control controversy. republicans label president obama's new birth control policy an assault on religious freedom and vow to see it repealed. delayed response, the 8-minute gap from the first 911 call until police were dispatched to the home of josh powell. >> have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first. and wild weather. in had 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 9th, 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 policy on birth control. they say they will overturn the new rule. the white house appears to be willing to compromise. the new rule says those who provide health nrn, includi -- and houses of worship are exempt. 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 research and 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 ever 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 can going to 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 where we compete head to head. >> romney is under attack for calling president obama's new policy on contraception an

assault on religion. the measure requires faith-based groups to pay for birth control coverage in their insurance plans. >> this is, i think, ironic that mitt romney is expressing, criticizing the president for pursuing a policy that virtually identical to the one that was in place when he was governor of massachusetts. >> needs to check his history. that provision was put in massachusetts before i was governor. >> but it's not just romney on the attack. >> we have a president who is going after the church. >> other gop contenders are also using the policy to take on president obama. and all four gop candidates will meet here in washington tomorrow for cpac tell make their cases about why they should be the nominee. susan mcginnis 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 office holders estimates 12.2 million latinos will vote this november. 9.7 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 and the state senate approved the bill last week. governor chris geg war 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 this morning in the city of homs. syrian forces killed another 29 people. the head of the arab league wants to send observers back into seer yachlt u.n. chief ban

ki-moon would consider an observer mission but added that time for a diplomatic solution is running out. >> we stand ready to assist in any way that will contribute to improvement on the ground and to the overall situation. >> the u.n. says more than 5400 people have been killed during the 11 months uprising against the assad government. on 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. that landmark settlement between the government and the nation's biggest mortgage lenders is closer to final approval. new york and california are reportedly red toy sign off on the agreement. they will pay an estimated $37 billion to sue for abuse of

foreclosure practices. part of the money will be to reduce loans for about one million homeowners. the nikkei shed a fraction after a drop in machinery orders. hong kong's hang seng 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 $400 million in pensions. if no deal is reached, greece will not receive 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 for their staff from using inside information to make stock deal. the bill picked up steam after a report by steve croft on "60 minutes." the senate overwhelmingly passed the bill last week.

there may be extra crowds at the apple store but not to buy the latest gadget. activists will drop off petitions 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 petitions. betty, if that's on your list of errands, you might want to avoid apple stores. >> going to be a long line there. ashley morrison in new york. thank you. coming up, 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, scott pelley has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news". confessions of murder made by former members of a militant group. we'll 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 in his home. phone logs show nearly eight minutes pass before sheriff's deputies arrive at the home. >> i am on a super siesed visitation for a court ordered visit and something really weird has happened. >> elizabeth griffin hall tells the 911 operator that the five and seven-year-olds were one step ahead of her when powell slammed the door on her. >> how long will it be? >> 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 didn't get his kids back. 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. he blew up the house and the kids! >> the kids and the father were in the house? >> yes. yes he slammed the door in my

face. i kept knocking. i thought it was a mistake. 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 he didn't get the children back and he's acting in this bizarre manner, that should key that this is an urgent situation. >> that caused at least ten minutes. they did not arrive in time to save the children. 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 revealed

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 saturday for charlie, braden and their mother susan powell. after sunday's fire authorities said it's likely that she too is dead. newly disclosed testimony about last summer's deadly stage collapse in indiana criticizes the show's headliner, the country duo sugar land. violent winds blew down the stage at the indiana state fair killing seven people and injuring 58. yesterday the staging company was fined $63,000 for violating industry standards. 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 caught on video. in happened at a walmart on wednesday in the toy bpt

department. a man grabbed a seven-year-old girl. she screamed and kicked and fought until he put her down and then ran away. the little girl was unharmed. the suspect, thomas woods was on parole after serving four and a half years for manslaughter. in sport, 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. kay jewelers presents the ring

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here's a look at the weather. new york, sunny, 46. 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 and mountain snow will fall in washington and oregon and in northern arizona and new mexico. showers and a few thunderstorms will continue in south florida. but 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 georgetown and they were tied at the end of regulation. 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. how about tenth ranked duke at number 5, north carolina. in his first game against the tar heels, duke freshman austin rivers scored 29 point. 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 minored in love. emeka okafor. inside information, if you will. but the big intro didn't help. the hornets, turnovers like

ronnie brewer's steal and the layup gave the bulls an easy win. here is the best basketball shot. a high school girl's game in fort wayne, indiana. the woodland warriors lauren eel i nailed it from half court for the win. 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. i bet they're taking elevators for the next few days. extreme weather. why we're enjoying a mild weather but europe plunges in a deep freeze. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., 46. atlanta, partly sunny, 56 there. partly sunny in detroit, 39, denver 38, seattle, cloudy, 53. well, 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 are blooming weeks ahead of schedule. >> are you surprised to see them blooming this time of year. >> i am. they're early. it looks like spring. >> the executive director of the u.s. botanic gardens. >> you can see them 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 hall fert 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 of 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, the jet stream has dipped far to the south allowing frigid arctic air to pour across the continent subjecting europe to its deepest freeze in decades. in hungary they're burning -- >> 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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good morning and welcome to 9news now on this buddy check 9 day. it's thursday, february 9th, i'm andrea roane. >> thank you for joining us, i'm mike hydeck, here's monika samtani with her family crest.

i know i say that every time. it's still fun. good morning with his tie as well. >> i tried for buddy check 9 day and not just a snow brush, but a scraper because it's wet snow and the stuff is probably pretty caked on. i know in clarksburg, manassas and people -- >> people in the district are going what are you talking about? >> it was really elevation and west and northwest of town. even 2 inches up in submitsburg. no problems today other than an early slick spot and a chill to start. we'll have mid 30s by 9:00 and this afternoon really not a bad day. there's a bit of a breeze this morning. and that breeze will slowly die down about 10 miles an hour out of the northwest and a little lighter than that this evening with a 6:00 p.m. temperature of 44. highs in the mid and youer 40s. -- mid- and upper 40s. right now we've got 35 degrees. here's the storm system from yesterday dropping the light areas of snow mainly north and west. a couple of problems we had to

accumulate snow, it was just too warm. the rain snow line was farther north and it was late when it finally changed over and not enough time to build up anybody and that's fine -- anything and that's fine by most people's standards. 35 martinsburg. but loudoun county, leesburg, manassas is 30 and even down in charles county. we're looking near freezing root now with 33 and we've got 37 there at the pax river naval air station. no problems on the roads from ice. but now monika samtani and timesaver traffic. just a few extra minutes to scrape off the ice off the windshield and other than that i didn't find any big props from -- problems from the north and west of town. here's what it look like all green between college park and bethesda. a live look at 270 which is also fine. coming down from shady grove road to the point where the lanes divide. incident-free right now. to the south side of town and into virginia on the northbound side of i-95 also looking great from the occoquan river up to

springfield and on to 395 and a last live look at 66 inbound from centreville to the beltway, you're fine. inbound dulles toll road watch out for ongoing construction. coming up in my next report, another look at maryland in the 4:39. how a par madic responding to a car fire went from rescuer to victim. it happened last night at 6:30. >> that medic fell off the overpass. now 395 to four mile run. he landed in rocky creek below. ken molestina has more. >> reporter: rescuers worked to save one of their own. he fell 20 feet off of the overpass and into a creek full of large rocks. >> i saw him and they immediately had done cpr on him. >> i started crying and i got down and started praying. >> reporter: according to neighbors who live near the creek, he was lying motionless when fellow rescuers got down to the spot where he was at.

>> i saw the ems guys working on their buddy there for a good 20, 30 minutes so i hope he's all right. i don't know if he made it or not. >> reporter: alexandria fire officials believe the first responder fell through a gap in the overpass and more than likely through a space in the roads like this one. if you look closely you can see the gap. but what's still a mystery is what caused the paramedic to fall through. many are praying for the medic and his family as they hope for the best. >> i feel sorry for his girlfriend or his wife. i came down there and said a little prayer for her you know. >> reporter: firefighters say a medic is assigned to the seminary road station. we're in alexandria, ken molestina, 9news now. accused of sexually assaulting a girl inside a d. c. elementary school. police say 21-year-old davon rashad wood of nortt