convention, sure. will it? stay tuned. >> suzanne malveaux saying sarah palin? you want to weigh in? >> there you go, sarah palin. you have inside scoop, suzanne? >> i think no way. that is my inside scoop. >> we got everybody's attention, didn't we? >> thanks, paul. >> top of the hour, that does it for us and suzanne malveaux, who knows everything presidential including our debate of course wednesday night, 8:00 eastern here on cnn you won't want to miss it probably the last debate, right? it's possible. >> before super tuesday, yeah. a big one. we'll be watching of course. nice to see you. >> how bright you are today. >> going to be a good day. >> coming up on easter. >> thank you. >> have a great day. >> live from studio 7 i'm suzanne malveaux. get you up to speed, a former california teacher charged with lewd acts against children, goes

to court a half hour from now. mark berendt bound and gagged some of the children and took photos. some show cockroaches on the kids faces and mouths, really awful. others showing girls with plastic spoons held to their mouths. police believed they were filled with semen. for the first time a catholic church goes on trial in a priest sex abuse case. jury selection is happening in philadelphia. the monsignor supervised priests charged with raping and assaulting boys. he is charged with covering up the abuse. he is the highest ranking member of the catholic diocese ever to face criminal prosecution in a priest sex abuse case. the arizona sheriff accused of threatening to deport his former boyfriend says the allegations against him are part of a political ploy.

babeu resigned from a leadership post in the romney campaign. in an interview with wolf blitzer he should be judged on his record of service, not sexuality. >> this is outrageous this is brought out because i'm a conservative republican and now they think that somehow there is hipcracy because i'm gay. i never worn it on my sleep. i don't define myself i don't think we in america we're different in america, we celebrate our differences and we see it as a strength, the beauty of the country. >> well, is is it wrong to consider race when accepting students? one former high school graduate says yes and is taking her case to the supreme court. this fall the court will decide whether state mandated affirmative action admission policies violate the rights of white applicants. the school defends the policy saying race is one of many factors considered to create a diverse campus.

no let-up in the violence in syria despite pleas from aid workers, trying to persuade both sides to stop fighting long enough to get food and medical supplies to families who are stuck in the most devastate neighbor hoods in homs. religious leaders and volunteers have been a life line smuggling in supplies. the process is elaborate and dangerous. >> reporter: evidence any an operation like this one, bringing in basic supplies residents so desperately need has to happen undercover of darkness. have to be as fast as possible. this protest erupted in afghanistan after word spread religious materials were being

burned. decemb it's seen as an unforgivable affront. the commander of the security force in afghanistan was quick to apologize. he said disposing of the material in that manner was a mistake. it's official, greece getting $173 billion bail out, financial ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro approved the deal to help greece avoid default next month. it's the second european bail out. the first, $146 billion, that came back in 2010. mitt romney again in his political mojo back according to the polls showing him trailing rick santorum by 10 points but romney is on the campaign trail in michigan at this hour. newt gingrich addressing the oklahoma state legislature saying president is incapable of

defending the united states. president obama is trying to build momentum of the payroll tax cut. he's calling on law marks to keep up the spirit of cooperation, pass more bipartisan measures, we'll bring that to you live. he will be joined by people who tweeted about the tax cut, what it means for them, what does it mean? it's worth more than $80 a month for somebody who is making $50,000 a year. it's a big hour for money, right now don't go anywhere. we're waiting for president obama to talk about payroll taxes, all eyes are on the dow which could cross 13,000 for the first time in four years. christine romans joins us from new york. what do we think is happening, what is pushing up the dow? >> reporter: the dow is 30 stocks, suzanne, they are companies like alcoa, american express, 3m, ge, making money,

recovering from the financial crisis and the ensuing recession and doing so well that the stocks associated with them and the dow 30 is doing the best it has done in four years. so that is what is doing it. also this greece bail out package helping seal the deal, finally investors can look at that, uncertainty taken away for now out of the market, so the dow very close, 8, 9 points away from 13 the s&p 500 is 500 stocks, a better reflection of what is probably in your 401 k, has been doing well also. so stocks have slowly but surely been recovering, and doing kind of nicely. i want to show you a chart of the dow jones industrial average where it has come since 2008. the dow the highest level since june of 2008. i have a blue sphere at 2008.

the economy and stock market was crashing when the president took office. since then it's up 66%. this becomes part of the political story a little bit because companies are doing better, that is reflected in how the dow is doing, doesn't mean they are hiring gank busters but doing better. also, another part of the economic number that the president can't really ignore as well is gas prices are also up, and up big. they're up 94%, believe it or not, over the past three years. so while the stock market is doing better, gas prices when the president took office were 1.84, today, 3.57 expected to move up, more than 90%. two-speed story here in this economy. the things we feel every day like gas prices are not going in our direction, the things that companies feel or that people with money invested are feeling those are doing better. an interesting contradiction or side-by-side interesting numbers. >> that is what voters have to figure out. the balance between what works

for them, are they better off under the obama administration? we'll watch the number closely, bet we bring you back. >> i'm here. >> thank you, christine. here is a run down of some of the stories we're covering. dr. sanjay gupta is going in depth why the battle against drug and alcohol addiction is just so hard. outrage from veteran groups after a veteran calls a suicide help line, ends up with weapons charges. a taxpayers footing the bill for school teachers plastic surgery. >> they would come in for like hair removal on their lips, face. >> do they come in for lipo suction? >> yes. >> breast enhancement? >> yes, they do. >> face live? >> yes. rhinoplasty? >> yes. >> so it's busy. blip t smart about your weight.

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caused whitney houston's sudden death until the coroner's reports come back. her battle with drug addiction may or may not have played a role. what we do know is that for more than 23 million americans, fighting addiction, quitting is not just a matter of will power. there is new research found

substance abuse causes lasting changes in the brain function that bring more cravings. we go in depth with dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> this news is difficult to take sometimes because you look at it and you see -- we know people who have addictions, whether it's cigarettes, alcohol, bad behavior. >> sure, yeah. >> does the brain change, is there something that is inside the brain that looks different in an addict than someone not? >> i think reliably yes. the question a lot of people are are asking which came first, do you have the brain that is more vulnerable to the changes or does the exposure to the substances change the brain? not entirely sure but to your point, the idea this is a brain disease i think is pretty well documented. everyone has an anticipation, desire or craving. what happens after that is different. if you look at i think we have an animation, someone who takes substances you see they feel good, what you see being

released is dopamine, a feel-good hormone, giving you a sense of euphoria. the image of a brain in someone not an addict and someone who is. on the left those bright areas, that is the brightness that stays bright. you continue to feel good. in an addict it goes away quickly. what is the response, suzanne? you take more of the substance. if you had the euphoria, you want it back, you keep taking it over and over again, that is a simplistic way of addiction, but you can measure it in the brain, not just anecdotal is significant development. >> are these changes inside the brain permanent? >> well, great question. the answer seeps to be that for the most part the idea of the memory of addiction is permanent. so for example someone goes back to normal response to pleasurable things, it's possible. if a cigarette smoker, smoked for a while, stops smoking ten years if they pick up a cigarette and start smoking again it's the memory of that

addiction comes back quickly, much more likely to quickly become addicted to it. whereas you, if you never smoked and started smoking would take a long time for you to develop an addiction, that vulnerable brain, that brain that remembers the addiction, that stays and that is why they say don't fall off the wagon, one an addict, always an addict because of the idea the brain can quickly revert back. >> that memory. >> yeah. >> what about the relapse, is that similar to chronic diseases? >> i think it is similar. the fact they are used in the same sentence, addiction and chronic disease is an important point it is a chronic disease, we have a graphic showing how much of -- how similar they are on the left versus a lot of other chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, all those have a certain expose yourself to bad foods with heart disease. allergens or exposures with asthma. same thing with addiction. you have a relapse because of that. the idea this is a brain disease, not just a lack of will

power, i think most people agree on this. what they don't agree on is how best to treat it but the origins, the ideolgy is backing well established. >> sanjay, thank you so much. >> tomorrow we'll continue the in depth on addiction talk to former anchor roy hobs about his public battle with drug addiction how he overcame after hitting rock bottom. that is tomorrow on cnn at 12:30 eastern. now to a suicidal veterans call for help that could have him in prison for 40 years. so here's what happened. sean called a veterans affair suicide hotline last june, told the counselor he was on the virginia tech campus about to kill himself. he had made a homemade gun and made it with a steel pipe. once he was taken to a psychiatric hope and treated he felt better. but that didn't last. he was soon charged with making

and possessing a gun, which could lead to 40 years in prison. i want to bring in our legal contributor paul callen, that generated among our team. why would that be the case that you would have a u.s. attorney pursuing charges against this guy who was at the point of suicide? >> well, i'll try to explain it from the u.s. attorney's point of view and i don't necessarily agree with his decision here, but the law basically says if you possess a weapon, a gun, a homemade gun, this might be viewed as a type of moment made bomb, that is clearly a crime under u.s. law and this veteran happened to go to the campus of virginia tech of course a place that has had a horrible amount of gun-related violence. when he makes the phone call to the suicide hotline, he tells them he's armed, he's at virginia tech, and obviously, the police swoop in and place him under arrest. so on the face of it it looks like a case you would want to

prosecute. however, prosecutors have discretion. this prosecutor could have said this is a veteran with a mental problem, he doesn't deserve to go to prison for 40 years. for some reason the prosecutor hasn't taken that course and i think that is what is unusual about this. >> paul, clearly, he made the crude homemade weapon to hurt himself and calls for help and the concern is others like himself seeking help are mnot going to do that because they are afraid they will get in trouble. do you think the law enforcement pursuit of this guy sends a wrong message? >> i think it sends a terrible message because we have a lot of vets who have serious problems i'm told statistically, there are 18 veteran suicides a year and we certainly want to do everything possible to get them psychiatric help, particularly when they are in danger of hurting themselves. many of them have guns, they are familiar with weapons, trained by the u.s. military, so i think

we have to find a way to protect them and frankly, i think we need prosecutors who will look at cases on a case-by-case basis and say you know, something, this is not a terrorist, this is not someone trying to hurt people at virginia tech, someone in need of help and decline to prosecute. called prosecutorial discretion and why we hope prosecutors will exercise that discretion. now there may be more to this, suzanne, than we know about. a lot of times i know in criminal cases the prosecutor knows something that the public doesn't, so i think you have to keep an open mind for a little bit until we hear more from the prosecutors but boy i'm with the vet on this fact pattern. >> just to be clear here, for the law, if you're in trouble and make a desperate call you're in danger of overdosing or you want to shoot yourself, does the law protect you in any way from being charged even if you have illegal substances or something that is going on? is there somewhere in the law

that allows to you make that kind of phone call without being afraid of being prosecuted? >> no, you have to have a fear of being prosecuted. your call to the help line is protected in the sense that they can't reveal that you're suicidal, they can't reveal it from a health standpoint, but if you call a suicide hot loin and said i have a bomb, i have a gun, i have illegal drugs, that can be turned over to law enforcement and as a matter of fact, if you say i have a gun and i'm going to kill myself they are required to call the police because you might use the gun on yourself and somebody else, and frankly we've seen a lot of cases where suicidal individuals have killed other people. there is not immunity and there is not complete protection on the suicide hot lines. >> paul callan thank you so much. >> nice being with you, suzanne. >> nice to see you. there are perks to being a teacher in buffalo, new york. plastic surgery on the taxpayers dime. everything from lipo, nose jobs,

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if you're like me and many others you're keeping a close eye on the dow now. looking at it we're like about

less than two points away from that benchmark it would be historic four years, it would hit 13,000 which could mean pretty good news for jobs and for folks paying very close attention to that. we will see if it breaks that number, what it means for the state of our economy and for the state of investors as well as your pocketbook. keeping a close eye on the dow, almost at 13,000, when we had the breaking number, we'll give that to you, bring it to you live. we also are following another story, free plastic surgery for teachers. it sounds bizarre, right? but it's not if you live in buffalo, new york, for the last 40 years teacher there's have been getting hollywood star treatment on the taxpayers dime. last year the district spent $6 million talking facelifts, breast implants, you name it. there are $42 million in debt. gary tuckman has the story.

>> reporter: this buffalo plastic surgeon has happy patients. >> let's suppose that i was a woman who weighed over 300 pounds, and i lost maybe 150 or 160 pounds. >>. >> reporter: that happened to valerie. it's not the results that make her happy, the sweet deal she gets. the sweet deal that all the 3400 teachers in buffalo are eligible to get. under one of their insurance plan options, they are billed nothing for any plastic surgery procedure such as botox, liposuction, tummy tucks, no dedud deductib deductible. linda teaches second grade and gets regular treatments. >> i wouldn't want to see it taken away. >> reporter: this doctor has been a plastic surgeon in buffalo 40 years. >> i feel the teachers have paid their dues and i think it would

be wrong to take it away from them. >> reporter: he does have plenty of non-teacher patients, he does say three out of ten are buffalo teachers. the school district insurance covers every single penny. >> they will come in for like hair removal, on their lips, face. >> also come in for liposuction? >> yechl. >> breast enhansment? >> yes, they do. >> faceliftd. >> yes. >> rhinoplasty? >> yes. >> he advertises in the teacher union news letter. buffalo schools spent $5.9 million in plastic surgery, also known as cosmetic rider. buffalo teachers have had the rider nearly decades. >> i have been unable to another district that has cosmetic riders. >> you think school district must be flush with cash. the president of the buffalo board of education says he is projecting a $42 million deficit

next year. >> if you had the $5.9 million that wasn't being spent on plastic surgery what would you do with it now? >> hiring 240 teachers. >> you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know a plastic surgeon or teacher would like the policy more than the typical taxpayer. the teachers will tell through is more to the story. their contract with the city expired nearly a decade ago, negotiations have failed. >> reporter: they are woefully under paid, they add. interesting to hear what the president of the teachers union says. >> we told the district six or eight years ago we're willing to give it up as long as the district comes back to the table with us and negotiates, it's gone. >> do you feel as a gesture of good faith that the union should say teachers no more free plastic surgery? would be a wonderful gesture of good faith. we're willing to gift up. the district has to come to the table and negotiate. >> reporter: you're not willing to do it uni llaterally?

>> no. >> reporter: the police and fire department have similar programs. they are not dealing with the economically challenged school system. >> everybody works for a living. >> i don't think the taxpayers should pay for that. >> reporter: at least for now the policy remains. in a school district with a unique mix of brain and beauty. gary tuckman, cnn, buffalo, new york. we want to hear what you think should school teachers get free plastic surgery paid for by taxpayers? we'll read comments on air. we have breaking news here, going to bring in the best of the best here, we have christine romans and alison kosik. the dow hit the magic number, 13,000, it has dipped a little below right now, not quite at the numb but we saw it during the story that we aired.

i want to go to you christine, first, tell us what it means? >> your life hasn't changed, neither did your money, really. 13,000 is one of those milestones, every time we hit a round number, people like to take stock and say wow, that means 30 big companies that make up the dow jones industrial average are doing well. these companies are doing well, so their stocks are doing well, we haven't really seen this kind of optimism about the stock market in three or four years now. so that's what is driving this. now there are those who would say but wait, this doesn't mean companies are letting go of all that cash they are sitting on, doesn't mean they are hiring aggressively. the companies doing all the hiring are small and medium size companies at this point but it does show you that the money you have in your 401-k is doing better right now. the s&p 500, 500 stocks, a better indicator as alison like to point out, that is up 8.5%

this year. stocks are telling us the economy is slowly healing, they are not so worried about greece anymore, and the way the jobless situation is at least static for now is something that -- something the stock market likes. that what is you're seeing. this has been just tantalyzing. >> it was two seconds. is there significance or just the fact it's hovering around 13,000 is the big deal. >> people making their order in the stock market, they are not buying or selling because they are so close to 13,000, they're buying or selling to buy or sell that particular stock for that index, flirting around here because it's just a psychological number. sometimes these round numbers can be technical resistance or targets like that, this is a psychological number. >>alison, you're at the new york stocks exchange, how are they

reacting, what are they doing? >> a plume of balloons did not come down from the ceiling. what did happen you heard a s sarcastic cheer, people sarcasm about the 13,000 number because a lot of what christine said your life isn't going to change because the dow crossed over 13,000 ever so slightly. but you can't deny that it is an important psychological milestone for a lot of people, a lot of people look at the dow for confidence as far as how good the economy is doing. whether that is right or wrong, some people see how stocks are performing as how they equate it to how the economy is performing overall and you know the dow has come a long way from where it has been, it's made up a lot of ground and hasn't just happened over the past week, been happening over the past several months. despite all the uncertainty as to whether or not greece would security the second debt deal. the markets have been reacting to favorable economic reports

that have come out lately on jobs, housing, gdp. gdp is weak but growing, what you see are stocks, our investors reacting to an improving economy. >> alison out of all the things you mentioned you said the economy, jobs, some of the reports about unemployment, which one do you think is the strongest indicator, which one is driving these investors to be a lot more confident in their investments now? >> when you take them overall the whole package, if you want to pull out the jobs number. when you see an economic recovery happen it's jobs and the housing market that are kind of the laggard. the fact we're seeing improvement in the jobs market, people will have more money and make the economy turn around. >> go back to christine real quick, christine, you had talked before about this good economic picture here, bright economic

picture especially when it comes to creating jobs but not everybody is really feeling this the same way. there are some benefitting and some who are really suffering, why is it that we don't see kind of a uni veer val uplifting of everyone when it comes to the recovery? >> wouldn't that be great? they are calling it a jobless recovery, concerns from the fed chief and others in fact you have a lot of people out of work for six months or longer who are structurally unemployed, very difficult to get them back in the labor market and that is something the biggie con miss are studying, trying to figure out what it does to society and the job market. look, you talk about demand for high scheduled machinists that companies can't get. demand for engineers. it's engineer week, by the way, cue ail your engineer jokes. scientist, mathematicians, very highly scheduled specific jobs, trying to hire people to do those and then you have all these people saying wait a

minute,skilled, when you look at dow 13,000 and contrast it with what people are telling you at the kitchen table, it's a very two-speed recovery. also something that makes it difficult for the president. this is the highest the stock market has been, gas prices is up, long term unemployment is a problem. 8% in unemployment is too high. every one of these indicators is telling us things are better remine us how far we have to go. >> what are the kind of jobs that are actually coming back? who are these people who are hiring and investing in the companies? >> we have a lot of temporary jobs coming back, mining is an industry hiring, petroleum engineering, anything has to do with engineering, huge shortage of skilled and licensed truck drivers, for example. jobs in health care, jobs in retail. here's the biggest growth, retail, leisure and hospitality,

basically waiters and people in the service industry who in some cases are not making as much money as the big manufacturing jobs we have been losing for 20 years. there is the structural shift. what will the labor market look like, how much money will the wages pay in the tax base. these are big history book kind of questions being asked right now evidenen with the dow at 13. >> christine, alison thank you as well. the douw jones hit the historic mark, 13,000 mark, we're breaking it down for you, telling you what that means. we'll move on because we know president obama is trying to build some momentum from the payroll tax extension, his message to congress, is cooperate. right? we cooperated on this, let's cooperate on other things. we hear from the president live this hour. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health.

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president obama has a message for congress, let's cooperate. we expect to hear from the president in a couple minute, he's trying to build on the passage of the taipd of the pay. republican hopefuls are gathering for the big debate. in the meantime, mark, what are we suppose the president, obviously saying he wants to get some things done, he needs to get things done. how are the republicans responding in terms of that message? >> reporter: well, we should say it's mag nan must of the president who at the beginning of the year had his spokesman go out, suzanne and say that he was going to bypass congress, he was no longer going to be tied to dc and push things through. now, what is interesting about president obama in relation to the republicans running for their gop nomination is that president obama doesn't have a primary. i doesn't have anyone, he has to

play against in his own party, and also his reelection is based upon getting things done, getting things accomplished and appearing as if he is able to work across the aisle. for president obama this isn't a hard lift for him to go hold a news conference in a few moments and say we need to get together and do things. as far as the republicans now, they're not going to say that, not the ones running for president because their whole mission is to say that they have the plan to turn the country around, that they have the tools to get it done, and they don't think that president obama is the right person to lead the country. >> so let's talk about the republican race, and the upcoming primary in arizona, where you are, third highest foreclosure rate in the country, illegal immigration a big concern, folks you're talking to there, what are are they telling you that is important to them, what do they want to hear from the republican candidates? >> reporter: what is interesting, regardless of iowa, new hampshire, south carolina or florida, nevada, everyone has

their own pet issues whether home foreclosure rate, whether illegal immigration here along the border, but with the number one issue is the economy. people who have lost their jobs, looking to get their jobs back, who know somebody who lost their jobs, what is particularly sad here in arizona as we saw in florida as well as nevada, there is a huge problem with the mortgage crisis and folks out here want to know how the federal government can turn it around because otherwise, they don't know how it can be fixed. so that certainly is something they want to hear and specifically here in arizona they do want to know about illegal immigration, how that will be fixed. illegal immigration is a problem here, might not be such a big problem in south carolina, let's say because they don't have a border, suzanne. >> mark, obviously you're there, the debate will happen tomorrow there, you have been able to gauge a little bit about what people are feeling and their thinking, is there anybody who's ahead of the pack leading in tomorrow's debate?

>> reporter: you know what is amazing the turnaround by ri santorum. gallup poll shows he's 10 points ahead he oh. >> i have to interrupt you, the president is speaking we'll go directly to the white house. joe biden is here today. [ applause ] >> and members of my administration for joining us but most all i want to thank the men and women standing with me today. as well as all the americans who made their voices heard during the debate about extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance. we are here because of you. this got done because of you. because you called, you e-mailed, you tweeted your representatives and you demanded action. you made it clear you wanted to see some common sense in

washington. and because you did, no working american will see their taxes go up this year. that is good news. [ applause ] because of what you did millions of american out there still looking for work are going to continue to get help with unemployment insurance. that's because of you. i called on -- that is worth applauding as well. [ applause ] you will remember i called on congress to pass this middle class tax cut back in september. as part of my broader jobs plan. and for the typical american family, it is a big deal. it means $40 extra in their paycheck and that $40 helps to pay the rent, groceries, the rising cost of gas, which is on a lot of peoples minds right now.

loranda hill right here told us how $40 covers the water bill for a month. this makes a difference for a lot of families. you can get back over there, joe. [ laughing ♪ ♪ >> more businesses can hire more workers and the sbi gets another boost as the recovery is making steam. congress did the right thing here, they listened to the voices of the american people. each side made a few compromises, we passed some important reforms to help turn unemployment insurance into reemployment insurance so more people get training and the skills they need to get back in a job. we passed an initiative that will create jobs by expanding wireless broadband and insuring that first responders have access to the latest life-saving technologies, we have first responders here we're very

grateful for the work they do. [ applause ] so, in the end, everyone acted in the interests of the middle class and people who are striving to get in the middle class through hard work. and that's how it should be. that is what americans expect that is what americans deserve. now my message to congress is don't stop here. keep going. [ applause ] keep taking the action that people are calling for to keep this economy growing. this may be an election year but the american people have no patience for gridlock, and just paying attention to poll numbers and the next election instead of the next generation and what we can do to strengthen opportunity for all americans. americans don't have the luxury

to put off tough decisions and neither should we. there is a lot more we can do and there is plenty of time to do it if we want to build an economy where every american has a chance to find a good job that pays well and supports a family. for example, congress needs to pass my plan to help responsible homeowners save about $3,000 a year by refinancing their homes, their mortgages at historically low rates. step up and support small businesses and especially companies that want to export it's time we stopped rewarding businesses that send jobs oversea, start rewarding companies right here that want to create jobs in the united states and sell to other countries as opposed exporting jobs to other countries. that is what we need to do,

congress can act on that. congress needs to make the buffet rule a reality. this is common sense. [ applause ] if you make more than a million dollars a year, make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30%. [ applause ] and if you do that, that means if you make less than $250,000 a year, like 98% of americans do. you shouldn't see your taxes go up. and we won't be adding to the deficit. these are things we can do today. it shouldn't be that difficult. whenever congress refuses to act, joe and i will act. in the months to come --

[ applause ] -- wherever we have an opportunity we'll take steps on our own to keep this economy moving. because we've got a choice right now. we can settle for a country where a few people are doing very well and everybody else is having to struggle to get by. or we can build an economy where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is taking responsibility. and everybody is playing by the same set of rules, that is the economy i want. [ applause ] we still have struggles out there. we're coming out of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes. we have a long way to go before every single person who is looking for a job can find a job. but where we stand now looks different than where we stood a few years ago. over the last 23 months, business have created millions of jobs. the auto industry is back on top, our recovery is gaining

steam, our economy is getting stronger, so we're headed in the right direction. and the last thing we should do is turn around and go back to the policies that weren't working in the first place. that is why it's so important for us to stay focused and congress to continue to do the things that the american people want to see done in order to improve the economy. we've got to build an economy that is built on american manufacturing, and american-made energy and improving the skills and capacity of american workers. we've got to make sure that when we think about energy, that we're fuelling america by home-grown and talternative energy sources that make us less dependent on foreign oil. skills for american workers, everybody has an opportunity for not only four year colleges, but two year colleges, community

colleges dr. jill biden is doing a great job promoting all across the country. we put forward plans on each of these areas that can make a huge difference. most of all we have to have a return to some homespun american values. hard work, fair play, shared responsibility. that is who we are as a people. the reason i'm so confident in our future because the folks who are standing with me here today, some of the folks who are in the audience, because all the families and workers and small business owners and students and seniors, that i've met over the last few weeks and that i met during the course of my political career, when times are tough, americans don't give up. they push ahead. they do whatever it takes. to make their lives better, their communities better, and their countries better. with or without congress every day i'll be continuing to fight with them. i do hope congress joins me. instead of spending the coming

months in a lot of phony political debates, focusing on the next election, i hope that we spend time focusing on middle class americans and those struggling to get in the middle. let's do it. thank you very much, everybody. thanks for the great job you did. appreciate it. proud of you. thank you. >> president obama urging congress to keep up the bipartisanship to go ahead and move forward on several measures that he believes will further improve the economy. he talked about things that could get done immediately, but there are a lot of republicans who disagree with his approach. some of them saying, preventing exporting jobs overseas as well as the buffett rule, the controversial buffett rule, which says that those making more than $1 million would be paying a tax rate of at least 30%. we're going to have more of the president's plan and republican reaction after the break. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service.

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so is it wrong for colleges to consider race when accepting students? well, one former high school graduate says yes, and she's taking her case against the university of texas to the supreme court. well, this fall the court's going to decide whether state mandated affirmative action admission policies actually violate the the rights of white applicants. the school defends its policies, saying that race is just one of many factors considered to create a diverse campus. i want to bring in our legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, on the phone from new york to talk a little bit about this. first of all, jeff, why is this so significant that the supreme court has decided to take up this case? >> reporter: oh, it's immensely significant, suzanne, because this really does look like the beginning of the end of affirmative action in admissions. in 2003, the supreme court in a famous decision written by sandra day o'connor said that the university of michigan law school could consider race as one factor among many. but if you look at how the court has changed, particularly the

replacement of samuel alito of justice o'connor, the court has moved to the more conservative direction, and it does look like there are five votes to overturn that decision and say that race may simply never be a factor. >> how soon could this the impact whether or not students actually are able to apply to a university and a university takes race into consideration when they look at that applicant? >> reporter: well, i mean, one of the interesting things here is when they schedule this case for argument, it is still technically possible that they could add it to this year's term, which would mean that it would be decided by june. perhaps more likely, it would be argued after the summer. but, i mean, we're talking a matter of months in either case. whether the decision is in june or in january, the important fact is that the decision is coming and it looks like race will not be allowed anymore. >> and already, you've talked about previous decisions that

have been made. are we already seeing an impact at the universities in terms y diverseties. just how diverse the universities are, because of how this law has changed? >> i don't know how much there has been a change yet, because justice o'connor's decision from 2003 is the law and race is allowed to be one factor. but there is likely to be a major change if that is overturned, because many universities consider race as one factor. and if the court rules as the plaintiff in this case wants them to rule, that will be off-limits. and that could mean a significant change in the makeup of our public universities. >> all right. jeffrey toobin, thank you very much. obviously, a very significant case that the supreme court is going to weigh in on and could affect an awful lot of students coming through the system. i want to hear from you on a story that we actually told you about earlier. should schoolteachers get free

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all right. free plastic surgery for teachers. it kind of sounds bizarre, but not if you live in buffalo, new york. for the last 40 years, 40 years, teachers there have been getting the hollywood star treatment on the taxpayers' dime. last year, the district spent almost $6 million on facelifts, breast implants, a lot of nip/tucks going on. so earlier we asked you if you thought schoolteachers should get free plastic surgery paid for by taxpayers. so you've been sounding off. jessie and soussy said, "of course it should not be happening, but when something is free, there will be a line for it. this is an example of why states are broke". kyle wrote in, "of course not. that's an absolute abuse of taxpayers' dollars and the practice should be stopped." but ryan points out, "it's in

the contract that both parties agreed to. blame the buffalo teachers union and the new york education department for allowing this to continue." and finally, paulette says, "teachers should have some perks. they're underpaid and constantly blamed for the entire education problem. it's time we focus on the positive things teachers do!" all right, so what do you think? let us know. share your thoughts, facebook.com/suzannecnn. i'm going to read some more on the air. top of the hour. i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed. just moments ago, wall street reached a big benchmark. the dow hit 13,000 for the fist time in four years. it is now sitting at 12,987. stick around, in two minutes, we're going to break down why it happened, what it means for your pocketbook. also, a former california teacher accused of lewd acts against children in the classroom is going to be in a courtroom any minute now in los

angeles. police say 61-year-old mark berndt bound and gagged some of the children and took votes of them. and the arizona sheriff accused of threatening to deport his former boyfriend says the allegations against hyim are pat of a political plot. paul babeu strongly denies the accusations. he's still running for congress. in an interview with wolf blitzer, he says he should be judged on his record of service, not his sexuality. >> this is outrageous that this has been brought up because i'm a conservative republican and now they think that somehow there's hypocrisy because i'm gay. i've never worn it on my sleeve, like, this is who i am. i don't define myself, i don't think we in america -- we're different in america, and we celebrate our differences, and we see it as a strength, the beauty of our country.

there is no letup in the violence in syria, despite pleas from aide workers. they're trying to persuade both sides in the conflict to stop fighting long enough to get food and medical supplies to families who are stuck in the most devastating neighborhoods in the city of homs. opposition activists say at least 18 people were killed there today alone. so this protest erupted outside bagram airfield in afghanistan. after word spread that religious materials, including korans, being burned. now, desecrating the holy book is seen by many muslims as an unforgivable front. president obama trying to build momentum from the payroll tax cut extension passed by congress. it's worth more than $80 a month

for someone who's making $50,000 a year. just a couple minutes ago, the president called on lawmakers, keep that spirit of cooperation going, pass more bipartisan measures. >> now my message to congress is, don't stop here. keep going. keep taking the action that people are calling for to keep this economy growing. this may be an election year, but the american people have no patience for gridlock and just a reflexive partisanship and just paying attention to poll numbers and the next election instead of the next generation and what we can do to strengthen opportunity for all americans. mitt romney trying to get his political mojo back. the latest national polls show him trailing rick santorum by ten points. romney is on the campaign trail in michigan today. newt gingrich is in oklahoma for his speech before the state

legislature. gingrich is stepping up the attacks on president obama, saying he is incapable of defending the united states. oh, it's a huge day in money. president obama talking payroll taxes, greece gets a giant bailout, all eyes now on the dow. it briefly crossed 13,000 for the first time in four years. alison kosik, she's at the new york stock exchange. lucky 13. you don't think of 13 in a lucky kind of way, but what does this mean for investors? what does that number mean for folks who are watching the dow? >> okay, well, if you're invested in the stock market, chances are if you look at your portfolio, hopefully you're at this point breaking even and maybe even, you know, making a profit at this point. and this is an important psychological milestone. we haven't been at this level since may of 2008. so what it's really essentially is, it's a confidence booster to the average person who sees how stocks are performing on wall street. they see that kind of as an indicator of how the economy overall is doing.

so what 13,000 really is is just a feel-good number. but if you ask the market pros here, they say, you know what, it's just a nice, neat, round number. it's really not all that significant in the market terms, that the real guys who watch -- the guys and the girls who watch these numbers, it doesn't really mean all that much. what is interesting is that we saw that kind of funnel push over that 13,000 mark after greece got that $172,000 bailout. >> and alison, it's at 13,000 right now. that happened in the previous reacti hour. what was the reaction? you had reaction on the floor there. give us a sense of what this means. >> there was a lot of sarcasm here, you know, i've been sitting here, waiting for the number to turn, it's like watching paint dry a little bit. but from the floor, when it crossed 13,000, you kind of heard that sarcastic cheer, yay, it did it, life didn't change much, we hit 13,000, and now it kind of dipped below.

it continues to kind of flirt with that 13,000 number. but whether we'll close at it, the market may be playing a little hard to get. we'll see if the market really closes at 13,000. that would mean something as far as historical markers. >> jumping up a little bit right now as well. what's the best performer so far? >> so some of the best performers, bank of america has actually had a really, really hard time of it. bank of america is one of the good performers. heavy equipment maker caterpillar, microsoft, alcoa, jpmorgan chase, they're also top performers. it's been interesting to see how the financial sector has performed, because of all the worries about the greek debt crisis weighing on financials. so it's interesting to see bank of america as one of the top performers. you'll probably see the market gains if you go ahead and check your balance on your retirement account, those are some of the big companies that are often in those mutual funds. suzanne? >> and for everyday folks like ourselves, we look at this number, 13,003, what does it mean for me? what does it mean for us? we're not big companies, but we've got investments.

>> right, we've got investments, so it may be a good time to open up that portfolio. but if you want to look at it more broadly, it's sort of a performance of how the economy's doing. you know, the recovery is picking up speed, the economy's adding jobs. housing numbers are actually improving. you know, jobs and housing have really been dragging on the economy. so when you see those numbers pick up, you see more confidence come back into the market as well. gdp continues to be weak, but it's growing as well. so this is also why we've been seeing the dow sort of make its slow, steady trek upwards. just remember, though, the dow is made up of only 30 companies, of big companies, banks, tech companies, retailers, industrial companies, but a better indicator of how the broader market is doing is the s&p 500. that makes up 80% of the market. suzanne? >> all right. alison, thank you. it does look like a little bit of good news there. we like that. and of course, it is a benchmark number. it broke that 13,000 mark. thanks, alison. some of the other stories we're covering over the next

hour. first, the fight to get medical and food supplies to desperate folks inside syria. >> reporter: even an operation like this one, bringing in basic supplies that residents here so desperately need has to happen under cover of darkness. and it also has to be as fast as possible. and jury selection today in the trial of a philadelphia monsignor, accused of covering up a priest child sex abuse scandal. and then a nasa rocket meets this gorgeous green glow. this is from a northern lights display. our own chad myers is going to tell us what the launch is aimed at discovering. granola. yeah, i know. [ sighs ] i get that a lot. [ male announcer ] it's a snack like nothing else. kraft milkbite bars are made with real milk combined with tasty granola.

a former teacher accused of taking bizarre bondage-style photos of his young students will be in a l.a. courtroom in any minute now. mark berndt is facing charges of lewd acts on a child. he was arrested in january. casey wian, he's outside the courthouse. casey, what is going to happen today? >> reporter: well, we're

expecting former miramonte elementary schoolteacher mark berndt to enter a plea on 23 counts of alleged lewd contact against children at miramonte elementary. we're expecting the proceedings to begin about a half hour ago. the judge has just recently entered the courtroom within the last few minutes. my colleague, alan duke is inside the courtroom. sends us word that the judge is now handling other cases. so we are waiting for the actual plea. now, to just sort of recap what he is being charged with, suzanne, we mentioned 23 counts. he is being held in lieu of $1 million on each one of those counts, so $23 million total bail. he was -- the investigation into this case originally started over a year ago and that's when mark berndt lost his job, was put on suspension while this investigation continued for about a year. the charges were -- he was

arrested, i should say, just in january of this year. police have found, so far, over -- about 400 photographs of him with young children. some of those photographs depicting bondage. some of them depicting large cockroaches on these children's faces. and some of them eating -- some of them depicting children eating a substance that sheriff's investigators say they believe is the former teacher's sperm. so, obviously, very disturbing allegations against this teacher rocked the computer around miramonte elementary school. about a third of these students did not go to school after it was closed for about two days. the entire staff of this school was transferred to another school, though attendance is back close to normal, suzanne. so we're just waiting for word from inside the courtroom. >> you just can't even overstate just how disturbing this whole with situation is. and that community, those parents there, largely hispanic, of modest means. not a lot of people trusting the

law enforcement there feel very much victimized by this teacher. i want you to just listen to some of the parents' reactions when they first heard the news that this was going down. >> i know my son was pulled out of his class a year ago, you know. we just found out about this now. for all i know, it could be my son. but until you see the pictures, you're going to really know if it's happened or not. it's really upsetting. it makes you concerned, it makes you wonder, you know, what else has happened in all these years. who else? is there anymore teachers like that? >> so, casey, the school board, they took action and they replaced all the teachers and the staff at that elementary school. what is happening now? how are parents, how are students dealing with this dramatic change that has occurred in their life? >> well, the initial reaction, suzanne, is a lot of those parents were very upset that all of the teachers were transferred.

they were very worried that this was going to be even more disruptive to these students' lives. as we mentioned, though, the attendance has sort of gotten back up close to normal, back to around 90%. one of the things that has been happening and that has investigator s very worried abot the actual outcome of this case is many of these parents have lawyered up. there are many other students who are alleges similar acts of abuse, but they have not been in contact with sheriff's investigators. they have hired lawyers and are suing the school district, suing the teachers. so the investigators are very concerned about potential impact on the jury once this case gets to trial, suzanne. >> casey wian, thank you very much. more explosions today in the syrian city of homs. eight agencies have been pleading for a cease-fire so that food and medical supplies can reach families who are stuck in the most devastating neighborhoods. our arwa damon has seen the crisis firsthand and she shows us how volunteers are risking their lives to get supplies to

these needy families. >> reporter: the men call out names, carefully counting out and distributing baby diapers to families huddled in a bunker. everything here is carefully rationed, including food, which is running short. sheik amond, who leaves a humanitarian effort tells us that in the last two weeks, nothing has come into the neighborhood. some of what they've gathered comes from stocks and homes or salvaged from stores hit by artillry. >> we take the products to distribute, so they don't go to waste, he explains. we keep track of everything that we took, to reimburse the owners. moving the staples is an elaborate process. bringing in these supplies that residents so desperately need has to happen under cover of darkness and they have to be as fast as possible. they've been quickly calculating exactly what it is they need to

take out for the time being, and they've been loading things like babies' diapers, cracked wheat, lentils. but then someone called out saying, oh, should we put cooking oil on the truck. well, they've run out of cooking oil. in fact, this is pretty much all that they have left. all they have left for the thousands trapped. there is no food, there is only cracked wheat and rice, this woman at a bunker laments, showing us what bread she has left. look at it. look at what we are eating, she cries. the shortages are not just confined here. on the outskirts of homs, there are entire networks in place, just to deliver bread and fuel. war brings out the worst in people, but also the best. this man here is one of the many people who is trying to help others out by making runs to damascus to get things like bread, gasoline, 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 products, he says, but it takes time and the road is very tough. we have to go through the formlands, getting shot at, just for a bite of bread and a bit of fuel. local bread factories lie idle. there is still hardened dough covering these machines, although this particular bread factory has not produced a single loaf for around a week now. even though there is yeast in the refrigerator and there are bags of salt. however, there is no flour. and that is because flour is subsidized by the government. its distribution, well, that is fully under the control of the regime. and the regime is not sending supplies out here anymore. she lives in a bunker after her home was destroyed by artillery. by day, she volunteers at the medical clinic and then comes back to this. >> translator: today, i just had a cup of coffee and two

cigarettes, she tells us, and nothing the last two days before that. i can guarantee you this. people will starve to death. >> reporter: if the shelling doesn't kill them, maybe hunger will. >> our arwa damon is joining us live from neighboring lebanon. arwa, just very, very powerful reporting and story telling there. how do they survive when they have some things that they need, and other things that flour, you mentioned, they just don't have. how are these young people and the children sustaining themselves? >> reporter: well, it's incredibly difficult, as is very evident. the children cry all the time, parents tell us there's also a severe shortage of things like baby's milk, and it is often cases and situations like this, where it is the most innocent and the most vulnerable that end up suffering the most. you can also only imagine what the parents are going through,

seeing their children in such a state and being unable to provide for them. the area had been under siege for more than two weeks now. there has been heavy sustained bombardment. it is bombardment that continues to this very day. activists are telling that the shelling today, the most intense that it has been over the last 2 1/2 weeks. so quite simply, the longer this drags on, the more people that are going to continue to suffer. and if the shells don't kill them, most likely starvation will. and all of this happening, suzanne, as the world is watching. >> arwa, do we have a sense, are we talking about days here, weeks here, hours here before these folks need to get those supplies? >> reporter: well, according to what the head of the humanitarian office is saying, they actually have less than a week's worth of supplies left, and if they can't get additional supplies, you can only imagine what that's going to do for the population there. these are also families that in many cases have tried to flee,

but have been unable to do so. in some instances, it's because they've been turned back from government checkpoints, and in other cases, they have no other place to go. these are some of the poorest neighborhoods in homs. and they are trapped there. a lot of people are voicing their frustration that this is all unplaying while the world is watching. the images are coming out, the reporting is coming out. and yet it seems to those that are trapped in these conditions that the world simply doesn't care and is either unwilling or unable to bring about some sort of resolution. >> arwa damon, as always, thank you for your insightful reporting, for bringing us those pictures and explaining what is taking place in that part of the world, how desperate those folks are for international aid. thank you, arwa. nasa sends a rocket into the heart of this northern lights display. i want to check out the gorgeous picture it made. actually, we're going to tell you what scientists are trying to learn from this launch.

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free plastic surgery for teachers. it sounds kind of bizarre, right? but not if you live in buffalo, new york. for the last 40 years, teachers there have been getting this

hollywood star treatment on the taxpayers' dime. last year, the district spent almost $6 million on facelifts, breast implants, a lot of nip/tucks going on there. so should teachers get free plastic surgery paid for by taxpayers? share your thoughts at facebook.com/suzannecnn. we'll read more of your comments later this hour. and nasa launched a rocket more than the 200 miles into the air, into the middle of one of those gorgeous northern lights displays. chad myers joins us with some of those awesome pictures. >> yeah. went up the 200 miles, it split in half, two sensors came out, one finding magnetic fields, one finding ions, and why? why do we care what's up there? because that's where our satellites live, right? our satellites are up in space and they're become bombarded by these light, by these things coming out of the sun, by charged particles, plasma, by a solar flare, whether it's x-rays

or coronal mass injections. they shot this thing up into it with the iones going through, the green in the sky. it fell 200 miles down range. not only did they go up once through it, but they went, over it, and back down through it in another place. we have all this data, and why do we care? >> what are we learning from this? >> we care because next time we send up a satellite, we'll figure out what's up there that could harm it. right now, these things are just up there going, well, hopefully we don't get hit by something. but if we can make them stronger, make them more shielded, like that russian rocket that was trying to do to mars that wasn't shielded. they found out that was the problem. it ran into some of these particles and that russian rocket never made it to mars. it splashed back down into the ocean. if we can find out what's up there, we can build better spaceships. >> that's a gorgeous, gorgeous picture. i love that picture. you know another picture i love? it is new orleans, it is mardi gras time. this is where my people are. i want you to take a look.

>> that's a different kind of aurora. >> you're going to see a lot of different colors there. they're partying up new orleans. despite the cold temperatures. but about a dozen parades around new orleans there. it's a, you know, last big blowout, the carnival system before ash wednesday tomorrow. >> it was really wet a couple days ago there too. so good that it's dried out. >> that's not going to dampen any mardi gras spirit. i'll tell you that much. >> 95% of the people are anesthetized with alcohol. they can't feel the cold temperature anyway. >> that might be some of my family. but, yeah, it's always a good time. always a good time for the w whodats there. good to see you, chad. >> good to see you. muscle lossbut you can t with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb

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here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on. jury selection begins in a sex abuse trial involving the

catholic church. this time, a high-ranking official is among those facing charges. and then, we've seen it in training videos. well, now, afghan police say they have rescued dozens of children insurgents -- well, children, rather, that insurgents planned to use as suicide bombers. and in about 20 minutes, they made headlines when he was arrested for assaulting her. but now rihanna and chris brown are making music together. for the first time, a catholic church higher-up goes on trial in a priest sex abuse case. jury selection is happening today in philadelphia. monsignor william lin supervised priests who are also on trial, charged with raping and assaulting boys in their care. now, lin is charged with covering up the abuse. the case could set a legal precedent, because it is very rare for a prosecutor to lodge charges against the church hierarchy. i want to bring in attorney and cnn contributor paul callan. and paul, first of all, this scandal could really open an

historic chapter in this abuse crisis, just changing the way that the criminal justice system deals with this. because now we've got higher-ups that are being held accountable. how is this going to impact what these -- the hierarchy in the church and how they deal when you have these kind of allegations of priests abusing kids? >> well, you're right, suzanne. this is a landmark case. it's the first case, probably, in american history that's been brought against a higher-up in the catholic church. the monsignor, who, by the way, was an adviser to the philadelphia cardinal at the time, that the cardinal is now deceased, he's a former seminary dean, he wasn't directly involved with abusing a child. the claim here is that he transferred priests who he knew were abusers without warning the schools that they were being transferred to, and that two young boys were raped as a result of that. this arises out of an extensive

investigation into child abuse conducted by grand juries in philadelphia in 2005. and if this theory is upheld, the hierarchy of the catholic church could be exposed for the first time to criminal charges arising out of this horrible scandal. >> paul, does it make it harder for the church to cover up sex abuse when it happens? >> well, you know, the church is treated legally the same way any other institution is. if you obstruct justice, if you willfully cover up a crime, that is a crime in most states. they are hard cases to prosecute, because most of what takes place in the catholic church and probably most other religions is done behind closed doors and there's not a lot of reason for one priest to come out and testify against another. but this case, there's talk about secret archives that were kept by the church, which are going to be looked at, possibly made public. it's going to be a real eye

opener of a trial, suzanne, in terms of looking into how the roman catholic church was organized in philadelphia and what efforts it took, if any, to protect the children of the philadelphia diocese. so it's going to be a real eye-opener of a trial. >> and do we think that this trial is actually going to make it easier,more hospitable for victims of alleged abuse to come forward? >> i'm not sure that it will. i think that we have to see how it pans out. and i say that because the theory against the monsignor who's the defendant in the case, monsignor william lin, is somewhat of a shaky theory. they're relying on a law saying that he had an obligation to report child abuse. it's not clear that that law, which was an old version of the current law that we hear about in the sandusky case, even applied to him. and with respect to a claim that he willfully transferred people and put them in a position where

they could rape people, you have to prove foreseeability. that knew that there was going to be child abuse when he permitted the transfer. and he also said he was just following the orders of the cardinal. so it's not an easy case to prove against the monsignor. and we'll have to see what happens. >> all right. and it's a very important case. thank you, paul, appreciate it. well, it's hard to even imagine, right, children used as suicide bombers. well, afghan police have found dozens of kids who they think were taken for such a mission. we're going to have a live report. ♪

[ kareem ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ mike ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ mike ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ jaronda ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ tom ] i would love to see this thing fly. [ kareem ] it's a dream, honestly. there it is. oh, wow. that's so cool! yeah, that was awesome! [ cheering ] [ tom ] i wanna see that again. ♪

afghan police say they found 41 children who insurgents were planning to use as suicide bombers. it seems incomprehensible to many people, but while i was in afghanistan, i watched u.s. troops train afghan police in this hypothetical exercise to deal with such a situation.

this is the scenario. a suicide bomb strapped to a child. a police officer must disarm the explosive and save the boy. the terrorist is taken into custody using tough but measured force. our nick paton walsh, he is joining us live from lebanon. nic, obviously, this is a very disturbing practice here, that they would recruit these kids and potentially use them as suicide bombers. and we're talking about kids as young as 6 years old being smuggled into pakistan for this. what are we learning about these kids who they have taken? >> what a large group we're talking about here. they were apparently intercepted in kunar, in an area i've been to that's very poor, very remote. that's where afghan police came across them, apparently en route to pakistan. we don't know exactly what was going to happen there, but it's fair to assume that may have gone to the more radical madrassas, been trained in this sort of thing. quite how they got to be in this large number, got away from

their families, nobody knows. afghan police are suggesting maybe there was some form of suggestion. but some of the children are actually soldi, suzanne. >> do we know where their parents are? do we know how this came about that they were able to be recruited and taken? >> reporter: no, we don't, at this early stage, to be honest. it's deeply troubling, of course, children being taken from their families, let alone for this kind of practice. but this area is deeply impr ll impoverished, many children living on the streets, trying to earn money for their family. so you could imagine situation where groups as powerful as the militants could per said families to give their children up. >> do we have any sense whether the afghan authorities, it's the police we saw the afghan police being trained there for this type of thing are addressing the problem? >> reporter: this has been going on for quite some time. we do hear these reports,

reasonably recently, president karzai has pardoned children who have been recruited for similar things. and often they're brought up to remind people of the more vial part of the insurgency that would do such things, use children as suicide bombers. but, no, there appears at this point to be no obvious way of stopping them. much of this is to do with taking them across the border to pakistan, perhaps a promise of a better life, and there it's the madrassas, perhaps, or even straight up training camps to get them ready for this kind of terrifying mission, suzanne. >> nick paton walsh, thank you very much. we're glad that these children are safe. well, this school's famous alumni include judy garland and cher. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah >> but today hollywood high's faces are a lot more diverse than they used to be. t loss pla. but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly

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carol burnett and mickey rooney graduated from this high school, but it doesn't look anything like it did back in the day. they call it diversity high. >> time now for the help desk, where we get answers to your financial questions. and joining me this hour, john ulzheimer and linnette cox, who's founder of the personal finance blog, ask the money coach.com. thanks for coming in. john, your question comes from brandy in kansas. brandy wrote in, "my husband and i have enough in savings to buy our first home as a cash

purchase, but the property we lake will likely need some work before we move in. should we finance the home purchase or take out a loan for repairs?" >> i love the position they're in. having a house free and clear of any loan is a nice place to be. i like the idea of going ahead and buying the home with cash and taking out a heloc, a line of credit. the good news is the interest on helocs is generally tax deductible and not bad for your credit score and you can pay it off and the interest is usually about 3 or 4%. very, very good rates right now. >> lynnette, your question comes from michelle in michigan. michelle said, "we're underwater on our mortgage, we do not have a government-backed loan. we have a va loan guarantee available if we refinance. what should we do?" >> the va option is a good o option to consider, they may have a loan from one of the five lenders like citi or chase, jpmorgan, wells fargo, with et

cetera, b of a. those lenders just signed an agreement with attorneys general around the country and this is going to allow homeowners that are underwater, that have a home held by one of those five institutions to refinance. so this is going to be a really big thing in the months and really years to come. i would definitely look into that. those provisions are that if your loan is above 5.25%, they're really going to try to get you in at current rates today. hsh.com is a good website they can go to shop around for that, for the mortgage rate side. but really, i would look into it. and don't be locked into thinking, i have to get a va loan in order to get a low-rate loan. >> especially with the settlement. thank you both very much. if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail anytime to cnnhelpdesk at cnn.com. people with a machine.

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all right. free plastic surgery for teachers. it kind of sounds bizarre, but not if you live in buffalo welcome new york. for the last four decades, teachers there have been getting the hollywood star treatment. but on the taxpayers' dime. last year, the district spent almost $6 million on facelifts, breast implants, a lot of nip/tucks. so earlier we asked you if you thought schoolteachers should get free plastic surgery paid for by taxpayers. and you've been sounding off, mostly against the idea. fernando says, "if the teachers have an issue with their appearance, that's a personal issue, not something taxpayer money should go towards." cindy wrote, "this is what hurts teachers and their unions, especially in these tough times. if they're underpaid, get rid of the plastic surgery coverage and increase their salaries." june had a different idea, "when you look at the pay they get and the lack of respect compared to the pay that congress gets, teachers should get congress' pay. they earn every dime they get." so what do you think? keep sharing your thoughts with us at facebook.com/suzannecnn.

so a year when politicians and pundits insist they know exactly what is right for america, we wanted to know more about who we are. all this week, "cnn newsroom" go in depth, sharing the stories of unique individuals across the country, people who are proud to tell cnn, i am america. today we meet up with a diverse class of hollywood high school. >> reporter: hollywood high is hollywood history. alumni include judy garland, lana turner, mickey rooney, carol burnett, and cher. ♪ yeah >> reporter: now a new generation of hollywood high students pursue their dreams of stardom. but this production is in full colo

color. this is how hollywood high students looked in the 1940s. today as many as 30 languages are spoken by students here. even principal jaime morales is an immigrant from nicaragua. >> hollywood always struck me as a place where it doesn't matter where you're or it doesn't matter what you believed in. you are welcome here. >> reporter: sophomore roger neil, whose father is white and mother black, says he usually felt like an outsider before hollywood high. >> everyone just comes together and they like accept you. the first time you walk on campus, they accept you. and you know, i've never had that happen to me before. >> reporter: she was born in nigeria. >> i want to learn a lot of languages, so it just, it's cool having people from hispanic backgrounds or even armenian backgrounds and i have a friend who's greek and i want to learn her language. >> reporter: karla samoa's parents fled a civil war in el salvador. now she's editor of the school

paper and about to be valedictorian. >> i feel that's what immigrants bring here. they bring fresh blood, fresh ideas. they prevent america from becoming stagnant. they bring progress. >> reporter: but they also bring challenges. she immigrated from bangladesh three years ago. she's resisted pressure from her partners to wear a hijab and enter an arranged marriage. >> that's not going to be a challenge for me because i'm going to be a doctor. i'm so glad to be here and have my rights to talk. >> reporter: maria was sent to the united states when she was 6 months old, illegally by her mother who was unmarried, uneducated, and barely surviving by cleaning houses in mexico. >> i'm just like any other teenager, trying to succeed in life. trying to go for my goals. >> reporter: now maria is thriving at hollywood high, but facing an uncertain future. she can't afford college and her illegal status blocks her from receiving most financial aid.

>> i tried so hard. and to think that i won't be able to go on because i don't have the money for it. >> but most of the students say they relish being in this true melting pot, including alex whose parents are from russia and ukraine. >> i've learned to speak with different people, learn how to talk with them and to interact with them. and maybe i can further -- in the future, that can help me just maybe get a job. >> we try to make you at home. it doesn't matter where you come from. it doesn't matter what you believe in. because we believe that everybody needs an education. ♪ >> reporter: and a chance, perhaps, at being a star. casey wian, cnn, los angeles. rihanna and chris brown together again. we are talking about musically, not romantically.

he's still on probation for physically assaulting her three years ago. what's going on? we're going to have a live report. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

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on his remix of "turn up the music." but you can't forget the images, this image from tmz, rihanna after brown beat her three years ago. he pleaded guilty to a felony charge, was sentenced to five years probation. probation report says the pair were involved in at least two other domestic violence incidents before the attack, which brown was sentenced. well, chris brown, he has done his community service and it looks like rihanna has been able to forgive and forget. but how does it work and is it even a good idea? we're going to talk to a psychologist and a relationship expert about the whole thing. thank you for joining us. first of all, there are signs that the two of them are at least in a friendship, there's collaboration happening with their music. a lot of young people are looking at this couple and wondering, are they going to get back together and is that a good idea? what is rihanna if she goes back to chris brown walking into? >> probably more of the same. when you think about it, unless they've done a significant amount of work in shaptherapy t

figure out what happened in the first place, in dealing with their past, it could be headed for round number two. >> if somebody is engaged in violence, like chris brown was in this relationship, can he abstain if he decides he's going to be in this relationship again? is that possible for someone to overcome their violent past? >> absolutely. but you have to take responsibility for the action and then put in the work to figure out what went wrong in the first place. it takes a lot of work. sometimes it could take years to really undo. remember, this is a young man that witnessed domestic violence as a child to the point where he told his mother, i want to -- i'm going to go to jail by the time i'm 15 by beating my st stepd stepdad. he's seen this before. so unless he realizes that he's going to deal with his past in addition to what happened with rihanna, i don't think it's a good idea. >> what should rihanna do. if she really loves him or she likes him and she wants to be his friend and supportive, should she enter in this romantic relationship and get back together with him, or should she just stand from afar? >> this is the hard thing when your emotions are involved, your heart might tell you one thing

and your brain another. i think it would be dangerous for her to be involved in a relationship with any man who has not done any significant work when it comes to domestic violence. my question with rihanna would be, have you done the work? can we go to couples counseling starting off to make sure that we don't make this same mistake that we've done in the past? we have to be realistic. that we've messed up not once, not twice, but three times and we need to be in therapy on a weekly basis if we're going to be healthy with so many kids watching us. >> and a lot of kids are watching. and are you encourage ordinary discouraged when you see the possibility of them getting together, the message that it sends to other young couples? >> i see it two ways. one, they're adults, and who are we to tell them who to love. but, two, you're a brand, and people follow your lead. so it's a dilemma. but i like to see them kind of go their separate ways and start over. but who am i to tell them who to love? it's a tough situation. >> all right. thank you very much. appreciate your being here with us and obviously we're going to be keeping a close eye on the couple and i know you've worked with many folks before. so thanks again. >> thaou