good morning everybody. thanks joining us. i'm betty nguyen. the florida race is down to the wire. the latest polls indicate a two-man contest. a new poll of likely republican primary voters find a statistical tie between romney and gingrich. they engaged in heated exchanges for immigration, banking and taxes. susan mcginnis joins us with the latest. good morning, susan. >> good morning, betty. this was the 19th republican debate of the season. the last one before tuesday's primary. with florida so large, so diverse and much more representative of the nation compared with the other contests so far, all the candidates were well aware of what's at stake. >> i think you should apologize for it. >> mitt romney lost his assault right from the start. >> simply inexcusable. >> blasting newt gingrich for calling him the most anti-immigrant candidate on stage. >> mr. speaker, i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico, my wife's father was born in wales. they came to this country. the idea that i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. >> gingrich wouldn't let up. accusing romney of investing in the same mortgage firms that triggered the housing crisis. >> we discovered to our shock, governor romney owns shares of fannie may and freddie mac. >> you checked your own investments? you have investments from mutual funds that invest in fannie may and freddie mac. >> the candidate have a lot riding on florida. the winner of tuesday's primary takes all 50 of the delegates. giving that person a big boost. >> the bigger issue here is these two gentlemen who are out distracting from the most important issues by playing petty personal politics. >> rick santorum urged the frontrunners to focus on the issues, but the bickering continued when it came to gingrich's idea of setting up a permanent base on the moon. >> if i had a business executive and wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, i'd say you're fired. >> you don't have to be cheap everywhere. you can have priorities to get things done. >> i don't think we should go to the moon. we should maybe send politicians up there. >> the jabs are expected to continue through the weekend as the candidates make their final push to win over voters. rick santorum and ron paul put in strong performances last night and betty, there was a moment of lefty. ron paul was asked if he would release medical records. he said yes, he challenged his competitors to a 25-mile bike race. >> i heard there were no takers. >> no takers. >> thank you, susan. president obama wraps up his three-day campaign swing today with stops in michigan and maryland. the president's focus is energy and jobs. but it is his brief meeting on the airport tarmac in phoenix that's drawing a lot of attention. randall pinkston reports. an energized president obama showed off a natural gas refueling station in las vegas. >> hello, nevada. >> funding from his stimulus package helped build this environmentally friendly ups center. the president is visiting this key battleground state to underscore the need for more clean energy jobs. he also wants to start drilling again for oil in the u.s. now that more oversight is in place after the bp disaster. >> i'm announcing that my administration will soon open up 38 million acres in the gulf of mexico for additional exploration and development, which could result in a lot more production of domestic energy. >> but the president's trip is being overshadowed. after a tense encounter with the republican governor of arizona. governor jan brewer was photographed wednesday pointing her finger at president obama when he arrived in feen i can. >> imt animated. >> brewer gave the president a letter requesting a meeting. he responded that in her book the governor misrepresented a previous meeting. >> i respect the office of the president but i'm not going to change my story about what took place in the white house. >> the conversation on the tarmac apparently didn't go much better. the governor says she was in the middle of a sentence when the president walked away. >> now, if the president is re-elected, it looks like he'll need to find a new secretary of state. speaking at the state department yesterday, hillary clinton said she's ready for some rest. >> i think after 20 years, it will be 20 years of being on the high wire of american politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired i am. >> clinton has been the first lady, served in the senate, run for president and now heads the state department. north carolina's first female governor says she is calling it quits after one term. democrat beverly perdue fears a fight with state republicans over education would become too political. she faces a campaign finance investigation and sagging poll numbers. democrats consider north carolina critical to president obama's reelection. republicans were quick to criticize the pentagon's plan for cutting military spending. the five-year plan was unveiled yesterday as part of a budget cutting deal made with congress. the army would is shrink by 80,000 soldiers, marines by 20,000. the pentagon would ask for $525 billion for the 2013 budget. that's $6 billion less than this year. >> the military will be smaller and leaner. but it will beage i will, flexible, deployable and technologically advanced. it will be a cutting-edge force. >> defense secretary leon panetta says there will be a shift toward more special operations unit like the navy seals and improvements in cyber defense. it was an elite team of navy seals that rescued two hostages including an american from somali pirates. jessica buchanan and paul hagen thisted were rescued. they've been flown for medical treatment. buchanan's family is meeting her there. the state department is demanding that egypt release six americans that is preventing from leaving the country. the group includes the son of transportation secretary ray lahood and others who work for u.s. organizes promoting democracy. the travel ban is tied to political events that led to the overthrow of hosni mubarak. the generals who now lead egypt accuse foreigners of being behind the anti-government protests. if you tweet, you will be interested in this story. twitter can now censor messages on a country by country basis. the new technology is raising free speech concerns. here's how it works. tweeting containing material that breaks a law in one country can be taken down there. but seen elsewhere. twitter says it will post a notice whenever a tweet is removed. coming up on the morning news, the government is owed billions in back taxes by its own employees. plus, a disaster caught on tape. people are seen fleeing a massive building collapse. this is the "cbs morning news." okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got 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[ male announcer ] enbrel. the #1 biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. check out this dramatic security video from rio de janeiro. it shows people running for their lives as three downtown office buildings collapsed wednesday night. first reported as a gas explosion, officials say it's a structural failure that strig erred the collapse. workers pulled six survivors from the rubble and recovered four bodies. 22 people are still missing and rescuers say there is little hope of finding more survivors. an arizona woman barred from a local election because of poor english may appeal the ruling. a county judge says alejandra cabrera isn't qualified to run for city council because she can't speak, read or write english well enough. her lawyers say the law sets no minimal standard for english proficiency. on the cbs money watch, tex deadbeats in the white ous? snack maker hostess could be headed for trouble with unions. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. good morning, ashley. >> good morning, betty. in overseas trading, tokyo's nikkei slipped a fraction following a loss of video maker nintendo. the hang seng gained nearly half a perts. the dow jones reached above the highest close since 008 financial crisis. the dow is down 22 points while the nasdaq lost 13. today attorney general eric holder reveals details about a fraud fighting unit at the justice department. the task force will focus on investigating bad mortgage deals which were a key trigger of the financial meltdown. president obama announced the formation of the union during his state of the union address. in the speech, the president called on all americans to pay their fair share. but a new report from the irs shows tens of thousands of federal government employees owe more than $3 billion in back taxes. the study found that 36 members of president obama's executive office are on the hook for more than $800,000 and nearly 700 employees of congress owe uncle sam a total of more than $10 million. well, more trouble for twinkie maker hostess. the bankrupt baker is asking a judge to reduce some commitments to union workers. cutting its obligations to the workforce is the only way it can emerge from bankruptcy. and speaking of diet busting foods, taco bell is getting into the breakfast business. on thursday, the fast food chain launched a breakfast menu at 800 restaurants in 14 western states. if all goes well, taco bell will start serving breakfast at all locations by 2014. betty, can you say breakfast burrito. >> i can't wait. i'm starving today. >> sounds good this morning. >> bring it on. absolutely. ashley morrison in new york. thank you. nasa released a portrait of planet earth. may be the best yet. this sharp image is a composite of several pictures taken earlier this month by a data line. it is the first of a new generation of spacecraft designed to study many facets of our ever-changing planet. that's a beautiful shot. straight ahead, your friday morning weather and in sports, the celtics drive to a stunning comeback against the magic in orlando. maybe you can be there; maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! 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[ female announcer ] purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena naturals. pierre! your fashion is so "right now," but your banking is so last season! earn more with high yield free checking at capital one bank. instead of some unfashionable rate, your checking could be earning five times the national average. and free atms anywhere. five times the interest? that's hot. oooooo! let's catwalk! you want more interest? open an account at a capital one bank. what's in your wallet? does this make my tuches look big? here's a look at the weather in some cities, washington, d.c., rainy, 56. mostly cloudy and 62 in atlanta. detroit will see a little sun, 43. denver, morning snow, 40. seattle, 40 degrees. federal investigators are trying to find out who shipped a load of cocaine to u.n. headquarters here in new york and why. the package was from mexico and it was delivered by dhl earlier this month. suspicious mail room workers had it x-rayed. they found inside 14 hollowed books containing more than 35 pounds of cocaine. in other news, a former marine has pleaded guilty in a series of shootings of military sites in washington, including the pentagon. 24-year-old jonathan mel kou agreed to serve a 25-year prison sentence for the shooting. yesterday prosecutors released a video showing him firing shots at the national museum of the marine corps as he drove by shouting god is great in arabic. formal sentencing is set for april. in state college, pennsylvania, a final tribute to the loved penn state football coach, joe paterno. students and alumni joined the paterno family at a campus memorial service. manuel gallegos was there. joe paterno's widow sue received a warm welcome from a crowd of thousands who gathered to remember the penn state legend. paterno made students feel like they were part of something great. >> he did it with honor and integrity. never had an ill word. that's why he's penn state. >> former players say he taught them how to compete with honor and integrity. >> he was building a proud program for the school, the state and the hundreds of young men he watched over for a half century. >> paterno's death came less than three months after his sudden firing by the university over the child sex abuse scandal. some of the bitterness over how he was treated was evident at the memorial. nike president called paterno his hero said what many were feeling. >> there's a village in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation not in joe paterno's response to it. >> paterno's son jay revealed what many wanted to hear. >> joe paterno left this world with a clear conscience. he told me he wanted to use his remaining time on earth to see penn state continue to thrive. he never spoke ill and never wanted anyone to feel badly for him. >> comforting words for paterno's family and his community. manuel gallegos, cbs news, state college, pennsylvania. and michael jackson cement his musical legacy long ago. this morning it's officially set in concrete. jackson's three children did the honors yesterday pressing the king of pop's famous sequin glove and his dancing shoes into wet cement in a ceremony in hollywood. this is the "cbs morning news." good morning, and welcome to 9news now. today is -- take a deep breath, friday, january 27th. what's really interesting is this month is almost over, good morning, i'm andrea roane. >> it's gone so quickly. >> it has and friday of course music for so many peoples' ears. i'm jessica doyle in for mike hydeck. beverly farmer has timesaver traffic but of course we begin with howard bernstein ask the weather. >> 60s down in faulk yore county? >> i said what month is this? >> where'd winter go? showers and even a thunderstorm not out of the question for the next six hours so. that's going to cool us down for the afternoon and look at this midday temperatures could be pushing into the low 60s but low 50s with windy and sunny conditions for the drive home. pretty strong front's coming through right now and you can see it actually out to the west. it's pushing across west virginia. out ahead of it the strong south and southwesterly flow bringing in the showers, couple of thunderstorms out south of pittsburgh this morning and that much warmer air. locally live live doppler 9000 hd, showers scattered about from north of baltimore now through howard county and down 95 especially prince william county down to stafford and fred ricksburg and look at this heavier weather there and showers and thunder near cumberland with temperatures look 30s and40s. this little wedge but then quickly rise to 61 in manassas and la plateau. here in washington, we'll get into the 60s for a little while later this morning through midday and then drop this afternoon. monika is off but beverly farmer's got everything for us in for timesaver traffic. right now howard not too much to show you except that most to have overnight road work got a washout and a rainout. that's a good start for your friday morning. do have one crash to report in prince george's county. it's going to be over in the side of 228 on 228 between 210 and manning roads. close to beel hill. police fire rescue have been on the scene there. the interstate is getting there, a good start northbound 95, going up to springfield no early issues on to 395 and the 14th street bridge. back to you. the gop presidential candidates met thursday for their final debate in florida. before next tuesday's primary. >> the latest polls show mitt romney and newt gingrich are in a close race for the top spots. the two of course went toe to toe during the debate. susan mcginnis has more. >> reporter: mitt romney launched his assault right from the start. >> that's simply inexcusable. >> reporter: blasting newt gingrich for calling him the most antiimmigrant candidate on stage. >> mr. speaker, i'm not antiimmigrant, my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in waels. the idea that i'm antiimmigrant is repulsive. >> reporter: but gingrich wouldn't let up. >> we discovered to our shock mr. romney owns shares of both fannie mae and freddie mac. >> you also have investments in mutual funds that invest in fannie mae and freddie mac. >> reporter: the winner of tuesday's primary takes all 50 of the state's delegates giving that person a big boost. >> the bigger issue here is those two gentlemen, out distracting by playing petty personal politics. >> reporter: rick santorum urged the front runners to focus on the issues but the bickering continued. >> if i had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put colony on the moon, i'd say you're fired. >> octuple have priorities to get -- you can actually have priorities to get things done. >> i don't think we