the health care law together, repeat, may be doomed and why that could topple. t the rest of the massive reform law. we have stunning results on the latest poll. it puts president obama head to head against mitt romney and rick santorum. what the voters are saying now. another millionaire moment from mitt romney. we have the latest on the fancy upgrade plans for his california beach house with its four-car garage and car elevator. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> it's looking more and more as if the supreme court will cut the heart out of health care reform law. that's the part which would require americans to buy

insurance if that mandate is found unconstitutional and we won't know it until june. it's an open question whether the rest of the law could survive. the court wrapped up three days of historic arguments today. cnn's congressional correspondent kate bolduan and our legal analyst jeffrey toobin, they were both inside during the oral arguments. let's start with kate. what's your take, kate? how did it go today? >> wolf, after three days of oral arguments and four issues being debated and more than six hours of debate, this historic case is a bit exhausting and i'm sure even for the justices and for the attorneys arguing before them. this all wraps up with still the same question at the center of this case. is the individual mandate constitutional and with that very question in mind, the justices today took a look at the question and examined if the mandate cannot stand and if it is unconstitutional, does the remainder of the lu neaw need t fall or can it survive? the justices were divided on

this issue offering very tough questions to both sides of the argument. just listen here to justices ruth bader ginsburg and antonin scalia, two ideological opposites on the high court. >> it's a choice between a wrecking operation which is what you are requesting or a salvage job and the more conservative approach would be salvage rather than throwing out everything. >> my approach would say if you take the heart out of this statute, the statute's gone. that enables congress to do what it wants in the usual fashion, and it inject us into saying this is good, this is bad, this is good, this is bad. >> reporter: it is tough to say where the majority will emerge as well as on the final question of the day with the expanded medicaid program in the health

care overhaul. the question was can the expanded medicaid program unfairly step on states' rights and requiring that they take on more cost in paying for and covering this program? >> it's very important to note at this point, wolf, the real work begins. the justices will meet in just a few days to take a vote in private on where they stand on these four issues and then the arduous task of writing the final opinion on these four issues begins and not until we get that final written opinion will we actually have the final opinion of the high court on this case, wolf. >> despite the clues we won't know until mid-june, maybe the end of june when we'll get that final decision from these nine u.s. supreme court justices. all right, kate, thanks very much. let's digga i little bit deeper now with someone who has been closely watching the supreme court for many years. we're talking about our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. jeff, you said yesterday after the second round of oral

arguments it was a train wreck for the obama administration. what do you think of this third and final round of arguments heard today? >> think it's a possibility it might be a plane wreck as well. >> why? >> because i thought this morning went very badly for the obama administration. can you cut the heart out? can you cut the individual mandate and what else can you preserve? anthony kennedy asked at least ten questions based on the premise that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. now it may be that he is just doing that as an intellectual exercise, but it sure sounded to me like he was trying to figure out what happens after you find the individual mandate unconstitutional because he, the swing vote, had already reached that conclusion. but even more surprising, there were several justices starting with antonin scalia, but not only him who were very openly suggesting that the whole law had to go, all 2400 pages and

going into this on monday, the idea that it was a serious possibility that this entire law would be invalidated with something that i thought was a remote possibility, but doesn't appear -- it's not a done deal by any mean, but it is certainly a possibility after listening to them. >> antonin scalia, his point and he has a lot of influence on that court, his point is in order to pay for all of these benefits you to have the mandate, and he doesn't want the supreme court to legislate, if you will. he said if you take the heart out of this, let the congress go back to the drawing boards and come back with a plan. >> anthony kennedy made a very similar point. he said it's not for us to decide what the important parts of this law are. that would be juddible activism. now, he also made other comments that suggested perhaps a different view, but again, he talked that way. chief justice roberts, at times, talked as if well, we don't want to declare unconstitutional parts of the law that are

clearly appropriate as everyone agrees, but at other times he said why should we be put in the decision of deciding what's good and what's bad? so there are some votes to invalidate the whole law and the idea that that's a possibility is strange and big deal. >> we've had many conversations before these three days of oral arguments and you seem to have always been convinced that in the end the justices would uphold the law you certainly didn't think they'd reject the mandates and kill the other provisions and all of the other benefits from this health care law. so you've basically gone 180 degrees differently now than you were before monday. >> based on what i heard in the courtroom, absolutely. if you look at the records of these justices and if you look attant nint scalia having written an opinion upholding the law banning medical marijuana under the commerce clause and a very expansive definition of the commerce clause you would think

that he would be more sympathetic to this law, but you would be wrong because he was not sympathetic to this law at all. >> did the solicitor general, the lawyer representing the obama administration, as you suggested yesterday didn't do a great job. he did a poor job. >> yes, i did. >> did he do a better job today? >> he did. in fact, the last hour was the best hour for the obama administration. the issue before the court was the expansion of medicaid which was part of the law where the federal government is insisting that the states cover more poor people under medicaid is that a violation of state's rights? >> i don't know how the court will come out, but certainly the obama administration has a fighting chance on that issue and don virili had a much better day today and i don't know how that will come out, but certainly, frankly if i had to bet today i would say they'd uphold that part of the law give friend comments of the justices.

>> you thought he had solid days? >> when you think about what paul clement had to cover, he was the solicitor general under the bush administration. it was really an extraordinary piece of lawyering by him. i thought he did a good job. he had tough questions and didn't pervade anybody, but overall an amazing performance. >> glad you're here. don't go too far away. we have more questions later. our latest poll shows president obama coming in with double digit leads over mitt romney and rick santorum in matchups. the cnn/orc poll has obama as the pick of 54% of registered voters across the united states compared to 43% for romney. obama tops santorum by a very similar 55-42%.

our chief political analyst gloria borger is here and the president's numbers seem to be improving. what's behind this? >> it seems to me, wolf, when you look at these double-digit leads that clearly the republican primaries have been better for president obama than they were for the republican candidates when it comes to the general election. when you dig deeper, that the president's approval rating is 50% and that was the first time since last may after saurm was killed, but most of all, wolf, when you look at our polls, the people seem to think the economy is taking a right direction. take a look at this. we asked american, republicans and democrats, economic conditions are good. when you look back at january 2009, when barack obama was inaugurated, only 13% thought so. bottomed out in september 2011.

now up to 31%. now that's not great. only 31% of americans think economic conditions are good, but it's a lot better than it was back when the president was inaugurated. so there is a sense of optimism out there, and of course, that's going to benefit president obama. >> we are now in the fourth year of the first term of this president's administration. >> that's right. >> we asked, who did the american public think was more responsible for the country's economic problems right now? this surprised me. bush and the republicans, 56%. only 29% blamed obama and the democrats and that's a pretty significant number. >> it is, and it surprised me as well, but at the start of this administration remember barack obama used to like to say that george w. bush drove the economy into a ditch. at a certain point after about a year or so he had to stop saying that because it seemed a little whiney.

even though he stopped saying it, it certainly seems to me like it sunk in. take a look at this, we called out independent voters here, asking that same question that you just raised. who is more responsible for the country's economic problem? and you see 54 to 26, almost mirroring the public at large, and elections are decided by these swing, independent voters and they are blaming the republicans. >> we also looked at the enthusiasm of democrats and republicans. >> enthusiasm important because it is such a predictor of turnout and when we asked who is extremely or very enthusiastic about voting in november. we always presumed republicans were enthusiastic and you can see they remained enthusiastec. let's go back to october, 2011, before the primaries. 64% of republicans were enthusiastic. now that's down and democratic

enthusiasm has remained about the same, but after the primary process you see republican voters not as enthusiastic. that's not a great sign for the general election and turnout. again, this is just a snapshot. anything can change. republicans can coalesce around their nominee, presumably, mitt romney. right now they've lost a bit of their get up and go and vote. >> you still have plenty of time to raise that enthusiasm level. thanks very much. a cnn exclusive. we have satellite pictures of a launchpad where north korea says it is preparing to file a long-range missile. the u.s. is already retaliating. stand by. newt gingrich downsizing and insisting he's in the race until the end. why he's cutting back on his campaign. and the latest on mitt romney's plans to expand one of his homes by adding a car elevator. can he avoid what some are

calling another millionaire moment. mpting choices like lobster lover's dream or maine lobster and shrimp. but only for a short time. now at red lobster. i'm laura mclennan and i sea food differently.

let's go to jack. he's got "the cafferty file." there's dramatic change under way at the nation's colleges and universities. in an effort to attract more students and improve the financial bottom line, a lot of the schools are cutting tuition and graduating students faster. cnn money reports that some private colleges are cutting tuition by more than 20%. others are offering three-year degree programs, of course, that means fewer classes. some experts worry these fast-track degrees are a bad idea that it would short change students in reading and writing, something you should know how to do when you're in college. the cost of attending college, through the roof. tuition, room and board rising

much faster than the rate of inflation for years. the average tuition at four-year private colleges now stands at $29,000 a year. that's the average. so the savings in finishing in three years than four ain't chump change. it's estimated the student loan debt is more than $1 trillion. that kind of debt forces people to postpone decisions like buying a home and that can slow the housing recovery. meanwhile, a lot of these young graduates are not buying homes because they're not moving out. they get out of college and move back in with mom and dad because they can't find a job. a recent pew poll shows 20% of young adults between the ages of 35 are livering in their parents' home since the 1950s. it shoots up 23% for people younger than 25. here's the question, is paying less tuition for a three-year college degree a good idea? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and

post on the facebook page. i had no idea, wolf, that many young people were moving back home into their parents' houses. >> i had no idea either. it's a good point. i'm anxious to hear from our viewers. thank you, jack. let's get to a cnn exclusive. we have pictures on the activity on the launchpad where north korea says it will fire a long-range rocket and the united states is hitting north korea where it hurts in response to the planned launch. let's go to barbara starr. tell viewers what's going on. >> wolf, we are often talking about the threats for north coria, but this time the entire asia-pacific region and the u.s. may be facing a new crisis. >> all eyes now this launchpad in north korea where the regime says it will fire a long-range missile carrying the satellite in mid-april. this new digital globe satellite image exclusively obtained by cnn shows increased activity.

you can see trucks and the assembly crane on the launchpad. united nations resolutions prohibit north korea from firing long-range missiles. >> north korea had agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches. during those discussions, the united states made it very clear that a satellite launch would be a deal breaker. >> the u.s. has stopped promised food aid in the wake of north korea violating the ban. >> you have now no confidence that the monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the food assistance goes to the starving people and not the regime elite. >> the first stage of the rocket will land in the yellow sea. the second stage off the east coast of the philippines, but it could be a disaster in the making. north korean missile technology is highly unreliable. >> i don't know if we have any confidence on the stability of the missile or where the actual impact will be. >> so depending where the missile goes, the pentagon

calculates the missile or debris from it could fall on south korea, japan, okinawa, the philippines and indonesia. there could be casualties. on his recent trip to the region, president obama tried to convince pyongyang to abandon its plans. >> by now it should be clear. your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek. they have undermined it. >> and another threat emerging. u.s. officials say north korea has now trained computer hackers and that they have been used against u.s. and south korean military, government and private sector targets, wolf? >> barbara, thanks very much. huge ramifications as we know. >> meanwhile, in the world of politics, newt gingrich lays off a huge chunk of his staff, but the financially strapped

candidate says it's a good thing. stay tuned and while the gingrich campaign struggles with finances, mitt romney may have a different money problem right now. the story of his car elevator. that's right. there are elevators for cars. mitt romney wants one. stand by. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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mary snow is monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now including some new details coming in about the pope's last day in cuba. mary, what's going on? >> wolf, after celebrating mass in havana, pope benedict had a meeting with former cuban leader fidel castro. castro had requested a meeting with him despite saying cuba's political system no longer corresponds with reality. the pope met with fidel's brother, and hugo chavez who is there for cancer treatment. nike is -- the trade for tim tebow happened at a rare time when no company has the rights to sell licensed nfl apparel with the team logo and player name on it. that's because the right to sell apparel is switching from reebok

to nike, but because of the license, it doesn't actually start until april. and the winner for friday's mega millions jackpot will behalf way to becoming a billionaire. the winnings are now estimated at $500 million who is easily an all-time mega millions record, beating the previous record by over $100 million. now, before you get too excited, keep in mind that the odds of winning are 176 million to 1. wolf, there's a lot of early retirement drains out there despite those odds. >> maybe it's time for me to buy one of those tickets. i never do, but those odds are pretty steep, but i'm sure a lot of people will buy those tickets. thanks very much. >> is it another millionaire moment as his critics say for mitt romney? the latest plans to upgrade one of his homes with an elevator for his cars. our latest poll puts president obama head to head against rivals in a hypothetical

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i'm wolf blitzer. here are some of the stories we're working on for our next hour. a jetblue pilot has a scary in-flight meltdown. were there any warning signs about his mental health? and it turns out that a popular drink of starbucks has a surprising ingredient. bugs. stand by. you're in "the situation room." unable to gain ground on the leaders in the republican race, newt gingrich is cutting back on his campaign, but he insists the campaign will go on. cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta is joining us now from georgetown university where the former speaker is getting ready to deliver a speech. what's the latest? >> reporter: wolf, that's right. newt gingrich is getting ready to talk to students here at orangetown university within the hour. it is a sign that his campaign

is not over, but it is different. his campaign advisers say the campaign is getting leaner, but not meaner. newt gingrich, who once welcomed the tag grandiose is downsizing his staff, but he insists he's not shrinking away. >> it's exactly why we're downsizin downsizing. and it's for the same reason gingrich is charging his supporters $50 to have his picture taken with them? >> it's part of the reality and the tax flow is lower than we'd like it to be, and we're doing appropriate things to be able to campaign. >> hours to cut back on his staff, he told reporters he was staying in the race. should mitt romney fall short of the 844 delegates needed to clench the nomination. >> that's why you voted for people other than romney. >> the former speaker softened

his rhetoric on his one-time nemesis. >> i will support him and i will be delighted to do everything i can to help defeat barack obama. >> it was quite a departure. >> you know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. >> after the romney campaign in a pro-romney super pac that led gingrich to quote a new catch phrase. >> gingrich came back from the dead and won south carolina only to get clobbered again in florida, that and his ill-advised talk of a colony. >> we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. >> he never regained his momentum. >> running for president is not easy. >> gingrich's chief of staff says in spite of the bitter battle with romney, the focus is now on the president. >> is that something that we'll be seeing more of? >> absolutely. the moment that obama is caught on tape trying to cut a deal

with russia so that he can get reelected, that changed the ball game for newt gingrich. obama is the person that we need to beat. >> gingrich's campaign will also be known for its detours and will stay on the hunt for more delegate, and he's leaving the gop cage fight to rick san toto and romney. romney who picks up the official endorsement of george h.w. bush told jay len oh the longer the battle, the longer the odds. >> i think if we would have waited until august it would make it tougher in replacing our president. >> reporter: the subject of gingrich's speech in georgetown is how privatizing social security benefits would be beneficial to younger workers. it's a fitting subject, you might say for republicans when talking to young people. it sounds like newt gingrich is

back on the circuit and his advisers say it's all a part of the next stage of his campaign and he's focusing on big ideas and not the fight with rick san tour up. i talked to a campaign adviser and they're relishing the prospect of this one-on-one thing they have with mitt romney and talking about that revelation that mitt romney is adding a carell vart to his home, in florida, it doesn't like that bowling balls between car elevators. >> we'll stay in touch with you, jim acosta. it may be another millionaire moment taking flack over word that he's renovating one of his houses and adding an elevator for his cars. our senior correspondent joe johns is here. give us some context. what's going on, john? >> as you know, mitt romney has said he's been very successful and he's not apologizing for it and frankly, nobody's asking him

to, really. the only thing he can say about the plans for his new house on the west coast is wow! mitt romney's reputation as mr. money bags just stepped up a notch with the latest reports on the big upgrade on his beach house south upscale and amazingly beautiful la jolla, california, near san diego. it goes all of the way back to 2010 as first reported by a san diego newspaper, romney puts in renovation plans basically to raze his already multi-million dollar house and it's only 3,000 square feet and replace it with an 8,000 square foot house with a gigantic basement. one of the distinguished features according to politico which broke the story nationally, a four-car garage with an elevator for the cars. >> they're proposing a full elevator solution that the entire floor of the garage is essentially the floor, the elevator, if you will. that entire floor descends down into the basement level and then

from above there is a second element that actually drops down from the celling, and then allows two new cars to pull into the garage. so, i would say it's fair to characterize it as a car elevator. a project so complex san diego city records show that mitt romney hired a lobbyist to push it through the permitting process, but la kava makes the point that the people who have the money to live out on this kind of a coast this kind of renovation is no big deal. >> how remarkable is how unremarkable the application and proposal was. >> romney has gotten bad publicity because of how rich it makes him look like when he said his five drives two cadillacs and not a fans dough for the california beach house. though you condition seed it's not how everybody lives. >> i am a rabid capitalist, and if -- if you want to have an

elevator for your car and you can afford it, have an elevator for your car. i mean, have fun. now, if you're running for president, there's not a lot of people out there that can relate to that. >> reporter: the santorum also said there's nothing wrong with making a lot of money, but he does question the hiring of a lobbyist to push it through. matthew pearson told us he's really a land use lawyer. what he does is very different from what the state considers lobbying at the state level, but what everyone wants to know is how much does it cost to get a sub trainian elevator or get a car lift installed? >> it costs about $45,000 and the most expensive is $100 reached out to a number of the spokespeopleas to whether he will continue and go forward with the renovation while the

campaign is under kay or if he would put it on hold. >> if he knew about the architects and others when he got himself involveded in that. it's a question we should check. >> very good question, too. >> we just learned about romney's carell vart, but how will it play out there on the campaign trail? i'll discuss that with our experts coming up in our strategy session. we have a brand new poll that shows republican front-runners losing big time to president obama? does it spell trouble for the republicans in a general election? we'll assess that as well. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists...

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let's get right to our strategy session. joining us, maria cardona and republican strategist and contributor mary matalin. let me start with you. you heard joe john's piece. two words the presidential candidate never wants to hear, car elevator. how much of a problem potentially is this for mitt romney? >> it is zero problem. in that neck of the woods you add a car lift to reduce your

footprint. it's an environmental thing and a zoning thing as joe johns was implicit in joe johns' reporting. furthermore, joe johns' reporting is correct and it costs between $40,000 and $100,000, including how many job, someone to assemble the parts, someone to deliver the parts and someone toen stall the lift, someone to service the lift. this is how capitalism works. rich people buy things and they create lots of jobs so every time the democrats bring up something like this shea show how detached they are, not mitt romney. >> that's a good explanation or is it just spin, what do you think? maria. >> i think it was a really good effort on mary's part. yes, it will hurt mitt romney not because of this one incident, wolf because it goes to a huge pattern. americans already dislike romney. they already distrust him. they already see him as someone who is completely out of touch with what middle-class families and working-class families are

going through and when you add in the car elevator thing no matter how you try to elle explain it away, it adds to that perception and it's the perception that's hurting romney and it's not this one-time car elevator thing. this is not somebody who will be able to get the kinds of problems that middle class families are going through and when people elect a president they go with their gut and at the very gut level right now, all polls show that they don't see mitt romney as someone who understands them and that's a big problem. >> let's take a look at the cnn poll which we released this hour. we asked about this hypothetical matchup and governor romney who registered voters, democrats, republicans and liberal, conservatives and independents and who would they vote for? 54% said obama. 43% said romney. this, potentially is a problem for the gop nominee if he, in fact, becomes the nominee. >> there is a reason why we always preface everything if the

election was held today. the election will be held over eight months from now. we're in the middle of a primary. we haven't had the convention and the mano a mano conference and we haven't had the consistented ideas in the campaign. the last two democratic presidents and obama at this time was still locked into a prime ear and bill clinton was in third place and these are not relevant numbers. illustrative numbers are obama's in the battleground states and they've yet to break the 50% threshold. so i've never been in an election in 30 years where the primary numbers were quantitative to the general election numbers. so let's have this conversation after labor day where it will have some meaning. >> there's still a lot of time, maria, between now and labor day, for these numbers to change dramatically and we see how quickly these numbers can change. >> this, i completely agree with mary. look, these numbers are great and i love them and i'm sure the campaign loves them and the

white house loves them, but they understand the reality. we are months away from the election and this is just a snapshot in time. hopefully by labor day these numbers will be better for obama, but they certainly can't bank on that and that's why obama's out there every single day talking about how he's going create jobs and talking about how he's going to help those middle-class voters and the working-class voters that mitt romney has had no luck in connecting with and when you hear about car elevators makes it worse. that is the poll that matters and right now the trends are going in obama's favor. >> the trends certainly are, at least for now, mary. i'll put more numbers up on the screen. how is the president handling his job right now? it's up to 51% approve the way he's handling his jobs. there you see it. what about economic conditions. look at these trends now going back to last september. only 10% of the american public back in september thought the economic conditions are good -- were good in the country and it went up to 13% in october, 18%

in january and now 31%, mary. that's a positive trend and pollsters like to look at trends. >> so the new normal, barack obama economy is unprecedented unemployment for unprecedented duration and the new normal politics is 70% who think the economy's going in the wrong direction is positive for the president. these are terrible numbers and if they don't, and i looked at the other numbers in the poll, if they don't blame the president they don't credit him for this trend. they say the policies have been made worse. you have to look at what is in these numbers and they don't feel their own lives are improving and they think the overall economy may be improving and it's because of the hard work they, the families put into it. they do blame the president for higher energy prices and the things that affect their everyday lives. >> very quickly, maria.

>> so even if we take everything that mary said as true, the problem is that romney is in a much, much worse position than president obama right now, and he has absolutely no positive message to give those middle class voters and those working families who are struggling today. he only can either -- he can only go after barack obama or he can talk about, frankly, how rich he is and how many nfl team owners he knows and that's his problem. he can't connect. >> maria and mary, guy, thanks very much. other news we're following including three children missing since last summer. guess what? they're found alive. you'll see why it took the coast guard so long to find them. breaking news, the jetblue pilot who had a mid-flight meltdown is getting charged. we're learning new details about what happened in the cockpit and how other pilots were able to save the flight and the passengers. that's coming up as well.

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let's bring in our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. we certainly heard a lot of criticism of virilli's performance yesterday, but what are they saying where you are? >> wolf, he's been taking a lot of heat for his performance by court watchers who say that his performance yesterday was not too impressive, slightly better today, but here at the white house they're defending him.

the pile is on is all about moments like this. insurance has become the predominant means for paying for health care in this country and in turn has become the predominant means of payinging for health carry in this country. >> that's donald verilli, this court watcher had no%. >> donald verilli, the solicitor general did a simply awful job in defending the law. he was nervous. he was not well spoken. >> reporter: one day later the white house came to verilli's defense. >> there are a lot of people that will sit on the side lines and weigh in with their commentary and assign style points to one advocate or the other. we had complete confidence in him before the supreme court. >> he's argued 17 cases before the course, clerked for former

justice william brennan and helped justice breyer through the confirmation process and has been the solicitor general since june 2011. >> don verrilli is a superb lawyer and was there before he went into the white house council's office and, everybody who knows him in washington certainly has a huge amount of respect for him. >> don ayer has appeared before the supreme court 19 times. his law firm argued against the health care law in court. he believes it's a mistake to focus so heavily on oral arguments. >> it's almost like treating it like a boxing match or something like that, oh, my goodness. so who won the boxing match? this isn't a boxing match. this is a decision of the most somber and serious sort that this court is going to make based on a total, full consideration of the issues which they have amply presented to them already. >> reporter: even the opposing attorney had this to say about verrilli. >> it was a great privilege to

argue and share the podium with the solicitor general of the united states who did a terrific job. >> reporter: keep in mind many of the people i spoke to said this case is unusual because there are more than 150 legal briefs presented to the justices and they will no doubt take many of the arguments presented there into consideration in addition to the oral arguments. there was one bit of news out of the white house on this topic, wolf. the white house made clear that they are not making contingency plans in the event in case either the individual mandate or the law in its entirety should be struck down. wolf? >> the contingency plans, it doesn't cost anything to make contingency plans. they should start thinking about that just in case. >> not doing it. >> jessica, thank you. let's get back to the breaking news. we have new scary details about what happened onboard the jetblue flight when the pilot went on a rampage. we'll talk to a pass edger on that flight in just a few minutes. we'll get his reaction to the latest federal criminal complaint with lots of details.

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some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now including an update to the story we brought you last hour about mitt romney's proposed car elevator. what's going on here, mary? >> wolf, as you just mentioned we told everyone last hour about mitt romney's plan to renovate his multi-million dollar house in san diego which includes installing a four-car garage with an elevator for the cars. the romney campaign just responded to the story, telling us the project is on hold until the campaign is over.

a desperate search is under way for a woman missing in a vicious colorado wildfire. the fire which isn't contained at all has already scorched 4,000 acres near denver and claimed two lives. thousands have been warned to evacuate and almost 30 homes have been destroyed. firefighters are battling heavy winds and dry conditions fueling the blaze. doctors have successfully performed what's being called the most extensive face transplant ever. the 36-hour surgery essentially replaced everything except for the patient's eyes and back of his throat. compare that to what he looked like after losing his lips, nose and portions of his mouth in a 1997 gunshot injury. doctors consider the final result of what the patient used to look like and his anonymous donor. >> imagine the possibility of life beyond the planet earth. it may not be such a far-fetched idea. astronomers now estimate there are actually tens of billions --

billions of habitable planets in our galaxy capable of sustaining water and possibly life. in fact, they may be even more habitable than the earth because they have more mass. the estimate is being called a, quote, great stride in planetary science. pretty fascinating, wolf. >> just think. there could be another mary snow out there, right? >> scary thing, but yeah. >> we may be meeting her one of these days, thanks, mary. >> we're looking into news right now to trademark trayvon martin's name. it's a new twist in a case that sparked national outrage and it's not a secret ingredient anymore. starbucks explaining why it's putting crushed bugs in one of its drinks. our biggest brush meets our fiberstretch formula for a blast of volume and length. lashblast fusion. from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

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trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering, web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. >> we're watching lots of news here in "the situation room." welcome back. some starbucks customers may be thinking twice about the place they go to for their morning fix all because of one ingredient in one popular drink. we're talking about the ingredient being bugs. let's bring in brian todd. he's been investigating this for us. everybody goes to starbucks. what's going on? >> everyone almost gags when they hear about this, wolf. the strawberries and cream frappucchino specifically, a very popular drink in the summer, they get the pinki isis hues have the crushed-up bodies

of bugs, but some vegans think they've been misled by the drink. >> the strawberries and cream frap chino, tastes terrific and has a beautiful pink hue courtesy of crushed insects. you heard right. a barista at starbucks who is vegan recently divulged that the frappucchino is colored using the ground-up bodies of insects native to south america. the barista gave that information to a vegan news site run by darks aelyn fortney who is shocked. >> we were told it was completely safe for vegans. the company never claimed the drink was vegan-friendly. >> nicely textured. starbucks didn't want to put on camera with us and didn't want anyone filming anyone in the stores making the frap chins on. they wanted to move away from dyes and other artificial

ingredient, but the extract is fda-approved and it would never do anything to harm its customers. as for the customers we spoke to, it is still technically all natural and organic. >> we use bugs in all sorts of things and i'm not terribly surprise order concerned. >> after all, bugs have been a staple of nutrition for years on discovery channel "man versus wild." >> you can eat them raw. >> starbucks officials point out products like juices made by other companies have the same insect extract in them. there have been instances where it is believed to have caused asthma attackers on allergic reactions. >> probably wonderful, right? it tastes pretty good. >> it's okay. i prefer my own homemade smoothies. renowned nutritionist katherine talmage wa

talmage. >> is it going to do anything for you? >> nutrition alley it's fine, and every time a restaurant puts an ingredient in the product it should be disclosed. >> it has insect extract in it. right now only the boxes of liquid mixture used by the baristas across the counter have those labels. >> an fda official tell us us the law does not require those cups to be labeled because the drink is prepared by starbucks' staff, and not sold in any packages bought directly by customers. a starbucks official d did tell me that they looked into the possibility of labeling those cups. >> my wife works at the fda in & in a separate unrelated office. >> your wife sea a doctor and an expert in other stuff. >> let's talk about allergies, reactions and the fda approved this ingredient. >> that's right. >> there are some people who are saying they should be more

notified about it in case they have some bad reactions. >> some people argue why did you approve it? one fda official says first of all, it's a healthy additive and there are a lot of things out there that you can buy and ingest that cause allergic reaction like bean us and the milk and you can't just take it off the market. the question is will they put the labels on the actual cups so that they can see it? starbucks will see that. >> sales might go down. >> they're doing okay for now. on i'm not worried about starbucks. thank you very much. this is cnn breaking news. let's get back to the breaking news this hour. a jetblue pilot now faces federal charges of interfering with a flight crew. the complaint goes into new details about captain clayton ospin's meltdown yesterday. he sprinted back to the forward gally and the flight attendants gave chase and the flight

attendants notified certain passengers they may need their help. the flight announcer announced in order to restrain osbonn, and they brought osbon down in the forward galley and that in the forward criminal complaint and one of his neighbors in georgia tells cnn he's shocked by what happened. >> obviously, you know, something clicked or something. he's a very straight-headed guy, very level headed and very professional. so i know he loves his job. we talked about it a little bit. >> let's dig deeper now with one of the passengers aboard jetblue flight 191 and tony antolino is joining us from las vegas. first of all, where were you sitting when all of the commotion started? >> thanks for having me, wolf.

i was in row 10 when the commotion started. >> were you in an aisle, a middle or a window? >> i was in the aisle seat 10d and before the commotion started there was 15 or 20 minutes of activity leading up to that point, and it all started with some erratic behavior with the distressed captain immediately as he exited the cockpit for the first time. he was clearly agitated, acting a little bit weird and drinking lots of water and it seemed like he had a lot of cotton mouth and that type of thing and he was very anxious. so i thought that was a little bit odd, but i think the real turning point where things went from a little peculiar or odd to, you know, confirming that there was a problem was when one of the flight attendants had gone a few rows behind me to talk to an off-duty jetblue pilot, and then when i saw the

distressed captain go into the bathroom they rushed him into the cockpit and secured the cockpit door and at that point i kind of was sure that something was definitely wrong with what we came to know to be the captain. >> so the emergency -- so he emerges from the lavatory, the pilot who was in distress, pick up the story then and he tries to get back into the cockpit, but he can't. >> he comes out of the restroom after the co-pilot -- the off-duty pilot was back in the cockpit. he actually then went to the rear of the aircraft. i got up from my seat and went to the men's room and when i came out of the men's room he was actually in the back galley. so he then started walking up towards the cockpit, and i don't know, somewhere around half way or so he just started running towards the cockpit. as he got to the cockpit door, he tries putting his access code and the door didn't open. when that didn't happen he

started pounding on the door and started yelling let me in and that type of thing. at that point myself and three other guys impulsively jumped up and grabbed him and just started pulling him away from the cockpit door. while that was happening he started yelling things like they got us in iraq, iran, afghanistan. they're going to take us down. we need to throttle down, take the plane down and he suggested that we all say the lord's prayer and i think certainly for me that was all i needed to hear and the other guys probably felt the same way because at that point we just wrestled him to the ground and forcibly restr n restrained him. >> what was going through your mind as you did this. for the next 15, 20 minutes until the plane made that emergency landing in amarillo, texas, you were holding him down, but was he still talking? what was going on? >> he kept talking until we had him on the ground. as he was going down, he was yelling i'm so distraught.

i'm so distraught. clearly it was confirming that he was having some kind of mental crisis or a breakdown of sorts. i don't think there was anything running through my mind from the time i jumped out of my seat to having my hands physically on him and it was an impulsive response, quite honestly. once we had him on the ground the thinking started kicking in because the restraints broke that the flight crew gave us and the zip ties were a complete failure and there was a retired nypd sergeant with us and he coached everybody through the situation and just kind of said look, everybody, hold on to him, keep your hands on him and don't move, stop trying to figure out how we should tie him up and let's wait until we get on the ground and that's what we did. the captain did stay quiet until we started to touchdown and he started making some statements about an emergency landing and crash landing and that type of thing and that was how it played

out. >> was he strong on the ground? was he at all fighting you guys or did he just give up once the three or four of you held him down, and i know you used your own -- you used your own -- i guess anything you had there to restrain him. >> wolf, this guy is a big guy. he's easily 6'4", 250 pounds in great shape. rock solid kind of guy, so it was an effort for four guys to take him down. he did not give up at all. there was one guy in front of me that was trying to get his arm behind him and he kept telling me, look, give me your arm. i'm going break your arm, and i don't think he broke his arm, but it probably would have gone to that had he not finally given up and kind of went flat. at that point he did just lay there. he was quiet and the four of us remained completely quiet and we got on the ground and the authorities came up and handcuffed him and took him down the stretcher and took him down the stairs to the ambulance.

>> a lot of people are grateful to you and the others. tony, thanks very much for stepping up to the plate and doing what you did. you potentially saved a lot of lives. we appreciate it very much. >> it's really the co-pilot who is the hero here for recognizing there was a crisis and that should be noted. >> and the other pilot who was off duty who went up front and helped bring the plane down safely under awful, awful circumstances. before i let you go, tony, what kind of work do you normally do? >> i'm a chief marketing officer for a technology company that does iris-identity management and we were headed out west for to a security conference. >> you never expected this happened and thanks for stepping up and doing what you did. >> thanks, wolf. one soldier stands accused of a massacre and another died as a hero saving a child's life in afghanistan. we have new information.

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flags are flying at half-staff at rhode island for a u.s. soldier who died saving the life of an afghan child. the heroic story comes weeks after another u.s. soldier was charged in a horrific massacre that took the lives of more than a dozen afghan civilians. barbara starr is joining us with details of what happened. what are we learning, barbara? >> we want to tell you about specialist dennis wiekel. he was traveling in a convoy in eastern afghanistan just a few days ago. there were some young children in the road. specialist weikel got out of his military vehicle to move the little once out of the way. very dangerous for them to be around these big, heavy army

vehicles and as he moved the children out of the way one little girl ran back into the road to pick up some brass shell casings. little kids in afghanistan often pick up garbage in the streets and they sell it for pennies. their families badly need the mono pep the 16-ton vehicle couldn't stop in time. the little girl was safely out of the way due to dennis weikel's actions, but he was run over by the vehicle. it couldn't stop. he was killed saving this little girl. the father of three will be laid to rest on monday in rhode island after a tough couple of weeks in the war, important to remember the courage and sacrifice for all of those who serve. >> what a heartbreaking story that is and our deepest, deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. barbara, thanks very much. >> how will the supreme court decision affect president obama's chances for re-election?

also, trayvon martin's parents are in washington and it's what they're doing with their slain son's name that's making headlines. stand by for that. ine will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... oh sure. ooh! [ man ] ...and then, i didn't. um... [ sighs ] [ man ] so, i got a car i can love a really, really long time. [ male announcer ] for the road ahead, the all-new subaru impreza. ♪ experience love that lasts.

a new protest over the death

of trayvon mart oint floor of the united states house of representatives. congressman bobby rush wore a hoodie while condemning a speech about racial profiling. he was removed from the house floor for violating a rule against wearing hats in the chamber. trayvon martin's death is being remembered in another way. the teenager's name is being trademarked. cnn's athena jones is in "the situation room" with this issue. >> it's gotten a lot of attention on twitter and the like and we thought we'd take a closer look. >> reporter: after taking their case to capitol hill, trayvon martin's parents continued pressing their cause in washington, giving interviews and making public appearances. >> we just appreciate the support that we've been receiving. we are thinking about the next steps and the plans that we need to take right now to get some justice for our son. >> they've also had to explain that they're not trying to make money off their son's name by

seeking to trademark the phrases i am trayvon and justice for trayvon for use on cds, dvds and videos. >> this is about protection and not exploitation. >> the lawyer who filed the application for trayvon's mother said the family was worried that others could falsely use them. >> there will be many as people who don't have the family's best interest at heart. the purpose is to prevent against exploitation and to keep the heat on an arrest and that is really our goal and the family is not interested in a prof profit. >> major morris said trayvon's family supports efforts like the public service announcement released this week by grammy singer chaka khan and is not barring people from using these phrases on t-shirts and hoodies, items they believe are helpful to the cause. after fulton submitted her

application, marcus singleterry seen here in his youtube video applied for the trademark for trayvon, and love to provide assistance to the family assuming the product is successful. it's not unusual for people to try to exploit a famous name or event for their own profit. one reason yet martin luther king family has copyrighted his famous "i have a dream speech," among others. making sabrina fulton's move largely symbolic when it comes to providing legal protection in the short-term. >> it has no immediate benefit to the family. it just puts the public on notice. >> major morris told me that trayvon martin's family plans to set up a foundation and wants to protect the phrases for their

own use. >> is the family still here in d.c. or ready to go back home? >> they are still here in d.c. >> thanks so much, let's check in with jack. >> the question is, how will the supreme court decision on obama care affect the president's chances for winning a second term? >> ed in philadelphia, i believe it will hurt because as his comments to russian president, medvedev have shown, a second term promises to be a free for all. he will start over and this time, the bill will be even more transformative. people are not going to want to have this fight again. j rice, let the court throw it out and len run a few stories about how people who can and want to buy insurance are denied coverage and go broke or die because of it. run a few more stories about people that can buy insurance and didn't and end up in the e.r. and have the taxpayer and/or ensured pay for their care. that ought to go over well for the voters. people will not vote for or

against obama based on that decision. if people perceive their lives are better or getting better, he wins. if they perceive their lives are worse, he could lose. killing bin laden meant more than obama care. gary writes, if we are going to liken this to a game of chess, it would be similar to him losing his queen, the most impressive piece in his game. it would be the same as his horse throwing a shoe. for those unfamiliar with horse racing, it would simply be a political setback of serious po portions. mike rights against mr. romney care, the supreme court decision will make no difference in president obama's re-election. jack writes probably the same as if gas prices go high, people are unemployed and the afghan war continues to go back and on and on and on. he may be toast. if you want to continue to read more about this, go to our post. wolf?

>> jack, thank you. elephants, lizards and even monkeys up next. what happens when animals use smart phones. [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but bounty basic can handle them. in this lab demo, bounty basic is stronger than the leading bargain brand. everyday life. bring it with affordably priced bounty basic. in addition to the two hundred plus facilities that the university of phoenix has we have a very progressive online learning environment. we have something called phoenix connect that allows students to have a social network. you can post discussion questions.

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people can do, especially when it comes to the latest electronic technology. jeanne moos has a closer look. >> reporter: imagine your caller i.d. showed peter the elephant calling from his smart phone. peter is the star of a viral ad for the samsung galaxy note. his favorites are the apps that make noise. >> it uses it like we use our fingers. >> reporter: ed robinson is co-founder of the ad agency the viral factory dreamed up this add to go along with samsung, bigger is better. look at swipe. the ad was shot in thailand with an actress holding the phone with the young elephant's thai trainer alongside. >> the elephant had no training but turned up and presented the elephant and it started interacting. >> reporter: she shot for three

days as peter got more and more engaged. the ad agency was inspired by all the other web videos of animals using touchscreens. who wouldn't find a tongue-flicking bearded dragon wiz sxwlard inspiring as it playsant smasher. dogs are smashing like mad. this any way to treat an ipad. make that an ipaw. don't you sometimes feel like doing this to your device. during a morning talk show at radio station wmmr, a monkey named buba went nuts on one guy's iphone. who cares about the phone. his big sin was stepping on a button and disconnected a live call with ryan seacrest. peter the elephant, on the other hand, was a gentle giant. they had to modify the stylist with a lump of wood so he could grip it. is that a portrait of that other

elephant. at least all those creatures aren't dumb enough to do what we humans do. excuse me. texting like walking, whether it be off this pier or into a shopping mall fountain. >> it is funny when it is not you. >> reporter: if you think technology is intimidating, look what it did to this chameleon. these devices sure can take a licking but sometimes the owner isn't as smart as the smart phone. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thanks very much for joining us. don't forg ge to get to go to website and check out my latest blog. a cautionary tail for some of these republican candidates right now for president, obama, from the al gore experience and the internet back in 1999 when i interviewed the then vice president. check it