overseas an entirely different story. syrians fighting for their lives, more killings, people runni running. president bashar al assad refuses to cede the presidency. and chilling 911 calls before the man set the house ablaze killing his entire family. stunning moments right before that tragedy. and we go one on one this morning with donald trump. he is one of the wealthiest men in america. no one would dispute that. what does he think about mitt romney's tax rate and the whole idea of raising taxes on the wealthy. we're going to ask him about it and see what he has to say. you might be surprised. and rick santorum's tuesday night trifecta. the former pennsylvania senator turning the race for the republican nomination on its ear. missouri, the nonbinding primary, no delegates at stake there, here are the results. santorum 55%. romney, 25%. paul, 12%. gingrich, not even on the ballot there. >> and minnesota, this is the state that he won handily back in 2008. this time not so much. the caucuses there had 37 delegates at stake. santorum pulled off the win with 45% of the vote. ron paul came in second with 27%. and then came mitt romney, a distant third with 17%. gingrich's very bad showing was 11. if we move on to colorado, the third checkmark in colorado. again, another win for romney in '08, but not last night. 33 delegates up for grabs. rick santorum again pulling this one off with 40% of the vote. mitt romney coming in behind at 35% of the vote. and rick santorum was suddenly sounding presidential. >> ladies and gentlemen, i don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. i stand here to be the conservative alternative to barack obama. >> cnn's political editor paul ste steinhauser is live in washington, d.c., to talk through all of this. you might say romney is suffering some welsh words this morning. did anyone expect anything like these results? >> reporter: wow. that's what i'll start with, a big wow. this hat trick of victories, i know the other candidates are trying to play it down, but this is very surprising and a very, very big deal. any time you think you know what's going on in the race for the republican nomination, you don't. it changes. last night's victories for santorum are proof of that. he also used his victory speech in missouri to say it was more of a level playing field last night because a lot of money wasn't spent by any of the candidates. he also took shots at mitt romney. take a listen. >> governor romney's greatest attribute is, well, i've got the most money and the best organization. he's not going to have the most money and the best organization in the fall, is he? no, we're going to have to have someone who has other attributes to commend himself to the people of america, someone who can get up and make sharp contrasts with president obama, someone who can point to the failed record of this administration and say that barack obama needs to be replaced in the oval office. >> so what does santorum do next? actually 2 1/2 hours from now, he's right here on cnn. then he heads to texas. why texas? their primary isn't until april. we're talking fund-raising. now is the time for santorum to start month nop liopolizing on victories and raise some cash. >> this effort to capitalize on the momentum, will he be trying to push this message that this was not only a validation for me but it was also a thumping nonconfidence vote in rit romney among the gop? >> reporter: exactly. and the other point he will make is i am the conservative alternative to mitt romney, not newt gingrich, somebody who did not perform very well at all. also, we'll look to see what rick santorum says at the political action conference with that big meeting with three of the potential candidates. going to happen on friday. >> a lot of people make huge hay the morning after, and then it's on to the next state, and it's hard to know what race happened two to three weeks ago. this is three. it's not that forgettable, is it? >> reporter: not at all. romney campaign is going to say, listen, missouri, we didn't even campaign there. minnesota, he did go to minnesota. that was his first stop after florida, after his big victory in florida, and he came in third in minnesota. that's got to hurt. and especially colorado. he was there last night. he had a small crowd. mitt romney at his hq. take a look at what he said, though. >> this was a good night for rick santorum. i want to congratulate senator santorum. wish him the very best. we'll keep on campaigning down the road, but i expect to become our nominee with your help. >> reporter: a top romney adviser said they're going to pay more attention to rick santorum and paint him as the washington insider he was in the senate. to rick santorum, i say watch out. we've seen the romney campaign go after the gingrich campaign. santorum has had it pretty easy. i think that changes today. >> fs very safe to say, i think donald trump may not be all that impressed by santorum's big win last night. because, of course, six days ago he endorsed mitt romney. it was a big affair in las vegas. i had a chance to sit down with the big man, mr. trump, yesterday, and we talked about the all important question about electability because that's such a huge issue in this election. trump says santorum flat out doesn't have it. >> rick santorum was a sitting senator who in re-election lost by 19 points. so my knowledge, the most in the history of this country for a sitting senator to lose by 19 points. it's unheard of. then he goes out and says, oh, okay, i just lost by the biggest margin in history. now i'm going to run for president. tell me, how does that work? that's like me saying, i just failed a test. now i'm going to apply for admission to the wharton school of finance. he just failed a test. now he's going to run for president. i don't get rick santorum. i don't get that whole thing. >> we're talking about that endorsement he made of mitt romney. what was the outcome of that endorsement. >> there was a bit of blow-back from it. there was a poll down in "the washington post," which 31% said it would make him less likely to vote for his candidate. i asked donald trump about that, and he said it's foolish. it's ridiculous. >> a lot more to come. we'll see about santorum's surge. >> indeed, what a story. >> you can keep it here for the best political coverage in television on "starting point." soledad o'brien goes one on one with rick santorum. we're minding your business news. wall street shaking off fears about greece in trading. dow jones, nasdaq, and s&p all closing higher. they've closed the highest since may of 2008. >> but still greece comes back to bite us, why, christine romans? >> it really is. there's no short resolution or quick resolution. so greece is going to be a drag. but you look at may of 2008, what does that mean? that means the dow is trading at its highest level since before this president was in office. it's one of those things politically at least is in the president's favor. now at least you have a stock market that's recovered. the dow and s&p are up 60% over the past three years. and i'm not giving credit or blame to anyone politically. i'm just saying that stocks have recovered here. have they recovered and everyone is feeling it? that's the big question here. it's what i've been calling a two-speed recovery going on. you have stocks doing better, unemployment down, 8.3% is the unemployment rate. but we heard from ben bernanke, the fed chief, yesterday, who said be careful about being too optimistic about the jobs numbers. we're still a very long way from a normally operating labor market. too many workers have been left behind. too many have dropped out of the labor market. too many, bernanke has said, are working part time but they're capable of working and want to work full-time. the fed chief's records and data are showing, companies are recovering, the housing market isn't. that's most likely to affect middle class people who are really trying to figure out are they going to benefit from a growing economy? maybe they're not exposed to the stock market anymore. they got blown out three years ago. that happened to a lot of people. they're still exposed to jobs and housing. those are the two things they feel the most. a two-speed recovery. you look at data getting better on almost all fronts. it's benefitting people who have money and benefitting companies. even ben bernanke saying we've got a long way to go in the labor market. that's what we feel. >> thanks, christine. appreciate it. it is nine minutes past the hour. every morning we give you an early start to your day by alerting you to news and stories just developing now. you saw it first here. he was brutally beaten apparently for wearing skinny jeans and for being gay. today that man, 20-year-old brandon white, is set to speak out this morning. before we show you this video, we want to give you a chance to turn away. if your children are up at this hour, get them out of the room. it is quite shocking to see. this is the video. it is posted online under the headline "dead wrong." man wearing skinny jeans gets sucker attacked. and g's throw a tire on him for being gay. he was attacked outside of an atlanta convenience store. brandon white will speak out this morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. the fbi and local police are still looking for his attackers there. it's hard to watch that. more airline passengers are about to get in the fast lane at airport checkpoints. they're rolling out the precheck program. this is going to happen in airports in minneapolis, salt lake city, new york's jfk international. if you want to get involved, a couple of things you've got to do. you have to volunteer personal information and agree to a background check. but in return, those travelers who are vetted for this are allowed to wear their shoes and their belts and even their coats. maybe more importantly, bypass long security lines. >> yippee. >> i know. it's been one of the warmest winters on record, but today rain and snow moving into the northeast. up to four inches expected in parts of pennsylvania, d.c., philadelphia, and new york could all see light snow this morning before it mixes with rain a little later today. rob marciano is on that. he'll bring us more details later. still ahead on "early start," the 911 calls released in the tragedy in washington state. josh powell, his two young sons, he blew everybody up in that house fire. and a vacation to forget for cruise ship passengers, not one, but two outbreaks of norovirus on board. we'll get to the bottom of it. find out how this happened. and a susan g. komen executive quits. 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 revigor. what's revigor? 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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... just look for the white check. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... ah, welcome to hotels.com. i get it...guys weekend. yeah! if you're looking for a place to get together, you came to the right place. because here at hotels.com, we're only about hotels. yeah! yeah! noooo. yeah! finding you the perfect place is all we do. welcome to hotels.com good morning, st. louis. it is 33 degrees right now. a little bit later, sunny and a nice chilly 39 degrees for you. >> that's the perfect temperature to have moves like jagger. maroon 5 waking you up this morning. it's time to get a look at the top stories making news this morning. rick santorum turning the race for the republican nomination on its heels, sweeping to victory tuesday night in the minnesota and colorado caucuses. >> are you pumped? >> yeah. and missouri's nonbinding primary, it was a three-fer. >> alive and well in missouri and minnesota. >> as he was excited, something very different going on. our ambassador to the united states susan rice warning syrian president bashar al assad, your days are numbered, as the pentagon looks at military options in syria in case president obama requests them. also, funeral services for the two young boys who were killed sunday night when their father blew up their washington state home. scheduled for saturday afternoon. we now have the 911 calls that were made by the children's caseworker just moments after she brought them to that mandated visit with josh powell for supervised time with him. >> i'd like to pull out of the driveway because i smell gasoline, and he won't let me in. >> you want to pull out of the driveway because you smell gasoline but he won't let you -- >> he won't let me in. >> he won't let you out of the driveway? >> he won't let me in the house. >> whose house is it? >> he got the kids in the house, and he won't let me in. it's a supervised visit. >> there's so much more to those 911 tapes. we'll share some more with you a little bit later. and the los angeles school board has fired miramonte teacher after he was charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a girl under 14. he pleaded not guilty. he is the second teacher at that school facing child abuse charges. and passengers on the crown princess cruise ship forced to cut their vacation short because of a nasty norovirus that has broken out among the passengers and crew. just a few days ago princess cruise lines declared the ship sanitized after a similar outbreak. and it was quite a scare for a 6-year-old boy. this little guy from texas. he was attacked by a mountain lion in big bend national park. rivers hobbs and his father jason reliving how this all went down. >> it sneaked up on me. >> the cat was clamped on his face, reached down and got my pocketknife out and stabbed the cat in the chest, and it let go at that point. >> oh, my goodness. that's a hero dad. several trails in big bend national park have been closed, and dog teams have been called in to search for the wounded cat. they say no luck so far, but they're going to stay on top of that. oh, my gosh, that little boy. >> can you imagine that parent? >> good he's alive. >> it turned out far better than it could have, that's for sure. this morning a whole lot more fallout from that susan g. komen's foundation short-lived break with planned parent hood. the senior vice president is stepping down, karen handel. a lot of people thought she was the orchestrator of pulling the funding from planned parenthood. she was speaking out about all of this yesterday. she was asked how much she had to do with this decision, and her opposition to abortion. here's her answer. have a look. >> absolutely none. i'm a professional, and when i come to komen, my number one priority is the fight against breast cancer, our mission, and the women that we serve. >> so handel blames planned parenthood for making this issue political. laura bassett, political reporter for the huffington post, is joining us again. you have been following this very closely. earlier this week, we saw internal e-mails saying handel was to blame. but handel says policy review predated her arrival at komen. you quoted a source who said handel was the driving source behind this. could just one person make this major decision for this organization? >> absolutely. it wasn't only handel's decision. it had to be vetted by executives at komen and the board. i just said she was the driving force behind the decision. my source told me she pumped up the anti-abortion attacks against komen and tried to convince komen leadership that defunding planned parenthood was the best thing to do. of course, she was successful, and they did end up signing off on it. it was a group effort in the end. >> it's kind of hard to believe there's really one fall guy here. do you think that brinker deserves any accountability here? >> i think she definitely deserves accountability and certainly for lying to the public. she went on andrea mitchell on thursday and said karen handel had nothing to do with this. that's a bold faced lie. if you're a cancer charity, you have to be really careful about what you're telling people and about your transparency because people want to be able to trust you. they're raising money for you. they're doing komen for the cure walks. i think that's what really makes her culpable here. >> handel and brinker seem united on this, on the fact that handel resigned. handel actually is blaming planned parenthood. she said that they made it a political issue. let's listen, and then we can talk about it. >> the only place for politics in all of this came from planned parenthood when they launched this vicious, vicious attack on a great organization and perpetrated what was nothing short of a shakedown to coerce a private entity to give them grants. >> i know you said you saw this coming, but are you surprised that handel came out swinging so hard there? >> i'm not surprised at all. her resignation letter was defensive, and her interview on fox was defensive, and brinker's acceptance of her resignation letter was defensive. they're trying to clean up the mess here. unfortunately, that's just not true about planned parenthood. it is true that komen is no political match for planned parenthood, but this backlash didn't come from planned parenthood. it came from the people raising money for komen. it came from congress. it came from public figures such as mike bloomberg who came out and publicly rebuked komen. for them to say this is vicious attacks from planned parenthood, it's just not true. >> i want to read from komen's founder nancy brinker. "we have made mistakes in how we handled recent decisions and take full accountability for what has resulted. but we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission." you have been critical in the past on how brinker personally has handled this. she's the name of komen. she named this in honor of her late sister. how damaged do you think her organization is going to be? >> unfortunately, because i think komen does do some good things, komen is extremely damaged from this. the reputation is damaged. people just don't trust them. yesterday even after handel resigned, there were all these petitions circulating, demanding that she resign, and then she did. there wasn't a sense of relief. there was a sense of dissatisfaction. people want more. they want a board shakeup, and they want komen to come clean about what happened and stop trying to pretend to the public like this had nothing to do with abortion politics. >> i have to get back to the board because this was not a unilateral decision, it was a board decision, it was approved by the board. do you think this is the end of resignations, or do you think we'll see more in order to try to settle this issue? >> i think we'll see more. i think the public is not going to back off on komen at all on this. in order for them to protect their reputation going forward, some people are going to have to step down and admit their involvement, and they're going to need to completely shake things up in how they handle these kinds of situations in the future. >> i just want to ask you one last question here. i know that komen has taken heat in the past for suing an organization when they were trying to use the phrase "for the cure." do you think they're going to be hiring a pr firm in order to rehab their image? how do you think that's going to weigh in with the public if they