on the stump. president obama hits the west coast for a fund-raising swing, as a new cbs polls ranks some gop hopefuls. bomb plot. police search for suspects after finding a powerful explosive near a colorado high school, in a chilling echo of the columbine massacre. and the dodger blues. major league baseball takes over the storied franchise, caught up major league baseball takes over the storied franchise, caught up in a bitter divorce battle. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody. and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. in case anyone doubted the 2012 campaign is under way, president obama is stating his case, and bashing the republicans in no uncertain terms.

the president is in the middle of a three-day west coast swing that began with a face-off on facebook, and continues today with appearances in san francisco, and reno. susan mcginnis joins us now from washington. good morning, susan. what is the latest on this trip out west? >> hi, good morning, betty. making an early fund-raising push for his campaign, hoping that social media like facebook will again play a big role, and at the same time

mode, argue that raising taxes on anyone during these tough economic times isn't the answer. and the president wraps up this trip later today with more fund-raising in l.a. betty? >> all right, susan mcginnis in washington for us. thank you, susan. so, which of the republican contenders is likely to face mr. obama in next year's election? a new cbs news/"new york times" poll out this morning shows that right now, most republicans favor, nobody. yep. republican voters were asked if they feel enthusiastic about any potential candidate. more than half said no one. mitt romney got the most support with 9%. followed by mike huckabee, donald trump, newt gingrich, and sarah palin with 4%. two air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job are out of work this morning. they were fired by the faa as part of an aggressive new campaign to resolve safety concerns. one worked in miami and was found sleeping early saturday morning. the other was in knoxville,

tennessee. that controller was discovered asleep in mid february. the faa also says from now on, air traffic control supervisors will monitor planes carrying the first lady or the vice president, as they already do for the president. michelle obama's 737 had to abort a landing attempt monday night when a controller let it get too close to a military cargo jet. a jetliner bound for london returned to the orlando international airport last night, after hitting a bird during takeoff. the thompson airways boeing 767 landed safely with 269 people on board. now, no one was hurt. but passengers were startled when the large bird smashed into the plane's left engines. . >> the plane was just on the runway, and as it started to go up, there was a loud bang, and there was a horrible smell, fuel smell. we knew something was wrong. >> the bird's remains were recovered for identification. the passengers and crew spent

the night at a hotel, and will take a different plane to london today. and there was another bird incident yesterday, this one involving a continental airlines jet flying from houston to las vegas. continental says the 737 carrying 158 passengers returned to the houston airport. but inspections show the plane suffered no damage. police in colorado are looking for a person of interest, after the discovery of a pipe bomb and propane tanks on the 12th anniversary of the columbine high school shooting. the fbi released surveillance camera photographs of the man they're looking for. now, he is described as having gray hair with a silver mustache. the suspicious devices were found wednesday afternoon following a fire at a mall in littleton, colorado. it's near columbine high school, where two students opened fire and killed 12 students, and one teacher in 1999. up to 10,000 people were evacuated from the mall. >> we were going to walk out these doors right here, and they

told us to get to that exit because the exit was right where the fire was. so we opened the door and there was smoke, and then there was two security guys, cops or whatever, you guys have to get out of here. >> the fire caused only minor damage, and no injuries were reported. charges have been filed in a bullying case that gained national attention. last year an 18-year-old tyler clementi killed himself after his intimate encounter with another man was broadcast online. well, now, his former college roommate has been indicted on more than a dozen criminal charges. elaine quijano has the story. >> reporter: tilen clementi was a talented violinist, just starting his freshman year at rutgers university when he committed suicide last fall. now, his room nature, 19-year-old today roone ravi, a former rutgers university student, faces a host of charges, including bias intimidation, a hate crime, and invasion of privacy for secretly

using a web cam to stream on the internet clementi's sexual encounter with a man. ravi tweeted, i saw him making out with a dude, yay. and later, yes, it's happening again. clementi jumped off a bridge into the hudson river three days later. >> his grotesque bullying of tyler clementi led to tyler's committing suicide. this indictment was sweeping, and it was the right thing to seek. >> reporter: the indictment also alleges ravi tried to cover up his actions. charging him with witness and evidence tampering. prosecutors allege he deleted a twitter post, and replaced it with a false one to mislead investigators. in a statement, clementi's parents said, the grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son tyler. if ravi is convicted on the most serious bias charge, he could face five to ten years in prison. elaine quijano, cbs news, new brunswick, new jersey. now to libya where an attack

by gadhafi forces killed two western journalists including an oscar nominated filmmaker. british torn tim hetherington codirected the documentary about american soldiers at an outpost in afghanistan. he and new york-based photographer chris hondros died yesterday in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the libyan city of misrata. meanwhile, secretary of state hillary clinton has announced that the u.s. will begin shipping what is described as nonlethal aid to libyan rebels. japan declared a 12-mile no-go zone this morning around the fukushima nuclear plant, leaking radiation. residents who evacuated the area last month will be allowed limited return visits to their homes. and there will be no visits within the two-mile area closest to the plant. meanwhile, at the crippled plant, new video of robots inside the reactor buildings taking radiation readings. it's expected to take at least six months to safely shut down that plant. just ahead on the "morning

news," firefighters in texas get a break from the weather. plus, dodgers drama. major league baseball seizes control of the l.a. dodgers, amid a divorce battle. first, though, katie couric has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." it can often be one of the most difficult and costly areas of medicine, the end of life. but now a new approach attempts to make things easier for doctors, patients, and their families. what is it? vening news." closest to the edge. took some crazy risks as a kid. but i was still over the edge with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol...stop. 80% of people who have had heart attacks have high cholesterol. lipitor is a cholesterol lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease

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in texas, rain is helping firefighters get a handle on wildfires that have plagued the state for more than a week now. more than 30 fires, big and small, are burning all across the lone star state. two firefighters have died battling the flames. the fires have blackened more than 1 million acres. one large blaze left of fort worth has destroyed at least 160 homes. hundreds have evacuated, but some plan to flee at the last

minute. >> well, we can get out in the car across the road. being as we put the boat in the water and get out in the middle of the lake. and "c," last resort would be put on our life jackets and get in the lake. >> of course the main hope is that rain will help end the fire threat. >> on the "cbs moneywatch," stocks in asia continuing a winning streak. ines ferre is here in new york with the latest on that. good morning. >> good morning to you, betty. asian markets got a boost today. japan's nikkei gained nearly 1%. hong kong's hang seng was also higher. and oil jumped above $112 a barrel. today wall street gets the leading economic indicates and a look at the weekly job also claims. wednesday's strong earnings from the tech sector gave stocks a major lift. the dow shot up 186 points to close at its highest level in three years since before the financial crisis. the nasdaq jumped 57. after the closing bell, apple

reported its profits nearly doubled last quarter, as sales surged 85%, blowing past even most optimistic expectations. the tech giant's biggest problem now is making enough ipads. the company says it sold every one they could make, almost 20 million till now, along with 19 million iphones. a company spokesman would not comment on rumors the next iphone is due in september. and amazon says its kindle ereader will get the ability to load ebooks from 11,000 public libraries later this year. amazon is working with a company that runs the ebook systems of public libraries to make the system compatible with the kindle. first-time buyers are still staying out of the housing market, while sales of existing homes ticked up 4% last month. first-time home buyers accounted for just 33% of the market. bargain hunters made up most of the buyers in march. the national association of realtors says 40% of all sales

were cash deals to buy homes that were in or near foreclosure. and if your home is your castle, you could be sitting pretty on a top notch throne. behold the numi. the new luxury toilet from koehler is like no other, with piano music, warmers and tons of other amenities. it costs almost $6,400, plus installation. but koehler promises the quote, ultimate flushing experience. it will be available sometime this fall, betty. i can't imagine what those other amenities must be. >> $6,400? you better have, i don't know, concierge service with that. that's crazy. all right, ines ferre here in new york. thank you for that. >> you're welcome. major league baseball has taken over the los angeles dodgers. the team is financially paralyzed by the divorce of its owners frank and jamie mccord. baseball's commissioner said wednesday he will appoint an executive to run the club.

dodger fans are not too happy. >> too bad that the couple couldn't settle it, and not affect the team and the organization like this. >> some people lose and some people win and right now it looks like the losers are going to be the dodger fans. >> i just want to see a game. i don't really care about any of that stuff. so. >> the dodgers have only won nine games this season and attendance is down 11%. straight ahead, your thursday morning weather, and in sports, an all-star returns for the spurs in game two of their nba playoff series. ayoff series. achoo! the seasons change, but we still may suffer from nasal allergy symptoms. they can hit you year round... indoors or out. achoo! oh to have relief. prescription nasonex is clinically proven to help relieve nasal allergy symptoms... including congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. [ female announcer ] side effects may include headache, viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds, and coughing. infections of the nose and throat and eye problems,

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join us at poochprotest.com. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country, new york, sunny, 60 degrees. miami, sunny, 87. chicago partly cloudy, 50. class, mostly cloudy, 86. los angeles, partly cloudy, 65. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows mostly clear skies over the southwest, great lakes area. and the northwest is seeing scattered showers. but later today, sunshine returns to the northeast, along with gusty winds. the northern plains will get a taste of some winter weather with a mix of snow and rain. and the latest round of strong thunderstorms hits the plains and southeast. in sports, san antonio evened up it's nba playoff series with memphis. manu ginobili of the spurs

scored 17 points in his first game back following an elbow sprain. san antonio beat the grizzlies 93-87. the series is now tied 1-1. kobe bryant of the lakers only had 11 points in an off night against the hornets. but los angeles defeated new orleans 87-78. the series is tied at one game apiece. and kevin durant of oklahoma city scored 23 points against denver. the thunder led all the way for a 106-89 victory. oklahoma city leads the series 2-0. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and spy fine? iphone users beware, your device may be tracking your every move. may be tracking your every move. of your cigarettes can be hard. but the nicoderm cq patch gradually steps you down off of nicotine in just three steps, doubling your chances for success. nicoderm cq. 3 steps, 10 weeks and you're free. let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk.

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and what apple, secertly knows about its iphone owners. join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,, on the "cbs morning news" here's a look at today's weather. a new found of strong thunderstorms is expected for the southern to central plains and the gulf coast region. heat continues in the desert southwest, with temperatures in

the 90s, and the northern plains will see a wintry mix. here's another look at this morning's top stories. president obama is in the midst of a three-day campaign swing on the west coast. he appeared in a facebook feed wednesday, and will speak today in san francisco, reno, and nevada. and in colorado, police are hunting for a man who may have planted a powerful bomb not far from columbine high school. they suspect a possible link with the 12th anniversary of the columbine massacre. well, most everyone knows that apple's iphone and ipad are among the hottest of the hot new electronic gadgets. but, what you may not know is that those mobile devices could be tracking your every move. kendis gibson has more. >> reporter: it's alarming news to the millions of users of apple iphones and ipads. your mobile device may be spying on your whereabouts. >> i think it's invasive. it's very invasive. especially since we didn't know

about it as the user. you should know and have a choice. have a choice to opt out of that kind of thing. >> reporter: british researchers found iphones that have apple's latest software and ipads with 3g tracked everywhere a user goes. they found the devices stored the longitude and latitude, along with a time stamp. and that information gets duplicated on a computer every time it's synchronized. >> very intrucive. i don't want everyone to know -- anybody to know where i'm going all the time. so, no, especially a boyfriend. eke. >> reporter: cell phone companies have always been able to track users' movements and locations. but having that information unencrypted and visible makes it available to anyone who has access to your phone. >> i'd be concerned, not worried. remember this stuff is on your iphone, your ipad and syncs to your computer. it's not out in the wild on the internet. yet. >> reporter: apple has not commented on the researchers' finding, and hasn't revealed if the function can be disabled. until then, privacy experts warn

users to keep track of who has access to your iphone, ipad, and computers. kendis gibson, cbs news, los angeles. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." with the rising price of fuel, guess which way shipping costs are going? the u.s postal service has no fuel surcharges. combine that with low online pricing... and your shipping costs... ..could head in a whole new direction. it's time to rethink your shipping. [ male announcer ] i know what you're thinking -- leather trim command center, almost 300 horsepower, infinity surround sound, seating for seven. wait. this is a minivan? makes you almost want to have kids. [ child screams ] almost. the new 2011 dodge grand caravan.

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oh, a big mess on a rain-slicked highway, this in arlington, texas. 56 vehicles piled up in a series of chain reaction accidents during a tuesday downpour. a lot of mashed up cars and trucks. but only about a dozen minor injuries were reported. a new study found that watching a lot of tv can take a toll on the heart, directly through the eyes. the report shows that kids who spend more time sitting to watch tv and less time playing have smaller blood vessels in their eyes, and that may be a sign of restricted blood flow. kids who are active for more than an hour a day have significantly wider blood vessels in the eyes. >> watching television, it's not necessarily bad for your eyes,

but it's taking time away that you should be exercising, and getting your blood flowing. >> restricted blood flow could eventually lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. finally, young fans of the hit "twilight" movies will have something new to feast their eyes on tomorrow. that's when the film "water for elephants" opens starring "twilight" heartthrob robert pattinson. he plays a veterinary student who falls for reese witherspoon. alexis christoforous reports. >> reporter: reese witherspoon and robert pattinson discover life under the big top in "water for elephants." witherspoon took the role after reading the best-selling novel. >> i thought the character was a really strong woman, in the depression, and during the depression america with no education, no opportunities, and you know she found herself in a relationship with no way out. >> you're a beautiful woman. you deserve a beautiful life. >> reporter: known for playing a vampire in "twilight" pattinson made the leap to the circus because he's fascinated with the depression era. >> i think that period in

american history has always been one of my -- i always find it incredibly interesting. >> reporter: witherspoon plays the married star performer in the circus. >> darling, i'm not getting up on that. >> reporter: pattinson plays a veterinary student. both care about an elephant, and that common bond leads to romance. they joked about what it was like on the set. >> horrible. >> don't say that. we went quick. make it up. make something up, quick. >> no, i had a really great time with her. it makes it very, very easy. >> reporter: both actors deal with the media circus around celebrities and prefer the one under the tent. >> the real circus, i think, is hopefully a lot more impressive. otherwise, i don't know, otherwise it would be quite depressing. >> welcome to the most spectacular show on earth. >> reporter: their trip to the circus results in a love triangle that steams up the big screen. alexis christoforous, cbs news. >> interesting. well coming up a little bit later on "the early show," presidential politics. more on a newly released cbs

news poll, looking at the leading republican contenders. also, we will hear from up and coming golf star cheyenne woods whose uncle, you guessed it, is tiger woods. and actress emily van camp stops by the studio with her new tv movie "beyond the blackboard." that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching everyone, i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. everyone, i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. ñ ,,,,,,