candidates. the response, huge. and komen bombshell. a huge shakeup at the breast cancer foundation, the president stepping down. the founder moving out of management. did planned parenthood funding change komen's focus from pink to green? and history on the track. an american breaking a record 44 years old. leo manzano bringing it in the 1,500 meters. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for carol costole this morning we begin with a political competition this morning called the veep stakes. and any day, we are expecting the answer to this very critical question. who will innit mitt pick? let's bring in cnn reporter. tim pawlenty. a familiar name on the trail, says he is honored to be considered but that 2012 is about more than mitt romney's number two. let's listen. >> the main issue here isn't the vp process or who's going to be the vp. the main issue is what do we do to get this country and economy moving again and provide jobs for people. and the vp thing will reveal itself soon enough. >> all right. pawlenty, rob portman, and now paul ryan all part of the speculation. is there a front-runner out there that you can reveal for us? >> i wish i could. fred, the only people who really know for sure are mitt romney, his wife, and beth myers. and they are not talking to me, you, or anybody else. they are very tight lipped on this. but l's talk about tim pawlenty on this. there is a lot of speculation about him. he ran against mitt romney last year for the gop presidential nomination. his name comes up a lot. and i think, you know, a lot of people think he would be a very good fit with mitt romney. also rob portman, the senator from ohio. here is another name that comes up a lot. and people consider both portman and pawlenty very safe picks, smart picks, that would not outshine mitt romney. of course, ohio is such a crucial battle ground state as well. and the other name that comes up, paul ryan, the house budget chairman from wisconsin. another important battle ground state. in fact, the "wall street journal" today their editorial page, and very influential with conservatives, they urged romney to go bold and choose ryan. of course, ryan known for his budget plan which conservatives loved. could be a problem with moderates, though, and independents. you heard pawlenty just a few minutes ago saying it's really not about the running mate. but what do americans think? here is a poll asking how important is that running mate choice. about a quarter of the people said, you know, it matters a lot to me. almost half said, the choice matters somewhat. and you can see at the bottom about one in four people said it really doesn't matter who the running mate is. it matters who is at the top of the ticket, not the bottom, fred >> but there is some importance on the timing of this. it seems like it's taken a long time. or perhaps not. we are just a couple of weeks away from the convention. >> timing does matter. we are 2 1/2 weeks away from the start of the republican convention in tampa. there's a lot of speculation on when. you look at recent years and cycles, and most of the picks came and the announcements came just before the convention. back in 2004, john kerry named john edwards about three weeks before the convention. that was the earliest. lately they have been closer to convention time. the olympics end on sunday. we are then two weeks away. mitt romney starts a four-day bus tour this weekend. we'll see, fred. stay tuned. >> we'll all be watching as you will too. thanks so much. paul steinhauser, appreciate that. president obama is agreeing with mitt romney on at least one controversial issue. both oppose the boy scouts ban on gay members. every u.s. president since 1910 has been the honorary president of the boy scouts. president obama did not comment on that point, but our carol costello talked to a former eagle scout about that issue. >> do you think president obama ought to remain the honorary president of the boy scouts? >> i think he should look at it after november and think about it. i think that there are bigger issues for the country to address right now. but i think it's something that he and other politicians who accept awards from the boy scouts should think very seriously about. >> and white house correspondent dan lothian is at the white house. joining us now. dan, what's with the timing of this matter? last week, the dnc ennidorsing marriage. are they related in any way? >> all of these announcements really play to the president's base. and you remember just back in may the president finally sort of evolved on this issue of gay marriage coming out in support of gay marriage saying that everyone should be treated fairly. and as you pointed out, it now seems likely that gay marriage will be part of the democrats platform in the upcoming convention. so again, this is something that plays to the president's base. and that's at least for democrats and for the president critical in this very, very tight race. but as you pointed out, you know, the boy scouts have been debating this issue for the last couple of years. but only yesterday did the president come out on this issue. while he was out in colorado campaigning, and actually the announcement was made in statement form by a white house official saying that the president opposes discrimination in all forms. while they went on to praise the organization as building character, as helping young boys. the statement went on to say that the president opposes this policy that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. so i think when you put it into the context of everything else that the president and the white house and democrats have been supporting, i don't think there was any surprise here, fredricka. >> dan lothian at the white house. thank you so much. all right. now let's turn to a major shakeup at a charity that has come to embody the fight against breast cancer. over the past 30 years, the susan g. komen for the cure foundation has raised nearly $2 billion. well, much of it through its signature pink ribbon events like race for the cure. but turnout has fallen since the group pulled its funding from planned parenthood. a national firestorm both for and against led to the funding being restored. alison kosik is here to break it all down for us. the group says the national outcry is not why its founder and ceo are leaving their posts, but clearly there is a lot of money at stake, isn't there? >> oh, you said it. there is a lot of money at stake, fredricka. and it's not just money in this. it's also the foundation's reputation at stake. think about it. for any business out there, the image that you project is extremely important. that's really what helps to drive your revenue growth. the "wall street journal" says that susan g. komen is already raising less money because of that planned parenthood controversy. and this management shakeup that's in the works right now could really wind up going either way. it could either throw another wrench into things or it could be a good thing. you know, the sign of a new beginning. now, nancy brinker founded the organization and she is stepping down when a successor is found. she'll stick around in a new management role. she'll handle revenue growth and strategy. now the president heather thompson is leaving next month and two board members as well. it looks like susan g. komen is cleaning house. but brinker told the "wall street journal" that these changes have nothing to do with the controversy over planned parenthood. she says this change is natural. fredricka? >> all right. thanks so much. i'm sure there will be much more that will be revealed in the coming days on this. alison kosik, appreciate that. the man accused in the colorado theater massacre is expected back in court in just about five hours today. but it will be the news media taking center stage, not defendant james holmes. major news organizations want the judge to unseal documents citing the public's right to know. so with us now we have a reporter outside of the courthouse. what type of documents are we talking about specifically? >> reporter: we're talking about the actual court ric fredricka, normally viewable by the public and the media, and that simply has not been accessible. the other thing that's really at stake here, what the media lawyers are saying, is that this is overreach by the judge. because what the judge did is not just take court documents under seal, but then asked that the documents related to james holmes at the university of colorado, that that also be sealed as well. so the media here is going to argue that there's no clear and present danger, that access here should become public and should become viewable by not just the press but also the victims of this community. >> so this is a difficult quandary for the judge, because the judge has to balance a defendant's right to a fair trial, and at the same time respect the fair freedom of information that would be compelled by this whole release of documents. >> reporter: he's got to listen to all of the arguments here. again, the media is going to say that there is no clear and present danger, that this is overreach by the judge. that this is an area especially when it comes to the university of colorado is usually falls under the colorado open records act. that this is something that normally people can get access to. and that's the way that the judge should behave. t what you're going to hear from the defense attorney as well as the prosecutor is that what they don't want is too much pretrial publicity, and that these documents can remain out of the public so that witnesses don't get tainted as well. >> and the prosecutors' argument will be that releasing this information might compromise the criminal investigation. but haven't police already said publicly that holmes acted alone, that they are not investigating other suspects? >> reporter: you're right. but what we're also expecting to hear is that what they don't want is that the court filings then affect witness testimony in a criminal proceeding. that maybe some of this information becomes public, and then that will affect witnesses and what their memory of the event is. so that's some of what we're expecting to hear as well. >> all right. you know, i'm going to ask you one more question. if the issue and the concern is about a fair trial, the court and the lawyers could do more. perhaps they could just stop talking and try and ask that there be this, you know, order that the media would be left out of it. there would be a gag order. >> reporter: there are a number of options before the court. and take a look at some of them. the court has several options. they could expand the number of people in the jury pool. the court could also allow for extensive questioning of potential jurors by the lawyers as well as seeking a change of venue if there's simply too much pretrial publicity. if the judge does see that and deem that, he could order a change of venue. so there are other options here for the court. >> lots on the table. thanks so much. appreciate that. his disappearance rattled a nation and has stumped police for decades. but today we may finally be closer to some answers in the landmark case. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you kn what? 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>> so pedro hernandez. when he is expected back in court? >> he is expected back in court in october. you will recall after he was arrested this never reached the grand jury stage. there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. but we do know he was being treated over the years for various mental disorders, and that he was -- they are doing a competency exam. that is not complete as i understand it. but he is due in court in october to go over some issues to see where the case stands and whether police are going to continue to move forward with it. >> all right. thanks so much, susan candiotti, for keeping us posted on that case. we're going to talk olympics coming up. u.s. women's soccer aiming for gold. the americans take on japan today in a rematch of last year's world cup. we'll take you to london for a preview. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her, it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew, into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ one cap of downy protects $200 worth of clothes. prove it to me. ultra downy softeners protect fibers. there's no comparison. nic. downy's pretty much saving our clothes. yeah, ultra downy saves loads. let's talk olympic games now. there's been a lot of back and forth with the name oscar pistorius. now apparently he is back in the race. the double amputee and his south african relay team are in the four-by-four finals. zain verjee is following the breaking news out of london. tell us about this appeal that the south africans won. it seems as though everybody was onboard for a long time, that pistorius could run. what's going on now? >> well, there's a little bit of drama going on, and we're trying to follow all the different angles and developments going on here, fred. basically, it was the four-by-400 relay that was going on at the stadium behind me. what happened is that there was some kind of collision between a south african runner and a kenyan runner. and the result of that was that the south african fell to the ground, and apparently dislocated his shoulder. so he stayed on the ground. everybody else ran ahead. passing the baton and doing the relay. and it was supposed to be handed to oscar pistorius, who was going to make history, even just running it. and he ended up just standing there, not getting it. he fell on the ground, sank to his knees, and put his hands on his head was just like, oh, my god, i can't believe this. then after the race, there was this big appeal by the kenyans and the south africans. we got a statement a short while ago from the jury of appeal, and they said that they advanced the south african team to the final even though they did not finish the race because they had, quote, been severely damaged in the incident with kenya. pistorius himself sent a little tweet out a short while ago and said, it's on. we are in the final. and we are in lane nine. so it seems as though the kenyans did something in that collision, and they were disqualified, and the south africans and oscar pistorius amazingly are now in the finals and has a chance to win a medal. >> that's an amazing second chance. it doesn't usually unfold that way. >> no, it doesn't. everyone was completely horrified. they didn't even get to see him run. he was so dismayed, he goes in another tweet, he wrote, i can't believe it. with everyone's support back home, i'm not even going to run. and then there was this 180, and this decision that was taken, that has him back in. so, yeah, we'll get to watch him run. >> that is very lucky to be able to advance to the finals even with that kind of collision. all right. let's talk about the u.s. women's soccer team now going for the gold. and kind of going out for revenge too. >> yeah. this is all about revenge, fredricka. i spoke to the press officer a short while ago who said that the u.s. team is feeling good, feeling strong, and looking forward to the game. they're going to be playing japan, who they lost to, back at the world cup in 2011. so they have got something to prove here. the u.s. team is very strong. they play a very direct game. the japanese like to keep possession and play a much more technical game. but if the u.s. wins, it would be five gold medals out of six olympic games. so we hope they win. and they only i think lost to norway in sydney. that was it. so the stadium at wimbley is packed. 82,000 people are going to be in that stadium, and that's the biggest crowd ever to watch a women's soccer/futbol match here in this country. >> that's going to be really exciting. >> where are you? you didn't call me. >> i'm so sorry that we couldn't catch up. i had no idea trying to keep up with my dad would be as busy as it was. but we were -- i did get a chance to see your post where you are, because we were sitting at one point just over your left shoulder there in the stadium. and so i at least kind of gave you a big shoutout and a wave, hey, zain, from afa but i'm sorry we didn't actually physically get together. you and i will talk later on in the next hour. >> i know you had more interesting plans than to meet up with me. >> well, i wouldn't say it was more interesting. i did want to get you in there, but it was interesting nonetheless. we'll talk again in the next hour. thanks so much. we'll find another opportunity to get together face-to-face, though. it will