karl penhaul is joining us on the phone from caracas right now. karl, any let-up? >> reporter: not at all. a series of dueling protests on one side of the city. we have thousands of women in the opposition turning out and marching in silence towards the headquarters. [ no audio ] >> i think we just lost karl penhaul. karl, can you hear me? obviously, his line has just gone down. we're going to try to reconnect. but just to reiterate what's going on, these protests against the government of the president, nicholas maduro, are escalating right now. and as karl just said, no let-up. this is a tense situation on the streets of caracas and elsewhere in venezuela. in turkey, meanwhile, more fallout from embarrassing tape recordings. angry people filled the streets. the main issue, whether the prime minister and his son have stashed away huge sums of money. political rivals posted online a recording of the prime minister, allegedly giving his son money laundering tips. the prime minister saying the tapes have been edited. >>> some gay people in uganda right now seeking as

our own karl penhaul is on the ground now in caracas, joining us on the phone. karl, tell us what happened with the jailed opposition leader, lopez. what's the latest with him? >> reporter: leopoldo lopez is a harvard educated, and he turned himself in yesterday. the government then brought him to if you court last night, charging him with murder, with arson and also with terrorism. and he's due to appear back in court today. but certainly no sign of him yet. several thousand of his supporters gathered outside the courtroom earlier on, and as the morning has gone on, those numbers have dwindled. and right now anti riot personnel far outnumber the protesters. so it does raise also the question, how organized is this opposition, and how prepared really is this demand that the socialist government the experiment with socialism, wolf. >> i know that the government has been trying to keep journalists from covering this unrest, including and you our cnn crew. tell our viewers what happened to you when armed men approached you just a little while ago and what, they too

karl penhaul is live in caracus, karl, the pictures are dramatic, thousands and thousands of people in the streets of caracus. >> reporter: absolutely, christine, yesterday, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters dropped into the street. at one point blocking the main freeway into the heart of caracas and that producing big traffic jams but then as you say the harvard-trained economist lopez turned himself into police. and just after nightfall, he made his first court appearance. the socialist government here have charged him with murder. they've charged him with terrorism. they've charged him with setting fire to public buildings. a very serious rap sheet there. he was held overniht in a military prison outside of caracus, and he's due to appear back in court in the next few hours. and that could be another flash point. because the opposition are calling for a huge rally to support him as he appears in court. then other development, you mentioned the expulsion of three u.s. diplomats. overnight, the embassy here in venezuela did issue a statement saying that three of its dipl

our karl penhaul following developments. he's live for us in caracas. what's the latest? >> reporter: christine, those skirmishes overnight between riot police and students were relatively minor. witnesses say that security forces were firing tear gas, students returned fire with rocks, and that after protesters at the tail end of an antigovernment demonstration had tried to block some streets around the square in eastern caracas. as far as the political developments go, opposition leaders so far are rejecting the government's calls for what it calls peace talks. they say that those are nothing more than a publicity stunt. the opposition wants the socialist president to quit. the government, for its part, believes that it's confident that it can win this battle of street politics. and of course, next week's anniversary of the death of leftist leader hugo chavez will be an important litmus test. that will be a key opportunity for the government to try and rally the loyalists. now, for the opposition, there is support coming from a somewhat unexpected quarter. dozens of for

no clashes, karl penhaul. let's stay in close contact with you for us in caracas, venezuela. >>> folks, it's happening again. a snowstorm pounding parts of the northwest. this is what it looks like. some in the northeast could get another foot of snow. listen, i know, it has been a brutal winter. shows no signs of letting up. chad myers is here with more of this wintery mess. a foot, you say? >> you know what, vermont and new hampshire, you know, they can handle it. they want it. they want to go play in it. it's not for new york city and it's not for boston. i guess, if you want to go upstate and get your snowmobiles out, like you need more, but there is more coming. look at the numbers, brooke, though. the third snowiest year ever in detroit, 77 inches of snow already this season. now, this is not just this year, this is the snow season, really from october to now. toledo, 72 inches, indianapolis, 52. and there's the big number, new york city 57 inches of snow, already. and it's not done. now, what is done, t

karl penhaul is joining us. >> reporter: some protesters are being driven away to seek cover but right now houthousands of anti-government protesters are blocking the six-lane freeway that leads through the middle of caracas. they are holding that point still. we have heard from the president nicolas maduro in the last few moments and so far there's been no report of violent clashes but it's usually at night that the most violent clashes do break out. so we are on stand by for the next few hours to see if we repeat that after dark, jake. >> karl, do we know where lopez is now and what will happen to him? >> reporter: well, as you described, leopoldo turned himself in and he was dragged away. he's being transported to a military area and helicopters hovered overhead. we thought he was going to be transported out by helicopter. that may have been a decoy because, again, in the last few minutes, the president maduro has said that leopoldo lopez has been driven to a prison. they may be taking him away from caracas to end the protests. >>> for live reaction to these unfolding events, i want

. >> karl penhaul, stay safe. thank you you, karl. >>> arizona's legislature has approved a controversial bill that allows business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and others. supporters of that bill say it protects religious freedom. opponentsstat state-sanctioned discrimination. >>> brian stowe suffering massive brain trauma has had to relearn how to breathe, eat and still struggles to walk and talk. >>> a 360 follow now. a government official says it appears that two american security contractors found dead on the maersk alabama container ship died of a drug overdose. according to the official traces of narcotics and hypodermic needles were found with their bodies. another 360 follow, the more after jahi mcmath who doctors declared brain-dead in december said she sees changes in her daughter that give her hope. she says jahi is not suffering after being moved from a hospital in oakland, california to an undisclosed long-term care facility. >>> governor chris christie is holdin

. >> karl penhaul, stay safe. thank you you, karl. dangerous days. we'll continue to follow the situation in venezuela. susan? >>> arizona's legislature has approved a controversial bill that allows business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays and others. supporters of that bill say it protects religious freedom. opponents call it state-sanctioned discrimination. the bill now goes to governor jan brewer. >>> two l.a. dodgers fans pleaded guilty today. you may remember the victim, bryan stow suffering massive brain trauma has had to relearn how to breathe, eat and still struggles to walk and talk. >>> a 360 follow now. a government official says it appears that two american security contractors found dead on the maersk alabama container ship died of a drug overdose. according to the official traces of narcotics and hypodermic needles were found with their bodies. >>> another "360" follow, the mother of the young girl who doctors declared brain dead in december said she sees changes in her daughter that give them hope. sh

. >> karl penhaul on the scene for us, all this following the expulsion of three american diplomats in venezuela. much more of this story coming up later today in "the situation room." meanwhile, there's new information now on the severity of a recent hacking attack that targeted the u.s. navy and the u.s. marine corps. brian todd is here. who are they blaming for this attack? >> the u.s. defense official we spoke to was not able to characterize for us, wolf, who they think did it. no word to us from the iranian government, but we did get information just a moment ago from a u.s. defense official, saying there was a massive intrusion, a cyberattack on the navy marine corps internet back in late august, early september. the navy marine corps internet is an unclassified system, that hosts hundreds of thousands of users, hundreds of thousands of e-mail accounts. and it's not clear what the intruders were looking for. this official told us that the attack was pervasive, it was massive, it really impacted their system, but that nothing classified, or really sensitive, was stolen, and that n

cnn's karl penhaul is caracus. >> reporter: christi, anti-government demonstrations are set to begin saturday morning. socialist president nicolas maduro said the opposition protests are part of a coup attempt in toppling the government. maduro accuses the u.s. state department in helping orchestrate those demonstrations. the u.s. has repeatedly denied any involvement. now opposition leaders say they are calling for maduro to quit. but they say talk of a coup taept is simply a ploy from the government to detract from issues, spiraling crime, high sky inflation and food shortages. >>> we want to go to vatican city. and a very special ceremony now for the very first time since becoming pope, pope francis has appoint influenced cardinals. and look who made a rare appearance. pope benedict xvi who left the papacy a year ago. we want to go to the ceremony and go to cnn's erin mclaughlin for them. >> reporter: 16 of them are under the age of 80 meaning they'll be part of the exclusive club responsible for selecting the next pope. the group includes a group from haiti, on helping the poor m