opposition group there are 110 deaths in homs, 10 were children. >> also in this country, six children are alive after these pictures were recorded. a school bus bursting into flames. >> wow. >> you are going to see the driver who got those kids out just in time. we're going to talk to her actually. very excited. there's an alzheimer's break-through. scientists stumble on an exciting discovery. a cancer drug that reverses alzheimer's in mice. >> we'll put a kick in your step as well with tunes and political players and play lists. have you ever thought about the music behind these fabulous productions, the speeches, the applause, the showmanship? there's morep to the music you might not know about. but after today you will. "early start" starts now. >> we begin with the slauter in syria. it is escalating by the hour. government tanks now storming homs. 137 more civilians have been killed. among them, there are ten children. >> this is the fifth straight day images like these have been pouring into news organizations around the world. this government all-out assault, doesn't seem to show any signs of abating. it actually seems as though it may be intensing. anderson cooper had the opportunity to speak to one of the opposition members who's inside syria and recording horrible images of what's going on there. have a look at this. >> he's killing entire cities. he's trying to banish these cities and to destroy into the ground. i mean we don't know why, we're civilians here, civilians live here. he's not also only killing the people and shelling with all types of weapons, he's also isolating the city, isolating the city from all sides so people will not die from rocket shelling and machine guns, and snipers, they will die from hunger. everybody is sitting at home waiting for their death. >> an activist was speaking of ba shash al assad the president of syria who seems to be intransigent of stopping this violence any time soon. our ivan watson is live in istanbul, turkey, a safer place to report on this place. we can't get anybody into that country. we are hearing there may be more fronts now under attack. what's the story? >> well, ashleigh, this has been going on more than ten months, this uprising and the violent crackdown and homs, while the situation there is horrific, other parts of the country have also seen their share of violence. one place we haven't seen it very much in the past is the second largest city of syria, aleppo in the north. there this morning, there appear to have been at least two major explosions outside the headquarters of two syrian security headquarters there. we still don't have details on how many people were killed and injured there, but syrian state tv showing images of people, bodies mutilated in this explosion, in these blasts. one resident we talked to said there were a lot of ambulances rushing to the area. the syrian media, state media, is describing these as terrorist attacks. it does not bode well for a country where society does seem to be unraveling over the course of this uprising and this brutal crackdown. >> you know, ivan, a lot of us who have worked war zones before v been talking about how much this reminds us of those harrowing scenes out of bosnia, where women and children were dying in the dozens every day. we saw pictures on anderson cooper last night of an activist named danny who talked at length about this and showed us direct evidence. this isn't an unusual scene he was talking about, is it, ivan? >> no. i mean this is something we're seeing again and again day after day in this besieged city of homs where the syrian military isn't allowing food and medicine in to residents of a city that had a population of about a million before this began. danny has become very much a face of the opposition and the embattled residents there. take a listen to one of his most recent amateur video dispatches, ashleigh. >> this is one of the houses. look at these children. this is how the assad regime is supposed to treat our children. now you see the assad regime is killing children. what is the u.n. going to do about this? what is the u.n. going to do about this? nothing. they're going to sit and discuss and see if they want to do this peacefully, solve it peacefully with this murderer, after what he did to these children. they've been hitting on us from 6:00 a.m. until it's 2:00 p.m. now. we have over 100 bodies, over 200 underneath the destruction. we don't even know who they are. >> ashleigh, those same notes of outrage and desperation we're hearing from our own conversations with syrian activists all over the country. basically saying we've been abandoned while our own government kills its own squints. the activists are planning today to be another day of protests. friday the traditional day. the theme today is, quote, russia is killing our children. many activists accusing russia of providing diplomatic cover for the syrian regime to intensify its attacks against its own citizens. >> ivan, thank you very much for that. it's just awful to see and awful to report on. thank you. it is six minutes past the hour here. every morning we give you an early start to your day alerting you to what will be the big stories tonight. former congresswoman gabby giffords is back in washington, in the oval office to witness the president sign her final piece of legislation she sponsored it. the ultralight aircraft smuggling prevention act and it gives law enforcement more authority to combat drug trafficking on borders. >> gop candidates will take to the cpac stage minus one ron paul, but the other three will be there. rick santorum is hoping to really capitalize on that momentum from his recent big wins. mitt romney trying to woo conservatives and met with a small group of conservative leaders yesterday, a mixed mingle and greet. and newt gingrich is going to be speaking as well and his big inintro duckion will come by way of his wife callista. >> you know texas loves football, right? >> it's a religion, at least in dallas. >> and food. first lady michele obama is in dallas with both of those. mrs. obama is teaming up with "top chef" contestants and players of the dallas cowboys for her "let's move" campaign. she's in fine form, promoting healthy eating in schools. >> every time i see michele obama she's either kickboxing or running or doing -- >> tough cookie there. >> amazing she has the pipes she's got. she earned them. >> we have incredible video to show. before you get freaked out when you see it, yes, it is a school bus on fire and yes, there were children on board. this has a great ending. two-fold great ending. the driver smelled something burning but just so quickly and calmly got the kids off that school bus before this happened. but this was the scene that emerging. >> the bus driver, lynn richardson, says she is not a hero, but she is to be honored by the charlotte fire department next week. guess what? she joins us on the phone from charlotte, north carolina. good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you guys this morning. >> we are really well. the question is, how are you after a situation like that? so, first i want to start with how did you know something was wrong? >> i was taking my little ones home and i smelled something that really didn't smell right. so i stopped the bus to basically inspect what was going on and upon inspecting, looking around for the smell, smoke came from under the steering column. and its just got real great. at that time i decided to park and secure the bus and get me and the kids to safety. >> you said your little ones. these are not your children. these are the children that you transport to school every day? >> yes, ma'am, they are not mine, but looking at them, spending time with them, every day, it's hard not to bond with them when you see them five days out of the week and sometimes you see them like during your personal time shopping and they come running up to you, mom, this is my bus driver. >> these kids, i understand 5 to 10 years old. how did you shuttle them off the bus? were they nervous? were they smelling the smoke also? >> well, they saw the smoke and they were heros as well because they did not panic and when i did see the smoke, i did ask them to go to the back of the bus, away from the smoke, and as i secured the bus, and made sure the bus wasn't going anywhere, i went to the back of the bus and used the emergency exit and got them off. >> do you have any special training for this? we're watching the images right now. this is unbelievable you were able to get them off that quickly. >> yes, ma'am. it's part of our job to go through major training in case things like this happen. >> lindora, they were watching this as you were far away from the bus. i was reading some of these reports some of the busses have had the same types of problems in the past. did you know anything about that. >> no, ma'am, i didn't. >> i got to ask you, what's in store for you today? what are you doing? >> well, less than maybe like 10, 15 minutes i'm going to be reporting to my job. >> you're going to -- >> you're going to get back on a bus and drive the children around? >> yes, ma'am. >> all right. >> yes, ma'am. that same route. >> and don't you think maybe a day off, little mental health day is in order here? >> no, not really, because i just feel like i was just doing my job. it's not being a hero. it's doing my job and this was -- this is what i was trained to do and i love it so much, so i don't feel like i'm a hero. i feel like i was just performing my job duties. >> i have to tell you you are a blessing for parents everywhere. we wish we had you as our bus driver. condpratslations to you, you are a troo you hero. those kids are so lucky to have you. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you so much. >> i can't believe she's just going off to work. >> yeah. >> same route. >> you know what she said, i can only talk to you guys from within this time to that time because i have to report to work. an amazing woman. >> go, lindora. more people need to be like you. >> 11 minutes past the hour. minding your business, u.s. markets closed higher yesterday. the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 which is the best indicator for stocks in your 401(k), making gains on news of a debt deal in greece. but, that optimism quickly fading overnight as yirn union finance ministers have yet to agree on their end. >> i'm getting tired of the "but" honestly on so many levels. christine romans joining us now, minding your business. >> good morning. >> greece is always a top story, however before you go to greece, could you stay in the u.s. and tell us the news you have about who among us can qualify for the mortgage money. >> it is a very big deal and a lot of you are asking me this morning how do i know if i qualify. a lot of you are asking me, should i stop paying my mortgage if i've been holding on to qualify for the biggest part of the pie. who gets the money, if you are under water on your loan, really under water, already late in your payments, you qualify for this biggest pot of money, which is $20,000 in principle writedowns on average. if you are really under water on your loan but you are current on your payments, there's another pot of money that's going to allow you to refinance at lower interest rates. that's going to put money in your pocket every single month. if you lost your house to foreclosure, any time from september 2008 to december 2011, you are going to receive sometime within the next three years, a check, $1500 to $2,000 payments going out to those people. you must have a loan that is owned by a private bank, the wells fargo, citigroup, ally, these five big banks this is all with. it's not a fannie mae or freddie mac backed loan. we're talking about a million people under water, there are 11 million under water. it won't be for everyone. >> are you putting this information everywhere. i'm confused. it goes quickly. >> i will put it on our blog so people can look at the "early start" blog. i want to be clear on what you should do. on the call yesterday with senior administration officials and housing officials they told us specifically that the banks know who in their books have the mortgages that absolutely meet all these criteria. the banks will be reaching out to people. >> we can trust that the banks will reach out to people? >> exactly. that's what i said. i think everyone who thinks you might qualify, needs to call your bank and do it quickly. they have agreed with the government they have got to be better in dealing with servicing. they have got to be on top of this. they have to be staffed enough to handle this. you reach out if you think you're due one of those payments, you were wrongly foreclosed on, you reach out right away. how do they have your address? >> aggressively, right? >> right. >> if you're working with a housing counselor through hud, maybe you are, go to housing and urban development, find out housing counselors in your neighborhood. if you're already very behind and going through foreclosure hopefully you're working with someone. >> that's great information. thanks, christine. winter in kansas. snow is falling on nighttime traffic in wichita. it hit with several inches of heavy, wet snow overnight. >> looks pretty in the night sky. >> it does? >> jacqui jeras is doing the job today for rob marciano. she's live with us this morning. hi, jacqui? >> good morning, ladies. i'm glad to hear you're enjoying that picture of snow there, because it's heading your way. >> thanks a lot, jacqui. that's jacqui jeras this morning. >> you don't have to do that. >> i can wrap you too, my friend. >> all right. i'm just trying to warn you about it. n nothing i can do to change it. big changes on the way. the winter that never happened finally trying to make a comeback here over the next couple days. we've got cold air that's coming in from canada. blaming the canadians there, ashleigh, and moisture from the gulf of mexico and these two things will meet up and so we'll watch for snow across parts of the great lakes, ohio valley today and moves into the northeast as we head into tomorrow. keep that in mind as you make your weekend plans. the snowfall today generally will stay light, only a couple inches, but it's enough for advisory criteria for louisville, kentucky, into cincinnati. most of that snow is going to be falling say after the 3:00 hour. so this will really affect the drive home. chicago, also under the advisories. we'll get a little enhancement coming in off that lake. so the big shock, though, out of all of this, despite some travel concerns with the rain and the snow, is going to be those temperatures coming in and believe it or not, yeah, we're talking about 15 to 20 degrees below where you should be this time of the year. today in the upper midwest pushing across the east for tomorrow. so look for those changes, ladies, this weekend. could see a good two to four inches in new york for you. >> those canadians. always the canadians' fault. >> happy friday. >> you too. >> 16 minutes past the hour. still to come we have early reads for you. remember the man who adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, his children are challenging that adoption. that woman stands to make a lot of money. we're going to share so many details with you. >> it's been a big conversation all this week on the political campaigns. it's been the birth control battle. and now a catholic tv station is weighing in with a big old lawsuit for the obama administration. we're going to talk about why, what the senators are doing to try to protect religious groups and why not everyone is on board with the plans. >> this is quite the buzz. a cancer drug that could reverse alzheimer's. it's already happening but it's in mice. will it go to humans next? we're going to let you know. you're watching "early start." [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. say that another another 137 people died yesterday. president bashar al assad denies attacking that country saying syrian forces are targeting terrorists he said, terrorists he said are bent on destabilizing his government. two senators are introducing a bill that would ensure employers with ties to religious groups would not have to abide by the controversial new contraception rule. that rule requires religious schools, hospitals, organization ts to provide insurance for free birth control. and a witness in the uva lacrosse murder trial says he saw george huguely with his arm around the neck of yeardley love months before she was found beaten to death. huguely is insisting love's death was an accident. a drug showing signs of reversing alzheimer's disease in mice. researchers remain skeptical about the ability of the drug to work on humans, however. an aide for gabrielle giffords says he will return for a seat left vacant by her. ron barber says giffords personally asked him to run for her seat. a report on the digital blog all things d says apple will announce the next generation ipad some time next month. it's rumored to have a better display, faster processor, and better graphics for all you geeks out there. 22 minutes past 5:00 on the east. getting a look at your stories in the local news but making national headlines and papers from atlanta and houston. let's start with "the atlanta journal constitution" a serious story, we may be getting resolution here. people say they've identified two of the assailants in the video beating of brandon white. he is a gay man beaten he says because he was gay. there were anti-gay slurs leveled at him as this attack went on and atlanta police say we have warrants. we've identified and got warrants but they are still working to find these attackers and bring them to justice. in the meantime the cia is saying they want that store where this happened to be shut down because this has been a magnet for the community. but the police and the community or at least the community organizers and members of council say they can enact one of their laws to shut it down. a building ordinance law which is fascinating. i don't think that store is going to be open much long fer the city gets its way. >> i'm sure the people who live there are very happy about that. to the "houston chronicle" the millionaire who adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend is being sued by his biological children, they are minors. he set up the adoption to protect his assets over $300 million because he is facing criminal and civil trials for a fatal car crash. his girlfriend is eligible for a portion of his teenage children's trust fund. they aren't old enough yet to manage the money or get the money. the kids' lawsuit claims the adoption is abuse of the law and his girlfriend, get this, stands to make $5 million a year. >> that's just in the spinoff money that fund would generate. >> yeah. >> i think all three of them would probably get an equal portion, five, five, and five. it's not necessarily the kids, it's their guardian ad litem, the lawyer who is put in place to represent their interests and that guardian is the one launching this suit. >> i wonder if we'll hear from the kids on it. >> i doubt it, right. >> makes you wonder. >> who's controlling this. >> exactly. 24 minutes past the hour here. so much still to come on "early start." rick santorum, not so much on board with the idea of women in or close to combat roles. quoting this, are you ready? other types of emotions that women have. what does he mean by