deadly avalanche. a wall of snow sweeps down a washington state mountain killing three experienced skiers. midair collision, small plane runs into a helicopter in the skies above northern california. but both pilots live to tell the tale. santorum swipes. the republican presidential hopeful takes aim at president obama's politics. >> i am talking about his world view or his -- the way he approaches problems in this country and i think they're different than how most people country and i think they're different than how most people do in america. captioning funded by cbs this is the cbs morning news for monday, february 20, 2012. and good morning everyone. i'm terrell brown. it is still unclear this morning

what triggered a deadly avalanche in washington's cascade mountain. a warning had been issued but three experienced skiers skiing in an out of bounds area are dead. the victims were among several groups skiing at the steven's pass ski area. the fast moving snow swept in some 1500 feet down the mountain. a fourth skier survived. danielle nottingham has our report. >> reporter: it looks like a winter wonderland but this picturesque mountain in washington state was the scene of a deadly avalanche. the king county sheriff's office got word of the slide just after noon on sunday. it happened near the stevens pass ski area. >> four of the skiers were shot down a chute for 1500 feet. three of the skiers then were buried under the snow. >> one woman who survived the slide was using an avalanche rescue system similar to an airbag like the one seen in this video.

>> it kept her atop of the avalanche and basically saved her life. >> authorities say several groups were skiing in an out of bounds area on the backside of the mountain. most were able to free themselves from the snow. the area had received 21 inches of snowfall the night before. >> you're skiing. it's at your own risk. i've been told by numerous people they were all very experienced skiers, they knew what they were doing, the choices that they were making. >> the staff at stevens pass said news of the fatalities hit hard. >> even though it's outside the ski area boundary, it's very hard on the community here. >> experts say there could still be a high risk for additional slides this season partially because of a weak base layer of snow from a dry winter. danielle nottingham, cbs news. a separate incident earlier yesterday, a snowboarder was killed east of seattle. he apparently triggered an avalanche that swept him off a 500 foot cliff. this morning, folks in the south are waking up to the

aftermath of what's described the first real winter storm of the season. in northern tennessee, about 20 vehicles caught in white-out conditions were involved in a chain reaction crash. one person was seriously injured. there were hundreds of wrecks in virginia and north carolina. in southern virginia and west virginia more than 50,000 customers were without power last night, it's unclear why a small plane collided with a helicopter over northern california. it crashed 8 miles from the rio vista airport, halfway between oakland and sacramento. the twin-engine plane came down short of the runway. both pilots suffered minor injuries. rick santorum travels to michigan today hoping to defeat mitt romney in next week's primary. santorum is paying just as much attention to president obama questioning everything from his support of prenatal tests to what he describes as the president's world view. susan mcginnis has details. good morning. >> good morning, terrell. santorum was on face the nation

this weekend with bob schieffer. among the most notable comments he made, he suggested that the overhaul healthcare focusing on prenatal testing actually encourages abortion. that was just one of the issues on which santorum attacked the president. campaigning at a church in georgia, rick santorum attacked president obama's decision to give women employed by some religious institutions free access to contraceptives. >> it is imposing his ideology on a group of people expressing their theology. >> santorum focusing on the president as he looks to a possible november faceoff. in ohio this weekend he said the president's environmental views are hurting americans. >> it's not about you. it's not about your quality of life. it's not about your jobs. it's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. oh, not a theology based on the bible.

>> the obama campaign took note and came out swinging sunday saying santorum was an attack on the faith. >> i can't think that the remarks with 'ol over the liechblt it's wrong and destructive. >> santorum says he wasn't questioning the president's christianity. >> i believe the president is christian. he says he's christian. i'm talking about his world view. >> santorum's popularity is surging. the latest polls show him leading mitt romney even in michigan. romney grew up there and his father was a three-term governor. romney will be in michigan tomorrow for a speech on the economy as he tries to take back the lead. newt gingrich says a romney loss in michigan would be devastating. >> if they lose his home state, i don't see what he says to his donors the next morning to stay in the race. gingrich says home states are a must win fo all of the candidates. romney will be the first to be tested on the 28th. so michigan is the next big battleground, though. that's between santorum and romney.

we do know that santorum is giving a speech tonight to republicans in west michigan and terrell we'll be listening closely there to see if he says anything more about the social issues. >> we'll be watching. susan mcginnis in washington this morning. susan, thank you. european finance ministers are meeting in brussels to decide on another bailout loan for greece. the prime minister flew to brussels to clinch the deal. demonstrators opposed to the harsh austerity policies imposed to secure the loan clash with police in athens yesterday. the greek government is going to announce further pension cuts as it remains $170 billion to avoid default. hope of a greek bailout and a decision by central bank sent stocks higher in japan. the nikkei gained 1%. the hang seng shed a fraction. wall street is closed for president's day. gas prices hit an all-time high. the average price has risen 25 cents to $3.53. experts say it could peak at a record $4.25 by the end of

april. and possibly trigger an economic slowdown. one reason gas prices are rising is tension with iran. the iranians announced they're cutting off oil shipments to britain and france. niert nation relies on iranian imports. iran is lashing out over tough sanctions against its nuclear program. international inspectors are in tehran to discuss the issue. elizabeth palmer has more. >> reporter: iran's revolutionary guard started war games this season in the country. they're meant to send a message to the world that iran is ready for as its foreign minister put it any worst case scenario. in other words, an attack by israel. but in an interview broadcast today, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey said that the u.s. is against a military strike. >> we think that it's not prudent at this point to decide to attack iran.

i mean, that's been our counsel to our allies, the israelis, well-known, well-documented. >> last week iran's president said again that iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. few western politicians believe that. but for the moment they argue that bombing iran's many nuclear installations would only slow the program. businesses in iran have a hard time getting international financing and the price of food and essential goods is rising fast. the price of meat, say tehran shoppers, has doubled in three months. iran is also wrestling with restrictions to its oil sales. restrictions brought about by sanctions. tonight, there are signs the pressure may just may be working. even as the war games got under way, iran's leaders offered to reopen negotiations on their nuclear program and to meet in tehran with inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. elizabeth palmer, cbs news,

london. in syria. government crackdown against citizens opposed to the government included an attack in the heart of damascus. syrian troops kept up the assault on the city of homs yesterday. opposition ak tiss say 14 people were killed. john mccain tells the new york times he's in favor of arming the syrian opposition forces. speaking from afghanistan, mccain said i believe there are ways to get weapons to the opposition without direct united states involvement. the iranians and the russians are providing bashar assad with weapons. people that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves. mccain said the u.s. could work through "third world countries" to arm opposition forces. and a prison rye not mexico killed 44 inmates. dozens of family members stormed the gates trying to get information on the victims. the riot started yesterday. at a jailhouse near monterrey.

between two rival drug cartels and covered a prison break. the director and the guards on duty have been detained. take a quick break. a snowy tale of survival. plus nypd undercover. new questions over a far-reaching surveillance program aimed at fighting terrorism. this is the "cbs morning news." tingter rim. this is the "cbs morning news." . experience light and airy, melty bubbles. made from pure, delicious hershey's milk chocolate. hershey's air delight. that's why there's crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection.

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the lighter roast perfected. ♪ that's astronaut john glenn 50 years ago today climbing into friendship 7. he blasted off on february 20, 1962 becoming the first american to orbit the earth and launching the u.s. into a heated space race with russia. glenn became a national hero and served as a senator from ohio. on saturday he and scott carpenter celebrated the golden anniversary at cape canaveral in florida. they're the only two left from the mercury 7 astronauts. an amazing story of survival. a man in sweden was trapped in his snow covered car for months.

the 45-year-old was found by snowmobilers on friday. he had a sleeping bag, drank snow, but hasn't eaten anything since december 19th. i wouldn't have made it. doctors say he could have survived by hibernating like a bear. the man is in the hospital recovering this morning. new york city police department is defending covert operation tracking muslim students. it's going beyond city limits it's reaching into some of the elite ivy league colleges. as tony guida reports, they follow the same rules as the fbi. >> the challenge for the nypd is to make sure this never happens again. after 9/11, the department hired a top cia official was to create a counterterrorism intelligence division. detectives were stationed in canada, the mideast and the far east. at home, muslim students were targeted as potential terrorists. >> it's quite surprising to feel that we are considered suspicious individuals. >> this man is a student at city

university. four years ago he and a group of young muslims took a camping trip in upstate new york. they recently learned one of the campers was an undercover cop. >> it remind me of the days of kgb. this is secret policing. >> the department will not reveal what led it to do that. but in a statement the department argues some of the most dangerous western al qaeda linked or inspired terrorists since 9/11 were radicalized and or recruited at muslim student associations. commissioner ray kelly said the department stritly obeys the constitution. >> we live in the most litigious environment anywhere. we have to be cognizant of what we do. we have to check. we have to make sure that what we're doing is within constitutional bounds. that's what we're doing. >> the documents in this case contain names of the students being watched and the undercover cops doing the watching. a strong indication they were leaked by someone high in the

intelligence department of the nypd. suggesting serious doubts about the monitoring program. tony guida, cbs news, new york. rupert murdoch isn't letting the phone hacking scandal stop him from publishing the paper. he plans to publish it next sunday. it will replace the news of the world which he shut down in july. the closure came after several staffers were arrested for hacking into the voice mail of celebrities and crime victims. let's take a quick break. coming up, we'll have your weather forecast and in sports, the lin-derella continues. i love it. it all continues for the new york knicks. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. s we'll be right back. . we'll be right back. ella contin. it all continues for the new york knicks. we'll be right back.

here's a look at the weather here's a look at the weather in. new york 46 degrees. partly sunny, 78 in miami. 43 and sunny in chicago. cloudy, 63 in dallas. partly sunny skies, 66 in los angeles. let's check your national forecast. the storm will hit parts of the midwest dropping up to 4 inches of snow. strong thunderstorms could pop up in eastern kansas. parts of the central plains and mississippi valley could see wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. strong winds will also blow across the southwest. some topping 60 miles an hour in eastern new mexico. much of the south will be dry. in sports this morning, lin sanity lives on in new york. the knicks phenom had another great game.

jeremy lin reined in 28 points against the dallas mavericks. the harvard grad had five big steals and a career high 14 assists. the knicks take down the defending champs. 104-97. they ended the mavs winning streak. tight game in oklahoma city. russell west brook pours in 40. including this jumper. that tied the score. just over a minute left. kevin durant was on fire driving for a dunk to send the game into o.t. finishes with 51 points for the first time in his career. the thunder top the nuggets 124-118. in hockey, a tribute to haul of famer gary carter. the montreal canadiens paid tribute to carter by wearing the number 8 on their jerseys. he played for the expos. the first one enshrined in cooperstown. he was 57 when he died thursday. the devils ended upbeating the canadiens 3-1 for the third straight victory. when we come back, a final goodbye to whitney.

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available in the french's stay-fresh can. here's a look at the weather. d.c., mostly sunny, 48. atlanta, partly cloudy, 56 degrees. mostly sunny 38 in detroit. morning snow, 38 in denver. brief showers 48 in seattle. here's another look at the top stories. an avalanche at a ski area northeast of seattle washington killed three experienced skiers yesterday. they were skiing in an out of bounds area. an avalanche warning had been posted. a fourth skier survived by deploying a safety device a a small plane collided with a helicopter over northern california. both aircraft managed to land in nearby fields. the pilots suffered minor injuries. whitney houston has been laid to rest.

rest next to her at a cemetery in west ield, new jersey. the superstar died on february 11th. no cause of death has been determined. >> the father a soldier killed in iraq is angry that new jersey governor chris christie lowered flags to honor whitney houston. john, who lives in new jersey, burned a new jersey state flag in front of his house on saturday. his son eric was killed in iraq after his humvee was hit by an ied. he was only 25. before he burned the flag, he tied it to his car and dragged it in front of the war veterans memorial and his son's grave. he means no disrespect to veterans because christie's actions offend him. >> i'm sorry. this is how much it hurts. this is how much of a slap in the face it is to all who have served and given their life. >> governor christie defends his decision saying houston was a cultural icon. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," actor director tyler perry on his new movie good deeds. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." ood deeds. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news."

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not a lot of shaking going on at all. every bit of weather that we have been discussing at the end of last weekend have some people overexaggerated in to the weekend. everything down to the south. look at the day part, skies clearing out. a lot of sun, 44 at lunch. high of 46 degrees. here is what we have our eye op -- on for you today. dispute over speed zones. celebrity chef joins the

fight against hunger in maryland. already in the news, teenager killed, falling out of a moving car. why his mother says his death could have been avoided. a final good-bye to whitney houston before she was laid to rest. opponents of same-sex marriage fight back against the recent news in the house of delegates. when it comes to getting my family to eat breakfast, i could use all the help i can get. like nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast, even whole-wheat waffles, for a breakfast that my kids love and i feel good about serving. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk, and a hint of cocoa. it's quick, easy and something everyone can agree on. ♪ nutella. breakfast never tasted this good.