will take the costage kensington palace where william and harry lived with their mother princess diana diana. >>> a parents of amanda knox begin their trial in italy accused of making allegations of police mistreatment of their daughter during her arrest anddetention. they are being ar

diana olick. >> diana, with the latest on the bank of america rent tan program. first, bob, what happened with the ipo program? >>. >> it does look very good and when i'm wearing purple, when i'm going, i listen to maria. >>. >> that's swung and miss. imagine this. do you want to make a good impression, listed on your exchange and that's it. the immediate trades after that are like 2 cents, 3 cents, and obviously what we think happened, they say it's coming. what happened? i think what happened was there was a technical error, obviously. the system seems to have not a little overwhelmed. >> perhaps. you mentioned the apple trade, too. there were questions about ear roan yous trades in apple going on. we don't know, but it's possible that the servers had apple on them at the same time and the bats stock trading as well and that may have been part of the problem. we don't know and hopefully we're going to get a clear explanation. this is a bit of embarrassment. remember, these guys are the hot turks out there. nasdaq, nyse, old school. we're the guys who are hot. >> i was saying to some of the guys on the trading floor as i came out here this afternoon, how would you like to make an investment in bats? there's a super stigs on the and shank. >> you have golf on your mind. >> you think? >> guys literally dancing around here to finally see human beings playing things might get a little more play. we have a fragmented market system. that's a problem generically with the system. not with bats but generically. and what is the transition period here? how does this play out? >> reporter: they are telling us that this is a short pilot program and it could expand out but they told us over and over again they don't want to be landlords. they will sell them off to investors with the renters in it. the investor comes in, they don't have to find a renter or a rental management company. it's a good play for the investors and bank of america is saying that if this pilot program works out and they get enough people that want to do it, because remember this is invitation, not application to do this, they will start widening it and selling it off to investors. >> maybe you guys want to weigh in on this as well. the amount of money on corporate corporate cash is 8% of the balance sheet. well above the 99 to 2000 average which was 3% that was happening between '01 and '07. 28% have 15% market cap in cash. so you're talking about huge numbers, bob. 3$3.7 trillion on corporate balance sheets. that's the reason that continually you hear investors putting money to work. >> apple has $100 billion. >> but two-thirds of it is offshore. >> yes. >> i have to say i was astounded to learn that it was offshore. they are not bringing that money back here. >> i wonder if that includes offshore money as well. i presume that it does. my bet, we continue to see a string of dividend increases and that is going to power the market with dividends. >> how about m and a? >> put it to work somehow. >> obviously they feel right now there isn't that much opportunity out there. if the global market improves -- >> you'll see that foreign money come here. thanks, bob, diana. we'll see you later. >> let's get to the movers and shakers. courtney reagan is at the cnbc real-time exchange. court? >> bill, stocks are pretty positive. most indices in the green. we are mostly green here. many have answers than decliners going into the close. if you take a look at the sector breakdown, we're looking very positive it's not too terribly lower. shares of apple tumbling this morning when a single trade of 100 shares, we believe, on the bats exchange sent shares down 9%. a single sir kit stock breaker went ahead and halted the trade. shares are still lower but by and large have recovered that loss. data the first quarter net orders fell 8%. the ceo says that the average selling price is expected to increase. kb home shares were down as much as 15%. they are down almost 9% again. pulte home in the red today. despite the fact that many are forecasting improvement in the housing market. maria? >> courtney, thank you so much. we have about 50 minutes before the "closing b

diana's day when diana thought camilla a rottweiler. as for camilla and the monarch they're on better terms, too. past tensions pushed aside. and kate seems to be a bonding force, even with diana'son her finger. with william away on service and kate tirelessly working the solo royal circuit, she's carved a fine role for herself with the mo more experienced women there to guide her through it. the queen never had an outing with diana so this is really significant. it's the monarch's way of bringing kate in closer and making her feel at home. back to you. >>> we'll go now to president ab obama who is speaking at the wh white house. he he is speaking before a crowd in new hampshire where someone in the audience apparently fainted earlier. >> >> it is good to be back in new hampshire. >> oh, someone -- okay. we'll be all right. they probably were just standing too long. u just give them a lite space. >> the president was at community college earlier to ta talk about energy policy. m%lk about energy policy. emts immediately came to the spectator's aid. the president joked it was important to eat before you come to to a presidential event because you may be standing for a long time. >

diana olick working the story in our "investing in america" series. diana. >> reporter: that's right. they're choosing to move walls and gut basements. remodeling is on a rochlt we'll talk about which companies will benefit from it, maria. >> we'll break down the sector. we'll check out the charts. add as we take a look at the break take a look at the major home builders. we're going to speak with the ceo of toll brothers coming up in the next half hour. stay with us. the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ it looks like he wants some gas. how's it going, gentlemen? what's up, man? gas prices keep going up. crazy, man. but seeing how i saved hundreds on car insurance with progressive, this tank's on me. we getting a whole free tank of gas. the dude from the progressive commercial, man, he just filled up our tank for us. appreciate it. take care. fill it up? free tank of gas. man, switch to progressive, dog. they doing a lot of good out here, man. tell him the messenger sent you. >>> welcome back. >>> welcome back. i'm sharon epperson at the nymex. will the slide in natural gas ever stop. natural gas, new lows in the contract in natural gas futures. a ten-decade below, $2.27. keep in mind, though, the slide that we're seeing, a lot of folks anticipating we would see further injections in storage and, of course, march is a time you would see withdrawals. this is the warmest winter and so we're actually seeing injections at this time of year in natural gas. what does this mean? ben tech says we'll see further pressure on prices and more production shut-ins. back to you. >>> all day long we have been looking at the companies making money by investing in america. companies tied into home remodeling. dianayou, diana. >> well, maria, we've talked before about lum before as a leading indicator and the traffic at this yard has been brisk today. it's not home construction. it's remodeling. this company say as lot of local builders have turned into remodelers because that's where the business is. they were at an annual rate of under 3 million. up 13% from december and up 11% from a year ago. that's according to build facts. and that has been great newers if the big public companies that serve the markets. sherwin williams, which gets 77% of its revenue from the u.s. is trading at an all-time high level going back to its ipo days. lows at a high. don't forget lumber like we're talking about here. weyerhaeuser is seeing games. u.s. gypsum shares up in the last three months. remember, the remodeling business profits not only from a recovery in the housing market but also from distress in the housing market. i think about all those investors buying up foreclosed properties, a lot of which have b

diana back in those days, was a nail-baiter and often had to hide her hands. >> i do hope that -- >> reporter: oh, and the aristocratic accent, diana was born with hers. kate wasn't. diana the stage with support from a man she barely knew. kate strod off, no william, she's away. no big deal. she went off and planted a tree whilst wearing high heels. she's got this royal thing licked. abc news, london. >> and she can exhale. we thank you for watching. abc news.com is always there. "nightline" later, and we'll see >>> tragedy averted near bodega bay. three people pulled from the pacific. >> pg&e pipeline repairs and huge profit smz say the utility will make thanks to the san bruno traj die and getting to the bottom of what jeep drivers call the death wobble. >> and sale of a $29 million mansion. what one couple is willing to take if you don't have the cash. >> what happened shouldn't have happened and i'm eternally, sorry. >> ross mirk reeny chokes back tears and his future as sheriff of san francisco is uncertain, tonight. good evening, i'm dan ash lie as expected mirkarimi received three years probation, and 100 hours of community service. we have been following this st

diana olick joins us. diana. >> well, tyler, you're right. there are some delays still do exist. but banks are really starting to motor through millions of delinquent loans now. that has led to a rise in foreclosure sales in q-4. that has a direct effect on home prices in neighborhoods like this one across america. in fact we learned today that negative equity rose from 10.7 million homes in q-3 to 11.4 million in q-4. that's all about price erosion. sales of properties in some stage of foreclosure made up a full 24% of all home sales in q-4. that's up 20% from q-3 but down 26% from a year ago. that's because of all the delays in processing we saw throughout 2011, thanks of course to the robo signing scandal. that's all about to change. experts at realty track say they expect to see a surge in foreclosure sales, both foreclosures and short sales throughout 2012. and short sales are really ramping up. that's when the bank allows you to sell the home for less than the value of the mortgage. and that's of course a less costly alternative to foreclosure. short sales increased 15% in q-4 annually while sales of reos fell 12%. short sales outnumbered reos in several markets where reo sales had outnumbered short sales just a year ago. short sales sell at an average discount of 21% while reos, that is foreclosed properties, sell at a discount of 36%. but the short sales of course take a whole lot longer. there's plenty more on this on the blog. >> dianah. well, foreclosures, housing and jobs among the top issues impacting local economies. "power lunch" is going across america now for a take of the pulse of the nation's cities. we're going to convene our mayor's round table. mayor of huntsville, alabama, aka the rocket city thanks to its bustling aerospace industry. joining us momentarily on the phone will be joe rilely of charleston, south carolina. the state's second largest city and home of the citadel. and a notch on the rust belt and home to several fortune 500 firms. welcome gentlemen all to "power lunch." mayor battle, i'm going to start with you. because diana just left off with housing, let me ask you, how is the state of housing in your neck of the woods? and do you see a bit of a recovery there? >> our housing's been doing very well. we've done very well the past three years. 35% of our housing across the market is new home sales. and you don't see that in a lot of other markets throughout the u.s. we've been very, very for

diana, was a major force. >> this is diana country. people remember her famous visit here. harry is following her legacy. >> reporter: his mother made her mark in brazil back in 1991 when she supported several organizations that helped to educate kids. some of them homeless on the streets. [ speaking foreign language ] regina was here with princess dianahen she visited this ornlg orphanage 21 years ago. she says her son, harry is now following his mother's tradition of helping other people. princess diana would have been so proud of her son on this trip for his depth and range. from visiting children in hair hospital beds to partying in the streets. today, on the beaches of rio, it will be hard to resist. >> the royal tours are often quite boring. he's ripped up the rule book on this tour. >> reporter: sports are very, very important to prince harry. he's playing volleyball and running today. and then he'll move on to play rugby and cricket. i have to say a quote from the press secretary of prince harry is that what he loves is the natural attraction of the beach. dan? >> yeah. i think woody's having a good time on the trip, too. >>> now to the digital slip-up anybody could make. instead of texting somebody, you send it to twitter by mistake. justin bieber did that, giving his 18 million followers somebody else's personal phone number

diana alvear. good morning, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning.e of the first people to hear houston's amazing voice, and now she's opening up about losing such a special loved one. >> i spoke to whitney the day that she passed. >> reporter: dionne warwick says her cousin whitney houston was calling to make sure she'd be at a grammy preparty at which houston was going to perform. >> i said yeah, i'm going to be there. she says, "thank you. i want you to be here. you've got to be here for me." i said i'm always there for you. >> reporter: those were the last words they ever spoke to one another. in an exclusive interview with abc's "good morning america" warwick opened up to robin roberts about losing the loved one who'd been a regular duet partner since houston first gained fame. seen here in 1985 on the show "solid gold." ♪ >> i'm heading toward being okay. i think the comfort comes in knowing that she's in good hands now. >> reporter: houston's death stunned the world and devastated her family. they say the superstar seemed excited about her fut

diana olick in the latest economic survey. diana? >> that's right, maria. some surprising results on america's attitude towards home ownership and the american dream. that's coming up on the "closing bell." >>> time now for going global europe. >> hi, everyone. these are the stories we're watching in europe. tomorrow, a day ahead of the spanish prime minister annual budget statement, a general strike is expected to take place in the country. we will be live with coverage of that. plus, also, how is the european consumer fairing. we'll get the data for the euro zone and on the earnings front, look out for the numbers from the retailer. we'll also be speaking with the cfo. tune in to cnbc world to catch all of the action overseas at cnbc european headquarters. going global with your money. how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ >>> welcome back. the housing market is showing signs of life and rental prices are now sky high. dianavey. what does it say? >> maria, home values are still falling, four million loans are in some stage of delinquency. not exactly a favor for buying over renting. still, 65% of americans say they are better offwnin a home than renting. that's actually up slightly. it's nowhere near the 89% for those who favored owning a home back in 1996. what do you do? a strong political decision, some blame the so-called for the housing crash and showing something interesting with the hot rental market. when you breakdown the respondents by age, 18 to 24 favor renting to those over 50. 30% for the young generations. just 22% for the older. still, the majority of the younger group favors ownership overall, just not as much as older folks. the rental market will stay hot for a long time. that said, what about helping home ownership? 53% of respondents want government to stay out of the housing market. even those who lost money on their homes, 52%, say they don't want government intervention in the mark

diana olick. what have you found, diana. >> reporter: mandy, you'd think it would. i've spoken to an awful lot of analysts today. none of them seem to think mortgage rates are going to go that much higher. mortgage rates track the 10-year treasury. the spreads have been very wide. wider than the historical averages. that gives rates a pretty big cushion. bankers say they're seeing improved demand so good volumes there. because of that paul miller over at fbr says he does not expect to see a big move up in mortgage rates. over at capital economics, paul digle says there are two reasons why a rise in mortgage rates will not threaten the housing recovery. first, mortgage rates can rise only so far when tighter monetary policy is still years away. second, he says, even if rates were to rise towards more normal levels, mortgages are still very affordable. peter bukvar at miller tayvak. assuming a $200,000 mortgage going from 4.4.5% in mortgage rate adds about $60 a month to one's payments. while $700 a year matters, not sure if that's a dell breaker. something else to remember. this market is not as dependent on mortgage rates as it once was. 31% of all sales were cash. which means even noninvestors are turning to cash. don't forget 35% of the market is distressed sales. that is foreclosures or short sales which are on the very low end of the market. again, a majority bought with cash. the question is going forward, what will the impact be? well, you know, there are a lot of other things weighing on mortgage rates. that is a lot of the government implications and qualified residential mortgage standards that are coming up later. they will weigh on the rates. but some actually believe a little rise in rates gets some potential home buyers off the fence because they're worried they might miss out on those low rates, might want to buy now. little hopium, maybe. a little more on the blog. >> there is always a silver lying, diana>>> we know home building stocks like d.r. horton and le nar and others have had a big year and really a big 52 weeks. if you want to invest in the whole housing turn, assuming you believe we are going to get one, you've got to look at what makes up a house. we did a little bit of work for you because that's kind of like what we do. here's our housing halo, right? not a complete list. but just some of the bigger names and companies in the space. you buy a home, you're going to put some furniture in it, right. ethan allen up 13% year to date. lay z boy has done better. don't like the lime green walls with the shag rug and mirror on the ceiling, baby, you want to repaint it. ch sherwin williams. gf the biggest roofing materials maker. owens corning also up there. up 25% so far year to date. if you're going to build a new home, you see tyvek, right, all over the place. that's made by dupont. usg number one maker of sheet rock. better known as wall board. you want some new carpet. old pooc

diana olick is in washington with a "spring realty check." diana? >> reporter: melissa, last month we were talking about mortgage rates sitting at record lows, but good news for the overall economy is not so great news for those low rates, because as investors crawl out of the treasury bunkers, treasury yields are rising and mortgage rates which track the ten-year treasury are rising accordingly. take a look at where we've gone in the last week. rates have gone 18 basis points, so the bank rate overnight last night of 4.05%. now, that may not seem like a lot, but for every 50 basis point rise in mortgage rates, you lose 3% to 6% of housing affordability, according to some analysts. so, how high will mortgage rates go? paul miller at fbr says mortgage rates were too high, anyway, relative to the ten-year, so he doesn't think we'll see that much of that parallel shift. he says there's a lot of cushion in there. but a couple things to remember about today's unique housing market, and that is that investors made up 23% of all existing home buyers in january. that's according to the national association of realtors, and they largely used cash. but 31% of all sales in january were all cash, which means noninvestors are also turning to cash. and 35% of the market is distressed sales, foreclosures and short sales, which are on the very low end of the market. and again, the majority bought with cash. so, not so much leaning on those mortgage rates. now, we talked to a lot of analysts about this today about what this impact is going to be of these mortgage rates. interesting one, though, is that frank of freddie mac said 4% is definitely that emotional turning point going from the record lows, going above that, but he said some folks that are sitting on the fence might see those mortgage rates going higher and say, wait a minute, i don't want to lose out on the 60-year lows, and it might prompt them to jump off the fence and buy a house. so, hopefully, always a bright side. melissa and simon? >> okay. >> thank you very much, dianaeads to the polls today. we're going to hedge the windy city to get a peek at some of the area's poshest primary properties. we're back with some property after the break. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. like in a special ops mission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, you'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 d

diana olick takes us inside the numbers. diana? >> reporter: the numbers are pretty stunning, especially when you compare these rising rents with still falling home prices. usually when home prices drop and represents rise, represents turn to buyers. as we know, these are unusual times in housing. take a look. represents are up 3% nationwide in january year-over-year while home prices are down 4.6%. take it locally, chicago, represents up over 9%, home values down 10%. minneapolis, much the same story, san francisco, st. louis and detroit, represents are up as much as home values are down. now, while investors are rushing to get in on bargain price foreclosures and turn them into rentals, regular home buyers and those representing now are still largely not looking to buy. why is that? tough mortgage standards, still high unemployment and generally weak consumer confidence are all keeping buyers on the sidelines and rental demand high. the question now of course is how long can this dynamic last and when it turns, will rent and rental investment come crack down? asking that on the blog, realty check.cnbc.com. >> let's bring in zillow chief economist stan humphrey. you said the rental market is the silver lining to the nation's housing downturn. how so? >> as diana robust growth in rentals, 3% nationally, while home values are falling. the foreclosure epidemic is a giant engine converting owner-occupied households to renters and increasing demand and that is driving up prices in the rent space. >> what is the tipping point here? >> i'm sorry? >> what is the tipping point? when will it start turning the other way, see people, for example, consumer sentiment shift more toward actually owning a house instead of representing, especially when you have got rents rising some and you have got record housing affordability? >> we expect 2012 to be a positive year for home sales and new housing starts as well. so we think the buyers are going to get off the fence in 2012 but definitely, the rental market is way ahead of that. and invest verse been pull nothing that market all year for the past, for 2011 and we expect them to do even more in 2012. in terms of a tipping point, we are a ways from that i think consume hearse a reset during the housing recessio

diana loved. they honeymooned here, diana and prince charles. it was a personal visit. he visited an island, was shown around by one of princess diana'sds. the scenes we have here were quite incredible. the island went absolutely wild for him. and it was a great success, really. it was so successful, he was pulled out after ten minutes because there was just too many people there. >> we know he's there celebrating the diamond jubilee. he's having a meeting with jamaica's prime minister as well. can you tell us about that? >> yes, this is significant because since the visit was announced to jamaica, the prime minister was voted in and she said that she wanted to get rid of the monarchy, the link to the monarchy. the queen of britain is the queen of bell lies, the bahamas and jamaica. they want to break this link. there's all sorts of associations between the british and colonies and slavery. we're going to see how he does that, can he win jamaica around or will jamaica just decide as they did with kate and william in canada, quebec, that they're anti-monarchy but they like harry as a celebrity-type figure. >> max foster, thank you for

diana olick is following it all. and, diana, the numbers today were kind of mixed, i guess. new home sales down, but prices higher. >> yeah. i don't see them as mixed though. this is the last piece in a really full week of disappointing data for the housing market. sales of newly built homes really missing expectations by a lot. take a look if you will. february sales, that is signed contracts, not closings, down 6.6% in month-to-month in january revised to 5.6. at 13,000 units at the two-year average down 75% from the peak. but the slowdown pushed inventories higher. the bright notice is prices are up 6.2% year over year on new construction, but remember that's largely because builders can't compete with the far lower existing home sale prices given the cost of material, gasoline prices rising and weighing on them. they're making up for that by throwing in higher end amenities and helping with financing. of course there's been an awful lot of talk aboutwetter and that may have come into play here because perhaps these are signed contracts in february, some of that spring demand may have been fulled forward from december and january when we saw better stats. again, these stats aren't moving on new home sales. and as we saw the disappointing numbers pr kb home, again, sentiment moving forward, homeowners feeling more bullish, saying there's more traffic. but we're not seeing the numbers. that leads us to question where the recovery is. >> fascinating story about bank of america getting into the landlord business. explain it. >> yeah. they're actually offering a pilot program and this is just starting for less than 1,000 borrowers. it's for troubled borrowers very close to foreclosures. they're going to offer them the chance to do a deed for lease program. that is they turn over the deed to bank of america, they don't own the house anymore, they don't pay property taxes or anything like that. and then they rent the house from bank of america for a lower rent payment than the mortgage payment. and, you know, the question's going to be how many people really want to do this especially since so many people haven't been paying their mortgages in several years. they're doing it in arizona, nevada and new york. and they say, again, it's a very small pilot program. they expect if it goes well to expand it to more of the nation and then sell these properties to investors with renters in them because they say of course it's more valuable to an investor to have an open -- a house that's already got a renter in it and ready to go and they don't have to do the work and due diligence on it. again, we'll see what happens with this program. it's like what the government is doing with the fannie mae properties as well. >> diana, thank you very much. >>> president obama making his choice for the next person to lead the world bank. and this nomination comes as chances of someone from outside the united states leading the world bank for the first time becomes more of a possibility. eamon javers is in washington with more on the story. hi, eamon. >> hi, sue. this was a little bit of a surprise here at the white house today. the white house nominating jim physician by training known for his work in the developing world and against the spread of global aids. he's not a banker, not an economist, not somebody in the larry somers mold, which is what professional washington was sort of expecting here. but today at the white house the president was full of dr. kim's praises. >> nobody is more qualified to carry out that mission than dr. jim kim. it's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency. and that's why today after a careful and thorough search, i'm nominating dr. jim kim to

diana wowed the crowds in her trips to brazil. according to the reaction there tonight, it looks like some of that star quality may have rubbed off on diana's youngest prince. >> reporter: good evening, david. yeah, this is beautifully beautiful beach. today, very hot in the sand. the main reason prince harry has come to brazil is to promote the olympics in england coming up this summer. is it proves not only is he popular but also a very good athlete. in nearly 100 degrees of heat and humidity, he competed in volleyball. he also played rugby. some here had difficulty dealing with the temperatures, but prince harry proved he is in good shape. this trip to brazil is also very personal for prince harry because his mother, princess diana, came to rio in support of charities helping children on the street. >> brazil is a wonderful play, but it's obviously got its problems as well. diana was very aware of that. i suppose very privately he wouldn't want to let her down. >> reporter: in terms of his final events here in brazil, he'll be playing polo tomorrow. he's very good at that sport. a couple times he's fallen off the back of that horse. david, i have to say, let's cross our fingers that doesn't happen. >>> when we come back here in the broadcast, the 85-year-old food critic from northern dakota, the star tonight. who was she writing about and what did she write? bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. [ speaking in japanese ] yeah, do you have anything for a headache... like excedrin, ohhh, bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no

diana's first speech some 30 years ago. back then diana looked nervous, talking quickly. of course, two very different women, and kate probably has had some training for this speech. one point, though, diana0 years ago, and kate today, both wearing blue for their first speech. >> and i think diana had to speak in welsh. so a little more difficult for her here. >> she did. >> is this something we expect to see more often? do we expect to see more from kate? >> oh, yeah, i think now that she's got this out of the way you'll see her speaking more. you know, this was just sort of putting the toe in the water if you like. it was a very simple speech, just saying thank you for the charity for which she's patron. i think she'll start to express more views as the weeks and months go on. >> we look at that live picture from ipswich, england this morning, we say well done to kate. thanks so much. >>> coming up next, rosie o'donnell and oprah part ways. we're going to have the details on that right after this. hush little bunny don't say a word. we used to be enemies, but that's absurd. a nibble on your ear used to keep me up all night. now our relationship can be nice and bright. yes, my chocolate

diana, a bundle of nerves in a doudy dress. abc's nick waut on two women, two speeches and two destinies. >> first of all, i'd like to say thank you. diana, made her speech 30 years ago. >> i'm grateful to you and to the mayor and to the council. >> reporter: she later became a fashion i81, but even in '81, kate borrowed that dress from her mom. >> it's a great pleasure for me to come to wales. >> reporter: she was lying. she was reading words that someone else had written. >> i'm really sorry that william can't be here today. kate wrote her speech he would love it. she confided in a friend she was nervous. dianawas a nail-biter and often had to hide her hands. >> i do hope that -- and the arrist kratic accent, she was born with hers. >> when i first -- >> diana stumbled from the stage with a man she barely knew. she went off and planted a tree while wearing high heels. she's got this royal thing licked. >>> and she can exhale. we thank you for watching abc news. "nightline" is later. and we'll see you right back here again tomorrow night. have a great night.

diana, a bundle of nerves in a doudy dress. abc's nick waut on two women, two speeches and two destinies. >> first of all, i'd like to say thank you. diana, made her speech 30 years ago. >> i'm grateful to you and to the mayor and to the council. >> reporter: she later became a fashion i81, but even in '81, kate borrowed that dress from her mom. >> it's a great pleasure for me to come to wales. >> reporter: she was lying. she was reading words that someone else had written. >> i'm really sorry that william can't be here today. kate wrote her speech he would love it. she confided in a friend she was nervous. dianawas a nail-biter and often had to hide her hands. >> i do hope that -- and the arrist kratic accent, she was born with hers. >> when i first -- >> diana stumbled from the stage with a man she barely knew. she went off and planted a tree while wearing high heels. she's got this royal thing licked. >>> and she can exhale. we thank you for watching abc news. "nightline" is later. and we'll see you right back here again tomorrow night. have a great night. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering.

diana's day, when diana thought camilla a rottweiller. as for camilla and the monarch, they're on better terms, too. past tensions pushed aid aside and kate seems to be a bonding force. even with diana'srelessly working solo royal circuit. she's carving a fine role for herself. with the more experienced women there to guide her through it. the queen never had an outing with diana, so this is really significant. it's the monarch's way of bringing kate in close and making her feel at home. back to you, natalie. >> nice to see them all together. thank you. >>> and now for a look at what is trending today, our quick round-up of what has you talking online. a story we brought you earlier, the death of monkees' lead singer, davy jones, is a top search on google. fans are turning to the criterion collection on youtube for this video of jones' audition for the 1960s tv show that made him a teen heartthrob. >> in boots i'm 5'3", i don't have trouble adjusting, i kind of like tall girls, yeah, it's kind of groovy. >> i asked you whether or not they liked you. do you make a folk sound or a rock sound, anything like that? >> i make a terrible sound. >> you see why he got the part. davy jones was

diana olick is in florida speaking with developers and investors. diana. >> well, tyler, this may sound slightly insane, but there are actually 25 new condo towers scheduled to go up this year in the greater miami area when there is still 4,000 leftover unsold units from the condo crash. i know. this is the one that started it all. it's from the mellow group, arj teen yan developers. they started last august. other developers we spoke to, like one in hollywood, florida, are still rushing suddenly to get in. the trouble is the banks all think they're nuts too. so they're having to get creative with the financing. >> they only wanted to give us 50% of what the cost was. and put up collateral as well. so the terms of the construction loan that we have spoken to were a little to onerous for us. >> so developer, martin, decided instead to take out a personal loan and put up his multimillion dollar art collection as collateral. now, while the real estate market was tanking, apparently the art market was soaring. he says he's not worried as he's making his buyers put down 30% on these $1 million to $4 million condo units. he's been sitting on this prime piece of land for five years waiting to strike. and with foreign buyers and developers now flooding this market, he says that time is now. >> this is the moment because we're going to be delivering this property next year. so by that time there will be good demand. there is good demand now. >> but that demand is all foreign cash. and that's what's making this condo boom different from the boom we saw back in 2004 and 2005, which was all based on easy u.s. credit. again, much of this is on the high-end though. we're going to talk about that coming up in "street signs." got plenty more of this though on the blog. tyler. >> diana, thanks very much. pick me up one while you're down there. straight ahead, the s&p breaks through the 1400 level. money pouring out of bonds. will it go into stocks? and everyone but everyone is talking about apple blasting through $600 a share. time to pull back? time to buy more? >> and here's one of our all-time favorite charts. this is the -- wow, don't you wish you had bought this? ten years of apple up over 4500%. back in two. >>> welcome back to "power lunch." rick santelli back on the floor of the cme group. well, what a time it's been. interest rates are all the rage trying to handicap how much is a lot. and are we going to revert back to a range? the markets are giving us some guidance in that regard. look at an intraday of tens. you can clearly see at one point we were at a 2.35 yield. now we're back down at -- we just went down one basis point. we settle at 2.27. here we are at 2.26. if you open the chart up, clearly still comp the end of october. but the leader on the sel

diana alvear has the nasty details. good morning, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning. these two just can't seem to stay out of the headlines, and this time their war of words seems destined to land them back in the courtroom with thousands of dollars at stake. she's still a fresh-faced beauty, but christie brinkley's 2008 divorce from peter cook was one of the ugliest celebrity splits in recent history. rife with allegations of adultery and porn. now the two seem headed back to court to battle it out over child support and her claims she's being bullied. >> the problem is that miss brinkley doesn't think -- she thinks these agreements were crafted to govern me and me alone, that the rules don't apply to her. >> reporter: the rules refer to a court order that cook be fined $5,000 each time he engages in, quote, aggressive communications." brinkley filed papers claiming cook violated the order 28 times, and as a result, owes her $140,000 along with thousands more in child support. in an exclusive interview with abc news cook said brinkley is not fighting fair. >> i'm here not to attack christie brinkley but to defend myself because to be called a deadbeat dad is for me such a horrible spiteful thing to say besides the fact that it's totally untrue. >> reporter: cook believes brinkley just wants publicity. he said last year while she performed on broadway he had full custody of the kids, negating the need to pay child support. >> i do the kids' laundry. i cook the kids' food. i drive them to school. do their homework. it's me. >> reporter: cook says the real victims in this case are her children. as for brinkley, her attorney says cook is delusional and that she has full custody of the kids. rob, paula? >> thanks, dianaadbeat dad. and he goes when she's on broadway i'm going to have the kids 70% of the time, if i'm such a deadbeat dad why am i allowed to have them that much. >> during the marriage, he had an affair with an 18-year-old staffer. she said he was verbally abusive and had a little problem with online porn. medicare supplement nsurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to " 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying .up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp p medicare supplement insuranc. plus you'll get this free guide t

diana olick, breaks it down. she joins us live from washington. hi, diana. >> hey, sue. you're right. home prices are still falling. and they're actually accelerating in their drops in some spots, but not in the spots that you might expect. and that's why investors really do need to take note. two new home price reports out today. but i want to focus on the one from core logic because it breaks out distressed home sale prices versus nondisstressed. take out foreclosures and short sales home prices fell 0.9% annually nationwide. but distressed sales are making up about a third of the market today. so when you put them back in, prices are down 3.1% annually. if you're an investor, as so many buyers today are, you want to know where prices still have further to go and where they are rebounding. chicago, atlanta, los angeles, these may not be your best bets. prices are still coming down pretty dramatically and don't catch a falling knife unless you think it's coming back. look at phoenix. prices there are coming up and that thanks to competition and foreclosure sales. we're starting to se

diana has been keeping track of dog deaths blamed on mushrooms. >> in march there were 15 or 20 dogs that i heard of. >> really? >> yes. >> diana has the new dog now and spends her time it's handing out information cards. >> it doesn't ease the pain that he makes his life or something. it gives it meaning. >> and that was his one object. >> as many as 50 people are homeless tonight after i see chart gusts of berkeley apartment building. this started at 4:13 this morning south of the uc campus. flames could be seen shooting out the windows and over. everyone made it out safely but neighbors say it was up close call. >> i was concerned that there would be no escape. >> i was afraid of not getting out of here. i try to close my door and i saw the knob of my tour was very hot. >> the fire was an accident, sitting in the set of external water heaters. nine people in that building have been displaced. people who live in the four adjacent buildings are not being allowed in their homes until crews can make sure there is no risk of collapse. damage is estimated at more than $9 million. >> berkeley police held at town hall meeting tonigh

diana olick looks how foreign money is fueling a comeback. is it so, diana? >> it is, bill. but there are already 4,000 unsold brand-new condo units in south florida and they're about to put up more than 5,000 more. what's wrong with this picture? nothing. say developers. we'll tell you about it coming up next on the "closing bell." >>> giving back i think is one of the most important things we can teach our children to do. it's a charity created by mike and myself back in 2006. it allows children, whether they be special needs, underprivileged, children from a tough socioeconomic background attend games they would not normally have the opportunity to attend. it's a really enjoyable experience. and something we've enjoyed doing over the last five years. ♪ here we are, me and you ♪ on the road ♪ and we know that it goes on and on ♪ [ female announcer ] you're the boss of your life. in charge of making memories and keeping promises. ask your financial professional how lincoln financial can help you take charge of your future. ♪ ♪ oh, oh, all the way ♪ oh, oh moments you're looking forward to. what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the nation's sixth leading cause of death, affecting more than 5 million americans. the alzheimer's association has been behind every major advancement and continues to lead the fight against alzheimer's. we won't rest until we have a cure. join us. go to alz.org. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! >>> miami was one of the cities hardest hit by the housing market collapse. but miami's condo market now looks like it's gone from bust to boom. largely due to foreign money. dianafrom there now on the reality check. >> this 18-story condo tower was the first to go up after the massive miami condo crash. a family out of argentina began construction here back in august. and pretty much everyone thought they were nuts. now, not so much. the project is scheduled to be finished in may. they say it is 100% sold, with buyers putting down 50% deposits. that apparently sparked what is going to be the next big boom in u.s. real estate. >> the music started again in south florida. we have a race of developers moving into the marketplace trying to put up condos, or planned condos in anticipation of recovery in the next two years or so. today, 25 new towers, 5,200 units proposed. there's still 4,300 units left from the crash. >> just take a look at where south florida condo sales went over the past ten years. a huge crash in '07. last year, it was not that good. new construction ground to a halt in 2008. as developers tried to unload their units. some in big bulk discount d

diana olick is in my hometown, d.c., with good news for retail reits. diana, you first. >> that's right, tyler. there's still signs of tough economic times. some stores still closing. overall the retail sector is improving. and we're starting to see that in improvements in the reit sector of course as we see those stores start to fill up. a new report from rbc capital market said retailers plan to open 71,000 stores in the next two years. witness walmart saying it will add more than 200 stores in the u.s. this year apend $6.5 billion to $7 billion on real estate in the u.s. neighborhood and community center, that is strip mall, vacancies fell by 10 basis points in the first two months of this year. now at 10.9% is the first drop in over a year. now, they'll release their full report for the quarter next week. absorption, the net increase in occupied stock topped out at 1.63 million square feet in december and 1.87 million in january. the sector has not increased occupied stock by this much on a monthly basis since 2007. and the malls, which weren't quite as hard hit by the recession, are improving as well. national vacancies falling by 20 basis points at the end of the year by 9.2%. asking rents up. retail landscape remains bifurcated with malls posting signs of recovery than other property types or classes. let's look at the reits and where we want to put the money. property group for one is a real leader. up nearly 33% in the past six months. general growth up nearly 40%. and mace rich up 35%. there are still headwinds in retail. number one, gasoline prices. it's not only just driving to the mall or driving around, it's what those prices take out of consumer's pockets. and remember, of course, consumers will only spend when they feel good about their pocketbooks. tyler. >> dianathe auto industry where domestic dealers are focusing on profitability. profitability. imagine that four years ago. brian shactman crunching numbers in new jersey. brian. >> you know, tyler, i'm actually at a minicooper dealer in ramsey, new jersey. one of several foreign brands to expand in the last year. not the case with the big three. in fact, they have been reducing the number of their dealerships over the last couple decades. and of course when gm and chrysler restructured, they lost thousands of dealers. now the focus is shifted away from growth through expansion in the u.s. it's all about making what they have better and more profitable. and working. just look at this chart. profit per dealers nearly tripled since 2008. the weakest of the three, chrysler, now has 86% of dealers in the black. part of the formula is to invest in the existing dealerships. you want to get them to look great so the potential buyer can feel great and motivate the dealers. companies like ford, what ar

diana raised her two little princes here. a happy place for them. and here we now find her iconic gowns, living on within these walls. >> this is the dress that diana wore as a young 19-year-old for her first public engagement. >> reporter: and a dress dianar, worried it was too small, too low. it was criticized. daring, sexy. flash forward 30 years when her son's new wife, the duchess of cambridge wore an almost identical gown, but was only hailed as elegant. diana fared better with her later choices. this one by catrine walker. this one made for a trip to thailand. and of course diana was a big fan of the little black dress, simple or sparkly, she shined in them. but just around the corner is another special place. >> this is where princess victoria first met the love of her life, prince albert. >> reporter: that's right. one of the greatest royal love stories of all time. born here. and queen victoria herself was born at kensington. a lonely, tormented childhood. that is until she became queen at 18. and could do as she pleased. >> ail hail the queen. >> she loved to party. she stayed up late dancing until 4:00 in the morning. she said shocking things. >> reporter: here her most personal mementos. never before displayed. her dolls. ske

diana olick is in miami with a special report. what have you found, diana? >> well, mandy, it is size and it is cash. that's what's fueling this brand new miami-south florida condo boom. foreign investors are coming in looking to park their sizable wallets, many of them venezuelaen into u.s. real estate for number of reasons, political, economic and even criminal. >> you're also seeing mexican buyers increasingly coming here as the drug wars being fought in mexico. you have mexidical examinexican buying out of fear. also columbians buying out of prosperi prosperity. and europeans are somewhere in the middle as the greek default issue plays out. >> now, the bulk of the 25 new condo towers going up this year in south florida are high-end boutique, call it. with only the ritziest amenities. one will offer an elevator that takes you and your car in your car right up to your unit. also the tower going up in hollywood, florida, will have direct yacht access. that's because the buyers of these units are all wealthy, all cash. that's what makes developers here less nervous about what happened the last time around. >> the kind of buyers we get, they don't need financing. they're all cash buyers. we sell these apartments for over a million dollars. and goes up to $4 million. it's a way of life. it's a lifestyle that they have. so they're not reliant upon a bank to give them money. >> now, here in downtown miami you're seeing all these towers that were already built plus new ones going up. the investors are seeing a very robust rental market. they're renting to people who lost their homes to foreclosure or who can't get mortgages to buy single family homes. the question of course is when the single family housing market starts to ease up and the credit market starts to ease up and those renters go back to being buyers, what happens to all these condo units and all their investors? got to say stay tuned on that one. >> yeah. stay tuned on that one and buyer be ware. i have another question for you. how many of those condos are leftover? what percentage would you say the condos behind you are still empty? >> well, actually believe it or not over 4,000 unsold condo units leftover from the condo crash. and now they're putting up over 5,500 new ones just this year. >> crazy. >> how does that math even work? they say there is demand. they believe there is demand from these foreign buyers. >> foreign buyers like i hear a lot of brazilians are coming in. >> absolutely. >> thank you very much, dianas lovely. today's disaster du jour is in the bag. what's happening here, herb? >> well, mandy, back on january 10th i did a herb alert pointing out issues including inventory problems they had. the company out with earnings yesterday. it was the outlook that disappointed. the company's spring collection was below expectations as the company said and rising receivables. the inventory came in line, but if you talk to some of the bears, they'll tell you they think this is sort of temporary. and this is certainly one to watch. seems like a lot of internal conflicts going on. not with the individuals just with the mechanics of the business. the company went public in 2010 and trying to feel its way through the market. we'll see how this one evolves. >> i also want to get your thoughts on this particular sunshine stock that we have here today, herb. it's probably near and dear to your heart. acco brands a company provide folks with office products and supplies. i know this is an area you loo

diana joins us live from france. good morning, diana. >> reporter: hi, tori. you're right, it was incredibly dramatic. we as the press weren't able to get a bird's-eye view but could hear the gunfire, and we then found out what went on, basically the commander units went in, they had had no sign of life from the suspect mahommad merah for a good eight hours. and they went in cautiously. he wasn't in any of the rooms, and finally he burst out of the bathroom, shooting incredibly violent. heeding this operation he said he had never seen anything as violent as that. and merah jumped off the balcony and was killed by police with a shot to the head finally, a horrific end to a story that has kept -- captivated and horrified really this spate of serial killings carried out by this gunman. because of the lengthy discussions he with the chief negotiator, discussing whether he was going to turn himself in or not, discussing why he killed three paratroopers and the children in that jewish school. and talking about how he recorded all of those killings and the prosecutors just said they found the videos, truly horrific videos, him running up to three paratroopers, for example, saying, you killed my brothers! now i kill you! you know, he had a lot of weaponry, still in that flat. he was making molotov cook tails. this do have gone on longer but france will be breathing a sigh of relief that this man is now gone. tori. >> dianalive from france, thank you. >>> also new this morning, al- qaeda now says it was responsible for killing an american teacher in yemen. the group just posted the claim on a militant website. witnesses say joel sham was gun down sunday. he was accused for trying to convert muslims to christianity. he was from pennsylvania and was learning arabic and teaching english while living in yes, ma'am went his wife and children. >>> time is 7:20. we always talk about the weather, ready or not. the weather is here! we're looking outside of our window. look at the sky. up next mark is here to tell you when the next storm will hit the bay area. and the book is a bestseller, now the "hunger games" movie is breaking records before opening nationwide. >> good morning, northbound 280 slow traffic into the valley. we'll update the south bay commute. ♪ it's about working harder. ♪ and smarter. ♪ it's the culmination of a million decisions. it's where you see yourself going and how you choose to get there

diana magnay on the ground there in toulouse. diana, what more can you tell us about the standoff right now? >> reporter: fredricka, this siege has been going on for more than 12 hours now. as you say, there was an exchange of gunfire earlier in the morning, two policemen wounded in that. it all began at 3:00 a.m. there has been some very strange patterns really over the course of the day. the police have been in contact with the suspect. at one point he threw a gun out of the window and said he would hand himself in at midday. but that deadline passed and he didn't appear. then negotiations were broken off with police at one point. police tried to bring his mother to try and talk him out of the house. but he wouldn't come out. and now negotiations are back on, but the police say the suspect remains very stubborn, very determined, and they say that they cannot continue -- they would rather not continue on this sort of modus operandi once night falls. as you can imagine, everyone in this neighborhood very worried, police say that he is armed. he has an uzi with him. a dangerous man of the three soldiers and three children and another jewish man all in the last ten days. >> diana journalist claiming responsibility. that journalist spoke with carol costello earlier. take a listen to what the journalist had to say. >> he said it was necessary to reclaim the dignity of islam after the affront done to it by the french after it enacted a law outlawing the wearing of the full veil here in france. and he also said he wanted to protest against france's continued military participation in the war in afghanistan. and also, he said that the shootings on the jewish school in toulouse was to avenge palestinian children. >> diana, has anyone in this community expressed these types of feelings that merah expressed to this journalist? >> reporter: absolutely not, no. it is interesting that he had that conversation with that journalist just two hours before police made their raid. but that is absolutely not the kind of feelings that is represented in the muslim community here. quite the opposite. we have been talking to many members of the muslim community here who are standin

diana olick is in washington with more on what's behind all those numbers. hey, diana. >> hey, sue. what it says is we're still bouncing along this bottom here and we cannot rule -- we can't discount exceptionally warm weather for that earlier surge in sentiment we saw during the winter months with spring started very early, that may have taken a little bit from the spring market, which is starting now. take a look if you will. home builder sentiment is still double what it was six months ago. now at 28, but of course that was unchanged and revised down in february. now, we're nowhere close to 50, which is the line between positive and negative. builders are still cautious according to the report. still facing headwinds from tight credit and a rising number of distressed properties competing on the market. breaking down its components, current sales conditions fell one point. sales expectations over the next six months gained two points and buyer traffic held unchanged. regionally the index gained 5 points in the northeast, 2 points in the midwest and in the south fell, but fell a whopping 10 points out west following a 22 point gain. that is not great news for kb home which does a lot of business out west. overall stocks big builders tanked on this news, of course. but they have been on a tear, as you said, sue, still up over 65% in the last six months. >> diana, on another part of the housing sector, some of the biggest names on wall street are now lining up to become landlords. they're bidding on some of those fore closed properties and you have been very much out in front of this story and speaking with a number of these fund managers. when are we likely to see this move? >> the answer is in april. we've been talking to a fund in phoenix looking to invest in phoenix properties and las vegas properties being sold through fannie mae through the fhfa where they're looking for investors. it's a very difficult process because you have to qualify twice with the fhfa, then you have to show them that you're able to manage all these properties. that's really key in this program to sell these bulk foreclosures because, you know, owning an apartment building is pretty easy. you have one building m units and one manager. but if you've got several, maybe 100 properties out over a wide range, you're going to have to have some kind of company to manageme

diana magnay is live in toulouse, france, this morning. diana, good morning. >> reporter: hi, sol dad. it was very dramatic a couple of hours ago. we've been waiting for this siege to end for more than 30 hours. 32 hours i think it is now. and then suddenly earlier this morning, a couple hours ago, two minutes of sustained gun fire. we, the press, have been kept, you know, fairly far away from the actual site. we could hear it but couldn't see it. we found out from the interior minister what had gone on. the elite raid unit had gone in and blown open the door. gone in through a window. they got some sort of video surveillance equipment that they have been using to try and find out where he was prior to going in. they couldn't see him anywhere. they thought only place he could be was in the bathroom. he came out of the bathroom shooting extremely violently. the guy who led the operation who is a specialist in this kind of thing says he had never seen such a violent reaction. and then mohammad merah, this 24-year-old al qaeda self-declared al qaeda affiliate jumped out of a window and was dead when the police got to him, soledad. amazingly dramatic turn of events bringing this siege to an end. >> we've had chance to watch as it was unfolding. dianafor that update. let's get to christine. >> this just in. 348,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week. that's a four-year low below that key 400,000 mark. it's a sign the labor market is healing headed in the right direction there. police say they believe a body found in north dakota could be a missing montana math teacher. she disappeared in january during a morning run. police are not saying how her body may have ended up 50 miles away. the remains are being sent to a medical lab for positive identification. two colorado men have been charged with ig vat eaggravated kidnapping in that case. >> nancy brinker came under fire this year when komen decided to eliminate most of its financing to planned parenthood for brest ca cancer education and screening. several reports say brinker is facing mounting pressure within the group to resign her position. >>> a u.s. marine could be discharged for criticizing the president and starting an armed forces facebook page. he

diana alvear has them. and she joins us from l.a. good morning, diana. >> reporter: rob and paula, good morning. a few months ago it was just another rock. now it's on its way to being famous, headed for a new home. it's the ultimate rock star. complete with security, entourage, and adoring fans. >> i think it's just absolutely amazing. >> reporter: wrapped in white plastic, this 340-ton hunk of granite is headed on tour from a quarry in riverside to its final resting place at the los angeles county museum of art. the centerpiece of "levitated mass," a new installation by earth artist michael heisner. moving something this big required thinking big. a team of engineers constructed a flatbed trailer the size of a football field to transport the rock on its 105-mile journey. >> it's spread out over 206 tires. so the loads on the actual axles are typical of what you'd see on like a dump truck. >> reporter: and it seems the trailer may be stealing the rock's thunder. >> i had to see the vehicle that was going to move a rock that big. >> we don't understand how the egyptians ever moved that kind of weight. here we're doing it with technology. >> reporter: you think the rock is big? how about the total tab for this project? between 5 and 10 million dollars. >> to spend that much money on art, you've got to love it. and i'll be happy to go down and take a look at what the old boy has in mind. >> reporter: you'll have plenty of time to see it for yourself. traveling at night at speeds topping five miles per hour, it will be on the road for at least the next ten days. and the work continues once it arrives at the museum. teams will spend the next several weeks installing that huge rock, and it will be ready for its close-up by summer. rob, paula? >> compelling and rich, that story. >> rock hard news there. thank you for that, diana. >> and remembering an unforgettable daydream believer. it's all next in "the skinny." unforgettable daydream believer. it's all next in "the skinny." ♪ cheer up sleepy jean ♪ oh, what can it mean ♪ to a daydream >>> the sounds of a lot of folks' youth right there. >> i loved the monkees growing up. >> yeah. >> some sad news to report, that davy jones, who sang lead vocals on "daydream believer" passed away, 66. he had a heart attack in florida and passed away on wednesday. just very young, and it shocked a lot of people. survived by his wife and four children from previous marriages. but -- >> iconic show. a lot of kids got home from school, turned on the monkees. a lot of the girls loved davy. he was the heartthrob guy. >> he was. he was the smaller guy. one of the smaller guys. >> mop haircut and all that. sorry to hear about his passing. for all you monkees fans out there this morning as well. also moving on here, a little bit about whitney houston in the news. apparently, there w

diana olick is putting it all into perspective for us. she's live in washington. hi, diana. >> reporter: hi, sue. you're right. housing starts really surprised to the downside with a big split between multifamily starts and single family. take a look if you will. overall starts were down 1.1% overall, month to month. single family down nearly 10% while multifamily was up nearly 29%. that shows you where the demand is builders are seeing. single family had been rising for several months. taking a breather in february despite these warm temperatures. building permits jumped 5%, single family, to the highest level in nearly two years. that's a great indicator of future demand. the chairman of the home builders association says, though, builders are reporting increased buyer interest and are expecting demand from new homes to improve in the coming months. but continue to exercise caution regarding new products until the interest translates into more signed sales contracts. now, these numbers are going to be dicy for a while. starts are up 18% from the trough. but, sue, we've got a long way to go. >> meanwhile, diana, that's a beautiful shot behind you with the trees in bloom. spring is in the air. it's the first day of spring. but with the cherry blossoms blooming in washington, d.c., you've got to wonder whether the mild winter that we've been having, you know, is it pulls forward the spring selling season? have we already seen the bump that many people thought would last over these next few weeks? >> reporter: yeah. i mean, look, the cherry blossoms are almost gone in washington in this neighborhood. you can't blame everything on the weather here. but you can certainly make a strong case when it comes to housing. take a look at every region in the country experiencing favorable or higher than average temperatures during the winter. that's in contrast to the winter of 2011. precipitation was comparable except in the sun belt. again, it came in the form of rain, not snow. that's a big difference. that's led a lot of analysts to be talking about that. one at the isi says we believe job growth is t

our real estate correspondent, diana olick, has been crunching the numbers and is here to walk us through them. diana. >> that's right, tyler. an awful lot of numbers to get to. and most of them showing some improvement albeit slow and measured. take a look if you will. existing home sales down slightly. but since january was revised up, the 4.95 million unit pace was right along expectations and the strongest in five years. we were hoping to see a bigger bump thanks to exceptionally warm weather this winter, but not so much. home prices flat year over year, we're going to have to see distressed inventory drop further. as banks ramp up foreclosures, that's not likely to happen. which brings me to another report saying for every two homes available for sale in january, there was another one in the so-called shadow inventory. that is 1.6 million homes with loans that are either seriously delinquent, in the foreclosure process or bank owned. all of those however not listed for sale. california, illinois, new york, new jersey and texas make up half of the nation's shadow inventory. and it's numbers like

diana krall, who was terrific! terrific! yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. if you get a chance to go see diana get married at the manchester town hall. they thought why don't we invite the queen to come. >> they heard the queen was going to be in the building that day. >> they sent her an invite and she sent her regrets, said sorry, i'm not going to be able to make it. >> which i'm sure they were not surprised. >> took it graciously. >> lo and behold, guess who showed up at their wedding? >> they got punk'd. >> yeah, they did. the queen and prince philip showed. they must have freaked out that they were there. >> i guess the queen didn't have anything else to do that day. she's just wandering through. >> very sweet. >> would that just put a damper on the party or what? i doubt she got in a conga line or started doing -- what is it you do at weddings? all those crazy -- >> the chicken dance. >> the chicken dance. >> how funny would that be? >> somebody should do that. somebody should do the queen and philip doing the chicken dance at the wedding. >> yes. what was your favorite thing? >> this is