kol come colorado blizzard. the rockies get socked by a major storm that could dump nearly two feet of snow on denver. trump card. the donald throws his hand behind mitt romney. >> mitt is tough. he's smart. he's sharp. and targeting iran. new reports that defense secretary leon panetta believes israel could launch a military strike against iran's nuclear israel could launch a military strike against iran's nuclear facilities by spring. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, february 3rd, 2012. good morning everybody.

happ friday. thanks for joining us today. i'm betty nguyen. well, the snow started falling in colorado last night and it blizzard and winter storm warnings are in effect in denver and its surrounding areas. and when it's all over, it could be one of the top ten snow makers in the city's history. there could be up to 22 inches of snow on denver streets by saturday morning. last night, the city's public works department shifted into high gear putting nearly 200 plow trucks on the roads, including four by four pickups that will be responsible for clearing side streets. >> for this program, we have to find people that generally have desk jobs to come out and drive the plows, the small plows. >> it's not just the snow causing problems, but wind. gusts topping out at 30 miles per hour could lower visibility to zero and make driving nearly impossible. snowplows work throughout the night to clear runways at denver international airport. but before the flakes started falling, airlines had canceled

nearly 200 flights. passengers scrambled to get ahead of the storm. >> the plane was booked up. all the seats were taken. everybody is trying to get out before the storm hits >> my flight was tomorrow at noon and because of the snow, i switched it to tonight to try to get out of here. >> denver's suburbs, people are stocking up on groceries basing for a storm that could leave them stranded through the weekend. if anyone is pleased about the snowstorm, it's denver's schoolchildren. the city has canceled classes at all of its schools today. parts of wyoming, nebraska and kansas will also feel the chill from this snowstorm. take you to politics now. newt gingrich gets trumped. real estate mogul donald trump surprised everyone when he endorsed mitt romney instead of the former house speaker ahead of the nevada caucuses. romney is still trying to recover from remarks about america's poor. tara mergener is in washington with that. good morning, tara. >> reporter: good morning, betty. mitt romney is still trying to explain what he meant by that

comment. then came this high-profile endorsement even he may not have expected. at a packed rally in reno, mitt romney called on voters to help keep his momentum going. >> would be helpful if mef nef did the same thing florida did and give me a boost going on. get out there and caucus. >> the former massachusetts governor heads into tomorrow's caucuses with a solid double digit lead and the backing of donald trump. >> he's smart. he's sharp. he's not going to allow bad things to continue to happen. >> reporter: romney seemed almost surprised as he accepted the real estate mogul he is endorsement thursday. >> there are some things you can't imagine happening in krur life. this is one of them. >> earlier, newt gingrich's campaign suggested the former house speaker would be the one getting trump's support. a majority of republicans polled last month say trump's endorsement would have no impact on their decision. instead, most voters are concerned about the struggling economy. gingrich tried to cap into those

worries at a manufacturing plant on thursday. >> i really believe that we should care about the very poor. unlike dpgovernor romney. he again brought up comments the front-runner made earlier this week. romney said he wasn't concerned about the poor because they have a safety net. >> what they need is a trampoline to spring up and quit being poor. i'm for replacing the safety net with a trampoline. >> gingrich is hoping to bounce back himself tomorrow with a win in nevada. meantime, gingrich is challenging florida's winner take all primary since the state held its primary early all of the delegates should be awarded proportion natalie under party rules. romney took all of the delegates, gingrich was a distant second. betty? >> tara mergener in washington for us. thank you. so far the investigation into two american missionaries from mexico produced no arrests and

few clous. the bodies of john and wanda casias were discovered at their home near monterrey much the couple was strangled, their house ransacked and car stolen. the area is plagued by drug-related violence, but relatives believe their killer was someone they knew and not drug-related. congress is demanding the justice department hand over more information about the botched gun smuggling operation known as fast and furious. testifying yesterday attorney general eric holder denied there's a cover-up. but congressional republicans are threatening to charge holder with contempt. in fast and furious, agents lost track of more than a thousand guns they were using to track smugglers. some of the weapons turned up at crime scenes. now, to the middle east. israel says time to stop iran from building a nuclear weapon is quickly running out. the israelis argue that only a military strike will stop the irania iranians. it's reported that defense

secretary panetta believes israel may take action by spring. david martin reports. >> defense secretary panetta believes there is strong likelihood israel will strike iran in april, may or june. that according to columnist david ignatius writing shortly after he completed a transatlantic flight with the defense secretary. panetta did not dispute it. as if to show panetta has cause for concern, israel's defense minister seemed to reject arguments economic sanctions need more time to work. sprinkling his hebrew with english, he said. >> it's too late. >> as long ago as november, he said there were only six to nine months left before iran buries the nuclear facilities so deep to make them immune from attack. the u.s. is spending $80 million to upgrade it's own bunker buster pom to go after more deeply buried targets. when martin dempsey tried to convince israeli leaders it's

too soon for military force, he came away admitting he had not changed any minds. israel recently canceled a missile defense exercise scheduled with the u.s. for the spring. a move some defense officials interpret as evidence israel is focusing all its efforts on preparing for an attack. as panetta explained in an interview with "60 minutes," an israeli strike would almost certainly have consequences for the u.s. >> the united states could be targeted as a result of that. we would get blamed whether they like it or not, we would get blamed. >> nobody, including the israelis, thinks a strike with all its unforeseen consequences is a good opg. but if sanks don't work and work soon, the israelis could decide it's the only option. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. in egypt, demonstrations over that soccer riot turned deadly this morning. two protesters were killed in clashes with police. in cairo yesterday, police fired

tear gas at demonstrators who were chanting down with military rule. thousands took to the streets blaming police for losing control of events after a soccer match on wednesday. 74 people died during the riot. more than 100 people are still missing after a ferry sunk off the coast of new guinea. it's believed they were trapped when the ship went down. more than 250 people have been rescued. the ferry capsized and sank after being hit by three large waves thursday morning. rescue efforts continue but no survivors were rescued today. coming up on the morning news, the bizarre story of a millionaire who actually adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend. plus, a texas streaker. a bright ufo caught on a police dashcam. this is the "cbs morning news." when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking.

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you see it right there? scientists who looked at this video say the light moving across the night sky was a meteor. so you could say the shooting stars are big and bright deep in the heart of texas. i like that. cbs money watch, good news for home buyers as mortgage rates hit rom bottom. a move to ban insider trading in congress crosses a hurdle. ashley morrison has more. >> good morning, betty. overseas markets dipped this morning. the nikkei snapped a three hp day rally losing half a percent while the hang seng was down most of the day. investors are anxious to hear the latest government jobs report. analysts are estimating the economy added 170,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained at 8.5%. it was a flat day on wall street. the dow lost 11 points while the nasdaq gained 11. the senate passed the stock act by an overwhelming margin on

thursday. the legislation is aimed at preventing members of congress and their staff from using inside information to make stock deals. only three senators voted against the measure. the house will consider the bill next week. mortgage rates have once again hit a new low. the average is a 3.87% on a 30-year. 15-year fixed is 3.14. both are at record lows. authorities in the u.s. have indicted switzerland's oldest bank on charges it hid american assets from the irs. the justice department says wegelin and company conspired to keep more than a billion dollars in u.s. assets from being taxed. yus tis officials seized more than $16 million from wegelin's correspondent bank here in the u.s. and a wealthy florida polo exec is going to great lengths to protect his fortune. he's adopting his girlfriend. john goodman is accused of dui and vehicular manslaughter and

the family of the man killed in the crash say the adoption is a way for goodman to shield his money from a lawsuit. one florida adoption lawyer called the move both brilliant and awful. betty, just when you think you have heard it all. >> i don't know if she can still be called his girlfriend if he adopted her much there's a law against that. >> another law for you. thank you, ashley. straight ahead, your friday morning weather. ? sports, will injured ron gronkowski play in sunday's super bowl. find out what madonna thinks he should do. ommy? - behind every open heart is a story. - it's beautiful. - tell yours with my open heart collection at kay jewelers. keep your heart open, and love will always find its way in. >> announcer: one fabric softener has that special snuggly softness your family loves. >> hi, i'm snuggle. snuggly softness that feels so good. look, i get towels fluffy... [giggles] blankets cuddly...

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here's a look at weather in some cities around the country. new york, sunny, 47. miami, partly sunny, 80 degrees there. chicago, morning fog, 42. dallas, you'll see thunderstorms. it's 74 there. l.a., a sunny 75. time now for a check of the national forecast. snow will continue in the central rockies and plains with blizzard conditions in eastern colorado. denver could get two feet of snow. rain will change the snow in nebraska and western kansas. thunderstorms in the southern plains and lower mississippi valley will spread to the southeast. severe storms in west texas and oklahoma will move eastward during the day. in sports, the surgeon who operated on indianapolis colts quarterback peyton manning's neck last fall cleared him to play next season. but team doctors still have to sign off on that. for now, manning just has to

root for kid brother eli in sunday's super bowl. speaking of the super bowl, new england fans are praying for a star tight end rob gronkowski to see if he can play against the giants. he practiced with the team yesterday for the first time since spraining his left ankle in the afc title game. walking with an exaggerated limp as a joke, gronkowski told reporters he's anxious to play. at another conference, halftime performer madonna was asked how she would handle a sprained ankle before a show. >> well, a lot of people would say that i'm a bit of a masochist. i would just tape my ankle and say prayers. take an anti-inflammatory and get my butt out there. so is that an answer? >> do you think he will play? >> i hope he does. >> a lot of people do too. when asked which of the two quarterbacks she'd rather go out with. madonna picked new york's eli manning. interesting. the l.a. clippers hosting

the nuggets. the clippers led early including a reverse layup by mo williams in the first period. denver came on strong in the third. a blocked shot when gallon nary pumped in a three. nuggets ended the l.a. four-game win streak, 12-91. knicks and bulls, derek rose made a great diving layup. look at that. >> carmelo anthony has 34 but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer and the bulls won it. 105-102. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and important findings on the way alzheimer's disease may spread. opening doors for new treatments.

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., mostly sunny,

51 degrees. atlanta, sunny, 64. sunshine in detroit, 44 there. snow in denver, 30. and partly sunny in seattle, 48. here's another look at the top stories this morning. a winter storm is hitting colorado. nearly 2 feet of snow could fall between now and saturday, i would make it one of the heaviest snowstorms in denver's history. in las vegas, domd trump endorsed mitt romney for the presidential nomination. nevada holds caucuses tomorrow. the leading breast cancer charity, susan g. komen for the cure faces growing criticism for its decision to cut funding for planned parenthood. the critics say komen is giving in to pressure from anti-abortion rights groups. komen denies it. but the group's facebook page drew thousands of angry messages and planned parenthood has received more donations this week than the $680,000 it got

from komen last year. that includes a $250,000 donation from new york city mayor, michael bloomberg. medical researchers report a discovery that may be the key to blocking the mind killing spread of alzheimer's disease. jim axelrod explains what they found and how it might lead to a treatment. >> researchers have long wondered how alzheimer's rachages the brain, whether it develops independently in different parts of the brain or starts in one area and spreads as suggested in a new study co-authored by dr. scott small of columbia university. >> the spread idea is right. it would mean you might be able to prevent the spread and progression of alzheimer's which is really quite interesting. >> brains of people with alzheimer's contain tangles of a protein called tau thought to play a role in memory loss. they genetically engineered mice with tau in their brains and mapped its spread over 22 months.

as the mice aged, tau spread from cell to cell destroying them as it moved. >> there was no -- an appreciation that tau is this executioner. it's the abnormality that really results in cell death and cell dysfunction. >> study co-author karen duff sauce says the findings raise hope for new therapies that would block tau. >> we are fascinated by the idea that it can spread from cell to cell and that allows us a range of interventions that can catch it as it's leaving one cell into another. >> it could take five more years of research before conclusions can be drawn. one red flag. there have been many approaches to fighting alzheimer's that seem to work in mice but didn't translate to humans. clearly, much more research is needed. but that's not dimming any hope of the scientists. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. roseanne barr is getting into presidential politics. she's seeking the green party nomination and insists it's not

a joke. she says neither democrats and republicans are acting in the best interests of the public. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," former treasury secretary larry summers on january's job numbers. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. ♪ sfx: sound of bubbles being popped. sfx: sound of a space vehicle lowering. sfx: sound of a crowd cheering. sfx: sound of bubbles being popped. sfx: sound of someone hitting a table hard.

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hello again, 4 minutes before 5:00, you are wake up up to waking up to a sky filled with stars. >> 46 at lunch going for a high temperature of around 50 degrees this day. don, take it away. >> thank you, here is what we have got our eye on for you a street nameed for a baltimore police officer, dozens of members of the national guard deployed to afghanistan and a local university breaks ground on a new state-of-the-art stadium. and already in the news this morning four men under arrest

in the murder of a teenager right outside towson town center that morning this teen- family speaks to wjz. growing controversy in the device between two national groups focused on women's health. new developments this morning regarding the future of the baltimore grand prix. more news, first warning weather and your first traffic report of the morning in a couple of minutes. ,,,, ♪ that aroma calls to you ♪ time to jump in to something new ♪ ♪

♪ the best part of wakin' up ♪ is folgers in your cup what does hope look like? it's in the rising walls of a home rebuilt. raising the spirit of a community reborn. what does heart sound like? it's in the rhythm of nails pounded into wood. a beat driven by the conviction that inspiration can overcome desperation. what does home feel like? it's in the faces of americans who built generations of memories in their home and then saw it slipping away. until friends they have never met, turned out to lend a hand.

for more than 30 years, rebuilding together has spread hope to home owners in need. providing free home rehabilitation, making homes safer and more energy efficient. this is a place where you can turn dreams into reality. go to rebuilding together dot org and share the feeling of home. this is wjz tv, wjz hd, and wjz.com, baltimore. >> good morning, maryland. now don scott, marty bass, and the latest breaking news from wjz's news team. your first warning weather and wjz traffic control with sharon gibala. it is wjz, maryland's news station. >> it is friday. >> and it is a chillier start to the week's end. lots of stars ov