we're losing our father. he's give to give us his last testament, what he wishes for the future. at the same moment it's great act of love. it ooh going to be a shining moment in the pope's papacy where he says we need younger men, more energetic, to lead us in the future. so there is sadness and excitement anne-marie. >> he retires tomorrow. i understand today in st. peters square he'll be speaking for quite a while. what will occur over the next 24 hours? what will he be doing? >> reporter: tomorrow morning, late tomorrow morning he wants to meet every cardinal personally. that's significant because they will be looking for his successor. the helicopter goes away from vatican city and goes to the paypal residence, castel gandolfo and there the holy father will begin a new phase in

life. amazingly, he'll wake up and say thanks be to god and i think the voice will say to him well done good and faithful servant. >> we learn that he'll be called the emeritus pope. what will the church be doing to make sure he's not the second pope or there's a feeling that there are two popes. >> reporter: well, the church is bringing closer to this pontificate. this event here this morning is part of that closure, and the pope himself has indicated that he is going to retire. he wants to spend his life in prayer and medication. he's a humble generous man. he's giving up self-interest for a greater mission. so i'm sure we're not going to have two popes on the same stage. >> what are the odds that you think he may have any influence over the new pope or perhaps offer advice to the new pope? >> reporter: i think that is possible. obviously the holy father has not died so we cannot speak of his legacy.

certainly his teachings, his charisma will mark it. he himself said there are pressing changes, rapidly changing times. we need a new man. he does not want to be part of the next pontificate. >> monsignor anthony figueiredo thank you very much for joining us this morning. >> reporter: thank you. well, in this country there appears to be little hope that those dramatic spending cuts due to kick in friday can be averted. the president rejected a republican proposal that would give him more leeway in allocating the cuts, and republicans accuse the administration of trying to scare the american people. cbs news anchor scott pelley talked to house speaker john boehner yesterday. you know this place better than anyone. it can't be done before friday. this is going to happen, isn't it? >> the house has done its work.

it's time for the president and democrats to do their work. they've known for 16 months that this date was coming. that's why the house acted twice last year. but yet senate democrats and the president have never passed anything. it's time for them to do their work. >> boehner told pelley it certainly looks like the budget cuts will take effect on friday. susan mcginnis is in washington well more. susan, good morning. >> anne-marie good morning. some of the cuts have already taken place. immigration officials say they're starting to release hundreds and hundreds of illegal aliens from detention from around the country saying they're not going to be able to pay for them. critics on capitol hill say this is a political move and a scare tactic. the government is releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention centers across the country. officials say they had no choice because of the across-the-board budget cuts which kick in friday. >> i'm supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. how do i pay for those? >> reporter: in arizona the sheriff says congress is dumping its problems on him. >> the mass budget pardon.

you never heard of such a thing. they're being pardoned because of the budge. it's insanity. >> reporter: house speaker boehner says the obama administration is trying to scare americans. >> i can't believe they can't find the kind of savings they need out of that department short of letting criminals go free. >> but speaker boehner says he won't put forward any legislation to avoid the cuts. he said the house already passed two bills to do that and now it's up to the senate. >> we're doing our best here to pass something. >> senate majority leader harry reid says he knows why the house isn't working on new legislation. >> the reason he's not bringing up something over there is because he can't pass it. he can't get his caucus to agree on anything. >> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says congress needs to do something. he said budget cuts should come over the next decade, but not now when they're likely to hurt the economic recovery. >> it doesn't quite match to be doing tough policies today when

the real problem's a somewhat longer-term problem. >> bernanke will testify before the house financial services committee today. they're being released and their cases will go forward. anne-marie? >> susan mcginnis in washington. thank you. former republican senator chuck hagel is expected to be sworn in as the next secretary of defense today. only four republicans voted for hagel. and for the first time, the obama administration is reportedly considering providing direct assistance to elements of the syrian opposition. secretary of state john kerry is in france today. a decision on this shift in u.s. policy is expected tomorrow when kerry attends a conference on syria in rome. kerry has been consulting with european leaders. u.s. officials say the administration is considering

sending tens of millions of dollars in nonlethal assistance to the rebels fighting the assad regime. the latest blast of winter weather making its way toward the great lakes. the latest storm dumped essentially inches of snow across the plains. it's being blamed for at least three deaths and has knocked out power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses. teresa garcia reports. >> reporter: a major winter storm is dumping a layer of heavy wet snow on parts of the country still struggling from the last round. plows tried to keep up in kansas city. at one point conditions were so treacherous the plows got stuck. but stranded drivers got a helping hands from those with a little more pull. >> four-wheel drive and a heavy rope can get anyone out. >> reporter: heavy snow downed trees, damaged cars and power lines, leaving some residents in the cold overnight.

this family is wearing winter coats indoors. >> it's just so cold in here, it really is. >> reporter: weight from the fresh snow was too much for some structures. it caused several roofs to collapse in missouri and another at this horse arena in kansas. no one was injured. chicago got a slushy mix earlier tuesday but added more snow as the hours passed. hundreds of flights are canceled leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. the heavy snowfall will help with the drought in the great plains but two inches of snow only adds up to two inches of rain. the national drought mitigation center says some areas still need as many as 16 inches of rain to fully recover. for those coping with the snow, the big thaw can't come soon enough. teresa garcia, cbs news. well some severe weather struck florida's west coast as well. a waterspout threatened downtown tampa tuesday afternoon. the national weather service said it came ashore as a weak tornado. the strong winds knocked down

signs and power poles. no injuries were reported. well, coming up on the "morning news," a disaster caught on tape. an explosion on a sight-seeing hot air balloon over egypt sent it plummeting to the ground. this is the "cbs morning news." in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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(announcer) fancy feast delights with cheddar. a meal that is sure to delight your cheese lover. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. the final terrifying moments of a burning hot air balloon in egypt was caught on video by a person in another balloon. it plummeted about a thousand feet killing 19 people. the pilot and a british tourist were the sole survivors. according to investigators, the balloon was in the process of landing when a fire broke out, causing the gas canister to explode. officials say the pilot may have jumped rather than trying to put out the fire. this is believed to be the deadliest ballooning incident in recent history.

a happy note for the music industry. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. asian stocks mostly rallied on economic data. hong kong's hang seng added a quarter percent while tokyo's nikkei bucked the trend, dropping more than 1%. a big rally on wall street after dropping more than 200 points on monday. the dow soared 115 points on tuesday. the nasdaq rose 13 points. after a short break, gas prices are on the rise again. aaa says the average cost for a gallon of regular nationwide is now 3.78. that's a 43-cent increase in the last month. california pays the most at $4.24 a gallon. motorists in wyoming pay only $3.26. new jersey has just become the third state in the u.s. to legalize internet gambling. the bill signed yesterday allows gamblers to play any game currently offered by atlantic city's 12 casinos.

new jersey will collect 15% of the online winnings, but save your chips. it could be a year before the betting can begin. well some sweet sounds for the music industry. sales are up for the first time in 13 years. according to the federation for the phonographic industry overall music sales rose half a percent from 2011 to 12. digital sales increased almost 12% last year and music subscription services went up almost 44%. and beer lovers want to know where's the buzz. they filed a lawsuit against anheuser-busch. they say the beer maker waters down its brew. brands like budweiser have 5% but they claim the water cuts the content up to 8%. anheuser-busch calls the news groundless.

i'm sorry to leave you on that buzz kill there. >> they must have been sorry when they saw the first draft of the lawsuit. ba da bum. still coming up, alarming news, medical trend. a look at how more younger women are being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. d i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! [ laughing ] ahh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. look! over time, a competing gel can leave cloudy hard water deposits but cascade complete pacs help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. love it or your money back. maybe today you'll run some errands maybe another headache will get in the way. if you have migraines with 15 or more headache days a month, you're living a maybe life. and you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. th hotwi's low pces,we can aord to

te anxtra trithis yea fit boston. then sanrancisco hoire chec the mpetitio' rates evy day sohey can arantee thr low pres. so our hels werealf pric ♪-o-t-w-i-e... ♪ ♪ hotre.com bonjour! is that a fruit or a vegetable, do you think? i don't know. i can ask. c'est un fruit ou un legume? it's a fish. here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york, expect rain this morning, a high of 52. thunderstorms in miami 80.

chicago will get snow. dallas sunny and los angeles sunny. los angeles, 75 the high. pope benedict has arrived at st. peters's square for his last public audience. this is a live picture where tens of thousands have gathered to see phone benedict on his last full day as lead over the catholic church. benedict is expected to speak for over an hour possibly laying out his vision for the future of the church. in medical news now, a new study finds a worrisome trend. an incidence of deadly breast cancer among women has appeared. these cancers tend to be more aggressive. >> reporter: more women are being diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age. >> it's scary. definitely very scary but something to be aware of. >> reporter: a new study in the american journal of medicine finds a small but significant increase in advance breast cancer among women in their 20s

and 30s. researchers have found it's gone up each year since 1976. >> ideally you want to see it go down, not up. >> reporter: young women with breast cancer tend to have more aggressive forms of the disease than older women and have lower survival rates. 230,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the u.s. every year. 11,000 are under 40. there are no routine screening practices recommended for that age group. experts say younger women don't usually know something is wrong until they can actually feel a lump, a sign that the tumor is advanced. >> women really have to pay attention to what's going on on their physical exams. if they happen to feel a mass, they should not ignore it. they should bring it to a doctor's attention. >> reporter: elena is 27 but she already gets mammograms because of her family history. >> that's scary. i mean you don't think about it coming into younger people like that. you think of it as an older kind of disease. >> reporter: researchers say

more studies need to be done to figure out why the numbers are going up. marlie hall for cbs news, new york. when we return, basketball brawl. the warriors and the pacers turn the court into a ring in last night's nba action. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. i have never encountered such a burning sensation... until i had the shingles. it was like a red rash. like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i had no idea it came from chickenpox. it's something you never want to encounter.

for more of the inside story visit shinglesinfo.com main break has flooded several city streets. what it's going to take for crews it clean up this watery mess. plus: developing news from santa cruz. two officers shot and killed. what we're just learning about the suspected gunman. and an historic event. pope benedict prepares to step down. his final message to followers from vatican city. join us for kpix 5 news this morning... beginning at 4:30. good morning. it's wednesday,

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., some sun, 58 the high. denver, partly sunny, 38 the high. seattle, 49 the high. in new zealand today, a deadly shark attack. officials say a man was swimming near auckland when he was grabbed by a huge shark about 14 feet long. police attempted to save the man. they shot the shark, but it swam away. it appears to be a great white. there have only been about a dozen fatal shark attacks in new zealand in the past 180 years.

an australian billionaire wants to build an exact replica of the titanic. clyde palmer unveiled the blueprints for the titanic here in new york on tuesday. more than 150 people died when the original sank on april 15, 1912, but that hasn't stopped 40,000 people from saying they want to be on the second maiden voyage. >> titanic 2 was the inspiration of having -- satisfying a market that wasn't being served really. people were willing for a cruise ship to go on a cruise, and what better ship than to have the titanic 2. >> palmer says people have offered to pay more than a million dollars for a first-class cabin. in the nba now tensions bubbled over in the pacers/warriors game. in the fourth quarter, indiana's roy hibbert gets into a shoving match with golden state's david lee. the scuffle escalates and even

gets close to the first few rows of the stands. they get ejected. the pacers win the game, 108-97. coming up on your cbs news this morning we'll have much more on the vatican and the pope's final public appearance. i'm anne-marie green. and some people found that a little bit strong. but as soon as they tasted blonde roast boy they were on board. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] your smile. like other precious things that start off white it yellows over time. fact is when it comes to your smile, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest 3d white whitestrips go below the enamel surface to whiten as well

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well, today the supreme court will consider whether well, today the supreme court will consider whether to strike down a key provision of the landmark voting rights act. as jan crawford reports, the challenge to the law comes after decades of change in the south. >> reporter: in shelby county, like in most parts of alabama, the question is whether the state's racist past must forever define it. 50 years ago alabama was the center of the civil rights movement. protesters endured fire hoses, arrests, bombings in the fight for equality. one result was the voting rights act. one provision of the act, section 5, still requires all or part of 16 states, mostly in the

south, to get approval from the justice department before changing voting procedures or electoral maps. >> section 5, which is what we're attacking, was never intended by congress to be permanent. >> reporter: shelby county lawyer frank ellis is at the heart of the battle to eliminate section 5 and force the federal government to treat alabama and other coverage states like the rest of the country. >> they're still using the same criteria to determine whether these 16 states that are covered are still using the same test that they used in 1965. >> reporter: what's wrong with that? >> what's wrong with that? things have changed in the south. this is a dynamic society. >> reporter: but ernest montgomery says things haven't changed enough. he was on the city council in calera, alabama, when city officials facing a population boom redrew his district map. he lost the election to a white candidate. but under section 5 the just cities department order add new election and montgomery won.

so what was the representation of your district before -- under the old map? >> under the old map, district 2 was about a 67% african-american district. >> reporter: under the new map what happened? >> under the new map it was diluted to around 27%, 28%. >> reporter: shelby county pastor harry jones calls it a discrimination. you think it was to keep african-americans off the map. >> i think it was designed to keep the power of the minority community. >> reporter: opponents say they're not attacking the entire voting rights act. if there's intentional discrimination, people can still sue just like they do in ohio and other states that aren't covered under section 5. jan crawford cbs news, washington. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," we'll go to the vatican where the pope holdings his last public audience this morning. >> plus a court battle over martha stewart.

rebecca jarvis looks at millions of dollars at stake with jc penney. and consumer reports reveals its best cars of 2013. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

and i'm michelle griego. time is 4:-- an

good morning. it's wednesday, a busy february 27. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now 4:30. we're following breaking news out of san francisco's west portal neighborhood. a broken water main flooded homes and cars near 15th and wawona and the water is still gushing. kpix 5 reporter cate caugiran is live and shows us where the water level is at least five feet high. >> reporter: you know, i haven't actually been able to check out how high it is just yet, but let me tell you, look at this one car. you can see just how high the water levels got. we're at the bottom of this area where the water has been pooled here. what you're looking at actually is what we're told by san francisco's water department is sewage. it's just been backed up. that's why it hasn't been able to drain in this area right now. it appears the water level has gone down some but you can see how bad it got in this neighborhood.

we have some video of it shot earlier. we are again at the intersection of 15th avenue and wawona street in san francisco's west portal neighborhood. officials say the calls came in around 2:30 this morning. san francisco's water department tells kpix 5 a 16" water line broke. we heard reports of cars and homes flooded. we asked the department why there was so much water here and were told that most water main lines are 6" but this was 16." they don't know the cause. they haven't pinpointed the exact location and we are still trying to find out how many people have been affected. we have been hearing reports that utilities in the area will need to be shut down and here's also one very, very important detail is that a possible sinkhole is forming at the 2700 block of 15th avenue, unconfirmed. a source close to the investigation