candidate than rick perry, newt gingrich, herman cain. i think he can handle himself. >> that's sort of a we will watch and see, isn't it? anybody get the baby? >> i didn't get the baby. >> someone's eating the baby in our king cake. let's go to "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips. i'll see you back here for i'll see you back here for "starting point" this morning. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com all eyes are on the dow this morning which could cross 13,000 for the first time in four years, all in response to a second bailout for cash strapped greece. just hours ago european finance ministers sealed the deal to provide greece with $173 billion in financing. christine romans following it all for us out of new york. all right. bottom line. let's talk about what this means for us because that's what everybody wants to know. >> bottom line, you don't have a disorderly disintegration of greece and the european union that causes all of our financial

ankments to come unclooued. finally markets get to react to $173 billion bailout deal that was thrashed out. one of the european leaders actually saying there's a reason why the marathon was invented in greece, because that's what they were doing last night, marathon negotiations. greece will stay in the eurozone. it will get the financing it needs to pay its bills in march. a big bond payment due. greece will have to take more cutting, more painful cutting and all of this is something that investors in this country are relieved about. believe it or not, in case you missed it, the dow, stocks have been moving higher for some time now on the hopes that greece would get this all settled. the dow jones industrial average is trading at the highest level since january 2008. also an election year, kyra. a real big advance. 66% has been the gain since the president took office of the dow jones industrial average. many people say, that's great. have you seen gas prices? gas prices are up big over the past three years. they're up more than 90% since

the president took office. so this all becomes very political what happens with your wallet these days, right? so greece getting a little bit of a benefit this morning but a lot of people talking about gas prices and the level of the dow, kyra. >> steve forbes, money guru himself, is going to join us as well, christine. we're going to talk about gas, oil, and mitt romney as well. we're going to get it all in there. the greek bailout is one of the biggest stories making headlines around the world. zain verjee is following that for us in london. >> reporter: good morning to you, kyra. most of the papers have this right in the middle of their front pages. greece -- let's take a look at the international herald tribune, kyra. it says breaking europe's vicious cycle. that's the headline. actually, this one was my favorite today, kyra. it said this. like drunks at a bar door the eurozone's governments and banks are leaning unsteadily on each other for support. the banks know that they have to sober up, but it's the

governments that are urging them to just have one more for the road. then you've got the kathimerini. headline is europe's common currency is more than money. it says from the moment the politicians and press of our partners and creditors painted the greeks as a nation of frauds who live large at their expense, we all forgot the problem was not only that of a country but that it was over its head in debt and hugely dysfunctional. also that of a unity that did not function with unity. so they're blaming the whole eurozone here for not working properly. the guardian in britain has this. making a drachma out of a crisis. it says rising share prices and a stronger euro suggest that financial markets are confident enough that enough's been done to isolate greece. policy makers by contrast have become more cautious about claiming success. for them the events of the past two years have been as daunting as the labor bores of hercules.

so the question now, kyra, is can greece be trusted? can they deliver and actually follow through on the measures that they have to do, live up to their promises, and get through these austerity measures? the greek people are going to hurt even more and be even madder. >> zain verjee out of london. thanks so much. comparing president obama to hitler. rick santorum had some explaining to do. political editor paul steinhauser joining us from mess is a, arizona. paul, what did he say? >> reporter: well, kyra, this started over the weekend when rick santorum, the republican presidential candidate and could have-front-runners said they were not so quick into jumping into the action and going after adolph hitler and nazi germany, that they sat on the sidelines too long. here's what he said on sunday. >> i mean, he's a nice guy. i mean, it won't be near as bad as what we think. i mean, you know, this will be

okay. oh, yeah, maybe he's not the best guy after a while you found out some things about this guy over in europe, he's not so good of a guy after all. but you know what, why do we need to be involved? >> reporter: so a lot of people were saying, well, wait. was he comparing adolph hitler to president obama? yesterday rick santorum said of course not. take a listen. >> were you comparing the president to hitler? >> no. >> reporter: kyra, listen, ever since those february 7th sweep, the sweep of victories for santorum, he has jumped in the polls. he's a co-front-runner with mitt romney. anything and everything he says is going to come under the microscope. a lot of scrutiny. he's had some comments over the last couple of days over prenatal tests, on abortion and birth control. there's been a lot of controversy. where is he today? he's in arizona campaigning two

events. tomorrow right here behind me, this is mesa, arizona. the other three candidates and santorum will be here for our gop presidential debate. meanwhile, mitt romney's campaign burning through some major cash. what's going on? >> reporter: let's talk about the campaign cash because now we're in 2012 the campaigns have to report every month. take a look at this. this is the amount of money that the campaigns had as of february 1st cash on hand as they call that, money in the bank. mitt romney at the top at $7.7 million. newt gingrich, $1.8 million. he's in debt. ron paul, $1.6 million. rick santorum at the bottom, 5 $1 $1.5. he says he's raised three or four since then. go to your point, kyra. the romney campaign, biggest spender, they spent $18.7 million in january. a lot of it on campaign ads. right next to them this is the romney super pac spending another $11 million. you can see the gingrich super

pac and gingrich spending a decent amount of money in january, kyra. a lot of big bucks being spent. a lot of it on commercials. >> paul, out of mesa, arizona. thanks. remember you can watch the arizona presidential debate here tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern. it's the last one before march 6th. could be the last debate of the republican campaign. in afghanistan nato and u.s. military in full-on damage control this morning because of this. . that's about 1,000 afghans protesting outside the bag ram air force base. they say soldiers allegedly burned their korans. senior pentagon correspondent barbara starr with more on this. barbara, did it happen? >> well, by all accounts, kyra, it did. the u.s. military, nato forces now launching an investigation into exactly what did happen and why. when you look at those pictures

outside bagram airbase, that is not what the u.s. wants to see right now is angry afghans. here's what we know. according to nato officials, they had gathered up a number of pieces of religious material, including the holy book, the koran, the holy book of the islamic faith, and these were gathered up for disposal. that was planned. we don't nope why they were being disposed of. perhaps they were worn out or something. we simply don't know. they had planned to dispose of them, but it is how they disposed of them. they burned them. and that is not appropriate, of course. that is what is now being investigated by nato commanders who gave the order to burn them, how did somebody decide to burn this material. the afghan authorities have been invited by nato to join the investigation. they want to really get to the bottom of this very quickly. they don't want to see more demonstrations. this one so far they say is all that they have seen that's been

substantive in terms of the numbers of afghans. very understandably angry and demonstrating against the burning of their religious materials. the investigation, however, is now underway. kyra? >> and what's been the reaction here in the united states? >> well, look, i mean, the u.s. military has seen some of these types of incidents before, and they have really learned in both afghanistan, iraq, other places around the world, when things like this happen, get to the bottom of it very quickly. if there are inappropriate videos out there, if there are other things that come to light, get an investigation going. get people questioning. get to the bottom of it. don't let it fester. that's apparently what they are doing now, moving very quickly on this matter. >> all right. barbara starr, live from the pentagon. barbara, thanks so much. >> sure. >> you remember rutgers student tyler cla men ta. he died by suicide in 2010. now his roommate is on trial for invades his privacy. we've got the latest.

whitney houston's death got us talking about addiction. we're going in depth. if addiction is a disease, how does it happen? dr. sanjay gupta going to tell us what makes us addicts. all energy development comes with some risk,

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jury selection begins in the case of da roon raf have i. he used a web cam to spy on his

roommate tyler clementi. he's accused of bias intimidation, a hate crime, and invasion of privacy. ashleigh banfield joining me. we know this case put a national spotlight on bullied teens, counts of biased intimidation can lead to jail time, right? and i'm curious how hard it will be to prove that. >> there is your question. look, he's looking at about ten years or so on those top bias counts, the hate crime aspect of this. you nailed it, kyra. it's how do you prove it because what the prosecutors have to do here is they have to prove that this defendant went after the victim because he was gay and meant it in a malicious way. they have to decide was this like a malicious homophone who was doing twhaefs doing or is this a stupid prankster. that's going to be tough. i'll tell you why. they have hundreds of pages of

documentation of communication not only with the defendant but also between the defendant and the victim. i'm going to read you one. you can make up your mind as to what this defendant was thinking. i have no problem with it in terms of him being gay. i have no problem with it. in fact, one of my closest friends is gay and i have a very open relationship. does that sound like someone who was after tyler clementi because he was gay and wanted to cyber bully him or intimidate him? that's a tough one. >> obviously this is breaking new ground because usually hate crimes are associated with murder, assault, violence. this is psychological. >> exactly. and that's exactly what they're going to bring up in court as well. they're going to suggest in a defense here that this is tough. we don't have a lot of precedent here. this could set some serious precedent because you and i are reporting regularly, kyra, on cyber bullying. this is the kind of thing that's really taking off. there's not a lot of legal precedent to sort of deal with it. a lot of legal eyes are on this case to determine whether this

can be considered up there with the ranks of people who beat up or murder or physically assault people in a hate crime-related way. it will be really fascinating to see what happens and how this plays out. >> we'll definitely follow it closely. ashleigh, thanks so much. >> sure. checking stories cross-country now. in philadelphia jury selection begins today in the case of four priests and a catholic school teacher accused of raping and assaulting young boys. and their church supervisor is the one charged with covering the whole thing up. prosecutors say the outcome of the trial could change the way the u.s. justice system deals with other alleged cases. hale pelts cars and roads in wichita, kansas. they got hammered by a huge line of nasty storms. it damaged roofs and uprooted several trees and downed power lines. toss the beads, grab your hurricane, pull out the king cake. it's mardi gras time. you're looking at live pictures

coming out of new orleans right now. are those live? those aren't live pictures, are they? no, they're not. hey, you know what it's like if you've been there. it's one heck of a party, that's for sure. we'll be following the mardi gras celebrations around the world as the day goes on. whitney houston's death has us talking about her fight with addiction for so many years. we don't know if it played a role in her death, but we do know that for more than 23 million americans fighting addiction, quitting not just a matter of will power. new research actually reveals that substance abuse causes lasting changes in brain function. we're going in depth this morning with our host of sanjay gupta m.d. sanjay gupta, our resident doctor. the list goes on. you do everything basically. all right. let's talk about your piece. i guess why did you choose -- this is your expertise, the

function of the brain. >> what exactly the brain looks like in someone who has addiction who's going through this is a pretty remarkable thing. it gives us a lot of insight in how it should be treated and understand it. that's what i'm trying to do here. i want to explain a couple of things quickly. first of all, this idea that someone has some sort of anticipation of taking a substance. that's sort of the first step. but then there are two important steps after that in the brain. stick with me here. so imagine, for example, as you take a look at this animation i'm about to show you, that someone takes a drug of some sort. what happens there, this is the middle of the brain, there is a sense of euphoria. that's dopamine, those small particles. that makes you feel good. >> is it any kind of drug? everything from cocaine to xanax? >> yeah. >> anything? >> just about any kind of drug. not even drugs if he isldrugs n. it can be anything, even sugar. you have that u foreyeah. in someone who's a true addict, take a look at this picture.

the left side, the bright areas, that's still feeling good. that's the euphoria. on the right side is someone who has an addiction, not as much of that bright spot. that is relevant why? because they need more and more of the substance to try to get that euphoria back. think about that for a second. you take the substance, you feel good, but in an addict that good feeling doesn't last. what do you do? you take more and more than ever before. >> keep going. >> that's sort of the basics. simplistic but basic form of addiction. >> are those changes permanent? >> they last a long time. exactly how long is a little bit of a subject of controversy. people say you can eventually get to the point where your brain does feel natural pleasure again but that can take some time. what doesn't go away is this idea of the memory of the addiction. so let's say you're a cigarette smoker. quit for ten years. pick up another cigarette and start smoking again and be right away you can go back into addiction. whereas, if you've never smoked before, it would take you some time to build that up again. >> what they say -- well, i mean, folks that we know that

have gone through treatment say once an addict, always an addict, there's truth to that. you aren't just cured? it's a constant battle to stay away from the temptation or feel that euphoria, right? >> people say that. i want to show the pictures of the brain to explain why that is. you see dark areas of the brain, you ned a lot of the substance to get that euphoria back. that's why relapse occurs so quickly. they say three days of acute withdrawal which is painful, three months where you're the most sort of subject to relapse again, and three years before you really start having natural sort of pleasure again from substances. >> sanjay gupta, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. any time. >> u.s. stocks set to open higher this hour and some big retailers are releasing earnings reports. the news from wall street right after the break. and kate, the duchess of cambridge, on her third solo trip today. we'll tell you where she is next.

remember,. kate, the duchess of cambridge, flying solo today. she's in the historic city of oxford visiting children from the art room charity. max foster joins me from oxford with all the details.

tell us about this organization. we know kate loves art. >> reporter: she does, indeed. she's been throwing herself in today. she's in the building behind me speaking to teenagers. i was in there a moment ago and came out. there are some powerful stories coming out today, children from broken homes, real problems as youngsters. the duchess is really keen in using art in therapy when children just can't express themselves properly through words. you've seen some really powerful examples of how that's worked here. a bit earlier on we could see some pictures of her with some young children showing her artistic skills. she's fascinated by art and art therapy. this is the only art therapy charity she could find. it's a tiny charity. i think they've been quite overcome by all the attention they're getting from this. i do have to tell you, kyra, these young children have been able to get a world exclusive.

that's the fact the duchess has a dog and no one can get the name of this dog. one of these children actually got the name of the dog out of her. it's going to be on the front page of all the tabloids tomorrow. i can exclusively reveal to you, the child had it first, lupo. i had to mention it was going to be mentioned everywhere. >> very extreme, important royal detail, right, max? >> reporter: absolutely. the twitters fear is all about lupo. >> art therapy, the dog. also i understand, of course, as usual, everybody ee nam mored of kate's fashion. >> reporter: yeah, but it's kind of taken on a mind of its own, this whole fashion thing. basically whenever she turns up at an event, within minutes a loft of the fashion watchers on twitter have identified the outfit. they did so today in i think about ten minutes.

within 1/2 hour the dress was sold out around the world. interestingly, it was in a sale. it was only $200 but no one can get ahold of it now. in america there's a very well-regarded research condition, they've been indexing all of the buzz words in the fashion industry. the top buzz word of the moment is the duchess effect. and this overtaken lady gaga even. certainly she's having a big impact on fashion whether or not you like what she wears. >> max foster, following kate. we'll keep checking in with you. well, all eyes on the dow this morning which could cross 13,000 for the first time in four years. opening belfour minutes away. "why did i roll over my i.r.a. to scottrade?" "for starters, it didn't cost me anything." "and i got a one-hundred dollar cash bonus for rolling over by april 16th." "i like bonuses." "plus at scottrade, there are thousands of

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checking top stories. the red cross trying to get a cease fire. opposition activists reporting at least 18 people have been killed today including a baby. and a historic vote underway in yemen. the presidential election marks the end of sali's 33 year rein. voters have only one choice on the ballot, his vice president who took over when protests forced him from office. police have charged a 28-year-old man with the armed robbery of supreme court justice stephen breyer. the suspect turned himself in on the caribbean island of nevis. breyer was vacationing when he and two family members were robbed. it would be historic, the dow crossing 13,000 today. it could happen. christine romans and alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. alison, let's start with you. help us understand the psychology and why people are getting back into the market. >> okay.

first of all, we're 20 seconds before the opening bell. we are beginning. the dow is at 12,949. everybody is on dow 13,000 watch. this is sort of a big deal, more so i think for the headline, more so than for the markets. what it winds up doing is if it hits that 13,000 mark it helps to sort of build investor confidence. as the recession has been going on and since the recovery has been going on, there's been a lot of cash on the sidelines and investors have kind of seen that as sort of burning a hole in their pockets. ready to kind of buy back into the u.s. recovery. they've been putting their money in u.s. treasuries, gold. they want to sort of put their money into riskier assets as they see the dow climb. we see the dow in the green up 18 points here. what's interesting is that some of the market pros actually worry that the market may be moving a little too fast. they say a pull back is actually likely at some point soon. but it does make for a nice, interesting headline, more of a

news event than a market event, kyra. what's interesting is that several local stations are actually perched outside at the new york stock exchange on their own dow 13,000 watch. usually the news agents don't pay any attention to the markets otherwise. >> we're definitely paying attention. christine romans, there's a political component to the dow's rise as well? >> sure. this is the highest it's been since this president took office. the dow was up 66% since president obama took office. you remember that it was way above 14,000 back in 2007. then 2008 we started to get worried about bear stearns, the financial system. the president took office just as the stock market crashed. there was already a big move underway when president bush was still in office. then it literally crashed. since then it's been a slow, steady slog higher. it's up 66%. hers here's the interesting thing. a lot of people will say, look, main street isn't benefitting from a dow at 13,000 the way it used to because main street wants more jobs and main street

is looking at gas prices that are higher. gas prices are also up, up 94% since president obama took office, for a lot of different reasons, recovering economy, problems in iran, etc., etc. a couple of things are very political. stocks are doing well, but the thing you feel every week when you fill up your gas tank, that's higher and going to keep going higher probably through the spring. so that's the good news/bad news part of the economic numbers. >> well, dow industrial's up 29 points right now. what do you think, ladies? what should we be watching for in the next couple of hours? alison? >> i think you are going to see dow 13,000, if not today, you'll see it this week. this really has been a slow, steady climb for the dow. this just didn't happen overnight. greece got its bailout deal, sure, that's helping to give the market a bit of a boost right now. what's been happening is the economic reports that we've been getting here in the u.s. have been improving. the jobs numbers have been

improving. housing numbers, gdp is still weak but it is improving. it's on those improving reports that you see the dow making its slow, steady move higher. so it's not just one event that's doing this, it's been over the past couple of months. the dow is up almost 6% for the year so far. the s&p 500 which is actually a better indicator of the broader market, that's up more than 8%. and many market pros say you're better watching the s&p 500 if not because it represents 80% of the market but because that's what really reflects what your 401 ks are doing. although that 13,000 may not make you feel better when you go and fill up the gas tank with the higher gas prices, if you are invested in the stock market your 401 k most likely is if at least breaking even you might be making a profit. >> we'll be talking throughout the morning. thanks so much, guys. straight ahead, job creators. family values. secure the border.

buzz words we often hear on the campaign trail, but what are the candidates really trying to say? l.z. granderson has his take. rihanna and chris brown back together sort of. a.j. hammer has the details next. i'm serious, we compare our direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us. [ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! until the end of the quarter to think about your money...

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rumor has it rihanna and chris brown are back together. a.j. hammer, what's going on with these two?

>> reporter: kyra, this is one reunion that's making a lot of people uncomfortable. rihanna and chris brown are working together again. she released a remix of her song birthday cake fee during chris brown. she did that on twitter yesterday which was her 24th birthday. brown released a remix of his song turn up the music with rihanna. we cannot forget it was just three years ago that brown assaulted rihanna. those pictures of her face afterwards are images that stick with so many people. now brown is still on probation but he has resurrected his career. this release isn't completely out of the blue. rihanna and brown have been reportedly seen out together. a lot of people have been speculating that they are a couple again together, but there's no confirmation of that. but there are plenty of people out there loving these songs and saying if rihanna forgave chris brown, we should, too. then you have a lot of people saying it really sends a disturbing message to rihanna's young female fans about abuse. a hot debate. i'm not seeing a whole lot of

middle ground on how people feel. it's one way or the other. >> all right. let's talk about stephan colbert. he's back. one of your favorites of course. what did he have to say last night? >> reporter: yes. it was great to see him back on the air last night after, of course, suspending production of his show last week. he didn't directly address the stories that his mother's been sick, but he did send her a a little message. let's watch this. >> evidently having 11 children makes you tough as nails. confidential to a lovely lady. but now folks -- >> reporter: gee, i wonder who he was talking about? colbert is the youngest of 11 children and as private as he is, i'm thinking this may be his only public statement about what happened. but last night he did take some time to shoot down some of the more outlandish stories that spread after the sudden cancellation of two shows last week. the shows apparently were not canceled because he was going to run for president, because he offended the catholic church and it wasn't because he had a nose

job. now i didn't hear him say anything about it not being because he was cloning himself. >> i'm still caught in the 11 kids. i had no idea. wouldn't you just love to know what his siblings are like? the dinner conversation. >> reporter: i would. you know, it doesn't surprise me at all knowing that, that he has had the tremendous success he has had doing what he does. >> a.j. hammer, thanks so much. a.j.'s going to be back with us next hour with the scoop on lindsey lohan and her new movie roll. secure the border. in other words, keeping america white. wait till you hear what else our l.z. granderson is saying. doctors are calling it the world's largest kidney chain. we'll tell you what that means and just how many people it involves.

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. checking stories cross-country now. in hall len dale beach, florida, a driver hits a man, drags him 20 feet and then takes off. the surveillance camera actually caught the hit and run on february 12th. that victim has serious head injuries but is lucky to be alive. that driver, still on the loose. in roanoke, virginia, downed power line catches fire after a tree knocked it to the ground. the flames had more than 7,000 volts. the fire chief says they're in crisis mode after winter storms knocked out power and left ice and snow across parts of the state.

think kag gee, 30 kidney donors and 30 kidney recipients all strangers completed what's being called the world's largest kidney transplant chain. started with one donor in california and spread across the country. people in 11 different states received kidneys. all right, america. be honest with me. when you listen to all these debates and you hear the gop candidates throw out facts and figures, praises and promises, do you understand what they're saying? l.z. granderson says you probably don't behind the buzz words and uf foe mimps, deceit lurks. he's here to play the race cards again. those are not my words, those are his. l.z.? >> yeah. that would be me. i am playing the race card. >> okay. so -- >> actually, i'm just -- >> yes? >> i think i'm just trying to point out what people are afraid to say. >> well, where do we begin? religious freedom, family values, protect the border?

>> well, we begin with all of them, really. religious freedom, for instance, right? you know they aren't fighting for muslims and mosques. they're fighting for christi christianity and jew dade owe christian nid at this. let's be honest with that. when you talk about family values, they're saying that because the assumption is gay people don't have families and so it's a a way to talk about gay people and issues without saying gay so they don't get pinned for being homophobic. secure the border. that's about mexicans. let's just say what it is. they're talking about mexican people. they're talking about illegal immigrants coming from mexico. if they were about securing the border they would talk about the other borders as well. >> so why are you obsessed with the canadian border? >> well, i'm -- i don't know if i'm obsessed with the canadian border. >> you are obsessed with the canadian border. >> when i was doing my research for this piece i was really

astounded at just how many problems we have with our canadian border and how we don't even talk about this when we talk about secure the border. you know, it's the largest border in the world. less than 1% of it is deemed secure by our own security people. just last year a group of centers petitioned the obama administration to get the military involved because there were low flying airplanes coming in from canada into the united states undetected dropping off cargo, drugs, things of that nature. so we don't even talk about canada when we talk about secure the borders because we're so obsessed with the discussion of illegal immigrants. justifiably so, but when you really look at how porous our border is up north and that it doesn't get mentioned, how can the conversation be not just about mexico? >> how do we talk about national security without sounding racist? >> that is a great question. >> answer that for me. >> the first thing we need to do is actually admit that there's

sol emment of race in the conversation. we don't like to do that because if we do that, then it sounds as if we're talking about being racist or supporting racism. if we pretend as if it's not a factor what we're doing is leading the darkness for racists to incubate, if you will. so let's just go ahead and say, you know what, the mexican population in our country has skyrocketed over the last number of years. we know that 50% of the people who are illegal immigrants come here through evasion. that means they don't go through the legal process. so we need to start having a real honest conversation about this and go ahead and talk about race being part of this as opposed to try to pretend that it's not part of it. the more you deny it, the more you look like you're guilty. >> l.z. granderson, great to see you this morning. >> great to see you as well. >> you can read l.z.'s column at cnn.com/opinion. weigh in. he'll love your comments. you lin some, you lose some. jeremy lin and the knicks fall

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stories we're working on in the cnn newsroom. 11:30, a california teacher accused of sexually assaulting students and taking pictures will go to court. at noon, the fda commissioner hold as briefing on the shortage of cancer drugs. tonight after 7:00, mick jagger, bb king, perform at the white house. celebrating blues music in recognition of black history month. we're following developments in the next hour, let's check in with allison kosick. >> kyra, on dow 13,000 watch,

it's sitting at the highest level in four years, guess what? it just moved in the red. if it reached the milestone i'll tell you what it means in the next hour. >> hi, i'm zain verjee, mixed reaction to the greek bail-out deal, i'll tell you what newspapers in europe and around the world have been saying about it. guys, thanks so much, they tried running for president, but steve forbes is a force in politics and business. he will join me live and tell me why he has a big problem with mitt romney, next hour. . our biggest brush meets our fiberstretch formula for a blast of volume and length. lashblast fusion. from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. sure. what flavor? mm, one of each. lemon burst, hm, cherry orchard, blackberry harvest... my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. pina colada, orange creme.

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you can lin them all. >> look at you coming with one in the morning, thank you. >> i stole that, sorry. >> well, it is lin-disputtable fact. not easy playing back-to-back nights in the nba. the knicks beat the world champs sunday but they lost last night to the nets. not because of jeremy lin. he had a great game. look at him driving to the hoop, 21 points, 9 assists, 4 steals, all around fantastic effort. but the nets have one of the best point guards in the game, darren williams, he was better. 38 points, kind of a pride thing, williams wanted to make sure lin knows the point guard pecking order in the nba.

next hour you're looking at the role of race in the jeremy lin including the controversy with espn next hour. this is being called the dumbest play of the year in the nba. seconds left to go, timberwolves need to steal the ball and make a three-pointer. webster steals it for the timber wolves. here comes the three-pointer. where are you going? he dunked it. you got a slam dunk and your team lost by one point. yes. don't know. nuggets say thank you and timberwolves lose. no wonder t-wolves fans want a new shooting guard. this ad after the game, place shooting guard for the minnesota timberwolves, must be able to shoot 40 to 45% including 30% from the three point line. allegedly signed by the president. not really. this ad has been taken down but that is very funny stuff.

big east thriller less than ten seconds to play, tyrone johnson drives for the basket, that ties it up. back up court, he has a time-out, doesn't use it, stops at 30 feet and hits it! look at, stunned. take another look. been a rough year for college basketball's defending champs, that is a great win for uconn. >> i am so excited spring training. pitchers and catchers are there working out. the oakland a's signed manny ramirez to a minor league contract. he must still serve a 50 game suspension for violating the drug policy. last year he said i'm walking out, i'm out of here. that could have him playing for the a's in june at the makes the play. 550 home runs, 14th all time before last spring. he was 1-for-17. before he disappeared. >> once he failed the test i'm

out of here. >> thanks, jeff. british boxer becomes a sensation for most unusual antics outside the ring. of course jeanne moos tells us about it. >> reporter: what a fight for heavy weight champion of the world, not the fight in the ring. we mean the fight before and after the fight. slap. spit. brawl. it started at the weigh-in. first on the scale, british challenger and bad boy, derek versus long time ukranian champ of the world, klitchko, in the middle of the stare-down, he slam ped the champ. the champ kept his cool later saying "i'm look forward to teaching this young gentleman a lesson" reminded us of the time mike tyson made a beeline for lennox lewis, tyson graduated to

making obscene gestures. he went from slapping the champ to spitting water in the face of the champ's brother before the fight. the brother kept his cool. and the champ went on to win the fight by unanimous decision. so you figure he is probably had enough, right? wrong. >> why you don't fight me now? >> the post-fight press conference -- >> i'm coming at you. >> he charged in the crowd and punched him. someone used a broken bottle as a weapon, hayes manager got cut. he picked up a tripod. and he started yelling threats.

>> i swear to god -- >> the real shooting done by photographers and video went viral, officials questionsed him for hours. he was fined $50,000 for the slap, called to appear before the british boxing board of control. he later wholeheartedly apologized, i have let my family team and the sport i love down. i'm embarrassed. while all that brawling was going on -- >> he trust me. >> we raise a glass to the champ, slap, spit, brawl, grin. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. top of the hour, thank you for joining us, talking about rick santorum taking the lead in a new gop poll and taking on the president. mitt romney going deep in his campaign coffers to win over

voters and momentum. joe johns is with the romney campaign, we'll go to him shortly. but paul steinhouser joins us what is santorum saying about the president? >> reporter: a lot of things, he's talking alot about the president, that is to change. if you go back a couple weeks ago, he was talk morgue about his -- talking more about his rivals. since he surged in the polls, he's directing fire power at the president. here is what he has said over the last couple days. >> yeah, he's a nice guy. it won't be near as bad as what we think. this will be okay. oh, yeah, maybe he's not the best guy after a while you found out things about this guy over in europe he's not so good of a guy after all. >> not about your jobs, it's about some phony ideal. some phony theology. not a theology based on the bible, different theology, no less a theology.

>> i referred to global warming as political science. >> kyra, here is what happens when you rise to front-runner status, everything comes under the microscope. rick santorum has to explain a lot of what he has said and the comments there, a, did not he had to explain he was not comparing president barack obama to adolf hitler. b, the other day he had to say no, he wasn't questioning whether he is a christian. he had to explain comments on birth control, contraception and pre-natal testing. he will be in arizona later today. the primary and in michigan one week away. rick santorum and three other candidates right here at our debate tomorrow. >> what is your take? are santorum comments resonating with the voters? >> it seems so, at least among republicans. this is the latest daily

trackitrack po poll. ten points ahead of mitt romney. that is the largest lead. go to the next screen, this is interesting. who has the best chance of beating president obama in november? republicans think definitely mitt romney rather than rick santorum. kyra? paul steinhouser, thanks so much. mitt romney may be losing steam in some polls but courting voters and burning through cash. joe johns is in shelby township, michigan will romney will speak an hour from now. joe, michigan is romney's home state, how can he keep it going -- you got serious weather, don't worry we can see you a clear picture. let's talk romney -- little cold out there. >> reporter: that's right. a mini-blizzard. the fact of the matter is snow or no-snow, the bottom line with

romney he's not taking anything for granted. also not conceding anything. this happens to be shelby township, michigan, which is by the way the very same place where rick santorum appeared last friday, just a couple miles away from here. mitt romney expected to appear here in just a little while, he has been very aggressive here in michigan, and also in the buckeye state of ohio, we saw him in cincinnatti just last night. he was taking on rick santorum and his votes in the united states senate. listen. >> he voted five times to raise the debt ceiling, without getting compensating cuts in spending. during his time in the senate only two terms, the size of the federal government grew 80%. when republicans go to washington and spend like democrats, you will have a lot of spending. >> reporter: by the way, both romney and rick santorum are taking fire, this very morning

from the obama reelect, their plans to cut taxes would increase the u.s. deficit dramatically. kyra. >> let's talk about mitt romney and his cash. burning through lots of it now, spending three times what his campaign actually raised in january, right? >> reporter: yeah, yeah, tremendous numbers there. something like $19 million spent by the campaign. they are still in the black because they had a lot of cash on hand, and they raised about $6.5 million. the one thing you can say when you go through sort of a p protracted nomination fight a lot of money will get spent and mitt romney has a lot of money to spend by the way. other thing i think you have to say, too, is that super pac, the pro-romney super pac which is helping him a lot is also spending a lot of money on his

behalf on television ads, many of them negative. >> joe johns, thanks so much. >> all four candidates face-off in the arizona republican debate, you can watch it here on cnn tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern, the last debate before super tuesday, march 6th, could be the last debate of the republican campaign. all eyes on the dow, which is hovering near 13,000 for the first time in four years. because of the deal to provide greece with $173 billion in financing. allison with more from the new york stock exchange. >> reporter: stocks out of the gate when the opening bell rang, stocks moved higher, pulled back, you see the dow is flat. we aren't well on our way to 13,000 but sure getting close to that psychological milestone we haven't seen since may of 2008.

think of it as an average of the stock prices of 30 of america's biggest companies because it's not one particular area of the economy that the dow represents but represents all sectors and all sectors look like they had a good year so far, in fact if you look at best performers this year, bank of america doing very well after being the worst performer of 2011. caterpillar, microsoft, alcoa, jp morgan chase doing well. of the 30 stocks to the dow, 23 in positive territory for the year that is one of the reasons and big reasons why you're seeing the dow approach the 13,000 level. kyra? >> 13,000 that milestone will mean a lot to investors, a lot to us, bottom line our pocketbook. >> reporter: yeah if you were invested in the stock market the portfolio will move higher. the way the traders see it, they see dow 13,000 as a news event, more of a news event than market event. traders say you would be better off focusing on the s&p 500,

broo broader measure of the economy makes up 80% of the market. you should, too, focus on the s&p 500 more, chances are part of your retirement plan or college savings plan is tied to the s&p 500. good news is that the s&p 500 is out performed the dow so far this year, we love the nice round numbers, 13,000, we'll keep our eye on it for you. >> thanks, alison. the zain verjee is following the greek bail-out. >> reporter: what do you get when you put european leaders in a room for 13 hours? kyra, you get $173 billion in a deal to bail out greece. the newspapers all around the world have this as their major headline, the herald tribune "breaking europe's vicious

cycle" they are like drunks at a bar door, the eurozone's governments and banks are leaning unsteadily on each other for support. the banks know they have to sober up, but governments are urging them to have one more for the road. take a look at the greek paper, it says europe's common currency is more than money. from the moment the politicians and press of our partners and creditors painted the greeks as a nation of frauds who live large at their expense, we all forgot the problem was not only that of a country that it was over its head in debt and hugely dysfunctional but also that of a unity that did not function with unity. meaning the european union. the guardian in britain, making a dcachma out of a crisis. rising share prizes anz stronger euro suggests financial markets are confident enough has been done to isolate greece, policy makers by contrast have become more cautious about claiming

success for them the events of the past two years have been as daunting as the labors of hercules. greek stays in the euro zone but they have to do painful things over the next days and months. they have to seriously implement painful austerity measures that will upset and hurt the greek people. >> zain, thanks so much. with 25 people killed in syria just today, victims families are starting to ask what is the world waiting for? an opposition group says three children are among the dead after this heavy shelling of the city of homs. on friday representatives from several nations came together in the latest attempt to stop the violence. russia, which has strong

economic interests in area is not participating. one group that thrown itself in the middle of the conflict, the international red cross. it's trying to broker a cease fire between the opposition and government so people can get the food and medical supplies they need. are arwood damon shows us how they are trying to survive. >> reporter: they are calling out names and distributing to baby diapers. everything is rationed, including food, which is running short. this man tells us that in the last two weeks, nothing has come in the neighborhood. some of what they've gathered comes from salvaged from stores. we take the products to distribute so they don't go to waste, we keep track of everything we took to reimburse the owners.

>> the opposition says about 9,000 people have been killed in the nearly year-long crack down. gas prices are pushing past $4 a gallon, we'll look what is behind the spike and price cost keep rising. jeremy lin has taken the nba by storm. but there is also controversy surrounding race and the rookie. we'll talk about it see if you agree, next. [ horn honks ] hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

checking stories across the country in philadelphia jury selection begins in the case of four priests and a catholic school teacher accused of raping and assaulting boys. on top of that the church

supervisor is charged with covering the whole thing up. prosecutors say the outcome of the trial could change the way the u.s. justice system deals with other cases. hail pelts cars in wichita, kansas, folks from oklahoma and nebraska getting mehammered by storms. uprooted trees which fell on power lines. >> grab the hurricane, mardi gras, folks, fat tuesday, looking at the pictures from new orleans a few minutes ago. going to get lively there. we'll look at the celebrations all around the world as the day goes on. all right, linsanity. linspiration, you have to love the love for jeremy lin, his personal story, faith, play on the court. his slump to stardom, embracing the all american dream here. almost everyone is. floyd mayweather tweeted this. jeremy lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's

asian. black players do what he does every night and they don't get the same praise. lin's hype is racial? you know i have to talk about this with mark lamont hill, professor, you were angry with mayweather. >> i love floyd but he has this wrong. black players don't do this every night. nobody does this every night. over the first six starts, jeremy lin set nba scoring records, him alan iverson, shaq, the numbers speak for themselves, his talent speaks for himself. people are not hyping him he is asian, the guy can ball. he's talented. no one does this every night. >> he's the ultimate story of possibility. you pointed that out. >> i mean this guy didn't get drafted, was playing in the d-league he was sitting on the end of a very bad knicks bench.

he was somebody who wasn't expected to succeed. went to harvard, doesn't -- isn't known for producing nba players. this is somebody who doesn't have the pedigree you would expect for a starter on the knicks. this is a guy people thought he was the trainer when he walked in madison square garden and now scoring 38 on kobe bryant. that is the greatest story ever. >> we hear linsanity. an awesome compliment, but marc, we have seen jackie chan of basketball, air dumpling, fortune rookie, are we that ignorant? >> some people are. people have the sense of bewilderment and surprise he can play basketball. the racial slurs, like with espn -- >> marc, why is it a problem an asian can play basketball? >> we don't have a script.

we have a script for what black men, white women, if he built a spelling bee or build a plain no one would be surprised. we have a script that says black males and really tall white giegieuys should be dominating the sport. we can't deny the every day talents, jeremy lin film at halftime, he looks at film in the middle of the game. he's so smart, he knows how to read a pick and roll. so does chris paul. we don't want to ignore the racial de racial dimensions. >> we all know there is talk and smack, everybody going off on each other in the twitter world. honestly, marc, lin's character triumphs all as well. let's listen to his response to the most recent racial slur. >> i have to learn to forgive i

don't think that was intentional or hopefully not. >> learn to forgive, not intentional. what a classy kid. showing us more than just a great ball player here. >> no, he's a good guy. he has great character. he's humble. he has swag to him now, he chest pumps and grabs jersey, sticks out his tongue when he hits a three. let's -- >> he's not an angel. >> but he's a good guy and handling this well i'm proud and excited to see this story is great for the league, great for the nba and players. >> an entry discussion, among the asian community as well. really neat to see how it has rallied that community, they have embraced a star within their culture for sure. >> absolutely. it's sad the knicks will lose to my philadelphia 76ers at the end of the year but a great story i'm glad the asian community

galvanized around him he's an inspiration to young people, a reminder of what is possible. he destroyed barriers, breaks down barriers, reminds us what is possible. i'm not trying to make a disney story. >> let's look at it what it is. marc lamont hill, thanks for weighing in. >> my pleasure. some americans are paying more than $4 a gallon. rick santorum endorsing his republican rival mitt romney. that is a message some michigan voters are hearing. who is behind the fake robo call? ♪

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trust me you're not the only one complaining about high gas prices we're all there. it won't get any better. christine romans, how high it will go and how soon? >> reporter: it will go higher and probably keep going higher. already above $4 a gallon in some spots. if you're one of the states that tends to see a higher price because of your tax burden in your states, you're seeing it go up, hawaii, chicago, probably in the northeast, higher gas prices continuing. oil prices are moving up. they are up about almost 12% over the past year. and oil prices affect

everything, they affect gas prices, the transportation costs for companies and businesses that are trying to ship products. they affect things like cost of making tires and all kind of petroleum by-products, or packaging costs, raw materials for manufacturing and the cost of running a factory, heating a store all these things feed in energy costs. one of the worries is the higher oil prices will mean higher gas, energy price and that could cause some companies to put on hold their hiring plans, and slow the u.s. recovery, that is why we're watching it closely, kyra. you're watching gas move up. i would tell everyone go to the fuel gauge report, do things like don't carry too much stuff in the trunk. don't drive so fast and aggressively that costs more gas. car pool, all the little things to take advantage of you won't

be able to control the direction of gas and oil prices you can only control how you're driving. it's here for the time being, the higher gas prices are. >> christine, we'll monitor it. indiana governor mitch daniels is getting pressured. a lot of people want him to jump in the race. his respond and our political buzz segment straight ahead. e e. economically, it seems like a good choice now. we need environmental protection. we've got more than 100 years worth of energy, right here. [announcer:] who's right? they all are. visit powerincooperation.com.

you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪

checking top stories the red cross is trying to negotiate a cease fire to deliver food aid. activists are reporting 18 people killed in homs including a baby. historic vote in yemen the presidential election marks the end of the 33 year reign.

voters have one choice, the vice president who took over whether protest forced the president from office. police charged a 28-year-old man with the armed robbery of supreme court justice stephen breyer. he turned himself in on nevis. he was vacationing there when he and two family members were robbed at machete-point. political buzz time. rapid fire look at best topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing democratic strategist robert zimmerman, patricia murphy, georgetown professor chris metzler. despite the rumors mitch daniels says he has no plans to run for president. >> i really would not be interested. i would be interested if we get to that point, interested in finding someone who can present a really credible and winning alternative to where the nation is going right now.

but i still think it's very unlikely, these things have a way of resolving themselves. >> all right, so he says no go, but could we really see someone coming in at the 11th hour, robert? >> you know, choosing delegates through proportional representation from the grass roots changes the dynamics entirely. i used to marvel as a democrat watching the republican conventions when the establishment shows the delegates, they sat there in ties and jackets, applauded on cue versus my party, we do proportional delegates can everyone is in tee shirts, some on yoga mats, rest in group therapy, the delegates are chosen on the grass roots basis do not necessarily respond to the party leadership or establishment. that what is the republicans will find out. >> chris? >> it's absolutely too late. look, despite all the hype of folks saying someone else should jump in, that's not going to

happen. i'm kind of sick and tired of this waiting for reagan game. unlike a lot of folks we republicans are actually very happy that this process is going out as long as it needs to go out. look, the people are going to decide. we don't need snoem-filled rooms, we don't neat hot yoga, we don't need that stuff. we need grass root folks to choose a candidate. >> patricia? >> i don't know why hot yoga came from. >> hot yoga, baby. >> i believe, i agree with both the guys today. i don't see how this happens, there are so many reasons i don't think it will happen, first of all there are no party elders, there are no gray beards come in and solve everybody's problems. to robert's point, this is not a party, a lot like the democrats, they don't want to be told what

to do. once they get their person who manages to win over even enough delegates, they'll want to get behind them. they don't need the leadership telling them what to do. it didn't work in 2010. rick santorum endorsing mitt romney. okay this, was laura ingraham's show in 2008 but take a listen. >> if you're a conservative there is only one place to go right now i would argue further than that. if you're a republican, if you're republican and in the broadest sense, there is only one place to go right now and that's mitt romney. okay, now of course this has been turned in a fake robo call, so here's my question. will it have an impact on romney's run at all? patricia? >> i think that what we're seeing with the negative campaigning starts up depresses turnout, when turnout is depressed it helps mitt romney a little bit. i think that it is going to -- it could certainly affect him in the short term it could help him

out if he can depress the enthusiasm for all the other candidates that seems to be the way he's trying to get through the nomination. i think it hurts him overall because he's looking like a republican willing to take down anybody in his way, anything between him and the nomination. it does not inspire people to follow you, get in line, i don't think it will help him. >> robert? i think to patricia's point, very important a big difference between beating your opponent and winning. that is the romney challenge. there is no question the tactics obviously help suppress turnout, that benefits the candidate with the money and machine, which is romney. i tell you it smacks of desperation, could in cite santorum supporters to protest the tactics, too. >> 20 seconds, letterman, trump, romney, need we say more? >> the home state they are having the primary he's not doing well. he's not polling well in michigan so he brings in donald trump to help him do better in

michigan. donald trump is the reason mitt romney's campaign is failing in the first place! it's crazy. >> so is it letterman that would help romney more or do you have a better idea, robert? >> look, not david letterman nor the entire cast of "saturday night live" will help mitt romney because he displays comedic talent of carrottop. >> that is pretty hip, zimmerman. >> i would love to hear carrot top's take on politics. chris? >> no, here's the problem. the problem is barring a swag transplant, i don't think there is anyone who can help romney, although i do think perhaps if he invoked his inner snoop dogg there may be an opportunity for him to be helped.

look, the problem is he's not connecting with anyone. he seems like the accidental candidate. snoop dogg might help. >> i like swag transplant, i'll use that. patricia? >> no snoop dogg, no donald trump, go undercover as a normal american, shop at target, eat at mcdonald's, see what everybody else's lives are like i think that would help. no more celebrities, try to be normal. >> target, my kind of girl. >> kyra, the biggest problem romney has with the record of pet care is not to channel snoop dogg. >> i won't touch that one. >> patricia, thoughts before we go? >> i'm speechless. no. >> happy tuesday. hap happy fat tuesday, guys. steve forbes favored rick perry to his openness to a flat tax, we'll find out if he's

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5679. stephen colbert, a.j. hammer, tell us why he was gone so we kind of know. >> we're kind of figuring it out. no one is officially saying why stephen colbert had to cancel a couple shows but the speculation was that his mother was sick, and while he didn't directly address those stories, he did send out a not-so-subtle message when he returned to the show last night. take a look. >> evidently having 11 children

makes you tough as nails. confident sthool a lo-- confide sthool a lovely late difficult. >> the youngest of 11 children, i'm guessing his only public statement about what happened, he spent time kyra assuring people he didn't cancel his shows because he was going to run for president or offended the catholic church or a nose job. he did cop to having a butt lift and his eyes done but no nose job. >> you know what, we love a man who loves his mama, right? that what is it comes down to. it's all good. i'm so glad he didn't have a nose job. good week -- >> i'm not sure if it was a brazilian butt lift. >> tmi. i don't know what that is. a.j., tell me later. lindsay lohan lands another tv gig, right? >> yeah, if this does happen,

this would be terrific opportunity for lindsay, playing liz taylor in a "lifetime" movie. her spokesperson says she is in talks, nothing signed yet. this story has been floating around a while. she is the only actress i heard about that has been associated with the part so i do think the producers want her for the role, will get them buzz, it already is, lindsay seems to have an attachment to old hollywood. she would want to take this part would follow the relationship between liz taylor and richard burton. lindsay has another court appearance coming up, it is expected to go well for her and she is going to be hosting "saturday night live" a week from saturday. clearly again, she is trying to get herself back on track. i'm going to be speaking with her mom tomorrow night on "showbiz tonight" soil i'll ge the latest and if dina believes we will be sitting a year from

now, we wish her the best but starting to if people like a bit of a broken record. >> stay tuned. a.j. thanks. if you want everything breaking in the entertainment world, "showbiz tonight" 11:00 oern hln .

in election year politicians and pundits don't hesitate to

tell us what think think. we're going in depth on i am america taking a look at how our country changed. the story how black male teachers have become almost extinct and for a role that is much a mentor as educator, the situation is critical. george howell profiles one teacher who says it's time for black men to step it up. >> reporter: in the heart of one of washington d.c.'s toughest neighborhoods. >> i'm not talking you shouldn't be talking. >>. >> reporter: teachers are the last line of defense for children. it's a g. >> a lot of them don't have a man at their home, they don't have a man to go to to talk to. going to be hard guys, we have to focus. for a lot of them i'm a big brother, but it's --

>> reporter: a dad? >> for some. they don't have a father figure at home, so when they get to school, for some of them i am that figure. can you find another chair? >> yes. >> they need someone in their lives who is strong, they need an african american male in their lives. >> you can start on the second line. >> reporter: terrace king not only teaches the basics but finds himself teaching life lessons to the kindergarteners at bishop walker school for boys, a school that serves over 50 children from low income homes. statistically king is what the secretary of education describes as a rarity in american classrooms. >> about 17% of our children are public schools students, african american, about 7% are african american, very disproportionate. if you look on the male side, less than 2%, less than 1 in 50 of our teachers is an african american male. >> reporter: a few years back you launched a campaign to get

more black male teachers. has it been successful? >> we have a long way to go it is encouraging. the goal is not to have a black male teacher, a great black male teacher or great hispanic teacher or great whatever teacher. >> reporter: to that end, duncan says in the new budget the department of education will offer new incentives to raise the pay scale starting teachers. >> a link says teacher training. >> reporter: as teacher, working to recruit graduates, brandon gillespie believes more pay is only part of the solution. >> some are hesitant based on the salary but at the end of the day salary shouldn't be one of the hugest factors. we should give back to our communities and educate our community. >> reporter: back in washington, terrance king is trying to do that. >> my goal is make sure they love to learn and are having

fun. but at the same time, making sure that they can compete with anyone across the country when it comes to it. >> reporter: king believes through his work here he's preparing his boys to change their community. >> i'm terrance king and we are america! >> reporter: george howell, cnn, washington. for nearly a month we asked to you weigh in on what makes us uniquely american. you can see the response we got.

stories we're working on. 11:30 erastern, a california teacher is scheduled to go to court. the fda commissioner hold as briefing on the shortage of cancer drugs at noon. after 7:00, mick jagger, b.b. king performing at the white house. celebrating blues music in recognition of black history month. pro-democracy activists say at least 25 people have now been

killed across syria just today. most of them hard-hit city of homs. there is a shortage of food and basic necessities as well and it's tough getting them to the people. >> reporter: the men call out names, carefully counting out and distributing baby diapers to family huddled in a bunker, everything is carefully ratio inched. including food, which is running short. sheik ayman tells us that in the last two weeks, nothing has come in the neighborhood. some of what they've gathered comes from stocks in homs or salvaged from stores hit by artillery. we take the products to distribute so they don't go to waste, the sheik explains, we keep track of everything we took to reimburse the owners. moving the staples is a elaborate process. bringing in basic supplies

residents need has to happen undercover of darkness, also has to be as fast as possible. they have been quickly calculating what it is they need take out for the time being. and they have been loading things like baby diapers, cracked wheat, lentils, someone called out saying should we put cooking oil on the truck? they run out of cooking oil. in fact, this is rpretty much al they have left. >> for the thousands trapped. there is no food, there is only cracked wheat and rice, this woman la ments. showing us what bread she has left. look at it, look at what we are eating she cries. the shortages are not confined to this city. on the outskirts of homs there are networks in place, just to deliver bread and fuel. war brings out the worst this people. but also the best. this is one of the many people

trying to help others out by making runs to damascus to get things like bread, gas, cooking oil. but even that takes lengthy planning and great risks he tells us. we have people there that we are working with to gather the product also, he says, but it takes time and the road is very tough. we have to go through the farm lands, getting shot at, just for a bite of bread and a bit of fuel. local bread factories lie idle. there are dough covering the machines, this particular bread factory has not produced a single loaf for a week now. even though there is yeast in the refrigerator, there are bags of salt. however, there is no flour, it's subsidized by the government. distribution is fully under the control of the regime. the regime is not sending supplies out here anymore. this woman lives in a bunker after her home was destroyed by

artillery. by day she volunteers at the medical clinic. then comes back to this. i had a cup of coffee and two cigarettes, nothing the last two days before that. i can guarantee you this, people will start to die. if the shelling doesn't kill them, maybe hunger will. >> whispers from republicans about a last minute contender, details in the political ticker, next. ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

checking stories as across the country. in florida a driver hits a man drags him 20 feet and takes off. all caught on tape. happened february 12th. the victim has serious head injuries but lucky to be alive. the driver still on the loose. roanoke, virginia downed power line catches fire after a tree knocked it to the ground. flames more than 7000 volts. fire chief says they are in crisis mode now after winter storms knocked out power and left ice and snow across parts of the state. in chicago, 30 kidney donors and 30 recipients all strangers completed the world's largest kidney transplant chain. a great story. started with one donor in california spread across the country, then people in 11 different states received kidneys. big wigs and political whispers. paul steinhouser sounds

intriguing, my friend. >> yeah, this is not a suspense novel, politics sometimes is the same thing. here's the deal. some republicans, some republicans establishment back in washington and other leaders are upset they are worried about mitt romney here, he hasn't sealed the deal yet. what happens if he loses michigan next tuesday or arizona? what happens if he stumbles come super tuesday? that is the problem. they are worried maybe what happens if rick santorum, if rick santorum surges and becomes the likely gop nominee, kyra, a lot of republicans worried about santorum having electability problems come november in the general election, some of these people establishment republicans and other leaders are talking about a plan b, maybe asking somebody else or hoping somebody else jumps in the race and maybe takes us all the way to the convention, kyra. mystery going on. >> a little mystery, not impossible, obviously, but extremely difficult to do,

right? >> very difficult to do, but not impossible. there is a kind of a memo going around among a lot of republicans which highlights some of the dates. still able to get on the ballot in california which holds the primary in june. the date to get on the ballot is until later in march. same thing for new jersey and seven or eight other states that have primaries and caucuses in late may or june. so yeah, technically -- >> name names, paul. name some names. >> here is what some people would want. maybe mitch daniels, the indiana governor who flirted with running but said no. daniels came out and said still not changing my mind, not going to run. i bet some people are hoping chris christi would run, he is a big supporter of mitt romney. a bunch of these names are not going to happen. kyra, could this go