[Romans:] Don't blame Beyonce. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says her high-powered halftime show was not responsible for the power outage during the Super Bowl. The Superdome lights blew early in the third quarter, delaying the game for 34 agonizing minutes. The league and the stadium investigators are trying to shed light on exactly why the stadium went dark. CNN's John Zarrella is following that. He's live in New Orleans. John, what do we know so far?
[John Zarrella, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Christine, we know what it's not. It's not Beyonce. It's not upgrades, they don't believe, that they recently did to the electrical feeder system coming into the stadium. And they say it's not likely that there was too much power being pulled inside the stadium. So, what we still have this morning is a power puzzle.
[Zarrella:] The night the lights went out at the Super Bowl is a story about well, a few things: what went right, everyone remaining calm
[Unidentified Male:] I've never met so many people that were so hospitable.
[Zarrella:] what happened. CBS video from inside the stadium control room shows the Superdome's uh-oh moment.
[Unidentified Male:] We lost lights. All right. We're going to a manual override.
[Zarrella:] And then there's that head-scratching, still unanswered question, what went wrong? Here's what we know, kind of: SMG, the company that owns and operates the Superdome says the problem originated outside the stadium.
[Unidentified Male:] The truth is the interruption in service didn't occur inside the building. We could not receive the power from the Entergy vault, the substation that supplies us.
[Zarrella:] Entergy, the utility company tweeted Sunday night that service to the stadium had not been interrupted. A spokesman said later
[Unidentified Male:] The system worked the way it was supposed to work.
[Zarrella:] But in a statement to CNN Monday, Entergy cautioned, "Until the investigation is complete, any statements on possible causes of the outage are just speculation." There was speculation that Beyonce's power-packed halftime show pulled too much power. SMG says, no. Quote, "The halftime show was running on 100 percent generated power which means it was not on our power grid at all." While we are still in the dark over what happened, pardon the pun, we do not this, the delay lasted 34 minutes, the lights came back on and the Baltimore Ravens won, and a record 164 million people had more to talk about than just the final score. And this morning, Superdome there behind me, power's on. It hasn't gone off since Christine.
[Romans:] Do you think it could have any effect on the city's chances of hosting future Super Bowls, John?
[Zarrella:] You know, my understanding is they want the 2018 Super Bowl here. Probably doesn't impact it to much. But it's certainly going to be in the back of everyone's mind. You know, a few years ago when Miami had its last Super Bowl, it poured rain there, the entire game. So, now, they want the 50th anniversary Super Bowl in Miami, so they're trying to get people vote to put a lid over the top of the stadium so that they won't have that rain issue. So, you know, there's always things they want to have to do. They have to do to try to lure the game back to their cities.
[Romans:] All right. John Zarrella thanks, John. The puzzle the power puzzle he calls it.
[Zarrella:] Sure.
[Sambolin:] You know, the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came right out and said, we will have another Super Bowl there. All right. Fourteen minutes past the hour. Let's get you up-to-date on this morning's top stories. After nearly a week in captivity in an underground bunker, a 5-year- old Alabama boy is reunited with his family this morning. Little Ethan spent the night in a hospital after an FBI raid freed him. The child's kidnaper, 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes was killed in that rescue operation. Ethan turns 6 tomorrow.
[Romans:] Five Baltimore firefighters are injured but they're very lucky to be alive this morning. A local station says they were among 100 firefighters battling this four-alarm fire at lumber warehouse when several floors collapsed on top of them and trapped them in the blaze. They were rescued and taken to a trauma center. Fire crews are still on the scene to knock down hot spots.
[Sambolin:] Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum says the Boy Scouts of America may not survive if gays are allowed in. In an online column, the former senator argues ending the ban on openly gay scouts is, quote, "another example of the left attempting to remove God from all areas of public life."
[Romans:] Tagg Romney won't be running for John Kerry's vacated Senate seat in Massachusetts. The son for former presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he did think about it but the timing wasn't right. So far, Republicans have failed to find a single candidate to run in a special election that's scheduled for June.
[Sambolin:] Disappointing results for the first tests of a new tuberculosis vaccine. The study of 2,800 South African infants published on Lancet online found the vaccine provided no TB protection. But the vaccine developer says it might benefit adolescents or perhaps even adult.
[Romans:] Iran is marking its national day of space technology by releasing a photo of its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and a monkey that Iranians claim was launched into space. The government says the money rode an Iranian rocket into orbit last week. But conspiracy theories abound. Iran for its part says this is any kind of a space monkey hoax.
[Sambolin:] Cute monkey, though. All right. A Washington, D.C. area school district is considering a proposal to copyright any work by staff and students. So, this could mean a lesson plan developed by a teacher or a doodle drawn by a second grader would automatically become property of the school system and not the individual's. Can't take it home to mommy and daddy.
[Romans:] It's interesting.
[Sambolin:] Unbelievable. All right. Seventeen minutes past the hour. It's time for your "Early Read". This is your local news that is making national headlines. So, first, we're going to go to "The Chicago Sun-Times." It is reporting Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife are the subjects of separate federal investigations into their finances. Sources say Sandy Jackson who resigned her alderman post last month is now being investigated independently for access and use of her husband's congressional campaign money, including credit card charges and moving money from one account to the other. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress in November after winning re- election. They actually say she was collecting $5,000 a month, even when her husband was hospitalized for bipolar disorder from the campaign.
[Romans:] Wow. That's a drama that's captivated Chicago. No question.
[Sambolin:] Yes.
[Romans:] In "The Washington Post" this morning, gridlock on Capitol Hill, gridlock outside Capitol Hill. A new study says D.C. has the worst traffic in the nation. The Texas A&M; Transportation Institute says drivers in Washington burn 67 hours and 32 gallons of gas each year sitting in traffic.
[Sambolin:] Really?
[Romans:] Yes. L.A., San Francisco, and New York, no question about that, and Boston are also in the top five.
[Sambolin:] I'm kind of surprised that they were number one, though. I thought it would have been
[L.a. Romans:] Washington,
[D.c. Sambolin:] Yes. All right. For an expanded an expanded look at our top stories, just head to our blog, go to CNN.comEarlyStart. You can also follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. Just search for EarlyStart
[Cnn. Romans:] Speaking about burning gas, Americans don't buy as much as they used to, yet gas somehow takes up a bigger chunk your family budget. How can that be? I'm going to explain why, coming up.