We begin with breaking news. Pope benedict xvi resigning. Age and fatigue are the reasons behind his resignation. Here is what the Statement Reads in part both strength of mind and body are necessary. Strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that i have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. This tweet came from the popes account 23 hours ago. We must trust in the mitty power of gods mercy. We are all sinners, but his grace transforms us and makes us new. This would be historical. The last time a pope resigned happened 600 years ago. That would be pope gregory iv in 1415. The very first pope to resign was pope clement in the year 101, 1,100 years ago roughly that the first pope resigned. Many questions about whether popes in modern times think resignation is acceptable or not. Pope benedict said, in fact, made it very clear that being able to resign was acceptable and made this part of the Statement Released from the vatican, both strength of mind and body is necessary, and lots of questions, of course. We know the date he would be stepping down, which would be february 28th. Many questions about why now . Mep notice that the pope is much more frail in recent months, and the question would be unbelie unbelievably unusual. Lets go to Nic Robertson joining us by phone. Nic, lots of questions. Nic live in london this morning. A bit of a stunner. Was there any indication that this resignation was coming . Absolutely none whatsoever, and the last few months, the pope started a twitter account, not what you expect the pope to do when he would say his pope is deteriorating. The pope has looked deep into his conscience, this is a personal and profound decision that he has made with god in light of the responsibilities he has. And the other thing we heard from the papal spokesperson, which is interesting, because the question, is it the popes physical health or Mental Health that pushed him into this position . We have heard the vatican say very clearly that the pope has done this of his own free will, that this is dune legone legall pope recognizes the gravity of the situation there is a sense here that what the vatican is doing is the pope is very aware of what its doing. This gives an indication of a Mental Health deterioration than physical abilities. Yet there, is no indication he is canceling any appointments or a slew of appointments. It looks like his calendar is busy, and its as rigorous as always been. And the vatican has maintained a course of action that has really kept outsiders completely in the dark. One of the things that the vatican has recognized the position hes in needs vitality. It needs a level of energy. Certainly there are approximate many in the church that look to invigorate the church. Particularly in developed countries, falling numbers of people are attending church, and pope is in the drivers seat and thats why they keep up this busy travel schedule. Were hearing from the vatican that the pope recognizes he needs the vigor and wivitality do that. What does a pope that retires do . A retired pope could be a huge problem in terms of power grabbing. Im not sure if people are concerned about that as much today. Have you spoken about that . These are unanswered questions. One would anticipate he would go into retirement in the vatican, but he could go back to germany where he spent his early years, but i think perhaps what hes going to do, the pope has answered that to a degree and providing a life of prayer, and will he try and exercise any kind of influence over who will be the next pope. And these are key questions. The church is very much on track to go through the normal procedures of the pope, the cardinals, 80 years of age, about 120 of them and will decide who the next pope will be, and in that process. There is no space for an existing pope or recently retired pope. It seems he will be around continuing prayers, but not actively engaged in leading the church in any way, shape, that he has been recently. When you talk about 120 cardinals, new cardinals have been added to the mix. Cardinals from india, lebanon, philippines, and the United States. The creation of those cardinals was cause for lots of speck ration about the role and power of cardinals to pick the next pope. When that happened. There was a lot of talk in 2005 when Pope Benedict was elected to become pope. Perhaps it would be a pope from africa or perhaps from one south american nation where there is really a sort of real energy in the Catholic Church where it is still growing. The economies and countries growing. We may see a push for that. And it may not be a pope as conservative and traditional views as Pope Benedict. And developing countries to build the Catholic Church, to stop the deterioration and erosion that we have seen over the past several decades. A real possibility that those new cardinals could make a difference. And back in may, you have the scandal of the leaked documents. We heard rumors that maybe the pope would resign, and there was a butler that was leaking those documents. The butler was sentenced to jail, went to jail. The pope went to visit him a few days before christmas, and gave him his sort of if you will, forgave him for taking these documents. These were private letters between the pope and several cardinals, but interestingly enough, the butler is out of jail. The papal butler out of jail, and given a job at a hospital site. And built within the vatican grounds, and really the butler has been brought back into the fold. And an interesting process, and stole those papal letters, and the pope has made his difference, the butler has resolved the differences. Nic robertson with breaking news that the pope will be resigning. We know the date, but nots of questions why. Well keep you around and continue to talk to you throughout the morning. I want to get to alex. Much of the questions about the why the pope is stepping down would be questions of the impact of the sex scandal that developed the Catholic Church will be having. Lets talk about the documentary about the pope for hbo. He joins us by phone. Thank you for talking to us. Sure. A lot of questions is about the why behind it. The pope is old, frail, exhausted physically, emotionally and these are the reasons behind why the news that he would stepping down on february 28th. Increasdibly unusual. There has to be some impact of the sex scandal, a huge problem and enveloped much of the Catholic Church over the last decade. Yes, there has. I think Pope Benedicts reign has been design edefined by the sex axwbuse scandal. His office uniquely over charge the with overseeing this sex scandal. I think his his time has been defined by these issues. We were talking to Nic Robertson a moment ago about what would happen when a pope resigned. The last pope resigning happened 600 and some odd years ago, and what would be the guess about what could possibly happen . Especially in light of the Ongoing Investigation into some of the scandals. What happens when a pope resigns . You know, im not the person to act. You have to go back 600 years to get someone to pig that out. I do wonder if its in response for growing clamor over this, because in the wake of a new revelation, in los angeles, and the growing international knavor of the discoveries over sex abuse. It does seem this papacy is more and more embattled. Nic said the job of the pope is to have aggressive and intense travel schedule in order to invigorate the cath lish Church Overall and fight against the erosion of the church. How much of a role has the scandal played in that . Thats a good question. The man who has gone very hard after centers in the church, tried to uphold security doctrine. They have been questioning things like forced sell boise, gay marriage, or the role of women in the church. So, you know, thats the other aspect of benedicts role that cannot be overlooked. That is also one coming under harsher and harsher criticism. Lots of questions why. A documentary, documentary about the sex scandal. Clerical sex scandal in the church. Absolutely riveting. Thank you for being with us. We certainly appreciate it. Well take a short break and continue to follow the news about Pope Benedict xvi resigning. First time since the 1400s. Well update you right after this short break. Hey, its sara. Im going pro. 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They are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. Price is right no problem, they make you feel like youre a family. Get a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation and much more, 29. 95 after 10. 00 rebate. If you take care of your car your car will take care of you. Good morning, everybody. Welcome, everyone. Historic breaking news. Pope benedict xvi announcing to his cardinals in latin, hes resigning due to age and declining strength. He is 85. Will turn 86 in april. The last pope to resign is pope gregory in 1415. We didnt cover that one to be honest. All jokes aside, this is so unprecedented for all of us here. Raises so many questions. What happens now . Can a pope resign . A pope can resign. For a long time, the pope felt they should not resign, a father could not leave his flock. But Pope Benedict xvi, from the time he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he said a pope could resign if he felt he was not physically up to his the job. Talked about it in his book. There are questions about the why. You have alluded to his declining health and people said he felt very frail. And he gets gods strength through his mission, and he would they were cleaning up this at the vatican and Church Scandals that led back to the vatican as well. A lot of questions about what it would be. John paul ii, thinking about resigning, prepared letters of resignation, and both from 197. He turned 75 and 80, never went ahead with the resignations that he was thinking about. But it will be interesting to hear more as we understand why the pope the reasons behind why the pope has been called to resign, which will happen on february 28th. Other stories making news this morning. John berman has that too. Talking about the storm here. Families and businesses in seven counties trying to recover from a violent tornado that tore a path through southern mississippi on sunday. Ripping apart homes, shops, and causing damage to a university campus. 4,000 homes are still without power. 16 people are injured. And a storm chaser captured this terrifying sight. A funnel cloud in hattiesburg. That took the brunt of a series of reported twisters that just pounded the region overnight. Meanwhile, the northeast beginning dig out of a historymaking blizzard. Parts of the region, including the hardest hit state, connecticut, bracing for freezing rain. Blizzard dumped a staggering 40 inches of snow in hamden, connecticut. So much snow, the citys mayor says many roads there are still blocked today, at least nine deaths blamed on the blizzard, and as of late yesterday, 270,000 utility customers still in the dark. Now, another slippery threat in the east and south. Not out of danger zone. Alexandra steele tracking the threat coming in this morning. Good morning, john. Danbury, connecticut, seeing ice. A mix of ice and snow. All snow in pitsfield, mass. The good news, it will all move through by noon today. Freezing rain advisories, Winter Weather advisories, done by the afternoon. Yesterday, 15 reports of tornadoes in the south in mississippi, of course, that awful scenario the powerful tornado. February in mississippi on average, they see about eight tornadoes during the month. Not out qwest, but look at this. A rain tree. Today, the throat not so much isolated tornado but heavy rain. Yesterday and wednesday right along i10, i20 corridor, dallas to atlanta. And there is the potential for three to five inches of rain. Not moving anywhere. So a bigtime flooding. Thats the Severe Threat in the south. Less so, john, isolated tornadoes. Gusty winds certainly in the south today. Heavy, heavy rain. Alexandra steele, thank you very much. Big developments in the manhunt for Christopher Dorner in Southern California. A huge 1 million reward being offered for anyone who provides information that leads to his capture. He pledged to wage warfare against police and members of their family. He is called a domestic terrorist and its been vowed to stop him from killing anyone else. We will be joined by nick valencia. Breaking news, Pope Benedict xvis resignation. What happens now, what happens next . How is the next pope chosen and when . All of that, coming up. Stay with us. [ anouncer ] ihop is in time square to compare new griddlemelts to your usual breakfast sandwich. A lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihops new griddle melts. Made fresh and hot hand crafted just for you. Its like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. Just 4. 99. Its an epic breakfast sandwich. Meet the 5passenger ford cmax hybrid. When youre carrying a lot of weight, cmax has a nice little trait, you see, cmax helps you load your freight, with its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. A talking car. But ill tell you what impresses me. A talking train. This ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what its carrying, while using less fuel. Delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. After all, whats the point of talking if you dont have something important to say . I work for 47 different companies. Well, technically i work for one. That company, the United States postal service®, works for thousands of home businesses. Because at usps. Com®, you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. I can even drop off free boxes. I wear a lot of hats. Well, technically i wear one. The u. S. Postal service®, no business too small. Good morning. Breaking news. Pope benedict xvi has announced he is resigning. Scheduled to step down on february 24th. He is saying it is because of age and fatigue. Were getting the editor of cnns belief blog. Thank you for talking to us. We know that the pope can resign, canon law in 1917 made it possible. That said, its incredibly unusual. Yeah it is incredibly unusual. I was speaking with archbishop a few months ago in springfield and archbishop of miami. He said keep in mind, Cardinal Ratzinger when he was a cardinal had every intention of retiring. Archbishops are forced into retirement at age of 75 if they have not been elevated to cardinal. Before he became Pope Benedict, he every intention of hanging it up are, stepping into the summer of his life and enjoying retirement. He was in many ways a surprise candidate to the pope initially as we talked about. Forced retirement, many of them look forward to. I have talked to a lot of cardinals in the retirement age and when you reach that age, keep in mind, many have been studying to be priests since they were teens. They look forward to not being in that position. The other thing i have been talking about, pope john ii died in office. Not sure well see that from the catholic faithful. The mean reason, Pope John Paul, and much more theologian, and you talk about that he is much more interested in theology and doctrine than past popes were. Eric, from our belief blog. Well continue to watch what will happen with the breaking story. We want to get right to john with an update on other top stories. Carnival cruise ship is stranded in the gulf of mexico. A fire broke out on the carnival triumph. There are no reports of injuries right now. And another ship is expected to meet up with the triumph and tow it to port in mexico and expected to arrive there by wednesday. Late joe paternos family saying he bears no blame in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case. Paterno failed to stop his former assistants crimes, but the review of the report claims it is based on speculation and opinion, not fact. Sue talked about this with katie couric. It is so hard to accept, but when i read the first charge, i actually got physically ill. I couldnt read any more for a couple of days. Former fbi director louis freeh says he stands by the report and paternos own review of the report is selfserving. The medal of honor will be awarded to clinton romesha. He helped rescue the injured and retrieve the dead in a battle in afghanistan, despite a hole in his arm from a rocket propelled grenade. A little folk, a little fun, not as much flesh at the 55th annual xwramy awards in los angeles. British folk band mumford sons got top honors for their song babel, and the indy group fun was named best new artist. Everybody took cbs tone it down wardrobe request seriously. As you can see, i read the memo. The performances turned heads. Just you know timber lake, talking about on the web, chris brown, not an inch between and he rihanna, cows zying up watch the show. That has spent people into a tizzy that they are back together. A lot of people have a lot of opinions on this. Brown is the only one that didnt stand up when frank ocean won his grammy. We have a picture of chris brown seated. Clapping, but not standing,