hello. i'm don lemon. thank you for joining us in the cnn "newsroom." a major development in a story that's captured the nation's attenti attention for the last year.

we were talking about arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords. we were gripped in horror when an assassin shot her in the head and killed six others around her. we watched in hope as she made remarkable steps to recovery. today in order to stay on that pathway to healing, gabby giffords announced she is resigning from her seat in congress. >> i have more work to do on my recovery. so to do what is best for arizona, i will step down this week. >> i want to bring in now our athena jones. she's been monitoring the reaction from giffords' colleagues. in just the past hour we heard from the president, right? >> that's right. so over the course of the afternoon we've heard from members of congress like speaker john boehner and democratic leader nancy pelosi, all praysiprays praiseing gabby give forts. president obama said gabby's

cheerful presence will be missed in washington but she will remain an inspiration to all whose lives she touched, my included. and i'm confident that we haven't seen the lost of this extraordinary american. he called and spoke with giffords a few weeks ago on the anniversary of that horrible shooting. there were a series of events to mark that shooting. so a lot of heartfelt thanks and love pouring towards gabby giffords. one thing her office said in the statement they released going along with the video that they posted on her website, they said among the last events she will hold is she'll go back and she'll finish up that congress on your corner meet and greet with constituents that that gunman interrupted last january. she'll be having a private gathering in tucson with some of the folks who came to that event to speak with her. she'll also be attending the president's state of the union address on tuesday evening here. don? >> athena jones, thank you very much. stand by, we'll get back to you. we want to tell you about some of the major milestones in

the life and career of gabrielle giffords. november 7th, 2006, she was first elected to congress serving arizona's aeighth circuit. january 8th, she was meeting with constituents when she was allegedly shot pointblank by jared lee loughner. six people died in that attack, but giffords survived and eventually began a recovery. on august 1st, 2011, she made her first appearance on the house floor since the shooting to vote on the debt ceiling. you can see it was made to thunderous applause. two weeks ago, she appeared at vigil marking the one-year anniversary of the tucson shooting rampage. and then today she announced she's stepping down to focus on her recovery. well, many of congresswoman giffords' colleagues are offering their best wishes today. we're going to talk with one of her best friends.

florida congresswoman, debbie wasserman schultz at 10:00 p.m. eastern. our other top story today, the death of stoformer penn sta coach joe paterno. he died this morning of complications of lung cancer. it all came to a crashing end a few months ago when a former assistant coaches a accused of sexual assaulting ten young boys over a 15-year period. the scandal would cost paterno his job and it permanently scarred a coaching career that spanned more than four decades. joe paterno, dead at the age of 85. paterno's death has sparked an outpouring of sorrow among penn state fans and alumni, many of whom are still reeling from the events of the last three months. susan candiotti on the penn state campus where students have been gathering all day at the paterno statue. and, susan, what are people telling you now in. >> reporter: hi, don. you know, both students and

nonstudents and despite bitterly cold temperatures, there has been a steady stream of people stopping here at this site to exchange stories, share memories, and leave behind mementos of coach joe paterno. in fact, a lot of people stop by even to touch the hand of the statue. that's something that's traditionally done here, but today it takes on special meaning. all of this as you indicated amid a scandal, a child sex abuse scandal, that's touched penn state university that involved paterno's assistant cove, jerry sandusky. he is criminally charged, but all of this prompted the firing of joe paterno as head coach of the football team here, and this has left many fans still bitter. >> he was more than a coach. his family is more than a family. aside from all that's happened, this is different. all the people that have come to pay respects to him, and it's joe -- joe was penn state. he made penn state. >> we're still going to love him

no matter what anybody else said. it wasn't joe's fault and we're still going to love joe paterno for ever and ever, period, because we are penn state. >> and the paterno family also released a statement today that reads in part, quote, he died as he lived. he fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others, and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. he has been described, don, as the life and soul of penn state. >> he worked for him and many believe that he is responsible for joe paterno's down fall. i have to ask you, susan, what's the reaction, if any, from jerry sandusky? >> reporter: you know, we got a lot of different reactions today from a lot of well-known people, including jerry sandusky, who is criminally charged. he released a statement that reads this way in part, quote, this is a sad day. our family, dottie and i, would

like to convey our deepest sympathy to sue and her family. nobody did more for the academic reputation of penn state than joe paterno. so, don, we're hearing from a lot of people. there is a vigil planned for the -- on the main campus tonight at 8:00 eastern time, and a memorial service is also planned but we don't have any details of that just yet. >> all right, susan candiotti, appreciate it. thank you very much for that. joe paterno's football career will forever be linked to the way it ended. he started at penn state as an assistant coach back in 1950. he was named head coach in 1966. he would go on to win two national titles with five undefeated seasons. he became college football's all-time winningest coach last fall when he won his 409th game. he was fired less than a month later ahmed revelations he did not go to police when told that his assistant coach, jerry sandusky, you just heard from there, had been seen assaulting a boy in a penn state football facility.

another body has been found on the partly sunken cruise ship off the coast of italy. the woman is a 13th victim of the "costa concordia" accident. divers say she was wearing a life jacket. 19 people still missing. search efforts will continue, but attention also is turning to removing 2400 tons of fuel from the ship. environmentalists say the risk is becoming urgent. we are monitoring a severe weather threat across a large part of the country right now. many of you in line for possible tornadoes. so stay tuned. our meteorologist jacqui jeras tracking the storms that are already popping up. she has the very latest on that threat for you. just two minutes away so stay tuned. and then, you know, you hear about the violence in mexico all the time, about you we're going to take you somewhere else, to a place where you can literally get away with murder.

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of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. all right. we're watching severe weather across the u.s. tonight. jacqui jeras is in the cnn center for us. what do you have? >> we think thorges aunderstorm going to begin anytime. we're watching the severe threat, including trnds. this is going to be an ongoing event through the overnight hours. your noaa weather radio is going to be your best friend to help wake you up in the middle of the night. we're watching thunderstorms right in this area. they're just southwest of little rock, arkansas, at this time, and this is where we're expecting to see initiation. we do think the storm prediction center is going to be issuing a watch on it, a tornado watch, at least within the next hour. this is a very strong vigorous

storm, unusually strong for this time of year when we have so much warmth and moisture coming up ahead of it. on the back side we have some very dry, gusty conditions because this low is so tightly packed, and we've had an incredible go of it with dust storms across parts of texas and into oklahoma. in fact, take a look at this satellite picture. this is what we call the advice ekt satellite, and do you see all of this brown stuff here from will you lubbock up into o city? this is all dust. it's the kind of dust you can just taste. there have been a number of fires which have occurred into parts of oklahoma just south of the norman area, which is just outside of oklahoma city. now, on the north side of this system, another element, that's some freezing rain, and as that moisture rides up over the cold air into parts of the north, that's liquid rain that comes down, but it freezes on contact. so that's on the bridges and overpasses.

that's on the railings, on your car, and that makes for very difficult travel. that's going to be happening into the northeast overnight, and that includes some of the big cities like new york city. we're expecting to have big travel trouble across those areas today as well. now, with our storm in the nation's midsection a huge focus, we also have a lot of action going on across the west. this has been the week of storms, and you can see, here we go, they're still lined up. it's going to be storm after storm after storm, and it doesn't look like we're going to quiet down probably not until friday or saturday next week. so that's adding insult to injury when we're already looking at more than 100,000 people without power in washington state. check out some of this video. this is from one of our ireporters, melissa commodore. she took pictures of downed trees and branches and icy roads. we've seen some incredible amounts of snow into the higher elevations of the mountains, finally getting snow today. in the next 24 to 48 hours, we're going to be talking about 1 to 2 feet of snow.

that's good news for skiers anyway. >> for skiers anyway. if there's anything that you need to know regarding the weather, especially those tornadoes, we'll get right back to jacqui jeras. thank you. we appreciate it. stand by. the bloody drug war in mexico has gripped the world's attention but the most violent region is actually just south of mexico. drug trafficking and the extremely high homicide rate in honduras have left residents living in fear. we are taken to a place where you can literally get away with murder. we have to warn you, this video contains some very graphic images. >> reporter: in honduras over 90% of crimes like murder are never solved. they call it the impunity way. i asked the chief of police in san pedro, the second biggest city here, if they would take us

along when a call came in on a crime. a minute later we got our wish. so we jumped in the trucks and we're headed there right now to see what's going on. it's completely real. we're not making up how violent this place is. we've been here four hours and our first body has turned up. this person has been shot. the impact wound appears to be right here on the right side of his head, and the police commissioner told us that, you know, as is very typical in these situations nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything, and nobody knows this guy. nobody wants to talk, which suggests that people are definitely afraid in this neighborhood. as they should be.

for years the region has been plagued with violent gangs started by gang members deported from california. but in the last few years, it's also become the main corridor for narcotics coming up from south america. as the big mexican cartels have looked for staging areas here, murder rates have skyrocketed. so this is the entrance to the morgue. there must be 15 bodies here. yesterday they received seven bodies, and this morning five more. they get new bodies every day, 80% of them are from violence. they're usually shot either with a pistol or a rifle. there's not much to say. this woman and her mother who just lost two sons, two of the bodies i just saw inside the morgue, the son and the brothers of these two women. there's a human cost to the drug

war and the hondurans are paying it in blood. >> you can see this in depth report and meet the people who are trying to make a difference there. watch "cnn presents" at 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. mitt romney fell flat in south carolina getting crushed by newt gingrich. so today he made a big decision. he's releasing some tax records. will it save him or sink him? we're discussing. two minutes.

time to talk politics.

after a double digit loss in south carolina, mitt romney has to pick himself up off the ground, start all over again. just hours after his defeat, he made plans to rebut growing criticism over his tax returns. he told fox news this this morning. >> i will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns that were completed. i'll do that on tuesday of this week. i'll also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns, so you'll have two years. people can take a good look, we'll put them on the website. you can go through the pages. >> so mentioning romney's taxes is becoming the easiest way to make him look uncomfortable. remember this moment from thursday's cnn debate when john king asked romney if he'd release 12 years of tax returns like his dad once did? >> when you release yours, will you follow your father's example? >> maybe. you know, i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what -- what

our documents are -- and i'll release multiple years. i don't know how many years, but i'll be happy to do that. >> that wasn't awkward. yes, it was. and it seems like romney has no choice but to acknowledge that. i want to bring in lz granderson and then our cnn contributor will cain as well. lz, can we show the folks where you are before i get to will and you. >> miami. >> oh, my gosh. it is beautiful. look at that sunset courtesy of wsvn. yeah, i'm mad at you. >> i have on snow boats. >> you have on snow boats. >> right now. >> i'm here for the primary. >> right now i'm wearing snow boots. >> we'll start with will because i'm even going to be calling on lz because we're very jealous. what do you expect to see in romney's tax returns and why does it make him so nervous?

shouldn't he have had an answer for this months ago? >> i don't know. i guess we'll see that he's a rich guy, which we all know that, and he probably pays about 15% in effective tax rate. because most of his income comes from capital gains. i imagine that's what we'll see. why is he so the uncomfortable and unprepared to talk about this, don, that's really kind of a great mystery. i don't think he should be ashamed of his success. he should be prepared to defend his success. >> exactly. >> i don't know. maybe he's an extremely modest man. i really do not know the answer. >> let's talk about this. this takes me on to something else, just put top of mind here. newt gingrich, whether you agree with him or not agree with him, he is a perfect example of sticking to your gut, going with your gut, believing in who you are. again, this is nothing to do with ideology. allconsultants, all the focus groups. this is who i am, i'm going to be true to who him. what if mitt romney said i'm not

going to release my tax returns, stop asking me. i'm not going to apologize for my success. i haven't done anything that's illegal. what he did that and grew some instead of just going well and flip-flopping about it. do you think that would change anything? >> not at this point because we've already figured out who mitt is, right? he's kind of wishy washy in this way, and i'm with will. you know, he's not running for president for the first time. he didn't just become rich yesterday. he's been rich for a long time. he's been running for president for the last five to six years, and you don't have an answer to this question? you haven't figured this part out and you're supposed to stand on the stage across from president obama and debate him for hours on end and convince the american people that you're sharp enough to beat him and you don't have this question figured out? >> you know, don -- >> go ahead, will. >> i wanted to say i think that's a really interesting suggestion. had he just stuck to his guns and picked a position and been

belligerent about it, it might have been por appemore appealin. that's the appeal of newt. he's not conservative. you have had people saying this is not a conservative man, but voters, tea partiers, they don't care. they say they don't want somebody establishment. you tell them he's been in washington since the '80s. they don't care. >> since the '70s. >> they want somebody who can stick to a position and perceive he can give it to obama. that's not mitt romney. >> i think it's more about mitt romney knowing who he is and fwlefing in himself and sticking to his gut. that's more than what the voters say because they can go back and forth. i think this is more about newt gingrich than the voter. will, let's talk about newt gingrich. exit polls show he trounced mitt romney on electability. a sharp turn from iowa, new hampshire. a lot of these voters are evangelicals. why don't they see past his

infidelities. i hear a lot of people say his hypocrisy because he ran on family values but no one is looking at his family values on his platform and voting that way. >> so what's behind them saying he's the most electable candidate? what's behind them saying he can go up against barack obama and win? nothing. it's irrational. it's just like i just said about his actual substantive positions or whether or not he's establishment. all they see is a man they think can go win a debate and they cannot see -- look, they're not looking past the debate to the election because there is just no rational expectations that newt gingrich is more electable than mitt romney against barack obama. they want to win debates. they want to give it to barack obama verbally. >> lz, i know you want to get in on this, but let's listen to this and then you can respond. "meet the press" talking about electability. listen. >> well, the establishment is right to be worried about a gingrich nomination because a gingrich nomination means we're going to change things, we're going to make the establishment very uncomfortable. if you look at a lot of these

guys, they have really good reason to worry about an honest, open candidate who has no commitment to them, who has no investment in them, and i think they should be worried because we intend to change the establishment, not get along with them. >> all right. so, lz, gop establishment going to have to revise its view of mitt romney as a candidate who is most likely to beat barack obama? >> that dude is absolutely amazing to even refer to himself as an honest person. it's really hilarious to me. how can you say you're honest when you're the house speak mother had to resign because of ethic charges. you're the dude that everyone knows cheated on not one, but two wives. you're going to call yourself honest and a rebel. he's hilarious to me. but he puts on a really good face, and he's amazing on the debate stage against the gop primaries, and so he looks better than what he really is. but i just think it's hill lair yus. if you're sitting at home and you listen to him refer to himself as an honest man and you

know his past and you don't question that, there's something really wrong with you. >> you know what might be really enlightening at this point, it certainly would be enlightening to me is if we went so far as to define establishment. what does that mean? if newt gingrich is not establishment, i don't know what establishment is. when i say to people newt gingrich is not electable, do you know what i'm told? i'm establishment, me, i'm from a small town in texas and post people around here wonder who i am. how am i establishment and newt gingrich is not? >> i got to say this to both of you, and i was out there with you, will, i think newt gingrich inspires passion on the part of the gop and mitt romney doesn't. >> you're right. >>. >> whether that may be the electability part of it, maybe he is the better candidate at least according to the gop than mitt romney who inspires very little passion among voters. >> that's all true. >> thank you very much. we have to move on now. your top stories are next. congresswoman gabby giffords has made a decision about her future. and then is the u.s. on the

brink of war iran. we're discussing that in two minutes here on cnn.

it is time to check some of your headlines. top stories here on cnn.

first up, congresswoman gabrielle giffords says she is stepping down from congress this week. she posted a video on youtube announcing she's leaving her seat to focus on her recovery. a little more than a year ago she was shot in the head by a would-be assassin. she survived but six others died. penn state alumni and fans mourning the death of joe paterno. he died today of complications from lung cancer. paterno was the winningest coach in the history of college football, but he was fired this past season following a sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant coach. joe paterno was 85 years old. italian search teams have found another body on the partly sunking cruise ship "costa concordia." the 13th victim is a woman who was wearing a life jacket. 19 people are still missing. search efforts continuing now, but attention will soon turn to removing 2400 tons of fuel from the ship. that's a serious environmental risk.

yemen's embattled president is headed to the u.s. for medical treatment. they approved president salei's request to visit. he was wounded in a bomb attack on the presidential palace. the announcement comes the day after the parliament gave the president complete immunity from prosecution. in exchange he agreed to give up power next month after ruling yemen for more than 33 years. the arab lead is demanding syria's president step aside. they say al asad should start talking with the opposition in the next two weeks so a national unity government can be formed within two months. the league also wants more time for its monitoring mission in syria and an increase in the number of observers. there is no sign the syrian regime will accept such a deal. iran is being squeezed from all sides. sanctions are taking a toll, and its currency is losing its value

by the day. at the same time a campaign seems to be under way using assassination and cyber war to destabilize the regime. now, this secret war is dangerously escalating tensions in the region. with more on this we're joined now by the president of the national iranian/american council and author of a new book. he joins us from our washington bureau. good to see you. i haven't seen you in a while. >> good to see you, don. >> so who is behind this campaign to destabilize the regime? >> well, first of all, we don't know if the intent is to destabilize the regime, whether it is to set back the nuclear program, or whether it is actually to escalate things uncontrollably into an actual war but it seems to have emerged a consensus now that the most likely candidate being behind at least assassinations is israel. we don't have any evidence. there's not been any evidence out in the public, but most analysts that you speak to right

now view israel as being the prime candidate for this because it's the only country that seems to have the motive, has the capability, and has the history of having successfully done assassinations of this kind. >> trita, how far are they willing to go to bring down iran's government? >> well, from the israeli side we have to remember there is a significant fear that if the iranians gain either nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons capability that's accepted by the united states, it will shift the balance of power in the region significantly, and that can be of tremendous danger to the israelis from the israeli perspective. there's been a lot of warnings from the israeli side they're willing to take military action, and these warnings have been coming with regular frequency for the last ten years or so. but no actual overt military action has been taken. instead, there seems to be a desire on the israeli side to push the united states towards taking military action because the united states' military capabilities are far greater than those of israel's.

but the u.s. military is not keen on another war. >> let's talk end game, trita? what's the end game? are they confident that regime change will bring a kinder, gentler government to the region? >> i spent a lot of time talking to a lot of israeli officials and i wrote about it in my previous book. i was left with the impretssion that wile there is a tremendous desire to see the current regime fall it's not sufficient. any following regime could pursue a nuclear program. the israeli program and policy is more focused on the capacity, the capabilities of the iranian state than necessarily the regime that governs it. >> but this campaign could always -- there's always a possibility it could backfire. >> absolutely. and i think right now in the obama administration there is a significant fear that things are starting to get out of control. i think the obama administration is seeking some sort of a dehe is ka latory measure in the next

couple weeks. there may be some talks between the p5 plus one and iran. things are getting tense and i think the obama administration knows very well another war in the region would be the last things you should wish for. >> and on this subject, is there anything that iran can do to fight back? what might they do? >> well, the iranians do have capabilities. obviously it's not a particularly mighty military power. it doesn't have a lot of offensive capabilities, ability to project power in the region militarily, but it does have a lot of asymmetric capabilities. if there were to be a military confrontation, it is likely that it will use those capabilities both in lebanon and iraq and afghanistan and most likely also try to shut down the strait of hormuz, which would completely destabilize the energy markets, which would have a significant impact on the global economic recovery. >> triti parsi, always appreciate your inside. >> thank you for having me. each week dr. sanjay gupta

profiles innovators from all walks of life. the program is called "the next list," and next sunday he talks to fourth generation master silversmith who is teaching the world to rediscover the world of art. >> i do believe that the biggest gift we have is to converse with a work of art. inform recent years, the great computer age, we are losing in a certain way interaction with real objects. computer doesn't feel anything. it doesn't feel any joy. it can not soften. those things can only be learned through human contact. art can communicate all of those things in a very quick and easy way. just look at them, look at the work of art, communicate with it. they're talking to you, just listen and answer. >> make sure you tune in to watch "the next list" or set your dvr for 2:00 p.m. eastern next sunday. around the world not in 80

days. it took a lot longer for a 16-year-old girl. you heard that right. 16-year-old girl. and it was a trip that almost didn't leave port. we're going globe trekking next. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. mathis team of guinea pigs to ty boanso to save some y, d inea pig: row...row. they genatectry, wch le me rf t.

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can you get me out of it? of course. travelocity? that's amazing! but i'm still stuck. come on man, dig it! [ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations. look at that beautiful shot there. paying attention florida because we know there's a big primary coming up and a debate there as well next week. look at that. great sunset. i'm told it's 73 degrees, winds out of the west at 5 miles per hour. mostly cloudy and 65 is the low and tomorrow partly sunny with a

high of 81. now four your five-day forecast. kidding. beautiful skies in miami. good by year of the racket, hello year of the dragon. celebrations have begun to mark the chinese new year. i'm sorry. how did i do? >> you did really well. >> did i do great? and now for your five-day forecast. start with the human rights watch, the group released its annual report today in cairo. >> they did. they look at trends across 90 different countries. one of the big things that came out is they're urging the west to support the pro democracy movements happening across the middle east and north africa. they also look at violence against women. there's a story about women being attacked because they're wearing pants, mini skirts, and leggings. look at this. this is the president of malawi. she came out and said women have the right to wear whatever they want, and she demanded a stop to this. now, these are women protesting on friday. we're looking at pictures from

the protest that took place, and, again, women under the constitution of malawi do have the right to gender equality, but the problem is that within society there's a lot of disparities that still exist. >> i spent some time in malawi in 2005. just wonderful people. they showed lots of love. beautiful people. wow. that's too bad. let's move on now. want to talk about a dutch teenager and her trek around the world. it was historic but controversial. >> controversial before she started. she was 14 years old and she said i want to take on this journey. she was born on a boat at a port in new zealand. what are the odds of her being quite possibly one of the youngest sailors to travel the world. the dutch government said, you know what? we just don't think you're experienced enough to take on this journey and then she had to prove herself. then finally they granted her the right to go forward with it and she completed her voyage yesterday. >> cool. >> these are pictures of laura

decker, 16 yertion years old. >> if you're born on a boat, it's in her dna. let's talk about the chinese new year. is it the year of the dragon? >> it's actually the mightiest of the chineses a stro s a strs signs. it's a great year to get married, great year to have kids, lots of wealth and growth coming in the new year. >> let's hope so. we really hope so. >> who was the head of the dragon that lived under the stairs. was it the muensters? really cool. >> here is the lantern aquarium in toronto. you can see these beautiful lanterns that they have on display and it's one of the many festivities going on, and, of course, the highlight is the fireworks display that you see in china and beijing and hong kong each other. >> yeah. that's right. teddy's pet dragon lived under

the stairs. you're too young for that. i was born in the year of the rat. >> i was the year of the monkey. dan rather stiet a preceden at cbs evening news. he's covering the stories that matter to you. he joins us live right here on cnn. you don't want to miss that.

this weekend at the sundance film festival in colorado a first look at the movie "ethel." it's a documentary about the famous widow of u.s. senator robert kennedy produced by her daughter, filmmaker rory kennedy. i spoke with boat of them and in true family still, ethel kennedy did some politicking right there in the middle of the interview for her daughter. >> don? >> yes, ma'am? >> that's the right answer. >> you know, if rory wanted to be president, she could. >> thank you. >> why do you say that? >> well, just because she's so great and qualified, like several of her sisters, connecticut lekathleen and terry. they'll love to hear that. >> you have to set your dvr and

watch the entire interview with ethel and rory kennedy at 10:20 p.m. eastern tonight, 10:20 p.m. eastern tonight my interview with ethel kennedy. overall, it was a good week for the u.s. economy last week, but what will this week bring? lex harris is the managing editor of cnnmoney.com. he has your look at the week ahead. >> we enter this week with a little bit of wind at our backs. we had good news on jobs. we had good news from the bank ceos even as they were announcing lousey results. that should give president obama a little swagger as he takes the stage. we'll be listening for what he has to say about jobs and debt and class warfare and taxing the rich. we'll be at davos, switzerland, poppy harlow will be there talking to top ceos from every sector, economists, we want to hear about the european debt crisis and whatever they have to

say about business conditions, not just overseas but here in the united states. also in the u.s., we're going to be hearing from the federal reserve this week. this is a big meeting. we haven't heard from ben bernanke, the fed chief, in a while. if your 401(k) has recovered at all in the past three years, if you're paying low mortgage rates, that's probably the fed. if you're living on savings and dealing with low interest rates, that where you have a right to be a little angry. >> the fed was created to try to address those problems. >> we'll be hearing what they have to say whether they're going to step on the gas or begin to let up. also next week, lots of tech earnings, netnetflix, we'll be listening to see if they continue to lose customers in the last quarter. and also apple which is just the juggernaut. it keeps growing. last week it passed $400 billion in market cap. that's bigger than the size of greece. that's a big week coming up. we're going to be covering all those stories and more at cnn money. >> lex harris, thank you very

much. they are the two best quarterbacks or two of the best quarterbacks in nfl history, but will drew brees and peyton manning be back next season wearing the uniforms of the teams where they had their greatest successes? we're discussing what might be ahead for them in 2012. that is next here on cnn.

joe paterno's legacy will be debated for years, but in many

ways his professional career will never be duplicated. let's bring in pablo tori and talk about joe paterno the man and the legend. you see the cover of the new "sports illustrated." we'll talk pro football in a second. first, let's talk about joe paterno. it's good to see you, pablo. he had an amazing career. the winningest coach in college football history. five undefeated seasons. on and on. his legacy would end there would it not be for the past three months. can we say at this point is there going to be an asterisk by his name because of the scandal? >> that's a dominant question of the day. judging by the obituaries, this scandal with jerry sandusky is

first paragraph-level stuff. this is the thing, the one thing you could do in sports that could outweigh or taint 70 years of good will, academics, and all that for your football team. in terms of joe paterno and how he's going to be remembered, i think the metaphor here to use is he's the cleanest glass of water before this giant drop of ink fell in. >> is that fair? >> you know, it's fair because of the magnitude of the scandal. it's unfortunate because he did have decades upon decades in the administration. his family will speak on his behalf in that regard, but this scandal outstrips anything we have seen before in sports. and that's as bad as we have seen. >> more than any other coach, he had a reputation of running his program the right way with complete integrity. yet he ends up being embroiled in the worst scandal ever to hit college sports. i think many people would agree.

is that why so many penn state faithful haven't been able to accept his firing? >> i think that's part of it. joe paterno, to somebody who is from penn state, he is the father of that campus. he's the grandfather. he's the guy that drew a lot of people to that town. and joe paterno himself used to say before he got there really, before they had a football team, penn state was a cow college. that's what he referred to it as. nobody went to penn state and didn't like joe paterno it would often seem. >> let's talk about pro football. we're down to four teams. as we saw on the new cover, looking ahead, two of the biggest names in the game are in limbo. we're talking about peyton manning. he's due a huge $27 million

payout this spring if he stays with the colts. then drew brees will soon be a free agent and will get a huge contract, possibly the biggest one in history. i want to start with manning. is he going to stay with the colts? >> i would lean towards him staying, but it's going to be with a clear understanding that they are going to draft this new quarterback probably with a top pick in the draft. they are going to have potentially the next peyton manning. it's going to be an awkward student/teacher relationship. they are going to expect peyton manning to groom him for another year while he plays his way out of there. >> it's hard to believe that new orleans saints fans may be screaming -- may not be screaming breezy at the television. so the saints, are they going to cough up the money so drew brees can stay? >> oh, yeah. drew brees is in a good place. he's the opposite end of the spectrum. i think that team is going to open up the checkbook.

this is what you want. this is what you'll get. drew brees will be cooperative. he wants to build that team. he's going to be in a position of strength for years to come. >> always a pleasure. good to see you. >> thanks, don. a piece of history from one of the worst days in u.s. history. it's sold. we'll tell you the amount paid for this hearse that carried president kennedy after his assassination. while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today.

in kansas city, missouri, a gun collector's dream. two guns believed to be used by bonnie and clyde go up for auction. an unnamed online bidder paid $130,000 for a .45 caliber gun. that's a gun. the same bidder paid $80,000 for an 1897 shotgun. both were seized after a police shootout in