mitt romney won 2 for 2 tonight in michigan and arizona. we're back at our regular time later tonight with a man with strong opinions and magic. penn jillette is won known for his humanitarian views as he is for slight of hand. last time between us things got a little heated. hopefully, they will tonight. that's all for me. good night. or good morning, depending on where you are in america. and a very good post-election night morning to you. welcome to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." it is 5:00 a.m. let's get started. reports of tornadoes tearing across the plains. actually, one area has a path of damage six to seven miles long in one county. it's causing some injuries, destroying buildings in at least two states. the severe weather system

creating a lot of misery this morning, and the governor has declared a state of emergency in one state. it was indeed a big night, but that was so yesterday. next stop, super tuesday. mitt romney may have had a sweep, but you know what, in one week it is the big show, the biggest night of primary season. and it was a close one in his home state. so what? michigan's a win, right? win's a win. but what's up next? and the accused teenage gunman in the ohio school ram pain facing a judge this morning. he could be tried as an adult. we are hearing also the desperate 911 calls from inside the school. we are going to share those with you this morning. and one cruise ship hits the ground and topples over. another cruise ship loses all power and is set adrift in pirate infested seas. is it a good idea to even embark on a cruise these days? washington may have some help and some answers for you. we'll let you know why that is.

and we begin this morning with breaking news. the search on right now for three people after a coast guard chopper went down in alabama. the coast guard says one crew member who was rescued has now died. they're searching the waters of mobile bay. that's off point clear, alabama. this is where the chopper went down. the video just came in of the search here. the helicopter that went down, an mh-65 dolphin. it's a search and rescue helicopter. it was on a training mission when it crashed. on the phone right now, we have captain don rose. he's the commanding officer of the coast guard sector in mobile. captain, good morning to you. thank you for being with us. what can you tell us? what is the very latest on the people that are missing still? >> good morning, zoraida. we have multiple boats on scene, divers. we have aircraft up trying to find the three remaining crew.

looking on the surface, trying to access the helicopter below the surface, and hoping that we can find the last three crew members of this helicopter right now. >> and do you know what happened? >> no, we don't, zoraida. we do know that they were on a training mission shortly after sunset. we lost communications with the helicopter and immediately began trying to restore communications and dispatch resources out to find what they were doing. but they were training with two other boats at the time of the accident. >> captain, we understand that the bay is under a dense fog advisory. do you think that played a role here? >> the cause of the accident is going to be investigated. the fog has hampered our search efforts a little bit. it's made it difficult, of course, to provide the air cover. right now the visibility is not too bad.

but as far as the cause of the accident, we really don't know right now. >> and do you have any idea what the visibility was when they went out on that training mission? >> i don't know. >> captain don rose, thank you so much for joining us this morning. good luck with that search and rescue. and also breaking this morning, tornadoes, a lot of them. watches in the nation's heartland and damage at this point running six to seven miles long in tiny county in missouri. injuries are being reported in missouri and kansas overnight. take a look at your screen. you can see in the darkness. this is what those people on the ground were watching, a funnel cloud captured on video was one of the tornadoes touched down in reno county, kansas. there's a small town called harveyville, and it's near topeka, and it's one of the hardest hit in the series of funnel clouds and tornadoes. the governor has declared a state of emergency already this morning. >> rob marciano is at the cnn weather center in atlanta. tracking this for us, rob. >> it's pushing east across

missouri. this is a huge storm system with many facets, guys. it's stretching all the way to the east coast. we'll start with the number of tornado reports and bind reports we saw with this. tornado reported in nebraska. that's the first time they've recorded a tornado in nebraska in the month of february. so already historic, and then all these wind reports as well, some over 70 miles an hour. and the red dots, those are areas we saw tornadoes touchdown, one potentially near branson and the other near a town called buffalo, missouri. damage there as well. and those cells are moving east across the state where we right now have tornado watches in effect until 9:00 central time. there you see that line heading just south of st. louis and eventually over towards evansville, indiana. we'll probably see the watches extended. meanwhile, to the north, a blizzard warning in effect. winds whipping and snow blowing sideways in most cases. most of the snow is north of minneapolis although a dicey commute there, 9 to 11 inches of snow there. and this reaching to the northeast as well. over a foot of snow in upstate

new york and northern new england. most of this will stay away from the bigger cities, with the exception of boston. you can see four to six inches of snow. we'll keep an eye on the storms as they push off to the east. big news this morning, mitt romney, you suppose he's having a good breakfast this morning? >> i suppose so. >> savoring that win, certainly a nice home cooked meal as well because the former massachusetts governor survived that big scare in his home state of michigan last night. cruising to victory as well in arizona. we have totals for you this morning if you were sleeping. here you go. this is from the michigan primary. romney with 41% of the vote. rick santorum at 38% of the vote. you can zeron paul and newt gingrich falling in behind at 12% and 7% respectively. you can bet your bottom dollar that mitt romney is certainly relieved. appeared so, probably is so. take a listen. >> thank you for the people who knocked on the doors and made the calls and went to the polls. it made an enormous difference. we didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough, and that's all

that counts. >> he couldn't be more right, especially when it comes to arizona. that's just winner take all, no matter how close the vote is. but he really pulled it off. romney 47% of the vote to rick santorum's 27%. that's a bit of a trouncing in political speech. newt gingrich coming in third at 16%. ron paul falling in the bottom at 8%. if you're wondering what this all means for the greater picture, the delegate scoreboard, because that's really what it it's all about, racking up the delegates as you head toward convention. michigan, as of last night, is still being divided up. it's a proportional thing. you kind of go by county and district. but mitt romney comes in at this point as of midnight last night with 165 delegates total in this big race. rick santorum, just 44 delegates. newt gingrich at 38. ron paul at 27. so you could say romney's doing pretty well despite what all the pundits say. our cnn political editor is paul

steinhauser, a very hard working man, and he's doing his job today in pontiac, michigan. oh, to be a fly on the wall of the breakfast tables of not just mitt romney this morning, paul, but also rick santorum. i'm not sure he's licking his wounds, but he's thinking, oh, just so close. >> the santorum campaign is pretty happy. they say a second place finish was basically a win for them. they indicate it was only a three-point margin here in michigan, mitt romney's home state. take a look at what rick santorum said last night in his speech. >> you know, we came into the backyard of one of my opponents in a race that everyone said, well, just ignore it. you have really no chance here, and the people of michigan looked into the hearts of the candidates, and all i have to say is i love you back. thank you. >> later in the evening, our jim acosta caught up with rick

santorum. he said, listen, this was always going to be romney's night. the question is how big? it wasn't very big. a top adviser to santorum also tells us expect the candidate, ashlei ashleigh, to talk more about the economy the next couple of days. we heard rick santorum talk a lot about social issues and religion the last two weeks. >> you know how it goes, paul. a win's a win, like many people said. a lot of times people look at the headline and don't look at the subtext. the subtext is he won his state. i don't know how many viewers out there or people who might not even be viewing at this point or might be voting know that it's a proportional thing. >> exactly. that's why the santorum campaign is pretty happy because they're going to come away with a good amount of delegates in michigan. let's move on. super tuesday seven days from now. ten states and big ones. guess who's leading in the polls in four of them? rick santorum. this moves on. the fight is not over in michigan and arizona. we've got big battles ahead for

mitt romney and rick santorum. newt gingrich looking to win in his home state of georgia. >> i put up the leaderboard. it's 165 delegates that mitt romney has won so far. should we remind folks that super tuesday has a chwhopping 7 delegates in one night. and a big portion of them are in guess where? georgia. who do you think is going to be looking at a win in georgia? >> newt gingrich is up in the polls there. he is looking for a win. and let's remind our viewers, 1,144 is the amount of delegates you need to clinch the nomination. we've still got a long way to go. >> you do indeed. i'm just glad you didn't mention brokered convention, paul steinhauser. >> let's wait on that one. >> let's avoid that one all day today. thanks, paul. >> it is ten minutes past the hour here. a look at the cnn exit polling in michigan reveals why romney had so much trouble winning in the state where he was born and raised. cnn's chief business correspondent ali velshi got up

nice and early for us this morning. he's breaking it all down. >> look how relaxed. >> this is one of my favorite parts because we dissect what happened. you've got the dissection by income, the vote by income. >> this is an important state for mitt romney because the republican establishment had sort of sent out messages that, if he can't beat santorum in his home state, in the state where his father was governor, maybe they've got to start looking for someone else. it was good that he did this for his campaign. median income for a household in the united states is about $50,000. that means half of u.s. households earn less than that, half earn more than that. we took a look at income by less than $50,000 in michigan. of those people, 41% of them voted for rick santorum. so the blue collar workers in michigan -- as you know, there are lots of them, and it's got a higher unemployment rate than the nation -- voted for santorum, followed by romney at 36%, then ron paul at 14%. newt gingrich bringing in the

rear at 6%. now, of the people that we polled as they came out of the polls in michigan, we asked them what the most important issue was to them. 54% said the most important issue is the economy in general. but take a look at this. of those people who said the economy was the biggest issue, 47% voted for romney. 30% voted for santorum. then followed by ron paul, then gingrich, and another 2%wanted . take a look at democrats. this is an interesting story. last time in michigan, 17% of the votes were cast by democrats. kind of weird in a republican primary. there's a sense that maybe they wanted to influence the vote and have the candidate win who was less likely to beat barack obama. this time it was 9% of the vote. these are democrats who voted. 53% of the democrats who cast a ballot in michigan last night voted for rick santorum, the thinking being rick santorum doesn't have as good a chance against barack obama as mitt

romney did. of those democrats voted, 18% voted for romney. they may have been thinking, if there's a good chance barack obama doesn't win, i'd like mitt romney to be president. 17% voted for ron paul. that's because that was an opportunity for democrats, independently minded people who like his libertarian view. and only 3% voted for newt gingrich. that would be a bit of a stretch figuring out why they voted for newt gingrich. it was a very small number. that's how the numbers break down. i'll be bringing them to you throughout the morning. soledad? i'm looking at the prompter here, and it says soledad. and i'm thinking soledad isn't here for a couple of hours. i will be joining soledad as well, zoraida and ashleigh. >> they good save. >> cover this prompter thing. i don't need that. >> you know what, ali, it confuses us too at 5:13 in the morning on the east coast. >> you guys call each other all sorts of things in the morning. i'm ali. good to see you guys. i'll be back next hour. try the veal.

>> i'm going to reiterate that. 7:00 on "starting point." soledad o'brien will be joined by reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee looking forward to super tuesday. it is 13 minutes past 5:00. we have been following this the past two days. a community now coming together to heal at a prayer service in chardon, ohio. a lot of people came out in the cold last night. the pictures tell the story. they were lighting candles to give their thoughts and prayers to the three victims of monday's high school shooting rampage. the ohio governor as well asking people to reach out to the families. >> this town will rise. they're a wonderful group of people here. they're closely connected. they're faithful people. they're hard working people. they're the best of what we have in ohio. and from one end of ohio to the

other, today, tomorrow, and the days to come, we all live in chardon in a sort of way. >> a suspect, 17-year-old t.j. lane, made his first court appearance yesterday. prosecutors say t.j. lane has admitted to the rampage, has admitted to unloading ten rounds. the 911 calls were released as well. well, you can certainly hear the fright in people's voices. have a listen. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> we just had a shooting at our school. we need to get out of here. oh, my god. >> okay, ma'am. we've got a school shooting. ma'am, what school? >> chardon high school. >> chardon high school? >> yes, ma'am. >> all right. can you get administration? >> everyone's running away. >> where is the student with the gun? >> i don't know. he was in the cafeteria, and everyone just started running. >> just sends chills.

ted rowlands is live in chardon, ohio, for us. ted, that appearance yesterday was a first appearance. by all accounts, it's a juvenile appearance. t.j. lane is 17 years old. there are very few people at this point who believe this process is going to remain a juvenile process. >> reporter: absolutely not. the judge addressed it a little bit in the hearing yesterday, saying that the prosecutor will have to just basically submit the paperwork to have a hearing on this. he's reserved a date for it. and the issue, of course, should this young man, t.j. lane, be looked at as an adult in the eyes of the court or a juvenile? prosecutor later in a press conference said that absolutely they're going to push forward for this. an ohio law allows for it. it's a very easy transition when you talk about the age. the closer an individual gets to the age of 18, the more easily it is that that person will go up to an adult court and face adult responsibilities.

the seriousness of the crime is also factored in. you can't get more serious than this in a crime. he's 17 years old. i think it's a foregone conclusion that, by the end of his next court appearance, he will be an adult in the eyes of the court. >> certainly, the prosecutor has voiced as much, which is absolutely no surprise given the severity of these crimes. i just looked at the statute a little while ago. in ohio they allow for aggravated murder, which is sort of the same as first degree murder in other states as well. but to that charge itself, this young man has made some pretty startling admissions, if what we're hearing is true. admitting to not only unloading those rounds but admitting to have the weapons on him. and also, as i understand it, ted -- and clear this up for me -- admitting that he just did this randomly. >> reporter: yeah. one of the questions apparently asked of him by officers at some point -- and they did make a point during the hearing that they read him his rights and that he was aware of his rights before he admitted certain things -- but one of the things they asked him was about the

targets. did you intentionally target these young boys? and he said no. he told officers that this was completely random, and he said he didn't even know who he was shooting at the time. that came out in court yesterday. so clearly, he's cooperating, and clearly the case against him, when you take into account there's a surveillance tape of the incident happening, it's very, very solid. >> ted rowlands, that is little comfort to anybody in this case and certainly the families who were killed. ted rowlands, thanks so much from chardon, ohio, this morning. time to check the stories making news. the coast guard says one crew member has now died. three are still missing after a chopper went down during a training mission. this is in mobile bay, alabama. the coast guard says it has two other helicopters and a boat out there right now conducting a search. mitt romney regaining some much needed momentum with primary wins in michigan and arizona last night. he defeated rick santorum by

three points in his home state, by 20 points in arizona. super tuesday now just six days away. tunisia offering syrian dictator bashar al assad asylum if he will agree to step down. this, as secretary of state hillary clinton suggested, that he is a war criminal. the death toll in syria's bloody crackdown now estimated to be as high as 7,500 people. tonight president obama is set to host a dinner for iraq war veterans. it's going to take place at the white house, and it's an event that some folks are calling a state dinner for the troops. pentagon spokesperson says it is only the beginning of a massive thank you to these brave vets. but one vets group says this is no substitute for a national day to honor our returning troops. and for the first time in nearly four years, the dow is sitting above 13,000. investors sending stocks higher yesterday when oil prices pulled back.

you heard me, oil prices pulled back. what? wow. we'll talk about that in a minute. also, consumer confidence showed some signs of improvement as well. the dow rising 23 points to ding, ding, ding, 13,005. we haven't seen these levels, if you can remember, go way, way back, may 19, 2008. bad memories back then. >> ashleigh, do you think our gas prices will go down too now? >> that's exactly what i want to know. >> wouldn't that be great? 20 minutes past the hour. still ahead, mustacheoed. americans with mustaches demanding tax breaks for facial hair. they're planning a 1 million mustache march in washington. this, my friends, is not a joke. i have the proof right in front of me. and also, in just a bizarre story, cruise ship from hell. food, flashlights, phones -- all of these necessities having to be airlifted to a cruise ship that is just adrift in pirate infested waters.

yes, it's being slowly tugged to shore. but are they going to make it there safely? we'll let you know. >> i hope so. chchasase e scscenene,e, x cocomimingng s soooonn exextrtra a bubutttter titickcketets,s, s swon pepengnguiuin n jojouruy jujuninioror m minints momoviviefefononee evevilil p pririncncee bobollllywywoooodd 3-3-dd shsharark k atattatack nened d ththe e hehead 5%5% c casashbhbacackk ririghght t nonow,w, g getet 5 k onon m movovieies.s. itit p payays s toto d di. your doctor will say get smart about your weight.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. that cripples italian cruise ship, the costa allegra, is on a slow tow to land. >> the ship lost power after a fire in the engine room. that was on monday. more than 1,000 passengers and crew are on board. the sister ship you've heard of. it's the costa concordia. it's being towed in dangerous pirate-infested waters by a french shipping vessel to a port in seychelles. it's escorted by the coast guard, and it is expected to arrive at some point today. cnn's david mckenzie is on the phone. he is in nairobi, kenya. thank you for being with us this morning. i wanted you to clear something up for us. yesterday we were saying it would go to a specific island in the seychelles, and that was changed, apparently for security reasons. can you tell us what happened? >> reporter: well, basically, as

they were going to go to barach, a small island south of the seychelles. it really isn't a security concern in terms of the pirates that ply these waters. it's more of a case of the costa allegra. it's too big, and the island is too small. they wouldn't have been able to effectively dock at that island. it's an island with one exclusive resort that's well-known basically for the british royals like to hang out there. but basically it's a decision it would be too risky to get all those passengers off on that tiny island. what it means is that these stranded passengers in the stranded ship will have to wait at least another 24 to 36 hours being dragged now by two fishing vessels and two tug boats towards marhay, the main seychelles island. >> i think we were reporting yesterday there were about eight americans on board. what are the conditions for everybody on board?

>> certainly it's uncomfortable. the power is out. this is a huge cruise line. it's actually a converted container ship. it's a very large ship. as you said, more than 1,000 passengers and crew. so the majority of those passengers are from european countries, eight americans, and several other nationalities. they've been in the common areas of the ship. the helicopter from the seychelles government distributed like 400 flashlights and bread, but they have managed to get a small generator on board to help get some hot food for the passengers. certainly, the bigger picture here is the pr nightmare for the costa cruise lines. as you mentioned, costa concordia went aground off the coast of italy in january, more than 21 people killed there. certainly a lot of lawyers will be looking at this current case and trying to find a trend, as it were, with this company, which is an italian company. but ultimately, the parent company is the american carnival cruises. >> we're happy to hear, though,

there are no issues with piracy. i know there was a huge concern for everyone. cnn's david mckenzie, live from nairobi, kenya. thank you very much. >> 26 minutes past 5:00. if you needed any evidence that washington is maybe a little bit broken or a lot a bit broken, you will find that evidence in one olympia snowe. she's decided to call it quits, and guess why? it's just a big pain in the you know what to try to do your work there. we'll explain. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro.

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it is 30 minutes past the hour. >> that was fast for you?

>> was it fast for you? thanks for joining us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> good morning, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. it's time to check the top stories if you are sleeping and getting ready to get out the door. a desperate search under way right this minute for three people in alabama after the coast guard helicopter crashed into mobile bay. that was all during a training mission. one crew member who was rescued has sadly died. fog has been a big problem, they report, during this search and rescue mission. tornadoes have also been slamming the nation's heartland in the dark. major damage has been reported in parts of missouri and kansas. if you can see, try to squint through the darkness. you can see that funnel cloud out on the horizon. it's not something you want to see, but it was caught on tape as a twister touched down in reno county, kansas, last night. tornado watches are in effect this morning. the suspect in the ohio school shooting appearing in court after it was anounounced that a third victim of the ram

pa rampage died. a source says t.j. lane admitted to the shooting and used a gun he stole from his uncle. olympia snowe has decided not to run for re-election. snowe, a well-known moderate in maine has served three terms. she is fed up with the polarization in washington. her retirement could hurt the gop's chances of taking the senate again in november. >> the petty fogging. she's had enough. enough of the petty fogging. that would be our word of the day. it's the quibbling over insignificant things. >> i think we have to put the word up with the definition. sometimes you put it out there. >> it's the crew. i want to let you in on the joke. the crew gives me the word every day, and they give me no love when i give them the word. >> when you hear a crazy word, you know. >> there's the love. by the way, speculation, since we're talking about politics and

pettiness and all of that. reports of mitt romney's demise? premature, folks. former massachusetts governor is gaining real momentum heading into super tuesday, which, of course, is next week. it was a convincing 20-point win in arizona. look at those numbers. mitt romney coming in 47% over rick santorum's 27%. and that equated to a giant exhale, not just there, but also a bigger exhale in his home state of michigan. a loss could have been a bummer, to say the least. he did pull out a three-point win over rick santorum. just three points in your home state. he was sounding very presidential and refocusing on president obama. have a listen. >> he thinks he deserves a second term. he says, we can't wait. to which i say, oh, yes, we can. >> oh, yes, we can. adopting a very popular phrase among some folks last time around. the quadrennial thing that

happens every four years. also another word of the day. i welcome senior political columnist from "newsweek" and the daily beast. and in washington, marjorie clinton, a democratic strategist and national editor of govote.com. john, i want to start with you. because, as we got through this last squeaker in michigan, i was reminded of some of the things that mitt romney was facing going into florida and michigan. let me remind our viewers what he was saying about florida going into florida, a place that was desperate about mortgages being under water. have a listen. >> don't try to stop the foreclosure process. let it run its close. allow investors to buy the homes, put money in them, fix the homes, and let it come back up. >> not the thing you want to hear if you're under water.

but he prevailed in michigan. he was reminded of his 2008 op ed in the new york times which had the headline, oh, go ahead, let detroit go bankrupt. and yet, john avalon, with a headline like that, he still prevailed in his home state as well. i'm not sure i understand it. is it that republicans are great with super fiscal conservatism? how is that going to play when we get to the general election? >> romney, it was a narrow win in michigan, and it actually turned out to be a delegate split. this is a fight for delegates to get to the nomination. he won it with nine points four years ago. while the romney camp is breathing a deep sigh of relief because it would have been disastrous to lose mitt's home state, he's in a good position heading into super tuesday, but there's still a lot of doubts, especially base activists, among his campaign. two wins on the board. strong win in arizona, as you said. and those comments about detroit did not prove to be dispositive. he was able to carry on to fight another day and have a double

win heading into super tuesday, which stops the sense of bleeding of confidence that his campaign had been suffering from. >> but those numbers sure switcheroo when you see the democrats and the inpresidedepe weighing in on whether they like those kinds of comments. michigan and arizona was so yesterday. super tuesday, the dbig kahuna, has 437 delegates at stake on one night. there's the map. just it highlight a few biggies, georgia, idaho, ohio, tennessee, virginia. matt, i'm trying to figure out how that map is going to play out. i don't sense a sweep anywhere. do you sense that one of these four is going to emerge extraordinarily happy from super tuesday. >> actually, i think everyone is going to be looking to ohio as a bellweth bellwether. right now rick santorum is leading, but i do think that ohio is a place where mitt romney got his groove back. if he's going to string together

a couple of weeks where he can be the front-runner, he's going to have to do it in ohio next week. and georgia, newt gingrich has to win georgia to say stay in this race. >> there's 76 delegates in georgia. that is big, big, big. do you think he's going to do it? he's polling well there. we've got another week to do. >> i do think he'll end up winning in georgia, and this thing will go on for several more weeks to come. >> i guess, if we look at super tuesday, a week is an eternity in this race, it has proven to be. is there enough momentum coming out of this sweep from yesterday to pull mitt through super tuesday well, matt? >> i think this is going to be the true test. if he can put together several wee weeks. every week we seem to have a new front-runn front-runner, but no one is able to keep that mantle. if mitt romney is going to turn it on and win the nomination, he has to do it now. >> marjorie, i've got the delegate count up as of last

night. in michigan, it's weird. per district, they allot who the winners are. but as of midnight, mitt romney comes in at 165 delegates. that compares to rick santorum's mere 44. there's a big discrepancy in the leaderboard in this election so far. does that equate in voters' minds as we move forward? do you think people are looking at, wow, look how many delegates mitt's won so far, or are they just looking at what happened yesterday or last week? >> i think that, while we'd like to believe everyone outside of washington understands the entire process, the whole delegate, super delegate is a mystery even to those politicos. the republicans are going to watch what's coming in the next couple weeks. we do not have a debate leading up to super tuesday. it's all going to be what comes out of michigan and arizona. romney got his groove back a little bit. what we've seen historically, it's been a bit of a seesaw. we've had santorum rise and

romney rise again. i think it's really going to be a toss-up coming into tuesday. >> you heard it here first. matt, john, and marjorie, thanks very much, guys. >> thanks, ashleigh. >> 38 minutes past the hour. ahead on "early start," the dow closes above 13,000. it's the first time it's been that high since the crash of '08. is it a trend? you're watching "early start." with the capital one cash rewards card

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i learned early on if you want to make a difference you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i'm committed to making a difference and i am a phoenix. and this just in to cnn. take a look at your screen. we're getting some of the first video of tornado damage in kansas. severe storm damage has actually gone through not only kansas but also missouri. there have been multiple tornadoes all being reported overnight. as you were sleeping, storm chasers were capturing some of the video that's been pretty remarkable. one of the funnel clouds touching down in reno county, kansas, and obviously these are some of the images that we see

once those funnel clouds and tornadoes tear through areas like this. this was harveyville. it is near topeka, kansas. we're also watching and waiting to find out any reports of injuries. but certainly you can see the power and the force of mother nature going through that community overnight. >> the latest report said there were injuries but no fatalities. we're checking this terrific video. seven-mile stretch in one area. really hit hard. 43 minutes past the hour. minding your business this morning, the dow closing above 13,000 yesterday. the nasdaq was up 1%. the s&p 500 that's the best indicator for what's in your 401(k), that gained about .3%. poppy harlow in for christine romans this morning. why does it matter the dow closed above 13,000? are you kidding me? >> it matters for this reason. it's a psychological milestone. technically, it doesn't matter,

but, folks, you've heard it so many times. confidence is the cheapest form of stimulus. let's keep this run going. first, the best rating we've gotten on consumer confidence in a year. that helped out a lot. you've got companies that keep turning record profits. one example, apple. over $530 a share yesterday. stropg profits. sort of a tale of two americas still because the huge job crisis continues. but companies are lean and strong and turning profits. we got negative numbers too yesterday, but investors widely ignored them. weak housing numbers. housing prices down 4% in the fourth quarter of last year. also, durable goods orders. big ticket items like your refrigerator, your car, et cetera, those numbers weren't good. guys, it played out overall pretty well. i think we have a few things going on here. we have to keep an eye on oil. oil fell $2 yesterday. we still have the 22nd straight day of rising gas prices. that matters for americans. >> i just checked that overnight aaa website, $3.73 for a gallon of gas. if you do the math, that's up a

cent and a half from yesterday. and i thought wait a second. poppy harlow is going to tell me oil prices dropped. >> it can lag a few weeks. is it in the u.s.? is it overseas? we're not seeing an exact correlation here between oil prices and gas prices. actually, if we were, gas prices would be higher because we're at $106 a barrel. we'll keep an eye on that. let's keep a close eye on europe heading into the market, but a strong start. the naysayers ask, is this market ready for a pullback? of course not. >> naysayers already? >> this is being spun in so many different directions. thank you so much, poppy. still ahead, one flew over the cuckoo's nest? really? a man accuseded of using a fake i.d. to open a bank account with this photo? look closely. you got that right. that's jack. >> what people do, right? never ceases to amaze us. >> that's a real clever, clever criminal. you're watching "early start."

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welcome back. it is 48 minutes past the hour here. we're hearing for the first time from frank hall. that is the heroic teacher and assistant coach who put his life at risk by chasing t.j. lane out of the cafeteria. this was a school shooting in ohio. take a listen. >> i just want to say that i'm sorry to the families, to the victims. i wish i could have done more. >> oh, you did a lot, sir. the suspect in the ohio school shooting appearing in court after it was announced that a third victim of that rampage died. the source says t.j. lane admitted to the rampage and told authorities that he stole the gun that he used in that shooting spree from his uncle. >> what an amazing guy, frank hall. and you're right. oh, you did a lot, sir. >> oh, my goodness. >> that's such an amazing story he could have done that. we thank you for your bravery.

venlling every so often we go to the crime file and find these very unusual crime stories. today's crime story, i think you could file it under really, really unusual brazen thief trying to use a fake government i.d. with a picture of jack nick l s nicholson on it. he was trying to open a bank account. apparently, the 41-year-old looks nothing like jack nicholson. we'll see how this plays out and what the jurors think of the evidence if they ever get to see it. here's your tax dollars hard at work. lawmakers in washington may soon be debating the stash act. seriously, i have the paperwork to prove it. it calls for a tax break of $250 for americans with mustaches. it includes men and women.

it says mustache maintenance costs qualify for and should be considered a deductible expense. this is sponsored by the american mustache institute. they're calling it a facial stimulus. >> oh, boy. >> they're also planning -- oh, there's more. planning a million mustache march in washington on april 1st. republican congressman rascal bartlett of maryland actually sent the legislation up the pipeline. there he is with the stache. we're trying to reach him for comment. it's in front of the ways and means committee even though it appears this was a parody and just got through somehow and sitting in front of ways and means. >> this is why i think olympia snowe is getting out of congress. i don't think it has to do with the pettyfogging. >> ahead, survivors of the costa concordia shim wreck will testify today. they're going to focus on cruise

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welcome back to "early start." as the costa concordia's sister ship is towed on pirate infested

seas to the island of seychelles, congress is getting ready to talk about, guess what, cruise ship safety. >> cnn's regulation correspondent lizzie o'leary is live in washington, d.c. lizzie, i understand that you talked with some of the survivors of the costa concordia who are expected to testify today. what do they tell you? >> this is divya and samir. this was their fifth wedding anniversary. they were taking a trip together. they described this moment where they were eating dinner and the ship shuddered, and it was essentially chaos. no one told them what to do. listen to divya talk about how she felt basically getting no instructions from the crew for several hours. >> if there was a gash that ripped open three compartments, 15 minutes is a long time from then to come around and say, you know what, everything is under control. stop lying. stop lying.

if they would have not lied, mistakes happen. we are all human beings, okay? i'm not saying i haven't made a mistake in my life. accept it and say, you know what, this is what has happened. let's proceed to the muster station. have the crew members come around, instead of pouring champagne in the glasses. >> they were actually pouring champagne at first because they thought this was an electrical problem, it will be wrapped up soon. clearly, it was much more serious than that. >> it's great to hear from them. inwhat are they saying what needs to be done instead of having this happen again? >> we have this idea of muster stations. that's the idea of getting a full safety building. they never got one when they got on board. it's not u.s. law to have one before you leave port if your ship leaves in the u.s. cruise ships are voluntarily doing it now, but it might be something they want to put into law, guys. >> do it as soon as you board that ship. lizzie o'leary live for us in

washington. thank you very much. still ahead, a twister caught on tape in the night sky but not so dark you can't see that funnel cloud. that coming towards the shooter, as another one tore through a small town in kansas. the severe weather is tearing through the midwest and cutting quite a swath. we'll give you all the details on what may still be about to happen. i wouldn't do that. pay the check? no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card.

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good morning to you. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm ashleigh banfield. nice to have you here with us where we bring you the news from a to z post-election night. let's get started. while you were sleeping.

breaking news to tell you about. there were tornadoes overnight that were tearing across the plains. this is brand snew video in to krb. it shows damage from harveyville, kansas. look at how the trees are snapped. roofs blown off of houses. real swath of damage. may not be over yet, either. rob marciano has been watching this and monitoring the watches out there. the watches and the warnings. he's going to keep us up to date. in politics, the next stop now, super tuesday. but what happened yesterday? mitt romney sweeps one week before the biggest night of primary season. it was a really close one in his home state as everyone predicted. they thought he would have pulled it off, but he did, saying a win is a win in michigan. and new 911 calls, as well as tweets, that describe the absolute terror in the voices of those who suffered through the chardon high school shooting. did social media help or harm the hysteria?

outrage and anger after the pentagon admits that some september 11 remays were dumped in a landfill. it's one minutes past 6:00 in the morning. we begin with breaking news. severe storms ravaging the nation's heartland. as you were sleeping tornado watches and warnings in effect right now. ten people at this point have been reported injured. this overnight. in harveyville, kansas, near tope topeka, one of the hardest hit places. tornadoes downing trees, power lines. that stop sign is bent like a twig. nine injuries reported. one person in critical condition. we're told the damage in one missouri county apparently runs up to seven miles long. and you really know the power of the wind when you start to see the aftermath once it passes through a community. rob marciano is at the weather center in atlanta. all too often we talk about the stories, rob, it never ceases to

amaze when you see the aftermath pictures. >> this storm has already made history. we had one tornado in nebraska. we've never seen one on record in the month of february. early in the season for this to happen. right now we have several states not only under a tornado watch but warnings as well. including northeast parts of arkansas, western parts of kentucky, and especially illinois right now. this one, west of evansville, indiana, williamson county. that has a tornado reported on the ground. it may very well be the same cell that dropped a tornado in buffalo, missouri. it continues to move off to the east. very rapidly. this time of year, wind energy, 60 to 70 miles an hour. on the red spots, tornado reports. saw at least ten last night. blue squares are wind reports. we've had winds gusting over 60 and 70 miles per hour. not just tornado damage but straight line wind damage with

this potent system that pushes off to the east right now. we have tornado watches in effect. these are in effect until 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. local time. and these will probably be off to the east as we go through time. this is a huge storm already reaching into the northeast. blizzard warnings are posted for the northern plains. areas just north of minneapolis have already seen a foot of snow. the snow is beginning to move into the northeast as well. we could see a foot of snow in northern new england. obviously, ashleigh, the tornado threat is the immediate concern right now. >> i was trying to write as fast as i could as you were listing the states. nebraska, kentucky, arkansas, missouri. did i miss any? >> a lot of that shifted off to the east and moving rapidly. along the confluence of ohio and mississippi river. with that, it strches all of the way down to the mid south. it's a huge swath of real estate

effected. >> keep an eye on it for us, sflob. >> you bet. also breaking this morning. search for three people after a coast guard chopper went down in alabama. the coast guard says one crew member who was rescued has now died. they're searching the waters of mobile bay, alabama, where that chopper went down. this is video that we just got in of the search. the helicopter that went down, an mh-65 dolphin, it is a search and rescue chopper. it was on a training mission when it crashed. we talked to captain dan rose earlier today, and he said he's not quite sure what happened there. there is fog in the area now which is hampering their search and rescue operations. as soon as we get more details, we'll share those with you. five minutes past 6:00. another big story we're following, what happened last night. mitt romney is exhaling this morning after survive that big scare in his home state of michigan last night, political scare, none the less. but he cruised to a victory in arizona.

totals from michigan are on your set. romney came in at 41% of the vote while rick santorum squeaked in behind with 38% of the vote. you can see ron paul and newt gingrich well behind in the numbers, 12% and 7% respectively. with numbers like that mitt romney certainly sounded relieved. >> in this room are the people who knocked on the doors and made the calls and went to the polls. it made an enormous difference. we didn't win by a lot but bewon by enough, and that's what counts. >> in other words, a win is a win according to former governor. arizona, it was a total emplblo. if you were asleep, here is the final count. 47% of the went to mitt romney. 27% to rick santorum. again, newt gingrich and ron paul falling well in behind at 16% and 8%. respectively. that was just last night. there is that overall contest, the delegate scoreboard. michigan still being divided up.

it could take time to assess the real numbers there. as of midnight, mitt romney coming in now with 165 delegates in this race since early january. rick santorum, well behind with just 44 delegates. newt gingrich with 38. and ron paul with 27. our cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live in pontiac, michigan. you are the math man. not only do you do polls but you keep track of all of these delegates for us, as well. i love to watch the delegate count because that's really what this is all about. i wonder if the voters out there are watching the delegate count and looking at how the race is going or if they're really just watching what happened yesterday and last night and everything in last couple of days. >> you know, arizona, michigan, 59 delegate state. the true story was momentum. mitt romney did what he had to do, he won. look at this. headline in "the detroit news" one of the two major newspapers in the area. mitt romney brings home a win. that's what he needed to do here.

exit polls says he still has trouble with conservative voters but nobody is going to remember that. they're going to remember that he did win. as for rick santorum, second place as almost as a good as a win for him. listen to what he said last night. >> you know, we came into the backyard of one of my opponents in a race that everyone said, well, just ignore, you have really no chance here. and the people of michigan looked into the hearts of the candidates and all i have to say is, i love you back. thank you. >> here's a take from the santorum campaign. romney's home state. always expected to win. they forget about the fact that romney was up in the polls here two weeks ago. they outspent here in michigan 2-is margin. they're happy. they're going to get some delegates out of this. they still have a big thing ahead, called super tuesday. ten states next tuesday. >> that's when you don't sleep

basically. paul steinhauser, thank you for being with us this morning. >> that's right. it's eight minutes past the hour here. let's head to the school shooting in ohio. the community coming together to heal at a prayer service in chardon, ohio. thousands turned out last night for a vigil. that's at the church near chardon high school. they're remembering the three teenagers who died. danielle parmertor, demeet trous. >> thousands of people here. thousands. the city of chardon. >> i think it's time for everyone to get together and just support one another. >> earlier in the day the alleged shooter, t.j. lane, was in court. the prosecutor said afterwards that he would be tried as an adult even though he's in juvenile court now. they said he admitted to firing off ten rounds me said it was a random act. he said this was not a case of bullying. we're also hearing some very dramatic 911 calls. listen.

>> 911. what is your emergency? >> this is chardon high school calling. we are in lockdown. we need assistance right now. >> okay. >> there's a student with a gun. >> okay. >> and a knife. >> and a knife. where is he? >> where is he guys? we don't know. he's in the school somewhere. >> one tweet from a terrified student here. school in lockdown. kid with a gun. oh expletive. brian reese, social media editor for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." he followed the news tweets as they were happening. good morning to you. for those who don't use twitter, how were you able to follow what's happening? >> twitter is organized by hash tags or news events like this. a lot of kids were using chardon in their tweets. what you can do is go back, find some of those tweets and trace their way back to the beginning.

i started that around 9:00 in the morning. a lot of tweeted, i'm in school, lockdown, shoot we're a gun. trace the story out. cops arrive as people dealt with the aftermath, grabbing for each other, helping one another out. it was fascinating to watch. >> did you compile all of this data. >> i did. i did. i had 40 tabs open on my computer. tracking some of the kids i was pretty sure was in the school and some i was positive was in the school. from the time line in the beginning from the ones i thought were the first tweets all of the way to the night with the kids talking to each other. >> as i was watching this all unfold and then i heard how you compiled all of this information, i said as a parent sitting at home, boy, i would want to be a part of this. how critical is this in order to get out the information to everyone, parents included? >> it's critical. you can see also on twitter is how the tweets are being sent. some were sent with an iphone, some were sent by text message. we were following what the kids were doing when it first

happened. i think the shots rang out around 7:30 in the morning. by 7:49, 7:50, a lot were tweeting, we're in lockdown. i imagine they're texting their parents. >> the first thing i did is tell my son who is 13 years old, always carry your cell phone and always keep it charged based on that, in order to get the message. some of the tweets that struck you most. two of them here. shots in the school. what the heck. this is messed up. and another one, pray for us. gunman in the school. quite a sense of panic there, right? do you think it played out on twitter that way? >> absolutely. you see these tweets and you think, imagine these kids huddled under a desk in a classroom, thinking it could be their last. that's terrifying. when you look at those and the other ones where they start thanking the schoolteachers that stepped up and kind of shuffled the shooter out of the building, the other who grabbed a student and pulled him into their classroom.

it's amazing and brings you there. brings you to the scene which i think is different from previous shootings where we watch on the news, we hear reports about what it was like but now was can almost go on twitter or facebook. >> brian, as you look back at your time line and now you see all of the developments that have unfolded, is it a pretty accurate time line of how everything happened? >> i think it is. yeah, you know, it started with the first shots and then the kids were talking about the lockdown, the cops arriving. there were a lot of rulers flying around. a lot of them the shooter's name. some named another kid, which wasn't correct. before the media was reporting who had been shot these kids were all saying it was their friends, they were naming them. looking back on it you can pretty much match tweet for tweet the facts but it's careful to be important with the rumors there, too. >> another tweet that struck us and you say it caused or expressed a lot of emotion. here it is. it says, i think we all need to thank our amazing staff and police. they did a great job. especially mr. hall for chasing the shooter out of the building.

were a lot of the students talking about this? >> for sure. we saw a lot of tweets about coach hall and the math teacher. that was one of the first thank you to the police, thank you to these two teachers. that was the first step in healing, it seemed, which is almost immediate given how previously the shooting happened. they were around 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning. clearly the facts spread quickly. >> how are they tweeting in an effort to heal? >> you know, a lot of them change their profile pictures both on twitter and facebook to the school's logo in solidarity with each other. just like they're wearing their colors when they go to the i have vigils on school. they're supporting each other. inviting each other to each other's house, playing a game of basketball. >> this is fascinating. you have to wonder if the police is following on twitter, as

well. >> they are. >> we appreciate it. social media editor of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." >> i was talking to dave cullen who wrote the book "columbine." he said after a shooting like this don't push the healing. these kids need to take a lot of time. the columbine kids said that was the biggest thing, people were pushing them to take closure and healing and it took longer than they thought. >> it looks like they have a brand new way of doing it and shea pair. i love it. lots of power of social media. so still ahead, a disturbing story to tell you. i don't know how this could possibly happen. i think a lot of people are shaking their heads. 9/11 was something that will go down obviously as one of the moments in american history. how is it, how is it possible that some remains, human remains from the victims of 9/11, ended up in a landfill? i'm not kidding. we're going to take you live to the pentagon to try to sort this out. also, mitt romney certainly

breathing a sigh of relief. a big tuesday for him. two states. critical states. how are these primary states in the grand scheme of things going to measure up though in the bigger story? super tuesday is just around the corner. you're watching "early start." ahah, , wewelclcomome e toto h . ifif y youou'r're e lolookokinio geget t totogegethther, yoyou u cacameme t to o ththe. bebecacaususe e heherere a at, wewe'r're e ononlyly a abob. fifindndining g yoyou u ththe e isis a allll w we e do. wewelclcomome e toto h hot.

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it is 19 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." a stunning revelation about 9/11 victims contained in a pentagon report on improving the air force mortuary in dover delawa e delaware. last week it was discovered that partial remains of u.s. troops were dumped in landfills. >> u.s. troops. we're also learn that cremated remains from victims from 9/11, 9/11, more than a decade ago, some of them

disposed in the very same way, in the landfill. cnn's barbara starr is live from the pentagon to look at this. at first i couldn't believe the headline in that story, barbara, that remains from dover troops were disposed in this way and then i got completely confused when 9/11 victims could be in that story as well. can you sort this out sfl. >> sure, ashleigh. we had a press conference here pentagon to discuss this problem. remains of the war dead and now we know remains of 9/11. what happened is these are elements remains dna material, too small to identify, too small to test and try and find out what exactly or who it belongs to. so it was incinerated. it was then sent to a contractor for disposal. that contractor disposed of it as medical waste, putting these incinerated small remains into a landfill. completely inappropriate by

military standards. but we didn't know until yesterday that this also included remains from 9/11. remains from the attack here at the pentagon and, according to this report, remains from shanksville. here's more confusion. the local pennsylvania county coroner that handled the shanksville remains says they maintained control of those remains at all time r times and none of it was even sent to dover for analysis. so further anguish for the families of the shanksville attack and anguish here at the pentagon that ten years later, they're still finding out new details about what happened. everyone all the way up to president obama has expressed concern about this situation at dover. the air force says it's taking steps to fix it and make sure this this doesn't happen again. >> barbara, the only thing i can think of as to how this happened is just some confusion over legal language, the words final disposition. that perhaps the military has a different definition of final

disposition than perhaps the contractor meaning they can go to different areas depending on what that phrase means? >> you know, sure. maybe that's the legal -- you know, i think you would agree, ashleigh. maybe that's the legal reasoning behind all of this. subcontractor didn't understand and the air force didn't understand. but the bottom line is really is the results, that even if these are such small bits, incinerated remains, they are remains disposed of in a left-halandfil medical wastes. we've heard heard from the mortuary profession this is not the way this should be done. >> stressing. thank you, barbara. barbara starr live at the pentagon this morning. the dow is above 13,000. this has not happened since 2008. is it a good sign? imagine the answer to that is yes. will it continue? you're watching "early start." i am loving this greek yogurt.

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hi. good morning. it's 25 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. this is the time we like to mind your business, whether you like it or not. the dow is closing above 13,000

yesterday. everybody all smile, of course. the dow and nasdaq and the s&p 500 all green arrows up yesterday. that's usually a pretty good sign. makes people happy. >> it is. cnn money's poppy harlow is in for christine romans this morning. let's talk about the last time it happened, 2008. >> a long time ago. the economy has been in fr free-fa free-fall. may 2008, so it's been a long time. also the s&p 500, which frankly matters more to your investments. that's at the highest level since june 2008. tech-heavy nasdaq, highest level since 2000. so very, very strong market here. you're probably sdrach scratching your head here, why, we still have a jobs crisis. but look at what is driving this. first of all, yesterday we got the highest reading in a year of consumer confidence. economists is a big -- confidence is a big form of stimulus. also, companies keep turning very strong profits. we've got some negative numbers not as strong, housing prices number.

not a strong number on durable good sales, big ticket items that you buy here. also, oil prices fell $2 a barrel. gas prices are up again today but the 22nd straight day. the question is are gas prices going to continue to rise? because if they do what we we see is consumers pull back and confidence falls, that effects the market. we have big things coming out today at 8:30. we will have the latest reading on fourth quarter gdp. that's going to show us how much the u.s. economy grew in the last three months of to 20 11. that's very important. right now investors very positive heading into the session. futures up all across the board here. you know, you still have this tale of two americas. we've got crisis in jobs. you've got the middle class suffering so much. the bottom falling out. but the market is turning around. the question is are we ready for a pullback, a correction here. is the market outpacing where this economy really is? the market is a reading of companies and companies reflect what people are buying all around the world, not just

what's happening in the united states. so it's not a direct reflection on how the u.s. economy is doing but we'll take it and it's helping people. >> i like that confidence. that's getting stronger. >> it's getting a lot better. >> what did you say, confidence is the cheapest form of stimulus? >> i diyes, and it's not my quo. larry summers. >> poppy, thank you. still ahead on "early start," remember this name because it is an important name. frank hall. he is the assistant coach who might have prevented a far greater crisis in that school shooting yesterday. if it hadn't been for him chasing the alleged shooter out of the school. you're going to hear from him, a man who is now being called a hero. it's "early start." look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle.

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good morning to you. welcome back to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm sor is a sambolin. time to check the stories making news. the coast guard says three people are still missing after a

chopper went down during a training mission. that's in mobile bay, alabama. one crew member who was rescued early on has now died. it was on a traping mission when it crashed. and this just in. we are learning one person was killed in the aftermath of severe storms that moved through missouri overnight. tornado watches and warnings in effect right now across the mid south. a funnel cloud caught on tape as a twister touched down in reno county, kansas, last night. and we are hearing for the first time from a man named frank hall. he is a heroic teacher and assistant coach who put his life at risk in ohio by chasing that shooting suspect out of the school yesterday. it was t.j. lane who is expected of doing the shooting in the cafeteria. listen to the coach. >> i just want to say that i'm sorry to the families of the victims, i wish i could have done more. >> the suspect appearing in

court after it was announced that a third victim of the rampage died. sources saying t.j. lane admitted to the rampage. told authorities that he stole the gun that he used from his uncle. modern republican senator olympia snowe of maine decided not to run for a 40 term. she said she is simply fed up for the political polarization in washington. could be a huge blow to the gop's hope of retaking control of the senate in november. 33 minutes past the hour. with super tuesday just six days away now, mitt romney has regained some much needed momentum. convincing 20-point win in the arizona primary, romney with 47%, santorum with 27%. giant exhale in his home state of michigan. it was a really tight three-point win over santorum. so what did romney do? he went back to attacking obama. >> he thinks he deserves a second term.

he says we can't wait, to which i say, oh, yes, we can. >> let's talk to our political panel. from washington, matt keelan, from new york, john avlon with "newsweek" and "the daily beast" and in washington, marjorie clifton, national editor of govote.com. john, i'm going to start with you. romney win, arizona, michigan, that's great. but michigan we saw super narrow. what does this really close margin mean going forward to super tuesday for both romney and santorum? >> it does indicate a lingering weakness in mitt romney's campaign. this is his home state. his father was a popular gov r governor here. he won it by nine points last time around to many he lost to rick santorum. add to that a delegate split. one of the real question, while it's great news that they avoided a disaster of losing michigan, the weakness they have shown in the home state is going to keep lingering questions in

place and stop, i think, republicans from looking for a white knight savior going forward which is good news for myth but sets up super tuesday while he's going in strong, lingering questions and there are a lot of problems on that primary map on super tuesday. he's going to have to confront. >> let's talk about the frustration within the gop. david brooks yesterday in the "new york times" was blasting the primary campaign. here's what he said. two kinds of candidating emerge from this process. first, those who are forceful but those outside the mainstream. second, they look weak and unprincipled because they have spent so much time genuflecting before those who despise them. >> i'm not going to light he hair on fire to get support. i am who i am. >> not willing to light his hair

on fire. i don't know what he needs to excite the field, right? we don't know that that's going to be it. earlier you said that romney is going to get his grov back in ohio. how is he going to get that groove? everybody is frustrated. he can't seem to connect. we know what he can't do. what can he do? >> first of all, if i had hair like mitt romney's i wouldn't light it on fire, either. one of the keys he has to do is reconnecting with independent voters. what we have seen in the negativity in this race over the last several weeks is that both romney and santorum have been hurt with independents. we've seen obama's numbers come back up. although over the past week obama's numbers are starting to come back down with independents as well. he has to start talking about the general election. i think what he did last night, talking about the president directly and being gracious to his other op point nents in the primary is the key. he has to bring this race back to one where he is running against barack obama, not against rick santorum and newt gingrich. >> marjorie, let's look forward

then to the general election. one of the things that weighed heavily is the split over the auto bailout, right? huge issue in michigan for obvious reasons. barack obama is alsoing looking forward to the general election. listen to this. >> the same folks who said if we went forward our plan to rescue detroit, you can kiss the american automotive industry good-bye. now they are saying, we were right all along. i place my bet on the american worker and i'll make that bet any day of the week. >> how much of a roll wie will play in the general election? >> that speech is seen as more of a win than any of the speeches that romney was giving in the state. i would say the investment in gm and auto bailout has proved, while risky, has proved to be a big win by the administration. and you know, romney and santorum have both been putting their feet in their mouth quite a bit and that's what we're sort of holding out to see going to happen in the next coming weeks.

talking about social issues as we have seen with santorum, talking about birth control, criticizing the president for having a good education and coming out seeming like he is anti-the american dream of education or higher education, i should say, has not been winning for the republican nominees. so i think the economy is their best bet. if they're going to really win the american public, they're really going to have to focus on bettering the economy because they're not winning on social front right now. >> i'm going to totally switch gears on all three of you now. it's a final question here. it's a crazy question this morning. one phrase answer only. we talk a lot ability congressional legislation all the time, right? so there's a new bill rerd to ways and means. it's called the stache act. it's a $250 tax break for americans with mustaches. there's no gender discrimination. this applies to both men and women. insane or genius? matt, we'll start with you. >> genius. >> genius. >> marjorie?

>> insane. i think women would have a lot more tax credit that we should be able to get if they give us a tax credit for mustache. and hide your children. a mustache parade is carry. >> i'm going to agree with you on that one. >> does he or she have a mustache? >> does he or she have a mustache? insane or genius? >> insane. >> insane. i think it's kind of genius, actually. thank you so much for playing this morning. we appreciate it. >> take care. 7:00 a.m. on "starting point," soledad o'brien will be joined by reince priebus. still to come on "early start," should juveniles be charged as adults? it is a renewed debate after a 17-year-old was brought in on that awful shooting in ohio. he has not been charged yet. we do not know if he will be charged as an adult. but should he?

first, though, tornado watches in the mid south. rob marciano is live tracking it for us. >> we have four active trntd warnings across the mid south, mississippi and ohio rivers. right now the most dangerous of which is just to the southwest of evansville, indiana. it has a history of producing tornado. these are all moving rapidly to the east at 70 miles an hour. all part of a larger system. number of tornado watches up until noon. and 9:00 this morning as this potent line of storms really doesn't show much in the way of weakening the northern side of it, a blizzard warning happening right now. we're america's natural gas

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43 minutes past the hour. time to check the news making top stories. >> one crew member died and three still missing after a helicopter copper crashed. it crashed during a training mission in mobile, bay. we are learning one person killed in the aftermath of severe storms that moved through missouri overnight. tornado watches and warnings are in effect right now across the mid south. severe storm in kansas are damaging kansas and by surery with ten tornadoes touching down. storm chasers captured this one as it touched down in reno county, kansas. mitt romney, you know, he is exhaling this morning. escaping with a three-point win

over rick santorum in his home state of michigan. a loss there could have crippled his campaign. romney also registering a nice 20-point win in arizona's primary. super tuesday in six days now. virginia's one-gun per month restriction is set to end on july 1st. it was a law enacted in 1993 to curve gun trafficking along the east coast. a recent poll found that two-thirds of virginia residents wanted to keep restriction. governor bob donald said he spoke with people on both sides of the issue before signing the repeal. also a brazilian thief arrested for trying to open a bank account with this picture id. look closely. look real closely. does that look like someone you know, like a major hollywood t act actor, like jack nicholson?

it is. this doesn't look anything like the actor. whose picture he used on the fake id. and, yes, that would be a charge. >> i would like to see those side by side, wouldn't you? >> i would like to see his mug shot. 45 minutes past the hour. here's soledad o'brien with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> oh, my goodness, good morning to both of you as well. lots ahead. first, we're going to focus on the ohio school shootings. t.j. lane, who is he? what exactly was debe hind this shooting at this school? he is said to have confessed, but why? we're going to talk to a young person who is friends with t.j. lane and also can describe some of the chaotic moments inside the classrooms. mitt romney, michigan, arizona, notch those down as victories but he won michigan by a smaller marvin than he did in 2008. so the question is can he capture the energy of the conservative base? and then we're going to talk to the author of a new book called "the escape artist, how obama's team fumbled the

recovery." it's a behind the scenes account of how president obama's economic team from his inauguration all of the way through the end of his first year really messed up what the stimulus and what the implications are today that we are living with. all that and much more ahead this morning on "starting point." we'll see you in about 15 minutes now. tle emotional here? aren't you getting a little industrial? okay, there's enough energy right here in america. yeah, over 100 years worth. okay, so you mean you just ignore the environment. actually, it's cleaner. and, it provides jobs. and it helps our economy. okay, i'm listening. [announcer] at conoco phillips we're helping power america's economy with cleaner affordable natural gas... more jobs, less emissions, a good answer for everyone. so, by reducing the impact of production... and protecting our land and water... i might get a job once we graduate.

welcome back. the teen suspect in the deadly chardon high school shooting in ohio is making his first court appearance admitting to firing the shots that killed three students with one victim now still in the hospital. >> prosecutors say that 17-year-old t.j. lane is likely to be tried as an adult and that means he could face the maximum sentence of life in prison. of course, lane will likely possibly have to face a jury before that. but what ultimately happens when a teen who is tried as an adult gets convicted and then sentenced to a very long period of time for a horrible crime like a school shooting? i can take you back a little bit

in history to give you an idea. do you remember kip kinkel. 15 years old. look at that young face on your screen. 15-year-old in 1998. in springfield, oregon, he killed his parents and the next day he shot up his school cafeteria and killed two students and wounded another 22. wait for it. look at him now. look at how he's changed. that is kip kinkel today. tried as an adult and he was sentenced to 111 years without parole. of course, not all brutal crimes come from kids who are shooting up schools. there's another example of a young person who did something terrible. alex king. look at that child. 12 years old back in 2001. 12 years old. now he looks a lot different. look at that mug shot. he was tried as an adult and charged with first degree murder in the killing of his father. seven years. released in 2008. jane winetraub is a criminal

defense attorney who has defended them. i thought of you first when i heard of this story. you think that t.j. lane will be tried as an adult in ohio? >> yeah, i do. the statute says, ashleigh that if the child is over the age of 15, creates a serious offense with a firearm he will be tried as an adult. in this case t.j. lane is so close of being adult age anyway, i don't think it's even close. >> so essentially as i looked at this statute it's called aggravated murder. prosecutors already talked about the fact that there could be three counts of it. let me play a quick sound bite of what prosecutors said outside court today. >> the 17 years old, committing an act like this, most likely be three kinds of aggravated murder as well as other counts we anticipate going forward. provided the juvenile court judge fines that there is probable cause and he will be bound over as an adult.

>> so, if that's the case, this will be a regular old trial like we see with other people. could be a plea bargain. we don't know. if he does end up with the ultimate punishment if n. this state, because right now there's a moratorium on the death penalty. it's called "l" walk, life without the pot ssibility of parole. is that what this kid is facing? >> yes. besides which, ashleigh, under the supreme court case in 2005, juveniles can no longer be eligible for death bpenalty. the brain is not fully formed before 18 so we're not going to execute them. >> we can try them as an adult even though the supreme court says they're not fully formed adult brains? >> there that is actually what i was trying to say. i agree completely. the problem is that he is looking at life without parole and the question is where does

he go between 17 and 21 to be convicted and -- to be confined? >> exactly what my nest next question was. you read my mind. i wonder, when young kids, particularly that picture of alex keng you showed looks like he's 8 years old. when young kids end up in the adult system, do they get escorted right out of that courtroom and into an adult prison? >> well, in most cases, they will have a segregated wing in an adult prison or an adult facility for juveniles such as this defendant. it's more troubling, of course, as the defendant is younger and younger. in this case, because he's 17 already, i think he will be taken to an adult facility. he's not going to be looked at as eligible for juvenile justice like alex was at 12 or 14 years old. there's a big difference. >> what's it like in prison then if there isn't a segregated wing for an 17-year-old in an adult male prison, is he just like anyone out there and do they face risks or do other prisoners

take them under their wing, look after them, almost like surrogate fathers? >> i think that most people will take him under his wing. it's not as if this is a sex crime. this is a -- this is a very troubled youth. even according to the prosecutor's statement outside of court yesterday, he said, he is not a well person. i mean, anyone who does something like this obviously is facing serious mitigation evidence of his background, psychologically. we know that both his parents have been convicted of very violent crimes. they've both been in prison, raised by the grandparents. he's got just a lot on his plate. >> it will be interesting to find out what he defense attorney mounts as a defense. great to see you again. >> thank you, ashleigh. it is 55 minutes past the hour here. in our next hour you know that deadly line of tornadoes moving across the midwest, there is now a confirmed death there. the danger is not over. stay tuned. you're watching "early start."

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i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i understand you have something on a senior al qaeda militant arrested. >> we have a lot of breaking news. thank you,ly days. we start with the breaking news of tornadoes. happened overnight, turned deadly. one person is reported dead. people hurt across at least two states. buildings, you can see some soft videotape, just torn apart. and there are warnings that extend today into the south and we'll continue into the day. plus reports of a eal qaeda possible successor to bin laden has been caught. spent years detained in iran when the u.s. was not able to get to him. plus, we're going to talk politics. mitt romney gets a win in his home state of michigan. the next stop, of course, is super tuesday. the question today is, is that win enough and does it provide any momentum to get him to the nomination? plus this morning we're hearing of the 911 calls being released from the ohio school shooting rampage.