Belmokhtar. Een lo the u. S. Is flying drones in thehtar area. Lying d the french are in the lead on the the ground along with african troops actively fighting islamicps act militants but the french government has not been able to confirm belmokhtars death. Govern if true, it would be a significant blow to al qaedad be which has been working hard toqaed control large parts of northar africa. Jim. North axelrod kelly, thank you. In seffner, florida temporary trying to figure out if athank sinkhole which swallowed an trying entire room of a house poses a threat to the rest of the neighborhood. One man died when the sinkhole consumed his bedroom thursday night with him still in it. And Ashley Porter from our affiliate reports that sinkhole is growing tonight. Ng reporter neighbors hauled away boxes as crews surveyed this small blue home in suburban tampa. County administrator mike ad merrill said the rescue was no longer possible. With all the equipment we lo brought in and specialized help,elp, we just have not been able to n locate mr. Bush. And so for that reason, the rescue effort is being discontinued. The bedroom floor just bedro collapsed and my brotherinlaw is in there. Hes underneath the house. T reporter frantic family members called 911 thursday night. A sinkhole had opened up directly under a mans bed. They rushed in. Under all they could see was part of a mattress sticking out of the hole. Essentially the floor of that room had opened up. Hat reporter swallowed up in theter dirt and rock, 36yearold jeff bush. His brother, jeremy, tried to y save him. Er i jumped in the hole and sa tried digging him out, and i couldnt get him. Digg all i could hear i thought i ge could hear him screaming for me and hollering for me to help him. An reporter sinkholes are more common in florida than any other reporte state. Than more than 200 were recorded last year, yet fatalities are rare. They form when water seepser through soil, dissolving underground limestone. The surface of sand and clay the s cant support the weight, and c the ground collapses. Es. The side slopes of the hole is still very steep. And the soil is extremely soft. The sinkhole will continue to grow. Sinkhol reporter crews meantime are doing 3d mapping of the area to see who else is at risk. They dropped cameras and listening devices into the hole but there are no signs of life. Ashley porter for cbs news signs of seffner, florida. Axelrod now to washington cbs where its official. Se unable to reach a budget deal with congress, president obama wh has signed 85 billion worth of automatic across the board spending cut into law. Os lets go to the white house and i major garrett. Ho i major, now americans begin to find out how and when theyll o start to feel the effects. Reporter thats right, jim. These spending cuts are slowly rippling through the federal governments daytoday operations. Op the ripples will be small at first, but president obama contend they will build over time and that its not too late for congress to replace them with what he calls a moret he balanced approach. Balanced, of course, defined ash. Adding tax revenue to the mix. These cuts are not smart. Theyll hurt our economy andl hurt cost us jobs, and congress can turn them off at any time, as soon as both sides are willing so to compromise. Reporter but real cuts are co coming, and they will arrive first at School Systems near on military bases and on native american reservations. Places where federal funds make m up 40 to 50 of yearly budgets. That means school days will have to be dropped almost immediately. Ays w if im a man or woman in uniform in afghanistan right now, the notion that my school or my children on an army base an might be disrupted because congress didnt act, thats an impact. Reporter also likely furloughs for tens of thousandsns of t of federal workers starting inrs april. As for the rest, its still unclear. The white house has been accused by Fact Checkers at the Washington Post of exaggerating the speed and severity of education job losses and janitorial cuts on capitol hill. Aviation officials could not confirm white house claims thatercial commercial flights will be delayed up to 90 minutes each. Sequestration thats what we call it here in washington appears here to stay. For the next budget crisis march 27, may pass with a whimper. 27 thats when the government has to continue its funding to avoid gover a government shutdown. Both sides, jim, said theyll go shu through that with regular order and without much drama. Axelrod major, in the near term, where would you expect the kind of cuts that would create the pressure that would breakkind of the stalemate . Sure t reporter possibly the defense section, jim. If there is public backlash to the defense cuts, republicans unity in the house could break. There were signs of it in the senate last week. That is something to watch going forward. Axelrod those Defense Department cuts could trigger one day a week furloughs for asrigger many as 800,000 of its civilian employees later this month. 8 the cuts target civilian Civil Contractors as well. Elaine quijano has that part ofget the story. Wel daniel, how are we doing here . Reporter as a small Government Contractor for 377 years, Arthur Barchenko has weathered political budget storms before, but this is different. Efor have you ever had this much uncertainty . We have never experiencedxper anything like these past 18hing l months. Reporter his new jersey company, electronic control security inc. , or ecsi, provides hightech Security Systems for military bases and nuclear powerrovides plant. Ty s in the past 18 months with the u. S. Energy departments shrinking budgets, orders have slowed to a d trickle. Is this endangering your business . Absolutely. Busine reporter revenues haveter fallen from around 9 million allio year to 1. 5 million. And he has laid off a third of the staff. He says even the contracts hets he does get are held up because of hel layoffs at the governmentbeca agencies. The contracts are delayed. Re and everyone suffers. Reporter so this is not just some abstract political creation, this worry absolutely not. Its real time, real life. Reporter in new jersey alone, there are 71,000 workers in the defense industry. Nationally, 3. 5 million, all subject to cuts. In new jersey, the effect could ripple through local businesses, even as economic recovery iseven a starting to take hold. How long can you last . Were pretty flexible. Re so well last as long as we have to. Reporter but with no budget compromise on the table, that could be a while. Elaine quijano, cbs news qui clifton, new jersey. Axelrod for its part, wall street seems to be taking thee budget battle in stride. The dow is up 7. 5 since the fiscal cliff deal at the beginning of the year. Ts and yesterday, it closed the week just 75 points below its record high in october 2007. Jim awad joins us now, the 2 president of plimsoll mark capital. Weve been hearing all the of different ways the spending cuts could affect the economy but the markets havent flinched. The the markets have concludednomy the economy is getting stronger. Markets the recent incremental snooze m better than expected. We can take the headwind of snooz these cuts and continue to growe as an economy. People, the republicans got their spending cuts, the democrats got their tax increases and the budget deficit tax will decline so were not in bad shape. Axelrod we have seen good numbers this week. N Consumer Confidence is up, new axe housing sales up significantly. Is it a question of when these cuts are going to have ao negative impact or if there will be a negative impact at all . I think its a question of if because the economy seems Strong Enough to withstand these really very modest cuts in spending, and were compromising politically, and the u. S. Economy is really in reasonablys good shape. So i think were going to get through these issues. Axelrod so as long as the political compromise stays in a way that doesnt inflame the wa situation, the underpinning is fine, financially. The underpinning is fine. You get the feeling thepinn politicians want to dial it downth now and address other issues and let the economy take care of itself. Axelrod jim awad, thank you for being here. We have a first to tell you about tonight at the United States air force academy. Nited a woman has been chosen for the a top job there. He Major GeneralMichelle Johnson is a graduate of the academy where she was the schools first female rhodes scholar. First General Johnson still needs senate confirmation. Later, an american companys high hopes and sunny outlook for solar power. Breaking ground for a playground that hopes to heal two sound. And a syrian general explanation his decision to join the rebels when the cbs evening news continues. News continues. Can become major victories. Im phil mickelson, pro golfer. When i was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal events including infections tuberculosis lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. Before starting enbrel your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether youve been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. You should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Tell your doctor if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever bruising, bleeding or paleness. Since enbrel helped relieve my joint pain, its the Little Things that mean the most. Ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. Its the Little Things in life that make me smile. Spending the day with my niece. I dont use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. Before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. So its not about keeping my dentures in its about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. [ male announcer ] Research Suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. One a day mens 50 is a complete multivitamin designed for mens Health Concerns as we age. It has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. One a day mens 50 . Axelrod rebels the assad regime in syria say they shot they down a military helicopter today. This is amateur video. It shows the chopper in flames streaking across the sky outside aleppo. Moments after disappearing theres a fireball and then smoke. Sm the u. S. Announced this week that that for the first time, it will provide nonlethal aid to those rebels. The rebel leader receiving that aid, salim idris, was a generalt in the army of syrian dictatoreral Bashar Alassad until 10 months ago. Thats when he defected. In a rare tv interview he spokeectsed to state Department CorrespondentMargaret Brennan in turkey. Reporter general idris tookurkey. Command of the fighters in december. His safety is so precarious he sleep i does not sleep in the same place more than one night. You defected. Yes. Reporter from assads army. Yes, yes. Ar reporter youre fighting your friends right now. What is that like . It is very sad. It is not so simple for us to fight against our friends, against our citizens. Because the army is destroying be everything. It is not the army of to defend the country. It is an army now to defend they killer, the murderer, bashawd. Reporter the u. S. Says rightrer, b now its giving food and medicine. Yes. Reporter what do you need . What really we need iss ammunition and antitank and antiaircraft missiles. Reporter the rebels needles. Those heavy weapons to fight assads military armed chieflilythose by russia and iran. Idris also asked the u. S. For training to turn his fighters into a unified army and to protect against a chemical weapons attack that he thinks assad may carry out. If you spoke to president obama and to the American People what would you say to them . Woul i would say to him, mr. To president , you are watching what is going on since two years now. Ears im coming to ask you, please, on behalf of the Syrian People on behalf of those who are daily killed, i think the regime in kill syria and the president bashawr will not leave the power in a political negotiation. Cal n he must be forced to leave the power. Reporter general idris says with tanks and missiles should fighters could defeat assads army in a month. Shou without them, he says the fighting will continue. Axelrod up next, the waiver of silicone that could give the u. S. The edge in the race for solar power. Olar sy to find, but worth it. But with copd making it hard to breathe i thought those days might be over. So my doctor prescribed symbicort. It helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. Symbicort doesnt replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. With symbicort, today im breathing better. And that means. Fish on symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. With copd, i thought id miss our family tradition. Now symbicort significantly improves my lung function starting within 5 minutes. And that makes a difference in my breathing. Today, were ready for whatever swims our way. Ask your doctor about symbicort. I got my first prescription free. Call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you cant afford your medication astrazeneca may be able to help. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long day setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. Take tylenol or take aleve the 1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. Just two aleve can keep pain away all day. Back to the news. Two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. And every day since, weve worked hard to keep it. Bp has paid over twentythree billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. Weve shared what weve learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. I want you to know, theres another commitment bp takes just as seriously our commitment to america. Bp supports nearly twohundredfifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. We hired three thousand people just last year. Bp invests more in america than in any other country. In fact, over the last five years, no other Energy Company has invested more in the us than bp. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america has never been stronger. Axelrod manufacturing was up for the Third Straight month in february. F the Solar Industry in particularlar is enjoying a good run with employment increasing more than 14 last year. And and according to one u. S. Solar manufacturer, this may be just the beginning. Ng weve solved a manufacturing challenge that was facing the Solar Industry for 30 years. Reporter ely sachs thinks his company, 1366 technologiesogies, has found the key to Financial Success in the solar panel business. We feel we have a sustainable product and will be able to stay and in business and thrive. Axelrod 1366 makes silicon solar wafer, the most important and expensive component in the panels. By streamlining production, thet has company says it has cut the cost makin of making the wafer in half. Our Technology Makes wafersy makes in a single step. Whereas the other Technology Takes four steps and is,teps a therefore, much more costly. Ther reporter but thriving in the but solar business has often proved h to be elusive. Californiabased solyndra ca thought it found a new, cheapound a way of producing solar power but it went bust after being given more than 500 million of taxpayers money. 1366 has a government Loan Guarantee of 150 million but itut comes with strings. The company cant use the money until until it demonstrates the capacity for largescale production. Tion. That money is precious, and it has to be used only if you truly believe in what youre doing. Reporter 1366 just opened a plant with 45 workers in bedford, massachusetts. Plan it plans to open another factory in 18 months time. The global solar market say difficult place to make money. Market the chinese have dominated thend market with cheap labor andsubsidized governmentsubsidized factories. Solar industry analyst theodore ana oneill says that could be a problem for 1366. While the technology is veryechnol interesting, they still at the end of the day going against ast very inexpensive chinese product that is selling in large l quantities right now. Axelrod but china uses wafers made the old way, and that process is twice as expensive as the new 1366 wafer, leaving 1366 confident that eventually it will make china6 its customers and not competitor. The company chose the name 1366 because thats the averagee the number of watts generate bide the sun hitting each square meter of the earth. H still ahead, a playground on the ear rise designed to bridge two tragedies. Know . Well, i didnt really. See, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive. But when i started losing energy an