also here in the united states before arizona, michigan, and super tuesday. brand new polling is showing that we are in a virtual tie, though, in the desert. and reliving the lewinsky affair. staffers are opening up for the very first time in a brand new documentary. they are saying the white house was consumed by it for nearly an entire term. that documentary is getting some mixed reviews this morning. we're going to share that with you. and the president singing the blues, not over the campaign, literally singing the blues with bb king. yeah, get down. you're going to hear the rest of that coming up. we begin this morning with breaking news out of syria. opposition activists telling cnn two western journalists were killed in heavy shelling by syrian government forces on a neighborhood in the besieged city of homs. we are not naming the journalists yet. we are pending notification of their next of kin. we are working our sources on this story, and we'll be following it throughout the morning for you. again, two western journalists were killed in heavy shelling by syrian government forces in homs. also, in another area but a lot more violence as well, the american embassy in kabul, afghanistan, is on lockdown this morning. new protests raging across that country. take a look at the pictures. started yesterday with a few hundred people outside bagram, and now look, all of this in response to the inadvertent burning of the muslim holy book, the koran, at our air base there. thousands of afghans have amassed outside of the base. they're setting fires. they're venting their outrage in extreme ways, throwing rocks as well. u.s. choppers had to fire flares to try to break up this crowd. >> an official says some of the religious material was removed because detainees were writing on the documents to exchange extremist messages. still the united states is apologizing, saying that it was an honest mistake. general john allen, the top commander in afghanistan, ordered an investigation, saying it was not intentional in any way. >> journalist ben farmer is live in kabul, afghanistan, for us this morning. ben, kwet me to the crux of the issue here. is thissette going out of hand, or do american officials on the ground there feel they can contain this outbreak of violence? >> reporter: well, at the moment, it seems to be escalating. we now have three major protests in afghanistan. one in the capital kabul, one in the eastern city of jilalabad, and one close to where it happened yesterday. the death toll has risen over the course of the morning. there are at least 30 wounded and perhaps 5 dead. there is no sign at the moment that nato's apologies which have been very profuse, are having an effect to calm these people. the centers are all locked down, and transport staff has been put on hold. they're worried the anti-western feelings, which is very strong in these protests, would result in more violence if these protesters do reach the capital. ashlei ashleigh? >> what are they doing about american personnel on the ground there? we're in the midst of a draw down, but there are a substantial number of americans who are going to be staying behind in that country, and this just sort of foreshadows whatted can be lying ahead of them. is there any word of additional security measures other than the lockdown? our sincere apologies. that single, unfortunately, with ben farmer has just broken up. we can tell you this. there have been profuse apologies from the isaf commander on the ground, general john allen. he has apologized not only to hamid karzai in that country, he has apologized to the people of afghanistan. even the white house weighing in. jay carney, the spokesperson suggesting in a news conference yesterday that america is offering its sincere apologies for this inadvertent burning of the religious material. however, we all remember last year when a florida pastor burned a koran in protest. that sparked violence in that country that led to dozens of people being killed. a united nations compound being stormed. so clearly, this is a critical, critical issue to keep an eye on. i think we, unfortunately, don't have ben farmer any longer, do we? we've lost that signal. we'll continue to try to watch that and keep an eye on the developing situation for you. >> i also read they're going to do additional training now for this not to happen again so they can identify when it's religious documents and this does not happen again. we're hoping that will happen soon as well. it's five minutes past the hour here. major market milestone. the dow jones crossing 13,000, that mark for the first time in nearly four years. blue chip stocks up more than 6% so far this year. the end of the day, dow closed just below 13,000. up 15 points for the day. 12,965. the nasdaq lost a few points. the s&p 500 up just a bit. >> how does that happen? how does the nasdaq go down on a day when everyone's cheering? >> it has different components in it. the dow has just 30 stocks. gm, american express, 3m, ge. actually, i don't know if ge is in it anymore. keep that in mind. it's not representative of what's in your 401(k). that's the s&p 500 much that's up 8% this year. i want to look at the dow because this is the psychological one that everyone looks at. it crossed 13,000 for the first time last year since may 2008. guys, look how far stocks, as measured by the dow, have come. in may 2008 was the last time 13,000. basically the economy and the stock market crashed. the president took office, and then slowly, slowly, the stock market has recovered. it is up 63% during this president's administration. so clear lirbly, the stock mark telling us that corporate profits are recovering. remember, the stock market doesn't reflect how you feel. it reflects how companies feel. the companies feel good. they have a lot of cash in the bank. they're cautious about hiring. they're giving money back to their shareholders. not necessarily hiring, giving money back to shareholders, and things are doing well for the companies. a lot of you are asking me, wow, stocks are better. i'm going to get in. professional investors, when they're up 8% in several weeks, which they are at the s&p 500, they look at a milestone and think, hey, i'm going to take a little money off the table. i might sell some stocks. the rest of us say, hey, i feel good now. i want to buy stocks. you have to be careful. you have to be buying stocks all the way up, not just when it hits 13,000. otherwise, it doesn't do you anied good. this is an important time to remember what is your risk tolerance? what do you want your money to do for you? are you looking at your 401(k) statements? please do it twice a year. don't do it when the market is at 13,000. >> they're looking at the peaks, and we're looking at the dips. >> yeah. a number of people actively engaged in the stock market, it's hit a wall. they're looking for pull back before they get in. >> i still don't get why the s&p isn't up a little. it's that whole psychological thing. i thought it would have bled over. >> you mean nasdaq. >> is the s&p down? >> the s&p was down slightly, just a little bit. i kind of thought, again, it's a different measure. >> once it hit 13,000 on the dow, then there was a little bit of selling, this flurry of selling. i'll check out what exactly was going on there. >> my own personal finance person here. it's wonderful. we like to give you an early start to the day to look at the big stories developing tonight. president obama's plan for corporate tax reform is being unveiled today. it proposes cutting the overall corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%, and the effective tax rate for manufacturing to know more than 25%. officials say the changes are essential to fixing a system that is not competitive, unfair, and inefficient. in upstate new york prosecutors beginning their case in their trial of a mega bus driver involved in a deadly crash back in september of 2010. the driver is charged with four counts of criminally negligent homicide. prosecutors say there were 13 signs warning of the low bridge and urging tractor-trailers away from that route. today is ash wednesday. it ushers in the season of lent. begins today, and it's observed by christians for 40 days prior to easter. and a horror scene at a health spa right outside of atlanta. five people were gunned down at su jung health spa in norcross, georgia. the shooter then turned the gun on himself. in all, four men and two women died. we'll talk to a reporter live about that as well. we're going to turn to politics on the day of the big debate in the desert. there's brand new polling that shows it is statistically tied up in arizona. betem mitt romney didn't expect that. he is within 36%. within that margin, take a look. here are the numbers. rick santorum closing in at 32%. newt gingrich fell behind at 18%. ron paul really, really well behind at 6%. romney's four-point lead is again within that critical margin of error. >> and santorum is leading nationally as well. now people are digging deeper into his past, right? got to check out the front-runner. he's been forced to answer questions about a sound bite from 2008. this was dug up by the drudge report. listen. >> if you were satan, who would you attack in this day and age? >> there is no one else to go after other than the united states, and that's been the case, for now, almost 200 years. >> jim acosta asked santorum about his satan warning. >> as a person of faith, i believe in good and evil. i think, if somehow or another as a person of faith you believe that good and evil is a disqualifier for president, we're going to have a very small pool of candidates who can run for president. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live in mesa, arizona. it's really tough to be the front-runner, isn't it? >> reporter: it really is. this is the first debate in nearly a month, since our debate in jacksonville, florida, and so much has changed, especially for rick santorum. last time there was a debate, he was standing on the sidelines. this time he's going to be center stage with mitt romney. when you become a co-front-runner, you get a lot more scrutiny. we knew candidates would go after santorum because of his record in congress as a senator. romney and paul have been criticizing him as a big ear marker, big spender. now he has to go up against other things, like that sound bite you heard a few moments ago. you get pummeled by other candidates. get ready for the major leagues, mr. santorum. zoraida? >> what do you think we're going to expect out of him? >> i think santorum is a fighter. we've seen him, no doubt about it. he's a very feisty person. he may be able to punch back, maybe like newt gingrich did. remember in florida mitt romney went after newt gingrich after gingrich's success in south carolina. romney was very successful in those debates. we'll see how successful he is in tonight's debate and how rick santorum will defend himself. and how will newt gingrich react? he needs a breakout performance at this debate to reenergize himself and get some mojo back. this is not only the first debate in over a month, it's the last debate before the primaries in arizona and michigan and also before the ten states vote on super tuesday on march 6th. this is the last chance for the candidates to make a major impression on a national stage. >> did you really say getting his mojo back? >> i did say that. it's a little austin powers quote there. hope you enjoyed it. >> i did. thank you very much. paul steinhauser live for us. we appreciate it. and don't miss the last presidential debate before primaries in arizona and michigan and super tuesday, of course. cnn's arizona republican debate tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> who says you can't disco down if you're a political editor? who says? let's get you to rob marciano, who could possibly be considered the disco king of cnn. hello, rob. >> at 5:00 in the morning especially. we were pulling some moves before we went on the air. >> watch that hamstring. >> hope your mojo is moving along on this wednesday. we have showers rolling into chicago in the way of some rain and snow showers, possibly some wet snow piling up to an inch or two there. new york down to philly to d.c., we're okay. we're setting up, though, across the south for not one, but two days of potentially rough weather, especially across the southeast, northern georgia, northern alabama, and parts of eastern kentucky and tennessee today. isolated tornadoes possible, damaging winds and large hail. i think tomorrow will be a better bet for a more widespread event as some energy comes out of the rockies. more energy coming out of the pacific northwest. strong system today with high wind watches and warnings. could see gusts of 70 or 80 miles an hour, especially in the canyons over some of the higher peaks. with this will be rain, flood watches, and even flood warnings have been posted for parts of western washington, including seattle and parts of king county. temperatures today, especially in the eastern third of the country will be warming up into the 70s across parts of texas. 76 degrees expected in dallas. 47 degrees, even with the rain/snow mix in chicago. what does fall will melt away pretty quickly. 55 degrees expected in new york. 67 degrees in atlanta. even warmer temperatures tomorrow. fog in san francisco, if you're traveling through that city. i mentioned the showers in chicago, especially this morning, might be delays if you're traveling through that area. some wind in new york. in atlanta, maybe afternoon thunderstorms, as we pointed out. some of those could be rough. >> that's a lot of delays. >> we try to keep our bases covered. >> we appreciate you. thank you. >> thanks, rob. i guess you could say it's official. president obama has the singing bug. first it was al green swooning away. remember this? ♪ i so in love with you >> i had no idea the man could sing, no idea, until that moment right there. >> he had me at hello. now he's moving on, folks. he's stepping up his game. it's "sweet home chicago." he's singing for the second time in 2012. a little more hesitant this time. grabbing the mike with blues legend buddy guy and also bb king. talk about pressure. here's a few lines of "sweet home chicago." ♪ ♪ sweet home baby don't you go ♪ come on baby don't you want to go ♪ ♪ ain't no place sweet home chicago ♪ >> i'm a little partial to that "sweet home chicago." some say this is president obama's clinton saxophone moment. you be the judge. ♪ >> did i say saxophone? i meant saxophone. maybe it's more like president bush boogying down. ♪ i don't know. you be the judge. >> this was one of my favorite moments, though. this was one of my favorite moments of president bush. >> i don't know if i'd call that boogying down. >> letting loose. look at him go. i love it. i love this. he had me at hello although he didn't even say it. if i had to vote on all three. >> the first obama moment, i think was the best. >> so in love with you, it should have been on valentine's day, like i said. awesome. still ahead, this just in. chris christie says what's on his mind. >> he should just write a check and shut up. >> oh, hello. who did he tell to put his money where his mouth is? you'll find out. and, folks, listen to this. what could be the end of affirmative action as we know it. the supreme court takes up race as a factor in college admissions. we're going to talk to a legal expert about this. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. ♪ they hatin' ♪ patrolling and tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ ♪ tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty ♪ [ mom ] hi, there. why do we always have to take your mom's car? 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. got some breaking news into cnn just minutes ago. word that the two western journalists, including an american, have been killed in syria. the american is marie colvin, who reported from syria for us actually, just hours ago. and frenchmen remi ochlik. activists say they were killed in heavy shelling in the city of homs. they are the latest to die in this slaughter. there are thousands of people killed in this battle. opposition says 106 killed just yesterday alone. last night on "ac 360," marie colvin talked about the murder that was happening in this city that very day. >> this is the worst, anderson, for many reasons. the last one, i think the last time we talked, when i was in misrata. it's partly personal safety, i guess. there's nowhere to run. the syrian army is holding the perimeter, and there's just far more ordinance being poured into this city, and there's no way to tell where it's going to land. >> nick is live for us in beirut. >> reporter: there's very little we can tell you about how this tragic accident happened at the moment. a british newspaper is saying she has reportedly been killed in homs, according to activists they've spoken to. i can only say marie colvin, when i joined british newspapers 15 years ago, she was a legend then. and since then, literally every major conflict or story, her name has been above some of the most eloquent reporting you could have imagined to have seen. we don't know how this happened. there has been consistent shelling of the area where she was for the past 18, 19 days now. that's really all we can say at this point, ashleigh. >> it's zoraida, nick. we're taking a look at pictures of her there. she's wearing an eye patch. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: well, she wore the eye patch since she was injured in sri lanka in 2001, again, bravely pursuing reporting, and she wore that eye patch ever since. i mean, she's been to every major conflict from kosovo to chechnya to iraq to afghanistan. she's always been there. we should point out today also another western journalist appeared to have been killed, some others injured, and i'm sure marie herself would want everybody to know that another nine people were killed in homs today who were just civilians living there, killed by the shelling too. >> and do we know if her family has been contacted? >> reporter: we understand that is the case. i think that's one of the reasons why the "sunday times" trying to be cautious about when they released news of her death to make sure her relatives were informed. so, yes, i believe that has now occurred, zoraida. >> nick payton walsh live for us. we appreciate it. >> i worked with marie colvin. she was an amazing journalist, a consummate professional. we are all better for the reporting she has done. it all underscores what we have been saying on this program, any western journalist, any journalist at all who tries to make their way into syria is at great personal risk. >> i was reading a report about her. they called her absolutely fearless. it's 22 minutes past the hour. monica lewinsky, it was a scandal that made headlines when it broke 14 years ago, and it turns out it's creating another buzz again. >> it's a two-part pbs documentary on the clinton presidency that aired this week, and it focused on president clinton's affair with the white house intern. alina cho is here with the details. it got mixed reviews. >> supporters of clinton