good morning. welcome to early start. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we begin with your top stories. mitt romney coming off a rout of rick santorum in puerto rico. but santorum is insisting the

nomination is his, if he pulls off an illinois upset. spring nearly sprung. what the heck is this? no joke. more in an a foot of snow on the ground in flagstaff, arizona. more on the way, too. bizarre. a major late winter storm shutting down the interstate 40 for nearly 200 miles. in nebraska and oklahoma, the trouble is tornadoes. look at this. storm chasers captured this twister in the town of willow, oklahoma. reynolds wolf is tracking all of the severe weather. >> dozens of occupy wall street demonstrators arrested in ugly pictures in lower manhattan. they're trying to reoccupy the park. and how sweet it is. the sweet 16 is set after 11th seeded north carolina state, upseeded georgetown.

up next for n.c. state, kansas on friday. we begin with breaking news from france. three people, two children, have been killed on a shooting outside of a jewish school in toulouse, france. several people were reportedly injured by this gunman. security has been ordered tightened at jewish schools. it's not clear if these shootings could be connected to other shootings at soldiers earlier on. jim bitterman is on the phone from paris. give us the details on the injured and those who were killed. and exactly who this shooter could be, jim. >> that's what police are looking at this morning. basically, ten minutes after 8:00 this morning, local time, as students were gathering in the jewish area of toulouse.

in fact, a gunman came by on a motor bike and shot into the crowd of about four or five people. reports are that two students were killed and adults killed and several injured in addition to who was killed. police are looking into what connection there might be to two earlier shooting instances involving soldiers in the toulouse area. the operation looks similar. a motor bike involved. the gunman comes by and shoots. in one case, shot at one soldier and killed him. in another case, a gunman shot at three soldiers. two of the soldiers were killed and another severely injured. police have at least the potential serial killer on the loose in toulouse. the interior minister of france will be headed that direction to toulouse this morning to see what reinforcements he can give to the local police.

>> jim bitterman reporting from paris, about an incident from toulouse. the israeli foreign minister making a comment, being horrified by what transpired in france today. we'll have more on that as it develops. three minutes past the hour now. mitt romney, taking a step towards clinching the gop nomination, after a victory in the puerto rico primary. he got 83% of the vote in puerto rico yesterday. santorum, in the single digits. 20 delegates for romney. he is hoping to parlay the win into latino votes moving forward. >> those people who don't think that latino won't vote for a republican, need to take a look in puerto rico and see there that conservative principles and latino voters go together. if we stand for something, conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs.

that's why we're going to win. we're going to get latino voters to help us out. >> let's look at the delegate scoreboard here. romney, 518. santorum, 239. 54 delegates at stake tomorrow in illinois. and polls show romney with a slight lead. paul steinhauser, a trouncing. let's look at puerto rico and we'll move forward to illinois. >> here's the difference between the romney and the santorum campaigns. santorum was down in puerto rico for two days. and got in trouble over the spanish language and the controversy over whether they should make english the official language if they were to become a state. look at this statement from the santorum campaign after the loss in puerto rico. it says, rick santorum has a consistent core. and he showed that when he went to puerto rico and took an unpopular stance about english

being the language of american. and we all know that mitt romney will say and do anything to get votes. this is another example of that. you can imagine, the romney campaign doesn't agree with this. and they say that romney has not flip-flopped at all on this issue. and they disagree with the santorum campaign. a slice of the nastiness you can see between the two campaigns. >> let's move forward to illinois now. santorum says if he wins that, he's got the nomination. romney says, he's ahead. >> we said michigan was a must-win for romney. the next week, ohio. this week, you can say, yes, it's illinois. a moderate state. a different feel than what we saw in mississippi and alabama. you saw mitt romney change his strategy. he wasn't supposed to be campaigning there until today. sundays are usually a slow day for mitt romney. spent the whole day there. you can see, illinois is a crucial state for mitt romney to

win. louisiana coming up on saturday. that's a more conservative state that santorum will win. keep your eyes on illinois. >> thank you very much. six minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. happening this moment, a major late winter storm causing some major headaches. yes. arizona. i'm not kidding. arizona. look at your screen. in flagstaff, more than a foot of snow is on the ground. we could get another foot later today. the storm is forcing closure of interstate 40 for nearly 200 miles. that's from kingman all the way to east winslow if you're keeping score. >> great skiing there. >> in arizona. and great condos in new york. get yourself a winter condo in connecticut. other parts of the country are seeing warm temperatures, as well. reynolds wolf is in the weather center. what's the deal? >> we do have a crazy mix, which makes weather interesting. the snow in parts of arizona, interesting. but not unusual at all.

many of us have the perception in arizona, you have tucson. you don't think about the northern half of the state. and that certainly was the case this weekend. in arizona, you had 26 inches of snow. well over a foot in ft. valley, flagstaff and belmont. big bear city in california, got 20 inches of snowfall. some places a little more. and great for all of the skiers in big bear. we're going to see a difference in parts of the central and southern plains. look for a chance of severe storms. already storms in oklahoma and texas. and parts of the appalachians, seeing rain in pittsburgh. but the big chance of severe weather will take place in the southern plains as that frontal boundary sweeps to the east. into louisiana, as we fast forward today into tuesday. one big issue we're going to have is the heavy rainfall we'll see in texas. six inches of rain falling at a

rapid rate. some places could see up to a foot or more over the next 24 hours or so. a huge concern for a lot of people. the other thing you were talking about is the big change of temperatures. in the west, it's been the cold. but in the east, a huge ridge of high pressure, 85 degrees in memphis. in chicago, recovering over st. patrick's day. 79 degrees. in new york, 72, the expected high. >> 72. what month is this? what month are we in? >> hard to believe, but we're in march. >> i hate to say no complaints. i do have complaints. it's supposed to be cold when it's supposed to be cold. >> send her the e-mails. >> it is nine minutes past 5:00. this just in, are you ready? we bring you this live. the national price for gas, rising to $3.84 a gallon. gas is selling at least 4 bucks a gallon. alaska, california, connecticut,

new york and washington, feel your pain. that's the level analysts start changing some of their spending habits, as well. the steep rise in gas prices have become a weapon for republicans to use against the president. but are there promises? or just politics? coming up at 6:15 eastern, we're going to talk to jim burkhart and get answers there. christine romans is watching the markets for us this morning. they closed mixed on friday. the dow and the nasdaq closing lower but not by much. the national average closed up by 1.5%. stock futures are down ahead of the opening bell this morning. >> normally, i'm listening to the details and processing them. but i can't think of anything other than apple. >> apple. i know. 9:00, the company is having a conference call. and everybody wants to know what apple will do with its huge cash horde.

apple has $98 billion in cash sitting in the bank. >> say that again. >> $98 billion. apple builds it through subcontractors in china. ships it all over the world. and they're making things that we never knew we needed. but can't live without. apple is up 40%, 50% every year. look at the stocks. you see the shares of apple computer, just this year, are up almost 45%. we crossed $500 a share about a month ago. and then, crossed $600 a share four weeks later. sitting on this cash, in just the fiscal quarter of the annual year, $16 billion. in cash. money that goes right into the bank. a lot of analysts are saying they think this company is going to get a dividend. shareholders of the company will get a little money back. maybe 2%. maybe 2.5%. a lot of tech companies give money back to their investors,

to their shareholders. that's what folks are hoping will happen here. it will make apple more valuable. you have the mutual funds and all the value investors and investors who want to get a return back for holding their apple shares, instead of the stock going up and up. >> i wonder where the top is, although, right? >> that's such a good question. there's two adages on wall street. one is the trend is your friend. and the trend in apple is up. anybody who has been selling apple all the way up is pulling their hair out. the other adage is, trees don't grow to the sky. they can't go up forever. is apple worth it? does it continue to be worth $300, $400, $500 a share? if they can penetrate the entire world with their products. if they're competitors don't find a way to saturday to eat into some of their momentum. the momentum is there for apple. but the news today, will there be a dividend? we'll find out at 9:00.

>> thank you so much. 12 past 5:00 on the east coast. we're giving you an early read for stories you should watch today. robert bales, accused of killing 16 afghan civilians, he's expected to meet face-to-face for the first time with his attorney today in kansas. the first time he gets to talk to his lawyer, john henry browne, who has made media appearances. the owners of the new york mets head to court today. a jury will decide if they looked the other way while reaping millions from bernie madoff's ponzi scheme. the stakes are enormous for victims and the team. and the duchess of cambridge -- that was ridiculous. she is delivering her first public speech this morning. it will happen in over two hours

at a children's hospital facility. catherine will tour the building, meet the staff and plant a tree to commemorate the opening. >> diana was the people's princess. i wonder if they dubbed her anything yet. >> she has the same aura. >> to connect. >> one thing i notice all the time, and maybe it's just me, she's very skinny. and gets skinnier and skinnier in each public appearance. >> if you had that pressure on her. >> i hope she is planning to have kids and get some beef on. 14 minutes past the hour here. ontario town is turned upside down. hundreds are on the street, rioting on st. patrick's day. look at that. those are students. >> are those canadians? what's wrong with the canadians? >> a lot. we'll tell you about that when we come back. >> these are my rivals when i was in college. show the pictures as long as you want. also coming up, the supreme court is set to debate health

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good morning to you. chicago. 63 degrees right now. you know i'm bummed about this. it's going to be 79 degrees later. you've been having fabulous weather when i'm not there. you know? i don't know. i am happy for you. >> look at that lovely picture. i hope people are awake to see that. >> if you are awake, 18 minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. time to look at our stories with christine romans. >> i want to get you up to speed on the developing story out of toulouse, france, this morning, where a gunman has killed two children and one adult out of a jewish school. witnesses say the gunman sped

off on a motor scooter after the shooting. french officials have ordered tighter security at all jewish schools in the country. this is the area where a soldier was killed by a gunman on a scooter recently. it's not clear if the incidents might be connected. tomorrow's illinois primary will be a big indicator tomorrow. mitt romney could take a step towards the nomination with a win in illinois. rick santorum predicts he will be the nominee if he pulls off a win in illinois. 1,000 rowdy revelerers breaking out in riots. throwing glass bottles at police. several people were arrested. one woman taken to the hospital with burn injuries. "21 jump street" debuts at the top of the weekend box office, earning an estimated $35 million. the film starring jonah hill and channing tatum was made for

about $45 million. "the lorax" fell to second. "john carter" was third. and trivia question, ladies. which big, huge star got his start in the tv show, "21 jump street"? remember? >> johnny depp. >> i know. it says how old we are. >> i never get that stuff. >> i loved that show. >> you jumped on that so quickly, i figured you were 100% right. >> if i didn't get it right, my entire former country where i emigrated from, that was a canadian production. >> was it? i didn't know that. there you go. >> useless trivia of the morning. the president's wealth care reform law and the decision could come down to a single vote. the court is split between four liberal justices and five conservatives. and the white house is weighing its options on how to get that

crucial fifth vote of approval. jeffrey toobin has all of the details. >> good morning. >> what i'm gathering is that the supreme court has to decide over the challenges to obama-care. and it has to do with some clauses that are critical in the constitution. >> just one clause. one clause that matters. >> the commerce clause? >> the commerce clause. >> or the other strange -- >> don't worry about the other. it's the commerce clause. it's not the main part of this case. it's about the commerce clause. >> what's it about? >> congress has to act under its authority in the constitution. something in the constitution has to say congress has the right to pass any law that it passes. and the authority that it uses in most of the laws that it passes relating to the economy, is the commerce clause. in article one, the constitution

says, congress has the right to regulate commerce among the several states. what does that mean? what is the commerce power? traditionally, that has been a very broad brand of power, when it comes to health care in the country. we have medicare. medicaid. the united states government has been deeply involved in regulating health care for decades. the question in this case, is the individual mandate, the part of obama care that says everyone has to have insurance. >> no matter what. you have to buy it. >> correct. and the question is that constitutional under congress' power. i read an article this week that the answer is clearly yes because the national market for health insurance is unusual because everybody is under that market.

if you buy health insurance, that's how you pay for health care. but if you don't buy health insurance, you'll still be treat bade hospital if you fall in the street and get hurt. everybody will pay for your health care. >> when it comes to acting on the supreme court, we have nine justices. four of them are liberal, considered to be, you know, falling in line on the liberal side. you can see them on the left. appropriately so on the left-hand side of your screen. on the right-hand side of your screen, five of them, considered to be mostly in the right-hand corner when voting on issues. the one that's critical is antonin scalia. that's why i brought up that necessary and proper clause because there's some people watching this, jeff, who say that the briefs and the direction that obama and the justice department are taking,

seem to indicate that's how they they can get their conservative vote. >> in this case, the scope of federal power has been something that the supreme court has dealt with for decades. this came up in the new deal. certainly justice kennedy who is the swing vote in these cases, have voted to approve broad federal powers. the possibility here, and it's a legitimate possibility. these conservatives might join the liberals in upholding obama care because there's different roots to get there to find constitutional justification. you could find the commerce clause. federal taxing power is also broad.

the odds favor this law being upheld. there's different ways to do it. >> you ever thought of teaching for a living? >> no. >> you should. i would take your class. i would give this up all of the glamour to take your class. jeff toobin, lovely to see you. >> nice to break it down into english. you're right. >> 24 minutes past the hour. ahead, more weather. california, a town there is digging out. a massive mudslide in that area. i think they're predicting more rain. they're praying for no rain this morning. did you hear about rick santorum's bold prediction? he says he will be the nominee if he wins illinois tomorrow. my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. 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.

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her killing captivated an entire nation. and to this day, jonbenet ramsey's murder remains unsolved. >> now, her father is talking about his decision to let her participate in beauty pageants. >> the point is, you need to protect your children. >> more of my interview with john ramsey. what he has so say about today's pageants. and the one thing he's been m carrying around with him for 15 years. you're going to see it. you're watching "early start."

it is 29 minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. welcome back to "early start." time to check the stories making news this morning. >> two children were among three reportedly killed in toulouse, france. witnesses say a motorcyclist opened fire and took off. several other people injured, as well, by the gunman. security has been ordered tightened at jewish schools throughout france. this incident occurs just days after three soldiers were shot to death by a man on a scooter in the same part of france. but it's not clear if those shootings are connected. and tomorrow's illinois primary, shaping up to be a make-or-break battle between mitt romney and rick santorum. romney, coming off a big win in puerto rico, could clinch the nomination with a strong showing in illinois. rick santorum says the nomination will be his if he

pulls off an upset tomorrow. forget spring break. today's a snow day. that's for kids in flagstaff, in arizona. there was a snowstorm and it shut down i-40, for almost 200 miles. >> and a wet, muddy second in new castle, california. they are digging out after a massive mudslide. it had one main roadblocked for hours. but some folks in the neighborhood are jittery because one heavy rain could threaten home there's. north carolina state pulling off the upset and upsetting brackets. they will advance to the sweet 16. n.c. state will play the kansas jayhawks on friday. >> 31 minutes past the hour. the primary in illinois tomorrow could turn out to be a

defining moment in the race for the republican nomination. mitt romney routed rick santorum in puerto rico in the primary yesterday. he got over 80% of the vote. and he gets the full 20 delegates. santorum, however, sounding surprisingly confident, in spite of that. hoping for an upset in illinois, where 54 delegates are at stake, making a bold prediction also, if he pulls it off. >> if we're able to come out of illinois with a huge or surprise win, i guarantee you, i guarantee you, we will win this nomination. >> santorum has a long way to go. the delegate count right now, romney is at 518. santorum is at 239. let's talk to our political panel about this. live from washington, d.c., we have joe williams, white house reporter for politico. nice smile this morning. here in new york, we have democratic strategist, joe polinco. there you are. running a little late this

morning. and in chicago, we have lenny mcallister. thank you for being with us. john, i'm going to start with you. santorum isn't eligible for ten of the illinois delegates. he didn't qualify for the ballots in 4 of the 18 districts in illinois. how can he pull off the surprise win he's talking about? >> well, he's managed to surprise and confound people before. this one looks like a bit more of a long shot. i ran into a democratic operative a couple of days ago, who said if santorum had a smaller organization -- if he had a better organization, to a minor degree, he would probably be the front-runner by now, because he's managed to excite the base. he's done a lot of that by hand-to-hand -- pressing the flesh, retail politics that mitt romney is not so good at. it's possible. but his disorganization makes it probably unlikely that he would triumph and collect enough delegates to overcome or take a huge bite out of mitt romney's

lead in illinois. >> his lack of organization is what got him into this, right? >> pretty much, yeah. that's what got him in the fix because it's not like nobody knew when the primaries were going to happen. or that the schedule hasn't been set up at least a year and a half, two years in advance, to make sure everybody had enough time and knew what they needed to do to get every delegate they qualify for. >> lenny, i'm going to switch gears to you. romney was talking about the math. this is the last week he was talking about that. he's talking about delegate math again on fox news. let's listen. and then, we'll chat about it. >> people will talk about delegates and strategies and math. that's interesting to the insiders. but the american people want to see someone who has the skill, leadership and experience to defeat the president. i can't tell you how the process is going to work. i hope i'm going to be the nominee. >> he knows he has to get the delegates in order to win. and the polling is showing that it's a tight race. what's that play in illinois?

>> what's it play is at once again, being able to excite voters. he's pivoting away from talking about the delegate math. if you remember what it looked like coming out of southern tuesday last week. he was talking about how it was inevitable that the delegate math would not allow anybody else other than him to win the nomination. that didn't play well. voters don't want to be excited about delegate math. they want to be excited about leadership. he's trying to pivot away from that. he should get the majority of delegates here. but he neelds to excite people. he needs to coalesce a base. when he moves into yankee primary, going into the district of columbia, et cetera, he can get momentum. he doesn't have the momentum of the people to drive him. he's going to need the tea party momentum, which is big in illinois. by the time he gets to tampa, he's not trying to forge alliances. he's trying to invigorate the

alliances he's forming now in the spring. >> i want to ask you one more question about santorum. that big loss he sustained in puerto rico because of the english language requirement there. can that help him in illinois, you think? >> i think it will help him down state. rick santorum stayed consistent with this. he tried to be consistent with his message but be respective of the cultural uniqueness. mitt romney, who has a reputation of flip-flopping, said he wanted english to be the official language of the united states at one point in time. goes down to puerto rico and backs out of that position. that will play well for rick santorum in painting mitt romney as a flip-flopper. will it be enough in illinois? maybe. maybe not. will it be something that comes up later in the campaign trail, absolutely. >> john, i'm going to switch to you and talk about gas prices.

we showed that they're swinging upwards again. economists say that the president can't do enough to affect prices. but tell that to 54% of the people who believe in a the president can do a lot to control prices. presidents have no control over gas prices. but the american people know something about this president and his disdain for oil. to the american worker who doesn't commute by government motorcade and is getting fleeced every week at the pump, oil seems very much a fuel of the present and of the foreseeable future. so, this affects people's wallets obviously. what can president obama do in order to ease this pain at the pump? >> the reality is, there's not a heck of a lot he can do, at least in the short-term. people would like to believe that the president has a magic wand he can wave. >> the perception is there, right?

>> there is some talk about releasing oil from the strategic reserve. that's one thing that help. it could let people know he's trying to do something. i think the reality is, we buy a lot of oil from some pretty dangerous places. there's going to be shutoffs and tensions in the middle east that's going to drive up prices. all of the talk of war in iran, that drives up prices. the mishandled war in iraq, is hurting us. trying to explain that in a 30-second sound byte, it's not easy. i suspect the president will open up the strategic petroleum reserve and that should help the perception, at least. >> we're going to talk about that later. thank you so much. thanks for being with us. we'll see you at the 6:00 hour. >> thanks. cnn's coverage of the illinois primary begins tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern. it's followed by live coverage of the primary results at 8:00

with wolf blitzer, anderson cooper and the cnn team. coming up, my one-on-one interview with john ramsey, jonbenet's father. can you believe if she were alive today, she would be 21 years old. what is it like when john ramsey comes into contact with some of her friend who are 21? i'll ask him that question. you'll find out. also, did fidel castro know that jfk would be assassinated before it happened?n t kind of . so to save money, i've found a new way to get my profile out there. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave. there's an easier way to save. who wants some ronald tonight!?

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siemens. answers. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it was 16 years ago that this image of a 6-year-old beauty queen was splashed across every supermarket tabloid in this country. her murder, a mystery that no one seems to be able to solve. jonbenet ramsey's parents would be under an umbrella of suspicion for a decade and a half. it's hard to believe, but jonbenet would be 21 years old. and although her family has been cleared of suspicion, the killer is still out there. i sat down with jonbenet's dad,

about his remarkable journey back from the brink and his new outlook on life. >> i've learned a lot about suffering. about recovery. i've learned about how your faith is challenged when you suffer tragedy. and my eyes have been opened to the fact that everybody carries a burden. i want to share that. >> when i met you, i didn't expect to meet a happy person. but i feel like i met a happy person. is that true? >> yes. i can say that i have joy in my life, which i think is a deeper appreciation of what life's all about. what your purpose is. where you're going to life. what the future holds. there was a period of time that i was so angry, we wouldn't need a trial and i would have no remorse. but that anger has passed to a point now, where i want to know why? why did this happen to my child?

>> how did you get there? >> it took time. and i spent a lot of time thinking about and reading about the whole topic of forgiveness. but i realize, forgiveness is a gift i give myself. it's a letting go. it's moving on. it has nothing to do with forgiving -- maybe not want to be forgiven. but it's a release. >> what would you want people to know about jonbenet? >> she was so much more than a beauty queen that she's been tagged. and it hurts when she's tagged that way because that was just a small element of her life. she was energetic. she was incredibly smart. just an amazing, young child. >> you used to call her johnny b. >> yeah. johnny b. she lit the room up. one day i came home from work. and i was kind of crying about something. she said, dad, i don't like that face. so, i put on a smile. she said, that's better. that's who she was. >> attitude adjustment.

>> total. >> speaking of those, you see the programs on cable, "toddlers & tiaras." when you see the programs, what do you think? >> i don't care for them at all. that was certainly not the world in a jonbenet and patsy participated in. when they did it, there was a talent component to the program. and the only people there were grandparents and moms and dads. >> not coaches. >> no coaches. >> costume designers. >> no. and but now that they put it -- made a television show out of it, it's pretty questionable. that's a good idea. i don't think it is. >> do you regret that jonbenet was even in a small part of that world? >> in a sense. we questioned it for a while. was that the reason we were targeted? was there someone in that audience that looked at her in a different way than they should have. >> do you think that's -- >> i don't. but we wondered that.

i think the point is, you need to protect your children to not put them on public display like that. it would be my choice if i had to do over again. >> you carry a medal in your wallet? what's it for? >> it was a medal that jonbenet won five days before she was killed for a talent contest. i used to tell her, when she would do the pageants, just focus on your talent the best you can. the rest doesn't matter. it's a thing between us. i went to the events. i was late. she had the contest. she won the talent award. she came running up to me. daddy, i won this for you. and put it around my neck. it was a little silver dollar medal. after she died, in my mind, i want that medal. we never went back in the house. >> never? >> never. but i wanted to get that medal

at some point. and i had that in my mind. my sister, pam, went back to the house to get clothes for us. came back after a few hours. and came up to me where we were staying, and she said, john, i had an overwhelming need to bring this to you. and it was the medal. it was reassurance that jonbenet was okay. she knew her father needed help. i cried. but i cried with tears of joy when i got this. >> you should be a much more bitter person. >> well, i read a sermon that said, after tragedy, you can be bitter, broken, barren or better. the opportunity is to be better. >> john happened to mention to me that recently, he bumped into an old friend of jonbenet's from back in the day when she was 6 years old. and that friend is 21 and getting married. i asked him, do you imagine jonbenet at 21? and he said, absolutely not.

she's frozen in time at the age of 6 years old. so difficult to go through the details. he seems like a good man and a positive man despite -- >> it comes across, right? and you always wonder, how do parents survive that? and for him to say he found his joy again, remarkable. and i think an inspiration to a lot of people. >> and the book is great. i highly recommend. take a look. still ahead on "early start," it's an ugly scene in greece. soccer fans riot. they set the stadium on fire. nine police officers were wounded there. we'll have all of the details. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? 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. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule.

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in illinois. rick santorum insists he will be the party's nominee, if he pull office the upset tomorrow. soccer fans set the stadium in athens on fire, during a game. the game was obviously canceled early. a new book written by a retired cia officer claims fidel castro may have knew ahead of time that john f. kennedy was going to be assassinated. he says the cuban dictator ordered a senior aide to stop his usual surveillance of cia radio signals. and instead, listen for details out of texas. this was three hours before jfk was killed. so, the controversy continues. >> oh, the conspiracy theorists, i can hear them breaking down the door. >> i hear them buying books. still to come, republicans seizing on this gas issue. but are the promises of cheaper

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welcome back to "early start." mitt romney rules in puerto rico. he's hoping for more of the same tomorrow in illinois. >> and while he has to fend off

attacks from his gop rivals, he's still a popular target in late-night, too. >> mitt romney is trying to change his image as an out of touch guy. he took the silver spoon out of his mouth and added bronze. tone it down. >> romney tweeted a link to a playlist, which is a list of his favorite songs. the playlist includes toby keith, the beach boys, two songs from the killer. and the song, "born free" by kid rock. can you imagine any scenario in which mitt romney puts earbuds in and fires up the kid rock? i can't imagine him putting earbuds in. we know what mitt romney's favorite song is. >> who let the dogs out? who? who? >> i will never get tired of that. >> who let the dogs out?

all right. >> can't catch a break. still to come, illinois primary up for grabs here. 54 delegates are at stake. santorum claims the nomination would be his after tomorrow. what will it take for him to achieve that? and you have to see your screen. if you're brushing your teeth, look at this. 200 miles of an interstate shut down in arizona. i did say arizona. >> a winter wonderland. that's in flagstaff. they're used to that weather. >> more than a foot of snow. and even more could be on the way. and we're march? arizona? you're watching "early start." sl and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond.

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♪ good morning to you. welcome to "early start."

i'm ashleigh banlfield. >> we're very happy you're with us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from a to z. let's get started. >> two children are among four people in a shooting outside a jewish school in toulouse, france. the shooter on a motor scooter took off. this may be linked to other shootings in the area. 54 delegates up for grabs in the crucial illinois primary. mitt romney coming off a rout of rick santorum in puerto rico. santorum says the nomination is his if he pulls off an illinois upset. spring is sprung. what is this you say? looks like christmas in arizona. more than a foot of snow on the ground in flagstaff, five feet in the arizona and california mountains. look at this, snowplows. are you kidding me? a late winter storm shut down

interstate 40 for 240 miles. more severe weather in oklahoma, storm chasers captured a tornado on the ground in the town of willow, oklahoma. reynolds wolf is tracking the extreme weather. north carolina state did a little bracket busting sunday upsetting georgetown to enter the ncaa sweet 16. a lot of bracket busting going on this weekend, that's why they call this march madness. four people reportedly killed outside a jewish school in toulouse, france. three of those killed are children. witnesses say a man on a scooter opened fire at a child dropoff zone, then took off. cnn is working to confirm all of these details. several others were reportedly injured by the gunman as well. the incident occurring days after three soldiers were shot to death by a man on a scooter in the same part of the country.

it's not clear if the shootings might be connected. we'll get an update from cnn's jim bitterman in just a few minutes. mitt romney may have the momentum after routing rick santorum in puerto rico's primary but santorum sounds like he's closing in on the nomination. an overwhelming victory for mitt romney, he won over 80% of the vote and that means he got all the delegates. rick santorum? yeah, he was busted by about seven times the votes. mitt romney is hoping the victory means latino votes might be his moving forward. >> those people who don't think that latinos will vote for a republican need to take a look in puerto rico, and see there the conservative principles and latino voters go together, and that hispanic voters are going to vote for republicans if we stand for something, conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs and

rising home values. that's why we're going to win, we're going to get latino voters to help us out. >> maybe. maybe not. let's look at the delegates scoreboard. mitt romney sitting pretty with 518 delegates to rick santorum's 239, and quite a ways back, newt gingrich with 139. ron paul sitting way far back at 69. 54 delegates will be at stake tomorrow in illinois where the polls show romney with a slight lead but it is sight in that state. paul stein hahauser is live in washington. when mitt romney says he's going to get the latino vote, i'm curious whether you think that's a factor or whether the people in puerto rico were really ticked off about what rick santorum said about having to speak english in order to get state hood. >> mitt romney also had the

backing of the governor there. will that translate into latino votes in the mainland? maybe not. look at the so-called congrattory same from the santorum campaign to the romney it campaign, the spokesman says "rick santorum has a consistent core and he showed that when he went to puerto ree toe and took an unpopular but principled stance about english being the official language of america. mitt romney on the other hand switched another one of his positions to gain favor in puerto rico, by saying that puerto ricans shouldn't have to learn english if they want to become another state. we all know mitt romney will do and say anything to get votes, and this is just another example of that." santorum himself kind of backtracked on his original stance on the language controversy. the romney campaign i got a response from them a few minutes ago from andrea saul, "senator saner sum lashing out at mitt romney because voters know we

won't get the economy going again by replacing one president with no job creation experience with another with no job creation experience. senator santorum doesn't understand how the economy works and also doesn't understand that english has been an official language of puerto rico for over 100 years." a controversy we can move past, ashleigh. >> illinois, 50 delegates, you don't get the big wump and even if you did i don't see the math for stander uhm especially if he says "if i win illinois i'll be the nominee." >> that's not going to happen. rick santorum's only math is to prevent romney from winning the 1,144 delegates needed. he thinks in the convention if it goes a couple rounds he could win the nomination. now we say mitt romney has to win illinois after santorum won

in alabama and mississippi and romney finished third last week. that's why illinois is so important tomorrow. >> do you know why else illinois is important? >> tell me more. >> that's where zoraida sambolin is from. >> i didn't know that. i learn a new thing every day. >> just want to remind you. thank you very much. good to see you, paul. >> six minutes past the hour. happening right now, a last blast of winter. parts of arizona -- >> the last. >> -- had more than a foot of snow. kids in flagstaff enjoying a snow day today, not a spring break day. closure of interstate 40 for nearly 200 miles from kingman east to winslow. our reynolds wolf is watching the winter storm and unusual warm weather across the country as well as severe weather. lots to talk about. >> really, full plate today in terms of weather. as tough as it is for travelers to deal in northern arizona, people across the rockies were thrilled to see the snow at all. it started off as a slow snow

season but they're finishing up in grand fashion. some of the heavy spots, its arizona snowball, 36 inches of snow, big bear added 27, well over a foot in bellemont, 22 inches, flagstaff airport, nearly 20 inches. twin cities look at the video from yesterday in minneapolis along the mississippi river, just a beautiful spring day, families getting out, making the most of the wonderful weather. looks like the trend may continue for the rest of the day today. it was not only places like minneapolis had the great weather with the high of 79 degrees. look at other temperatures that really had a beautiful time. tupelo, mississippi, 83 degrees. st. louis, missouri, 82 degrees. 79 in inyap police and fargo with 78. we might see storms develop across the southern and central plains today. we'll touch upon that during our

next weather update. back to you in new york. >> minneapolis, 79? >> it's a beautiful thing. >> are you sure you weren't fudging those numbers? >> i promise you, no manipulation with the forecast numbers. >> thank you very much. >> you got it. eight minutes past the hour. we have more on the breaking news out of france this morning, a gunman on a scooter reportedly killing four people outside a jewish school in toulouse. witnesses say three of the dead are children, theiness dent follows the shooting death of three soldiers in the same part of the kr i in recent days, also by a gunman on a motor scooter. jim bitterman is on the phone live from paris this morning. jim, what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. police are intensifying their search around the toulouse area because of the recent shooting. the same gunman, they're assuming in any case because of the caliber of weapon that was used, the same weapon was used in two of the three shootings so

far, the first two, the gunman used the same gun in both attacks and this one the same caliber gun was used in the attack at the jewish school. basically the method of operation was similar, a gunman arrived on a motorcycle, in this case this morning walked into the courtyard of the school a couple of meters inside the front gate and started shooting randomly at victims. a number of people were hit, and we now are hearing the four people have been confirmed dead in that shooting. the president of france, nicolas sarkozy, is on his way to toulouse this morning as the leading candidates from the election, francois aloum. the president is trying to look at what way's he can reinforce the security if this is connected, if the three incidents are in fact connected it appears there's a serial killer on the loose down there

somewhere and they will do what they can to stop the killings. >> jim bitterman live on the phone from paris this morning, thank you very much. >> it is ten minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. still to come, a st. patrick's day celebration, ugly in ontario, canada. police say the aftermath looks like a war zone. what on earth triggered this college violence? and it's march madness at the pump, but is there any easy answer to these rising gas prices? and new momentum for mitt romney, ahead of tomorrow's primary. while rick santorum makes a bold, really bold prediction about illinois, we're going to share all of that with you. you're watching "early start." [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd... you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®

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welcome back. it is 14 minutes past the hour. did you fill up your gas tank this weekend? if you were, you did, you were reminded of gas prices. this morning republicans are hoping to cash in politically on that pain of yours. for the 11th straight day the price of the pump is up, the national average price for a gallon of regular is now selling at $3.84 a gallon and the president's approval rating on the economy is taking a hit because of the high gas prices. according to a "washington post post"/abc news poll 50% now disapprove, up 9% from last month. they suggest steven chew,

interior secretary ken is alazha and epa administrator lisa jackson are to blame for this and called for the three to be let go. >> given the fact he now wants lower gasoline prices, i think it's time for him to fire his gas hike trio. it's time for those three to be let go and to return to policies that get us the energy we need. >> jim verpart is the managing director of global oil group. nice to have you with us. >> thank you, good morning. >> good morning to you. so how is letting those three people go as romney suggests going to affect oil prices? >> the price of oil is determined by many factors around the world, chinese demand, oil production in the middle east, there are many, many factors and personnel moves in the u.s. government are not going to raise or lower oil prices. >> and president obama is saying there are no quick fixes to the rising gas prices. do you think that's true?

>> that is true. there is no quick and easy way to lower gasoline prices, otherwise it would probably already have been done so no, there's no quick and easy solution. >> all right, so 54% of americans still believe that the president does indeed have something that he could do in order to lower the gas prices and i wanted to bring in also what newt gingrich is saying. he's making some big promises about gas prices. he says he'll bring gas prices down to $2.50 a gallon. listen to this and you tell me why that's not possible or why it is possible. >> the president's been going around for two weeks, because he began to realize two weeks ago that my campaign for $2.50 a gallon gasoline was catching on. and so he's made a whole series of speeches now on energy, and he keeps attacking us. now, his first attack he said there is no silver bullet, which is baloney. there is a silver bullet.

it's called drilling. >> is that possible, $2.50 a gallon? >> well the key reason why oil prices are high today, why they've risen so much over the last couple of months is the iranian nuclear situation. that needs to be resolved before we see significant downward pressure on oil prices at least as they relate to iran, so it's a complex issue, more oil production can certainly help, but the core reason why prices had been rising is concern about the situation in iran. >> what about, a lot of people are talking about releasing some strategic petroleum reserves. is that a possibility in the obama administration and would that have a long-term effect on oil prices or gas prices at the pump? >> a release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve would probably have at least a temporary impact on the price of oil. of course, the amount of oil that's released would have an impact, but it's difficult to

see that having any endearing impact. the impact on price would probably be temporary. >> when you looked at what happened with president obama he are he leased 60 million barrels of crude last year, the prices dropped but quickly rebounded. why no long-term effect? >> well, the releasing 60 million barrels of oil like we did last year, that was the spr release last year, that is in an oil market that each day globally consumes about 90 million barrels of oil a day, so it's a very large oil market. there are many factors that shape the price of oil, and you would need a massive and sustained release to have any impact and even then it would probably just be temporary. >> jim, you've said the u.s. is the hottest destination for oil investment right now, yet the prices are still going up. is drilling the answer? >> it's had an impact on u.s. oil production and on reducing u.s. oil imports, reducing u.s.

dependency on foreign oil. over the last three years we've seen what we call a great revival in u.s. oil production, since 2008, the u.s. has recorded largest gains in global oil supply growth among any country in the world. we still need to import a lot of oil, but the amount that we import is lower today. part of that is due to lower demand, but part of it is also due to higher production in the u.s., as a result of the growth in oil investment. >> jim, i just want to ask you one final question, we're facing posed sup pose supposedly $5 gas. this is affecting people's budgets. >> it is a big burden on motorists and there's not a lot of signs of potential relief out there. again, the key reason why prices are high today, why they've risen over the last couple of months is concern about the iranian nuclear issue.

we have very little spare capacity in the world right now and until that iranian nuclear issue gets resolved and it's a very difficult one to resolve there is the potential for high prices. >> jim burkhard, managing director of world oil group, thank you. >> thank you. >> ashleigh back to you. just ahead on "early start," anal of your eye? investors are holding their breath for a 9:00 news conference. what will that company announce? does it have anything to do with a dividend? you're watching "early start."

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. 25 minutes past the hour. a lot of buzz this morning over apple's big announcement, it is expected in a few hours. the company said last night it is going to hold a conference call at 9:00 a.m. eastern to talk about its huge cash stockpile. >> oh, the ipad 4. let's bring in christine romans. >> you never know. another big announcement. >> there's something when you say cash stockpile but when you say how much it is mind blowing. >> enough money to give greece a bailout. it's $98 billion. it's a ton of money, and just in

one quarter, its first fiscal quarter of the year it was something like $16 billion more going right into the bank. it designs and invents things in cupertino, california, we didn't think we needed and wanted and changed our lives, business and changed culture and music and television and movies, and then it builds them in china, and brings them back all around the country, all over the world, and it makes a ton of money making it. what is apple going to do with all that money? that's the about igstory in business today is what is apple going to do with its money? it has options, it can give it to shareholders in a dividend, what most analysts expect it will give a dividend to shareholders so a little reward for shareholders who buy the stock. it can buy back its own stock which also is a reward to shareholders, meaning fewer shares out in the market, it can buy companies but it's already doing that, so i don't know who it would buy for $98 billion, it could leave it in the bank but it's getting no interest on that money in the bank. so it's actually been kind of

holding back, i can't believe i'm saying this. some analysts say it's been holding back the share prices of apple because it has too much money in the bank. >> what? >> because it could be doing something and making more money with that money. apple stock over five years if anybody thinks it's been held back by anything, i don't know up 486% over the last five years, apple shares. >> that's 2008, still affected by 2008, that little dip. >> everything was affected by 2008. i'm expecting they're going to say it's going to be a dividend. who knows, 9:00 we'll know for sure. >> you'll be working hard at 9:05. >> everybody will be watching. it's trending high this morning. >> everyone wants to know what ap.le is going to do. it's 27 minutes past 6:00 and coming up, jonbenet ramsey, if you can believe it, the suffering her parents went through after she was killed 15 years ago was preceded by another daughter's death before that, some things you might not know from the father of jon bein

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it is 30 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> hi, everybody, i'm ashleigh banlfield. time to check the top story this is morning. >> three children are among four killed in a shooting outside a jewish school in france, it happened in the town of toulouse, southwest france. witnesses say a man on a scooter opened fire at a child dropoff zone, then took off. several other people were reportedly injured by the gunman as well, the incident three days after soldiers were shot to death on by a man on a scooter in the same part of the country. mitt romney coming off a big win in puerto rico could take a big step towards clinching the nomination if he's got a strong showing in illinois as rick santorum predicting the

nomination will be his if he pulls off an upset in illinois. forget about spring break. look at this, today is a snow day for students in flagstaff, arizona. the city is a sea of white with more than a foot of snow on the ground, late winter storms shut down i-40 for almost 200 miles. a town in ontario, canada looking more like a war zone on st. patrick's day as about 1,000 rowdy people, many of them students broke out into a riot, setting cars on fire, throwing glass at police officers. unbelievable. several people arrested and one woman was reportedly taken to the hospital with burn injuries. >> insane. and the sweet 16 is such. north carolina state sends georgetown packing. they pulled the 63-60 upset sunday to advance to the ncaa tournament. next up for nc state the kansas

jayhawks friday that, is in st. louis. it's 32 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast and the stakes couldn't be higher for tomorrow's illinois primary. mitt romney routed rick santorum in puerto rico in the primary there yesterday, got well over 80% of the vote there. that means all of the 20 delegates, all of them he gets them, and he also gets that momentum, that mojo we often talk about. but rick santorum is still sounding pretty confident and hoping for an upset in illinois. >> if we're able to come out of illinois with a huge win, i guarantee you, i guarantee you that we will win this nominat n nomination. >> guarantee you we'll win this nomination? holy moly. rick santorum still has a pretty long way to go, if you do the delegate count. it's mitt romney who is sitting pretty with the 518 delegates and saner sum way behind at 239. so to help us get through this math and this prediction, live from washington, joe williams,

white house reporter for politico, smiling happily. here in new york, democratic strategist john wilenko and lenny live from chicago. lenny, i'll turn you loose on the last statement. what the heck was that about? >> well, broadway joe, rick santorum, i don't know if he's predicting a super bowl victory but it's not as crazy as it sounds. if can he win illinois and you assume he'll win louisiana, he's ahead in pennsylvania, wins the majority if not all of the states during the yankee primary in mid-april and probably going to win conservative texas, now all of a sudden he has momentum and a whole pocket full of delegates going on his side, going into maine. you'd have to imagine if all of those things played out starting with illinois tomorrow, is he not going to seem that far off. he'll be crazy like a fox if can he pull off illinois tomorrow. however, right now he's behind in the polls. he's behind when it comes to structure and there are a couple of delegates he's not even in

play for right now so that's working against him. >> i'm not sure if this works against him or not. mitt romney's taken some pot shots at his executive experience and candy crowley had rick santorum on her program, "state of the union" this sunday and asked him about that, having very little executive experience, and here was rick santorum's response to candy. >> well, no, i was the number two guy at a small technology company, and did, in fact, helped manage and try to get the company off the ground as a start-up and it was a great experience and one that i learned a lot through that process. so that's not completely accurate. i served on the board of a public company, so you know, i have -- obviously was a lawyer and practiced law for a while so i have a fair amount of experience in the private sector. >> john, if rick santorum pulls off the upset and becomes the nominee as he is suggesting, you can't really talk about executive experience and go head-to-head with obama and have any kind of argument there, can you? >> no, it's a very tough

argument to make. when someone says i've been president for four years, that's a pretty good indicator that they would be, they could be the president. >> but obama can't beat him up about not having executive experience because he came into the presidency without executive experience. >> it's tough to say i came in without it but i've got it. the reality is when you're incumbent president you have that advantage and for rick santorum to talk about being the number two guy at a small startup it's not making him look very presidential. >> i'm going to call this, my favorite segment, "what the f." joe you better be listening real close. >> oh, great. >> i say what the f because this came out of effington, illinois and this was rick santorum talking about gas prices and how we should be watching numbers roll and particularly focus when they hit zero. have a listen. >> instead of paying two-digit dollars you're now paying three

digits. when you see that zero come up with that third thing that when it gets into the $100 range, when you see that zero, think of "o" for obama, because that's why you're paying that extra amount of money. >> to the tune of lots of applause. joe, no matter what the interviews say, no matter what the experts say, zoraida had an expert on and says the president doesn't have the power to move that dial, it's still the narrative and it still gets hammered home. >> that's right. well, considering what the f, that's probably what the white house is saying when they hear those kind of arguments because it is, and every expert that you would talk with, including one on your program earlier, has said that the president does not necessarily have enough power to move the needle on gas prices. the big picture, though, is we've been here before. we were here a year ago almost, and we've ridden this cycle time and again. the white house is quite nervous

about this, because even though experts say that's true, it's a lot harder to get an applause line saying experts saying i can't do anything about gas prices than to say this guy is responsible for it and by the way if you elect me, i can get you down to $2.50. so the problem that the white house faces here is not one of reality, but one of perception. they're working on that. it's no accident that obama has been, that the president has been on a tour recently, last two campaign appearances have been about energy, about a long, sustainable energy outlook for the united states. he's got three more coming up, i think four more coming up in the next two weeks, he's going to be talking about this a lot, trying to change the needle on perception if he can't necessarily do it at the pump. >> joe williams, nice to hear from you. thank you for keeping it g rated. john hlinko and lenny mcallister. >> not easy as 6:00 this the morning. >> i know. >> thanks, god bless. >> god bless. >> it is 38 minutes past the

hour. still to come on "early start," riots break out at a greek soccer match. why a referee had to stop the game, clear the players from the field as well. they shut this down completely. but first let's get a quick check of your travel forecast with reynolds wolf. good morning to you. >> good morning, looks like some of the worst travel today could take parts in the central and southern plains. the reason is quite easy to see. we have plenty of moisture from the gulf of mexico, that contrasts with the cooler air coming in from the west and by late afternoon we've got a very good possibility of strong storms across parts of texas, into oklahoma and perhaps arkansas, louisiana, before all is said and done and that's not just for today but also for tomorrow as that front drifts a bit more to the east, we could see the storms really pile up as we get into tuesday and perhaps even into wednesday as well. that's a quick snapshot of your forecast. we have more on "early start" coming up in a few moments. is

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good morning to you, dallas. it is 70 degrees now. a little bit later you're going to be experiencing some thunderstorms. but it's going to be 74 degrees. >> i love my old hometown. oh, hello dallas. blissful. 6:43 now. time to check top stories making the news with christine romans. >> in france, three children among four people reportedly killed outside a jewish school in toulouse. witnesses say a gunman on a motor scooter opened fire on a drop-off zone at the school and then took off. security has been ordered tightened at jewish schools across france. three soldiers have been shot and killed in recent days in the same part of the country. soccer fans set the olympic stadium in athens on fire when a riot broke out at a game. 50 people arrested, 20 police

officers were hurt and the game was canceled early. 54 key delegates up for grabs in tomorrow's illinois prima primary. mitt romney coming off a big win in puerto rico yesterday, nearly half way to the 1,144 delegates he needs. rick santorum insists he'll be the party's nominee if he pulls off the upset tomorrow. president obama's campaign coffers are flush with cash. they released the latest fund-raising numbers, they raised $45 million in february, up from just over $29 million the month before. they say 348,000 people donated to the campaign. batman to the rescue in brazil. police in a neighborhood of sao paolo, yes, hired a batman impernt nator e imperson nator patrol its most violent streets. police hope he will be an approachable presence. >> that's my favorite story of the year. >> i know, i mean there you go.

>> it's relatable. the kids love him. >> when police don't work, send in the superheroes. >> and spider-man could be next. >> i don't know if they find them. >> i like the uniforms, the getups. soledad o'brien will join us with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> good morning, ladies. mitt romney scores the landslide victory in puerto rico and looking to widen his lead when it comes to illinois. rick santorum is guaranteeing he'll take the nomination if can he win the state of illinois. this morning we chat with alice stewart, national press secretary for the santorum campaign. and the chilling 911 tapes released in the tas of trayvon martin, shot dead by the man on neighborhood watch patrol, those calls include one by george zimmerman, who claims he shot trayvon in self-defense. we'll analyze where that case could stand all ahead on

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it was 16 years ago this young beauty's image was splashed across every supermarket tabloid you could find. a murder mystery still to this day no one seems to be able to solve. jonbenet's parents under a cloud of suspicion for a decade and a half. that little girl would be 21 years old today. her family has been killed of any suspicion, 100% and the killer may still be out there. i sat down with jonbenet's father, john ramsey with his new book "the other side of suffering" we talked about his new outlook on life. >> i've learned a lot about suffering, about recovery. i've learned about how your faith is challenged, when you

suffer tragedy, and my eyes have also been opened to the fact that everybody carries a burden, and so i wanted to share that. >> when i met you, i didn't expect to meet a happy person, but i really kind of feel like i've met a happy person. is that true? >> yes. i can say that i have joy in my life, which i think is deeper appreciation of what life's all about, what your purpose is, where you're going in life, what the future holds. there was a period of time when i was so angry that if i knew who it was, we wouldn't need a trial, and i would have no remorse, but that anger is passed. i'm up to a point now, i want to know why? why did this happen to my child? >> how did you get there? >> well, it took a long time and i spent a lot of time thinking about and reading about forgiveness, the whole topic of forgiveness and then i realized forgiveness is a gift i give myself, it's a letting go, it's moving on.

it has nothing to do with the person you're forgiving. they may not want to be forgiven or know you've forgiven them but it's a release. >> what would you want people to know about jonbenet. >> she was so much more than a beauty queen than she's been tagged and it hurts when she was tagged that way because that was a small element-er life. she was energetic, incredibly smart, just an amazing young child. >> you used to call her johnny b. >> yeah, johnny b. she lit the room up and got everybody -- one day i came home from work and was growling about something and she said "dad, i don't like that face." so i put on a smile and she said "that's better. "that's who she was. >> attitude adjustment. >> total. >> you see "toddlers and tiaras." >> i caught a little bit of that. >> when you see those programs, what do you think? >> i don't care for them at all and that was certainly not the world that jonbenet and patsy participated. back then, that was 15 years ago, patsy and jonbenet did it,

there was always a talent component to the program and the only people there were grandparents and moms and dads. >> not coaches. >> no coaches, no -- >> costume designers. >> no. but now that they put it on and made a television show out of it, i think it's pretty questionable that that's a good idea. i don't think it is. >> do you regret that jonbenet was even a small part of that world? >> well, in a sense. you know, we questioned for a while, was that the reason we were targeted? was there someone in that audience that looked at her in a different way than they should have? >> do you think that's what it was? >> i don't think so. no, i don't but we certainly wondered that, but i think the point is that you need to protect your children and to not put them on public display like that. it would be my choice if i had to do it over again. >> you carry a medal in your wallet to this day? >> yes. >> what's it for?

>> it was a medal that jonbenet had won about five days before she was killed for talent contest, and i used to always tell her when she'd do these little pageants focus on your talent. the rest of it doesn't really matter so it was a thing between us. i went to this event, and i was late and she already had the contest and she'd won this all talent award, she came running up to me and said "daddy, daddy, i won this for you" and put it around my neck, it was a silver dollar medal and after she died, in my mind, i just thought i want that medal, because we never went back in the house. >> never? >> never. >> but i wanted to get that medal sometime and i just had that thought in my mind, didn't tell anybody. my sister-in-law, pam, went back to the house to get some clothes for us, and came back after a few hours and came up to me and where we were staying and said john i felt this overwhelming need to bring this to you, and it was the metal, and to me it was a touch from heaven.

it was reassurance to me that jonbenet was okay. she knew her father needed some help. i cried, but i cried with tears of joy when i got this. >> you should be a much more bitter person. >> well, i heard a sermon once that said you could be, after tragedy, bitter, broken, barren, or better, and the opportunity is to be bet per. . >> it's remarkable to hear him with that kind of optimism. i think a lot of people don't know this, john ramsey lost another daughter four years before jonbenet lost his 22-year-old daughter, and patsy died in 2006. he's lost pretty much everyone around him key to his life so it's remarkable he can be as kind spirited as he is. >> i'm surprised given his disposition and the way that he talked to you that he was ever a suspect. >> for 16 years. another thing people might not

know, all of jonbenet's things were packed up, they never went back into the home, and all of those things, all of her boxes are in her grandfather's basement to this day. they've never been touched since, and john thinks at some point he might get around to donating them to charity or do something about it but it's sort of eerie to think about that. and the killer may still be out there. 54 minutes past the hour here. coming up, severe weather in the heartland. have you seen this? tornadoes caught on tape in oklahoma and nebraska. we have the latest on injuries and all of the damage. that is ahead on "starting point." i've found a new way to get my profile out there. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave. there's an easier way to save. who wants some ronald tonight!? who wants some ronald tonight!?

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the from us the news from a to z. >> this is ashleigh banlfield, and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> i'll try my hardest over the next two hours, our "starting point" this morning, all eyes turning to illinois, as mitt romney routes rick santorum in puerto rico. tomorrow's primary could be the most critical of them all. listen. >> this is the nastiest i have ever seen. >> strong words from senator john mccain. if he believes super pacs are destroying american politics. plus gas prices dominate the conversation in the white house. will there be a payoff for drivers? lady gaga talks about becoming a real life mom. she wants to have a soccer team of kids. i'm like what is ,