happening now, al qaeda-linked terrorists threatening to sell, sell hundreds of kidnapped girls in nigeria. the threats made in a terrifying, new video. now the fbi offering to help bring the girls back. we're live in nigeria with the latest this morning. the unrest in ukraine intensifying this morning as the death toll rises. bloody fights between soldiers and pro-russian protesters, this as diplomats from ukraine and russia prepare to meet in vienna. can they keep this conflict from escalating? we're live on the ground with what's happening right now. the show must go on. ringling brothers preparing its new performance as we learn what caused eight acrobats dangling high in the air to plummet to the ground. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. it is tuesday. great to see you today. it's may 6th, 5:00 a.m. in the east. and we begin with the disturbing, new developments in nigeria, where armed terrorists are now threatening to sell, to

sell more than 200 young girls that they kidnapped from a school. it's been nearly a month since the girls were taken at gunpoint. they were loaded on to trucks. they were driven into the african bush. the u.s. is now sharing intelligence with nigeria, and with international pressure growing, there is at last new urgency in nigeria to find these girls and free them. our vladimir duthiers is covering this story live in nigeria with the latest. and vlad, let's start with this new video from boko haram. how seriously is the world, how seriously are nigerian leaders taking these claims about selling these young girls? >> reporter: john, any time boko haram does anything in this country, the nigerian government takes it very seriously. and the world is now waking up to the horror that the nigerian people have lived under over the last several years. this is a group that since 2009 has killed thousands. and just this year alone,

amnesty international and human rights watch says that boko haram-related violence has killed 1,500 people in nigeria. that's an astounding number. this abduction of these young girls that happened on april 14th is just the latest in a long line of atrocities. and what the supposed leader of boko haram, abubakar shekau, said on that video, as you said, chilling, disgusting, saying that he would sell these girls in a human market because this is what allah wanted him to do in his distorted view of islam. this is the parents' worst nightmare. for the last three weeks, they've been telling us that they had feared that their children might be trafficked into neighboring cameroon, chad or niger. in fact, they said that they had seen convoys filled with young girls and militants in those trucks on the road leading from nigeria into cameroon, and now this is their worst nightmare, john. >> you say it's the parents' worst nightmare. it should be the world's worst nightmare as well, selling young girls. vlad, the united states now talking about possibly sending

fbi help to investigate here. how's nigeria responding to these offers? >> reporter: john, the nigerian government has been up front. just a few days ago, president goodluck jonathan said that he welcomed any kind of support that he could get from international leaders. in fact, he had reached out to the united states, he reached out to neighboring countries, those countries that we mentioned where these girls possibly might be, because i think they realize that this is now not only garnered international attention and outrage, as people and the families themselves say that they've seen a sort of indifference to the plight of their children and the plight of the families, because we so far have not been privy to any kind of operational details that the military's undertaken. the military has said to us that they will not divulge what they are doing on the ground for fear of jeopardizing the girls, for putting in jeopardy the lives of the girls and the families, but we would at least like to know some kind of detail as to how they are going about looking for these girls. so far, a lot of questions

remain to be answered. >> we'd like details or at least see some evidence that that is in fact the case. vladimir duthiers, we're lucky to have you there. thanks for reporting for us. >> really just a lack of kofls, a real lack of confidence that the nigerian government has a handle on what to do. even the language coming from the president, originally saying that, actually blaming some of the families for not working better with the police. >> i think the international community would like to see a lot more signs that the nigerian government is taking this seriously and acting now. all right, now to ukraine, where this morning the government is stepping up its efforts to force pro-russian militants out of slovyansk. intense fighting there so far has left at least four people dead, many more injured. a government helicopter was shot down, and the streets, the streets are a war zone. senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is live near slovyansk for us this morning. you say it's been quiet in recent hours but that there's this just foreboding feeling about what's going to happen next, nick.

>> reporter: absolutely, christine, intensified by the decision by ukrainian authorities to close donetsk airport, and that's quite a far drive south from where i'm standing, but it's the main hub for donetsk region, where all this unrest has been percolating now through for weeks. i think that's got many people concerned that perhaps they're worried about something that they know is about to come or they're about to broaden their operations here. unclear at this stage. but yesterday, i think it's fair to say we saw the start of what's probably the beginning maybe of civil conflict in this area. that's the first time ukrainian troops moved in earnest against the pro-russian militants. in the past, they had been testing each other on the outskirts of slovyansk and we saw them moving ahead of the sniper who drove past them, and then of course, clashes ensued. but the problem you have to understand here, christine, is that these clashes, they don't achieve much militarily for the ukrainian military. they clash with pro-russian

militants, they claim they inflicted dozens of casualties upon them. we didn't see any evidence of that ourselves. and you would imagine that if the 30 or so suggested by the interior ministry were killed, we would have seen more of that there. but they have these clashes. they deeply upset the local population, who saw one woman killed by a stray bullet yesterday, and then they pull back because they meet resistance too strong. and that is galvanizing those in slovyansk against the authorities. not to say the entire town is for pro-russian unrest there, but it's certainly complicating matters, given really that kiev has to move in, reclaim those towns and keep troops and police in there. it's a very tough challenge, not impossible at this stage, christine. >> it certainly is very difficult. nick, thank you so much for that. >> interesting, losing the battle on the ground and losing the battle for hearts and minds. shows the difficulty there. six minutes after the hour. a major ruling for the supreme court on the role of religion in public life. in a 5-4 decision, the justices say it is okay for towns to start their public board

meetings with sectarian prayers. two new york state residents argued that their town was violating the first amendment because opening prayers were almost always christian prayers. the court disagreed, saying the prayers were ceremonial. critics say the ruling sets minority faiths apart as second-class citizens. happening today, the white house set to release a key report on climate change. a report is expected to show the effect the changing environment is having on americans' daily lives. this report's been in the works now for years. it will build on a draft first made public last year. its authors say the weather extremes we've seen this year and last are evidence the country must take action before it's too late. we could find out more today about the inner workings of new jersey governor chris christie's administration. a former aide is set to testify this morning before a legislative committee investigating the bridgegate scandal. christina renna was the governor's director of government affairs. she worked closely with bridget anne kelly, of course, the deputy chief of staff who wrote that famous e-mail believed to have triggered the shutdown of lanes on the george washington

bridge. new developments this morning in the investigation into the deaths of the u.s. ambassador to libya and three other state department employees in benghazi. house speaker john boehner has chosen south carolina republican trey gowdy, former prosecutor and a prominent critic of the obama administration. he's chosen him to head up a house select committee looking into whether the administration tried to cover up what happened in benghazi. democrats say they haven't gotten any details yet about this committee. democrats are pushing for a no vote on forming a committee. european stocks mixed in the early going. dow futures point to a higher open. stocks made a comeback yesterday after a really tough start to the day. prosecutors in the u.s. now zeroing in on a european bank, credit suisse. >> there is no such thing as too big to jail. some have used that phrase -- >> that's attorney general eric holder responding to critics who have criticized his department in the wake of the financial

crisis for settling cases with big banks, big banks that never have to admit any wrongdoing. that may be about to change. the justice department close to a settlement deal with credit suisse in which the bank is expected to admit guilt. the case revolves around whether the swiss bank used offshore accounts to help americans dodge taxes. by the way, that's not the financial crisis. people have so angry. it's been six years since the financial crisis and they don't think banks have been held accountable. this is about offshore taxes, not necessarily the banking crisis. >> it's good to know that alleged malfeasance is not just confined to the financial crisis. awful, actually. nine minutes after the hour. happening today, ringling brothers barnum and bailey circus arrives in the next city for its next performances as investigators reveal what caused a human chandelier of acrobats to plummet suddenly to the ground. and neighbors coming to oscar pistorius's defense. the olympic athlete accused of murdering his model girlfriend. the trial ongoing right now. we're going to take you live to the courtroom to south africa with the latest after the break.

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welcome back. happening today, the ringling brothers barnum and bailey circus heads for hartford, connecticut, and is promising a very close inspection and changes for an aerial apparatus that failed, leaving nine performers injured. investigators now say it was a single metal clamp that broke, causing the accident. >> the apparatus was attached to a cable, which then fed back to a winch machine located on the floor. so, if you can imagine, it goes from the floor up to the rafters at the top and then comes down, grabs the chandelier apparatus that the performers were hanging from. it was a single piece of equipment that failed. >> did it snap, the metal itself, or did it -- >> it did, it snapped. >> the circus says it will replace all of those metal clamps before the next show on thursday. eight of the performers remain hospitalized. two are in critical condition.

but the circus says none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. the faa says last week's air traffic control problem in los angeles that canceled 50 flights, delayed more than 450, was caused by a u-2 spy plane. the u-2 -- >> hate when that happens! >> crazy! the u-2 typically flies about twice as high as commercial airliners, but apparently, a computer system misinterpreted the flight path as much lower, causing it to overload. the agency says no flights were in danger, the problem has been corrected. i am much more troubled than you are about this, the fact that there are apparently u-2 spy planes flying everywhere, disrupting potentially air traffic control. >> i'd like more transparency, was it justin bieber or lindsay lohan we're spying on? l.a.? what else could it be? an incredible scene outside denver, a single-engine plane with an advertising banner crashed into a home, bursting into flames. the pilot escaped with minor injuries. miraculously, no one was inside the home at the time. the owner of the plane says the engine lost power.

the cause not immediately known. fire crews in oklahoma think they may have the upper hand on a huge blaze north of oklahoma city. the fire in logan county did leave one person dead. it damaged at least 30 structures, charred more than 3,000 acres. dozens of firefighters were hurt battling the fires, but it is now at least 75% contained. it's been one year, one year since three women and a child escaped a cleveland home where they had been held for upwards of a decade. today we're hearing from one of those women, michelle knight, who endured ten years, tortured, starved, beaten by her captor. she tells anderson cooper she never expected to escape. >> did you think that this would at some point end, that it wouldn't go on, that he would let you go? did he promise that he would let you go? >> no, he told me he would never let me go. >> he said that from the beginning. >> yes. he said you don't have a family that cares about you. if i kill you right now, nobody would even care. >> today, amanda berry and gina

dejesus will be honored by the national center for missing & exploited children for giving courage to families trying to find their missing loved ones. part two of anderson's interview with michelle knight airs tonight on "ac360." the world health organization declared a global emergency for a disease once nearly eradicated, warning a 25-year campaign to end polio will be lost without quick action. this is serious. the paralyzing virus is making a crippling comeback in pakistan, syria, cameroon. it spread to neighboring countries, including iraq and afghanistan. the declaration recommends travel restrictions, including vaccination requirements on the three countries in question. all right, let's get a check of your tuesday forecast. indra petersons is here! good morning, indra. >> yeah, good morning, guys. we're still seeing a little bit of that trend, kind of mild to the northeast, pretty nice yesterday. pacific northwest also mild, but the middle of the country continuing to make headlines as we're still expecting another day of record-breaking heat. that, of course, includes oklahoma city, where they're still worried about the wildfires there. today looks like another day of

record-breaking heat for them. yes, some light showers are out there, not a big deal, but towards d.c. this morning, a couple scattered showers cruising through the region. but again, it's the middle of the country where we still have that fire danger in places. red flag warnings are expected again today. let's look at these temperatures, very easy to see the problem here. wichita, again, looking at about 25 degrees above average for this time of year. we're starting to see that spread even farther to the north. so, chicago today in the 60s, just below normal, but by tomorrow, you are going to be looking at that heat. what's the story? we're looking at the cool air i showed you in the pacific northwest. this guy's going to start to progress farther to the east. so, by tomorrow and through thursday, you're going to look at that clash, all that warm air in the south clashing with that cold air. again, we're talking about the threat for more severe weather. so, that's going to be the concern wednesday in through thursday. and eventually, as we go towards thursday and through the weekend, we'll be talking about maybe light showers into the northeast as that spreads farther off to the east along the warm front. so, big change again for wednesday and thursday. all eyes will be on that. >> we'll keep a watch on that. thank you, indra. happening now at the oscar

pistorius trial in south africa, the defense putting on two critical witnesses. a neighbor and his wife testifying they heard a man, not a woman, begging for help the night reeva steenkamp was shot, directly contradicting other neighbors, who said they think they heard steenkamp herself. cnn legal analyst kelly phelps is at the courthouse for us this morning in pretoria. kelly, this seems to be a major part of the defense case. is it enough to overcome what others have said? >> reporter: well, it is a crucial part of the defense case, and it can potentially overcome what the others have said, particularly if you consider the proximity of these neighbors in comparison with the earlier neighbors. so, earlier neighbors that testified that they heard a woman screaming was as far as 170 meters away. and today, we've heard from the two neighbors who were immediately next door to pistorius's house, estimated to be under 20 meters away. so, there is an issue of credibility there. and of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the

earlier neighbors' testimony was untrustworthy, but it could lead the judge to conclude that those earlier neighbors were simply mistaken as to what they heard. >> defense is moving quickly here. how much longer might this testimony take? >> reporter: well, we're expecting the defense case to wrap up in the next two weeks. we know that there's a total of between 15 to 17 witnesses in total, so we're reaching about the halfway mark of their case now. >> all right. kelly phelps, thanks for that from pretoria this morning. it's been a long trial, a two-week delay in it, a delay at the start. emotional testimony from him, but still a long way to go. >> another week and a half, maybe two weeks before they wrap this up. meantime, a big-time blowout for the los angeles clippers, not letting the controversy over their owner get in the way of how they perform on the court. andy scholes, the king of the playoffs, has the details next in the "bleacher report." okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs?

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it's how i look at life. especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin but wondered, could i focus on something better? my doctor told me about eliquis for three important reasons. one, in a clinical trial eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin. two, eliquis had less major bleeding than warfarin. and three, unlike warfarin there's no routine blood testing. [ male announcer ] don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding.

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he hit eight in the game, six coming in the first half, as the clippers ran away with this game, winning 122-105. and paul now has a new nickname, cp-3 pointer. >> 8 of 9 three-point shooting, does that rank near the best shooting of your life? >> that's what i do. that's what i do. that is a lie. i don't know. i mean, it's just one of those nights. i promise you, that's got to be a career high for me. >> trending on bleacherreport.com this morning, pacers center roy hibbert did it again! the all-star center scored zero points and grabbed zero rebounds in last night's game one loss to the wizards. he's 7'2" and i did as well as him last night. incredible. hibbert's teammates not happy with him after the game. they said he has to be a part of the fight. all right, the nba playoffs continue tonight on tnt.

game one between the nets and heat tips off at 7:00 eastern followed by game one between the blazers and the spurs. the nfl draft is not until thursday night, but philadelphia eagles may have already added a difference-maker this week. the team announced yesterday they have signed u.s. army ranger alejandro villanueva to a free agent contract. the former army wide receiver served three tours in afghanistan and was recently promoted to captain. and if he didn't sign on with the team, he said he was going to go back for a fourth tour in afghanistan. and guys, he hasn't played organized football since 2009, but he told nfl.com that he stayed sharp by playing hlz football, which stands for helicopter landing zone football, and he said sometimes they would even hear gunshots and have to hit the deck while they were playing out there in afghanistan. so, it's great to see this guy get a shot in the nfl. we'll hope he's a success. >> wonderful thing. yeah, the stakes a little higher in football over there. >> thanks, andy. this morning, a desperate search to find hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped by terrorists. we are live with this crucial

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happening now, a desperate search for hundreds of kidnapped nigerian schoolgirls. terrorists on tape threatening to sell them, sell them to the highest bidder. the u.s. is now offering to h p help, but can anyone find the girls, bring them home before it's too late? we're live in nigeria with the latest developments. more deadly fights in the streets of ukraine. this morning, soldiers battling pro-russian separatists, pushing

the country closer to an all out civil war. we're live on the ground with what's happening right now. and we do have new information this morning on what caused this circus stunt to go so terribly wrong. what investigators are now revealing this morning. welcome back to "early start," everyone. great to see you today. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it's 30 minutes past the hour. this morning, the calls are growing louder for action and quickly in nigeria after a terrorist made clear his plans to sell, to sell more than 200 young girls who were kidnapped from their school. in a video, a man claiming to be the leader of boko haram admits abducting the girls. he says he has been commanded by god to sell them, this nearly a month after the girls were taken at gunpoint. they were loaded into trucks. they were driven into the african bush. vladimir duthiers is live in lagos, nigeria, with the latest. and the world every morning waking up more outraged that this happened and that we don't

know where these girls are and that now the leader of this group, which is against western education, the leader of this group says he must sell these girls, they need to be sold off into marriage. that's what women are for. >> reporter: that's right, christine. this is the parents' worst nightmare realized. when these girls were taken more than three weeks ago, april 14th, from their dormitory in the middle of the night, armed attackers storming into their campus, taking them, carting them away by trucks, by vans into the dead of night, they were worried that these children would be in this very dense forest area bordering cameroon and nigeria, the sambisa forest, a boko haram stronghold. the president said last year that parts of borno state, were this is, were not in control of the federal government. that's something they were worried about. now, with this video, their worst fears have been realized. the children, because of the time it's taken to find them, may have been trafficked out of

the country into neighboring cameroon, or perhaps, niger and chad. and any time boko haram makes a threat, any time they release a video, the world takes it seriously, nigeria takes it seriously. this is a group that has killed 1,500 people this year alone in boko haram-related violence and violence with both the group and the military, and 1,500 people. anywhere in the world, that country would come to a standstill if 1,500 citizens died in just the first three months of this year. in nigeria, this is something they've been battling since 2009, christine. >> i'm wondering what kind of confidence do nigerian people have that their government is going to be able to do something about this? >> reporter: i have to tell you, christine, we've talked to a lot of people on the ground here in lagos, in the capital and talked to families in sheba and they are not at all confident. they certainly want the return of these girls. they are hoping, they are praying. nigerians are optimistic. they believe things will get better, that things can get better, but they're not

optimistic about their government. they feel that the only reason that the government is even making any announcements, any statements about what they are doing with the search of these girls is because international outrage has forced them, has compelled them to. for the last three weeks, we've spoken to parents in chibok, and they have told us they have seen no significant military presence, they have seen no significant search-and-rescue operations on the ground, and in fact, have risked their own lives to try to rescue their daughters, something they say the military should be doing, christine. >> perhaps when there are internal political ramifications for not doing enough, it will get the attention of officials in the country. vladimir duthiers, thank you very much. >> the entire world needs to keep the pressure on bringing our girls back home. growing violence in ukraine, where fierce fighting near slovyansk has left at least four people dead, so many more injured. militants downed a ukrainian helicopter as government forced tried to retake that city. correspondent nick paton walsh is near slovyansk this morning. nick, as you've been saying, it

appears the ukrainian forces are not just losing the battle for territory, but also in some cases the battle for hearts and minds in that area. >> reporter: that's an extraordinarily tough battle. i mean, there's been weeks of building anger here, weeks of messaging, often based on kremlin -- pro-kremlin media here, reminding people that kiev, telling people that kiev run by extremists or have extremists carrying out their orders here. so, for the ukrainian military to move into these cities, obviously, they're going to face local civilian hostility before they have to face shots to get in there. plenty of civilians caught in the cross fire yesterday, one woman killed by a stray bullet standing on her balcony and cars shot up, simply with the ukrainian military trying to move down the highway on the outskirts of slovyansk, not into the city proper. so, it's going to be an impossible, if not extremely bloody task, to try to move further into the center of slovyansk, because pro-russian militants are putting up an extremely fierce resistance.

the fear is now we've seen the ukrainian military moving much more resources into this area. do they intend a larger operation? suggestions are, yes, that may come in the days ahead, but we have another timetable working, too. the may 11th referendum that the pro-russian protests and militants have called here. effectively, they ask what sort of sovereignty do you want for the donetsk republic and possibly the republic next door in luhansk. and effectively, that means do you want to be part of ukraine or russia at the end of the day, most people tell us. so, there's that political process happening, divorced of any negotiation which we're pretty unaware is happening at all, and this increased military build-up and bloodshed. now it's a daily death toll, whereas a few weeks ago, john, we were talking about how many buildings these protesters seized. troubling times here, john. >> nick paton walsh live outside slovyansk. the referendum scheduled for less than a week now. just simply a dangerous mystery on what will happen in the days leading up to that. >> we'll continue to watch that. also this morning, reaction still pouring into a supreme court decision finding christian prayers are okay at the start of public meetings.

the high court ruling 5-4 that those prayers are ceremonial and are permitted, so long as they don't turn into preaching before public meetings. but the dissenters said the practice of only having christian prayers excludes those of different faiths or no faith. happening today in new jersey, a former aide to governor chris christie set to testify before a legislative committee about the bridgegate scandal. christina renna was the governor's director of government affairs. she worked closely with bridget anne kelly, the deputy chief of staff who, of course, wrote that e-mail believed to have triggered the shutdown of lanes on the george washington bridge. house speaker john boehner has named his pick to head up a select congressional committee investigating what happened in benghazi and whether the white house tried to cover up what happened there. south carolina republican trey gowdy is a former prosecutor, a prominent critic of the obama administration, and he has said he has evidence of a cover-up in the aftermath of the death of the u.s. ambassador to libya and three other state department employees. democrats say they have not

received any of these details yet about the committee. they're pushing for a no vote on forming a committee and they're suggesting they may not join it, no matter what happens. all right to money now. stocks mixed in europe. the nikkei and hang seng closed today for holidays. dow futures are higher right now, and the last seven tuesdays, stocks closed higher, so maybe we're going to go for eight today. corporate america, though, ramping up a fight against a higher minimum wage. remember, president obama's been pushing for a $10.10 minimum wage, up from $7.25? about 25 states have already raised minimum wages higher than the federal average. now the national retail federation ramping up lobbying efforts against the proposed increase. and a new commercial from the employment policies institute shows a fortune-teller -- you can see her here -- predicting 1 million job losses if base pay is increased. the congressional budget office actually forecasted about 500,000 americans would lose work, but 900,000 americans would be lifted out of poverty if you raise the minimum wage. still a very, very contentious

debate and some big business against it. >> it will be a debate all the way through the midterm elections in november. >> sure will. a key report due out today is expected to lay out the impact of climate change on the united states. the white house report many years in the making will build on a draft first made public last year. it will argue that climate change is costing the united states billions and affecting everyone's lives. the authors say the weather extremes we have seen the last year or so are evidence that this country must take action before it's too late. our indrison is here! indra petersons taking a look at our forecast for today. >> i like my new nickname. we'll go with that, yeah. what are we talking about today? we're still talking about some mild regions in the pacific northwest and into the northeast, but it is right smack in the middle of the country where we're still talking about record-breaking heat, especially where we last need it, oklahoma city still dealing with wildfires and today still talking about record heat expected as we go in through the afternoon. so, that's going to be the big concern there. some showers are out there. d.c. this morning, notice you're still seeing scattered showers kind of cruising through the

area. look for them through the morning commute today. but then again, it's still going to be about the middle of the country where it is so dry, where they need the rain, but unfortunately, we're talking about red flag conditions again. that fire danger is high. temperatures 25 degrees above normal. and remember, the jet stream is only lifting to the north, so places like chicago, enjoy your day today. by tomorrow you're going to be in on that heat as well. so, here we go. we talked about all that heat, right? we talked about the pacific northwest, how it's a little chilly there. here's the problem, that cold air is going to clash with that heat by tomorrow, so right in the middle of the country again, when you put two air masses like that together, you have that threat for severe weather. we're going to see that as that low cruises across. so, wednesday and thursday, both looking for the potential for severe weather and eventually some of the showery kind of nature cruising into the northeast by the second half of the week. middle of the country, all the focus is really there all week long. >> indra petersons, thank you so much. >> kindra. >> someone call that -- >> it's early! it's early! this show goes on tv at 4:00 a.m.! >> it's tuesday! early was monday morning. >> i can't use actual words for

two full hours. that's a lot to ask! >> all right, we'll give you -- i'll get you a cup of coffee. that might help. all right, ringling brothers circus moving on with its next show as investigators reveal what could have caused eight acrobats dangling by their hair to come crashing down to the ground. and flames igniting when a plane crashes into a denver home. miraculously, no one was hurt. question is, how is this even possible? stunning pictures right after the break. when salesman alan ames books his room at laquinta.com, he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. so he knows exactly when he can check in and power up before his big meeting. and when alan gets all powered up, ya know what happens? i think the numbers speak for themselves. i'm sold! he's a selling machine! put it there. and there, and there, and there. la quinta inns & suites is ready for you, so you'll be ready for business. the ready for you alert, only a laquinta.com! la quinta!

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not caused by a heart valve problem that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto with aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto can cause bleeding, which can be serious and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto

before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto. once-a-day xarelto means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. we now know the cause of that terrifying accident at a circus in rhode island. investigators say a single metal clamp broke during the ringling brothers show in rhode island, plunging them to the ground and leaving seven performers hurt. they head to connecticut today for performances and ringling brothers promises to replace all the metal clamps before the next show on thursday.

eight performers remain hospitali hospitalized, two in critical condition, but the circus says luckily, none of those injuries appears to be life-threatening. take a look at these incredible pictures from suburban denver, where a single-engine plane crashed into a home, burst into flames. the plane was pulling an advertising banner and lost power just before it crashed. the pilot suffered minor injuries. no one was inside that house at the time of the crash. politicians, start your engines, and political reporters, the long national nightmare is over. we have an election day! primary season revs up today with elections in north carolina, ohio and indiana. thank goodness it's here at last. the spotlight really on the republican senate primary in north carolina. why? well, this really is the first real test we have of the establishment gop against the tea party. there's a tea party challenge in this race. it has a lot of people talking. it has the establishment nervous. here to discuss this, cnn political editor paul

steinhauser. >> hey, paul. >> paul, what's going on down there? >> you're right, game day in north carolina, guys. this is a very important race for a lot of us who cover politics, but as you mentioned, this is the first big test this year of the establishment versus the tea party. remember, over the last two years, the last two election cycles, we've seen candidates backed by the right really effectively cost the republicans five very winnable senate seats. this time the establishment is saying enough's enough. the guy they're backing, as you mentioned, thom tillis, the house speaker in north carolina, the state house speaker. he's got the backing just in the last couple days of people like mitt romney and jeb bush, but more importantly, some of the big outside groups like the u.s. chamber of commerce and american crossroads, they've spent some big bucks to make sure tillis wins the 40% he needs to avoid a runoff. he's got a bunch of challengers, one of them a guy called greg, backed by rand paul. the senator from kentucky went down there yesterday, very unusually on the right. and also some other groups are

backing him there. a lot of other showdowns over the next four to five weeks, every tuesday. that will really give us a sense of whether the tea party or the establishment has the upper hand this time. guys? >> speaking of the upper hand, we've got some polls. walk us through the polls that show ma thab democrats should be a little nervous heading into november. >> yeah, six months to election day. take a look at our brand-new numbers from cnn/orc. we asked americans, registered voters across the country, in your congressional district, would you vote for the democrat or the republican, without naming names, no candidate names. we call this generic ballot. look, okay, so, the republicans only have a one-point advantage, doesn't seem like a lot. here's why it's important. four years ago, at the same time before the 2010 midterms, republicans also had the slight advantage. they went on to a very big victory. another indicator. take a look at this. the president's approval rating 43%, nothing to brag about. is the president going to be a drag on his party? maybe. is there a silver lining for the democrats? check this out, though. if the republicans keep control of the house, do the democrats -- do americans want

the republicans to win the senate? looks like americans are divided on this one. six months to go, a lot of numbers to come. >> on the generic ballot test, i think democrats should be a lot nervous is more appropriate. finally, let's go back to north carolina, because i can't let you go without talking about clay aiken running for congress right there. and this time, paul, second will not be good enough. >> yeah, he was second-place finish to reuben stoddard. we remember that in "american idol's" second season. he went on to a lot of fame. he's back home in the north carolina 2nd district, battling for a house seat down there. two other major democrats running in the seat. he's talking about his life story, he's openly gay, emphasizing that to a degree as well. stay tuned. if he wins, this is going to be a race we're all going to be covering a lot. >> and carrie underwood will probably run next. paul steinhauser, great to have you with us. thanks. let's look at what's coming up on "new day." kate bolduan is joining us this tuesday. good morning. >> good morning. we're following the same story you guys are, that horrifying story of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by a

terror group in nigeria. the group has not only kidnapped and held them, they are now threatening to sell the girls as international frustration grows over the efforts to rescue them or lack thereof. what can be done to find these girls? what more should be done? christi christiane amanpour is going to be joining us as well as experts who know the country very well. we'll stay on top of that. and we'll also continue to cover the continuing violence in ukraine. it's intensifying, the death toll rising in bloody clashes between pro-russian militants and ukrainian troops. just look at the video. is ukraine on the verge of war? will russia use the bloodshed as an excuse to invade? we're breaking down the conflict and what, if any, options leaders have to try and calm things down. >> all right, kate bolduan, thanks. can't wait. >> thanks, guys. a new phase about to begin in the search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. investigators set to re-examine the evidence, sort of a reboot in the investigation. so, what comes next? we are live in malaysia with the latest on that after the break. (mother vo) when i was pregnant

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it's a crucial day in the search for flight 370. in australia this morning, preparations under way for a critical meeting over the next steps in the search. the hunt for the plane is entering, really, a new phase, and leaders from china, malaysia and australia now need to decide what to do to see if they can find this plane. will ripley live in kuala lumpur with more on this meeting this morning. good morning, will. >> reporter: hey, john. just hours from now in canberra, australia, that team of experts that met here in kuala lumpur and decided where they think the plane went down will be going over the data all over again, taking a look at the satellite information, those possible pings under water and everything else that's been collected in the last two months of this investigation into the disappearance of flight 370. they just want to make sure that they're searching in the right

place, because there's a lot at stake here and a lot invested. it could cost up to $60 million, take up to 12 months. they're talking about a massive underwater search, 23,000 square miles needs to be covered. so far, the bluefin-21 has covered fewer than 200 square miles. john? >> a lot more work to do, a lot more plans to be hashed over the next 24 hours. will ripley, good to see you this morning. thanks so much. summer usually means paying more for gas, but this year may be the exception. that's right. what you need to know before you plan your summer road trip. "money time" next. ♪ thoughtful combinations, artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. woman: welcome to learning. spanish in the car.c on. passenger: you've got to be kidding me. driver: this is good. woman: vamanos. driver & passenger: vamanos. woman: gracias. driver & passenger: gracias.

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welcome back to "early start." it's "money time." okay, drivers, you may be in for a treat this summer. experts are predicting lower gas prices. prices jumped in april as refineries switched over to summer blends and oil prices fluctuated on the situation in ukraine. average price per gallon hit $3.66 last month, but prices have already come down a few cents. experts tell us we should expect another 5 or 10-cent drop in coming weeks. coke and pepsi showing this morning that teenagers really can change the world. the two drink-makers announced

monday they will remove the controversial ingredient bvo from their products. bvo contains a flame retardant chemical also used in plastics and furniture. the shake-up comes after a mississippi teenager noted the chemical in gatorade -- look at her there. she launched a petition on change.org to get it removed. pepsi complied and is following up with other products. coke also going bvo-free by year end. all right, more proof that the 1% is getting richer. a new report out this morning from "alpha" magazine shows the country's richest hedge fund managers made more than $21 billion last year. that's more than the gdps of jamaica and haiti combined. what's more, pay is up 50% from last year. hedge fund managers make their income based on what their funds return as well as their fees. >> yeah, they can all make more money today, because i'm just looking. the dow, s&p and nasdaq futures all up. >> all higher. >> about 0.25%. >> seven tuesdays in a row stocks have finished higher. a lot of people this morning

saying they'll look for another terrific tuesday. >> seven tuesdays in a row? voices carry until tuesday. way to go. thanks for joining us. thanks for joining us. "new day" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i u can't imagine mini mother. >> hundreds of girls are missing. their kidnapper threatening in this chilling video. a movement is growing online around the world. the u.s. being pushed to help our correspondents are on the ground talking to families pressing for answers. deadly violence in ukraine as soldiers face-off against pro-russian militants. diplomats meet this morning to try to resolve the conflict. we're live on the ground. the clippers destroy their opponents overnight as the league gets behind the effort to

force donald sterling out. we have surprising new poll numbers. >> your "new day" starts right now. >> this is "new day" with chris cuo cuomo. >> good morning, it's tuesday, may 6th, we begin with a story that demands action. 200 young girls are missing, kidnapped pr their school by islamist extremistextremists. they are now threatening to sell the girls. he refers to them as slaves in a videotape. a movement is growing online to free them, but the local seems to be doing too little. their allegations, they are trying to keep this situation quiet. we have every angle of this developing story covered for you. >> reporter: chris, this is the parents' worst