let's get started. >> usually it's her. she's the one who says this over and over, jobs, jobs, jobs. you know what, jobs is the big story today. big report, remember the last one we told you that was real good, we have another one out for you. as good? anything negative? we'll get the low down on it all? is it going to boost or bite president obama. also we're talking iran and israel's stance on iran. the prime minister talking about a timetable on an attack on iran giving a series of interviews laying out how many days, weeks, months, who knows for sanctions to take hold. the pressure and the heat on that situation. attention pennsylvania. take a look at this. a little plane coming in and it is not a good story, folks. the landing gear, look, it's not down. >> wow. >> how did it end? you'll see this but you'll hear more about it in just a moment. >> wow. bobbi kristina speaking to oprah. that's right, whitney's only daughter. the first time she's opening up about her mom. whitney houston since her death, some are asking, is it too soon? just a month oprah nabs this big interview. is it too soon for this little girl -- well, 19-year-old young woman to be speaking. we'll talk about that and everything else. it's only one minute past 5 clo:00 up to date. it's all about the jobs story. we have the february numbers. just a few hours from now the official numbers coming out and expecting everything on your menu. wall street, oil prices, hey, what's in the grocery store too could tell us more about the presidential election than any poll can actually tell you, too, and the cab dates, they know that. >> the economy's getting stronger and the recovery is speeding up and the question now is how do we make sure that it keeps going. >> this, for me, this is not just about numbers and tax policy, this is about getting americans good jobs with rising incomes. >> we have a choice that we're going to make in this election. is it going to be about jobs? yes, it will be about jobs. is it going to be about growing this economy? yes, it's going to be about growing this economy. >> if you prefer food stamps and unemployment, vote for obama. if you prefer jobs and a paycheck, vote for us. >> so that's the stump and here's the fact. in about three hours you're going to hear the real numbers, but you and all your friends in this business are always hard at work trying to get ahead of the stats and predict them. >> that's right. 210,000 is what economists on average think happened in terms of job creation in the month of february. a short month with 210,000. folks, that would be enough jobs created to absorb all the new entrants into the work force and eat into that big hole we made from the recession. the unemployment rate forecast at 8.3%. i want to give you some context. this is why you have a white house that's careful about being too cautious. there's underemployment. people who are under employed, people who are, woulding part time and want to work full time. people who dipped into the labor market but they could be working. that number is 14.6% for men, 15.5% for women. think about that. even as the jobs numbers get better, a lot of you out there are saying i don't feel it yet. when you look at education you can see someone with a bachelor's degree, 8.1% is their under employment rate. look at some of those other folks, high school, some college nearing double digits. look by race and you can see african-american underemployment, 23%. can you imagine, almost a quarter of the african-american demographic is underemployed in it country. 21% hispanic, 12.3% for white. that is why these numbers are so incredibly important politically and we can look at an 8.3% unemployment rate. that only tells a little part of the story. that's what you'll see on the campaign trail today, slicing and dicing to see the two choices people have. >> the food stamp president. >> or job president. >> i'm sure it will take until 8:31 until this comes out. >> i have a feeling that there are already press releases that are written and we haven't seen the jobs report yet. >> that's a duey versus trueman press release. >> right. >> christine will have a full jobs report breakdown at 8:32 and throughout the day. you're not going home this early friday. >> no, i'm not. we have some new cool interactive graphics to show you that i'm very proud of. we're going to be able to show you inside the jobs market, all of those different slices that depend on who you are, where we are. >> she's a win some woman and very geeky. >> that is the word of the day. >> 5:05, crew, appreciation? >> winsome, not geeky. that was the word of the day. >> jobs, democrats, republicans set aside their differences at least to send the jobs bill to the senate. they passed it in the house. they passed it in the house yesterday. landslide 390-23. senate bound. jobsville is really the jump start or the business startup act as they like to call it. it's essentially something that would make it easier for those little mom and pop businesses out there to get investors and get more workers by getting the red tape out of the way. all of that sec red tape. the house majority leader eric cantor is pretty thrilled about it. on "john king u.s.a." he was applauding it. nancy pelosi downed it. >> this bill i think reflects congress actually coming together both sides trying to set aside differences and rally around what we know needs to happen and that is to get entrepreneurs, small business men and women back into the game of job creation. >> it's meager. trumpet. it comes the little king. >> the little king. majority leader harry reid said the senate would move quickly to pass similar legislation. >> the senate shutting down a plan to fast track the controversial keystone pipeline project. that measure would have allowed construction to start immediately on this pipeline extension. it fails to get 60 votes needed for passage. republicans unanimously supported it. i think only 11 democrats voted for this so four votes shy of passing. the president personally lobbied democrats to oppose this thing. it's a proposed 1700 mile pipeline expansion. you can see it there. the yellow part of the bottom and all the way, that stuff going up to hardesty. is that calgary? >> probably north of calgary, actually. >> crude oil to the u.s. gulf coast. supporters said it would cut u.s. dependence. they say the crude is poor quality. they're worried about the pipeline leaking. a lot of people are saying do you know how many pipe lines we have traversing this country? it's not good for us to have leaking pipe lines so we're on it. also transcanada, people who are -- own the pipeline or the company behind the pipeline, they've started to work on other parts of it that they can do. >> that's what i find so fascinating. that is one big piece of optimism. if you're building the second part of the pipeline. >> the keystone thing is not over. >> by the way -- >> we'll be hearing more. >> all of this talk about environmentalism. i like it just like the next guy, but in the same sense, this is 2012. don't we build better pipe lines than we did 20 years ago? >> i certainly think everybody has to be on notice that it has to be absolutely perfect. some environmentalists say raising all of this awareness has made the plans and proposals better. >> hope they cross their ts and dautd their is. israel's prime minister is talking about his concerns over iran's nuclear program. benjamin netanyahu did a bunch of tv interviews in israel and some tune is changing here, folks. he says he hopes there won't be a war and that diplomatic pressure on iran actually works. that sounds like something we heard in the white house last week. he also gave a time frame for an israeli attack on iran to remove that nuclear threat. have a listen. >> translator: i am not standing with a stopwatch in hand. it is not a matter of days or weeks but also not a matter of years. everybody understands this. >> so while he speaks today iran says it's ready to talk about the nuclear program too and in an unexpected twist the supreme leader praised president obama, are you ready for that? don't hear that very often. he actually praised those efforts to try to tamp down all that war talk. president obama says there's a window of opportunity to try to resolve the crisis and khamenei says that's pretty wise. have a look at this. he said this. this talk is good talk and shows an exit from illusion. rez za sayah is live in islamabad. i don't know the last time i heard good speak good speak going back and forth between these countries but i also know it's just talk, reza. >> reporter: yeah. could it be that all of a sudden everyone's getting along suddenly? i doubt it, but when an iranian leader comes out and praised u.s. president barack obama it gets some attention. that's what's happened here. ayatollah khamenei says he welcomes president obama's statement that we should give diplomacy a chance to solve iran's nuclear crisis. of course, for weeks we had heard intense bluster and rhetoric against iran mostly fueled by israeli leaders. three of the republican presidential candidates and many members of the u.s. congress essentially saying the time for talk is over. we should consider attacking iran and president obama this week came out and said, relax. going to war is not a joke. the facts show that iran is not an immediate threat and let's let diplomacy and the sanctions take its course. the supreme leader saying i like what he's thinking. if you look at the past couple of days, ashleigh, you can see the rhetoric toning down considerably. that sets the stage for another round of talks between the western powers, russia, and china and iran to try to reach a negotiated deal. >> reza one question i think would have to be asked. when amadinejad speaks it's different. do we know where he was during all of this last communication or has he weighed in at all in this kind speak towards our president? >> reporter: well, here's what everyone should know. there's a reason that ayatollah khamenei is named the supreme leader. the final decisions rest with him. any decision that has to do with the nuclear program rests with ayatollah khamenei. it's impossible to get inside his mind and see what he's thinking about the nuclear program and if he has decided to build a bomb. i think that's the problem with this iran debate. there's a lot of speculation, political commentary, bluster and rhetoric that sometimes could distort reality. if you look at the facts, the facts show that there's no evidence made public that iran is actually building a bomb. that doesn't mean many countries aren't very worried that they one day will have the capability. now how to stop that nuclear program, that's the dilemma. many observers say it has to be a negotiated deal where iran can at least project itself as having gained something, not project itself as a loser, as a country that has cowed down to the u.s. >> so many will say it is real hard to collect evidence from an alleged crime scene when you can't get near the tape. meantime, republican presidential candidate rick santorum is calling iran the most radical regime in the world and he's criticizing president obama's approach to the crisis. last night santorum told cnn's piers morgan the question of iran's nuclear ambitions really isn't a question. >> you know, it's just hard to have any reasonable person look at what's going on in iran, look at the sanctions that they're taking, look at the isolation that's going on, the threat to the stability of the government that some of the sanctions is causing. the problems to the people of the country that the sanctions are causing and have a country that has 200 years of oil and gas to power their country for as long as the eye can see and yet they're building nuclear facilities? you know, it's like, you know, casablanca when the guy walks into the cafe and says, there's gambling going on here. we know what's happening. now the question is how far along are they. >> rick santorum will be a guest tonight on "john king u.s.a." that's 6:00 eastern right here on cnn. here was a store bring we talked a lot about in the last couple of months. the mississippi pardons story and finally a real vindication for governor haley barbour in that state. the mississippi supreme court has decided to uphold all of his pardons. >> that's a right of a governor? >> it is a right of a governor. there was a sticky wik ket. they didn't notify a lot of the families that some of these inmates will be pardoned. some were killers, folks. more than 200 pardons. the ones that were convicted killers created the biggest controversy. the court said, you know what, i know the state attorney general challenged this based on the ril loophole, based on the fact that many inmates didn't file notices in their local papers telling all those victims and the public that these crimes had been committed and they were going to be let out, but too bad. court ruled in the governor's favor saying the governor has this ultimate power and you know what, it may not be set aside or voided by the judicial branch, meaning we just can't come in and on that technicality swoop in and change it all. some of the convicted killers, they were working, here's four of them, take a peek, they were working in the governor's mansion, something called a trustee. they get trusted and they get a lot of leeway. they make friends sometimes with the governor and his staff. it's often a pipeline to release. randy walker was one of them. and he shot and nearly killed -- randy walker was nearly shot and killed, pardon me, by david gatlin. randy walker was a victim. david gatlin was the killer and also was pardoned. he talked to cnn's anderson cooper last night about what's about to happen. >> david gatlin only served 17 years 6 months and 3 days for a life plus 30 sentence. he should have never gotten out of jail. it happened for me. i'm still living it every day. i can't be pardoned from the scars i have. i can't be pardoned from the nightmares. i can't be pardoned from looking over my shoulder wondering where this guy is. you know, none of that. there's no magic pill for me to take. there's no magic pardon pill for me. >> so randy walker survived a killer's efforts and now has to live with the fact that that killer is going to be out there. later on "starting point" at 8:00 a.m. soledad o'brien will have a chance to talk to randy walker about the mississippi pardons and how he's going to have to live with it in the coming days. >> i can't wait for haley barbour to tell us. he has been stalked by reporters. i haven't heard a good explanation. is that all you have, sun? many saying the big solar storm was just a dud. >> a flameout. >> i guess that's better than the end of modern civilization. you still could fly in an airplane. it was the biggest solar flare up in five years. it only made a minor impact. really pretty pictures. it didn't mess up satellites, cell phones, the power grid, lights. a researcher says the earth's magnetic field weakened the impact of the solar flare. score one for earth. "usa today" reports the solar storm earned the lowest of five possible ratings on a geomagnetic intensity scale. >> you really know what a geo -- this is what she does all night. >> it was in "usa today." still, gave us some pretty good pictures. geomagnetic intensity scale. >> every 15 minutes she geeks out. you have lost the official title of chief geek. >> i like that. anybody throws words like that out at 5:00 a.m. >> that gets his attention. >> go take a cold shower. good morning, ladies. this wind storm did not wimp out across the northeast. check out the video coming from new bed ford, mass., where winds were gusting. the rooftop flown off. so that was strong enough to do that. some isolated wind damage and isolated power outages. you know it if you lived in the northeast. certainly had some gusty winds. 49 mile an hour wind gusts in newark, 45 in philly, at laguardia you saw 36 mile an hour wind gusts. the breezy condition will continue but there will be a chillier wind. everything moves faster up north. the cold front, you'll be done with it, seeing mostly clear skies and dry weather. slicing back down to the south, little bit slower. we'll try to hear it. it's hanging. the rains will continue across parts of the south as this front moves a little bit slower down there. some snows across the northeast. the rain will continue across northeastern texas, the arc cla techs region. atlanta, if you're traveling through the city, dallas and chicago maybe some wind as well. there's your clearing skies. high pressure building. should be a decent weekend for a good chunk of the eastern half of the country. seasonable temperatures. 60 degrees once this rain moves out. ladies? >> it's like august. >> not really. it's awesome. >> thanks. all right. it's 18 minutes after the hour. time to check the stories making news this morning. the candidates and voters all waiting for the big february jobs report. it's about three hours from now. the labor department is expected to announce the economy added about 210,000 jobs last month. the jobless rate stayed steady at 8.3%. greece clears the final hurdle to bailout from the european union and the international monetary fund. the creditors have agreed to a plan to restructure the greek government bonds, a move which is absolutely vital to this country's financial future. thousands of u.s. homeowners getting new reductions on their mortgages from bank of america. b of a reaching a deal with the government expanding on last month's $26 billion settlement. a bank of america will now use part of that money to provide deeper principle reductions to some 200,000 homeowners. it's law now. do you know it's going to be law that all these banks have to start being nicer to you when you try to deal with them on your homeowner's stuff. >> you can legislate morality? >> they have to answer the phone. one person to talk to. homeowners have been crazed about this for years. now they have to clean up their behavior. >> good news. we like that. still ahead at 19 minutes past 5:00, have you seen this documentary? it has gone viral and if you haven't seen it, check your in box. it's there. >> 40 million people have looked at this. >> 40 million? >> yeah. >> good lord. the goal is pretty simple, folks. put the world's most wanted warlord, joseph kony behind bars and this year. >> the coffee wars. starbucks is moving into green mountain turf. we'll tell you what it means for your early morning cup of joe. you're watching "early start." >> cup of joe. you can't say that on this network. two covergirls. that's right. get two miracles in one product. covergirl makeup... and olay advanced hydrating serum. it's new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. one pump... covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and one bottle helps improve skin tone over time. that's what i was supposed to say now. well, no one can understand you. ♪ new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation from [ babbling ] ...covergirl. that's what i'm talking about. see? what did you just say? i'm looking for some "beeza-beeza-vuza-vuza." no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles on every purchase. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? 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