it's 1:00 in the busy hour ahead. let's get straight to the news. the race for president is picking up. tomorrow brings two more gop caucuses in minnesota and colorado and a non-binding primary in missouri. three more chances for three contenders who aren't mitt romney, to put a ding in the romney momentum, if not his delegate count. both of them got a big boost, by the way, on saturday when romney won as many votes in nevada as all of his challengers combined. fourth-place finisher rick santorum calls romney, quote, uni-dimensional and says he'll stay in the race. president obama says he deserves to be reelected, but registered voters are kind of torn right down the middle, in fact. if you look at the nationwide poll from abc and "the washington post" shows 49% would give the president a second term, but 49% would not. matched against likely opponents

the story is a bit different and the president fares a bit better. he now has a six-point edge over mitt romney, topping the 50% mark for the time in that survey. in an interview with nbc he talked about his accomplish ams in the face of republican opposition. >> even with a bunch of obstruction over -- on capitol hill, we've been able to save an auto industry. we've been able to take 750,000 jobs being lost a month and move it so it's 250,000 jobs being created this month. we've been able to make sure that we ended the war in iraq on schedule. we've been able to make sure that we ended policies like don't ask, don't tell. so we've been able to get a lot done, not as fast as we want. sometimes it's messy. the process is frustrating. >> the president also tops newt gingrich in a head-to-head matchup and i'm going to be speaking with newt gingrich's daughter and campaign adviser

jackie gingrich-cushman just moments from now. and facing a deadly and growing anti-government uprising in syria, the u.s. state department today closed its embassy in damascus and withdrew its remaining staff there. just incredible pictures and sound coming out of that region. the move comes as government forces were shelling the embattled city of homs. shelling it this time, not just small arms fire. the opposition group says 37 people were killed. at least 19 others killed elsewhere outside of homs, and among the victims four kids. the government, for its part, is blaming this violence on what it calls, quote, armed terrorist groups. in egypt the protests turned into a violent clash near egypt's interior ministry killing one person, injuring six dozen people.

activists who are angry over how police handled last week's deadly soccer riots have been clashing with government officials in the past five days. in the meantime egypt is cracking down on non-governmental agencies, ngos as they're known. its criminal court there has charged 43 people and among the 4319 people from the u.s., americans. they say they're allegedly using illegal foreign funds to stir up insurgents in egypt. all of this coming after three u.s.-based ngos were reportedly raided back in december. >> some pretty shocking testimony today from the man who has admitted to killing dozens of people in norway. anders breivik told people that the massacre was necessary to prevent cultural destruction of norway by immigrants. he acknowledged the acts, but said he was, quote, not guilty for the deadliest mass killing in norway since world war ii. his trial where he'll have to make that plea and argue it is

set to begin in april. in london, a 41-gun salute for queen elizabeth. >> fire! fire! >> 60 years ago today the then 25-year-old elizabeth got word while traveling in ken qyakenya her father had died and that she would become queen. the celebrations marking her diamond jubilee kick off today, but the real big events will take place in june because that's really the anniversary of her coronation. >> brand new book on jfk. it is sparking a lot of buzz over some very serious allegations of an affair with a 19-year-old white house intern. the former intern and author mimi alfred, claims that she lost her virginity to the president when he took her into

the first lady jackie's bedroom. she spoke about this affair on nbc today. >> not overpowered physically that someone had grabbed me and made me do something that i wasn't really willing to do because i really think i was willing to do it. >> alfred says the alleged affair started in the summer of 1962 and lasted for 18 months, just as she was heading off to college, in fact. she says she kept it a secret until it was revealed eight years ago when the biography of kennedy mentioned the alleged affair. the book, "once upon a secret. my affair with with president john f. kennedy and it's aftermath" will be available on wednesday. newt gingrich lost nevada. he lost it it, but he's still in it to win it and his daughter and campaign adviser jackie

gingrich cushman will tell us. i am looking forward to that, young lady, but we have one more good story ahead of that connecticut drshgs red for this? he's not letting insurance companies get between him and his patients. meet dr. david cloth and his patient matt coat. coat was in a constant pain situation because he had ruptured discs. the insurance companies, though, weren't going to pay. they refused. they said no, they were not going to pay for recommended treatment. so the doctor, instead went ahead and performed the surgery for free. he got all of the equipment, anesthesia and everything else he needed for the surgery donated and now matt is up and walking. for caring enough and for not taking no for an answer from those insurance companies that makes you, dr. cloth, today's rock star. ♪ ♪ ♪

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so any candidate for office will tell you good help is hard to find, but newt gingrich didn't have to look too far. his daughter jackie has been his mainstay in his run for president, adding campaign adviser to all those other responsibilities that she has, you know, like wife, mother, syndicated columnist, author and speaker. the list goes on and on, i'm sure, but i just ran out of space on your resume, my friend. jackie gingrich cushman joans me live from atlanta. how are you? >> i'm well. how are you? >> are you rested because this campaign thing is brutal on people. >> it is.

it's very, very busy, obviously, going from state to state and being away from home, but i also have to say it's been a lot of fun because we've met so many wonderful people who are very excited about my dad's candidacy, about the campaign and it's been great to meet with lots of people and they're very excited about america. >> i love that you have that optimism, but in politics we know there are the other side of it so i'm sure you met people who weren't thrilled. let's talk about colorado, minnesota and missouri and colorado, heavy mormon population, it will be a tough one like the one you just came out of in nevada and minnesota, again, ooh tit's's caucus thing. how why to be good at the retail thing. how will your dad fare? >> we won't know until we vote in caucus in the states, but he's in colorado today as well as in minnesota and he's doing very well in terms of response, a very good crowd. so that's very good, but as you know, we did really, really well

in south carolina. we're ahead by 12 points there, and we really expect to do very well and are working very hard for super tuesday in the southern states. >> i think he did real well in south carolina because of all those conservatives and i know your dad's message is i'm a true conservative and the others aren't, but the granddaddy of conservatives could be considered dick armey depending on where you were at the time that he was such a big hitter in congress. he was on the candy crowley on "state of the union" and he had this to say about his dad basically that he's putting himself out of the game with the scorched earth rhetoric. listen to what he said. >> i don't think it's helpful even to newt. i feel bad for him and i think he's digressed into a state of taking a second-rate campaign and turning it into the first-rate vendetta. >> ouch! that's got to be hard for a campaign adviser to hear, and maybe even harder for a daughter. >> i'm not surprised. dad's been running in one way or

another since i was 7. i've done this for a very long time and people often had their perspectives and dad has a very clear message. he's the only person in the race including president barack obama who will bbalanced the budget a reformed welfare and cut taxes and cut spending and worked under reagan. he's done things at the national level, and i think it's very interesting. i heard the clip earlier from president obama who talked about the republicans not helping him out. dad did all of those things with the democratic president and he's actually been in washington and has helped govern and that contrast in the general election would be incredible that would put republicans in the right footing. >> since you called him dad i'll go with the dad thing and the obama thing since you brought it up, too. i know you on the campaign trail have already seen it. it's the nbc/washington post poll. here's how the numbers shake out, jackie.

if the race were between obama and romney, obama has a six-point lead over romney, but if it were against your dad. obama versus your dad, obama has an 11-point lead over your dad and yet your dad campaigned saying he's the only one that can compete against obama. what am i missing here, young lady? >> polls reflect the news of the day, and in the end we will have a republican nominee who will go head-to-head with president obama and that will look different and sound different because there will be one of them. secondarily because it's gotten so much into the horse race as opposed to the policy, it will change with super tuesday, and in the end, if you think about who do you want to stand up against president barack obama. who will constantly say i couldn't get things done because of washington. we ned one who has been successful and balanced the budget and reformed welfare and my dad is the only person who can do that. >> i likes me some humor now and

again. i turn on "saturday night live" and sure enough this is what i was faced with just on saturday. have a look. >> ever since you left earth, it's been a nightmare. please forgive me and let me work in your admoonistration. >> am i supposed to believe you changed your position? >> it wouldn't be the first time. >> the admoonistration? i see you laughing now. he went to the florida space coast and he said we ought to be colonizing the moon and a lot of people think it's absolutely nuts. when this helps you or hurts you when you see it on snl? >> i haven't seen it or heard it and unfortunately, i was flying back on the red eye and didn't see it, and i did get to see my daughter dance. it is important. dad's point is we need to be aspirational and that's what americans have always been. americans have always been about dreaming, about doing, about

being better, and i think that is a very important point, and i think we have a lot of people that want us to settle, that want us to be less and do less and americans aren't like that. americans want to be more, they want to do more and i know that under my dad's leadership they can. >> you're good at this talking thing. open invitation to come on my 5:00 a.m. show. would you wake up for that? >> that would be great. >> i've got you on record. nice to talk to you. >> thank you. >> you take care now. i want to switch gears to a story i've been covering to a number of years. a woman missing for more than two years. a disturbing twist. her husband not only kills himself, but kills their two children in an explosion. why did this happen? what does it mean? such a layered story and so much more to come on this.ye advanced. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first...it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast,

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in health news, an alarming rate of kids going to the hospital for child abuse. babies under the age of 1, apparently the most at risk according to a new study in the journal "pediatrics." in 2006 nearly 4600 kids were so badly abused, are you ready? they were sent to the hospital because of it. and 300 of them, mostly babies, died because of those injuries. the authors of the study are saying they hope this will boost the prevention efforts against child abuse. josh powell and his two children were killed sunday afternoon in an explosion. foster caseworker had brought

powell's two boys to his residence for a supervised visit. josh powell sent e-mails to his attorney, family members and friends before getting -- or setting this fire. authorities say the, mails said he couldn't live with what was going on. the sheriff's spokesman says powell's wife susan disappeared two years ago. powell had since lost custody of his two boys. the brother-in-law of this man, kurt graves, said he believed that something just might have pushed josh powell over the edge. >> we're in shock. we are simply -- it's beyond belief. we had had suspicions of varyious things josh was capable of, but i for one, didn't think he was capable of this. i think this proves it. this is his admission of guilt and couldn't handle it anymore. >> our thelma gutierrez is live in pierce county, washington. there are so many layers to this

story, thelma. two years ago the woman going missing. her husband saying i was just out camping at midnight in 20 degrees in a snowstorm with my toddler boys. nothing passed the smell test in this case, and yet police never arrested him. it's been two years of suspicion under which this man has been living and now this. do police feel like they are anywhere close to at least closing the case against susan or is this opening up a whole new kettle of fish? >> reporter: ashleigh, they say they want to close that criminal case and what has happened in the last 24 hours is that the detectives who have been working on this case since susan powell disappeared back in utah in 2009 have actually traveled to washington. they will be meeting with detectives here. they're going to hold a strategy session to try to figure out how to close this case and to compare notes to see what they can discover as to why she went disappearing and they say that

this is an active case. so this is still -- there are many questions to be answered, ashleigh. >> the whole nature of an entire family now being wiped out is just so overwhelming. it is a little complicated, but for anybody playing catch-up, he moved away from -- from utah where susan disappeared, really, within days of her disappearance and took those children to washington, and that's where a lot of the consternation began. he, according to the grandparents of those baby boys, refused to let the grandparents see the children. then his father, steven is arrested on child pornography issues and the caseworkers come in and seize those kids. was this visit supposed to be anything out of the ordinary? did the caseworkers think for a moment that these children could be in danger if they came to visit their father? >> reporter: absolutely not. i mean, this caseworker had

brought these children to visit josh powell before. they had supervised visits twice a week. they were supposed to last four hours at a time. this was going to be no different. so she brings these children, ashleigh and takes them to their father's house. he quickly locks the door. she smells gas and goes on call her supervisor because she had tried to pound on the door to get him to open up. he wouldn't open that door and at that point just a few minutes later this home went up in flames and as you said raising many, many questions as to what finally pushed him over the edge, but many people who knew him said it was losing custody of those children to his former in-laws. >> well, you know, a lot of the statements about this incident have been very strident, meaning this was intentional. he killed those children, period. not an accident. nothing other than murder and

murder-suicide. does this lead the police in utah to say well, he killed his own kids, he must have killed susan, too. >> reporter: a lot of people are wondering about that, ashleigh, and that will be answered as soon as they get together with detectives here, but they are certainly looking at that. relatives of susan powell's are certainly reaching that conclusion. they're saying this definitely points to what happened to susan powell, if he was capable of doing this, then he would have been capable of killing her as well. the officials have not come out and said that, but her family has speculated. i want to show you, ashleigh, what's going on behind me right now. a short time ago arson investigators arrived and they are combing through this rubble. you can see four trucks there. they have been taking photographs, taking measurements and there's no question that this was an act of arson, but what they want to know is how it happened, what he used. what kind of accelerant he may have used to ignite this fire

because it burned very quickly and very hot. it took hours for this fire to be taken down so that firefighters could actually get in and that is where they discovered the bodies. they were all in one room together, ashleigh, in the middle of a room, their two children and their father. >> i can't imagine. i hate to say this, but what would the point be to find out about the accelerant and what was used. at this point, there's no one to charge. they're all dead. i am curious to fiend out about the father, stephen poel and whether he'll be investigated in any respect with regard to this. thelma gutierrez, a very difficult story. thank you. thank you for that. so your e phone iphone and your ipad are probably a real integral part of your life. you may not appreciate it quite as much when you hear another side of the ipod and ipad.

some shocking allegations of worker abuse and the people who put this together for you. ali velshi will join me next to explain all of that. looking forward to what that means, ali velshi. america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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if you own your own iphone or ipad, do you ever stop for a moment and think, who makes this thing? more than 1 million chinese people, many of them working under sweat shop conditions,

they make them and we think that their story is under covered. they work for the major apple supplier called foxconn technology. a huge part of foxconn's production is based in china. in fact 1.1 million chinese workers work at 12 foxconn factories in china and those workers and factories are one big reason that foxconn produces an estimated 40% of the world's consumer electronics. numerous foxconn workers in china have long complained about brutally long hours and low, low pay and they complain about inhumane working conditions like bad air and having to stand for hours upon hours getting few, if any, breaks and having to live on a campuslike setup. here's what one worker told stan grant. >> translator: when we were being trained for work they told us that if we accept interviews we will be investigated for criminal responsibility

according to law. it's really a big deal. >> in a statement to cnn, apple said this, and i quote, we care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. we insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever apple products are made. our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with apple. and here now with me for more on this is cnn's chief business correspondent ali velshi. here's my question, steve jobs. he seems like the kind of guy who never, when he was alive, would have allowed any of this to go on. >> right. >> did he know? did he not know? did he not care? do we know? >> the question is this, we all know that if you get much cheaper labor in china they don't work in the same conditions we work in.

the issue is how bad is it? there are something called core violations, employing underaged students, unhealthy conditions. a couple of foxconn factories within a number of months last year had two explosions caused by the aluminum dust when they brushed the ipads and iphones. there are some violations that are worse than others and the question is how serious are the violations and in the interest of profitability, do the companies sort of turn a blind eye to it. there are people who say we told apple what was going on. >> we told apple or we told someone at a low level? they didn't get it? >> no. there are allegations from human watchdog groups that said they told apple. one woman went to apple headquarters and asked to speak to someone and no one would speak to her. we're not expecting the chinese workers would have the same conditions today that u.s. factory workers have, but are they being caused to work six or

seven days a week standing, without ventilation. your ipod or your iphone gets polished to a great degree. that glass has to be shined. >> by the way, if you order one of these online it often comes to you with the label from the place it came from shenzhen, china, which is where this is. there's a direct connection, about you as you said 40% of the world's electronics are in some fashion assembled or put together by foxconn. >> a lot of us would be naive to think that working conditions in china are great. >> we all want them to be, but they're not. >> they're not nearly what our standards are. >> right. >> what is different about this place because i'm hearing suicide after suicide. people jumping off of the roofs of this facility. >> and they built nets so people don't jump off or fall off. >> the difference is foxconn employs more than 1 million people in china.

foxconn is many parts of your iphone or ipad. so they have greater control of their operations and this is all a bit secretive. apple doesn't tell everybody what it does so there sea some sense that the monitoring is not as strong and it's so big. they have people waiting in line every single day to get a job. if they need to hire 3,000 people to start manufacturing something, those people are standing outside. they have the scale that allows them to break the rules. >> what about apple? after this kind of news gets out, are they going to start employing more of their -- >> monitors. that's when we hope will happen. apple has responded by saying they keep a close eye on their suppliers and if anybody breaks these core veiolations and doesn't fix them within 90 days. they get dropped from the apple supplier's list. this is what we found and this is what we do and they'll clean up their act and when they work on small margins you cut costs

wherever you can and sometimes the cost is human in this case. the story about building nets to stop people to catch them after they've jumped is just horrifying. >> yeah. >> ali, thank you. appreciate that. >> mitt romney, if you are watching, certainly did pull off a big win in nevada crushing his opponents, but is this momentum going to push him forward into the states where he needs it? and if he goes up against president obama could he crush him, too? all of it fair game and all of it next. male announcer ] why do we grow quaker oats? because there are mountains to climb. ♪ dreams to be realized. ♪ new worlds to be explored and hearts to be won. quaker oats. energy to get you going, fiber to help fill you up and help keep your heart healthy. super people eat super grains.

>> this is the part of the program where we go to the heart of the political debate where all sides are fair game. president obama says he deserves

a second term. listen. >> i deserve a second term, but we're not done. we created 3.7 million jobs over the last 23 months. we created the most jobs since 2005, the most manufacturing jobs since 1990, but we're not finished. >> the annual pre-super bowl interview. let's talk about this with republican strategist doug high in washington, democratic political correspondent ed espinoza. let's start out with the real simple question. is that arrogance or is that optimism? doug? start with you. >> i'll be charitable and say both. michaelen on politico's playbook today talked about not this interview, per se, but the larger issue of hubris with this white house. they're like sally field, they really, really like themselves and the voters aren't there yet and if you're a vote are you need to move that back into your

margin. >> isn't that fair bumper sticker look. i'm doing a good job. things are on the mend. we have good jobs number, don't muck it up or is it arrogant? >> if you're proud of your record there's no reason you shouldn't talk about it. look, 23 straight months of job growth, the lowest unemployment rate in three years dating back to the bush era, even. these are things -- if you're going in for a job interview or talking to your boss and you want to talk about re-upping your contract, you talk about the good things you did and these are pretty good things to talk about. >> all right. >>. >> ashleigh, the reality is there are a lot of people that are not going into job interviews because they pulled themeses out of the workplace and marketplace and they're not looking for jobs anymore. >> in the last two months we've had the highest -- >> listen, guys. i know how this works. i know how this works. you take the numbers and put the spin on them that you want. i get it. if you've been out of the job market for a lock time you get out of the numbers and in a few

months they'll skyrocket once you get back in, but let's listen to this. mitt romney breaks 50. we were talking can he break 50% and poor guy can't catch a break, but he broke over the 50% mark in nevada. is that the kind of thing that tees him up for colorado and minnesota or did he benefit from a place that had a whole lot of mormons? let's start with you, doug. >> he benefitted from that, and he benefitted that he had a real campaign on the ground and it was driving things forward and it's why the structure of the race is in mitt romney's favor for the republican primary and caucuses not because of we moved things forward or proportionality, but because he has a real campaign. a real team on the ground and unlike the candidates he's on the ballot everywhere. you can't win if you're not on the ballot. mitt romney has done that job as has ron paul and they're the ones that will last the longest, i think. >> i just talked to newt gingrich's daughter about the

notion who says he's the only one that can beat president obama in the general election, but according to "the washington post" poll that just came out, not so much. i guess if it was a contest between obama and romney, obama would beat him by six points and if it was a contest between obama and gingrich, gingrich would get smoked by 11 points. and this must be good news for the democrats. >> it would be good news if newt gingrich had a fighting chance, but the thing is he just doesn't. the narrative he's fighting against right here is that he's basically irrelevant in this contest, that over the last few four weeks in february there are a lot of contests that he will not farewell in. he's not on the ballot in a couple of those states and he doesn't have a campaign operation to go the distance. so he can stay in this race and linger as long as he wants, but he's not going to be the nominee. >> doug, so talk to me about the whole notion that some people have said that newt gingrich is

today's hillary clinton. that she should have known way earlier on that the game was over and it was pulled to june. is that unfair to newt or hillary? >> no. hillary clinton took this race all of the way to the distance because she had a fighting chance. she made barack obama a better candidate and she made the obama campaign and democratic parties throughout the country register more voters which is key for my home state of north carolina and that was part of the reason that barack obama won and newt gingrich wouldn't have that structure to be able to do that, i don't think. >> ooh interesting because mitt romney said that in his victory speech in nevada. he said this protracted battle doesn't pull us apart, it makes us prepared. is that something that concerns the democrats that they'll be more prepared to take on obama? >> well, they can be more prepared. democrats are definitely prepared for it, but this is the problem that romney's had throughout the caucuses and primarie primaries, that it might make him a better candidate, but not

the more conservative candidate. he's got to reconcile his base with conservatives and the only way they might be able to do it is to pick a conservative running mate. >> conservatives will be united because of one reason, barack obama, whoever the nominee is. >> i've got to leave it there. thanks to both of you, ed espinoza. that is fair game for today. good to talk to you. thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks. american airlines cutting thousands of jobs right here in america and then shipping them overseas. have you heard this story before, stuck and shipped overseas? apparently other airlines do it, too. who is fixing the planes you're flying on and should you have any concerns that it's not one of your fellow americans? we'll explain right after this. specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team.

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i have a question for you. got any idea who repairs and overhauls the airplanes that you fly on? think about it for a minute. i know you see the neck an

mechanics on the tarmac, but you'll be surprised that american airlines said it will cut big costs following the bankruptcy problems. some of those cuts will come in who's patching up your airplane. american plans to outsource major maintenance work overseas. other airlines have been doing this for a while now, but what does that mean when it comes to your safety? this is a story that we feel has been undercovered and for that reason we invited in commercial pilot jim tillman who joins us live from phoenix to give us perspective on this. i am so glad to see you here because you'll be the definitive resource on this. should i be worried about this? >> no. you should not worry about it any more than you should worry about flying in the major airlines for this country because they've been doing it for a long time. >> you say that, but then i read this statement from the transport workers' union, the president james little said this and it's a bit long so i hope

you'll indulge me. the airline industry's dirty little secret is that more and more planes are being flown to third-party offshore looks for major overhauls and repairs. the faa only inspects these facilities in china, el salvador, mexico at most once a year and by treaty must give 30 days' notice. a loophole in our laws allows our commercial airlinesers to be worked on in these poorly secured, largely unregulated facilities by mostly unlicensed mechanics who lack background checks and who have never had a drug test and who often cannot read the repair manuals. jim tillman, get me off the ledge. this is not just anybody. this is the president of the transport workers' union. why is he wrong? >> no, he's not wrong, and do i like it? no. not even a little bit. >> you said i shouldn't be worried. >> no, you shouldn't worry because it's not going to help anything. >> here's the thing, ashleigh.

the whole country is going toward this sort of thing. i would think, i would hope that now the trend would be the other direction, but it isn't, and one of the greatest pr things that americans who being do right now to keep their passengers coming in happy is to buck this trend and decide, no, we're going to keep american employees in america and not pay somebody out in another part of the world. i've got to tell you, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we don't have evidence that this has not worked. we don't have -- i don't know of a single situation where there's been an incident or accident, certainly because of outsourced maintenance. i do know of some problems we've had in our own country where inspections were not done properly and airlines have been fined. it's a very difficult case to make, except for one thing. >> what's that? >> the people involved. the people that are turning a wrench on our airplane, i want that person to have american airlines on their shirt.

i don't want that person to have any other and i think the same way about delta, united and the others that do this. >> i'll tell you what, jim. i just did a segment with ali velshi, and i don't know if you heard it or not and it was about the ipads and they're built in other countries and we seem just fine with this and this is pretty intricate stuff and we don't complain. if my ipad doesn't work tomorrow nobody's going to die. let me read what the faa said with regard to all of this before i ask you that question. the faa increases overall surveillance of airlines any time they are in bankruptcy to make sure maintenance and other safety related tasks are being done properly. we have seen no areas of concern so far. but i think, jim, i'm just more curious about the faa telling me don't worry, ashleigh. even though that's outsourced mechanics' work, we check them when we get back on u.s. soil. you will not be flying on a

flight or on an aircraft that has not been double-double checked by someone in the usa. that isn't the case, is it? >> no, it's not the case, and i've got to tell you that there's evidence that that has not been the case, but i will say this to you. i cannot believe, now i don't know everything, but i cannot believe that it's not possible for an airline, any airline to sit down with their maintenance people and say, hey, guys, we're going to have to outsource this unless we can work something out. let's sit down and work a plan out. i believe it can be done, and i just don't think there has been the heart to do that. it is so much easier to just outsource and say we're saving 50% on our maintenance. let's do the american work by sitting down with americans and making the decision that we're going protect these airplanes and we'll protect our passengers. it would be great for their public relations and all at the same time magnificent for the mechanics and those people who work so hard and have a career. you have to realize, this is not

a job. >> yeah. >> maintenance people on the airlines do not have jobs. this is a career for them. they intend to be there from day one until they retire. >> well -- >> to drop them out on the street, i have to tell you, i'm depressed. >> i'm depressed, as well, but most people will say that's business and that has been the way of and that has been the way of business the last decade and a half, and why should the airlines be behaving any differently in this business model. but that's a whole other conversation for a whole other time, so you're invited back any time. at 5:00 in the morning on my morning show. will you do that, ken tillman? >> for you, i would do that. >> that's two guests i've now booked on this program. ken, thank you very much for your time. i do appreciate t. i'm not off the ledge, but i do appreciate your insight, my friend. i want to move to this story we talked about on friday. more than 100 dolphins stranded on cape cod. if you were with us and we

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it is time now to check some people making news. first we had the rescue in cape cod in massachusetts where the record number of stranded dolphins just keeps climbing for some reason. the latest count, a total of 129 dolphins has stranded themtsz just since january. while 92 have died, rescuers have been able to save and release 37 of them. several were rescued just over the weekend. the experts are absolutely baffled about what is causing the dolphins to do this in these numbers. a court hearing in san diego

is testing the constitutional rights of killer whales. yes. you heard me. as we first told you back in october, peta, people for the ethical treatment of animals, is suing sea world claiming its five killer whales are, quote, slaves. you heard me right. peta said sea world is violating the 13th amendment of our constitution which abolished slavery and involuntary serve tud. most people thought that was for people. sea world is calling it baseless and going further. they're calling it offensive. the trial of a college lacrosse player accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend started today. george huguely faces first-degree murder charges in the death of his girlfriend, yeardley love, who was also a university of virginia lacrosse

player. his attorney is calling the death a, quote, tragic accident. the trial is expected to last two weeks. in los angeles, parents are protesting in front of an elementary school at the center of two child abuse cases. >> this is about the children! we're talking about your child! >> two teachers at miramonte elementary school arrested last week, one of them accused of taking filthy bondage photos of about two dozen little kids, students there. the other accused of lewd acts on children. school officials say the school will be closed tomorrow and wednesday to, quote, take a break. in miami, the new marlins shortstop is making his mark with his signature dreadlocks. apparently chopping them off to comply with his team's hair

policy. but reyes isn't complaining. instead the all-star is auctioning off his dreadlocks to raise money for the make a wish foundation. if you're hoping to bid, reyes' locks will be auctioned on ebay for a week. gop race, turning to colorado. prit marries and caucuses are also taking place in minnesota and missouri. so why the big push for colorado? we've got a live report from a gri gingrich event going on right now. straight ahead, turn up the mikes, let him talk. [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing

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you know, there's some of the hardest working people on the planet, political reporters, next to the people who are campaigning themselves. they don't get the recognition they deserve. so jim a kcosta, i turn to you, friend. tell me everything that's going on in that beautiful state, golden, colorado. >> i'm told i have less than 60 seconds. i'll do my best. coming out of the nevada caucus caucuses, mitt romney was hoping for a clean sweep this week. there's caucuses in minnesota and colorado, one down in missouri. mitt romney would like to sweep those caucuses and there is a sign that they're starting to worry about not newt gingrich

who is holding a rally here in golden, but rick santorum. there is a chance rick santorum could win the minnesota caucuses which would ruin mitt romney's air of competitiveness in this competition. the romney campaign is putting out the former governor of minnesota on a conference call. it's happening right about now, going off on rick santorum's record of supporting earmarks when he was in the congress. so you might have thought this would be a sure thing this week for mitt romney winning all these contests, but it may not shape up that way. >> you did it. you did it beautiful, jim acosta. live in golden. continuing now is my pal michael holmes. the last time i saw you i think was in the west bank or sgch

something. >> it was. it was eiffel 2002 or something. let's catch you up on everything making news this hour. rapid fire. let's go. the united states has shut down its embassy in damascus, syria, clearing its remaining staff out of the country. it has repeatedly asked for syria's help to protect the embassy from attack. no response. syria is experiencing major violence as syria people try to overthrow their leadership. the body of a man has been pulled out of that home in taco tacoma, washington. josh powell set fire to the house, endangering he and his son. he is a suspect in the disappear answer of his wife susan. neighbors, needless to say, are stunned. >> we're in shock.

we're simply stunned beyond belief. we had suspicions of various things that josh was capable of that i, for one, didn't think he was capable of this. i think this proves it. i think this is his admission of guilt and he just couldn't handle it anymore. >> a new poll from abc and the "washington post" shows president obama beating mitt romney in a hypothetical match-up. obama beats his potential opponent by six points. he beats newt gingrich by 11 points. a 6.8-point quake rocked the phillipines just before noon today. reportedly 12 people killed, including two schoolgirls who died when walls collapsed on them. that area still dealing with strong aftershocks. probably will for some time to come. crowds of angry parents gathering outside a los angeles elementary school this morning concerned about the arrest of two teachers accused of abusing

students. >> putting roaches in the faces of our students. >> 38-year-old martin springer is accused of takiassaulting do of students. verizon and redbox take on netflix. they have access to dvds through redboxes, 28,000 kiosks nationwide. they're on the way to find dozens of people still believed to be trapped in the rubble. so far eight people have been rescued. police say a total of 63 were inside when a boiler exploded. that was the cause of the whole thing. the factory made veterinary medicine. in court today, the case of a grandmother killed by an

alligator. the 83-year-old was walking in a gated community near savannah, georgia in october 2007 when she was attacked. her family went so georgia supreme court. the homeowners association knew about this but did nothing about it. the wildlife association says they're not responsible for animals that happen to wander onto property. randy travis was arrested for public intoxication. officers found travis in a vehicle in front of a baptist church with an open bottle of wine and smelling of alcohol. he was held for a few hours and cited for a misdemeanor. and the super bowl winning new york giants fly home victoriously from indianapolis, leaving their home just a few moments ago. coming up this hour on cnn,

horrific violence continues in syria. it is getting worse. men, women, children all being killed. just today, more than 50 killed by what the syrian regime called anti-terrorist groups. opposition groups say it was government groups that did the killing. plus, apple products being made by a chinese company, a rash of suicides not just a coincidence. a snowboarder caught in an avalanche. we'll talk to that woman. yes, she was saved by that massive snow walla by a new piee of safety equipment. so what do you think? basic.

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okay, forget money and happiness. of all the promises in this book, i think that the claims are the right thing to do. let's talk about syria. this is the major story of the day, things going from bad to worse in syria. the u.s. fears it's becoming so bad that they put up the shadows at the u.s. embassy. they're pulling out all the stops. that was the announcement today from the state department as a response to the ever-escalating chaos in syria. all services in damascus have been suspended, they have been withdrawn for safety reasons.

you can hear the voices of the vir ya syrians as they try to get out of the way of the bombings. the images we're about to show you graphic and disturbing. there are images of children with war wounds. they are shelling neighborhoods. the death toll just today, one monitoring group says 56. and since march when the civil unrest began, the united nations says it's more than 6,000. opposition groups say it's more than that. we can't confirm those numbers, of course, or the origin of those images, but the syrian government continues to have access to that country. we have more on the devastation and why the united nations is not stepping in at this point. >> reporter: what did we do for you to treat us like this, this little girl asks, her head ban damaged after injuries to her eyes. we can't tell if she's been

prompted to speak out against the assad regime, but the pain and misery emanating in syria is echoed in various videos on youtube. >> there's been multi-bombs. >> reporter: they've been in touch with it all too well. >> i've never seen this in my life. kids in the hospital, a kid with his whole jaw gone. a little girl, she's four years old, she's dead. her sister is six years old. she lost her left eye and her mother is in intensive care. >> reporter: no one has been spared the violence that reached unprecedented levels just as the u.n. debated and failed to unite on syria over the weekend. the vetoes by russia and china, what was already a watered-down version concerning the violence, seemed to have a bald regime.

these are chaotic scenes from the field hospital in homs said to be hit by rocket or mortar fire. the doctor is hysterical as he moves to the injured. this man's legs have to be amputated, he says, and another who they were unable to save. a little girl lies in a hospital bed saying she is scared. scared of needles and scared for her friend lying in the bed next to her. >> you don't know if the rocket is going to come in your living room or your kitchen. everybody is becoming used to death here. >> reporter: many of the videos are simply too graphic to show. this clip, a child whose leg has been blown off. no matter how syria plays out, the suffering will be felt for decades to come.

>> she's been in syria for all this political unrest. what are they saying about this? >> the russians and the chinese are basically saying they do want to see an end to the violence, but they couldn't support the text of this revolution saying it further complicated the situation on the ground. the veto by both of these nations has not just enrage the the international community and those who were supporting the resolution, like the united states, but has also filled the activists with a bitter sense of even more despair and disgust. as so many of them have pointed out, as long as there is just talk and debate on the one hand at the united nations, they are continuing to die every single day in dire conditions,

conditions that are so unimaginable, many of them are struggling to put it into words. even that young man you heard from in that story that saying he believes he has only seen a fraction of what is actually taking place in syria. it just gives you an idea of the scale of devastation that is happening there. at this point in time, michael, there seems to be absolutely no resolution to the issue. >>, and of course, what happens now? it appears to be their own self-interest here when it comes to the rages. people are dying at an incredible rate. it's a random shelling in homs. the opposition forces, how capable are they of striking back? >> reporter: well, they most certainly are not capable of posing as government forces. they don't have the numbers, they don't have the weapons.

the free syrian army, which is made up, if you'll remember, of mostly military defectors, they're mostly armed with ak-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, they've managed to get their hands on a few tanks here and there. but they are no match for the syrian security apparatus. what active iists have been say is taking place is that since late saturday night, early sunday morning, government forces have been going into certain areas of homes in the damascus suburbs, really the area that has become the center of clashes, and according to what activists are describing, it seems like the syrian government is literally trying to stamp out these areas and any voice of descent once and for all. while we have this division on the international stage, while we have various significant global powerhouses unable to come tie united front on the

syria issue, that only served to bolster the regime. the travesty of it all, michael, it seems like the status quo we've been seeing grow more violent by the day is only going to be the trend in the days, and who knows how much longer in the weeks to come. >> our daman who was recently in syria, thanks. >> that is just one piece of the desperation syrians are facing. let's turn now to andy carbon who has been getting information on syria. what have you been hearing, what sort of stories? there's stuff i've been hearing

in the last hours are just heartbreaking. >> what you're seeing is an ongoing scene of butchery. it's horrific. over the last ten months of covering this, you get used to seeing a certain amount of video every day, but it's ramped up in the last 72 hours and i haven't seen anything like this since the libya civil war. there's a lot more women and children getting hurt, and there are no basements in homs, so literally they have no place to hide. >> there is a lot of self-interest in the region. the rations, for example, 10% of their armed cells go to syria. they have a lot of interest in not having the syrian regime bolt. but one of the things that syria is saying, many of them have literally used the words green

light. they feel the syrian government has been given the green light to go on. >> i think green light is definitely one of the words you hear. the other one is a bandonment over and over again. i've heard them say they feel a abandonned by the international community. you can hear them scream ng their tweets. by writing in capital letters, it's amazing how much emotion can come through. there is just no other way of looking at it. these people feel like the world hazlet ths let them down and tht know what to do at this point. >> this is a bombardment that is every minute of every day, almost. the life there, what are they telling you about life there? i was talking to somebody in homs last week, and they said

it's just hard to get food, let alone medicine. >> every moment could be their last. there's been reports out of there that 2 to 300 shells are falling on a daily basis. if you add that up during the course of the day, you really don't have the opportunity to sneak out safely and get back alive. there are neighborhoods that have already been a bbandoned, t the fact you can go into homes and find absolutely no one home says the government has been successful in certain parts of the city. >> anandy, thanks. >> thanks for having me. >> and now this. i just knew if there was anyone in there, they didn't survive. >> i can't imagine anyone killing children. that's beyond something i can imagine anyone doing. >> an explosion rocks a home

with a father and his two kids inside. this is a case where the mother disappeared two years ago. coming up next, we have new details about an e-mail sent from the father right before that explosion happened. stay with us. we'll be right back. for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams.

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welcome back, everyone. police outside tacoma, washington are stunned. they say josh powell set fire to his own home to kill himself and his two sons. his last words in an e-mail to his attorney read simply this: i'm sorry. goodbye. powell was a suspect in his wife susan's disappearance in utah back in 2009. he had lost custody of his sons, and powell's brother-in-law says

that may have been the last straw. >> for him it was just a real embarrassment that he didn't have his boys back with him. i've never really felt like josh had a lot of love for his boys, he just had a whole lot of possessiveness of his boys, and this was more than he could handle. >> ms. gutierrez standing outside the remains of the home that was smoldering until recently. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, michael, as you can imagine, the family is absolutely inconsolable. this was such a horrific loss. not only did they lose their daughter susan, but chuck and judy koch have also lost their grandchildren, so this is a terrible, terrible shock for them. they did ask for privacy, they also asked for prayers, and they

told her they feared this day would come. this was something in the back of their minds, and they were just about to have custody of those children, so you can just imagine the heartache that they're feeling right now, michael. >> you know, we mentioned in the intro to this that he had lost custody of his boys. there were to be supervised visits, which is how this all unfolded. why had he lost custody? >> reporter: he had lost custody because he was living with his father at one point. the boys were also living with their grandfather, steven powell, and steven powell, back in december 2011, michael, was arrested on 14 counts of possessing child pornography and also voyeurism. so a judge took custody away from josh powell and put those children with susan powell, who lives here in washington as

well. >> there's something about a voice mail from josh powell to his cousin. >> reporter: yes. he has apparently sent out two e-mails, as far as we can tell, two text messages right before that house blew up. one of the messages went to his attorney where he said goodbye and i'm sorry. the other went to his cousin in texas. and it was a voicemail text message which said, this is josh. i'm calling to say goodbye. i'm not able to go on any more. i'm sorry to everyone. and shortly after that here in washington, that home blew up with the children inside. michael? >> thelma gutierrez, thanks so much. up next, trouble with an american company outsourcing to chinese manufacturers like the controversial foxcon. >> do you know what the solutions were?

we should put up more nets so people can't jump off their buildings. we should have more psychiatrists to help advise people. oh, and we should have more medical services to help the people doing this. instead of talking about what's wrong with a country who has no labor rights. >> they're reported as overworked and underpaid, and the reason why the company gets so much business? it makes quality electronics for us cheap. rethink how to do b. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible.

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do you know the name foxcon? maybe you don't, but you probably could be gripping one of its products right now. i've got one right next to me right here, the old iphone. foxcon is the overseas manufacturer that puts together apple's iphone as well as many other devices fror brands like amazon, hewlett-packard, dell. but union workers are under fire for what some employees are

describing as a slavery type style. 24 hours a day, six days a week. one doesn't want to reveal her identity. >> do they care about us? i don't know. we're not getting any of that care. >> foxcon says it works hard to provide a safe working environment. they said this. we care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. we insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever apple products are made. our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with apple.

apple also joined the safe working association. this controversy gives rise to one here in the united states, why china is getting all of that manufacturing business. cnn's jim clancy takes a look at how "made in the usa" gets in the way of profits. >> reporter: we're advised that no matter where you're doing business around the globe, the factory floor is in china. as outsourcing and relocations continue a pace, europe and the u.s. are losing jobs. >> we have a huge opportunity at this moment to bring manufacturing back. my message to business leaders is simple. ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country. >> reporter: apple's late founder, steve jobs, met with president obama last year and put it bluntly. american manufacturing jobs are not coming back. workplace wisdom. when it comes to profits,

patriotism cannot compete. corporations contend it's not all about profits, either. experts say the u.s. doesn't train enough people for mid-level jobs, those between a high school diploma and a college degree. many manufacturers have concluded that asian workers, supply chains and assembly lines are faster and better. u.s. labor organizations counter the chinese government is funding the infrastructure and exploiting its workers to lure in foreign corporations. apple has been embarrassed that one of its assembly operations in china has become notorious for worker suicides. >> do you know what one of the solutions were? well, we should put up more nets so people can't jump off their buildings. we should have more psychiatrists helping people and we should have more medical services to help people doing this, instead of saying, what's wrong with labor unions who

accept this? >> apple outsources and doesn't apologize. they employ 700,000 people overseas and just 20,000 in the u.s. u.s. workers do get to deliver the products to home and store shelves. apple gets to inspire innovations by american entrepreneurs who profit by them. u.s. unemployment has made the company a target for u.s. politics. >> we're competing for jobs that china wants to take away from us. but we have to have a competitive environment for america. >> reporter: it's a familiar theme. bring back the jobs. but the embarrassing fact is that the u.s. has no strategy. >> frankly, it's up to the government, it's up to us as a country to have a strategy, it's up to us as a country to talk with our employers and say, you have some obligations here, you know? you actually do business in this

country. >> reporter: in the past two years, the u.s. has gained 30,000 manufacturing jobs. experts credit a rising cost in china and rock bottom interest rates. it isn't a strategy, it's market forces. america will just have to settle for that. >> so did you see the apocalypse commercial last night during the super bowl, the track ad where chevrolet takes a bit of a slap at ford? ford got angry about that, but they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. that's coming up next.

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well, the super bowl ads lit a fire under ford. it had them fuming by rival chevrolet. allison is live at the stock exchange. good to see you, allison.

a little punchy, aren't they? >> reporter: this reminds me of two boys duking it out on the school playground. this time, though, the argument is over who makes the best pickup truck? it started with gm's super bowl ad for chevy silverado that was played last night. there was a whole mayan apocalypse. chevy survived. then there was the one from ford. let's see the commercial here. >> they didn't drive the longest-lasting, most dependable truck on the road. they drove a ford. >> what this implies, michael, is that ford trucks just were not tough enough to make it through the apocalypse. what ford did, they went ahead and called chevrolet and said, hey, don't run this spot during the super bowl because ford says it makes the most dependable truck. but gm said, huh-uh, we paid $3

million to make this commercial. we are going to air it during the super bowl, and voila, it d. michael? >> i just love the fact they're fighting over whose truck is going to survive the apocalypse. who cares by then? the gas stations will blow up so you'll never be able to drive. who cares about driving the most dependable? >> this is the funny part. this is all semantics. ford says it's the only brand with more trucks on the road with more than 250,000 miles because ford measures by miles. gm measures by age and says its cars last more years. but according to consumer reports, michael, the nissan titan, the toyota tundra, they're more dependable than both ford and gm. so while ford and gm are duking it out, the other two are saying, ha, ha, what idiots. >> it's school yard. let it go. we're all going to be dead,

anyway. as long as we're talking about chevrolet, there is some encouraging news about the parent company. a bit of a turnaround since the bailout. tell us about that. >> yeah, so the wall street journal is actually saying that gm has this goal now, michael, to make $10 billion a year, and this is a big deal because gm, you have to remember, was bankrupt less than three years ago. but now gm is kind of on its way. it's going to report its earnings next week with the expectation that it will clock in at $8 billion profit for 2011. at one time that was almost unthinkable. you think about 2009, gm got a $50,000 bailout, there was thousands of layoffs. now the bailout is paid off, gm is rehiring. it's reopening old plants. its sales are even picking up in north america. gm is also doing very well in china. gm has been the top seller there for years. this $10 billion goal is a pretty lofty goal, but even if

gm doesn't make it to that $10 billion mark, i would say it's definitely a turnaround for the auto industry. >> that clint eastwood ad, the flag waving, and all that -- it's an italian company, actually. >> right, it actually brought a tear to my producer's eye, i have to say. >> good to see you, allison kos kosik. i love to chat with you. >> yes. thousands of women signing up for ninja training. the rise of martial arts training in iran, and a woman saved from being trapped in an avalanche. the whole thing caught on tape after this quick break, and we'll show you the piece of emergency equipment they say saved her life. wait around for that. unge and a♪

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welcome back. i'm mike holmes. take a minute to look at this video with us. you see a snowboarder making her way down the slopes when an avalanche comes tearing down behind her. the avalanche almost buried her alive. i said almost. the funny thing is she's not being buried by the snow, is she? no, she deployed an airbag that

shoots out behind her back. apparently it helps you float on the top of the snow. built for just this sort of thing. she makes it out to safety, is perfectly okay and we're going to talk to her next hour. stick around for that. quite amazing. ninja training -- yes, i said ninja training for thousands of women in iran. press tv giving access to some of the women in training. this is video of one of the practice sessions taking place. over 3,000 iranian women reportedly signed up for ninja training to become a ninja. the women practicing the art here of ninjitsu. this is a huge deal, actually. in the past women were discouraged of practicing sports of any kind. according to the atlantic, women in iran face many hurdles. they had trouble getting funding for doing this. they even faced severe punishment if they didn't keep to strict rules while they

qualified for the olympics back in 2007. 19 americans facing prosecution in egypt. up next, find out why they're being held and what is being done to free them. but i did picp your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one.

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the alliance between the united states and egypt petering today. egypt's military leaders under siege from the street have announced that they are going to try 19 americans, including the son of transportation secretary, ray lahood. we're standing by at the state health department. these people have been held and stopped from leaving for quite a while now. outline the charges again and reaction from washington.

>> reporter: well, michael, basically about 19 americans and some people from some other countries are being charged with taking illegal foreign funding, being a group that's not registered. i'm talking about some u.s. groups like the iri, international republican group, promoting work in egypt. one of those americans who wnot to leave the country. there is an investigation that is going to be charged. we hear that the prosecutor has been recommended to investigate these charges, not officially charged yet. let's hear what white house press secretary jay carney said today about these charges. >> we continue to communicate at all levels with the egyptian government, our grave concerns regarding the crackdown against ngos in europe.

we have underscored how serious these actions are. we said clearly these actions could have consequences with our relationship, particularly assistance programs. so we'll continue to work with the egyptians. >> reporter: this is the rub, michael. the u.s. really wants to work with this new egyptian government. the egyptian military has said it plans to hand over to its new government. there are lots of assistance at stake and billions of dollars for the ims that the u.s. would have to sign on. the u.s. is really put in a dilemma. they want to assist egypt but they can't with these consequences. you heard from the lawmakers of the obama administration to cut that assistance. >> you're not talking peanuts, either, it's $103 billion. that's a pretty decent size stick, but the military rules at the moment, there is a sense that they're trying to act top

given the parliamentary regime was won by the allies. they certainly want the money. >> reporter: you see them going both ways. on one hand, they're not giving in to the courts, and on the other hand, they're asking the united states to carry through on money. it needs that money, but at the same time there's been an uneasy relationship with the west, especially the united states that doesn't want to be seen too much in the pocket egypt. they're hoping these charges could be dropped or america could be charged with something very small and be allowed to lei leave the country. but right now it's a gamble. they just don't know. the americans might be forced to cut that assistance.

a small amount of americans are being held at the embassy because they don't want to face prosecution. well, it is the start of the week, and that can only mean one thing. brooke baldwin has a new artist to share with you on music monday. >> a long time ago i took banjos. >> ben solei. he picks, he grins, he strums all on a cello. i'll explain, next. 's water frog fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. sure. what flavor? mm, one of each. lemon burst, hm, cherry orchard, blackberry harvest... my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. pina colada, orange creme.

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if you think cello players are only to be found in a symphony orchestra, well, look no further than ben sollee. he shares his brand of soul and funk. he shares it with us today in today's "music monday." ♪ >> how does the boy from kentucky pick up the cello?

shouldn't you be fiddling or on a banjo or mandolin? >> i could be playing anything, but i picked up the cell on -- cello in fourth grade. i studied classical because that's the kind of music you study on the cello, but i also played with blues bands and bluegrass bands. i played all these different instruments and all their styles and techniques just kind of got sucked in to the cello. whether we're talking about mozart or brahms, and the cello can do all those different sounds. ♪

>> the first thing about a cello, it's just a huge resonating thing. put your hand right there. it's like really, really res anatomy. you can make base notes and all those scratchy notes like you were talking about with the deejay, they're all just beautiful sounds. if you want to intake vocal stuff. ♪ >> a lot of time i'll take banjos because i grew up around them, they can sound like them. and you can also sound like a mandolin. ♪

>> or you can use three-finger techniques that you'll see lots of bass players use. ♪ >> were you born with this? >> nope. not a chance. ♪ >> what's the best thing someone said to you after a show? >> when i close my eyes, it

didn't even sound like a cello. or, when i close my eyes, i heard a cello sometimes, or a b banjo or a harp. >> what did you call it, a ditch the van tour? >> yes. we do some tours by bicycle. >> why? >> to be more community oriented. a lot of people see us on bicycles and they ask us, wow, that's a really greenway to tour, it's sustainable. it's not really about that, it's about enforcing limitation on us on the road. >> and are these guys on bikes, too? >> yep. the whole band is on a bike. the drummer put his drums on a trailer behind his bike. our guitarist put hers on the back. >> you're biking with your