Thats as final arguments get under way as were speaking. The defense is claiming that the olympian could not have committed premeditated murder. Well take you live to south africa for reports. Also nearly half the country is under a wintry blast. Heres a live look this morning at wichita, kansas. Feet of snow in the heartland, tornado warnings in the gulf, snow blanketing the desert. Well tell you where that storm is going next. And then weve got breaking news this morning out of syria where 31 people are reported dead after a huge car bomb blast near the ruling partys headquarters. Well bring you the latest on that story as well. New overnight, five People Killed when a small plane runs off a runway. Were live on the seen in thompson, georgia, where investigators are trying to find out how it happened and who was on board. And president obama addresses that highly talked about golf match with tiger woods. Who does he think was more nervous . Its thursday, february 21st. Starting point begins right now. Welcome, everybodys. Happening right now, Oscar Pistorius possibly minutes away from a decision on his bail as he fights a charge of premeditated murder against him. Final arguments are under way. Its day three of the hearing. The defense is angling for a lesser charge than premeditated murder. They say if pistorius wanted to kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, he could have done it in the bedroom and not in the bathroom. Weve also learned that the lead investigator in the case is facing reinstated attempted murder charges for allegedly opening fire on a mini bus that was carrying seven people back in 2009. Allegedly he was under the influence of alcohol at the time. I want to get right to Nic Robertson whos live outside the court house in south africa to walk us through some of the latest turn of events in this case. Good morning, nic. Reporter good morning, soledad. Well, the defense are putting their case just after a lunch recess, a very short lunch recess here. The defense saying that the prosecution hasnt even put forward enough evidence so far to determine that there should even be a murder charge, never mind premeditated murder. They say theres no eyewitne eyewitnesses, that this is a forensic case. The magistrate earlier in the proceedings called on the chief police investigator, the one with these attempted murder charges hanging over his head, called him into the courtroom and asked him if he was happy speaking in english and he said yes, he was happy in english but no mention whatsoever of those pending charges on him. The prosecution reading from a magazine today, a magazine in which pistorius is quoted as saying that he lived several months of the year in italy, which is where he trains. The prosecution saying that this, transfeherefore, offers h somewhere to live in italy and heightens the possibility of his flight if given bail. So the proceedings still going on into the third day here. Nic robertson this morning. Thank you for the update. Also we want to update folks, nike says theyre going to suspend their contract with Oscar Pistorius. The deal was believed to be worth 2 million. An ad featuring pistorius with the words i am the bullet in the chamber. That was already pulled. Nike says we believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process and we will continue to monitor the situation closely. Also hearing this morning from Reeva Steenkamps family. Theyre stunned, theyre grieving and all they want is the truth. Her cousin talked about piers morgan last night about the moment she heard the news that reeva had been killed. The last thing i expected and to me to this day its surreal. We turned around in this bumpertobumper traffic. We turned around and drove and i just remember thinking the whole time theres no way. Somebody is playing a joke. The radio guy is going to come on and say that this is a big joke. I want to begin ted simon this morning. Hes a criminal defense lawyer who has defended multiple clients not only here in the United States but also around the world. Its so nice to have you with us this morning. Nice to see you. Lets start with the question of bail. What are they considering now as we wait for them to come back with this information from the hearing . Obviously thats the critical question of the day. And its the Perfect Question to start because we must start looking at this case through the lens of a criminal defense lawyer in south africa and their system, because this is their system has some similarities to ours and many differences. We already know they dont have a jury system. But with regard to bail, the critical question is this. Normally theres a presumption of innocence and the question of proof beyond a reasonable doubt which they have there. The burden always stays in the prosecution, just like here. But in bail cases, and particularly in murder cases, the burden shifts to the defendant. In a murder case, its considered a schedule 5. A premeditated case is considered a schedule 6. So their goal is to move it from schedule 6 to schedule 5 as fast as possible. Absolutely. In addition to showing the person is not a flight risk and not a danger to the community or any person and not going to interfere with the prosecutions case, they also want to show its in the interests of justice, which is a lesser standard if its a schedule 5. But if its a schedule 6, premeditated murder, they must show exceptional circumstances. And that is why they offered an affidavit in the case that both showed he would not interfere with the prosecution, that he would not flee, he was not going to endanger anyone and also it was in the interest of justice and they sought to attack the premeditated nature of the case to drop it to a schedule 5. They also seem to be seeking to attack the investigator in the case. I tell you, there are shades of o. J. Simpson in all of this. Yes. And the investigator seems to be playing the role of mark fuhrman. They have highlighted a case of 2009 where he fired at seven people in a minivan. That case reinstated we found out last night. Why this tactic and does that influence a case . As we heard from Nic Robertson, its a forensics case. True. Even though these are true charges, you have to believe the prosecution had to be aware of the investigators background. They made the choice to have him be the lead investigator as opposed to anyone else. So it somehow affects the judgment in the case and may affect how they have charged the case. It certainly is not a good fact. How bad remains to be seen. The question in this case largely will be the forensics. But coming back to the affidavit, why did they do that . We cant look at that from the perspective of a u. S. Lawyer. They did it to specifically avoid him having to testify, be subject to cross examination, which all of which would have been available for the trial so he doesnt have to answer any questions . This is critical because if they didnt offer anything then they may not be able to undermine the premeditated nature of the allegation. Well obviously continue to talk about this case all morning and youre going to stick around with us, which we appreciate. Our other top story this morning, 30 Million People across the 18 states are now in the path of a powerful winter storm moving into the plains. The system is huge. Its literally an area about the size of mexico stretching from the dakotas all the way into texas. While it dumps snow in the north its also going to pour heavy rain over parts of the south and maybe even tornados along the gulf coast. Parts of kansas are looking at a foot and a half of snow. Several flights have already been cancelled out of Kansas City International airport. Were covering this extreme weather from lots of angles this morning. Erin mcpike is in wichita, kansas. Jennifer delgado is live at the cnn Weather Center in atlanta. Erin, lets start with you. Hows it looking . Reporter well, its not quite as heavy as it was last hour but its still pretty heavy. Weve seen snow plows go by here about six times in the last two hours and the roads are still covered. Also weve got this ruler, weve been measuring. About an hour ago it was 4 inches. Now were at 5 1 2. But soledad, heres the interesting thing about this storm. Were calling it a thundersnow. Theres thunder and lightning that goes along with it. I wish it would happen when im out here but i think weve got video, so lets play that video. I dont know if you can hear it. And thats why were calling it the blizzard of oz. Weve seen that a lot on twitter from some people in kansas, so we want to name this storm the blizzard of oz, soledad. I thought thundersnow was dramatic enough. Lets get right to jennifer d delgado on where the storm is going to head next. Right now we are watching the storm system and, soledad, this is awe huge one. You can see where all the wauchgz and advisories are extending from michigan all the way down towards texas but this is our triple threat. If you add in the future flooding potential, we could call this a quadruple threat. Were talking about snow where we saw our reporter, ice as well as the severe storms that will be setting up. Right now were already looking at some of those moving through texas as well as oklahoma. You see that lightning there . That shows you how strong the convection is with the storm. Thats why we saw that video of the thundersnow and well continue to see this potential as we go through the day. We are talking about 12 to 18 inches of snowfall through parts of kansas, nebraska and then a half inch to threequarter inch of Ice Accumulation for missouri and parts of arkansas. That could lead to power lines down as well as trees. Wow. That is a big massive area youve got there for us. Thanks, jennifer, appreciate it. Well keep monitoring that all morning. Following a developing story as well out of georgia where a plane that was carrying seven people has gone down. Christine has got that and also a look at the days top stories for us. Good morning. Good morning. Were getting our first look at the scene of a Small Plane Crash in georgia. Five people died. Two people injured when the jet overshot the runway at thompson mcduffy Regional Airport near augusta. Cnns Victor Blackwell is live in thompson, georgia. What do we know this morning . Reporter well, we know that the Sheriffs Office says his department didnt even know about the plane crash until they started to get calls about power outages. When they came to look at those lines, they found the plane, parts on fire stretched othver field and forest of about a mile. The first call from the faa said that it lran off the runway. The closest part of this plane is over a fourlane road, past an industrial building and 100 yards or more away. Theyre telling us that the ntsb will determine exactly what happened. We know that power to a lot of the businesses and a Technical College nearby is still out. That investigation from the faa will continue this morning now that the sun is up. We know that there are federal authorities on scene investigating. Were still trying to confirm who was on that plane. When we find that out, well bring it to you. Now back to you. Thanks, victor. An update now on a story thats been breaking in syria. A car bomb targeting the headquarters of syrias ruling party exploding in central damascus. Were now hearing 31 people were killed at the scene here. Ivan watson live in istanbul with the details. Good morning, ivan. Reporter good morning, soledad. Thats right. A series of deadly explosions in the heart of damascus, the first of them taking place within about 20 yards of one of the offices of the ruling baath party. If you look at the video airing on syrian state tv, its just terrifying. Dozens of cars it looks like hurled by the force of this massive blast. Syrian state tv is reporting at least 35 People Killed, more than 200 people wounded. There are several schools close to where this explosion went off. Weve been messaging with a resident who was nearby there and hes saying that the schools are ordering parents to come and bring their kids home to safety. This is only the first of several explosions. Not too far away in another neighborhood, at least one other car bomb being reported there by both syrian state media and opposition media sources near one of the offices of one of the Security Forces groups there. Then were also getting reports of possible clashes there between Syrian GovernmentSecurity Forces and rebels. So this is a very tumultous day here. Our first look capturing the moment a gas explosion and fire leveled a restaurant in kansas city. Look at this. Witnesses said it sounded like thunder, felt like an earthquake. One person was killed, more than a dozen others injured. Authorities say a utility construction crew severed a gas line leading to the massive explosion and of course fire investigators say you could smell the gas in the air in the moments before the explosion. A newly released 911 call from a shooting and carjacking spree in orange county, california, that left four people dead including the gunman. This man early Tuesday Morning when police say 20yearold ali sayed fatally shot a young woman in his parents home. His mother then frantically dialed 911. 911, whats your emergency . Yeah. I think somebody is shot. Take a deep breath and tell me whats going on, okay. Please come. Explain to me whats going on, please. I cant talk. Please come. Terrifying. Police say sayed committed three carjackings. He killed two drivers in the process. The rampage ended when sayed took his own life behind the wheel of a moving car. First on cnn, the armys aboutface on paula broadwell. Theyre revoking the promotion of David Petraeus former mistress. She had been approved for a promotion from major to Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves but since the scandal broke, shes been under investigation for having classified information at home without permission. She will not get that promotion. Take a look at the new official white house portrait of first Lady Michelle obama. Everyone is talking about her hair. She first debuted the new bangs halftime month just in time for her husbands inauguration and heres her official portrait from 2009. Back then everyone was talking about those very nicely toned arms. Now we like the bangs and the arms. I guess we like the whole package. President obama speaking out about that round of golf with tiger woods. The commander in chief and the fourtime masters champion teed up sunday in florida. Tiger thought it was, quote, pretty cool and praised the president s short game. Mr. Obama, a little bit more impressed. He plays a different game than i do. Hes on another planet. Is he more nervous because hes playing with you or are you more nervous because youre playing with tiger woods . I dont think he was nervous. He knew that i wasnt a big threat to his world ranking. And i knew that i better keep by day job. The white house is still fielding complaints from the media for barring reporters and photographers from the president s golf outing. Theres some in washington still ticked off about that. Teed off, if you will. Ahead this morning on starting point, a possible break through in the Nuclear Negotiations with iran. World leaders reportedly ready to offer a new plan to convince iran to shut down a Nuclear Enrichment site. Then we look at Business News as well. Future video games, its here. Well look at the brand new playstation that was revealed. Ps4 reclaiming the glory days of playstation. With the spark miles card from capital one, bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his Small Business. Take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorns Small Business earns double miles on every purchase every day. Produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less . Ahh, oh [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. Heres your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. Choose double miles or 2 cash back on every purchase every day. Whats in your wallet . [ crows ] now wheres the Snooze Button . Welcome, everybody. Theres word this morning that six world powers, including the United States, have come up with a plan to coax iran into scrapping its nuclear program. Theyre going to presenting it to the iranians in talks next tuesday. Were told that theyre going to offer significant economic incentives in exchange for iran shutting down a uranium enrichment facility and surrendering its stockpile of enriched uranium. Elise labott has new details on this proposal. Reporter good morning. Well, sources are telling the partners are sweetening the pot from a deal they offered iran last year and are asking more of iran in return when they sit down next week in kazakhstan. So whats the deal . In exchange for easing the ban on the trade of gold and Precious Metals to iran and giving them some nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, iran has to close down this enrichment plant and ship out the uranium that is already enriched to a pretty high level. The big concern here is that this facility is underground and the longer iran keeps running the plant and enriches youraniu there and stores it, it becomes more difficult to stop them from having enough material for a nuclear weapon. Iran has already rejected the plan, and my sources are saying expectations are pretty low for these talks. Iran has its elections coming up in june. No one really thinks that the iranians will want to be seen as making concessions to the west before then. But irans economy is really hurting because of these biting sanctions on their oil sector and central bank. Take a look at this. In the last year alone, the iranian currency has fallen 80 . So the u. S. And its partners feel maybe the rulers are getting desperate and could seriously negotiate after the elections. In the short term it might be good to get the talks going again and see what iran really wants. Elise, thanks. Coming up, one of the most anticipated retail reports of the year from walmart just into cnn. Well tell you the numbers and also what it means for the economy when we come back. Dermatologist recommended [ ] aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. Thats healthy skin for life. Only from aveeno. So skin can replenish itself. How do you keep an older car running like new . You ask a ford customer. When they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. If your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. Jackie, tell me why somebody should bring theyre car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. They are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. Price is right no problem, they make you feel like youre a family. Get a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation and much more, 29. 95 after 10. 00 rebate. If you take care of your car your car will take care of you. Schwab bank was built with all the value and convenience tdd 18003452550 investors want. Tdd 18003452550 like no atm fees, worldwide. Tdd 18003452550 and no nuisance fees. Tdd 18003452550 plus deposit checks with mobile deposit. Tdd 18003452550 and manage your cash and investments tdd 18003452550 with schwabs mobile app. Tdd 18003452550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. Tdd 18003452550 so if youre looking for a bank thats in your corner, tdd 18003452550 not just on the corner. Tdd 18003452550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today. Tdd 18003452550 welcome back to starting point. Im christine romans. Mining your business this morning, stock futures lower at the moment. The dow fell 108 points yesterday on fears the fed might scale back its bondsbuying program. That strategy engineered by ben bernanke is credited with helping stabilize the economy. Wall street getting a big bunch of corporate earnings and economic data, the biggest of those coming from walmart. Just into cnn the Worlds Largest retailer Beat Estimates during the quarter, a quarter that includes the Holiday Shopping season. It raked in almost half a trillion dollars in sales in 2012. But walmart says sales this year have been slower, as consumers deal with delayed tax refunds, high unemployment and that payroll tax increase. So that could hurt profit or slow profit going forward. It really says a lot about the paychecktopaycheck crowd. Thats why we really watch walmart earnings. Boeing working around the clock to get its dreamliner back in the sky. Tomorrow a Company Executive will play out a temporary plan aimed at returning its jets to service by april. The fleet has been grounded because of battery problems that ignited at least two fires. Excitement over the new playstation 4. Its hottest features, much improved social networking integration, streaming capabilities, plus a supercharged processor promising impressive high def graphics. Ps4 is a major bid by sony to regain momentum in the gaming industry which pulled in 78 billion globally last year. Were expecting it to be available by the holiday season. No word yet officially on pricing. But available by the holiday season. Of course. You got Something Like that, you want it ready by christmas. Still ahead this morning, an american held in cuba since 2009. The country says hes not a spy, so why are they holding this man . Coming up next, well talk to congressman jim mcgovern whos part of a congressional delegation to go to cuba in recent memory. Hell join us to talk about this case. And an unbelievable story. Look at these little girls fighting. It if you listen to the voices around them, theyre being encouraged to fight by the adults. But their shakes arent always made for people with diabetes. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. And they have six grams of sugars. With fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger. Look whos getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. Many cereals say theyre good for your heart, but did you know theres a cereal thats recommended by doctors . Its post shredded wheat. Recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. Try adding fruit for more Health Benefits and more taste in your bowl. Its the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. Try post shredded wheat. This has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. A hairline fracture to the mandible and contusions to the metacarpus. What do you see . Um, i see a duck. Be more specific. I see the aflac duck. I see the aflac duck out of work and not making any money. I see him moving in with his parents and selling bootleg dvds out of the back of a van. Dude, thats your life. Remember, aflac will give him cash to help cover his rent, car payments and keep everything as normal as possible. I see lunch. [ monitor beeping ] lets move on. [ male announcer ] find out what a hospital stay could really cost you at aflac. Com. [ male announcer ] fintoday is gonna be anl stay important day for us. U you ready . We wanna be our brothers keeper. Whats number two we wanna do . Bring it up to 90 decatherms. How bout ya, joe . Lets go ahead and bring it online. Attention on site, attention on site. Now starting unit nine. Some of the worlds cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of americas biggest cities. Siemens. Answers. Welcome, everybody. Our starting point this morning, Oscar Pistorius is in court right now. Hes fighting to get out of jail on bail. Just minutes ago his defense lawyers were saying that the Police Evidence is very poor and amounts to a monumental collapse of the states case. Meantime the judge is asking for more clarity about the physical state of the victim at the time of her death and the blood on the cricket bat that was found in the home. The lead investigator in the case officer hilton botha is facing reinstated murder charges for allegedly opening fire on a mini bus carrying seven people. This was a case back in 2009 and it was alleged at the time that he was under the influence of alcohol. Lots to get to in this case with our Senior International correspondent, Nic Robertson, hes live outside the court house in south africa. Lets walk through some of the details. Where do you want to start . Reporter well, after lunch, which the session began perhaps an hour ago after that very short break for lunch, its been the defense taking the floor trying to pick apart the case put forward by the prosecution saying Oscar Pistorius is such an International Figure the risk of him fleeing the country is very low. This is a case that relies on forensic evidence and that because there are no eyewitnesses, his challenge, the testimony put forward by the prosecution that somebody heard a heated argument between Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp, he said this house was how many yards away, 600 yards away . How would they have been able to hear that. Weve also heard the magistrate this afternoon jumping in and challenging some of what the defense lawyer has been saying, questioning Reeva Steenkamps situation after he died. We heard the defense say that her bladder was empty. That was consistent with the story she had gone to the bathroom. The judge said perhaps she went to a bathroom an hour before. Perhaps when she was shot she emptied her bladder. Perhaps because the screen door was open neighbors heard them arguing so you heard the magistrate challenging some of what the defense has been putting forward. And what the defense seems to be putting forward is not so strong, at least according to robin who has been inside the courtroom. Nic robertson, thanks. Appreciate the update. Lets walk through some of the prosecutions points and the defense points. For example, the prosecution, they have been claiming that pistorius was on his prosthetic legs when shooting. They have talked about the angle, not just shooting through the bathroom door because i guess the toilet was at an angle but also the angle downward which implies attacking someone in a specific place and if he had time to put the legs on that, would change his version of the events. In addition, the prosecution claimed that testosterone and needles were found. They claimed that witnesses heard shouting. They claimed that blood was found on cell phones and a cricket bat that later ended up in the bathroom. The defense now saying this, testosterone was not testostero testosterone, it was an herbal supplement. Police contaminated the scene. There was some testimony about the lack of wearing little footies to cover up the feet on the investigators part. No indications of assault when they looked and examined the body of Reeva Steenkamp. And those witnesses who talked about hearing the fight, those were maybe a thousand to 2,000 feet away from pistorius house. So as you hear some of these details, lets start with you, ted. Absolutely. What seems like the prosecutions case is getting weaker by the minute. Absolutely. I mean you presented arguments, but where is the substantial evidence to support it . Lets take each of them. Prosthetic legs on when shooting. His affidavit said he was on his stumps when he went to the location and shot. And if theyre going to try to say the angle of the shooting is material, then they would have to produce forensic evidence that would substantiate that and they have not done that. They might be able to, right . Ultimately at the ending of the day, this is a measurement of an angle. Youll be able to determine if he was up here or down here while shooting. But theres a lot of ambiguity. Did you hold it up, did you hold it down . I dont know how clear thats going to be in the end. But the pointing rig right now dont have it. The second point, the testosterone. All they had to do was do a simple test and tell whats in it. The officer, investigator, admitted he read a long name and that name is likely not testosterone but an herbal substance so i think that doesnt hold much weight. How about the witnesses who heard the shouting . We now know the distance. Is 1,000 to 2,000 feet too far in the middle of the night to hear people shouting at each other . They came between 2 00 a. M. And 3 00 a. M. There was an argument. Right. We heard that this yelling was three, four, football fields, five, six football fields away. Can you really say if someone heard something they would be able to say that it came from that specific location . This is what happens in highprofile cases. A lot of noise occurs. People start saying things that are unsubstantiated. I dont think theres a lot of virginia in th value in that and i think its going to disappear. And the socalled blood on a cricket bat. As soon as you hear that you think of Domestic Abuse but theres no evidence that theefz batt she was battered with a contradict it bat. The evidence seems to be there are no signs of assault on her body. So the bat was used to break down the door as was said and there was obviously a lot of blood because he carried her. So i think all of these points are arguments, but theres no substance to substantiate them. And when you look at the question of bail, even though there is a burden on the defendant in a premeditated case to show exceptional circumstances, i think he is substantially adversely affected. The quality of the prosecutions case. Thats why he likely will be given bail. Were watching for that and well wait and see. Chris has joined us at the table as well from the national journal. Well continue to talk about this case which i have found absolutely riveting as we monitor all of the details coming to us out of south africa. First christine has a look at some of the other news this morning. The Vice President on the road today drumming up support for the administrations gun control proposals. Joe biden will take part in a conference at western connecticut state university. Thats just ten miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School in newtown. Former illinois congressman Jesse Jackson jr. Faces up to five years in prison when hes sentenced on june 28th. He pleaded guilty yesterday to using 750,000 in Campaign Funds to buy personal items, like a 43,000 rolex watch. Jacksons wife, sandi, a former chicago alderman, also pleaded guilty to filing false income tax returns related to the misuse of Campaign Funds. She faces up to three years in prison. Dramatic and graphic testimony from a woman accused of brutally murdering her boyfriend in 2008. In her eighth day on the stand, jodi arias testified about the day Travis Alexander died. She recalled getting a gun to protect herself but had no recollection of shooting and stabbing him dozens of times. So i ran into the closet and i slammed the door and i intended to run through the opposite end of the door because it has another exit. As soon as i got in there and began to run, i remembered where he kept the gun. So i grabbed it. I jumped up on the shelf, he kept it on the very top. Do you remember stabbing Travis Alexander . I have no memory of stabbing him. Arias faces the Death Penalty if convicted of firstdegree murder. Passengers aboard last weeks nightmare cruise are now plaintiffs in a Class Action Lawsuit against carnival. An oklahoma couple filed this suit on behalf of the other passengers. They say unsanitary conditions threatened the health of everyone on board but a maritime lawyer doesnt think this is a slam dunk. Well, i think that the talking about those passengers who have not suffered a personal injury or some specific physical illness, the likelihood of recovery is going to be much more difficult. The plaintiffs also claim carnival knew the cruise liner triumph could have engine problems because it had similar issues before. This is a shocking incident involving two young girls. Take a look at this disturbing video from here in new york city. These kids are being egged on by adults to fight. Youre hearing the adults there urging the children to slap and punch each other. The new York Police Department is trying to identify the adults involved. That might be a new low really. I mean can you imagine . Those girls look like theyre 7, maybe 8 years old . That story and the story in albany of the mom who hired strippers at the Bowling Alley for her son and the children were as young as 13. Those two are like parents of the year. Thats like cool mom gone wrong. Sick moms. Shouldnt be parenting, i think. Interesting case to update you on. 1,177 days is how long 63yearold American Contractor alan gross has been sitting in a cuban jail. Hes serving a 15year sentence for bringing banned Communications Equipment into cuba as part of a state Department Program to spread democracy. One of the largest congressional delegations ever to visit the island was in havana this week. Theyre trying to free him. Raul castro has stated gross is not considered to be a spy but they refuse to set him free. Gross family is worried he might have cancer. They want to bring him home to get examined and get treatment. Congressman jim mcgovern was part of the delegation and they just returned yesterday. Its nice to have you with us, congressman. You got to spend a little time with mr. Gross so how is he doing . How does he look to you physically and emotionally . Actually two members of our delegation were allowed to see mr. Gross. They say he was in pretty good shape, although hes obviously irritated that hes still in cuba in prison and not allowed to go home and see his wife and his family and his ailing mother. So we raised the issue with president castro, who seemed to tie it to the fate of the cuban five. Those are the cuban that say we have in jail here in the United States. But look, what we need to do, i think we need to reevaluate our entire policy and we ought to put together a formal structure where we begin negotiations with cubans on a whole range of issues, including alan gross, but also how we deal with the restrictions on travel, how we deal with the economic embargo and a whole range of things. This is a moment i think where we can not only move to release alan gross but we can move to change our entire policy. Let me ask you a question because you said when you had conversations with raul castro, he sought to tie grosss fate to that of the cuban five. Who are the cuban five and how realistic is that . Are you saying now that hes really being held as a hostage to be swapped for versus someone whos serving time in prison . Well, we have in jail in u. S. Prisons across the country five cubans who are allegedly spying, relaying information back to the cuban government on the activities of cuban americans here in the United States. One of them has a sentence that carries a life term with it. And what president castro seemed to say is that, you know, you need to resolve that. These people in his opinion dont deserve to be in jail. We dont believe that alan gross ought to be in jail. But this is unfortunately, alan gross is kind of caught in this web thats a result of this outdated policy that we have toward cuba, a policy that has failed, a policy that is really a relic from the cold war. So getting him freed is not going to be as simple as a swap or as difficult as revisiting our cuba policy, which means that mr. Gross would not be freed for a long time . Well, my hope is that if we begin kind of a formal negotiation sooner rather than later, we can get mr. Gross home a lot quicker. But, look, the problem we have with cuba is not just about alan gross, its a whole range of things. And so we i think the time has come for us to reevaluate our policy. We ought to have a more mature policy. Weve got to be thinking about normalizing relations between our two countries, tearing down these barriers that create paranoia, that result in terrible cases like alan gross. He ought to be home and we pressed as hard as we could every cuban official to say that he should be released, but i think we need to encourage our government to engage in a more formal direct negotiation with the cubans on a whole range of issues. This shouldnt just be about alan gross. Our problems with cuba are much more complicated. We need to put everything on the table. Congressman jim mcgovern is a democrat from massachusetts. Nice to talk to you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. When they talk about this case and they say its not about alan gross, lets make it a bigger case, i would imagine that makes the case worse for alan gross, right . If youre trying to overturn the embargo, would they have better luck legally speaking saying, no, lets just make it about alan gross . I think youre absolutely correct. Theres political issues and there are legal issues. We cant lose sight of the fact that cuba is an independent country with their own judiciary just like we are. So to try to create a specific swap, i really dont believe as much as id like to see this man home that will ever happen. The United States will never generally will never swap. However, they could engage in other possibilities. Negotiate whats called a prisoner transfer treaty or have cuba become part of Multi Lateral treaties which permits some people in Foreign Countries to come back to their homeland and serve their time here and vice versa. But that gets it back into politics which makes it very, very messy and may be impossible certainly. Make it part of an International Treaty and then it wouldnt be as direct. The other piece you have here, soledad, is the fact the state department has said that alan gross did break cuban law. So our own government is saying he did break laws in that country and it makes it even more difficult for us to negotiate something. Because it then becomes political. We have to get to a commercial break. Still ahead, you all know about james bond obviously, but what do we know about all the villains. Theres a new exhibit that highlightses all the deliciously even bad guys from bond. Thats coming up. I have a cold, and i took nyquil, but im still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesnt unstuff your nose. What . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. Thanks. Thats the cold truth [ barking ] come on, boy [ barks ] oh, heavenly day here we go. Chachacha dont you know that i love ya chachachachacha always thinking of ya all around the World Everybody singin along singin along fly me to the moon let me play among the stars let me see what spring [ birds chirping ] [ male announcer ] with the best lineup of vehicles ever, introducing the new chevrolet. Oh, heavenly day why just go from a to b when imagination can take you everywhere . All the clouds blew away chevrolet. Find new roads. Welcome back everybody. The Oscar Pistorius bail hearing thats been under way, robin is sitting in the courthouse and just sent out a tweet that the magistrate there says that there is a threat of some kind in that courtroom, unclear of the nature, and that they are now clearing the courtroom. The pistorius bail hearing is in its third day. Were waiting to see, of course, if hes going to actually be able to get bail. The threat apparently is outside, but the nature of the threat is very unclear. In any case, that courtroom which has been watched not only across south africa and of course internationally, that courtroom now the focus of everyones attention. Thats now been cleared while they try to fig out the nature of the threat and where they go forward. The delay, is it it help the defense, does it help the prosecution, is it a wash . Of course were not there so its hard to assess whats going on. But my view of what we heard so far, delay will probably help the prosecution because it may give them additional time to present more evidence or make further arguments. If they could get some forensics into the courtroom that would demonstrate the allegations or the affidavit made by pistorius is wrong, that could be a substantial basis to affect bail. We dont know the details or the nature of the threat certainly, so were waiting to get some details on that. Now were getting word that its a threat thats outside of the courtroom as opposed to something inside of the courtroom. But are you surprised by that . Or is just the fact that this is a highprofile case, youre going to see things like this, not just at the beginning of this case as it gets under way but to the bitter end . I think you get it to the bitter end. These kinds of things, theyre always very, very careful about orchestrating the security around this and the idea that we have some kind of threat, i think this might be the first of kind of many different disruption, whether its media or, you know, some kind of security threat. It seems to go along with the threering circuses that you get. Just the bail part this is just the bail part of the hearing. I mean this isnt a trial yet. It just shows you the amount of scrutiny on this, the amount of i mess high profile. Sometimes these things attract people who are crazy, quite frankly, who are calling in threats and the like. We dont know what happened here, but this is just the beginning of what could be a very long process. Yeah, we dont know the details of what this purported threat is, how serious, how likely, how, you know, how substantial it is. But obviously the court wants to be very safe. It wants to be safe for the participants and the community. So theyre going to be reasonable and hold things up. Robin just sent us another tweet and she said this. Everyone is a bit confused. Theyre back in the courtroom now from the holding cell. Pistorius is out of the holding cell and is now back in the courtroom. The magistrate is now back in the courtroom as well. No one has said a word yet about this alleged threat that we were told was outside of the courthouse. So it is unclear and she hash tagged it confused, which means theres just not a lot of information forthcoming. On the flip side, he could simply grant bail, conclude the proceedings and everyone go home. Is that likely, considering that the eyes of the world are watching this case . Well, they have already i think they have well, i dont know for sure, but it seems that they have completed their argument. If they have completed their argument, the case is ripe for a decision. He also could take it under advisement or continue the case. But i mean the first thing hes going to have to deal with is this purported threat because no one wants to take any chances of anything really horrible happening. Were getting word that theyre now back in the courtroom so its unclear what that threat is. Well obviously get robin to check in with us so we can get specific details of whats happening in that courtroom. In addition to the bail hearing that is now under way and in its third day. Also ahead this morning, there are rumors of a james bond reunion at the oscars to celebrate 50 years. But what about the bad guys . No one ever focuses on the bad guys. Its always bond, bond, bond. Barbara starr takes a look at the evil world straight ahead. I am ernst. Welcome back. Lance armstrong is done talking. Is he refusing to cooperate with the u. S. Antidoping agencys investigation into the use of performanceenhancing drugs in cycling. Usada was hoping hed provide names of coaches or doctors who helped him in his Tour De France winning teams. Check your cereal box, kelloggs is recalling three sizes of its special k cereal with red berries because they may contain glass fragments, the 11 ounce, 22 ounce and 32 ounce packages sold at retailers across the country. There have been no reports of injuries but toss it and you can contact the company for a replacement coupon. Sunday nights oscar ceremony is going to feature a starstudded celebration of bond, james bond. How did i do . Good. Thank you, chris, thank you. Without the bad guys where would james bond be . Its the longest running franchise in history without the super villains and exquisitely evil schemes. Now a Museum Exhibit is giving this rogues gallery its due and Cnns Barbara Starr has details for us on that. Good morning, barbara. Good morning, soledad. As you say, sunday night the oscar ceremony in hollywood will pay tribute to 50 years of bond but here in washington, were celebrating 50 years of evil. My name is bond, james bond. The names bond, james bond. Reporter from sean connery to daniel craig, 007 has battled evil for half a century. As this years oscars celebrate 50 years of bond. Do you expect me to talk . No, mr. Bond, i expect you to die. Reporter here at the washington, d. C. , spy museum its bonds enemies that are in the spotlight. James bond. Allow me to introduce myself. I am ernst stavro blowpmant. Reporter bond villains were a creative bunch. Here you can find the steel teeth of jaws used in moonraker. His names jaws, he kills people. Reporter the the tarantula in dr. No and its more than just movie props. The exhibit exquisitely evil, shows us how the villains changed along with the times. Museum director peter ernest is a former cia covert officer. When fleming wrote the books and young productions produced the films they attempted to pick up on things producing anxiety in society, genocide or Nuclear Proliferation or terrorism or drugs. Reporter bond villains seemed to have one thing in common, causing mayhem. And thats what a lot of the bond villains were about, manipulating the world but controlling it. Yes, trying to cause the superpowers to clash. Reporter in the latest blockbuster sky fall the villains weapon the computer, used in a cyber attack against british intelligence. Youll recall in sky fall that the villain silva, he has the names of all the mi6 agents around the world and the pseudonyms theyre using and the people theyre employing. Everybody needs a hobby. So whats yours . Resurrection. Reporter 50 years of bond surviving evil, exquisitely evil. So what weve seen is it started back in the 60s, dr. No, goldfing goldfinger, the cold war confrontation and were up to silva sky fall and the Cyber Attacks of the modern world. Think about the scope of this for one second. We looked it up and realized daniel craig was born six years after sean connery first starred in dr. No. Says it all. My favorite villain was jaws. He was awesome. Thanks, barbara. Who was your favorite bond . Sean connery. Hes the only one who did it for me. Still ahead breaking news in the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing, very closely right now the court is back in session, quickly adjourned when there was reported to be some kind of a threat outside the courthouse, the nature of that threat not clear at this point. Well get you all the details from south africa right at the top of the hour. And then this woman is definitely not going to win mom of the year. Mom busted for having strippers, hiring strippers at her sons 16th Birthday Party. Now she faces jail time. Well update you on that story straight ahead. Ha ha ha no no no not today ha ha ha ha ha ha jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico . Happier than Dikembe Mutumbo blocking a shot. Get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. The delightful discovery. The sweet realization that you have a moment all to yourself. Well, almost. Splenda® no calorie sweetener. Splenda® makes the moment yours™. Welcome everybody. Our starting point, breaking news in the Oscar Pistorius case, a threat clears the courtroom briefly, theyre back in session and back in that courtroom. Were digging into what the nature of that threat was. Weve learned the lead investigator himself is facing seven charges of attempted murder. Were going to bring you live outside that courthouse coming up. A powerful winter storm a live look at wichita, kansas, 18 states getting blasted from the plains to the gulf coast. Another developing story, 35 People Killed in a car blast outside the ruling partys headquarters in syria, and then a horrifying moment caught on camera, new Surveillance Video shows the moment a deadly blast reduced a kansas city restaurant to rubble. At this hour, oscar winning actress Octavia Spencer and talk about the oscars come up, its thursday, february 20th and starting point begins right now. Welcome, everybody, breaking news in the Oscar Pistorius hearing thats under way right now, its the third day. We learned there was some threat that cleared the courthouse and adjourned that hearing for a little bit of tile. Right now were told everyone is back inside. It is unclear at this hour exactly what was behind the threat, why the courtroom was cleared. Rob yin curnow is in the court, says everybody is confused, the judge saying he could interfere with witnesses and therefore be ineligible for bail. Hes listed pistorius threatening to break someones legs, allegations of discharging a gun at a restaurant, these are the sort of prior bad acts, were waiting of course on a decision on bail, that is the focus of this. More from Nic Robertson. Reporter there was a brief interruption to the afternoons hearing as the magistrate cleared the courtroom, sent pistorius back down to the cells, there was some kind of security threat. The biggest headline the fact that the cricket bat which has been very much in question, how did it get blood on it, theres been an indication perhaps it was used to break down the bathroom door, according to what weve heard now no indication that cricket bat was used in any way by Oscar Pistorius to injure Reeva Steenkamp whatsoever. The injuries on her body consisted only with bullet wounds. The cricket bat not used in any way to injure steenkamp, the defense laying out why they believe the Police Inspectors case has been based on weakley presented information. They dont believe there is a strong case here for a murder charge. Theyre saying the evidence that is required to be examined is forensic, that there are no eyewitnesses. Weve heard the judge as well interrupting to ask questions, why didnt Reeva Steenkamp call out when she was in the bathroom, could she have gone to the bathroom, emptied her bladder, theres evidence she had gone to the bathroom to use the toilet. Why the magistrate was saying perhaps she had entered her bladder earlier, perhaps when she was shot her bladder had emptied as well. Weve seen the magistrate call into question some of what the defense is putting forward but again the prosecution its thrust here that Oscar Pistorius is at risk of flight, reading out from a Magazine Article where pistorius is quoted as saying that he lived or spent several months a year at least in italy where he was training for his athletics, for his running and that the prosecution is saying an indication he had somewhere else to go and live, all this playing out again in this third day of this bail hearing, going unexpectedly long, even by South African standards. Nic robertson, cnn, pretoria, south africa. Thank you for that update. Were being told by robyn curnow inside the courtroom and has been tweeting us about some of the details in this hearing and when the courtroom was cleared and when everybody came back she said the judge asked, so will there be shock if pistorius is released and the defense answering there will be shock if he is not released. An appropriate response. We just heard what youve characterized as alleged prior bad acts but all of those allegations could be quickly swept away if the defense would offer additional conditions, which are such things as house arrest, electronic monitoring, even put a guard outside the door. This might be perceived as punishment but it certainly would cure any possible thought that we would either flee, endanger anyone, endanger the safety of anyone, or interfere with the judicial process. Do things always go better if your client is not in prison and hes out . Theres no question. Every single case, bar none, if a defendant is on bail rather than in custody, the results will be better. Theres no question. Why is that . Theres many, many, there are endless reasons. One the greater access to the client, better relationship with the client. The client could be more involved in the defense. You could perform forensic, psychological and other kinds of tests without the government and the prosecution knowing what youre doing. You know it sends a message to the community as well that hes not so dangerous. Hes not he is an honorable person at least with respect to the court, hes abided by the orders and done what the court wants him to do. South african prisons have a notorious reputation if he were to be put in a South African prison id have to say theres no chance of this fellow fleeing. First of all if you put those conditions we just discussed, his face is widely known, his disability is widely known. He could easily be recognized. His physical disability would easily be recognized and in fact, his very walk is probably different than most people so i dont think theres any chance he would be theyre debating it. Some people think there is a chance. A woman was gunned down, whether it was murder or whether it was some sort of manslaughter or something, she was gunned down. It was a very violent and painful way to die. Youve set it up as murder or voluntary manslaughter. Or selfdefense, perceived selfdefense. Tragic, horrific mistake. He perceived the situation obviously wrongly and acted with utter fear. That is what the defense is saying. Now the prosecution hasnt really rebutted that. They havent provided any forensics to challenge the defense position so we cant simply say as horrific and tragic as this is, is anything other than a very, very tragic accident and horrific mistake. Robyn curnow says the magistrate seems to be deeply considering the law and seems to be unconvinced by some of what the defense is saying, this is some of the information shes giving, shes inside the courthouse so all of the information were getting from her is what shes able to send out to us in some of the tweets. Sorry, chris, if he isnt unconvinced the defense can appeal to the high court and and have them look over the conditions. To christines point i want to touch on that. You have a woman who is dead and youre a defense attorney so youre kind of taking that defense view but if youre the prosecution, do you really want to chance letting such a high profile guy out who could, who has his history of violence and his history of being unpredictable, doesnt that play into the judges decision, though . I would beg to differ. I wouldnt just characterize myself as defense lawyer. Im looking at this objective, a and when you think about restraining someones liberty, its a liberty interest, very important and with the high profile cases we forget some of the most important principles that exist in south africa, the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt and whats the likelihood in this case that the prosecution is going to be able to carry that burden . So for every day hes in jail maybe one more day than he should be. Does it matter what the family thinks . If Reeva Steenkamps family say we are stunned but she loved him and he loved her. Is it different because you have a judge and not a jury making this decision . All of those things are factors but so far they havent taken a public position. The parts i have observed is theyve taken a fairly neutral position, that they havent been engaged in the Legal Process and theyre suffering this horrific tragedy. Were hearing from ree isva steenkamps family that they only want the truth, they dont understand, what her half brother adam said on Anderson Cooper last night. They never discussed reevas relationship with pistorius. Heres what he said. I had no bad indications whatsoever. I did not actually talk to my sister in any detail about oscar at all. I mean, in fact i didnt talk to my sister about oscar at all. I wouldnt like to put words into my other family members mouths, but everyone is saying the same thing. I didnt talk to my sister about oscar at all, was he all that close with his sister, if they didnt even come up consistently they have taken that position they were only dating for four months. The other big story were following right now is that powerful winter storm. Lets hold off on updating that and keep talking about this case if you dont mind, for a moment. So lets say that the family decides not to weigh, they take this position of saying we want the facts, were not sure how to weigh in on it. If, in fact, they decide no bail and weve just heard from robyn that the judge appears, in her assessment, to not be so moved by what the defense is saying even though sort of in the way we interpret it, reading it, it sounds like theyre absolutely devastating the prosecutions case. He may be being evenhanded, asking hard questions of the prosecution, and hes asking hard questions of the defense, so its hard to read those tea leaves. Ultimately, they have said and robyn reported this earlier this is going to be a forensics case, it really wont matter anything other than that. Do you think thats true no, eyewitnesses so it becomes a forensics case. Right its going to be a significant part of the case particularly if the prosecution is able to demonstrate any parts of the affidavit offered for purposes of bail is incorrect or inaccurate. Is that an easier case for the defense if its just forensics . You dont have eyewitnesses, you dont haveme some of the other things that might move a jury . Theres no jury there. Its a question of moving the court and the forensics, look, theyve hired some of the best experts already forensically. If the prosecution comes up with certain experts it very well may be they will be disputed. Yes, forensics will play a part but so far weve heard that the, under crossexamination, the lead investigator has not been able to rebut or say anything thats inconsistent with the defense affidavit. That alone should be enough to say its in the interest of justice and there are exceptional circumstances that permit him to be released. Were watching, its day three and its been very bizarre as they cleared the courthouse, we still havent gotten all the details about what that threat was that cleared that courtroom briefly. Were looking into that as well. Lets turn to weather, our other big story this morning. 18 states, 30 Million People face a powerful winter storm thats moving into the plains. The system is huge. Its literally about the size of mexico, stretches from the dakotas all the way to texas and while it dumps snow in the north its expected to pour heavy rain over the south, maybe even bring tornadoes along the gulf coast and parts of kansas looking at about a foot and a half of snow. Flights canceled out of Kansas City International airport. Lots to talk about. Erin mcpike is in wichita, kansas and Jennifer Delgado is at the cnn center in atlanta. Erin, you look much colder and a little bit more miserable than jennifer does, good morning. Reporter good morning. I am cold. I want to tell you its not too cold because its 28 degrees but it is still pretty cold but the snow is not coming down nearly as hard as it was a couple of hours ago. Weve been out here for three hours and when we started there was nothing but now if you look at this, were down to about, oh six inches of snow, so lots of snow, but heres the thing about this. It looks like its nice, like we could see a lot of snowmen here in kansas, not really. If i pick it up, i cant make a snowball at all, so chris frates is safe on your panel there in new york, were not going to hit him with a snowball. Weve seen eight snowplows since weve been out here the past three hours and you still cant see the roads. It will be tough on the roads all day long, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback closed down most of the state, doesnt want to see people out on the roads so play in the snow, stay off the roads today. Thank you for the update. Jennifer youre up next. Give me a sense of where the storm is, where its heading and how bad its going to be. Were tackling this storm right now focusing on three elements here, the freezing rain, were talking about the ice as well as the snow and Severe Weather potential and we have it all on the radar. You can see where the line of storms are. Theyre going to be moving through dallas, a lot of lightning associated with this storm system and with this, this is a sign of how strong the storm system is, the convection and thats why were getting reports of thunder snow, the snow is coming down through parts of kansas as well as into missouri and were going to see more of this developing throughout the day as well as more of that freezing rain, that means Ice Accumulations, and with the severe storms theyre going to be from east texas over towards areas including mississippi and theyre going to get stronger even as we go later into the day. The snowfall totals impressive, 12 to 18 inches north of interstate 70 youre going to be hit hard as well as parts of nebraska and theres the Ice Accumulation, onehalf to threequarter inch of accumulation possible. Thats right, stay off the roads, play in the snow. Thats terrible, threequarter inches of ice. A lot to take power lines down. Youre right. Thank you for the update. Christine has a look at other stories making news. This morning federal investigators on the scene of a deadly plane crash near augusta, georgia. Five of the seven people on board were killed when the small jet overshot the runway at an airport in thompson, georgia. This plane was arriving from nashville, the two survivors are believed to be the pilot and one passenger. No word yet on who the victims are. New picture this is morning of that horrific gas explosion in kansas city, missouri. Surveillance video capturing the blast at a popular restaurant there. One person was killed, more than a dozen others injured. Authorities say a utility construction crew severed a gas line, leading to the massive explosion. The mom accused of hiring strippers to perform at her sons 16th Birthday Party at a Bowling Alley has been charged with five counts of endangering a child. Racy photos from the party began popping up on facebooking. Racy doesnt even come close. Young teenagers. Some of the kids in the party were 13 years old. This is bad parenting. I dont know a 16yearold boy who wouldnt love that for his birthday but this is like cool mom gone too far. You were trying to be way too cool and overstepped. Five counts so what does that mean she faces legally . Is it a year in prison per count possibly . This is under new york law . Yes. Yes, and probably that sounds right, im not that familiar with new york state procedure but this is an example of what we call over criminalization. Just because someone exercises poor judgment doesnt mean they should be prosecuted. Terrible judgment. Lets call it terrible judgment. Do you think we need to employ the criminal Justice System and the power of the state against an individual because they made some bad judgments . Shes charged with child endangerment and a lot of child endangerment is about bad judgment and bad parenting and the d. A. Says this was a crime. This seems no different than serve kids underaged alcohol, you dont serve them booze or strippers. We have to take a break because this could go on for ever. Dozens are killed in syria from the impact of a car bomb. New video gives you a glimpse of googles reality altering eyewear, ahead. Ou can part a cr, without saying a word. If you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. You stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. Well muddlers, muddle no more. Try zyrtec®. It gives you powerful allergy relief. And zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. Claritin® doesnt start working until hour three. Zyrtec®. Love the air. Claritin® doesnt start working until hour three. train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Welcome back, everybody. Breaking news out of damascus, syria, a car bomb targeting the headquarters of syrias ruling party exploded in central damascus. Were hearing that 35 people have been killed at the scene, 237 others injured, most of them are reported to be civilians. The vehicle detonated at a checkpoint manned by government soldiers in front of a bate socialist partys main office and also the russian embassy, thats according to a human rights group. We want to get to ivan watson in istanbul and has the latest on this. Tell me a little bit about what happened. Reporter thats right, soledad, massive explosion if you look at the images its absolutely terrifying, cars, dozens of them hurled across streets by the force of this blast. Were hearing of basically hundreds of people wounded and killed as a result of this, and its only one of several explosions, residents telling us moments after this blast, there appears to have been another car bomb in another part of damascus very close to one of the headquarters of one of the security agencies there and reports of fighting taking place there as well in the immediate aftermath. Take a listen to what one survivor had to say to syrian state tv, this is a woman from iraq, one of the refugees in syria from the neighboring iraq conflict and she is cursing the Rebel Free Syrian Army for the blast. Take a listen. Translator to the free syrian army, i am from iraq. The car blew up when i was in the area. Why . Why . May god curse you. Is this the freedom that they want . May god curse you, the fsa. Soledad, its important to point out that in addition to the violence today, damascus has seen a lot of fighting in recent weeks and months, pitched street battles between rebels and government Security Forces in neighborhooded on the edges of the capital city and weve seen Syrian Government war planes bombing entire neighborhoods as well. This battle for damascus is still being fought and claiming lives and its far from over. Ivan watson with the breaking news, thank you. Lets update with you some more breaking news out of the pistorius case which weve been monitoring for you, it is 3 19 in the afternoon there and they are giving their closing arguments. The state is wrapping up their closing arguments and were getting word in fact there will not be a resolution to this bail hearing today, theyre postponing it now probably for another day. We heard a little while ago from Nic Robertson people are stunned how long this has been taking. This pushes it into at least tomorrow as well as we continue to monitor and see if in fact Oscar Pistorius will get some kind of bail, will he get a schedule six is what hes facing right now, will they be able to drop it to schedule five, premeditated murder to straight murder, that would have a huge impact on what kind of penalties he would face. It wouldnt change the offense that hes facing in the future. The question of removing it from his schedule six to a five is only for bail purposes. So the court could say you know what . I dont think we need the additional elements of exceptional circumstances before we release you on bail. We just have to show its in the interest of justice. So thats what the defense is trying to say that for bail purposes its a schedule five offense regular murder as opposed to a schedule six which is premeditated murder, where you need a greater burden on the defense to show. And as weve been talking about all morning in south africa, there is not the jury listening to, this its a judge and two magistrates working with the judge and the judge apparently asked Oscar Pistorius if he is okay, and if he is following along and fully understanding what is happening in the hearing which i would imagine would be routine in terms of checking in with the defendant. Its customary but in this case where he was heaving and crying on the first days of the hearing, its appropriate for a court to inquire whether he is understanding the proceedings and thats what i believe the court was doing. It would similarly be done in this, in the United States as well. I think it shows humanity on the part of the court. Doesnt really tip his hand in which way hell rule on the bail hearing, left up to him and the magistrates and theres not a jury were waiting to hear from. Still ahide, shia lalouff dropped out of his broadway show. Were following that straight ahead. Plus shes no stranger to an oscar, Octavia Spencer will join us, well have some oscar predictions straight ahead. Dad youll be fine, ok . Girl ok. Dad you look so pretty. Im overprotective. Thats why i got a subaru. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. With the bing it on challenge to show google users what theyve been missing on bing. Lets bing it on. [fight bell ding, ding] how many here are google users . What if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results . Prove it. Lets look up some taco places. I like the left side. Yeah . Okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach . What side do you like better . I like the results on the right. Im gonna go with the one on the left. Oh bing won people prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. Well come back to starting point. Minding your business this morning, big earnings from walmart this morning, the Worlds Largest retailer Beat Estimates during the Fourth Quarter but thats not the news in this report. Walmart says sales this year have been slower as consumers deal with delayed tax refunds, high unemployment and the payroll tax increase. Stock futures are down at the moment. The head of a u. S. Tire company is blasting the work ethic in france. The wall street journal reports Maurice Taylor of Titan International sent a scathing letter earlier this month to a french industry minister. He was responding to a request from france that titan consider buying a shuttered tire in france. He french workforce gets paid high wages, but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch and talk for three and work for three. Well talk to him for his tough negotiating style and in this particular situation, very, very honest about his feelings about buying a french tire company. Tough commentary about the companies hes looking at. Christine thank you. Heres a look at whats trending on cnn. If you were planning to seeshy shia labeouf in his broadway debut, you can cancel that. He quit. He didnt elaborate on the reasons but been posting emails on his twitter account between him and the director and costar alec baldwin that gives an indication of a lot of drama behind the scenes, so one can just guess that thats probably why hes leaving. Marguerite joseph of gross point shores in michigan doesnt want to lie about her age but facebook is forcing her to not tell the truth about her age. Marguerite is 104 years old. Love it. Yes, darn it, she wants a facebook page. The settings on facebook dont allow her to enter her year of birth which is 1908 so she has to say shes 99. Her granddaughter helped her set up her facebook profile a couple years ago and theyve been reaching out to the founder of facebook, Mark Zuckerberg to get the problem corrected, so far no comment from facebook. 99, 104, come on. I love it that shes on facebook. I love it. And that her granddaughter does it for her. Details in the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing we learned that a decision on bail is not going to happen today as we were hoping to get that. Were going to have the latest from south africa coming up next. And the u. S. Is going to spend nearly 3 trillion, digest that for a moment, 3 trillion on health care this year, in spite of the president S Health Care law so why do the medical bills keep rising . Steve brill will join us with Time Magazines cover story that looks at why medical care costs so much. Thats when were back. Cereal ou know a thats recommended by doctors . Its post shredded wheat. Recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. Try adding fruit for more Health Benefits and more taste in your bowl. Its the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. Try post shredded wheat. This has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. Breaking news, the state says their argument is supported that the killing was deliberate and asking why would she take a cell phone into the bathroom at 3 00 in the morning. The magistrate is questioning how people would react if pistorius, also known as the blade runner, how people would react if in fact he were to be released. The defense said people would be shocked if he were not released. The magistrate also brought up some evidence of previous i guess you could call it previous bad acts that have been alleged to happen and pulled off by pistorius, threats of breaking legs, allegations of discharging a gun at a restaurant and about 40 minutes ago there was some kind of a threat undetermined the nature of it specifically but some kind of a threat that took place outside of the courthouse and that cleared the folks inside of the courthouse for a very brief time. Pistorius was taken back down to the holding cell and brought back up and the magistrate back in, and theyve got about 30 more minutes to wrap up this bail hearing that will not result in actually knowing whether or not hes going toe get bail been Nic Robertson has been updating the story for us all morning. It wont end in knowing what his bail, if hell get bail or not but what is the sense of how it feels going into this courtroom today . I think it feels for everyone up and down, going in this morning people thought perhaps he would get bail and would be walking out. I think that was the general feeling but as weve heard through the day, the prosecution earlier in the day laying out that they fear that if hes released he could flee the country, reading a Magazine Article where he talks about his home or where he lives in italy several months of the year where hes doing his running training, and the prosecution raising that, then it swings back again where the defense unpicks the prosecution case and the evidence put forward by the police saying there isnt sufficient evidence here, there are no eyewitnesses, this doesnt even stand up to a murder charge and now just really in the last few minutes hearing what the magistrate has been doing, raising these concerns about Oscar Pistorius past alleged acts of violence threatening someone with physical harm, a pistol going off in a restaurant. The expectation i think generally is that he probably will get released. Listening to the magistrate, the magistrate is the one thats been trying to, if you will, raise the concerns, pick holes in what the defense is saying. Asking very, very telling question if steenkamp was in the bathroom, why didnt she call out . That seems to have been one of the issues he was pushing very strongly, why didnt she call out when she heard pistorius saying, shouting or warning about a burglar. So the magistrate here being very, very cautious, soledad. Thank you, nic, appreciate it. We should also mention that robyn curnow has been inside the courtroom and says the magistrate is also asking could in fact the accused, Oscar Pistorius, orchestrate the crime scene, if you will, after the shooting, was that something that was possible to do, this is as this bail hearing continues. Now the third day we know now that it will not be resolved, we will not know today if in fact Oscar Pistorius will get bail or not. Lots more happening as well, that is not this particular case out of south africa and christine has that. Newly released 911 calls from a shooting and carjacking spree in orange county, kale ic california that left four people dead including the gun nan. 20yearold aliyse shayed fatally shot and killed. Police say sayed committed three carjackings, killing two drivers in the process. The rampage ended when he took his own life. He spent much of his time playing violent video games. Drew peterson expected to find out how long hell be behind bars he was found guilty last year of killing his third wife. His defense team is making a last ditch request for a new trial. Peterson faces up to 60 years in prison. An oscar nominated palestinian filmmaker arriving in los angeles was detained by immigration officials who questioned his oscar invite. He was held for about an hour before they released emad burnat, his film five broken cameras is up for an oscar, he said it was an unpleasant experience but its the kind of things they face every day in the west bank. The new google glasses interactive eye wear, shows you the maps, the weather, sends you Text Messages and translates. Google is looking for quite bold, creative individuals to test them out but it will cost you 1,500. You get to test drive them but pay them to test drive them . I guess thats building anticipation. Ever wonder why women talk more than men . Two words. Language proteins. University of maryland researchers more to say. Higher levels of the fox foxp2 protein in females brain, those with more are chattier n humans that happens to be women. But they found in rats, its men, its the male rats. Its been previously claimed that women speak about 20,000 words daily. 13,000 more than men and i cant prove it but i think we talk faster, too. Talk faster and have more relevant things to say. I feel very comfortable with this research. Guys only speak 7,000 words a day . 7,000 less i think. Okay. Lets talk about health care because its expensive and despite the president s sweeping Health Care Legislation medical costs continue to rise every year in the United States. Time magazine has a brand new cover story its called bitter pill why medical bills are ilg can killing us and it looks why medical bills are piling up so high for so many americans, according to the report published in partnership with cnn, the u. S. Will spend roughly 2. 8 trillion, yes, with a t on health care, thats 27 more per capita than othereveloped nations which comments to 750 billion. Steven brill is a Time Magazine contributor, author of the new cover story and joins us this morning. This story is such an intense shocker because it really drills down into the actual costs in your bill, and a lot of people i think all the debates weve had about medical care focus on who is going to pay. Is the person going to pay, the Insurance Company going to pay, is the government going to pay . You look at why are we paying so much. Why are bills so expensive . Thats right, i stumbled into this, looking for another writing project and about six months ago, somebody told me about a medical bill for having gone to the emergency room. He had slipped and fallen and cut his face and the bill was 21,000. So i just wondered, why does it cost so much in this country. So i just decided to follow the money, and what i found is, we basically live in two economies in this country. Theres all of us, we have one economy, we read about unemployment and how things are tough, how earnings are tough, and then theres the health care economy, which is prospering, its thriving, adding jobs all the time, everybodys making money, ge is making money on c. T. Scans, your Favorite Local hospital you think is nonprofit hospital is making tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. I want to ask you about that charge master, early on in the article you hone in on this thing called the charge master. Its a schedule of fees. Its this 7,000, 10,000 item schedule of fees so everything that happens to you at the hospital whether its outpatient or inpatient or even in a lab has a charge. If someone hands you a tissue, that might be 1 or 2. If you get a routine, the blood test that is totally routine, which costs the hospital basically nothing, that could be 150 at one hospital, it could be 250 at another hospital. Nobody can explain why. You focus on a guy named steven d. , he has this bill that you walk through and say he has these diabetes test strips and he, the hospital charges him for 88 strips, he ends up being charged 1,584. If you were to buy them on amazon, could you get 100, like 12 more for 55 bucks. Is that the labor in it . Are they billing in the labor of the nurse . The raw cost of the strips . They say youre in the hospital getting all this care but in his case they charged a couple thousand dollars a day just for the hospital room, so you would think they would throw in the tylenol and the test strips with the couple thousand dollars. Another example, nyacin pill can be bought at the drugstore for five cents. He is paying 24 bucks a pill. I guess i was stunned by that. That adds up. Yeah, really, really fast. The gap, i mean we get it that theyre going to pay, they reimburse hospitals for medicare one amount and its often lower, hospitals and doctors will tell you less than its actually costing them. But is it as much as that gap that we see . No, no. An Insurance Company will also get a discount off the chargemaster but your Insurance Company will get a 40 discount, maybe a 50 discount, but a 50 discount off of a 25 bill for nyacin is still a lot of money for the hospital. So what i found was Hospital Executives in every town in the country theres a hospital and you think of the hospital as your favorite nonprofit charity. Theres a fundraiser every year and everybody feels good about going to the fundraiser. The hospital ceos are making 2 million, 3 million, 5 million a year. The hospitals are making exorbitant profits and the fundraiser you go to probably accounts for one half of 1 of their revenue. The real revenue is from the nyacin pills and the cancer drugs where they might charge the patient 10,000 or 11,000. It might cost them 4,000, and it might cost the drug company 100 or 200. Stunning. I think this report is actually breathtaking when you go through sort of the basic math. You walk through the most basic math. We dont have a free market. We act as if we have a free market unlike every other developed country in the world but theres just nothing free about it because you and i have no choice in any of those buying decisions. The hospitals would argue that they have to do these things otherwise theyll get sued. They have to give you the more expensive test because if they dont and you die. No one is making them charge 25 for a nyacin pill. They have a good point about malpractice but not when it comes to charging 25 for a pill. What is the alternative for the patient . Youre a captive audience at that moment. And probably terrified. Sick. And sick. And even think being it, they hand you a pill or they say gee, you need a ct scan. Steve, you hear a lot of politicians in washington saying, well, the Health Care Law is going to take care of that, its going to control costs and were going to finally see that. Obama care does nothing to control costs. What obama care does is shifts sort of the burden of who pays for insurance. If anything, its going to cost more because youre putting more of these people into the market because theyre going to have insurance, but its going to raise insurance rates and then the government is going to subsidize insurance for people who cant afford it, but obama care does nothing to take a 13,000 cancer wonder drug which in europe would sell for 2,000, it does nothing about that. Steven brill is a time contributor. This is an absolutely stunning article, a must read for anybody who has ever visited even the emergency room for tripping and falling and bumping their head. Thank you for talking with us about it. We appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Still ahead on starting point the war on childhood obesity, is it easing up . Theres a new federal report out about that, and she took home an oscar for her work in the help. Who does Octavia Spencer think will be the big winner at the Academy Awards sunday . [ anouncer ] ihop is in time square to compare new griddlemelts to your usual breakfast sandwich. A lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihops new griddle melts. Made fresh and hot hand crafted just for you. Its like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. Just 4. 99. Its an epic breakfast sandwich. Welcome back. Youre watching starting point. Are we finally getting the mess acabout obesity . Adult obesity rates have finally plateaued after years and years of increases. Even more encouraging fewer of their calories are coming from fast food, the cdc found kids are consuming fewer calories than they did a decade ago. 7 fewer for boys, 4 fewer for girls. Obesity rates for children have been flat over the last few years. Experts say the new report could be an indication those numbers might be starting to trend downward and others say while the numbers are still encouraging it sntd enough. Plateau something not enough to cheer about. The question i ask our panel is why . Is it that Michelle Obama is raising the issue, is it companies saying that theyre going to try to fight obesity because they need to have a healthy population that theyre marketing to . It feels like a combination of those things. You do have a lot of the big sew do makers, a lot of the fast food guys talking about responsibility and consumption and we have 100 calorie soda, you have childhood diabetes has become a big epidemic and theres a lot more attention around that, and that overweight children have so much more of a chance of becoming diabetic very early on and the Health Care Costs as we were talking about that goes along with that. It seems like a combination of things but at least its not going up anymore. And the happy meal today is a different happy meal from two years ago. If youre a parent who gets this, as a treat every now and then for your kids. The fries are smaller, they automatically include the apples now and Public Schools are doing a little bit better job with teachers and parents i would say with the schools really pushing the more healthy snacks and wellrounded meal before you get to school. Theres a bet ear wareness but we have a lot more to do. Youve got to pull the numbers down, still. The numbers plateaued but they were never good numbers to begin with. Still ahead well talk to Octavia Spencer, she earned an oscar for her fabulous performance in the help last year. Who will be the lucky winner this time around . Shell help us handicap the race, this Sundays Academy award nominees coming up next. 1. Three more days until the oscars, Octavia Spencer won best supporting actress for minnie in the help. I need to see you well at all times. I got to come up with the questions, too . Oh, lets begin. With where you were born. Mississippi, on my great aunt teas sofa, next. This year she returns as a presenter. Nice to have you. Thank you, nice to be here. There must be much more pressure as someone who say nominee than someone who is presenting but i have to imagine even presenting has got to be stressful. There is no stress attached to presenting, because you get to show up and see all the people that you love. But you got the red carpet, you have to have the whole theyre going to do the whole look at what youre wearing, was it a good fashion pick. Thats why you pick really, really smart. You pick the right people and they help you get i tell you, its a different season. Im having a ball this season. Its fun because youre not a nominee. Its fun, yes. You look at the categories, amy adams is up for the masters sally field for Lincoln Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables and helen hunt and jacki weaver for Silver Linings playbook. What is your pick . I love all of them but i have to tell you sally field made me, she taught me something about Mary Todd Lincoln that i didnt already know and behind every great president is a great wife running things and the slaves were freed that year, there you go, i love sally field. I think thats your way of saying youre rooting to are her even though youre being diplomatic about it. Did winning an oscar changed your life . It definitely changed my career but my life is still the same. I know that i could not have the same life but it definitely changed how im perceived and the choices that i get to make. Ill tell you that. What choices are you getting to make now . Well, lets just say i get to drive the bus, you know . And thats really wonderful. Its a great bus, its a luxury bus and i get to make choices. I have a say a lot more of a say in what i get to do and i get to, you know, choose projects that will, you know, i dont know that resonate with me and that i sort of have some sort of bond with and to and you dont really necessarily get that when youre an actor for hire. Youre lucky. You hope. You talked a lot about and weve talked a lot about sort of race in hollywood, weight in hollywood. How has that been for you or is it once you win an oscar youre out of that discussion, youre now here and if doesnt matter for you. I dont think you ever get out of that discussion. As an africanamerican woman im aware there are fewer roles for women of color and then im a very specific type, so weight issues, race issues will always be there and if you allow them to get to you or if you allow them to affect you, then yes they affect you. My thing is i have so many other things to worry about, i cant worry about other peoples perception of me. If you beat yourself up worse than anybody, why would you allow someone elses perception of to factor in. Its definitely different, ill tell you that. You started working with a Weight Loss Company and you look amazing. Thank you. You look fabulous. Thank you. Does that change sort of the roles youre getting now or do you feel that its more, if youre a fine actor youre a fine actor and it doesnt matter . I dont think its going to change the roles that i pursue. I just choose according to what resonates with me, but as far as sensa, im thrilled about it because it has changed my life and not necessarily my lifestyle, because i needed something to help me get healthy. I needed to deal with that, and thats something that ive been kind of doing for the past ten years very, very slowly. And i needed something to take it up a notch to not be as sw and thats what i love that i was able to integrate it into my life and see results rather quickly, quickly by my time clock. You look fabulous and youre a good spokesperson for sensa. Thank you. We wish you the best. Im curious to see what youre going to wear. What are you presenting . Im presenting the best supporting actor. So what are you going to wear . Who are you wearing, octavia . Come on i will tell you this, im definitely wearing underwear. Well that puts you in the category in some ways a lot of people dont so that is breaking news when it comes to oscar fashion. It is so nice to have you. Thank you for having me. Cant wait to see you in a calm and relaxed way, less tension as a presenter at the oscars sunday. We got to take a short break, end point is up next. With its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. A regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. The usual, bob . Not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib Atrial Fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. I dont think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But not anymore. Bobs doctor recommended a different option onceaday xarelto®. Xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesnt require routine blood monitoring. Like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afibrelated stroke. There is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. No routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. New zealand xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. And with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. Stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. Get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. Ready to change your routine . Ask your doctor about onceaday xarelto®. For more information including cost support options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. Welcome back. An update to our breaking news were not going to find out today if Oscar Pistorius is going to get bail. The state is delivering closing arguments, it will wrap up in just about two minutes, then the day ends for the court. The state said pistorius shows total lack of realization of what hes done that hes a man willing and ready to fire and kill and that pistorius v