autopsy report. the report finds houston died of accidental drowning but cocaine was a factor and it wasn't the only drug in her system. >> charges could come today. the u.s. military about to begin the long process of prosecuting army staff sergeant robert bales who's accused in that massacre of afghan civilians. he's expected to be charged with 17 counts of murder. an explosion at a silicon factory in portland, oregon, sends at least two people to the hospital. the fire was reportedly sparked by a chemical used to make silicon. haz mat crews were called to the scene there. rick santorum slamming mitt romney and raising a lot of republican eyebrows while doing it with how he did it. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk at what may be the etch a sketch candidate for the future. >> what we have. stay with what we have? really? the fallout from a republican candidate putting the president before his party. and up first, cries of justice for trayvon martin ringing out from coast to coast. there were protests in at least ten cities yesterday and this case has touched a lot of nerves. the anger triggering rallies from los angeles to charlotte, north carolina. protesters demanding the arrest of george zimmerman. that is a neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the unarmed florida teenager. about 8,000 people gathered in sanford, florida, last night. that was not far from where trayvon was gunned down last month as he was walking home with candy and iced tea. his parents spoke to the crowd there. >> i stand before you today not knowing how i'm walking right now because my heart hurts for my son. trayvon is my son. trayvon is your son. >> i'd just like to thank every one of you all for just showing us the love, the support, signing the petitions, and making sure that george zimmerman pays for what he did to your son! >> and that rally taking place just hours after the city's police chief temporarily stepped down. george howell is live from sanford, florida, this morning. what can you tell us about all of those protests and also the sheriff stepping down? >> reporter: well, the police chief certainly stepping down came as a surprise to the thousands of people who arrived here in sanford. the police chief saying that his being in that position is coming as a distraction to the investigation so that was a big deal for many people, but they say that the police chief should either be fired or should resign. many people were not satisfied with the wording that he's temporarily stepping down. just before the rally we also learned that the family, is a bryn in a fult ton and tracy martin, got to meet with members of the department of justice to start talking about this case. we understand that the word was patience, to be patient as this investigation continues. we also learned through the rally that a new special prosecutor has been assigned to this case. angela cory will take over investigating this case. she takes over from norman willfinger whose district is in sanford -- he represents part of sanford. he says he's stepping aside to avoid any conflicts of interest. we heard from cory about exactly how she plans to look into this case. take a listen. >> it requires a thorough investigation, extensive interviews of every witness, extensive review of all physical evidence and then a determination of how we apply florida's law to the facts of any case. we don't worry about backlash from cases. what we worry about is seeking the truth. that's our mission. that's the united states supreme court defined mission for prosecutors, is to seek the truth. >> reporter: so a lot happened yesterday. there were a lot of press conferences, a lot of news came out of that rally, but as far as george zimmerman, he has still not been seen. zimmerman has not been charged with anything. in fact, police say that they know where zimmerman is if they have to reach him. again, a grand jury will convene on april 10th to decide whether zimmerman could face charges in this case, zoraida. >> hey, george, i have one other question for you. when we take a look at the crowds they look really large. there are conflicting reports as to how many people actually attended them. was it a crowd full of mostly young people or was it a mixed group? >> reporter: you find all ages. you find many different colors. you find people there who really just had a problem with the way this case was investigated. many people saying i am trayvon mart martin. people who are very upset about the way this case was investigated. they want to see george zimmerman put behind bars. >> all right, george howell live in florida for us. thank you very much. at 5:30 eastern we will be joined by florida state senator chris smith. /posed florida's controversial stand your ground law in 2005 and is now trying to get it amended. it is now five minutes past 5:00 on the east coast. she used cocaine until the very end. that's what we're learning with new details on whitney houston's death this morning. >> a lot of people hoping that that simply would not be the truth. a los angeles county corner's office coming out with the results of that autopsy. an accidental drowning but it's what was found in her blood system that has many people talking this morning. alina cho is joining us now with the very latest. >> you took the words right out of my mouth. i think a lot of people when they first saw this had said, oh, goodness. we had hoped there would not be drugs found in her system. that was not the case. good morning, this report is answering a lot of questions about whitney houston's death and the last moments of her life. you'll remember that houston died on february 11th, the night before the grammy awards. she was found dead in the bathtub at the beverly hilton hotel. according to the coroner's report, the cause of death is drowning, but it also says that heart disease and cocaine use played a role. in addition, blood tests showed the presence of marijuana, xanax, a muscle relaxant called flexeril, and benadryl. at a news conference yesterday a spokesman for the coroner's office talked about all of the drugs found in her system. >> those drugs were all at the therapeutic or subtherapeutic level. they're not considered to be related to the actual cause of death. cocaine use indicated an acute use and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> unbelievable. >> tough for the family to hear, i would imagine. what does that report say about heart disease? >> right. i think a lot of questions were raised when we saw that on the report. it's called atherosclerosis, and what this is, medical term obviously, but what it means is that it was a narrowing of the arteries around the heart. now in houston's case, pretty serious, about 60% narrowed. that, of course, obstructs the flow of blood. now combine that with cocaine use and the results obviously can be deadly. last night on "anderson cooper 360" dr. sanjay gupta explained just how cocaine can damage the heart. >> you get this huge adrenaline surge. you also get this reaction where your blood vessels spasm so instead of allowing blood to sort of flow through normally, the blood vessels that go to the heart, it's spasming and therefore the heart itself is not getting enough blood. >> so, alina, obviously the family had intimated before that drugs were the bane of this woman's existence. are they talking about this now? >> they are. released a very short statement. the family was warned about what was going to be released in the report before it was taken out to the public. whitney's sister-in-law and former manager, patricia houston, did issue a short statement saying, quote, we are saddened to learn of the toxicology results although we are glad to now have closure. but you look at not just the cocaine but all of the other drugs that were in her system. i was speaking to a doctor last night. he said, that's a lot to have in one woman's body. we should also mention that the final coroner's report will be out within the next two weeks. that will be the next step in this case. at that point the 911 calls will be released as well. >> what can of worms does this open up. whitney houston doesn't walk out on the street and get cocaine. >> that's right. sure, of course. >> we're also going to talk a little bit more about that medical component with elizabeth cohen coming up. it's interesting. >> it is. a lot of people want to know if this was heart disease, how long. we were talking about that just a minute ago. so, sure, elizabeth can hopefully shed some light on that. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> nine minutes now past 5:00 on the east coast. they're expected to announce formal charges against robert bales. you know that now he's facing 17 counts of murder in an afghan shooting rampage. that's one more count than previously had been anticipated because up until now the death toll had been 16. his attorney,on heb ri brown e believes proving the case against his client will be extremely difficult. legal experts say the quick burial of the victims in accordance with islamic law could present a lot of forensic problems for the prosecution. browne suggests that his client suffered from ptsd. last night a former army captain said the ticking time bomb is an outdated military stereotype. >> there's no evidence that says that ptsd or tbi makes someone inclined certainly not a ticking time bomb but incline someone toward violence. this is one incident among millions who have served among about a million who have served in these current conflicts. if this were a civilian serial killer in a civilian situation we wouldn't be asking these questions. >> there are also charges this morning that before joining the military bales allegedly engaged in securities fraud while working as a financial advisor. according to financial records, he left for war without paying a $1.5 million judgment for defrauding an elderly client in a stock scheme. >> wow. 11 minutes past the hour here. j us in, the latest gas prices. are they up or down. >> i'll b$3.89 a gallon. >> not fair. >> not fair. >> you know what, again, it's up eight tenths of a cent. >> that's better than two or three cents. >> we had almost two cent rises. >> good news, folks. >> there. it's friday. >> we can spin this. we are minding your business this morning. it was another tough day for the markets on thursday. the stocks posted modest losses because of concerns about the global economy. and this on news that manufacturing in china and germany is slowing. >> let's bring in patricia woo. nice to see you stepping in for christine. >> good to see you, too. >> why are you coming in with this news? >> i know you think it's bad. it could be good at the end. let me finish. the 30 year fixed rate, yes, it has topped 4%. it's at 4.08%. as i was saying, that's not necessarily bad news because it's a sign that the economy is improving. it means that people are feeling more confident so you'll see increased demand for loans, mortgages, consumer loans, and that's what drives the rates up. to give you a little bit of perspective, yes, just two weeks ago we hit the record lows at 3.13%. so we're used to those lows, but to give you a little perspective. in 2006 right before the housing bust you were looking at 6.4% on the 30 year fixed. so, guys -- >> i'm doing the math though. that's a pretty big jump, isn't it? isn't that kind of a big one? i don't know anything about it. >> it's about ten bucks a month on a $100,000 mortgage. all right. >> but the good news is, this could actually spur those home buyers who have been on the fence like looking at it. it's all psychological. when prices are falling, interest rates are low, you're thinking is it going to get any lower? when you see that first jump, like your reaction, ashleigh, it's a big one. i better jump on that house i've been eyeing before rates get any higher. that could get people buying which could help us pare down that glut of homes. we saw 11 months during the peak of the recession. we're now at a six month supply. you want to get that supply down so you can keep the home prices firming up instead of falling. >> qualifying also is the problem. in this economy it's difficult. >> it doesn't affect the standards. it's still tight but -- >> i call it the technical business term is lighting the fire under your butt. >> exactly. kicking the butt. >> there you go. patricia wu, nice to see you. >> bonnie snyder is doing the duty for rob marciano. >> good morning. we're looking at some rain coming across the southeast. this is actually good news. everybody wants relief from the pollen so the rain coming in will make a difference. it'll help wash out the air and give us some better air quality. also some rain moving into st. louis this morning. nothing too heavy. lighter showers over chicago. chicago's really seen some incredible weather. nine days in a row of record highs. nine days. as you can see, yesterday was no exception all the way into the 80s for much of parts of the midwest and columbus cleveland, even into delaware and central park hit a record high of 78. that's not at all feeling like march weather. on the big picture of today's forecast, we still have mild conditions. notice the front pulling up that moisture from the gulf. that will trigger showers and thunderstorms across places in the mid south and southeast. if you're traveling, watch out for delays. it will usher in cool air for the up coming weekend. airport delays, chicago showers. today will be the first day in nine days you won't break a record. we're also looking at delays in philadelphia due to fog. across the south and midwest, you do fog and possibly thunderstorms. >> thanks, bonny. still ahead, a mystery solved. what made a wisconsin town go boom in the night? we finally have some answers. and extreme road rage ends with a pedestrian pinned between a car and a wall after a brawl. >> amazing. kim kardashian, usually in the news for glamor stuff. this time flower bombed. look at that picture. you don't want that on the who wore it best list. the authorities had to be called in on this one too. we'll explain what happened and how it was resolved. you're watching "early start." turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how'd that get there? 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[ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream helps transform dry, thinning skin, by strengthening its moisture barrier, for improved texture and elasticity in 2 weeks. reveal healthy, supple skin. aveeno skin strengthening. hi and good morning, atlanta. a lovely tower cam shot of your fine city at 66 degrees. >> fine city. i like that. >> i do like atlanta. 66 ain't bad. it ain't half bad at 20 past 5:00. you are going to get some thunderstorms and 77 degrees a little later on today. so there's that. >> still a beautiful town. time to check the stories that are making news this morning. about 8,000 people took to the streets of sanford, florida, last night. take a look at that. doesn't that look like more than 8,000 people. they're demanding justice for trayvon martin. they want the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the unarmed teenager arrested. earlier yesterday the beleaguered chief of police in sanford stepped down temporarily. the governor appointed a new state attorney to handle the investigation now. newly released toxicology reports reveal that cocaine did play a factor in whitney houston's death, although coroners say houston ultimately died from drowning in the bathtub. marijuana, xanax, benadryl also found in her system. but the coroner says those drugs did not play a role in her death. and look very closely at your screen here. see that black object in the sky? that is a syrian military helicopter and there are little flickers coming from it. it's firing allegedly at anti-government protesters on the ground. some of those protesters are reportedly directors in the syrian army. if you look closely, you can actually see return fire. the u.n. security council has called for an end of the bloodshed. edward avery pleaded gilley to child sexual abuse. 245 plea coming days before avery was to stand trial in a landmark case involving monsignor william lynn. the first u.s. catholic church official charged with concealing priest sex abuse. the 69-year-old avery was immediately sentenced to two and a half to five years. wild road rage and it was all caught on camera. look at this. two women. one's a driver, one's a pedestrian throwing down in a parking lot in california. the pedestrian you can see reaching into the van punching the driver repeatedly. the driver runs the pedestrian down with her vehicle, pins her up against a wall. the pedestrian was treated for non-life threatening injuries. the driver was arrested. >> i should hope so. lord. i wonder if that's over a parking spot. you know how it often is. >> wouldn't that be terrible? >> yes, it always is. any kind of road rage is terrible. look at those pictures. they sure tell the story. guys, check it out. fans of the hunger games, they've been lining up from coast to coast to catch the midnight showing of this highly, highly anticipated movie. it's the first adaptation of the wildly popular book trilogy by suzanne collins. "the hunger games" is expected to break box office records, big time break them, for a march movie release. there are some bleary eyes on staff today because of that midnight showing. also for an expanded look at all of our top stories, you can head to our blog. cnn.com/earlystart. it is 21 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early read on your local news making national headlines. we have stories from san diego and to the milwaukee journal sentinel. we'll start at san diego, the tribune. u.c. san diego finds genes that are possibly linked to autism. they're saying that the problem begins during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. neuroscientists say many genes miss fire and produce too many brain cells affecting a child's social and communication skills. the findings lend hope that eventually drugs could be engineered to help remodel the brain. >> i'm curious about that. in what respect? in utero or once that child is born that they can actually reprogram that child? >> i don't know. i would suspect that it's something that's going to happen in utero. they say maybe now we explain houp and when the dysfunction starts to occur. so they're pinpointing it, i'm hoping. >> i think it affects people just outside of the spectrum, too. there are so many ailments that kids are suffering that don't fall right into the spectrum but that are really troubling. >> on the verge. >> great news. here is something that we've been waiting for. dharun ravi spoke to a newspaper but now is speaking to abc news. so we've got the newspaper report from the record and he's talking about how he feels about the death of tyler clementi. here's the deal, he hasn't been sentenced yet, people, and he's talking at length. is he trying to effectively change how he might be sentenced? is he trying to maybe cast light on an opinion or a feeling to try to mitigate his sentencing? don't forget that dharun ravi was convicted across the board of all sorts of charges, but not necessarily the jumping off the bridge that killed tyler clementi. >> unusual move, right? >> very unusual move. a lot of people say it is just not smart. you keep your mouth shut until sentencing. who knows how it's going to go. i'll tell you what, my friend chris who i used to work with over at abc news sat down with dharun ravi. here's what he had to say about what he thought tyler clementi felt about all of this web spying. >> after all this time and reading his conversations and how -- what was -- what he was doing before, i really don't think he cared at all. i feel like i was an insignificant part of his life so that's given me comfort now. >> well, we shall see because the sentencing is scheduled for may. all right. our final story comes from the milwaukee journal sentinel. we are switching gears here. we've been talking for the last several days about things that go boom in the night in clintonville. apparently the mystery has been solved. they're calling it a mini quake. 1.5 magnitude quake. this is from analyzing seismic data. they said originally it was not an earthquake. this is confusing me. geo physics professor at the university of wisconsin, madison. they want to help record anymore mini quakes. >> i'm glad there's an answer there. it was really creepy. >> i was talking conspiracy theory this morning because the first thing that i asked when i talked to them was, was it an earthquake? did you check that out. they said definitely not an earthquake. >> at least they know. it's 25 minutes now past 5:00. coming up on "early start," we'll have more on the shooting death of trayvon martin. one of the state senators, he is no fan of this law that might be protecting the person that shot trayvon. the stand your ground law. he wants to have it changed. a couple of clever gas thieves caught on tape though. how they got away with thousands of dollars worth of gas before getting caught. you're watching "early start." how clever are they? >> is that an ice cream truck little o's -tg made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? ? you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. 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is politics playing more a part of this than investigation? >> definitely. by the way, good morning. back in 2005 we foretold that this would happen while we debated this law and a lot of us voted against it. we told them that this is the type of situation that would happen. they turned a blind eye to it. now that america's looking at florida, now people are starting to react and starting to really recognize what we were saying back in 2005 in the florida house. >> okay. i am no lawyer, however, i have poured over parts of the statute in your state and as it appears to me, there is an exception to the stand your ground rule for the first aggressor. so it means basically for anybody listening, if i'm the first aggressor and i don't like how things turn out, i don't get the protection of the stand your ground law. so what kind of changes are you proposing? why isn't that exception good enough? >> well, because you can still be a pursuer. yesterday in miami a case that's not getting a lot of attention, a judge threw out a case in which a gentleman saw someone trying to steal his car. he ran outside. when the thief ran, he pursued that guy for a mile -- i mean for a block and then stabbed him to death. the judge cited this law because it's a nonrebut abl presumption, had to release the gentleman, even after he pursued someone for a mile. the first aggressor that you mentioned, that is not really being recognized in the florida courts. the courts have routinely thrown out these cases. as you see from the last couple of years, the number of justifiable homicides has gone up three fold since passing this law. so even aggressors are availing themselves of this law as you see with mr. zimmerman right now. >> let me throw out some of those stats since you touched on one of them. that's three times the justifiable homicide numbers have gone up. it appears that there have been about 130 cases brought under the stand your ground law since it was established back in '05. of that, 50 of the cases resulted in no charges at all. 28 prosecutions resulted and of those 28 prosecutions, 19 convictions. do the math. you go from 130 cases yielding only 19 convictions. i don't have the statistics in place that would be the alternative if that stand your ground statute wasn't in place. my thought is it would probably be significantly higher. the question is, do you have a lot of dangerous people roaming your streets because of this. >> yes. especially the publicity off of this case. more and more people are hearing what happened. if nothing happens to mr. zimmerman, imagine what you're going to have in florida. you'll have a lot of homeowners association activists now arming themselves and seeing that, hey, i can avail myself of this law. in fact, florida, a lot of our economy is based on tourism. if i'm a tourist outside of the state, i'm thinking if i go into florida and i get into an altercation at a gas station in orlando, am i going to be shot because florida has this archaic law that allows gun fights in the street. if you look at other stats, you'll see gang violence. this he have used this in tallahassee, state capitol in 2008, there was a gang shooting in the streets of tallahassee. willie migs, the state attorney, could not prosecute gang members because they availed themselves of this law. >> let's you and me talk law as it stands now. the law as it stantds now, and you're a man who works law every day. >> yes. >> knowing what we know in this case so far, and it ain't much, do you believe that george zimmerman needs to be charged or do you believe that everyone is jumping on a bandwagon way too fast before they know the facts under the current law? >> well, i believe that he should be charged. at worst what we have is an ambiguity in the law and his actions. and because of that i think he should at least have to face his peers, say a jury. what i mentioned earlier about the non-rebuttable presumption that the stand your ground law has created, that's what they're standing behind in not arresting him, that he has a presumption that you did right. but as you would see in the facts of this case as we know them, we're not investigators, at least our peers should be able to sit there and look at a totality of the phone calls and everything and then decide. because of this law they're availing themselves that he has a non-rebuttable presumption that he was correct. >> hopefully as the facts begin to roll in we will at least have some sunshine shed on them so we'll be able to broadcast them and let people know all the way along this process. thanks for getting up with us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> i was really worried about violent crime in florida. i looked at the stats. actually, it's dropped. violent crime in florida has dropped by nearly 7% in 2009 and 2010. i worried about that. >> i wonder how that extrap poe lats across the u.s. >> i don't know. >> is that an abomination, aberration. >> as you look specifically at florida here, this case. 37 minutes past the hour here. ahead on "early start." rick santorum is making headlines. he suggests if mitt romney gets the nomination, we're better off with president obama. >> what? >> tv news reporter threatened. we'll talk about that a lot coming up. tv news reporter threatened on camera with a gun. want to hear more about that? stay tuned. you're watching "early start." >> yikes! taste and whole grain oats] wat that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! 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[ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. 41 minutes past the hour. good morning to you, new orleans. look at that lightening. 70 degrees now. 80 degrees later. lots of thunderstorms. kind of makes you want to stay in bed and perhaps have a sick day today. welcome back. a child's play toy is now taking over the narrative in the race for the republican nomination. it is the eve of the louisiana primary and romney is getting attacked relentlessly for that etch a sketch remark made on cnn by his communications director. his rivalries raging rick santorum with this eye opening remark while wagging the etch a sketch warfare. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the etch a sketch candidate for the future. >> cnn political editor, paul steinhauser is live in washington this morning. so, paul, we're going to start here with a little bit more sound, i believe. do we have that ready on exactly what it was that santorum said? he talked a little bit more. i want you to listen to this and then we're going to chat about it. we don't have it. okay. let's talk about the fact that he said that perhaps obama was a better option than mitt romney. how do you think that's going to fare as he heads into the primary? >> reporter: that comment which happened yesterday afternoon is definitely raising a lot of eyebrows on the republican side. that's almost i guess you could say harrisy if that's truly what rick santorum was saying. we've reached out and said, please, tell us. clarify for us what achere's wh saying. take a listen to newt gingrich first. >> there is no doubt in my mind that if the choice were barack obama or governor romney, barack obama's election will be a disaster for the united states. we have an obligation. >> reporter: and mitt romney himself put out a statement yesterday as well saying this, i was disappointed to hear that rick santorum would have rather had barack obama as president than a republican. so, yeah, a lot of push back from romney. a lot of push back from gingrich on this comment. it's definitely buzzing as well. zoraida, at the end of the day regardless of who the nominee is, republicans needs to coalesce around that person to try to beat barack obama come november. if he was saying that as he fights on, interesting words, no doubt about it. let's talk about this fight. he's headed to louisiana. he's expected to win there. do you think it will have an affect on that? >> reporter: it might. it might. listen, anything that happens nowadays, the etch a sketch comment. >> crazy. >> reporter: everything nowadays goes viral on line on the social networks. any little thing could happen. as for louisiana, yes, tomorrow a southern state. more conservative state where rick santorum, according to the polls, is supposed to be the favorite here. we talk about these must-win states. this is a must-win for rick santorum if he has any prayer to try to win this nomination. for newt gingrich if he doesn't do well in louisiana. does he finally drop out? he didn't do well in mississippi and alabama and he didn't trop out. stay tuned. >> paul steinhauser, thank you very much. ashleigh, back to you. thank you. still ahead at 5:44 eastern time. how about this, you're a tv news reporter on camera looking into a murder investigation and, sha zam, a guy pulls a gun on you on camera. you're going to see it in just a moment. and first they zipped each other up, checked their lipstick, and then went and fought a fire. this is no joke. honestly, this is not a joke. firefighters in gowns at work. hard at work. what is this about? you'll find out in a moment. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. welcome back to "early start." it is 48 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> good morning. i'm ashleigh banfield. here are the headlines making news this morning. demonstrations in ten cities across the country in support of trayvon martin. about 8,000 protesters hitting the streets last night in sanford, florida, not far from where that unarmed teenager was shot and killed last month. earlier yesterday sanford's police chief, bill lee stepped down temporarily while the governor decided to appoint a brand new state attorney to investigate this case. >> a new official report rekreels cocaine was a factor in the death of whitney houston. a los angeles coroner says houston drowned in the bathtub but heart disease and cocaine played a role. mississippi's attorney general is not backing down. he's again asking the state supreme court to overturn 200 pardons that were issued by former governor haley barbour. he's arguing that that case needs to be reopened because of the, quote, private personal rights, end quote, of the victims. he says they were violated by these pardons. attorney general jim hood claims it's a violation of mississippi's crime victims bill of rights. reporter in arkansas, has a gun pulled on her while covering a story about a local man's death. >> we were just trying to find out what was going on. that's all. >> everybody's here. the camera. >> look, you can't touch the camera. >> you really -- so look at that. after the man -- >> oh, my lord. >> -- pulled the gun wreg's april thompson and her cameraman sought cover in their news truck. no one was hurt. the man fled from the scene. police are still trying to track him down and issued a warrant for felony aggravated assault. >> that is not a good scene. >> but there's the evidence though. >> yes. >> if they do end up in court. >> keep the camera rolling. >> 50 minutes now past 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. are you ready for this, a boston cat surviving a fall and not just any fall. sugar fell 19 stories. sugar the cat. >> oh, my gosh. >> 19. >> puts that in perspective, ach leigh. >> the owner opened a window to let the cat get fresh air. she probably regrets that. she received a phone call from the animal rescue league of boston saying they had sugar. >> oh, my gosh. >> the cats were able to relax, orient themselves so they are in a flying squirrel position with the legs spread out, slowed their descent down. >> it is very odd but 90% of cats usually survive these kinds of falls. the animal rescue league is trying to remind pet owners today and every day, make sure that you have screens on your windows because not everybody's as lucky as sugar. >> well, and this time of year a lot of children also take those falls. >> yes. >> that's another good reminder because they don't survive the falls. >> not just screens on your bin does. if you have kids you have to have bars. >> coming up next on "early start." when duty called these hero firefighters answered the call in drag. >> best video of the day. >> why are they in drag fighting a fire? we'll tell you. it's all coming up. my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. lemon burst, blackberry harvest, pina colada... i can't imagine where she is... orange creme... 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[ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. will be giving away passafree copies [ female announcer ] yoplait original. of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. all right. we are keeping you in pop culture loop this morning by taking a look at what's training on the web and yahoo. an elementary school in north carolina is under fire for its black history letter month to parents. if i asked you to wear your best african-american attire, what would you wear? >> this is it, i think. >> thank you very much. yes. yes. this is what students were told, that they could wear that or they could wear animal print clothing or shirts with animals native to africa. zebras, giraffes, lions, elephants, etc. the school is responding saying while it was well-intended, it was poorly worded. >> they should have put african-american or african attire. >> yes. i asked the question this morning to some of the ladies who work here who are african-american. they were puzzled. what are you asking me? all right. here's another one that's straight out of the, what, are you kidding me. rebook is having to pull its ads. cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout. >> huh? >> didn't go over so well. >> that's going to work. >> honestly, the biggest anger coming from a website called cheaterville.com. twitter sort of lit up. places like #laymad and freaking out. rebook yanking it. >> we've been showing you this. we're going to show it to you again on youtube. firefighters dressed in drag when duty called. they were marching in a st. patty's day parade in minnesota. they were wearing dresses as a goof when a truck actually catches fire. they were hiking up their evening gowns, pulling them up, real developing their fire boots while hosing down the truck. the fire was put out. no one was hurt and we got this fabulous video. >> how incredible is this. it does beg the question why are you marching in a st. patty's day parade dressed like that. it's a bit odd. nothing like the enter webs. there's your trending for this morning. it is now 56 minutes past the hour and still ahead on "early start," growing national outrage over the killing of a florida teenager rallies across the country. was your city one of them? we'll take you live to sanford, florida in a moment. something rotten at the launch party for kim kardashian's new perfume. she gets flour bombarded. we're not talking roses here. you're watching "early start." l. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ and a great morning to you. a good friday morning. welcome to "early start." i'm ashleigh banlfield. >> everybody loves fridays. i'm zoraida sambolin. we are bringing you the news from a to z at 6:00 a.m. in the east. the shooting death of unarmed florida teenager trayvon martin is sparking demonstrations from california to charlotte. the chief of police in sanford steps down temporarily in the face of the mounting criticism while the governor appoints a new state attorney to investigate the case. whitney houston's cause of death revealed in a brand new autopsy report and that report finds that houston died of an accidental drowning but that cocaine was also a factor, and it wasn't the only drug found in her system either. an explosion at a silicon factory in oregon sends at least two people to the hospital, the fire reportedly sparked by a chemical used to make silicon. hazmat teams were called to the scene. rick santorum suggesting if it comes down to a race between mitt romney and president obama, we may as well just stay with what we have. >> whoa. >> ooh. newt gingrich not going quite that far. >> there is no doubt in my mind that if the choice is governor romney or barack obama, we would have no choice. barack obama's re-election will mean disaster for the united states, and we have an obligation. >> the republican race getting even nastier on the eve of the louisiana primary. >> a kerfuffle at kim kardashian's event, they determined the powder was cooking flour. we're not sure why that happened. a female suspect was arrested. the outrage is building over the shooting death of a florida teenager named trayvon martin. protests in ten cities across the country. this case has touched a nerve nationwide, the anger triggering rallies from los angeles to charlotte, north carolina, the protesters demanding at rest of george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed martin. about 8,000 protesting in sanford, florida, not far from where trayvon was walking home with a bag of candy and iced tea and his parents were there. >> i stand before you today not knowing how i'm walking right now because my heart hurts for my son. trayvon is my son. trayvon is your son. >> i'd just like to thank every one of you all for just showing us the love, the support, signing the petitions and making sure that george zimmerman pay for what he did to your son. >> and the law that has so far shielded george zimmerman from prosecution is under scrutiny in florida. state senator chris smith is pushing for changes to the stand your ground law, and i talked to him just last hour. >> if nothing happens to mr. zimmerman, imagine what you're going to have in florida. you're going to have a lot of homeowners' association activists now arming themselves and saying that hey, i can avail myself of this law. florida, a lot of our economy is based on tourism. if i'm a tourist outside of the state if i go to florida and get into an altercation at a gas station in orlando, am i going to be shot, because florida has this archaeic law that allows gunfights in the street? >> and there was a rally in sanford, taking place just hours after the city's embattled police chief temporarily has left his post, citing it's too much of a distraction. our george howell is live in sanford, florida, this morning. george, there's been a lot of shifting around in the last 24 hours, not just the police chief but the governor replaced the state attorney helming the investigation. so far, is it making any difference? >> you know, i think people are just waiting to see what's next really. a lot of this news came as a surprise especially the police chief, and the wording that he used, "temporarily removing himself from office" a lot of the people who were here, thousands of people that came to protest, some who i spoke with said that's not enough. they want to see the police chief either fired or resign all together. so that news came as a surprise to a lot of people. we learned just before the rally also that the family, trayvon martin's family got to meet with members of the department of justice and the word of the meeting was patience, to have patience as this investigation continues. during the meeting, we also learned governor rick scott appointed a new special prosecutor to look into this case. angela cory will take over for norm wolfinger, whose district includes the city of sanford and cory explained how she plans to look into this case. take a listen. >> it requires a thorough investigation, extensive interviews of every witness and extensive review of all physical evidence and then a determination as to how we apply florida's law to the facts of any case. we don't worry about backlash from cases. what we worry about is seeking the truth. that's our mission. that's the united states supreme court finds mission for prosecutor, is to seek the truth. >> reporter: let's talk about george zimmerman. again he is not charged with anything, free to go wherever he'd like to go. police, we learned, through the city manager, know exactly where he is, and again on april 10th, that is the day that a grand jury will convene and that will be the day where we find out if george zimmerman could be put behind bars after what happened. >> george howell, interesting, especially when angela corey said those words "we don't worry about that backlash" well that backlash is there all across the country, where you're standing there, too. >> reporter: indeed, thank you. last night the los angeles county coroner's office released a report whitney houston died from heart disease as drowning. heart disease and cocaine were also mentioned as contributing in her death. here to break it down is cnn medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. she's in san francisco. exactly what did the report say? >> zor rzorar ida, it said whit houston drowned, and cocaine and preexisting heart disease played a role. my colleague spoke to someone in the l.a. county coroner's office, this appears to be how it happened. she already had heart disease. she had clogged arteries. she took cocaine. she had a heart attack that sent her under the water and she drowned. >> we saw a list there of drugs, i suspect, that were in her body. can you talk a little bit about those that they found? >> right, let's go through that list. they found not just cocaine in her system but also marijuana and xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, benadryl, which can make you drowsy and flexeril, a muscle relaxant which can make you drow drowsy. officials say these could not make you drowsy. we spoke with experts who said they can make you drowsy and less likely to be on guard so to speak. >> i want to get back to the heart disease, because we got a lot of details about that specifically and so the question becomes we knew that she used cocaine and she's used it for years. a lot of people were hoping that would not come up in the coroner's report, but it did, that she was still using cocaine. could that affect her heart in a way or could it affect it as far as heart disease goes specifically? >> right, the cocaine didn't cause her heart disease, and it's a little confuse so long let me sort of talk through that. the report found that she had clogged arteries, so she had plaque buildup in her arteries. cocaine doesn't cause that. now that's actually probably more common in a 48-year-old woman than you might think. so she already had the clogged arteries and then the cocaine on top of that would aggravate the situation with those arteries, which could cuesause a heart attack. the clogged arteries aren't from the cocaine but the cocaine aggravated the arteries not already in that great condition. >> final question, i know we'd be speculating, but because of the combination of drugs she had and having the heart attack, do you think maybe her body was in a state where she could not even realize that she was drowning at that point? >> i mean the experts we talked to said that those kinds of drugs like the benadryl and the xanax and the flexeril, it certainly makes you more drowsy, makes you less aware of what's going on but the coroner's report was really quite clear that those did not contribute to her death, that the heart disease, the cocaine that appears to have given her a heart attack and that's what sent her under. it obviously didn't have drugs to make her less aware and out of it so to speak. >> elizabeth cohen, live in san francisco, thank you. >> what a beautiful shot behind her, the bridge is looking gorgeous. nine minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. we're minding your business because it's been a rough week for the markets. the dow falling yesterday for a third straight day. look at the arrows down. wall street kind of worried that the global economy is slowing. >> patricia wu is with us. we are talking about bank of america specifically, getting into the landlord business. tell us about that. >> absolutely. well this is all about getting to you before you get to foreclosure. it's called the mortgage to lease program and basically here's how it works. you get a letter from bank of america saying you're at risk of foreclosure. here is an option, you hand over the deed to your house, you can stay in the home and rent it back at the current market rate. here's what the homeowner gets out of the deal, they get their debt wiped out and also get to stay in their home by renting it and it's less damaging for their credit than foreclosure. it's good business for the bank because they're collecting income from you. if you goforeclosure they're not getting any money. so now they have someone in the home so they have somebody to keep it up. >> if they have equity in their snoem. >> these are more than two months behind on the payments and exhausted the modification solutions. >> the banks have been struggling not just dealing with banks but realtors. they've had all this material on their books that they have to, like you said upkeep and then sell and they're always selling them at a loss. >> so it's good for housing values because when you have the vacant homes with the foreclosed homes that drags down the values in the neighborhood. >> what a slap in the face, sure, you can have my home and i'll continue to pay you. such a bummer but i see the upside. thank you. 11 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. coming up a heated debate in tennessee, are topics like evolution and climate change okay to challenge in school? find out what's going on there. take a look at this, two women in california fighting in front of a food market when one of them decides to run the other one over with her car. >> that's not a good idea. >> no, no, no. she's okay though. and "hunger games" fans lining up for hours. it is going to be a massive opening. will box office records actually fall? you're going to find out, you're watching "early start." wow. this is new. yep, i'm sending the dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most -- the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or we'll help you find a local partner. great. keep it moving, honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. 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>> first, let's be clear what the bill does not do. the bill does not promote, endorse, require or allow the teaching of non-conventional, non-scientific information in the science classroom. what it does do is say look, when you teach some of these subjects, students are going to dispute or challenge what you're teaching, and teachers need to know what's expected of them. this bill came about when i first saw it, i didn't think very much about it, and then i had a person visit me from an organization who made some accusatory statements about some of the teachers in our county, which sort of gave me the impression that they were making judgments about what teachers were teaching, and i thought maybe we needed to make sure teachers were protected and that teachers under stood what was required of them when these difficult subjects were taught. >> i'm glad you gave me the verification but i think it's fascinating because it is unique, other than louisiana your state is fairly unique in engaging in this kind of movement in education and i found it fascinating and i looked at your biography. you have a bachelor of arts in biology cum laude from tennessee university. senator, the national association of biology teachers sent a letter to your governor that read something like this, "concepts like evolution and climate change should not be misrepresented as controversial or needing of special evaluation. instead, they should be presented as scientific explanations for events and processes that are supported by experimentation, logical analysis and evidence-based revision based on detectible and measurable data." while that might sound wordy, but this is questioning, for heaven sakes, are you questioning that the world is actually round? >> i'm kind of disappointed in the scientific establishment in terms of their approach on this bill. the bill really doesn't do any of the things that they allude to in their letter, and quite honestly, you know, science should encourage critical thinking. science should encourage challenging current realities. science is about us debating and measuring, using empirical evidence to try and explain the world around us, and when some subjects are taught students are going to bring the experience to the classroom in their home or community and have questions about the science curriculum in terms of how it measures up with what they're learning in their community at home. i don't think -- >> sorry to interrupt but i still need you to answer that question. if i'm a student in classroom and engage my teacher saying i'm sorry but the world looks flat to me, should we be questioning that? should we allow some kind of a debate on whether the world is actually flat? >> no, no. i think that's a great, teachable moment for a teacher, and that's the purpose of the bill. that's a great teachable moment. how did the child come to, the student come to that conclusion and how can the teacher, using that, teach the student about how the world is not flat. >> lots of teachers can teach in different ways. it is amazing what the role of an eye can do to a student who is learning something and you don't know the different philosophies of the teachers in the classrooms and how are you as a politician able to police that and should you be? >> well there are two guide rails on this. one is the bill requires teachers remain within the framework of the state's educational curriculum, and number two, in tennessee, we are leading the nation in educational reform, and our teachers are held more accountable to their test results than perhaps any other state. and so teachers are not going to have a lot of time, nor are they going to take a lot of time to deal with questions that students have about non-conventional, non-scientific ideas they might have. teachers are held accountable to the results on the tests their students achieve and teachers will be sure that their students learn about the basic concepts of science, because that's what's going to be asked of students when they are asked to provide their knowledge on a test, so i think this is really as shakespeare would say, much ado about nothing, the community overreacted to this and this is an opportunity for teachers to engage students and create teachable moments. >> i could talk to you all day about this but i unfortunately can't. i look forward to another opportunity to talk to you about it, senator watson. thanks for being on. >> sure, thank you. >> it is 21 minutes past the time. a crowd of about 8,000 people hit the streets of sanford, florida, last night, they are demanding justice for trayvon martin. they want the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the unarmed teen arrested. earlier yesterday, the chief of police in sanford stepped down temporarily and the governor appointed a new state attorney to handle this investigation. and a new official report reveals cocaine was a factor in the death of whitney houston. a los angeles coroner says houston drowned in the bathtub at the beverly hills hotel but heart disease and cocaine did play a role there. wild road rage caught on camera. take a look at this. two women throw down in a parking lot in california. a pedestrian punches a driver repeat repeatedly. the driver runs the pedestrian down against a van, pinned her up against the wall. the driver there was arrested. it is a first big movie event of this year "the hunger games" is expected to break box office records in its debut weekend. fans were lined up at theaters across the country to catch the midnight premiere. >> it's now 22 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. still ahead on "early start" a man pulls a gun on one of our own, a tv reporter and all the while the camera man kept on rolling. you're going to see what it looked like from this vantage point in a moment. it is a mystery solved finally. residents of a wisconsin town know what is behind those booming noises and tremors they've been hearing and feeling at night while they're trying to sleep >> tremors, i told you that's what it is, animals under the ground. it's not. >> we'll tell you what it is. you're watching "early start." 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. ahead on "early start," demanding justice for trayvon martin. protesters saying young and black does not automatically mean suspicious. we are talking to the pastor who spoke at last night's rally. wow! that would sound really, really loud if you had your volume turned up. i'm kidding, it's our fault. that enexplosion was super scary in san diego bay. fear not. we'll explain why no one had reason to be concerned even though the pictures tell a different story. you're watching "early start." ♪ super for the fiber that helps fill us up. super for the energy it gives to get us going. super for the oats that are so good for our hearts. ♪ super for how it makes us... super. quaker oats. energy. fiber. heart health. super people eat super grains. it is 30 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> good morning, i'm ashleigh banlfield. it is time to check the stories making top news headline this is morning. >> demonstrators in ten cities from los angeles to charlotte demanding justice for trayvon martin. thousands of people jamming the streets of sanford, florida, not far from where the unarmed teenager was shot and killed last month. earlier yesterday sanford's embattled police chief bill lee stepped down temporarily he said with florida's attorney overseeing the case. cocaine played a role in whitney houston's death. the autopsy concludes she officially died from drowning in the bathtub but that cocaine and heart disease were factors. residents in clintonville, wisconsin, now know the cause of the loud mysterious booms that rocked their city. a shallow 1.5 magnitude mini quake is the culprit. city officials cannot guarantee it won't happen again but they think it's likely that it won't happen again. and check this out, folks. >> wow! >> oh, man! the navy conducting a large scale anti-terrorism exercise in san diego, designed to simulate an actual attack. there were explosive detonated on the beach and rapid gunfire, a high speedboat chase all happening in san diego bay so if you saw it, don't freak out, and similar drills were conducted at other u.s. naval installations. so you might have seen something similar. don't call 911. >> unless you know it's a drill you would freak out. >> you would freak out, forewarned. >> 31 minutes past the hour. florida governor rick scott replaced its prosecutor the in the trayvon martin killing. the police chief in sanford has stepped down temporarily he says. outrage is mounting. marches have been held in at least ten u.s. cities from new york to st. louis, miami. students in trayvon's hometown walked out of class to demand the arrest of george zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot that unarmed teenager. and just last night, thousands attended a rally in stanford where the 17-year-old was killed, that is an aerial view. trayvon's parents had a very emotional message. >> i stand before you today not knowing how i'm walking right now, because my heart hurt for my son. trayvon is my son. trayvon is your son. >> just like to thank every one of you all for just showing us the love, the support, signing the petitions, and making sure that george zimmerman pay for what he did to your son. >> valerie houston is a pastor of alan chapel ame church. she spoke last night and joins us in sanford. we sore happy to have you with us this morning. thank you very much. you led the prayer vigil last night. was it predominantly one age group, race or gender in the crowd? >> it was everyone from babies to probably i saw people on, in wheelchairs, on canes, to the oldest citizen probably around. >> what about race? do you think this crossed over, that this is just affecting everybody? >> it is affecting everybody, all races, all nationalities, all denominations were there last night to show their love and support. >> so let's talk about the case, right, the support is growing by the day. we are speeeing these type of rallies happening around the country. the police chief stepped down, a new special prosecutor has been named. what is your reaction to these events? >> i think that's a marvelous. i think that gives the city a sense of hope that they can see some sense of justice being done, the investigation with the governor stepping in, the chief of police stepping down. i think that's going to motivate us but also keep us in a more peaceful, non-violent movement is what we want, but we still want the immediate arrest. >> besides the immediate arrest, there's a lot of dialogue happening around the trayvon martin case. a lot of whites are feeling this is an incredible injustice and a lot of dialogue happening among the black community. i want to get reaction to an op. ed pete, eugene robinson wrote in "the washington post" this, "whether zimmerman can or should be prosecuted given florida's stand your ground law providing broad latitude to claim self-defense, is an important question but the tragic and essentially thing for me is the bull's eye that black men wear throughout their lives and the vital imperative to never, ever be caught on the wrong street at the wrong time." do you think that this is true? >> that is so true, has been a lifelong problem and so this will be a monumental, massive movement to say, as the people have been shouting and all of the rallies, no more, no more, no more. >> pastor houston, we've seen this whenever a black teen gets shot and people rally there's no change. it doesn't really effect change. how do you think you can effect change in this case? >> i think it will be the beginning of a catalyst of change. they're already getting ready to review the stand your ground law, that's monumental. i believe with everything that's going on, we're going to have an internal investigation of the police department here in the city of sanford, and that's what we really want the world to know, that as some of the persons said during the week, that we expect the police to work for us and to make sure that justice is served, and we're not seeing that here in sanford, and that's why it has caught on all over the country. >> i want to talk about the naacp, they were at your church yesterday. they collected stories of police abuse and the failure to investigate those cases. and they plan to turn it over to the justice department. you preach in that community. do you think that there are problems specifically there with law enforcement? >> yes, it is, and there were 18 cases, and to hear their cases, many people were in tears, including myself, i'd hold back the tears, many young people have been shot and killed, some by policemen, and when they investigate, then they don't get back with the parents and it's nothing. it's nothing. it's not due process. it's just an injustice to the city. >> pastor valerie houston, thank you so much for joining us this morning, and enlightening us. we appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. >> and it is now 37 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast, and coming up on "early start," a shocker from rick santorum's campaign, saying if mitt romney were the nominee, we might as well just stick with president obama. really? is that the republican way of thinking? you'll hear what the reaction was. and then this reaction. a gun pulled on a tv reporter who was just following the story of a murder investigation. how did this one turn out as the cameras kept rolling? hmm. but first let's get a quick check of your travel forecast with bonnie schneider. good morning to you. >> good morning. we are looking at wet weather across the southeast. if you're traveling we'll see rain that will impact cities like atlanta and rain sliding into chicago, that will get you cooler, after nine days of record high temperatures in the 80s. temperatures really have been 20, 30 degrees below what they typically are this time of year. could you see the temperature departures from normal by 30 degrees in many locations across the northeast. stormy conditions through the mid south today, sunny to the west but watch out for wet weather across the pacific northwest for today with cooler temperatures as well and possibly some air travel delays. that's a look at your forecast. "early start" will be right back. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word. you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. well, muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. zyrtec®. love the air. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! ♪ nice, and we love being in new orleans, good morning to you. but your weather not so good. 69 degrees right now, a little bit later it's going to be 80 but i think i saw a little lightning there. >> van morrison for us this morning. "baby please don't go" is perfect for this morning's story, not to downplay the whole new orleans tower cam and the lightning that's playing but the "baby please don't go" is really a big deal because at 6:42 on the east coast it has come down to this, the narrative in the race for the republican nomination has been dominated by a toddler's toy but getting even uglier in the fact that rick santorum got up in front of a group of people and suggested the man in the middle of your screen, mitt romney, if he's your nominee, well maybe we'd just be better off sticking with what we got, which if you read into that means sticking with the democratic president in the white house. have a listen. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking the risk of what may be the etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> yeah, i don't think you have to read too much into that. cnn political editor paul steinhauser, now you know why we picked van marryson's "baby please don't go." >> i love it. >> this must be like manna from heaven and newt gingrich and his campaign but not so much from mitt romney. >> listen, we reached out actually to the santorum campaign after rick santorum made those comments you just played yesterday at a speech in texas and said is he really insinuating if romney is the nominee, is it better to vote for the current guy, barack obama, and they have not responded with anything. newt gingrich definitely has responded. here's what he said. >> there is no doubt in my mind that if the choice of governor romney or barack obama, we would have no choice. i mean barack obama's re-election will be a disaster for the united states, and we have an obligation. >> reporter: here's what mitt romney said in a statement put out by his campaign. "i'm in this race to defeat barack obama and restore america's promise. i was disappointed to hear rick santorum would rather have barack obama as president than a republican." both campaigns quickly responding to what santorum said. ashley, this is almost if that's really what santorum was saying, almost heresy because at the end republicans want to coalesce with whoever the nominee is. >> sort of heresy, isn't that the adage by ronald reagan, thou shalt not speak ill of a republican. if this goes beyond the pail what is the future of santorum in this race or out of this race as he tries to navigate with the rest of his friends through the republican tomorrow. >> the future is tomorrow, he needs to win louisiana, it's a conservative state. if he doesn't he has no way of beating romney in other states. but let's be honest that's still a very, very long shot. if you make comments like this and if that's truly what he was saying, then that does hurt his standing you would think down the road if romney is the nominee, puts him in a tough situation to say i'd rather vote for president obama than the republican nominee if that's what he was saying. >> while i'd like to serenade you with "baby please don't go" i have to say good-bye. have a good morning. >> he probably should be serenading you. >> yes, how about that. it is time to check the stories making news this morning. demonstrations in ten cities across the country in support of trayvon martin. thousands are hitting the streets last night in sanford, florida, not far from where the unarmed teenager was shot and killed last month by a neighborhood watch captain. earlier yesterday, sanford's police chief, bill lee, stepped down, he says temporarily, while the governor appointed a new state attorney to investigate the case. newly released toxicology reports reveal cocaine played a factor in whitney houston's death although the coroners say whitney houston ultimately died from drowning in the bathtub. marijuana, xanax and other drugs were found in her system but they did not play a role in her death. mississippi's attorney general asking the state supreme court to overturn 200 pardoned issued by former governor hayley barbour because the "private personal rights of the victims were violated by the pardons." attorney general jim hood reporting this is a violation of the victim's bill of rights. a reporter has a gun pulled on her while covering a story about a local man's killing. >> reporter: we were just trying to find out what was going on. >> everybody's lying, my best friend -- camera like -- >> reporter: you can't touch the cameraman. >> you really -- >> not turning out well at all after the man pulled the gun, take a look. holy cow. wreg's april thompson and her camera man sought cover in their news truck. luckily, we're able to report no one was hurt. that man did flee from the scene and police are hot on his trail trying to track him down, issued a warrant for felony aggravated assault in this case. firefighters dressed in drag when duty called, this video posted on youtube, it is funny, marching in a st. paddy's day parade in minnesota, wearing dresses as a goof, we understand, when a truck actually caught fire. they were hiking up their evening gowns, pulling them up, revealing their fire boots while hosing down the truck. the fire was put out, no one was hurt and we get to enjoy the video. >> st. paddy's day doesn't necessarily mean you wear dresses. >> they were acting like goofs but having a good time. >> the meaning of st. patrick's day has changed over the years. >> how do i top that? >> i was just going to say, christine romans, we decided that would be the best way to introduce you this morning. >> i will hike up my evening gown and tell you what we have coming up on "starting point." rick santorum putting the president before his own party? the republican candidate is suggesting if it comes down to a race between mitt romney and president obama, well, we may as well stay with what we have. plus the obama administration cracking down on china, taxing solar panels that come from there, take a look at rare earth minerals, starting to show some backbone perhaps about china and its trade practices. is china having the last laugh. "hunger games" have you heard about it? you're going to. thousands of fans lined up for midnight screenings. the themes are like or more modern problems, the haves and have nots only on a different scale. plus is this okay to take your kids to see, that question coming up at the top of the hour. [ male announcer ] any technology not moving forward is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. 51 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." staff sergeant robert bales will be formally charged later on today. >> this case is really not playing well in afghanistan where the taliban is vowing revenge on american forces and saying it has absolutely no faith in any american trial for this massacre suspect. cnn's sara sidner is in kabul with the latest. >> reporter: the charges have not formerly been announced but 17 charges of murder, six charges of attempted murder and assault. the 17 number has caused some conclusion because the local afghan officials here say only 16 people were killed in the massacre so we're trying to figure out where the extra number comes from. the six assault and attempted murder charges comes from the six people who were injured during this massacre. what we can tell you is, yes, the taliban has sent out a statement. they have talked about seeking revenge, but it's something they said a week ago as well right after the massacre happened, and it's not surprising. what we are not seeing, ashleigh, are protests. the protests have stopped, we haven't seen them for days. >> sara sidner, thank you so much. there might be another victim, someone may have died and the message hasn't gotten back to the public relations of the military or a different theory on one of the persons who died, could be a pregnant woman. >> a lot of children there living in that house also so it's perhaps i think that makes a lot of sense. also at 6:53, it's becoming a nationwide call for justice, thousands of people saying at rest, that they want an arrest of the man who shot trayvon martin. local police starting to feel the fallout there as well. we'll have more on this. you're watching "early start." your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. hohow w arare e yoyou? wewe'r're e gogoining g toto h e inintetervrvieiew.w. jojohnhn, , jijillll.....m.mr. whwhatat's's i it t lilikeke d e fufusisionon h hybybri? yoyou u cacan n rereadad e evet isis o opeperaratitingng b by ya bubuttttonon.. itit's's l likike e drdrivivin. whwhatat w wououldld b be e thtg fofor r yoyou u toto g gi? ththe e mimileles s peper r gag. whwhenen y youou'r're e ususeder cacar r upup o oncnce e a, ththenen s sududdedenlnly y one weweekeks,s, bebelilieveve e meme i it'tg didiffffererenencece g go. [ zipper, heavy breathing ] ♪ [ male announcer ] linens and duvet washed fresh for every guest. real value. from your friends at hampton. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. a night of protests across the country, demanding justice for trayvon martin. >> an unarmed teen gunned down by a neighborhood watch captain last month and police have still not made an arrest. george howell is live in sanford, florida. george, what should we be watching for today? >> reporter: well, clearly just the other day, we saw thousands of people here in sanford, all coming together to rally for trayvon martin, and we know even today, this will continue. we'll even see more rallies. today we know there will be a one-hour prayer vigil at allen chapel, ame church here in sanford, a one-hour prayer vigil. you can expect many people will come together for that. we also know on the 26th, there will be a march, a march from a local church here from the first united methodist church to the civic center, they are marching to the civic center for a regular city hall meeting. now the city hall meetings usually here. it will happen at a civic center in sanford on monday, simply because the city commissioners expect big crowds. obviously this situation has drawn many, many eyes to this city and this situation. >> george howell, live in sanford, florida, thank you very much for that. so a piece of history comes crashing down. >> fire in the hole. >> and people are cheering it. oh! that's a good angle. there's nothing like blowing stuff up. when they blow it up really good i love that. >> crews exploding part of the eagle and fee mix dam in the chattahoochee river. the dam has stood for 13 years since 1882, the blast marks the beginning of a new chapter. part of the river will be transformed to a whitewater course. >> i can see environmentalists do not like that. that is "early start." i'm ashleigh banlfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with christine romans starts now. >> thank you, that's right i'm sitting in for soledad this morning. our starting point demanding justice for trayvon martin. thousands marching across the country but some critics asking why aren't there more white leaders in the crowd? she abused cocaine until the very end. whitney houston's autopsy reveals her final moments. plus rick santorum surprising his own party. >> we might as well stay with