cont birth control controversy. republicans label president obama's new birth control policy an assault on religious fredom and vow to see it repealed. delayed response. the 8-minute gap from the first 91 call until police were dispatched to the home of josh powell. >> have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first. and wild weather. in this country, a winter that feels more like spring as europe suffers through a deadly deep feels more like spring as europe suffers through a deadly deep freeze. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, february 9, 2012. good morning everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. we begin with the growing public

and political outcry over the obama administration's new policy on birth control. congressional republicans say they will overturn the new rule. the white house, though, appears to be willing to compromise. the new rule requires employers who provide health insurance to cover birth control, including religious affiliated charities, universities and hospitals. now churches and houses of worship are exempt. the speaker of the house says if the white house won't change, congress will act. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. >> some catholic democrats oppose the new rule as well. on the campaign trail, republican presidential hopefuls have been bashing the new contraception rule. meanwhile, the resurgent campaign of rick santorum is cashing in on his recent success as he plans his next move. susan mcginnis is in washington with all of this. good morning, susan. >> hi, good morning, betty. the money has been flowing in

since rick santorum's big win this week. mitt romney responded by going on the attack. >> at a church in texas, local area pastors put their faith in rick santorum. the former pennsylvania senator is trying to build his conservative base after winning four of the first eight nominating contests. >> you need to have someone who will go out and paint that vision of what america looks like versus barack obama. >> he's filling out paperwork for future primaries and he's planning a fundraising blitz in california this weekend. since tuesday, his campaign has already raised more than a million dollars. >> newt gingrich and rick santorum, they spent -- they spent a lot of time in washington and during their years, we spent more money than we were taking in. >> front-runner mitt romney launched fresh attacks on wednesday remaining confident the gop nomination will eventually be his. >> we think we can beat senator santorum competing head to head. >> romney is under attack for calling president obama's new

policy on contraception an assault on religion. it requires faith-based groups to pay for birth control plans. >> this is, i think, ironic that that -- that mitt romney is expressing, criticizing the president for pursuing a policy that's virtually identical to the one that was in place when he was governor of massachusetts. >> mr. carney needs to check his history. that is that that provision was put in massachusetts before i was governor. >> but it's not just romney on the attack. >> now we have a president going after the church. >> other gop contenders are using the policy to make on president obama. and all four gop candidates will meet here in washington tomorrow for cpac, the conservative political action conference. they will make their cases to party activists about why they should be the nominee. betty in. >> susan mcginnis in washington for us. live this morning. thank you, susan. a growing demographic group that

could play a critical role in the presidential election is latino voters. a national group of latino office holders estimates 12.2 million latinos will vote this november. 9.7 million voted in 2008. one reason? it's estimated that 50,000 latinos turn 18 every month. the state of washington is on the verge of becoming the seventh state in the nation to legalize same sex marriage. the washington statehouse voted to legalize same sex marriage yesterday in the state senate approved the bill last week. governor chris gregoire is expected to sign the bill next week. but opponents say they will challenge the bill in court. now to the efforts to stem the deteriorating situation in syria. there was more violence in the city of homs. syrian forces killed another 29 people. the head of the arab league wants to send observers back in

to syria. u.n. chief ban ki-moon would consider a joint arab league united nations observer mission but added thyme time for a diplomatic solution is running out. >> we stand ready to assist in any way that will contribute towards improvement on the ground and to the overall situation. >> the u.n. says more than 5400 people have been killed during the 11-month uprising against the assad government. on the cbs money watch, mortgage lenders and the government are getting close on a multibillion dollar settlement and apple is about to get an earful from protesters. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. >> good morning, betty. while that landmark settlement is getting closer to final approval, new york and california are reportedly ready to sign off on the agreement. the lenders will pay an estimated $37 billion to avoid being sued for abuse of foreclosure practices.

part of the money will be used to reduce loans for about one million homeowners. checking overseas markets in asia. tokyo's nikkei shed a fraction after a drop in machinery orders and the hang seng also finished slightly lower. trading on wall street was mostly flat on wednesday. the dow added five points while the nasdaq gained 11. another setback for greece as political leaders failed to agree on a new austerity program. the talks hit a sticking point on whether to cut about $400 million in pensions. if no deal is reached, greece will not reach a $171 billion bailout and will likely fall into bankruptcy. the house of representatives is expected to pass the stock act today. the legislation prevents members of congress or their staffs from using inside information to make stock deals. the bill picked up steam after a report by steve croft on "60 minutes." the senate over o whemingly passed the bill last week. and there may be extra

crowds at the apple store this morning, but they won't be there to buy the latest gadget. activists will be dropping off petitions at apple stores in four countries asking the company to improve working conditions at factories that make apple products. third party suppliers, including fox con in china, have been criticized for worker suicides and safety procedures. about a quarter million people have signed the petition. betty, if that's on your list of errands to do today, you might want to avoid apple stores. >> that's going to be a long line out there. all right, ashley morrison here in new york. thank you. coming oup n the morning news, an attempted child kidnapping at walmart caught on tape. plus, disturbing revelations in the case of that fire that killed josh powell and his sons. was too much time wasted before police were dispatched? first, though, scott pelley has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." confessions of murder made by former members of a militant group. we will tell you about the

battle to release the tapes and the american college that is caught up in the middle of the controversy. that's tonight on the "cbs evening news." [ male announcer ] this is lois.

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sunday after powell would not let her inside his home to supervise a visit with his sons. but phone logs show nearly eight minutes passed before sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the home. >> i'm on a supervised visitation for a court-ordered visit and something really weird has happened. >> elizabeth griffin hall tells the 911 operator that seven-year-old charlie and five-year-old braden were one step ahead of her when powell slammed the door on her. >> how long will it be in. >> i don't know, ma'am. they have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first. >> this could be life-threatening. he went to court on wednesday and he didn't get his kids back. and this is really -- i'm afraid for their lives. >> inside, police say josh brutally attacked his boys, then used gasoline to blow up the house. >> he exploded the house. >> ma'am. >> he blew up the house and the kids. >> the kids an the father were in the house? >> yes, yeah he slammed the door

in my face. i kept knocking. i thought it was a miss tab. i kept knocking and then i called 9-1-1. >> authorities are admitting that emergency responders could have acted quicker. the call was dispatched as routine instead of emergency. a retired washington state police chief says the call taker had enough information to understand that this was an emergency. >> towards the end when she actually says he was just in court, he had his children taken away from him or didn't get the children back and he's acting in this bizarre manner, that should key that this is an urgent situation. >> that decision cost at least ten minutes. officials say they would not have arrived in time to save the children. meanwhile the social worker's husband said she watched in horror as the house burned with powell and his two sons inside. >> she said several times over and over again, they trusted me, they trusted me. >> the 911 recordings reveal it

took the operator more than three minutes to understand that the children were in the home for a supervised visit. funeral services will be held for their boys and their mother. it is likely that she too is dead. newly disclosed testimony about the deadly stage collapse in indiana criticizes the show's headliners, the country duo, sugar land. violent wind blew down the stage at the indiana state fair killing seven people and injuring 58. the staging company was fined $63,000 for violating industry standards. now, in response, the company released deposition testimony saying sugar land refused to delay the show when bad weather approached. the group has not been charged. a 25-year-old man is jailed in georgia this morning charged in an attempted child abduction that was caught on video. it happened wednesday in the toy department at a walmart store. you can see he it here. a man grabbed a seven-year-old

girl. brittany baxter. but she screamed and kicked and fought until he put her down and then she ran away. the little girl was unharmed. the suspect, thomas woods, was on parole after serving four and a half years for manslaughter. straight ahead, your thursday morning weather. in sports, will ferrell takes the mic at the nba game and didn't shoot. but he scored with the crowd. >> from mexico, he doesn't speak a lick of english, but we still love him. - it's the moment when forever begins.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, sunny, 46 degrees. miami, cloudy, 79. chicago, partly sunny, 37. dallas, 58. los angeles, a sunny 78 degrees. time now for a check of the national forecast. showers in washington and oregon. in northern arizona and new mexico. showers and a few thunderstorms continue in south florida. it will turn colder in the dakotas and minnesota as snow showers move into michigan's upper peninsula. now to sports. a pair of thrillers in college basketball. second ranked syracuse hosted number 12 georgetown. they were tied at the end of regulation. but in overtime, a three-pointer by chris joseph gave syracuse a 64-61 lead. the orange held on for the win. it was victory number 880 for syracuse head coach jim boeheim pushing him to third on the

all-time wins list. congratulations. then, how about tenth ranked duke at number five north carolina. in his first game against the arch-rival tar heels, freshman austin rivers scored 29 points with six three-pointers. including the game-winning buzzer beater. down by ten with 2.5 minutes to go, the blue devils won it, 85-84. what a night. now to the nba and will ferrell. introducing the players as new orleans hosted chicago. >> and now crescent city get on your feet and greet your new orleans hornets! >> at center, 6'10" from connecticut, where he majored in econ but he minored in love, emeka okafor. >> some inside information if you will. but the big intro didn't help the hornets in the game,

turnovers like ronnie brewer's steal and derrick rose's fast break layup gave the bulls an easy win. here is the week's best basketball shot after all that. a high school girls game in fort wayne, indiana. the woodland warriors, lauren eely nailed it for the win from half court. here's another look. it is right there. beating the buzzer. man, that's quite a shot. finally, this is just trying and tiring to watch. the annual run up 1,576 steps to the top of the empire state building. melissa moon of new zealand won the women's division in 12:39. germany's thomas dold was first for the men in 10:28. after all those steps, i bet they're taking elevators for the next few days. extreme weather, why we're enjoying mild weather in the u.s. while europe plunges in frigid depths. we can start losing muscle --

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officer involved shooting. how a suspect rammed into a berkeley cop and all the evidence that has to be sord out. plus, help for homeowners in california. late word the attorney general will make a major announcement today. and women at war. how they e in the military could soon change. join us for cbs 5 early edin ... beginning at 4:30. "did they shoot him? they d? oh my god" a suspect and a cop injured

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., clouds and sun. 46 degrees. atlanta shall partly sunny, though, 56 there. partly sunny in detroit, 39. denver, 38. seattle, cloudy, 53. while europe remains in a deadly deep freeze, it's been unusually warm in most parts of the u.s. chip reid explains why. >> on the national mall, they've been playing frisbee in t-shirts and shorts and the cherry blossoms and daffodils blooming weeks ahead of schedule. >> are you surprised to see them blooming this time of year? >> i am. she's executive director of the u.s. botanic garden. they get confused. you can see them start to grow and expand and then ooh, they go on hold when it gets cold again. last month was the fourth warmest january on record.

golf courses are open in kalamazoo, michigan, where the average temperature should be 36 degrees in february. mike halpert with the national weather service says the mild winter is caused by something called the arctic oscillation, which moves the high-speed wind known as the jet stream, north and south. >> the jet stream can be thought of as a dividing line between colder air to the north and warmer air to the south. as long as the jet stream remains north of its normal position, much of the u.s. will remain with milder than average temperatures. >> in europe, a jet stream has dipped far to the south allowing frigid arctic air to pour across the continent subjecting europe decades. more than 400 people have died. in hungary they're burning bricks of shredded money to stay warm. homes in poland are frozen solidment europe could get relief soon while in the u.s. more warm temperatures are likely over the next couple of weeks. he says don't put away the skis just yet, especially on the east

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today the pentagon will make a recommendation to congress that will change the role of women in the military. the new policy will allow women to serve in more jobs closer to the frontlines of battle. women will still be banned from combat, though. but as david martin reports, many have already speeexperienc the grim reality of war. >> lieutenant dawn half acre was barred from serving alongside men in ground combat when she went to iraq as commander of a military police platoon. that didn't keep her out of the fighting. >> i was on the frontlines every day for five months. >> you were busting down doors? >> literally, yes, we were literally busting down doors. >> you were doing all the of the

combat operations of an infantry man is it sounds like. >> we were working side by side with the infantry. we used a lot of the same weapons, did a lot of the same missions. >> her platoon, which had three other women ran over 100 combat missions. >> i had 33 peoples' lives in my hands. i never doubted sending a female on a mission or giving them a certain set of responsibilities. >> that included loaning her best machine gunner to a special operations unit. >> every time they would request a specific gunner and it was always a female to man the 50 cal. >> that gunner was specialist victoria rivers. >> it was kind of euphoric working side by side with some special forces team, and it was pretty cool. >> she was just top notch, great soldier and it was just funny to

see this tiny little female up there manning the 50 cal and just fitting in with the special ops guys. >> that mission went off without a hitch. but later, both rivers and half acre were on a regular patrol when half acre's humvee was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. >> it was thick smoke billowing from under the truck and doors of the humvee. >> i was on the wrong end of an rpg and had quite a tangle with it. it came through my shoulder. >> half acre lost her entire right arm both women are out o of the army now. half acre is running her own company in virginia. rivers is studying to become a nurse in oklahoma. until now, she's never talked about her combat experience to anyone outside her immediate family. >> why did you decide to talk about it this time?

>> because i think people need to realize that it's not just the men getting hurt. it's the women too. >> nobody told the enemy american women are barred from serving in combat. david martin, cbs news, broken arrow, oklahoma. indeed. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," senator john mccain weighs in on the race for the gop nomination. that's the "cbs morning news." i'm betty nguyen. that's the "cbs morning news." i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

a police shooting. the unanswered questions... about the investigation. help for homeowners. the st. a suspect and cop injured after a police shooting. unanswered questions about