it . No, i would turn it down. Okay, just checking. Im curious shes tricky, i know. Soledad is a tricky one. When you look at a city of chicago versus salt lake city, Different Things need to be done in different parts of the country. What do you think makes sense nationally . Because this is obviously a National Effort that you guys have. What makes sense nationally look, i was thinking about the safety patrol. When i grew up in baltimore, Public School number 144, we had safely patrol. I was a safely patrol. You were . A white thing across here, a badge. Yes. This very nice young man met me in washington to go to the press conference and hes from onn, right, a dairy kid grows up in a Rural Community with metal detectors. Where have we gone that school is no longer a place where you can be safe, have imagination. So, you know, i think its time for us to all of us to see what we can do and talk about it and talk until it changes. Times certainly have changed. Anna Deavere Smith, so nice to have you with us, appreciate that. Still ahead on starting point, batter up. A 148yearold Baseball Card is going for an impressive price on the auction block. We have details up next. Then if you ever wonder what really happens at your favorite restaurant behind the scenes, from low wages to unhealthy work conditions, theres a new book that exposes the dirty underbelly, and we mean dirty, of the restaurant industry. Its called behind the kitchen door. The author will join us up next. Directors voice here we go. From the top. And action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so. Directors voice cut it . What. What did i say . Gecko . I said gecko . Aw. For over 75 year. laughs. But still trying to keep it contained directors voice keep it together. Im good. Im good. For over 75. uncontrollable laughter . What are you doing there . Stop making me laugh. Vo geico. Saving people money for over seventyfive years. Gecko dont look at me. Dont look at me. Get ready for a lot more of that newplane smell. Were building the youngest, most modern fleet among the largest us airlines to ensure that you are more comfortable and connected than ever. We are becoming a new american. How do you keep an older car running like new . You ask a ford customer. When they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. If your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. Jackie, tell me why somebody should bring theyre car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. They are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. Price is right no problem, they make you feel like youre a family. Get a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation and much more, 29. 95 after 10. 00 rebate. If you take care of your car your car will take care of you. Welcome, everybody. A bizarre story coming out of National Signing day. Its not official for the student athletes, of course, until their parent or legal guardian cosigns on the dotted line, but the mother of a Top High School Football Player refused to sign his letter of intent because she didnt like his choice. Joe carter has this mornings report. Good morning, joe. I feel bad for the boy and kind of feel bad for the mom because at the end of the day she just really, really loves her boy. She doesnt want him to leave home, she wants him to stay close and thats why she refused to sign her sons laeretter of intent yesterday. Alex collins is considered one of the best running backs in the country. He was expected to sign with arkansas but mom stood up and split midpress conference. She said she wants him to stay close to home in south florida and play football at the university of miami. Unfortunately, moms power play did not work. Espn is reporting that mom will sign the papers for him to play at arkansas a little later today. So the big winners on signing day, alabama no surprise. The rich get richer. They take home the number one recruiting class, followed by the buckeyes of ohio state and florida at number three. Of course you cant forget about ole miss. Hey, if you like to collect Baseball Cards, listen up. A very rare card originally found at a yard sale sold at an auction for 80,000. Jason leblanc from maine paid 80 large for this card. He said hes going to give it to his 4yearold son as an investment gift. The card is nearly 150 years old. Its a photograph of the 1865 brooklyn atlantics. Its believed to be a oneofakind Baseball Card. For those of you watching us from the gym this morning, heres a little extra motivation, get a little extra cardio in. Its the 36th annual run to the top of the empire state building. 600 runners from 18 countries competed in this race and a pair of australians won. Mark borne ran from the lobby to the observatory deck, which is 86 floors. He did it in 10 minutes and 12 seconds. Susie walshman raced up 1500 steps in 12 minutes and 5 seconds. Clearly why they stwengt invent elevators. Go to bleacherreport. Com and you can check out todays article that details the winners and losers from National Signing day. Ole miss the big winner from signing day yesterday, but im feeling tired. My gluts, my back, everything, from watching those people climbing up those stairs. I dont even like walking up the stairs. Its a tourist attraction. Coming up next, well talk about restaurants. Are they safe and do they discriminate when it comes to hiring . Theres a new book that exposes some of the secrets at the nations most popular restaurants. Well talk to the author behind the book which is called behind the kitchen door. Were back in just a moment. You look at microbes and see what . Little chemical factories. Thats how we treat them. So our goal is to produce fuels that behave exactly the same as petroleumbased fuels. We call them dropin biofuels. And those are fuels or blend stocks, molecules that are identical to those that are in fuels today. Lets face it. Everyone has their own way of doing things. At university of phoenix we know learning is no different. So we offer personalized tools and support, that let our students tackle the challenge of going back to school, like they do anything else. Their way. Officewith an online package new colincluding domain name,y Website Builder with five pages and basic email just 49. 99 thats up to 76 percent below online providers and only at Officemax Stores your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i cant stop eating em whats. That. On your head . Can curlers tomato basil, potato with bacon. Weve got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. Starts with arthritis pain and a choice. Take tylenol or take aleve, the 1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. Just two aleve can keep pain away all day. Back to the news. Breaking news, a manhunt under way right now, authorities in california say a former Police Officer is the prime suspect in the murder of a cal state fullerton basketball coach and her fiance over the weekend. This is a live look at the search. According to the l. A. Times theyre looking for christopher dornor, fired from the force years ago for falsely accusing a female sergeant for kicking a man at a hotel. The father of the female coach hes suspected of killing him represented him in front of the board that eventually ruled to dismiss him. Well have more on the developing story as it comes in. Manhunt under way right now. John, thank you. How much do you know about your favorite restaurant, not necessarily the specials list or the wine list or their online rating . How much do you know about the people who work there and how theyre treated by the management of the restaurant . Theres a new book called behind the kitchen door takes a critical and revealing look at an industry which is rife with low wages, next to no benefits and sometimes unhealthy work conditions. The author joins us to talk about that and cofounder of restaurant opportunities center, roc which works to improve working and rage continues. Im trying to figure out if your goal in writing this book was to fix the conditions or expose the conditions. As a diner what do you want me to do when i read about some of the terrible things that go on in restaurants . We want to you engage with us, take action. Restaurant workers make as little as 2. 13 an hour. Most people dont know that tips actually make up the core of workers wages. Its not just a bonus on top of a wage. Actually workers make as little as 2. 13 an hour, thats the federal minimum wage for tipped workers, often dont have paid sick days. Twothirds cooks report cooking with feeling sick or the flu. Engage with us, speak with management every time, let them know these conditions are not okay for us as consumers. We dont want sick or poor workers serving us and so i think what we want is consumers to stand by our side, speak to management, speak up and mostly let legislators know that 2. 13 is just not enough for any worker. What does that come to when you factor in tips on average . This is the math you do for the restaurant workers. On average, across the country, workers make less than 9 an hour, including tips but there are plenty of workers across the country who go home late at night, graveyard shifts with no tips whatsoever so take for example claudia, a woman i profiled who worked at an ihop in texas, many nights, graveyard shifts shed work and earn 2. 13 an hour and thats what shed take home, no tips. Although the law says the restaurant is supposed to make up the difference when tips dont, too many times that doesnt happen and this woman didnt have enough money to pay gas, didnt have enough money to put food on her own table. Thats a critical issue. The workers cant feed themselves when theyre feeding america. You tell a lot of individual stories, which i find very, very fascinating but some of these charts that talk about race and opportunity and race correlated to where youre going to be working in the restaurant, i find stunning. Tell me about that. Yeah, unfortunately, we did more than 6,000 surveys of restaurant workers and we found theres a 4 wage gap between workers of color and white workers and its because workers of color are working in lower level positions. Busboys. Dishwashers, exactly, and in lower level segments so say youre a dishwasher, you really want to move up the ladder, unfortunately our Research Shows in most restaurants that opportunity just doesnt exist for training and promotions to move up the ladder to a job that actually makes more wages. In terms of the kitchen conditions, i feel like its everyones worst nightmare, what were some of the horrendous things you saw doing research in this book . There is a story of a man, its not that uncommon, who actually was never paid by the restaurant. The restaurant kept saying well pay you, they never paid, ended up being evicted, living in an attic of the restaurant and the same restaurant was doing really nasty things to the food. Like what . They would serve food that had slime on it, it was old. Ugh. Yes, the dishes hadnt been washed. These kinds of conditions exist when the restaurant is neither responsible to its workers nor to the consumers. The book is amazing behind the kitchen door sara jayuramen thank you for joining us. Thank you. Ahead, two storms converging could mean big trouble for folks in the northeast. Whats going to happen when more than two feet of snow could start falling tomorrow. Looking live at d. C. In a few minutes the president will be speaking about his faith at the National Prayer breakfast, well bring that to you live straight ahead. Were back in a moment. Ng on va, so i used my Citi Thankyou card to pick up some accessories. A new belt. Some nylons. And what girl wouldnt need new shoes . And with all the points ive been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. Things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your Citi Thankyou points to travel whenever you want. Visit citi. Com thankyoucards to apply. No they dont. Hey son. Have fun tonight. Back against the wall aint nothin to me aint nothin to me [ crowd murmurs ] hey [ howls ] with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. Surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. So, if the duck isnt able to work, how will he pay for his Living Expenses . Aflac. Like his rent and car payments . Aflac. What about gas and groceries . Aflac. Cell phone . Aflac, but i doubt hell be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a getwell card at getwellduck. Com. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a getwell card with the bing it on challenge to show google users what theyve been missing on bing. Lets bing it on. [fight bell ding, ding] how many here are google users . What if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results . Prove it. Lets look up some taco places. I like the left side. Yeah . Okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach . What side do you like better . I like the results on the right. Im gonna go with the one on the left. Oh bing won people prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. [ dog ] you know, i just dont think i should have to wait for it who do you think i am, quicken loans . At quicken loans, we wont make you wait for it. Our efficient, Online System allows us to get you through your home loan process fast. Which means youll never have to beg for a quick closing. One more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. Bonkers, look at me when im talking to you. Welcome everybody, our starting point, developing story a manhunt under way for a former Police Officer who is suspected in a double murder. Well have details on that story straight ahead. In just about five minutes the president s expected to speak at the National Prayer breakfast, heres a live look at the Washington Health forum, going to be talking about the president s support of gay marriage. Will he mention anything about that today as he talks about faith and his faith specifically at this Prayer Breakfast. Getting ready for a winter storm, a blizzard that could drop up to three feet of snow on parts of the east coast. This is on the move, well have a live report plus new developments concerning the u. S. Drone program this morning. Iran claims it has hacked an american drone as the president prepares to leak to congress a controversial memo. What does this mean for our National Security . Boeings dreamliners back in the skies today but one flight only. Plus going to talk to cnns chief washington correspondent jake tapper and fitness guru Richard Simmons. Its thursday, february 7th and starting point begins right now. Welcome everybody. Manhunt under way, authorities in california say a former Police Officer is now the prime suspect in the murder of a cal state fullerton basketball coach and her fiance, happened over the weekend. Heres a live look at the search which is being conducted right now, according to the l. A. Times, the man they are looking for is christopher dorner. He was fired from the force, happened five years ago. We falsely accused a female sergeant of kicking a man at a hotel, five years ago he was fired. Its now believed dorner may have committed those murders over the weekend out of revenge for that firing five years ago. The father of the female coach that he is now suspected of killing represented him in front of the board that eventually ruled to dismiss him, that would be the connection that would potentially link him to the murders. Well have more on the developing story as it comes in. Youre looking at live pictures of the manhunt under way right now. Lots to talk about as we wait for the Prayer Breakfast to get under way, ryan lizza and Abby Huntsman and richard sa socarides, john berman doing weather ill do whatever you want. Im trying to say the news which is focusing on the weather, our big story were talking about storm systems on a collision course right now and if they come together the way that the forecasters are telling us that they will, new england could be buried by more than two feet of snow over the weekend. Maybe three feet of snow over the weekend, specifically focused on i guess boston, right, andry as well. Lets get end dra petersindra p. This could be one for the record books. Were watching Severe Weather or thunderstorms developing here in the southeast. This will form a low and then it will start to make its way towards the carolinas. Weve been talking about two storms merging and thats what were watching into one noreaster. There is the one expected to bring heavy rain and wind as it moves north along the carolinas and the Second System as these two come together the one large bulls eye of the noreaster. The one thing we all keep talking about is the variants here, all the models bringing in different amounts of snowfall. The reason for that is the position of the low f its close to the coastline youll get a lot of moisture here and talking about heavy amounts of snow. The second thing were watching is the freezing line, you see that colder air farther down to the south, youll see more snow because you wont switch from sleet into snow, start off earlier with the sleet. We have the blizzard watches in effect from friday afternoon through saturday afternoon, storm surges will be out there two to three feet, strong gusts out there. Keep in mind this isnt just boston, connecticut and rhode island. Look at the vast area affected by the storm, all of new england and even snow flurries out toward michigan, eight to ten inches is possible. Thanks for monitoring it for us, indra, thank you. John has a look at other stories making news. A developing story this morning, u. S. Secrets possibly exposed. Iran claims it has decoded and now released footage from a downed u. S. Drone. Man identified as a member of irans military narrated the black and white aerial footage as it was broadcast on Iranian State media, claims its a drone iran downed in 2011. Cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity of this video. We reached out to the pentagon for comment but we have not heard back yet. Drones will come up at a confirmation hearing for john brennan, the president s nomination for cia director. Hes expected the tough questions the use of drones to target americans suspected of terrorism. The president has agreed to release classified documents to two congressional committees outlining the legal justification for drone strikes that killed u. S. Terror suspects abroad. The grounded dreamliner 787 will fly again today, but for one time only. The faa okayed a onetime flight with no passengers from ft. Worth, texas, to the factory in everett, washington, to complete production on just one of the jumbo jets. The wall street journal says boeing is proposing a series of battery design changes it believes would help minimize the fire risks. We want to get back to live shots of the Prayer Breakfast in washington, d. C. , thats being held right now. People have arrived and they are obviously already at the podium. The president is set to speak any moment. It is the 61st National Prayer breakfast, the Vice President , joe biden, is there, the first lady, Michelle Obama is there, president obama as i mentioned it going to speak in a couple of minutes. 3,000 people in the audience. 140 countries represented. It is described as a nonpartisan event, and its described as a nonpartisan event. As i said described as a nonpartisan event. Explain to me, well take the president live as soon as he starts talking but what is the point of addressing this breakfast . Its interesting that hes doing this. Historically this is a breakfast organized by conservative religious leaders every year. President s have participated for a long time, every president has, usually speaks. The Fellowship Foundation, theyre conservative. A conservative religious organization and its important for government and religious leaders to have a dialogue but its gotten dicey recently because this organization that organizes the breakfast has been linked to the promotion of antigay laws outside the u. S. Especially in uganda. Theres a political process as well that were watching here, right . Its not just about talking to this particular organization. The fact that the messaging is important, too, its an opportunity for the president s to come and talk about faith in this particular forum. Its a little off, this Group Continued to sponsor controversy surrounding them but one of the few events in the spring of Spring Season of washington politicians, democrats and republicans getting together at these things that endures, and you have people from both sides of the aisle, usually talking and every year theres some controversy in the Faith Community with the president will we wonder is he going to bring out issue x and this year its gay marriage. Since he talked about his support for gay marriage back in may, he really hasnt most dramatically. But he hasnt been in a setting like this where he has an opportunity to speak to an audience that probably does not how likely how likely is that going to happen . I dont think hes going to do it. I think it would be great if he did but i think its too in your face. This is not the dialogue that they have. Given the fact this san audience that is listening to words about faith, the whole entire point is to speak about either your personal faith or issues of faith that are under discussion right now. What do you expect hell talk about . I dont think hell talk about gay marriage but this is a time where he has a platform to talk about equality for all americans, as a country weve been about equality. I think hell make that the focus. We know hes going to be referring to gay marriage that he wants that done in the next four years. I dont think, i dont know what he will address it head on but he will beat around the bush. Its generally very apolitical when president s talk at this Prayer Breakfast, its a time to talk about why faith is important in ones own life but very rarely do they get up there with an overtly political message and talk about the details of his agenda. Hell have the state of the union next week and had his inaugural address recently, this isnt the time where hes going to get into the details. The president talked about it being a great deal from being back before he was president , he had a proactive outreach to evangelical groups, groups that democrats dont normally go at. Brianna keilar, i want to bring you into the conversation and i want to warn you were live so when the president starts talking well jump in and take that live. Give me a little sense of what youre hearing will be his focus today. Reporter i agree with the panel. I dont think he will be so overt talking about his views on samesex marriage t would be very much in your face and i dont think this is the group that he would be trying to sell his views on samesex marriage to, so were not expecting him to necessarily try that. Youll hear him speak in broad tones about inclusivity, but that could mean a number of things. Its not that he hasnt jumped into the fray during this Prayer Breakfast. In 2010 he criticized that antihomosexuality bill being considered by ugandas legislature but i just think today we might not be hearing that. Last year he talked certainly in evangelical tones, talked about his personal spiritual experience how he wakes up in the morning, has a brae prayer, spends some time in devotion and scripture. That was fascinating to hear him talk about his own process, and also i have to tell you, soledad, something that just fascinates me as im watching this, and i see Jeff Sessions there at the podium, the sort of fascinating thing about this Prayer Breakfast is you have the president there with someone who is criticizing one of his nominees, so this is certainly an event that kind of brings some strange bedfellows together and were watching that play out right now on the screen. Thats interesting, because even in the bigger, if you widen out from the president and Jeff Sessions in the shot and you sort of look at the audience, it also is strange bedfellows, isnt it . This is a hostile audience. And sessions is one of obamas fiercest critics in the senate. Recently hes been going after obama on immigration, name the issue that obama has championed, session has been one of the leaders in the senate hitting him, one of the most conservative senators so i find these events sort of interesting. Theyre awkward. I was going to say theyre whispering to each other as we get ready for the president to come and take the podium, hes going to make his remarks. This is the National Prayer breakfast. 61st annual Prayer Breakfast, president s since eisenhower attended. Were expecting to hear from the president , as we continue to monitor it. Andre boticelli is singing. As we leave you with andre bow ticelli is singing, not lip syncing, were back in a moment, stay with us. Welcome back to starting point everyone. Top story this is morning well start with a shocking one out of kansas city, shocking discovery there, a teenager was found chained to a pipe in the basement, trapped there by his own parents as punishment. Police found the special needs teen after responding to a tip by a neighbor who suspected the abuse. Frail and skinny 17yearold told police hed been locked down in the basement since september. Three adults are in custody and the child is in the care of protective services. In just a few hours defense secretary leon panetta and general Martin Dempsey will testify at a Senate Hearing on the deadly u. S. Consulate attack in benghazi and libya. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton appeared before the senate Armed Services Committee Last month. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other americans were killed in the attack september 11th. The boy scouts say they need more time, put off potentially historic vote yesterday on lifting the national ban on gay members. The organization will take this up during their annual meeting in may. Tim geithner is shopping for a publisher. The former treasury secretary is planning to write a book, of course is he, about his handling of the 2008 financial crisis. Geithner came under fire for the bailout of the big banks when he was head of the new york fed. Hes hoping to have the book done by next year. Thats interesting, too, to hear a public announcement. Im shopping for a publisher. Lets take you back to the National Prayer breakfast, its the 61st annual, were still waiting for president obama to get up and speak, Chuck Schumer is now at the podium. Hes not a short speaker, senator schumer, who is my senator so i think as a constituent i get to say that. You all remember his nice but long address during the inaugural, he gave his own inaugural address before obama gave his. Oh, thats a tough cracker. Its a close call. Lets talk about the organization that is sponsoring this. We were talking about that just a moment ago. They have a very spotty track record certainly and its interesting that the president or really that people who dont necessarily agree with their agenda come every year and speak. Its almost as if hes coming to pay his respects. Its important there be a dialogue but as this group has become more extreme, and as the president has become a bigger, stronger advocate for equality their views are so dieia metrdiy exposed to each other. Do you think he shouldnt go . I think he probably shouldnt go. When every president since eisenhower has gone i think the message you send is negative. I disagree. I feel like this is as we say more about the tradition of it, not that either side is going to influence the other to change their mind about gay marriage, for example, but i think this is an instance where you remember that were all americans. We may not agree on everything so if you take away the traditional events we become more divided as a country. This group has become so extreme in their views that theres not like theyre out of the main stream. Its like theyre on the extreme right. Theyre going to become more extreme if you dont have events like this where you have the president at least give his point of view. But would you go to the convention of a hate group . I mean thats what theyve kind of become. They are sponsoring a bill in uganda that would provide the Death Penalty for someone who is gay. So youre saying a group that is that intolerant, how could they be the sponsor of an event ostensibly to bring people together. I think abby has a point, if you continue to do this you have polarized groups. There are groups on the left and right where groups absolutely completely disagree. Where do you draw the line . Soledad you wouldnt attend any group devoted to that if they had extreme views. First of all you know i love sitting in and taking notes when people are saying especially when im not invited because thats the best way to figure out what theyre talking about, what their agenda is, who their speakers are. When you dont bring cameras in you run the risk of a bigger problem but as to whether the president should go were talking about the president of the United States, not talking about myself or richard or soledad, would you go to this group or that. Youre talking about the president. Hes invited to talk about his position so i agree with abby on this. Girl power today this morning as we wait for the 61st annual National Prayer breakfast to get under way, were expecting to hear from president obama theyve told us 8 05 so running a little bit late. Well bring that to you live as soon as it happens. Well have a short break and hopefully come back with the president s remarks. 7 by switching to geico. They may even make you their best man. May i have the rings please . Ah, helzberg diamonds. Nice choice, mate. And now in the presence of these guests we join this loving couple. Oh dear. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Your doctor will say get smart about your weight. I tried weight loss plans. But their shakes arent always made for people with diabetes. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. And they have six grams of sugars. With fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger. Look whos getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. Welcome back, everybody. Happening right now, president obama is expected to speak any moment now at the National Prayer breakfast, its the 61st annual Prayer Breakfast, president s from eisenhower on have attended a series of speakers before though are taking the mike, a long series i should say. We were expecting to hear from the president about 20 minutes ago. These remarks though that he will make this morning are his first allegedly his first to i cant see from a distance his first remarks to a faithbased group since announced his support for samesex marriage which was back in may, right, so and then of course weve since then had his inaugural address, well hear from the state of the union next week. We get to White House Correspondent brianna keilar, following this event all morning long. Good morning, brianna. Reporter good morning, soledad. You were talking about the controversy on homosexuality and some of the measures it supported but one of the interesting things to point out is i wonder when people look at this prayer service, the National Prayer breakfast if they necessarily associate it with the group. I think a lot of people actually dont, they see it as kind of this sort of thing that is about more of the value of prayer or the value of religion and i do think thats one of the reasons why president obama continues the tradition going his fifth he year here. Theres something religiously for politicians its a common language, trying to bridge the gap between themselves and a number of americans. Weve heard president obama do that in past years in very real terms. Weve learned things about him. Last year we learned that he prays every day. He said he gets up in the morning, says a brief prayer and spends some time in scripture and devotion and obviously talking i think a lot in evangelical tones at the time you look at it in this event that, yes, its not supposed to be a political event, but it was in an Election Year where a number of normally, i would say evangelical republican supporters had questions about mitt romney and you saw president obama maybe able to seize this moment, so i think sometimes it serves a political opportunity. Sometimes it serves this sort of, serves as an opportunity for the president to reach out, and certainly at a time right now when hes dealing with some very divisive issues. Theyre doing a prayer, brianna for national leader, i want to dip into it. Who have served this great nation, your world tells us of king david whose willingness to place his faith in you during difficult times serves as an example for us all. Like david, there are many in this nation who have answered the call to serve, both in and out of uniform. Lord, we are thankful for their dedication, their passion, their perseverance, and for the families the support of their every effort. We continue to monitor the National Prayer breakfast. This is the 61st annual Prayer Breakfast and theres been a lot of debate thats moved to twitter, abby, about the comments you and i had whether or not the president should be attending every president since president eisenhower has atte attended this Prayer Breakfast. The group that is the sponsor of the breakfast has ties to legislation that is very, i mean i wouldnt even describe it what is the twitterverse saying . Some people agree and some disagree, how the twitterverse always goes. What if this was a Prayer Breakfast that sponsored a bill that think women should be killed. I think thats an interesting point. I think for the president there is an opportunity to have a platform to people who do not necessarily or definitely see eye to eye so he has an opportunity to say to that particular group. Brianna made a good point, most americans dont know enough about the Group Sponsoring this event. I had no idea this Group Sponsored it a few years ago. I thought it was a washington thing to be honest and a lot of people think that same thing. Ive been covering this group for years and only in recent years has it become a major issue of the coverage, and has this group actually gotten a little bit more coverage. Its frankly a Secretive Group that doesnt tell you about what they do and how they operate. Im surprised other groups havent come in. Anybody can sponsor a Prayer Breakfast. In fact the president , past president s, this president , president clinton, have had Prayer Breakfasts at the white house that are white housesponsored events, and theyve, when they do that, they make a special effort to have people from all religious denominations and religion is not intolerant. Many religions and many people who are leaders of religious groups who are very inclusive who support equality, support the president s positions down the line so there are many more progressive religious institutions, but this particular group is, has some political beliefs that are on the right of the spectrum in this country. Richard will you be disappointed if the president does not make a comment, does not address the controversy surrounding this group . Well i think if hes going to go, hes obligated to talk directly about the issues that he said in his inaugural address are important. How likely is that . Its unlikely but he could surprise us. I dont think hes going to get to the mike. The interesting thing is theyve got him and the first lady, captive audience. And so are we. And so are we and theyre going to talk about what is important to them while he sits there, as long as they possibly can. Believe it or not, there are other stories making news this morning and john berman has a look at some of the stories. The manhunt is on for a former Police Officer who may be armed and dangerous. Authorities in california say he is the prime suspect in the double murder of a cal state fullerton basketball coach and her fiance over the weekend. The suspect is christopher dorner, fired from the force five years ago for falsely accusing a female sergeant of kicking a man at a hotel. Its believed dorner may have committed the murders out of revenge. A winter storm is about to slam into the northeast. Parts of new england are under a blizzard watch. Two feet of snow, 30. 8 inches in massachusetts, a lot of the area will face freezing rain and damaging winds. A new fake version of avastin, one batch sent by a new yorkbased distributor contained no active ingredient. It is marketed as altuzan not approved in the u. S. The only approved version is avatin, it treats colorectal brain, lung and kidney cancer. Well take another look at the president , who is getting ready to make his speech at the National Prayer breakfast, well monitor this and bring the president s remarks to you live after this short break. [ woman ] ring. Ring. Progresso. Your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i cant stop eating em whats. That. On your head . Can curlers tomato basil, potato with bacon. Weve got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. This is whats happening now, looking at the National Prayer breakfast, the president is set to speak after a couple of speakers go before him. Is that ken salazar doing the prayer for World Leaders . Well bring you the president s remarks as soon as he starts to deliver them. First we bring in and welcome chief washington correspondent jake tapper. Man you followed for many years. I wrote a book about this one outpost combat outpost, it was built in 2006 and october 3rd, 2009, 53 u. S. Troops at the bottom of three steep mountains woke up to an overwhelming attack by the taliban, very smart attack, up to 400 taliban fighters and it seemed impossible and i asked clint rome romechier on monday who is going to be award the the medal of honor, what it was like to face these impossible odds. Throughout all of this, did you ever think this is it . Im not going to get out of here. Its like a fighter going into the boxing ring, you know, if you think youre going to lose before you even step into the ring, youve already lost. Youre there to win, youre there to fight, youre there to, you know, your brothers to your left and right are depending on you so you dont have that in you. When you talk about an overwhelming force describe to me what overwhelming is. Its the kind of thing where every time they opened a door to run out to deliver ammunition, a sniper would pick one of them off. There were five guys trapped in a humvee for hours, three men trapped in the mortar pit for hours. The first guy killed was running to a machine gun in the corner of the camp to return fire, killed. It was the deadliest day for the u. S. In afghanistan that year. Tell us about clint romersha. People throw the word hero around but hes the real deal. We talk about athletes and actors being heroes. This is a guy who is so humble about what he did and so eager to give credit to the men who were under him and so eager to talk about the eight men who didnt come home, it really came across in the interview and well, take a listen. Tell me why its so important to you that the enemy not get their hands on a dead american soldier. Why does that thought bother you so much . Because theyre ours. I mean to give closure to the family, you know, to have their son one more time. I mean, were not going to leave someone behind, never going to do it. Clint, youre so tough on yourself. You were braver that day than most of us can imagine being, and i can still hear it in your voice when you talk about, talking to sergeant breeding or talking to sergeant guyagos as if you failed that day. You didnt fail that day. Yeah, but its you know, i told them id be there. Like i said, my granddad used to teach me that you know when you tell someone youre going to do something, you do it. You know, your actions is what makes you, and i know im hard on myself, but you know it still hurts to tell the sergeant i was going to make it to him but i just couldnt. Wow. Wow. And thats just what comes across in the interview is just this sense of humility, the sense of brotherhood. Ive known clint now for more than two years and thats how he is in real life when the cameras arent there, just a very, very humble guy and the story is dramatic and moving and for me personally what was so inspiring is this is who we have in our military. These types of people, humble, willing to do everything for their brothers and sisters. Jake, the book is simply phenomenal. Its an unbelievable read and one of the things thats strike something there are so many heroes involved that day, so i guess my question is, for the other people at the unit, in the unit, what did they think of Staff Sergeant romensha being awarded the medal of honor . Theyre proud and excited and a bunch of them are coming in to washington this weekend to be part of it, some of the gold star families whose sons and daddies and husbands didnt make it home alive. Theyre happy. This is a team of guys who felt like nobody knew they existed, and they lost eight brothers and they still felt nobody knew they existed and now one of their own is being awarded the highest honor one can bestow upon a member of the military. I was going to ask what is symbolic about this medal . How many received it . Very few. Clint will be on monday the 80th living medal of honor recipient, and of the war in afghanistan, and iraq, those wars, six medals i believe have been given, but three of them have been given posthumously. Usually when people do what it takes to be given a medal of honor they dont survive. Running right into fire where people have died before they dont make it back. Incredible story. We should mention again his story is also in your book which you mentioned the outpost untold story of american valor and the documentary will air tonight . Tonight at 10 00 eastern, its called an American Hero the uncommon valor of clint romensha. Hes a great man and i think people will be inspired to hear his story. Well hang on before we get to other stories making news. Youre looking at ben carson speaking and cracking the audience up apparently. Were going to get, i think he is the last speaker before we hear from president obama and we are going to see what the president says. Just a moment ago you were saying he has an opportunity in front of this audience to say things that the audience would be not receptive to, but you doubt that hes i dont think, richard, he should take this time. You have to think about the time and place of where hes speaking and who hes speaking to. Why attend . Its a platform for him to speak about equality. He doesnt have to necessarily mention gay marriage which we all agree we dont think hes going to say but its a platform for him to, a, be under the same roof of those that disagree with him. I think thats a good thing, a good sign for the American People but i dont know, i dont think its the time and place to while were waiting for the. The because in a moment well be able to look at exactly what he does say. I want to take a moment to update stories were following for everybody. John . The manhunt is on for a former Police Officer who may be armed and dangerous. Authorities in california say is he the prime suspect in the double murder of a cal state fullerton basketball coach and her fiance over the weekend. The suspect is christopher dorner, fired five years ago, its believed he may have committed the murders out of revenge for the firing. The senate Armed Services committee postponed a vote on chuck hagel. The reason, republicans want more of hagels financial information, compensation for speechers the former republican senator gave after leaving office. Hagel appears to have enough senate to break a possible filibuster and ultimately be confirmed but again it has been delayed for now. Chris christie is furious after former white house aide said shes concerned his weight problem might cause him to die in office. Christies response to the doctor shut up he says. Jim acosta joins us live from washington. The governor quite blunt didnt appreciate it when the doctor was equally blunt, jim. No, i think, john, the governor would like a Second Opinion after all of this. Chris christie responded to a former white House Doctors warnings about the new jersey Governors Health calling the doctor as you mentioned a hack and telling her to shut up. It started earlier when the potential president ial contender appeared on the late show with David Letterman joked about his weight and took a bite from a doughnut, that concerned former white house physician Connie Mariano, who described his health as a ticking time bomb. At a press conference he took issue with the doctors diagnosis. She must be a genius. She should probably be the surgeongeneral of the United States because she must be a genius. This is just another hack who wants five minutes on tv, and its completely irresponsible, completely irresponsible. My children saw that last night. If she wants to get on a plane and come here to new jersey and ask me if she wants to examine me and review my medical history, ill have a conversation with her about that. Until that time, she should shut up. Christie was so upset dr. Mariano says the governor called her yesterday to complain about her comments. Must have been some call. Any sense of how it went . Dr. Mariano says the governor was clearly venting his frustrations but she says she has no regrets and heres what she told Anderson Cooper last night. Well, it was rather shocking to hear those things. I was in clinic so i did not hear his broadcast, but he used some pretty strong words there. Out of deference to him, im not going to comment on that but i can only share with you that that phone conversation when i think of it, the words gracious and appreciative do not come to mind. Christie said dr. Mariano is welcome to look at his health. The doctor offered basically the same deal, she said the governor is welcome to come to her practice in arizona for a full physical but based on their conversation she said its unlikely the governor is going to make that appointment. John i had a chance to have a conversation with dr. Mariano about all of this yesterday and she went back to her time advising president clinton. She was the white house physician for bill clinton when he was president of the United States and his own battle with the bulge, he was overweight, loved those big macs as people liked to point out back in the 90s and she used the same kind of blunt language with him that she used in our interview earlier this week and she says that she didnt mean any ill will towards the governor from new jersey. She just meant to offer that same kind of constructive advice to him in that same vain to help him. Soledad is weighing in here. The difference is that she was clintons doctor. I have to say and you know, i think Chris Christie is wrong on a lot of stuff and right on a lot of stuff but on this one, i feel his pain. Do you think that if a doctor a former white house physician is a hack as christie says . I dont think shes a hack. Do you think that goes too far . I think they both she should shut up . I understand him saying someone who never examined me who is not a doctor and goes public saying when my kids can hear that im going to die in office when she said she was worried he could die in office. I think he has a point in that and if you take a moment and say someone looking at you or youre covering a story, john berman im worried hes going to drop dead while hes covering the story your twin 5yearold boys are watching would make you mad. The boys are also hearing him say shut up to someone else. Is that being diplomatic . Shes saying if you are x weight the Research Shows if you are morbidly obese you have a higher chance of dying. Shes being pretty factual. I agree. I think it is inappropriate for a doctor who has not examined a patient to say im worried hes going to drop dead in office. Soledad this woman is the former, has a former Public Health official. Im sure shes qualified. You dont need to know too many more pieces of information to know his weight and age to know hes at a higher risk. Soledad youre wrong on this one, yes, youre wrong. Soledad youre wrong. Youre outvoted. What she claims rit and wrong is not a matter of vote, i think we all know that. Ahh. She claims this is the tough talk that worked with president clinton. He was her nt. I agree. She went on the cable news show and was asked what she thought about the weight. Its not like she ran to the nearest camera. She said im worried hes going to die in office. When asked about it. Chris christie telling people to shut up is his shtick. Of course. I never said he was a nice man or sweet. When he tells a female physician who worked at the white house to shut up and shes a hack. Agreed hes not one, hes mean about it and hes not, certainly not diplomatic, et cetera, et cetera. I agree hes wrong but she also should not diagnose and Say Something like that from a distance. And not couch it as in patients who i have seen who are morbidly obese, x, y, z happens. What good could come of this . Maybe colose a little weight . Let me tell you something hell have a heart attack if he gets excited about someone yelling at him. How youre raising your kids, you travel a lot. I bet your kids are i say you do not know me at all. Thats not the same thing. It completely is. You dont know my life and hes saying you dont know my numbers, you dont know how healthy or not healthy i am so refrain from saying things that have an implication. John berman is just sitting here. She needs his age and weight to know he is at a higher risk for certain she said i worry hes going to die in office. Its the way she said it. His weight and how old is he, this isnt brain surgery. I cannot believe that im defending Chris Christie in any way, shape or form this morning but you know, i understand his anger. I really do. Its how she said it, she came across disrespectful and so did he. I agree. Theyre both wrong. We all agree. We continue to watch the Prayer Breakfast. You have other stories you want to update us on . I do. I am no hack. Sticking by that. A state law maker from connecticuts Newtown District is calling for a sin tax on violent video games in the wake of the Sandy Hook School massacre. Republican Debra Lee Hovey is proposing a tax on m for mature for more education on violence. Steven spielberg had it wrong when he had two members of the house delegation voting against the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. Somethings wrong here. This just cannot possibly be correct. Thats a source of information a lot of people may never get any other source in terms of the history of the civil war or the 13th amendment. Courtney says he had written a letter to spielberg and asking part of the movie be corrected before lincoln is released on dvd and bluray later this month. So recognize that supermodel . Why, thats Soledad Obrien walking down the runway. Woo, woo at the red dress collection fashion dress. Im thinking oh, lord, please do not let me fall. You look gorgeous. A stunny cherry dress offtheshoulder dress. The event inspires women to get and stay healthy. How high were your feels . About five inches, impossible to walk in. They keep growing. No, theyre about five inches. How do you defend your heart health with defending Chris Christie . My heart health is probably considering my numbers the fact that im a diabetic, i this thyroid disease are issues that affect your health and heart health. I was going to say looking at you, you look beautiful and healthy, so skinny and healthy. You dont necessarily know somebodys Health Factors or health risks by looking at them. That would be my point. Unless theyre morbidly obese. But it was a great cause and women are at high risk for Heart Disease and other heart ailments. We can all agree you look healthy. We all agree. And i did not fall which was all i was aiming for. Did you have a fun . Once i was off the runway. Really high heels. Its scary. So you appreciate models. I appreciate them, they can really move. Were still waiting to hear from president by ma. He was supposed to speak almost 45 minutes ago at the National Prayer breakfast. Moving into National Prayer brunch. Were going to bring you the comments from the president. Ben carson is at the podium and hes the last speaker before we hear from the president , as soon as we hear the president s remarks well bring that to you live. Get ready for a lot more of that newplane smell. Were building the youngest, most modern fleet among the largest us airlines to ensure that you are more comfortable and connected than ever. We are becoming a new american. With the bing it on challenge to show google users what theyve been missing on bing. Lets bing it on. [fight bell ding, ding] how many here are google users . What if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results . Prove it. Lets look up some taco places. I like the left side. Yeah . Okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach . What side do you like better . I like the results on the right. Im gonna go with the one on the left. Oh bing won people prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. Pretty sweet, huh . Cute. But dont you have any apps on your phone that can make your life easier . Who do you think i am, quicken loans . At quicken loans, well provide you with myql mobile. This amazingly useful app allows you to take pictures of your mortgage documents using an iphone or android smart phone. So you can easily send them to us. One more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. Ooh, lala some breaking news we start with a developing story on a manhunt going on right now for a former Police Officer who could be armed and dangerous. Authorities in california say he is the prime suspect in a double murder of a cal state fullerton basketball coach and her fiance, those attacks happening over the weekend. The suspects name is christopher dorner, he was fired from the force five years ago after he falsely accused a female sergeant of kicking a man at a hotel. Its believed he may have committed the murders out of revenge for his firing. Going to get you back to the National Prayer breakfast now, happening right now in washington, d. C. , youre looking at ben carson, were expecting to hear the president who was supposed to speak at roughly 8 05 a. M. Eastern time, that deadline has passed by a little bit. Brianna keilar is monitoring this from the white house. Good morning. Reporter good morning, soledad. We expect we will be hearing him rather soon. I will say that, and as you have been noting, this is the first Prayer Breakfast, the National Prayer breakfast that the president has attended since changing his position on samesex marriage, a view thats very much in contrast to what the group, the Fellowship Foundation, that puts on this breakfast that they believe in. Thats an undertone going on here. We dont know if president obama will address this. We expect he wouldnt overtly but perhaps hell talk about equality or talk about inclus e inclusivity. I want to note, soledad, remember this is not the first time that hes sort of had this issue where hes happy to step around this sort of controversy. It was a couple weeks ago for his inauguration, the person who was supposed to give the benediction for his inauguration, louie giglio out of atlanta he had given an antigay sermon i think it was 10 or 15 years before, there was this controversy that surrounded that and he ended up pulling out of what is really an honor for a religious leader and instead it was a local episcopal minister from st. Johns Episcopal Church just across Lafayette Park from the white house who ended up giving the benediction. Its fascinating as you see these controversies that pop up at the moments where sort of politics and religion sort of come in close proximity to each other. What do we expect then to hear from the president . Our last couple of minutes as we wait for him to come to the podium, well see him when ben carson wraps up his remarks. Many president s have come to give their remarks since eisenhower forward. What do they use the platform for . Whats the point . Reporter it depends. Last year it seemed very obvious that he was courting some evangelical voters as he has done over the year and that was an area mitt romney could have been troubled by because a lot of evangelicals were skeptical of him and no doubt president obama was trying to win some of them over as he talked about his personal spiritual practice of praying and spending time with scripture each morning. Other years he confronted directly his opposition to an antihomosexuality measure in uganda that some accused the Fellowship Foundation of ultimately supporting, the Foundation Look issue with that, its really been a different chance each year, a different opportunity, a different goal but the overarching theme, soledad, is that its a chance for president obama to try to reach out to americans. Religion and politics is this unifying common language sometimes and i think thats what weve seen president obama do consistently over the years as other president s have done. As we monitor ben carson at the Prayer Breakfast and come to the end of our program we have a couple minutes so if you could draft the president s remarks today, im not going to start with you richard because i know where youre going to go but i will start