Old Man Winter rages on
A massive winter storm brought its fury to the Northeast early this morning, prompting the cancellation of flights, classes and major court cases a day after it dumped up to a foot-and-a-half of snow on the Chicago area and blanketed much of the Plains and Midwest. The Windy City was hit with blizzard-like conditions, reports CBS News correspondent Don Dahler.
Last American
President Obama says the United States is working to rescue an American woman held by ISIS. CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports that hopes that Japanese hostage Kenji Goto’s life would be spared – after ISIS offered to swap him for a prisoner being held in Jordan – also raised the possibility of a prisoner exchange in return for that last remaining American hostage of ISIS. Instead, the extremists killed yet another non-combatant.
Argentine murder-mystery
There are growing calls for an international investigation into the mysterious shooting death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman. It came as he was moving forward with damning allegations against the country’s president, Cristina Fernandez. CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports from Buenos Aires and speaks to a congresswoman who wants the FBI to assist in the probe ofNisman’s death.
Protocol breach
Former Secretary of State James Baker said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress next month is a breach of diplomatic protocol. Baker predicted that the speech could backfire on Netanyahu in Israel’s March 17 elections.
Obama’s campaign
Mr. Obama’s budget, debuting this morning after a build-up twice as long as for Super Bowl XLIX, is the most methodically political of his presidency, says CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett. The post-recession era has given Mr. Obama room to boost spending on guns and butter, propose $650 billion in new taxes, abolish the sequester, seek nearly $500 billion in infrastructure spending and abandon any pretense of pursuing a balanced budget – now or ever. These initiatives and the rhetoric built around them – starting with, but not limited to, “Middle Class Economics,” kick off the 2016 Democratic campaign, Garrett says.
Growing outbreak?
Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that his agency is “very concerned” about the possibility of a large measles outbreak in the U.S. because of the growing number of people who have not been vaccinated against the disease.
Edible marijuana
New rules in Colorado require warnings about the effects of edible marijuana. The snacks already pack a financial punch: They make up 45 percent of the state’s cannabis market. CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports from a pot dispensary in Denver on an industry that’s welcoming the new regulations.
Minimum effect
In all, 19 states this year have raised, or passed laws to increase, their minimum wage (although there is a federal wage floor, now $7.25 an hour, states can set a higher minimum pay rate.) And while some of the increases were substantial, the problem is that a only a small share of U.S. workers earn the minimum wage. From a high of 15 percent in the early 1980s, only 5 percent or so of all hourly paid workers are at or below the federal minimum wage. Even so, there are clear benefits to putting more money in people’s pockets.
Condoleezza Rice on football
My love of football started with my father. Daddy was a high school football coach who loved the game. He had wanted me to be his “All-American linebacker,” and had I been a son instead of a daughter, I think I might have done it. But instead, he taught his little girl to be a student of the game.
Second chance
More than a thousand endangered sea turtles washed ashore in Massachusetts about a month ago. Now, reports CBS News corespondent Kristine Johnson, the story has come full circle for some of them.
