shall be valid or recognized in this state." cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live in washington, d.c., this morning. boy, has this been playing out. we first heard the vice president joe biden. he says that he endorsed marriage equality and he is a roman catholic. how is this going to play out politically in washington? >> it puts president obama, in a way, in a bind because vice president biden and other top members of the administration has come out in favor of same-sex marriages. he does not. he supports domestic unions. but he does not support an amendment like the one in north carolina, which would prohibit rights for same-sex couples. what happens in north carolina now? this could have wide ranging impacts, and not just on same-sex couples but on male and female couples as well because it will prevent domestic partnerships in the future and any attempt at civil unions. north carolina also a battle ground state, a state that president obama won four years ago, he'd like to win again. it's where the democratic convention is going to be. will this hurt him? maybe. on the flip side, maybe it will wake up the supporters of same-sex couples and generate support come november. where will same-sex marriage be on the ballot in november? minnesota is going to have a very similar ballot to what we just saw in north carolina. and washington state as well will be vote to go ban gay marriage. both those states considered pretty safe for the president come november. >> we were having conversations about this on facebook and twitter yesterday. a lot of people said, really, remember this is about domestic partnerships and civil unions, not just same-sex marriage. it's a good point. thank you. indiana six-term senator richard lugar defeated yesterday. you feel bad for this guy. after dedicating 36 years to the senate, is he going to go out silently? >> it doesn't seem that way. he had quite a statement last night that he put out. lugar, of course, defeated by a candidate who was backed by the tea party movement, richard mourdock, state treasurer in indiana. six-term senator, longest serving republican in the senate. times have changed for the republican party, and he was opposed because a lot of his controversial votes in favor of t.a.r.p., some of the votes in favor of president obama's supreme court justices. take a listen to what he said in his concession speech in indiana last night. >> we are experiencing deep political divisions in our society right now. and these divisions have stalemated progress in critical areas. but these divisions are not insurmountable. i believe that people of good will, regardless of party, can work together for the benefit of our country. >> besides that speech, he also put out quite a statement. "bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle. one can be very conservative or very liberal and still have a bipartisan mindset. such a mindset acknowledges that the other party is also patriotic and may have some good ideas. it recognizes that national unity is important and that aggressive partisanship deepens cynicism, sharpens political vendettas, and depletes the national reserve of good will that is critical to our survival in hard times." four other moderate senators, those who are known to reach across the aisle, are retiring as well. it could be a different and even more partisan senate next year, zoraida. >> paul steinhauser, nice to have you at 5:00 in the morning. appreciate it. we'll see you at 6:00. four minutes past the top of the hour. we got new information for you on this story. the fbi investigating two different air scares to find out if they're links. here's what's strange. they were bomb threats. both against two southwest airlines flights from john wayne airport in california to sky harbor in phoenix last night. one of the flights was searched in california before takeoff. officials cleared everybody off the plane and brought in the bomb squad and the bomb sniffing dogs. and another flight was searched in phoenix after it landed. both planes were eventually given the all clear. drones, an undercover agent, and undetectible underwear bomb, the saudis in a search that is far from over. the story of a terror plot is still unfolding this morning. a former security official has now confirmed that the would be bomber in a thwarted plot to blow up a u.s. airliner was an undercover agent working with saudi arabia to infiltrate al qaeda. it was similar to the one used by the so-called underwear bomber in 2009, but it was much more sophisticated. over the weekend, a u.s. drone strike in yemen took out a key leader of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. fahd al quso, believed to be involved in this attack. but the bombmaker is still out there. anderson cooper was told all these leaks could actually jeopardize that search. >> i've been briefed on this. as far as i know, this isn't in any way declassified by the cia or the administration. it's really to me unfortunate this has gotten out because this could really interfere with operations overseas. >> that new al qaeda bomb is at the fbi lab in quantico for analysis. the mother and ex-wife of kidnapping suspect adam mayes are in police custody this morning. 65-year-old mary francis mayes and 30-year-old teresa mayes are now charged in connection with that abduction of joann bain and her three daughters. the sad fact is the body of the tennessee mother and her oldest daughter were found dead in mississippi over the weekend. authorities believe the two other young girls are still alive and with adam mayes today. his former sister-in-law spoke exclusively to cnn's anderson cooper about the suspect. >> if adam is guilty of these crimes, do you have any idea why he'd do this? >> no, i don't. i've known adam for at least 25 years, and he's always been weird and unusual -- and when i say weird, like listens to different type of music. he's just a different type of person all together, the whole family is. but i never dreamed he would do something like this. >> police and the fbi are asking for the public's help to track down adam mayes and those two girls, and they're offering a $50,000 reward for any information in this case. a wall of fire now threatening homes in los angeles county. dozens of people in the acton area forced to leave their homes. fire officials are working through the night to try to get to all those hot spots. so far, more than 120 acres have been burned. crews have now contained about 40% of the blaze. so far, no injuries have been reported. you'd better check your twitter this morning just to see if you are actually still in control of your account. hackers claim they broke into 55,000 twitter accounts and posted the passwords online earlier this week. twitter confirmed the hack attack did happen and said it was taking action but also kind of suggested that it was a weak attempt, pointing out that half of the accounts that were stolen were spam, were already suspended, and only a tiny percentage of the sites of 140 million active users. tell that to the person who got hacked who isn't a spam site. my advice to you folks, go change your password this morning just to be extra safe. >> good advice. this just in. gas prices are dropping. aaa just posted on their website the new national average for a gallon of gas is $3.75, down more than a cent over the past 24 hours. the price of oil is down about 9% in the past five days because of fears of an economic slowdown. so we should be seeing gas prices drop even lower over the next few weeks. don't kill the messenger. i put this out yesterday, and people upset at me. they're still high in my town. >> they're going after you for saying they're dropping. >> i put it out as good news. they're like, it's not good news for us. >> i'm trying to remember a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about almost $4 gas. did we get to $3.90 something? >> we were almost at $5 for a gallon of gas. >> christine romans is turning over at her desk saying, i can't get through to that banfield. we were right on the cusp of it and getting better hopefully. and then memorial day will come. sorry. buzz kill. nine minutes past 5:00. still ahead, snuggle with them, smuggle with them? seriously? wait until you see what screeners found stuffed inside an itty bitty teddy bear and a sweet little mickey mouse. we get it. your child's cute and gifted and you like to tell everyone online. up next, a new study on why we brag in general, but specifically on facebook. a party? 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usually, you don't hear people fighting extradition if they can get out of the horrible prisons. maybe the prison isn't that bad. maybe he's getting four squares a day. >> sounds like a field trip for you, ashleigh. >> it just did not sound good at all. >> a good friend at "in session" who's been in the prison says it's not a good place to be, and it shouldn't be. time for a good quick check on the weather. >> hope it's good, right? >> marciano, you have just said no to the tie. you are sticking it to the man. >> i just do what i'm told around here. that may change next week. >> your dresser told you not to put a tie on? >> looks good. >> my 3:00 a.m. stylist. i got a report out of noaa yesterday, if it felt warm this past year, you're not alone. for the lower 48, the last 12 months are the warmest on record here in the u.s. from january to april 2012 so far, that's the warmest start we've seen. april itself, the third warmest on record. the warmest 12 months on record. kind of like the tiger slam back then when he had all four majors, not in the calendar year, but in two years. it's warmth. rain front here slowly moving across the area, philadelphia, baltimore, d.c. all the big cities across the northeast are getting it this morning. that will slow you down on the roadways, maybe air travel as well. and across the south, it slows down a little bit. rainfall spreads out from the cumberland river to rio grande. thunderstorms will to hit san antonio now. that will be about it after several days of thunderstorms. here's where it is across the carolinas and parts of south georgia as well. temperatures will cool down behind this front, 61 degrees in chicago. 71 degrees with rainfall in new york city. >> thank you, rob. it is 60 minutes past the hour. time for our early read. start in florida. a florida woman eight months pregnant with her 16th child. >> what? >> there's more. >> that's the news. just stop right there. >> i'm not -- i am burying the lead. she was zapped with a stun gun by police. how about it? and it keeps on going. tampa bay online reports 39-year-old angel adams is accusing police of using excessive force, endangering her life and the life of her unborn child. the trouble started when police came to adams' home yesterday accusing her son of throwing rocks. adams claims the two officers forced their way inside without a warrant. there was a scuffle. she got zapped. police say adams, her son, and her 21-year-old daughter started the fight with the officers. adams and her daughter are both now charged with battery. >> one of the 16 children and adams charged with battery. we like to get those so hot off the presses, they haven't even hit the press yet. a houston grandmother says she got canned from work because she had cancer. this is the lawsuit. i'm not kidding here. the affiliate we're working with, ktrk, has this story. the woman's name is janet. she worked for the crowne plaza hotel. she was diagnosed with breast cancer five months after she was hired for that job. she consulted with her manager just before she underwent the treatment she had to do. eight weeks of missed work. then when she returned, she says it was just a matter of days before the hatchet came down and she was fired. she's now filed an official employment lawsuit for employment discrimination. crowne plaza says, sorry, she was fired for other reasons unrelated to the illness. we're glad to report she is now cancer free, does have a new job. this one will either be battled out in court or come to some kind of settlement. there we go. that's the claim on both sides. >> reminds me of the story yesterday, the woman who had shoplifting so long ago, and she got canned. two lawsuit ins a row, i would imagine. >> but, again, this happens so often. when somebody makes that response to a discrimination lawsuit like that, they both have to put out their details, and it all comes down to the evidence, don't it? a new study reveals we're all just a bunch of narcissists. >> i knew that. >> "the wall street journal" breaks down this research. harvard scientists found volunteers were willing to give up free money to talk about themselves instead of answering questions about other people. it wasn't a lot of money. i have to qualify that. that could explain why sites like twitter and facebook are so popular. 40% of our speech is devoted to telling others what we think or what we feel. and brain scans show that ta talking about ourselves triggers the same sensations of pleasure as food, money, or sex. did you know that? >> i just know those pictures look like sushi. they don't look like brain scans to me. for an expanded look of all our top stories, head to our blog at cnn.com/earlystart. there's lots of stuff there i'm sure you'll enjoy. mark zuckerberg, a dropout in a hoody making a pitch to wall street investors. he's not even close to being the most successful dropout ceo. christine romans has a list that may surprise you. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself, and so college was a dream when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. pop in the drum of any machine... ♪ ...to wash any size load. it dissolves in any temperature, even cold. tide pods. pop in. stand out. 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[ sneezes ] ♪ [ camera clicks ] ♪ it's hard to resist the craveable nature of a nature valley sweet & salty nut bar. we are minding your business this morning. lots of buzz about mark zuckerberg as his company facebook tries to gather up new investors for its ipo. everyone on wall street -- >> there he is. he's the most famous guy in -- >> in a hoodie. they're taking a look at his credentials. one thing he doesn't have is a college degree. he dropped out of harvard after he started facebook. >> he's not the first ceo of a tech organization that dropped out. listen, christine, before we even go there, i've got to look at these pictures and just ask you -- >> that was a couple days ago. >> i get it. that's his thing. that's his image. he's always in a hoodie. he never puts a tie on. this was a really big deal, and i think it was offensive to some. >> he was going to talk to investors to woo them for the ipo in his company. he's wearing a hoodie. he dropped out of harvard, started facebook from his college dorm, was going to wear a hoodie. some analysts said it showed a little immaturity. this is a guy in the big leagues, most famous college dropout. maybe the second biggest college dropout. steve jobs is the biggest. >> bill gates. >> there's another. these are guys that are changing our lives, and they didn't learn this in college. i want to talk about steve jobs, reed college, only there one semester. apple's steve jobs. do you know what? he went back to actually audit a calliography. he went back to reed college for that. no tech reasons.