why did this texas official lay himself off?oing to love the reason why. >> yeah, i want to hear that one. for your word of the day all crambled up can you figure out what this is. it has something to do with the show. >> 58 after the hour as we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. first, we're going to start with the good on this friday morning. the city manager of keller, texas laying himself off. the reason -- he says the city has too many managers. he was one of three and was making $176,000 a year. good for him! now, the bad. >> police in santiago, chile using water cannons and tear gas to propel a mob of protesters. they were demonstrating for education reform. a green company under investigation for insider trading. they make and install chargers for electric cars given $126 million in stimulus taxpayer funds. the securities and exchange commission is reportedly asked the company for documents regarding its government grants. they say they're cooperating with the investigation. have a feeling we might hear a lit

debbie cook, a former church official, says she still believes that, yet she's taken a stand in a texasstify that church officials held her against her will in a place known as the hole that church officials deny even exists. abc's dan harris continues his exclusive interview. >> i'm debbie cook, captain of the flag service organization. >> reporter: for 17 years, debbie cook was one of scientology's highest-ranking insiders. but according to her court testimony, in june of 2007, she was forcibly taken to the hole. located here on scientology's international base in california. it was, she says, a place for scientology executives who had fallen out of favor with the leader of the church, david miscavige. cook testified she was in the hole for seven weeks. that she and the other executives were fed a sort of slop. that the place was crawling with ants. and that the temperature, at times, reached 106 degrees. what did you do all day? >> most of the time, the activities were either you confessing your own sins or bad things that you've done. or getting another person to confess theirs. peo

texas officials point out, shep, states from georgia and indiana, tennessee, to kansas are allowed toto i.d. to vote. here is the texas attorney general making his case. >> insures there won't be any cheating and illegal voting going on. a simple requirement a requirement that the u.s. supreme court has already said is perfectly constitutional. >> he says texas should not be treated differently and should have the power to protect elections, shep? >> shepard: what's the justice department saying? >> the justice department is worried about hispanic voters particularly in rural areas. 300,000. about 11% of texas latinos don't have a state-issued i.d. in a letter sent by assistant attorney general thomas perez. he wrote, quote: even using the date that most favorable to the state hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver's license or personal identification card issued by dps, the texas department of public safety and that disparity is statistically significant. texas wasn't anticipating this move by the justice department so attorney general abbot filed a lawsuit to have the law

the texas officials are alerting students of the possibility of violence. americans have been reporting rapes and other crimes and in resort areas like cancun and cabo san lucas. >>> the wait is over, apple reveals a new ipad. breaking down the benefits. >>> and why the fda is sending out a warning about certain skin care products tonight. >>> and three members of the same family die after coming down with an illness. tonight, a relative speaks out about the tragic loss of life.  today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. chili's $20 dinner for two has a bold new favorite -- steak. first, share an appetizer, then choose two entrees, like our 100% usda choice sirloin, available for a limited time on chili's $20 dinner for two. . >

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. >> texas officials say, all you have to do is get a photo-i.d., naacp and opponents say that's too>> my view is that he will have to register to vote. i can't go to wisconsin or california or oregon and go and walk in and say, i want to vote. you have to be a registered voter. he is mad that they are requiring he use a state-issued i.d. no one's saying he can't get a state-issued i.d. if he wants to have the state photo-i.d. in texas, we can do that. it is no more onorous for him to get -- oenerrous to get registered to vote than to get an i.d. in texas. you can get your voter registration card and driver's license in the same location. >> do you believe you will prevail to stop the obama administration from preventing this law. >> the united states court has upheld this law in indiana and the justice department under other administrations has upheld it for other states under the voting rights act. >> so i believe there is a precedent that this will be a losing battle for the federal government. >> it's controversial and they may go after other states, coming up next. what do you t

texas officials will press ahead with an effort for residents to show a government issued i.d. when voting. they blocked the state from enforcing that new law saying it could harm hispanics and suppress votes. >>> whitey bulger expected to plead charges that she helped him evade authorities for years. he was an fbi informant. they arrested him in santa monica last summer with $800,000 cash in their apartment. >> when is the whitey movie coming out? >> there's too many. ridiculous. >> isn't affleck doing one? >> they're talking about one. >> talking to you about one. >> they're talking about one. >> mr. boston over here. chief white house correspondent michael lessen with a look at the playbook. good morning. >> good morning. >> you said on an earlier too edition of way too early 45 minutes ago today was a huge day for the president. mitt romney could seal the deal in dixie. how is he going to do it? >> that's right, willie. southern tuesday could be the most decisive day. if mitt romney, who is tied in polls in both of these states, if he can win in both of these states he will

. >> texas is now officially suffering its second worst drought ever. >> yeah, it had been months before it's rained. the worst drought we've ever seen. >> on top of the lack of rain, the heat. dallas at or above 100 degrees for the 39th day in a row. >> thousands of acres of dry trees and grass have created a recipe for disaster. all it takes is a strong gust of wind to turn this residential neighborhood into a tinder box. >> the winds are about 35 miles per hour. the wind was blowing so hard that it snapped a power pole and that started the fire. >> the flames immediately begin to devour the parched trees. as richard drives, he spots the smoke in the distance. >> there is a huge fire burning out here. if i see something intense or extreme like that, i'll pull out my phone and i'll start shooting film. >> bastrop county, it is going crazy. >> despite the risk, richard continues to film while he drives. a dangerous combination considering the circumstances. he can't keep his eyes off the hypnotic smoke billows towering over the texas trees. but he has yet to realize the danger he is abou

texas votes. why? justice department officials say the new texas law discriminates against hispanic voters, they say theys much 120% more likely than none hispanics more likely to lack an i.d.. they are not happy with the justice department, attorney general abbot joins is us. the department of justice said you didn't prove that your new photo i.d. was not discriminatory against hispanics. tell me why you disagree with them? >> greta. this is just politics. this is part of obama's ongoing war against the state of texas. listen, voter i.d. and having to present a voter i.d. when you go vote is something that almost everyone agrees upon. in the state of texas 75% of the people agree that you should post a photo i.d. when you vote. this has been upheld as constitutional by the united states supreme court for other states. if this is legal and okay for other states, certainly it should be okay for the state of texas. importantly, if you look the united states supreme court decisions issued just a few years ago, a voter identification requirement is race neutral way of ensuring the integrity of the ballot box

. >> why this city official from texas lays himself off. >> and and from and very information that wille you time, kooum and specially designed cars can help keep lights on during a power outage its coming up at 5:00. diane saw jer wheer a look at what she's working on. >> this is chris kuomo with us. he has more ant rutgers bullying case. the young man at the center of it all. also, coming up to celebrate. every time they can't get jobs back should meet this woman. she turned the town around with an inspired idea -dad, why e you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are the great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a perhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ >>> heading towards the top of the hour, be happy you're not stuck in this. checking traffic, slow going whether you're heading towards east

. >>> and today texas governor rick perry and other officials are expected to tour the beef products plant where the so- called meat filler called pink slime is produced. that plant is located in nebraska. >> all right. abc2 has done it have you, the facebook timeline will switch over automatically beginning tomorrow. you can preview the time page and make adjustments before it goes live. >>> we are talking about mega millions it's risen to a record 500 million dollars. so, you night want to get a -- might want to get a ticket. it's the nation's largest ever lottery jackpot. odds of winning we are talking one in 176 million to one. so, the drawing is friday night, you will be able to step -- we will be with you every step of the way starting tomorrow at 4:30 we will be going live talking about tickets and talking to people buying tickets so be sure to stay with abc2news.com and good morning maryland. that would be a great thing to win. >>> someone who won another challenge recognized today sarah bark is second in the jeopardy college challenge and will be recognized by baltimore coun

we went to texas city to investigate further. bp officials the refinery, but they declined our request for an interview. they referred us to their own report on the explosion, which concluded... but when we spoke to the chief government official who has been investigating the explosion, she told us that's not true. >> the problems that existed at bp texas city were neither momentary nor superficial. they ran deep through that operation of a risk denial and a risk blindness that was not being addressed anywhere in the organization. carolyn merritt, appointed by president bush to chair of the u.s. chemical safety board, has led an 18-month investigation into what happened at texas city. >> these things do not have to happen. they are preventable. they are predictable, and people do not have to die because they're earning a living. >> you think this accident could have been easily prevented? >> absolutely. >> merritt's investigators found problems at texas city just about everywhere they looked: antiquated equipment, corroded pipes about to burs

and we're told plans to officially endorse romney today in houston, texas. as romney continues to edge a little closer to the nomination, rick santorum appears to be losing a little bit of momentum. a franklin & marshall poll in his home state of pennsylvania, a state rick santorum must win, shows the former senator now in the statistical tie with mitt romney. the category you really want to look at is the one on the right. santorum has dropped 15 points in pennsylvania just in the last month while mitt romney has picked up 12 percentage points. they now sit in a statistical tie ahead of ron paul and newt gingrich. >>> looking ahead to november, new national polling shows president obama with a double-digit lead now on both mitt romney and rick santorum. this is according to a cnn/opinion research poll. the president tops romney here by 11 points and santorum by 13 points in a head-to-head matchup. >>> the two republicans also trail the president on favorability ratings. half of those polled see romney in a negative light while santorum's unfavorable marks h

. >> reporter: after landing, the captain was transported to northwest texas hospital for evaluation. though officialsther the medical situation was mental or physical in nature. the incident comes just weeks after this frightening moment on board an american airlines flight while still on the ground in texas. >> she was in a manic-type state. she claimed we were holding her. i tried to talk her down and calm her down a little bit. she said she was bipolar. so we continued to hold her until authorities arrived. >> reporter: t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >> can't imagine the panic on that plane when the pilot himself goes a little nuts. but it raises two serious concerns in terms of screening. one, mental health training, what pilots have to undergo. there's a little bit but it's, obviously, time to revisit that issue. and, two, training for the crew when a member of the crew -- whether it's a flight attendant or pilot has some sort of attack or goes nuts. apparently not much training for that. thank god for the co-pilot here. got him out of the room and closed that door and changed the code. >> ver

the state department and texas law enforcement officials have warned travelers about the dangers of violenceicut, mike baker. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> you got back from mexico, what is the actual danger for americans heading there for spring break. the vast majority of people who travel for business do not have problems at all. you have to be smart. just like you would be when you walk out of your own home. you have to be aware of your environment and whether you're going for spring break or any other reason. mexico, the vast majority of the violence over the past few years particularly during calderon's war on drugs is over the ridge along the border area and across to monterey, puerto vallarta, cancun hasn't experienced problems other than street crime and the street crime can be serious if you're caught in it. acapulco has had more difficulties. there have been more cartel-related issues there, but the bottom line is for anybody who is going on spring break, if you're going to travel outside the country for this holiday, you should be responsible enough to do some studying be

what federal officials are saying is some of america's top luxury brands are part of a smuggling ring imports goods into ports in new jersey, new york and also folks arrested in texas today. look at pictures as federal officials unveiled some of the goods, some of the luxury items as well as stacks of cash that had been faked and seized by federal officials. some of the details of what we know about this alleged scam as of right now, 26 people have been charged. $325 million worth of goods were faked. that is if these goods had been real, they would have been worth about $325 million. as you say, the brands affected include ugg, timberland, nike, gucci. one of the largest counterfeit goods smuggling operations ever charged. clearly a massive operation here. and as recently as 10:00 this morning, sue, they were still arresting folks involved in this in three states across the country. so a big, big bust by the feds today. >> indeed, eamon, thank you. we're watching the stock of boeing today. its dreamliner is blind schedule and the 737 max still on the drawing board. so is boeing's record backlog in danger of collapsing? our philip lebeau spoke with the head of comm

and how his or her say on how to use the consequent as authorities launch an official competition for the best right here in texas. those videos went viral from cultural dancing in chechnya and some quite impressive work outs five hundred years worth of life video recorded on one single day was part of electing the next leader of russia cameras were installed at all polling stations to mourn and tour any possible fault but the relatively few violations were overshadowed by the entertainment provided some have already dubbed the election and most expensive live show in russia's history the. most advanced software to the most remote regions of russia now we can do video conferences scholars can be lectured by diverse professors for aggression and of religion. that's just one of many ideas about how to use the two hundred fifty thousand cameras and while russians may still be undecided who they want to keep an eye on they definitely want to control not entertain the all seeing eye of the web cam will make things harder to hide under the carpet and russia's police stations are somewhere critics have argued for a whil

. >> well, i know this, you're one of the most popular and effective public officials in the state of texas and you're going to be with your colleagues, other attorneys general from around the country at the supreme court this week. what's the biggest issue that you hope the court will pay attention to in regards to obamacare? >> first, i'm proud of my fellow state ag's, more than half of the states in this country are suing our country. because our country has done something it's never done before in the history of the country. from the time of george washington, through the time of george bush, never has congress passed a law compelling and forcing all americans to go out and purchase a product. and in this instance, they're using the constitution to try to force everybody to purchase health care insurance. we all agree we can do a better job, however noble the cause, congress cannot trample the constitution to achieve the noble goal and that's what congress did. [applause] >> one of the big questions that i have politically, i know where most americans stands. the polls over welcomingly

>>reporter: pink slime official name is lean finely texas toured beef.om scrap and ammonia is sometimes used to kill bacteria. >> start thanksgiving fall there will be a new requirement taking the sat. photo i.d. new security overhaul enacted by the testing agency will crack down on students trying to game the system. >> with the new security measures millions of college bound students would take the sat and act each year to have a new confidence that their hard work and preparation will be rewarded and not diminished by cheaters. >> among the changes students will be required to up load a photograph of themselves when they register that picture will be printed on the admission ticket. must also identify the high school and provide their date of birth and gender. testing companies will also conduct spot check at random locations. why? these changes come in the wake of cheating scandal in long island last year. 19-year-old was charged with accepting thousands of dollars for taking the test for 15 students. all it took was a few fake photo i.d. to get past

texas. some gun industry officials say it may be out of fear that president obama will be reelected and crack down on private gun ownership. >>> "the washington post" says that food and drug administration is changing the way that it inspects foo >>> this national weather report is sponsored by the complete balanced nutrition of ensure. ensure, nutrition in charge. >>> an all-star cast put on a real-life drama over the weekend. george clooney and brad pitt appeared in a play about california's legal battle over same-sex marriage. we'll check out the show this morning. >>> and speaking of the a list, britain's prince harry doing a little islands hopping in the caribbean. we'll tell you why he's there and why people are going crazy for him. you're watching "cbs this morning." >>> this portion of "cbs this morning" upon sword by a convenient a. discover the power of active naturals. improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant impro

bush in houston, texas, tomorrow, for what looks to be an official endorsement.r president unofficially endorsed romney in december. in washington, james rosenbe, fox news. >> shannon: let's now bring in ben, the national press secretary for the obama campaign live with us from chicago. good evening, ben. >> thanks for having me, shannon. >> shannon: all right. i want to start by talking about the vice president's speech today. he talked about a number of things, went after mitt romney. it is sounding like presuming that the white house believes romney will be the g.o.p. nominee. he talked about the fact that governor romney practices benefited the most wealthy and powerful among us, those are the vice president's words. a lot of folks out there say this is going to be a campaign that focuses on class warfare. how do you respond? >> not at all, shannon. the fact is as governor of massachusetts, massachusetts ranked 47th out of 50th in job creation under governor romney. he vetoed legislation that would have prevented outsourcing. as specialist he promoted outsour

texas city council here last week the fifth u.s. circuit court of appeals ruled the farmers branch law regarding immigration housing regulations was unconstitutional and according to the associated press city officials and farmers branch say they will likely press on defending the law and he farmers branch texas started on the path to immigration infamy in two thousand and six when they first tried to impose a law against renting to undocumented immigrants i love was repealed in two thousand and seven after the law was challenged in federal court by the a.c.l.u. and so in two thousand and eight the current version of the law was drafted and passed and the newer version attempts to require all renters to have a city license and have legal status of any applicant to be checked now that new less illegal law has been snared in legal battles of its own sense of past so far date the legal battles cause farmers branch taxpayers four point five million dollars while the cost is staggering especially since it's the burden felt by the taxpayers of a single city farmer's grange is far from the only community taking the economic hit for passing laws that many say are discriminatory and plain old unconstitutiona

it would have required all texas voters to show an official photo i.d. to discrimination against the hispanics and other minorities. our senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin is joining us. jeffrey, texas said the law would cut back on voter fraud. do they have a point? shouldn't voters be required to show some sort of government-sponsored i.d.? that's the issue at stake right now. >> what the obama administration says is basically, texas is looking at a cure for which there is no disease. they are saying, there is no major problem. there is not even a minor problem with voter fraud in texas. and just as in south carolina, which the obama administration also stopped, they are saying, this is just an attempt to disenfranchise minority and poor voters who tend to vote democratic. that's the obama administration's argument. >> the governor of texas, rick perry, issued a statement saying doj's denial is another example of the obama administration's continuing and pervasive federal overreach. so what happens now? who wins in this fight? >> well, this is very li

texas. plus here at home, the cherry blossom festival is officially underway, but a warning, watch where you park. >>> the u.s. sergeant expected in the afghan killings wait to be charged as the incident will not change u.s. policy. i'm randall pinkston at the white house. details coming up. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ : the polls are still open in illinois for today's republican presidential primary. it is basically a two-man race between mitt romney and rick santorum. romney is leading in the polls and counting on the chicago suburbs to help him secure the win. santorum hopes his message will drive conservative voters voters deliver the polls. >>> killing women and children in afghanistan spent a second day meeting with his attorney. >> randall is at the white house where the obama administration said the incident has not changed u.s

thunderstorms will pop up from southeast texas to oklahoma and heavy rain and a foot of mountain snow expected northwest in california. >>> in sports it's officially time here in new york, and he got the star treatment yesterday. it's the first time tebow talked to the media since being signed as the new york jets' backup quarterback. broadway tim as he's being called says he looks forward to helping the jets win, and to working with current starter mark sanchez, no problem. >> i think we'll have a great worjing relationship. you know, we talked about that, just supporting one another in our roles. and, i'm excited about that opportunity. you know, think we'll -- i think we'll have a grade relationship and hopefully we'll be able to drive today. >> they didn't waste any time. his jerseys are already in stores and is flying off the shelves. >> in women's college basketball baylor is headed to the final four. another great game from brittney griner. she blocked shots and hit the tough shots against tennessee. she finished with 23 points. 15 rebounds but was tossed out of the game when coming off the bench during a scuffle. they're now two wins away

texas and arkansas. it has two mayors, two sets of city officials and one post office.he lighting outside the house is six uplights and what a difference. three bedrooms. picture perfect with the perfect lighting and shrubbery out front. the family room has ten foot ceilings which is perfect if you have tall kids. the kitchen has wood cabinets, a tiled island and a sunny dining area. there is a wide dining room big enough for a much bigger table with a tile floor and ten-foot ceilings. it's a pretty crown molding on top that emphasizes the height. there is an oversized master bedroom with multiple windows. out back the yard is big enough for a trampoline or two or three or four for you to jump around. >> that's big, wow. now we'll head to centreville, ohio for a brick house that's $195,000. >> this community is old. it was founded in 1796. this is a brick ranch house on a quiet cul-de-sac on the tip of a little hill. very private, very airy. inside the formal entry way has gleaming wood floors and crisp white walls. a lesson in what not to do with the entry. they have n

state officials say the federal statistics do not include many cartel crimes. professor howard campbell of the university of texas in el paso says the issue is inflamed by election-year politics. >> democrats claiming everything is peaceful, quiet, no problem. republicans arguing that the situation on the border is out of control with spillover violence. >> reporter: campbell suggests the best way to get a straight answer on the border is to ask the people who live there. mark potter, nbc news, tucson, arizona. >>> still ahead as we continue for a friday night, george clooney under arrest. carted off to jail, capping off an eventful week. a lot of it focused attention overseas. >>> later, "the hunger games." >>> as we mentioned, george clooney had a full week. wednesday he testified before congress, then attended a state dinner at the white house. thursday he met with the president again. today he got arrested at the embassy of sudan during a planned protest against the conflict in darfur. nbc's andrea mitchell covered the protest and has never really believed in covering a story at arm's distance. today she got

officials say about three-quarters of this state were first here in new south wales nearly as large as texas remains under the threat of flooding. these pictures are coming from victoria. people are busy unloading sandbags to protect their homes and businesses from flooding. serious situation. there will be a bit of a break in the wet weather. but if we look at the 48-hour forecast, you can see that it's not going to last. we can see that heavy rain once again diving down in towards the southeast. so it looks like it's going to be continued risk of further flooding into the weekend. we'll keep you updated. let's go to eastern asia. widespread rain here, too. nothing quite as heavy as we were just looking at there in australia, but it is going to be quite widespread across southern china, then turning to snow across the north. it will really develop into the next 24 hours from central china up towards the north, then mongolia also dealing with precipitation which will be following snow here still very cold. a heavy rain targeting myanmar as well as bangladesh and northeastern india. further t

for many years when he was living in maine kept as his official legal residence a an empty apartment in dallas so that he could file his taxes in texas which is a no income tax state then romney do something similar that new hampshire. well that's why we weren't sure and i never got their questions answered you know he said he lived in new hampshire he said he lived in california then he said he was living out of his son's basement but you know he kept his massachusetts residents as far as i could find out and we did a fair amount of research but then he ended up buying this kind of cheap town home just so he'd have some kind of a presence in massachusetts but we still don't know if he was you know residing it is no income tax state home in new hampshire or in massachusetts or as i was told by several people in town that he moved to california mazie how is your campaign with fred karger came plane approaching the super tuesday well i tried to get out of the massachusetts ballot i've gotten some that i've wanted to i'm not all i've tried to pick and choose some states where i could compete and i'm a california ballot i'm on and i was