travon martin story. it's a huge tragedy and i think it's important. i would like to congratulate his family and supporters who got the story out there and shows the power of social media. >> will, we are out of time for you! we will give you double time tomorrow! >> "cnn headline news" starts right now! >> i think the fun will continue after you get off the air! >> yes, always. we just hang out for the next four hours together. >> good morning. stories we are watching in the newsroom right now. all eyes on apple. we have just learned what the company plans to do with nearly $100 billion it has in cash! our christine romans is working the story and she has a live report. the u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians will meet with his lawyer for the first time today. staff sergeant robert bales arrived at ft. leavenworth,

kansas, a military prison over the weekend. in afghanistan, people are outraged and now there is speculation u.s. troops may be leaving the country even sooner. officials in france are warning jewish organizations to be vigilant because a killer could be targeting jews. today a gunman opened fire on a jewish school, killing four people. it is the third shooting in the area in just ten days by a man riding a motor bike. police say the cases may be releted. threat of severe weather again today in the midwest. photographers caught this thin white funnel cloud touching down in oklahoma. severe storms roared through the area over the weekend. officials think several tornadoes touched down. think about this. schools giving free condoms to kids as young as 12 years old. the springfield, massachusetts, school district is one vote away from approving a policy to do just that. officials say more than a quarter of 12-year-olds there are having sex. the new policy would also offer education about abstinence. we begin with this.

apple is sitting on top of a big load of cash. we are talking about $98 billion. we just found out what apple is going to do with all of that money. some context to why apple is so important. it sells more than 16,000 i phon iphones per hour. the conference call is just starting. christine romans has some information about the announcement. chris steen, fill us in. >> all right. carol, apple is going to give some of that money back to its shareholders. it's also going to buy back some stock. here is exactly what it's going to do over three years, $45 billion. it's going to spend by giving a dividend to you, the shareholder, a dividend yield on the stock 1.8%, meaning you would be paid every quarter that you hold apple shares. you get a little money in your pocket. apple is going to give that money back to its shareholders. $2.65 a share to be exacted every quarter. $10 billion in its stock. it's going to buy back.

it's going to take some of those shares off the market which also makes your shares more valuable again. that is what the big plan is. we are waiting to hear from tim cook and peter oppenheimer who will have opening remarks on this call any minute now. you look at the stock, carol. $600 it hit last week. it hit it again in premarket trading this morning. although it's unclear if the stock -- the stock is halted on the premarket and unclear what it will open. look at what it has done the past five years. 686% up. the company is a cash machine! we buy its stuff all the time. we didn't know we needed some of the stuff and it's changing world and it makes a ton of money and now will give some of that money back to its shareholders. >> we will assume people can't afford to buy a share of apple stock right now. >> you may be surprised. >> tell me how it will affect people who don't have all of that money to invest in apple? >> if you have a plain vanilla

mutual fund you open apple shares. if you have any kind of random s&p-based stock investments in your 401(k), you are benefiting from rattly in apple shares. if you can't spend $600 on your e trade account for one share of apple, a lot of fund managers have been putting this in their portfolio a long time because they like what the company is doing. if you don't buy the product and you don't buy the stock you probably have exposure to it? the market is opening in 30 minutes and we are keeping an eye on apple stock comt impact on the overall market. a live report from stock market coming your way in 30 minutes. in france, toulouse. four people dead where a gunman opened fire at the school. third such shooting this month. authorities are warning jewish organizations to increase vigilance. jim bittermann is in paris.

we understand the french president just left the school? >> reporter: re-election to fly down to toulouse along with the interior minister to take a look at the school where the shootings occurred. he says that the interior minister is going to stay there for as long as it takes -- not exactly defining what might be. also he suggested, as others have here, there may be a link between this shooting this morning and the attacks earlier in the toulouse area. there have been three attacks the last ten days or so in which four military were shot dead in sort of random attack in two separate incidents. then the one this morning in which three children died and an adult at the jewish school this morning. authorities are taking this very seriously indeed. president sarkozy said it is a national tragedy and he said that tomorrow in schools across france, there will be a moment of silence for the victims of

today's shooting. carol? >> jim bittermann live in paris for us this morning. to ft. leavenworth, kansas. sergeant robert bales lawyer will meet face-to-face with him later today. bales telling us it's a tough case because of the plilt and legal and social issues involved. casey wian is in washington state where bales lived. what can you tell us, casey? >> good morning, carol. >> reporter: for the first time since john henry brown, the seattle-based high profile defense attorney, was hired to represent staff sergeant robert bales, he will actually meet with him face-to-face today at ft. leavenworth, kansas. here is what that honor had to say about the difficulties of trying this case. >> political ramifications, it has legal ramifications.

it has social ramifications. you couldn't really imagine a bigger case with so many problems. >> reporter: now, yesterday, the attorneys office released a statement saying that it was too early to tell what factors may have led up to this shooting. but in the past several days, we have spoken with mr. brown and it is very clear that one of the areas he is going to explore is whether the salve sergeant should have been sent to afghanistan. after three tours of duty in iraq, during two of those tours, he was actually injured. one time a traumatic brain injury. also the fact that the attorney says that the family was told he was not going back to afghanistan and then he did end up going. so that will clearly be one of the avenues that the defense is going to be exploring in this case. carol? >> casey, cnn has been talking to some of sergeant bales' friends and family members. they say this is so out of

character for him. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. those who have served with him, those who knew him in his neighborhood near joint base lewis mccord and those who grew up with him who have been in touch with him over the years in ohio, all saying they are having a difficult time reconciling the man they know with the man who is accused of committing these horrific acts, mowing down 16 afghan civilians. carol? >> casey wian reporting live for us from seattle, washington. in the next hour we will talk with a military law expert and ask him why it's taking so long for the military to actually file charges. the bales case is changing the u.s. mission in afghanistan. after the killings, president hamid karzai demanded the troops go back to their bases. cnn told u.s. troops could come home within weeks if they are not allowed to go back into the villages. >> the united states mission is fundamentally changed. and our commanders on the ground will determine that probably

within about another week. so within a couple of weeks, it would not be unusual if there has not been a change in our posture inside those bases that you could see u.s. forces coming back. it's not inconceivable that that could happen. >> right now, the white house is sticking to a 2014 deadline but karzai wants them out sooner. the puerto rico primary went into romney's win column over the weekend. the fight is on tomorrow for tomorrow's primary in illinois. 54 more delegates at stake there and both leading republican candidates in the state with a full day of last minute campaigning. r mitt romney spoke a half hour ago at charlie's diner in springfield. >> i need some pancakes. number two i need from you i need you to vote tomorrow and what we used to say in massachusetts? vote early and vote often.

that happens to be -- that happens to be a chicago line as well, isn't it? yeah, yeah. >> coverage of tomorrow's primary begins here at 7:00 p.m. eastern with erin burnett out front and followed by the live coverage of the results at 8:00 p.m. with wolf blitzer and the entire cnn political team. this is a tornado touching down in oklahoma and not the only wild weather across the nation over the weekend. a weird winter. spring is tomorrow, yeah. plus some parents are outraged that a school district is considering giving free condom to see children as young as 12. you may be surprised to hear who supports this idea. [ male announcer ] the next generation of lexus

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here is reid lambert from our boston affiliate wwlp. >> condonees may soon be available for students as young as 12 in springfield public schools. the school committee voted 5-1 in favor of the new policy in an effort to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. >> where they have instituted this program, it is incidents of not only sexually transmitted diseases but sexual activity itself has decreased. >> springfield has the fourth highest teen birth rate and second highest sexually transmitted infection rate in

the state and it's happening to students who aren't even teens yet. >> the thing is that 12-year-olds are sexually active, so we are -- we didn't make up an age. we are looking at an age where we field the need starts. >> reporter: cindy miller from tapestry health 27% of 12-year-olds in springfield have reportedly having sexual intercourse and that number jumps to 51% by ninth grade. the new policy, a student can walk into the nurse's office and ask for a free condom. but, at the same time, they would be educated about abstinence, how to use a condom and the consequences of having sex. but not all parents are on board. >> i don't think that's a good idea right now. i think when they get a little older, maybe high school, not that young. i don't think that's a good idea. i wouldn't want them giving them to them. >> reporter: but others say it's the reality that parents now have to face. >> i really don't agree with it, but these days, that's how it is, a lot of young women out there experimenting with it.

>> reporter: parents are allowed to opt out of the policy. >> reid lambert reporting. the policy still needs a second vote for approval before it's adopted. springfield's mayor is calling it a smart idea. the first day of spring is tomorrow. but who cares? for many of us, spring sprung a long time ago! although today and over the weekend the weather was stranger. snow in arizona? and more tornadoes. storm chaser were out when this tornado moved allow willow, oklahoma, yesterday. one of several tornadoes reported but it left behind little damage. more severe weather could move through today, though. this is what people in arizona are dealing with this morning. people from flagstaff digging out from more than a foot of snow. some schools are closed today because of the late winter storm. snow and a tornado out west and

warm temperatures out east. reynolds wolf is here. didn't atlanta have the highest pollen count in its history yesterday? >> i think we are still feeling it through the vents this morning. it's not unusual for things to get bizarre as we get closer to the change of seasons. you mentioned we are coming to an end of winter and spring is beginning and basically what is happening right now. and blamed on the jet stream. let's go right to our weather maps so you can see the big change in temperatures we have. you look into the center or the eastern half of the u.s., take a look at the highs we are expecting today in the 80s. out towards the west the situation is incredible. someplace there's 40-degree differential and we blame the jet stream. basically a ribbon of air. the area to the east is the high and a ridge of high pressure allows the warm temperatures from the south to the north. on the other side you see the cold the cold air from the north to the south. we expect changes tuesday. even longer as we go into wednesday. so there will be some

fluctuations in terms of the temperatures. it's going to be chop yif the next couple of days and weeks as we see those temperatures swing back and forth. we take look at this. we stay above normal. no big changes there. the pollen we will have fluctuations with that above normal kbs in the desert southwest and chance of severe storms in southern plains texas and oklahoma and maybe louisiana. if we get rain in the southeast that will help knock out the pollen in the atmosphere. >> i'm imagining summertime temperatures in the 90s and 100s. >> it's coming. >> in the 200s. >> you never know. >> what is harder for you? predicting march weather or march madness? >> to be completely honest i have to say basketball. yesterday the big difference with nc state and georgetown. a lot of people were expecting georgetown. >> great you can do it, weather, sports, sports, weather. >> easy transition because both are crazy. reining three-pointers.

didn't go well for them but you got a lot of happy fans with nc state. another huge shocker duke and lehigh. hard to believe but typical for march madness. here is the big upset. lehigh did not make it to the next step but still knocking out the blue devils that early, hard to believe. >> i think the duke haters are happy about that. >> it's true. i love the acc. can't help it. >> tell us what the sweet 16 some of the surprises there. four ohio teams still in the tourney? >> one of them is ohio university. we have a lot of bobcats here at cnn. a lot of our photo journalists and one of our good buddies a huge bobcat fan. we have a lot of fans here with a big thumb's up on the green and white and fun to watch them play the next couple of days and weeks. >> ohio state, go. that's my pick to win it all. >> there you go. >> thanks, reynolds. >> you bet. president obama is in full campaign mode but it seems some donors with deep pockets are not ready to fork over any cash. we are looking at why just ahead. and we are hearing the

shocking 911 calls from a night of florida neighbor watch captain shot and killed an unarmed teenager. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> more tapes for you in a moment. ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in,

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gas prices have now gone up for ten straight days. the national average this morning, $3.84 per gallon. but, hey, one lawmaker says it's time to raise the federal gas tax. senator mike ensi a republican from wyoming says the 18 cents per gallon tax hasn't been touched in nearly 20 years and needs to be indexed to inflation. otherwise, the highway fund could go dry. he says he doesn't notice the increase. his colleagues weren't happy with his timing. it hasn't made it to a vote. wyoming has the cheapest gas, relatively speaking, in the country. mitt romney and rick santorum are in illinois fighting to win votes in tuesday's primary.

santorum is attacking romney's business sense and romney is blaming president obama for high gas prices. our political editor paul steinhauser joins us from washington. who has the edge, paul? >> reporter: another tuesday, another showdown. this one, i know we keep saying they are important but this one is. santorum on the attack spending whole weekend in illinois and basically saying that mitt romney doesn't have a core and also criticizing romney for kind of flip-flopping as santorum says on the issue. santorum says if he wins in illinois, he says big things are in store for him. take a listen. >> if we are able to come out with a huge or surprise win, i guarantee you, i guarantee you that we will win this nomination. we will nominate a conservative and if we nominate a conservative, we will beat barack obama! >> reporter: that's a guarantee, huh?

okay. we will remember that one. take a look at this. here is where the delegate stands right now after puerto rico a factored in. romney had a landslide victory and grabbed all 20 delegates up for grabs there. more than a 2-1 advantage over santorum. romney not to the half way point for the delegates needed. this thing is going on for a while. >> you're not kidding. i understand romney in illinois is trying to appeal to women for obvious reasons. tell us about that. >> reporter: yep, trying to appeal to women and most polling indicates he does have an advantage over san torpum and the other republicans running when it comes to women. he is talking a lot about gas prices and the chicago economy. i guess it shows that illinois matters because he changed his schedule a little bit. he went to illinois on friday morning. was back there all day yesterday. normally, he doesn't campaign that much on sundays. here is what he is saying. >> i believe i have the best chance and perhaps the only chance of actually replacing barack obama as the president of the united states.

and i say that, in part, because i don't think we're going to replace an economic lightweight with another economic lightweight. >> he has been using that lightweight line a while lately criticizing the president and rick santorum. we said romney had to win michigan and did and ohio and he did and he needs to win illinois. stay tuned tomorrow to see if he does. >> paul steinhauser, thank you. coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern with erin burnett out front and wolf blitzer and the entire cnn political team at 8:00 p.m. after a break, a new twist in president obama's fund-raising machine. why are the big donors with deep pockets staying away? also, the list of electronic devices that you can use on a plane could be changing soon. yes, the faa is taking a fresh look at the current list. we will tell you what is on the table. ♪

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poor apple. it has a problem. what do you do with $98 billion in cash? less than an hour ago, we learned the answer to that question. apple will issue its first dividend in 17 years. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange with that. hard to wrap your mind around $98 billion and extra cash laying around. >> they have kind of figured out what they want to do with extra cash. about 20 seconds away from the opening bell. stock price trading 1.6% higher. you can get a share of apple for $595. do you have that sitting around?

separate from announcement, apple, obviously, had ipad that came out and that boost shares as well. this dividend that apple announce it's issuing makes shares of apple a even more attractive buy. . le. we just heard the opening bell. apple shares up more than 2% and trading at $597 apiece. investors because of this dividend if you've got shares in apple you're getting a check in the mail later this year. apple is also planning to buy back its stock so what that does it continues to create shareholder value but look at that shareholder value. look at this stock over the past year. apple shares are up 80% over the past year. we saw shares hit $600 during the trading day last week. you know, for the company when you look at it overall, carol, this difficult marks a new era for apple. you have to remember steve jobs, he was against paying dividends.

he favored hoarding lots of cash but the new ceo tim cook is open to it clearly. he said the pile of cash is more than money we need to run the company. carol? >> wow. alison kosik live at the new york stock exchange, thank you. army staff sergeant accused of gunning down 16 afghan civilians will meet with his lawyer face-to-face today. robert bales is being held at ft. leavenworth in kansas. dramatic video out of oklahoma as a string of storms march across the midwest. texas under a severe thunderstorm watch. the faa is taking a fresh look at what electronic devices you can use on flights during taxiing and takeoff and landing and they they are testing new tablet and ereaders to see if they interfere with the plane's navigational consider. one device they refuse to consider is your cell phone. president obama in a fund-raising frenzy. tonight, he'll be at the w hotel in washington, d.c. to raise

some more cash. over the weekend, mr. obama hit chicago and atlanta. five stops, $5 million. it sounds like the president's re-election team is drowning in dlrs. in reality, it's kind of not. the question is why. cnn political contributors will cain and l.z. granderson are here to talk about that. in 2008, then candidate obama raised $750 million. the obama campaign may fall short this time around. i think they are up to 300 million so far. lz, do you care to expound on why? >> i think two main reasons you can look at. number one, senator obama was running against hillary clinton. he was in a primary. and so there was a lot of money raised early on because he was in the middle of a heavy battle. back in 2007, the first quarter, hillary clinton made big news because she had the record for the amount of money raised by any kaented at that time in 2007 for the first quarter. what you're looking at is a

candidate who is not running against anyone else right now. and then, two, the reality is that there is some lack of enthusiasm. they are not necessarily enthusiasm for president obama and his policies but the fact they have made up their mind. a lot of his supporters know who they are voting for so no need to vote with their money because they will vote with their votes later. >> interesting. another reason may be, will, address this, big money donors are not giving as much to the obama campaign. small donors are giving but not very much. the obama campaign is asking them for $3, or $5, not $25 or $50. why do you think that is? >> you know, i don't know. karl rove suggested you can only go no the hollywood celebrities so many times and ask them for donations. i think lz is spot on. both he is not participateing in a competitive primary and the effect of enthusiasm is affecting them. on the conservative side all the

time legitimateliy. i think president obama will have a gap come the fall. that is largely reflected in how much enthusiasm there was for him in 2008. the first time to vote for an african-american president in a general election battle. hope, change, charismatic man. a lot of playing into his hands in 2008. and some of those people, those that really had that enthusiasm just aren't going to muster it for a second time. >> i have to throw this in. according to the "l.a. times" the obama campaign has staff right now in every single state in the nation. it has 15 field offices in florida and ten each in ohio and pennsylvania. we say he is not raising enough money as fast an enthusiasm gap but this is pretty impressive, isn't it, lz? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. it speaks to his ability to organize and his ability to motivate people. we can't just look at the numbers because the fund-raising

numbers, as you said, are impacted such as enthusiasm with your wallets but doesn't mean supporters and independents and democrats who don't like what the republican party has to say about the future of this country are not moftivated to make sure president obama stays in the white house. >> we will see about that. i don't know. that's a leap. but the infrastructure in place the people in the offices on the ground, it's absolutely impressive and i'll say this. we always over emphasize the impact of money because we like to pretend money is the root of all evil and special pacs are the devil and yada, yada, yada. there are limits to the effect of money. romney is outspending santorum in most of states. other things will impact such as obama's ground game and such as guess what also their messages. that might have an effect as well. >> those messages? who? you have to argue money doesn't

matter even though mitt romney's money doesn't matter as much as it should be right now, right? but it still matters. the super pacs seem to be raising money for republican candidates but the super pacs on the democratic side don't seem to be doing as well. >> i'm just going to say we are not under any threat of underemphasizing the effect of money in politics. i'm not worried about somebody thinking, oh, money doesn't have an effect. it's contributing but not determinant. >> last word, lz. >> the super pacs, president obama kind of hurt himself saying he didn't want one and now he does and lagging behind what the swift voters are initiating for the gop. i think you'll see the fund-raising numbers and fund-raising i think you'll see with the super pacs and enthusiasm for president obama resurge itself.

>> lz and will, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. oprah is pulling the plug on rosie. why her show is being canceled after just eight months on the air. our showbiz headlines are coming your way next. [ male announcer ] introducing the dell xps 13 ultrabook™, powered by a second gen intel® core™ i5 or i7 processor. everything. and more. ♪

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the oprah winfrey network has canceled rosie show after only five months on the air. michelle turner is in los angeles. why? >> well, it all comes down to what we all know, right, carol? ratings. after bad ratings on this oprah

struggling o network she decided to pull the plug on rosie o'donnell's talk show. this came as a surprise actually. there was a lot of hype surrounding the rosie/oprah partnership. it was rosie o'donnell's big return to tv talk and seen as a linchpin for oprah's struggling new network. rosie move to chicago to tape the show at harpo studios. started off okay when it launched in october and drew about 500,000 viewers but the show lost half of that audience within a week. now here is what oprah had to say in a statement announcing the cancellation. she said, quote, i thank rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey as i have learned in the last 15 months a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. i'm grateful to rosie and the dedicated rosie show team for giving it their all. rosie's final episode will tape on march 20th to air on friday, march 30th. o'donnell said in the statement she loved working in chicago but she is headed back to the big apple after the show's finale.

>> wow. apparently the only person who gets ratings on own is oprah and she can't be on 24/7, right? >> there you go. >> it's difficult times for oprah. let's talk about lady gaga, though. she's apparently take ago vow of silence which is hard to believe. >> that's what she is saying that she won't be saying anything more. lady gaga has always chatted with media outlets. remember she wore a dress full of meat and remember the egg on the carpet? not any more. she is apparently desperate to regain her privacy and going into a self-imposed excompile and what she told oprah on her one-on-one chapter which airs on sunday night. other than this interview, oprah, i do not intend to speak to anyone for a very long time. no press, no television. that's what gaga said. but gaga's indefinite rate from

speaking to with media outlets doesn't mean that much. we will be seeing her a lot of her still. i'm sure. >> michelle, thank you. more showbiz headlines with michelle in the next hour. she will tell us a lesson tiger woods learned from his sex addiction therapy. some say the 911 calls from the night a florida teenager was shot by a neighborhood watch captain shows it was definitely a crime. but others say the tapes prove the shooter acted in self-defense. listen and decide for yourself next. [ wrapper coming off a vending machine waffle ] [ sizzling ] ♪

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church members and protesters in florida are rallying for justice for t trayvon martin. >> justice, no peace. no justice, no peace. >> martin was shot and killed last month by a neighborhood watch captain who thought he looked suspicious. police say they believe george zimmerman's story he acted in self-defense but some say it's a case of racial profiling and they want zimmerman to face charges. >> on the 911 tape you hear hollering. come on, now. do you know what i mean? that's just not right. >> we need to speak up. we need to let people know you cannot do wrong and get away with it. >> quite frankly, i was in tears when i heard the young man crying for help. >> i would like to see an arrest. i would like to see this man

brought to justice. >> florida state attorney is looking into the case. sanford police stand by their investigation and say the 911 calls don't disprove the shooter's account. they have released seven 911 tapes from that night. cnn's david mattingly listened to the tapes and pieced together the series of events. >> 911, police, fire and medical. >> i just heard a shot behind my house. >> reporter: shock, confusion and fear. can you hear it in the voice of every caller in the final moments of trayvon martin's young life. >> a person is dead and lying on the grass. owe my god. >> reporter: seven 911 calls in all beginning with this one from neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman. >> [ bleep ] always get away. >> reporter: that is zimmerman's first impression watching trayvon martin walking alone and acting strangely. >> this guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drug or

something. >> reporter: zimmerman says martin then comes toward him. >> something is wrong with him. you know? he's coming to check me out. he's got something in his hands. i don't know what his deal is. >> reporter: less than a minute later, martin is running away. zimmerman gets out of his car. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> okay. >> reporter: but then just a few minutes later, there's another call. >> 911. do you need police, fire, or medical? >> neighbor both. i'm not sure. there is just someone screaming outside. >> reporter: in the background, listen for the sound of a fight and a panicked voice yelling for help. >> is it a male or female? >> it sounds like a male. >> reporter: and you don't know why? i don't know why. i think they're yelling help, but i don't know. send someone quick please, god. >> reporter: ten seconds later, the shrieking continues. then a gunshot.

>> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> all right. what is your -- >> there's gunshots. >> you just heard gunshots? >> yes. >> how many? >> just one. >> reporter: the identity of the person pleading for help is in dispute as well as the number of gunshots. but there is no doubt the calls capture the sounds of a deadly end to a tragic encounter. >> david mattingly is with us now. this doesn't really prove anything. we don't know who was screaming in the background for help for sure, right? >> we don't know what trayvon martin sounded like and we don't know whose voice it is. it was in the background and you can hear somebody panicked. people believe it's zimmerman or trayvon martin and settled nothing. >> explain to us why a neighborhood watch captain is carrying a loaded weapon. >> i talked to people who live

in the neighborhood and a couple of years ago very voted because this man weapon. >> a couple years ago he said i want to be in charge of the neighborhood watch so applauded him for his volunteerism and happy to let him do it. they didn't know he was carrying a weapon. he does have a permit to carry a weapon but people don't know he was doing that on part of this program. >> going back to the voices on the tapes, i mean, you watch these tv crime dramas all the time and it's easy to determine whose voice it is on the tape. is it that easy in reality. >> i had headphones on. i was listening closely. it sounds like it could be zimmerman but we don't know what trayvon martin sounded like. and we had witnesses on the 911 tapes saying they heard two shots instead of one. this is all fueling the controversy, nothing is settled here. >> toxicology tests on the young man, i mean was trayvon high?

i mean was he on drugs, i mean, because you heard zimmerman, he doesn't look right to me. >> police have been careful about what they've been talking about and decided to release the 911 tapes, big part of their evidence after the mayor got involved and said we need for the sake of the community to put this out and actually the people who have been complaining about this, the attorneys for the family of trayvon martin applauded that decision but when they listened to these tapes to get that information that the city was releasing they reached different conclusions. the other evidence that's all in the hands of the state's attorney, now we're waiting to find out what the state's attorneys is going to do. what kind of charges are going to come out of this. >> i know you'll stick with the story. david mattingly, thanks so much. a retired general tells cnn the killings of 16 civilians could change the u.s. mission in afghanistan. part of that change could mean troops coming home within weeks, not years. we'll have the latest from the pentagon coming up in our next hour. plus, ohio isn't just a swing state in politics, it's a swing

state in the ncaa too. the state has four schools in the sweet sixteen. more on that in a couple minutes.

stories we're working in the cnn newsroom. 3:00, the subcommittee on health will meet. then at 4:00 eastern, republican house freshmen had holding a news conference on their efforts to repeal president obama's medical cost-cutting commission. critics have referred to it as the death panel. tonight at 11:35 eastern watch first lady michelle obama's first visit to "the late

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oh, let's talk a little sports. turning out to be a very ohio ncaa men's basketball

tournament. they have four in the sweet 16. one of them, ohio university has never made it this deep into the dance. the 13th seed bobcats from athens are in so are the sixth seed bearcats from cincinnati and face the ohio state university, number two seed from up the road in columbus and fourth seem is xavier, this is the musketeers' sixth trip to the sweet 16. 11th seed north carolina is in it too. the wolfpack upset the hoyas. brown sealed the deal with three free throws in the last ten seconds. georgetown had a chance to tie at the buzzer but -- >> no. >> missed. n.c. state faces kansas. lehigh that dropped duke couldn't quite repeat the magic against xavier. the slipper did not feet and xavier faces baylor on friday. it might be a bittersweet 16

for unc. marshall fractured his wrist. it's not clear if he'll play. unc faces ohio university. if your brackets are in shambles go to cnn.com/brackets, maybe you will a feel better. see my picks and how i'm doing or not. and good morning to you. i'm carol costello. just ahead in the newsroom, new calls that american troops could be coming home from afghanistan sooner than planned. at the pentagon with a reality check. tragedy at a jewish school where a gunman opened fire killing four people including a father and his two sons. rick santorum drops the seamus bomb again after presidential candidate rick santorum says that mitt romney's treatment of his dog is a factor in the 2012 race. the bibballe, maker of max

deciding what to do with the $100 billion extra it has in cash. alison kosik will join us in a few. we start with a face-to-face meeting in ft. leavenworth, kansas. the staff sergeant accused of killing afghan civilians will meet with his lawyer later today. casey whiening has a possible defense strategy and chris lawrence has more on if this means an early withdrawal from afghanistan. casey? >> reporter: morning, carol. outside lewis-mcchord where robert bales was based. he is, of course, in custody at a military detention facility in ft. leavenworth, kansas. there today he will meet for the first time with his civilian attorney, john henry browne. browne is a very well-known seattle area defense attorney hired by the bales' family last

week. here is what he had to say about the difficulties in defending this case. >> you can't imagine a more difficult case, i don't think. every challenge -- this has political ramification, it has legal ramifications, it has social ramifications, so, you know, you couldn't imagine a bigger case from somebody with so many problems. >> reporter: now browne released a statement saying it was too early to tell what factors contributed to this incident but it's very clear one of the avenues they will be exploring and have talked about this over the last several days is the fact that staff sergeant bales was on his fourth deployment, three of those deployments were in iraq during two of those deployments he sustained injuries. one of those a traumatic brain injury. also the idea that is being floated is that perhaps he was under some additional stress according to his attorney because he was initially told

according to the attorney that he would not be going to afghanistan on this deployment and then sort of at the last minute he was sent anyways. also, financial pressures that the family was under. they had two homes, both -- one went through foreclosure. another put on the market as a short sale so all of these avenues just among the many things that will be explored by the defense as to what may have contributed to the actions that the staff sergeant bales is accused of committing in afghanistan. carol? >> casey wian live for us. military analysts are guessing his rampage could force troops home early. some are saying that could happen as soon as next week. after the killings, president hamid karzai demanded troops go back to their bases. retired general james marks tells cnn u.s. troops could start coming home within weeks. >> the united states mission is fundamentally changed and our

commanders on the ground will determine that probably within another week. so within a couple of weeks, it would not be unusual if there has not been a change in our posture inside those bases that you could see u.s. forces coming back. it's not inconceivable that could happen. >> but as early as next week? let's head to the pentagon and chris lawrence, the man in the know. chris, what are you hearing? >> well, carol, i just got off the phone speaking with a senior military official there in afghanistan. his first four words to me were "not true, not happening." he said there have been no changes to operations going on there in afghanistan right now. also spoke with a u.s. official who says they haven't changed any sort of deployment orders or anything like that following president hamid karzai's demand that the troops get out of the villages so just to put that in a little bit of background context, carol, a senior defense official says at the point where president karzai made some of these comments, he had sent his

own investigativive team there. they had just come back and given their report to him and the official says that report and what he heard from his investigators was clearly weighing on president karzai's mind and you can see over the next couple days officials, one of them speaking to our own candy crowley yesterday have started to soften that tone a little bit and walk it back saying, look, the demand is still out there but this will involve negotiations over several months as to how it will happen and then even after those negotiations, then you've got the actually implementation of some of those changes. carol? >> understood. chris lawrence live at the pentagon for us. tragedy this morning at a jewish school in toulouse, france killing four people including two of his own children. now, french authorities are

warning jewish organization there is to be on high alert. this is the third such incident this month. the french president nicolas sarkozy went to the school this morning and called the shooting a national tragedy. coming up we'll ask a military law expert why it's taken so long to file charges against a soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians. there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder to help neutralize odors in multiple-cat homes. and our improved formula also helps eliminate dust. so it's easier than ever to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs.

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i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. checking stories cross country. in florida people are protesting the killing of trayvon martin. they rallied through titusville where the prosecutor's office is and says they want justice. it was a crime but police say they have no reason not to believe a neighborhood watch

captain's story. george zimmerman claims he shot him in self-defense. he has not been charged. new york police arrested 74 occupy wall street protesters who tried reclaiming sthe park n manhattan. they used that park as a home base for months before police finally kicked them out. one protesters say it's a reminder they're not going away. a couple woke up in the middle of the flight to find a home intruder pointing a gun at them. the 18-year-old allegedly broke in, started stealing things and then noticed a gun on the nightstand and he grabbed it. but david jennings wasted no time defending himself. >> the gun that i had to protect my family was pointed at me. >> you see it in movies. >> i was looking at him like this. >> you don't think people can really do it. >> reached out, grabbed his arm, came out of bed. >> and i've never seen anyone move like that. >> he grabbed up with one hand

and pushed the gun out of the way and through him across the room. he always said he would protect me and the kids and he did. >> wow. home owner jennings said he held the man on the floor until the police came. he's cut up but glad his family is safe. robert bales, the soldier accused of killing off began civilians will meet with his lawyer for the first time today. no formal charges have been filed yet, but we do expect them to come down in the next few days. still, the military is busy putting together a case against bales. military law expert gary solis is in washington. >> good morning. >> why is it taking so long to file charges against bales? >> it's not so much that it's taking a long time for the charges, came. it's taking a long time to decide who will charge him. because he normally would be charged by the commander general

of the 2nd infantry division, the parent unit but since he's moved from afghanistan to a new location, somebody has to decide what unit he is now in because that will determine who has the authority to bring charges. >> can you tell us a little bit about, you know, he's in this private cell at forth liven worth, sergeant bales, what that might be like for him. >> well, it would be for him as any civilian in a private cell. it's not solitary, but, of course, it's a single cell and i'm sure he's isolated from other prisoners so it's a very long day. he will be out periodically for exercise, but he's on his own just him and his thoughts and, of course, his lawyer will be there to see him today. >> right, his civilian lawyer will be visiting him today. they will meet face to face for the first time. he has other lawyers, though, doesn't he? >> he does. under the uniform code of military justice every accused has the right to a free judge

advocate appointed by the military to represent him. this judge advocate is someone who is a graduate of a law school and who has been admitted to the state bar of some state and has experience in military cases, of course. so, yes, he will have at least two lawyers. >> we have some clues as to what sergeant bales' defense might be. some people way, well, it could be posttraumatic stress syndrome. other people say it could be an insanity defense. what's your guess? >> guess is the right word. but he certainly has the makings of a mental incapacity defense. that is because of disease or defect of the mind, he was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts. he may have a medical defense too in that traumatic brain injury may have affected his behavior. voluntary intoxication is not ray defense under military law as it is not a defense in

civilian law in most jurisdictions nor is the fact that he was under stress going to be a defense. i mean it will be a factor for the jury if and when it goes to trial but his defense, his best defense is probably mental incapacity or, well, the defense is sure to also attack the army saying it's the army's fault to put him back in afghanistan after three tours. i think we should remember, there are many soldiers and marines on their fourth, fifth and sixth tours. >> yes, and they're perfect fine, right? they're not suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome. at least many of them are not. he's being tried in a military court. when you put the army on trial, put the war on trial you say that a soldier because he's under so much stress doesn't exactly know what he's doing. how do those things go over in a military courtroom? >> well, sometimes they do not go over in a military courtroom at all because if you're the military judge, you're not going to allow the army to be put on trial. this is a case about the acts

and the criminality of the acts of a certain individual and the military judge is likely to exclude, preclude any evidence offered by the defense that it's the army's fault or that there was stress involved in this. the court is going to look at legal defenses to these acts, legal defenses like self-defense or, of course, there may be an intervening defense of lack of mental capacity, so this case is not going to be a lot different from any similar case in a civilian jurisdiction. >> he could face the death penalty if he is found guilty. how often does that happen in a military court? >> it's rare. the last person in the military executed following a court-martial sentence was in april of 1961. so we haven't had a death -- an execution in the military for more than 50 years. since the death penalty in the military was revised following the supreme court opinion in

1983, there have been 47 cases referred to trial as capital cases and in those 47 cases, 15 death penalties have resulted, no executions have followed. we have six or seven individuals on death row, military individuals. one loving has therein since 1988, some 24 year, but no executions since 1961. >> gary solis, thank you for being with us this morning. we appreciate ufrnlts president obama has a pretty big war chest going to go but a lot has come from small donors. i'll ask our political buzz panel why the big donors are holding off and making their contributions to obama's war chest. that's just ahead. and poor apple. it has a problem. what to do with $100 billion in cash. hey, with problems like that who needs solutions? more on that with alison kosik in just a few minutes. dy in motn tends to stay in motion.

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apple's got a problem. what to do with $100 billion in cash. well, we know the answer actually.

apple will issue its first dividend in 17 years. alison kosik is with here with more. tell us why this is such a big deal. >> well, for the company, carol, it really is a big deal. it marks a new ear r you remember the late steve jobs was against, against paying dividends. he liked hoarding cash instead. the new ceo says, you know what, 1$100 billion, it's more money than we need to run the company. apple will start paying quarterly dividends this year. it's also buying back $10 billion of its own shares over the next few years so what it's doing is spending about $45 billion of that 100 billion over the next three years, yeah, some analysts are saying it's a small bone that's being thrown to instors, especially since you look at sales of ipads and iphones are likely to produce that much in new cash this year. this is the world's biggest company in terms of stock market

value and now it's finally continuing to -- now it's beginning to sort of throw a bone to shareholders in terms of this buy-back and dividends. >> so how are apple shares doing now? >> okay, so apple shares are up about 1% right now. they're getting pretty close to $600 a share trading at $590. investors are interested in this stuff and want to buy into this growing company returning value to its shareholders and here's another thing, more mutual funs are likely to buy apple now as well to put into their mutual funds so it is likely a fund in your retirement account invests in apple so you could own a piece, as well, if you don't already right now, you should check out your portfolio. if you do own it you may want to look at it and smile. shares of apple over the past year are up 80%. it is incredible, isn't it? apple is just so strong, it's boosting the nasdaq today. the nasdaq.

which we watch, as well. it is truly just an amazing feat to watch. >> yes, it is especially if you do own stock, you'd be doing a big happy dance. thank you. should kids as young as 12 be able to get free condoms from their school nurse? that's what springfield, massachusetts, school district is now considering. as you might expect it has parents really upset. here's read lamb berty from l lchl llwwlp. >> the school committee voted 5-1 in favor of the new policy in an effort to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. >> where they've instituted the program, the incidence of sexual activity has decreased. >> reporter: springfield has the fourth highest teen birth rate and the second highest sexually transmitted infection rate in the state.

and it's happening to students who aren't even teens yet. >> the thing is the 12-year-olds are sexually active. so we're -- we didn't make up an age. we were looking at an age where we feel that the need starts. >> reporter: cindy says research she's 27% of 12-year-olds in springfield have reported having sexual intercourse. that number jumped to 51% by ninth grade. under the new policy a student can walk into the nurse's office and ask for a free condom. but at the same time they would be educated about abstinence, how to use a condom and the consequences of having sex. not all parents are on board. >> i don't think that's a good idea. when they get older, maybe high school, not that young. i don't think that's a good idea. i wouldn't want them giving them. >> reporter: others say it's a reality that parents now have to face. >> i really don't agree with it but these days, that's all there is. a lot of young ones out there experimenting with it.

>> parents are allowed to opt out of the policy. >> i guess my question is would a 12-year-old go to the school nurse and say, could i have a condom? still working on the policy there in springfield. it still needs a second vote for approval before it's adopted. springfield's mayor likes it, he called it a smart idea. president obama pulling out all the fund raising stops. some donors are sitting on the sidelines. why you ask? -one. -two. -three. -one.

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fact, president sarkozy interrupted his campaigning for re-election to go down to the school and express his sympathy but also to take a look at what's being done to investigate this series of crimes now. it's three crimes in a row in the last eight days, in fact, basically in the first incident one soldier was killed. in the second incident two soldiers were killed and a third critically wounded and then this morning four people dead including three children and an adult so clearly there's someone out there with a gun that is in the process of settling scores or perhaps trying to put out some kind of a political message. in any case, the prosecutor in toulou toulouse, basically one of the reason they're linking them is because of the method of operation. the gunman arrives on a motorcycle. has a motorcycle helmet on, gets off and in a cold-blooded

fashion starts firing into crowds of people and then dils appears. in the first two incidents, the same gun was used n this morning's incident, in fact, they are saying that the weapon of the same caliber was used. it may not be the same gun. still working to confirm that, carol. >> jim bittermann live in paris, france, for us this morning. checking other top story, the army staff sergeant accused of gunning down 16 afghan officials will meet face to face today. robert bales being held at ft. leavenworth, kansas. new pictures out of oklahoma as a string of storm marches across the midwest. parts of texas are under a severe thunderstorm watch. the faa is taking a fresh look at what electronic devices you can actually use on flights during taxiing, takeoff and landing testing the new tablet and e-readers to see if they hurt the plane's navigational

equipment. one thing they won't consider is the cell phone. yes, the economy is sluggish, gas prices are high but there's another dog in the fight for the republican nomination. his name is shaeamus. rick santorum has lobbed that bomb a weapon wielded by so many of romney's political enemies it's hard to keep count. seamus he's dogged mitt romney since the 2008 presidential race. >> he took his family on a road trip to canada. how far, when he packed the car tighter than clark griswold he strapped the family dog to the roof of the car. >> yeah, it happened decades ago but so what. if you ask romney's arch rival rick santorum, seamus matters. >> look, all i would say is, you know, the issue of character are important in this election and we need to look at all those issues and make a determination whether that's the kind of person you want to be president. >> there are plenty who agree with santorum. check out dogs against romney.

a facebook page that boasts more than 40,000 likes. thousands of posts, t-shirt slogans and posters that read, mitt romney says corporations are people and dogs are luggage. for the record, romney has said seamus was safe and happy in his carrier atop the family car. and well loved. he hasn't commented this presidential go-around but did in 2008 when peta accused him of torture. >> peta has not been my fan. peta was after me for having a rodeo at the olympics and very upset about. peta was after me when i went quail hunting in georgia and not happy that my dog likes fresh air. >> oh, political buzz is your rapid-fire look at the best top picks of the day, three question, 30 seconds. cnn contributor maria cardona, jason johnson a professor at hire ram college and at politics 365 and cnn contributor will

cain joins us, as well. the first question is obvious. isn't it? okay. so seamus the dog, poor seamus but is this really a character issue, maria. >> no question, came. look, if your dog wants fresh air take him for a walk, don't strap him to the top of your car and go at high speeds on our nation's highways. the poor dog got sick. even working dogs out west, they travel in pickup trucks but don't go at high speeds on the highways. i do think the treatment of seamus is shameful and adds to the perception this is somebody who is not the like the rest of us, doesn't get what normal americans go through. so is he, what, he's not normal? is he not like the rest of us? is he a pod? >> will? >> as you say my name, carol, i was trying to figure out if maria was asking rhetorical questions. if she accused him of being a

pod. i was processing it. look, i am a dog lover. i had a beautiful doberman named leon for 13 years but perfectly willing to admit most people or many people don't see doigs the same way as i do. and maria brings up those dogs riding in truck beds in the west. maybe maria hasn't been out west. i live most of my life out there. they do travel down the highway. if we're starting to draw gray lines, it gets more complicated this sounds much more to me like political hackery. >> whoo. jason. >> look, okay, so the guy falls between clark griswold and michael vick, nothing to be that concerned about. it's not a character issue. are we surprised mitt romney treats other things besides himself about objects. he likes to fire people and called kay-bee toys. it's not that important to him. do i think it's a character issue, no, rick santorum is just grasping at straws because he's probably going to lose in

illinois. >> president obama has a pretty good war chest but a lot of it is coming from the $4 donation box. why are big donors holding off on pitching in? will? >> well, let's put that in context. they wanted to raise $50 million a month to get to a billion dollar war chest. according to karl rove so take it with whatever grain of salt you'd like, they should be at 20%. why? the question then is why. you know, i have to be honest, i'm surprised the number of liberals i have rubbed elbows with, discussed this with who expressed disappointment with the obama administration, i don't know if it's lagging but i am constantly taken aback when i hear this disappointment. >> maria? >> first of all, they never said that they wanted to raise a billion dollars. secondly, they are doing pretty well with donors but thirdly and most important, their focus has always been every day normal americans whose voices is the

ones that they want in their campaign. not the billionaire, not the millionaires, not the special interests. they have raised -- they have raised all of their money from one point most of it from $1.6 million new donors with an average donation of $59. that is hearing what americans' voices are. one thing this campaign has focused on and been successful at it. >> jason. >> i'm surprised he can raise any money with 8.3% unemployment. he should be happy any small donors have any cash to give him. this is kind of like when you go to church and don't know how much you'll give until you hear the sermon. a lot of people are still waiting to see the obama they fell in love with in 2008. he spent a lot of time being insulting of wall street. doesn't do a lot for small people but still raising more than mitt romney so he's still doing good. >> third question, your buzzer beater, 20 seconds on the clock, senator scott brown, a republican at a roast this weekend and he took a friendly

jab at rick santorum. listen. >> i see that both newt gingrich and rick santorum now have secret service with them on the campaign trail. and in santorum's case i think it's the first time he's ever used protection so -- >> okay. so that came from a republican and he's talking about, of course, the contraception issue. that issue, you know, rick santorum thought he was going to do pretty well among catholics but is it now hurting him so badly he's not going to do well with catholics even in illinois. jason. >> look, the only thing more rare than a condom at rick santorum's house is a republican with a sense of humor. scott brown has the right idea. this war on women is not a good idea for republicans so it's good that's being a moderate and laughing about it and changing and pivoting off the issue. i don't think it's an issue that rick santorum has a problem with catholics but women in general. scott brown has the right idea. they should be following him,

not rick santorum. >> pretty good joke. i don't know who wrote that for him. if he did it himself it was a good zinger he got on santorum. indicative of some larger problem? i don't think the joke aside rick santorum does have a problem with catholics. he has a problem with women. if he is successful in his pursuit of pornography he'll have a problem with the male vote, too, but i had a more substantive point, but the buzzer got me. >> i never thought of it that way. maria? >> well, i agree were most everything that will said. you know, rick santorum does have a problem with most mainstream american, catholics, women, now men, apparently. but i think the catholic issue is interesting because he did lose the catholic vote to mitt romney. i think it was because he insulted john f. kennedy. come on, you do not insult the first catholic president if you want to go after the catholic

vote. >> maria, will, jason, thanks for playing along with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> it was fun. oep is pulling the plug on rosie. why her show is being canceled after a few months on the air. for showbiz headlines coming your way. two. and, three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn more cash back for the things you buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% cash back on groceries. 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. it's as easy as one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

rosie o'donnell's talk show in history, actually, is history, i should say. i bet she would be glad if it went down in history but her hoe is history after march 30th. oprah has pulled the plug after only five months on the air. nischelle, of course, ratings were a big problem, right? >> yeah, very much so, carol. it definitely was.

you know, when the rosie show debuted on own last october it was seen as a hail mary pass to help boost her struggling network. she recruited rosie hoping she would bring buzz to the network t started out strong but after its much hyped launch the ratings hit the basement. in recent months it switched executive producers, moved to a smaller taping story. moves many thought signaled trouble. here's what oprah had to say announcing it. she said "i thank rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. as i have learned in the last 15 months a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. i'm grateful to rosie and the dedicated rosie show team for giving it their all." rosie's final episode will tape on march 20th. it will air on friday march 30th and o'donnell said in a statement she loved working in chicago, but she's headed back

to her home in the big apple after the show's finale, carol. >> yeah, yeah, maybe oprah should get tiger woods on her network to talk about his section addiction therapy. >> that would have some ratings. >> he's spilling some new details. >> well, i don't know if he's spilling them but someone close to him is if we're to believe his former swing coach, the lessons he learned from sex addiction therapy for the hess of my life i can't have sex with someone unless i genuinely feel something for them. if i do, i'm putting my life in jeopardy. and this revelation comes as "the new york times" on sunday published new excerpts from an upcoming tell-all book from tiger's former swing coach haney. haney who worked with him for six years and parted ways claims that the book "the big miss" would mostly be about golf but the new excerpts seem to indicate the book details the sex scandal and it's aftermath that rocked woods' career. a chapter is reportedly devoted

to it so it comes out march 27th. get ready for more secrets from one of tiger's form confidants, carol and this has people in an uproar. definitely. >> a whole new meaning to swing coach. nischelle turner, thank you. you wanted information on everything breaking in the entertainment world. check ott showbiz tonight." continually monitors blind spots, scans the road to reveal potential threats, even helps awaken its driver if he begins to doze. so in the blink of an eye it will have performed more active safety measures than most cars will in a lifetime. introducing the all-new 2012 m-class.

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oh, we're talking about -- >> you sure you got every reason in the world to be thrilled. you do. >> i filled out this bracket and i don't normally fill out brackets for march madness and i did this year and i stink. >> look, you're a novice. self-admittedly you're not a huge basketball fan. >> not college basketball. >> but did a great job. the cnn anchor board. everything is -- you have to use perspective. brooke is in the lead and you have kyra and soledad o'brien, wolf blitzer, my partner in rhyme, randi kaye doing well. all the way down. where are you? >> mike. >> oh, goodness gracious. let's expand it a bit.

there you are, great picture. really nice. what's great is although you've done really well and have a nice smile, this fits your mood more than anything for the time being. one of the great things, you had as we take a look at the bracket itself, you have places where you haven't picked real one. one being for ohio university. bobcats. one interesting thing about them we have a lot of cnn people that went to school there. you have a lot of fans on staff. they pulled manyup sets. you by the way picked a hugeup set so n.c. state, huge upset against georgetown. i believe we have video of that. huge celebration, tremendous game. the magic of march madness unfolds right there. you notice the wolfpack against the hoyas and advance over the number three. tremendous in this game. good times. you felt confident. you picked ohio state to win the whole thing. >> i could still win the whole thing. >> you could but for you to win everyone else has to crash and

burn. >> i would never hope that. >> hope springs eternal. >> thanks, reynolds. bringing the bad news. >> if yours are in shambles too, maybe you'll feel better cnn condition.com/brackets. check my picks out from here on out. did you see the kansas/purdue game. cancer was trailing. what it took the lead for an exciting win. one of its players is thomas robinson. he suffered devastating losses in his family. here's cnn's rob marciano with the story. >> reporter: college basketball can be gut wrenching. heartbreaking. and exhilarating. the life of a college basketball player can be all of those things and one other, exhausting. >> early morning workouts and then, you know, classes, then straight to practice, practice normally could go from 2:00 to 4:00 depending on how the coach feels and tutoring at night then

you're back in your room then you're back up the next morning doing the same thing again. >> reporter: it's a full day every day. one ha can sometimes be eased by a comforting call home. >> when things get tough for me, my mom was one of the first people i called and i'm sure that's the same for a lot of people. >> reporter: kansas forward thomas robinson received a late night home that changed everything for him. he was told his mother lisa had just died of a heart attack at age 37. this only weeks after the deaths of robinson's grandparents who helped his single mother raise him. he and his 7-year-old half sister jala were left aaholm. >> i said is there anybody back home to contact, he said, coach, they're all gone and that just broke my heart. >> my teammates, you know, immediately became my brothers and strongest supporting cast i have. >> reporter: they followed him home to washington, d.c. for the funeral and the school started an education fund for his sister. but even as the fans who filled the seats at legendary fog allen

fieldhouse donated to a cause more worthy than another national championship robinson realized his responsibilities grew immensely. >> i have something bigger to take care of. i have a little sister at home. >> some people would kind of, you know, go to opposite way and feel like they don't have anything to work for now. he kind of had a different approach. i got to go even harder now. >> there was a whole different level of want, of try in him that i hadn't even seen before. >> reporter: the 6'10" junior wears that responsibility like the chain around his neck honoring his mother. his performance has shined like those medallions taking him from the jayhawks' sixth man this year to perhaps the nation's best player this season. all with the hope it will lead him to millions in the nba and his sister to a future without worry. >> for me to feel comfortable, the best way is reach my lifetime dream and doing that would be able to take care of

her. >> gut wrenching, heartbreaking and exhilarating. thomas robinson's life has been all of those things and one other. inspiring. rob marciano, cnn, atlanta. >> excellent. more of the day's top stories after a quick break. today, we stand against the tyranny of meager travel cards. battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge. show us how much you spent last year and we'll give you 2 miles for every dollar spent on your travel reward card. up to 100,000 miles! hawaii, here we come. claim your miles at capitalone.com today! what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no.

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stories we're working on in the cnn newsroom. the house subcommittee on health will meet to review efforts to help treat traumatic brain injuries. a news conference on their efforts to repeal president obama's medicare cost-cutting mission. critics have referred to it as the death panel. tonight at 11:35 eastern watch first lady michelle obama's first visit to "the late show with david letterman". americans are not very good to their hearts. so bad less than 2% of us actually follow basic heart healthy habit, the ones that drastically reduce the risk of heart disease according to a new study in the journal of the american medical association. 45,000 people were surveyed between 1988 and 2010. there was some good news, though, the number of smokers

has dropped and more people are getting in their heart healthy level of exercise. a royal first today. catherine the duchess of cambridge delivers her first official speech. >> what you do is inspirational. it is a shining example of the support and the care that is delivered not just here but in the children's hospice movement at large up and down the country. >> we'll take you live to england for more. coming up next. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd... you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air.

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a big step today for the duchess of cambridge. kate middleton delivered her first official speech today as a royal. our royal correspondent max foster was there and joins us from ipswich, england and she looked a little nervous, max. >> reporter: well, she was and people in the room described how her hands were shaking just before she embarked on the speech and it was very slow, very measured. she used this technique i think that public speakers get advised on to pause if she felt nervous and paused a lot. actually this was her first public speech. it was being televised internationally. huge amounts of pressure and press. just to get through it without making any mistakes, you know, you got to hold your hands up to it. let's have a listen. make up your own judgment. >> first of all i'd like to say thank you.

thank you for not only accepting me as a patron, thank you also for inviting me here today. you have all made me feel so welcome and i feel hugely honored to be here to see this wonderful center. i'm only sorry that william can't be here today. he would love it here. >> reporter: that would have given her a lot of encouragement to get a laugh going, a big part of the life of a royal is giving speeches. they support causes and you have to sell those causes so she passed that test. she's had all of her solo engagements and now going to go quiet for a month we're told but she's's merged now as a fully fledged royal. >> you just can't imagine the pressure on her. she's a young woman and i'm glad she got through it but she did look really nervous. her dress, it looked beautiful. blue, everybody pays so much to answer it her clothing.

>> reporter: yeah, absolutely. whenever they are clothes come out on the public display they sell out immediately around the world. this was a reese dress but all the fashion watchers here, people come just to follow her fashion. were disappointed and excited at the same time because they found out this was the dress that her mother had actually worn two years ago to the races, her mother had leapt her the dress which was a story in itself. but it wasn't the cutting-edge fashion they were hoping to get from the duchess today on the last engagement and meant no one could buy the dress so couldn't sell out worldwide. certainly that's making a lot of newspaper headlines today, carol. >> i think that's rather charming. i mean you're wearing your mom's dress. it's obviously special to her and why not? >> reporter: absolutely and there's a lot of pressure on the roirls right now. don't want to be seen to be overspending on anything. it's the jubilee this year. don't want to be seen spending public money when the economy is in a bad state.