of congress, we're examining the facts and looking at the odds of it actually happening. heat and high water to tell you about this morning, the northeast sweating through the start of the summer and flash floods wiping out roads, bridges and even a zoo. big moves on the gridiron, congress deciding if it was investigate the bounty scandal and the potential playoff system and our get real, joe the plumber suggests that gun control is what caused the holocaust as he shoots a tomato. we have a packes show this morning and sylvia garcia will be with us and congressman elijah cummings will talk to you about the holder contempt vote. it is thursday, june 21st and "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody, the starting

point, partisan politics and a sitting u.s. attorney general cot in the cross fire. eric holder is in copenhagen this morning. yesterday a house committee voted to recommend citing him for contempt of congress for not turning over documents from that botched fast and furious gun operation. you will remember that program allowed guns to end up in the hands of mexican drug cartels and is connected to the death of at least one u.s. law enforcement officer. those documents are now off limits to republicans and everybody else because the president has invoked executive privilege to keep them under wraps. it brings us to joe jons live from washington, d.c. this morning. good morning. >> good morning, soledad, the contempt issue moves to the full house of representatives as early as neck week. holder is the first obama administration official to be held in contempt by congressional committee. the point man on all of this for the republicans, of course, is chairman darrell issa. he talked about what he wants from the justice department.

>> it is my position of the committee that if we're given the documents we have been seeking, that i will ask for there not to be a vote on the floor. our direction has always been not about any one individual but about in fact the documents required. >> it is also the obama administration's first assertion of executive privilege. holder responded to the vote in the committee just yesterday. he said i met with chairman issa to offer additional internal department documents and information that would satisfy what he identified as the committee's single outstanding question. unfortunately chairman issa rejected all of those efforts to reach a reasonable accommodation. instead he's chosen to use his authority to take an extraordinarily unprecedent and unnecessary action intended to invoke unavoidable conflict. what happens next, a vote on

contempt in the full house would be next assuming there is no negotiated settlement which is typically what happens in these cases. after that, it will be referred to of all places the united states attorney for the district of columbia who works for the justice department headed by attorney general holder. very unlikely the justice department would agree to prosecute their own attorney general. that throws it all into the courts and if they don't get an agreement they could go on for years with this. >> joe johns updating us there. thank you, joe. appreciate it. right to christine romans with a look at some of the other stories making news this morning. i want to remind everybody we're going to be talking more about that particular store with elooij acummings, my guest in just a moment. >> let's talk about the brutal heat wave striking the northeast. temperatures expected to break records again today. meteorologist rob marciano here with the details. >> off to a fast start already,

82 in the big apple and doesn't include humidity. humidity does not allow your body to breathe basically. temperatures yesterday were records, 97 in boston, 99 today maybe, and 94 central park, 99 expected today, so we'll be a couple degrees warmer today. if you thought yesterday was hot, today even hotter heat advisories and warning for ten states across the northeast. there is a little bit of relief coming but really not until late tomorrow and really not until saturday and sunday. there is a slow moving front and huge rain in duluth and cooler and dryer air in chicago. the next two days or day and a half across the northeast will be brutal. >> you mentioned duluth. in minnesota it wasn't heat but high water roaring through the streets leaving a seal on the road. torrential over night flooding in duluth forcing the evacuation of low lying homes and even zoo animals. workers safely recovered two seals and a polar bear that managed to escape and the water wiping out a bridge and all of that softening up the roads and

on opening up a sink hole that swallowed a car. no reports of serious injuries. a live report next hour. closing arguments less than two hours away in the child sex abuse trial of jerry sandusky. the defense rested yesterday without calling the former penn state football coach to testify. he is accused of sexually abusing ten boys over a 15 year period. the jury is expected to begin deliberating after today's closing arguments. after refusing to accept his resignation in april, city managers have fired police chief bill lee. he came under fire for his handling of the trayvon martin shooting after deciding not to arrest gunman george zimmerman. the interim chief will remain on the job while searching for a replacement. middle school kids brutally aharassing and bullying a school bus monitor so bad they made her cry. one of the students posted the disturbing video online. >> oh, my god, you're so fat.

>> you're fat. >> you're so fat. >> oh, no, look. >> oh, my god, your glasses are fogging. >> that's funny. >> why is there water on your face? >> i am crying. >> the relentless bullying went on for nearly 10 minutes. karen kline, a hearing impaired grandmoth grandmother, has worked for the school district for 23 years. support for kline pouring in from all over the world. a website is raising if unds to send her on vacation and so far raised more than $100,000 and all of the children who were doing that taunting have been identified and even the police have been called in now to take a look. >> it is so brutal to watch that entire thing. it goes on for ten minutes. they're awful, awful, awful, really words don't describe it accurately. thank you for the update. back to the top story this morning, attorney general eric holder could be held in contempt of congress after a party line

today by the house oversight committee. the recommendation goes to the full house. congressman elijah cummings is the ranking democrat on the house oversight committee joining me. nice to see you as always. did you know before it happened the president would assert his executive privilege in this case? >> we knew about a half an hour before it was done. >> you were not surprised it came as a surprise to a lot of people. what do you think about the president doing that? >> i thought the president had no choice. first of all, this is a situation that could have been avoided if the republicans had been a little bit reasonable. he had no choice. these were dlib ra active documents that all attorney generals have held close and not released. this attorney general released about 1,000 of those documents voluntarily, and mr.i issa wantd more and more. as the attorney general said in the meeting last friday, this is

his watch. he had to do what attorney generals have done overall the years that attorney generals have been in existence, that is protect the office, and basically that's what the president did. he had to inject himself into the process. >> congressman issa said that eric holder told him the other day it was about embarrassment. take a look. >> there has been a tendency on the part of this administration to try to hide behind executive privilege. >> my apologies, sir. that obviously is not the right clip. do we have that, guys? this is chairman issa. i will read it he said i can tell you he told me just last night that many of these documents he was willing to have us obtain if we agree to settle the case would be very embarrassing. you were in that meeting. is that correct? is that what eric holder told him? >> i didn't hear that. i did not hear that. again, chairman issa said several things that i didn't hear in the meeting. i was there the entire time.

i think clearly this was a situation where attorney general has cooperated to the nth degree and the only thing he asked for is that we come to some type of conclusion with regard to this contempt situation and again what this happened yesterday was extreme, soledad. understand in all of the years in existence of the congress no attorney general has been brought up for contempt in the house, and basically i think you have once again the far right of this party pushing and pushing and i just find it extremely alarming that we have gotten to this point and it is very unfortunate. >> there are republicans that would say asserting executive privilege is an indication that maybe the white house was involved. is that how you read it? >> not at all. i think this is a situation where this president has done what presidents have done for years, and again, it seems as if

when he does it, or when eric holder does what attorney generals have done, suddenly it is a major criminal case and has to be taken to the floor of the house. keep in mind back in the 1990s janet reno was voted for contempt in a committee but even newt gingrich said, no, we cannot take this to the floor of the house, so this is -- we are seeing the far right operating at its very best. >> president obama is not the first president to use executive privilege as you well know although this is the first time he is claiming it. when president bush used it for his sixth time, the president obama then a senator said he talked about he thought that it was about coming clean, not to use executive privilege because the people deserved to hear and it was about coming clean. sounds like he is contradicting himself in that position now that he is not a senator and he is the president. >> not at all. we have a situation here, keep in mind what i just said.

this attorney general voluntarily released 1,000 pages of deliberate communications. that's unprecedented. in other words, he bent over backwards to give the republicans what they want. understand, this is not about the facts. this is about politics. anybody who looks at this knows that. the chairman made up his mind and this is the result that i guess he wanted and now we see where we are. again, this could have been avoided, just if the chairman had been the least bit reasonable. >> elijah cummings is a congressman democrat from the state of maryland. nice to see you as always. appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. >> still ahead on "starting point," mitt romney facing a latino test. can he win over hispanic voters? we'll talk to the president of the national latino group he will be speaking to today. get real this morning going to joe the plumber, he is really tying gun control to genocide? he liked the island so much,

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back to "starting point." minding your business this morning, the fed chief says the u.s. economy is slowing down. the fed expects the economy to grow at a rate of 1.9 to 2.4% this year, down from 2.9 and the unemployment rate is expected to be higher than first thought, between 8 and 8.2%. the fed chief also announced the extension of the fed's operation twist stimulus program and extend that to the end of the year and it wasn't enough to give the markets a boost. the fed's warning is mushing markets lower worldwide. u.s. stock futures are trading lower and dow down about 30 points now. the third richest man in the u.s. just spent a small chunk of his billions on a tropical paradise get away. he bought his own hawaiian island. he is the ceo of tech company

oracle and he purchased 98% of lenai island, also called pineapple island. local reports say it cost him around $600 million. it is beautiful. you can see it from maui. it is one of the treasured hawaiian islands. >> that is quite nice. reminds me why i should have been a billionaire. i, too, could buy my own island. cross that off the list of things possible. >> not on the shopping list. >> darn. >> thanks, christine. appreciate it. it is one of the most anticipated supreme court decisions that could shake up the 2012 presidential race. today the high court could rule on arizona's immigration enforcement law. the court issue, do states have the power to enact their own immigration policies. it could come as president obama and mitt romney try to court the u.s.'s estimated 12 million hispanic voters. they're both going to be addressing the national

association of latino elect and had appointed officials in orlando or naleao and the president is expected to speak tomorrow. that brings us to sylvia garcia. thank you for talking with us. i know naleo is non-partisan and you're a democrat. what do you want to hear from the candidates as they address your organization? >> good morning. it is great to be here in the sunshine state to kick off the convention and we're all anxiously awaiting both the president and governor romney. governor romney will speak today and we're going to sit and listen and hope that he does address all the issues that really impact latino families and latino communities throughout this country. >> so give me some of those issues. obviously what people i think often point to is immigration. i think if you look at the actual polling, latinos vote on issues like the economy and other issue that is people who are not latino also have on the top of their list. how important do you think

immigration will be to both of these candidates if you will and the president and mitt romney? >> well, you're absolutely right. it is more than immigration. i think that the thing that probably is in everyone's mind in the latino community is just like all americans, the economy, about having good jobs and that keep families together and also about access to health care and to health insurance. it is also about a good system of education, and of course as you mentioned it is also about immigration and full comprehensive immigration reform. >> let's talk about that. you know well about the president's plan for young immigrants and young illegal immigrants in this country. do you think what he has done over the last week will be significant enough to pull more voters to him? >> well, i think it was a very important step. it was very significant, particularly for all of our students, our dreamers who have been dreaming about this day and it came and it was a very

monumental step for us. we also recognize that the pathway to citizenship and full immigration reform is still a battle that continues, and we will work with the administration. we will work with the department of homeland security to make sure we find something that works and that works to make sure that everyone does have a pathway to citizenship and that we take people out of the shadows all over this country. >> mitt romney has been a little unclear about whether he supports a policy. i will play you a chunk of a standard answer he has been given when pressed about t let's listen. >> it would be over taken by events if you will by virtue of my putting in place a long-term solution with legislation which creates law that relates to these individuals such that they know what the setting will be and understand just for the term of the president but a permanent basis. >> with regards to the law and the capacity to do what's been proposed or what he has asked the department of homeland security to do that.

it is something we'll let the lawyers and i presume it will be challenged in the courts determine. >> he hasn't exactly said, yes, i support the policy or, no, i think the policy is wrong. do you think that will have impact that he gets from naleo today? >> i think that is the number one question this morning. we were advised by the campaign that he is going to use this opportunity to clarify his position. it has evolved and we know he had a rough primary and we're anxious to see what he says. i think everyone will be at the lunch today with great anticipation to see what he says, not only about full comprehensive immigration reform but particularly the dream act and the policy change of last week. >> sylvia garcia is the president of naleo joining us this morning. nice to have you. thanks for being with me. i appreciate it. >> sure. thank you for having me. >> you bet. still ahead on "starting point" a big change coming to college football, winning a national championship could literally be a whole new ball game.

and say it ain't so, joe the plumber is comparing gun control to one of the greatest atrocities in in history. is it time for him to get real? the starting point team is heading in. we have celeste joining us and margaret hoover as well and will cain and we always start with margaret's playlist, shiny happy people. are you shiny and happy today? >> yes, as always. [ woman ] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea. support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪

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point. a big change for college football, the ncaa's top athletic conferences proposing a four-team playoff system to determine the national college football champion. they'll make the presentation to bcs officials today in washington. if approved, the playoff system would begin in 2014. commissioner roger goodell meeting with dick durbin of illinois to talk bounties. the nfl boss taking steps to stop the controversial practice saying he established an anonymous tip line where players can report problems and a new seconds covering bounties has also been added to the player's handbook. >> the bounties are not a part of football. we don't believe they should be part of sports. we have taken very strong action to make sure they're not a part of sports going forward and that the integrity of the game and the safety of our players is paramount. >> senator durbin says the league's actions have convinced

him to put aside plans for a congressional hearing and possible legislative action. coming up, tiki barber will tell us if he thinks they're going far enough. lebron james has the first time to win a championship as they take on the finals. the championship is tonight in front of the home crowd at american airlines arena. soledad. >> yay. i am dying to see this game. i can't wait. i can't wait. go, team. how much money did we put on this. >> like a dollar, i think. >> that's true. i only bet a dollar. i really only do dollar bets. that doesn't mean it will not moral authority when i win. >> what you always won, the hand. >> yes. >> full year of rubbing it in. >> i agree. this better work out. other members of our team this

morning, margaret hoover is with us, the author of american individual lichl and celeste headlee. let's talk about joe the plumber. no, he is not gone. he is back. >> he is running for congress. >> you remember his real name is samu samu samuel wurzelbacher and here is what he is saying in the new campaign video. listen. >> in 1939 germany established gun control. from 1939 to 1945 6 million jews and 7 million others unable to defend themselves. >> i love america. >> okay. so he is linking nazi gun control to the holocaust and the death of 6 million jews and now the national jewish democratic

council demanding he apologize and he is disrespecting the millions killed in the holocaust and he is not saying it caused the holocaust but he does quote hitler in a tweet. he wrote that his agenda would not be possible unless the people were disarmed and goes onto say facts, liberals, hate them and ignore them. >> samuel, samuel, samuel, and his campaign spokesperson weighs in and says blacks couldn't own guns in the south during slavery. >> it is problematic when you make the extremely volatile comparisons and saying later no, i wasn't saying that. it is not a good idea. could we just declare a rule, stop talking about what caused the holocaust or slavery. >> and connecting it to your local political race ever, ever. >> jon stewart says stop calling me hitler except for hitler. >> i i agree.

>> probably we need to come up with the rule it is not a good idea. >> would you draft it and we can run it through congress. >> 140 characters at a time. >> you know, joe is a student of history. he didn't say a good student of history. he just said a student of history. still ahead this morning on starting point, the nra pushing lawmakers to find attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress in connection with operation fast and furious. we'll talk to nra executive vice president wayne la pierre and a few drinks during pregnancy, okay or is it not? i fully support that by the way. here is celeste's playlist, dean martin. really old school. [ male announcer ] knowing your customers is important to any successful business. which is why at wells fargo, we work with you to get to know the unique aspects of your business. we can recommend financial solutions that can work for you

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1. he is trailing by 42 points. can we expect romney to talk immigration? >> yeah. that is a safe bet, christine. the romney campaign held a

conference call with reporters yesterday. he said momt will be making news today and talking about a few new things is the way they described it on immigration and the reason why that is happening is because mitt romney is carved out a pretty conservative hard line stance on the issue and as you mentioned a few momenting ago he is trailing president obama among latinos by a wade margin no matter what poll you look at. he is trailing by a significant margin among hispanic voters and there is a reason why. they will say it is because of some of the positions he has taken on immigration and take a look at the examples that came out during the campaign of where mitt romney stood on some of these issues. he vowed to veto the dream act. he opposed tuition breaks for the children of undocumented workers who may be in college at that time. he also advocated what he called self deportation, meaning people in the country illegally should go back to their country of origin and the country should

design and craft laws to encourage that kind of self deportation, but then came what happened last friday when the president came out and announced a new policy on the deportations of very young undocumented immigrants in this country, people in college, in high school, in the military, and that caused the campaign to reassess things and mitch mcconnell, the top republican in the senate was asked about this, why haven't many republicans in the senate taken a position on what the president has had to say and he basically said that a lot of republicans are waiting to see what mitt romney has to say later on today. >> i think we'll wait until what governor romney has to say on the issue. there may be others that want to address it, but my view is he is the leader of our party from now until november and we hope beyond and we're going to wait and see what he has to say about it and be happy to respond to that at that point.

>> go. >> jim acosta with audio problems there. he is at the naleo conference and we'll have news when it happens. in washington decision day for the supreme court. the justices today could issue the opinion on constitutional challenges to the affordable health care act in the controversial immigration law. if they don't really today monday will be the next day to watch. the justices heard arguments on both topics earlier this year. a non-profit released the first ever hospital safety score that grades hospitals from across the country and let's just say you will want to live in massachusetts maybe. that state ranking number one with 76% of hospitals getting an a. maine was next on the list and the other states vermont, illinois, tennessee, and some doctors criticizing the study saying the grades are flawed. have you ever seen a pregnant woman taking a drink, a

woman in a bar and you cringed? a new study out of denmark found that drinking alcohol while pregnant may not be as dangerous as originally thought. it suggests that drinking one to four drinks a week and even five to eight drinks a week might be okay. however, the study has a few caveats and not show be taken as a free pass to drink while pregnant. bottom line, still no definitive answer on how much is too much and a lot of obgyns are caution on this. a california judge ordered halle berry to pay $20,000 a month in child support. last april he asked a judge to award him 15 to $20,000 a month to cover housing costs and other expenses and he says he wants the four-year-old daughter to remain in the kind of surroundings to which she has become accustom when had they stays with him. >> that's serious money. thanks, christine. appreciate it. the national rifle association is putting pressure on lawmakers to find attorney

general eric holder in contempt of congress. the oversight committee voted to site holder in concept and the issue is expected to go to the full house next week. the nra said it would be scoring the vote and in a letter to members of the committee this week, nra executive director chris cox wrote this, the reason we support the contempt resolution is the same reason we first called for attorney general holder's resignation more than a year ago, a program that cost lives in support of an antigun agenda. holder is accused of withholding document from the botched fast and furious program and that program let guns fall into the hands of mexican drug cartels and were used eventually in the death of a u.s. border parole agent. wayne laperriere is the executive vice president of the nra and joins us this morning. thank you for talking with me. based on the letter i assume you would like this to go to a full vote in congress and you would like to see the attorney general held in contempt.

is that right? >> yeah. we want the truth out. something must stink to high heaven in these papers for the administration to be willing to walk into this briar patch kpx. executive privilege is the last gasp of a coverup. what are they hiding? we need the truth. it looks like the only way we'll get it is if we proceed with this contempt. i think the attorney general ought to resign. i think they ought to be a special prosecutor to tell you the truth because a coverup is a crime. >> you called for his resignation before. if it is a coverup, have you seen in the past other presidents using executive privilege, so maybe some people who would side with the strgs on this would say it is not about a coverup, it is about politics and purely politics, exhibit a, the vote along party lines in the committee. >> it is about politics. it is about the politics of this administration. i believe what this is about and why they won't release these

papers is what fast and furious was about was a political attack on the second amendment of the united states, to heck with some botched sting operation. the fact is that that's what the administration is trying to hide. that is what they don't want people to find out. the president wants to lead people to believe he is not attacking the second amendment. i believe these papers will show that they were doing everything to attack the second amendment and the gun and hunting states are going to decide this election, and this administration cannot afford that out before the election. >> hold it there for a second while i talk to my panelists here. you're shaking your head no. is what he is saying not true. >> obviously i have no idea what's in the document that is eric holder is refusing to hand over, but there are documents that legally because of confident agreements you can't just release. there are legal protections for people within a government office that allows them to talk freely inside an agency otherwise it could have kind of a chilling effect on the frank

and honest discussions. >> that certainly is the administration's position as they try to explain why the president is calling for a presidential privilege on this. let me ask you a question. the goal of gun walking, both under president obama and under president bush is to track down those ak-47s and other weapons making it into the hands of the high level drug cartel members. you said in a letter the program cost lives in support of an antigun agenda. i would assume that you would be against having guns in the hands of mexican drug cartel members, right? >> absolutely. let me make the difference. it is not being said between what president bush was doing and what the obama people are doing. what president bush was doing with a small number of guns, is they informed the mexican government they were tracking the guns. what the obama people were doing is they had a massive communication effort to sell the american public that 90% of the guns the cartels were getting were coming from the united states. that was not true.

yet this program sure made it seem like it was true. after all said and done, they ran thousands of guns to the cartels. they have no prosecutions. they didn't keep track of the guns at all as to where they weren't. they had a massive campaign with this whole phoney 90% thing to manipulate public opinion and they were ruining the lives of honest gun dealers in the united states letting the american media write stories saying gun dealers like bill carter in georgia, i mean, in texas, were dirty dealers and ruined their lives when they knew the truth. >> so because of the attorney general does not support gun rights in the way that you support gun rights, do you believe that he should be held in contempt, sounds assist if that's what you're saying. >> after all is said and done, what this administration did is with thousands of guns in the hands of the cartels and didn't keep track of anyone. we never even would know about it if brian terry hadn't been killed. it would still be going on today and to try to get the truth out

of the attorney general is like pulling teeth. you get a cloudy coverup and when he does say something, rather than tell americans to fear the mexican drug cartel who is are a real threat, they still try to make americans fear their second amendment freedoms, and i believe the american public is choking on it and we need to know the truth. >> wayne lapierre is the executive vice president for the nra. thank you for your time. >> thanks. >> still ahead on "starting point" a pullying victim speaking out. not a teenager. we're talking about a 68-year-old grandmother of six reduced to tears by kids on the bus she was monitoring. we'll show you that awful video coming up. a senator says he is convinced the nfl crackdown on bounties but is it realistic? we'll get a view from tiki barber, our guest. you're watching starting point. when you have diabetes...

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have you seen this entire videotape? oh, my goodness, it is so awful and so upsetting. a 68-year-old grandmother being bullied and brought to tears by kids. her name is karen kline. she is a bus monitor for the greece central school district, relentlessly tormented by middle school kids. it goes on for ten minutes. here is a tiny portion. >> fat [ bleep ]. >> look at that. >> what size is your shirt. >> unless you have something nice to say, don't say anything

at all. >> it is beyond the fat insults and the threats start getting violent. take a listen. >> [ bleep ] pull it out. >> fat. >> pull my knife out right there. >> if i stab you in the stomach my knife would go through like butter. what is your address? [ bleep ]. >> take a crack at the mouth. >> [ bleep ]. >> come to your house and steal everything. >> it goes on like that and on like that and on. in the middle of the ten-minute clip they start touching her like touching her ears and poke her with a year book and it seems like a lot of it started when they wanted to take a look at the class year book and the worst comes at the end of the tape and what one kid tells karen, this bus monitor.

>> you don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you. >> so you can see her face gets sort of stunned and she starts looking down and that's where the tape cuts off. what they may or may not know is that her son took his life. he did kill himself ten years ago. now she lives alone. anyway, it is literally one of the most horrific things i have seen and the schools said it tracked down the kids on the tape and will be disciplining each bully and referred the incident to the cops and karen says that support is pouring in. this website, you know, sending her funds. >> a guy just set it up. he saw this on the web and it is interesting to me that in this particular case you can almost make the argument it is the triumph of social media over evil. one of the kids posted this on the facebook page and another person said i don't support this and i am putting it on youtube and it went viral and it led to all the support. >> the goodness came out once kids were removed from the situation. this is less about bullying and

much more about lemings to me, scared little lemings following each other into ugliness and one upping each other and very few things make me angry but this gets me angry and shows a total lack of individualism or bravery around every little punk around there. >> it should be a >> how incredible, exactly that, technology has become the sunlight that can be the disinfectant for bad behavior. >> $116,000 is what it's up to now. >> from all over the world. >> you can go on and contribute. >> and you'll have a $100,000 vacation. >> she is doing a family cruise or something. it's such a sad thing, i think. still ahead this morning on "starting point," former nfl great tiki barber will join us weighing in on the bounty scandal. is the league going far enough to prevent bounties on players? there he is joining us. hi, tiki. we should have your play list, man. ♪ look at the car!

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congress will no longer hold planned hearings into the nfl bounty scandal. instead, nfl commissioner roger goodell has promised to handle the problem internally. >> bounties are not a part of football. we do not believe they should be part of sports. and we have taken very strong action to make sure they are not a part of sports going forward. and that the integrity of the game and the safety of our players is paramount. and that we are going to continue to take a very aggressive steps to protect that. >> after meeting with goodell, senator dick durb an said he was satisfied with the nfl's plan and will cancel planned hearings. an investigation found that new orleans saints players were paid to injure their opponents.

among the new steps taken to protect the players, the league is going to create an anonymous hotline to report bounties and add a section to player handbooks. that brings us right to tiki barber, former running back for the new york giants and also the author of "tiki: my life in the game and beyond." nice to have you. >> thank you. >> i think some of the points that goodell is saying are going to be the reforms, does it go far enough? >> well, there are two things at play here. we all remember a couple of years ago the nfl was slapped around for not doing enough about concussions, and they had a concussion hearing down in d.c. and a lot of information and negative black marks came out about the nfl at that time. this is a similar situation. this exists. bounties have existed for so long in the national football league. usually it's for guys who don't make a lot of money. go work your butt off on special teams, make a great hit, and we'll give you $1,000, whatever it may be. but the saints kind of formalized it. they put it on paper and people

were extremely accountable. the nfl knew it was coming. they did not want the senate or any congressional committee to look into the practices of the nfl so they got ahead of it. i commend roger goodell for what he did to get ahead of these guys. i feel like the punishment was a little harsh on some of these guys, for the saints and jonathan vilma in particular, coach payton as well. but i understand why he did it. >> the reforms, the ones i've read, the teams will have to put up posters in the locker room informing them about bounties and provide a hotline for players to call in. >> sounds weak. honestly. >> it will be laughed at probably. >> will it make a difference? >> you know, it will make a difference downstream. and i talk about this often when i talk about the nfl. everything that happens in the nfl gets pushed down to the college level. it gets pushed down to the high school level. so by being tough about it, at the nfl level, it will go downstream. and that's really where it's more important. we're professionals. well ii'm not anymore. but the professional football

players are paid to do a job, do it very aggressively, and do it very well. so these things that we're talking about, they don't stick in your head. you're more worried about is ray lewis going to rip my head off. or is peyton manning going to throw for 350 yards against me today. or how am i going to beat this guy across the line from me. this is not something that's important. the damage that happens downstream is what's really important. >> let me talk to you about college football during a playoff. >> that's interesting. there's a lot going on around the bowl system and how we can't determine a champion unless we do it with a playoff. and they need it. because the debate is always out there. but i think people may like the debate. >> i think you're right. >> do you support it? >> i do. >> i can tell. that smile. >> you can make the bowl game for playoff games. >> the only person that doesn't support it is the president. >> tiki barber, thank you for

talking to us. >> glad to be here. we have breaking news this morning. george zimmerman detailing moment-by-moment events in the trayvon martin shooting to police. we've got those police tapes. going to bring those to you at the top of the hour. plus, floodwaters tear through minnesota. some of the damage is, amazing. we have a report from the flood zone. and why florida is trying to give tuition cuts for illegal immigrants. and nice move by alec baldwin. did you see this? way too much shown is what i say. we'll explain on the other side of this break. you're watching "starting point." it's time to live wider awake.

only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest. it's you, fully charged. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us.

welcome everybody. breaking news. the first audio recordings of george zimmerman walking police through the night he killed florida teenager trayvon martin. and a power struggle over lost guns, secret documents, and a dead border agent. contempt of congress recommended against the attorney general as president obama now steps in. and house republicans vote to hold attorney general holder in contempt. and heat and high water. the northeast sweating to the start of the summer. flash floods wiping out roads, bridges, and even a zoo. plus a college in denver is giving illegal immigrants a tuition break, half the price of some others from out of state will have to pay. we'll talk to the president of metro college.

along with shafr joe arpaio and chuck grassley. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> she should be a dj. >> yes. >> thank god for margaret hoover today or we'd be listening to our really wacky promo music. nice to have you. >> this i actually like. >> really? >> i like this. you've been listening to it for too many months. >> that's a nice way to put it. margaret hoover is joining us. nice to have you joining our team. celeste headlee is with us. and will cain is with us as well. nice to have everybody. let's talk about eric holder cited in contempt of congress. his fate now rests on a vote by the full house of representatives, which is now scheduled for sometime next week. yesterday, the house oversight committee voted to recommend that he be held in contempt for

withholding documents related to that failed fast and furious program. that operation put in the hands of drug cartels guns, thousands in some cases. two of those lost guns were found at the scene of a murdered border patrol agent. before the hearing, about 30 minutes before hand, president obama invoked executive privilege to hold onto the documents that congress wanted release. darrell issa, the republican's committee chairman, said too little, too late. joining us this morning is senator charles grassley, the ranking member of the judicial committee. thank you for being with us. speaker boehner says he wants to see this go to the house floor next week. what do you think the chances are this will be negotiated out as they usually are, these cases, or that in fact it will go to a vote? >> well, i think it's going to go to a vote. but i would very much hope that it would be negotiated out. and really all we're asking for is documents. and these documents have all

been inside of the justice department. we know of no presidential involvement in this. i have never accused the president of anything until just now when he puts executive privilege in. and that raises a whole bunch of questions. has he been involved? i have only been trying to find out who at the highest level of government in the presumably justice department that gave approval for this so we can get them fired, make sure a stupid program that led to the murder of brian terry is never instituted again. and lastly, to make sure that the family of brian terry gets information which they have no information on the murder of their son at this point. and the murderer has not been arrested. >> no sitting attorney general has ever been held in contempt. janet reno as you well know was held in contempt in committee and speaker gingrich refused to bring that to the full house. it didn't happen in watergate.

so i guess my question would be, this is going to be precedent setting. do you think that this specific thing, what you just called a stupid program that resulted in the death of a border patrol agent, does it rise to that level? >> well, i think there's several respects where it rises to this level. number one, congress passes laws. that doesn't -- that isn't the end of congress' involvement. we are supposed to be a check on the executive branch to make sure the laws are executed. when the government is encouraging guns to be sold illegally to people that shouldn't have them, the laws aren't being faithfully executed. so in order to be a check on the executive branch under our constitution, we need this information. >> seems to i think give fodder to those like elijah cummings who i was talking to this morning who said this is purely partisan. look at the vote. it was purely along partisan lines. congress these days is viciously partisan. here's what he told me earlier this morning, sir. >> this is not about the facts. this is about politics.

and anybody who looks at this knows that. the chairman had made up his mind, and this is a resu that i guess he wanted. and now we see where we are. >> there are lots of people besides the dman saying that. -- congressman saying that. what would you say to him? >> well, i would say to him he can say anything about members of the house of representatives he wants to. but he knows me well enough in the three decades have i been in the senate, i have established a reputation for vigorous oversight. and i have probably taken on more republican presidents of my own party than i have democratic presidents. so nobody can question whether or not i'm politically motivated by this. i'm motivated to get the facts out, to make sure the law is faithfully executed, to make sure the terry family gets the information, and make sure a stupid program like this never happens again. >> senator charles grassley joining us this morning. he is the ranking member of the house judiciary committee. it's nice to see you, sir. thank you very much. we appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you, soledad.

going to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines this morning. christine romans has that for us. good morning to you. the northeast is sweating through high humidity and sweltering heat this morning. temperatures expected to break records again today. let's get a quick check on the weather. rob marciano joining us this morning. >> hi, christine. we didn't really get out of the 70s last night. already into the 80s. the sun baking that ground. 83 in boston. 81 and climbing in new york city. with the humidity, it will feel worse than that. 10 states remain to the mid-atlantic under heat advisories and heat warnings today. dangerous stuff. take it easy out there. take cover and drink water when you can. 99 the high expected in the big apple. might touch 100 in d.c. a little cool front it making its way toward the big apple tomorrow. maybe some cooling thunderstorms late in the day. but still reaching the lower 90s. by saturday, it comes through. we get to more seasonal temperatures in the lower to mid 80s. until then, try to stay cool. >> thank you, rob. in minnesota as you

mentioned, it wasn't the heat but the high water there that was a problem. roaring through the streets. and leaving a seal on the road? torrential overnight flooding in duluth forcing the evacuation of many low-lying homes. even zoo animals. what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, you know, the sun is out here. and both aats are coming into t harbor, very different scene from what we saw last night. a lot of the water that came into the city has ended up in lake superior. the water is kind of a red murky color of course from all the runoff. but not all the water has made its way to lake superior quite yet. there are still multiple areas in duluth still underwater, especially the west end of duluth. there are some parts of the downtown area and parts of canal park that the water has receded. as for the zoo, the creek there was still roaring last night. some of the animals, those seals

you spoke about, and the polar bear that almost escaped its exhibit, have new homes now in st. paul at comeau park, about two hours south of here. they are going to go to their new homes while they try to find new habitats for all of the animals that were in the zoo. mark dayton will be making his way through here today as well to assess the damage. >> thank you so much. we got so much heat here, we think about that, the zoo animals, the polar bear almost escaped, soledad. >> oh, my goodness. thank you very much. still ahead this morning, we'll take you to a college in denver that is giving illegal immigrant students a break on tuition. plus, today's "tough call." thieves steal a family's dog. and then leave a note to tell them why. you're listening to -- let's play that, celeste's play list.

what have you got? >> the plain white t's. >> "hey there, delilah." ♪

welcome back, everybody. a plan that would give undocumented students a tuition break is being called into this question this morning. metropolitan state college of denver is planning to give illegal immigrant students a discount on tuition compared to what they pay now. the new colorado high school ged nonresident rate is more expensive than in-state tuition but less expensive than out of state tuition that the students have to pay.

steven jordan is the president of metro state college. he defended that new rate at a hearing with members of colorado's legislature last night. it's nice to see you, sir. thank you very talking with us. let's walk through that three-tiered system. there are the in-state student fee. then the in-state fee for nondocumented students, and then the out of state fee. why did you tier them like that? >> a couple of reasons. in colorado, there's a long-standing statutory authority for boards to establish resident and nonresident rates. and the resident rates are clearly related to domicile in colorado and to legal status, either citizenship or in the country illegally. and provide a subsidy by the state of colorado to individuals who reside in the state. the nonresidents are expected to -- are not residents of the state of colorado. they may not be here legally.

and they are expected to pay the full cost of tuition. over the years, the nonresident rate has gradually moved from essentially being -- paying the full cost plus some cost for capital to being whatever the market can bear. and it's much, much more expensi expensive. what our board decided was that for this class of students, young people who had been brought to the country through no fault of their own, where the state of colorado has made significant investments in their k-12 education, sometimes as much as $85,000, doesn't it make sense if they have gone to a colorado high school, graduated from that high school, to provide them a tuition rate that's unsubsidized in which there is no state support from the taxpayers but which is more affordable to allow them to attend college, to get an education, and to become a meaningful contributor to our

economy. >> so let me check in with the folks on my team here. what do we think about that? >> i mean, the attorney general of colorado actually weighed in yesterday and said frankly, we can't do that. there's just no way we can allow a state college receiving taxpayer money to be able to offer this kind of tuition break to illegal -- >> that's a nonbinding opinion, though. >> but in order for it to work in the state of colorado, the legislature has to pass that lie, and the legislature has not done that. >> one is on the merits of the issue and one is on the process of the issue. on the merits of the issue, i think the guest just pointed out that he sees that when there is a situation where the state of colorado has invested in a certain student, he should receive a tuition that is less than and decidedly better than that of a citizen of, say, or resident of texas, right? going to school in colorado. the point is, that's a legitimate debate. and that brings it back to the process. is this a decision that should be made by the citizens of the colorado through their legislature process or through the school administrators? >> let's go back to that, then, mr. jordan.

this sort of aversion of it did go through the legislature. and the legislature said no to it. they basically said that you, you know, that you cannot have a public benefit. is this a public benefit? didn't the legislature already say no to this? >> i think that is clearly the point where we disagree with the attorney general. first of all, we were the first institution in the state of colorado to actively support colorado's version of the dream act. it's called the asset bill here in colorado. we supported it every year. we have consistently supported the national dream act. and i have testified consistently in front of the legislature in support of it. we believe that a broad-based state solution, which actually provides an in-state subsidy to these students, is actually the right policy. and having watched that debate, our board concluded after that bill failed this year that what legal authorities did we have to provide some assistance.

there is longstanding history in colorado of institutions having the authority to set multiple tuition rates for nonresidents. and we simply used that authority to provide a rate which was more affordable to these students. where we disagree, quite frankly, with the attorney general is his opinion is that there is a public benefit being provided because of the difference between the full nonresident rate, which is unrelated to the actual cost of education, and the rate we propose. we believe that there's only a public benefit when there's actually a subsidy provided by the taxpayers of this state to those students. >> so if you're not subsidizing those students, it doesn't count as a public benefit would be your argument. >> absolutely. >> stephen jordan, we'll be watching as this argument unfolds in denver. we have to take a short

break. still ahead this morning, an alaskan husky is dog napped. but were the thieves doing a good deed? that's our question on "tough call" this morning.

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i'm christine romans with a quick look at the headlines. the feds warning about a slowdown in the economy pushing markets lower worldwide this morning. commodities like oil are down too. former republican presidential candidate jon huntsman has joined a washington

think tank. huntsman has served as governor of utah and as president obama's ambassador to china. he is now a distinguished fellow at the brookings institution where he'll work on projects involving domestic and foreign policy issues. and mitt romney's five sons appearing together last night on "conan." tag, matt, josh, ben, and craig romney talking up their dad. the oldest brother, tag, told a story about the time his prank-loving dad pulled a fast one on a friend who was just about to tie the knot. >> the groom's outfit was there. he took some pink nail polish and wrote on the first shoe "h-e" and the next one "l-p." no one noticed. it was a catholic wedding. and when he knelt down to be blessed by the father, the words "help" appeared. >> he admitted to conan that he and his brothers are a little nervous what their life would be like if their dad becomes president. they recognize it would be good

for the country but not necessarily good for them. >> i bet they are willing to make that sacrifice. thanks, christine. appreciate it. time for today's tough call. a family dog is stolen out of its pen. the reason, according to the thieves, the dog was left alone, and dogs are pack animals and need to be with other animals. michigan family now trying to find their alaskan huskie aspen after he was stolen from their yard. when the dog was taken, a letter was left behind. and the thieves explained that aspen was lonely and they didn't believe that dogs should be left outside in the heat or extreme cold. they have since put up missing posters and a sign that says, please bring back our dog you stole. in the past, apparently welfare agencies have looked in on the dog and say he was well taken care of. didn't see any signs of abuse or neglect. so the question is, dog nappers, good thing or terribly cruel thing if they are saving him from a place where he is chained up in cold and hot weather and has no company at all and is ignored, which is unclear if that's the case, would that be a

good thing? if they have taken him from a loving home, and the people talking about this letter they received crying as they described how awful it was to not have the family dog that they love tearily. >> you know, this kind of goes back to will's earlier point about the merits of case and the process. this calls for a different -- a redefinition of what is neglect. is it cruel to leave a dog all by itself penned up? >> kind of subjective. >> and you can make that argument, but that is not the legal definition of neglect. >> i think culturally too -- when i was growing up, my mother, you know, they didn't value dogs. they would never carry dogs in a little handbag. they would never have carted a dog. that happens all the time in new york city. >> that in itself is abuse. >> we had a dog. the dog was outside. roamed around by itself. you call it to come in for dinner. if it didn't come in, it spent the night outside. i grew up in the suburbs of long island. >> some people, their dogs are like their children. they sleep in their bed with

them. they live outside. and frankly, it looks like this dog had its own house and looks like the dog was living pretty well. >> you can't steal a dog. you can't go into someone's property and steal their dog. >> that's just illegal. >> but there are a lot of places in the world and this country where dogs aren't fed every day, they don't have a house to live in, they don't have anybody that loves them. >> you're asking beyond the legal issue. >> yeah. >> kind of the moral issue. if we start seeing things we don't like amongst our fellow citizens, can we just change it? >> just break the law. >> i don't like how you're raising your kid. i'll be over at about 8:00 to take them. >> i'll have them packed and ready for you. i'll have a suitcase. >> that's immoral. >> uncle will is now taking you while mommy and dad go for a month to italy. >> i regretted that the minute it came out. >> jackson loves you. still ahead this morning, breaking news to get to. we're going to share with you some of the description of

trayvon martin's final moments. some tapes of george zimmerman as he talks to police the night he shot the florida teenager. he is describing and walking them through exactly what happened. it's absolutely riveting. we'll bring you the tapes in just a moment. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. [ female announcer ] i found the best cafe in the world. ♪ nespresso. where there's a grand cru to match my every mood. ♪ where just one touch creates the perfect cup.

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and the ones we'll talk about forever. in michigan long days, relaxing weather and more than 800 pristine courses make for the perfect tee time. because being able to play all day is pure michigan. this is cnn breaking news. breaking news this morning. george zimmerman's interrogation tapes have now been released. an interview he gave to investigators after he shot and killed trayvon martin. zimmerman explaining in his own words how he came face-to-face with the teenager. and then he walks police through the encounter. he talks about how he was attacked. listen. >> i was walking back through to where my car was. and he jumped out from the bushes. and he said, what the [ bleep ] is your problem, homey? and i got my cell phone out.

to call 911 this time. and i said, hey, man, i don't have a problem. and he goes, now you have a problem. and he punched me in the nose. as i fell down, i tried to defend myself. he just started punching me in the face. and i started screaming for help. i couldn't see. i couldn't breathe. and then he started taking my -- >> were you still standing at this point? >> no, ma'am. i fell to the ground when he punched me the first time. >> ok. >> it was dark. i didn't even see him getting ready to punch me. as soon as he punched me, i fell backwards into the grass. and then he grabbed -- he was wailing on my head. and then i started yelling help. when i started yelling for help, he grabbed my head and he started hitting my head into the -- i tried to sit up and yell for help. and then he grabbed my head and started hitting it into the sidewalk.

when he started doing that, i slid into the grass to try and get out from under him so he would stop hitting my head into the sidewalk. and i'm still yelling for help. and i could see people looking and some guy yells out i'm calling 911. and i said help, me help me, he's killing me. and he puts his hand on my nose and on my mouth and he says you're going to die tonight. >> ok. there's another chunk as well. let's listen to that. >> i got out of my car to look for the street sign. and to see if i understand scou he cut through. >> after you circled your car, he disappeared again? >> yes, ma'am. >> ok. >> and then the dispatcher told me where you are, and i said i'm trying to find out where he went. and he said, we don't need you to do that. and i said, ok. he said, we already have a police officer en route. and i said all right.

and i had gone where -- through the dog walk where i normally walk my dog. and walked back through to my street. the street that loops around. and he said we already have a police officer on the way. so i said ok. i told -- they said would you like a police officer to meet you, and i said yes, and i told them where my car was and the make and the model. so i was walking back through to where my car was, and he jumped out from the bushes. and he said, what the [ bleep ] is your problem, homey? and i got my cell phone out. to call 911 this time. and i said, hey, man, i don't have a problem. and he goes, no, now you have a problem, and he punched me in the nose. at that point, i fell down. i tried to defend myself. he just started punching me in the face. >> ok. so you're hearing -- again, that was the first smaller chunk, and then we heard sort of the longer description second where he described, you know, how he got

on the phone with the dispatcher. pretty interesting to hear his walk-through as he described it to police. >> right. >> yeah. what we heard originally, the first clip, was his version of the events during the attack. >> let's take a little more listen. >> he was wailing on my head. and then i started yelling help. when i started yelling for help, he grabbed my head and he started hitting my head into the -- i tried to sit up, and yell for help. and then he grabbed my head and started hitting it into the sidewalk. >> interesting to hear the descriptions of his head hitting the sidewalk. that was one of the conversations that we were having about we know what exactly happened. what was the damage to george zimmerman. >> why is george zimmerman defending himself. we saw later after the shooting of trayvon martin, we saw a couple of weeks later then the images of zimmerman's head being beat up. so getting sort of more and more pieces of the full story before we rush to try somebody in the court of public opinion. i think it's important -- >> well, i don't know that's the case. but ultimately the real question

is, why was trayvon martin suspicious, right? there's no question did he shoot him, did he kill him, yes, he did. and he's talking about what his experience was did, he feel threatened, and clearly he did in his description. but to me, ultimately, the big question is, especially in light of stand your ground, why did you think this person was suspicious that you started following him through the streets? and some of his description is that, you know, he wasn't someone i had seen in the neighborhood before. and he was walking slowly on a rainy day. you know, ultimately that as it goes to court, that's going to be is that enough to justify a stand your ground defense. >> that's not essentially the problem. the stand the ground act, there's clear law saying that you can't start a fight and then because you're losing kill the person. obviously, that's not correct. so really for me, the point legally -- and i'm not an attorney -- is who started it. who made the aggressive move. not necessarily who -- who threw the first punch, but you can interpret all kinds of actions as aggressive or threatening

moves. >> but the issue is, you can stand your ground if you are legally where you are allowed to be. you do not have to retreat. stand your ground. protects both of them. right? because they both legally have a right to be there. trayvon martin visiting his father and his father's girlfriend. george zimmerman obviously in his vehicle, in the place where he lives. so the question becomes that, i think. >> while stand your ground is certainly part of the story, and that stand your ground hearing will be one of the first times we hear more about this case, this is not just about stand your ground. it's also a self-defense case. and the question is who was the aggressor. according to the version we just heard, he tells a story where he broke off pursuit and trayvon martin reengages. that is george zimmerman's story. we now hear it directly from his lips. and then the fight ensues. trayvon martin approaches. he says, what are you up to? and george zimmerman says i have no problem or some exchange like that, and a fight ensues. that's where self defense begins.

>> well, it's still framed by why do you think he is suspicious. if you think he does not belong here, you would not have followed him. >> according to george zimmerman, that was broken off, right? george zimmerman's claim is while he may have found him suspicious for some other reason, when the dispatcher said don't follow him, he stopped and went back to his car. >> but trayvon martin, again, according to what he saying, thought someone was following him by what we know now from what the girlfriend said. so he also feels potentially self defense. >> let me clarify the issue here. what i'm trying to do is clarify the issue. this is where the debate lies. >> there's a whole court trying to do the exact same thing. i think there's one more sound bite that describes the actual shooting. let's listen to that. >> i think when i shot him, it might have pushed him back. but i remember -- i didn't know what he was hitting. it felt like he was hitting me with bricks. so i remember i -- once i shot him, i holstered my firearm, and

i got on top of him and i held his hands down because he was still talking. and i said, stay down. don't move. and then i -- somebody comes out and i couldn't see. there was a flashlight in my head. so i asked if it was a police officer. and he said, no. it was a witness. but he was calling the police. and i said the police are on their way. they should be here already. because i had called. and he's like i'm calling the police. and i said i don't need you to call the police. i need you to help me with this guy. and then an officer shows up. again, he had the flashlight so i couldn't see him. and he asked me who shot this guy. and i said i did. and i put -- i immediately put my hands on top of my hand, and i told the police officer where my firearm was. and then he cuffed me and took my firearm. >> ok. after you shot him and he said you got me? >> yeah. >> and then when you got on top

of him, did he say anything else? >> he said, ow, ow. >> so you've been listening to the george zimmerman interrogation tapes. really fascinatingly. of course as you point out, will, one side of the story is george zimmerman describes exactly what happened from his perspective on that night, walking through the conversation with the dispatch, all the way to the shooting death of trayvon martin who then he describes as jumping on him and holding his hands down. >> one more moment in that audio it would be interesting to hear. we heard george zimmerman describe the fight and his will whyi yelling for help and we heard when he shot him. but we didn't hear that moment when he pulls out the gun, what prompted that moment. that will be very interesting as well. >> absolutely. fascinating i think. we have to turn now to talk about the supreme court. they could rule today on arizona's controversial immigration law. the court is looking at the constitutionality of that law. and the ruling could energize voters on both sides of the issue. as president obama and mitt romney are both trying to woo

hispanic voters, this decision could also have some serious implications across the united states. arizona is among six states that have immigration enforcement laws. eight states have taken steps toward passing similar legislation. arizona's maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio is in phoenix, arizona, this morning. thank you for talking with us. we appreciate it. if in fact the supreme court does rule against the arizona law, how would that change how you police in that state? >> not going to change anything. we've been enforcing the two state laws irregardless of 1070. so i don't see any change, no matter which way that supreme court decision comes out. >> you were talking to -- >> that's as far as i'm concerned. that's as far as i'm concerned how we've been operating. >> so you were talking to a local station in phoenix, which is knxv on june 15, and here's what you told them.

you say, i think people from mexico are now going to feel, hey, come on in, we'll get by with it. but that won't happen in this county. they will be arrested. you're talking there about the presidential order focusing on young undocumented children who have been brought across the border by their parents, i guess. so tell me about that. that sounds to me like you would ignore the executive order in your law enforcement. is that true? is that fair to say? >> no. i was saying about any illegal aliens that come across the border into maricopa county where we have been responsible for 51,000 investigations, arrests, in the jails and on the streets. that's what i was talking about. if they keep coming, we're going to arrest them. we just arrested 16 more, including a 6-year-old child, unfortunately, that was in the van, and nobody would take ownership of that poor girl. >> so no one would take ownership of her.

she is now under arrest. what does that mean specifically for what's happening with her? >> she's in custody. we turn her over to federal government. and i believe they are trying to determine where she came from, where she was going. we believe maybe el salvador. she came into the united states through mexico. but that's sad when you have small kids being smuggled into the country, and we don't even know who she is. and once again, the smugglers will not even admit to where she came from or identification. that's a sad issue. >> do you have any sense of where she was going? >> have no idea. although we know the smugglers were going to the east coast or the midwest. so we're trying to determine on our side who this little girl is. but once again, it's in the hands of the federal government right now. >> so this new presidential order for young immigrants as you know, if they are under the

age of 30, brought to the united states before 16, been in the country for five years as sort of a list of ways they would be able to stay in the country legally. mitt romney has not exactly weighed in on this order. what do you think -- do you think he should reverse this order if he is elected? what do you think of the president's order? >> i'm not going to talk about mitt romney or the president. i'm a law enforcement guy. i enforce the laws. i do have compassion for the young people. but i'll tell you what, i took an oath of office, and i'm going to enforce the laws regardless of compassion or politics. >> so what does that mean? if the presidential order that says that these -- they will be able to stay in the country legally, be deferred for two years. if they follow that list of things i just said, that means you would not arrest, right, a person who would fall under that. or you would -- explain that to me. >> well, i guess i would not. i'm a top -- i was a top federal law enforcement official with

the justice department. and, you know, if the laws are not there to enforce, i'm not going to enforce it. i'm not happy with the way it was done. congress should be looking into this. not the president. deciding which laws to enforce. and not enforce. that's not his position. >> sheriff joe arpaio is the maricopa county sheriff in arizona. nice to see you, sir. thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead on "starting point," new numbers on the health of our economic recovery. christine is going to come back and talk to us about the weekly jobless report coming up next. and then the child sex abuse trial of jerry sandusky will be in the hands of the jury in just a matter of hours. we have a live report from outside that courtroom also ahead. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪

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i'm christine romans. just in to cnn weekly, jobless numbers. 333,000 unemployment claims were filed last week. down about 2,000 from the previous week. stock futures are ticking up just a bit this morning. a new poll shows confidence in public schools is at an all-time low. only 29% feel a great deal of confidence, down from 1970s when 58% were confident in the school system. tim pawlenty is apparently at the top of mitt romney's short list for a running mate. pawlenty has been out stumping across the country for romney, and reports say he is impressed romney's campaign officials with his low key style.

it appears that ann romney and pawlenty's wife, mary, have become fast friends on the campaign trail. is there such a thing as friends on the campaign trail? >> now we have to ask him is it true, will you be the vice president, and he'll be his demuring again. it was like two days ago. i sense a big cycle here. thank you, christine. >> you're welcome. still ahead, closing arguments are just about to get underway in the jerry sandusky sex abuse trial. we'll take you live to the courthouse to tell you what's ahead. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. great shot.

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we are just moments away from the closie arguments in th case of jerry sandusky. sandusky's attorneys decided in end not to put him on the stand. depending on how things go this morning, the case could go to a jury in just a matter of hours. that brings us right to cnn's national correspondent susan candiotti, who is covering the trial for us in bellefonte, pennsylvania. what happens today exactly? >> reporter: hi, soledad. well, in just about an hour from now, both the defense and prosecutors each get one more chance, one more opportunity, to try to convince a jury that jerry sandusky is either guilty or not. now the defense will go first. it's expected to argue as it has all along that these alleged victims are liars, that some of them conspired with each other or were coerced and coached by investigators who were overzealous in trying to make a case against jerry sandusky. and that these alleged victims

are simply in it to make money. prosecutors are expected to argue just the opposite. that the riveting testimony that these jurors heard is completely believable, that these are young men who did not conspire with each other, that they had nothing to gain by coming forward, that they were afraid at first, and then eventually told the truth, even though they were afraid to go up against someone like jerry sandusky. they will also likely say that jerry sandusky had two sides. the public philanthropist who did so much good for the community but that he also had a dark side, one in which he allegedly abused children. then the jury will get some instructions from the judge and begin their deliberations. this jury will be sequestered. and, soledad, a lot of interest -- we talked to some people who were in line as early as 2:30 in the morning from the community here so that they could hear these closing arguments. soledad? >> susan candiotti with a look at what is ahead in that

courtroom today. susan, thank you. appreciate it. got to take a break. "end point" is up next. ♪ when skin meets goddess, anything can happen. introducing venus & olay, a match made in skin heaven. olay moisture bars release skin conditioners to help lock in moisture and boost your shave. while five blades get venus close. revealing smooth. renewing beauty. and goddess skin begins. only from venus & olay. with two times the points on dining in restaurants, and goddess skin begins. you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred.

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"end point." who wants to start? >> i will, because the stolen dog, i think we would -- it would be great to have a new conversation about what is not neglect. >> since we're going to have a new conversation about it, why don't you share with us what you shared on the commercial break, which is that you have stolen a dog in your past.