keep us posted throughout the afternoon. the battle for election delegates kicking into high gear today in the state of maine. republican voters have been kaw cu -- caucusing there for weeks and tonight we find out the winner. let's go to shannon travis where mitt romney and ron paul are campaigning today. so what's the feeling as to how these caucuses just might turn out? >> yeah, i mean the feeling about how they might turn out, ron paul seems to have a bit of an edge there. you remember, fred, that while the other candidates a few weeks ago were campaigning in florida, ron paul packed up his v-neck sweaters, packed up and headed north. he's got a lot of young supporters here and libertarian supporters here. not so fast. mitt romney is saying obviously he's a favorite son of new england, former massachusetts governor, and he came here with an 11th hour appeal. today he did something for the first time appearing at a caucus site and has been very involved in republican circles up here in maine for many, many years so he may actually seal the deal too, so we'll have to wait until tonight, fred. >> rick santorum and newt gingrich are not in maine right now. does that put them at a disadvantage or does it matter? >> yeah, yeah. i mean those two basically wasn't in the delegate calculation to really come up here, so again, ron paul has a bit of an edge. we actually want to play a sound bite from the congressman that appeared here. he didn't address the crowd but he spoke to people, greeted people. take a listen at one question that he got, fred. >> congressman, how are you feeling about tonight? >> hello. >> sir, do you need to win this contest today? your whole strategy has been based on winning smaller -- >> i don't think it's the word need like if you don't win it everything is over, not at all. but it would be a boost and be delightful. >> reporter: i can tell you, fred, that even if the congressman downplays it, they want to win badly. you know he's zero for eight right now, he hasn't won any contests so far. they really feel like this is the prime opportunity, but again because mitt romney has come up here may not be that way. we'll have to wait and see. >> all right, shannon travis, thanks so much. keep us posted. cnn's coverage of the maine caucuses beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern this evening with a special edition of "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. at z7:00, we'll have live coverage of all the results. join us every sunday afternoon at 4:00 where we dedicate an hour to the presidential contenders. tomorrow we'll be talking to jackie cushman, the daughter of newt gingrich, and we'll talk about her dad's planned comeback. 4:00 eastern tomorrow. now overseas to the escalating crisis in syria. the besieged town of homs is enduring a seventh straight day of shelling. hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in homs in the past week, including six today. on monday the u.n. general assembly will consider a resolution condemning president assad's crackdown. we'll get more on the violence from cnn's ivan watson in istanbul, turkey. >> reporter: residents of the be sieged syrian city of homs awoke once again at dawn on saturday morning to another day of sustained bombardment from the syrian military. that is routine -- a deadly routine they have lived for for the better part of a week. a routine that has killed hundreds of people and wounded hundreds more at the hands, according to the u.s. ambassador to syria, of the syrian military. take a listen to what ambassador robert ford had to say to cnn's wolf blitzer on friday night. >> we know who's shelling homs and it is not the armed opposition groups, it's the government. and that's why i wanted that picture put on our facebook account, so that people could see there is the artillery and that's what's firing at homs right now. the armed opposition has rifles, machine guns and even a few rocket-propelled grenades but it doesn't have artillery. only one side has artillery. >> reporter: the syrian government has consistently argued since the beginning of this uprising nearly 11 months ago that it is fighting armed terrorists linked to al qaeda. that is how they have termed the what started as peaceful protests around the country. increasingly we are seeing signs that the opposition is resorting to the use of arms to fight back against the syrian security forces. one syrian opposition group claimed responsibility for killing ten syrian soldiers in the northern province as a result of an improvised explosive device and an ambush. those are some of the tactics and weapons we saw in neighboring iraq during the bloody u.s. occupation of that country. now, turkey has made an announcement, the turkish foreign minister visiting washington, that it is going to start a process, going to apply to the united nations at its headquarters in geneva to try to find some way to start sending humanitarian aid to syria. the potential obstacles to trying to send aid in would be significant and would probably require the permission of the syrian regime itself, which is accused of encircling cities like homs and preventing pressure supplies of food and basic medicines. ivan watson, cnn, istanbul. iran's president is promising a major announcement about the country's nuclear program in the next few days. mahmoud ahmadinejad made the comment at a rally marking the 33rd anniversary of iran's islamic revolution. he did not mention specifics, only that iran has made several major nuclear achievements. back in this country, it's been 30 years since the hit tv show "fame" hit air waves. remember the popular dance teacher lydia? 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[ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. the cia's website is back online after hackers brought it down. the group anonymous is claiming responsibility for the attack. they also hit websites run by the state of alabama and the mexican mining minister re. both the cia and alabama government officials say that they are working to find those responsible for the cyber attacks. president obama unveils his budget proposal monday, but senior administration officials have revealed a few key details. the plan predicts a $901 billion deficit next year and calls for investments in infrastructure and education. it also includes cuts in military spending and $1.5 trillion in tax hikes. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops is not happy with president obama's compromise over contraception funding. a statement on their website today says the plan raises serious moral concerns. the government's new health policy originally wanted hospitals and schools with religious ties to offer full coverage for contraceptives, but after days of opposition from the catholic church, the white house dropped that requirement leaving insurers to pick up the tab. president obama says the core principles remain unchanged. >> today we've reached a decision on how to move forward. under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services, no matter where they work. so that core principle remains. >> so there will be a one-year transition period for religious organizations after the policy formally takes effect august 1st. coming up in about five minutes from now, our legal guys take on this issue. you'll want to hear what they say about the government, religious institutions and contraceptives. valentine's day is just three days away, so you're committed in your relationship, right? but maybe, are you cheating on your spouse financially? if so, it's time to come clean. christine romans and ali velshi show you how to have the money talk with your significant other in this week's "smart is the new rich." >> when it comes to money, my friend ali velshi and i speak two different languages and that's okay, because thankfully we're not married to each other, we just work together and wrote a book together called "how to speak munonemoney." i want to take a look at some of the data from jeff over at you state university. he said wives with no debt were 12% more likely to be happy in marriage than wives who had 10 to $20,000 in debt. husbands are happy no matter what. one thing we have talked about and wrote about in our book is a lot of couples aren't honest to each other when it comes to debt. i wanted to ask you, is it ever okay to hide spending or to hide debt? >> is anybody listening to my answer? >> your wife is watching the program as we speak. >> no, it's not. there's two issues. one is do you care about your habits on spending? a lot of guys don't care. and then it's the are you completely honest about what your debt situation is. both of those are important so you can't just know about your partner's debt, you actually have to know about how they answer that question. >> the next question i want to ask you in honor of valentine's day. is it okay for one person to handle the finances in the relationship? >> yes, absolutely. let the better person to it. in my -- believe it or not, in my family, you know it, my wife is better at this stuff so she sort of takes the lead on it and it gets done better than -- now, look, there's an issue about responsibility about money, the other partner should have involvement in it so they know about it, but i think it's totally okay for the smarter, better one, more organized one to do. >> it how do you have the money talk? >> if you start off -- >> you're telling me you would dump me if i asked you how much student loan debt you have? >> no, i don't think you'd get a second date. why not get to the third or fourth date and say listen, this is working out really well, there's something i've got to tell you. >> thanks, ali. for "smart is the new rich," i'm christine romans. among the legal issues we're tackling today, a former university of virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend. he breaks down during his murder trial after watching a videotape. our legal experts will be weighing in on this case. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. a former university of virginia lacrosse player is on trial for the death of his ex-girlfriend. let's bring in our legal guys. avery friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in cleveland. good to see you. richard herman, a new york criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from new york. gentlemen, this is a heart-breaking case no matter which way you look at it. now, this is an issue of whether it's manslaughter or even first-degree murder. this week when we saw some of the evidence unveiled, we have an audio tape, past e-mails, one from george huguely saying "i should have killed you. " avery, you first. intent, have we seen that there should be a first-degree murder conviction? >> well, there's certainly some evidence of intent, because what has surfaced is some of the prior statements made by george huguely and some of the evidence that goes to his violent nature, similar acts, so to speak. but i think in the first week of trial, as riveting as this trial has been, what we have seen is an individual who clearly had alcoholism issues. some of the evidence that surfaced was that the day of the event on may 2nd, 2010, there's some evidence that george huguely actually had 20 drinks before the incident. even testimony from his lacrosse players, his friends, talked about his alcoholism. i don't think, even at this point, even before we've heard the defense, that we have the necessary intent for first-degree murder. >> and so, you know, richard, if you agree with that, then we're talking about, you know, manslaughter there, because there is evidence showing that he admits to kicking in yeardley love's door, that he grabbed her, but he says he didn't choke her. he said when he left, she was on the bed but it was news to him and you saw that in that videotape and you heard it in the audio tape that he was surprised that she was found dead. >> well, that's very nice to be surprised. you should not be surprised that i do not agree with avery. fred, the door was not kicked in, he punched a hole through her bedroom door, which was locked. i think that pretty much goes to intent right there. he stole her laptop computer which had on it the e-mail that "i should have killed you" which he sent to her a couple of days earlier. she had bruises, a black eye, beaten almost to a pulp. this guy is an animal. this is a horrific crime. the jury is not going to buy the intoxication defense, which, by the way, is a defense in virginia and they are not going to buy the aterol and boozing cause of death which they are claiming -- >> so her injuries you believe and how he left her are consistent with intent? >> absolutely, fred. she was beaten up bad by this guy. >> okay. so avery, the defense is trying -- while the burden of proof is on the prosecution, the defense is trying to say that there was something else. maybe she had another medical reason as to why her heart stopped after he left the room. >> yeah. >> what will happen with that? has that been dispelled? >> yeah, that's a wacko defense. the idea that she had arrhythmia from taking aterol. the doctors have sort of blown that theory up. i agree the behavior is horrendous. but when you have that level of intoxication, i think the jury will give that serious consideration. we'll have to hear the defense coming up this week and re-evaluate that, but i think the intent is really watered down with the level of intoxication we've seen here. now let's talk about contraceptives and religious organizations, the obama administration, its response to the uproar. so the president makes this revised plan on contraceptives saying that it was never about religious freedoms. but, avery, the argument has been, and we heard it underscored by john boehner, that this was an attack on religious freedom. so was this strictly a political argument or is this indeed a legal argument that has been made and potentially resolved now? >> well, maybe we should have women cover themselves when they get medical care. look, legally, constitutionally, sorry, it makes my blood boil, this is not a constitutional issue, it is not a legal issue. you want to characterize it as a political issue, that's fine. but the idea of arguing that it's an attack against religion is outrageous. these laws have been on the books in 28 of the 50 states. every challenge has been unsuccessful on the issue of violation of religious freedom. i prosecute religious freedom, i teach constitutional law. it is not a constitutional issue. when women suffer because of endometriosis and uterine cancer, they are entitled to treatment. women have suffered too long and i think the president did absolutely the right thing. >> richard, under the new plan it's up to insurance companies to cover contraceptives, religious-affiliated universities and hospitals will not be compelled to do so. >> right. the insurance companies have to provide that for free. but i had to pinch myself, fred, to say is this really february, 2012? i mean come on. we're not talking about late-term abortions. we're not talking about mid-term abortions. we're talking contraception here, something 99% of the women in the united states use or have used, and that includes catholic women. so it's just a preposterous, ridiculous argument that's being made. it could very well be fueled by politics. if that's the case, the republicans are going nowhere with this particular argument. president obama was right on with what he did. look, he poised -- he posed this little -- somehow he lessened the blow a little bit, but it's absolutely ridiculous. women are entitled to contraceptive relief. it saves lives. it prevents pregnancies. >> and avery? >> but the republicans forced the issue. again, a political issue. the president responding that, you know, it was appear attack on religion is just so untrue, at least legally and constitutionally but you know what, forced the issue. the president did the right thing, absolutely did the right thing. >> avery, some say that maybe the president did this intentionally to try to draw attention away from the economy and direct it on an issue that clearly they can win. i don't know. >> i don't buy it. >> avery, richard, thanks so much. we're not done with you, though. we'll see you in 20 minutes with other legal cases involving some parents in virginia who have to defend themselves in court because their kids were tardy to school oh, too many times according to the school district. we'll tackle that case right after this. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission... we inspect your air filter... it gets done,it gets done quickly and it gets done correctly. the works. oil change, tire rotation and more: $29.95 or less after rebate - at your ford dealer. you're a doctor... you're a car doctor. maybe a car doctor... military drones have helped hunt down terrorists and have carried out attack and reconnaissance missions on the battlefield. well, soon they may help police chase down suspects on the run, and that's not all. athena jones fills us in on how drones could become part of our everyday lives. >> reporter: when most people hear the word "drone" they think of large-scale vehicles like the predator, the sort of devices used to transmit live video from the battlefield, or track down al qaeda leaders, like one who was killed by a cia drone last year. but new smaller remote control devices are being developed for widespread use outside war zones, like in u.s. cities and rural areas. the coast guard used a drone in alaska to conduct surveillance of an ice sheet. >> we see the civil applications for these things dwarfing the military applications of these things in the future. >> reporter: farmers could one day use droughnes to monitor th crops. police could use one like this drone -- >> i have a visual on the suspect. >> reporter: -- to track down suspects on the run or perform other surveillance at a fraction of the cost of a helicopter. under a bill re