famous from an ad with mccain saying, complete that dang fence. he's been outed, accused fd threatening to deport his immigrant boyfriend. we have lots of coverage on that story today. also, take a look at these pictures. this is what you call chafing the hailstorm. it hurts. ow, look at that. we'll taking where this is happening. and the folks who took that video. >> millions of dollars in plastic surgery, to the taxpayers. their nose jobs, breast implants, lipo. you name it. how is this happening in the middle of a budget crisis? >> that's a good question. plastic surgery, teachers, really? >> quite a remarkable story. >> lordy. >> i don't know if you want to be a teacher in that district. >> heck ya. one minute past 5:00 in the east. double digit lead. always good news it you're a candidate seeking to be the guy who runs against president obama. that's the story for rick santorum this morning. he's kind of in the driver's seat now. >> he's got a ten point lead over romney now. look at the numbers. app storm 36%, romney 26%, gingrich, 13%, ron paul at 11%. even some party insiders are starting to believe that santorum could win the nomination. listen to ari fleischer last night onac 360. >> you really think he could get the nomination? >> i really do. i'm prepared to say that now. for the first time i'd say that. i always thought it was an open race, anything could happen. was that kind of wild year. don't underestimate what's happening with people going to rick santorum and he does need to broaden it. the social issues really do motivate him. he speaks from the heart. >> cnn political director is live from mesa, arizona. just last week, we were talking statistical ties. these leads are quite amazing. >> yeah, they are. rick santorum, if we were just to be talking, having this conversation five weeks ago, rick santorum was left for dead. in fact, newt gingrich was saying that rick santorum did get out of the race and out of the support. look at how the pendulum was swung back. this former senator from pennsylvania who was crushed back when he lost his reelection bid back in around 2006 is now in the lead and in fact, as ari fleischer has saying last night on ac 360, there are washington insiders that think he can win the nomination. a lot of them are concerned that he can win the nomination, because they don't think he can beat barack obama in november. >> the republicans are poring over filing deadlines we understand trying to figure out the worst case scenario. what are their options? >> well, i mean, there's a lot of chatter in washington, d.c. about, if rick santorum or mitt romney or newt gingrich is not able to get enough delegates to head into august for this so-called contested convention or brokered convention, depending how you look at it, some talk about getting a consensus candidate that would come in. bottom line, it's going to be one of these three gentlemen, ron paul of course running as well. he doesn't have a chance at the nomination. but it's either going to be newt gingrich, mitt romney, rick santorum. it's coming down to rick santorum or mitt romney for the republican nomination. >> cnn political director mark preston, live from mesa for us. do not miss the debate, the arizona republican debate tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern. it's four minutes past 5:00 n on the east coast. an early start to the day by alerting you to the big stories. jury selection beginning today in an alleged church sex abuse scandal that rocked philadelphia's archdiocese. three priests and april catholic school teacher are charged with the alleged assault of young boys. a high ranking church official is accused of covering it all up. all five have pleaded not guilty. the international red cross is trying to negotiate a cease-fire between syrian forces and the opposition. the agency is trying to get food and much-needed medical supplies to besieged city of homs and other locations there that need it. >> voting is under way in yemen's first election in more than three decades. long time president hand the overpower back in november after months of really vigorous protests in that country. the vice president and yemen's now interim president is the only candidate on the ballot to replace him. five minutes past 5:00 in the east. we're minding your business now. greece securing a second bailout finally. the lafrj he's sovereign debt bailout in the history of the european union. greece will get an additional $172 billion in aid, in turn greece agreed to more cuts to spending. $431 million worth. how are the markets reacting. stock futures are up right now ahead of the opening bell. >> let's bring in christine romans to talk about that that. we talk every day about greece and the bailout. now we have a plan, but are we closer to having resolution? >> we are. here's why. because greece has now got the money. european lieders say you're going to get the money. they won't go bankrupt. they're going to make a big large bond payment and greece can move forward. they've promised more austerity and cuts in greece so they can deserve this. investors are taking a luge hit. >> bankrupt, default, same thing? >> it's basically -- at this point it is. this is the end of the road for greece. they had to figure this out. it was a contentious down to the wire negotiation. they've agreed to do something to -- with this kind of emergency firewall. so overall, leaders are hopeful that these kind of countries aren't going to bring down the entire eurozone. this is not without an awful lot of pain for the citizens. >> they've had smaller pensions, steep job cut, reductions in pay, they're going to have pay cut. this is why people are taking to the streets over and over again. here's another concern as well. this concern that cutting, cutting, cutting, doesn't remake an economy. greece still has to change it dna. it has to learn how to combine private equity, private capital with people's good ideas and have innovation, new business and it's got to grow. it's got to grow out of this long-term. otherwise, it's going to be in the same situation. market today are not really moving a lot on this because they wanted this deal, they got this deal and now they're looking for validation down the road that greece can become a new greece. could start all over after this. >> you know what i was reading this morning. it surprised me. greece is in its fifth year of a recession. >> it hurts. for those people, that's why they're rioting. they're saying what, you can't keep cutting our way and saying that's making the economy better. structural things have to be done. they've been fighting about how to do it. there's a piece called pain without gain in the new york times that a lot of people are talking approximate this morning. look, you keep cutting, cutting, cutting and ep says that we've seen over the past few years that all this cutting hasn't made anybody grow yet. >> i've never seen anybody suggest being someone told me and i thought it's crazy until i thought it through. how about selling some islands. >> when you start talking about getting rid of -- >> property. real estate. >> getting advertising on some of the big tourist venues. i mean, they have to think of everything, everything is on the table. >> is that something that might happened, selling greek islands? >> maybe leasing them or licensing them or getting -- >> i want the -- >> these are -- >> these are greek treasures. >> if it's going to drive this economy in tourism, it shouldn't get rid of the thing that will help it grow in the pew tur. >> for americans watching who say great idea, how about selling the grand canyon, how would you feel about that? that's what we're talking about here. >> they like to compare greece to the united states. we have so much debt too, could we be like greece today? we're very different economies. >> christine romans, thank you for that perspective. appreciate it. >> we have video that's unbelievable to watch. we always talk about first responders and what heroes they are. look at these pictures of firefighters desperately digging through wreckage. look how fast and furious they're trying to find people buried. this was a mobile home in oklahoma. it was shredded in a severe storm that blew through. the sheriff has confirmed for us that one person was actually killed in that incident. but, but the good news is they were able to rescue another person. the work paid off. >> good to see that in action. jacqui jeras is minding the weather for us this morning. >> good morning, ladies. those winds were really incredible with thunderstorms. it wasn't a tornado that caused that damage at that mobile home park there. we also had damage in kansas due to hail. take a look at these pictures. just incredible. it was like nickel-sized hail but it covered the streets, it covered cars and moved through very, very quickly. overall, the storm system packed a punch. but it really was a fast mover. this thing moving across parts of the great lakes and bringing in some rain into the ohio river valley as we take a look at the radar now. you can see this wintry mix of some rain and some snow as well. some big cities impacted by this too. minneapolis st. paul. this is moving out in the next hour. watching for improving conditions. any roads that haven't been treated certainly on the slick side. chicago for you, primarily a rain event that we might see mixing, very little accumulation will be expected. the other aspect we've been dealing with has been the wind. it's been incredible. not thunderstorm winds, we're talking about winds from the strong low pressure area. yesterday, in texas, take a look at what it did. this is texas. here's lubbock. did you guys see the haze over the top there. that light brown is dust. an incredible dust storm by this as well. we're going to focus a little bit on the west now. we have a powerful storm that's moving in here. this is going to be bringing in incredible rainfall totals and the snow levels are going to be really high. we're talking about 6,000 or 7,000 feet. we're very concerned about that. the avalanche danger remains extreme. temperaturewise across the country, staying comfortable. well above average for this time of year. back to you ladies. >> jacqui jeras thanks so much. are you planning a vacation, maybe a stay-cation. we're talking about $5 gasoline by the summer. people are forced to make choices with their family budget. >> go bike riding instead, right? 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if you're in new orleans, you will. it is 58 degrees there now. listen to this, sunny and 71 later. loving that. >> that is professor long hair. go to the mardi gras. in case you're waking up and not seeing your tv. that's a nice song to wake up to. exactly 15 minutes past the hour as we whistle a happy tune. want to get you caught up on top stories. here's a good one for rick santorum. he is now in a double-digit lead nationally in the latest poll. former senator leading with 36% of those asked. romney coming in second at 26%. also making news, this is new overnight. the red cross is trying to broker a peace deal at least for a short time in syria to try to get food and vital medical supplies to one of the cities so hard hit. homs. an opposition group is reporting at least seven more people including an infant were killed in heavy shelling by regime forces. sugar land is responding to a lawsuit claiming their negligence contributed to this. at least in part that stage collapse at the indiana state fair last year. dozens were injured and several killed. the collapse was caused by a combustof wind that was of unprecedented intensity and was also "a true accident or act of god "requesting. i suspect is in custody in the robbery of justice stephen breyer. the man used a ma shet toy rob him in the caribbean. the new jersey nets attempting to tame lin-sanity. i guess they accomplished it. the nets beat jeremy lin and the knicks last night at madison square garden. lin began his remarkable run against new jersey. ron williams took that personally scoring 38 points. jeremy lin had 28 points in the loss. not bad. let it fly. today is fat tuesday. people already partying in new orleans. we have live pictures from bourbon street here. you got eat up today. a dozen parades getting ready to roll in and around the big easy. of course, it is the last big blowout of carnival season before ash wednesday. every day is fat tuesday for me. that's all i'm saying. the arizona sheriff accused of threatening to deport his ex-boyfriend is talking about it and he's saying a lot. sheriff paul babeu spoke exclusively with our wolf blitzer yesterday. >> alina cho is here with more of what he had to say. >> wasn't it incredible. >> all of the story is incredible. all of it. >> what was most remarkable, at least to some is that the sheriff didn't shia way from any of the tough questions. he admitted to having a relationship with a man we're calling jose, a mexican national. spoke to our miguel marquez yesterday. the sheriff said they dated when jose was an unpaid volunteer running the sheriff's campaign website. that includes much of the social media, including twitter. he says when the relationship went sour, about a three-year relationship, jose posed as babeu online because he had the passwords and posted what babeu calls slanderous information. the sheriff said he never threatened to deport him. >> one, he's legal. he has said that. i have said that. and then in addition, this whole thing about deportation, we all know i don't have deportation authority. i have the authority to arrest. there were several crimes committed here against me in -- >> ald crimes? >> absolutely. >> he isn't convicted. >> no. he has a business and he stole my property and the images purported to be me. so also identity theft in addition to that. all i wanted done is for this to stop. >> i mean, he makes a convincing argument. obviously, this was a part of the story that jose did not reveal to our miguel marquez. presents a new twist. if you believe him, it's a stronger case for the sheriff, obviously. >> it's messier than just that. he's a rising star in the gop. >> he is. and obviously, a lot of people concerned about the political fallout. yes, he is going to continue to run for congress. he's running for the republican nomination in the fourth congressional district. he says he wants voters to judge him not on his personal life, but on his record and his love of country. that he did step down, however, from a very key role on mitt romney's presidential campaign. he was the arizona campaign co-chair, but the sheriff insists he was not forced out. >> explain why you decided to step down as co-chairman of the romney campaign here in arizona. if you've done nothing wrong, why did you step down? >> one, i didn't want this to splash over on mitt or any of the other candidates. >> what part, the allegations or the fact that you're gay? >> this controversy. certainly not that i'm gay. the romney campaign, and i don't think anybody should have a problem with my personal life and who incompetent. it doesn't take away from my patriotism or my service. if you asked any of the candidates that, i don't think they would disagree with that. >> it's interesting, the huffington post had an article because of that statement there, that he admitted he's gay that his career is essentially over. >> hope that's not true. >> where does his relationship with his boyfriend tan stand. >> that was one of the most interesting part of the conversation. kudos to wolf, he asked all the questions. babeu does not wish him ill will as he put it but believes the attack is politically motivated. the timing is suspect in his words. we'll have more of the interview in the next hour including wolf asked him what his stance was on gay marriage. lot of people now very interested in what the sheriff has to say about that. we'll give you his answer. >> i wonder if it's the statement about being gay or photos. photos in the bathroom mirror never go well. >> the anthony wiener looking photos. they never play well in the campaign. >> photos live forever. >> they do. >> we'll talk to the reporter who broke the story. it lives on. >> thank you, alina. it's 21 minutes past the hour. we're getting an early read on local news that's making national headlines. chicago and richmond. the chicago tribune here, gas prices rising at a record pace. you know that. more than $4 a gallon in some parts of the united states. analysts blame the hike on iran's decision to cut oil sales to britain and france. some analysts fear the threat could spark record high gas prices. they're talking $5 a gallon by this summer. others say that we're close to peak now. but i got to tell you, the tribune, burrow owe chicago normally has the highest gas prices in the nation but they dropped ten cents a gallon, which is below the national average. so good morning to you, chicago. there's good news. we're trying to figure out where is the lowest gas price to steer our viewers in that direction. >> that another thing that makes you miss home? >> no. not really. i just miss home because it's home >> let's get you to the richmond times dispatch. another headline. here's something the governor is getting mixed up in. that state is expected to pass a bill requiring ultrasound for women who want to get abortions. it's about to end up on the governor, bob mcdonnell's desk after passing the house today. he's voiced his support for the bill. don't expect last minute veto necessarily. on saturday, he said he'll review it in the final form if it does pass. a thousand people were rallying outside the state capitol on monday. the majority of the folks been asked do not like this. 55% of the virginians asked say no go. don't like it. that's 36% say they do like it. we'll see what the governor decides to do in the end. >> that's a tough one. it is a very tou