welcome to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." >> a soldier on the edge. new information about the u.s. servicemen would eelgho alleged massacred 16 and the demand from the afghan president to the troops, get out of our villages. take a look at that.

flattening homes, flooding out the roads, the grim flyover coming up next. >> a republican language barrier. rick santorum and mitt romney sparring over english in puerto rico. >> just needs to be a bilingual country and not just spanish-speaking and right now it's overwhelmingly spanish speaking and needs to fully integrate. >> fallout. will rick santorum's stand cost him delegates and latino votes. ipad fever is gripping the planet. the tablets are flying off the store shelves sending apple's stock price soaring to unprecedented heights. >> it is one minute now past 5:00. new details about the soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians in cold blood. "the new york times" is quoting a senior u.s. official saying that that soldier, quote, just

snapped suggesting it might have been as a result of a combination of stress and alcohol. >> the shooting suspect now has a lawyer, john henry brown. brown says the suspect is a highly decorated soldier. he was injured twice during three tours of duty in iraq and was not happy about being deployed for a fourth time to afghanistan. brown also says another soldier on the base was gravely injured right before the killings. he was asked what he wants the public to know about his new client. >> it's a tragedy all the way around. there's no question about that. i think it's of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, decorated soldier who was injured in iraq to his brain and to his body and then despite that setback, i think that's an issue, i think it's a concern. i think the message for the

public in general is that he's one of our boys, we need to treat him fairly. >> inning afghanistan there is fallout from the massacre and threatening ining to hurt our relationship. hamid karzai wants us out of villages. joining us from washington. james "spider" marks and former commander officer. spider marks, right off the bat, the commands that we seem to be getting from hamid karzai, the afghan president who move out of the villages and go back, "a," do we take our cues from karzai and, "b," what's the point of being there if we're not in the villages. >> clearly this is circumstantial. to answer your first question, we don't take our cues or follow

orders from president karzai. but he's our host. we're there at his behest. we have an agreement with president karzai and in this particular instance it makes sense both to the united states and to afghanistan that we lower the international heat, we lower the u.s. profile, get out of the villages, get back on to the forward operating bases and protected area where the u.s. soldiers and marines on the ground routinely operate and emanate their operations from so makes perfect sense in the near term and i also need to tell you that although we'll be out of the villages, it won't be forever, it'll be for a short amount of time until the heat is lowered a little bit but still we haven't giving up our ability to collect intelligence and not lose the pulse of what's going on so we're not entirely blind based on this request. it is unprecedented but this is an unprecedented series of events, the koran burning and now this killing of afghan

civilians, so this is a little bit of a different circumstance and you have to modify and adjust accordingly. >> general marks, what's your mission there? i was always under the impression off the bat after 9/11 off we went in november of '01 to find osama bin laden. he's been found. we didn't like the host. we got rid of the taliban so now what are we trying to do? >> we have an agreement with the afghan government to ensure that they are in a position to resist the incursion and return of any other kinds of terrorist organizations that will threaten the viability of that government. has our mission increased? absolutely. has it crept along, absolutely. we modify it and it's been adjusted over the course of the decade. for mission number one get osama bin laden and that infrastructure that existed around him. we fought that infrastructure for years and last year we got him. great accomplishment. our mission has altered over the

course of time and now to ensure stability and to give the afghan government an opportunity to grow. >> now, are we not seeing though -- exactly my point. are we not seeing now with what's just transpired over the last two weeks, for ran burning and now this, and their reaction of our very being there to help security, it ain't working. it's a country that's been broke for a whole long i'm and the british couldn't do it and the russians couldn't do it and what makes us think that we can do it? >> well, again, let's look at what we've accomplished over the last ten years and the fact that it has modified is not a bad thing. that, in fact, tells you, you know, we have an agreement and worked through different challenges. we are now in a situation where we have a shared vision of what the u.s. presence in afghanistan is supposed to look like. we're not walking into -- we didn't walk into afghanistan with the sense of hubris, we went in there because we had a problem because the united states was attacked and it emanated from afghanistan and we got those guys and we needed to

rip those guys apart and we did. we have to ensure they don't come back and the afghanistan government has said please help us do that and so we're there doing that. is there a problem right now, absolutely. but let's not lose sight of the fact that 99.9% of every mission and every soldier and marine that's been on the ground executed their missions with extreme honor to make all of us very proud. let's focus in on that. we've got a problem right now, we need to get over the hump and make sure it's getting done well. >> let me ask you about this incident and this soldier. if he is charged and i'm assuming it will happen soon, is there a chance they might take him back to afghanistan just to appease the people that say try him there? he's not going to be in their justice system but at least the military justice system on their soil. >> not in our lifetime. we have a status of forces agreement. they would not bring that in. that would be a play that would be played out.

it would be nothing but bad news, no, i don't think that's going to happen at all, ashleigh. >> interesting. we got a lot more to talk to you about. >> interesting he said they would only temporarily be out of the villages then they would go back. i thought that was interesting. seven minutes past the hour. homes torn apart and more than 200 people forced to get out as a rare tornado touches down in michigan. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. oh. >> this is amateur video of the funnel cloud. it's right outside ann arbor, michigan, the tornado ripped through the community and demolished a lot of home, downed tree, pourer lines, it sparked some fires, as well. let's head over to rob marciano. wow. rob, totally unexpected this time of year. >> it's rare for this time of year, that's for sure. they have had tornadoes in michigan, march we had a couple of just a few days ago or last

week. but judging from the damage that we're seeing on video of this thing it looks like it was at least an ef-2. if it becomes an ef-3 and they'll survey the damage. remarkable no one was injured or killed in this destruction. if they determine to be an ef-3, it's the first time the entire state of michigans that that strong a tornado in march. unprecedented stuff the past few weeks with the tornadoes occurring and we had not one but three tornado reports across the state of michigan all with thunderstorm complex that continues to push off towards the east. actually a very weak cool front but the air is so warm out ahead of it, especially for this time of year, cold air aloft because, you know, technically still in winter and that creates some turbulence. all right. this front is pushing off to the east. we do expect to see thunderstorms today some of which could become severe in pockets. main threat will be hail because of that colder air that's aloft. certainly warm air at the

surface, 82 degrees, my goodness, everything is blooming. nashville, 82. these aren't the only spots, d.c., talking about this, cherry blossoming coming out way too early. won't be the earliest peak on record but will be close blooming out ahead of the festival. will not last for the entire festival. that is for sure and this trend is expected to continue. the climate prediction center has forecast not just the next six to ten days but 90 days of above average temperatures for a good chunk of the u.s. the way the climate pattern is shaping up. so there you go. 76 degrees in chicago today for the high temperature. st. patrick's day tomorrow could be the warmest on record there with a high temperature of 78 degrees. zoraida, they put a little green juice in the river there to celebrate. >> you know what the funny thing, rob, it kind of looks green all the time. it's just greener. it's a greener shade of green.

>> it's pretty. >> i want to go back to the tornado pictures. when you see the blackness in the funnel cloud, is that the same blackness from what's coming from the skies or black from what's being churned up on the ground. >> it depends, that looks to be condensation mixing in. typically it's debris and dust churned up from the ground. >> nonetheless it is scary. glad the people there are safe. 11 minutes past 5:00. for the seventh day in a row gas prices, rose $3.83 now a gallon of unleaded. that's a jump of one full cent from yesterday. prices are up nearly 17% so far this year. and also in business the stock futures were flat after hitting a bit of a milestone yesterday. ready for the ding. there it is. s&p 500 index topping 1500 for the first time in nearly four years. >> christine romans joins us

minding your business this morning and we're talking ipad, aren't we. >> look, apple shares topped $600, four weeks ago, apple shares topped $500. >> no. >> are you kidding? >> unbelievable. yeah, and i mean i can remember 60, i don't know, ipad is a sensation, everything this company does changes the industry it's in. there's a lot of competition. people are nipping at its heels but investors really like apple. didn't close above 600 yesterday so a lot will be watching today but the ipad 3, the hoopla over that, that's one of the things driving the s&p 500 and also yesterday apple share, gas prices as you hear, 3.83 -- a number most of you care about. hey, your 401(k) is doing well this year. i don't care about that. i can't afford to put gas in my suv. yesterday there was a report from reuters that said that the u.s. and the uk are talking about maybe setting into stone

some kinds of agreements about what they would do if they were going to tap the strategic petroleum reserve to try to lower gas prices. administration officials telling us on background an agreement in place is inaccurate but at least everybody is talking about this reuters report about whether the u.s. and the uk have some kind of election year plan to lower gas prices. yesterday i talked to richard florida, author of "the great reset." presidents can't do much about it. it's going to be more about everyone changing their life and i'm going to tell you something else, the needle on gas consumption in the world is not us, i mean our gas consumption is down, our imports are down. it's about the rest of the world and this is what richard florida had to say about what that's going to mean for us. >> increasing numbers are walking and biking to work are do you knowsizing that house. if we want to make the american economy thrive we have to make the american economy less oil dependent and the most important the president can do and we can do is change the way we live.

>> yeah. change the way we live. aha. i know i was just asking a little while ago, what is that magic number when people actually start changing the way they live and budgeting different. >> i told people about this. they said 535. that's the price where people make significant changes to their life like moving, like getting a new car, like all those thing that is richard was talking about. talk about all these things on your bottom line tomorrow morning. you'll be up and watch the show. >> i'll come in and watch it live. that's how much i care about you. >> the truth about gas prices. don't believe all this stuff about, you know, do this, don't do that. look, the consumption in this country used to drive gas prices. now a lot of this is happening around the rest of the world. >> interesting that dollar amount. we talk about it, think about it. what am i going to change but actually taking action. i haven't traded in my suv yet but i talk about it all the

time. >> gas is significant to americans but the oil consumption is a bigger story altogether. how about all the homes that use oil to heat? a big conversion -- >> all the different things that industry, ship something around the world. we buy so much from china. think of how much energy is consumed getting your sneakers from the factory to your local walmart store. you are know, there's a lot of different ways to think about the energy story. as long as prices remain high at what point do companies, business, people start to change their behavior because of it? >> the ceos aren't paying appoint $35 a gallon. >> they're hedging the futures markets but look at the markets that are higher too and pulling their hair out too. >> christine, thanks. business to sports. my strong suit. >> yes. >> march madness, right? >> this is what i'm told. march madness is kicking into high gear. i see it on the news. what they call -- >> you filled out a bracket. >> i did, i used a dartboard.

i'm bad about this. i really did. it's one and done for the defending uconn huskies taking on the iowa -- in louisville. cyclones opening at -- >> i need -- >> they opened up 22-point first half lead, never looking back knocking out connecticut where is that that i'm supposed to be cheering? virginia commonwealth, 12th seeded rams knocking off fifth seeded wichita state, 62-59 take on indiana tomorrow. okay, i got through it. ouch. >> well done, well done. all right, last night's matchup between kansas state and southern mississippi, listen and listen very closely. >> yeah, as you see mills trying to draw the charge.

rodriguez left the ball go in. he's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come. no facial expression whatsoever. >> they were chanting it in the background. members of the band caught on camera yelling where is your green card? a kansas state point guard angel rodriguez as he was shooting free throws. his head stayed in the game. rodriguez never changed his expression and he helped kansas state win by scoring 13 points. afterwards southern mississippi president martha saunders apologized to him and promised quick disciplinary action against all of the students involved. >> do you think he heard it? he looked so focused. >> you'd be amazed at what they can hear. they try to block it out. that was incredible that he was able to do that and it didn't get to him. >> i was a green card holder for 12 years. i never heard that. never heard that. >> unbelievable. >> 17 minutes past the hour. here coming up disgraced former illinois governor, he reports to

federal prison. what awaits him inside? "chicago tribune" tracks down former inmates. we'll share what they have to say in today's early reads. >> take a look at this. meghan mccain, "playboy" magazine. yes, that megan mccain, the daughter of the senator and the former presidential candidate john mccain. pretty pictures, yes, interview, yes. the april issue, yes, but what's really inside that front cover? sneak peek. >> g-rated coming up next. phone] [ female announcer ] with secret outlast, conquer your busy day. ♪ burn! let's do it! hello, jenny! ♪ thank you. [ cellphone rings ] working on it. ♪ hi. hi. how are you? [ female announcer ] outlast your day, any day, with secret's 48-hour odor protection technology. new secret outlast.

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will be giving away passafree copiesl? of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. good morning, atlanta. it is 63 or 60 degrees right now. later guess what you're in store for? thunderstorms, but it is a high of 79 degrees. >> i'm not sure if that is a trade-off. >> nice to sleep in. >> we can't go out. sleep in in your air-conditioning. 21 minutes past 5:00. time to check top stories with christine romans. >> good morning, again, you guys. new attorney for a u.s. soldier accused of killing afghan civilians expects him to be moved to a u.s. military base

soon. right now he is being held in kuwait and that has angered afghan officials who want him to face justice in their country. mitt romney and rick santorum sparring over what language should be spoken in puerto rico. santorum sticking to his remarks that english should be a requirement for statehood. romney insisting he would require no such rule. 20 delegates are up for grabs there on sunday. at 6:30 eastern we'll be joined by hogan gidley. rare tornado caught on tape forcing 200 from their homes. part of a wall of severe weather from michigan down through the south. storms damaging several homes outside ann arbor. reports at least three funnel clouds touched down in that area. the ex-mistress of john edwards expected to testify in his federal trial next month. edwards could face 30 years in prison if convicted of giving campaign nun to rielle hunter.

meghan mccain appearing in "playboy." she's fully clothed. "playboy" interviewed senator john mccain's daughter for its 20 questions and tells "playboy" she loves sex and men. she also talks politics saying if her dad won in 2008 the recession would not have been so bad. ashleigh? zoraida? >> always interesting to say when you're lying in that position. thank you for that. 23 minutes past 5:00. early read on your news making headlines. papers from chicago and also from howes. >> "chicago tribune." rob blagojevich enters the slammer and serves his 15-year sentence at a low security prison in colorado. what's next for him? well, was yesterday the intake, strip and search. he is undergoing a mental evaluation. he's all alone.

he'll have to do some coming down. looking inward. a top aid for governor ryan who himself served more than four years there said it gives you time to think. we did find out that they are allowed to keep their hairdo which is a big thing for this particular governor. >> no gel. >> yeah. >> walk softly and carry a big shillelagh. how does that sound? there's advice. the crew is supposed to be giving me -- >> shillelagh. >> yeah, big stick. "houston chronicle." >> where is she going with this? >> did you do your taxes? >> i started. >> start and finish. i heard this is terrible. if you haven't done your taxes, do them now because someone might do them for you and not in a nice way. somebody might steal your identity, file your taxes for you and get your refund. if you think this is just a little problem --

>> i know. tell you what, it's possible because you don't have to have a lot to file taxes like name, address and social security number then you can do it. and, listen, there are thousands and thousands of people who have been victimized. a woman in texas wanted to file online. it said duplicate, duplicate. she's like what do you mean duplicate. and she found out it was because it was, yeah -- >> cashed her check. >> they cashed her check, yep. apparently in 2010 irs interc t intercepted 49,000 of these cases. guess what they expect it to be this year, 262,000 cases. >> tough times. >> do your taxes. if you don't need incentive, get your money earlier anyway, get your money. bigger incentive now. >> 25 minutes past the hour. ahead on "early start," santorum and romney are fighting over the english language in puerto rico. what's behind santorum's controversial stance on statehood?

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okay, so he dressed in drag and he mocked his bosses on youtube. >> now a flight attendant doesn't have to worry about being late, all because he is fired. >> oh, boy. >> there's people on the ramp creeping me out. all of our regional managers, who is the weakest link? >> the woman that's running the flight attendants down in miami is probably the most ineffective person there is in the whole country. >> creepy. just creepy stuff. more of the aluminum lady. you're watching "early start." >> oh, my.

welcome back, 5:29 now on the east coast. welcome back to "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. happy to have you here. time to check the stories. that u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians has an attorney. his attorney, john henry brown, says because of injuries suffered in iraq, his client should not have been sent back to the battlefield and says there is concern about fallout from the massacre overseas and here at home. >> well, apparently homeland security this morning issued a directive that they're expecting some sort of retaliation for these allegations, so it's being taken very seriously and i think that's why his name is not being revealed and i wouldn't reveal it even though i know what it

is. i think there is serious concern about the safety. >> oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. >> the reaction to a rare march tornado that's caught on tape in michigan. it forced 200 people from their homes, part of a severe weather outbreak from michigan all the way down through the south. storms damaging or destroying several homes outside ann arbor. there are reports at least three funnel clouds touched down in this area. and gas prices have a peek at your screen, jumped by a full penny overnight while you were sleeping, average price, $3.83, seventh day in a row if you're keeping score that gas prices have gone up. controversial immigration bill on the verge of passing in mississippi. it would require police to check the immigration status of people arrested and ban illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses, as well now

headed to the senate where it is expected to pass. and for the first time in nearly four year, folk, the s&p 500 sits above the 1400 mark. the index gain eight points to grain at 1402 sparked by good news on the jobless front and expanding manufacturing. tech heads all over the world are in a frenzy. the new ipad goes on sale this morning at 8:00 a.m. right now people are camped outside apple's flagship store in new york city. that was eastern time it goes on sale here. the device will sell starting at $499. >> you have to be committed if you are going to sleep on a street in manhattan overnight. >> wait till you find out what one woman is doing, how she's making money. >> there's my tease. >> making money on the streets of new york. who knew? >> not like that, ashleigh, not like that. >> 32 minutes past the hour. >> i like it's creative. to speak english as an

official language or not or as a main language and by the way, what about that word, main, official, mostly spoken, it's a burning issue surrounding rick santorum for the last two days. >> he is wrapping up a two-day visit where 20 delegates are at stake. there he said "like any other tate there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law and that is that english has to be the principal language. there are other states with more than one language such as hawaii but to be a state of the united states, english has to be the principal language." he also said this, listen. >> you have to speak english. that would be a requirement. it's a requirement we put on other states. it is a condition for entering the union. >> cnn's jim acosta caught up with him yesterday, as well and apparently he's not backing down on his statements. >> reporter: should it be a requirement for this feather to become a state. >> i think english and spanish, obviously spanish is going to be

spoke onnen the island but this needs to be a bilingual country, not just spanish speaking. >> jonathan allen reporter for politico, thanks for joining us. i'm hyperfocusing on santorum. a lot of issues, he was talking about language. he was talking about statehood. he was talking about culture. why do you think we're talking about it so much? >> well, i think rick santorum hilt a couple of real touchstones in puerto rico as you mentioned. number one, the sort of assumption that puerto rico wants to become a state is not entirely clear. a huge issue on the island. the other thing is santorum seems to suggest that english to be the official language, the main language, the prince pal language in order for puerto rico to become a state. he actually used the word country to refer to puerto rico. puerto rico obviously is part of the united states already and there are no federal laws requiring that english be an official language for a territory to become a state. so there are a lot of different

things going on here. i think one of the reasons we're talking about this, the importance of the hispanic vote in this upcoming election particularly in a set of western states that have been swing states and also in florida. >> do you think for me and i'm of puerto rican descent and spent a lot of time there and went to school there and english is a requirement in all of the schools from when you enter the system and in college most of the textbooks are in english. do you think it's an emotional issue. >> obviously puerto rico already is bilingual. this is not a territory that where everyone is speaking spanish and no one speaks english. it's a very emotional issue and i think a lot of particularly hispanic americans obviously not everyone in puerto rico is spanish but a large proportion are but they feel under siege these days. you showed a clip of the basketball player was having

where is your green card chanted at him. we've seen the bill in mississippi, saw a couple of years ago the bill in arizona. a lot of hispanic voters feel they're under siege and this is going to be an issue for republicans in the general election. saw a big falloff in the hispanic vote for republicans between george w. bush anywhere as high as 40% to john mccain and those voters are very important, as i mentioned. >> they are an important voting bloc. mccain, 2008. he didn't have the latino vote there, right? they said that could have cost him the election so i want to look at the numbers from 2008 and then i want to compare them to some current numbers now. if we do a match, do we have those numbers for everyone? okay. if we could just put those up, i would appreciate it. that was obama/mccain, 67% to mccain's 31% and then when you do a matchup and the only poll that i have here is an obama/romney matchup for the latino vote. it's considerably lower. 68% to 23%.

and there is a school of thought that if you don't have the latino vote at up around 33%, that you cannot win the general election in november. how are republicans going to fix this problem? >> well, there's not a huge gap to make up there from 28% to 33%. but i think what you'll see is a republican nominee move toward the middle a little bit on issues of importance to latino voters and obviously those are -- the latino voters are not a monolithic bloc and don't vote simply on issues of immigration, in fact, i think for most polling that i've seen other issues are the most important issues. it's just a question of whether or not they feel like, again, they're under siege which is if somebody is making that the issue, then they may be more likely to vote against that person. so i think that you'll see a republican nominee try to pivot. right now in order to win a republican primary, there's a very large part of the republican base that either from

a law and order perspective or in some cases i think people would argue from perhaps a phobic stance doesn't like what they're seeing in terms of hispanic immigration into the country. >> jonathan allen, thanks for joining us and sharing your perspective. >> coming up, new details on what might have set off that u.s. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 innocent civilians in afghanistan. and also hollywood hot shot james cameron. plummeting to new lows. and that's a good thing. he's headed on a real-life adventure to the deepest parts of the earth below the ocean. cnn's jason carroll is the only news reporter with him as he prepares for the big dive. we get a live report coming up later on. you're watching "early start." man, i'm glad aflac pays cash. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for?

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welcome back. 41 minutes past the hour. new developments out of afghanistan overnight in the shooting deaths of 16 civilians, allegedly at the hands of a u.s. soldier. >> the lawyer for that soldier accused of committing the massacre is now talking about who this soldier is, and what might have set this soldier off. alina cho has been monitoring this. a long news conference and a lot of information and yet the key stuff still missing. >> we still don't have his name but there's been a lot of good reporting overnight. good morning. this morning "the new york times" is reporting that the soldier had been drinking alcohol, was suffering stress from being on his fourth tour of duty and that he had problems in his marriage. we're going to get to all of that in just a moment. first we can tell you ashleigh just said the soldier hired a pretty well-known lawyer from the seattle area. his name is john henry brown and brown did speak to reporters last night. here's what he told us. the soldier is said to be a 38-year-old highly decorated

staff sergeant. he is married. has two young children ages 3 and 4 and here is the part that could be key in the case. he's on his fourth tour of duty, was injured twice while serving in iraq, one was a traumatic brain injury, the other injury he lost part of his foot and, in fact, he was so distraught he did not want to be deployed again. now, mr. brown, the lawyer had more insight into the soldier's mental state saying somebody in his unit was, quote, gravely injured on the day before the shooting rampage but he rejected reports circulating that his client had been drinking or that his marriage was in trouble. here's what else he had to say. >> i think he was told that he was not going to be redeployed. and the family was counting on him not being redeployed so he and his family were told his tours in the middle east were over and literally overnight

that changed so i think it would be fair to say he and his family were not happy he was going back. >> so we know that the soldier has been transferred out. do we know where he is? >> right -- our best knowledge right now he is in kuwait. the military, in fact, confirms he was transferred to kuwait but this morning "the times" is reporting he could be moved to ft. leavenworth, kansas and that transfer could happen as early as today so this is all happening fairly quickly. of course, the big question is when will the charges be filed because that is when we will know according to his lawyer the soldier's identity. >> a lot more to it, as well, competency issues, what kind of a defense would he mount? spider marks earlier saying no way would he go back to afghanistan. j.a.g. lawyers i talk to say, why not? >> looks like he will be transferred to the united states "the times" is reporting as early as today. if that is the case, yes, the

trial would be here. >> all those witnesses and all the evidence, everything is there in afghanistan. i don't think you'll fly over villagers to testify. >> it's interesting because this lawyer also said he did speak at length with the soldier yesterday. he has spoken to many members of his family. one thing that is quite interesting, his wife and two children have been move interested their home near tacoma, washington, to an undisclosed location because as you can imagine the family and others are concerned about their safety but the big question, of course, remains, who is this man? once we get his name, of course, we will learn a lot more about him. >> a decorated soldier, right. when they say that, you want to know more. >> highly decorated. >> very unusual that we don't know by this time. this is an initial circumstance. good work. >> thank you. >> you bet. 45 minutes past the hour. still ahead dressing up in drag, blasting your bosses online. he may not look like the stately

dowager there but there's some things you can't do. l. james cameron going to the earth's final frontier, the deepest depths of the ocean. say that three times fast, jason carroll with him as he gets ready. you're watching "early start." omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. 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 could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. yes, you could. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule.

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49 minutes past the hour. time to check the stories making news. here's miss christine romans. good morning. >> good morning. ladies, listen to this. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >> a rare march tornado caught on tape in michigan forcing 200 people from their homes. part of a wall of severe weather from michigan down through the south. storms damaging or destroying several homes outside ann arbor. there are reports that at least three funnel clouds touched down in that area. mitt romney and rick

santorum fighting over what language should be spoken in puerto rico. santorum sticking by his remarks that english should be a requirement for statehood. romney insisting he would require no such rule. 20 delegates at stake there. post things about your bosses online, you might pay. an american airlines flight attendant learning that the hard way. gailen david, a 24-jeer veteran of american airlines was fired. he's fighting it. he was pretty well known for his videos poking fun at american's financial trouble. one of the characters, the aluminum lady like margaret thatcher's iron lady. >> there's people on the ramp creep me out. >> all of our regional managers, who is the weakest link? >> i tell you right now the woman running the flight attendants down in miami is probably the most ineffective person i have in the whole company. >> should we fire her? >> no, don't fire her. i like it like that.

>> american filed for bankruptcy a few months ago and said it wants to get rid of 13,000 workers. american spokesman didn't mention the videos but told nbc miami that this gailen david published the private details of american airlines' passengers and promoted its competitors on his website. whoo. >> yikes, ouch. where did he get the idea for those glasses? >> i don't know but digital production -- >> those are awful. >> quit in "the new york times" op-ed page and make videos about your employer. there you go. >> all right. thank you. >> steal fashion statements from national an chores. >> watching "early start" and decided, hey, those glasses are kind of cute. >> all right. from the man who brought us avatar and "the terminator." james cameron is taking us on a new, real-life adventure where

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54 minutes past the hour here. he has literally changed the way we see the world. maybe perhaps he is going to introducing us to brand-new

images on screen. james cameron is planning his biggest project yet travels to the deepest part of the ocean where only two men have gone before. >> james cameron invited a third man, cnn's jason carroll. that's the voice you keep hearing laughing off to the side. >> to the deepest places of the ocean. >> i think you're laughing because you're giddy because you have been working all day, all night, all day to get something ready for this weekend which you weren't prepared to do michelely. >> we'll have a half hour special on this. you'll be able to see in detail all of what it took james cameron to get to where he is today and basically he's trying to get to the marianas trench at a place called challenger deep. 36,000 feet down, seven miles. how in the world will you get there? he and a team of scientists with the help of national geographic built this high-tech submersible to get him down there working on it for seven year, fantastic project and a lot have been asking themselves what in the

world does james cameron, director of "avatar," director of "titanic." he's been a deep sea explorer for many years. >> i thought this was out of the blue. he sent us a picture. hopefully we can get that up when he was 11 years old growing up in a small town in ontario, canada, now you see what he's got in there. that is a submersible that he built and inside of that is a little mouse and that was one of his earliest experiments at 11. he dropped it into 20 feet of water, the mouse survived. so a lot of people question is he a director, an explorer? he's both. >> isn't it great to take your passion and make money off it, as well. >> about passion, about science, so he's planning to make this attempt, you know, within the next several days. we'll have a special to show it all to you. >> weather depending too, right? >> mother nature always plays a

key role. >> very cool. thank you for sharing that with us. >> this weekend. >> this weekend. 10:30, tomorrow. tape it. watch it. >> all right. will do. jason, good stuff. okay. so 57 minutes -- >> underwater. >> seven miles underwater. >> upside down ad, how much more? >> 7,000 feet. >> still ahead on "early start," four minutes before the hour, the army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering civilians has hired a well-known attorney in this country who is saying quite a few things about the client. if it's true, we got more on that coming up. there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

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welcome back, everyone. good morning. it is early. this is "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we're happy you're with us this morning. 6:00 a.m. in the east here so let's get started. a twister tear ag part neighborhoods in rural michigan. itflattened a lot of homes there. a report out of london says the british are prepared to c cooperate with the u.s. to try to bring down the price of gas. this by releasing strategic oil reserves. is it true? can it work? christine romans will have some answers. soldier on the edge. new information about the u.s. service man who allegedly slaughtered afghan civilians. demand from afghan's president to the troops, get out of our villages now. mitt romney sparring over english in puerto rico.

santorum is sticking with his controversial stand even though it might just cost him some votes. an ipad mania. it is spreading across the entire planet. the new 4g ready tablets are flying off the store she was, sending apple stock to unprecedented heights. but at first here, the army staff sergeant accused in the massacre of afghan civilians has a new high powered attorney. seattle defense lawyer john henry brown says his client served three tours in iraq, suffered a severe brain injury, yet was sent back for more combat duty. brown also says he wasn't happy about it. "the new york times" quoting a senior u.s. official saying the soldier just snapped. from a combination of stress, alcohol, and marital problems. he saw a friend greatly injured as well the day before which may suggest possible motive for the rampage. the attorney brown says for those who know his client, it is completely out of character. >> they're in shock.

i think everybody that knows him is in shock about the allegations and also the fact that he's in custody. this is a decorated exemplary soldier who certainly -- and i question family members and he had no an mossity stards muslims, no animosity towards middle eastern people, that i had already convinced myself was the case. >> threatening to cripple u.s.-afghan relations. does this change our mission there? and does it change it now? retired army major general, former commanding general of the u.s. intelligence center and live with us from washington. good morning, general. let's ask that question right off the bat, does our mission change, does it change right away? >> if the troops are forced to stay on protected areas, those forward operating bases and

combat outposts, secluded an conducting missions outside the gates and into the villages, then the mission -- that might only be temporary. so the mission may not change in the long term but if that requirement to stay on the protected areas extends, then we have to go into an adjustment to the mission. if we can't conduct -- if the united states cannot conduct operations outside those forward operating bases, then what can be done is certainly the training of afghan soldiers can continue with the help of the u.s., training of afghan security forces, that can be done in protected areas. but the conduct of missions into the village to try to establish who are the bad guys, to find and fix bad guys, to go after enemy pockets of resistance to determine friend from foe, those operations will cease, which means the troop levels and type you have in the country would adjust accordingly. >> a lot of critics say, you

can't change the bad guys, they are what they are and it's been that way a long time. it's a hearts and minds issues. soldiers don't always have the best methods of changing. if we do get stuck on an operating basis, does that mean we're just training there to gs out? >> we're not an invisible force. you can alter a bad guy's b perspective, you can kill him. if you can't change who he wants to support you make a determination as to where that guy needs to go. the united states will not be an invisible presence in afghanistan. we still have a very robust integrated presence in terms of trying to help the afghan government stand up. certainly that will continue. and the united states has a commitment to try to get the afghan security forces mature and robust enough to carry on the mission so that if, in fact, we stay to the 24-14 mark or if the request is to stay beyond to continue some of that training,

we'll continue to do that. but if we're forced to stay in these forward operating basis and not conducting missions in the interland, then the afghan forces will, by fact at that point, have the lead and they'll have to do those operations and the united states will continue to support with logistics and intelligence, aviation support and things like that. >> sometimes these things blow up big because it's a 24-hour news cycle. we've been there for the better part -- actually more than a decade now. is this a blip? is this something that past this news cycle will wear down and be more quiet? is this something that hamid karzai is trying to tamp down for his own people and things will go on normal the next couple of months, or is this a turning point? >> this is a significant point. it's not a blip. and i know that -- this is a tremendous challenge for the u.s.-afghan relationship. that's why the secretary of defense is there. there is every piece of intellectual energy being

directed at trying to make this right. this is a big deal. but the united states and the afghan people have a relationship. it's been forged over the last couple of decade. you need to withstand this challenge and, in fact, we may be at an inflexion point where the mission will change but i think it would be fool hardy to say that we need to now back out fundamentally alter and then disappear and fall off the or rye horizon. >> lean into the wind although i hear in that part of the world it's like a sandstorm. spider mark, always wonderful to talk to you. >> i was reading this morning that 70% of the afghan soldiers are not ready to fight alone. that they're constantly calling in for re-enforcement. so you wonder what can you accomplish in all of this time. >> this is totally different culture, too. you've got to assume an afghan being trained by a u.s. marine or somebody who has our culture

fabric, our dna, is going to be the same. they're not. they're not the same people. >> he said i'm out of here. seven minutes past the hour here. homes torn apart and more than 200 people forced to get out as a rare march tsornado touches down in michigan. look at this. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. oh, my god. >> scary moments. this is amateur video of that funnel cloud. it was just outside of ann arbor, michigan. the tornado ripped through the community there. it damaged and demolished a lot of homes. look at these pictures. it downed trees and power line bs and even sparked some fires. rob marciano live in the weather center in atlanta. you said this is rare but obviously it does happen. >> yes, it's not undesunprecede. what would be unprecedented is when the storm crews go out there today and assess this

thing, rated an ef-3 with winds 140, 150 miles an hour, enough to do that obstruction, then it will be the strongest tornado they've had this early in the season. that would be yet another remarkable stat in this unusual tornado season. and there you see the twister itself. remarkable stuff that we get nowadda nowadays with camera phones and remarkable that no one was seriously injured or killed in that. we had one in three tornadoes. a weak front, very weak front that's moving into some tremendously hot and humid air, unusual for this time of year. that's what's giving us the extra buoyancy in the atmosphere. western parts of tennessee and kentucky right now. severe threat is back across texas. well see a thunderstorm bubble up throughout the day today because we have seen unusual heat. 85 degrees in huntsville. norfolk up to 87. columbia, south carolina, got up

to 88 degrees. some folks seeing close to 90-degree temperatures. this is going to continue as we go lieu the next 90 days. climate prediction says above normal temperatures, much of the country right through the rest of spring. so, guys, get your swimsuits out and enjoy. >> yes, great idea. >> no thanks. got to go to the gym. >> thank you, rob marciano. good to talk to you. ten minutes past 6:00. ahead on "early start," march madness taking an ugly turn. the band members singing a different tune. and at least this guy probably didn't like it. ipad mania. it's going global. can apple get any hotter? wait until you hear about their stock prices now. you're looking at a live picture of the apple store right here in manhattan. look at that. that sure is pretty. we can't -- oh. >> where are the people? >> there they are. >> unbelievable. >> can i go and steal a spot in

line? >> you can. >> we're going to find out if it's worth it. we're going to talk to somebody who has sampled one. you are watching "early start." isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! lemon burst, blackberry harvest, pina colada... i can't imagine where she is... orange creme... [ grocery store pa ] clean up in aisle eight. found her! [ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone.

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13 minutes past the hour. time to check stories making news. here's christine romans. >> the new attorney for a u.s. soldier accused of killing afghan civilians says he expects the soldier to be moved to a u.s. military base soon. right now the soldier is being held in kuwait. meantime, afghan president hamid karzai is expected to meet today with families of the 16 victims. mitt romney and rick santorum disagreeing over language requirements for puerto rican statehood. santorum sticking by his remarks that english should be a prerequisite. romney insisting he disagrees with such a rule. 20 delegates are at stake on sunday in puerto rico. 6:30 eastern we will be joined by rick santorum's national communications director hogan

gidley on this. last night's match-up between kansas state and corn mississippi. members of the southern miss band caught on camera yelling, where is your green card? a kansas state point guard angel rodriguez as he was shooting free throws. listen carefully. >> rodriguez has already let the ball goal. he's at home right now, no facial expression whatsoever. >> rodriguez kept his cool and helped kansas state win by scoring 13 points. afterward, southern miss president martha saunders apologized to rodriguez promising quick disciplinary action against the students involved. it gives new definition to losers, doesn't it? >> yes, it does. >> yes, it does. >> we agree on that. >> makes me so mad. >> that was stupid, i think we can all agree. stupid, stupid behavior. 16 minutes past 6:00. apple fans breaking out the sleeping bags. camping out on a new york city

street. that looks kind of coczy. this is where you buy the ipad when they open up. they're already flying out of the stores overseas. some big box retailers here started selling them at midnight. apple expects to sell a million of them on the very fist day. >> tech expert katie has one in her hands. she is in orlando, unfortunately. you know, we've been talking to you for a couple of weeks now about the new ipad that was coming out. you have now sampled one for a week. tell us what you think. >> yeah. you know, i think i put this into three different categories because the biggest question i get yesterday, even rosie o'donnell was, i have an ipad 2, do i upgrade? after spending a week with it. i say if you have that ipad 2 and you're a pow were user, using it more than eight or nine hours a week, probably nice to upgra upgrade. however, if you're not a power user, take advantage of that ipad 2 that's now $100 cheaper

starting at $399. but i have to tell you some of the differences between the new, i pad and the ipad 2, let's roll through it. the biggest one i've been showing people with the whoa factor is that retina display. that new display which i showed you is double the resolution for the ipad 2. 10/80 resolution when you watch movies. big difference when you see photos. rear facing camera. i don't know who is taking photos on tablets these days. 4g capability, faster in terms of download speeds and new processor. also, hot spot capability which is a nice feature, especially for those of us who travel. i want to tell you the new ipad is a little bit thicker. weighs a little bit more. you really don't notice the difference. >> really? i want to go back to the definition of power user. here's mine. i don't go anywhere without it, including to bed. so -- but i use it basically for search information and to do research. would i be a candidate for the

new one? >> i think so. you know, again, i kind of put it at that eight or nine hours a week. if you uses a lot of travel and looking at a lot of photos, you notice the retina display, especially in very small text, so if you are somebody that goes to the ipad as one of your main deveess i think it might be worth the upgrade. they're expecting, as you said, 1 million units sold today. they sold 55 million units of ipads cumulative. 60 to 65 million of these sold. huge number. no tech expert is going to tell you there's a better tablet on the marketplace. ipad 2 is an amazing tablet. this just integrates now some bonus features. >> but can you get your hands on one? >> i thought it was cool having this a little early a few days. people at walmart, if you were there last night at midnight you might also be matching me. some people have theirs in hands. at apple stores, the real hype

and real fun is to be there at 8:00 a.m. to pick one up. >> no thanks. >> if you haven't preordered online, do it now. >> i can't let you go without talking about ms. amanda foot who is standing -- whose line is she in and how much is it going to cost me to go take her spot? >> yes. so here's the deal. amanda foot is an amazing woman. i went down to the apple store on fifth avenue yesterday to get footage for cnn tape yesterday. shamelessly took footage of people waiting in line for the new ipad with my new ipad which is horrible, i realize that. amanda foot is in line. she is known globally for waiting in line for new ipads. last time around she got 900 bucks for her spot in loin. this year she told me she is hoping for $2500. you are asking if you can wait in line? yes, if you want extra money, here's a good way to do it. >> oh, my goodness. >> i don't know that i would pay that much but good for her. good for her. >> katie linendall. fu for sharing.

do you get to keep it in. >> as a loan. i will give this one back but purchasing a new one as an early adapter. >> 360 plus million ipads will be sold. that's more than the population of the united states. tablets. tablets. >> anyway, let's move on here. 19 minutes after 6:00. still ahead on "early start," rick santorum stepping into it, stirring things up? not sure which. it all happened in puerto rico when he said english before statehood or sort of some translation thereof. his communications director hogan gidley is going to straighten it out. >> i wonder he traveled through the island? >> by the way, look at those numbers. gas prices, are britain and the u.s. joining forces to bring those numbers down? is that possible if christine romans has the answer and that's coming up on "early start." [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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23 minutes now past 6:00. for the seventh straight day in a row gas prices are up. a national average is now $3.83. >> make you sick. it's up almost 17% so far this year. for more on that we have christine romans joining us. my mouth was wide open because i was talking about apple because we just got out of the ipad segment. gosh, i wish i would have bought the stock early. >> i knew somebody who bout it $2 a share and every time it doubled, bought more. >> that's like my sister and starbucks, 20 years ago. >> they always say buy what you know. a lot of people get apple, they're a consumer of the products. >> i didn't. >> i can remember at $90 a share

thinking, wow, that's kind of a lot. starting to mature, have they paekd under innovation. look, a month ago apple was at $500. wow, can you believe apple at $500? now it's at $600. some people are saying, hey, you know, this run is over but they were saying that at $90, $100, $200, $300, $400. >> going to $700? >> i'm not going to make that prediction. i wouldn't work here -- if i knew where apple was going or where the stock was going, i would be on an island in the caribbean. i'm just telling you that. i'm just a reporter. i want to talk a little bit about gas prices because this is important. yesterday there was a lot of talk about a reuters exclusive report saying that british and u.s. officials were talking to each other about what kind of framework they could hammer out in case they want to -- gas prices get too high, release from their strategic petroleum resave serves. the white house is pushing back on that saying we are always talking with our partners about ways that we're going to

coordinate global energy situations but that was -- there's a lot of talk about that in the markets yesterday. and oil prices are still pretty high. more than $105 a barrel. and i was talking to richard who wrote this book called "the great reset." he knows a lot about how we change our lives because of these big mac kro factors. this is what he said. he said, you don't blame or credit presidents for gas prices. in the end, the power is all in us. listen. >> the increasing numbers of walking and biking to work are downsizing, if we want to make the american economy thrive we've got to make the american economy less oil dependent. that means the most important thing the president can do and we can do is change the way we live. >> change the way we live. >> we have. >> and we have. >> that's right. at what point do you change the way you live? that's something we discuss on this weekend. >> that's right. we discuss it on saturday morning, don't we? >> that's right. >> i watch this while i'm

working out. join me on the treadmill. >> i watch it while i'm eating, that's funny. >> thank you, christine. >> that tells you -- >> a tale of two saturday mornings. 26 minutes past 6:00. and still ahead on "early start," santorum is really stirring it up, folks. puerto rico as he said english before statehood or reasonable facsimile of that statement. hogan gidley is going to clear that up. you're watching "early start." when i grow up, i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. thanks, mom. i just want to get my car back. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life.

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i've that they're expecting some sosht of retaliation for these allegations. so it's being taken very seriously. that's why his name is not being revealed. i certainly will not reveal his name even though i know what it is. i think there's some real serious concern about the safety. a rare march tornado caught on tape in michigan. right near ann harbor force g 00 people from thehomes. damaging and destroying several homes outside of ann harbor. reports of at least three funnel clouds touched down in that area. they're going to be assess that this morning. new details on the man police say opened fire outside a courthouse in texas, killing a 79-year-old woman and wounding three others. police say bartholomew granger was aiming for his daughter and mother because they testified against him in a sexual assault

case. both were hit. the daughter remains in critical condition. tech heads all over the world are in a frenzy because the new ipad goes on sale this morning at 8:00 a.m. eastern. right now people are camped you side of apple's flagship store in new york city. check the pictures, folks. that one, selling her spot in line, in fact. the device will sell starting at $499. i don't know how much the spot in line will cost you. i think that's a market-driven price. and an ugly moment during last night's ncaa match-up between kansas state and southern mississippi. members of the southern miss band were caught on camera yelling "where's your green card" at the kansas state point guard rodriguez as he was throwing a free throw. listen quickly. >> trying to come over and draw the charge. rodriguez has already let the ball go. he's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come right now. no facial egxpression whatsoeve.

>> southern miss president is apologizing to rodriguez for this incident and is promising quick disciplinary action against the students who were involved. >> unfortunate this day and age that happens at that level. >> ridiculous. 32 minutes past the hour. puerto rico is going to weigh in on the race on sunday. it's funny because they can't vote. >> in general election. >> but they do vote in the primary. 20 of the territories, 23 delegates at stake. a contest where mitt romney has 498 delegates. santorum, 239. gingrich, 139. paul, 69. 1,144 are needed to secure the nomination. >> rick santorum making a last-minute trip to puerto rico on wednesday and asked whether he would support statehood on the island where the primary language is spanish. here's what he had to say. >> speak english, that would be a requirement. it's a requirement in other states. it's a condition for entering the union.

>> yesterday cnn's jim acosta caught up with the senator and he stood by his comments. have a listen. >> what i said english has to be learned as a language and it has to be a country, this is why it's spoken and used, yes. >> should it be a requirement for this territory to become a state? >> i think english -- english and spanish -- obviously spanish is going to be spoken here on the island. this needs to be a buy linguy b bilingual country. >> hi, nice to see you. >> nice to see you, ashleigh. thanks so much for the time. >> great to have you on. full disclosure, hogan gidley and i worked together many, many years ago in a station in texas. nice to see you. you didn't age, my friend. this is all of a sudden becoming quite a big story, what your candidate has said about statehood and about puerto rico and the federal requirements. do you want to clear up exactly what he was saying? because it seems pretty clear to us that he said it's a federal requirement, you got to have

english as your main language. >> ashleigh, what he was saying was this has been issued throughout the campaign. most candidates have been in agreement that, in fact, english should be the official language of this country. i don't think that's a surprise or shock to anybody. the point he was trying to make was, of course puerto ricans are going to speak spanish. that's their native tongue, that's fine. he was trying to say the language of opportunity for this country is indeed english. and he would encourage anyone if president to speeng english to have the most opportunities and best chances to succeed in this country. after all, it is america. we do speak english p predominant predominantly. i know the original comments were not only taken out of context but were actually miss quoted and, in fact, he called that reporter out in the press conference subsequent to that first story and the reporter refused to change their question. so it's just part of the dance, part of what we do here. >> i'm glad you brought that up. i'm glad you brought that up because that does happen quite

often. we're not a perfect science, the media. we worried we had been taking a quote from a magazine that might have made a mistake so we went to the tape and found the tape of what you just mentioned, the tremendous opportunity. let me play for our audience this issue of what your candidate was referring to, what the senator meant by tremendous opportunity and about english in that state. let's have a listen. >> tremendous opportunity for people here on the island who, in my opinion, have been denied a lot of economic opportunities because the government has not emphasized the importance of english. that is my understanding required under the law in the first place. >> so i think, you know, hogan, i think that's why this issue became controversial, is that senator santorum said, my understanding that this is required under the law in the first place. did he make a mistake and is he backing down from that? >> i'm not sure -- i'm not sure of the law. >> it's definitely not codified. there is no federal law that requires that for statehood.

>> no, it wasn't a prerequisite for statehood. that's not what he was saying. english is the official language in addition to spanish. they have two in puerto rico. that's not what he was talking about at all. i just think that during this campaign there have been a lot of comments about english as the official language and rick is one of those people who stands on the side that english should be the official language. what i think is really shocking is when they went to mitt romney to ask him the same question, he tab danced around like bing crosby on a christmas special talking about how, well, it wasn't really official, they doint have to have it as an official language. so again, he tends to pander when he's in a particular crowd, especially when he was trying to get a vote. >> what does he mean as a condition though? i guess i'm trying to get -- listen, it's all about semantics. >> sure. >> you know that campaigns will take a word and make a 30-second bite over the meaning of that word. i've already heard at this time described as universal language, official language, principle language, main language. what does the senator think is

the issue for pouerto rico if i wants to obtain statehood, what is the condition with regard to language? >> well, i don't know there's a condition as it relates to language. i mean, again, i think he was speaking in broader context that it would be important for the people of puerto rico to speak english so they could have more opportunities in america. i think that's what he was talking about. i'm not exactly sure, you know, what he said where it fallses in code or what it says about english for the official language. i know all the candidates support english as a official language nape did until mitt romney's comments yesterday. this is in a broader context. quite frankly, ashleigh, it's more about the language being the language of opportunity. that's where he was going with that. i'm sure we will hear more about it today because he will get asked more and more about it. acosta is doing a pretty good job tracking him down. i'm sure he will answer some questions. >> front page of all the papers today and it's all over the media. so we are trying to get the t bottom of it because we don't want to obviously give anybody a

free ride and we don't want to badger anybody. we want to get it right. condition for admission was critical. i grabbed that piece. i haven't had a piece to listen to it yet so let's listen to it to t together. the condition for admission. >> there is a condition for admission that people would speak both but they have to speak english. that would be a requirement. it's a requirement we put on other states. it's a condition for entering the union, to participate as a state in the united states, then you need to participate in the language of the people speaking in the states. >> so, hogan, let's put this one to bed. what does that mean, they have to speak, they have to speak on the street or they would have to speak by law on paper english as an official language without another official language being spanish? >> right. obviously we're not talking about getting rid of spanish.

th that's what they speak predominantly and that's one -- their main language. the point he was trying to make still is it's important for members of the union in america to be able to speak english. i think as president he would push that and try to drive that message home that we're americans and we don't want you to give up your heritage, we don't want to -- we're a nation of iimmigrants. he's a grandson of an immigrant and his parents and grandparents spoke italian but they had to learn english because they felt it was important for them to understand to come to this country for a better life and came to this country looking for freedom, that they had to learn the language that would make them prosper. i think that's what's at stake here and that's what he's talking about. is that we know that puerto rico wants to become a state, a large portion of those folks do. they are saying it's important for them to understand that they speak the english here. if they want to same opportunity, whether it be in business or life, they need to

speak english. >> puerto rico has 23 delegates sandwiched between missouri and illinois with 62 and 69 delegates apiece. big races. i'm going to give you that last chance to give me the predictions for the big ones. >> i'm not sure. i mean, obviously we want every single county in missouri early on in the process and now to go back and get those delegates. that's what makes this so interesting. it's not like all the delegates that people say are already spoken for. they're not sitting in a room waiting to come out and say we're going to vote for this guy. the issue a lot of these states is delegates haven't been elected yet and a lot of delegates haven't actually been secure yet. so that's what's part of this process and that's what makes it to great. we're going to continue to push through missouri and into illinois and then louisiana, texas, and take this thing all of the way to the finish line. we're excited about the upcoming states and the opportunities we have. >> you will come back and talk to us? >> that's right. hey, look, i'm an early riser. i have a green tie on today for st. patrick's day. i'm excited. >> look forward to seeing the

senator at some point, too. >> thanks, ashleigh. god bless. coming up, new details on what might have set off the u.s. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 innocent civilians in afghanistan. you're watching "early start." our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. o0 [ dog ] it's our favorite. yours and mine.itar: upbeat ] because we found it. together.

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it's 45 minutes past the hour. new developments out of afghanistan overnight and the shooting deaths of 16civilians allegedly at the hands of the soldier. >> they are talking about who this soldier is and what it might have been that set him off. alina cho has been monitoring the developments throughout the night and the morning. >> it's amazing what a difference a day makes. you know, a lot of interesting details are coming out.

we we still don't know his name but here's what we can tell you. overnight "the new york times" got this report that the soldier had been drinking alcohol, was suffering stress from being on his fourth tour of duty. and that he had problems with his marriage. we're going to get to that in just a moment, but first we can tell you the soldier has hired a well-known lawyer from the seattle area. john henry brown is his name. brun did speak to reporters last night and here's what he told us. the soldier is a 38-year-old highly decorated staff sergeant. he's married, father of two, has two young children aged 3 and 4. he's from the midwest. and joined the military within a week after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. now, here's a part that could be key in the case. according to his lawyer, the soldier was injured twice while serving in iraq. traumatic brain injury. and in the other incident he lost part of his foot. in fact, he was to distraught he did not want to be deployed again. mr. brown also had more insight into the soldier's mental state saying somebody in his unit was

gravely injured on the day before the shooting rampage but he rejected reports circulating out there that his client had been drinking or that his marriage was in trouble. watch. >> i would like to put to rest because it's been out there and i don't know where it came from and it's quite offensive to the family and to us, that there is some sort of suggestion that there was discord in the family. that's absolutely untrue. very strong marriage. there's a lot of love, a lot of respect, children. i don't know where that rumor came from. and we find it very offensive. >> you know, i think it was in that same article that i was reading that the soldier specifically asked for this attorney to represent him. and he has an interesting background. >> that's right. he's not doing this pro bono. he said he is getting paid. he did speak to the lawyer -- did speak to the soldier yesterday, rather, and several members of the family. but you're right, he's had some high-profile cases. most recently brown represented kol on the harris moore. if you don't recognize the name you will know him by this, the

barefoot bandit. remember this case? you may remember that moore targete targeted airplanes, boats, cars on a two-year robbery spree. this was interesting when i learned this. probably his most famous and more high-profile client. he also represented that sirrial killer ted bundy who as you know admitted to 30 homicides in the '70s. about this case, though, it's interesting he does know who the soldier is. obviously he's spoken to him. he does know his identity. he's not going to reveal his name for a variety of reasons until the formal charges are filed. the other thing is his wife and two children have been moved from their home in tacoma, washington, to an undisclosed location because there are so many concerns about safety. obviously we'll be watching case very, very closely. when those formal charges come out we will learn his identity. >> is it true that the family had known that because of the headlines the family reached out because of the headlines not so much they needed a lawyer or the

firm or advice? >> we tell you the wife was shocked about the allegations. the family clearly shocked, in a state of shock. and what i found very interesting is that this lawyer has spoken not just to the wife but to several members of the family. the soldier, we should mention very quickly, is in kuwait right now but could be moved as early as today, according to the "new york times," to ft. leavenworth, kansas. soledad o'brien is joining us now with a look ahead of what's coming up on "starting point." >> coming up this morning, going to talk to the grieves family of martin, young man, teenager was killed when he was walking through a gated community in florida. this morning we sit down with the family, mom, dad, lawyer as well representing the family, and also jeff toobin is going to talk to us about the analysis of what happens next legally. plus, we've got whitney houston's wonderful wardrobe right with us in the studio. they're going to be auctioning

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52 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. time to check our top stories. christine romans busy at the job. hello. >> 200 people forced out of their homes by a rare march tornado in michigan. it's part of a severe weather outbreak from michigan down through the south. storms damaging or destroying several homes outside ann harbor. wow, reports that three funnel clouds touched down in that area. rick santorum sticking by his remarks that english should be a requirement for statehood in puerto rico. mitt romney insisting he would require no supposed rule. 20 delegates are up for grab on sunday. the ex-mistress of john edwards is expected to testify in his federal trial next month. edwards could face 30 years in prison if convicted of giving campaign money to rielle hunter. he got lost, his attorney says after missing the entrance

more than once, they ended up at a burger joint for lunch. blagojevich eventually arrived to begin serving a 14-year sentence for corruption. and one family's home is another family's hive. that's right. more than 150,000 bees invading this home in austin, texas. they built a massive hive inside the walls. bee rescue officials estimate the hive was there for three or four years. it creeps me out even to read it. >> they didn't notice? >> three or four years building the hive. >> inside the walls. >> man. >> that's awfully strange. thanks, christine. coming up, soledad o'brien will have an exclusive interview on "starting point." she's talking to the parents of trayvon martin, the 15-year-old gunned down by the neighborhood watch captain. the shooter is claiming self-defense. trayvon's parents are outraged

that he has not been charged. did you see this picture? "playboy" and do you recognize that face? i'll give you one word, mccain. and, yes, that mccain. what's she doing posing in that magazine anyway? and is it all about the article? >> she has her clothes on, you know. right? >> we're going to give you a ree. one. two. and, three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn more cash back for the things you buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% cash back on groceries. 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. it's as easy as one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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the benefits of calcium in a sweet, delicious treat. enjoy vitafusion calcium gummies today. making the pain appearing in "playboy" magazine. don't get too excited. we got the photo from the spread, she's fully clothesed. >> it's nice. >> very pretty. "playboy" interviewed senator john mccain's daughter for its 20 questions segment. >> mccain tells "playboy" she loves men and talks politics saying if her dad had won in 2000,0008 the recession would not have been as bad. >> it's hard to talk stuff when she's posing in that position with her heels sticking up. maybe it's just me. >> it's "playboy." >> i buy it for the articles. right, pete? >> yeah. >> i got that line from pete.

you're speechless. i know. i know. it's friday. >> i don't think you buy "playboy" but i could go the opposite direction there. but i won't. we'll head over to soledad. >> i think that's a great idea. >> soledad, you take it. "starting point." >> that's like the hot potato handoff, isn't it? it's friday. i'm willing to take that. thanks, guys. appreciate it. our "starting point" this morning, but first hint of a possible motive for that massacre of again civilians. the accused u.s. soldier apparently saw a friend gravely injured the day before the rampage. officials are quoted as saying he just snapped. now the soldier has hired a high-profile lawyer. plus, the gop candidates are eyeing puerto rico's primary. rick santorum is standing by his mantra, that english be english to become statehood. reit tag