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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Now, to the other big story of the day: it's Leap Day, February 29th. The odds of a birthday today: one in 1461.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Leaplings, as they're called, and include motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

TONY ROBBINS: What is it that's shaping that person's ability to contribute?

CORNISH: American rapper and actor Ja Rule.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M REAL")

JA RULE: (Rapping) I've been thinking about this relationship. And I want to know is this as good it gets 'cause...

There was a political scramble in Maine after Tuesday's surprise retirement announcement from Olympia Snowe, one of the state's two Republican senators.

On Wednesday evening, President Obama is expected to host a dinner at the White House honoring veterans of the Iraq War. Veterans still face challenges after their homecoming, including a higher-than-average unemployment rate.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who narrowly won Michigan's Republican primary on Tuesday, traveled south to campaign in Toledo, Ohio on Wednesday. Ohio holds its primary next week on Super Tuesday.

No one ever said economic forecasting was easy:

On the last day of February 2007, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that "the fundamentals are very strong" for the U.S. economy.

And about those problems starting to show up in the housing market? "We don't see it as being a broad financial concern or a major factor in assessing the course of the economy," he said back then.