tax cut compromise. an election year compromise by republicans and a victory for president obama. ad wars. mitt romney and rick santorum go head to head in michigan with this month's primary is all of a sudden up for grabs. mitt romney's ugly attacks are going to backfire. and nuclear worry. iran claims progress in its nuclear program and threatens to iran claims progress in its nuclear program and threatens to cut oil exports to europe. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, february 16, 2012. and good morning everyone. i'm terrell brown. it took a little longer than expect expected. but house and senate negotiators

reached an agreement. thas an agreement to renew the payroll tax cut. $150 billion over the coming year. congress is expected to vote this week. besides extending the payroll tax cut to the end of the year, renews long-term jobless benefits and protects doctors from huge cuts in medicare payments. >> lot of people, 160 million americans are now going to maintain their payroll tax cut. a lot of folks have lost their jobs. they're going to receive unemployment benefits. seniors are going to be able to see their doctors and get medicare. it's good for the country. >> republicans not so thrilled about the agreement. but they didn't want to make it a campaign issue. to the race now for the gop presidential nomination. three weeks ago the consensus was that the michigan primary was a gimme for mitt romney. romney finds himself battling

rick santorum. santorum is wooing conservative and romney is tacking the bailout in michigan. susan good morning. >> good morning, terrell. everyone is watching mifsh mish right now. this is the biggest head to head battle in the republican race so far. mitt romney needs to win michigan to dispel any doubts about him being the favorite. but there's no doubting the numbers. rick santorum is in the lead. gop hopeful mitt romney is rallying supporters across the state where he grew up. >> got lot of old friends here. >> this afternoon, he's expect today get a key endorsement from michigan's governor snyder. he's trailing rick santorum in the polls and is taking some heat for criticizing the auto bailout which many credit for saving the state's largest industry. >> my view from the very beginning was that the auto companies should go through managed bankruptcy and get help comes out of bankruptcy. >> romney said when president

obama signed off on the bailout he caved in to michigan's union. the president took an apparent swipe at romney's position in wisconsin on wednesday. >> there were some folks who said we should let it die. with a million jobs at stake, i refused to let that happen. >> michigan has turned into a battleground state. romney is spending more than a million dollars on television ads there. rick santorum has launched his own tv campaign to capitalize on his momentum. >> mitt romney's negative attack machine it back. >> santorum's latest ad calls it a mud slinger. >> the attacks are going to backfire. >> but on wednesday, santorum focused on job creation and eliminating the corporate tax for manufacturers. >> we want the jobs that are going overseas to china and mexico to come back to the united states and create real jobs again. >> santorum is expected to bring his job creation message to

michigan today. and santorum is also leading in the most recent national poll. as for newt gingrich, he's in california today. he'll be in georgia tomorrow. and ron paul is going to hit both idaho and washington state today. terrell? >> it's getting interesting. susan, thank you. rick santorum released his tax returns for the last several years. after losing his bid for reelection in 2006, santorum worked as a corporate consultant and media commentator. he and his wife made 660,000 in 2007. in 2009 over a million dollars. in $2010923,000. he said he paid between 25 and 28% in taxes. syrian troops have expanded their attacks on anti-government groups. this morning's target was on the border with jordan. it follows deadly results on strongholds of hama and homs. homs has been under attack for 13 days in a row.

he made it clear he'll continue to use force to put down the anti-government uprising. it's reported the taliban has begun peace talks with the united states and afghanistan. the wall street journal report that hamid karzai said the taliban are definitely interested in a peace settlement. karzai said the talks were held last month to prepare for further negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long war. to the latest on the iranian nuclear program. iran would flat-out reject any pre-conditions prior to possible negotiations with european leaders. yesterday iran threatened to cut off oil sales to countries then backed down. it's touting new nuclear accomplishments. daniel nottingham reports. >> state tv showed iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad front and center as his country's scientists marked a step forward with their nuclear program. they inserted the first nuclear

fuel record made in iran into a reactor on wednesday. officials say they have a new generation of centrifuges up and running. they're designed to speed up the production of enriched uranium. >> this is a moment for iran to demonstrate in the face of international pressure and for it own people that it continues to march towards a nuclear weapons program. >> but iran maintains its nuclear program is for creating medical research. not weapons. >> the white house says iran's claims are designed to distract attention from the damage that tough new sanctions are having on the country's economy. >> state department officials insist tehran's announcement is not that impressive. >> we frankly, don't see a lot new here. this is not big news. >> iranian officials signaled they're ready to return to talks with world leaders about their nuclear program, but several countries see this as a stalling tactic. the u.s. government is also keeping an eye on iran's oil. the country is reportedly taking

steps to cut off oil exports to some european countries before the europe peen union's ban on oil takes effect in july. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. to honduras, one of the worst prison fires was started by an inmate. the blaze started tuesday night and spread throughout the overcrowded facility. at least 358 inmates were killed, either suffocated or burned in their locked cells. firefighters said they were kept outside for half an hour as the fire burned. guards thought those firefighters were actually involved in a breakout. cbs "moneywatch" time now. oil prices stiek and former executives are arrested jennifer lewis hall is here with more. >> good morning shall terrell. eurozone leaders say a final decision on a new bailout of greece will be made monday. on wednesday finance officials praised the latest austerity plan to put forward by greek politicians.

but they are demanding more oversight in greece's economy in exchange for the $170 billion rescue package. the unresolved greek issue sent stocks falling overseas. any key lost a quarter percent. the hang seng slipped nearly a half percent. the greek debt crisis took a toll on wall street. the dow had its worst day of the year. sinking 97 points. the nasdaq lost 16. general motors is freezing its pension plan for long-time employees. the automaker will move those workers into a traditional 401(k) type plan. gm will also give salaried employees bonuses, but won't pay for raises. it's part of an effort by gm to keep costs down. ongoing tensions with iran are sending oil prices higher. oil future this is new york rose to nearly $102 a barrel. the spike came after iran threatened to cut off oil exports to six european

countries. they're imposing an oil 'em bar dpoe in response to the development of it nuclear program. three former executives of olympus have been arrested japanese prosecutors say the former execs covered up losses of more than a billion dollars dating back to the 1990s. olympus will cooperate with the investigation. terrell? >> jennifer lewis hall in new york. thank you. fans of whitney houston will be will be given a chance to stay their final farewells to the singer. scott pelley has a look at the "cbs evening news." >> driving general motors back from the brink. now that they're number one in the auto industry again, why aren't the taxpayers getting their money back? we'll ask gm's ceo tonight on the "cbs evening news." s. when my asthma symptoms returned, my doctor prescribed dulera to help prevent them. [ male announcer ] dulera is for patients 12 and older whose asthma is not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine,

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♪ jumpin' into something new ♪ you really see all you can do ♪ ♪ ♪ the best part of wakin' up ♪ is folgers in your cup ♪ the best part of wakin' up sears big presidents day sale is on now. and we do mean big. with huge savings across the store. points, perks, and privileges. members get more. sears. security video here of a drug gang attacking a newspaper office in a city in southern mexico. the newspaper is known for its fierce opposition to drug cartel

violence. after terrorizing the staff, the gang members doused the office in gasoline and set it on fire. about 20 people were inside. all escaped with only minor injuries reported. it happened late last year but the pictures were held until recently. whitney houston funeral saturday will be private by invitation only but millions of fans can watch online and on some tv stations. a camera will be set up inside the church in newark, new jersey. there will be pictures fed to the internet and by satellite to broadcasters. outside the church shall hundreds of fans continue to expand the impromptu memorial to houston's memory. some are criticizing governor chris christie's plan to lower flags to honor houston. critics say it sets a bad example because of her drug abuse. i am disturbed by people who believe that because of her history of drug abuse somehow she's forfeited the good things

she's done in her life. i just reject that on a human level. controversy continues over where josh powell is to be buried. he's a seattle area man who killed his two young sons and himself. he's also a suspect in the presumed death of the boys' mother. powell's family wants to bury him near the boys' graves. the maternal grandparents are asking to prevent that. a local group bought gravesites surrounding the two boys so their father can't be placed next to them. >> the plan is for us not to own gravesite, it's to stop josh powell or anybody that doesn't deserve next to those boys there. >> the group says if the remains of the boys' mother are found, she'll be given a plot next to theirs. take a quick break. coming up on your thursday, your weather forecast and in sport, we know he can shoot and score. but nba sensation jeremy lin knows who to pass the ball to.

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so we made ocean spray cranberry juice cocktail with a splash of lime. it's so refreshing, your taste buds will thank you. mm... oh, you're welcome. what? my taste buds -- they're thanking me. uh-huh. what if the first step on that road is a bowl of soup? delicious campbell's soups fill you with vegetable nutrition, farm-grown ingredients, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's -- it's amazing what soup can do. here's a look at the forecast. afternoon rain and 48 in new york. sunny, 80 degrees in miami. mostly cloudy, 43 in chicago. partly sunny, 58 in dallas and sunny, 70 degrees in los angeles. a check of your national forecast. storm system will push rain from the plains across the mississippi valley with some snow in the northern great lakes. rain and mountain snow will fall throughout the west. southern california will

experience santa ana winds gusting to 60 miles per hour. rain and some snow will fall on northern new york and new england. in sports this morning, as long as jeremy lin keeps winning, he'll be the star of the moment. it happened again last night. we'll get to the game in a second. first, there's a run on new york knicks jerseys and t-shirts with lin's name and number, 17. at one store a group of taiwanese tourists were planning to bring dozens home to give to family and friends. to that game now. sacramento and new york knicks. early on, lin running around for a layup. wasn't a big scoring night for the 23-year-old point guard. instead, he showed off passing skills, handing off to amar'e stoudemire. flipping a pass to fields. ten points, 13 assists, he led the nicks to a 100-85 win. the seventh straight since he became a starter. david letterman's top ten list featured some of the worst.

>> number 4, does this look lin-fected to you? number two, nix -- the number one. you got to be lin it to lin it. there you go. back to basketball. oklahoma city at houston. big game for rockets kevin martin. made a nice spinning drive for a layup. kevin durant missed three shots in the last seconds. houston gets the w in this one. 96-95. take a quick break. when we come back, a case of how in world did this happen? little girl finds herself trapped inside a vending machine. show you how she got out. look at all this stuff for coffee.

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whatcah, these new jeans i want. i've been looking everywhere. new blue jeans? oh, don't be crazy, i've got tons of blue jeans. frank! frank! get my jean bin, susie wants my jeans. no she doesn't. here we go. nice and loose. ohhh. those are loose, but i actually just ordered three pairs of this kind. ooooohhhh. oh. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay. here's a look at the forecast for some cities. d.c., drizzle, 47 degrees. morning thunderstorms and 66 in atlanta. morning rain, 42 degrees in

detroit. sunny, 43 in denver. drizzle in seattle, 50 degrees. china's lukely future president will wrap up his visit. the most memorable stop was in iowa. chinese vice president jinping got a warm welcome. he first visited the town in 1985 as the communist leader studying u.s. farming methods. the main purpose of the visit was talks in washington on u.s.-china relations. especially trade. two countries differ widely in some areas, including the manufacture of solar power panels for homes and businesses. bill whitaker has that story. >> business is heating up for randy bishop, owner of a solar company. one of the top solar panel installers in california. fueling the growth, these

inexpensive panels from china, significantly cheaper than ones made in the usa. >> for a house like this, it would probably be on the order of $3,000 to $5,000 more expensive to. >> go with u.s. panels? >> to go with u.s. panels. >> while installers welcome them, american panel makers say they're unfairly dumping panels on the u.s. killing good american manufacturing jobs. the biggest u.s. panel maker closed this plant near l.a., 100 jobs were lost. a dozen american manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsizedment. >> just a few years ago, chinese pro drukts were less than the 10%. today they average about half of the u.s. market. >> this attorney represents seven american manufacturers suing to have the u.s. commerce department slap import tax on chinese panels. they say the solar industry in china propped up by huge government subsidies, a violation of international trade wars. >> the energy department

estimated that china grants more than $30 billion of subsidies to its industry and all u.s. subsidies amount to only about $1 billion. >> randy bishop says a trade war could be a disaster just as record numbers of american are turning to the sun for energy. >> we would significantly slow our growth if the solar panel costs were to get more expensive. >> a commerce department decision whether to levy new taxes on chinese panels is expected this summer. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. a little girl is home safe in kentucky after an ordeal her mother will never forget. take a look at this. she had to be rescued tuesday night as she was trapped inside a game filled with toys. she couldn't get back out. where is her mama? took lexington firefighters more than 20 minutes to cut the machine and no, you can't put two quarters in the machine and get her out. ha, ha, ha. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," dr.

phil mcgraw on his number one show in daytime tv. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." [ lane ] is your anti-wrinkle cream gone... but not your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. why wait if you don't have to. sears big presidents day sale is on now. and we do mean big. with huge savings across the store. points, perks, and privileges. members get more. sears. instead of blaming me, try advil congestion relief. often the real problem is swelling, not mucus.

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. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is thursday, february 16. i'm andrea roane. we're almost there. i'm mike hydeck. thanks for joining us. monika, how are you? >> good.

>> howard bernstein. >> good morning. we've got an okay day. not nearly as pretty as yesterday or tomorrow is going to be. you'll need the rain gear at times today. we've got the clouds around. a chance for a shower this morning. then by midday in the afternoon, better chance of steadier showers, even a period of rain. upper 40s by noon. topping out around 50 with a 5:00 p.m. temperature still in the upper 40s. looks like any showers will be winding down pretty early this evening. sunrise 6:59 setting at 5:46. we'll see the area of rain we're watching. like the other day, a lot of this isn't reaching the ground. however, you see the darker green, most of that west of interstate 79. that's the rain we'll be looking at for the afternoon. closer to home, a couple of lighter showers moving up to the north. when i'm checking the observations, not seeing anything reaching the ground. on live doppler 9 hd, other than this band of light precip

across howard county up toward baltimore and annapolis and i don't even think most of that is reaching the ground, that's about it. temps are in the 30s. low 30s in frederick but most areas in the upper 30s to even low 40s like here in d.c. and annapolis. we've got 39 in culpeper. 36 in winchester. highs today yesterday we were in the mid-50s. today upper 40s to low 50s down south. about 50 here in d.c. it's 4:267 -- it's 4:27. i toss it over to monika with time saver traffic. i want to start off telling you there was an accident involving a tractor-trailer southbound 95 out of baltimore at the fort mchenry tunnel overnight. it has been cleared up. we were just on the phones with authorities there and they say everything has been reopened but in odenton route 3 at ridell road is closed with an accident as well. these icons behind me, that's all construction mainly on the

southeast-southwest freeway between the so so sousa bridge and this area. if you're planning to head to 395 near seminary road, this could look a lot different later this morning with a funeral procession of joshua weissman, the alexandria paramedic. we'll keep you posted on that throughout the morning broadcast. let's head to the north side of town. no problems on 270 right now coming in from gaithersburg down to the point where the lanes divide. we'll take a look at the legion bridge. both sides of the loop running free. more on the roadways at 4:39. >> thank you, monika. late last night congressional bargainers say they've reached annual agreement on legislation extending a payroll tax cut and extra benefits for the long- term unemployed for the rest of 2012. >> that paves the way for the house and senate to vote possibly this week. the price tag $150 billion.

that money would have gone to the social security trust fund. with all of the concerns of keeping that fund solvent, we hear it every week should that tax cut have been better spent there. gary nurenberg looked into it. >> reporter: forget the partisan warfare of 2011 for now. in an election year, politics are unlikely to raise taxes even if it takes money away from social security. >> the only resemblance the social security trust fund has to the real world is that congress can borrow from it faster than paris hilton ever could. >> reporter: even if the public is worried about social security. >> you have people who say they're never going to get any social security paychecks. none of that is true but there are a lot of people who do not have confidence in the social security system. >> reporter: under the pending deal, congress plans to take money from the general fund giving it to social security to make up the loss and then borrowing to replace that money. >> now we've created a system with this complicated transfer of money where it's going from