nomination. mitt romney is still in front. newt gingrich has 38. rick santorum has 34 and ron paul, you see it there, has 20. dozens of syrians are reported dead today in a city under siege from its own government. this is homs, where anti-government activists say mortar fires from unseen attackers is almost constant. one says we cannot count the dead any more. i'll have more on this 11 will have month conflict and the choices facing washington in the west in our next segment moments from now. the white house is and congress are all too eager to support u.s. troops, but at the same time, the u.s. government might be able to further limit their legal rights. for more than 60 years, federal law has essentially barred military service members from suing the u.s. because of medical mass practice because of an injury or death on active duty. but government lawyers are trying to expand that, arguing the u.s. should be protected from malpractice lawsuits involving military families. we're going to dig much deeper into what this could mean for troops and their families. that's coming up in just about 20 minutes. in washington state, new developments in the story of a man who blew up his house with his kids inside. the social worker who took the two boys to visit their father clearly felt something was wrong. listen to her 911 call. >> something really weird is happening. the kids went into the house and the parent, the buy lomgal parent whose name is josh powell will not let me in the door. what should i do? >> minutes later, the house exploded. her 911 conversations were part of many released by the sheriff's department detailing the moments leading up to the death. powing sent out an e-mail earlier saying i'm not able to live without my sons and i'm not able to go on any more. i'm sorry. good-bye. josh powell was a suspect in the 2009 disappearance of his wife, susan cox-powell. tv host ellen degeneres is saluting jcpenney for keeping her on the payroll. the group 1 million moms is calling to boycott the chain for hiring her as a spokes woman because she's gay. she sticks it to 1 million mom in the show that airs today. >> normally i try not to pay attention to my haters, but this time i'd like to talk bit because my haters are my motivators. i would like to read just a few comments from the million moms facebook page. this is on their page. and not that there's anyone counting, but for a group that calls themselves a million moms, they only have 40,000 members on their page. so they're rounding to the nearest million and i get that. >> 1 million moms is an offshoot of the american family administration. all airbus a380 airplanes have been order to check for cracks in its wings. the cracks on a quantitiace airline were discovered after long turbulence. the carrier blames manufacturing issues. the new order doesn't mean planes must be grounded, but they might be checked within a given time frame. prosecutors say former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky should stay ip doors during his house arrest because neighbors have expressed grave concern of seeing him outside his house which borders an elementary school playground. prosecutors oppose sandusky's request to see his grandchildren, arguing his home is not safe for children. a hearing is set for friday. men, women and children being slaughtered. in syria, it seems all humanity is dissolving as the government attacks its own people. why isn't the international community put ago stop to this and what can the u.s. do to help? when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first...it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. a relentless government john lawsuit continues for the fourth straight day. opposition groups say at least 60 people have been killed in homs today alone in what's described as the heaviest bombardment so far. the dead included 20 members of three families in homs, according to a syrian human rights group. civilians have died today elsewhere in the country. syrian president bashar al assad calls this being done by terrorist groups. this little boy is one of the thousands of civilians killed since the resolve erupted nearly one year ago. most world leaders have expressed outrage over the senseless killing. just yesterday, the human rights commissioner says she is appalled by the government's willful attack on homs. the u.n. estimates 6,000 people have died since the start of that uprising. president assad rarely allows foreign journalists to enter the country to see for themselves what's happening. cnn and other news organizations must rely in part on syrian opposition members who risk their lives to tell us about the carnage. >> these are civilian thousands. this is the clinic, a doctor's clinic. we're asking for humanity to help us. we're asking for the u.n. to help us. we're asking for the arab league to help us, anyone. anyone with any kind of humanity in their heart, do something about this. >> the obama administration just might be inching closer to providing some]/ñ kind of help the syrian anti-government administration. cnn is told that the pentagon has started a preliminary internal review in the event president obama calls for them and they're giving assad a very blunt warning. >> your days are numbered and it is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully. the longer you hang on, the more damage you do to yourself, your family, your interests and indeed, your country. >> echoing those tough words, senator john mccain said says assad's killing of the syrian people must stop. >> i think we have a contact group and we should start considering all oppositions, including arming the opposition. >> for the latest on the uprising in syria, be sure to stay with cnn. our reporters in the are doing all they can to keep us updated there. today's decision is important to that young me that never dreamt that i would wake up in a country where i could marry the person that i loved. >> and now he's closer to making that dream come true. we'll talk with paul katami and his partner straight after the break. and when little max's 16-year-old brother got paralyzed in a hockey game, he decided to do something to cheer him up. so he wrote to former nhl star wayne gretzky for help. what he didn't expect was 32 nhl jerseys delivered to his hospital room and a phone call from gretzky himself. that and gifts and support from everywhere are help jack get through this difficult time. so we would like to say, max, for loving your brother so much and wayne gretzky for making jack's day, you guys are today's rock stars. welcome back. it's been 24 hours almost to the minute since a federal appeals court struck down california's proposition 8. and gave supporterses of same-sex marriage the biggest yet they rules proposition 8 serves no purpose and has no effect other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in california and to officially reclassify their rips as inferior to those as same-sex couples. paul and jeff are among the mrefs in that lawsuit. hi, guys, nice to have you on the show. so i understand that this is certainly big news in california. are there some wedding plans now in the works for the two of you or do you see this as another round in vary long fight? >> well, you know, there's always wedding plans after a decade of being together with someone that you love. so we are definitely looking forward to the day where we can actually be fully recognized in our state and in our country. so, yes, we're constantly planning. >> you've waited all this time. jeff, why didn't you go and get married maybe in another state that allows it? >> well, we're californians. paul was born and raised in san francisco. i've been here for over a third of my life. we work here, we have friends here. we want to be married in the state that we are living in. you know, we don't want to have to go to another state. we live in the united states of america where all 50 states should street their citizens equally. >> a lot of this big news coming out of california is because of the two of you along with another couple who filed this lawsuit to make this change happen. are you considered heros by those who support same-sex marriage? what are you hearing from people? >> what's great about this whole process is the educational aspect of it. what we set out to do was just what we feel is right. so there's really no ego about it. chris and sandy have a family and we have jobs and we go back to our everyday regular lives. i'm going to work right after this interview. so it's all about the educational aspect. it's about getting our stories out there. it's about showing everyone that if we have equal rights, it doesn't negatively affect anyone, it only benefits our lives and our community. so it's a matter of making sure that we're out there telling the truth. >> jeff, why was this so important to you? >> well, you know, we're americans. you know, and i love this man that's sitting next to me. i want to be able to marry him. my farnts have been married for 43 years. i have both sets of my grandparents were married for over 50 years. marriage has global recognition. i want to be able to introduce this person next to me as my husband. that's important. love and commitment is important. >> and, jeff, i also want to ask you -- and, actually, both of you about some of the backlash. because your side has really made progress through the court system while the gay marriage ban was actually passed by voters. and some of those say, you know what? it's the voters voices that need to be heard, not the court's. paul, what do you say to those people? >> you know, we believe in the democratic process. we absolutely do. and as gay americans, we appreciate our freedoms, we appreciate our liberties. but the one thing that we honestly believe is that those liberties and freedoms should never be put up to a vote. so our rights should never be subjected to the whim of a political campaign. they should never have to be lobbied for or voted on. they should be ours and, you know, good people can come to separate conclusions and still respect the fact that in our country, the freedom is to protect everyone. when you strip a right through a ballot initiate ip, that's unconstitutional. >> and i would just add, randi, the courts are there to protect us. we have the ballot initiative process, but when the majority infringes the rights of the minority, that is what the courts are there for. the courts must step in and relieve that oppression. >> and do you expect this is the end of it or do you think it will go up to the higher court now? >> well, we're not lawyers, and obviously the ball is in the court of the opponents right now, but if they do decide to go to the supreme court, we're confident that they will reach the same conclusion. we are 2-0 so far. we've won in the district court and we've won in the court of appeals and that says a lot. >> it doesn't make sense to think you can move to one state and have a set of rules and move to another and not have those same rights. we hope this will have a more national impact. we want this for california. we need it as a nation. >> and when you talk about the national impact, i want to ask you about the impact come 2012 in the election because all the gop candidates, except ron paul, support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex maermg. rick santorum has said he would nullify all existing same-sex marriages. are you concerned at all, paul, about the election later this year? >> well, i'm going to though this one to jeff. i think he has a great answer for this one. >> you know, i said this all along. i would love to invite rick santorum, mitt romney, newt gingrich, come to my house. sit down with me. sit down and have dinner with me. let's have a conversation. look at my loving home. i want them to look me in the eye and tell me that i don't deserve the same rights. i would them to look at elliott perry in the eye after listening to spencer on stage yesterday and tell him that his family is not equal. >> and what's unfortunate is when the responses come out and they're somewhat uneducated. the ruling just came out and so to be educated on the facts and if you were to sit down and understand these rights in our constitution, i think that's a more responsible way to have this discussion, have a responsible debate rather than trying to strip away the rights of a minority. >> i think because this is cnn, i think you guys technically just invited rick santorum and mitt romney to your homes for dinner. if they come, we'll be there, as well. >> come on in. >> thanks so much. >> thanks, randi. if i get sick and something goes goes wrong at the hospital, you have the right to sue. the military men and women who serve our country don't necessarily have those rights. how the government may be trying to restrict their legal rights. 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. you, your wife, husband or child gets sick. you rush them to a military hospital. but instead of getting better, they get worse or worse still, you find yourself asending their funeral. and what if you think the doctors are to blame? most of us have the right to sue formal practice. do you know u.s. troops are blocked from doing that in most cases? it's been that way for decades. military times reporter andrew tillman has done extensive reporting on had. he joins us live from d.c. to break this down for us. andrew, nice to have you here. this goes back to a landmark 1950 supreme court ruling that helped establish the military doctrine, that military men and women cannot sue the u.s. for million practice. this was originally meant to protect the government from liability in connection to military service. but really, andrew, what did that ruling do beyond that? >> well, this law was originally intended to apply narrowly to combat situations. to a lot of people, that makes sense. you can't have a commander worried about making split section decisions. but the ruling in 1950 significantly expanded that. it was the case of an army soldier. he died when the housing barracks burned down. his family sued and the court says basically that was unacceptable, that the military should be protected from a whole raung of lawsuits. government lawyers now in florida are looking to expand this and block their families and their children from bringing a suit, as well. what if there are spouses or children are civilians? >> according to the u.s. attorney in florida, that shouldn't matter. there's a long tradition of military service members themselves not being able to sue the government. for years, the defense department has settled malpractice claims on behalf of spouses and children and retirees. just last year, there was a case in kentucky when a soldier got a settlement of about $2 million when he accused the defense department of not diagnosing his wife with cancer. but the u.s. attorney in florida is now making this argument which would expand that exemption, not just service members, but to their families, as well. >> we've reached out to the justice department about this and they pointed us to a statement that they gave you. it's unique in that entitlement to the defense is determined by the status of the plaintiff rather than the status of the function of the defendant. as a general rule, the touchstone for the defense is whether the plaintiff is a member of the armed services and whether the injuries arose out of the or were incident to that service. he's basically saying that feres case applies to that statement. >> yes. i found that striking at the time. as i said, for the past couple of years, the department of justice has settled cases that seem to run counter to that. i don't know. i'm interested to know whether this is a policy that the department of justice is planning on pursuing in all sorts of jurisdictions or if it's just limited to florida. so far, doj hasn't said much about that. >> at the end of the day, military hospitals certainly have more legal protection and less accountability than civilian hospitals. isn't that what is happening here? how do military hospitals compare to civilian hospitals? >> yeah. i think that's a really good point. the medical provides inferior care in some cases because their doctors and their hospitals don't have the same exposure to lawsuits. if this law was to now expand, that would exaggerate that -- what you might call an accountability gap. >> andrew tillman, your reporting has been exceptional on this. we appreciate you coming on the show. thank you. >> thanks. it was a sweep for rick santorum last night, and he says this about the gop front-runner. >> mitt romney is not the best choice to go up against barack obama. >> but is rick santorum the guy? that's fair game, next. but first, our political junky question, only three times in history has an incumbent democratic president lost in the general election. mart yn van buren was one. who were the other two? be the first to tweet me and i'll give you a shout out. [ male announcer ] this...is the network. a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible. helping business, and the world...work. for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. ...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. before the break, i asked you which three incumbent he was serve two nonconsecutive terms because you probably knew that correct answer. rick santorum wins three states in one night. those victories are fair game. let's talk about it with lenny mccall sister who is in chicago today and democratic strategist maria cardona in washington. first, i want you both to listen to rick santorum this morning on cnn. he says voters realize that he, not mitt romney, are the true cop servive. takeover of indust and energy with the cap and trade. so mr. private sector was mr. big government when he was out there running from the private sector. >> lenny, what is the impact, do you think, of santorum's sweep? >> well, the impact of the santorum sweep is regardless of how much money you have, if you generate a little mitt of enthusiasm within the conservative base, it's not going to do you much good. what santorum is going after is some of the same arguments that michele bachmann laid against maybe you're not the guy to win the nomination. and rick santorum with these wi has a glass ceiling as to how much t do you think? >> i agree with most of what lenny said. look, this is a real problem for mitt romney. his losses last night completely underscored the fact that not only the social conservatives don't like him, but if you look at independent polls, after poll after poll after poll, he is losing independent voters and the more that he talks, the more that he opens up his mouth, the more americans realize they don't like this guy. they don't trust him. they don't know where he stands for the exact same reasons rick santorum was talking about in the clip right now because he's been on the opposite size of the issue so many times in his political career. and when people want to elect a president and gop for their nominee, thewant somebody that they can trust. mitt romney is not somebody that voters can can trust. >> let's talk about what happens with romney. every time he has a victory, he seems to stm stumble and then the campaign goes backwards. he has the money, he has the organization, so what's the problem, lenny? >> the problem is he doesn't excite anybody. he is not an inspirational leader. i've said this previously and taken criticism for this. if you look at herman cain's private record and getting into po herman cain did. rick santorum is now coming up as that that people are willing to rally behind. when you're talking about this candidate versus the underdog in these sometimes where the tea party and the occupy wall street movement have been to prevalent in an american imagination, sanatorium is going to be successful. >> maria, lenny says that mitt romney doesn't excite people? >> well, certainly the folks that have listened to him in these past couple of contests that he won, they are excited about him. and i go back to the fact that he is actually speaking to the issues that the conservative base cares about. and he is also somebody who has never really flip-flopped on an issue. and i think this is critical when you are looking at the support from voters. i mean, if you look at mitt romney, and even just recently, he was hammering the president for his decision on the -- on the catholic churches and giving all women health care. and access to health care. you know what? mitt romney passed the exact same provision when he was governor in massachusetts. and not only that, he's now railing against contraception. guess what? he has invested and is making a ton of money off of manufacturing companies who make contra septemberive medicines for women. so these are the kinds of things that when voters look are his record and they listen to his rhetoric, it doesn't mat up. he will say anything and do anything to get elected and that's not the kind of leader that americans are looking for. >> let's talk about what's on the table now. it seems like all of a sudden we're talking about social issues. just recently, the planned parent hood and susan g. komen foundation. we have the court ruling on gay marriage which is creating a stir among people. are social issues back in play, lenny, or is it still the economy the number one issue this election year? >> well, the economy is the number one issue, but if you're trying to excite a base, you need two things as a democrat. number one, you need a wishy washy republican on the other side to run against. they got that romney and the establishment is pushing that. but the other side is that social issuehat conservatives are going to get behind and you can create that strong man to run against. that's why this planned parenthood issue is a big deal, this situation with the catholic church and contraception is a big deal because it's going to excite the liberal base and get them right back behind president obama. and what have you seen over the last two weeks? people getting excited. you see independents shifting away from republicans and now all of a sudden, the republican mitt romney ad the president obama when it comes to independents are tied in the polls and now all of a sudden president ama who has been struggling is now five and six points up nationally against romney. >> maria, ten seconds there. just ten. >> i think it will be the economic issues and the reason why the democrats are very excited about president obama is because he's focused on economic issues, on creating jobs, on economic growth, on all of the things that the gop candidates have failed to focus on. >> all right. you did it. i think in about ten seconds. maria cardona, lenny mccall sister, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. god pleas. what about the places where history was made? where it's taken decades to preserve civil rights landmarks. ♪ [ male announcer ] why do we grow quaker oats? because there are mountains to climb. ♪ dreams to be realized. ♪ new worlds to be explored and hearts to be won. quaker oats. energy to get you going, fiber to help fill you up and help keep your heart healthy. super people eat super grains. two mep, coming together at the heht of the civil rights movement. two men risked their lives to help young african-americans during those often bloody and deadly days. they gathered at meridia fielder and brooks drugstore to talk strategy. today, these two men have come together again in a bid to preserve that drugstore and help keep martin luther king jr.'s dream alive. they're joining me now. let me start. welcome to both of you, first of all. let me start with you, mr. levy. how did you and roscoe jones meet? >> we met in 1964 at the freedom hool. i was the director and he was the leader of a high school student group there. them we reconnected just about a year ago in meridia. >> so give me a few of the details about this project. >> well, there had been attempts in mississippi to do voter registration and desegregation efforts in the 60s and they ran into a brick wall. that's how that part of it started. >> mr. jones, tell me about your role in the project and why you cow meridia a mecca for civil rights activities. >> well, in ma rid yap, we were the office there underickey swanner and rita came in in 196 had and all the activities for this area centered around meridia. that's why i call it the mecca. the only thing that philadelphia was really involved in was the death of the three civil rights workers. we were the source of sending people out to establish groups. >> and why is this project so important to you? can you talk about that a bit? >> yes. it's very important to me because, first of all, meridia has been a forgotten place in terms of east mississippi and the history of the civil rights movement in this area. because of our le, as i said it earlier, we send out workers in the outlying area. people have forgotten about meridia. the cobalt building was the first building that we entered into as an office space. all the other buildings have been destroyed in some form of fashion and that's the only building that's still left. when i came back home six years ago and saw this building sitting there, i said to myself, we have to do something, we have to preserve something. >> what kind of help are you getting, mark, from the state in terms of restoration that's needed? >> the building was deemed this time last year as a valuable building to be preserved. then on top of that, there was an application for a grand to preserve the roof and do the initial preservation of the building. so the state granded 210,000, 220,000 grants to stabilize the building. so far, that's been the support of the state. there are community groups, individuals, local people in the town that see this as an important step forward in sort of preserving the downtown and preserving the history. so there has been some state support and a number of people from the community also supporting it. >> roscoe, this really is all about supporting and preserving history. what do you remember about that time and what do you want people today as this site is restored to know? >> well, what i remember is that as a young person involved in the movement then trained by mickey swarner and later mark leadership at our freedom school, that's what i took a big part in was the freedom school part of that, seeing all of the young people get together. we had something like 300 and some odd people who were enrolled, voluntarily enrolled in a freedom school, the largest in the state of mississippi. and we later had our convention here in meridia. what i want people to understand about that and young people, especially, is that there is a path that goes along with the future. and we took responsibility. young people at that time, we took responsibility. we were the leaders. we were the ones who put our lives on the line. we had a commitment. i want to see young people understand that, respect that and realize that, hey, we can do something and we can do something positive for our community. >> i think what you guys are doing is great. roscoe jones, mark levy, really nice to have you here. thank you. >> thank you. shark attacks in the u.s. are down, but shark deaths worldwide are going up. are humans a bigger threat? that story, next. but first, sunday's super bowl was a hard-fought game and most players know the montra. win or lose, it's a team effort. but tom brady's super model wife didn't see it that way. listen toga sell rip into a giants fan. >> i supposed he was supposed to catch the t ball. >> even the giants are coming to the defense of their rivals, giants running back brandon jacobs told reporters, quote, she just needs to continue to stay cute and shut up. hits words, not ours. but still, gisele, we would like to see you doing their job for one day. sounds like you're the one who with dropped the ball. we're putting it out there. your 15 minutes are up. what's this? [ male announcer ] quaker oatmeal squares have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. time now to check stories making news at street level. the university of florida reports that shark attacks were down last year but fatal attacks were way up elsewhere in the world. 75 attacks occurred worldwide, close to the decade average. but the number of double attacks compares to 2010. if you live in charlotte, north carolina, you may be surprised to hear this. documents show numerous flights out of charlotte douglas airport are taking off without life rafts. this safety device is one of the reasons some of the passengers are still alive. remember the one that landed in the hudson river, it was on its way to charlotte from new york. but they let some planes go without rafts because there are other safety measures in place. hotel employees are receiving a personal panic button. they're hoping it will help them feel more secure while they're on duty, including while their in people's rooms. this occurred after a hotel employee was allegedly attacked. after a two-week investigation, police say her story didn't quite add up. the manhattan district attorney's office said the accusation does not fit their definition of sexual assault crimes, so no criminal charges are appropriate. we've been following the story of a gay man being viciously beaten by a gang of men shouting anti-gay slurs in atlanta. the attack caught on tape happened as the teen walked out of a small grocery store. according to affiliate sbtv, the man can be heard yelling derogatory terms about the teen's sexual orientation. today 20-year-old brandon white spoke out. >> i feel like if i can walk to the store, if a straight person walks to the store and i have a problem, i should be able to do the same thing. i shouldn't have to worry about whether i should have to look over my shoulder or is this person going to attack me, or is that person going to attack me for just being a gay male. >> fbi agents are investigating the case to determine if it meets criteria for prosecution under the federal hate crime statute. let's head south to downtown los angeles where we're learning new details, stunning details, in fact, from miramonte elementary. the school is the center of two child abuse sex cases. our affiliate from l.a. is saying they are implying a third teacher could be included in sibl sexual abuse. you may remember berndt was arrested last week accused of taking bondage pictures of kids, allegedly feeding some of them his bodily fluids. a teacher sent her students to berndt's classroom to, quote, get cookies on a regular basis during class. those cookies reportedly were coated with berndt's seman. they've given that teacher's information to law enforcement. find out where rick santorum is headed next and his new strategy to snag some more delegates. but first our political junkie question. in the 2008 presidential election, which state picked a winner by fewer than 4,000 votes? be the first to tweet the answer to randikaye @cnn, and if you'r right, i'll give you a big shoutout. vacations are always wasn'ta good ideaa ♪ priceline negoti - - no time. out quickly. you're miles from your destination. you'll need a hotel tonight we don't have time to bid you don't have to bid. at priceline you can choose from thousands of hotels on sale every day. save yourself... some money how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ break the -- before the break, i asked which state picked a winner by fewer than 4,000 votes. the answer is missouri. john mccain won by 3,903 votes. congrats to d.j. walter who sent in the correct answer. nicely done. the political world is trying to ingest the impact of the swing state sweep. we're joined by washington with some insight on this one. so peter, santorum won three states but not just any three states. these are states that will matter come november, right? >> yeah, he tries to articulate an argument against newt gingrich that i'm the guy other than mitt raomney who can win, e can say hey, i won the swing states. i won colorado, minnesota, missouri. these are the states that will matter this fall. that's important because gingrich won south carolina and he's sort of making a push in super tuesday to win these southern states. he's being cast as sort of a regional candidate at this point, so you che can tell vote rick santorum can tell voters, i won in three swing states. >> let's say what his schedule actually says about his strategy. >> i spoke to a santorum spokesman, and he said, quote, we're going to go hard core in michigan and ohio. those are two states, obviously manufacturing states, cutting manufacturing is a big part of gingrich's plan. he's also looking to maine and texas votes in april, and washington state which holds caucuses on march 3rd. why do all these states matter? what do they have in common for santorum? he has to pick his battles. he dent haoesn't have a lot of like mitt romney, and you saw him sort of pick his battles with several states where he can win proportionately. he can still try to get some delegates here and there because the states delegate proporti proportionally, randi. >> and where is mitt romney heading? >> he's in georgia. his argument is we can put rick santorum to bed if we win in georgia. the romney campaign has laid a lot of groundwork in georgia over the past several years, so they think they can lay some groundwork there, but rick santorum will also be heading home and protecting his turf. >> gingrich keeps saying we'll sew it up in the south. we'll see. >> i want to hear what you think. you can continue the conversation with me on line, as always. cnn newsroom continues right now with brooke baldwin. hi, brooke. >> we'll take it from here. i'm brooke baldwin. as usual, the top of the hour catches you up on everything making news. rapid fire. let's go. we want to begin in syria in homs, specifically, where there's bombing. you can hear and t ait and see . the government is unrelenting. people are cowering in their homes. they call it, quote, a huge crime against humanity. at least 60 civilians have been killed today alone, including three families that died when government forces stormed their own homes. we'll go to neighboring turkey to get a live report. back here at home, all eyes really on wall street. take a look at the big board. we're flirting with that number, that 13,000 number. the dow has not seen that since 2008. that was before the financial crisis. the number has been in the red most of the time, but we're going to see what happens in these final hours of trading. two hours to go before that closing bell. meantime, rick santorum, he says he has raised a quarter million dollars on line after his surprising trio of wins just last night. >> mitt romney is not the best choice to go up against barack obama. >> and i'm sure, as you did with the rest of us, you stayed up in the wee hours watching cnn. you heard about santorum's sweep. we're talking colorado, missouri, minnesota. looking ahead, we'll see conservativ conservatives states where several of the candidates will be speaking. a woman recently claimed tv anchor greg kelly assaulted her back in october. investigators went through all these receipts and phone records and text messages, and a district attorney's office says what happened between kelly and schmitt does not fall under the definition of sexual assault. kelly is anxious to get back on the air. a vicious beating caught on video demands justice. brandon white spoke publicly today for the very first time since the video surfaced on line. he says he didn't even know who this graoup of men was that jus jumped him in atlanta. now police are looking at it as a possible hate crime because white is gay. white says he may not have ever come forward to tell his story if this video hadn't been posted. >> they want to go ahead and release it and put it on the internet. they want to make them feel like they were brave and strong. in my opinion, i'm the brave one. and this is in the odd category. this man here could get four years in prison in this bizarre animal death case in riverside county, california. witnesses say 58-year-old larry jarecki teed off on a 6-pound chihuahua sending it flying through the air after it escaped while it owner was at work. jarecki has been arrested on one count of animal cruelty and use of a deadly weapon. a california man gets 26 years in prison for setting this fire back in 2005 that destroyed four and a half million bottles of irreplaceable wine. prosecutors say mark christian anderson turned to arson to hide the fact that he was ripping off all these clients who stored wine in that warehouse. by the way, he was also facing eviction from the warehouse. he's been ordered to pay $72 million in restitution. a jumbo jet is grounded after 36 cracks were found in the wings, 36. this is an airbus. it's operated by quantut, the biggest airline in alaska. these cracks were found last month after it injured several people. >> these hairline cracks serve no consequence. >> still, your air transport agency has ordered all the 380 fleet to be inspected. and more super bowl controversy, but this time about what you didn't see. miss deaf america. rachel zeech has a petition on line asking for an apology. that's because during the coverage of sunday night's game, she was not shown once as she sang the national anthem and america the beautiful. the deaf say they felt left out. just getting started here. a lot more to cover here for you the next few hours, including this. it's getting worse. the government in syria is killing more of its own people including three families alone in their own home. this as the u.s. military is getting plans in place. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. a social worker calls 911 after josh powell takes his kids and pushes her away. >> i smell gasoline and he won't let me in. >> you'll hear the chilling moments just before the explosion. critics say president obama has declared war on religion. the fight over birth control pits the white house against the catholic church. plus -- >> they're right down the barrel and you know there's not a damn thing you can do about it. >> he survives a bullet to the head from this man. now his pardon may not hold up. we're keeping a close eye on wall street where the dow may have a milestone finish. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you 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[ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. i want to talk about syria and the onslaught against its own people today. the city of homs reports that they again are shooting mortars in certain areas. they're shooting those mortars from a number of miles away, which means they can hit all kinds of things. which is why we're seeing scenes like this, women, children, huddled together hoping to ride out this shooting that's in its fifth long day. we spoke today with a witness talking just about the shareer brutality. >> they get the army surrounding this whole area. they're surrounding the whole area with army troops and anti-aircraft from 5:00 a.m. with all kinds of rockets. i found this in one of the destructions of the house. this is one of the rockets found in one of the houses. >> also, before we push on, i want to tell you this. cnn has learned that the pentagon has begun a review of u.s. options in syria. this is considered a formality just in case the president asks for a list. we're going to talk a little more about that in a minute. but first i want to go to ivan watson who is standing by for us in neighboring turkey. ivan, i want to talk about the assault on homes. is there anything more to know about the cities currently under siege by the syrian government? >> definitely. we've been talking to other activists in other parts of the country, one town in particular near the lebanese border described to us as seeing conditions like these now for six days surrounded by german military and being shelled as well, a residential area. we have some pictures that emerged last night, a shaky video of what's taking place there. i also spoke with activists in the southern opposition stronghold region of darah, they show tanks in that area. despite the fact that they have tanks, artillery and helicopters against possibly armed activists, we still have scenes like this protesting violence even though 5 to 6,000 people have been killed in one month in syria. brooke? >> we talked yesterday about them gaining momentum as a legitimate fighting force. i want you to stand by so i can tick through something, ivan. so the syrians are known as the pre-syrian army. they have four to maybe 7,000. they are headquartered in turkey where you are, ivan. they have 38 battalions. they recently got their hands on some anti-tank missiles. my question to you is what more can you add about this free syrian army, and the extent they pose to the assad regime? >> according to the sir yayrias news agency, at least 14 soldiers from the syrian army were buried just yesterday. they accused what they call non-terrorists of killing them. pretty-syrian army is not a cohesive fighting force. one analyst described them more as franchises than a united group that had sprung up in different parts of the country that in some cases have carried out operations and attacks, but often seem to be much more a defensive force to protect the civilian communities, the residential groups that are protesting against the government, and they're very likely armed. they are not using tanks, they don't have air power, and some of their supporters are smuggling weapons to them across borders, but they're definitely outclassed by the syrian army at this point. >> i want to ask you about turkey where you're standing. on the one hand, ivan, they appear to be harboring armed rebels. surely they have an interest in the neighbor not blowing up into an all-out war. where does turkey stand in all of this? >> well, in the beginning of this uprising, they were trying to be in support with the syrian president, the first month of it. finally, after all loss of life, they broke with him and said, we can't negotiate with this guy. a threat of saying they are highly armed rebels, they are harboring some of the leadership of the ex-syrian opposition. they insist they're not supplying any weapons to the opposition, but they are merely giving some political cover and political support to them. they do not want so far any kind of military, foreign intervention into this area but the terps are calling, basically, to the down fall of the syrian government because they are hurting their own residents. >> that brings me to a point that we brought up a moment ago, that the pentagon has launched initial u.s. options with syria. this is really just considered a formality just in case. u.s. officials, every time we prod them, are talking only about diplomacy here. >> assad is off the reservation. he is being armed and supported by russia, perhaps others. the armed opposition as opposed to the civilian operation is increasingly also resulting to violence and self-defense. that is not a dynamic that is in the interest of the people of syria or the wider region. so before we start talking about military options, we very much want to ensure that we have exhausted all the political, economic and diplomatic means at our disposal. >> joining me now from washington, brigadier general mark hemmet, state of affairs. he also served as deputy secretary for middle east affairs. kenneth, nice to see you. i also want to begin with this just in case scenario. what options do you think are on the table right now for president obama on just how to proceed regarding syria? >> there are still plenty of options on the table, both diplomatic. some measure of military qualification, of course, with the pre s-syrian army. then you need to tra, r you would unilaterally -- some people have problems. >> the general there are a lot of voices. why not do the same for syria they did for libya? can you explain the difference between libya and the crisis is syria? >> the situations may be the same, but libya was completely different than syria. going into syria, we have to recognize they have one of the most advanced air defense systems in the region, they have probably 4,000 anti-aircraft guns, they probably have the same number of missiles. very advanced missiles courtesy of our close allies in russia that continue to exacerbate the system. it would far less costly to do a no-fly type of operation in syria than we saw in libya. >> you bring up russia. let's ask about this, because everyone is mad at the russians. they're accusing moscow with everything from cropping up this onslaug onslaught. help us understand, what's in it for russia here regarding syria? i was talking about this yesterday with an expert from russia. they are modifying this naval base. do you know about that? >> this isn't really as much about large issues within syria. this is more about the russians have an opportunity during election season to be poking the united states of america, to bolster a close ally in syria, and quite frankly, shamefully sitting back when the solution is so readily apparent which is the united nations securities resolution. any talk they have about a policy of non-intervention like the chinese is shameful at best, and i hope our diplomats continue to call the russians out and the chinese out for their behavior in this regard. >> 30 seconds. how long do you think assad can last? >> it's sort of the question we were asked about muammar gadhafi. the sad part is longer than most people are predicting. these types of situations won't end needlessly, but we're talking about the situation where they would not be in control of syria, but i don't want to guess how long that would take. >> probably months and months. if you thought he was out of the race for the white house, rick santorum proved you wrong. >> one of the great gifts that i've had in my political career is that no one ever thinks i could win anything. >> how about last night? the republican presidential candidate took home huge wins in all three states: missouri, minnesota and colorado. but just how important was this night in the grand scheme of this election? our own political guru is up into the wee hours. wolf blitzer will join me live after this quick break. stay with me. what should we talk about? should we talk about what a great night it was for republican rick santorum or what an awful night it was for the gop front runner mitt romney? santorum won the caucuses in minnesota, missouri and colorado, thus stopping the romney momentum dead in its tracks. by the way, i'm sure you were watching with me, but if you weren't, cnn was the first to call the race in colorado. we were right there when it happened. >> hold on a second. >> but can you characterize for us -- i believe you have 99% -- >> the republican party announced that rick santorum has won colorado's republican preference poll. >> let me bring in the guy who really ran the show last night, wolf blitzer. let's start with mitt romney, because looking at the stats here, he's 0-3 last night, 0-3 in contests held in the midwest, 1-4 in caucuses that tend to attract the most loyal republicans. how big is this problem for mitt romney? >> it's a very serious problem he has, because if he would have done well last night, he would have been well on his way, a little bit further along. he wouldn't have had it wrapped up by any means, but now he has to really struggle. in maine this saturday, there are caucuses. i suspect ron paul will do very well in maine. he has to do well in arizona with the strong mormon population. his father used to be the governor there, he was born there. i assume he'll do well. but he'll have to work harder, spend more money now. instead of saving that money, he'll have to work harder now because he can't afford to have any major surprises like he did last night. he thought he would win colorado. he did great there four years ago, not so great this time around. you have to give a lot of credit to rick santorum. >> all the panel was sitting at this table saying, we're surprised. ari fleisher, no one anticipated this entire sweep. given a sweep, does he have staying power, wolf? >> yes. he does have some staying power. he's got a voice out there that's resonating with a lot of republicans, a lot of conservatives. look how well he did in iowa. originally he didn't win, he lost by a couple dozen votes, then they recounted and he won by a dozen votes. he worked hard in iowa. he spent days and days, weeks and weeks there. didn't have the resources that mitt romney and some of the other candidates did, but he did very, very well. now he's done well yesterday, so i suspect he has some staying power. my own gut so far tells me, brooke, they're going to stay in this race for the time being. they're not going anywhere. ron paul said if he were to bill out, gingrich said to me point blank, he thinks this could go all the way to the convention in august in tampa. mitt romney is not going anywhere, newt gingrich says he's staying in. this thing could go on for several months. >> even if it goes altogethl th to august, it's down 10% this primary season. what does your gut say about that to you? >> that's a huge problem potentially for the republicans. they're really not showing up in these states that they did four years ago, and if they really want to get out of that republican base, it was no win for the republicans but the tea party movement. these four finalists are not totally energizing the republican race. that's potentially a serious problem for the republicans. >> thanks, wolf blitzer. we'll chat next hour. meantime, we'll talk about some potentially big numbers. the dow sitting right around 12,800. sli flirting, like i said before, with the job market. we're hearing there are more job openings. tell me about that. >> brooke, they are up 3.4 million job openings in december. that's how many jobs were advertised in the department. i'm talking about jobs in the professional areas, business services, retail and manufacturing. wi the number of openings actually jumps from november to december, so you're seeing a trend here. hopefully for america, it's getting less commitment, because it means the company is expanding, they have to go skpout spend money to train people. but before you pop that cork on the champagne bottle, there is always chirm ben bernanke. you know what, the labor market is far from normal. it is gaining traction. all these concerns about debt, it's on the rise. competition is tough and i guess you don't need me telling -- but we want it to pop the sham painl out. >> we'll all be watching the dow as well. about an hour and a half until that closing bell. now this. >> he sent several e-mails saying how to handle his property or something, utilities, i don't know. >> that voice, that's the sister of jason powell in the 911 call. that's the father. he used a hatchet on his two young boys and set his home on fire. we're going to hear another harrowing 911 call and another from the social worker involved in the case. be right back. i won't go without it for my high cholesterol. why kid myself? 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[ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! the people who owned the house that josh powell blew up with him and his two young boys inside, they said they don't want to rebuild there because, quoting them, they say it's just evil. now we have a bit of a clearer picture of what exactly happened minutes before this evil played out. the pierce county sheriff's department has now released the 911 calls about this double murder suicide. in one you're going to hear the social worker who had taken the boys, this was a court-mandated visit, taken little braden and charlie to their father's washington home just this past sunday. >> i'd like to pull out of the driveway because i smell gasoline and he won't let me in. >> you want to pull out of the driveway because you smell gasoline but he won't let me -- >> he won't let me in. >> he won't let you out of the driveway? >> he won't let me in. it's his house and he won't let me in. it's a supervised visit. >> that was just a portion. in entirety, the call is just about 7 minutes. it's frustrating to know that now they had mere minutes to save the boys inside. that social worker spends more than a minute fumbling to find the address and sounds frustrated trying to get the operator to know just the sheer urgency of the situation. >> i don't know what the address s. >> that's pretty important for me to know. >> i'm sorry, i can't -- let me get in my car and see if i can find it. nothing like this has ever happened before. i'm really shocked, and i can hear one of the kids crying, but he still wouldn't let me in. okay, how long will it be? >> i don't know, ma'am. they have to respond to emergency, life-threatening situations first. >> this could be life-threatening. he went to court on wednesday and he didn't get his kids back. i'm afraid for their lives. >> i'm afraid for their lives, she says. she also tells him of powell's noto notoriety but doesn't tell him he was suspected of his wife's distance a few years ago. the dispatcher calls the social worker back. >> ma'am, do you know the exact address of his house? >> it's 1819 189th street, court east. >> do you know if there's anyone in the house? >> there's two children. i just dropped off the children and he won't let me in the door. >> hold on, i'm going to get help. >> another 911 call came in, this time from josh's sister. she feared for josh after she got what she called weird messages. >> i'm terrified to drive over there. >> well, we're sending an officer there but i just need to know where we're going. we're not asking you to make contact with him, we'll have the officer do that. >> i'm not afraid of him, he'd never hurt me. i'm afraid of seeing something. >> charlie and braden powell will be buried saturday. in the meantime, investigators say they plan to speak farther with josh's father, steven, in the disappearance of susan who has been missing for three years. birth control banned from the catholic church, but now the catholics are upset. we're going to tell you how that policy upsets catholic churches and policies. stay right here. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. ♪ yeah ♪ ♪ can you feel it out there? ♪ ♪ you gotta lift yourself up ♪ ♪ that's right [ male announcer ] join the masters of style... even trimming, a close shave, and accurate edging... with the new gillette fusion proglide styler. ♪ yeah [ male announcer ] new fusion proglide styler from gillette. when it comes to the belief of the catholic church, there really is no wiggle room. the vatican believes birth control goes against the will of god, and that is that. so it's no wonder the church is dead set against this new obama administration policy, the rule for catholic hospitals and universities to provide contraception for employee health plans. they're threatening action. >> if the president does not reverse the department's act on religious freedom, then the congress acting on behalf of the american people and the constitution that we'll swear to uphold and defend, must. >> i want to bring in steve schneck. he is the head of the catholic university in washington. he has also advised president obama on a number of matters before, but not on this birth control issue specifically. steve, nice of you to meet me here. i understand you have some real problems with this policy. >> that's right, brooke, i do. you know, in essence what the administration's policy here is asking catholic administrators of various institutions, charities, hospitals, universities, schools, to go against their conscience, to go against their faith. and the first amendment protects that. >> you talk about catholics going against their faith, but i know churches are exempt from this, but who would be affected when you talk about employers, you say universities and hospitals, but those employees are not all necessarily catholics or even christians, for that matter, equal protecti. >> it's kind of like when you go to a jewish deli, you don't expect pork chops. it's the same thing here. these employees who choose to be part of these, they know what they're getting into when they sign up for employment there. >> you advised the president. what do you think is behind his push for this new rule and why risk angering catholics and other christians over it, do you think? >> i'm absolutely convinced that the president is very serious about his commitment to women's health, especially in this regard. and i'm all for that. in fact, i think there are a number of easy fixes that are possible for this situation that can save face for the administration and work to secure son sheconscience rights for these administrators. >> in a recent poll, about three-quarters of catholic women disagree with the church's ban on birth control. >> right. >> doesn't that in and of itself indicate a risk within the church on this very issue? >> you know, it's actually not about birth control, it really is about conscience. and yeah, the vast majority of american catholic women practice birth control, or at least have practiced it in the course of their lives. but that's not really the issue here. the issue here is whether the government should force catholic officials for these organizations, priests, nuns and so forth, to go against their faith. and that's the issue. it's really not about contraception. >> i guess partially along that same vein, if the new policy were to stop even one abortion, i imagine that would mean something to the church. >> absolutely. every life is, of course, from the church's perspective, utterly sacred. >> we all saw -- this story really percolated last week. susan g. komen planned parenthood backlash for women's rights. is the catholic church prepared for this kind of backlash over something like this? >> i'm not prepared to speak for the catholic church generally, but my sense, watching the protesters gearing up to protect conscience rights here, i think they're prepared to make a long campaign in this regard. and if the president is concerned about the catholic vote in places like ohio, pennsylvania, colorado and florida, that's something the president should think about in regards to his reelection possibilities. >> we recently heard congress say there are ways to help resolve this issue, so we'll see where this goes. steve schneck, thank you so much in washington. from a race scandal to teachers' child abuse cases in california, it seems we are inundated with horrific stories involving sexual assault. we have parents, teachers, investigators. we're going to speak to a woman who not only survived years of sexual abuse at the hands of a family member but also fought back. hear her story, next. good idea vacations are always a good idea ♪ priceline negoti - - no time. out quickly. you're miles from your destination. you'll need a hotel tonight we don't have time to bid you don't have to bid. at priceline you can choose from thousands of hotels on sale every day. save yourself... some money [ 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. but do you really? 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[ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. it's this... the etrade pro platform. fast. beautiful. totally customizable. finds top performing stocks -- in three clicks. quickly scans the market for new trading ideas. it can even match options strategies to your goals and lets you see the potential risk and reward. and, it also comes with a dedicated elite service team. got it? get it. good. introducing new etrade pro elite. ♪ right now i want to focus on how we can do better for our children. this is a topic we talk about pretty often on this show, and just yesterday we were talking to a member of the cdc and they have recently put a number on childhood costs of safety. that number is $124 billion. you're wondering, how did they get to that number? they added up all the psychological services, medication, everything involved with these children. i want to take this a step further and talk about the true cost with a survivor. in her first book, "stolen innocence." erin, i want to talk about two little words that meant a lot for you, those two little words "i'm sorry" from your abuser. why was that so significant for you? >> it was for me a moment in my life to find my voice and realize that for so many years i held onto so much anger and hatred toward this person that hurt me. i realized in order to move on and let go of that toxic, poison, anger, bitterness and move forward in my life, i had to forgive this person. and when that apology came, it was like this aha moment for me where i realized, i can reclaim my voice. my innocence was stolen, my trust was taken, but i still had the rest of my life ahead of me and i could do something positive with it. >> look what you've done. erin's law. i just want to offer you a congratulations coming up on the one-year anniversary of erin's law being signed by governor quinn in illinois. what exactly does the law do? >> the law educates kids through age-appropriate curriculum. safe touch, unsafe touch. safe secrets, unsafe secrets. how to get away today. we had programs in school that taught us there the eight ways on how to say no to drugs. as i say to lawmakers, we teach kids that, fire drills, tornado drills, bus drills. we teach them nothing on the power to speak up if anything has violated them in any way. basically, we're giving perpetrators control for silencing these children. >> when you talk about age-appropriate curriculum, are you talking through books, through dolls, and how can our kids learn these lessons so young? >> well, there is a task force that's been working on studying for the past year since governor quinn signed this law, and there's age-appropriate curriculum, tons of stuff out there from one end of the country to another that teaches kids through role plays, through books, through crafts, through songs. basically teaching kids different lesson plans on how to speak up, how to find their voice, on how to tell somebody if somebody has violated them, and to keep talking because so often kids do go tell a parent, do tell somebody, and they're not believed and that door is closed in their face. >> do you believe had you had these tools as a youngster you would have had the strength to speak up and say no? >> definitely. i was drilled in my head over and over and over again about stranger danger. and i wrote in my diary as a little kid after being abused. they teach us not to answer the door when your parents aren't home. don't talk to strangers. they don't warn us about our own family. so the only message i was being given was from the perpetrators. this is our little secret, no one will believe you, you have no proof. and you get brainwashed to keep quiet, and that's exactly what it did to me. >> the onus also falls, erin, on parents. we did a segment on the show "we can do better, parents and brothers and cousins and teachers, and look out if a children is asking for help. you with me? >> oh, definitely. we definitely need people to be alert because they put blinders on. they don't think this is going on. i guarantee this is going on in your own backyard. if there are people out there listening to us thinking they cannot relate to this subject, i guarantee you you know somebody, somebody's child, quite possibly a child very close to you, maybe your own, that has been abused. >> i want to give a final question for you. just one piece of advice for parents watching. when their kids come home from school today, what one thing should they share with their kids? >> talk to their kids, sit down and teach them, you know, whether it's the kids when you're bathing them, whether they have their swimsuits on, teaching them their private parts belong to them. and if anybody touches them in their private area, you tell somebody. you tell mommy and daddy. creating that safe list with kids on who that safe person is they can go to and tell if somebody ever does something. to use your voice. empowering kids with their voice. >> erin moran, you are a brave young woman. congratulations on erin's law. thank you once again for coming on. we appreciate it. >> thank you. now this. >> you look at the end of that g gun, it looked as big as a baseball bat. it could be a .22 and it looked like a .45. >> you're staring at it. >> you're staring down the barrel and there's not a thing you can do about it. >> tomorrow the state department will be considering the legality of all these pardons, but why exactly were these people pardoned by this judge? we go on the hunt for darrell g gatlin, next. in mississippi, another showdown is looming over the pardons and releases of hundreds of convicted criminals. i know you know this one. the mississippi judge pardon oned 200 people. several of them left, others just up and disappeared and a manhunt ensued. tomorrow the mississippi supreme court taz kes up the pardons at issue. did barber follow the law and give public notice for the crimes? >> reporter: from the moment david gatlin was pardoned and walked away from the mississippi governor's mansion about a month ago, he hasn't stopped thinking about where the man who shot him might be. >> he can do whatever, i still see him. >> gatlin was sent to life in prison for murdering his estranged wife while she clutched their baby and then shooting r shooting her in the head. >> i stared that barrel down and it looked huge. >> you're staring right at it. >> yeah, staring right down the barrel and knowing there is not a damn thing you can do about it. >> larry gatlin seems willing to help decide whether they will be let go or pardoned. since 200 were released from custody, they have tracked their whereabouts to offer comfort to the victims stung by word of the pardons. this man of mississippi now lives with relatives in wyoming and says he has no intention of coming back. >> we're looking for david gatlin. we're told he lives here in this neighborhood, and i think we've come to the area where he may be. >> we found gatlin in this neighborhood in birmingham, alabama. when we knocked on the door, we didn't expect to see a man named ernest jackson. >> you don't think david is still a dangerous guy? >> hell, no. no. i really don't. i believe that forgiveness is the heart of christianity. and because all people make mistakes, especially in crimes of passion. >> jack says he met david gatlin in the years before the murders and is helping gatlin get back on his feet. he says gatlin spends his days inside his home praying and playing the guitar. and jackson says he will protect him from anyone who comes around causing trouble. >> i told him that he had a home here, and if anybody tried to mess with him, i'd whip their ass. and so that's basically the way it boils down. >> so you're protecting him, basically, at this point? >> yes. >> you don't seem like the type of guy that would go around beating them up? >> well, that was when i was younger, you see, but i don't take [ bleep ] from anybody. >> so we don't need to wear out our welcome? >> you're fine because you're civil and you're talking. >> we tried, but he never gave us a chance to talk to david gatlin. >> thanks for trying. hey, in the meantime, someone is in newt gingrich's backyard today, that being mitt romney talking to reporters at the atlanta airport. he says he's not worried about losing last night's caucuses and primaries. let's listen. >> governor mccain, you know, after i think winning florida, he went on to lose, i don't know, 17 or 18 contests after that, but was able to put the delegates together by focusing on the process of gathering delegates as we will. their base state is coming up with a lot of delegates. we'll compete actively there. as you know, we didn't devote a lot of money and time to the states yesterday. we were spending our time and money in florida and nevada, and senator santorum took a different course, left florida, left nevada and went to the other states, and he was able to reap the rewards of that approach. zero-to-sixty in less time than a porsche panamera s. the 429 horsepower genesis r-spec. from hyundai. the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills