that would be fascinating. >> an incredible story. >> absolutely. >> that does it for me. fredricka whitfield is here. >> brace yourself for the pollen outdoors. >> i'm going. i'll hold my nose. >> have a good day. hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for kyra phillips. it is 11:00 in the east coast, 8:00 out west. we have a busy hour for you straight ahead. let's get straight to the news. we're keeping an eye on a dramatic standoff in france between a self-proclaimed al qaeda jihadist and hundreds of police. the suspect accused in a killing spree that includes a shooting at a local jewish school is still barricaded in his apartment in toulouse in the south of france. the 23-year-old suspect police are after is mohammed merah, merah is accused of killing seven people in the last ten days including a rabbi and three jewish children. two officers were injured after they tried to raid merah's apartment early this morning. the interior minister says the

suspect is now talking to police again after cutting them off for several hours. we'll take you live to france for the latest on the situation in about 15 minutes. new protests, more questions and demands. there is swelling outrage in the shooting death of an unarmed florida teen by a neighborhood watch volunteer who is claiming self-defense. activists in new york city, a thousand miles from trayvon martin's killing, are planning a million hoodie demonstration at 6:00 p.m. eastern in union square. trayvon was wearing a hoodie in the rain when he was shot last month. local police are defending their investigation and their decision not to arrest or charge the alleged shooter, george zimmerman. state and federal investigations are under way as well and florida's self-defense law called stand your ground is under fire. cnn's john zarrella has more on all of this in a live report just moments from now.

afghanistan's foreign minister and secretary of state hillary clinton meeting face to face right now in the wake of that shooting rampage that left 16 afghan civilians dead. we're expecting them to come out and talk about this in about 30 minutes. the minute we hear from them, of course, you will too. meantime, the army staff sergeant robert bales who was accused in that killing spree could be formally charged tomorrow. his attorney says bales will likely be charged with homicide. among other things. but his attorney says bales doesn't remember what happened and may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. fresh off his big win, in the illinois primary, mitt romney is getting another huge shot in the arm. cnn is just learning former florida governor jeb bush has just endorsed romney and is calling on all republicans to unite to defeat president obama in november. romney's three rivals are vowing to fight on for now. last night romney scored a

double digit victory over rick santorum in illinois. ron paul edged out newt gingrich for third place. >> each day we move closer, not just to victory, but to a better america. join us. join us. together we're going to ensure that america's greatest days are still ahead. thanks, you guys. >> the win increased romney's sizable lead in the delegate count. 1,144 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination. the battle shifts to louisiana, which holds its primary come saturday. santorum is there right now in harvey to talk about energy independence. president obama is also talking energy today with the main focus on soaring gas prices. with prices up nearly 18% this year, mr. obama is heading out on a two-day tour out west to promote production of energy sources that could help ease the

pain at the pump. first stop, a solar energy facility in nevada. from there, he heads to new mexico to take a look at oil and gas fields. he is scheduled to spend the night in oklahoma city. a source tells cnn that tomorrow the president plans to announce that he will expedite the permit for the southern half of the controversial keystone pipeline. is merely touching the vice president of the united states an assault? that question is being considered by the u.s. supreme court today. a colorado man claims the secret service violated his rights to free speech when they arrested him after he approached then vice president dick cheney six years ago. steven howard says he never touched, physically touched cheney. >> did you touch the vice president? i said, no, but what i did do is i told mr. cheney the way i felt about his policies in iraq. and i said if he wants to be

shielded from criticism, he should avoid public places. >> howards is suing two secret service agents because he says they arrested him after voicing his opposition to the iraq war to cheney. on to utah now, republican governor gary herbert signed a law that extends the waiting period for women who want an abortion. the new law requires a woman to wait 72 hours. the state currently requires a 24-hour waiting period. south dakota lawmakers passed a similar law last year, but a federal judge has blocked the law from taking effect. texas hit hard by severe rain. floodwaters are rising and a number of rescues have taken place in hill county. eastern texas, including dallas, remain under flood warnings today as river levels are still very high. there is also a flood watch and warning in effect for louisiana and most of arkansas.

southwestern mississippi also has a flood warning in effect. ipad users, listen up. according to condition assumer reports, apple's new ipad can reach temperatures up to 116 degrees when running games. that's about 13 degrees hotter than the ipad 2 under similar tests. some users complained the new ipad gets uncomfortably hot had they use it. the issue still hasn't cooled the sales. apple has already sold more than 3 million new ipads. mysterious noises leaving people in one small town shaking in their boots. the loud explosion-like noises have been reported in clintonville, wisconsin. the unknown sound has been going on since sunday night. the city checked water and gas lines and came up with nothing. city officials are hoping to record the noise, but no luck yet. still calls keep coming in complaining of a loud boom that rocks homes and shakes roads.

so is the noise man made or is it something else? we'll have more on this mysterious sound later on this hour. nearly a million people have signed an online petition demanding george zimmerman be arrested. he is the florida man who says he killed an unarmed teen in self-defense. today, pressure intensifies on the police department to do something. plus, new witness accounts of the shooting including one neighbor who says zimmerman straddled trayvon martin after he shot him. d hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. i care about my car because... i think it's a cool car. i think it's stylish and it makes a statement at the same time. and i've never had a car like that. people don't totally understand how the volt works.

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more on the loud and growing outcry over the killing of an unarmed teenager in florida. and the state law that may

protect the killer. as you may know, george zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot trayvon martin in the chest after telling the police the teen appeared to be up to no good. florida is one of more than 20 states with so-called stand your ground laws. at issue here is whether zimmerman really saw trayvon as a threat or was himself the aggressor, perhaps with a racial bias? well, two of zimmerman's neighbors appeared last night on anderson cooper 360. >> so you saw mr. zimmerman on top of trayvon martin. >> exactly. >> when you say on top of, how so? >> he was -- >> straddling him. >> exactly. >> his legs were straddling him. >> one on each side, on his knees with his hands on his back. >> i didn't believe it was self-defense because what we saw when we walked out on the porch. if it was self-defense, why was he on trayvon's back?

>> cnn's john zarrella joining me now from sanford, florida. we know that people are asking that not only a federal investigation take place, but more be done with the sanford police department. at the same time lawmakers are now wanting some reconsiderations of this stand your ground law. explain. >> reporter: you know, fredricka, the florida department of law enforcement keeps track of these statistics. and last year there were 40 cases, 40 cases of justifiable homicide under this so-called stand your ground law. now, compare that to 2005 when the law went into effect. the number has tripled. in tallahassee, the governor, governor rick scott, just outside his office, met yesterday with a group of people who rallied for justice and said, you know what, maybe we need to take a look at this law. >> governor, how do you feel about modifying the stand your

ground law? from my understanding, most if significantly not all of the people that have been killed within unarmed. >> right. >> we're talking 47 african-american -- >> i don't think -- i don't -- i'm going to look at it. if that -- if what's happening is it's being abused, that's not right. >> reporter: now, one state legislator out of south florida's already saying he's going to look into the possibility of amending the law. now, you've also got on top of this a number of things happening here today at 5:00 this afternoon, the city council is going to hold an emergency session to go over where things stand within the community and what is being done in the case. fredricka? >> and so, john, where do things stand as it pertains to the sanford police department. there have been some public calls for the police chief to be fired. but what does the sanford police department's position on this investigation were to take it further, et cetera?

>> the stanford police -- the sanford police department has said that they stand by what they did. they believe they have done the right thing. they, in fact, said they invite the department of justice, the fbi, the florida department of law enforcement, to go ahead and come in and take a look because they feel confident in what they have done and in how they have handled the investigation so far. so at this point, despite all of the cries and outrage over the sanford police department, they are flat out saying, look, we believe we are handling this in the proper fashion. >> how are they responding to the calls that people say, george zimmerman should at least have been arrested? what is the position of the sanford police department as to why they did not arrest him? >> reporter: because at that point in time and they have said repeatedly that there was no evidence and still may not be any evidence in their minds that there was anything other than

self-defense because obviously trayvon martin can't speak for himself and george zimmerman is the only other one who was actually there at the time and he's been claiming self-defense and the police said there is no other evidence or there was no other evidence that it was anything other than self-defense. so that is why at that point in time he was not arrested, was not charged and still isn't. >> despite the other eyewitness accounts. >> reporter: despite the eyewitness accounts, correct. >> zimmerman's father said that he is not a racist. george zimmerman is not a racist, but some media reports say he minutered a racial slur during a call with police while he was following trayvon. but cnn has not confirmed that information on that 911 call. what can you tell us? >> reporter: police are saying when they were asked about it, when cnn asked the police about it yesterday, they also said, look, we didn't hear it on the tape. we haven't been able to hear it

on the audio recordings either. so, i mean, that's what police department is as well saying, it is not at all clear on those audio recordings, even enhanced audio recordings, what george zimmerman may or may not be saying. >> okay. and george zimmerman, has he been relocated? is he not at his residence and is there anything to him feeling like his life is being threatened right now? >> reporter: i have not heard anything like that. now, we have heard he may not be at his residence, that he may be out of town, may not be here, because of the fact that, you know, he is in fear of his life. but we do not know where he is at this point in time. although i'm quite confident, i would think, anyway, that the police here know how to get in touch with him. and can get a hold of him if need be in pretty sure order. >> john zarrella, thanks so much, in sanford, florida. >> reporter: sure.

an intense standoff still under way now in france. it has been more than 12 hours now since this self-proclaimed al qaeda jihadist barricaded himself in his apartment. he's suspected of killing seven people in the last ten days. we have got a reporter there on the scene. we'll be checking in with her coming up. turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how'd that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine top safety picks like the passat and jetta. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month.

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winter is over. spring is here. time to clean out your basements, attics and other junk you stored over the past year. so how about getting your finances in order as well? alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange with some tips for us. what can we do to spring clean our finances? >> okay, so it all begins with your paperwork. we start -- we talked with lynette cox, the founder of the financial advice blog ask the money coach.com and what she recommends is to do some actual cleaning on your paperwork. set up a filing system that you understand and digitize your documents as much as possible. she says you don't need to access every document immediately, but you should have easy access to all your old tax documents and bank and credit card statements. lynette also recommends shedding any doucuments you don't need anymore.

time to do away with being a pack rat. >> how do you figure out what you ned aed and what you don't need? >> good place to start is looking at your checking and savings accounts, make a list of your accounts, how much money you have in each and how much you're charged on fees on each one. and with all the new fees that have been introduced in the past year, lynette says it may pay to consolidate your accounts. you may also want to consider joining a credit union. you can visit the credit union national association's website at cuna.org to find a credit union in your area. the same rules apply to your credit cards. according to credit cards.com, the average apr is at around 15% and if you're paying more than that, lynette says it may be time to find a better deal. you may want to call your card issuer and ask them for a lower rate. if you get turned down, visit card comparison sites to find a new card. >> what about mapping out a strategy for the remainder of the year?

>> exactly. lynette says it really is a good idea to check your credit report every year. national foundation for credit counseling says about two-thirds of americans haven't even checked their credit report in the last 12 months. you can get your report for free. once each year, at annual credit report.com. a clean report is critical when it comes to getting a mortgage, buying a car or applying for a new credit card. so you really want to be sure to dispute any errors. and finally, review your savings goals. lynette says you should know how much you have in savings, how much you plan to save this year, budget for major expenses and any large lump sums of cash you expect. you can use sites like mint.com to set a plan. but you also have to stick to it. >> that's right. that's the operative word, sticking to it right there. alison kosik, thanks so much. appreciate that. they're hearing things in wisconsin. is it thunder, explosions? fireworks? or is it something else entirely? coming up, the mysterious booms in one small wisconsin town. no one knows what it is. but everyone is guessing.

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300 police officers are in the middle of an intense standoff that is still playing out right now in toulouse, france, about seven hours south of paris. a self-styled al qaeda jihadist is barricaded inside his apartment. the suspect is accused of killing seven people in the last ten days. including a rabbi and three children at a local jewish school. a magistrate says the man police are after is 23-year-old mohammed merah. police say two officers were injured during a shootout with the suspect when they tried to raid his apartment earlier this morning. let's go straight to diana magnay on the ground there in toulouse. diana, what more can you tell us about the standoff right now?

>> reporter: fredricka, this siege has been going on for more than 12 hours now. as you say, there was an exchange of gunfire earlier in the morning, two policemen wounded in that. it all began at 3:00 a.m. there has been some very strange patterns really over the course of the day. the police have been in contact with the suspect. at one point he threw a gun out of the window and said he would hand himself in at midday. but that deadline passed and he didn't appear. then negotiations were broken off with police at one point. police tried to bring his mother to try and talk him out of the house. but he wouldn't come out. and now negotiations are back on, but the police say the suspect remains very stubborn, very determined, and they say that they cannot continue -- they would rather not continue on this sort of modus operandi once night falls. as you can imagine, everyone in this neighborhood very worried, police say that he is armed. he has an uzi with him.

a dangerous man of the three soldiers and three children and another jewish man all in the last ten days. >> diana, that suspect, mohammed merah, actually called a french journalist claiming responsibility. that journalist spoke with carol costello earlier. take a listen to what the journalist had to say. >> he said it was necessary to reclaim the dignity of islam after the affront done to it by the french after it enacted a law outlawing the wearing of the full veil here in france. and he also said he wanted to protest against france's continued military participation in the war in afghanistan. and also, he said that the shootings on the jewish school in toulouse was to avenge palestinian children.

>> diana, has anyone in this community expressed these types of feelings that merah expressed to this journalist? >> reporter: absolutely not, no. it is interesting that he had that conversation with that journalist just two hours before police made their raid. but that is absolutely not the kind of feelings that is represented in the muslim community here. quite the opposite. we have been talking to many members of the muslim community here who are standing around horrified that this killer was in their midst, that he should be a muslim himself, very worried about the repercussions and what will that do for the name of islam here in france. so in no way do people here in this town share those sentiments that were expressed there. >> diana magnay, thanks so much from toulouse, france. all right, with illinois back in this country now under

his belt, a-long with more than 500 delegates, here is the question, is mitt romney finally in the homestretch and if that's the case, does rick santorum have any hope left at all? all of this is fair game as the race for the republican nomination nears a possible end. but first, ron paul is still hanging on in the white house race. and he is sticking to his libertarian leaning views, even when it comes to his own security. congressman paul joined jay leno on the tonight show last night and said he won't be taking secret service protection on the campaign trail because it amounts to welfare, in his view. in his words, i'm an ordinary citizen and i think i should pay for my own protection, end quote. and that brings us to our political junkie question of the day. which candidate's secret service code name is javelin? tweet the answer to @fwhitfield and i'll give a shoutout for first right answer.

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before the break, i asked who has javelin as their secret service name. the answer is mitt romney. the candidates get to pick their own code names, santorum chose petris, the latin word for rock. congrats to john for tweeting me the right answer. it hasn't been easy and it hasn't been pretty, but mitt romney is slowly pulling away from the republican field. the white house race is always fair game. let's talk about it with crystal wright and editor and blogger at conservativeblackchick.com, good to see you. and tara delldaal in new york. good to see you as well. here is the latest delegate count. romney opening up a big lead, now has 562 by cnn's estimate. rick santorum with 249 and newt gingrich is way back with 137.

and we just learned, ladies, at the top of the hour that former florida governor jeb bush has endorsed mitt romney. want to get some reaction from both of you. big deal, crystal? >> absolutely a big deal. i think it will put all the rumors to rest that former governor jeb bush is not going to be running for president. so -- and i think it was a smart -- >> maybe vp? >> well, look, anything is possible, fredricka. we also have rubio, senator rubio, let's not forget about him in florida. i think it is a smart move. i think what jeb bush is signaling, let's get the party started, wrap up the show. i think you'll see more support rallying behind romney like we saw in illinois. >> suspicious to wait this long or that the timing would be now? >> yeah, the timing is obviously suspect. particularly given the fact that george bush sr. already endorsed mitt romney and did so a long

while ago. i do believe that -- >> and barbara. >> exactly. i think this is not a game changer, not a huge boost to the romney campaign. what it does do is give them free publicity for the day and positive publicity. so it provides a temporary small benefit to them. >> is this over? mitt romney way out front? is he not nominee? are you saying he's the inevitable nominee? >> look, fredricka, we have been talking about this, we have been saying this since the beginning of the year, and i think that the double digit sweep in illinois and let's also remember, romney won the woman vote, the female vote, won across incomes in illinois, got blue collar voters, he's peeling off tea party voters and 25% of people who say they really want a candidate who is really conservative still voted for mitt romney in illinois. i think what we're seeing is he is talking the tough talk on obama, he's the most electable of, you know, the three or four

hanger -- in the field. and i think he's really shoulders above the rest. and it is really time for santorum to bow out. he needs to leave the island of politics, you know. this is not working for him. so, you know, i think mitt is seal the deal here. he's really sealed the deal with illinois. and we saw in his speech last night that he doesn't even talk about his -- you know, his opponents anymore. all he talks about is barack obama, the failed economy that is -- that he's been president of for the last three and a half years. and that message is resonating. >> so, terry, you're nodding your head as in no. you don't think he's the inevitable, i guess, nominee. and he has kind of now focused on obama, you know, anti-obama, you know, lingo as opposed to even acknowledging that there is still santorum that is there and newt gingrich and ron paul. >> well, i think mitt romney wishes rick santorum and newt gingrich weren't still there, obviously. at the same time, though, i do

think those fortunes can rise and fall quite quickly in politics. i do think, though, in the long run, the likelihood is mitt romney will be the nominee. he has money. as we have talked about many times, he also has an organization which money allows him to have. and then on top of it, he shot himself despite his constant flip-flopping, he's shot himself in the foot the least out of all of the candidates. i think the other story here is the fact that mitt romney has yet to close the deal, to this day, he's running against rick santorum. and, yes, he did handily beat him in illinois, but he outspent him 20-1 in illinois. >> that's what barack obama did in 2008 with hillary. so let's not try to change the game here just because we have a -- >> no, but it makes a difference. it makes a difference. >> it sure does. which is why barack obama wants to raise a billion dollars to get re-elected. >> and it was overwhelmingly negative ads. >> you just made the point a moment ago, but crystal, you made a point ago that santorum

ought to go ahead and bow out. >> he should because -- >> why are you not saying the same thing about newt gingrich. >> i was on yesterday talking about newt has only won two primaries out of 27 contests. >> you think he needs to bow out? >> yes. >> why is he not? what's going on? why is he not? why is he still in this race? >> i think it is ego. i also think newt is doing a strategic move to split the vote, take it away from santorum, and i really believe in the end and we know this because newt supporters are already doing this, they did it in illinois, they started throwing their support and their vote behind romney, in the end, when newt drops out, because i think eventually he will, he will throw his support behind romney. he will not throw his support behind santorum who has become a polarizing candidate. over the weekend, he told the citizens of puerto rico that they need to speak english. he also, you know, waged -- he announced he wants to wage a war on pornography on the pornography laws. when we have historic

unemployment. come on. santorum is a ship that is sinking rapidly. and that is why jeb bush came out today to endorse romney. >> tell us how you really feel about santorum, crystal? >> well, he is. >> with respect to newt gingrich, newt gingrich can hold a grudge. no one can hold a grudge like newt gingrich can hold a grudge. so he's still upset about what happened in iowa. i believe that newt gingrich believes that had mitt romney not launched that massive campaign against him filled with tack ads from his personal campaign and from his super pacs th that newt gingrich feels he would be the front-runner right now. when it comes to newt's ego there is very few things that can stop him. the nacfact that mitt romney is battling newt gingrich -- >> he's not battling newt gingrich, tara. >> excuse me. you had an opportunity. let me speak as well. >> all right. this is why you have three, four that are still in the race.

it is still just as conten justice among them as it is among the two of you, ladies. tara and crystal, we're out of time. we'll chat with you more, of course, because this race is still going. and it is fair game. thanks so much, ladies. so what in the world is going on in of all places wisconsin? the ground there is shaking. houses are rocking. and folks from one small town there say mysterious booms are rattling their nerves. chad myers is on the hunt for answers as well and we'll share next. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation

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then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. we're able to share something with you right away. hillary clinton speaking at the white house now. she's speaking with afghanistan's foreign minister. and moments ago, she had this to say about the u.s. soldier who allegedly went on a shooting rampage, killing 16 afghan civilians. >> as i have publicly stated, as president obama has also, we deeply regretted the unfortunate incidents regarding the koran, and the recent killings of

innocent afghan men, women and children. >> all right, again, u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton there meeting with the foreign minister of afghanistan, expressing deep regret for that massacre on 16 civilians in afghanistan. >> sounds like a bomb going off. >> it was like little tremors. >> the house is shaking, the windows are shaking. it was quite loud. sounded like it was in the house almost. >> a mysterious noise in clintonville, wisconsin, has a lot of people talking and they're shaking in their boots too. the loud boom started sound night. but the city has yet to record it. gas lines have been checked and so have water lines and nothing mysterious thus far has been discovered. what is going on and what is causing this? that's the big question. chad myers, say you have an answer. >> i don't. but i asked for an answer -- i asked for an answer on twitter and i got some interesting things. derrick 1966 thinks it is the cheese heads that are falling off their -- the shelves. the big things they we are on

their head. and tweeting for real thinks it is fracking. i don't know if they're fracking in the area or not. they have ruled some things out. this he don't know what it is. i think we may have to rule some things back in. it happens at night this he don't hear it during the day, seems like it is a little man made, i don't know. here we go they don't think it is earthquake activity because there has been shaking on the seismometer but nothing you would expect like the earth shaking but you would see like a big truck go over the roadway, that's the kind of shaking they're seeing on the seismographs. there is no water or sewer problems so far. elevated gas levels nonexistent. no blasting, no mining, no dr l drilling around the area and no military bases. let's think about that it might be and what they're thinking, this is exactly my opposite of my thinking because of how it happens only at night. gas escaping from underground rocks. this happened before in other places in upstate new york where booms just happen.

they're called send c eed senec. large rocks that are cracking and relieving stress. some of the areas, things i'm thinking of, maybe the earth is going up or going down a little bit in the area. they'll watch that on their gpss and do the site surveys. earth shiftingi underneath the ground. i'm thinking if it is happening at 11:00 at night, 5:00 in the morning, that's the only time they're hearing it. they're hearing it in the northeast part of town, maybe water pump, pumping water not water tower. and when it stops it shakes. they say the water pipes are rattling. now they don't know but they have experts all over that city waiting for it. they tried to record it last night. they didn't get a good recording, didn't work. so -- >> so maybe tonight. >> it is loud. but it is loud. it isn't like somebody that just -- >> keeping some people awake. >> exactly. >> my goodness. thanks so much, chad. appreciate that. 7:00 eastern tonight, the city of clintonville will hold a news

conference on those noises and maybe we'll find out a little bit more then. chad, i waonder if you got a chance to see this video earlier. it about knocked me off my chair this morning when i saw it. take a look. so the strap there is connected with -- yes, a woman in a wheelchair. i nearly flipped out when i saw that. then of all places, this is whistler. have you ever been skiing there? one of the most fantastic places to sky in north america. we'll tell you more about how this came to be. i think she thought it was invigorating. we're going to explain why and how. >> just looks frightening. >> yes, it does. nkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold.

and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. sergio! christina! question for you. what factors led you to buy your explorer. definitely the ecoboost option. what's pretty amazing is that you can get the fuel economy of a car in an suv. that basically did it for us. and the technology... oh, my goodness, the technology is amazing. everything is touch. you can actually talk to the car and it talks back to you. what have your friends said about your explorer? can we drive it? can we borrow it? what's your answer? no. no way. uh uh. (laugh)

let's go street level now. a safeway supermarket says they won't sell any more so-called pink slime. the finely textured beef you may have heard about is made from low quality scraps and treated with ammonia and although the usd a insists it is okay, safeway says after considerable consumer concern, it has decided to pull it from the shelves. safeway has 1400 stores all over the country. and in new york's union

square, a million hoodies march is being organized tonight for the teen killed in florida. we talked about the death of trayvon martin and the fact his shooter is still free. organizers of tonight's rally are trying to get 1 million signatures for george zimmerman's arrest. in sanford, florida, protesters turned out for a rally demanding justice for trayvon. they also want the sanford police chief to resign. in miami beach, florida, panicked witnesses watched a jeep crash into a gas pump. the vehicle and gas pump burst into flames with a wall of thick smoke. apparently the driver lost control while fighting to get to the pump. the jeep was charred and the pump badly damaged. luckily, no one was hurt. in louisville, kentucky, the heroic act of a 10-year-old boy sayed his little sister's life when their house caught fire.

antoine burks made it out safely, and that's when he realized his 6-year-old sister was still inside and he rushed back in to get her. >> she was scared to come out, so i jumped back over the fire and ran and carried her out because she's my sister, and i didn't want anything to happen to her. >> both children are recovering from serious burns on their hands and legs. in british columbia, you will not believe what this woman did in a wheelchair. watch with me here. yes, the woman in that wheelchair is a paraplegic and then went bungee jumping off a bridge in whistler. the group that organized it nine lives adventures says being in a wheelchair actually make it is safer, more stable, and prevents blackouts. the organization was started after its owner broke his neck and then dedicated this company to helping people with reduced mobility to take part in adventure sports. and then onto athens, ohio,

a huge boulder almost, almost flattened a house. this massive rock broke free from the hillside and then tumbled straight into a home and then two cars last night. isn't that extraordinary? the homeowners were in a different part of the house, and they were not hurt. this is a common problem in that area, but the family says they have never been able to see a rock that sizable and huge. what a close call. very lucky. the world's biggest cash buyer of ships for demolition has just purchased the vessel that caused the worst tanker spill in u.s. history. global marketing systems paid $16 million for the "exxon valdez" now called the oriental nicety. 23 years ago it dumped 11 million gallons of oil off the alaskan coast. it resulted in the u.s. requirement that all ships must have two hulls to prevent accidents. and finally, in little rock,

arkansas, a fitting honor for a high-flying couple. pending faa approval little rock national airport will be called bill and hillary clinton nation airport. they approved the change by unanimous vote. the 42nd president says he and the secretary of state, quote, look forward to many happy landings in the years ahead. all right. so what wasn't in mitt romney's victory speech last night? that gives us a clue about where he thinks the race stands. we'll tell you coming up next. [ wrapper coming off a vending machine waffle ] [ sizzling ] ♪ [ male announcer ] free hot breakfast. with fresh waffles. real value. from your friends at hampton.

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here is a look at the latest delegate you can't for the republican presidential candidates. with his win in the illinois primary yesterday, mitt romney padded his significant lead over his rivals. he has 562 delegates followed by rick santorum with 249, newt gingrich with 137 and ron paul with 69. a total of 1,144 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination. so as we have mentioned, a big name has just endorsed mitt romney for the republican presidential nomination. here with details, cnn political editor paul steinhauser. we're talking about former governor jeb bush. he was mum for a long time, why? >> he sure was. he wanted to let florida vote in the primary process and he wanted to stay neutral for that. we talk about endorsements, do they really matter or not?

this is a big one. it's a big deal. it may matter to a degree. a lot of republicans were hoping jeb bush would run for the nomination. he declined. with his endorsement it's another sign the establishment is trying to coalesce around mitt romney. he said primary elections have been held in 34 states and now is the time for republicans to unite around governor romney and take our message ever fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall. jeb bush reached out to mitt romney to tell him about the endorsement. it may help come november. florida, a battleground state, jeb bush still very popular in florida. >> mitt romney has a few different reasons to feel pretty confident. he just won illinois, and in his victory speech he really didn't even make a mention of the other contenders, did he? >> yeah. you listen to the speeches by romney and santorum last night and it really tells you something.

romney sounded like a general election candidate firing away at president barack obama and as you mentioned didn't even mention his rivals for the nomination. he's feeling like he's getting in general election mode already. santorum, you heard him link barack obama to mitt romney when it comes to health care a couple times in that speech, and that's important. friday is the two-year anniversary of the president's national health care reform act and a lot of reasons say that mitt romney's act in massachusetts was the inspiration for the national health care law. >> and then saturday primary in louisiana. newt gingrich has been eyeing the southern states and is hoping to do well there as well. what do you see in your crystal ball? >> yes. louisiana much more of a conservative state than illinois, so you could say santorum is favored. also a lot on the line for gingrich godown there. look at the calendar, wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c., they hold contests. april 24th, new york, pennsylvania, delaware,

connecticut, and rhode island. other than pennsylvania all these states in april, they seem to favor romney a lot more than santorum, fred. >> all right, paul. thanks so much. good to see you. >> thank you. >> we'll have much more straight ahead here in the "newsroom." suzanne malveaux is up next. she got the memo, too. a little orange today. snoot live from cnn headquarters in atlanta, it's 12:00 noon here. i want to get you up to speed for this wednesday, march 21st. anger over the killing of an unarmed florida teen is spreading across the country. almost a million people now have signed an online petition demanding the arrest of george zimmerm zimmerman. he's the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. zimmerman says he acted in self-defense. tonight supporters of martin will gather in new york for what

they're calling a million hoodie march. martin was wearing a hoodie when he was gunned down in florida last month and a florida congresswoman talked about the case on cnn earlier today. >> this is racial profiling, and this is murder. >> and just a few minutes from now, we will talk to a guy who knows george zimmerman. he was a neighborhood watch captain in the same neighborhood. hundreds of police officers in france are now surrounding an apartment block. inside is a suspected killer who reportedly calls himself an al qaeda jihadist. police think he is the man who killed several people in the past few days, three french soldiers shot to death and three children and a rabbi killed in a jewish school just two days ago. we'll get the layetest details live from the scene in a couple min minutes. and more than 10,000 people are dead in the syrian uprising against the government.

this number, 10,000 people, was released today by an opposition group tracking syrian casualties going back a year. now, just today more than 50 people were reportedly killed by syrian troops. an activist posted this video showing a neighborhood in the city of homs reportedly being pounded again by syrian artillery and mortars. people in southern mexico are surveying the damage that was left behind from a major earthquake. at least 11 people were injured. no deaths, however, have been reported. the magnitude 7.4 quake damaged hundreds of homes, reducing some of them to piles of rubble. broken tiles, pieces of buildings fell on the sidewalks as far away as mexico city. that's about 200 miles from the epicenter. all right. so the hottest item on the market today is literally the hottest item on the market. we're talking about the super popular new ipad from apple. now, some people, they dashed out, they bought the new ipad,

and now they're complaining it's heating up to the point that they can barely hold it. a tech test at "consumer reports" shows parts of the ipad can get hotter than 115 degrees fahrenheit while playing certain video games. too hot or not, apple has sold 3 million new ipads since friday. and we are closely following developments in the shooting death of the unarmed florida teen, trayvon martin. he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain last month, and police say that george zimmerman told him that he acted in self-defense. well, there is anger now spreading across the country over this teenager's death. there's a massive protest march planned tonight in new york. want to bring in john zarrella in sanford, florida, to talk a little bit about the latest. john, i understand that there are some young people who showed up at the governor's office, governor rick scott's office, and that the governor is now saying the florida stand your ground self-defense law may need to be re-examined. what does he mean?

>> reporter: yeah. you know, suzanne, in the wake of this tragic incident, what's happened is that i a lot of people are now taking another look at this so-called stand your ground law. in fact, the florida department of law enforcement, which keeps statistics on this, said that last year, 2011, there were 40 cases of, quote, justifiable homicide using the stand your ground law. that's three times more than back in 2005 when this law was enacted. so yesterday on two occasions the governor was asked about this. one time meeting with reporters in his offices, and then another time when students arrived at his office to rally and to call for justice in this case and to get the governor and find out where he stands on all this. and the governor did come out and say, look, i think that if this law is being abused, then, yes, we need to take another look at this. and, suzanne, no the only the governor said that, but now a local state legislator from

south florida has come out and said we need to start moving to perhaps amend this law. so there is a lot of movement on that issue. suzanne? >> all right, john. thank you. 911 calls released in the case are shedding new light on this case. several editors at cnn have repeatedly listened to this call and the sound was actually enhanced by one of our top audio engineers. there's no consensus among those who listened about what he actually said. george zimmerman, he was a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, and frank taffy, he's zimmerman's neighbor, himself a former watch captain, and he says zimmerman was confirmed by the homeowner's association. taffy is joining us live from sanford, florida. first of all, the 911 tapes, we're not quite sure what he said in these tapes. at least cnn cannot confirm it. is george zimmerman the kind of

guy -- you knew him well -- who would use racial slurs? >> no, suzanne. first of all, thank you for having me on the show and i'd like to get this cleared up once and for all. george zimmerman is a good dude. he's straight up. that's why i'm front running for him today, and have been since this incident broke. he's a good dude. he needs to be stood up for and most guys who are stand upped into to be stood up for and that's why i'm here. >> how do make sense of this? you say he's a good dude and yet we have reports from eyewitnesses and people who explain a situation that looks like he is hunting down this young kid and that he is killed in cold blood, not in self-defense. how do you explain what we've heard so far? >> suzanne, in our neighborhood we've experienced eight burglaries, one of them being a daytime burglary. i, myself, credit george for thwarting a burglary to my own house.

two weeks before trayvon martin got shot, mr. zimmerman was able on his nightly walk, his nightly patrol, noticed a young black male was looking into my house. i had an open window. he called sanford police, and due to his efforts and his due diligence, my house wasn't burglarized at that point. that's just about two weeks prior to the trayvon martin shooting. there's been a heightened sense of anxiety and tension in our neighborhood. >> do you think he was motivated by race? i mean, does it surprise you that he reacted this way? >> suzanne, let's go on the record here. you know, there's a report that george had a bloody nose and there was blood on his pants. how did he get that? was that self-inflicted? i challenge mr. crump, who side stepped that question this morning on the "today" show, why don't you answer the facts in

this case and let's quit sugar coating this and look at what it is. trayvon's family, i empathize. i lost a child a little over three years ago at 21 years old, so i am a parent who has experienced a loss of a child and how devastating that is. i don't condone the use of the gun. being a former block captain, we were never instructed to use weapons as lethal as a 9 millimeter. maximum i would ever use maybe is a pepper spray or a taser, something nonlethal, but, no, jor george, i'm going to go on camera and say george is not a racist. >> do you believe he did the proper thing? you do believe his story then, that this was somehow self-defense? i mean, there are a lot of facts and things that we have to get sorted out, but you're going on record as well as you believe his story, is that right? >> 100%. >> is it typical for someone like george zimmerman, did he have any training to become the

neighborhood watch captain here, and is it typical to be armed? >> there was no formalized training. >> so what does it take to become a watch captain in your neighborhood? >> essentially volunteer. george volunteered for this position. he wasn't being compensated, and he stepped up to the plate and ensured the safety of all the residents after all these crimes have been perpetrated by young black males. suzanne, this was a perfect storm. based on documented prior burglaries and who that group of individuals were that perpetrated these crimes, it just became a tragic perfect storm where there's a loss of a young man's life, and now another man is on trial -- he's already been tried and convicted in public opinion. let's let justice work its course. you know, that's why this is america, and we're not in, you

know, the soviet union in the old days. >> just to wrap this up, frank, have you spoken to george zimmerman? you guys -- you call him a good dude, buddies. have you said anything lately? has he talked to you? >> no, but i'm glad you've given me this podium. i would like for george to contact me. he has my cell number and i would like for he and i to come forward and let's clear the air on this because i think my voice alone is good, but if i can get him with me and we can go in front of the camera, we can get this resolved or at least let's hear his real side. >> a lot of people do want to hear from zimmerman, and, frank, we appreciate your coming on and talking about him a bit and clearly there's an investigation that is going on at the highest levels, not only the state of florida but now the justice department getting involved in this case. thanks again, frank. here is a rundown of some of the stories we are covering. first a dramatic standoff in

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suspected killer is holed up inside an apartment block surrounded by police. this is in southern france. this is the city of toll louis. t the man inside says he's a jihadist, a member of al qaeda. a short time ago we talked to a journalist who spoke to the suspect and asked him why he was doing this. >> he said it was necessary to

reclaim the dignity of islam after the affront done to it by the french state after it enacted a law outlawing the wearing of the full veil here in france, and he also said he wanted to protest against france's military participation in the war in afghanistan and also he said that the shootings on the jewish school in toulouse was to avenge palestinian children. >> cnn is at the scene right now. diana, we know this guy, he's now talking to journalists. is he talking to police as well? >> reporter: yes. well, he talked to that journalist just two hours before the raid commenced at 3:00 a.m. this morning. so it will be interesting to know whether he actually anticipated the police coming after him quite so soon after he made that call. he has been in negotiations with

police sort of on and off over the course of the day. we've heard that he's dealt with them in a very determined and stubborn fashion. we just heard a press conference from the chief prosecutor of paris, who is overseeing this case, who said that he has said that he's prepared to hand himself over at some point this afternoon. so that is obviously what police are hoping for. but right at the start of this raid more than 12 hours ago he responded to the police breaking into his apartment with some very heavy fire, fire that the prosecutor said meant bullets went almost straight through their bulletproof vests. his brother and his mother both handed themselves over, but the suspect, mohammed merah, who has admitted to police that he is the man responsible for gunning down those four people, three of them children in the jew dish scho school on monday and three soldiers, that he is responsible for all of that done in the name of islam and he says he has no

regrets other than that he hasn't been able to carry out more murders. >> oh, my goodness. what does he want now? he's negotiating. what is he asking for, what is he demanding? >> reporter: well, that has not been made clear really. i suppose that he wants his, you know, the three things that have been highlighted, the plight of the palestinians in his eyes, the fact that the french still have military engagement in afghanistan, the fact that france has banned the veil, those things come back to the top of the agenda, and bear in mind this is political campaigning period. the elections here are in a few weeks' time, about you we're not entirely clear what he does want. apparently though the prosecutor said that this isn't your typical sort of jihadist who is prepared to commit suicide for what he wants. he wants to bring these issues to the limelight in the name of islam, but he doesn't want to die for it apparently. >> i understand the president, president sarkozy, has weighed

in on this as well. what is he saying? >> reporter: he said -- gave a very moving speech at a memorial ceremony for the three soldiers who were killed, and i think the real point there was that he said the french people must not let themselves sort of bow to revenge. that it must be unity that carries us through this, unity no matter your color, your creed. that we must not and will not let this kind of killing and this kind of ideology win, and that really france had to be united in this kind of a threat. the deaths of the vingctims, th deaths of the children, the deaths of the soldiers, we owe it to them he said to stand against this man. >> diana, thank you so much. please bring us details if there's any breaking news regarding that standoff. pink slime, yeah, it sounds disgusting, right? some ground beef actually has it. it is filler made with cheap scraps traditionally used in dog

food and cooking oil. now some grocery stores they're not even going to sell this stuff anymore. plus, tired of sorting through all the junk mail? well, you got to get ready for some more because the post office wants to fill your mailbox with more of it. i remember the days before copd. my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections,

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most of us can't stand it, but the postal service, they love it. we're talking about junk mail, all the coupons, flyers clogging our mailboxes. postal officials are pushing for more of what they call direct mail. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. okay, alison, i mean, every day it's nice to get mail, right, but i would say four out of the five letters you just throw it away. why is the post office doing this? >> yes. it's all about money, suzanne, and for the usps, it's all about finding new ways to make money because the postal service really needs to generate more mail to deliver because it's losing a lot of money. so the usps is looking to small businesses to do that. making it easier for the businesses to send out marketing materials, what we like to call junk mail. they've developed a tool that's making it easier for these companies to find you so they

can send you more stuff to pile up on your kitchen counter. this new tool i.d.s customers by their zip code so they don't need your zam and address. the usps says it could bring in at least $1 billion. this plan, by the way, has already been in the works for several months. i don't know if you have noticed an uptick in the amount of junk mail you have in your house. >> yes, i have. >> it's already brought in $150 million for the postal service, so they love it. we don't. >> i have actually noticed a lot more junk mail lately. is it that bad? is the post office situation that bad that they got to do this? >> it's pretty darn bad. you know, it's bleeding money because the reality is we're just not sending as much mail as we used to thanks to e-mail. you know, plus the usps is stuck paying a higher retiree health care cost. you look at how theuy have done over the last five years, they have lost $25 billion. they could lose another $18 billion by 2015 if nothing is done. it's looking to close plants, cut saturday service.

the big issue is that most of these changes it wants to make, this he have to go through congress, they have to go through their unions. yeah, good luck getting everybody to agree on any changes in a timely fashion. >> okay. that's kind of how it works with congress. tell us about the markets. how are they doing right now? >> looks like investors are kind of taking a breather so far this week, but good news, the s&p 500 is up 11% so far this year. that's great news because many of the mutual funds and retirement accounts track the s&p but this latest pause we're seeing come after sales of previously owned homes fell almost 1% in february from january, but good news, home prices, they ticked a bit higher. clearly not high enough to give a boost to the market. right now the dow is down about 13 points. >> thank you, alison. the gingrich camp is up against the ropes after another brutal loss last night in illinois but nobody expects to see the former house speaker step out of the ring anytime soon. what is he holding out for? we'll talk about it with our political round table. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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ottawa. so what's the big deal about this proposal? it was a first of sorts. jeanne moos explains. >> reporter: hockey and romance go together like beer and kissing on the kiss cam. ♪ ain't no particular sign i'm more come patible with ♪ >> reporter: guys bending their girls over. once in a while someone famous like tom hanks smooching his wife. it's all usually very heterosexual, except when spse o pseudogay couples ham it up. or there's a girlie tease. but wait a minute. this is no tease. this is love. ♪ make the stars look like they're not shining ♪ >> reporter: love on center ice at the toronto maple leafs versus ottawa senators hockey game the other night. it was the ottawa team's very first gay proposal, complete with lovey-dovey jumbo screen

message. my love for you is a journey starting at forever and ending at never. they used a ruse to get alicia walton in the blue out on the ice. her girlfriend, christina, surprised her reaching into her jeans pocket. the crowd cheered. after all, this is canada, and gay marriage has been legal here for seven years. ♪ it's not a thing that i would change cause you're amazing ♪ >> reporter: christina, by the way, picked the bruno mars song "just the way you are." but no matter where you stand on same-sex marriage, there is something sinful about this union, something unnatural. alicia is wearing toronto's jersey while christina's decked out in ottawa's. wearing the jerseys of bitter rivals, these women weren't born dressed this way, that's a

choice. and in online comments, there were plenty of booing. someone posted i would rather have my kid seeing a hockey fight than two lesbians kissing. at this game there was a fight. jeanne moos, cnn. >> congratulations to christina and alicia. >> reporter: new york. >> punch line time. a lot of buzz over the new ipad but not everybody is lining up for this latest technology. here is jimmy fallon. >> check this out. i was reading the sales of typewriters are up this year. come on. that is ridiculous. people haven't used typewriters for like -- like 50 years! out. that could work.

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mitt romney halfway there. big win in illinois primary. romney has almost half the delegates needed to clinch the republican nomination, so is this a big turning point for the campaign? is the game essentially over for the rest of the field? want to bring in our political panel. simon rosenberg, john and lenny ma mcallister. i'm disappointed we don't get to see your handsome face. i'm disappointed not to be there, but it's all good. i'll be back in. >> it's all the guys today. let's talk about romney here, close to finally sealing the deal. what do you think, simon? >> well, he had a good night last night, and clearly this is becoming a two-man race that he's winning at this point. i don't really know why newt gingrich and ron paul are still in this thing, but i think the bill challenge for romney, and we saw it a little bit today with this etch-a-sketch comment

is about what he believes. it's not about what his changing of his positions. it's that his basic beliefs, he's doubling down on the bush strategy which is failed foreign policy, failed economic policy. that's going to be the major issue for him in the fall and that die is cast in this race so far. >> lenny, i want to bring you in here. we took a look at some of the exit polls from illinois, and it shows romney was winning among some of the groups he's struggled with in the past. so he beat santorum 47% to 39% among conservative voters and among tea party voters he wins 47% to 36% for santorum, and he also picks up this endorsement from the former florida governor jeb bush. do we think now that the republican base finally going to rally around romney? >> i think we're finally going to start seeing that coalescing happen behind governor romney. one big reason for that is because people are not talking about this, rick santorum may have made one public flub too

many. the comment about the unemployment rate and how it factors into his presidential candidacy might have been one too many verbal flubbins for conservatives to coalesce behind him. he doesn't have the money, he's not able to compete for all the delegates and then he keeps making these mistakes. i think we're going to get to a point of time where, yes, he will win louisiana, but after this it may be a two-man race, and after that it may be one person standing alone and that will be governor romney. >> let's move to louisiana. that primary is had saturday. santorum says he feels pretty good about louisiana and he's been hitting hard at romney. i want you guys to listen to this sound. >> this is an election about fundamental and foundational things. this is an election about not who is the best person to manage washington or manage the economy. we don't need a manager.

we need someone who is going to pull up government by the roots and throw it out and do something to liberate the private sector in america. that's what we need. >> so john, if he wins louisiana, how much longer can he stay in this race? >> i mean, he can stay in until he's mathematically eliminated. i think it's important we don't get caught up in the day's news cycle when we are looking at the essential long game map of winning the republican nomination. this is a fight to hit the mantlic number of 1144. mitt romney's team had a great win in illinois last night and they did succeed in expanding their map, expanding their base, winning tea partiers. but some of the fault lines still exist. santorum won the conservative evangelicals, there's still an economic gap. we're heading into louisiana and santorum has a big lead. he's had an organizational deficit and you have seen that take a toll. we have wisconsin going forward. and that's april 3rd, and then

it's states he could really be very competitive in, of course, home state of pennsylvania, texas, et cetera. so i think it's -- while the jeb bush endorsement for team romney is great, to call this all but over bus of last night's big win for romney, i think is mistaking the forehe is for the trees. >> newt gingrich is under more pressure to drop out. he promises to go all the way to the convention. can he really survive if he doesn't have the money to do that? how does he do that? >> i don't know why he's still in this race. he has no chance of recovering the momentum he had earlier. santorum really is the only viable alternative to romney. we all have to have a lot of humility about this republican primary. this thing has thrown us all lots of curves over the last few months. it's been huge ups and downs for all the candidates and i agree with what john was saying. i don't think this thing is over yet. we all recognize that if santorum stays in the race, he could still deny romney an

outright majority, which then leads us into, you know, a potential brokered convention. so this thing has still got a long way to go i think. >> lenny, i want to turn the corner here. we're talking about gas prices, and as you know, republicans blame the president for rising gas prices, whether or not he is to blame, but we heard the president announcing he's going to try to speed up at least creating part of the controversial keystone pipeline. that really is upsetting a critical group of his base. is it worth it to him. is he playing it well politically. will it help him get those voters who believe he needs to do more about gas prices. >> this isn't a good move. he took a presidential stance by saying he did not want to make a rush decision just several weeks ago. now he's doing this based on polls, he's doing this based on pandering to public opinion at this point in time with the gas prices going up. he has to look presidential and make mitt romney look like a politician. as soon as president obama starts looking like a politician in chief and not the commander in chief, not the current incup

babbitt presiden -- incumbent president, he's on a peer status with governor romney and that's where governor romney wants him to be. this is not a good political move for the president but obviously he's responding to what he's seeing with the gas prices and how it's impacting his approval ratings. >> john, what do you think? he's a very savvy politician. do you think it's a good move for him to do this? some of the moderates might move over and certainly people who are worried about rising gas prices. >> i think it threatens to muddle the message because he's doing essentially a half measure. i think it's saying we can begin progress on this front. i think it does show how concerned the white house and obama campaign is about the impact of gas prices as they rise on the poll numbers. so it's an attempt to show he's taking action, that he's being responsive to that concern. it will not have a direct impact on gas prices, and it does threaten to muddle the message.

>> all right. john, good to see you. simon, welcome. good to see you for the first time. lenny, hopefully we'll see you next go round, all right? >> you shall. thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> thanks, suzanne. >> sure. it's the movie everyone is buzzing about. it's called "the hunger games." it's shooting down some stereotypes about female hunters. is all we humans get. we spend them on treadmills. we spend them in traffic. and if we get lucky, really lucky, it dawns on us to go spend them in a world where a simple sunrise can still be magic. twenty-five thousand mornings. make sure some of them are pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget;

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girls gone for the kill? that's right. if you think of hunters as men in camouflage, think again. the latest government data says there are some 300,000 female hunters under the age of 16. cnn is taking aim at some of the stereotypes. sara trent is joining us from new york. i don't know, i was surprised. are people still sur priced there are girl hunters? >> there are. most of the young women i spoke to in this article were very, very surprised with the reaction that is they got. a lot of people thought they were joking when they said they hunt because this isn't your average after school activity.

you know, it's not soccer practice, and the really compelling thing is they found a sense of solidarity with katniss, the lead character in "the hunger games" book because she's a 16-year-old girl and has to hunt for herself and her family to survive. they really saw a role model within the pages, not just kind of entertainment. >> i wonder if they see another role model in sarah palin. she's known for killing her own meat. i want to show this clip. this is her taking down a caribou. >> each year the 12 districts of panem shall offer up a new tribute, one young man and woman, between the ages of 12 and 18 to be trained in the art of survival. >> sarah -- >> okay. >> wait for him to stop. he's coming right here. just wait, wait, wait until he turns broadside and stops. >> okay.

>> go ahead. right in the neck. >> good. >> there you go, baby. >> all right. so some people were convinced, that she really hunts, other people not so much. i think a lot of people are concerned about where their food is coming from. is this part of the growing interest in hunting? >> definitely. just as more and more people are interested in growing their own vegetables and supporting community supported agriculture, csas, they want to know the path to their plate. sometimes that means coming face to face with where their meat is coming from. as you saw in that sarah palin clip, she got a lot of backlash from that, but at the same time a lot of people came out of the woodwork and supported her because she was really being a mindful hominy vor in that she was eating what she was hunting. >> what are folks saying about this? >> it kind of runs the gamut, but the surprising thing was it wasn't as anti-hunting as we

thought it would be. a lot of people don't have a problem with hunting so long as it's for sustenance and not for support. the really curious thing is a lot of vegetarians and vegans in the comments said i would actually eat meat if i knew the person that hunted and killed and instead of going to the grocery store and not knowing what's going to be in your meat. >> sara, thank you. i don't think i know anybody who would hunt and bring my food to the table, but you never know. all right. looking for a job? beware. employers may ask you for your facebook log in at your next interview. everything. and more. ♪

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choose your friends and facebook friends wisely. your next job may depend on it because some companies want to know more about those friends and the rest of your life reportedly asking for your facebook password during a job interview so they can logon to your account. is that even legal? cnn legal contributor paul talon is joining us now. this is really fascinating when you think about it, the fact that so many of us are engaged in social media and now you have employers, potential employers, asking for the password to your facebook page.

is that even legal? >> well, it's really shocking, suzanne, and, frankly, probably the part of the country that's under the age of 40, they live their entire life online and on facebook, and to think that some employer is going to ask for your facebook password, it's very, very shocking. it's a true privacy violation, but the most surprising thing is that it's probably perfectly legal. in the absence of a special state law of some kind or a constitutional amendment, an employer can ask you for your password, and, you know, the answer is basically if you don't like it, go work some place else. so it's perfectly legal in most states for employers to ask for this. i think most of them don't, fortunately, and would you want to really work for somebody who wanted your facebook password? but it's legal in virtually every state in the united states. >> wow. that is so surprising to me. is there any -- if you were to

be in an interview, is there any recourse you have if you say i'm not giving you my password here? can you take action against the company? >> you wouldn't be able to take legal action against the company. the only laws on the books now which actually protect you in the interview process are laws relating to discrimination on the basis of gender or race or creed or religion. now, if they were trying to get your facebook password in order to discriminate you in one of those categories, you'd have a lawsuit, about you that's not really what they're looking for. they probably want to find out if you were at a party and had a drink in your hand. they want to be too intrusive, and, frankly, with the state of the existing law right now, there's very, very little that you can do about it. >> well, paul, it's not like they haven't been doing it before, right? these companies have been googling and using other ways to check out potential employees for years. is this taking it to another level? >> yes, i think it is taking it

to another level. i think the reason this is occurring is that so many people now are posting so much information on social media sights, and employers, many of whom are older individuals who maybe were unaware of how much information is on the internet, are now starting to realize, you know something? if i can look at their facebook profile or their profile in another social media outlet, i'm going to get a real sense of who this person is. so i think for the first time employers are becoming aware that this is a rich source of information about who they should employ. as a result of that, i think state legislatures around the country are going to start looking at this and start passing laws placing limitations on it. >> and, paul, in the meantime, we ju-- should we just have two separate facebook pages, one that's the perm one asonal and that's work friendly? >> i think that's a good idea. i think you have to assume an

employer could see it at some point in the future. i also think, this is very important, if you're going to work for a company that is going to snoop on you in this kind of way, do you really want to work for that kind of company? because it says something about the company. you know, in the past those companies could have asked for your e-mail passwords, and if somebody asked for that, you'd say, oh, my gosh, i really don't want to work for then. i'd think twice about going to work for somebody who asks about this information. >> i would, too. paul, thank you very much. good to see you. >> all right, suzanne. nice being with you. if you eat ground beef you might be eating something known as pink slime. now a major grocery chain says it's going to stop selling this stuff. new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack.

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breaking news here. this is from the nfl announcing discipline of the management of the new orleans saints. this is over an issue of bounty and whether or not certain players would be rewarded for actually knocking other players out. i want to bring in ed lavandera who is in new orleans to talk a little bit about the details. what are we learning now, and if you can remind our viewers what this was about initially because it was quite shocking when we first found out the allegations. >> reporter: of course, suzanne. this story stems back to a few weeks ago when the nfl announced an almost three-year-long investigation into the new orleans saints found there was this pay for performance. the nfl called it a bounty system and the most egregious of the information and details that

the nfl released against the saints was that there had been this system in place where players -- defensive players could be paid $1,500 for knocking a player out of the game, $1,000 -- >> i think we've lost ed. ed, do we have you still? nope. okay. let's bring in jim trotter of "sports illustrated." you're on the phone from san diego. can you hear me? >> yes, i can. >> what is the -- what's the outcome of this? who is going to pay for this? >> well, it says here according to the nfl release they're suspending the saints coach for one -- one season without pay and the defensive coordinator indefinitely, so this is major. we knew the nfl wanted to come down hard on this. this goes against everything

roger goodell has been reaching the last couple years about an increased emphasis on player safety and the saints violated those protocols. this isn't surprising but it is historic in terms of the discipline. >> are we expecting that other teams are going to be in trouble because of this as well? there have been previously reports that perhaps other teams have been involved in these kind of bounties. >> if they can find out these things took place i think you will see more action. but i think it's going to be tough for the league to find out there were other teams involved with this because part of the problem or one of the reasons that they could be so strong against the saints is that there was a paper trail on this, and they had e-mails in which the bounty system was outlined. so from that standpoint, the league felt it had a very strong case. i think you would have a much tougher time going after other toms to be quite frank, i'm not sure other teams or other players would be dumb enough to put it in writing. >> why is that happening, jim? why has it gotten to the point

where these players were actually being offered money and being paid potentially to take out their opponents? >> well, suzanne, it depends who you talk to. when you talk to the players, they get really upset when this is characterized as a bounty. because they say what happens on almost every team, if not every team, is that during the week or before games defensive players in particular will get together and they will say, hey, $100 for an interception. you know, $100 for a forced fumble. $100 for a big hit in the game. those sorts of things. and they say that those are things that are on boards in meeting rooms that teams chart, and so, therefore, in their minds it's not perceived as a bounty. where i believe the league terms it a bounty is when you put money on injuring a player, on having a player carted off as the saints did. in the players' minds those are two different things. a number of players i have talked to say when you talk