jumped around. yep, as rabbits do. didn't listen to his owners' commands. the ducks, dogs, cats also competing in this race. 40 people were allowed to place their animals on the skis or sleds and guide these pet down the slope. well, that's it for us. "around the world." thanks for watching. and we begin with "cnn and we begin with "cnn newsroom," next. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, chris christie gets ready to deliver one of the most closely watched state of the state speeches ever. will he and should he address the scandal he is now facing. also right now, hillary clinton's iowa problem. why she could potentially face a tougher time winning over iowa voters than a lot of people might expect. and right now a retired police officer is in a florida court after allegedly killing a man who refused to stop texting his daughter during the previews at a movie. what's behind this shocking crime.

hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we start this hour with another big day for the new jersey governor, chris christie. in two hours, he'll give his annual state of the state address. but for the first time in a long time, people outside new jersey are actually paying special attention to what he might say. our owner ra erin mcpike is joining us. do we have any indication of whether he'll mention the so-called traffic scandal during the speech? >> reporter: wolf, our sources in christie's office say he will, in fact, acknowledge the scandal. but he's going to say that it's clear that it doesn't take away from the bipartisan results that he's had over the last four years, nor will it stand in the way of what he hopes to accomplish over the next few years. now, we also know that he's going to unveil a few new proposals, one of those is on property tax relief. and the other is on education

reform. so he's going to call for a longer school day and for a longer school year. and, of course, he's tussled with teachers' unions in the past so it will be interesting to see how that plays out, wolf. >> what about the investigation, separate investigation, auditors looking into how his office spent money earmarked for superstorm sandy relief? >> reporter: well, wolf, i just spoke with someone in christie's office who told me that christie is not going to mention that federal probe, but instead he will discuss the funds that have been allocated so far for sandy relief. $18 million and two-thirds to new jersey residents so far. and three quarters of that have gone to low and middle income families. so the point there is he's going to assert he's used those sandy relief funds wisely. >> what's the latest on the investigations? and i say that plural. >> reporter: well, wolf, as you

know, the new jersey assembly just formed a special committee yesterday to go about investigating the bridge scandal. now, what we understand from the new jersey assembly is that nothing will move forward until thursday when there's a voting session to reauthorize subpoena power for that committee. so more details to come on thursday, wolf. >> the investigations continuing, some of them only just beginning. thank you, erin. let's bring in our chief political analyst, gloria borger. gloria, what does he need to say in two hours when he addresses the folks in new jersey, and people will be watching all over the country. >> he needs to talk to the people of new jersey about the job he's doing for them as governor and the job he intends to do for them as governor. i'm not sure whether he needs to make a direct reference to the scandal. he can make an oblique reference. and as erin was pointing out, he can say, i'm committed to working in a bipartisan way, i'm not going to let petty politics get in the way of doing my job. he can acknowledge that he has

made some mistakes along the way. but that he is turning the page for the state of new jersey. i think he has to convince the people of the state all over again that he is somebody that they can really trust to do their job. >> and so there's one potential scandal, obviously, involving the traffic jam of the george washington bridge. there's now this other scandal potentially that you've been investigating involving jersey city, new jersey. the democratic mayor there, and some retribution after he failed to endorse christie. >> so there are the bigger things and there are the smaller, petty things. the bigger things are the bridge and the question about why the political ads for sandy contained his picture. >> almost like a campaign commercial. >> like a campaign ad. and they cost more money. okay. so that's the larger. the smaller is kind of the petty political stuff, and as you refer to, there's mayor of jersey city, democrat, was

unsure who he was going to endorse. he had just gotten elected in may. he was setting up some important meetings for him with state officials. particularly from the port authority. trying to get some money for his city. and the day after he told the christie people that, you know what, i'm not going to endorse you, suddenly all of his meetings were cancelled within an hour. nobody even made an effort to hide it, wolf. it was just clear that the governor's office had sort of put the kibosh on it and said, okay, we're not going to meet with this guy. is that a crime? absolutely not. is it petty and small? you might say yes. so this is the kind of thing that goes on at the state level all of the time. but if you want to be seen as presidential, wolf, i think it's a bit small. >> yes. especially when people are looking to see if the traffic incident is just an isolated event or if there are other political shenanigans going on in & their investigating that right now. some new poll numbers.

monmouth university, new jersey residents poll. approval of governor christie in december, 65% approved of the job he's doing. that's now down to 59%. it's only a six-point drop. not that bad. look at this. you have a favorable impression of governor christie. a year or so ago, 70% said yes. down to 44% now. that's a pretty significant slip. >> yeah. it's a very significant slip. and i'm sure it's troubling for the governor's staff. if you look more at these polls within the state of new jersey, a couple other numbers pop out. only half of the -- about half of the people say he's not being completely honest about all of these controversies, which goes to the very important trust question. any leader has to have the trust of the people he's going to lead. and only 44% believe, and this is people in the state of new jersey who watch him every day, paying close attention to this. only oh 44% believe that he has the right temperament to be

president of the united states. that's very telling. and, again, this temperament issue is very important when people look at a presidential candidate because they want to see you as something larger, bigger, better than most of us. and when you're seen as part of petty politics, it doesn't work. >> you make a good point. the reason we're so interested in this story is he potentially could be the republican presidential nominee. >> right. and these are the kinds of characteristics people look at. not only does he care about my problems and does he understand me and i think chris christie would get some good grades on that. but can i trust him, and does he have the temperament to be the leader of the united states. >> i'll speak later this hour. democratic congressman rush holt of new jersey has strong views on this subject. thanks, gloria. in new mexico, reports of a school shooting at a middle school in roswell. we're still learning details, but so far two children have been taken to the hospital. cnn's miguel marquez is

following developments from los angeles. miguel, what else do we know? >> reporter: shocking this would happen yet again. roswell is a very small town, about 50,000 people in southeastern new mexico. this is at berrendo middle school. typically in new mexico, middle schools are fifth through eighth grade, so we're talking 10-year-old through 13 or 14. we're seeing some tape now from one of our oh affiliates in new mexico of the scene outside of that middle school. two individuals, two children, we understand, were shot, possibly with a shotgun. we understand the shooter has been apprehended. it is not clear whether that shooter is alive or dead. it sounds as though the shooter was taken alive. but it's not clear whether or not he gave up to police or they had to take him out in some form. we know that two individuals that were shot were taken to a local hospital, eastern new mexico regional center, which is a level three trauma center, not -- doesn't deal with serious injuries.

they have since been airlifted to umc in lubbuck, tuexas. there are two individuals there who are listed in critical condition. authorities there in roswell saying that parents can go to the roswell mall some miles away to pick up their kids. all of the kids from berrendo middle school are being transported to the roswell mall. we also understand there may be a third injury in this, but it's not clear whether that may be the shooter himself or somebody else. so we're trying to get more details on that. and we expect more details soon. coming up, 3:00 eastern, new mexico state police are expected to give a news conference. we will certainly be listening to that. wolf? >> and we'll stay in touch with you, miguel. thanks very much for that information. very disturbing information. what witnesses say started as an argument over text messaging ended in the shooting death of a father. police say the gunman, a retired police officer, was involved.

he's in court as we speak right now. we'll have the very latest on this truly shocking story when we come back. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me,

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right now a retired police officer is in court accused of shooting and killing a man in a movie theater after an argument over text messaging. 71-year-old curtis reeves is charged with second degree murder in the death of a father who witnesses say was texting to check the status of his 3-year-old daughter. rosa flores is joining us now with the latest. rosa, first of all, what do we know about the events that led up to this really shocking shooting? >> reporter: well, wolf, what we can tell you is that here are the highlights. there was text messaging, popcorn flying all over the place, and an altercation that turned deadly. a little girl, not even 3 years old, has just lost her dad, because according to police and witnesses, a man shot and killed him monday oh afternoon, all because he was texting at the cob 16 movie theater in wesley chapel, florida. the movie was "lone survivor" and hadn't started. >> it was a 1:20 starting so we

know they were going through the previews and it's absolutely crazy that it would rise to this level of altercation over somebody just texting in a movie theater. >> 43-year-old chad oulson was on a date with his wife, nicole. he was texting their daughter's daycare to check in on her. that's when witnesses say 71-year-old curtis reeves, a retired tampa police captain, seen here dressed in white, became quite irritated. >> their voiced started going up, there seemed to be a confrontation, and then bang, he was shot. >> reporter: witnesses say that during their argument, oulson threw a bag of popcorn at reeves. charles cummings, a retired marine who served in vietnam, says it was absolutely shocking to be caught in the cross fire once again. >> he staggered two seats over, fell on my son and i. >> reporter: the father and son say they watched in horror as reeves shot oulson in the chest with a .380 semi automatic handgun, killing him. oulson's wife was shot in the hand, as witnesses say she tried

to shield her husband. after he was shot, mr. oulson staggered and fell on another man and his son oh. >> he said, man, i can't believe i got shot. blood started coming out of his mouth and i held him and was trying to hold him up and he fell down. >> reporter: in the midst of the chaos, other movie-goers tried to help. >> the fellow that was in the movie, said he was a nurse, jumped down, started pumping the gentleman's chest until the paramedics arrived. >> reporter: an off-duty deputy who just happened to be in the theater detained the suspect and secured the gun until police arrived. >> i can't believe people would bring a pistol, a gun, to a movie. i can't believe they would argue and fight and shoot one another over popcorn. or even a cell phone. >> reporter: reeves is now charged with second degree murder. and we have some live pictures that we would like to take you to. and these are live pictures of inside that florida courtroom, where the suspect is going to be

making his first court appearance. again, that charge, he was arrested and charged on second degree homicide. and we would, of course, bring you the latest information as it becomes available. we're looking at it just as you are at this moment. we should also add that oulson's autopsy is scheduled for today, wolf. >> we'll stay on top of this story, we'll monitor this hearing that's unfolding right now, rosa, thanks very much. other news we're following. west virginia's toxic water crisis is becoming a major problem for other states, as well. in ohio and kentucky. officials are now worried that contaminated water could flow into the ohio river. as a precaution, they even closed intake valves that feed the water supply in some cities along the river, including cincinnati. >> we have the ability anyway, the technology to clean the water, regardless, but we would rather not take the risk or spend the money to clean it. >> in west virginia, some residents are again allowed to start using the tap water, but

about 200,000 others have not been given the all-clear. jean casarez is in charleston, west virginia. what's happening with the water supply down the ohio river, jean? >> reporter: well, wolf, here's the situation. this is the elk river right behind me, which is the water source for the people here in charleston, west virginia and nine counties. the elk river feeds into the canal river, which feeds into the ohio river. and so ohio's water authority has shut off two valves, just as a precaution. now, their water companies do have reserves, so it doesn't mean the people are out of water there, but kentucky also followed suit for a short time. they turned off two of their intake valves in protection for their people. those have now been turned back on. but right here in charleston, west virginia, 300,000 people were without water. water to bathe in, drink or cook with. and now we're learning that one-third of those people have gotten the green light to turn their water back on, but what that means is two-thirds of the

people are still waiting to use water. they still have to it use bottled water. this is still a community that is in dire straits when it comes to just normal aspects of living. >> and we know also, jean, the storage facility that had these chemicals that got into the water supply had not actually been inspected since, what, 1991, i assume this is triggering not only outrage, but a call for major regulatory changes. >> reporter: right. a full inspection 1991. it was a different company, it stored a hazardous chemical. and then when it became a pollutant, under law, it didn't have to be regulated, it didn't have to be inspected anymore. and what we are learning from the department of environmental protection is that, in fact, they are going to the legislature and they are looking for means so that this doesn't happen again. so that a company like this doesn't slip under in a loophole, so that it doesn't have to be regulated and thus,

inspected. that could have stopped all of this. >> all right, jean, thanks very much. jean casarez is reporting on all the latest information, disturbing information, from west virginia. congressional leaders here in washington are pushing beyond the partisanship to try to come up with a $1 trillion budget. our capitol hill correspondent will examine some of the winners and the losers. she'll explain why obamacare fits into both categories. that and a whole lot more news when we come back. weeknights are for favorites. olive garden's signature favorites now just $10. including everyone's favorite fettuccine alfredo and our classic lasagna. plus unlimited soup or salad, and warm breadsticks. signature favorites now just ten dollars, monday through thursday, at olive garden. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact

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president obama has convened his cabinet for the first time in 2014 and says there is a whole lot of work to do this year. the president praised congressional leaders for coming up with a new spending plan, the $1 trillion budget would fund the government through the end of september. he urged congress to pass it right away. >> i was very pleased to see the house and the senate agree to a budget, and to put forward a bill that will fund our

government at levels that allow us to take some important steps to provide services and the help that americans need and american families need in order to get ahead in this economy. and so i would urge that congress pass that funding measure as quickly as possible so that all these agencies have some certainty around their budget. >> community leaders have agreed so far but hasn't been voted on by both chambers. the house votes tomorrow. the senate later. leaders from both parties agreed on the budget. so probably will pass. certainly provides a welcome break from partisan battles and forced spending cuts. our capitol hill reporter, lisa desjardins has been going over the budget. let's talk about winners and losers first. some winners, lisa. what do you see? >> reporter: right. let's start with these winners. there are some agencies that got some big boosts. and one of the biggest programs, wolf, is head start.

little kids across this country will benefit from $1 billion in additional funding that is in this deal for head start. that's over what head start was dealing with after budget cuts. that's a huge boost. another winner, paychecks for government workers. both military personnel and most federal employees, people who work for agencies a $1 million increase. may not sound like a lot but the first pay raise many federal workers have seen for three years now. and one last winner, wolf, how about this, light bulbs. old-school light bulbs. if you like your incandescent, inefficient light bulbs, this deal makes sure you can keep buying them. it would stop the obama administration from having any funding to enforce a changeover to more efficient light bulbs only. how about that? >> what about some of the losers, lisa? >> reporter: yeah. there are some losers. of course, as some agencies gain, other agencies lose. and this is where republicans will say they have had some wins. let's start with some of the

agencies they don't like, the irs. of course, there was that tea party scandal in the last year and the irs will beef down twine funding levels. the environmental protection agency doesn't see a cut from last year in this budget. but it -- neither does it gain very much. and overall republicans point out the epa has been cut about 20% since 2010. so they are generally losers here. and one last one, the nation of russia. there are two provisions in this bill that would affect russia. one, this would make it harder for the u.s. to buy weapons from russia, including some controversial helicopters. there are some ways the u.s. could get around that. but also in this bill, this would say that the missile defense shield plan for romania would go ahead. that's fully funded and that's something russia also does not like, wolf. >> tell us why obamacare is both a winner and a loser in this

bill. >> reporter: yeah. essentially, obamacare comes up with a draw here. and that's because the obamacare implementati implementation goes forward. it is funded as it was. it does not gain any money, which is what republicans wanted to prevent. but neither does it lose money. and as you know, wolf, that obamacare funding has been the linchpin in so many of these budget battles in the last year. government shut down over that factor. here we are with a giant spending bill and the obamacare implementation funds, as they are now, will go forward. those implementing obamacare say they need more money. they're not getting it. so that's a loss. but nonetheless, they are able to go forward. and that is a change from these sharp, sharp policy funding debates we have seen over the health care law in the last year. >> all right. lisa, i know there's a lot more in this legislation, as well. we'll continue to discuss in the days to come. lisa desjardins joining us from capital hill. the governor, chris christie, expected to give a very important address in about 90 minutes or so.

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the new jersey governor, chris christie, scheduled to speak about the bridge traffic scandal, among a lot of other stuff in his state of the state address about 90 minutes or so from now. despite a lengthy news conference by the governor last week, it still isn't clear exactly why those traffic lanes leading up to the george washington bridge were closed in the first place. brian todd is here. i know there are a lot of theories out there. we're getting more information. seems pretty complicated. what are you learning? >> reporter: more and more theories emerging as to why those lanes were order ohhed closed on the gw bridge. the first is the standard we have been hearing for a couple weeks. that it was retribution against the ft. lee mayor, mark sokolich for not endorsing chris christie. that's the primary theory. there are a couple others you have to get into. one is that it could have been retribution against the state democratic senate majority leader. her name loretta weinberg. she and the democrats have had a

longstanding feud with chris christie over supreme court nominees in new jersey. christ christie pulled the nominally of a long-serving state supreme court justice. the democrats had in retaliation blocked a lot of his nominees. the one thing that points to this theory is that on august 12th, 2013, christie was visibly angry in a news conference about the blocking of his nominees, saying he was going to pull the latest from consideration, because, quote, i was not going to let her loose to the animals. meaning the democrats. just to feast on this nominee. well, the next day -- the next day, that's the day that christie's top aide, bridget kelly, allegedly sent that e-mail to the port authority officials saying time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. loretta weinberg, leader of the democrats, again, opposing the governor on these judicial nominees, ft. lee is in her district. she is not from there. ft. lee is in her district. that's another theory, this was in retribution toward her. she has not said one way or another whether she thinks

that's the case. she just blames the governor for his culture and what he has created. a third theory has to do with possibly something to do with it's the follow the money theory. there is a billion-dollar development right next to those on-ramp lanes closed. it called hudson lights, costing about $1 billion. a series of high-rises, shopping areas, et cetera. the financing was secured for that right around the time the lanes were closed on that bridge. and there's a theory that maybe the developers might have had possibly something -- some kind of dispute or something to do with governor christie that might have angered him or maybe there was something -- some other reason relating to that development. there's been no proof of any of this. we don't know any -- any of these they are res are true. but it's kind of -- speaks to the nature of politics in new jersey. that these three theories are out there. again, no proof that -- for sure that either -- that any one of them is correct. but these are the theories being talked about as he gets ready for his state of the state.

>> any one gaining traction? >> not really. the one thing that you see that's most prominent, most evidence of, at least in these e-mails and documents, is that it's just -- it was simply just some oh kind of feud with that mayor, mark sokolich, for not endorsing chris christie. but, again, these are things that we're drilling down on, trying to see if there is any traction on these things, wolf. and, you know, as he proceeds and tries to get himself out from under this scandal, these are things being talked about right now. >> all right, brian, thanks very much. brian todd, reporting. regardless of the possible motives, christie's image certainly taking a bit of a beating right now. people may be taking a new look at the governor, reevaluating their opinion of him. joining us now is democratic congressman, rush holt from new jersey's 12th district. that includes princeton, the capital area around trenton. congressman, thanks very much for coming in. >> good to be with you, wolf. >> do you have a theory of why those lanes were closed in the first place? >> you know, whatever the theory, and you heard several of them. there are actually a couple others floating around.

whatever was the motivation behind this, it's pretty clear, it's an abuse of power. in other words, it was the use of political power, not for the public good. you know, the reason citizens give elected officials power is so that they can act on behalf of the citizens to improve the public good. this clearly was petty partisanship of one sort or another, or perhaps, as you say following the money, something corrupt. but whatever it was, it was not acting in the public interest. and what we have to really guard against is that people will say, look, that's just politics. that's just the way it's done. it always happens. we can't stand for this always happening. but under this administration, this does appear to have been the rule. so, you know, i have to commend -- you mentioned senator loretta weinberg. i would also add assemblyman chair john wisniewski. they have kept after this for

several months, even as the press and everybody else was saying, oh, get off it. you know, this is a small matter. in fact, now with the e-mails coming out and probably more coming to light, it appears that this was a serious abuse of power. >> but there's no evidence, and correct me if i am wrong, i haven't seen any direct evidence linking christie directly to that decision to shut down those traffic lanes. have you? >> you know, i am not saying it was or wasn't the governor. no, i don't think there's anything that's been made public that ties him directly to it. but certainly the governor's office. they have been given power by the voters to act on the public behalf. this was not acting on the public behalf. and i might add, you know, there's a sad story about the port authority. the port authority of new york, new jersey goes back many decades. it was a nonpartisan public institution. and starting back under governor

pataki and governor whitman, it began to be filled with political -- well, politicians who were only interested in partisan interests or cash flow into the states. and the port authority has lost its public mission, lost its nonpartisanship, and it is just sitting ready to be abused in this partisan political way. >> you've suggested that governor christie has a streak of bullying. the governor denies he's a bully. he said that at his news conference last thursday. why do you think he's a bully? >> yeah, i mean, you and i remember richard nixon. i am not a crook. you know? any time a politician gets up and says "i am not a bully," or "it's not about the money," it is.

and so you know, there are so many instances. we have seen it. we have seen it in town hall meetings where the governor goes after a citizen. we have seen it where he takes on teachers in the most disrespectful, bullying way. and i've seen it with mayors and public officials who have said to me, look, i've got to play along here. or i'm just not going to get anything for my town. and i call that bullying. and i don't want any citizens to say, oh, that's the way it's always done. i guess we'll just have to accept it. we must not accept that. >> is there one thing you want to hear in his state of the state address that's coming up at 3:00 p.m. eastern? >> well, i -- obviously, he's not going to talk about this. and, you know, obviously, i think we hear he's going to talk about extending the school day, and more attention to education. more attentions to education is most welcome. thank you. i'm glad he's doing that. i hope he will not bully the

teachers in the process. >> well, we do hear he is going to make a brief reference to the traffic scandal. i don't think he's going to say much. but he'll say something. and is there -- if he does spend 30 seconds or a minute talking about it, is there anything you would like to hear? >> reporter: i mean, he talked for an hour and a half or two hours the other day. i think he has said is it. now we wait for the evidence to come out. i'm pleased that the -- that the investigation and the subpoenas are continuing. this is not a petty matter. they may have regarded this as a -- you know, as a play thing to play some partisan politics. i think it should be viewed as an abuse of power and we should get all the facts. and i'm glad that the legislature is after it. i understand that law enforcement officials prosecutors are looking into whether there were any laws

broken, whether there's any culpability there. so i think that should go on. i'm not going to speculate on what comes next. >> congressman holt, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. rush holt is the democratic congressman from new jersey. of course, you can see the governor's speech live here on cnn. our special coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. eastern. hillary clinton looks invincible, at least a lot of democrats believe, if she decides to enter the 2016 race for the democratic presidential nomination. she could face some familiar pitfalls in a state that helped derail her back in 2008. we're going to take a closer look at hillary clinton's iowa problem. stand by. eason, no matter the occasion... your home's the place everyone gathers. so be ready with a stouffer's lasagna. it's the mouthwatering recipe that keeps them coming back. stouffer's. made with care for your family.

she hasn't said whether or not she's running, but if she does, hillary clinton looks pretty strong in iowa in a democratic contest in those caucuses. those are the first contests in the 2016 presidential race. six years ago, hillary clinton finished third in the iowa caucuses. and looking ahead to 2016, she could face some familiar pitfalls. our political reporter, peter han bee, has spent a lot of time in iowa looking at what's going on. he's here with us right now. you have written an excellent article about this. let's start with the liberal base. and there are a lot of liberal

democrats in iowa that she has to attract. >> yeah, that's right. and i spent about a week there just talking to activists, elected officials, operatives. there is a sense among the democratic base out there, as there was in 2008, that hillary clinton is too moderate. she is too close to wall street. she is too close to a national security state. that has expanded surveillance powers in controversial ways, drone strikes, those sorts of things. to be clear, there are a lot of democrats out there that really like hillary clinton. and respect her. almost universally. her favorable rating in iowa, according to the "des moines register" is 90%. people like her. the question, are they in love with her, is there passion. and that's harder to find right now. people are looking for other names out there. >> like who? >> if you ask people, who is out there, elizabeth warren who said she is not running for president. her name comes up all of the time. >> senator from massachusetts. >> it's a broad array of names. martin o'malley, governor of maryland.

gillibrand, senator from new york. secretary of state john kerry's name. won in 2004 in those caucuses. hillary is the name that comes up among everybody. but everyone -- personally i talked to said iowa democrats are looking for an alternative. they just want to see what the field looks like before they commit and it is still early. >> in your excellent article, you quote one party leader as suggesting that she her staff had a heavy-handed approach in 2007, 2008, leading up to the iowa caucuses. the problem with so much of her staff, this person says, was that they were all sort of higher class than the mere peasants they had to campaign with. is this a problem, potentially? >> yeah, this pervaded the clinton campaign last time as sort of righteousness, the front runner, we're inevitable. and talk to activists. and they said they felt mistreated. in iowa, you have to go into back yards, talk to people, shake hands, people want to meet the candidates four or five

times before they make a decision. this was also an issue with the media. they treated the media poorly and it came back to bite them. so that activist i talked to said hopefully hillary has learned these lessons because she does have to come back to iowa. she can't skate through this nomination process, even if she doesn't have many challengers. >> generally, and i remember covering this, she did well in primary elections. but in caucuses in those states that do the caucuses, didn't do well, that's exactly right and that's how the obama campaign was able to run up delegate numbers because the caucuses tend to be dominated by the more liberal, progressive activists. in 2008, the anti-war base of the party that was really punishing clinton oh for her support of the iraq war. but that faded from the political spotlight, the focus now on the economy. so now if you talk to democrats out there, they say, and i quote people on this piece, she needs to become more populist and progression and those are issues right now. >> she hasn't decided whether

she is running. a lot of supporters want her to. good work as usual. you can read peter's full article, cnn.com/politics. you'll learn something from peter hamby. an investigation by a newspaper comes to a stunning investigation the u.s. government has been in cahoots with the most notorious drug cartel in mexico, letting it operate unimpeded in exchange for information about rival cartels. we have details right after this.

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truly shocking report claims the u.s. government and mexico's most notorious drug cartel have actually been secretly working together. citing court documents, a mexican newspaper reports dozens of meetings between dea officials and top cartel members. deals offered in exchange for information. rafael romo is following this story from the cnn center in atlanta. rafael, how did this come to light? >> the devil is in the details. we must tell our viewers where the information originated from, first published by a mexican newspap newspaper, "the universal." they claim as many as 50 meetings between the dea and operatives from mexican drug cartels. now, before i continue with this, i need to tell you exactly how they got their information. essentially they took a look at a case out of federal court in

chicago. this is the deposition that they mainly base the report on, and the position is of an attorney representing a mexican drug lord in which he claims that he was -- he was mediating between the mediating between the cartel and the dea. now, it is really up for interpretation whether we want to believe what an attorney for a drug cartel says. but let me read to you real quick what he told in deposition. this is under oath. he said mr. loya-castro stated that agents told him that, in exchange for information about rival drug trafficking organization, the united states government agreed to dismiss the pending case, not to interfere with his drug trafficking activities, not to actively prosecute him. and listen to this, wolf. the leadership of the sinaloa

cartel, and not to apprehend them. wolf, let me tell you that we have reached out to the dea. they have no comment on this case. and there's no mexican official that has validated this information so far. >> do we know anything else about these alleged arrangements, including if there's actually any payoffs? >> the report doesn't specifically talk about payouts, but it talks very specifically about the fact that in exchange for information, the operative was going to essentially avoid any type of prosecution benefiting the mexican drug cartel, and providing information to u.s. agents about rival drug cartels. >> rafael romo with this intriguing story. there's new proof that richer are getting richer, and you won't believe the staggering

amount of money some have added to their fortunes. welcome back. how is everything? there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did.

in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ ♪ this magic moment it took a lot of juggling to keep it all together.k. for some low-income families, having broadband internet is a faraway dream.

so we created internet essentials, america's largest low-cost internet adoption program. having the internet at home means she has to go no further than the kitchen table to do her homework. now, more than one million americans have been connected at home. it makes it so much better to do homework, when you're at home. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal. a quick check on the markets right now, after a sharp selloff yesterday, there is some activities today. it's up about 83 points. right now, the dow jones industrial and investors seem to

be pretty happy with banker earnings. jp morgan chase posted a $5.3 billion profit for the fourth quarter. not too shabby. the old saying is the rich get richer. apparently is saying is very much true. they have a lot to look at. take a look at this. last year the world's richest 300 people added more than $500 billion to their fortunes. that puts their total net worth at a whopping $3.7 trillion. allison is watching money for us over at the new york stock exchange. that's a trillion with a t, right? >> right. not million, not billion, but yes, a trillion. i don't know about you, i'm feeling a little grossly underpaid at this point, but it shouldn't come as a huge surprise, especially when you consider what a great year it was for the stock market. let me walk you through some of the standouts. bill gates was the year's biggest gainer. his fortune increased by almost

$16 billion, to almost $79 billion. a 40% rise in microsoft shares. that helped. but that actually only accounts for a fraction of gates' net worth. he got a boost thanks to other businesses including rail companies and hotels. sheldon adelson. he got a big boost thanks to revenue in china. there's eike batista. he lost $12 billion last year and he's now bankrupt. analysts say he didn't deliver on promises he made with his companies and lost credibility with his investors. wolf? >> what about the tech industry? obviously it's a lot of people in that industry have had a great year. >> mark zuckerberg, for one, he was the tech industry's biggest gainer. he added more than $12 billion

to his fortune. very nice turnaround for the social network when you remembr just how badly its ipo went. they're the ones who start eed google. keep in mind, though, when you hear all these big numbers, last year, it was a really unusual year for the stock market. the s&p 500 rallied almost 30% in 2013. the average annual gains are actually supposed to be closer to 8%. so while these rich people, they're probably going to get richer again this year. i'm thinking they won't be richer by as much. >> the 300 richest people in the world. talking about 300 people, can you believe it? so what happens when the dallas cowboy cheerleaders make a video involving the beach? bikinis and a camera attached to a hula hoop. probably no surprise it goes viral. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> it's the little camera that makes you feel like you're along

for the ride on a surfboard. or a roller coaster. or inside a dishwasher. and now the go pro has gone where few have gone before. around and around and around. the dallas cowboy cheerleaders on a hula hoop. >> we were really wanting to show off our girls. >> so while the cowboy cheerleaders were down in mexico shooting their 2014 calendar, they shot a few hoops. >> so i've got this little camera contraption right here. >> it weighs about a pound, so they had to fill the rest of the hoop with lead beads to counterbalance the camera and the whole hoop ended up weighing about four pounds. >> i'm sorry. i don't want to break the camera. >> this is a go pro. it costs anywhere between $200 to $400 and you can pretty much mount them anywhere. from a trombone, to a sword.

or violin bow. so why not the hula hoop. it had already been famously done at the bernie man festival 2012. by a group calling its hula fantastica. their venice beach video was the inspiration for dallas cowboy cheerleaders, but it was an uphill battle for the cheerleaders. corbin perkins, the cowboys' multi-media editor seemed to get the hang of it. he can be seen diving into the beach grass to get out of the shock while the cheerleaders twirl. nobody seemed to be complaining. instead, there were comments like that is one lucky hula hoop. i want to be that hula hoop. next best thing to be the hula hoop handler, it's like being a fly on the wall of the hula hoop, dizzying.

jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that is a pretty good job, i must say. thanks very much for watching. that's it for me this hour. i'll be back, though, 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. wolf, thank you. great to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin. just a heads up, as we begin the hour, a short time from now, we're watching and waiting for this police news conference on a shooting this morning inside a middle school. this happened in new mexico. a suspect in custody, but it's still not clear yet as to whether or not that suspect is a student or not. meantime, two children rushed to the hospital. the school quickly went on lockdown. miguel marquez is tracking the developments for us right now. miguel, what do we know? oh, he lost his ear piece. let's move