but the math and money and more people doubting that that may be enough as we move on your "early start." good morning everyone welcome to "early start" i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you news from a to z, 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> alabama, mississippi, rick santorum a southern sweep. >> a heartbreaking tragedy in switzerland, 22 children killed when a bus crashed in the wall of a tunnel. that bus carrying 46 children, and six adults was returning to belgium after a school ski trip. a total of 28 people died, police are investigating now. prosecutors in alabama plan to seek the death penalty against this woman, accused of literally running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death. the girl was forced to run around the family house for hours as punishment for lying about eating chocolate. >> president obama and david cameron holding formal talks at the white house with the war in afghanistan, iran's nuclear program, syrian crisis and the global economy all on the table. a little fun as well. one minute past 5:00, rick santorum's stung southern sweep. the polls had him behind by double digits in mississippi and alabama and whamo, the real numbers came out. hard core conservatives came out and put him through this race. the final numbers from mississippi, rick santorum 33% on the leader board. newt gingrich at 31%, mitt romney just 1% behind at 30. >> it was a bigger margin in alabama, santorum wins 35% of the vote, gingrich beats romney for second place by 2,000 votes. romney did manage to win hawaii, 20 point win over santorum but he's not slowing down, not for a second. >> we're going to spend two days campaigning in puerto rico because we want to make sure everybody knows we're campaigning everywhere there are delegates because we are going to win this nomination before that convention. >> well, that is what you say, but here are the next three stops that you have to pull off on the primary trail. missouri, the caucuses are this saturday. and that will give a full 52 delegates to the race. puerto rico coming up this sunday, 23 delegates and illinois, a big one, primary is next week, on tuesday, with a whopping 69 delegates. paul steinhouser is live from atlanta, typing away at the poll questions now for the next three races. what a thrilling ride it was last night to spend with our cnn team watching the outcome, neck and neck, we don't have hawaii yet, still neck in neck. here is the question, what the heck happened to newt? >> newt gingrich under-performed and rick santorum over-performed. you'll get in the exit polls, santorum won. in alabama and mississippi, born again christians, that was the vast majority, santorum one. i joined from you a station outside birmingham, alabama, most people were pulling for santorum. our jim accosta asked if he will ask newt gingrich to drop out of the race. santorum said no. gingrich does not sound like he's about to drop out. here's what he said last night. >> i want to tell you a second what will become a challenge we will have three or four days of news media, why doesn't gingrich quit, these are the same people last june i was dead. they recycle it every six weeks. the biggest challenge is raising money we came in second, which is as much as we wanted we will get between santorum and myself we will get over two-thirds of the delegates and the so-called front-runner will get less than one-third of the delegates. >> teaming up with rick santorum, santorum not crazy about that, ashleigh. >> hawaii coming in, so all those races, so here's the deal. listen, romney may be looking at this as a third place finish but he still comes out with a whopping almost half of the delegates, still a good deal, isn't it? >> exactly. it's all proportional, and he won hawaii and a memerican samo. before last night or before the results were in last night, romney spoke with wolf blitzer, here is what he had to say about santorum. >> senator santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign and trying to boost his prospects and frankly, misrepresenting the truth is not a good way of doing that. >> why do you think he's a desperate end of his campaign? >> well, he's far behind in the delegate count, he's far behind in the popular vote count. >> this is before hawaii, hawaii just happened in the last few minutes. romney with more than two to one advantage. ashleigh, there was no hq last night, they were trying to downplay last night a little bit they didn't think they would win and obviously, they didn't. >> what is hq. >> headquarters. >> technical talk. >> you are such a geek. >> i'm a little bit of a geek. i appreciate that. illinois, remember we were saying about michigan, ohio, next tuesday, now all about illinois. >> then pennsylvania, aren't you? >> pretty much, yeah. >> one last quick question about the exit polling, that is this. that whole thing about the desperate end of the campaign it looks to me if you look at the exit polling, people said we really like this santorum guy but think romney is more electable yet we're voting by our hearts. >> a lot of people saying that, you're right on electability who can beat president obama in november, mitt romney is on top. >> i'm not so sure the strategery in that one. stick around you're busy this morning. paul steinhouser joining us live. >> we'll talk about exit polls. mitt romney outspent his opponents in three to one in alabama and mississippi, evangelicals and hard core conservatives had rick santorum's back. he made sure they knew he was grateful. >> you stood with a guy who comes from the grandson of a coal miner from a steal town in -- steel town in western pennsylvania he shared your values and would work for you and the integrity of the family and centrality of faith in our lives. >>r romans is examining the exiting polling to see how he pulled off the sweep. >> the comment is pitch perfect what we see in the exiting polling. i want to start in mississippi, as you know we ask the questions of people as they leave the polling place and what is kind of interesting is when you look at the breakdown of sex and gender you can see women went for rick santorum. 35% of women said rick santorum was who they supported. mitt romney for women came in second, 32%. newt gingrich at 29%. something that is interesting as well here when you look at the conservative ideology and see what people are voting on, it's so exactly deep south politics here. you see someone who considers themselves very conservative, rick santorum got this vote and newt gingrich came in second. when you talk to people who consider themselves somewhat conservative, that is where mitt romney peeks through and actually leads the package when you talk to people who consider themselves a moderate or a liberal republican, that's where mitt romney stands out. it's also pretty interesting too, you guys, mitt romney did well the high upper the income and education scale and age scale. that is where mitt romney had to break out. when you ask the importance of someone's religion in this scenario, you can see this is where rick santorum really, really rules the day. for those who said that a candidate's religion matters to them a great deal, that was santorum territory, 43%. deep south voters, women and men, people who make a little bit of money, middle of the income range, except for people who make 100,000 and more, these people went for rick santorum. >> don't necessarily mirror the rest of the country in that big general election outlook. >> no, here's the thing. this is such a great point that paul was making and you were making with ashleigh, paul, people say we think that mitt romney is the most electable but they are maybe casting their vote for something else entirely. they are cast kg the vote for the truest conservative in the south and that is something that may be a hallmark of southern voting because mitt romney is consolidating delegates but not consolidating hearts and minds in the south. >> was there electability in the polling. >> they think mitt romney has electability factor but voted for rick santorum. >> 10 past, thanks christine. a look at what is making top stories. new violence in afghanistan, one officer killed until a motorcycle bomb blast in cana kandah kandahar, where 16 villagers were massacrmassacred, this com defense secretary leon panetta arrived unannounced in afghanistan to speak to u.s. and afghan troops. the jury is expected to get the case of a former rutgers university student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate's intimate encounter and streaming it on the web. closing arguments rapped up yesterday. the roommate, tyler clementi later committed suicide by jumping off the george washington bridge. chevron is soping up an oil spill in mississippi. that company says 45 barrels of heavy oil leaked in the water around the pascagoula refinery wharf. they are using boats and boom to contain. this is an area the size of seven football fields. george clooney will be on capitol hill, testifying at a congressional hearing on the human rights crisis in sudan. he accuses the government of war crimes against civilians. so clooney and john prendergast will be soledad's guests on starting point. rob marciano has been busy watching the ins and outs of the weather story if you're traveling or looking to get outside, hello. >> good morning, ladies, if you're getting outside, enjoy. temperatures well above average. check out record-breakers, in some cases 20, 25, maybe 30 degrees above it. 84 degrees in st. louis yesterday. that is a record breaker. same deep in joplin at 83. little rock, 79. 7 0 in albany. today, 70, good 20 plus degrees above average, 7 # in philadelphia, same deal, almost 80 potentially in d.c. today, that is well over 20 degrees above average as well. across parts of the upper midwest, 77 in chicago, the heat will continue to bake the western great lakes for the next couple days, as a matter of fact, come st. patrick's day, that could be your warmest st. patrick's day in chicago in over 100 years. might see the green river bubbling up a little bit. the heat pump, sub-tropical high, this is a may scenario than mid-march, but on the west coast, feels more like winter, very strong jet stream plowing in the pacific northwest and sierra nevadas, san francisco through tahoe, you are knee fin it, snow piling up there. tomorrow, 70 in chicago, might cool-down get the jacket out, 60 in new york city to for the high temperature tomorrow. >> 60. >> pretty toasty. >> did you say cool-down to 60 in new york. >> how about that. >> it has been nice, thank you very much. >> i'm hoping we won't extrapolate 110 degrees by may. >> no, no. >> you're promising me. >> could be a good thing. 13 minutes past the hour. just in, gas prices rising for the fifth day in a row. >> look at your number, folks, that what is you're facing at the pump as you head to work and fill up. new national average is $3.81. gas prices have now jumped by more than 16% so far this year. so take that for politicians who think we're doing better in the economy, gas prices don't seem to reflect that. that is one measure. still ahead, moments of confusion and fear on a plane when a flight attendant flips out. [ screaming ] >> passenger said she ranted about crashing and september 11th. the 911 calls are out, we'll let you listen to them. >> gas prices, wall street was soaring yesterday and just might mean your 401 k is a wee bit fatter today. good vibes from the fed, we have the perfect person to tell you what it means. >> that was an irish brogued. >> canada too, dangerous for dick cheney? we'll explain. you're watching "early start." [ male announcer ] we asked real people if they'd help us with an experiment for febreze fabric refresher, they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] at do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] if febreze fabric refresher can freshen this couch, what can it do for yours? febreze fabric refresher -- breathe happy. ♪ made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. ♪ who knew being natural could be so delicious? coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. good morning, new york, a beautiful 50 degrees with the tower cam shot and guess what? rob marciano said it, warming up to 68. >> feels like it's 68 already. >> gorgeous, yesterday it felt like 80. >> enjoy it while it lasts. 18 minutes past the hour. time to check stories making news. here is christine romans again. a stunning sweep in the south for rick santorum, pulled off a six point win over newt gingrich in alabama last night with mitt romney finishing third and edged gingrich by two points in mississippi, vowing to win the nomination before the republican convention. check out this police chase in los angeles, officers pursued a pick up truck more than half an hour at normal speeds before patrol car performed a pit maneuver. the couple surrendered, and there was a baby in the car. the woman accused of helping to run a high end prostitution ring in new york, is free on bail. his client was vacationing, and not avoiding authorities. anna gristina was being held on $2 million. the encyclopedia britannica is suspending production. they will still be available in digital form, the publishers plan to add a new range of educational products. i know, when my mom and dad bought these. >> i'm saving them. do you have yours? >> oh, yeah. >> it's upsetting. i don't want my kids to be using them for school projects now because they are outdated but there is something about that. >> collector's item. >> you can't surf anything when you read an encyclopedia. >> you got that right. we turned out okay, didn't we? >> dead silence. >> the jury is still out. thank you, christine. 19 minutes past the hour here, we're getting an early read on local news making national headlines. we have papers from new york city, los angeles and houston. >> they are somewhere. >> the new york times, we have brand new scientific research published this morning that says 3.7 million americans are at risk from constant coastal flooded expecting in coming deck atds. the experts are blaming a rise in the sea level on global warming. the entire american coastline has some risk factor here with half of the nation's at risk population living on the florida coast. louisiana, california, new york and new jersey also majorly threatened. scientists say the nation must begin to plan to re treat from the coast. here is good news maybe i could share with you, they will publish the report online and you can search your zip code to find out what your exposure is. >> i worry if we need water wings, working in manhattan. you know whether we said we sort of have the paper, we do the -- here is my version of the l.a. times, a drinking water story. cows are popping so much and we're using so much fertilization that our ground water, especially for particular group of people in this area becoming so contaminated with nitrates it's almost undrinkable. the prices to combat this may be cheaper to get other water supplies that fix the nitrate problem. that is the story if you can imagine, we have so many dairy cows and using fertilization, getting in the ground takes years and years to do this and one of the solutions if you don't go with the cheaper form is to use that poopy ground water, nitrate-rich ground water to irrigate, you use nitrate-rich water yet again, those minerals go in the ground and they filter, you get cleaner water going in the ground system. it's quite a story when you think about it. >> if you're having breakfast, sorry about that. >> just the truth i'm sorry. san antonio express, the federal government is exploring more civil approaches against illegal immigration, they are unveiling a new immigration detention center in texas, does not look much like a prison. detainees held in suites or dorms with televisions and a private bathroom in them. you're taking a look right there, those are pictures, the lowest facility has a soccer field and other recreation computer labs with internet access. similar detention centers are planned in florida, illinois, everybody is in an up roar, $32 million facility and these are non-violent low-risk individuals and would be cheaper, maybe $12 a day to use ankle bracelets to monitor them as opposed to $122 per person per day in that facility. >> those were nicer than my college dorm. >> no kidding. beautiful, library. 22 minutes past 5:00 on the east coast, we like to get in your business. we mind your business. the u.s. markets big time rally folks, they are applauding for a reason the dow closed well above 13,000. it's the highest close since the end of 2007! >> do you believe it? >> dow up 8% this year. >> forget all the bad stuff that happened since 2007, we erased it all. >> the nasdaq closed at the highest level since the year 2000. the federal reserve says the nations banks passed a so-called stress test. what is that? >> i wouldn't pass one. >> you know how you get on the treadmill and run and they are checking all your vital signs to make sure in a controlled situation to see how you can handle the stresses that is what the fed does to the banks. puts them in a stressful situation runs them through whether they can withstand a bunch of things like a stock market crash, big crash, housing prices down another 20%, could they withstand 13% unemployment, what would the capital reserves look like, cash cushion, how would they be able to withstand running on the tread mill under those terrible circumstances for the economy and the fed came out and said most of the banks can do it all but four are in perfectly fine shape. it's -- they are healthy. they passed the test. their hearts are getting stronger. almost all the banks in the bail out banks, this is what it was for, get them back on feet. they want to make sure none will take the economy down and they did well. earlier the fed said the economy was getting better, there was a fed meeting yesterday. that helped things, jp morgan released their own stress test data and said we will be paying a dividend, doing so great, we're doing so great we will be able to give money back to the shareholder, that is when the stock market took off and the fed after the closing bell released the results for all the others, you will see bank stocks really kind of moving around a bit today. tech stocks also did well yesterday, the nasdaq above 3,000. you have the dow above 13,000, nasdaq above 3,000 for the first time in history, good momentum yesterday, really good momentum on the market and the s&p reflects the stocks in your portfolio, up 11%. led by technology and financial stocks. your 401-k has had a good return, we know the economy will look better, we know the banks can withstand a tough run on the treadmill and that's good for the economy. and we know that it's been a good start to the year. >> if the banks are doing so well can we expect them to