an american soldier accused of a savage house to house shooting rampage that left 16 afghan civilians dead, mostly women and children. >> it's tragic. it's a tragic incident. but it would be far greater to let this affect what we're doing in the country. >> southern swing. tomorrow's primaries in mississippi and alabama shake out the race for the gop presidential nomination? >> and the madness begins. the ncaa tournament brackets are set. will a cinderella team crash the set. will a cinderella team crash the dance again this year? captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news"

for monday, march 12, 2012. good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. this morning the u.s. embassy in afghanistan is warning americans of possible violence in retaliation for sunday's mass shooting allegedly by a u.s. soldier. the soldier a is cuesed of shooting and killing 16 afghan civilians and turned himself in. president obama promises a full investigation. u.s. officials say the soldier was acting alone when he opened fire early sunday morning in the villages located in kandahar province. the soldier is reportedly based in washington state at joint base lewis mccoy. we have more. good morning, terrell. the white house is still gathering its facts. but right now here's what we know. the villages where these killings took place are 500 yards away from a u.s. base in afghanistan and the shooting started sunday morning around 3:00 a.m. villages pointed to a bullet hole as they examined the damage

to a home after an american soldier allegedly went on a shooting spree in afghanistan's southern kandahar province. the u.s. serviceman went house to house sunday morning killing people in two villages. afghan president hamid karzai says the deaths of 16 people, mostly women and children, cannot be forgiven. nato launched a full investigation. >> we are still looking with the local villages, with the elders and the -- into the background what actually happened in the villages. >> the soldier is in custody. cbs news has learned he's an army staff sergeant from fort lewis washington state on his first tour of duty in afghanistan. president obama called afghanistan's president to express his condolences. the president says the incident is tragic and shocking but does not represent the exceptional character of our military. the white house is on damage control. the shooting comes less than a month after u.s. soldiers accidentally burned copies of

the koran at a base in afghanistan. february's incident touched off deadly lie ots and six american soldiers were killed. the military says these events won't force them to retreat. >> what's not going to happen is the mission suffers as a result of this. it's tragic. it's a very tragic incident. but it would be a far greater tragedy for us to let this affect what we're doing at large in the country. >> american soldiers are training local forces to take control of afghanistan in 2014. >> the area where these killings took place is a taliban stronghold. the taliban is using the incident to focus anger against american troops. terrell? >> dwart i geraldino, thank you. as reported, the soldier was based at joint base lewis mccord in washington. home to 100,000 military and civilian personnel. it's had a share of controversies. in 2002, the newspaper stars and stripes called it the most troubled base in the military.

four lewis mccord soldiers were convicted of killing three afghan civilians in 2010. one, calvin gibbs, received a life sentence. another soldier based there, benjamin colton barnes killed a park ranger at mount rainier national park. in the past five years, about 300 patients at the base had their ptsd diagnosis reversed by a forensic psychiatry team. the seattle times reported that this month. the army is reviewing whether those doctors were influenced by how much a ptsd diagnosis can cost in terms of pension and other benefits. republican presidential candidate newt gingrich said on face the nation yesterday it's time for the u.s. to leave afghanistan. >> i think we need to reconsider the whole region. our being in the middle of countries like afghanistan is counterproductive. we're not prepared to be ruthless enough to force them to change. >> gingrich said american lives are being risked in afghanistan

on a mission that may be impossible. campaign 2012 in tomorrow's possibly decisive primaries in alabama and mississippi, on saturday, mitt romney won the caucuses in wyoming. rick santorum scored a landslide victory in the kansas caucuses. it's tomorrow's votes in the deep south that could be a game changer. nancy cordes has our report. >> i like grits. >> it started on thursday in mississippi when mitt romney professed a newfound loch for southern cuisine. >> i got southern with a biscuit and some cheesy grits. delicious. >> that led newt gingrich who called georgia home for 40 years to stir the pot in alabama. >> unlike one of my competitors, i have had grits before. [ laughter ] if you don't understand grits, there's a pretty high likelihood you don't understand the rest of the south either.

>> rick santorum stayed out of the food fight but he came to mississippi today hungry for votes. why should a southern voter go for you as opposed to newt gingrich? >> i understand there's some regional appeal for congressman gingrich. but he's won two states out of, what, 25 races so far. he's finished third or fourth in almost every other race. so it's just not going anywhere for him. >> for romney, a strong showing in mississippi and alabama tuesday would further cement his position as the prohibitive front-runner. for santorum, victories here would bolster his case that romney struggles outside his stronghold like the northeast and upper midwest. for gingrich, a pair of wins would enable him to argue he's a better conservative alternative to romney. >> the romney model which is to overwhelmingly out spend your opponent, is -- there's no possibility that he can can outspend obama. >> there are several more southern primaries in the weeks to come. so we'll probably be hearing a

lot more about grits and possibly hush puppies and catfish too. nancy cordes, cbs news, meridian, mississippi. there's more fighting on the border between israel and the gaza strip this morning. it's the fourth consecutive day of violence. the violence began with an israeli air strike on friday that killed a top militant leader. that led to back and forth rocket attacks and air strikes. 24 palestinians have been killed since friday. kofi annan left damascus without securing a cease-fire. he met with president assad sunday and he was hoping to allow humanitarian aid to reach areas being attacked by syrian troops. syrian forces continue to pound rebel strongholds. syrian activists say government troops killed more than a dozen people in the city of homs sunday night. marie colvin will be buried today. she was killed during a rocket

attack last month in homs. she had been urged to leave but wanted to file one more report. colvin grew up on long island, covered wars for the times of london. she was 56 years old. coming up on the morning news, why some apple fans have to wait to get their hands on the new ipad. not good. plus, the girl scouts celebrate their 100th year anniversary today. we'll show you former scouts who made it big. this is the "cbs morning news." not gonna need those. come on. let's go, mikey. sandwich boy. what do you mean? [ grunts ] still training. ♪ what'd you get? black forest ham egg & cheese on flatbread... what's next? now i train. [ male announcer ] subway has what michael phelps needs. high-protein favorites to get him started and the turkey breast with kickin' jalapeños to keep him going. subway. the official training restaurant of michael phelps... and jay glazer. hey! and athletes everywhere.

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now this medieval castle in slovakia was not being sacked when it was destroyed by flames. two kids may have set the grass on fire when they were trying to light some cigarettes. the castle was built back in the 14th century and open to the public for about a year. no tourists were inside when that fire broke out fortunately. cbs money watch time on a monday. greece moves closer to the debt

crisis. a longer wait for the those who pre-ordered the ipad. ashley morrison has more. >> good morning, terrell. markets slipped the nikkei lost nearly half a percent as profit takers moved in and the hang seng shed a fraction. this week we'll get data on retail sales, manufacturing and inflation. the report showed the economy added about 227,000 jobs in february and the unemployment rate stayed flat at 8.3%. that gave wall street a boost. the dow is down 55 points and the nasdaq gained 12. if there's one thing threatening the economic recovery in the u.s., it's the rising price of fuel. according to the lundberg survey, the average cost of a gallon of gas is up 12 cents in the last two weeks. it's now at $3.81 a gallon. eurozone finance ministers are in brussels today expected to sign off on their portion of the greek bailout.

the deal was reached after last week's debt swap which cut about 100 euros off o the -- if the elections in greece failed to deliver on promised economic reform. if you've pre-ordered the new ipad to avoid long lines at the apple store, you still have to wait. the new tablet hit store shelves this friday but pre-ordered ipads won't be shipped until next monday. last week apple prommed the new ipads would arrive at customers' homes on the release date. apple is blaming the delay on high demand for the gadget. if you got an extra $78 million in your bank account, you might be interested in this southern california mansion. the 32,000 square foot home has seven bedrooms, six fireplaces and a two-story lobby. i could be happy there. there's also room for 2,000 bottles of wine in the cellar and an underground shooting

range. with a wine cellar like that, it's probably good that the shooting range is underground. >> that's the perfect place for a shooting range. >> i think so. >> oh, boy. ashley morrison here in new york. thank you so much. the girl scouts are celebrating their 100th anniversary today. the organization was founded in savannah, georgia in 1912. that's where about 3,000 girl scouts gathered this weekend to mark the occasion. some famous girl scouts include singer mariah carey, secretary of state hillary clinton and barbara walters. there are 2.5 million girls enrolled nationwide. they'll be well-funded as long as they keep selling those cookies. because of me. coming up, your monday morning weather and in sports, all you bracketologists, grab your pencils, the seeds are set for march madness. we'll tell you who came out on top. whoa! chase freedom is offering 5% cash back at gas stations this quarter. that's great. i know, right? just learned how to drive this yesterday. one second. i'll be right back around.

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in sports, break out the brackets. the teams for march madness have been selected. the kentucky wildcats are overall the number one seed despite losing the southeastern conference championship. syracuse orange are on top in the east. north carolina tar heels are number one in the midwest. and in the west, it is michigan state. the spartans earned their number one seed the hard way. they beat ohio state 68-64 for the first big ten tournament title since 2000. vanderbilt has momentum after taking down kentucky. the rally that beat the wildcats, 71-64 for the first s.e.c. trophy since 1951. commodores are seeded fifth in the east and will play harvard on thursday. florida state took down another number one seed, north carolina. they beat the tar heels for the first atlantic coast conference championship. hamilton is the first african-american coach to ever win that title. get ready for the big dance. tipoff for march madness begins

tomorrow with the first four games. you can catch second round coverage thursday at noon here on cbs. murray state against colorado state. in football a whole bunch of teams are pursuing peyton manning. met with the arizona cardinals yesterday in tempe. four-time league mvp was released by the colts after missing the entire season. he's already met with the broncos and the finishing titans. when we come back, one year later. we'll go to japan where solemn remembrances were held on the anniversary of a disastrous earthquake and tsunami. we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. d.c., partly sunny, 68 degrees. mostly cloudy, 68 in atlanta. cloudy, 61 degrees in detroit. mostly sunny, 68 in denver and chilly with rain, 46, in seattle. people around the world

yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami that leveled japan. nearly 20,000 people died or went missing. bill whitaker was there as survivors remembered. >> on the day of great suffering, no place suffered more than the small coastal city here. 3,182 people died in the tsunami here. it was only fitting this place would ring in this day of remembrance. starting at dawn, people rang this bell found in the debris one strike for each of the dead. all across japan today in cities and towns and all alone with flowers and bells and tears, people took time to remember those who perished in the earthquake and tsunami a year

ago. precisely at 2:46, the time the magnitude 9 earthquake struck, this country went silent. the emperor and empress bowed deeply. in fast-paced tokyo, commuters stopped on platforms, on board trains, passengers prayed. the tragedy a year ago wasn't just about death but about destruction too of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. in downtown tokyo, thousands marked it by protesting the nuclear industry. this evening in sendai, the largest city hit by the tsunami young people sang while citizens of all ages lit candles and prayed. this is a day for japan to look back while looking forward, to remember the horror as well as the outpouring of help.

these candles spell thank you to the world. you can still see the pain in the faces in the crowds today. but you can see silent determination, too. bill whitaker, cbs news, sendai, japan. and new yorkers remembered the one-year anniversary. hundreds gathered at the japan society for a moment of silence. they stad at 2:46 p.m., during the ceremony, japan thapgd the u.s. for helping out. hundreds of people marked the anniversary with a rally in southern california. demonstrators questioned the safety of the nuclear generating station in the aftermath of a possible earthquake or tsunami. local officials say the plant's design in the area geography make it unlikely that will be a japan-style disaster. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," the latest on the deadly shootings in afghanistan. plus, a look at hygiene and its link to higher allergy and asthma rates. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." ñ

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good morning and welcome to 9news now. i'm andrea roane. before i toss it over to howard, i want to say good

morning to brian lamb, a regular watcher. i met him on friday. >> good morning. just as nice a person as you might imagine. >> reporter: you are going to need a jacket along with everybody else out there. temperatures near 40 degrees. not nearly as chilly as it was friday. a nice warm up and a very spring like week. let me show you the day planner. temperatures this week, the advertised, 54. keep that in mind. we are going to blow past that today and probably the entire week. we are 48 in washington with partly cloudy skies. but -- by noon, sunny and 60. right now, you see the cold stuff here, 37 degrees, petersburg, west virginia 39.

we are still 48 degrees at reagan national. we are watching clouds off to the west, moving in during the afternoon. in fact some of the high clouds are with us right now. showers are just getting into western ohio. looks like the rain will be here tonight and maybe even early tuesday. temperatures today, look at this. upper 60s to right around that 70-degree mark. can you say spring fever, monika samtani? >> i can. if you are planning to head around town, no big worries on the west side of town or the west side of town near university boulevard, you are good to go on the beltway, the entire northern stretch between college park and bethesda. rigs road there is an accident and i believe crews have arrived on the scene. 270 looks great out of frederick. all lanes are open on the beltway, north side of town and even over to the west side, at

the american legion bridge. let's go to virginia on the northbound side of i-95. leave dale city across the river a live look on the northbound side of 95. lanes are open, very late. a last look at 395 as well here at duke street running well to the 14th street bridge. in my next report we'll look at the west side of town. a u.s. soldier is in custody after he allegedly opened fire, killing 16 people in two villages near his base in afghanistan. officials say the dead include women and children. president obama called afghan's president karzai to express his condolences, the u.s. military is warning soldiers to be prepared for retaliation. >> villagers pointed to a bullet hole as they pointed to damage to a home in southern kandahar province.

the u.s. serviceman went house to house in afghanistan killing people in two villages. the deaths of 16 people, mostly women and children, cannot be forgiven. nato has launched an investigation. >> we are lacking into the background what actually happened in the villages. >> reporter: the soldier is in custody. cbs news has learned he is an army staff sergeant from fort lewis in washington state who was on his first tour of duty in afghanistan. president obama all the afghanistan's president to express condolences. the president says the incident does not represent the exceptional character of our military. sunday's shooting comes less than a month after u.s. soldiers accidentally burned copies of the quran at a base in afghanistan. >> reporter: six american soldiers were killed in