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Tornadoes Shred Midwest; Syrian Opposition Forces Withdraw; Google's Privacy Changes Take Effect; Blogger Andrew Breitbart Dead At 43; Georgia A Must Win For Gingrich; Ohio A Key Battleground State; The Help Desk; Bank of America's Fee Focus

Aired March 01, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed.

At least 12 people are now reported dead after a powerful line of storms carved across the Midwest. The governor of Illinois declares the southern third of his state a disaster area today. At least six people died in the town of Harrisburg. And while people were cleaning up in Illinois, tornadoes struck again.

This is what daylight revealed in Larue County, Kentucky, this morning. At least two twisters touching down there overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN VAUGHT, SURVIVED TORNADO: I got up and took two steps off the couch and then me and two dogs I have and the trailer started rolling down the hill, and you can see what's left. And after I rolled five times, I mean, I can remember everything about it. And I was -- once it hit the ground for the fifth time, everything just -- I saw daylight and (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The state of emergency also in the tiny Kansas town of Harveyville, just a few miles south of Topeka. Tornado hit the ground there Tuesday. People saw straight line winds up to 120 miles per hour and headed for shelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a train. She headed to the basement and I headed to grab our daughter who's in bed. She's handicap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was down in the basement screaming at him, grab her, grab her, just grab her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We went down in the basement and all of the water starts running through the floor and flooded the basement, so then we came up through the cellar door and notice the church was all gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to cry. I was just so thankful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The resort town of Branson, Missouri, got beat up as well. Several theaters and hotels are damaged. About 200 people were injured in the Branson area.

Two more American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. It is the latest in the series of attacks against NATO following last week's burning of Korans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

Now, authorities say that the troops were gunned down by a suspected Afghan soldier and another man believed to be a language instructor. Coalition forces killed both of those shooters.

And Syrian activists say that opposition fighters have withdrawn from a key neighborhood in the city of Homs.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

MALVEAUX: It comes after weeks of relentless attacks by government forces. The attacks have left hundreds of people dead in that neighborhood. Today, the U.N. Human Rights Council condemning Syria's, what they call, widespread and systematic violations against civilians.

Just a few hours from now, Maryland becomes the latest state to approve same-sex marriage. The governor is going to sign the bill. Six states and the District of Columbia already allow same-sex marriages. Five others have laws providing for civil unions.

All right. Remember these disturbing images? These are disturbing images that federal regulators want tobacco companies to put on cigarette packaging. Well, now, a federal law requiring them violates the company's rights to free speech. The American Cancer Society is calling the decision bad for public health. Government appeal is also expected.

I want to go to Harrisburg right now. This is a town that is still reeling from the shock of a tornado strike and there is so much work ahead.

Don Lemon, he joins us.

You're at a spot, a new location now where I understand people are just trying to get through the day, they're trying to clean up and assess and figure out what to do next -- Don.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. And we were just a couple of minutes ago, Suzanne, in a neighborhood, a residential neighborhood. Now, we're in a commercial area and this is why I'm holding these, because this was Hibbett Sports. It was I say it was Hibbett Sports.

Look at the sign, a giant sign there. And you see all the things here.

There are footballs, soccer balls here. This is new merchandise still strewn about. That's really the least of their worries. They're going to have to clean all of this up.

It's really unbelievable to see how this tornado really picked some spots and then left others. Look, this is a display.

What I'm standing next to here, huge support columns. One of the columns from the store, I mean -- and it's just been trashed right here. You can see part of the -- there's a brick right there that goes with that.

If you look here, the folks who work here in this, this is part of the strip mall -- this Hibbett Sports is cash and carry here, too. You see them trying to get their things out there and looking for the safe and all of that stuff, they got all of it, they got all of it, so not to worry.

And you can see what they are going into now is really the safe and some of the things, getting the valuables out.

We were on that residential neighborhood this morning, Suzanne. And we spoke to some of the people there.

And one of the guys that really touched our hearts, his name is Jeff Street. He was getting ready for work in the morning. It was really early in the morning. He had his youngest daughter and two grandsons there and his wife.

And he says he's in the bathroom and, all of a sudden, he hears what sounds like a truck coming towards his house and he didn't know what hit him. Here's the story. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF STREET, HARRISBURG, ILLINOIS RESIDENT: You just look at this and wonder how you ever got out. A bedroom on this side, a bedroom on that side completely destroyed and the bathroom right there at the middle, and that's where I was and how the bathroom got left, good enough for me to survive. Only God knows.

LEMON: So, when you ran out, you have to come around from the street?

STREET: Yes, sir. I came out of that bathroom door, on that side, you can see where I busted it to get out.

LEMON: You want to go?

STREET: Crawled overall this stuff and came out to here hollering for anybody.

LEMON: And they started coming out one by one were you like, oh, thank, God?

STREET: Yes, tears of joy. I didn't want to let them any of them go, but I knew, I had to let the 5-year-old, too, because he needed medical attention.

LEMON: You were holding on to him?

STREET: I was holding on tight. I don't know -- I don't even want to think about it. And I don't know what I would have done if he didn't make it, I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, I've got another younger daughter and a granddaughter that I could have leaned on, but if had lost my middle daughter and those two boys, I mean, I don't know what I would have done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And if you look up on that ridge right there, that's where those six people died. That's where Jeff's home. Last we saw him, he and his neighbors and his family were putting whatever was left, whatever they could find in that rubble inside of a pickup trucks. Anybody thought they were loading that up.

Look at this. Show you the power of the winds here. Look at this truck. You see the under belly here, Suzanne, completely on its side. And then the steel girders from this building -- if you pan over a little bit more to the right bent -- bowing to the weight of all that wind from the tornado.

MALVEAUX: Don, we are so pleased that he is OK. His family is OK.

I know yesterday there were some folks in your location and they were worried about looters, that there was all that stuff that was there. Is that a concern or people just really trying to pick up their lives and leave that alone?

LEMON: It's always a concern. But there are so many people around -- not only media, volunteers, police officers, neighbors, friends, and family, one would be really foolish to come into this area and try to loot. They would get their butts kicked, to put it bluntly. If you came here and you try to loot -- there are too eyes and too many people who care about the people in this community to let anybody come in and loot.

So I don't think that's a problem and if they did try to come in, as I said, it would be over for them.

MALVEAUX: OK. Don, thank you. Appreciate it. Good reporting, as always.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're covering over the next hour. First, more bombs raining down on the Syrian city of Homs. Today, new questions about who is actually in control of a key neighborhood.

And the nightmare is over now for passengers of the Costa Allegra. The crippled ship finally makes it to land.

Then, Google watching you. What you need to know about the new privacy law that is in effect today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Senate just moments ago voted to kill a controversial proposal by Republicans that stemmed from the fight over contraceptive coverage. Now, the bill would have allowed employers to opt out of the health coverage if they disagreed with it on moral grounds. Well, opponents say the legislation gave employers too much power to deny coverage for workers.

The controversy erupted over an Obama administration mandate to provide contraceptive coverage even for workers at religious schools and institutions. The White House has since backed off of the directive.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

MALVEAUX: Heavy bombardment by Syrian forces in the city of Homs has gone on for almost four straight weeks now. Hundreds of people have been killed in city alone, including 22 killed there today. That is according to opposition groups.

Our Nic Robertson, he is monitoring the situation. He is in neighboring Lebanon.

And, Nic, we're hearing, first of all, and I want you to address this, that the Syrian opposition forces are now withdrawing from one of those key neighborhoods in Homs. That's where government forces have been focusing a lot of those attacks and now you've got the Red Cross, Red Crescent present perhaps being allowed in that area.

What does this tell us about what's taking place?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, the developments today are hugely significant. The Free Syrian Army, the militarized part of the opposition, say that they are going into a tactical withdrawal, they say they withdraw all their fighters now from the Baba Amr neighborhood, left behind 4,000 civilians.

They called on the International Committee for the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent to intervene and come and help the civilians. The Red Cross and Red Crescents say they will be able to get the ambulances into Baba Amr as early as tomorrow to help get to those wounded people who remain there. They say they were taking medical and relief supplies.

They say that they're not sure about the security risk for themselves and they also say that it's taken a huge amount of negotiations to be able to get to this particular point. We know that the shelling to Baba Amr has stopped and at least Syrian government army is now in that neighborhood that was so hotly contested for so long now -- the Syrian government army going house to house searching out people -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Does this mean, Nic, that Assad's forces, the government forces that have been attacking these folks, that they are essentially squashing this revolution? That they are winning now?

ROBERTSON: If Baba Amr is an example of the free -- if it's an example of the limit of the free Syrian army then, yes. What this is, is a defeat for the free Syrian army. They call it a tactical withdrawal. They say they were running of short of weapons and ammunition. And they made this withdrawal, to save more civilian suffering.

But the reality is, they couldn't hold out against what was a mightier, more superior, sophisticated militarized force and essentially has been crushed out of that area. We have no idea of the devastation and destruction in that particular part of Homs. And it is a signal from the government as we have seen they have done in Baba Amr, they have switched and will likely switch to other neighborhoods and other areas.

And we're already getting reports of other places in Homs already now facing renewed and heavy shelling. So the indications are this could have a ripple effect in other areas, Baba Amr particular isolated. The opposition, the Fred Syrian Army, just don't have a big base and stronghold that they can easily resupply eventually in Baba Amr.

MALVEAUX: Nic --

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Very quickly, U.N.'s Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Syria's bloody crackdown. Can this legislation do anything or is it simply a piece of paper?

ROBERTSON: It's a piece of paper. Talking to Red Cross, Syrian Red Crescent today, they said that it's taken a lot of very detailed and tough negotiations to be allowed into Baba Amr.

The government essentially here, let's face it, has only let them in when they crushed the opposition. They showed no sign of letting any supplies in to bolster any of the other opposition areas. It's just a piece of paper, Suzanne. That's all.

MALVEAUX: Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

Three days after losing power, the Costa Allegra finally reached shore. We're going to go inside the troubled cruise ship's journey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The Costa Allegra has finally reached port after an engine room fire cut power to the ship earlier this week.

Dan Rivers, he's in the Seychelles Island. That is where the ship is docked.

Dan, what is the scene for us? What's going through folks' minds? And what is next?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, the more than 600 passengers of the stricken cruise liner, Costa Allegra, are finally on dry land, many of them quite emotional as they set foot here on the Seychelles after three days adrift in the Indian Ocean following a fire in a generator on the Costa ship.

GORDON BRADWELL, PASSENGER: Well, it was a concern at the beginning because it could have been far worse than it was. I think the crew did a good job of containing it and keeping it under control. But it could have been disastrous, yes. There's no doubt about it.

So that concern lasted for about an hour or two, and then it was abated because we were assured that everything was OK. And it was.

RIVERS: The same company that owns the ill-fated Costa Concordia which went aground off Italy, the Costa Company had been holding a press conference today defending their action. They've announced a compensation package for passengers. About two-thirds of those passengers have taken the package up, which means they'll get money and a free holiday here on the Seychelles. The rest are flying out tonight back to Europe -- Suzanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

You've heard people sound the alarm on Google's new privacy policy goes into effect today. But my next week with Wired.com says there's nothing to worry about.

This week on "THE NEXT LIST," meet the founder of an economic initiative that serves 60,000 people in some of the poorest communities in Kenya.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN OGOLA, FOUNDER OF KENYAN HEALTH INITIATIVE: I founded community support group to empower the people in Kibera by sharing knowledge and also providing a platform for people to explore their talents. My thinking was that that was another way of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on next.

Google starts tracking your online movements today. Find out how you're going to be affected.

And then controversial conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart has died. We're going to talk about his legacy.

And later, countdown as Super Tuesday candidates focusing right here on Georgia. Find out why.

Google's new controversial privacy policy going into effect today. Now, the company is going to pull together information from you from all of its sites. What does this mean?

Dan Simon reports that privacy advocates are not happy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A senior attorney at Google, Keith Enright helped draft the company's controversial new privacy policy.

KEITH ENRIGHT, GOOGLE SENIOR PRIVACY COUNSEL: That's about proving relevance, about information that you've shared with Google to make Google products and services more useful for you.

SIMON: It does that by keeping track of all of your activity across all of Google's sites, like YouTube, Gmail and maps. It takes that information and builds a profile of you to display more relevant ads and search results.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll treat you as a single user across all of our products, combining information you provided from one service with information from the others.

SIMON: And that's what frightens privacy watchdogs. Simply put, they worry that one company will know too much about us.

Attorneys general from 36 states wrote a blistering letter to the company, calling the company's new policy an invasion of privacy. And others sounding the alarm that there's no way to opt out.

PETER ECKERSLEY, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: If there are things that you want to keep private about your life, those records are all in there.

SIMON: But Google calls that untrue and says the criticism is unfounded. Now, it's going on the offensive trying to erase a perception that it's violating users' rights.

ENRIGHT: It really is about delivering the best service that we can to users. Based on our experience with users, we know that a consistent, seamless experience across all of our products and services s going to deliver the most value for them.

SIMON: Enright points out that users will still have a wide set of privacy controls. Search results can be deleted or edited, users can decline targeted ads, and log out of their accounts and use Google services anonymously.

(on camera): So what's all the fuss about?

ENRIGHT: I think it's largely based on misperception. I think people think that something is happening that is not in fact happening.

SIMON (voice-over): Google may only have themselves to blame for some of the skepticism. Last year, it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission over charges that the company used deceptive tactics and violated user policy with its now shattered social network called Buzz.

And more recently, Google was found to have circumvented privacy controls on Apple Safari browser, missteps that only provided more scrutiny.

ENRIGHT: What we want to do is we want to deliver products that delight users and that they find extremely useful. To the extent that we deviate from that mission, we're going to lose users. If we're not delivering our services in a manner that's consistent with their expectations and what they're looking for, our competition is only one click away.

SIMON (on camera): Google knows it still has convincing to do, but thinks when people actually take the time to read the policy, they'll appreciate what the company is trying to do. At a time when so many of us are sharing our lives online, Google readily concedes that it's important we know what we're doing with our private information.

Dan Simon, CNN, Mountain View, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right. So, my next guest says, we don't have anything to worry about with Google's new privacy policy.

John Abell, he is New York bureau chief of Wired.com.

John, first of all, why not worry? It seems like they've gotten a lot of information from different places.

JOHN ABELL, N.Y. BUREAU CHIEF, WIRED.COM: Sure. I'm not sure I would ever say don't worry. We're in a world now where we are sort of blindly giving up information about ourselves and not really understanding the implications of that. The implications may not be horrible but we're doing that.

So we need to protect ourselves and the privacy people that say we should be worried are right, we should be cautious. But what Google is doing today is simply -- and I say that -- simplifying their terms and allowing themselves to use information which you've given them in their silos, in maps and YouTube and Gmail and putting them all together so that they can do the things that they said on your excellent set up piece.

So what's happening today is they are not collecting any new information. They are just making better use of it.

MALVEAUX: And where are they getting all of this information from so they can essentially put together this profile of you?

ABELL: Well, everything that you do that involves Google product. So if you have a YouTube account and you search for cat playing piano stuff, they'll know that. If you search for a place on Google maps and you don't clear your history, they'll know that.

If you have a Google Plus account, Google Plus is their social network, and you share information on that and post things on that, they know that. They also know by sniffing at your mail, this is how you get those ads on the side by looking at your mail -- the sorts of things that you might be interested in advertising.

What they are doing now is they're talking all of that. Instead of using the YouTube information for YouTube and the Gmail for Gmail, they're putting them together.

MALVEAUX: So, John, is there a way that you can get around this to avoid all of this information being tracked and put together here?

ABELL: Tons of ways. The first way is, of course, abstinence. You just don't use Google stuff. The second way is that Google make it is fairly easy, easier the most by going to a dashboard and your ad preferences and you can simply opt out of nearly everything.

You can also not have the same account in every place. I mean, you could be one person on YouTube and another person on someplace else. They will require you to sign up for a Google plus account, but it doesn't mean it has to be same one.

Browsers exist which allow you to block, suppress your web history. So the sky isn't falling here at all.

MALVEAUX: But you know what, John, there's a Reuters report that's out now today that says Twitter actually may be selling and marketing your information as well. Do we know anything about that?

ABELL: I just now saw the other Reuters story. Evidently, based on the Reuters story, what Twitter is doing is selling information that you have, once again, given Twitter. Your tweets are archived.

Some people put location to these tweets. So what's happening is these companies will take that information, go over it with a fine- tooth comb and figure out how to better market stuff to you.

The easy way out, again, is either abstinence or being careful about things like sharing your location and what you say in public. So there is an inherent responsibility to be aware that what we say out loud is going to be used against us.

You know the way the Miranda Rights tell you. You should be understanding of that sort of thing.

MALVEAUX: All right, John, thank you for breaking that down for us. Appreciate it because we're all tweeting.

ABELL:No going back, right.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks again, John.

Controversial outspoken blogger Andrew Breitbart died this morning. He posted the Anthony Weiner Twitter photos. He is also the man behind the edited video of federal worker Shirley Sherod. So did he define the new age of blogging? Howard Kurtz is going to join us to talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You may not know the name Andrew Breitbart straight out, but you do know his work. The conservative blogger was the first to post the Anthony Weiner photos. He was also the man behind the edited video of federal worker Shirley Sherrod.

Breitbart died of natural causes early today in Los Angeles and he was just 43 years old. Howard Kurtz is joining us via Skype from Washington.

Howard, first of all, we want everyone to know that we give our condolences to the Breitbart family. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, he called his death a huge loss for the conservative movement. And I want to listen, if we can, to Santorum's reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously, for him and his family, it's a big shock. What a powerful force. It's almost -- when you think of anybody out there who has more energy and just out there constantly driving and pushing, what a huge loss, in my opinion for our country and certainly for the conservative movement and our prayers go out to his family. I'm really sorry to hear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Howard, what do we think Breitbart's legacy will be?

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES": Well, I interviewed him several times and he was a passionate guy who was able to use the internet mostly to drive a very conservative message to embarrass liberal targets, including Congressman Weiner, as you mentioned.

And had he not had a tendency to go too far on occasion, I think he would be remembered more as a successful warrior on behalf of causes on the right.

But in the example of Shirley Sherrod, who your viewers may recall, he posted an incomplete edited video that made her appear to be saying racist things but her message was exactly the opposite.

Not only did he do that, but he never really apologized for it and that's the reason I think that he actually leaves behind a mixed legacy.

MALVEAUX: How is it that one man can be so powerful when you look at his role in the media? Was it because he was using online social interactions and messaging that way? How could he become such an influential person?

KURTZ: Well, 10 years ago you couldn't have had Andrew Breitbart become the figure in the conservative causes that he did because he would have had to get his messages out through televisions and newspapers and through magazines.

And that's a hard thing to do particularly when some consider you to be a fringe figure. But he started biggovernment.com and not only had his own work and causes that he was pushing, but he also provided a platform for other conservative activists.

For example, James O'Keefe, the guy who famously made the ACORN undercover videos that was also accused of being edited. But Breitbart gave these people a forum.

And then what would happen is the story would catch fire and those of us in the mainstream media often would find ourselves picking up those stories and giving it even a bigger mega phone.

MALVEAUX: All right, Howard Kurtz, thank you. I want to mention as well that we do have a statement from Shirley Sherrod on his death. She says, the news of Mr. Breitbart's death came as a surprise to me when I was informed of it this morning. My prayers go out to Mr. Breitbart's family as they cope during this very difficult time.

Howard Kurtz, thank you for putting it all into perspective. Newt Gingrich hanging his hopes on Georgia. Will Super Tuesday be a make or break day for his campaign? We're going to ask a Georgia political insider.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Super Tuesday is just five days away. The fight is on, both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum campaigning in Georgia today. It's one of 10 Super Tuesday states.

Gingrich is pinning his hopes on Georgia. His only win so far was South Carolina and that was more than a month ago. Santorum is challenging Gingrich for the conservative vote, 437 delegates up for grabs in the Super Tuesday races.

Latest CNN delegate estimate showing Mitt Romney with 181, Santorum has 80. Gingrich has 39. Ron Paul 38. Georgia here, one of the biggest prizes on Super Tuesday, as we mentioned, it is a crucial test for Newt Gingrich.

Joining to us talk about that, Kyle Wingfield. He is a political columnist with "Atlanta Journal Constitution." Great to see you.

KYLE WINGFIELD, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Great to be here. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: First of all, Georgia, I mean, 76 delegates, a big, big prize here. How confident are you that Newt can get his own home state? WINGFIELD: Well, that's what all of the signs point to right now. Certainly, Rick Santorum was here in Atlanta just this morning and also in northwest Georgia at a manufacturing hub, Dalton, trying to at least guarantee himself second place here. I think a win over Gingrich would be a real quo and I think all the signs still point to Gingrich winning this state.

MALVEAUX: And Gingrich has said himself, you've got to win your own home state or else get out. If he does not do that here in Georgia, should he pull out after Super Tuesday?

WINGFIELD: It's going to be very hard for him to make the argument that he still has a path to victory in this race if he doesn't win his home state. There are a couple other states Tuesday that he's contesting very seriously, Oklahoma, Tennessee.

But this is the one. It has the most delegates. It's where he lived for a great many years and it's where his biggest base of natural support is. So if he can't get it done here, it's going to be tough to see a way forward.

MALVEAUX: If he doesn't get it done here, if he ends up dropping out afterwards, where do his supporters go? Are they likely to go to Romney or Santorum?

WINGFIELD: I would expect most of them to go to Santorum. I mean, what we've been seeing lately the pattern is, Romney gets his certain number of supporters and the rest of the vote, the most conservative voters in most cases split between Santorum or Gingrich depending on which state it is, where they have some natural strength. So I would expect most of them to go to Senator Santorum.

MALVEAUX: We know that Mitt Romney has big donor support here in Georgia, but Santorum very much attracting the social conservatives, which is very important in this southern state. Who does it benefit more? How does that play out?

WINGFIELD: Well, on Election Day, I would expect the grassroots support that Santorum has been building to be a little more effective. Governor Romney definitely has raised a lot of money here especially in metro Atlanta.

He did fairly well here four years ago. I would expect there's a certain floor that he wouldn't fall below, but it would be a big deal I think if Santorum could get into second place here over Governor Romney and behind Gingrich.

MALVEAUX: Let's look forward to Ohio as well because Ohio really is a lot more reflective, microcausism, if you will, of how voters will go and which direction they will go for the general election. Where do we think the moderates are falling?

WINGFIELD: Well, generally in this race, they've been falling towards Mitt Romney. And he's going to be very strong there, according to the polls. Most of the polls there do have Rick Santorum still leading there. But, you know, he was leading in Michigan for a while, too, and Governor Romney closed the gap.

Michigan is not Ohio for a lot of reasons. There's a lot of personal reasons for that. Obviously, Romney grew up in Michigan and had a lot of close family ties there. So I wouldn't expect an exact repeat of what happened in Michigan, but I think we'll see a similar sort of conversation and fight (ph).

MALVEAUX: Sure. Kyle, are you like me, ready for Super Tuesday?

WINGFIELD: I am not.

MALVEAUX: Are you ready for this day?

WINGFIELD: I'm ready to have to make up my mind, I think, yes.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I am too. We're all ready. We're getting ready for Super Tuesday.

All right, we will talk to you as things develop and we'll have you come back.

WINGFIELD: Sounds great. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks again, Kyle.

Gas prices ticking up for the 23rd straight day. But a well-known oil tycoon, he says Americans have little reasons to complain. He outlines his plan to make the country more energy independent.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financials questions. Joining me this hour, John Ulzheimer is the president of consumer education with smartcredit.com, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is a personal finance author and founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com.

Guys, thank you for being here.

John, first question for you comes from Beth in Michigan. Beth says she and her husband disagree over what to do with an extra $500 a month. They've got an emergency fund that will sustain them for about two and a half years. They contribute 20 percent to their retirement accounts and $5,000 a year to their kids' 529 plan for college. So they want to know if they should pay down their mortgage with that money or invest in the market.

JOHN ULZHEIMER, PRESIDENT OF CONSUMER EDUCATION, SMARTCREDIT.COM: I think they should split the difference. Because there's really no perfect way to place that $500. So, split the difference. Put $250 a month in the market, $250 a month towards the principle of the mortgage.

HARLOW: Right.

ULZHEIMER: And you're really winning in both situations. You're paying down probably pretty inexpensive debt and you're also putting money at risk but could grow at a much faster pace than whatever you're paying in interest on the mortgage.

HARLOW: Maybe a little more in the 529 plan, too. Possibly 5,000 a year. College is expensive.

ULZHEIMER: If there's -- yes, if there's any left that they can contribute.

HARLOW: Yes.

ULZHEIMER: I totally agree. Max that out.

HARLOW: All right. And, Lynnette, your question comes from Sandra in California. Sandra is married. She's a stay-at-home mom with a four- year-old son. She said her husband is disabled and works full-time. What kind of life insurance should they get?

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: They probably should buy a term life insurance policy. They have to get separate policies for each of them. And, frankly, a lot of stay-at-home moms don't even think that they need life insurance. So she's smart to be thinking about this.

The fact is, if something should happen to her, though, her husband, who's working, would have to pay a whole bunch of services and for day care, a nanny, that kind of thing. So she really should look into life insurance for herself and for him. He might need a supplemental life insurance policy because he likely has one on the job. Insure.com is a place where they can go to comparison shop and find insurance, you know, options that meet their needs.

HARLOW: Yes. All right, thank you, guys, very much.

And if you've got a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

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MALVEAUX: Can you believe it, gas prices up for the 23rd day in a row. According to AAA, a gallon of regular almost 3.74 a gallon on average. Well, a well-known energy tycoon says Americans should not be complaining. He's got a plan to increase the country's energy independence. CNN caught up with T. Boone Pickens at a conference known as TED where experts tackle a broad range of issues and he discusses America's energy problems, possible solutions, in depth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T. BOONE PICKENS, ENERGY TYCOON: The United States has the cheapest energy of anyplace in the world. We are the cheapest. And, you know, if you're buying gasoline today in Europe, you're paying $10 or $12 a gallon. And we're crying about $5 a gallon. We're complaining like hell here in the United States and we don't even understand what the price of energy is around the world.

Yes, I'm Boone Pickens. I've been in the oil and gas industry since I got out of school in 1951. So I consider myself to be an energy expert.

The problem is we buy oil from the enemy. Five millions barrel a day comes from OPEC. We pay for both sides of the war. Everybody's figured that out and we're fools to do it because we have resources in America that could actually displace the OPEC oil.

I don't care what it is. I'm for coal. I'm for natural gas. For wind, solar, biomass. Anything in America I'm for. But nobody has a meeting in Washington and says, maybe we ought to look at this. They don't look at anything on energy. They don't spend any time on energy.

We have an opportunity now to get control of our energy destiny in this country because we have vast reserves of natural gas. When you move your trucks -- I'm interested in the trucks. I'm not interested in your car so much -- but I want the 18 wheelers over to natural gas. When you do that, you'll cut out three million barrels a day imports. Well, three million barrels a day off of OPEC is 60 percent of what we import from there. We can accomplish that with 18 million trucks. And you can do it within five years.

All you need now is leadership. Leadership will solve a lot of problems and we desperately need it in America on energy. We have no plan. We've gone 40 years and no energy plan. We're the largest user of oil in the world, 20 million barrels a day. China's second, 10 million barrels a day. Everybody has an energy plan but America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Bank of America customers may soon have to dig a little deeper into their wallets. We're going to tell you why.

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MALVEAUX: We have this just in. We want to bring this to you. This is the seven Americans who have been in Egypt, who had been held, but they were not able to leave that country. Well, we understand now that the plane carrying those American workers has left Cairo. That is according to an interior ministry spokesman.

These were folks who were working with non-profit groups inside of Egypt. They had been held. They had been charged. This has created a great deal of tension between Egypt, as well as the Obama administration. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton getting involved in it recently. Many people trying to weigh in essentially to get those Americans out of Egypt, out of Cairo, back to this country.

We are now learning that this has -- this impasse has been broken. That this travel ban has been lifted and these Americans are now out of that country. We're going to have much more on this developing story as we get more information.

Bank of America, the nation's strongest bank by number of customers, also considering changes to some of its checking accounts. Changes that could cost you money. Alison Kosik, she's at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, let's talk about the numbers. What do we think? Bank of America, how much could customers actually be paying?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, how much you're going to pay, Suzanne, really depends on what kind of account you have. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting and at this point Bank of America is testing fees ranging anywhere from $6 to $25 if you open up a new Bank of America checking account. Bank of America is testing this program right now in Arizona, Georgia, and Massachusetts.

But there is a way you can avoid the fees. You have to meet certain requirements, like maintaining a minimum balance, if you bank online, if you take out a mortgage with Bank of America. But I want to make it clear here, Bank of America currently charges fees for some of its checking accounts right now, but what's happening -- what's changing right now is that they're trying to change the fee structure of their checking accounts.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Also, the bank fees, they're getting more common. Not just Bank of America, but across the industry. Why is that happening?

KOSIK: Because the banking industry, Suzanne, it's being hit hard by the weak economy. Also new government rules that are limiting their fees that they can take in. It means they're making less money. B of A's annual sales, in fact, fell by the double digits last year and it said it's going to go ahead and cut 30,000 workers. So what you see are these fees on checking accounts becoming more and more common, not just with Bank of America.

Look at how many checking accounts have fees right now. In 2011, 55 percent of checking accounts had fees. Compare that to 2009, where it was 24 percent. So what you really see happening, not just at Bank of America, are these banks really trying to make more money, trying to make up for the loss of money because of those new regulations. And it's not just a Bank of America thing. It's an industry wide thing going on.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Alison, a real quick check on the markets. How are they doing today?

KOSIK: Looking like we're in the green right now. The Dow is up 51 points. Nasdaq is up 24. Some pretty decent economic reports came out. First time claims for unemployment benefits went down by 2,000. They're staying below that crucial 400,000 level. It looks like investors are focusing on the positive today.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, good news. Thank you, Alison. Appreciate it.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Zoraida Sambolin.

Hey, Zoraida, good to see you.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's nice to see you, Suzanne. Thank you.