killing families in afghanistan is refusing to talk. voting also under way in the deep south as mitt romney hopes to seal the deal. it's time to play reporter roulette. more fallout from the massacre in afghanistan. chris? >> reporter: this was no mere apology. this was the strongest words yet we've heard from an american president in describing what happened during that shooting in afghanistan. >> the united states takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. we're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life. >> reporter: the thing is "murder" has a very specific legal connotation, and this suspect has yet to even be charged with a specific crime. defense secretary leon panetta also said that capital punishment is a possibility in this case. a lethal injection is the method by which service members would be put to death. but ashleigh, that hasn't happened since 1961. the last time that a president even authorized the killing of a service member was in 2008 when president bush approved the death penalty for a soldier. but that soldier's crimes were actually committed in the late '80s when president bush's father was president, so it's very likely that by the time this moves through the long, legal process and appeals are exhausted, it will be some future president that may have to ultimately make this decision. >> and that is a tough row to hoe. chris lawrence, thanks very much for that. moving on to decision day in the deep south. voters in alabama and mississippi heading to the polls today. next on reporter roulette, shannon travis following today's tight race in mississippi joins me live now from ocean springs. lovely temperature, it looks like, shannon. >> lovely day, and i'm sweating a little bit so forgive me if you see a few beads up there. but ashleigh, absolutely right. we're here at a polling station at the ocean spring civic center. this is a very republican part of mississippi. of course, you know that mississippi is republican. obama lost the state by 13 points in 2008. in this county alone, jackson county, 33 points to john mccain. so we've been watching the voters come in and out and trying to basically ascertain who are they going in and voting for between mitt romney and ron paul and newt beginning rim or rick santorum? a lot of voters have differing opinions, of course, but by my very unofficial count, i've been hearing a little bit more weighted in terms of romney, and that's noteworthy because this is the south. even romney himself has said this is an away game for him, so he has a lot to prove in terms of showing that he can win these kinds of very conservative voters in a state like mississippi. again, we want to wait until later to see what the official tallies will look like. but he's been doing well so far with a number of people i've spoken with, ashleigh. >> heating up in mississippi. shannon travis, thanks so much. moving on to a look at the alabama primary. senior congressional correspondent dana bash. i'm guessing it's just as warm where you are as where shannon is. >> it's not as warm, actually a nice change. this is the state to watch tonight, primarily because it has the most electoral votes, but also because mitt romney has been doing surprisingly well in recent polls, neck and neck between him and newt gingrich, and rick santorum may be trailing a little bit behind. i'm here in jefferson county because this is the most populist county in the united states. about 20% of the vote will come into this particular county. i'm actually standing outside where we're going to later on see the cars and trucks drive up to this loading dock with the actual ballots. they're going to come in from the 177 precincts from around this county, ashleigh, and they're going to -- right now that doesn't look like much, but behind that door there is actually a vault and that is where the ballots are going to go in and through there is where they're going to be tabulating the results for this very, very important counting of jefferson county here. you talk to mitt romney's people and they admit they have to really run up the votes here. this tends to be a more affluent county where i am, and they need the voters to count up big, but we heard that turnout is pretty low in this county, at least so far today. ashleigh? >> ip thoug thought you were go tell me on that loading dock were the 47 delegates. is it 47 for alabama? >> exactly. 47 for today. >> dana, i can't believe how close -- paul steinhauser always says how knotted up the race is between newt gingrich and mitt romney, i think particularly because i expected rick santorum to be closer into that margin of error. >> reporter: yeah, you know, it is kind of fascinating that rick santorum hasn't necessarily taken off here. i think -- or as well as maybe you would think. part of it is maybe because of a north/south divide. you talk to people down here and they say he just -- he doesn't really connect with the voters and hasn't been connecting with the voters as well as he has in other sort of socially conservative pockets of the country. then again, it is surprising that mitt romney, who also doesn't necessarily connect in talking about cheesy grits -- >> i was just going to say that, cheesy grits. >> exactly. he seemed to be connecting a little bit moran he ce anecdota jobs and employment, and mitt romney has sold himself a little bit more on doing better with those issues. >> there's that sweater vest thing, too. maybe they don't wear a lot of sweater vests in mississippi and alabama. >> i have not sign lot of sweater vests here. >> i am not the least bit surprised, my friend. take care. just two weeks after deadly tornadoes ripped through the northwest. they are not going to be getting any cash from the federal government, and one senator is none too happy about it. dick durbin from illinois standing by live. he'll talk to me about it next. not in my house. with maxwell house french roast, you let gravity do the work. 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[ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. as the state of illinois recovers from a killer tornado and a series of storms that is now facing rejection from the federal government. the federal emergency management agency has shot down that state's requests for funds after the tornadoes hit illinois in late february. i had a chance to be in that area just afterwards. here's some video of my producer and me in the storm. >> we have just entered into an area that's considered under a tornado warning, and so we're watching extremely carefully as we follow in behind a semi. we're looking for an underpass. >> we actually visited the scene of an ef-4 tornado. it is the second most severe, and it hit the harrisburg area where at least six people died and the devastation was ugly, to say the least. the leader of fema said in a letter to the governor the damage wasn't bad enough for the federal government to step in for the state, to use its own resources. handle it on your own. here's more from the head of fema who decides who gets the federal money. >> what will be the unmet needs, particularly how many people didn't have insurance and had those type of impacts, and then we look at that against the entire state and the population of resources of the state to make those determinations. >> joining me now is senator dick durbin of illinois. he's in washington, and i also have meteorologist chad myers standing by in atlanta as well. senator, i'd like to begin with you, if i may. you heard fema's response. they made a clear argument for why the state doesn't qualify. why is that not good enough? >> i was shocked by it. ashleigh, you saw it firsthand. a as you mentioned, it was an ef-4 tornado. i've grown up with tornadoes. i've seen a lot of damage as congressman and senator. 147-mile-an-hour winds ripped the place apart. 70 people lost their lives. i thought for sure we would be declared a devastation area, but apparently not. so i've asked fema to meet with us tomorrow. we want to go through this thing in detail. >> do you think you may have suffered somewhat because of this series of storms just a day or two after the storm that devastated harrisburg, went on to become more damaging and more deadly in the surrounding states? >> i certainly hope not, and i'll tell you why. so far we've had 300 reported tornadoes. for those who don't believe in climate change, they should take notice that last year at this time we had about 50. now we've had over 300. if we're going to do this comparatively and say only the very, very, very worst are going to receive federal declaration, a lot of states are going to be left in terrible devastation. >> there is a lot of debate over whether climate change is the problem here or just happenstance. as the senator talks about damage in illinois, we saw damage in kansas, we saw damage in six or seven states at last count. why so sporadic, where was it worse, and can you shed a little light on why fema would come in and say one state qualifies and one doesn't? >> you know, i don't, and i want to ask the senator more about what he thinks he needs. does he need private money for people to rebuild their homes, or do we need to rebuild the infrastructure of that entire town. but in eight days you are going to experience another outbreak of tornadoes. this is not over. 300 already this year. we're not into spring yet, we're only into the middle of march. a storm gets to your area tuesday into wednesday, so there is more to come. what were the uninsured losses? that's what director fugate was talking about, the uninsured losses and what he thinks the state can handle. what do you think the state can't handle? >> our state is broke. in fact, we're in a deep deficit. we're talking about cutting medicaid coverage for the poorest people in our state. i think that's pretty well known throughout the midwest. so when the senator says the state can rely on its resources, i really want to challenge that. but the bottom line is this, they do a calculation that's compensible, that can be handled by the federal government. it's based on the population of the state. i live in a highly populated state, it's sixth in the nation. so this community and our state may be disadvantaged because of that. >> let me tell you, coming up in eight days from now, the populated part, the much more populated part around chicago, will be under the gun for weather just like this. >> so senator, jump in with me. i always want to ask whether the federal government isn't under an obligation to look at the larger picture. when doling -- i'm told we just lost the senator, unfortunately. chad, if you're still there, maybe you can help me here. >> yes. >> when it comes to the damage, when i was in harrisburg, i have to say i drove into that town very late at night in the dark and thought i was in the wrong place because it looked fine. it looked absolutely fine. i arrived on small pockets of absolute demolition. without question, demolition, but small pockets. my first thought was r, this iso katrina and this is not what i expected. is that part of why fema would come in on that? you had bad pictures but it wasn't full scale. >> the bad pictures where the strip mall was and it was only about half a mile. the southern half of town was damaged beyond belief. the northern part did not hit up there. if you take a look at the town, i'm sure populationwise, more than 50% were definitely affected. seven people died in the storm. so by that town's threshold, certainly it would qualify. but when you look at the size of the state and the number of people paying tax in that state and the people that did not get hurt in that state, the cities that did not get hit, the small fraction of one town wasn't big enough to get by the fema's threshold to get them federal money. but we will be doling out federal money this year. this will be one violent year for tornadoes and hurricanes. >> i'm so sorry we lost you for a short moment there, but i did want to ask you, doesn't the federal government have an obligation to weigh those who may be more in need against those who perhaps are not in as much need? >> there's no question about it, and we haven't said flat out don't even look at the numbers, reverse your ruling, we're going to sit down and go through the numbers. you take into consideration the impact, it's the federal impact, too. you look at the people who spend extra time, firefighters and rescue squads, hospitals and all that. all of that is calculated in. i want a fair calculation here. when i see the damage that you witnessed and i witnessed as well, i find it hard to believe we're not going to make the number. >> i think you're going to be doing some voting today, if i'm not mistaken, is that correct? >> i am. as a matter of fact, i am. >> senator durbin, thank you for taking the time to talk to us and we'll follow this case. closing arguments under way in the case of a student accused of spying on his roommate during a sexual encounter, a roommate who just days later killed himself by jumping off a bridge. today the defense told jurors about a surprise the suspect got on his webcam. it's coming up next. sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? 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[ sigh of relief ] [ short breath ] [ longer breath ] [ short breath ] [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. is this where we're at now? we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. now to the web cam spying trial in new jersey, specifically that case that ended with that rutgers student, tyler clemente, committing suicide by jumping off a bridge. in closing arguments today, the attorney for ravi's roommate said he wasn't ready for what he saw on his web cam, clemente getting intimate with another man. with tyler's family and the defense in the courtroom, he said ravi was acting like a teenager but not acting like a criminal. zeez an 18-year-old boy, a kid, who just graduated high school, who is hett erosexual, hangs ou with guys and girls, and he finds out he has a gay roomie. he hasn't lived long enough to have any experience with homosexuality or gays. he doesn't know anything about it. he just graduated high school. >> dharun ravi is facing 15 counts, including bias and intimidation, which is a hate crime, and also invasion of privacy, among other serious charges. many parents can be critical of who is teaching their kids but perhaps too timid to speak up about it, so one parent had an idea, having kids have a hand on deciding what they learn. >> why did we start a school? well, i think it started with our own conversations about our own educations and knowing how hard it was for us to find our own perfect place in the world, wishing our school had done a different job, better in some ways than it had and wanting to know if there could be a better way to do it. and then maybe doing some research, finding out that there is a bunch of people out there that think there is a possible better way to do things. >> and don't forget to catch cnn's brand new show "the next list" featuring some of america's brightest minds. dr. sanjay gupta hosts. it is on sundays at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. the redhead at the center of a hacking investigation is arrested again. but this time the drama includes her husband. what is the story there? it's coming up. and if you lose your smartphone, there's an 89% chance that the person who finds it is going to snoop through your personal information. i'll let you know how we know that, next. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ if it is interesting and happening right now, you are about to see it. it's rapid fire. let's go. the former editor of rupert murdoch's british tabloid newspaper "news of the world" has been arrest aed a second ti in connection with a phone hacking investigation. the former news editor, rebecca brooks, was among six people arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. her husband, charlie brooks, also arrested according to reports from the wall street journal and sky news. "news of the world" was accused of widespread phone hacking last year and the paper shut down back in july. president obama is talking trade rights today and trying to level the playing field with china. but the big sticking point, something called rare earth elements. what are they? they're used in a loft things like grain products and high tech products. >> we want our companies building those products right here in america. but to do that, american manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials which china supplies. now, if china would simply let the market work on its own, we would have no objections. but their policies currently are preventing that from happening. and they go against the very rules that china greed to follow. >> the u.s., european union and japan have teamed up to ask the world trade organization to intervene. not what you want to see. explosions and heavy shelling continuing in homs, syria despite opposition activists declaring today a day of mourning across the country. they were asking for businesses and schools to close and for streets to be blocked. meanwhile, it was 36 people were killed by security forces, an opposition group is reporting. an opposition general assembly is now saying nearly 80,000 people have been killed in this conflict and many of them women and children. a delta airlines jet veers off the runway, apparently having some problems with its brakes. skidding off the taxiway today in atlanta. no passengers on board, no injuries, happy to report, but that plane you're looking at on an angle did suffer some significant damage. airline passengers, by the way, are stranded as direct air cancels flights out of the blue. about 50 people stuck last night at a local airport in florida and the passengers were peeved. >> people were very upset because they weren't giving us any information and they still haven't. we can't get through to the lines or anything and there's no one here today to help us. >> they don't answer the phone, and i think i've talked to one person in probably a dozen phone calls. >> did that person tell you anything? >> no. >> that's not what you want to hear, but here's what we heard. cnn just received a statement from direct air. they say that all flights are suspended until mid-may. they say it's due to operational matters and that passengers with reservations should contact their credit card companies to ask for refunds. if you lose your smartphone, well, you can kiss it and your privacy goodbye. that's according to a brand new study, an on-line security firm. apparently there's an 89% chance that whoever finds your phone is going to snoop through it, looking for your private info. maybe they think it's britney spea spears' phone, i don't know, but they'll be looking for your info, your facebook and your bank accounts. and what's worse, maybe? there's only a 50% chance that the finder is going to make the effort to return it to you, so the answer here, folks, lock your smartphones, please. a dad shot to death right outside of his own son's daycare. and just moments ago, both sides in the trial wrapping up the closing arguments in the trial of a man accused of killing him. find out why the defense focused on a love triangle and what the last words to the jury was. our sunny hostin is on the case, and she's coming up next. hey hey. e for business. 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[ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen we are watching closely the case of this 17-year-old boy allegedly shot by a neighborhood watch captain in sanford, florida. the police are suspected to hand over the case of treyvon martin, the victim, to the state today. they have taken a lot of heat because some think the watchman should have been arrested and charged. he says he acted in self-defense in a confrontation. here's what the police said on monday. >> in this case, mr. zimmerman has made the statement of self-defense. until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him. >> and sunny hostin is on the case for us. i want to focus on that claim that the watchman acted in self-defense. as i understand it, there's very little evidence that they're admitting to at this point, or at least releasing publicly. he's got a bloody nose, zimmerman, he's got blood and grass stains on his back and says, look, i was in a confrontation. i felt i was in jeopardy and i shot. that's pretty good but not enough for probable cause to keep him for something else? >> that's what police are saying, that there isn't enough probable cause to arrest him. >> we have a dead boy, a 17-year-old! >> that's the bottom line, and we know florida has the most expansive, i think, stand your ground law in our country meaning you don't have to retreat. you can defend yourself. but there's always that exception, even in florida, about the first agressor. if you start that fight, ashlei ashleigh, and you are the first agressor, and you get shot by somebody else, you can't invoke the self-defense clause. is there any indication that zimmerman, the watchman, was the first agressor? now we're learning he has been arrested before for being very aggressive toward police. other people in the home -- >> we don't always get that. that gets suppressed a lot of times. >> that's important in terms of making an arrest and making a charge against him. police say this guy was squeaky clean. that may not necessarily be true. it's also being reported now that many people in the homeowners' association says he used aggressive tactics. again, if we're talking about an agressor -- >> it's not a conviction level standard. you've got a kid who has skittles in his pocket -- >> and a can of iced tea. >> -- and a can of iced tea. you've got a guy calling 911 who says, i've got a suspicious guy in my neighborhood. we know other people called 911, but we don't know anyone was able to say zimmerman met him with the force appropriate because he feared for his life. you have to have that matching force, don't you? >> that's right, but bottom line is, coming from the former prosecutor that i am, you have to have the guts to bring these kinds of cases. and i hope that the prosecutors in florida have the guts to bring this kind of case, because you have a dead kid that has skittles and a can of iced tea. >> let met scoot you to the other case because this is unbelievable. prosecutors have just finished closing arguments in the case of a dad who was killed outside his son's daycare. there is some thought there is a love triangle here. rusty sneiderman dying in 2010 in dounwoody, georgia shot bit man accused of being his wife's lover. she is not accused yet. i say yet. his lawyers are maintaining an insanity defense. they say rusty's wife andrea manipulated newman. >> the gun in this case was in hemi's hand but the trigger i respectfully suggest was pulled by andrea sneiderman. >> the prosecutors say newman is making up the insanity defense. we hear that altogether time, the malingering. i was talking to toobin who said it's hard to get the insanity defense. >> that's right, we hear about the insanity defense and people think people get off because of that. that just isn't true. it's very, very difficult to be successful on an insanity defense. and i suspect it's going to be difficult here. >> we'll have to watch for it. at least we're in the home stretch. sunny hostin on the case for us. thank you. appreciate it. when we come back, i want to talk more about the american soldier accused of mass killings in afghanistan and especially what about the other soldiers who fought next to him? what do they have to say? they lived and worked and slept nearby. did they know something we don't know? how is the fallout from his alleged killing spree going to affect them on the front lines? that's coming up. man: 1939 -- my parents ran across an ad for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. two days later and we still do not know the name of the u.s. army sergeant who is being held in the sleigh iayings of 16 afg civilians. we're being told he is not talking, invoking that 16th amendment right. we're being told he served three tours of duty in iraq where he suffered a head injury back in 2010. he was then cleared to return back to combat. joining necessary in washington is tom tarantino. tom, i guess the question off the bat, how many times do we have injuries with soldiers who are serving who are cleared too quickly, perhaps, and sent back into active duty? >> yeah, i mean, we really don't know. what i can tell you is that from when i was in iraq in 2005 to where we are now is a vast difference. there are mandatory health screenings for everybody coming back to iraq and afghanistan. they screen them personally and face to face. where we are now is a huge leap from where we were from the start of this war. we have a long way to go. and it's important to really understand that, you know, correlation and coincidence doesn't necessarily equal cause. there is still a lot we don't know about traumatic brain injury, but what we do know is that typically this injury doesn't lead to violence. these are physical injuries to the brain, and generally if he was cleared for duty, and like i say, i'm not a medical person, nor do i know the specifics of his case, you know, i could take the d.o.d. at their word for that. >> i'm not going to suggest for a moment that the traumatic brain injury he suffered had anything to do with this. it probably will more than likely surface in any kind of defense he might mount in this case, but i am curious to find out that not only did he have this head injury, but on top of that he had to endure the stress and metal trauma of four tours of duty. and that's a lot. and it just begs the question, do we turn these guys out quicker because we just need more guys? >> and i think that we have gotten a lot better than that. i think as a force and as a military community we've gotten a lot better at understanding the stresses that multiple deployments placed on men and women who have served. it's important that as we talk about this we focus on the facts at hand and we don't speculate and revert to stereotypes for post-traumatic stress and mental health injuries when trying to make sense of this horrible tragedy. that's what this is. this is one individual who can conduct a solitary act, and quite frankly, is it not only a tragedy for the people who lost their lives and their families, but uit's a tragedy for the 2.5 million americans who have served, deployed two or three times and have built that honor in serving. >> not only do they face the regular stresses they deal with on deployment, but now they're facing all these increased threats by the taliban to behead any americans they come across, not that it wasn't already a dangerous place, but now the stressors are even more. >> uh-huh, and unfortunately, things like this do put people in harm's way. there's been fewer in the last ten years, thankfully, and any time there has, service members have stepped forward and either stopped or brought these people to justice. and that is because this type of incident does not reflect the discipline and training that they teach us in the military. frankly, it sullys a lot of the honor that men and women have when they serve. every single day, men and women are going outside the wire and putting their lives on the line to try to do some good. they continue to do so despite that conceived threat, and i think it's really a testament to the fort titude of this generation. >> it's got to be tough for those working with him and serving with him. what are his forces trying to do for his buddies? >> i don't know, but i would say this is where leadership is really taking stock of their people, trying to make sense of this tragedy and reinforcing the discipline and professionalism that everyone was trained in. it's important, and the united states military is the greatest in the world because we fight with honor. no matter how bad we perceive our enemies to be or how bad they actually are, we fight with honor and we follow the rules. that's why whenever there is trouble in the world, people call on the united states. i think they're going to reinforce that discipline, reinforce that training and make sure service members are not only dealing with the personal effects of this tragedy but also to continue their mission and continue serving with honor. >> if you're looking at ten years of war in two theaters, you're going to have bad apples that will sully it for the rest of them. tom tarantino, thank you. nice to talk to you. >> thanks, ashleigh. president obama is set to attend the special games in play tonight. have you heard? who is he bringing as his special date? we'll be back with important pieces of advice about your money. yes, i said it. your money. 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. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. author of "worth it, not worth it" and stacy francis is a financial adviser and the president of francis financial. he's asking, i bought my house in 1996 for $441,000. i still owe $106,000 on a 30-year fixed loan at 5.7%. i have about $70,000 in a regular savings account. should i take that money and use it to i pay down the home loan? >> he should look into refinancing. he could get a 15-year loan for less than 4%. he's been on this loan for so long, he's already paid a lot of interest so he'll have to run the numbers on a financial calculator. please, go to something like hsh.com and run the numbers. the question of paying it off, it depends. on one hand from a purely financial perspective, it's not the best move. he's better off saving that money, maybe putting it in a 401(k) for a better return, or just sitting on it and he's got cash flow. that money is in the bank and he's safe. >> let's go to another one from mike in maine. he says, i've a roth ira anding i brokerage account for investing in etfs, where should i park my different investment types such as bonds? >> we put all of our plans in iras, so that is actually saving you a lot of money in taxes. then we take any of those stocks that have a lot of deappreciation and we put that in maybe a taxable account. because again, remember, interest from a bond is taxed at your federal tax bracket. guess what, the growth and long-term gains on a stock are taxed at 15%. so if you can, again, try to put that high interest in your retirement plan and then put your stocks in your taxable accounts. >> all right, some great advice. thanks for coming in. if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk at cnn.com. we've got your political pop. president obama is getting a dose of march madness. he's filled out his own bracket, and get this, he's going to one of the games, and he's taken a date, and it isn't his wife. david cameron is going with him. they're going to ohio, yes, ohio. think about it, big battleground state for the upcoming election. not the first time president obama and prime minister cameron have gotten sporty together. isn't that adorable? in suits. in ties they're playing ping-pong last year. that's just adorable. i'm sure they had a spot of tea afterwards. "the situation room" with wolf blitzer is coming up at the top of the hour, joins me live with a preview. you have mitt romney on the docket, interviewing him live? >> live during the 5:00 p.m. eastern hour. good questions for him. he's obviously very, very busy. he has a limited amount of time, but we'll try to get through the most important issues of the day. both the races in anybody anybody, and the results will come in way, way, into the wee, wee hours of the night. so a lot is going on. a lot going on in afghanistan as well. we'll update our viewers on what's going on. we're going to kabul. as you note, they are now threatening, at least some of the taliban to behead military personnel in afghanistan because of the rampage, what happened over the weekend when that american soldier allegedly went out and killed 16 afghanis, including nine children. this is a very, very tough situation we're watching. so we'll be all over that as well. all the day's important news coming up. so i don't know a whole lot about basketba. when i filled out my brackets, i did it with a dart, between western kentucky and mississippi valley, who will get the most goals. >> i have no idea. you want to ask, how did you pick some of the first-round winners? you want to ask me that -- >> okay, if you could script it for me. i don't even know what the first round is. >> i went through all the colleges and universities, and i first of all voted with my heart. all of those universities, for example, that allowed me to give the commencement address and gave me honorary degrees, they move into the second round. you understand where i'm coming from. >> you're pandering. >> st. louis and st. bon aventure going into the second round, because they invited me to give the commencement addresses at their university. >> i think i ended up at michigan state. is that about right? >> michigan state is a great school, great coach. i have syracuse going all the way, though there are some issues today. >> i have no idea what we're talking about. >> really? what do you mean, you have no idea? you want to talk hockey, wayne gretzky? come back for a whole show. >> i love hockey too. we can talk hockey. >> we have to move to the same city, my friend. wolf blitzer, looking forward to your interview with mitt romney. what's making a comeback? ask the people who run the nation hayes small business. a family-run trucking company, who will show us how he fended off bankruptcy. and we've got great pictures, too. like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. you'd use carbon fiber and machined aluminum, to make it more beautiful, and more durable. you'd use edge-to-edge gorilla glass for a stunning display in a more compact form. and you'd choose an intel® core i7™ processor for maximum processing power. everything that you could ever want in a laptop. introducing the dell xps 13 ultrabook™ everything. and more. ♪ 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. ♪ the owner of a chicago-area trucking company brought his business back from the brink. he had to make some pretty tough decisions, including slashing his own pay. in part of our series "in depth comeback story." >> reporter: joe's company outside of chicago is busy again. >> we really tightened up our ship and it turns things around. >> the business which was started by joe's father was on the verge of bankruptcy. >> probably the heart zest time in our life. >> keeping it going wasn't easy, bus was dropping, while expenses like tolls, licenses and labor were going up. >> at one time he was even having a different time paying his employees. >> on thursday when your bank account doesn't have enough money to make friday payroll, you're there. >> joe figured out he had to cut, so even though he was running out of money, he hired an outside accounting firm to help him measure any expense. >> joe took a paycut, then asks his employees and vendors to do the same. >> he remembers the relief he fell when he actually showed a profit. >> reporter: joe run now 93 trucks down from 120. the lesson he's learned is be prepared to change and manage every dime. >> if it's your business, chances are you have a lot invested emotionally s. financially, look at it. don't take your eye off the ball. >> ted rowlands is standing by in chicago. did you have to fire anybody to stay in the black this. >> reporter: no. he went to every one of his employees, however, and ask them to take a considerable pay cut. some said no thanks and left the company, but most of them stayed. the ones that did stay, they haven't gotten a raise, but every year he does well, they do well. he gives them bonuses now, so he doesn't get a hamstring with high salaries. it's like an employee moveshare. he seg the ones who stayed are rewarded. gas prices going up day after day. i know, illustrate to bring it up. isn't that a problem for him? >> well, yeah, it's a concern. they build in gas prices, and they shove them off to the consumers to a point, but he says this year with the talk of $5 gasoline, diesel also going up, he says that's an slunt concern, which is why he's changed his business model from the top down, so he can possibly absorb though, but obviously can serve for a lot of businesses. >> just quickly to wrap it up, how much does he credit his work, and how much does he credit,