demeet truce newlen. we're learning much more about him today. he attended the lake academy alternative school, a school dedicated to serving at risk students. his facebook page on december 30th concluded with a post that said this. die, all of you. one witness to the shooting says that lane's face was basically expressionless when he opened fire and all the horror, of course, was caught on the emergency dispatch. >> attention, chardon rescue. we have an active shooter at the high school. active gunshots at the high school. chardon, we have three students down in the cafeteria at this time. we still don't know where the shooter is. also, there is a fourth one down in room 200. >> t.j. lane would ultimately be chased from the school by a teacher. and then arrested less than half a mile away near his own car. all of this unfolding in a small town, roughly 30 miles east of cleveland. at chardon high school, classes were canceled today. the flags will be lowered across the state. let's get this morning to mike dewine, going to start us off, ohio attorney general. also joining our panelist, will cain is here with us this morning and mark lamont hill and jennifer rogers is here from reuters. appreciate it. thanks for being with us, mr. attorney general. start off the latest on the investigation. what can we expect today? >> well, i don't think you're going to get any surprises. the young man who has been -- will be charged today will appear in court. the investigation continues to try to find out exactly why he did this, but, you know, while i think it's important to point out is that chardon high school did a fabulous job. they had a plan in place. they executed the plan. everyone did exactly what they should do. chardon police and all the other departments, the sheriff's department, everyone responded and did it correctly. you know, horrible, horrible, horrible tragedy. our investigators and the attorney general's office were there very quickly. we were doing the crime scene. our investigators from what we call an ohio bci and processing the crime scene. it's just so sad to think that you have a high school that's a crime scene. >> you know, it's amazing really when you think of the lessons learned from columbine, which is a story you know well and i covered as a reporter, to think that all this many years later that schools really did a good job by all accounts of immediately sort of clamping down, locking down and teachers were getting tremendous credit today for helping rescue and even save some of these students. there is, we're told, videotape, surveillance videotape of this young man, t.j. lake, opening fire basically -- lane, excuse me, lane, opening fire in the cafeteria. have you or your investigators seen this videotape and can you tell me what it describes? >> well, the investigators have seen it. i know it does exist. you know, i don't want to comment much beyond that. we are dealing in this case with a juvenile. court proceedings have to take place. but, you know, what has been reported in the press is pretty much accurate about that. >> okay. so we know as you mentioned, there's a crime scene certainly at the school. i know investigators as well were at the young man's home. apparently being raised by his grandparents. his parents weren't really in the picture. we know that both of this parents had arrest for domestic violence. his brother served time in jail, i believe his father as well. what will the investigation involve in terms of his youth and background as far as his family? >> well, i think any time you have a tragedy like this, one of the things you want to find out is if there were any warning signs, if there was anything that, you know, we need to know about this young man. that would include questioning his friends, questioning his family members, exactly what you would think very good police work in trying to talk to anybody who has any knowledge about him. doesn't bring the people back who died. these students who died who were injured, but it's part of the investigation, part of what we simply have to do to try to figure this out. sometimes there are things in life you never can quite figure out. >> can i ask you a question? >> why someone does this, very difficult to tell. >> let me ask you if this is going to be part of your investigation. we know that all of these students were at the cafeteria that morning and one of the things that was not unusual about t.j. lane coming, even though he attended a different school, is it seems that all of the buses met at the one high school and someone off to vocational school, some stayed that the high school, and some of the buses went to this alternative school for kids who were clearly having some kind of a rough time. is this going to be an area of your investigation, you know, sort of having all of those populations together, could that be just inherently some kind of a problem? >> well, i suppose it could be, but i doubt that. you know, we'll find out what the facts are. but i don't think there was anything wrong with the protocol that the school was following. this is standard procedure in many schools, where you have basically a bus transit area or transportation area. so there's nothing that i see in that that is alarming or would indicate that something was done wrong. >> before i let you go i want do ask you a last question. we know that the hearing is set for 3:30 this afternoon. what happens in that hearing? how does that go? >> well, typically, you know, this is a initial hearing in regard to possible bond or in regard to, you know, what happens at this point. we would assume -- i have not talked to the prosecuting attorney, david joyce, yet but what we would assume is this case would be at some point bound over. and he would be tried in all likelihood as an adult. >> obviously gun laws has been your issue. what are you doing on that front, sir? >> well, again, we have a task force that we have been working on in the attorney general's office to look at repeat offenders who use guns. but in his case, it simply does not apply. there's no indication that -- he's only 17. there's no indication he's a habitual offender. so what we have been looking at which deals with, you majority of crime in this country is because caused by people who have had crime in the past. this may not be true, noond predictors we would hope to see to be able to tell what he's going to do in the future. >> all of these cases you try to figure out what happened, what was really ultimately behind it. mike dewine is the ohio attorney general. thank you for joining us. so interesting. i covered columbine. it's just one of those cases that months and even years in the columbine's case, or decades, actually go by, you start to really piece to the what exactly happened. but from what we know, this young man had a really troubled background. family history was kind of a mess. just a disaster that -- but what led to the immediate act is really unknown that the point. >> beyond just incredible sadness that's involved in this story, would guest there are going to be two things we're going to wonder about in the future. facebook page hinted at possible trouble, posts you head. we're all going to be asking questions and wonder in the future, how much do you monitor facebook page. what can facebook page provide insight. >> and twitter, too. he was tweeting things. >> social media, it's interesting when you compare it to columbine and how long ago it was and now just what it was like yesterday. not just at the school but for the whole country as well. it will be interesting to see if there can be lessons land because as mike dewine pointed out, lessons in the school and the school did a good job. >> you wonder, right, because of course there was no twitter in columbine and no lessons learned for how you monitor social media and take those necessarily eri s serious seriously. will you put up his facebook page? you may not be able to read it from a distance. he was thauking agent this quaint and lonely town sits a man with a frown. no job. no family. no crown. i mean -- his luck had run out. >> these are warning signs. even before their t. there were social media, social interaction where kids are sending outcries for help. oftentimes these cries for help are linked to bullying. that's something we have to pay attention to, not only the kids who cry out for help. they say this kid was being picked on for his hair and clothes. that's something that we have come to accept as everyday school life, and it's not. >> that's what i was asking about the dropoff points, the bus taking kids going to the vocational school and kids going to the school for troubled kids, and the main school. you have to wonder if you have kids who are already sort of struggling does it makes a lot of sense, would they stick out inherently, already you have this issue. i wonder if that could add to problems or not. >> one other element, soledad, in this story, this part about the teacher is amazing. >> who had -- >> frank hall who chased the kid out of the school. i mean, what an amazing -- apparently from the facts we know, what an amazing act. >> that kid -- that guy is a hero. we'll learn lots more about him in the days to come. let's get right to alina cho with the other headlines. >> hey there, soledad. the u.n. human rights counsel is meeting today to talk about syria's government and crimes against humanity. 41 people reportedly killed across syria just this morning. syrian's government continues the latest round of shelling attacks. british journalist wounded in the same shelling attack that killed american journalist marie colvin is now reportedly safe in lebanon after being smuggled out of syria. another wound eed french report is refusing to leave. nick robinson is live in beirut with the latest. good morning to you. >> good morning there. we do understand from the activists now to help get toing to ree colvin, took several days. three activists were killed in the operation just to bring him to safety. what the activists are saying is that the other three journalist, the french journalist who is very badly wounded in her thigh bone, she and the other two are still in baba amma field hospital in homs. this is what the activists tell us that they believe at this time and, of course, they're very, very concerned about how they're going to get these other journalists out at this time. we also understand these journalists have so far refused to get help from the syrian red crescent who went in last night. part of the red cross team to try and get them out because they don't want the syrian authorities to take away all their evidence of what's been happening in homs. they say they refuse to leave. the other three at the moment as far as we know still in that neighborhood of homs. >> all right. nic robertson, thank you for the update. turning now to our cnn in-depth this week focusing on gas prices. national average rising another two cents, to $3.7 2k a gallon according to aaa. the average price of course inching closer and closer to that $4 mark. rising oil prices due to tensions with iran are pushing gas prices up here in the united states. and the cost of gas, up more than 12% since the beginning of the year. voting under way, michigan right now, it is gop primary day there and in arizona. and what happens today could set the tone for super tuesday next week when voters in ten states go to the polls. the most recent polls show that mitt romney and rick santorum in a virtual tie in michigan. romney's home state. just a couple of minutes soledad will talk toen fer jennifer granholm and say why it could backfire for the gop, big time. two police officers are recovering from injuries after a protest rally turned violent in sacramento. officials say a white supremacist group called the south africa project clashed at the capital with counter protesters. many of them from the occupy oakland movement. one of the injured officers was reportedly hurt by a tear gas canister. a united airlines plane made a belly flop on the runway at newark international airport in new jersey. the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing when the pilot's front landing gear collapsed. 71 people on board including an infant had to slide out on the emergency chutes. nobody was hurt. for the first time in the history of the daytona 500, a winner crossed the finish line on a tuesday. matt kenseth took the checkered dpl flag just before 1:00 a.m. eastern. the race was marred by ten cautions and a terrifying crash that caused a two-hour delay. there you see the beginning of it there. juan pablo montoya slammed into a track drying truck. that triggered a violent explosion. montoya shockingly is okay. he said the crash was caused by some kind of malfunction with his car. >> moving, moving, traveling. it just felt really strange. as i was talking to the radio car just turned right. >> i didn't think about the truck. i'm hitting the jet. it's not going to be fun. >> he looks incredible. the race was originally scheduled for sunday afternoon but rain postponed it twice. then, of course, there was the crash and ten cautions. the green flag finally dropped after 7:00 p.m. last night. 36 hours later, soledad. >> you know, if you can do a press conference after your big fiery crash, it's all good. it's all good. thank you. appreciate it. still ahead this morning on "starting point," the former michigan governor, democrat jennifer granholm is going to join us and tell us why she thinks today's x factor will be the auto bailout and mitt romney's lack of support for it. gordon gecko's change of heart saying greed isn't good after michael douglas is helping the fbi. here's jen's play list this morning. we judge harshly here, by the way. dolly parton "9:00 to 5:00." more like "2:30 to 5:00." [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪ my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. ♪ yeah. >> i love luther vandross. i love my mom but i love luther vandross. >> i completely agree. this is luther vandross starting us off this block. it's all over my ipad. voting is under way in the straight of michigan. mitt romney's home state, of course. he won four years ago against john mccain. now the polls are showing him neck and neck with rick santorum. one point behind, according to american research group. there are 30 delegates at stake in the state of michigan. i spoke to jennifer granholm, former democratic governor and host tv show called "the war room with jennifer granholm." why do you think mitt romney is facing such a tough battle in what's considered to be his home state? >> romney supported a bailout for wall street and not for the auto industry in his home state when his father ran an auto company was as though he pierced us when we were on our knees. and so i think that has a lot to do with the fact that he's not doing well. in addition to all of the, you know, flip-flopping and pretzel spin that he's been doing about why he took that position. >> let's talk a little bit about michigan, in fact, and the voter population there. i know obviously the voters in detroit are different than the voters who are in the suburbs who are even different than the voters from the exurbs. tell me about them. >> if i held up my michigan map, upper and lower peninsula, you know, in the detroit area right here, the detroit area is largely democratic. but, you go up the i-75 corridor that's flint, that's detroit, that's saginaw, that's where romney is going to do well because the republicans in those places are more economic conservative. but if you go to the west of the state and the north, then you would see that it's much more of a social conservative. so you're going to see a split, i think. michigan's primary will be divid divided. the delegates will be divided by congressional districts. so even if mitt romney wins the number of votes cast, actually rick santorum could come away with more delegates and more congressional districts. the west and north, i think, play to his favor. >> jobs are on the line. every republican candidate turned their back, even said "let detroit go bankrupt." not him. >> don't bet against the american auto industry. >> do you think that there is not as much leverage in that ad? when you look at the poll and you reference this a little bit before, something like only 42% of people in the state of michigan support i'd ted the ba. even now looking back saying that it was successful. is that a problem? >> actually of all voters, it's -- it's very popular. but among republicans, which is, of course, what we care about tomorrow or today, the bailout was a challenge. none the less, people here understand that it worked. and the thought that mitt romney would say, let detroit go bankrupt in a "new york times" op-ed is really so utterly -- such an example of pandering to a national audience when he comes from detroit. and then when he comes back to detroit and he says, i love the american car, i've got all these cars and not only that, my wife has two cadillacs. i've got every automaker covered because i've got one from each of the big three. it's not so much about his wealth but that he appears to be trying to make up for something that everybody knows he opposed. so i do think that the president -- it all bodes well for the president in a general election. i think that michigan, unlike in other years where it was swing state, i think michigan will be solid blue in november because it worked and michigan's economy is back on track. >> how much of a role could gas prices have? here's what rick santorum said about president obama talking about gas prices? >> we now have $4 a gallon gasoline. some are suggesting it's going to be $5 and maybe more this year. why? because the president is doing nothing toal lay t al to allay the world to replace the oil that is tenuous right now in the middle east. >> even people who admit that the white house doesn't directly control the price of gasoline at the pumps will say, hearing the president over the weekend talk about while it's not really his fault, about the gas prices, isn't going far enough. do you think it's a mistake for him to take that position? >> i mean, it is the truth. i mean, the gas prices are up. let's be very clear about it, because of the unrest in the middle east and speculators who are taking advantage of that. truly, to blame the president for gas prices, i've said earlier, is like blaming rudy giuliani for 9/11. it's ridiculous. however, people who are putting money into their gas tanks want something done. and who else do you blame but whoever is in charge. the reality -- and the president out there explaining this. even as he has opened up more oil and gas lease, even as there is more drilling off o