[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] We begin with a story affecting millions of us. Just minutes ago we learned the nation's jobless rate held steady in February at 8.3 percent. About 227,000 jobs were created last month. That's fewer than we saw in January. Christine Romans breaks down these latest numbers and what they say about the overall economy. And Alison Kosik looks at the ripple effect on Wall Street. Let's begin with Christine. I ask you this every time.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Business Correspondent:] I know you do.
[Costello:] I know. So give us the big picture here.
[Romans:] The big picture is that the economy is adding jobs. Companies are hiring and the government lost only about 6,000 jobs last month. So it was private sector hiring. Companies hiring that drove jobs number here. This is the last year, Carol. This is 2011. I want to show you. You saw that last spring things are pretty strong. We were having 200,000 jobs gained every month. In the summer it got real slow. We were worried about a double dip recession. Picked up again in the fall. And now we've got revisions. The bigger picture is even a little bit better. You've got better than expected, December, January and February, now it's about 227,000 jobs created, 8.3 percent is the unemployment rate. There were jobs created in business and professional services. There were jobs created in mining. We see that every month. There were jobs created in health care, in social work. There were jobs created in computer systems design and technical consulting. Where you saw jobs lost was in retail, for example. So overall you're seeing a broad base of job creation. You want to see 200,000 plus again and again to show you that it is a trend, and what this tells us is that in an economy that was really reeling, quite frankly, from the great recession is doing a little bit better. Here is the great recession. Look at this, Carol. This is July 2008. The last months of the Bush administration. Coming into the beginning of the Obama presidency. This is terrible. This felt horrible. Then you had some setbacks. Again last summer worried about a double dip recession. And here we are now. These numbers are even better than these, they show right there, you've got a little bit of a little bit of pickup in the trend. And that's something you want to see overall Carol.
[Costello:] So should I be doing the happy dance?
[Romans:] Well, you know, if you are in the job category, yes. The people who have a job category. But I'll tell you that the underemployment rate is still 14.9 percent. That's a little better than it was the prior month, but 14.9 percent, that means those are people who are unemployed, people who are working part time but want to be working full time. People who tested the waters for a job last year but are available to work but not really looking, 14.9 percent. That's double digits. That still that still hurts. So there are a lot of people out there, when I say things are getting better, they tell me, not at my house. So a job and the jobs data is really personal, you know what I mean?
[Costello:] Yes.
[Romans:] It's a very personal number. It depends on who you are, where you live, what kind of education you have. And that's why this is so tricky and so political.
[Costello:] I know. I know. But you're right, we can throw, we can throw numbers at people all day but it's really how they feel about the economy that matters.
[Romans:] Your job market is one person. You're either 100 percent employed or zero percent employment in your house.
[Costello:] Christine, thanks. Now let's go to the New York Stock Exchange and Alison Kosik. So, Alison, the unemployment numbers always seem to move the market but today Greece is also making headlines for an apparent bailout deal. So is it likely to be a rocky day or not so much?
[Alison Kosik, Cnn Business Correspondent:] It looks like we're going to that stocks are going to begin on a high note because the jobs picture is going to is going to still play a role in the trading day today. The way Wall Street sees it is this jobs number is really a solid number, but as you say, it's really not the only reason that's going to give stocks the lift to Greece. Greece is the word again on Wall Street. You know an important agreement happened overnight to restructure Greece's debt. This is the last major step for Greece to get its $170 billion bailout. Now here's what happened while you were sleeping. Bondholders, they agreed to take a huge loss on their investments so now Greece is going to owe those investors less money, it's going to get its bailout. It may avoid a default. So then you wonder, well, gosh, why did these investors agree to take this big loss? Well, that's because the alternative is worst. Default. That is the market's worst-case scenario. And here's why. There's this ripple effect that could have happened if Greece defaulted. You know, clearly Greece, it's simple. It's kind of a blip on the screen some people would say. It's a small country. But the reality is Greece is intrinsically linked to all of Europe. You know, it's sort of one of the dominoes of many. More than 20 countries use the euro. And you know how this is. You're only as strong as your weakest link. So if Greece defaults, Europe could slip into a recession if it's not in a recession already. So if Europe goes down, the U.S. would get hit. Remember, Europe is our biggest trading partner so this is why we've had our eye on Greece and the fact that Greece is one step closer to getting that bailout and try to get its debt situation in order, that's good news. And the way Wall Street sees it, it's good news for Wall Street as well Carol.
[Costello:] Well, I know you keep watching the numbers there. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. President Obama will hit the campaign trail later today to talk about jobs and the economy. His Republican opponents are already on the stump and our political editor Paul Steinhauser is hot on their trail. I understand Mitt Romney is in Jackson, Mississippi. He's either speaking or just about to. What do you think he'll say?
[Paul Steinhauser, Cnn Political Editor:] I think he could be a little bit critical of the president when it comes to jobs. You know, Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich all have events this morning, Carol. And we expect all three of them to weigh in on the new jobs report. But the Republican National Committee didn't even wait for that. They had a statement out about 20 minutes ago. And this is from the chairman, Priebus, and he says, "Today's jobs report is yet another reminder that too far that far too many Americans are out of work and the situation is clearly not improving. Millions of families continue to feel the pain of the sluggish Obama economy and the rising costs of gas, groceries, and health care." As for the president, Carol, you mentioned that he's got a manufacturing event in Virginia later this morning. We expect he will probably talk about the economy and it could also come up again, the jobs report, when he's down in Texas at some fundraisers. You know I always say that the unemployment level and the number of new jobs created, probably the two most important economic numbers when it comes to politics and this re-election. You know we're just talking about the Republican candidates. Most of them today in Alabama and Mississippi. Of course those two states having primaries on Tuesday. Here's what Mitt Romney had to say about his time in the south. Take a listen to what he said yesterday on a radio station in Alabama.
[Former Gov. Mitt Romney , Presidential Candidate:] Well, I realize that it's a bit of an away game, but I also think we're going to we're going to pick up some support in these in the states that remain this month. We obviously had a terrific Super Tuesday and got a good got a good head start but, you know, I'd like to get some support from folks in Alabama.
[Steinhauser:] Sounds like he's downplaying a little bit, you know, and I can understand why. It's not considered his strong suit down there in Alabama and Mississippi. He hasn't performed that well in southern states. More social conservatives down there that Romney may not appeal to. As for Rick Santorum, well, he is hoping for good results both in Kansas this Saturday, tomorrow, at a caucus there, but also in Alabama and Mississippi. And he's hoping maybe if he beats Newt Gingrich in the south maybe, maybe Gingrich will be out. Take a listen to what Santorum said on the campaign trail yesterday, Carol.
[Former Sen. Rick Santorum , Presidential Candidate:] If you go out and deliver a conservative victory for us on Tuesday, this race will become a two-person race and when it becomes a two-person race for the Republican nomination, the conservative will win that nomination.
[Steinhauser:] And Gingrich has said basically he's got to win Alabama and Mississippi to keep going. So we'll see what happens on Tuesday with that. The Gingrich campaign, as you can imagine, starting to pick up their attacks on Santorum. Carol, it's all politics.
[Costello:] I know. Paul Steinhauser, thanks. The candidates will be speaking this morning about the jobs report. We told you that. We're there with them. Mitt Romney is up at 9:25 a.m. Eastern. We'll bring you his remarks live from Jackson, Mississippi. And join us Tuesday night for the battle of the South. Our coverage of the Alabama and Mississippi primary starts at 7:00 Eastern with Erin Burnett. Complete live coverage of the results begins at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN. In Syria today, more bloodshed. The opposition claims government forces are storming villages and killing soldiers who defected and now the Assad government says it found weapons from other countries. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Beirut. So, Nic, the government says the weapons are coming from Israel?
[Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] There's nothing better that the Syrian government would like them to try to say that Israel is somehow behind the opposition. Why? Because Israel is the enemy of pretty much everyone in their minds in Syria at the moment. So to say that would cast a huge shadow of doubt over the opposition and who was funding them and certainly try and build support for himself, Bashar al-Assad. The reality is that we haven't seen any evidence from the Syrian government that there is any wholesale export of weapons coming from Israel into Syria. There's a real possibility there may be some Israeli made weapons in Syria right now. The Free Syrian Army is trying to get its hands on any weapons possible. The borders between Lebanon and Turkey into Syria are all quite porous. A few weapons have been getting across from many different countries. But even if the Syrian government has found a few Israeli- made weapons, it certainly doesn't it certainly doesn't add up to their implication that Israel is somehow supporting the opposition. It just doesn't seem to hold water right now Carol.
[Costello:] OK. And what about this other report that government forces are going after army defectors? Is that true?
[Robertson:] They certainly have been. There have been cases where they have killed, according to activists at least, up to 40 defectors at one time. The defectors are the the most effective part of the Free Syrian Army. They know how to fight. They're trained. They often deserve and take their weapons with them. There have been reports that we can't verify but three brigadier general, senior army officers deserted the Syrian army, went across to the to the opposition, the Free Syrian Army. And this is what the government has been trying to do. It tries to kill them before they before they can desert. So when the activists say that the government is going after officers from the and soldiers from the Syrian army chasing them down. It's often because they've jumped sides and they're with the Free Syrian Army now.
[Costello:] Nic Robertson reporting for us from Beirut, Lebanon. Syrians are under attack by their own government. Learn what it's like to be trapped in terror for "72 hours Under Fire" at "CNN PRESENTS" Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern. Former Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour, angered a lot of people when he pardoned more than 200 prisoners. Now the state's high court weighs in. The ruling and the reaction after a break. Plus, a dangerous confrontation between a sheriff's deputy and a suspect captured on a surveillance camera. The unexpected ending to this next.