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Teacher tranquilizes white-tailed deer after it breaks into Ohio classroom
When a white-tailed deer broke into an Ohio classroom, one local teacher, Dustin Goldie, knew how to respond. He grabbed his tranquilizing gun from home, shot the deer, and removed him from the classroom. Meanwhile, Nick Montag, a student in a media class at Kings Junior High school, shot unbelieveable video of the deer trapped in the classroom.
Goldie and Montag join "Early Start" this morning to discuss what happened and the unbelievable footage that was shot.
Couple finds home restored and renovated after Hurricane Sandy flooding
One New York couple was devastated when they lost their home due to flooding from Hurricane Sandy. But, Burt and Jeanne Metz regained hope after they reached out to Operation Blessing, an organization that has assisted the clean-up effort across the New York region. The Metzs learned volunteers would help them gut their home, but were happily surprised to find the volunteers modernized and restored it instead.
Burt and Jeanne Metz join “Early Start” this morning to discuss how their home renovations have impacted their lives.
“We need a lot of help because we're not in a condition to do the hard type of work that had to be done. And these people would come down and just did everything,” Burt Metz explains.
James Holmes took photos of Aurora theater month ahead of massacre; CNN's Ed Lavandera reports details from prelim hearing
The preliminary hearing presenting evidence against James Holmes for the “Dark Knight” shooting is over. A judge will decide tomorrow if the case goes to trial. CNN’s Ed Lavandera has been reporting on the hearing from Centennial, Colorado and tells us more about the chilling details it has uncovered to the public.
“Prosecutors have laid out a detailed time line of how Holmes planned the Aurora theater massacre,” he says. “Investigators say James Holmes started casing the Century 16 movie theatre about three weeks before the shooting. They say he came here on three different occasions and snapped off a series of pictures they found on his iPhone that showed various hallway and doors, even the exit area of theatre nine.” According to prosecutors, Holmes also spent weeks stockpiling weapons and rigging an explosive system in his apartment timed to detonate just before he started the killing spree.
“Holmes's deviant and deadly plan feels more like the deranged creation of a fictional villain in a Batman movie,” Lavandera says. “But all these disturbing details we've learned in the past 3 days still don't explain why James Holmes wanted to kill so many people.”
CNN Trends: Lion or labradoodle?
John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin tell you what's trending, including a change in the game of Monopoly, and 911 calls for a puffy pup mistaken for a lion.
MYB: Gun retailers stock decline
Christine Romans is minding your business this morning with the latest in U.S. stock futures and world markets. U.S. stock futures are trading higher after some positive economic news out of China overnight.
And the run on guns fizzled out a bit yesterday. Gun retailers stock declined after a gun violence task force meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, she reports. There were also a record number of background checks for gun sales in December.
Nischelle Turner previews the 'pro-bowl announcement of entertainment'; the Oscar nominations
Hollywood is abuzz this morning in anticipation for the big announcement Tinseltown has been waiting to hear for months. In just a few hours, Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone will name the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards. As CNN’s Nischelle Turner tells it, “the campaign for best picture is about to get real.” She has a preview for us live from Hollywood.
“As many as 10 movies could be nominated for best picture,” Turner says. She names Steven Spielberg's Civil War drama, “Lincoln,” as a top candidate sure to land a number of nominations. Its star studded cast includes the obvious nominee, Daniel Day-Lewis, in the lead role. Other titles sure to be named are "Les Mis", "Argo", "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Life of Pi", Deadline.com's Pete Hammond tells her. "Silver Linings Playbook" should score nominations for best picture and for its stars—Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, who's been facing an Oscar dryspell,” Turner reports.
But there’s drama in naming the nominees as much as there is the nominees themselves. “Among the possible Oscar nominees, one movie stands out as a major question mark.” It’s a wonder what Oscar voters will make of Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained"? Some critics have accused Tarantino of trivializing slavery in the film while others have lauded the picture greatly. “The controversy should make for a suspenseful Oscar nomination announcement.”
Four year old banned from pre-school for opting out of flu shot
Six states have made it mandatory for young children to get the vaccine in order to attend day care and pre-school. Alyssa and Joe Pereira refused to vaccinate their four year old son Jeremy because he is allergic to eggs and the vaccine contains traces of egg protein in it. He was banned from pre-school. New Jersey has since extended an exemption to opt out on these grounds just for this year. They stopped by to chat with Zoraida.
Statistics from the Center for Disease Control show 115 children dying from the flu from September 2010 to August 2011 that were not vaccinated. Jeremy’s parents still are not convinced that the shot has any effect, Joe says, “There is nothing definite about the shot working. I have never gotten the shot and never gotten the flu. I have plenty of friends who have gotten the shot with their kids and they get the flu, some of them almost immediately.”
Even though their son has severe allergic reactions to eggs, the Pereiras are confident their son will stay healthy during the flu season, Alyssa says, “He’s perfectly healthy except for a few allergies that he has, so that’s why we’re not so worried.”
Stepfather of Aurora victim discusses efforts to curb gun violence
Later this morning, survivors of gun violence and representatives from gun safety groups are meeting with Vice President Joe Biden in Washington. Biden is leading the White House task force on guns, which was quickly assembled in the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy.
Lonnie Phillips, whose step-daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed in the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, will be attending today's meeting and he joins Starting Point today to discuss the efforts he's taking to try to curb gun violence.
Phillips, who says that he expects a "tough, protracted battle," explains that he's focused on three main aspects of gun control pertaining to assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and background checks.
Discussing the participation of the NRA in gun control talks, Phillips says that the organization is "using their same worn out trite: people kill people, guns don't kill people."
"They need to come up with something more substantial than that," Phillips says. "A dialogue with NRA would be helpful. I would like to see some kind of step forward for them, instead of just towing the line and not giving an inch. That's not the way to negotiate."
Researchers alert Jacksonville Beach police to great white shark tracked off Florida coast; OCEARCH Founder Chris Fischer shares details
This morning, “Early Start” shows you amazing video of researchers from "OCEARCH" yanking a 3,500 pound, 16-foot-long shark out of the water in September, just off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. They nicknamed her "Mary Lee," and she’s been very busy. Currently being tracked and monitored via GPS by the research group, you can see her activity in the last 72 hours on their website.
When the massive great white shark entered the surf zone early Tuesday morning at Florida’s Jacksonville Beach, about 200 yards offshore, the research group contacted Jacksonville Beach police and alerted them to the shark's presence. Police urged people to stay away. Chris Fischer is the Founder of OCEARCH. Also an expedition leader, Fischer is the one who tagged Mary Lee, and he joins us live from Park City, UT this morning with details.
CNN's Dan Simon surveys the coolest new gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show
The best in new tech is making its debut at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week and CNN’s Silicon Valley Correspondent Dan Simon is there to check it all out. He has the latest on the cutting edge gadgets and gizmos making an impressive splash in Sin City.
From robotic cleaners, and back massagers, indestructible cell phone cases, and ingenious smartpens on display, Simon highlights some of the ultra cool and innovative products at CES, “where 2,000 companies from all over the world are showing off their newest products to the 150 thousand people who came here to be dazzled.”
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