it smells like gum. yummy. this smells like strawberry. ooh, are these mints? with colorful packaging and fruit and candy flavors that kids love, who do you think tobacco companies are targeting? do we get to keep any? new clues, new tips this morning bringing investigators perhaps closer to the two killers who escaped from prison. we will tell you where officials now think they are hiding. that's ahead. new calls this morning to banish the confederate flag. south carolina's governor wants the controversial flag removed

from the state's capitol. a growing chorus calling for a change after the charleston church massacre. stunning words from president obama. actually stunning word in this case in a new candid interview about race in america. good morning, everyone welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is 4:00 a.m. important leads in the manhunt. authorities finding dna from richard matt and david sweat inside a burglarized hunting cabin inside a camp in owls head. they broke out more than two weeks ago. after a witness spotted someone running into the woods near the cabin, about 1,000 officers descended on this tiny community with helicopters, atvs and cruise cruise cruisers. >> reporter: how confident do you feel about the leads?

>> all options are open. everything is on the table. these are the best leads we've had since the escape. >> reporter: are you confident they're here in your area in your county? >> i'm confident if they're here we'll catch them. the information has been more credible and better leads than we've had since the escape. i think the noose is starting to tighten. >> the noose is starting to tighten. a law enforcement force tells cnn detectives are combing through months worth of guest records. officials have a new theory on how the inmates got their hands on tools to break out of prison. for the latest on the investigation let's turn to cnn's jason carroll. >> reporter: christine, john investigators calling this one of their most significant leads to date that evidence found inside that cabin, materials linking these two inmates to dna that they also were able to extract from the materials found inside that cabin. again, a significant lead for

investigators, but that's just one of the developments in this story, a story that just seems to have one strange development after another. this one has to do with how these inmates allegedly got some of that contraband inside the prison. we're hearing from a source that perhaps it came through frozen hamburger meat. i say that again, frozen hamburger meat. investigators are looking at the possibility that contraband or tools were inside of frozen hamburger meat a week before his escape. that again, coming to us from a source here on the ground. now you should also know that these two men collected their contraband over a lengthy period of time, but it is believed that one of the guards there at the correctional facility passed this frozen chunk of hamburger meat into the prison. it did not go through metal detectors which is a violation of prison policy. these two inmates, as you know housed in the -- what was the

so-called honor guard and the honor block and as such they were allowed to cook. that was one of their privileges. they were allowed to cook there in their cells. this is one of the many points that would be investigated as this investigation moves forward. christine, john? >> thanks to jason carroll for that. new details about the months leading up to the deadly rampage at emanuel ame church in south carolina. in february the killer launched a hate-filled website with a manifesto. in april he used the money from his 21st birthday to buy a gun. then he began a twisted tour of south carolina sites connected to slavery and the confederacy. but instead of the race war that this man says he hoped to spark, the shooting seems to set the stage to change the political climate across the south. later this morning a rally is planned at south carolina statehouse calling on lawmakers to support removing the confederate battle flag. this comes after south carolina

governor nickkki haley called for the senators to remove the flag. this comes after the speaker of the mississippi house says he wants the confederate symbol removed from his state's flag. get this walmart announced it will remove all rebel flag merchandise from its stores. these are big, sweeping changes. i have to say one week ago no one would have believed this was coming. anna cabrera. >> john and christine, confederate flag flying outside the capitol. >> the debate will playout. with an eventual vote by state lawmakers to determine the flag's future. it reverses what she said in previous statements in which she supported the placement.

she says in light of the charleston church massacre she recognizes that this flag means different things to different people. racism and that has no place on state capitol grounds. >> for good and for bad, whether it is on statehouse grounds or in a museum the flag will always be a part of the soil of south carolina but this is a moment in which we could say that that flag while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future. today we are here in a moment of unity in our state without ill will to say it's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds. >> bottom line it will require a 2/3 majority to agree for the

flag to come down. there does seem to be some momentum going in that direction but we'll have to wait and see, john and christine. >> anna cabrera, thank you. president obama is set to travel to charleston on friday. the president, first lady vice president joe biden will attend the funeral for the pastor of reverend clementa pinckney. >> reporter: john and christine, so many questions were directed to the white house. when is the president going to visit charleston? now they've announced he the first lady the vice president will be going there on friday for the funeral of reverend clementa pinckney someone the president had met and knew personally. the president will deliver the eulogy. it's almost like we're in a period of how the president engages and addresses race. he uses extremely direct language. speaking of which, this hour long interview that he did with a comedian in a garage for a

podcast called wtf, the headline of course though that the president himself used the n word. >> and it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public that's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not, it's not just a matter of overt discrimination. we have -- societies don't overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior. >> reporter: well clearly there is a shock value in that thus the headlines around the world, but the white house is denying that the president planned this out ahead of time. they said he was simply making a point in an informal setting and it just kind of came out. some analysts are saying it is about time we heard the president speak so directly on the subject. of course not everybody's happy that he decided to use that word in particular but we're also hearing from people who are saying they're surprised that people are surprised.

this is a word we don't feel comfortable using really when we're talking about that word but it's hard to imagine that the president didn't think about the provocative power of it when he decided to use it even if it was on the spot. and this kind of discussion is clearly what the white house wants. john and christine. >> thanks to michelle for that. four republican presidential candidates are distancing themselves from a white supremacist group that may have informed the shooter. three of the four candidates have announced they are donating those contributions to the mother emanuel hope fund in charleston. an isis operative who may have been involved in the 2012 benghazi attack has been killed by u.s. air strike in iraq. they confirm that he died last week in mosul. u.s. intelligence believes that

he orchestrated hundreds of suicide attacks around the world and was one of the first foreign fighters to join use sis. tunisia recruited husbands to fight. the tsa has a new top man. the senate overwhelmingly confirmed peter nefenger. they have a lot of work to do after the security gap. auditors were able to sneak prohibited items past tsa checkpoints 67 out of 70 tries. top executive from japanese airbag maker takata will be on the hot seat today. the company is involved in the largest automotive recall in history with at least 32 million vehicles recalled. its faulty airbags are responsible for at least eight deaths. a report just published by the senate committee claims takata executives halted the recall in order to save money. the hearing begins at 10:00 a.m.

eastern. the president's fast track bill faces a new hurdle in the senate. a procedural vote that could clear the way for final passage this week. the fate of the bill sort of in the hands of half a dozen democrats that are pro trade but have concerns that the deal will kill jobs in the u.s. the vote is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. eastern time. time for an "early start" on your money. another good day for stocks. still hope here of a greek debt deal. u.s. futures up a little bit after a great day yesterday. the nasdaq record close. it's largely thanks to greece. >> thank you, greece. >> for the first time in months greece's creditors suggested a last-minute deal to avoid default is in sight. e.u. leaders say more work needs to be done but it's promming to keep talks going for the next few days. greece needs money. it owes $1.75 billion to the imf in a debt payment by the end of the month. so it needs -- it needs to get a deal. >> needs to execute this deal.

>> oh, my yes, they do. famed hollywood composer james horner is missing and feared dead this morning. a small plane registered to horner crashed in central california. the pilot was the only occupant. he was killed immediately on impact. authorities have not yet named the victim. ♪ wherever you are ♪ >> that's not horner but it is a song he wrote. he is best known for his work on the film "titanic" 1997 which won him two oscars best original dramatic score and best original song for this, celine dion's "my heart will go on." new information on that cyber attack on u.s. federal workers. get this it's now four times larger than previously thought. we're talking about private information of 18 million former and current u.s. government employees compromised. is china behind that attack? we are live with china's response next.

and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic

to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. in a medical study most stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. ask your doctor about stelara®.

now it appears the cyber attack targeting u.s. federal employees, much more far reaching than first thought. the number of employees affected has gone from 4 million to about 18 million. it is likely growing. the u.s. pointing the finger at china, but what does beijing have to say? we're going to turn to cnn's david mckenzie for that. in the past when china has been accused of having ties to units within the military there that are hacking or spying on the u.s. they've always said that we're seeing ghosts and elusions that it's not true. what are they saying this time? >> reporter: well christine, predictably they're saying it's quote, irresponsible for the accusations to come that china is somehow a state sponsor of these hacks at access. it's believed that at least 18 million current, former prospective federal employees, including those who are trying to get security clearances to

work with federal government agencies. now the chinese are saying repeatedly that in fact the u.s. is the one who hacks into china and that in this stage it's really finger pointing both ways. the chinese say they want to see proof. at this stage interestingly the obama administration and the justice department be hasn't really come out with direct evidence of this. this could be because the investigation is ongoing and so they're trying to gather the facts before they announce exactly how they know that this hack is from the chinese, but it also could be the fact that the evidence of this stage is relatively scant and that the chinese have said they want to sit down and talk with the u.s. on these issues of cyber security. they'll have the opportunity over the next few days in d.c. with a large meeting of officials, but at this stage it's finger pointing for both sides. >> strategic economic dialogue that goes on periodically between the united states and chinese. in fact this has been on the

agenda many many times talking about intellectual property theft, talking about hacking and the like. it is something they talk about frequently. let me ask you this. you know david, it's so interesting a lot of people have said to me cyber experts have said to me if you were accusing of chinese of actually breaking into the office of personnel management and stealing rolodexes or stealing information, that would be a very very billing charge. we've become a little i think, fatigued by how much hacking is going on. >> reporter: well that's right. experts say hacking goes on all over the place, mostly by hackers trying to steal information to sell that information. that's one reason why investigators say or this is a state actor they haven't seen at this stage or made any of that information public of these millions of people floating around for sale on the dark internet as it's called so perhaps it's being used for a multi-step attack. it would seem at least

according to investigators, it would seem like a kind of modern way to do standard spying by using the internet rather than targeting individuals on the ground. >> so interesting. david mckenzie, almost a wild west in terms of cyber hacking and espionage. thank you, sir. dramatic announcement from maryland governor larry hogan. he announced he has a very advanced form of cancer. the 59-year-old has been diagnosed with nonhodgkin's lymphoma. he said he will not step down. he'll continue working while receiving aggressive chemotherapy. although the cancer is advanced governor hogan says his chance of survival is strong. we are thinking about him today. >> he's going to lose his beautiful gray locks but he's going to fight. six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray go on trial october 13th. the 23-year-old gray died in april after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody. his death triggered widespread protests in baltimore.

the charges range from second degree manslaughter and assault to false imprisonment and misconduct. shawn diddy combs is out on bail after a felony arrest on the campus of ucla for assault with a deadly weapon. that assault was apparently a cattle bell in the weight room. the assault at the campus athletic training complex involves this kettle ball. >> what is that. >> you use, christine, in the gym for weight training. the alleged victim was not identified. it was a strength and conditioning coach for the football. his son is a defensive back. jim moore called it quote, an unfortunate incident for all parties involved. don't know what happened there, but i know at my boy's soccer team we have a strict you know you have to wait a day before you talk to a coach with a kettle ball or anything else. >> so many reports were that his son was yelled at by this coach during a practice or weight training. p. diddy, puff daddy, mr. combs

was upset. >> again, 24 hours with my son's travel soccer team. if your son gets yelled at you have to wait 24 hours and get talked to by the coach. >> real high stakes in the 7-year-old soccer team? >> indeed. dozens of tornadoes touching down. dozens of buildings destroyed and several people injured. we'll have that next. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer.

with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. in a medical study most stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. ask your doctor about stelara®.

tornadoes tearing through the upper midwest overnight.

a twister that hit cole city illinois reportedly sparked fires, left people trapped and collapsed buildings. in subway illinois west of chicago officials say damage to a major campground is catastrophic. they were able to rescue five people trapped inside trailers. severe damage near milling ton toppling trees, tearing apart homes and crews still in rescue mode. another twister ripped roofs off homes and collapsed a goodwill store. terrifying. >> severe weather moving into the northeast today. let's check in with our meteorologist at the cnn weather center. >> john and christine, good morning to you. pretty wild setup. look at the images coming out of wrigley field. the dodgers playing the cubs. the globular clouds. literally an explosion of thunderstorms. we have one round, a second

round into the overnight hours spawned some 13 tornadoes. nearly 300 reports of damage when it comes to weather-related damage. the lightning strikes all over the place. upwards of 1,000 in the last three hours. pretty impressive sight when it comes to the severity of the weather. the line pushing off to the east. dangerous weather also across portions of the northeast. reports of tornadoes in and around illinois. that was the most we've seen since the beginning of april since the beginning of april. the models take you to the afternoon hours. begins brewing around washington, new york, boston. 67 million people in line for active weather. pick your place, washington baltimore, new york, boston, all of them going to see rough weather by this afternoon. the front cruises out of here. cooler temperatures return. heat indices up into the 100s. new york city how about 30 degrees cooler into the mid 60s. pretty nice. >> thanks pedram. new tips, new clues and new

manpower searching for two killers who escaped from prison. why investigators believe they are now close to tracking down these criminals. that's next.

you know, when i started my business, a lot of people didn't believe in me. but things took off when i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it!

get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy.

new clues this morning could be bringing investigators closer to finding two dangerous killers who escaped from prison. brand new information ahead. should the confederate flag be banished. government leaders from south carolina and now this morning to mississippi pushing for the removal of the controversial symbol. that happens as one of the

biggest stores in the world, you're looking at it pulling all confederate merchandise from store shelves. stunning words from president obama giving a candid interview on race in america. the one little word he said that is stirring debate. >> big word. >> welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. 31 minutes past the hour. important new leads in the manhunt for two convicts escaped from a new york maximum security prison. authorities have found dna from richard matt and david sweat inside a hunting cabin near the town of owls head in upstate new york. that cabin had been broken into. just about 20 miles west of the prison where they escaped more than two weeks ago. this happened after a witness spotted someone running into the woods near the cabin. about 1,000 officers have descended on to that tiny community with helicopters atvs and cruisers. >> reporter: how confident do you feel about these leads? >> all options are open.

everything is on the table. like i say, i think these are the best leads we've had since the escape. >> reporter: are you confident they're here in your area in your county? >> i'm confident if they're here we'll catch them. the information that's coming in the last 72, 48 hours is credible and better leads than we've had since the escape. i think the noose is starting to tighten. >> law enforcement tells detectives they're combing through months worth of guest registries from hotels in the area around the prison looking for someone with a connection to the escapees. officials also have a new theory on how the inmates got their hands on tools to break out of prison. for the very latest on the investigation let's turn to cnn's jason carroll. >> reporter: christine, john investigators calling this one of their most significant leads to date. that evidence found inside that cabin, materials linking these two inmates to dna that they also were able to extract from the materials found inside that cabin. again, a significant lead for

investigators, but that's just one of the developments in this story, a story that just seems to have one strange development after another. this one has to do with how these inmates allegedly got some of that contraband inside the prison. we're hearing from a source that perhaps it came through frozen hamburger meat and i say that again, frozen hamburger meat. investigators are looking at the possibility that contraband and/or tools were hidden inside frozen hamburger meat delivered to richard matt just a week before his escape. that again, coming to us from a source here on the ground. and now you should also know that these two men collected their contraband over a lengthy period of time but it is believed that one of the guards there at the correctional facility passed this frozen chunk of hamburger meat into the prison. it did not go through metal detectors, which is a violation of prison policy. these two inmates, as you know housed in the -- what was the

so-called honor guard and the honor block and as such they were allowed to cook. that was one of their privileges they were allowed to cook there in their cells. this is just one of the many points that will be investigated as this investigation moves forward. christine, john? >> jason carroll, thanks for that jason. this morning we're learning new details about the months leading up to dylann roof's deadly rampage at the emanuel ame rampage. in february after he launched that website with the long hate-filled manifesto, he used the money from his 21st birthday to guy a gun. then he began a twisted tour of south carolina sites connected to slavery and massacre. instead of the race war he said he hoped to spark the shooting scenes set to change the political climate across the south. later this morning a rally is planned at south carolina statehouse calling on lawmakers to support removing the confederate battle flag from the

premises. comes after south carolina governor nikki haley reversed her earlier position and joined both of the state's u.s. senators calling for the confederate battle flag's removal. the speaker of the mississippi house said he wants to see that removed from his flag. >> reporter: the confederate flag still flies outside the south carolina capitol but now the governor nikki haley is joining calls for the flag to go. this sets up a debate that will likely play out in the next few weeks inside the state capitol and with an eventual vote by state lawmakers which will determine the flag's future. the governor's announcement just reversus what she said in previous statements in which she supported the placement of the flag here on state capitol grounds alongside the confederate war memorial saying it symbolizes the state's heritage. in light of the charleston massacre she recognizes that this flag means different things to different people and for some

it symbolizes hatred and racism and she says that has no place on state capitol grounds. >> for good and for bad, whether it is on the statehouse grounds or in a museum the flag will always be a part of the soil of south carolina but this is a moment in which we can say that that flag while an integral part of our past does not represent the future. today we are here in a moment of unity in our state without ill will to say, it's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds. >> reporter: bottom line only state lawmakers have power to remove the flag and it will require a 2/3 majority to agree for the flag to come down. there does seem to be some momentum going that direction, but we'll have to wait and see. john and christine. >> anna cabrera, thank you for that in charleston. walmart is removing all confederate flag merchandise

from its stores. walmart.com has carried that but now the country's largest retailer says it doesn't want to offend anyone by selling these products. some other major retailers still sell that including amazon and ebay, but flag manufacturers are also discussing amongst themselves whether they should be manufacturing these symbols some use as racial symbols of hate. now quick check of the markets. stocks have never been this high. european and asian stocks much higher this morning on hopes of a greek debt deal. u.s. stock futures are up too. good day yesterday, the nasdaq record high close. the dow gained 104 points. president obama is now set to travel to charleston. that will happen on friday. the president, the first lady vice president joe biden will attend the funeral for the pastor of emanuel ame church reverend clementi pink pinckney.

michelle kosinski has the story. >> reporter: is the president going to visit charleston? now they've announced he the first lady and the vice president will be going there on friday will be going there on friday for the funeral of reverend clementa pinckney. the president will deliver the eulogy. we're in a new period of how the president engages on and addresses race. we've heard several speeches where he uses extremely direct language. speaking of which, this hour-long interview that he did with a comedian in a garage for a podcast called wtf, the headline of course though that the president himself used the n word. >> and it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public that's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. it's not just a matter of overt discrimination. we have -- societies don't

overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior. >> well clearly there is a shock value in that thus the headlines around the world. but the white house is denying that the president planned this out ahead of time. they said he was simply making a point in an informal setting and it just kind of came out. some analysts are saying it is about time we heard the president speak so directly on this subject. of course not everybody's happy that he decided to use that word in particular but we're also hearing from people who are saying they're surprised that people are surprised. this is a word we don't even feel comfortable using really when we're talking about that word. it's hard to imagine the president didn't think about the provocative power of it when he decided to use it even if it was on the spot. this kind of discussion is clearly what the white house wants. john and christine. >> michelle kosinski thank you for that. four republican presidential candidates scrambling this morning to distance themselves from the head of a white

supremacist group who might have sparked dylann roof. earl hall has donated thousands of dollars to the campaigns of ted cruz rand paul scott walker and rick santorum. three of the four candidates announcing they will donate those contributions to the mother emanuel hope fund in charleston. top executive from takata will be on the hot seat today. the company is involved in the largest automotive recall in history with at least 32 million vehicles affected. faulty airbags responsible for at least eight deaths. a report published by the senate committee claims takata executive halted safety recalls worldwide to save money. the pacific trade bill faces one more critical hurdle in the senate. it's a procedural vote that could clear final passage. the fate of the bill is in the hands of half a dozen democrats that are pro trade but have concerns the deal will kill jobs

in america. the cyber attack targeting millions of u.s. federal workers is much bigger than anyone thought. 18 million workers, their private/personal information stolen. who is behind the data breach? we're live next. you know, when i started my business, a lot of people didn't believe in me. but things took off when i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy.

it appears the cyber attack targeting federal employees is far more reaching than

authorities thought. it's gone from 4 million to 18 million and that number will likely go up even higher. the u.s. is pointing the finger at china, but what does china have to say? i doubt they're admitting to much. let's turn to cnn's david mckenzie in bayeijing for that. >> reporter: good morning. this time these allegations they are saying well, they are, in fact irresponsible by the u.s. and that in fact it's the u.s. fault that the talks between china and the u.s. have broken down on the issue of cyber securitycourt security security. we haven't had much information outlining how they know this was china doing this hack which allegedly got more than 18 million prospective, current, former federal employees, access to their personal information and importantly access to those trying to get security clearance for federal agencies.

now, china has said it is itself a victim of hacking and they say often that hacking comes from the u.s. john? >> and what exactly would this information be used for and what branch hypothetically speaking since they're not admitting to it of the chinese government would have their hands on it? >> reporter: well it would ultimately be an intilly liintelligence gold mine. whoever gets it state actor, private actor, anyone else because they get all of their information first to create what officials say could be a vafs database of sensitive information, then they can use that information to target specific high value individuals by potentially sending them fake e-mails, so called fishing attacks. if those people click on that they can access even more valuable data and sensitive issues. now, of course there's been a lot of grumbling particularly on capitol hill about the level of

security that the u.s. federal agencies have had around that information. i'm sure that will be tightened now, but there is a sense that this huge treasure trove of information could be used for more damaging attacks in the future. john? >> david mckenzie for us in beijing. thanks so much david. maryland governor larry hogan revealing he has a very advanced form of cancer. the 59-year-old has been diagnosed with nonhodgkin's lymphoma. he says he will not step down. he plans to continue working while he has aggressive chemotherapy. while it's advanced his chance of survival is strong. six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray will go on trial october 13th. his death triggered widespread protests in baltimore. the charges from the six officers range from second degree manslaughter and assault to false imprisonment and

misconduct. new york city mayor and city council striking a budget deal that calls for the hiring of nearly 1300 new police officers. mayor bill de blasio says some of those officers will be part of a new neighborhood policing strategy. others will be assigned to a dedicated specially trained counter terrorism force. the influx of new officers is expected to address bloated overtime costs. the increase will take the nypd to 37,000 officers. by far the largest police force in the country. fbi investigators are still trying to determine exactly who in the st. louis cardinals front office was behind the hacking of the houston astros computer network containing a lot of their intelligence. it was focused on a small group of employees. it was traced in a computer near the cardinals spring training complex. at least four members of the baseball operations staff purportedly hired criminal defense lawyers. >> wow. >> wow, indeed. >> that is something. >> you can't deflate a baseball all i'm saying.

>> i can assure you the chinese were not behind that. >> who knows at this point. >> that's interesting. severe storms destroying homes overnight. it's not over yet. the damage done and the millions facing new storms, folks, this morning. that's next. you know, when i started my business, a lot of people didn't believe in me. but things took off when i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy.

tornadoes tore into the upper midwest overnight. a twister that hit cole city

illinois reportedly sparked fires and left people trapped inside collapsed buildings. in illinois west of chicago, damage to a major campground is catastrophic. they have been able to rescue five people who were trapped inside trailers. now in eastern michigan overnight a tornado did severe damage in the town of millington toppling trees and tearing apart houses there. crews are still in rescue mode in that town. another twister slammed into portland michigan ripping roofs off of homes and churches collapsing a goodwill store there. five people injured when it touched down monday afternoon. >> wow, this is still a dangerous situation. this is moving into the northeast. pedram is tracking that weather for us from the cnn weather center. >> john and christine, good morning to you. the active weather in the midwest tapering off into the early morning hours. we've lost some of the heating that causes these storms to blossom. that is good news. still spawning some 13 reports of tornadoes, a lot of them centered over illinois portions

of eastern michigan. the concern is the storms moving into areas of the northeast and by this afternoon it could be putting major cities in line for active weather. the thunderstorms, the models pushing into d.c. by 3:00 4:00 in the afternoon. new york and new jersey get in on the action as well. nearly 70 million people in line for active weather. the enhanced risk stretches from new york philly boston. damaging winds, large hail can't rule out tornadoes. this line of active weather has had the history of putting a few down. we'll watch the heat indices into the mid to upper 90s. 103 degrees by this afternoon. what it will feel like 107 the heat index across charleston and atlanta gets up to 100 degrees. the pattern changing as far as the front moving through, yes, it will bring in active weather. the good news is once it passes a pretty marked cooling trend across the northeast. guys? >> pedram thank you for that. who knew there would be controversy on putting a woman on the $10 bill.

a former fed chief is appalled by the treasury secretary's decision. >> a huge hamilton like. you know, when i started my business, a lot of people didn't believe in me. but things took off when i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy.

i'm christine romans. let's get an "early start" on your money. looks like another good day on stocks. u.s. stock futures are up after a great day yesterday. nasdaq in case you're wondering, record close there and it's all largely thanks to a potential greek debt deal. for the first time in months of negotiations they suggested a last-minute deal to avoid default is in sight. we hope it holds. ben bernanke is appalled.

he's behind secretary jack lew's plan. it shouldn't come at hamilton's expense. bernanke said hamilton helped stabilize the financial system. he suggests revamping the 20 instead calling andrew jackson a man of many unattractive qualities and a poor president. the movement the lobby to put a woman on the bill was for the $20 bill. now they've come back and the treasury department is asking. find the hashtag. >> where were all these people who are now speaking out on behalf of alexander hamilton? where have they been for the last several decades? i have not seen the massive amount of support for the former treasury secretary until now. there are better things. there are better things to be upset about, ben bernanke. all right. "early start" continues right now.

er closer to two killers who escaped from prison. where officials think they are now hiding ahead. new calls this morning to banish the confederate flag. south carolina's governor wants the controversial battle flag removed from the state capitol there. now there are calls in mississippi, mississippi. even walmart getting in on the action. such an historic change in just a few days. a stunning word from president obama in a new, candid interview about race in america. six little letters causing an awful lot of discussion this morning. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> great to see you. i'm john berman. it is tuesday, june 23rd 5:00 a.m. in the east. important, new leads in the manhunt for two convicts escaped from a new york maximum security prison. authorities have found dna from richard matt and david sweat inside a hunting cabin near the town of owls hea