>> so that's two coffees to go, then. i'll say it again. some people are way too into coffee. and some coffee is way too into people. it was high time for a new way to start the day on "the ridiculist." happening right now, a brutal blizzard pounding towns and cities from the southern plains north to illinois. >> and developing overnight, a hot air balloon packed with tourists takes a deadly plunge overseas. >> and snubbed by his own party. chris christie gets the cold shoulder, left off the list for a key republican event. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. i feel like i haven't seen you in days. >> you haven't. good morning to you. good morning to you. thanks for being with us. it's tuesday, february 26th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east.

happening right now, it is a raging blizzard, blasting the southern plains. leaving large parts of texas and oklahoma buried under more than a foot of snow. roads are impassable, drivers are stranded. this picture was sent to us from a reporter philip prince. a trucker stuck on interstate 40 about 50 miles east of amarillo. look at the conditions there. he says the highway has been shut down. he has been stuck for about eight hours when he finally took that picture. two people have been killed, one on an icy road in kansas, another at a home in oklahoma where the roof collapsed under the weight of all that snow. at this hour, winter storm warnings are in effect as far north as illinois. this massive system tracks north and east with kansas, missouri, wisconsin, and michigan next on its hit list. so we have the storm covered for you this morning. minute by minute. state by state. jennifer del cad ygado is tracke

storm. first, let's go to kansas city. they're getting hit by the second major snowstorm in a week. terrible for those folks out there. >> reporter: it is. [ no audio ] certainly going to be worse than the storm we had last -- [ no audio ] we didn't see -- [ no audio ] >> yeah, that storm is powerful and is clearly affecting her microphone. let's work on that and then get back to her. let's go to jennifer delgado. she's in the cnn weather center in atlanta. what can you tell us? >> i can tell you a lot. we're still looking at snow coming down now for areas like amarillo, they were pounded yesterday with 19 inches of snowfall. but looking at the radar right now, right along interstate 7, you can see snow coming down. rain moving through st. louis. what we're going to see is more of that snow working in as we go throughout the afternoon. some of these locations are potentially going to pick up between 6 and 12 inches of snowfall.

when you add that in with winds up to about 20, 25, of course we're going to be talking about very limited visibility. in fact, i want to point out to one bright side from yesterday. we had a lot more areas with the blizzard warnings. now notice we're just really looking at the northern part of oklahoma and that is going to be in place until 6:00 a.m. central standard time. but for kansas city as well as for areas up towards chicago and into detroit we have winter storm warnings and watches and flakes. that means for more of that snow. how much snow am i talking about? quite a bit. interstate 70, you're the bulls eye. omaha, a little less for you. kansas city, roughly 6 to 12 inches. chicago, we're going to go 3 to 6 inches of snowfall. i know you need that precipitation. let me show you when you add in too much wind what some of that snow coming out of texas. >> this is your video coming to you from our i-reporters. you're going to hear that wind blowing around and you're also

looking at the drift, the snowdrift. and that is actually three feet right outside someone's doorment don't you just hate it when the snow just blows you in and traps you in the house? i know you chicago girls, you understand that. >> i definitely understand it but i don't miss it. >> she's hearty though. let's go back to erin in kansas city, missouri. this storm is big and powerful and knocked your microphone. >> reporter: it is very windy. we expect gusts up to 30 miles an hour today. so the governors of kansas and missouri are urging people to stay off the roads and take precautions because they want to make sure people know that this storm will be more dangerous than the storm they had here just last week, john. >> erin, it does look -- it looks nasty out there. she's been here a week and we sent her to two blizzards in the plains states. thank you, erin. >> who would have thought back to back. four minutes past the hour. we're following a developing

story four. it is horror in a hot air touri bird's-eye view of the scene, it plummeted to the ground. what do you know? >> reporter: this is just an awful incident that's not going to bode well for egypt's already ailing tourism industry and the hot air balloon industry. first and foremost, you have to think about the families of the 20 victims. 20 people killed according to this hot air balloon. the incident, according to a local government official taking place in the city of southern egypt. this is the site of some of egypt's most famous ancient ruins. among the 20 killed, according to this government official, nine hong kong nationals, three british citizens, two japanese citizens, one hungarian citizen,

three people were injured, among them, the pilot. this balloon crashed when the cylinder, the gas cylinder inside the balloon exploded. the balloon plummeting according to state tv 1,000 feet. the pilot depending on what conditions he's under, he's going to be expected to answer a lot of questions, a lot of pressure on this hot air balloon company sky crews to answer some questions as well. >> what a horrific accident. thank you. also developing right now in the middle east, a shaky truce being tested this morning after a rocket fired from gaza struck southern israel overnight. now this is the first such attack since a truce in november ended a week of cross border mighting. it follows days of clashes over the death of a palestinian man inside an israeli prison. the rocket did cause some damage but so far, no casualties have been reported. >> lots going on this morning. markets around the world are reacting to the outcome of the italian parliamentary elections on monday.

for the first time ever, that country elected a hung parliament which will make it difficult if not impossible to pass further austerity measures which are needed to save the euro zone's third largest economy if further recession. >> and helped the biggest one day drop in the dow this year. >> is today there anything that can fend off the price cuts? john mccain and lindsey gram have been called over for meetings about immigration. the spending showdown will likely come up. graham is telling reporters it is time for both sides to grow up. and on the situation in rome, he said he is bringing an offer to the president. >> this is a chance to do the big deal. i'm willing to raise revenue. i'm willing to raise $600 billion in new revenue if my democratic friends will be willing to reform entitlements. >> president obama is talking about the forced spending cuts later today in a shipyard in new

port news, virginia. an estimated 40,000 civilian defense department jobs in the region could be furloughed if those cuts do come down. >> on pope benedict's final week as a member of the catholic church, a string of child sex abuse cases emerge. cardinal roger mahoney of los angeles will be part of the conclave despite damming new revelations about his handling of pedophile priests. then there was yesterday's stunning resignation of a uk leading catholic cleric, archbishop keith o'brien amid accusations of boys studying to be priests, a claim he denied despite stepping down. pep benedict's last day is thursday. he's the first pope to resign in some six centuries. this year's cpac is giving new jersey governor a potential 2016 presidential contender chris christie the cold shoulder. a source close to the conservative political action conference, this is an annual

meeting where republicans get together and talk about conservative issues, organizers did not invite christie to the event which is set to happen next month near washington, d.c. one likely reason, christie's praise for president obama's response to superstorm sandy which some say swung the election. >> if true, that's unfortunate. >> chris christie is running for election in a blue state, new jersey. it doesn't hurt him to be snubbed by cpac here. >> too bad if really that is the case. today marks one year -- one year, can you believe it, since trayvon martin was shot and killed in a case that caught nationwide attention. we're going to hear from martin's mother. that's coming up. plus, how "argo"'s oscar win can mean money for the real life americans held hostage in iran. oh!

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welcome back to "early start." it was one year ago today that

trayvon martin was shot to death in florida. he got into a confrontation with george zimmerman who claims he was attacked and shot martin in self-defense. martin's family claims the unarmed teen was racially profiled. last night his parents told cnn's piers morgan how they plan to mark today's anniversary. >> we will attend a candlelight ceremony here in new york. we've already done something in miami. we've done a peace walk to let teenagers know that they have a right to walk in peace. we also did a benefit dinner to help our foundation so that we can try to do some of the things that we need to do so that we can make sure that no other parents have to go through what we have gone through in the last year. >> there are so many unanswered questions in this case. good morning, martin. >> reporter: yeah, this case, the furor in that case died down

in the past year. but there is still a way that it polarizes people when you talk to them. they're very surprised it has been one year. but when you speak to many, they say they support george zimmerman. they say it was self-defense. there are just as many that i say, no, trayvon martin was a victim of racial profiling and he was shot and killed for that reason. there is one point in which everyone agrees. the death of that 17-year-old was a tragedy. it starts with a phone call. february 26th, 2012 -- >> we have a lot of break ins in our neighborhood recently. i'm on the neighborhood watch. >> reporter: it's a cold and dreary night in central florida. george zimmerman has just spotted 17-year-old trayvon martin walking through his gated community in sanford. >> are you following him? >> yes. >> okay, you don't need to do that. >> reporter: moments later, martin is black and zimmerman is hispanic struggle in the dark. neighbors call 911. >> do you need help? >> yes.

>> there's gun shots. >> how many? >> just one. >> reporter: zimmerman shoots the teen claiming self-defense. photos show zimmerman bleeding from his nose and back of his head. sanford police decide not to bring charges, perhaps because of florida stand your ground law. that decision triggers a national outcry. three weeks later the justice department announces its own investigation into martin's death and sanford police. meanwhile, tensions rise with release of 911 recordings. in them, some hear zimmerman using a racial slur. analysis by cnn is inconclusive. march 27th, sanford's police chief steps down. that same day, florida governor rick scott appoints angela curry to lead a special investigation. the next day, president obama speaks publicly about the case for the first time. >> if i had a son, he'd look

like trayvon. >> reporter: march 24th, a new black pan per that's right offers a $10,000 reward for zimmerman's capture. two days later, trayvon martin rallies are held across the country demanding zimmerman's arrest. april 11, zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder and turns himself in. bond is set at $150,000 and three days later, he walks out of jail in the middle of the night only to return six weeks later when a judge revokes his bond after prosecutors say zimmerman and his wife lied about being poor at his bond hearing, failing to mention hundreds of thousands of donated dollars from supporters. this time zimmerman's wife is also arrested, charged with perjury. july 6th, zirmmmmerman's releas now on $1 million bond and goes into hiding. zimmerman appears on fox news. >> is there anything you might do differently in retrospect, now that time passed a little

bit? >> no, sir. >> reporter: meanwhile, his defense team successfully lobbies to have the judge in the case replaced. february 9, 2013, the justice for trayvon martin foundation host a day of remembrance in his hometown of miami and takes place four days after the youth of the heart a national debate would have turned 18. as for what comes next, tlaen is a crucial step in the month of april, that's when the stand your ground hearing will take place. that is unique to the state of florida. a judge will determine whether that law applies in this particular case. if george zimmerman is found he did apply and use self-defense correctly under that law, he'd be immune from prosecution. in other words, there would be no trial. but the judge rules otherwise, the trial is expected to begin in june. john? >> that is the big development we're all waiting on. thanks to martin savidge. trayvon martin's parents will

join soledad this morning on "starting point." >> let's get you up to date on our top stories. >> happening right now, massive winter storm slamming the midwest at this hour. it's tracking north and east with kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois, michigan in its sights. texas and oklahoma already reeling this morning. roads are shut down. drivers stranded and amarillo, texas, buried under a record 19 inches of snow this morning. good morning, amarillo. a former u.s. surgeon general c. everett koop died at the age of 96. he served from 1982 to 1989 and he elevated the profile of the surgeon general's office. he was instrumental in getting the nation to focus on key health issues such as hiv and aids prevention and he convinced americans to stop smoking. he brought some groans and controversy but seth mcfarland also brought ratings. more than 40 million viewers turned in to watch the academy awards. that's up 3% from last year.

it's the second biggest audience in six years. and the key younger 18 to 34 demo which is in john berman's age demographic, that group shot up by 20%. of course, "argo" took home the best picture oscar. now former hostages in iran are hoping the film's high profile will boost the he wases to be paid reparations by iran. the movie told of six people that escaped during the siege. 52 others were held for 444 days in the u.s. embassy. their life on pause. whole nation just waiting. remember the yellow ribbons? the "argo" movie brought back those days, what it was like in america at the grocery store, you know, everybody's picket fence, the yellow ribbons to have them congress back. >> yes. >> 19 minutes after the hour now. check your 401(k). if you don't like where it's headed, blame washington.

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we're minding your business this morning. it was an awful day on wall street yesterday. major averages fell about 1.5% each. >> it was the worst day for the dow and s&p 500 this year. christine romans is tracking it all for us. good morning. >> so many people have been waiting to hit a new high and in that waiting we found there is some big concerns still and stocks have been having some

trouble. a bad day yesterday. a very bad day yesterday. this morning dow futures are up 45 points. one of the big problems is late in the day it became clear there was going to be a chaotic election result in italy. why does this matter to the united states and our stock markets? because europe is in turmoil. italy has very big debt problems and austerity problems. if there is not a very sincere and coherent and cohesive attempt to fix italy's problems, it will hurt the rest of europe and that will hurt the united states. that was a big problem yesterday. the s&p 500 down 1.8%. that's a big move for one day. it's something you can feel in your 401(k). when you look at the dashboard for stock market action yesterday, i looked at the vix, it's a fear gauge. it surged yesterday. gold prices rose. why? because people were fleeing stocks, rushing into the safety or the perceived safety of gold prices. the interest rates on the ten-year bond fell.

interest rates go lower because people are plowing money into bonds, again, safety. you saw big concern there in the market's sentiment. another problem we have is washington. your elected officials are hurting the american economy or at least the perception of how the economy is going to fair this next year. we do not have a budget. we do not have a coherent -- again, i use this phrase, cohere coherent, cohesive sane plan for getting out of debt. that is hurting sentiment in the stock market. we had a very good run the past six months. we were knocking on the door of record highs. look at that advance and now this pull back at the end. a lot of folks wonder with washington unresolved, europe unresolved, american consumer without as much money in their pockets, will we have a pause here? will we hit a pause button? the dow, for the record, is 380 points away from the record high. >> can you feel that anxiety

ratchet up. >> you really could. they blame it now on italy. they're blaming it on the italians. if you like italian politics, just look -- go to cnn money, it's very fascinating what is happening in italy. but that matters to you. >> thank you. >> it's 25 minutes after the hour. the boss at a high profile tech company lays down the law. no more working from home. find out why coming up. plus, a popular diet proved so healthy it surprised even the doctors studying it. ♪ [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ did you know not all fiber is the same?

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right now a major blizzard

is blasting the country's midsection. an intense manhunt under way for a man who shot up a car causing last week's fireball crash on the vegas strip, wow. counting down to pope benedict's final day. more emerging scandals. welcome back to "early start." thanks for being with us. it is tuesday morning, 30 minutes after the hour right now. happening right now a big blizzard. it is battering large parts of texas and oklahoma leaving thousands buried under more than a foot of snow this morning. drivers are stranded on snow choked interstates, some plows were called back. some emergency vehicles had to be bulldozed out themselves. and two people have been killed. at this hour, winter storm warnings stretch from oklahoma all the way up to illinois. this massive system now tracking to the north and the east with kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois, and michigan, that's a lot of states squarely in its

path. state by state, minute by minute, cnn is tracking this dangerous winter storm. jennifer delgado from the cnn weather center in atlanta. but first, let's get to erin mcpike live in kansas city where they're getting hit again by their second snowstorm in a week. good morning, erin. >> reporter: good morning. yes. again in a week and it's really going to be windy here. it already is. but we're expecting heavy gusts of wind, wind, john, they're already 9500 power outages in kansas city alone. we know there are 10,000 power outages in texas, also more in oklahoma and throughout the region. so this storm already is going to be more dangerous than the last. >> are we expecting any records here, erin? >> reporter: there may be. now we don't expect this single snowfall will break the record set more than 100 years ago of 20 1/2 inches. we're expecting about a foot of snow. but the total of these two storms together could break a record for the season. >> all right. erin mcpike, hang in there in

kansas city this morning. a state of emergency has been declared for 66 counties in oklahoma. the northwest part of the state hit especially hard. joining us on the phone right now, the mayor of woodward, oklahoma. sir, what is the situation there this morning? >> well, we've come up with about 20 inches of real heavy wet snow. and it's caving some of our residents houses in. we have one house so far. we have snow plows out getting stuck and there's certainly no likelihood for traffic today. i haven't been down public works building, but i've heard we're kind of stymied there. i know the odot snow rescue team is assisting and we have a shelter set up for stranded

motorists. ray carlson's managing that. we had something like this in 1971. but we had a little more snow than this. >> this is unprecedented for you. mayor, you mentioned one fatality. what happened? >> well, a roof caved in. now i haven't been out. i really can't get out. and this is just -- i'm hearing this from our employees. our city is actually shut down and only necessary people are out. we had a few fires. we can't get our fire equipment to the scenes. and we just got a mess going on. >> well, we did mention a state

of emergency has been declared for the 56 counties. hopefully there is help headed your way, sir. mayor racicot hill, thank you for spending time with thus morning. good luck to you. >> thank you, i appreciate it. let's get to jennifer delgado. she's in the cnn weather center. the system now, jennifer, who needs to be prepared for this next hit? >> you know, we just heard from the official on in woodward, oklahoma. the good news is that snow pretty much done for across parts of oklahoma. but woodward picked up 15 inches. snow still coming down especially right along interstate 70. you can see kansas city, st. louis, you're dealing with rain. kansas city, we're talking roughly about 6 to 12 inches of snow. now the snow is going to continue to pick up as we go throughout the morning and afternoon. for st. louis, you'll see that changing over later into the day. roughly right around 3:00 or so. you'll start to see that piling up. then for areas like chicago, we are talking 3 to 6 inches of snowfall. this is going to be welcomed for the area. even on the backside of that

low, we're going to be picking up some lake-effect snow as we go through tomorrow. but the other story that we're focusing on is the heavy rainfall and the severe weather that's moving through parts of florida. you can see in the panhandle, we do have a tornado watch. this is in place until 9:00 a.m. we've even had tornado warnings popping up. well this is dumping a tremendous amount of rain. i have to tell you, i really could have used a boat coming into work this morning. really the roadways were just pounding with water. i also want to point out the severe weather threat is in place through today. that includes parts of north carolina, even into areas like virginia, down to florida and that means you could see some storms producing some isolated tornadoes as well as damaging winds. one to two more inches of rainfall. and, of course, this is going to lead to a lot of travel delays. those winds up to about 35 and 40 miles per hour, chicago, philadelphia, d.c., atlanta, hello.

you're going to be there for a while. >> and flooding as well. we have a little bit of everything going on. jennifer delgado, thank you very much. >> 35 minutes after the hour. the manhunt is stretching from the vegas strip to the east coast for lamar harris, the man wanted for the deadly shooting and crash in vegas. investigators descending the search to south carolina, georgia, south florida, places where harris used to live. he is wanted for shooting kenneth cherry, also known as kenny clutch, while cherry drove down the vegas strip. his car then hit a taxi which went up in flames. cherry and two people in the taxi died. a family could be clinging to a cooler in the pacific ocean for a second night. rescue crews haven't given up on finding them. a husband, wife, and two young children were forced out of their sail boat sunday when it started taking on water. this is about 66 miles off monterey, california. >> coast guard. coast guard? we're abandoning ship.

>> that was pretty much the last anyone heard from them. the coast guard says it's still an active search. but so far they haven't found any clues. they also don't know where the boat sailed from or where it was headed. so that's making the search really difficult for them. syrian opposition groups say rebels shot down not one but two government helicopters. and they were caught on amateur sh video. in the other video, you can hear them chant god is great after anti-aircraft fire makes a chopper go into a tailspin and then explodes when it hits the ground. cnn cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the clips. >> happening right now in germany, secretary of state john kerry is in berlin. his first trip to germany as the nation's new top diplomat. it's one stop on his 11-day, nine-country tour. kerry will hold a series of high level meetings with german officials including chancellor angela merkel. >> you want to ward off the stroke or a heart attack? i think the answer to that is

yes from everyone. the mediterranean diet is the twi go. that's what a just published study found. in fact, the benefits were so clear, so clear that spanish researchers say they decided to end the study early after about five years saying it would be unethical not to end it. they followed more than 7,000 people with heart disease, risk factors, some followed up a low fat diet with those who followed a mediterranean die wet extra-virgin olive oil or nuts and even wine at dinner, seven cups a week, by the way, were 30% less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or death associated with cardiovascular disease. >> i laugh. this has been around for so long. folks talking about the mediterranean die and the how good it is for you. i guess after five years you say, all right. conclusive. >> i can see the wine. at least seven cups of wine a week. >> all right. scandals coming to a head at the catholic church. pope benedict is days away from

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angie's list -- reviews you can trust. oh, angie? i have her on speed dial. welcome back to "early start." pope benedict is weeks away from stepping down as the pope. he'll be the first pope to do so in 600 years as a string of sex abuse scandals are surrounding the vatican. the highest cleric resigning amid accusations of inappropriate behavior to reports in the italian press of an underground gay priest ring. if that wasn't enough, an openly gay former dominican friar said publicly the issue of homosexuality is a ticking time bomb in the catholic church. we have a reporter live in vatican city. how are people reacting to this flood of recent accusations? >> reporter: well, you know,

italians love a good conspiracy theory. and the vatican, the resignation of pope benedict xvi has given them a lot to talk about. it's more important what the cardinals think. many of the cardinals are coming into rome for the pope's final farewell audience tomorrow. and, you know, they're listening to what is being said on the local television. they're reading the press. they're reading the papers. they're the once that really count. the scandals are indicative of big problems in their church. that puts on the responsibility who have they elect as the new pope. >> let's talk about roger mahoney of los angeles. he'll be part of the conclave. despite damning allegations, will the participation of figures like mahoney undermine the credibility of the next pope? >> reporter: well, you know, as many analysts say here if, you exclude every cardinal who had a scandal attached to him with, you know, connected to the child sex abuse problem in the church, you wouldn't have many people voting in the conclave. but cardinals like mahoney are

especially vulnerable because people are paying attention to him. but so many cardinals especially in europe and the united states also have the scandals attached to their reign. so it's really difficult. because of the fact that so many think this is a bureaucracy and the bureaucratic movements of these priests really isn't seeming to be the responsibility of the cardinal but the responsibilities of the individual diocese. it's different, of course, from cardinal o'brien who is the british archbishop of scotland who is accused of directly abusing sem inarians. that is an entirely different issue. he's accused of being involved in the scandal himself. >> yeah, and stepping down and resigning and not being involved in the conclave. just so much to talk about. really appreciate you this morning. thank you. 44 minutes after the hour. there is a move in the house of representatives to legalize medical marijuana. a bill that has more than a dozen co-sponsors would allow

states to make the drug legal and block the federal government from taking action against states where it is already allowed. and political reports the fda could make medical marijuana a legal product. a rap video featuring flash i cars, women and tight clothes, suggestive gansing, not unusual. but this rapper right there, folks, he is 9 years old. and he's using lyrics like coke is not a bad word. now child welfare workers are taking a look at this video. the family's attorney says it's protected speech. >> he has a first amendment legal right to sing the rap that he's singing. i've been asked that. i would absolutely let one of my children participate in videos. if that he had that type of talent. >> the boy's dad told the boston tv station his son has done nothing wrong. police have not filed criminal charges or arrested the boy's

father. >> his son has that type of talent. interesting words. >> very interesting. what are the perks in the dot-com era is the chance to work from home. looks like those days may be over, at least at yahoo. marissa meyer ordered them to come into the office starting in june. yahoo claims they want more interaction. but if this is insider source says many of yahoo's remote employees are not productive, just trying to stay off the radar and get paid like milton. there is a lot of backlash, though. meyer's decision is a step backwards. donald trump said it is a step forward. is it good to stay at home or go to the office? >> it's good for the worker. >> i like coming to the office every day. >> so, do i. the battle over florida's stand your ground law returns to the forefront one year to the day since trayvon martin was shot. we have a closer look coming up. plus, manti te'o making nfl

scouts forget about his fake girlfriend. not so easy. >> will it work? ♪

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a lat going on this morning. christine romans is here with the top stories. some people are waking up to more snow than they've seen in 40 years. a dangerous winter storm tracking to the north and east after battering the southern plains. dumping a record 19 inches of snow on amarillo, texas. two fatalities blamed on the blizzard so far. this hour the storm is targeting kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois, and michigan. sacramento police have fired and arrested one of their own. former officer sergio alvarez is accused of sexually assaulting at least six women. investigators say alvarez was in uniform during the attacks. and that some happened in his patrol car. police officials are now debating whether to let officers patrol alone late at night. and we could see some gun

control bills moving on capitol hill this week. the senate judiciary committee might start looking at them thursday. one measure would ban military style assault weapons. republicans and some democrats oppose that one. a background check's bill could have a better chance of passing. many gun control advocates want florida to xap the stand your ground law. and that's unlikely as a law has plenty of supporters. it permits people to use force to protect themselves without retreating their ground. the law gained nationwide attention when george zimmerman claimed he shot trayvon martin in self-defense one year ago today. victor blackwell looks at the pros and the cons. >> reporter: on the anniversary of the killing of trayvon martin, there is now a renewed fight over the controversial stand your ground law that could make his killer george zimmerman a free man once again. >> can you start a fight, lose the fight and then claim stand

your ground? >> reporter: this man from the trayvon martin foundation believes stand your ground laws are ineffective. >> it promotes vigilantism. it promotes the idea you go out there and take care of the situation and don't listen to the police or law enforcement. >> reporter: last week a task force commissioned by rick scott at the height of the public outcry returned to its final report supporting the law. it asserts all persons who are conducting themselves in a lawful man ver a fundamental right to stand their ground and defend themselves from attack. >> all stand your ground is a form of the self-defense defense. but it gives a defendant a lot more ability to use self-defense because self-defense is so broadly defined in stand your ground. >> can you do away with the statute and just look at common law. >> reporter: zimmerman's legal team signaled they'll argue not the controversial stand your ground but basic self-defense.

>> he was allowed to do exactly what he did which was resist with deadly force. >> reporter: weeks before the scheduled start of the stand your ground hearing, florida law makers are considering several competing bills ranging from incremental changes to stand your ground to full repeal, something skoaly acknowledges will not be easy. >> we're in for the fight. we know that when america changes we have growing pains. these are difficult growing pains. >> reporter: victor blackwell, cnn, new york. manti te'o finally getting a shot to focus on football and disappointing a little bit. more than a month after the fake dead online girlfriend hoax came to light, the former notre dame linebacker ran a surprisingly slow 40 yard dash at the nfl scouting combine yesterday. you saw it right there. he clocked in at unofficial times of 4.81 and 4.8 in the 40. that is fairly slow. a lot of linebackers, like 20

linebackers ran faster than him. this could send the draft stock lower. i was read something experts say he could fall to the second round. had nothing to do with his head this time. everything to do with speed. >> what does that have to do with? there were such high expectations? >> it could be that the girlfriend story during the season overhyped his ability and maybe that, who knows? you know, bad national championship game also. it's been a while since he played well. >> that's too bad. so rememba member of the ja family able to keep a really big secret from the press for a long, long time. janet jackson's big reveal is next. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes? just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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welcome back, everyone. 57 minutes after the hour.

i'm john berman. we're taking a look at the top cnn trends on the internet this morning. >> and rumors that janet jackson is engaged are not true. you know why? she has already married. in a statement to e-on line, jackson and her husband, billionaire businessman announced that they married last year in a quiet private and beautiful ceremony and that their wedding gifts to one another were donations to children's charities. their favorite children's charities. this is jackson's third marriage. i need to get a little more information. he is 37 years old. nine jeers her junior. and he's a fashion mogul. >> sounds like a catch. >> so holy plot twist, batman. robin the boy wonder batman sidekick will die in issue number eight of d.c. comics "batman incorporated." in the latest batman story line, robin is actually batman's son which is a first for the

franchise. but rest assured, this is not actually the first time that robin died. there have been a lot of robins. one was voted out to be killed in the 1980s. this is not -- this is not dick grayson who is the most famous robin from the '60s and '70s, just the latest robin. an interesting plot twist. >> i do not like robin dyeing. >> sorry. get used to it. >> check out our other trends by going to cnn.com/trends. meanwhile, "early start" continues right now. happening right now, a brutal blizzard pounding towns and cities from the southern plains north to illinois. developing overnight, a hot air balloon packed with tourists takes a deadly plunge. snubbed by his own party. chris christie gets the cold shoulder, left off the list for a key gop event. good morning. welcome back to "early start."

we're happy you're with us. i'm a mess without my papers. it is tuesday, february 26th. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east. happening right now, a blizzard for the history books. blasting now, a blizzard for the history books. leaving large parts of texas and oklahoma buried under a foot of snow. roads impassable, drivers stranded. this picture, really dramatic picture sent to us ireporter philip prince. a trucker stuck on i-40 says the highway has been shut down and he had been stuck for eight hours when he took this picture. two people have been killed, one on an icy road in kansas and another at a home in oklahoma where the roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. at this hour, winter storm warnings under effect as far as illinois as this massive system tracks north and east with kansas, missouri, wisconsin and michigan next on its hit list. minute by minute, state by

state, we're tracking the dangerous storm for us. jennifer delgado in the cnn weather center. let's get to eric mcpike, live in kansas city. getting slammed by the second snowstorm in a week. >> good morning. yes, the roads are covered here again and all of this heavy wet snow from the storm last week and what that means, branchs are snapping and power lines are coming down. we're seeing power outages, 10,000 in kansas city alone, 10,000 in texas, thousands more in oklahoma. folks need to be careful. we'll see more of that throughout the next couple of days, john. >> the mayor declared a state of emergency. how long with that stay in effect, erin? >> until sometime on wednesday and mayor sly james had this warning for residents yesterday. >> we'll be keeping community centers and shelters open. there will be crews on the roads, and emergency personnel

on alert and doing their jobs. we'll do our part. we need our kansas city citizens to take this seriously and spread the word and to be off the roads as much as possible. >> they had about 175 snow pows out last night. another 65 will hit the residential areas of kansas city starting 6:00 a.m. central time. >> our thanks to erin mcpike, getting slammed the second time in a week. >> more on the situation in kansas city. joining us on the phone is the mayor sly james and talking about the conditions. how are you coping with all of this? >> well, we are fortunate that we have a great crew of people out working with it and they've been on the road now for quite some time, trying to keep things as clear as possible. but we're monitoring the situation. we're doing everything that we can, we've got a great group of citizens who are heeding our warnings, at least so far, trying to stay off the roads and stay at home and that helps

quite a bit. we'll get through this. weather is something we have to expect where we live and we'll get through it, we just have to be smart and safe. >> mayor, what is the greatest challenge? >> probably right now, i would say the -- the really -- in terms of weather itself is the wind is really very strong. it's blowing the snow quite -- quite forcefully, the temperatures are going to be felt in terms of windchill, our biggest challenge will probably be making sure we get through this rush hour as well as we possibly can. and probably for those who are home bound or need public transportation, that is going to be a huge challenge, because our public transportation system is definitely affected. >> do you feel are you getting all the assistance you need? >> yes, i do. i think that at this stage, our crews are working hard. they are out there. i'm not at the emergency operations center, but i will be

shortly. i'll get an update then. at this point, i don't think we are lacking for outside resources. we have good neighbors, but their hands are full. >> it's great to hear that everybody is pitching in there. mayor james, are you incredibly busy, appreciate you taking some time with us this morning. good luck to you. this historic storm is churning to the north and east. let's get to jennifer delgado. where is the storm and who will get it next? >> it's affecting parts of the northwest. kansas city picking up the heaviest snow for areas like st. joseph to sedalia, wichita. notice for st. louis, a break in the rain. they will see snow working in as we go into the afternoon, roughly around noon. we're going to take a look at kansas city. this is a live view of the road this is interstate 70 and ninth street.

you notice, here is the overpass, here is the snow. i want to point out to you, nobody on the road. that's good news. the snow is going to be coming down in some of these locations. 6 to 10 inches of snowfall with winds gusting to 35 at times, 40 throughout the afternoon to lead to the blowing snow, especially dry snow. see winds roughly right around 23. we talked more about snow totals. notice for missouri, you will be the bull's-eye. 10 to 12 inches of snowfall. areas like nebraska and iowa, chicago, 3 to 6 inches for you. good for you and detroit, snow is working in. chicago, expect that to change over to all of the white stuff by roughly 3:00. some of these totals impressive for amarillo. 15 for perryton, texas. these numbers are quite impress if.

i'm a little jealous of erin, she gets all these great stories and going through the winter storm. >> why don't you send her a little e-mail. thank you, jennifer. appreciate it. we're following a developing story. 14 tourists trying to get a birds-eye view of egyptian sites were killed when their hot air balloon exploded and plummeted to the ground. it happened in luxor in southern egypt. 21 people on board. 19 visitors from hong kong, bell yu -- belgium, the uk and france. a rocket struck overnight in israel. this after a truce ended a week of cross-border fighting, following days of clashes in the west bank over the death of a palestinian man inside an israeli prison.

the rocket caused damage, but no death. markets shaky after the outcome of the parliamentary elections. a hung parliament was elected, which will make it difficult if not impossible to pass austerity measures. this helped lead our market to the worst day of the entire year. 7 minutes past the hour. two powerful senate republicans are hours away from a face-to-face meeting with the president at the white house. immigration reform is on the agenda. but it seems certain that john mccain and lindsay graham will be trying to head off massive spend forced spending cuts. graham sounding convinced a deal will not get done by the deadline, but the south carolina senator says he has an offer for the president that will ease the

pain for everyone. >> this is the chance to do the big deal. i'm willing to raise revenue, $600 billion in new revenue if my democratic friends are willing to reform entitlements. >> president obama will be talking about the forced spending cuts at a shipyard in newport. furloughs could happen once those cuts begin. a spring of sex scandals, all during the pope's final week as leader of the catholic church. some involve those who may choose the pope's successor. cardinal mahony will be part of the conclave, and yesterday's stunning resignation of the uk's archbishop keith o'brien, after allegations of those men

studying to be a priest. this is the first pope to resign in 600 years. this year's cpac is giving new jersey governor chris christie the cold shoulder. a source close to the political action conference said that organizers didn't invite him to the event. one likely reason? christie's praise to the president in the rath of superstorm sandy. >> there have been other past snubs. but chris christie is a pro life governor who governs with the types of conservative values that cpac usually likes. the one transgression is the embrace of president obama. >> he is also hugely popular. >> in new jersey.

maybe not nationally with conservativ conservatives, but in new jersey he certainly is. nine minutes after the hour. today marks one year since trayvon martin was shot and killed. we'll hear from martin's father, coming up. can i get the smith contract, please? ings that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet?

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. welcome back to "early start." one year ago today, trayvon martin was shot to death in flafla florida. he got into an altercation with george zimmerman. tr trayvon's mother had this to say. >> it's time for america to take a look at gun laws, take a look at people who are purchasing guns, people that they are give gun licenses to. there is too much senseless violence. >> many unanswered questions in a case that caught the attention of even president obama. more from sanford, florida. >> it starts with a phone call. february 26, 2012. >> we've had a lot of break-ins

in our neighborhood recently and i'm neighborhood watch. >> reporter: neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman spotted trayvon martin following him through the gated community. >> are you following him? >> yes. >> you don't need to do that. >> reporter: they struggle in the dark. neighbors call 911. >> do you think he is yelling help? >> yes, there's gunshots. >> just one. >> zimmerman shoots the teen, claiming self-defense. photos show him bleeding from the nose and back of the head. sanford police decide not to file charges. that triggers a national outcry. the justice department announces its own investigation to martin 'death and the sanford police. tensions rise with the release

of 911 recordings. some use zimmerman using a racial slur. analysis by cnn is inconclusive. march 22nd. sanford's police chief billie steps down. the same day, florida gov senior rick scott appoints angela curry to lead a special investigation. president obama speaks publicly about the case for the first time. >> if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. >> march 24th. a group called the new black ban their party offers a $10,000 reward for zimmerman's "capture." trayvon martin rallies held across the country. demanding zimmerman's arrest. april 11th, zimmerman charged with second degree murder and turns himself in. bond set at $150,000 and three days later he walks out of jail in the middle of the night. only to return six weeks later when a judge revokes his bond after zimmerman and his wife

lied about being poor at his bond hearing, failing to mention of hundreds of thousands of donated dollars from supporters. this time, zimmerman's wife is also arrested, charged with perjury. zimmerman's release from jail again, now on $1 million bond and goes into hiding. zimmerman appears on fox news. >> is there anything that you might do differently in retrospect? >> no, sir. >> his defense team lobbies to have the judge in his case replaced? february 9, 2013, the justice for tray on martin foundation hosts a day of remembrance that takes place four days that the university youth at the heart of a national debate would have turned 18. the next big step in this case will be in april where there will be a stand your ground hearing, particular to the state of florida. the judge will listen to the evidence in what is expected to

be a mini trial and will then issue a ruling if this is self-defense under florida law if he is dpranted immunity, he wouldn't be prosecuted. in fact, there would be to trial. beyond that he wouldn't be tried criminally and couldn't be sued in civil court. if the judge turns it down, it will move on to a trial that's expected to begin in june. there is a lot more to come. zoraida. >> martin savidge, thank you. trayvon martin's parents along with family attorney benjamin crump will join soledad at 7:30 eastern. an epic winter storm slamming the midwest. tracking north and east, targeting kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois, and michigan. texas and oklahoma are already reeling, airports closed, roads shut down with drivers standed and amarillo, texas, buried under 19 inches of snow. >> two people have died.

and c. everett coop has died. he elevated the p ed proof profe surgeon general's office. he got the health to focus on hiv and aids, and he convinced americans to stop smoking. >> the winner is? seth macfarlane. he delivered higher ratesiningr. up 3% from last year and the second biggest audience in six years. ratings shot up by 20% in the key younger demographic. 18 to 34 year olds. >> one of the things where you laugh and think should i be laughing at this? 18 minutes past the hour. in today's road warriors, shifting gears. >> car sharing might be for you.

christine romans tells us more. >> the big players are trying to get in on this. car sharing is gaining in popularity in many cities because of convenience in cities. rent a car by the hour and not by the day. so whether you need a car for a few hours to go to a meeting or explore a city during the day, then car share doing be the best bet. according to a report from frost & sullivan, estimated 4.4 million people will join these programs by 2016. big car rental companies want into it. ave is bought zip car for 5$500 million and both enterprise and hertz have launched car sharing programs. you can customize your rental as big companies are competing for your business. watch this space so to speak this is a trend that started as a niche. it's big and big players are on now. >> when people save money, i'm

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and basically people who -- party members who were against austerity, tightening the belt, they had big victories and now have you crisis about what direction italy is going to take going forward. italy has a lot of debt. italy very important part of the europe story. unemployment rate 11%. economic growth is negative. economy is is shrinking. highest debt loads for its size in europe this is interesting in this country, we're talking about austerity and tightening the belt, in this country talking about live within our means. in europe, the countries doing it, they are throwing the bums out when they talk about it there. talking about knocking on the door of all-time highs, you had a six-month rally and a big pause. washington is a big concern about this, europe is a big concern. you have people talking money

off the table. the dashboard of the market was really interesting. gold prices rose, interest rates fell. a skiddish and scared look at the markets. from 300 points from the al all-time high from the dow. this is more of a pause button. dow futures up 45 points. i want to talk about saving. one thing you need to know about your money. half of us are saving enough for retirement. 50 alach 50/50 on good saving habits this is shocking. another brand new study this morning from sal sallie mae. $38,000 is what people are planning to sock away, but they are only saving $19,000. it's not enough. we were saving 5% after the recession, because we were scared to death.

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right now, a blizzard blasting the nation with kansas caught right in the middle. an intense manhunt under way for the excon cops say shot up a

maserati causing the fireball crash on the vegas strip. counting down to pope benedict xvi's final day. marred by more emerging scandals. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. 30 minutes past the hour. happening right now, five midwest states squarely in the path of a deadly winter storm. a blizzard battering large part of texas and oklahoma. leaving thousands buried under a foot of snow. drivers stranded on snow-choked roads, two people have been killed. winter storm warnings stretch from oklahoma to illinois, this epic winter system now tracking to the north and east as well. kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois, and michigan in its crosshairs. let's get to jennifer delgado. where is the system headed? >> it's not moving fast right now. on top of the midwest.

bringing a lot of snow, zoraida for areas like kansas city and missouri. see where the freeze line is, but heaviest snow certainly to the west for areas like oklahoma and texas. yesterday, we had blizzard warnings, those have all sense been expired and a great from the snow and rain right now, getting a break in st. louis. let's talk more about kansas city as we show you a live view this morning. i know officials when we talk to the mayor, said don't get on the roadways, and that's really good news, because this is potentially going to be a very dangerous situation. what you are looking at is snow covered roadways. interstate 75 at 18th street. last hour we looked at 9th street. you combine the very strong winds as well as the heavy snow, this is going to make for potentially a dangerous and deadly commute. 10 to 12 inches of snowfall. missouri, you will take the brunt of the snowfall. southeastern parts of nebraska, iowa, picking up roughly three

inches of snow. chicago, you will see that changing over to snow, right around 3:00. heavier in the evening, 3 to 6 inches, down in the southeast. totally different story there. we have a tornado watch in place until 9:00 a.m., and a line of storm weakening a bit. nonetheless, we're dealing with the potential for severe weather and the potential for flooding problems. all the way from south carolina over toward louisiana. the heaviest rainfall for today with the slight risk category. damaging wins and isolated tornadoes out there and a lot of delays. flying out of chicago, winds will delay you. winds up to 40 miles per hour. same for philadelphia, d.c., atlanta, charlotte, orlando, new york. shall i go on? >> that's -- you know what? i was traveling, coming back from phoenix yesterday and four-hour delays into and out of chicago. so, folks, pack your patience.

>> at least you had the sunshine. >> i had it for a minute. i had it for a minute. >> john is like, okay. >> thank you, jennifer. 33 minutes past the hour. the manhunt stretching from the vegas strip to the east coast for this guy. ammar harris, wanted in connection with last week's deadly shooting and the horrific crash in las vegas. extending the search to south carolina, georgia, florida. places where harris used to live. he is wanted for shooting kenneth cherry while he drove his maserati down the vegas strip. he hit a taxi that went up in flames. cherry and two people in the taxi died. the coast guard frustrated, but not giving up on a family. a husband, wife and two young children forced out of their sailboat on sunday when it started taking on water 65 miles south of monterey, california.

>> coast guard, coast guard, we are abandoned ship. this is the "charm blow," we are abandoning ship. >> the coast guard and other crews are going to continue looking for today. they don't know where the boat sailed from, where it was headed, or who the family is. happening right now, secretary of state john kerry in berlin. first trip to germany as a nation's new top diplomat. second stop on the nine-day tour. he holds a series of meetings with officials, including chancellor angela merkel. tensions high in the middle east after a fire struck from gaza hit a southern israeli town overnight. the first such attack since a truced ended a week of cross fighting. this after protests of a palestinian man in an israeli

prison. no deaths reported, but it did cause damage. 14 tourists trying to get bird's eye view were killed when their hot air balloon exploded and plummeted 1,000 feet to the ground. state-run nile tv reports that the crash happened in luxor. 19 visitors from hong kong, japan, belgium, the uk and france, two egyptians, one of whom was the pilot. pope benedict xvi's last few days as leader of the catholic church. first pope to step down in some 00 years, while a string of sex abuse scandal surround the vatic vatican. from an archbishop stepping down, distorted accounts in the press about reports of homosexuality and black mail.

how are people reacting to the flood of recent accusations? hours away from the pope resigning? two days really. but hours away from the pope resigning? >> reporter: concern, disappointment, and a certain sense of weariness. some people will tell you that they heard all of this before and nothing ever changes in the roman catholic church. we've been talking to people at cnn international all over the world. it won't stop people from coming here, they are the last general audience on wednesday, and the historic, almost unprecedented resignation of a pope on thursday. we'll see him leave in his helicopter from vatican city, st. peter's square, behind me. but it's a vel difficult, not just for the roman catholic church, but those in the faith around the world. to deal with what's come about the last 48 hours, so the story,

the allegations about the italian clerics and the sex scandal or the allegations. this is what the vatican has said. >> there was already a conviction before this happened among many cardinals, that the next pope had to be more of a governor, take the reins of power more into his own hands and lead a serious reform of the vatican bureaucracy. the next pope has to have clean hands with regard to the abuse crisis. >> that was a cnn analyst speaking there. what the vatican said, this was deplorable, unverifiable and tried to sort of move the story on. they met yesterday, the three cardinals that put the secret dossier together. they announced that secret dossier will not be released and passed on to whoever gets the

papacy. difficult times i think we would describe things in rome, john. >> indeed. separate pockets of controversy bubbling up. thanks to becky anderson in rome this morning. top trends on cnn.com. the mediterranean diet, getting a big thumbs up in a just published study. john loves it. this is what they found. benefits were so clear, spanish researchers say they decided to end the study early, after about five years, saying it would be unethical not to. they followed more than 7,000 people with heart disease risk factors, some followed a low-fat diet, but those who followed a mediterranean diet with extra virgin olive oil, nuts, and even wine at dinner were 30% less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or death associated with cardio vafk collar disease. >> i like the wine, ole oil, but not so much the fish.

>> you have to do it all to lower the risk of heart disease. >> die it with a big mac. my modified mediterranean diet. iran put some clothes on michelle obama. the news agency photo shopped the first lady to cover her shoulders. iran also dismissed the winning film "argo" as an advertisement for the cia. about the secret separation to get americans out of tehran during the hostage crisis. >> iranians not the only ones to think the first lady is overexposed, some republicans do too. you know times are tough when tom brady takes a pay cut. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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academy award winner soledad o'brien back from the oscars with a look of what's ahead. >> i would like to thank the academy. talking about impassable roads, closed airports, a second dangerous winter storm punishing the midwest. so far, two deaths have been reported. we have live team coverage this morning. bringing you the latest on the record snow. and it's been one year since 17-year-old trayvon martin shot and killed by george zimmerman. the case sparked nationwide to tests over race and stand your ground laws. we'll talk with trayvon's parents and we'll also speak with their lawyers about the very latest on where the case stands. nelson mandela's daughter and granddaughter will join us. they have a new line of wine

that's benefit south africa's poverty-stricken community. we'll pop it open. get a little taste early in the morning. >> great idea. talking to celebrity chef and top chef all-stars. >> maybe he will bring a little food for the wine. >> today and every day. >> thank you, soledad. more about the deadly explosion last week at a kansas city restaurant. remember that? turns out the company laying down a fiber optic cable did not have a work permit for that job. an employee ended up drilling into a gas line, and about an hour later that huge blast killed one person and injured at least 15 others. not having that permit could mean up to six months in jail. sacramento place have fired and arrested one of their own. former officer sergio alvarez accused of sexually assaulting at least six women. alvarez was in uniform during

attacks and that some happened in his patrol car. police officials are debating whether to let officers patrol alone late at night. we could see gun control bills moving on capitol hill this week. the senate judiciary committee might start looking at them thursday. one measure would ban military style assault weapons, republicans and some democrats oppose that one. a background checks bill could offer a better chance of passing, john. first lady michelle obama's appearance at the end of the oscar telecast on sunday night caught everyone by surprise, but maybe it shouldn't have. michelle obama seems to be playing an increasingly prominent public role. tom foreman takes a look. >> the oscar goes to -- "argo." >> reporter: the camera whipped around to the winners, but in the white house, it's clear who the real star is these days. the first lady's approval rating

in our cnn/orc poll stood at 73%, more than 20 points higher than the president's, and a slew of high-profile appearances may be widening the gap. the first lady is in the spotlight everywhere. dancing with jimmy fallon, bantering about her bangs with rachel ray. >> this is my midlife crisis. >> reporter: she has lit up twitter with tweets and even took a stroll to "sesame street." >> so many different activities you can do indoors or outside. >> reporter: talking about healthy eating habits with big bird. >> get moving. it's good for you. >> reporter: hardly any of this is new, except when hillary clinton took on health care reform. first ladies are generally liked more than their husbands. michelle obama is about as popular as laura bush. still, the headlines swirling around mrs. obama have ruffled

some conservative critic who's have groused about her trips to europe and her expensive clothing and suggest even now she is trying to distract voters from her husband's political struggled. her awards show appearance has only inflamed such talk and a "washington post" blog says it makes the president and first lady seem small and grasping. it seems down right weird. >> i hope you all got some rest last night. it was a good time. >> reporter: an awful lot of fans are giving her oscar debut two thumbs up. cnn, washington. always be criticism, right. and manti te'o trying to make nfl scouts remember about the whole fake dead girlfriend thing. how did he do, coming up. and the new move in congress to legalize medical marijuana. c, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders.

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manti te'o took the field at the nfl combine in indianapolis yesterday. reviews of his performance were shall we say less than impressive. >> we have more from today's bleacher report with vince se cellini. >> the girlfriend was a hoax, but it turns out te'o smaller and slower than expected at the nfl combine. a combined 40-yard dash time was 20th of 26 linebacker who's ran on monday, generally unimpressive by pro standards. he lost some weight.

6'1". the projection for tako to he about a top pick in the april draft. also at the combine, top five prospect star lotulelei after a heart defect was found. he is planning to participate in pro day in march. talk about taking one for the team. tom brady taking a pay cut to help out the team's salary cap according to "sports illustrated's" peter king. new contract, $27 million for three years. brady will be 40 when it's over. the patriots on the hook to give him $43.6 million over the next two years until they reworked the deal and his new contract will allow new england much more flexibility in building their team in the near future. so a generous move by brady.

and a high school basketball manager with dwarfism finally got his chance on the court. dave baker got to play for his varsity team, but got a chance to start on senior night. he looked comfortable with teammates on the court. the team ran a polar for him where he shot a three-pointer and afterward the crowd stormed the court and lifted him on their shoulders. >> it means a lot. like, since i've managed high school, i would have the thought, what if i could play a little bit, and now it's here, and unreal. >> it was all too real and for all your entertaining sports, into what tom brady's contract means, please go to bleacherreport.com. >> it means that tom brady will be a patriot his whole career, pretty much the best thing ever. thank you for that. >> got it. all right.

54 minutes past the hour. some people in congress want to legalize medical marijuana. a bill that has more than a dozen cosponsors would allow states to make the drug legal and block action in states where it's already allowed. this would make medical marijuana a legal product. "early start" back after the break. [fight bell: ding, ding] how many here are google users? what if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results? prove it. let's look up some taco places. i like the left side. yeah? okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach? what side do you like better? i like the results on the right. i'm gonna go with the one on the left. oh! bing won! people prefer bing over google for the web's top searches. don't believe it? go to bingiton.com and see what you're missing. did you know not all fiber is the same? citrucel is different- it's the only fiber for regularity that won't cause excess gas. it's gentle and clinically proven to help restore and maintain regularity.

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>> we are done. all for "early start." thank you for joining us. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> welcome, everybody. a developing story. bitter winter storm wreaking havoc across much of the country. roofs collapsing, drivers trapped and airports a mess two people are dead as record snow falls on the plains and flood warnings threaten the southeast. the storm turning out to be much worse than expected. live team coverage ahead. and a new shocking investigation, "usa today" says there is a growing bioterror threat from within our own country. talking about diseases like anthrax and the plague. details in leave report. new overnight, a hot air balloon carrying more than a dozen tourists explodes and crashes to the ground in egypt. also happening, one of britain's top catholic