Report: Obesity Rate To Soar, Costing Billions; Driverless Cars Legal In Nevada
BANFIELD: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Nice to have you with us. Here's what's happening at half past the hour now.</s>BANFIELD (voice-over): The FBI is now analyzing a new bomb threat from al Qaeda after the CIA stopped a plot to blow up a passenger jet that was bound for the United States. That device is similar to the one that the underwear bomber used to try to ignite on Christmas Day in 2009. Officials say it also came from the same lab of al Qaeda's chief bomb maker who is still on the loose this morning. And North Carolina voters are heading to the polls today to decide whether they are in favor of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It's called amendment one, and it would change the state's constitution to read, quote, "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized." Also, remember Rick Santorum? He's finally endorsed Mitt Romney. What do you know except it wasn't like this? There was no clapping and cheering. A month after dropping out of the race, the former Pennsylvania senator just sent an e-mail to the supporters. The endorsement was in paragraph 13 and he said also, quote, "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated." So, that was the endorsement -- Zoraida.</s>SAMBOLIN: Lukewarm.</s>BANFIELD: Very much.</s>SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Ashleigh. Thirty-two minutes past the hour. New fears this morning about the safety of two missing young Tennessee girls after police positively identified the bodies of the mother and sister. At a home where it is believed the suspect had been staying in Mississippi, the FBI says it believes the two young girls are in extreme danger and have been disguised by this man. Adam Mayes (ph), a family friend who is suspected of kidnapping them nearly two weeks ago now. CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Atlanta. He is following all of the latest developments. What is the latest this morning, Martin?</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest, of course, is that grim discovery which has now been announced. These bodies were actually found over the weekend, but it wasn't until late last night that the FBI finally released the identities, and now, we know it is the mother, 31-year-old Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter, 14- year-old Adrienne Bain (ph). And of course, that leaves the whereabouts of the two other daughters, that is the 12-year-old and the eight-year-old believed to be in the hands of Adam Mayes (ph) and, of course, believed to be, by all accounts of authorities, to be in extreme danger. You know, this is just a horrible story that actually began on April 27th when Jo Ann Bain and her daughters were reported missing by her husband. Authorities initially thought by their early investigation that maybe she'd ran off with Adam Mayes. Well, things begin to change a couple of days later when they found her abandoned car at the side of a dirt road. That did not look good. Adam Mayes (ph) was brought in for questioning. He then was let go. A couple of days later, they went back to talk to him again, he had vanished. That's when they went to the property, and they checked out the property of Adam Mayes (ph) and that's where they discovered the shallow grave. So, this is why there is a -- well, not quite nationwide but certainly a regional wide manhunt taking place down here in the south to try to find Adam Mayes (ph) and those two young girls.</s>SAMBOLIN: You mentioned that, perhaps, she had run off with him, or at least, initially, they thought that it happened. What was the relationship between Mayes and the Bain family?</s>SAVIDGE: Yes. Well, that's what makes this story so sad and also so very interesting is the fact that, apparently, Adam Mayes (ph) had a long time good relationship with this family. They were considered very, very close. He used to have the girls over at his place In mississippi for visits. He would travel with the family when they would go to Arizona. In fact, the aunt of Jo Ann Bain spoke to HLN last night, and here's how she described his feelings, Adam Mayes (ph), toward those girls. Listen.</s>VOICE OF BEVERLY GOODMAN, JO ANN BAIN'S AUNT: I think he said -- I think he told some people that all three of the girls was his. I think, you know, he was just hopefully thinking that one day, they would be his family, you know, that Jo Ann would probably go and live with him and bring the girls and them just all be a family together.</s>SAVIDGE: Now, whether he was speaking figuratively or whether he was actually delusional as to those girls being his, it is clear right now, two young girls are in extreme danger. We should point out that the authorities are saying that Adam Mayes may be going under some alternate aliases. One of them being Christopher Zachary Wild or Paco Rodriguez. And again, there's a $50,000 reward out there for anyone who finds the whereabouts of Adam Mayes or these two young girls.</s>SAMBOLIN: I got to tell you, Martin. When you were talking about his relationship and him, perhaps, thinking those were his daughters, which is one of the neighbors said, delusional did come to mind. Are we hearing anything about him, in particular? What kind of man he was. Does he have a criminal history?</s>SAVIDGE: Criminal history, we don't know yet. We're still digging on that. But the people who knew him, his neighbors, his landlord all described him as a great guy. They sort of point out and say that he was almost child-like or a kid acting in an adult's body. They say, you know, he was fun-loving. He was good to people. And that if anyone had told them ahead of time that he would be accused of carrying out abduction and now murder, they never would have believed it.</s>SAMBOLIN: And Martin, I thought -- I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but I thought I read something about a reward being given out for any information?</s>SAVIDGE: Right. Again, the federal authorities here and the U.S. Marshal Service, that's the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service, $50,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Adam Mayes and his arrest and also to find these young girls. But money is not the object here, of course.</s>SAMBOLIN: Of course not.</s>SAVIDGE: It's finding those last two girls, bringing them safely back home.</s>SAMBOLIN: We certainly hope so. Martin Savidge live for us in Atlanta. Thank you very much.</s>SAVIDGE: You bet.</s>BANFIELD: Thirty-seven minutes now past 5:00 on the east coast. And the family of Junior Seau is now waiting to decide whether to donate the NFL veteran's brain to research for study. Seau's family is consulting with elders from their Samoan culture before making that final decision. Both of his parents are from American Samoa. The 43-year-old died of a gunshot wound to the chest last week in an apparent suicide. There is speculation whether repeated hits to his head from his football career were a factor in his death.</s>SAMBOLIN: Shocking new statistics revealed in a CDC report.</s>SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Obesity rates projected to soar pushing health costs to new heights as well. Right now, 35 percent of Americans are obese. But experts predict 42 percent will be obese. This is by the year 2030. That's 30 million more Americans in just 18 years. And that rise is going to cost us tacking on an additional $550 billion to our medical costs.</s>BANFIELD (voice-over): Mitt Romney is insisting that he deserves a lot of credit for the rescue of America's auto industry. Romney has been blasted by Democrats and Republicans for his 2008 view that we should, quote, "let Detroit go bankrupt." But listen to what he told a TV reporter in Cleveland yesterday when that very topic came up.</s>MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And, frankly, that's finally what the president did. He finally took them through bankruptcy. That was the right course. I argued for it from the beginning. And finally, when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So, I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back.</s>BANFIELD: Well, it is an interesting argument. Can't fight that. But the White House certainly was quick to weigh in saying that Romney is trying to fool the American people. Spokesman for the president accusing him of, quote, "sinking to a new low in dishonesty."</s>SAMBOLIN: And Google getting the green light to test its self- driving car on actual roads. Look at this. Nevada becoming the first state to grant licenses for cars that drive themselves. Two people still have to be inside the car in case something goes haywire there, but Google says the cars have traveled 200,000 miles in test runs, so far, without an accident. The head of Nevada's DMV says the robo cars may be available to the public in three to five years. I am on board with that. I hate driving.</s>BANFIELD: I can't wait to see on one of those, you know, high occupancy vehicle lanes on the highway when they put the dummy in the passenger seat. They can now put the dummy in the driver's seat.</s>SAMBOLIN: Yes. Did you see those buttons? It looks like emergency stop, a green and a red.</s>BANFIELD: Got have that.</s>BANFIELD (on-camera): That will be the button you've got to have everywhere, right? Next on EARLY START, find out how clicking the like button on Facebook, you know you do it, might actually get you fired. I'm not kidding here. Stay with us.