speak out against distracted driving at decidetodrive.org. mitt romney appears to be in the drivers seat as floridians go to the polls in a critical winner take all primary. terror on the highway. the dramatic 911 calls as cars crash in a deadly florida highway pile--up. >> how many cars have been involved so far. >> we cannot see, ma'am. head hunter in chief. the president says he'll look into why an unemployed semi conductor engineer can't find work. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen.

more than 2 million voter are expected to cast their votes. mitt romney is all the predicting victory. the latest polls like this one taken by quinnipiac university was taken. supporters have hit gingrich hard. gingrich says he won't give up no matter what happens today. susan mcginnis has the latest now from tampa. good morning, surn. >> reporter: hi. good morning, betty. republicans here start heading to the polls in about three hours, and by all measures, it does look like mitt romney pretty much has florida sewn up, but newt gingrich is vowing he's fighting on and will catch up. many thing the race could end closer than many think ♪ america america >> reporter: mitt romney broke into song as he made one final pitch to florida voters. ♪ and crown thy good with

brotherhood ♪ >> reporter: the former massachusetts governor is hoping to crush his competition in today's high -stakes competitio. he believes the victory is his. >> i know speecher gingrich is not happy. >> reporter: it was only a week ago gingrich was ahead after an upset win in south carolina. he'll continue crisscrossing florida determined to make a comeback. >> we have a challenge to go out and make sure that e every conservative knows that the only effect ivg vote to stop romney is a vote for me. >> reporter: gingrich insists he is in this race for the long haul. he claims he is closing in on romney and is already looking ahead to the next contest. >> we are going to go all the way to the convention, and we are going to win in tampa, and we are going to be the nominee with your help of the republican party. >> reporter: on his campaign plane earlier, romney did not

appear threatened. >> that's usually a indication that you think you're going to lose. >> reporter: a florida win could help put romney on track to clinch the gop nomination. the poll shows it's tilting in his favor. rick an sore rem and ron paul are not here today. they are headed to colorado whi where there's a caucus neck week. they found it not worth it to compete here. as for the two front-runners, we'll find out tonight who gets all of the state's 50 dell galts. >> yes, we will. thank you. gingrich may enjoy the thrill of the fight, but perhaps not to this tune. gingrich plays the song yt eye of the tiger," the theme from the move "rocky 3" at his campaign rallies. one of the song's composers says that violates copyright laws and

has filed a court order forcing him to stop. there is no proof attorney general eric holder operated the fast and furious gun operation. they issued a report this morning that blames federal officials in arizona. more than 1,000 guns were allegedly allowed to flow from the u.s. to the mention call drug cartel. two of those weapons were found near a murdered border agent two years ago. holder will testify about fast and furious on thursday. well, president obama has taken on a new role, as chief head hunter. yes, you heard it right. the president was participating in an online chat room yesterday when a woman asked about her unemployed husband. he's a semi conduction engineer who's been out of work for three years. the president says he'll try to help. >> it's interesting to me, and i meant what i said. if you send me your husband's resume, i'd be interested in finding out exactly what's happening right there because the word we're getting is that

somebody in that kind of high-tech field, that kind of engineer, should be able to find something right away. >> the president was answering questions submitted via youtube as well as interacting live with five participants. a special congressional election is taking place today in oregon, and it's drawing lots of attention and some big money. democrat david woo was forced to resign following a sex scandal. oregon's district is heavy liz republican. they're supporting the campaign of rob cornelius. he's running against democrat suzanne bon a meche. they have spent more than a million to try to hold on to the district. for the most part occupy protesters in washington, d.c. have been ordered to leave two parks. the protesters were told they had to leave by yesterday. they've been demonstrating for months despite a no-catching rule. some left, but most did not.

there have been no arrests so far. i want to take you to the horrific chain reaction highway crash in florida. ten people were kill and it turns out the road hat just been reopened following another serious accident. mark strassmann reports. >> reporter: one witness said it looked like the end of the world. for a full meyer 22 charred cars and trucks littered both sides of i-75. the emergency crews found the injured by following the sounds of screams. this photo of a curtain of smoke was taken by a police officer's dashboard camera. listen carefully. you can hear the crunch of metal as drivers call for help. >> oh [ bleep ] oh, my god. what is going on. >> okay. we are getting help out there, okay? >> oh, my goodness. >> how many vehicles have been involved that you even seen so far. >> we cannot see, ma'am. we can't see any. >> reporter: burt thomas parked

his car for protection in front of a stopped truck. when you got out of the car you couldn't see anything. what could you hear. >> you couldn't see anything. in the distrans you could hear sirens coming and i started hearing loud pops almost like guns going. it was sporadic. you know, i figured out later it was probably tires blowing out from the fire. >> reporter: the florida highway patrol shut down the same section just after midnight. oor visibility caused a three-car accident. at 3:30 a.m. they reopened the highway and within ten minutes smog and smoke from a brushfire headed in. >> reporter: please slow down. please slow down. please slow down. >> reporter: among the dead, jose, his wife, and their oldest daughter. another daughter, 14-year-old lidian seen on the left is in ritical condition. they were headed home to

marietta, georgia, after a church conference in orlando. investigators suspect the fire from the smoke could have been intentionally set. if so, this could turn into a criminal case. >> just so tragic. in other news a senate committee will consider iran's nuclear program. it will require companies that trade on u.s. stock exchanges to disclose iran-related business. it would also deny visas and freeze assets of individuals who supply iran with nuclear-related technology. the united nations security council takes up syria today, specifically an arab league initiative called on the president to transfer power. secretary of state hillary clinton will ated, but assad is not backing down, continuing assault on the opposition. david martin has our report. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence predicting increased fighting

and possible civil war in syria. the battle against the assad regime has reached the suburbs of damascus, and when you plot the fighting on the map, it looks like the capital is no longer a safe haven for the regi regime. he's a member of the opposition. he types at the university. >> they're only a few kilometers from the very center of damascus. >> reporter: so in terms of any large city it's inside the beltway. >> it's inside the beltway and it's creeping in closer by the day. >> reporter: he claims tens of thousands of syrian soldiers have defected to the opposition, but he acknowledges the regime still holds the upper hand. >> imbalance of power is great, and so as long as the regime gets the stuff out, things are

only going to get worse. >> reporter: president assad determines to do whatever it takes to stay in power. white house spokesman jay carney insists they cannot survive. the syrian government responded to that by saying it will defeat all foreign attempts to create chaos in syrian. david martin, cbs news, the pentagon. coming up on the morning news, science education standards slip, plus conflict of interest. news that mortgage giant freddie mac was betting against struggling homeowners. this is the "cbs morning news." until then, i have my wingman helping me out. tommy? - i helped dad pick it out. - it's beautiful. - behind every open heart is a story. tell yours with my open heart collection at kay jewelers, the number one jewelry store in america. there are millions of reasons to give one, but the message is always the same:

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d.c. fordham gives 26 states a grade of "d" or lower. that includes ten states that got an "f." only six got an "a." they include california, massachusetts, south carolina, virginia, and the district of columbia district of columbia. on the "cbs moneywatch," congress is close to banning its own members from insider training. and a toilet-proof phone? ashley morrison is here with the latest on that. we definitely need an explanation on what that is. >> you certainly will get one. it is an interesting one. good morning, betty. tokyo's nikkei finished a fraction higher finished a three-day losing strike while hong kong's hang sing gain mder than 1%. investors will get an increase. wall street start odden a flat note. the dow dropped 6 points while the nasdaq dropped 4. 25 of the 27 european nations are signing onto a treaty that imposes strict budget

discipline. german chancellor angela merkel led the agreement which calls on member states to adhere to deficit limits and balanced budgets. britain and the czech republic were the only eu members to reject the plan. more trouble for mortgage lender freddie mac. according to report by npr and pro publica. the back lender is spending millions of dollars betting against homeowners. it's suggested that freddie mac is making sure lenders have enough money to loan money but is betting they won't be able to finance their mortgages at lower rates. >> the senate has taken the first step toward approving the stock act. 93 senators voted to proceed to abate the bill which includes insiders uses stock purchase. the legislation picked it up after a report on "60 minutes" showed how members of congress were allowed to make stock deals

that would have been illegal for anyone else. and, finally, replacing a water-damaged cell phone can be expensive, but now a california company is introducing a spray that will waterproof your phone, protecting it if you spill a drink on your phone, or if you even drop it in the toilet. betty, in that case, i think i might just replace my phone. >> you know, i've done that before and tried to resurrect and save it. didn't work. >> i don't know if you'd want to go fishing that out. >> no, you wouldn't. >> it's not fun, trust me. all right. ashley morrison here in new york. thank you. straight ahead, your tuesday morning weather. and in sports, a monster dunk as the clippers fly high against the thunder. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ '80s dance music plays ] [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

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to prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn for 24 hours. go online for a 5 dollar coupon. prevent acid for 24 hours, with prevacid 24hr. here's a look at some cities around the country. new york, pleasant, 56 degrees. miami, partly sunny, 79. chicago, partly cloudy, 59. dallas, showers there and 72. l.a. is going to be cloudy and 67. let's check the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows clouds from the drifting south. it is cloudy along the west coast. there were whiteout conditions in parts of upstate new york yesterday. look at this. fulton, which is just north of syracuse got more than 2 feet of lake-effect snow. forecasters say today should be

b better with snow turning to rain as temperatures head into the 40s. in sports the clippers were raining 3s against the thunder. they nailed 10 from you up town to take command. in the third, he has a power jam to put an explanation point on the clim. clippers over the thunder, 1 112-100. that's their third win in a row. in women college hopes didn't help them. the husband kiss had everything going for them. they were strong under the basket and stopped blue devils from scoring for about 12 minutes. number 3 yukon stoppzsh youconnd it. joorks less than 30 seconds left in the game, the ball bounces off the rim. and before missouri gets the rebound and the win, 67-66, over the longhorns.

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here's look at the weather in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., pleasant, 63. atlanta, mostly sunny, 66. detroit, some sun, 49. denver, cooler, 48. seattle, cloudy and 50 degrees. a nuclear reactor in northern illinois remains offline this morning. the unit suddenly lost power yesterday. diesel generators kicked in to supply power to the plant and operators released steam to keep the reactor cool. now the steam contained low levels of a radioactive form of hydrogen, but they insist the workers and the public were never in danger. many residents did assume the worst. >> well, i kind of panicked. the first thing i did was go get

those pills they'd given us a couple years back. and then my niece called and she told me to stay in the house, so that's what i did. >> officials are still trying to determine exactly what happened. the florida everglades are under attack from pythons, and according to a new report, the massive snakes which were once pets are now eating many of the small animalses native to the wetlands. researchers say because there are so many pythons in the everglades, the odds of getting rid of them are very low. in portland, groen, a jedi wab a by was sentenced to the dark side. he was given 45 days in jail for attacking three customers with a light saver at toys "r" us. when police tried to arrest them he knocked one of them away with a toy. he's seeking mental health treatment. coming up after your local

news on "cbs this morning," "harry potter" daniel radcliffe will be joining us. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. what a bargain! [ female announcer ] sometimes a good deal turns out to be not such a good deal. but new bounty gives you value you can see. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. so you can clean this mess with half as many sheets.

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. good morning. welcome to fine nine. today is -- to 9news now. today is tuesday, january 31. i'm reason. i'm -- i'm andrea roane.

i'm mike hydeck. it's not over. we still had some great storms in february. we can't get comfortable. >> don't hold your breath. we're running about four, five degrees above average but nowhere close to the warmest january. we might not be in the warmest top ten januaries despite how warm it's been. this afternoon once again we're going to be well above average. 60 to 65. average high 44. right now 42. partly cloudy. by noon 54. we top out about 63 in d.c. mid afternoon and 5:00 we should be back down to 59 degrees. just an amazingly warm stretch of weather. once again you see some of those clouds that's been coming through. another batch of clouds out to the west. we sit generally clear over much of the area. there have been some chilly spots down in the 30s. temperatures are starting to rebound a little from the overnight lows as the winds start to kick out of the

southwest. cumberland one of the exceptions at 30 but it's already in the mid-40s in fredricksburg and tappahannock and cambridge. as warm as 48 in luray. that's not a mistake. petersburg, west virginia 55. we're going up into the low, maybe mid-60s this afternoon with a good deal of sunshine. monika samtani, top that. i really can't today. i'm happy to say that the weather looks great. in terms of traffic, it really doesn't look too bad early this morning. good morning. if you're planning to head over to the beltway, the west side of the town, that's where you need to be careful. we had a lot of overnight cruk. on the inner loop of the beltway at route 123, three left lanes, two spots on the inner loop here or outer loop at route 236 and between route 50 and gallows road as well through the annandale area. on the inbound side of i-66 at nutley street, the exit ramp was blocked overnight with construction. i think all of that should be cleared up within the next 20 to 30 minutes. let's take a live look outside northbound on i-95. not looking bad at all at the

prince william parkway. by the way in southern maryland, route 210 at berry road, you may still find residual police activity. we're trying to figure out if any lanes are blogged. we'll end with a live look, a nice live look at the beltway north side of town at university boulevard. there are no issues to report on our mdot camera on the outer loop as you leave 95 and into silver spring and over to 270. coming up in my next report, we will take a look into maryland at 4:39. >> thank you, monika. occupy d.c. protesters are refusing to leave mcpherson square and freedom plaza, this despite a warning by park police that sleeping will no longer be allowed in either of the parks. >> we have more on the protesters and their renewed effort to keep in place. >> reporter: 11 hours aft deadline for occupy protesters to stop camping out on national park service property, all was quiet at mcpherson square, though many people don't expect it to remain quiet for that

much longer. >> i hope no one gets abused in this process. >> reporter: occupiers are fearing a repeat of yesterday when police shot a protester with a taser gun when they said he aggressively confronted officers about flyers they were handing out about the camping ban at mcpherson square. earlier today u.s. park police officers walked through mcpherson presumably looking for vie layings of the camping ban but so far nobody has been arrested. meanwhile a few protesters could be seen rolling up their sleeping bags and blankets though it doesn't look like many tents have been taken down. in fact, protesters put up a large blue tarp, what they call the tent of dreams over the tat use of general james mcpherson, a civil war hero whose last name is now synonymous with d.c.'s so far peaceful occupy movement. >> we want to be able to sleep here so we can dream of a better world where everyone has