aol has become the latest advertiser to drop rush limbaugh. that makes a total of nine advertisers that have said bye-bye. at the top of his show, here is what he had to say about the apology over the weekend. >> the apology to her over the weekend was sincere. it was simply for using inappropriate words in way i never do. and in so doing, i became like the people we oppose. i ended up descended to their level. >> i don't think that a statement like this issue saying his choice of words was not the best changes anything especially when that statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support. >> do you think he should be fired snd. >> i'm going leave that up to the sponsor, clear channel communications and the members of the american public who support those companies. >> let's bring in our political panel. michael smerconish and with us washington post deputy, ann kornbluth. michael, aol out of here. the flower company, mattress, the list goes on and on. various advertisers saying go

. >> aol steny great thing. i think we all know the deal was in 2000. aol was the famous internet portal. everyone was signed up to it and the concern all loveless had one that was announced because we didn't know if it was going to work out well or badly but if you were concerned because aol was basically valued equal time warner. time warner had six or seven big companies, seven or $8 billion. aol was a new company making 2 billion, value the same. the question really was ortiz internet stocks and in this case the portal companies like yahoo! and aol -- are they going to justify the valuations or are they going to grow into the always harder to tell internet future? and how come if you take a and aol or yahoo! or microsoft network and put it with the content with -- what does that do? is it going to work? i mean, what is the point of that? i think what became clear, not just with aol but also with yahoo! and msm is that it is not that easy to rationally connect and internet service like the portal or on psp wi

and there is aol that may want to sell quickly, sources tell us. and this dial up business drives up. at and t out today discussing t-mobile's recent layoff announcement. an executive wrote on the blog t-mobile would have to close call centers and cut workers if companies had been allowed to merge with at and t. the merger rejected last year. and yesterday, t-mobile announced it's laying off 1900 workers as it closes down seven call centers to cut costs. research in motion is trying to stay in the game, rim plans to give software developers test models of the new black berry in early may. sales have been slumping and more people opt for apple's iphone or google's anddroid. the new black berry going on sale later this year. as for numbers today, stocks managed to squeeze out some gains. your bloomberg index down slightly. ebay among those dragging low yes, and trading of apple shares was halted today after the stock plummeted nearly 10%. what happened? the plunge steams from technical problems and this third largest u.s. exchange was scheduled to be

aol's statement echoing what some of the others said, that mr. limbaugh's comments are not in line with our values. republicans aren't rallying around the conservative icon either. >> the big myth about rush limbaugh is he can't deliver a pizza, let alone a vote, a lot of noise. >> reporter: what some call noise makes limbaugh a lot of money. "forbes" magazine says limbaugh's deal with his distributor, premiere networks, pays him more than $56 million a year. premiere in a statement today said it respects limbaugh's right to express his opinions but adds, he did the right thing by apologizing. on "the view" today, fluke dismissed limbaugh's apology posted on his website. >> i don't think that a statement like this issued saying that his choice of words was not the best changes anything. >> reporter: an apology he says is heartfelt, she says is the result of pressure from sponsors. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> up next here tonight, news for parents whose kids play contact sports. bay area ! here's big news from verizon wireless and xfini

aol bought the huffington opposed. in the middle east, we saw how citizen journalists are reporting on the uprisings, and in papers like the "san francisco chronicle" are finding ways to collaborate with groups like spj's journalist of the year in northern california. his last three of this year's winners were new or nonprofit media, a ratio that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago when newspapers and large tv stations dominated the news media. to be sure, most of the hard work is still ahead of us. few new start-ups turn a profit. many community newsrooms' still rely on volunteer labor, and broader economic issues. we want to encourage the members of our audience here at the public library to drive this discussion. this is your chance to ask these experts what is happening to the news that you depend on to make your day to day decisions. our conversation tonight will include five elements -- we will talk about the quality of reporting available to the public and move on to what is being done to create sustai

. >> and we have just learned that aol is sus spendsing his advertising.e the eighth advertiser to pull the ads because of his comment s. >> this week, many of the world s most influential women are gathering in new york for the third annual women in the world summit. women who are transforming their nations, challenging the status quo, and shaterring glass ceiling will be looking at the issue s around the world. it's news week's cover story. i have tina brown with us. the editor and chief of course of news week and the daily beast. thank you so much. >> this is your third summit, the biggest and most powerful ever, tell us what you are hoping to achieve. >> what we try to do is get behind the lines of the news. you know, you see these incredible world events happening. what about the women who are living through the situations, and i think there's something about seeing the world for the eyes of women who gives you a unique perspective, a different way of looking at the world of course as you do, you see what amazing sacrifices are being made. the women i

of course his advice ors too steve case, jeff immelt, et cetera, steve case, at the time of aol, do youhow that went back in the day? and why in the world is president obama using him as an advice or in. >> you know, it is amazing that obama has the former chairman and ceo of aol who i think was back in his days, at least i believe, he was one of the most corrupt companies that there were. axes. we did an action while i was there against them for putting out false and misleading data. which quite frankly this bill gives them a greater ability to do that without being held accountable. so here a you have a guy doing this, that obama is using as his advisor, ago we all know he had the similar ahead identifies or the former advice or of fanny trying to cook his v.p. candidate. obama hasn't got the right people around him to advice him on these matters and there were people who were in the kitchen cooking the bucks and so we are getting legislation and policy such as in this jobs act which is anything but a jobs ax. >> all right. and, of course, aol is under new management, but unfortunatel

in a statement today, aol said, quote, at aol, our one core value is that we act with integrity. not in line with our values. and the first radio station has dropped him. kpua in hawaii said, quote, it has never been our goal to allow our station to be used for personal attacks and intolerance. but we still haven't heard from the republican leadership. where are they? where's the outrage? someone show some leadership. and the right wing media is rallying around rush. bill oriley and sean hannity are throwing their support his way. and today the american spectator is calling to rally around rush. red states erik eriksson is also backing rush up. the bottom line is this apology was bogus. he doesn't sound like a guy who is really truly sorry. this is not good enough. he needs to be taken off the air. joining me now is congresswoman carolyn maloney, democrat from new york and strong advocate for women's health. and laura bassett, reporter for the huffington post who has been covering the limbaugh controversy and the war on women for weeks now. thank you both for being here tonight.

[laughter] >> well -- aol had done a fantastic thing. aol was the biggest internet portal and everyone was signed up to it. we did not know if it was going to work out well or badly. if you were concerned because aol was valued equal to time warner, time warner had companies making $7 billion or $8 billion. the question was, will these internet stocks justify those valuations? will they grow into the always harder to tell internet future? aol or a yahoo and put it with a content company, what is that going to do? what is the point of that? what became clear at aol and yahoo and msn is that it is not that easy to rationally connect an internet service with somebody new makes movies, tv shows, magazines. it is not clear what that connection is. >> that deal is behind you. you are still a major magazine publisher. what is the future of magazines in the era of technology? why are you still in the magazine business? >> you hopefully read these every day. that is the content business. it is some entertainment. think of style and celebrity maga

aol, netflix, that is a lot of companies. two radio stations have dropped his show altogether.ot surprisingly, john stuart have had the best commentary on what is going on. there are so many attacks on women's health. we talked about this on my show today. last year, states enacted a record number of abortion restrictions. in all 50 states combined, we are talking. legislators introduced more than 1100 provisions. in 2010, it was 950. 68% of these provisions restrict access to abortion services. yesterday, bob mcdonnell signed a bill that requires women to have the ultrasound's prior to having an abortion. this was supposed to be a transvaginal ultrasound. 300 women's rights groups to to the streets of the capitol in richmond, va., on saturday and they were matched by cops. i saw a little girl that was on the steps with about 10 cops. a protest is taking place as we speak in idaho over a similar law. in alabama, one of the ultrasound bills can be and is president of the company that sells the equipment to do the ultrasound. you have to follow the money. there are connections to

today aol and tax resolution services says they're pulling their ads. seven other businesses have done the same. limbaugh called her a slut and a prostitute after advocating health care coverage for contraception in a congressional hearing. limbaugh issued a written apology but today, says it changes nothing. >> i don't think that a statement like this issued saying his choice of words was not the best changes anything. and when that statement is issued when he's under pressure from his sponsors. >> she says she hasn't heard from limbaugh but says comments were so personal she'd rather not speak to him z peter gabriel took action to stop limbaugh from using his music during the radio show, it's being called largest cyber attack ever on a music company two. hackers accused of down loading michael jackson's files two. british men facing charges for hacking 50,000 songs after the company purchased rights from the estate. the catalog includes one never released song recorded with will i am of the black eyed peas. it happened around a year ago. and sony says

aol is one of two more companies to join the advertising exodus from rush limbaugh's conservative talkadio show. limbaugh has apologized for calling law student sandra fluke, a, quote, slut op two radio stations have reportedly dropped his show. singer peter gabriel pulled his music from his show. >>> coming up, the bulls get payback against the pacers. plus, an overtime thriller in a fierce west coast college basketball rivalry. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> now that we're at march, i'm willing to say this is probably the last cold morning we will see in areas of the east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." >>> in sports, the oklahoma city thunder notched a 13-state home court victory last night after narrowly escaping the dallas mavericks. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. >>> good morning. if it seems like your favorite nba team is playing every night, you're probably right. teams are playing more back-to-back games because of

aol is one of two more companies to join the advertising exodus from rush limbaugh's radio show. limbaugh has apologized for calling law student sandra fluke, a, quote, slut op two radio stations have reportedly dropped his show. singer peter gabriel pulled his music from limbaugh's program after learning his 1986 hit "sledge hammer" was played during last week's rant. >>> finally, what's black, white, and 100 years old? that's right, lift a glass of milk to the oreo today. the first iconic cookie was sold on this day in 1912. 100 oreos for everyone. >>> coming up, the bulls get payback against the pacers. and three teams secure their bids for march madness. >>> plus, and overtime thriller in a fierce west coast basketball rivalry. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." >>> in sports, the oklahoma city thunder notches a 13-straight home court victory last night after narrowly escaping the dallas mavericks. here is nbc's fred roggin wit

aol is one of two more companies to join the advertising exodus from rush limbaugh's conservative talkadio show. limbaugh has apologized for calling law student sandra fluke, a, quote, slut op two radio stations have reportedly dropped his show. singer peter gabriel pulled his music from his show. >>> coming up, the bulls get payback against the pacers. plus, an overtime thriller in a fierce west coast college basketball rivalry. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> now that we're at march, i'm willing to say this is probably the last cold morning we will see in areas of the east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna read one of these. i'm gonna read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 duster's extender gets into hard-to-reach places without the hassle. so you can get unbelievable dust pickup in less time without missing a thing. i love that book. can you believe the twin did it? ♪ swiffer. great c

aol and tax resolution services joined seven other advertisers in pulling their ads from the show.h joked today that so many new advertisers are lining up that his phone is constantly business. >>> our aged parents are demanding answers after a new jersey school. four 10-year-old boys told their parents that maintenance workers tied them up. the workers have been suspended with pay. >>> a washington, d.c. man is accused of escalating an argument into a dog. the 56-year-old has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder but he is being held without bond. >>> we have a sad story for you about a revolutionary procedure to save a maryland man's life. christopher lyle's has passed away after becoming only the second person in the world to have a transplant using his own stem cell. >> reporter: i first met christopher lyles in november of last year. a day before he left for sweden for revolutionary surgery. he became only the second person in the world, the first from the u.s. to have a synthetic trachea or windpipe trachea using his own stem cells to form or grow his own cells on plasti

. >>> aol is one of two more companies joining the advertising exodus from rush limbaugh's conservative talk show. limbaugh has apologized for calling law student sandra fluke a "slut and prostitute" for her testimony advocating birth control. two radio stations reportedly dropped his show. >>> as if it wasn't bad enough, peter gabriel pulled his music from limbaugh's program after learning his 1986 hit "sledgehammer" was played during the rant last week. >>> what is black, white and 100 years old today? that's right, lift a glass of milk to the oreo cookie. on this day in 1912, the national biscuit company made the first sale of the now iconic cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie. good excuse for you to indulge. >>> last night on the "the rachel maddow show" show, connie schultz said rush limbaugh's apology hasn't done anything to do anything on the attack. >> i watched ms. fluke's testimony live, our oldest daughter is exactly her age, just almost exactly, she is in law school. we have three other young women, two daughters and a daughter-in-law, mother of our only grandchild of rep

. >>> the most listened to radio show in the country, aol, is the latest to basically lash out against him after limbaugh called a college student a slut. the student has testified in support of contraceptive health coverage. in case you missed what this was all about and how it started, here's what he said. >> what does this say about the college co-ed susan fluke who goes before a committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? what does ma make her? that makes her a slut, right? it makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> limbaugh has since apologized for the comment. >>> the united states and israel are standing together against the threat of a nuclear iran. what are the rumblings of a possible attack mean for people who actually live there. in iran is ivan watson joining us from istanbul, turkey. ivan, i know you've had a chance to be there and talk to folks. do they fear that they will be under attack and that that attack is imminent from israel or perhaps even the united states? >> reporter: suzanne, i was only allowed to be there for five d

speaking about a guy who has created many jobs in his past, steve case is the co-founder of aol. he's the chairman and ceo of a company called revolution. he's the chairman of this start-up america partnership. he's also a member of president obama's jobs council and was responsible for what remains the biggest merger in the history of the business world with aol/time warner. steve, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> you made a speech recently where you said entrepreneurship can become the next american manufacturing. and that 100 years ago would have sounded great or 50 years ago. you meant it as a warning. >> i think it's a little bit of a wake-up call for our nation, particularly our leaders in washington, d.c., because america was built by entrepreneurs as you mentioned. they started companies and entire industries and that's how it became the leading economy in the world. but we're still great in some sectors like technology, digital media here you see a lot of momentum. but manufacturing, services, a lot of other regions in the country we don't have the same level of e

today aol announced it is pulling its ad, seven other businesses have done the same.mbaugh called fluke a slut and prostitute after she advocated health care coverage for contraception. today and the view fluke said at apology changes nothing. >> i believe it is an attempt to silence me, to silence the millions of women and the men who support them who have been speaking out about this issue. and conveying that contraception is an important health care need that they need to have met in affordable, accessible way. >> fluke says she hasn't heard from limbaugh but says the comments were so personal she would rather not have him call. limbaugh says his apology is sincere. >>> one of the two petition dives aimed at recalling mayor quan is being dropped. -- the committee admits it will not have the required 20,000 signatures by the may 14th deadline. a second effort by a group called recall jean quan now continues to collect signatures with a later deadline of july 2nd. they lap. ed the recall after -- >>> injured giants' fan brian stow has taken another small step forward

fairfax-- >>> today aol became company no. 8 to cut ties with the rush limbaugh show. the he's been hemorrhaging advertisers ever since calling a georgetown university student a slut last week. limbaugh has since apologized for those comments after fluke testified on capitol hill about contraception. >>> 10 states including virginia get the campaign 2012 spotlight tomorrow, but ohio is considered the super tuesday prize. today mitt romney and rick santorum spent their days in the buckeye state. newt gingrich is focused on georgia and tennessee and ron paul campaigned in idaho. >>> 437 delegates are up for grabs in tomorrow's super tuesday contest, 49 right here in virginia. we sent our peggy fox to find out what awaits voters when they reach the polls. >> reporter: virginia doesn't act like it's holding the presidential primary tomorrow unless you catch those sporadic handmade ron paul signs which look a bit sad compare god last november's sign-o -mania -- compared to last november's sign-o-mania elections. >> we always anticipate a lot of voters because we want to hav