here is brianna keilar. >>> the capitol will sit empty. for the $85 billion in forced spending cuts set to kick in at midnight, left town thursday without finding a way to fix the problem. now the finger pointing. >> the republican proposal is the worst of all worlds, explicitly protects pork barrel projects and every single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy. >> president obama wants to avoid forced budget cuts with tax increases. republicans refuse. >> we've done our work. they have not done theirs. the house should not have to pass a third bill to replace the sequester before the senate passes one. >> reporter: the senate failed to pass two bills thursday. one democratic, one republican, both measures that were never expected to succeed, making almost certain that president obama will be forced to sign executive order today that owe punishab officially puts the cuts into effect. president obama in a written statement accused senate republicans of voting "to let the entire burden of deficit reduction fall squarely on the middle class

is he required to do that soledad and he'll do so privately. >> brianna keilar at the white house. thank you, bre anna. we'll talk with virginia congressman randy forbes. new information this hour. catholic cardinals meeting to set a date for the conclave to pick the new pope and signals the very beginning of a new era for the church. >> translator: i am no longer the pope. but i'm still in the church. i'm just a pilgrim who is starting the last part of his pilgrimage on this earth. >> pope benedict xvi began his retirement in seclusion at castel gandolfo. 15 miles south of vatican city. let's get to ben wedeman in rome this morning. hey, ben. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. the news here is that the dean of the college of cardinals, anga angelo saldono has invited the cardinals to begin at 9:30 a.m. on monday. 3:30 eastern time. a session beginning at 5:00 in the afternoon on monday as well this is really a critical gathering of all cardinals. not just the 115 cardinals who will be participating in the conclave, but also those who are over the age of 80, and obvi

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell. it's 8:00 here on the east coast, 5:00 out west. thanks for starting your day with us. let's go to florida where we are waiting a news conference to begin on that sinkhole tragedy yesterday. rescuers are trying to find jeff bush. he's presumed dead, but his body has not been recovered after the earth opened up and swallowed him. let's listen. >> i'm the public relations officer for hillsborough county fire rescue. at this time, first of all, i want to say that our hearts go out to the families of wicker family and the bush family, because they do not have their family member with them at this point. we are here, because we want to give you an update about what we're doing for the families. first of all, we started our operations this morning, our conducted operations started at 7:00 this morning. that's what we're doing right now. and i want to let you know that we set up a fund for the family, a donation for the family. we actually have a website. anybody that's interested to help th

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. the stories we're watching this morning.uthorities in florida haven't found the body of a man swallowed by a sinkhole. jeff bush in his tampa home friday night when his home fell into the ground. the show growing bigger and could take the house with it. >>> number two, the process of perking the next pope is not likely to start until the middle of next week. earlier today a vatican spokesman said some of the cardinals involved in the process won't arrive until monday or tuesday. 115 cardinals are gathering for meetings which will set the date for the secret election of the next pope. benedict xvi stepped downed thursday. >>> number three. in just over three weeks the supreme court will begin to hear oral arguments on california's proposition 8, which mans same-sex marriage. now president obama is urging the court to overturn the ban tile phooing filing a breach with the supreme court. >>> number four, detroit just about broke, if you can imagine that. so michigan's governor rick snide sir taking drastic action. he announced

i'm brianna keilar in for brandy kay. thanks for starting your morning with us. first up, the cardinals who will choose the next spiritual leader of the roman catholic church are spreading out to celebrate masses. tuesday, they will all be in one place. the vatican. cnn's jonathan mann walks us through the top secret process to pick the new pope. >> it's the oldest enduring electoral system in the world. many of its traditions have been unchanged for centuries. the conclave, which literally means locked with a key, dates back to a time when cardinals were locked in until they chose a new pope. now, it's the world that's locked out figuratively speaking, as much of the conclave will take place behind closed doors. the gathering begins with a morning mass in st. peter's basilica. in the afternoon, the 115 voting cardinals, those under 80 years old, en certificate the sistine chapel where they will each take on oath of secrecy. the penalty, automatic ex-communication. after the oath, preparations are made for the election taken by secret ballot. lots are drawn for t

we want to bring in brianna keilar at this event. tell us why this moment is important for him, brianna. >> reporter: certainly this is an event, suzanne, that i think people look at really wonder how relevant cpac is but certainly often relevant in the fact that you're seeing sort of upcoming political players in the republican party. a lot of them come here maybe for their debut or to kind of cement their status. but there's another issue this year that i think makes this something that's more to watch. and that is what is the future of the republican party? that is actually the theme of this year's conference at a time where republicans agree that what they've been doing isn't really working. so this is supposed to be kind of an idea forum although at times it does sort of take this political stage. and i think there will be a lot of what these speakers are discussing today will be kind of looking to see what their ideas are for the future of the republican party. big names that we're seeing today this hour in fact. senator marco r

. >> and i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. we start in washington with the spending cuts that were never supposed to happen. but they are happening. >> $85 billion in federal funding was slashed from the budget affecting everything from education to the fbi to food safety, national parks. the president is calling the cuts dumb and arbitrary. jessica yellin has more from washington. jessica. >> reporter: brianna, victor, the president has now signed the order triggering these forced spending cuts. administration officials acknowledge there was no kind of negotiating over a deal to avoid those cuts at a last-minute white house meeting with congressional leaders. they say the two sides are just too far apart. >> congressional leaders summoned to the white house for a last-minute meeting left less than an hour later with no deal. soon after the president came to the briefing room to give his side of the story. >> none of this is necessary. it's happening because a choice that republicans in congress have made. >> at issue, mr. oba

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. 28 past the hour, actually.at we're watching for you this morning, among others. searchers have given up on finding a florida man who vanished into a giant sinkhole. the ground below jeff bush's home will be his grave. demolition crews will tear the house down later this morning from a distance because the ground is that unstable. families have left the houses next door because the sinkhole could spread to their homes. >>> firefighters near daytona beach, florida, say they've got it about 75% contained, but at one point about 300 family husband to leave. winds and low humidity had been feeding the fire. those same conditions, actually, expected today. >>> and number three. this t-shirt, maybe you're not surprised, is causing a whole lot of outrage on twitter over what it says. keep calm and hit her. it appeared on amazon's uk retail site. the u.s.-based company that prints the shirt says it has removed the listing and is apologizin apologizing. the slogan was computer generated and not intentionally created. >>>

cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar joins us from the north lawn to explain. resident? >> reporter: kid president is this little boy, jake, whose name is robbie novak, and he dons a little suit because he ace a little guy and plays kid president delivering some pretty hilarious and but also very inspirational messages. he does this it on videos with help from his older brother-in-law, and this airs on sole pancake, which is a kind of feel-good web site. he is the special guest for the easter egg roll, but he was also tasked with doing pr for the event. check it out. >> kid president, looks like you got my message. >> yes, mr. president, i got your message. this is historic, the white house easter egg roll. kids dancing, eggs rolling. i'm in. you should be, too. i got asked by the white house people. i can't believe this is happening. my head's getting ready to explode. you should make my head explode. yeah, that would be so funny. >> you want to edit your head exploding? >> yeah. do it, man. do it for the children. >> pretty funny little guy. he'll be bringing

but first let's bring in our brianna keilar who is at the conference in maryland. so, brianna, this is romney's first speech. highly anticipated. >> reporter: highly anticipated his first major speech, fredricka, since his loss in november. we saw him give an interview recently to fox news channel. but as you can imagine it's very different i think sitting down one-on-one with someone versus being here in an auditorium of so many people, literally could be thousands of people watching him here in national harbor, maryland. we're told by a source familiar with what he's going to say that his comments will be personal and that they will be forward looking. obviously his campaign -- he and his campaign weathered a whole lot of criticism for the loss in november. so it will be really interesting to see how he deals with that. because the theme of this whole conference even though we're seeing a little looking back with mitt romney being a speaker and sarah palin being a speaker tomorrow, the whole idea is conserve etism and specifically the future of the republican part

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. it's march 3rd. we're glad you're with us. happening outside, demolition crews about to tear down a house sitting on a killer sinkhole, it's about 50 feet deep and 30 feet wide. the ground is so unstable, wrecking crews will have to demolish from a distance. they won't take their equipment past the sidewalk. it has become so dangerous search crews have been forced to give up the search for jeff bush's body. he was in his bed when the hole opened up and collapsed beneath him. there's fears it could spread to neighboring houses. at least two families left. we'll take you to the ground outside the house in a few minutes. most of the people chased out by a brush fire in daytona beach are back home this morning. firefighters there say they have it about 75% contained. at one appoint about 300 families had to leave and leave quick because the fire was moving so fast. winds and low humidity have been feeding the fire, those are the same conditions that are expected today. the crew aboard international space station is getting ready t

. >>> welcome back, everyone, i'm brianna keilar for if randi kaye. >> let's start this half with fistories you should know about this morning. first, a suicide bombing rocked the afghan ministry of defense just hours after chuck hagel arrived in kabul on his first official overseas trip. nine people were killed, it's a message for hagel who was not injured. >>> believe it or not, a space rock is giving us all another thing to watch really close shave this hour. this is number two. an asteroid the size of a city block is buzzing by about 605,000 miles away. two times the distance from the earth to the moon. number three, the body of hugo chavez will remain in a glass casket on public display forever, forever. world leaders from iran, cuba, and dozens of nations attended a state funeral yesterday. actor sean penn and the reverend jesse jackson were there too. >>> new trial date set for osama bin laden's son-in-law who has pleaded not guilty to terror charges. prosecutors say he conspired to kill americans as part of bin laden's al qaeda network and spent most of his time since the sep

i'm brianna keilar in this morning for randi kaye. 7:00 on the east coast, 4:00 on the west. thanks for starting your morning with us. >>> first vice president joe biden will be in alabama to commemorate the historic civil rights march from selma to montgomery. shined a light on the right for voting rights. fast forward to now, the issue is front and center and victor blackwell is live in selma for us. hi, victor. just want to ask you because vice president biden is going to be there. he said wednesday that he couldn't believe that he's reliving this civil rights battle and it is really being put into light today because of the march. he is referring to this voting rights case that is now before the supreme court. is he expected to address that today? >> no doubt. he will talk about that today. the people who tried to cross that bridge behind me, this was the legislation they were fighting for in 1965. it's been reauthorized several times and now there is a fight in the supreme court to negate one portion, section five of the voting rights act, which gives the federal governm

i'm brianna keilar in for randy kay. >>> we start with a wild story about jennifer capriati.ng and stalking an ex-boyfriend. brandon says capriati punched him several times. her reps called the accusations over exaggeration. cnn's legal contributor, paul callan joining me by phone. paul, how serious are these charges of stalking and assault in florida? they are kind of serious, right? >> reporter: well, they can be, brianna, because florida has one of the strictest stalking laws in the country. most places it's a misdemeanor charge, a minor charge where you face probation or community service. in florida they have a felony provision where you actually can be sentenced to state's prison in a particularly serious case. now we don't know what is involved in this case, whether it would rise to that level or, indeed, if charges will ever be formally brought, but it's in the a good place to be charged with stalking. >> no. paul, apparently her ex-boyfriend is alleging at least half a dozen incidents of stalking. if, say, his lawyers are able to establish a pattern here, will that b

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell.start this morning with good news for the northeast. good news. you know that violent winter storm, it's moving out into the atlantic. but not before causing all kinds of problems for residents who already have seen lots of snow this year. the late winter storm dumped more than a few headaches on parts of new england but it wasn't just snow. look at this. a house blown off its foundation on massachusetts plum island. high tide brought extremely high waves to the coastline and that caused flooding. this cnn ireport was sent to us from nantucket island. >> we're here two hours after high tide. again, all of lower easy street is flooded. >> to the north the story was snow. lots of it. more than a foot fell in some areas. travel was almost impossible and thousands of people lost power. >> i'm done with the snow. after the last one, it really beats you up. >> some people use the storm as a chance to make money but the majority of people seem to have had enough of winter. >> i'm done with it

good morning, everyone, i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. >> and it's good to have you here. >> thankood to be here. >>> number one, authorities in florida still have not found the body of a man swallowed by a sink hole. jeff bush was in the bedroom of his tampa home thursday night when the room just collapsed into the ground. bush's brother jumped in to try to save him, but he couldn't. authorities say the hole is growing bigger and could take the house with it. >>> detroit is just about broke. this is our number two story. michigan's governor rick snyder is taking drastic action. snyder announced he will appoint an emergency manager. he'll have the power to cut spending if necessary. a state review found that detroit's long-term debts exceed $14 billion. >>> at number three, bruce davis, a former follower of charles manson is not getting parole. jerry brown reversed a parole board decision to let the 70-year-old out of jail saying he still poses a danger to society. davis is serving a life sentence for killing two men in 1969. >>> and number four, today kicks off the $85 billion in

. >>> good morning, everyone, i'm brianna keilar in for rapirandi. >>> the taliban is sending a message chuck hagel. >>> a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of the afghan defense ministry in kabul hours after hagel arrived in the capital. nine people were killed, 14 others were wounded. >> hagel is fine, expressed condolences to the victims. the pentagon says he was moved to a safe location. chris lawrence was at a briefing near the blast. and he says the room shook and he could hear that explosion. >>> there are some new signs this morning that the economy may be getting back on track and that's good news for anyone, of course, who is waiting in unemployment lines. hiring picked up last month as the economy added 236,000 jobs. >>> wall street liked it too. but there are fears the ongoing battle over budget cuts could reverse the positive trend. cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta is at the white house. jim? >> reporter: brianna and victor, after the positive jobs numbers, white house officials have a spring in their step, but they are well aware there are plenty

. >> i'm brianna keilar in today for randi kaye. >>> i'm victor blackwell. starting this morning in washington with those forced spending cuts that were never supposed to happen. well, they're happening. >> overnight, $85 billion in federal funding was slashed from the budget affecting everything from education to the fbi to food safety, national parks even. the president signed the order after lawmakers failed to work out a deal. >> cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta is at the white house. jim, this isn't over yet, is it? >> it's not over yet. it's never over these budget crises here in washington or so it seems victor and brianna. that's right, at about 8:30 last night, the president signed this order initiating these automatic budget cuts. they went into effect last night. they're going to be going into effect over the next several months as we've all been hearing. and if you look at the letter that the office of management and budget sent over to the house of representatives and the senate last night, it goes through a very long list of de

i'm brianna keilar in for randy kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell.tarting your morning with us. here are five stories we're watching this morning. >>> six passengers aboard royal caribbean's "vision of the sea's" cruise ship are back on land. they became sick with a stomach virus and responded well to over-the-counter medication administered aboard the ship. >>> small pocket knives now allowed on airplanes. tsa announced the change this week. not everyone, especially those who work in the airline industry, are on board. >> now myself on the flight attendant with alaskan airlines and that is one of the airlines that also was opposed to this years ago. we're expecting more airlines to join in this chorus with us today as alaska airlines ceo at the time remarks that in 2000, a passenger had a 2.5-inch knife and attacked a crew member. he said a weapon such as a pointed tip could cause great harm on crew members and passengers in the cabin. the story was the same seven years ago as it is today. >> delta ceo richard anderson said friday he also objects to

brianna keilar reports. >> republicans are speaking out about this.-test using the hash attack broken promises. a new survey shows that insurance companies will pay an average of 32% more for claims on individual insurance plans because of obama care. some states is worse. california was the 62% increase by 2017. ohio macy and 80% increase. these costs will be passed on to consumers. the obama administration is criticizing the study and that it ignores the elements of the law. the white house is also taking aim at the group that conducted the survey said. >> i think this was conducted by help insurance companies and that is credible. this part i am not impressed about. >> in southern brazil, the military and police have seized nearly 75 lbs. of crack cocaine. the drugs were found hidden inside the fuel tank of a vehicle. supporters believe that the drug shipment originated from bolivia. the bus and arrest are the largest in the area in the last year. arrest are the largest in the area in the last year. >> you're on timeout leo! ♪ ♪ arrest are the larg

brianna keilar has the details. >> congress the various people who voted for the spending cuts that aret finding a way to fix the problem. now, the fingers are being pointed. >> this is the worst, it explicitly protects projects and every single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy only. >> president obama was to avoid this. republicans refuse. >> we have done our work. they have not done theirs. loosen not have to pass a bill to replace the sequester. >> the senate failed to pass to build stores that one democratic, and one republic. they're almost certain that president obama will be forced to sign that will put these cuts into effect. it will impact everything from military, medicare, to education. it was also a second less security. obama up released this statement. >> following up on this report. we are waiting for congressional letterleaders to come in again and hope the they can do some last-minute negotiations to strike a deal. we will keep watching the meeting that is one to get under way in 50 minutes. >> we are watching wall street. the dow jones industrial average was down

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. it is half past the hour.do a judge has dealt a tough blow to james holmes' defense. holmes' insanity defense won't hold up. dave young from kdvr has the story. >> reporter: the massacre last july at this aurora theater sent off a firestorm of calls for more restrictive gun laws. >> he was senselessly murdered by a man who walked into that theater with a weapon equipped with 100 round magazine. he opened fire killing 12, including my son, alex, and injuring physically 58 others. >> reporter: those who treated victims also carry emotional scars. >> this was a tremendous number of patients in a very short period of time with emotional stories and just a very hard thing to go through for everybody. >> reporter: now lawyers for james holmes suffered a setback. the judge ruling colorado's insanity defense does not violate his right against self-incrimination or his right to stay silent. >> that will trigger all of the consequences of a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, including a required evaluation by the st

. >>> good morning, everyone, i'm brian brianna keilar in for kay kay. we're so glad you're with us this morning. first up, defense secretary chuck hagel said the deadly attack in the afghan capital shows the challenges ahead as the u.s. prepares to pull out combat troops by the end of next year. nine people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the afghan defense ministry. hagel was at a base about a mile from the blast. he was not hurt. and just moments ago, we got this reaction from him. >> i wasn't sure what it was. i was in a briefing. but we're in a war zone. i've been in a war. you know, so shouldn't be surprised when a bomb goes off or there's an explosion. >> hagel is in afghanistan on his first official trip overseas as defense secretary. a short time ago, he met with u.s. troops in jalalabad. he thanked them and awarded the purple heart to two soldiers. >>> if washington, millions of unemployed americans are already feeling the pinch from those forced spending cuts. they're seeing their benefit checks get smaller, and that's makin

. >>> i'm brianna keilar. >> and i'm wolf blitzer.ion room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the obama is standing with israel in a dangerous time in the region. >> his most urgent warning in syria, vowing that the assad regime will be held accountable if it has in fact used chemical weapons as the rebels claim. >> plet's go to jerusalem first with jessica. a very powerful meeting today. very interesting between the president and the prime minister. >> wolf, that's right. president obama here in jerusalem for the first overseas trip of his second term. a visit which in symbolism already president obama is emphasizing the u.s.'s commitment to ensuring israel's security and correcting any past sleights, real or perceived. president obama and prime minister netanyahu together in israel. they were acting like long-lost friends, joking, getting casual, complimenting each other's children while taking a little dig. >> they are very good looking young men who clearly got their looks from their mother. >> well, i could say the same

white house correspondent brianna keilar. >> reporter: it's not an unexpe unexpected one.epublican aides to the senators involved tell me they're betting the democrats can't muster the votes of the 55 senators who normally vote the democratic party line let alone another handful of republican senators to push them to that all-important 60-vote threshold. republican senators rand paul, ted cruise and mike lee are putting the brakes on new gun laws alerting harry reid in a letter they will filibuster democratic bills that aim to curb gun violence. it's not actually this kind of filibuster -- >> i will not yield. >> reporter: when senator paul recently protested the drone program for 13 hours. it's simply a requirement that 60 senators must vote to begin debating gun legislation. it's standard practice on controversial bills, but it makes them the faces of gop opposition to efforts to curb gun violence even as some democrats have rejected gun control measures. >> i don't think you have to tell the families of those who have lost their children to gun violence that bills like

>>> i'm brianna keilar in for kate baldwin. >> and i'm wolf blitzer.he shooting death of a 13-month-old boy, gunned down in his stroller in a south georgia town. >> this is a very tough story, wolf. police arrested two teenagers in connection with the case. we'll get a live update from police in just a moment. but first, this is an 's motion al description of the cold-blooded killing from the baby's mother. >> what ne did to my baby was terrible. what though boy did to my baby. i thought the gun was fake. you know, i didn't -- i didn't think the gun was real. >> do you want to tell us exactly what happened? >> i was walking home from the post office. i thought, you know, i don't go out enough so i should take a walk. and i was five minutes from my house. next to the blue house out this road here. i always walk out to the street. and a boy approached me, and told me he wanted my money. and i told him i didn't have any money. and he said, give me your money or i'm going to kill you, and i'm going to shoot your baby and kill your baby. and i said, i don't

. >>> welcome to "around the world" i'm brianna keilar in more suzanne malveaux and michael holms. new york, have a look at this number, the dow jones, hit an all-time high this morning passing the previous high almost right out of the gate when the opening bell went off. the previous high set in 2007, before the bottom fell out of the housing market and crushed the economy. we'll hear why investors are charging ahead when we go to the new york stock exchange in a couple of minutes. north korea will end the 1953 korean war truce if the u.n. imposes more sanctions on the country. the armistice created the dmz that separates north and south korea. the u.n. security council is meeting today to consider more sanctions in response to north korea's nuclear test last month. we'll have a live report in a moment. >>> and dominican woman says she's coming clean about her claims of sex with a senator. new jersey senator robert menendez has always claimed that allegations of sex with prostitutes are not true. now he's getting some backup from a woman who claims she was paid to lie. we go live

i'm brianna keilar. monitoring live pictures from venezuela.onference under way there about the health of hugo chavez. we do understand from government sources that his healthy is very delicate. there are concerns about what this would mean to the future of venezuela, if indeed he is faring as poorly as we understand he is. we're going to continue to monitor the situation there in caracas. we have reporters on the ground and in atlanta to tell us exactly about the repercussions and exactly about what is health status is. we'll be checking that out shortly and bring that to you. >>> a storm slams the midwest and is barreling east on its way, it could drop a foot of snow in chicago. a live report on that moments away. >>> was it a bird, a plane or a drone? >> what did you say? >> we saw a drone. a drone aircraft. >> a pilot reports seeing a drone over brooklyn while he was landing. >>> then, sex, lies, audiotapes. jodi arias returns to the witness stand for the 15th day. she is accused of murder in the grisly death of her boyfriend. a look at thi

. >>> it is saturday, march 9th, i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. >> i'm victor blackwell. first up today, sirens ringing out in afghanistan's capital. a bomb blast rocked the ministry of defense just hours after new defense secretary chuck hagel arrived in kabul on his first official trip overseas. nine people were killed. now the taliban says the suicide bombing is a message for hagel. he was not injured and is in a safe location. cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is traveling with the defense secretary. he was at a briefing and says he heard the blast even though he was a ten-minute walk from it. >>> back in the u.s., a violent storm slams the massachusetts shore. it's being called the most damaging in recent memory. look at this. that house teetheri eriteeterine of the atlantic ocean and the second house fell overnight. they're on a popular vacation spot. nobody really expected this. a dozen homes right now in jeopardy, and according to the "boston globe," this one was worth $800,000. >>> to northern connecticut where a blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow, you're

"outfront" tonight, brianna keilar, our white house correspondent.en following the money on this. obviously vice-presidential travel is a big undertaking, a lot of people and preparation. but can you break down these incredibly high numbers for us? >> you know, the thing is when you look at this, it's pretty eye popping when you think one night. but what we found kind of looking through this, erin, is that while vice president biden was in paris for one night, he was in london for one night, he comes along with a whole massive entourage that requires as it turns out more than 100 rooms for multiple days. so if you are breaking down, for instance, the bill in london, that $449,000 for the hotel bill there, that actually included 136 rooms for multiple nights. that's according to some documents that were put out on a government website. that's an average, yes, of $568 per room per night by our math. we know there are more than 800 room nights as one document spells out. but i think what is really interesting here, erin, is that while we talked with a l

i'm brianna keilar in for randi kaye. >>> december flation florida. searchers there are battling time and gravity in their attempt to recover a man swa swallowed up by a sinkhole. we'll take you live to the scene. >>> seeing it believing. students fed up with a crook on campus. >>> after weevgs weeks of warn threats, americans face $85 billion in federal spending cuts. president obama siren aobama si order. what happens now? political correspondent jim acosta is live at the white house. what happens now? >> reporter: a good question. we'll find out at the same time. the president said in his press conference yesterday that this will not be what he called and apocalypse, but if you look at what the office of management and budget in his own administration is telling congress about these cuts, this will be serious. this is the order that the president issued last night initiating automatic across-the-board budget cuts. look at the letter from omb to congress, it says right here, the cuts required by sequestration will be deeply destructive to national s

. >> i'm brianna keilar in for kate baldwin. >> i'm wolf blitzer. room." >>> powerful images designed to fire up north koreans and to scare americans. >> strongman kim jong-un has been escalating his nuclear threats for weeks. >> let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent, bar practice starr. she has details. >> wolf, the concern is that kim's fiery rhetoric could become a reality that the white house has to deal with. the north korean video shows the white house in the crosshairs. the u.s. capitol blowing up. the latest messages posted by the north korean government online. a further sign of what the u.s. worries is an increasingly unpredictable kim jong-un, the north korean leader who threatened war with the united states and south korea. on cnn's "the lead," the president's chief of staff told jake tapper, the u.s. will be ready for any provocation. >> obviously the kind of antics and language we've heard, including what you just showed on your show here, are the kinds of actions that don't connote strength, but rather connote some kind of w

cnn's brianna keilar is here in "the situation room," and she's taking a closer look at this report and fascinating material inside. >> fascinating material inside, and one of the things we're seeing in the republican party, what it's planning to do, is invest some serious money to build the republican brand in areas that are not republican strongholds, sending republicans basically ambassadors to participate in events in minority communities and even visit historically black colleges and universities. ♪ the math in jay z's campaign trail anthem was a little off. 219 is more like it, if you're talking about the gop failure in the last presidential election. >> there's no one reason we l t lost. our message was weak. our ground game was insufficient. we weren't inclusive. we were behind in both data and digital. and our primary and debate process needed improvement. >> reporter: this morning, rnc chairman reince priebus unveiled the autopsy of what went wrong for republicans in 2012 with a long list of fixes. >> i think we have to be a welcoming party. >> reporter: among then, a $10 mill

let's turn to cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar for more on this. what's the latest?: hi there, kate. 28 people became u.s. citizens here at the white house today. that included many members of the active military, and president obama used this as a backdrop to yet again push for congress to act. >> the time's come for a comprehensive, sensible immigration reform. we are making progress, but we've got to finish the job. because this issue is not new. everyone pretty much knows what's broken. everybody knows how to fix it. we just got to at this point work up the political courage to do what's required to be done. >> reporter: this comes on the heels of progress on a bipartisan immigration reform bill on capitol hill, the bipartisan democratic and republican senators' gang of eight, the so-called gang of 8, have gotten quite far, kate,s on their negotiations. so far on the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, they're working out details on that, but that's pretty much worked out. the parameters for securing the border are pretty worked out. a guest worker progra

cnn's brianna keilar has more for us this morning. >> reporter: on day two of supreme court debate over-sex marriage president obama said this to spanish network. >> i think it's appropriate for the court to weigh in on this issue. obviously public opinion has shifted dramatically just over the last several years. and my hope is, is that we will come to the place where everybody, you know, is treated fairly and treated the same. >> reporter: 83-year-old edie windsor challenged the defense of marriage act after her wife died in the irs hit her with a tax bill because she wasn't considered a surviving spouse. >> i think it was great. i think it went beautifully. we were very respected, and i think -- i think it will be good. >> reporter: in the argument over the defense of marriage act, chief justice john roberts sharply criticized obama for calling the federal marriage law unconstitutional but continuing to enforce it. >> i don't see why he doesn't have the courage of his convictions and execute not only the statute but do it consistent with his view of the constitution rather than sayin

earlier today, fox told our brianna keilar why she chose to share her secret. >> i didn't plan on comingarently he was told rumors that i was transgender. a transsexual is the terminology that i like to use. so i pretty much had no choice, because he was digging around, asking people about me. so if it wasn't for that, i would have preferred to keep my personal medical history to myself. because that's what -- it's a matter of -- it's about my personal medical history. and i don't think that anybody should have to reveal their personal medical history if they don't feel they want to. >>. >>> and a boat carrying $1 million worth of marijuana was found near a beach by vanderburg air force base. large balls of pot found buried in the sand according to keyt. police are now looking for a number of suspects. >>> an asteroid the size of a city block is zipping past earth today. but there is no danger of it actually hitting our planet. the asteroid is already observable in the night sky, even with amateur telescopes. >>> all right. now let's talk about social media. if you added everyone on face

brianna keilar is joining us from the scene. he conservative political action conference? >> well, wolf, today with mitt romney appearing here, it was almost as if he was trying to assuage some of the disappointment that many of the attendees here have expressed over the november election. he said he hasn't lost his optimism because of the failed race, as he tried to pass the torch to a new generation of republican leaders. on day two of this conservative conclave, just outside washington, d.c., attendees looked back to look forward. mitt romney entering cpac to a standing ovation, his first major speech since november, saying the future of the republican party is with republican governors of battleground states. >> these governors have shown that they're able to reach across the aisle, offer innovative solutions, and then they're willing to take the heat that you have to take to do important things. >> he named names. >> people like bob mcdonald, scott walker, john kasich, susana. >> he mentioned paul ryan, but not louisiana gov