lisa sylvester, cnn, washington.--end-----cnn.script----- bocce courts...a bowling alley...and 25 cafes! cafes!no this isn't a country club!the "employer" that offers all these perks to it's workers....and thh honor it's recieved. ((break 3)) 3 88p --reporter pkg-as follows -- strong economic reports boosted stocks thursday.the dow rose 45 points to close at 12,623.its third straight gain. the nasdaq and the s and p 500 also closed higher.the job market is showing some encouraging signs.the labor department reports 352- thousand americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. that's a sharp drop from the previous week, and it's the lowest reading in nearly four years. any figure below 400-thousand continues to gain ground, and its employees will reap the benefits.for the first time since 2008, the automaker is giving salaried workers both merit raises and bonuses.the two-point-seven-percent base salary increases will take effect april 11t. ford is not commenting on the size of the bonuses.go

lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories.y has come to the aid of some rairanian. >> 13 sailors are freed after being rescued. they took 15 suspected pirates into custody. this happened near the strait of hormuz two days after iran warned the u.s. >>> and a man hunt is underway in california for a serial killer targeting homeless men. police have released video of the suspect. three men were killed in last month in orange county. police are urging the homeless to avoid sleeping in dark, secluded areas. >>> and there is at least one downside of being a millionaire. you've got a better chance of being audited. a spoke woman says a crackdown on -- taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year are also at higher risk. >>> and a frightening up close look at a police chase that ended in a crash. take a look here. the dashboard camera of an oklahoma city bus captured the scene. the suspect's car hit a truck and stopped just inches from the bus. the four suspects jumped out and ran away. police captured three, but one is still at large.

. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring other top stories. risks of celebratory gunfire. >> that's right, wolf. there is a west florida boy who is in critical condition today with a bullet lodged in his head. authorities say the 12-year-old was sitting in his front yard early new year's morning watching fireworks when he suddenly fell, bleeding from his nose and eyes. doctors say a gunshot went through the top of his head. police believe celebratory gunfire, possibly from miles away, hit them. >>> several same-sex couples became the first into hawaii's history to enter into civil union. along with delaware is one of five states recognizing same sex unions. seven other states in the district of columbia allow same-sex marriage. >>> the price of a powerball ticket will double to $2 but the jackpot will double at $40 million. officials say tickets for mega millions game will remain $1. >>> a substantial number of hybrid sharks may be an indication the animals are interbreeding to adapt to climate change. researchers have found 57 sharks that are

it's awesome. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring other top stories. what's going on?collapse of three billings. 16 people are missing, three are confirmed dead. rescuers are frantically digging through the rubble. it's not clear what caused the collapse of the 20-story building and two buildings beside it. officials are investigating the possibility of a gas leak. >>> and she's banned from the ballot because she doesn't speak english well enough. that means that al hand ra cabrera cannot run for council in ace arizona. arizona law states that candidates must speak english well enough to carry out the duties of their office. >>> pat sajak apparently wanted a drink. the longtime host in an interview said they would head out for margaritas for break. they would have two to six drinks and return so intoxicated he had trouble recognizing the alphabet. of course, he says those are it is things he did when he was a long younger, wolf. isms without, thanks very much. >>> comedians say he should stick to hi days job. >> with a rule like that, i guess it was worth crying over s

. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories in "the situation room" right now, includingne of the most popular web sites apparently going dark. what's going on, lisa? >> don't panic, but for one day you won't be able to use wikipedia. the popular website says it would go off-line in protest of the bill. many media companies, including cnn's parent company time warner support the bill. most major tech companies strongly oppose it on freedom of speech grounds. >>> gart brooks is in an oklahoma court after suing a hospital. the two-year-old suit stems from a $500,000 donation brooks made to the hospital. brooks claimed the hospital promised to name a new wing after his mother, but the money is now being spent on other projects. the hospital claims it was an anonymous and -- >>> average credit card debt decreased last year, adding up to an 11% decline nationwide. credit karma.com reports that mississippi, alabama had the lowest debt. auto loan debt actually increased. >>> thank you very much, lisa. searching for the real mitt romney. two investigative journalists have a new b

. >> lisa sylvester, thanks very much for that. i'll be back in two hours to moderate the republican presidential debate here in jacksonville, florida. until then, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. >>> good evening, everyone. from the university of northern florida our cnn final showdown before tuesday's important florida gop presidential primary. warming up, newt gingrich calls the mitt romney campaign dishonest and hypocritical, a sure sign he knows the former massachusetts governor has opened a small lead here. plus debate advice from the former florida governor jeb bush. you won't want to miss his advice to speaker gingrich. we learned today, surprise hillary clinton is not watching the republican debates. but the secretary of state did share some thoughts on her political future. >>> you can seat energy and the excitement here on the university of north florida campus just two hours now until our republican presidential debate here. the last showdown between

lisa sylvester is joining us now to explain what google is up to. what is google up, to lisa?out letters to its g mail customers telling about changes to its privacy policy. it would essentially "create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience." something that takes effect march 1. it will allow going toll collect private information on consumers from its various sites in one database. and some privacy critics are outraged. google plans to implement a new privacy policy that would aggregate information gleaned from google searches. g mail, youtube, google plus and more. all in one database. and you won't have the option of opting out. >> youtube should not turn into youtrack. >> reporter: representative edward markey says consumers should have the right to decide if they want information shared among google platforms. >> this is outrageous. googling is like oxygen to kids and teenagers. what google is saying is they are going to take the private information of kids and teens, provide no privacy protection. >> reporter: google says instead of having more than 60 differen

lisa sylvester is looking into his family roots.he talks about much, but romney's dad was actually born in mexico. his grandparents and father lived there for more than a decade, always maintaining their american citizenship. on top and under scrutiny, mitt romney's history and background are under a microscope. one little known fact, george romney, was actually born in mexico. >> my dad was born in mexico of american parents living there. >> reporter: his great grandfather, who a wave of morm who moved to mexico after the u.s. congress passed the edmonds tucker act in 1887 which cracked down on polygamy. >> it disincorporated the church because of its practice of polygamy. all of its property was confiscated. people had to take an oath that they did not support polygamy. >> mitt romney writes in his book no apology that the family stayed there until 1911. when mexican revolutionaries threatened. other relatives stayed. the television network univision tracked down several people who say they are his second cousins. [ speaking spani

lisa sylvester, what are you finding out? >> 11 people are dead.survivors and their families will likely want to be compensated. what they'll find out is maritime law limits the cruise line's liability. the 1920 death on the high seas act is a u.s. law that allows family members to sue a cries line, but damages are limited to lost wages and funeral expenses. for american who suffered injury or mental trauma, their claims are limited. when you sign a cruise ticket, that's a binding, legal contract. >> there's a number surprises, if in and out outright shocks contained in the fine legal print, the legal mumbo jumbos. the cruise lines have spent literally decades to limit the ability -- read the fine print and you'll find that passengers are not able to file a class-action lawsuit. each claim must be brought individually. lost baggage claims are only $500 unless the passengers prepurchased insurance. death and personal injury claims are limited to $70,000, as spelled out in the athens convention of 1976. the statute of limitations is only a year after

. ♪ >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories in "the situation room."ially saying that the united states is looking for trouble if it moves warships into the persianen gulf. what's going on? >> that's right. wolf. the u.s. has had a presence since world war ii, but things escalated after the aircraft carrier passed through. iran warns of what it calls mayhem if the the u.s. comes back to the gulf to block the strait if its oil exports were sanctioned. >>> and police are still working on a dna profile in the murder mystery of queen elizabeth's royal estate. a body of a young white woman was found on the grounds this week. it was just a mile from the house where the royal family spends christmas. british police hope cold case files will help the investigation. >>> and separating the haves from the have notes. a government report says income inquality is growing as top e n earners receive better payouts from stocks and dividends while the bush tax cuts allow the group to keep more of their money. after tax income for the top 1% of taxpayers soared 74% on a

our own lisa sylvester has been looking into the reaction.e to gail king setting the record straight. the book portrays her as a loving moment, private confidant of the president and occasional thorn in the side of the president's staff. >> i guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman and, you know, but that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day announced. >> the first lady sat down with gail king to discuss a new book by jody kantor. it describes tensions within the administration and the first family. kantor writes that rahm emanuel saw the president's dejection and repeated the criticisms to other with an air of indignation. asked about it the first lady said there wasn't tension. >> rahm and i never had a cross word. >> you have never had a cross word? >> i mean, i don't have conversations with my husband's staff. i don't go to the meetings. our staffs work together really well, so if there's communication that needs to happen, it happens between staffs. >> anothe

our own lisa sylvester is taking a closer look. lisa?porter: mitt romney and newt gingrich have been sparring over fannie mae and freddie mac. and the housing giants have had to be bailed out by taxpayers and were at the heart of the housing crisis. romney has said that investment bonds in both fannie and freddie and said they were held in a blind trust and that he had no control over it. well, we dug up some sound from 1994, romney sharing his views back then on blind trusts. >> mitt romney has taken newt gingrich to task calling him a lobbyist for freddie mac, even holding this event at a florida home foreclosed on by the housing giant. >> what he was doing was clearly promoting fannie mae and freddie mac in this case freddie mac to the tune of $1.6 million, that is one of the reasons we're in the trouble we're in. >> reporter: but romney has also had to defend his own investments in fannie mae and freddie mac. at the cnn debate in florida, former massachusetts governor says those were held in a blind trust which he had no control over

our lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some other top stories in "the situation room." al said the man was found at a wyoming hotel what he was served with papers and said it will be up to the court to decide. the last minute pardons granted ignited a national firestorm. the attorney general is charging they don't meet the state constitution's requirements. >>> and president obama is hanging out on google this hour, literally. you're looking at live pictures. you can see the president there, rather. he's participating in a chat rome of sorts on google. plus it's a feature allowing users to communicate through video connections. the president is actually taking some questions from some of the viewers there. it's actually a white house effort using social media to try to connect with supporters. the president has also held town hall meetings on twitter and on facebook. and the famous kennedy family home in hyannis port, massachusetts, has a new owner. the historic property was gifted to the ted ward kennedy institute for the united states that at request of the late senato

. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring the other top stories in "the situation room." at else is going on, lisa? hi. 89,000 mini coopers are being recalled because of a fire risk. manufacturer bmw reports a problem in the computer controlling the turbo-charger cooling system. a failure can lead to a smoldering water pump and possibly fire in the engine compartment. some bmw and rolls-royce vehicles were also recalled for the same problem. >>> online retailer zappos wants 24 million people to reset their passwords following a cyberattack. hackers gained access to data including names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit cards. a deluge of calls forced them to shut down their phone lines. customers are told to e-mail instead. >>> what could be more exciting from an aspiring rock star than to play one of eddie van helan's guitars? he donated guitars to seven area schools and van halen said he knows how lucky he is and he wants to give something back. very cool. >> i'm jealous, not that i can play but i did play keyboards, many years ago. you

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. >>> we asked our lisa sylvester to take a closer look. ow or don't remember what it was like then, but you've gone back and done some work? >> that's right, wolf. newt gingrich was around washington for a number of years. that past record is now fair game in the presidential race. miss romney is accusing gingrich of being not so reaganesque. santorum is accusing gingrich of being grandiose. >> our new speaker, the gentleman from georgia, newt gingrich. >> reporter: he was in congress two decades, four of those year as house speaker. his former congressional colleagues give him this -- he could get things done. the takeover the congress a balanced budget and welfare reform, bus his leadership style and personal many found abrasive. among them representative peter king. >> he's too erratic, too self-centered. the time he was speaker was one crisis after another, and almost all self-inflicted. he puts himself at the center of everything. >> he was lamb pasted for the air force one incident, loudly complaining for having to sit in the back of

it's a cnn exclusive. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories in "the situation room. going on? >> hi, wolf. police arrested 23-year-old man in connection with the stabbing death the of four homeless man and now the father is saying that he, himself, is homeless. local news media was told that he's lived in his truck since 2008 and he said his son was a marine in iraq and the experience, quote, killed the person he was. >>> a conservative group launches an ad campaign linking president obama to the failed green energy company cylindra. they say they are spending $6 million to run tv spots. they failed after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees in 2009. the ad accuses mr. obama of securing the guarantees for political purposes. >>> and pakistan's prime minister says he will appear before the country's supreme court on thursday. the court issued a notice for a contempt hearing for the pakistani's leader refusal to open thousands of corruption cases against politicians and beurocrats. if prime minister pushed back in a televised speech today saying army and j

let's bring in cnn's lisa sylvester. she's taking a closer look. what are you finding out, lisa? gingrich released his joint rick santorum says the tax records are on the computer at home. ron paul says he doesn't want to release his taxes. he says he didn't make that much money and frankly would be embarrassing for him, and mitt romney changed his mind. here's what we're learning. if there was any doubt before, romney is a very rich guy. in 2010, romney and his wife reported $21.7 million in income. in 2011, $21 million. they paid about $3 million in taxes each of those years. romney's effective tax rate -- 13.9%. a lot less than the highest tax bracket for income at 35%. >> it's because the tax code favors investment income. his $21 million in income most came from either capital gains or carried interest, which is the compensation from his private equity dealings. >> reporter: everything on romney tax says perfectly legal according to tax experts, but there are a few things that reporters have pounced on, including his investment as broad, particularly in the cayman islands, a

. >>> lisa sylvester has the latest on the soldier accused of committing the biggest intelligence leaks. history. >> the soldier accused of giving secrets to wikileaks is one step closer to a court-martial. the investigating officer says reasonable grounds exist that private first class bradley manning committed the offenses. if convicted he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. >>> warm weather may be or way, but home depot is gearing up for spring. it's planning to hire 7 on,000 temporary workers to handle the spring shopping rush. the busy season starts in mid-february or early march. home depot says about half the company's seasonal positions last year turned into permanent employment. >>> the fda is halting shipments of orange juice after coca-cola found pesticides in orange juice. the fda is not raising safety concerns because it says only a small amount has been detected. 11% of orange juice consumed in the u.s. comes from brazil. >>> take a look at this, wolf. that is a picture of a teeny tiny frog sitting on a u.s. dime. not a quarter, but a dime. it is the world's small

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories. >> that's right, wolf.arak could face death by hanging. today, the death penalty was requested along with the country's former interior minister and four aides, he is accused of ordering protesters killed during the uprising. he denies the charges. and the private sector went on a -- 325,000 were added last month. the biggest gain of its kind in a year. the government's jobs report will be out tomorrow. the news will have little impact on wall street. the dow jones was down just under three points at the closing bell just a few minutes ago and casey anthony's attorney is confirming that a video circulating on the internet is in fact the florida mother who was acquitted last july of murdering her daughter, caylee. the video diary marks the first time the world has heard from her since then and it reveals a different look. anthony doesn't say where she is, but doesn't mention her daughter. >> just a little story of how much things have changed since july and how many things haven't changed. the good thing is

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >>> so clearly it's a wake-up call for the cruise line industry.to bring in sunny hostin. we know that victims of this disaster, it's confusing here because it's taking place in italy. do they -- can they sue in u.s. courts since it's owned by carnival which is an american company? >> that's right. and carnival is miami based. that's been the question i think on every single lawyers' minds. can these suits be wrought in the united states. that is very youen likely because if you look when you have your ticket and you look at the fine print, it is very clear that are little contracts written into the tickets that state that lawsuits must be brought in the courts of genoa. so sometimes there's an exception if the if the voyage is to u.s. ports from another country, but that is not the case here. so we will not be seeing lawsuits in the united states. of course mean peopany have cha the ticket, but have been unsuccessful. people say you can sue for anything anywhere. yes, we'll see lawsuits because when you see the high stakes cases like this, lawyers

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >> former tech titan apple has overtaken exxonmobile as the world'sluable publicly traded company. its stock price jumped by more than 6% on wall street on wednesday pushing the company's total market value or capitalization to just shy of $420 billion. the exact figure is 419. that means it's $1 billion more than the perennial champ is exxon. the share price followed record earnings. another talking point is just as interesting when it comes to apple and we're talking about its bank balance. this is because apple revealed it's sitting on a pot worth just shy of $100 billion. it has a whopping $97.6 billion in the bank. that's a serious pot of cash. and it's of course well in excess of the total market value of a number of the company's rivalries. let's take a look at one of the most successful players in this field, amazon. it's the maker of the kindle ereader. it has a cap of $85.4 billion. if we take a look at dell next down the line, it's worth about a third of that. also we should mention hewlett-packard is worth about half of what apple actually

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >> let's hone in on carnival corporation, which is the parent companyta concordia's own company in italy. carnival corporation shares tumbled in wall street session on tuesday, losing almost 14% of their total value, and that's still not quite as much as the company's london listed stock, which fell on the first day of trading after the disaster, that was on monday, and that particular stock fell about 23% on that trading session early on in the week. what we saw yesterday in the u.s. trading was the first chance the united states market had to react to news of the concordia's grounding following, of course, that three-day holiday weekend and martin luther king day on monday. andrew? >> we're going to take a short break. when we come back, breaking the chains of supply. we'll ask one chocolate company how they know exactly who's working for them. >>> it's a problem the chocolate industry has tried and failed to fix for better than a decade. on friday cnn is airing a documentary as part of our freedom project campaign. this includes hard evidence that th

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and the other top stories in the "the situation room." what's going on? >> that's right, wolf. detroit is closer than tefr to disaster. it's facing a $45 million budget shortfall, in part because of the a shrinking population and tax base. a state panel is reviewing finances, and could appoint a interim manager. >>> o.j. simpson is said to be facing foreclosure on his south florida home. a source familiar with the matter tells cnn he's under water on the 4,000 square foot home near miami and hasn't made a payment since 2010. simpson is currently serving a sentence up to 33 years in nevada for armed robbery and kidnapping. he was acquitted in 1995 for murdering his ex-wife and her friend. >>> railroad officials in jakar jakarta, indonesia are trying a new molest for stopping people from riding on -- they are hanging concrete walls, element guaranteed to knock off any train surfers. so far officials say no one has dared to test them. >>> and quite a scare for passengers on a british airways flight from miami to london. the plane was over th

in the meantime, let's check in with lisa sylvester.itoring other top stories, including another american rescuing of iranians. >> the u.s. coast guard rescued six iranians after their small merchant vessel apparently flooded. the americans responded to flares and flashlights. they treated one for injuries and gave them all water, blankets and food. just last week the u.s. navy rescued iranian sailors whose ship was taken over by somali pirates. >>> and pregnant women in texas who want an abortion may be required to have an ultra-sound first. a three-judge panel overturned a lower court's decision, meaning texas can enforce the law while the court ballots continues. it requires a look at the fetus and a description of the development before having the procedure. >>> and the family of a student who announced today they will sue the bus company for negligence gens and wrongful death. robert champion died in november from trauma he suffered as part of an alleged band hazing rituals. relatives believe the fact that she was gay may have been

lisa sylvester monitoring that. >> reporter: wolf, cnn international core respondent nick robertson isle gathered for funerals in damascus, many chanting with "down with the regime." but there was a pro government rally in damascus. they had the live broadcast equipment confiscated on arrive value and they are often accompanied by a government monitor. >>> the former pakistani president tells cnn he's succeeded where others failed as leader of his nuclear armed country. and he says he'll return from exile by the end of this month to run for offers despite the threat of arrest. he's wanted in connection with the 2007 assassination of former prime minister. >>> in britain, investigators identified the body found on queen elizabeth's estate. they say it's a 17 year old l-year-old female immigrant from latfia. >>> and take a look at these injuries. this is what happened to a young australian woman who was bungee jumping in africa when the bungee cord broke. aaron langworthy plummeted more than 300 feet into a crocodile infested river. breaking a collarbone and blacking out on impact. amazi