wealthiest americans at thfrt point in time looking at the economy as it is should pay more in taxes. he is of the same mind on that front at george soros who we spoke with here in davos as well who also believes the wealthy should pay more in taxes. two of the many headlines today. we've got a lot more coverage on c nnnmoney.co cnnmoney.com. brooke. >> thank you very much? a snowy switzerland for us today. for more details and all kinds of other money stories, cnnmoney.com. and we continue here, top of the hour. the republican presidential candidates hours away from squaring off in a huge debate tonight. our cnn debate. went wa to take you behind the scenes as they make the last minute preparations. time to play reporter roulette. cnn has political producers traveling along with these candidates morning, afternoon, night, following their every move as they crisscross across the country. but today it's unique we get all of these guys and gals together in one spot. but that's because they're all in jacksonville, florida, ahead of the cnn debates. we wanted to get obviously to politics, the news of the day, ladies, but also some of the scoop as you certainly are not getting a lot of sleep and know everything i imagine about these campaigns. we have rachel following the mitt romney campaign, shawna shepherd following gingrich. rach rachel, talking about mitt romney here as we mentioned five days till that primary. just how is camp romney feeling today? >> well, mitt romney had one event this morning in jacksonville and he talked about the debate. he said he was excited and asked supporters to come here for him. he said even if that includes storming into the hall to do that. i don't know we think need to call security quite yet. he signaled he would keep up attacks against barack obama for failing to deliver the change he promised. he said he expected the candidates on sage tonight to compare their records among the republicans which is code for there could be some fireworks. as for the state of the campaign, as this race continues to be tight, there was a senior campaign adviser said this week no state is a must win for the romney campaign and that includes florida. we'll be looking for, romney has not been attacking newt gingrich as much. he's kept focus on barack obama. we'll see if that changes if he starts to feel threatened. >> rachel, give me a thumbs up if you can hear me. >> i can hear you. >> i just want to make sure. as you are following the romney camp and looking ahead to the debate tonight, does he get a chance to walk up on stage sort of, i don't know, feel out the podium? does he have any predebate ritias? that's what i want to note. >> uh-huh. one thing i can tell you, this is a small nugget. his older son tag romney is flying in right now to be with his father. this is a very tight knit family. there are five sons and they tend to an ternate in and out and spend time supporting their father on trail. so tag will be the one to do that here tonight. >> okay. stand by rachel. i want to bring shawna in. i'm sure you have multiple phones keeping up with every iteration of news coming in. i know you're following newt gingrich. how is he today on the trail? what's the news today? >> in one word, i think he had a lot of fire in his breath. he is -- he spoke at a tea party rally in mount dora today and he had quite a few stinging words for governor mitt romney, really he was trying to tie him to his connections to the financial world and connections to freddie mac, which has been a major attack that governor romney's been hitting toward speaker gingrich. so we'll definitely can expect a lot of fireworks tonight. >> how much do these candidates sleep? how much do you ladies sleep? do these candidates have a chance to work out at all? do they have any down time? >> well, hopefully it doesn't reflect too much on tv. we don't get too much sleep. but you know, nights vary. very long days for us, for the press. but also for the candidates. it's always remarkable to me that at the end of the day, they're getting on is taken and performing you know in front of thousands of people. and you know, have to stay on their game, including tonight. >> rachel, you want to add to that. >> everybody does the elliptical. i can tell you that. that's his choice. >> speaker gingrich drinks diet coke. i'm not sure that he does much exercising. but i'd have to ask. >> is it a morning workout routine on the elliptical for the massachusetts governor, rach rachel, or is an evening workout? >> i think he and ann both occasionally spend type at the gym. i know he's said he's watched news when he's working out at the jim. >> he watches the news? is that what you said? >> he watches the news. >> i guess just finally, i don't know if you all have been embedded as we call you these embeds with the campaign. what is the one thing for viewers for people who have never had a job like your, what's the biggest surprise following around these candidates on the trail? >> wow, that is a tough one. i mean, it's a really amazing experience for us. you know, we're traveling all across is the country. you come to the events. there's energy, there's music. it's a really cool experience for us to get to follow these candidates day in and day out and listen to what they're saying, how it changes, what's different today, what did they say yesterday, what did their opponents say. we're having a great time. >> it's a really unique opportunity especially early on in the race to see these candidates up close and personal. and when i know governor romney probably has a larger press team that's following him. but in the case of speaker gingrich, he's very accessible. and both he and his wife you know, it's just an interesting exposure to see them up close, see how they interact with voters. it's a u fiqh perspective. >> we appreciate your hard work and lack of sleep, ladies. it's an amazing career opportunity for both of you. of course, we have you know, folks following the other two candidates, as well. we appreciate you the two popping in front of the camera and lifting the veil just a little bit how we cover politics on cnn, rachel and shawna, thank you. still ahead here, a death row inmate writes a letter to a newspaper and what he says about prison life sparks a firestorm. plus, defense secretary leon panetta has warned if you make cuts to the military, america's security is at risk. well, those cuts are here. so is he right? also this. ♪ >> chilling new video just into us here at cnn of the masked man accused of shooting up the pentagon and three other military structures and just days after we heard heidi klum and seal are calling itwitz quits, the singer speaks about the breakup. stay right here. military structures and just chilling new video into us at cnn showing the man accused of shooting up the pentagon. brian todd, walk me through this video. >> well, brooke, prosecutors released this video today at the plea hearing of yaungt melaku, a former marine reservist who pleaded guilty today to three charges related to the shootings of five military installations in northern virginia in october and november of 2010 that these incidents occurred at four different places including the pentagon and the national museum of the marine corps. they released this video of one such incident in which they say yanathan melaku videotapes himself driving by the museum. we'll play a natural sound clip where you hear him narrating it a little bit saying that's the target. a few seconds later you hear and see the shots being fired. take a look. ♪ >> mission accomplished. >> well, you see him brandishing the gun and he's got a mask on. he later takes the mask off and you can see his face visibly. we do have some clips of him actually firing into the marine corps museum. you hear the shots fired, you see the muzzle flashes and he does, as you heard there, chant al lal akbar. but there is no one injured in any of these incidents but yonathan melaku captured on videotape they found in his apartment is what prosecutors said after he was caught in june of 2011. when he was caught, they found a backpack. he was caught in arlington cemetery wandering around. they found a backpack with nine millimeter casings, ammonium night trait, ziploc bags and other things and they say he was going to desecrate the permal graves of soldiers who fought nut iraq and afghanistan with arabic statements. they caught him that day in june 2011 and later found the videotape and some other evidence in his apartment, brooke. but this evidence that was released today had to have been a key turning point in the guilty plea of yaunonathan mela today. >> we saw video of him last hour without the mask. he looks young. >> he's 23. he looked a little older and more weathered today in court as if he had been through a pretty tough time over the past year or so. he's 23 years old. they grade his defense attorneys and the prosecution agreed to a 25-year prison sentence. the judge will formally sentence him in april. >> brian todd, thank you. >> thanks, brooke. if it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it. let's go. beginning with secretary of state hillary clinton says she plans to leave her job if president obama wins a second term. she also mentioned the race for the white house today during a meeting with state department employees. she here she was. >> a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season since as secretary of state i cannot participate. but you know, i didn't watch any of those debates. >> in rio de janiero, rescue crews digging through mountains of rubble looking for signs of survivors. three buildings collapsed over night in the city's historic center. at last count, 19 people are still missing. five bodies have been recovered. it is not clear yet why the buildings seem to crumble to the ground. and the best known gay lawmaker in the country is going to say i do. congressman barney frank admitted in announcing that he is marrying his partner jim ready in massachusetts. prank not seeking re-election this year after spending 16 terms in congress. couple has yet to fauns a wedding date. if it happens before he leaves office, this would be the first same sex marriage for a sitting member of congress. and we are now getting all kinds of stories from texas from people stuck in all this water here. high water trapping them in their vehicles. in a dallas suburb, one driver called 911 three times. here's one of the calls. >> it's robert jeffress here again. the water is up to my chest. >> we're trying to get to you as quick as they can. >> okay, i'm going to drown here in a little bit. >> he did not drown. postscript moments lauter, rescue crews were able to reach him in that high water. want to go to the super bowl? better have a few thousand dollars laying around. according to the resale website stubhub tickets are starting at 2800 bucks. the price is down a bit from last year. patriots and giants face off in indianapolis in ten days. and now a moment just to take this in. planet earth all her glory. nasa releasing this high-definition picture. they're calling it blue marble 2010. chad meyers you and i like to talk about all things space. from what i understand this image is one big picture of a lot of pictures. >> this is from a satellite only 5 hub miles in space. you probably the remember the old big blue marble picture the one we grew up from 1972, apollo 17, you can see africa on this picture. but the new one they just put together, a number of pictures all glued together. they did a fabulous job because the satellite actually is a polar orbiting satellite that would come around and around and take many passes. but if you look at this picture, there are ,000 pixels wide, 8,000 pixels tall. you can't find where they made those seams. it is an amazing picture there. you can just google big blue marble 2012. this picture was taken, image was taken january 4th of this year. they glued them together and did a great job. a little bit of artistic license making the clouds all kind of smooth because we know in the time it took for the satellite to go around, some of those clouds would have moved. >> till pretty cool. thank you, nasaen an chad meyers. thank you so much. leon panetta once said a smaller military means a bigger risk to america. but today he announced the army is shrinking. find out what's not being cut. we're live at the pentagon for you next. also a death row inmate brags about life behind bars. he talks about air conditioning, tv, tooba yahya/7 medical care. now his victim's father is furious. a family in north carolina is receiving taunts from death row by the man convicted of killing their daughter. danny hembree junior suffocated heather caterton back in 2009. she was 17 years of age. hembree is to be executed for his crime and the gaston gazette published a letter yesterday from the inmate who moks punishment. he writes is the public aware that the chances of my lawful murder taking place in the next 20 years if ever are very slim? is the public aware i have am a gentleman of leisure watching color tv and the ac. eating three well balanced he meals in a day? the letter goes on to say "i am a man who is ready to accept his unjust punishment and face god almighty with a clear conscience unlike you cowards and your cowardly system. kill me if you can, suckers. ha, ha, ma. the family of heather caterton reportedly has made employees to the district attorney for help. he is accused of murdering two other woman, hembree. >> we have been listening to leon panetta over the past hour. he has been submitting the blueprint for a downsized u.s. military. we all knew this was coming. another big-time consequence of the budget cutting fever seizing washington, d.c. chris lawrence live for us again at the pentagon. you've been watching the secretary of defense. give me a number once again, the number they're putting on these pentagon cuts and tell me what you've learned since you and i talked a little over an hour ago. >> well, the number's about $487 billion, brooke. so roughly half a trillion dollars in cuts. but again, these are spaced out over ten years and these are cuts based on what the pentagon had estimated it would get. in other words, it's not like i gave you $50 last year and i'm only giving you $25 this year. it's more think of it more like you expected to get this much more in five years. this much more in eight years. and you're not going to get as much as you expected. so the word cut has to be used somewhat loosely. we learned a lot. you know, we learned that they're moving towards this so-called morage jill force, that the numbers of marines and soldiers that were beefed up so much over the last ten years will be coming down to just over the levels they were before the attacks on september 11th. and we learned that a lot of the money is going to be put into things like cybersecurity to the unmanned drone program. the special operations community is still going to get funded. and their funding will continue to grow. >> that's where it continues to grow but then you know, we had heard, chris a lot of concern about the army in particular. i know you say it depends who you ask. but there's speculation that the army would bear the brunt of these cuts. did secretary panettacracy an that concern? >> he did. the cuts are going to be to the army roughly around $65,06 5,00. but secretary panetta says overall this is going to make it a much better force. listen to what he said a few minutes ago. >> we have an aadaptable and battle tested army that is our nation's force for decisive action capable of defeating any adversary on land. let me say that again, capable of defeating any adversary on land. >> but one of the concerns is with a smaller army means the special operations community is going to have a smaller pool to recruit from. it's one of the issues, brooke we're going to be diving into next hour in "the situation room." >> we'll see you then, chris lawrence. thank you. now this number, 10% of republican voters in the u.s. are hispanics. so is mitt romney and newt gingrich blast one another in all these ads in florida, who has the end there? jennifer is in charge of a group that has major influence. she is live from miami next. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. with my vial and syringe. me, drawing my insulin dose. and me the day i discovered novolog flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your mealtime insulin. dial the exact dose, inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog is a fast-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within five to ten minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. with flexpen, vial and syringe are in the past. ask your doctor about novolog flexpen, covered by 90% of insurance plans, including medicare. when the republican candidates for president take to the is taken tonight in jacksonville, florida, before the final debate before the primary, you can bet one thing. they're going to be quoting courting the all-important hispanic voter. cnn is hosting the debate. and jennifer corn is the executive director of a group. and she joins me from miami. jenny, first off, you know, i just want you to hit this home for me. you're sitting there in florida. sheer importance of florida's hispanic vote. >> absolutely. thank you so much for having me. i can tell you the excitement we had. we had an event here a year ago and we have doubled the amount of people who are coming to our conference to watch the presidential debate on the and to come tomorrow. we have people who just really want to talk about the issues, really want to talk about the candidates and they're willing to give up a day and a half to do that here with hispanic leadership network. >> so i hear the excitement. i imagine that translates into importance in a lot of eyes on the screens tonight if they're not sitting there, and we know here these ads, front-runners mitt romney and nug are airing ads in spanish. first, this is from the gingrich camp. >> mitt romney. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it's said at the very end translating he's the most anti-immigrant candidate. here now is romney's ad. >> the race for the latino vote in florida has more drama than a spanish language soap opera. newt gingrich was tearing up -- >> that was jim acosta's voice. do we have the right clip, guys? no. okay. but let's just talk here and i can tell you that they're going after one another when in spanish. how are these ads, how are they playing with florida's hispanic voters? >> well, actually, i wanted t