last week, rick santorum's coalition is broad enough to threaten mitt romney but not broad enough to beat him. he has to reach beyond what he's getting now in order to make this into a race. >> big thank you to our panelists. reminder on friday we'll be live by southwest. you can join us there. we'll be panelling obviously music, film, and interactive festival. i'll be on a panel. if you want to check out what we were talking about during the commercial breaks, stuff we haven't edited out, go to our blog, cnn.com/starting point. carol costello, good morning. carol costello, good morning. >> good morning, soledad. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the morning after super tuesday, the votes are in. the jury is still out. three-way split among the republican presidential candidates. newt gingrich wins his former home state of georgia which he said was essential. mitt romney captures six states claiming the mathematical victory and rick santorum boasts mow men it up, captures three states and barely losing the bell weather state of ohio.

>> this was a big night tonight. lots of states. we're going to win a few. we're going to lose a few, but as it looks right now, brother' going to get at least a couple of gold medals and a whole passel full of silver medals. >> so this morning romney cannot claim the crushing victories to win over skeptics, but he is amassing delegates. more than 400 so far. that's way ahead of santorum. gingrich and ron paul who failed to win a single state last night. but the race still has a long way to go. >> tonight we're doing some counting. we're counting up the delegates for the convention. it looks good. we're counting down the days until november and that looks even better. >> ohio may not have offered the most delegates last night, but it could be the most telling. and with romney scoring a razor thin victory, some say it speaks volumes about santorum as well. our political editor paul steinhauser is in columbus, the state capitol.

paul, what should we take away from ohio? >> reporter: i tell you, carol, it's deja vu all over again. remember how romney had a close call in michigan, his home state a week ago. same thing in ohio. look at the vote totals. mitt romney won the state by only about 12,000 votes. as you said, razor thin. this was a very tight margin. romney had the same problems according to the exit polls here in ohio that he had in michigan especially with very conservative voters. no knockout blow for mitt romney on super tuesday in ohio or elsewhere. he did win about half the delegates up for grab. a pretty good night. not a great night. what about rick santorum? take a look at the numbers from tennessee. here are the vote totals for him. he had a big win there. nine points. that was a lot bigger than the most recent polls indicated. santorum also won oklahoma and a surprise victory in north dakota. listen, santorum looking okay because where does it go from here? kansas. that's on saturday. then mississippi and alabama. three conservative states. woops, let me get that.

little windy here, carol. little windy here. rick santorum, okay. i'm still alive. >> thank goodness. >> reporter: look at the vote total from georgia. as the lights almost fall down on me. look at that. 21-point victory for gingrich in georgia. he said i have to win georgia to keep going. he did. he didn't do so well in the other states. for newt gingrich a win in georgia was enough. take a listen to what his daughter said after his victory. >> well, the reality is, if mitt romney was the candidate that people wanted, he would have had the nomination by now. that's the way it should have worked according to them. that's the way it would have worked. that's not who the conservatives want. >> reporter: and what about ron paul? let's give him a little time as well. he deserves it. he did not win a state. he thought he was going to win north dakota. he did not. he got delegates. that's what he needs to carry on. everybody came away a winner in some way, shape or form on super tuesday and here's another thing you can bank on, this race is

going on at least until late april, maybe a lot longer. carol? >> all right. paul steinhauser live in columbus. run. run to safety now, paul. it's big picture time. political director mark preston is here for that. so romney wins ohio by the skin of his teeth and we know romney spent millions and millions of dollars to win ohio. rick santorum, did he even spend a million dollars? >> he did but he certainly didn't spend nearly as much as mitt romney did to pull out a squeaker in ohio, carol. >> what does that mean? >> i got off the phone with a very prominent republican. i won't say this person's name because they wanted to speak freely. they are very concerned about mitt romney just barely pulling it out in ohio. the fact of the matter is ohio is a very important state. if mitt romney is to be the nominee, if we are to believe that he will amass the delegates, then they're concerned he could be very damaged going against president obama. >> let's talk about voter turnout. i was reviewing numerous papers in ohio online.

most of them said voter turnout was at best modest. at worst low. so what does that say? >> because this has been a very divisive primary. it hasn't been exciting and it's engs sighting for us to follow. if you're a republican, you're not inspired by the infighting that we're seeing right now between mitt romney and ron paul, between mitt romney and rick santorum, between newt gingrich and rick santorum. all this infighting is really frustrating the republican party. >> mark preston, thanks for joining us this morning. i know you had a long night. we appreciate it. history has shown that there's a lot of truth in saying, as ohio goes so does the nation. let's break down the actual voting in ohio. cnn's christine romans joins us with exit polls. christine, tell us what ohio voters were saying as they left the polls. >> they were saying that they wanted a candidate who could beat the president. they wanted a candidate who's elect abl. they were also telling us that they're concerned about the economy. when you look at the exit polls, what do you see from these faces, carol? these are where candidates won a

category. rick santorum won several of them. mitt romney came out on top. i want to talk first about the top issue and the top candidate quality for those people who were going to the polls. the top issue, the economy. 41% of those who said that the economy was their top issue went for mitt romney. 33% went for rick santorum. let's talk about who can beat the president. and that, according to folks who said it's the most important quality, 52% of those people said romney was their guy. rick santorum coming in at 27%. ron paul, has such a die hard base, doesn't he? in ohio he was polling in the single digits for many of these. carol, it's interesting as well because when you look at income, this is something we've seen kind of again and again. and it kind of plays into i think this idea that mitt romney is not like the average joe, right? when you look at income, romney does well with people who have more money. $100,000 plus those people went to mitt romney to the tune of

46%. when you go do you know the income bracket, now they're calling them the sam's club republicans. the 50,000 to $100,000 a year income earners. it's santorum, not mitt romney. you go down the income chain, it is still santorum above mitt romney there. you see kind of all of these things in the exit polls, carol, that give you a little slice of what's happening there. but, there you go, he took it barely, but he took it. >> the female vote was also interesting because they split. everybody thought that women would flee from rick santorum, but they really didn't. >> and it was a week too where i feel like republican women must have been watching so much that was happening in the news and that they were hearing on the radio and republican women really were -- they really dominated the headlines this week, don't you think? with so many of the different issues, rush limbaugh, the contraception issue, rick santorum and his social issues. i feel like there's a lot for republican women to consider heading into the fall as well. >> you're absolutely right about

that. let's talk about another republican woman, shall we? sarah palin. she said if it leads to an open convention, she'd be open for running for president. she spoke to cnn after casting her vote. >> if the open convention question. if we wind up with an open convention and someone wants to place your name, throw your name into the hat, would you stop them? would you be open to that? >> as i say, anything is possible. and i don't -- i don't close any doors that perhaps would be open out there. so, no, i wouldn't close that door. and my plan is to be at that convention. >> so there you have it. who did palin vote for? she voted for newt gingrich in the alaska caucuses telling fox business network he best represents the ideas of many alaskans. a u.n. official is on the way to homs, the syrian city that's been battered for weeks. the goal is to get relief

workers into the hardest hit area so they can get supplies in. wounded residents out. those workers have been blocked from the area again today. yesterday syrian forces destroyed a bridge that wounded refugees used to escape into lebanon. president obama reportedly is helping syria's opposition. he's cautioning against rushing in with force. >> it is my belief that ultimately this dictator will fall as dictators in the past have fallen. but the notion that the way to solve every one of these problems is to deploy our military, you know, that hasn't been true in the past and it won't be true now. we've got to think through what we do through the lens of what's going to be effective but also what's critical for u.s. security interests. >> it is believed at least 8500 people have been killed in syria

since the government crackdown began. there is more discussion though going on this hour about syria and what the united states should do. senator john mccain, as you know, has called for airstrikes. defense secretary leon panetta and martin dempsey are talking about omptions. the chairman is speaking. pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us. barbara, what should we expect to hear from panetta and dempsey, let's say? >> reporter: this hearing just getting underway, as you say, carol. chairman levin, the senator from michigan, just opening it up. look for secretary panetta and general dempsey, the head of the joint chief, not to step anywhere outside the parameters that president obama has laid out. they are going to stick to the u.s. policy right now which is no use of military force. that is likely to set off senator john mccain, the ranking

republican, of course, who has been calling for airstrikes. mccain is saying the situation in syria is so dire, the people there suffering so much, so many killed that this is now the only appropriate option and that airstrikes are one of the key ways you're going to convince bashar al-assad that he cannot win in this conflict against his own people. and you know what, you've been hearing the administration say for so long now is that assad could, could hang on for weeks, months in this assault against syrian civilians if something isn't done. you're going to hear panetta refine that a little bit. you're going to hear panetta say that the regime will come to an end. it may take a while, but he's going to talk about the fact that it is inevitable, it's just not going to come to an end at the hands of the u.s. military, at least not right now, carol. >> you're listening to that hearing. we'll let you go. barbara starr, many thanks to you. newt gingrich, the newt

gingrich delegate tally got a huge boost last night after he won the state of georgia. he didn't light a fire in other states. why is he still in the states? we'll ask one of our fine political analysts that question. two oregon police officers are haled as heroes at this horrific accident scene. we'll have their story as well. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas...

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together for your future. ♪ checking stories cross-country now. five members of the computer hacking group anonymous and its offshoots are facing federal charges in new york. they're accused in several high profile cyber attacks against government agencies and large companies. a source says a fellow hacker helped build the fed's case as part of a plea deal. the town of kayzer, oregon, awards two police officers a medal of honor. the driver hit a power pole. sergeant andrew cope land and romney ban ford climbed in the car which was on fire and pulled the man to safety. nightmare weather conditions in hawaii. days of heavy rain trigger floods and land slides closing

several roads and bridges. some areas have seen more than 17 inches of rain in just 24 hours. getting back to our top stories. super tuesday. cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein is with me. i want to ask you, ron, about newt gingrich. so -- >> newt gingrich. >> newt gingrich. he wins georgia but he did lousy in every other state but still he insists he can win. let's listen. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out? and remember then when it was michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend, herman cain the first time. and then for a brief moment it was donald trump almost. and then it was our good friend rick perry. then it was herman cain the second time. and now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i am the tortoise.

i just take one step at a time. >> okay. so we all like the story of the tortoise and the hare. really? >> rabbits underfoot. there are really two reasons, i think, newt gingrich is staying in the race at this point. one is the broad reason. the forces that used to drive candidates out of campaigns are no longer as powerful as they once were. the things that used to force candidates to stop were they were denied attention and money. now with cable television, there's infinite attention. with the internet and super donors, there's a lot of money. so structurally races are going on longer. it's no coincidence that we could have a second consecutive race that goes all the way to june after we didn't have one from 1984 to 2008. more narrowly the other republicans in the field are thinking if they could stay in this race, fractionate the delegates, prevent romney from getting to a majority on the first ballot, they'll have leverage. if everybody stays in they can't overcome him but they can get him from having a first win.

sarah palin said she was available. >> she said just that a couple of minutes ago. mitt romney is probably desperate for newt gingrich to get out of the race. i heard what you said, but is there any way that mitt romney could convince mr. gingrich to step aside? >> not sure i agree, carol, because romney is benefitting from gingrich dividing conservative voters, especially in the south. you know, this race, like 2008 on the democratic side, really has some deeply cut groves at this point. mitt romney is consistently running well among what i call the managerial wing of the party. voters who are more after fluent, better educated, more moderate. mitt romney and rick santorum are running best under the populus wing. evangelical christian, very conservative. to the extent they stay in it helps romney in a divide and conquer strategy, especially as we go to states like mississippi, alabama, texas where romney will have a tough time. >> so that means rick santorum would like newt gingrich to drop

out. >> yes, he would. >> rick santorum is doing well. what can rick santorum say to newt gingrich or will he say anything? >> well, each of them at various points have said this to the other. gingrich made the argument to santorum after south carolina, you should drop out. they both want to argue that the conservative movement of the party needs an opportunity to coalesce behind one candidate to stop romney and that that should be me. the problem is, is that there's really no leverage to kind of put behind that charge when you have the ability of a candidate to stay in the race with the funding from a single person effectively in the case of newt gingrich. >> ron brownstein, thanks for stopping by. we appreciate it. >> thank you. the markets take their biggest hit of the year, but a bounce back may be coming this hour. really? we'll head to the stock exchange after a break. plus a royal workout for britain's prince harry. his fast paced care rabin tour, that's a setup, man. we'll be back. sno .

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cnn's max foster reports from kingston, jamaica. >> reporter: it really has been quite a 24 hours for prince harry. after meeting using bolt, racing him and winning him, he went on to meet the prime minister and got a huge hug. remember, this is the prime minister who's vowed to break gentleman make cane ties with british roelt at this. he is charming everyone he meets. he went into children's hospital and headed into a deprived part of kingston to meet the young children in a school there. he put his dancing shoes back on. prince harry likes to dance. we've learned that on this tour. he threw himself into the local music here as well in kingston. he also had a chance to meet bob marley's widow, repeatceipt rit who gave him a scarf. prince harry actually played tribute to bob marly in his usual humorous way, during a state dinner. >> her majesty has asked me to

extend her great good wishes to you all and is sorry that she can't be here so you're stuck with me. but don't worry, because every little thing is going to be all right. >> reporter: prince harry's now wrapping up his dye nond jubilee tour representing his grandmother here in the caribbean. one last exercise though, a military exercise. he's going to join with the jamaican defense force with some sailing. he's going to do some live firing on a shooting range and also we're told some hand-to-hand combat. weel pea find out about that a bit later on. i'm sure you noticed stocks took their biggest tumble of the year yesterday. the dow fell more than 200 points. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. what happened? can we expect better things today? >> okay. what happened. let me take that question first, carol. what happened yesterday was it was a culmination of worries about how the global economy is slowing.

what you saw happen yesterday was the bears really taking hold and just not letting go of that session. this is after the past couple days we've heard that china's growth is slowing. europe's economy is contracting. today we learned that australia's growth is slowing, too. what you have here is the entire global economy really taking a hit. today we are expecting to see stocks rebound. not a huge surprise there after seeing such a big drop yesterday. the market's kind of like this rubber band. you stretch it. eventually it will snap back. the snap back won't be huge. dow futures up only about 50 points. the bulls are getting help from an upbeat report on the jobs market. payroll processor adp said the private sector added 216,000 jobs in february. that's an improvement from january's 173,000 private sector jobs. it's good news, carol, to see stronger gains. we need to see more of this, more consistent, stronger gains every single month to bring down the unemployment rate. we are, however, going in the right direction. >> that is the best news.

alison kosik, thank you. super tuesday has left us with so many questions, like why didn't more voters turn out sfwh why couldn't rick santorum win over catholics in ohio? we're talking to john avlon about all of that and more. that's coming up. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

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stories now. happening right now on capitol hill the senate arld services committee holds a hearing on what's happening in syria. john mccain has called for airstrikes against syrian government forces and for arming the rebels. defense secretary leon panetta and joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey are testifying today and talking about possible options. six soldiers from the u.k. are missing and presumed dead after an explosion in southwest afghanistan. a british official says the

soldiers were on patrol in an armored vehicle in the held man province when it hit a land mine. back here in the u.s. gas prices have dropped for the second straight day. it comes after weeks of rising prices. the national average stands at $3.76. super tuesday has given way to what does it all mean wednesday? john avlon of newsweek and the daily beast is here. so mitt romney wins six states. rick santorum wins three. and the bell weather state of ohio mitt romney, well, it was at best a squeaker. i wanted to start off by talking about voter turnout in ohio because, john, it wasn't exactly strong. it was at best modest. >> reporter: that's right. i mean, but had is a story we've been hearing over and over throughout this primary process, carol. turnout has been down in the vast majority of states. a couple of notable exceptions, south carolina. ohio was flat lined. some argue it was a slight bump.

the point being is there is a persistent enthusiasm gap among this republican field. when they've got all the attention on them, there's no competing democratic primary to draw voters, especially in the open primary states without voter registration, these candidates have failed to inspire. that becomes a real problem not just for the primaries. >> the exit polls were really interesting because romney did better with ohio catholics than santorum did. santorum did better with women than many pundants believed. is this a primary election that defies analysis? >> reporter: well, you know, if you look at these exit polls, a couple of things are clear. the divisions we've seen between mitt romney and rick santorum represent the divisions of really the fault lines underneath the gop. tea partiers go for rick santorum, nontea partiers go for mitt romney. also an important class economic divide. voters making over $100,000, those are mitt romney folks.

under $100,000, they voted for rick santorum. there are some fault lines, clear divisions that play out between the two candidates. what one candidate has to do is show the ability to bridge these divides to you night the party from establishment and tea party wing in order to have a credible case to lead the party into the fall where they have to pf foit from the far right to the center to make a case for independents. the fact that romney did better than santorum for women i think is a cautionary tale for people who want to stoke the fires because they can alienate more people than they attract. >> mitt romney got most of the working women, 43% if i remember correctly. you think this will be a protracted race, oh, yeah, so how long can we all enjoy the fun? >> reporter: well, you know, this is an issue of math, not momentum. narrative momentum seems to be how we follow these races, but the reality of how you clinch a nomination, it's all about delegate math. mitt romney is in the lead now, 404 delegates. he needs 1144 to secure that and that could take until at least

may or further. what's different this year is that the rnc in their infinite wisdom decided to make the vast majority of contests proportional rather than winner take all. the other candidates can stay in the race because of super pacs can chip away. if they can't win outride, they could deny mitt romney the ability to clinch the delegates needed to have the nomination before tampa. this is all going to still unfold. the next couple of states are socially conservative, not generally mitt romney territory. we're in for a wild ride still coming up. >> john avlon, thank you. john king will have a special interview with rick santorum tonight. that's tonight at 6:00 eastern only on cnn. there are some new names in the country music hall of fame. you probably recognize one of them. the hall honors more than entertainers. the new unduinductees coming up. we decided to build a 100 foot tlong double helix made out

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a well-known christian actor

is in the middle of a discussion about same-sex marriage. some call kirk cameron intolerant. he says he's a victim of speaking his mind. a.j. hammer, host of "showbiz tonight" joins us from new york to weigh in on the issue. a.j.? >> well, naturally, carol, we've been following this very closely this week on "showbiz tonight." kirk cameron wound up kicking off this firestorm when he was speaking with our own piers morgan. first, let's listen to what he said to piers last friday. >> do you think homosexuality is a sin? >> i think that it's -- it's -- it's -- it's -- it's unnatural. i think it's -- it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization. >> okay. as you would expect, that hasn't gone well at all among supporters of marriage equality, including many loud voices from within the entertainment world. we have been getting reaction from a huge list of celebrities, including his former growing

pains co-stars. yesterday he responded to the controversy. he released a statement saying he spoke honestly and he added this, i can assuredly say that it's my life's mission to love all people. i should be able to express moral views on social issues, especially those that have been the underpinning of western civilization for 2000 years without being slandered, accused of hate speech, or told from those who preach tolerance that i need to either bend my believes to their moral standards or be silent when i'm in the public square. cameron says he has gotten support from his gay friends, friends of all types, but the thing is, carol, the majority who who are speaking out, they simply strongly disagree with what he said and they're using their rate to make that known. >> what kind of comments like is he getting? is he getting death threats or just comments criticizing his views? i mean -- >> well, the biggest argument that i'm hearing, "star trek"

star george takei and i had a very long conversation about this the other night. what kirk cameron is largely speaking about are views of his based in religion which the marriage equality conversation is really a civil conversation. we're talking about civil law. so there's a little bit of a disconnect there, and that's the point that so many who are behind the marriage equality movement are trying to make. >> okay. let's talk about something happy. non-controversial. the country music hall of fame. it's inducted some new members and one in particular stands out. >> that is true. first of all, garth brooks is the performer who stands out this year, carol. you can say the name hargus pig rob bins is the one that stands out in this list of inductees into the country music hall of fame. i believe this is the first pig to get inducted. let me get back to brooks because he's sold more than 128 million albums. he was the artist that helped country music cross over into the mainstream.

historically speaking, you look at his album sales, it puts him in the company of elvis and the beetles. the legendary country music singer pig rob bins and connie stevens getting honored for their terrific work throughout country music history. >> a.j. hammer, thanks so much. a.j. will be back with us in the next hour with more showbiz headlines. those who thought the 2008 mccain palin campaign was a soap opera will see it as an hbo movie. the stars are dead ringers for the real life counter parts. after a break, a question undecided christian conservative voters may be weighing. who would jesus vote for? the best part of any great meal?

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checking stories cross-country now. blowing sand closed parts of i 10 and several other roads in palm springs, california. winds of 50 miles per hour combined with the swirling sand reduced visibility. in miami a cell phone catches an off duty officer hauling mattresses on top of her cruiser. they say they fired her just days before her retirement. that same officer had been disciplined 19 times. an 81-year-old woman from newport, rhode island, is the latest power ball winner. the $336 million jackpot is the sixth biggest ever. louise white took the lump sum payout of 210 million. she bought the ticket as an

afterthought while buying her son some rainbow sherbert at a store. and now back to the presidential race and a critical voting block. the candidates are actively courting christian conservatives. many are undecided as they weigh the candidate's positions on several issues, including same-sex marriage, abortion, and the economy. who will win their vote? our next guest says clues may be found in another question. who would jesus vote for. larry totten is the director of fixed point foundation and the belief blog, who would jesus vote for. larry, first of all, welcome. >> carol, it's great to be with you. >> great to have you. why has jesus been so prominent in this election season? >> well, i think that there are an awful lot of evangelicals and others who would certainly say that they ascribe to the teachings of jesus christ and quite naturally candidates want to court that particular voting block. >> so is this the kind of

question, you know, who should jesus vote for, that christian conservatives should be asking themselves? >> well, i don't know if they want to ask it quite the way that i did. i was having a little bit of fun with that piece in asking the question. you may recollect the very popular bracelets, what would jesus do, and so i was having a little bit of fun with the question, who would he vote for. but i also wanted to provoke a little bit of thought among christians to reflect on what jesus's ultimate agenda was. was it political transformation of society or was it spiritual transformation. >> so which was it? >> i believe it was spiritual transformation. that isn't to say that jesus was indifferent to politics. i think that history shows that jesus's ministry, his earthly ministry, took place in a very highly politically charged

atmosphere. he was ultimately executed for a political reason, sedition. that said, jesus didn't see governmental top-down transformation as his ultimate objective but, rather, he was seeking to transform society through bottom up, which was through a relationship with him. >> so, you know, i've read your opinion piece and i wanted to know who would jesus vote for. so jesus was sort of apolitical but not. in your blog post you said that jesus was more concerned about changing the culture not necessarily voting people ince >> well, let me be clear. i'm not trying to be coy here. i'm simply saying that jesus ultimately didn't see pilot or tiberius who was emperor at the time of his execution as the ultimate source of the problem.

political solutions are short term at best. if you change the hearts of men, you change the laws that they ultimately enact. and i think that evangelicals in this country, of which i am a part, i think have lost a little bit of some perspective of what christianity was ultimately seeking to do. being a republican wasn't what jesus was ultimately all about but, rather, he was seeking to convict men of their sin and to call them to repent tans and to transform society in that way rather than seeking some sort of short-term political solution. i think it's fascinating to observe, carol, how he condemned and accepted people from across the political spectrum. >> it was a great blog post. i enjoyed reading it. larry, thank you for joining us this morning. you can check out larry's blagojevich, who would jesus

vote for on cnn.com/belief. i

we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's check in with paul stein hauser. we're going to break down what happened on super tuesday here in ohio and the other nine states, all that at the top of the hour. >> i'm christine romans in new york, where we've got very important information for veterans who have been foreclosed on since 2006. there's money coming your way. i'll have that at the top of the hour. i'm barba starr at the pentagon. for the first time at this hour, we are hearing about u.s. military options for syria.

but will u.s. troops go to war? we'll have all the details in the next hour. thanks to all of you. talk of war against iran is getting louder on the campaign trail. would it ever happen? we'll take an in-depth look at the possibility of a strike against iran and its consequences. that's just ahead, too. etiremen, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader.

peyton manning turned

indianapolis into a football town, and jeff fischel is here, it's a sad end. what are fans going to do now? >> remember as a franchise the colts were a mess years, decades before peyton manning showed up. he is truly the face of the franchise, a legend on and off the field. there's even a children's hospital named after him. now, after 14 seasons, his days as a colt are over. we expect an emotional news conference two hours from now, when manning and colts' owner jim irsay the team is off the might be for a $28 million bonus. the move also clears the way for the heir apparent, andrew luck, with the first pick in the draft. some have called him the best college prospect since peyton manning. manning has been working out since suffering a neck injury. he still wants to play. this will no doubt lead for the biggest free agent sweepstakes in nfl history.

>> where do you think he'll go? >> a lot list of teams would sign up, but the question is how healthy is he? i'm guesting at least a half dozen teams will. the new orleans saints have admitted to having a bounty program. sean payton and gm mickey loomis say they take full responsibility for it and it will never happened again. gregg williams was in charge of the bowenies. the nfl reported friday that they paid defensive players for injuring opponents during the 2009 through 2011 seasons. college hoops, feeling the madness, it's conference championship week. south dakota state jack rabbits against the leather necks, opening tip into overtime. that's tommy tyler on the dunk, but the jackrabbits jump back. the jackrabbits wince, south

dakota state takes the summit league title. the first-ever tournament bid for the school. harvard going back to the dance for the first time since 1946. western kentucky, with the sunbelt. detroit goes in as the hidesen league champs. >> i like that nickname, the jackrabbits. thank you. selection sunday is just four sundays away. we want you to join our bracket challenge. see if you can pick the winners better than most of usisms including her. >> including me, yeah. a second radio station drops rush limbaugh from its lineup. more advertisers pull his ad, and limbaugh's critics are not pulling any pumplgs. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> remember the days when the "s" word was a punch like? >> jane, you ignorant slut. >> human cold shower rush limbaugh. >> poster boy for contraception.

>> rush limbaugh, four wives, he 'his no children dude, you are birth control. >> reporter: cartoonists put him in a viagra bottle, represented him as the pig, and did the rush limbo. at the "detroit free press" mike thompson is running a cartoon caption contest. entries so far inclusion "open mouth, insert career." "who says i'm an inflexible bigot?" and "moot foot is such a slut." >> i was called a slut because i was doing coverage in the middle east. what year is this, limbaugh? shut we're cake hole, please. >> and remember he only apologized to keep his advertisers, proving rush will do anything with his mouth for cash. >> reporter: some conservatives say the left is out how hush

rush, to silence him. >> what political party is he a part of? >> he's a whore. >> yikes. all this name-calling. as for the name of the law student insulted by rush, sandra fluke, rush calls her -- >> susan fluke -- susan flake. susan fluke, sandra fluke, whatever her name is. >> reporter: koin dentally a bronze bust is scheduled to be enshrined in the state capitol alongside governors, mark twain and walter cronkite, with you kaj walter reporting on this? >> he's actually a very good person. i'm sure he will be just fine. >> reporter: while rush is facing the music, someone was actually listening to the music playing ever so low during rush's rant. >> what does it say bl the college cosaid. >> that's peter gabrielle's song

"sledgehammer." he doesn't want rush using it anymore, even if the music video does feature a sperm. jeanne moos, cnn. >> jane, you ig norcht slut, right? >> reporter: new york. it is the morning after super tuesday. the voets are in, but the jury sure is still out. so mitt romney captures six states, claiming the mathematical victory. and nearly snagging the biggest prize, ohio. this morning romney claimed -- but he is amassing delegates, wait of -- clearly this race has a long way to go. to get an idea of where it may be going, we turn to our

political editor paul steinhauser. he's in the capital of ohio. so, paul, romney barely won. does that make a difference? >> it does. >> you can see that's pretty darn tight. just around 12,000 votes. look at the exit polls. for people who said beating barack obama, president obama is the most important issue. mitt romney over 50% on that one, so that happened. also on the economy, romney keeps touting himself -- he was ahead of the other candidates when it comes to who was best to handle the economy, but carol, there are troubles also for romney here in this state. they indicate he did not do that

great with very conservative people, with people who call themselves born-again christians. carol, some positive, definitely some negatives for mitt romney here in ohio. >> he was sounding pretty confident, and in five other states. what did he say? >> reporter: he sure did sound confident. 419 delegates up for grabs, he won about half. this is a battle for delegates. here's what he said. >> tonight we're doing some counting. we're counting up the delegates for the convention, it looks good, and counting down the days until november, and that looks even better. >> reporter: as you said he's far ahead of the rest of the field, 1,144 is what you need. in the short term, the calendar is a little tough for him. kansas on saturday, mississippi and alabama on tuesday, conservative states tough for mitt romney. >> paul steinhauerer, reporting from columbus, ohio.

romney did win the most states. each of his challengers went before the supporters and vowed the fight will go on. >> thisfuls a big night tonight. lots of states. we're going to win a few, we're going to lose a few, but as it looks right now, we're going to get at least a couple gold medals, and a whole passel full of silver medals. >> this is amazing. i hope the analysts in washington and new york, who spent june and july explaining our campaign was dead, will watch this tonight and learn a little bit from this crowd, and from this place. >> reporte . >> if you look at the candidates today, there is very little difference, except for one. here's a glimpse of some campaign travels today.

newt gingrich will travel next door to alabama, making several stops in the state. rick santorum stumps in kansas and in mississippi. let's look at some more at the super tuesday outcome with our political director mark preston. romney wince six, gisantorum wi three and gingrich with one. >> we're just a little bit further down the road. >> this could end up in a fight. mitt romney probably has the edge of taking the nomination. >> what is next? what does he do now? >> he needs to raise money. the big question is will he

write himself a personal check? he has a big operation, the largest of any of the candidates right now. it's a good operation, but expensive, and he also needs to run tv ads. he needs to make that appeal to the conservative voters, the rural voters, all categories he lost last night. >> cnn caught up with sarah palin last night. she had some interesting things to say. in umber one she voted for newt gingrich. but what she said after that was really interesting. >> i'm not sure if we have the sound, but what was great about sarah palin is she was very forth coming about her political future. in fact, let's take a listen. >> anything is possible, and i don't close any doors that perhaps open out there, so, no, i wouldn't close that door. my plan is to be at that convention. >> okay. she plans to be at the convention.

what might that mean? >> so the question to her was very interesting. if someone threw her name in the hat to be the consensus candidate if the republican party can't get behind mitt romney, rick santorum, newt gingrich, would they pull somebody out of nowhere, and would she turn down any efforts to do that? she said no, which means she clearly want to be in the game big question is what role will she play and what night will she speak? >> mark preston, thank you. head to our website for a complete wrap up and a look ahead to the rest of the gop race, your best place for politics, cnn.com/politics. president obama heads to the battleground state of north carolina this morning. the president narrowly won the state in 2008, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn. the president will be talking about the economy at a daimler trucks manufacturing plant. cnn plans to carry his remarks

live -- his comments should start around 12:45 eastern. a u.n. official is on the way to homs, the syrian city that's been battered for weeks. the goal is to get relief workers into the hardest-hit areas, to get in supplies and get the wounded residents out. you can see what's happening there. eight workers have been blocked against from that area. now an opposition group says dozens of tanks are heading to the city of ed lib. senator john mccain has called for air strikes. barbara starr joins us now. you've been monitoring this hearing. tell us what you're hearing. >> well, carol, this is turning out to be a historic hearing. we are finally seeing defense secretary leon panetta, martin dempsey, in the hearing room

laying out publicly for the first time the pentagon views on what to do, what not to do in syria. panetta is telling the committee as we speak that military intervention by the u.s. is not an option. the president has already said that. they are looking for an international coalition. dempsey is laying out the issue of what the options might be if the u.s. were to get involved in syria, and president president was to finally order u.s. military action. i want you to listen to a little bit of what dempsey is telling the committee. >> you mentioned the principal options, which would include humannary release, no-fly zone, humanitarian corridor, and limited aerial strikes, for example. we've -- we're at what i would describe the commander's estimate level of detail, not

detailed planning, have not been briefed to the president, have been discussed with the president's national security staff. >> so as cnn has reported for the last several weeks in fact behind the scenes, the u.s. military has been planning those options being ready in case the president were to ask for them, but general dempsey went on in some military detail to talk about how tough this is. what he talked about, in syria, you have five times the air defenses, radars, missiles, to be able to shoot down incoming planes, five times as much as libya, ten times as much as coalition pilots dealt with back in the war in bosnia. that's how tough it would be for u.s. pilots to fly into syrian airspace. so we're beginning to see the cards laid out on the table really for the first time in some detail. the one place dempsey wouldn't go in public is what do you do about syria's chemical and

biological weapons if they were to fall under non--regime's hands. talk of war grows louder on the campaign trail, the likelihood of an attack and its consequences next. two oregon police officers are hailed as heroes for their actions at this horrific accident scene. their story is next. [ woman ] the shag wagon. [ male announcer ] you loved your first car. animate and share your first car story at firstcarstory.com. courtesy of the 2012 subaru impreza. experience love that lasts. ♪ splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart ways to sweeten. same great taste. splenda® essentials™.

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iran, israel, nukes in the united states, it's a real world worry. to use a cliche, it's become a political hot button. >> i think there's no doubt that those who are suggesting or proposing or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the american people what they think the costs an benefits could be. >> so what would the costs and benefits be of a military strike. joining me from new york live to talk about that, michael levy, a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. thank you for being here. >> good to be with you. >> michael, if the united states decided to take some sort of military action against iran, what would it look like? >> if the united states decided

to take military action against iran, it would be from the air, not on the ground, and it would probably be targeted primarily at nuclear facilities, particularly the once involved in enriching urannium. then the question would be how much broader? some would call for attacking a wider range of nuclear facilities, some potentially near urban areas. others would call for expanding the campaign, particularly to suppress air defenses, but also to take down iranian capables that might be used in retaliation. >> so iran would presumably defend itself and its alleged nuclear facilities. so how would it do that? >> well, certainly aren't alleged nuclear facilities. we northeasterly they are nuclear facilities, the question is to what end are they being

used? we don't know how iran will act. one camp says they will lash out, using their proxies hezbollah, or even try to block the strait of hormuz. another camp says if the initial strike from -- they might decide to hold back so that the conflict didn't explain to a higher level. the problem is once you started ball rolling, you don't know where it ends up. >> so would other countries join in the fight? >> it's not clear whether there would be much practical wisdom to having other countries join in. the most likely scenario is israel by itself. if the united states went ahead, it would be an air campaign where frankly the political challenges of looking with other cunning to have their forces

involved would probably outweight the benefits that accr accrue. if iran moved openly to produce highly enriched weapons-grade urannium for one or more bombs, you can't certainly imagine the rallying of political support for a military campaign, but as far as the actual assets in the air being used in a strike, i find that unlikely as an outcome. >> let's get to the bottom line. what are the pros and what are the cons? >> the pros are fairly clear. iran with nuclear weapons or close to having nuclear weapons would be dangerous in the region and could encourage, almost certainly would encourage others in the region to pursue their own programs. so a military strike by setting back the iranian nuclear programs would remove some of that risk. the cons are also stark. a military acts might look limited to start with, but could

easily get out of control, hurting not only the region, but the global economy. there's really no. either way there's a lot of risk. >> michael levy, thanks so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. newt gingrich, the self-described tortoise of the race, georgia is now in his win column. where does he go from here? that's coming up. plus help on the way for struggling homeowners, but how many will be getting help from president obama's new housing plan? that's also coming your way, next. just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-...

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polls suggested that newt gingrich would win his home state big, and the polls were right. dominated for the one super tuesday victory. here's what he had to say after. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out? remember then when it was

michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend herman cain the first time. then for a brief moment it was donald trump almost. and then it was our good friend rick perry. then it was herman cain the second time. now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them, it's all right. there's lots of bunny rabbits that run tlum. i'm the tortoise. i take one step at a time. >> got a lot of applause for that line. matt helped gingrich with his campaign in the '80s and '90s, so you know him better than most people. >> yes, i do. >> he wince georgia big, but does lousy in every other state. what's the end game? >> it has been to try to develop a southern strategy. he partially did that last night. he did have a huge win in georgia. he wasn't expected to do well at all in tennessee in early polls. so he did better than expected,

and certainly did better in oklahoma than expected. to say that was a huge night for newt gingrich would be stretching things. he's still in the race, though. he will not get out. he's going to go to alabama and mississippi. he now has secret service protection, so who knows where he goes from there. >> he's hurting rick santorum the most. if santorum said, newt, c'mon, you're killing me. >> i'm not privy to those conversations, but if gingrich does get out, it would be likely because they simply run out of money. if that does happen, anything is up in the air. i know that one of the problems for santorum and for gingrich is that they have developed sort of personality dislike for mitt romney. i'm not speaking for gingrich, but i know from the feeling of the campaign. i was always taught in politics you treat it like business, you

don't ever take it personally. i don't know what these guys think they're going to get from barack obama if they get the nomination, but it will not be valentines and candy. so in that sense newt is a touch guy, he can take it, but at some point, you get closer to texas -- >> but you're say newt gingrich is allows his personal feelings to dictate what he does. >> i don't think right now it would be a good time for them to get together for a cup of coffee. newt is a big boy, he's been in politics. he dealt with bill clinton, and actual le they got along well. so anything can happen. what we have right now is a big prize, texas, but it will be way down the road. now turned into winner take all and santorum and gingrich are looking at that, saying without i could get a big number, then try to strip florida and arizona, because they moved ahead, but you've got to have momentum to do it. i've seen this guy pull a lot of

magic before. whether he can do it again, we'll wait and see, i guess. >> the way delegates has been awarded has changed. >> yes. >> they're not awarded proportionally now. >> yes. >> it used to be winner take all. >> yes. >> what has that done to this primary? >> it's made it more difficult. romney is clearly the front-running candidate, but his delegate lead is not as substantial had we seen winner take all. that's why we keep hearing talk of no one having a majority going into a convention, which, by the way, would be a huge problem. that convention is at the end of august, that would give the nominee two months to try to take on barack obama, not a good scenario. >> should i even ask about sarah palin? >> well, like i said, anything can happen. >> matt, thanks so much for being here. >> sure. some homeowners will be able

to refinance their mortgages more easily and cheaply under a new plan. christine romans joins us live from new york to explain it all. who is eligible? >> let's talk first about lowering the fees on fha-backed refinancings. many of them are low income. you can have a mortgage rate above 5%, but because of the fees they've been unable to refinance into something cheaper. the president wants them to save up to a thousand dollars annually, two to 3 million people here, fha-insured loans. the government says contact your lender. ball they're going to know. a second group here. people who are veterans who were foreclosed on sometimes after 2006, carol, the government is

going to review, the banks are going to review every sing veteran foreclosure since 2006. if you were wrongly foe closed on you get lost equity, a bunch of interesting and eligible for a penalty from the banks who foreclosed on you. so some important information there. also if you're a service member who was relocated and you had to eat a huge loss in your house, you bought the house from july 2006 to december 2008, you may be eligible there as well for that equity to be paid back to you. of course there are terms and conditions, but there are laws and rules to make sure or service members are protected from the shenanigans of the banks we have seen again and again. if you think that's you, visit your armed forces legal assist

assistance office. sarah palin drop a bit of a mini-bombshell that has people talking. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. call now for our free guide and tips on planning

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let's get a check of the top stories right now. the senate armed services committee holds a hearing on the crisis in syria. john mccain has already called for air strikes against syrian government forces and for arming the rebels. defense secretary leon panetta testified for us to act u.n. lat real would be a mistake. six soldiers from the uk are missing and presumed dead after an explosion? southwest afghanistan. a british officials says the

soldiers were on patrol in the helmand province when it hit a land mine. gas prices have dropped for the second straight day, only 0.3 of 1%. the national average stance at $3.76 a gallon. political buzz is your rapid-fire look at the best -- three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. pete dominic, talk show host on sirius/xm, and the chief political correspond for pot tick 36 a 5, and crystal wright is the editor of the conservative black chick.com. welcome to all of you. actually it was about half of what it was four years ago, but up from what was expected.

why aren't the folks rocking the vote now? >> folks are rocking the vote. republicans are rocking the vote. they're going after their supporters, but make no mistake. by the time we hit august and have a gnome near, republicans will rally around our nominee, and as one voters in ohio said, he would vote for a dead dog over barack obama. >> oh, man, jason? >> look, the reality is most of thinks voters aren't that enthusiastic about the candidates, but enthused about getting rid of barack obama. what will be interesting, what does this mean bl mitt romney in ohio? i this could be a problem in the fall. the thew y5678 is not there on many gop side. >> pete? >> no one has rocked the vote since the '80s. we've got to lose that, carol, but to quote a woman, the former first lady barbara bush, said

this is the worst campaign that i've ever seen, the most white bread, crust off lineup of candidates. if you can spitfire and brimstone and say satan is attacking america and still not be interesting -- >> thank you. >> it's super tuesday, it's all about the candidates, right? not when sarah palin is around, here is the exchange that's getting the buzz. >> reporter: it's the opening convention question. if we wind up with an open convention and someone wants to throw your name into the hat, would you stop them? be open to that? >> as you say, anything is possible. i don't close any doors that perhaps would be out out there. so, no, i wouldn't close that door. my plan is to be at that convention. >> so here's my question to you. do you think sarah palin is serious, or has she become a

donald trump-like figure who scrounges around for publicity? >> look, she's lost all credibility when she decided she didn't want governor anymore. she mass enough political influence as josiah barlet from "the west wing." she even showed her endorsement doesn't matter. she's following the candidates and the cameras, but not anybody influential heading into the fall. >> crystal? >> i think it's a dumb convince and once again an taempt to vilify republicans. she doesn't have to crowned for for media tangs. the media is afraid of her, she's a political figure, she energizes the base, she's been pivotal in getting out the vote, will continue to do so in the fall, and xaert her to dompd trump is insultling. she was governor of alaska and ran as vice president of the

united states with john mccain so, you know -- >> oh, i my hair is on fire. >> trump is a stooge, sarah palin is an activist. >> use you are time is up, i'm sorry. >> carol, you know not to make hair on fire joe exwhile i'm sitting here. that's hurtful and wrong. she's been legitimate frankly by some bizarre happenstance. is the only reason why she remains legitimate is we like to follow her around with cameras. she's unique, different, and she says bizarre things, but she's really never been i don't think a respected leader in certainly an intelligent way. >> hold on. >> how is saying you'll run for president -- >> hey, we're getting to the third question now. last night dennis kucinich lost his primary after a

redistricting fight. his was a liberate among liberals and a self-proclaimed ufo eyewitness. what will you miss most about this guy? >> i don't see there's anything to say. i'm sure my two liberal colleagues will say it's such a sad loss. it's a sad day when he says he'll move to washington to protect his job, just like barack obama. more interested in his well being than the constituent he was supposed to serve. good riddance and good-bye. >> jaysen? >> you can't miss what isn't there. the problem is he's been infinitely more interested in running for president. he brought russell simmons to west cleveland to campaign on his behalf. i'm not going to miss him that have, but i think democrats will miss a lot of liberals. the left is missing out.

>> pete? >> say what you will, he had a tremendous ahmet of integrity wasn't honest. he's like ron paul in that way. he had a lot of intelry and will be missed. it's sad we focused too much on him as a a joke. 4 el wasn't influenced by the special interests. he voted against the iraq war, by the way. >> thanks to all of you for a spirited discussion. it is early spring. for the past couple years that has meant the launch of a new launch from apple. ng products to let you shape shift your look from straight to curls... to up-do. the new herbal essences stylers -- this shape shifts everything. i get congested. but now, with zyrtec-d®,

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all rumors wouldn't die, because they were true. snooki is making it official. she is is indeed pregnant. while many of you may ask, who cares, clearly a lot of people do. one of them is a.j. hammer. it is a big story, or is it, a.j.? >> i care, carol. i care. hey, listen, if you follow "jersey shore" this is a huge story. millions do pay attention to the crew for better or worse. we had snooki denying the pregnancy rumors, but we have the official statement.

it says nicole "snooki" is pregnant. she is thrilled to finally share her happy news with her fans. i don't know what this means "jersey shore" moving forward as a show or really for her planned spin-off series, but carol, whatever you think of her, some reality stars are big news, they are big business, it's not going away anytime soon, so i would suggest put your hair in a poof like snooki. >> i'll try that tomorrow. maybe it will improve things for me. >> let's talk about the hbo movie that turned the campaign into a movie. i saw the film, i got a preview, and i don't know, it seemed to me to be one-sided, but the actors did a terrific job. >> 23 you saw it, you know the ultimate reaction will probably pretty clearly be split along

party lines. he said if you're a palin fan, you're going to hate this film. if you think that palin wasn't qualified to be vice president, you'll come out saying julianne moore did a terrific job. the film portrays palin as someone way over her head on a national stage, unable to master basic facts. at one point almost having a nervous breakdown. while the people behind the film admit it's a drama, not a documentary, they argue it's based on the facts in the book "game change." interestingly enough. >> i would suggest watching the movie with your partisan friends. if you watch it with a person on

the other side of the aisle there will be a big fight during the movie and after. >> i can only imagine the drinking games already than going to come from this film. i do expect big, big ratings. it's certainly a hot topic. want everything breaking in the entertainment world? a.j. has got it tonight. it's early spring. for the past couple years, that has meant the launch of a new ipad from apple. this year is no different. plus wind and sand come together in california, making driving almost impossible. more details after the break. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more?

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checking stories cross country now. blowing sands closed parts of i-10 and other roads in palm springs, california. winds up to 50 miles an hour combined with the swirling sand reduced visibility. in miami a cell phone captured an off-duty officers hauling mattresses on her cruiser. she was fined for the embarrassment she caused. shah same officer had been disciplined 19 times. the $336 million jackpot is the sixth biggest ever. louise why took the lump sum

payout, bought the ticket as an afterthought after buying her son some rainbow sherbet at the store. millions of college grads will be heading out into the workforce in a few short months, but the job market is tough. a new study shows when it comes to wages young people are getting hit hard. alison tell us more. >> guess what? el won't be getting paid as much the entry-level wages for a male college graduate dropped 11% over the past decade. for female wages fell almost 8%. in comes at an important time in their lives. about you it winds up having a huge effect on their lives, because it takes longer for them to pay off their student loans. it limits how much money they

can spend which essentially hurts the economy. most importantly it means the ladder to sections is taller to climb. it's tough out there, carol. >> it sure is. when we talked to you last hour, you were hinting at maybe a rebound. is it happening? >> a little rebound. not very much. stocks are in the plus column right now. but yesterday's concerns about the economy, they're carrying through to today. this week we've gotten several reports about countries showing slowing growth. one thing to remember, greece, believe it or not, is still not out of the woods. everybody is still waiting to the private bondholders to officially agree to restructuring the country's debt, that deadline happening on march 20th. we did get an update report on

the job market, so that's keeping stocks in the green for now. there's bus in silicon valley again this morning, thanks to many ale. we'll take you there. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ]

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glue story we're working on, barring a major surprise, a noon eastern news conference, the colts will announce they are releasing peyton manning. 12:45 eastern, talking about the daimler truck manufacturing plant in north carolina. a battleground state with high unemployment that obama narrowly won. at 1:00 eastern, apple is expected to unveil its ipad. dan simon is our silicon valley correspondent. he's in san francisco, a couple hours ahead of that announcement. dan, what usually gets people talking are new features.

what are we expecting from which new ipad? >> reporter: carol, i've been to a lot of these evends, and it's always mads in, alleges a lot of fun. just to put things in perspective for a minute, when theivity pad first came out, there are there were a lot of nay sayers, people didn't think you would need another device. we can tell you this is apple's biggest-selling device of all time in the company's 35-year history. that's not true only for appearing, but all for consumer electronics. the question is, what will be in the latest ipad. well, we can expect the usual upgrades, better screen, faster processor, faster data connection. those are the things we are expecting. the question is will there be some secrets here? the invitation to this event said you've got to come here to

see and touch. a lot of people are making hay out of the fact that they included the word "touch" there might be some sort of tactile feedback so it may seen you're -- it may feel like actual keys on the typewriter as opposed to the screen, so we'll be seeing in a couple hours, but it's always a lot of fun. >> i know, i can't wait myself. when can we buy it? >> reporter: well, usually the pre-orders go on sale in the next day or so, and then by the time you see it in the stores you're looking at one to two weeks. what apple has really done very well, as we all know, you paid several hundred dollars for the last unit, many people will feel like they have to upgrade and shell it out for the newest version. . the fda has a warning for people

who use -- tests have found mercury in products sold in seven states. here's the list, texas, california, virginia, maryland, minnesota, illinois and new york. the products are mostly sold as kirsch lighteners, targeting latino, african-american, and middle eastern neighborhoods. mercury in high doses can damage the brain and kidneys. a blast from the political past. you remember joe the plumber on the sidelines of the campaign, now he's on the front lines in 2012. we will explain after a break. splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart ways to sweeten. same great taste. splenda® essentials™.

the priceline negotiator went down in that fiery bus crash. yes i was. we lost a beautiful man that day. but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale every day. so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. is it hard for you to think back to that day? oh my, this one has an infinity pool. i love those they just... and then drop off, kinda like the negotiator.

president obama stole some of super tuesday thunder. our political director mark preston joins me again. you want president obama accomplished what he said -- >> he did do it for political reasons. anyone who thinks he didn't is political naive. he talk about what's going on in syria and iran, what he did what was supposed to be a day about republicans became -- he used the pulley pulpit to be critical of republican rivals, and did a pretty good job, which just goes

to show you -- -- >> so you say that was an unusual thing to do. why have presidents in the past not done this? >> well, but they have in many ways. the fact of the matter is, you use whatever tools are at your disposal. and barack obama will use the white house. some people think it's tactless, but the fact is it's effective. >> yeah, joe the plumber, who made a name for himself back in 2008 won a primary jed. he's going to face marcy kaptor. it will be a hard election. >> she's been in office forever. >> a long time. >> she just beat kucinich in the