Thanks for joining us on this busy morning. Coming up monday, quvenzhane walis and alison brie, Mary Bono Mack and connie mack. Meanwhile cnn newsroom with Carol Costello begins right now. Happening now in the newsroom. Dont like this. Meteor shower breaking overnight, amazing pictures out of russia. Hundreds are injured as fragments of the meteor slam into earth. Plus it was kind of crazy. Tired but ready to get on a bus and go get a shower, be in a place where the toilet flushes. I just really want a bed. Reporter sweet home alabama, back on land, the cruise from hell finally over for thousands of weary vacationers. Also, charged. Prosecutors arguing the socalled blade runner olympian committed premeditated murder, reportedly shooting his girlfriend four times through a bathroom door. Plus this. Dont you just love it . Love what . Tiffanys. Reporter its breakfast at tiffa tiffanys not breakfast at costco. The Discount Warehouse known for gallons of mayo and bulk packs of underwear selling what they say are tiffany rings. The people behind that little blue box calling costco out this morning. Newsroom starts now. Good morning, thank you so much for joining me. Im Carol Costello. We begin with the shock and awe of a meteor shower, raining down on southern russia, nearly 1,000 people now reportedly injured. Millions mesmerized by the incredible images now streaming in. Watch as that fireball grows bigger and bigger as it races across the daytime sky and erupts into this blinding flash of light but it would take several seconds for the sound to catch up. Like this [ speaking in Foreign Language ] unbelievable. Witnesses say there were three separate explosions that ripped across the region and jolted buildings with a sudden and frightening violence. Keep in mind no reports of anything actually hitting the ground. This damage is just from the shock wave from the meteor as it burned into the earths atmosphere. This factory, a wall collapsed, the roof caved in, one of nearly 300 buildings damaged, including schools and hospitals across at least six towns, thousands and thousands of windows shattered, and the number of injured could very well climb. Heres what we now know about this meteor. It weighed about ten tons when it slammed into the earths atmosphere. It was screaming at about 33,000 Miles Per Hour, and for all that widespread damage it was only about the size of a big kitchen table. Cnns bill black is in moscow. Wow. Whats the governments response to this, phil . Reporter well, the government has been responding to this, they have a team of tens of thousands of people there on the ground helping with the cleanup, urging people to stay calm, say there is no threat and some initial concern because there is a cluster of facilities in the area but none of them were damaged. There is no change to russian ambient radiation at even that area. Theyve been trying to help the people that have been hurt and a lot of different numbers have been coming to us from different russian agencies over the course of the day and a number of people who are injured in this incident, but they all have one thing in common, they keep going up. As you say, the total number of injured is now close to 1,000. Theres how many people they say, between 30 and 100 have been treated in hospital and a smaller number, less than ten we are told are said to be in grave condition. Fortunately for all the drama, for all the sheer terrifying elements to all of this, the damage although widespread is not significant. It is largely broken glass. The people that were showered in broken glass as they were struck by the sonic booms that most of the injuries are not more serious than simple cuts and scratches. Unbelievable. Phil black reporting live from moscow. Lets talk more about the piece of meteor itself, because indra petersons, please help us understand this. As you look at this thing, it clearly is on fire when it enters the earths atmosphere. Am i right . Absolutely. I definitely wanted to start you with the distinguishing factor between an asteroid and a meteor. Its an asteroid before it enters the earths atmosphere. Once it enters the earths atmosphere youre talking about friction with their atmospheric compositi composition, that makes it start to be a fireball. As it moves closer towards earth it continues to burn up and gets smaller. Thats what were watching. If it hits the ground its called a meteorite. Look at the video. It entered at 33,000 Miles Per Hour, so remember, we talked about this being ten several meters wide like a semitruck hurling at us at 10,000 Miles Per Hour. Of course it started to burn up, started to slow down with friction and then the huge boom everyones talking about. 760 Miles Per Hour is the speed of sound. Remember this thing started off at 33,000 Miles Per Hour, at some point it slows down to 200, 400 Miles Per Hour. Either way you can see that boom be anywhere from is. 5 to even five minutes thereafter intending on the speed of that. Thats the reason everyones been able to get their cameras up in time, capture the video and hear the large boom. So the boom, the sound itself shook the earth and broke the windows and scattered debris, is that how that happened . Absolutely. Were talking about something that moves through a medium much faster and i say medium as a scientific term but whatever it is around it, this case being the air so much faster than the surrounding area, thats just a blast, typical blast like any other explosion, like any bullet or anything else. Same thing, on a much larger scale. Yes e were ety scary stuff. Indra petersons, thank you so much. Wow, lets turn to another reason for eyes on the sky today, this giant rock nearly half the size of a football field dwarfs todays meteor shower over russia. Even though this will brush by the earth it will be 1,000 miles away. Scientists say there is absolutely no chance of impact. Cnns Jason Carroll is in new york at the American Museum of Natural History, but jason, in light of what happened in russia, it just makes you a little nervous. Reporter you know, carol its a wakeup call. You look at what happened in russia, you look at whats going to happen later on this afternoon. The name of that asteroid is 2012da14, not a very inspiring name for such an incredible object and you know, as the animation shows, at its closest point thats going to be at about 2 00 this afternoon, 2 24 i think to be exact, it will pass just about 17,200 miles from earth. That may sound like its far away, carol, but thats actually very, very close. Some of our communications and weather satellites are actually in that same area but were told from scientists that this particular asteroid is not going to have any effect on any of our communication satellites but still this is something to keep a very close eye on. Someone who has been watching closely, its dr. Denton abel, hes 65, back just a little bit. Hes curator here at the hall of the universe and youve been studying meteors, asteroids for quite a long time. When you look at whats happening with 2012da14, the asteroid passing by this afternoon, what are some of your thoughts . My thoughts are what is it made out of and why is it coming so close. We know it probably comes from the asteroid belt. I study meteorites, i study this stuff, the astronomers look at things far away so this is sort of in between that space. Reporter you no he what fascinates and frightens me about this, carol, if you think about this particular asteroid, you think this was discovered by amateur astronomers in spain. Sure. Reporter just about a year ago. If we were to discover another one that was going to impact us, we wouldnt have the capability to stop it if it was discovered in, you know, a year out of impact, maybe in a year and a half . Well, thats too short a time span. The political will doesnt really exist to mount a Global Protection effort, but the amateurs in spain in this case who discovered this, theres plenty of will in the amateur Scientific Community and the professional Scientific Community to find these things. We do know 95 of the big ones, the ones that are greater than a kilometer in diameter, but here we have a tiny object over russia, an air burst in an area where they have Nuclear Weapons plants, who knows whats there, but they woke up and smelled the asteroid today. Reporter they certainly did. This afternoon well see another small body, 45 meters, not a big deal. Reporter well be checking back with you this afternoon as we continue to watch this particular asteroid, 2012da14. It is not going to impact the earth but carol definitely a close call. I dont want to wake up and smell the asteroid today, at least not in the united states. I feel sorry for our friends in russia. Thank you very much, both of you. Take a look at the new pictures, they show Oscar Pistorius breaking down in tears after a judge formally charges him with murder this morning. The olympic track star accused of shooting and killing his model girlfriend on valentines day. Prosecutors say they will argue pistorius committed premeditated murder, he planned it according to police. Cnns robyn curnow is following this from south africa. Robyn so many confusing things are coming out of this. Is it true that police are alleging that he shot her through a bathroom door . Reporter lots of things to talk about. Youve just been running that story about a meteorite hitting. For many people here in pretoria, across south africa it meals like a bombshell has hit. People are still very much reeling from this information, from the story, this valentines tragedy. Its everywhere in this country, and like you say, there is still a lot of confusion, still a lot of rumors, a lot of speculation about what happened in Oscar Pistorius house valentines morning. There he is, his girlfriend shot dead. We understand from media reports she had full bullet wounds, where she was found, where her body was found one newspaper saying it was found in a body and that there were bullets going through the door of the path room, and another newspaper, though, contradicting that saying her body was found downstairs so i think weve got to be very careful about coming to any sort of understanding of what transpired. This is the court where Oscar Pistorius appeared this morning. His bail application was denied until tuesday, but crucially as you mentioned, the state feeling like they have a very strong case against the olympian. They want to charge him with premeditated murder, but pistorius has just put out a statement via his agent and says he strongly disagrees with these murder charges. I think its going to be a long, drawn out court case. Robyn curnow reporting live from south africa this morning. Big companies have already made their decision, theyre distancing themselves from pistorius. Nike pulled this ad already which included the phrase i am the bullet in the chamber. Makie is not withdrawing support for pistorius even though this could cause a Public Relations nightmare, frankly. At the beginning of any crisis, you have to say something. Very often we call dressing up no comment as a comment. I think in the past nike has been very clowe to respond to a tiger woods situation or other situations and that makes the public question what their true motives are. Nike as well as oakley and other pistorius sponsors express condolences but would not any further comment. A historymaking move, Senate Republicans blocked chuck hagel from becoming the newest defense secretary for at least two more weeks. Cnns chief Congressional Correspondent dana bash has more for you. On this vote the yeas are 58, the nays are 40. Reporter it was a moment for the history books. The motion is not agreed to. Reporter chuck hagel fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a gop filibuster of his nomination to be defense secretary. Only four republicans supported their former senate gop colleague. The filibuster of senator hagels confirmation is unprecedented, i repeat, not a single nominee for secretary of defense ever in the history of our country has been filibustered, never, ever. Reporter republicans argued they need more time saying hagel is too controversial to be confirmed only days after getting through committee on a party line vote. The president has a right to appoint people in whom he has confidence, but we have a constitutional responsibility to consider the nominee. A number of the republican senators have questions. Reporter democrats see it another way, republicans are dragging their feet on hagel in order to look for more information to bring him down. Lets not hide behind a filibuster. Lets have the courage to vote yes or vote no. Dont hide behind parliamentary tricks. Reporter the white house knew from day one hagels confirmation would not be easy. Controversial statements on israel, jews and gays, as well as his positions on iran and iraq put him in the crosshairs of senators on both sides of the aisle but mostly fellow republicans, and a widely panned performance at his confirmation hearing even by democrats didnt help. I uh misspoke and said i supported the president s position on containment. Reporter only in the last 48 hours did it become clear hagel did not have the votes to overcome a filibuster this week. Senators have the right to have those questions answered. Chief Congressional Correspondent dana bash joins us now from capitol hill. So dana, is it just about chuck hagels being a controversial guy or does benghazi play into this, too . Reporter all of the above, but i think at its core, it is chuck hagel being a controversial guy. Look, we and most people, including the white house, thought that this was going to be okay, that the filibuster would not continue, but it changed because primarily senators like mccain and others who had said they wouldnt support a filibuster switched because they were pressured by fellow republicans who said they wanted more time and so they said okay, fine, well give you that. The issue for hagel supporters is that there are people out there who, groups out there who are determined to use the next ten days to try to dig up Something Else to torpedo his nomination once and for all. Although carol i talked to a number of republican senators who voted no yesterday and told me they would absolutely vote yes the next time this comes up, which is in about ten days you never know whats going to happen and that is a lifetime when youre talking about a controversial nominee kind of hanging out there. Youre going to be back in 15 minutes and well discuss this further and we appreciate that. Dana bash reporting live from capitol hill this morning. Costco, the big box retailer where you can find flat screen tvs, giant tubs of mayo, and tiffany Engagement Rings . Turns out tiffany has something to say about tha [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. Executor of efficiency. You can spot an amateur from a mile away. While going shoeless and metalfree in seconds. 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European Planemaker Airbus is ditching plans to use lithium ion batteries in its new passenger jets. Investigators havent confirmed those same batteries caused Serious Problems in boeings 787 dreamliner, but with scores of those planes grounded, airbus is not taking chances. Two months after the sandy hook massacre more than 5,000 gun control advocates rallied at the connecticut state house. Governor Dannel Malloy said no one should be able to buy a gun without a background check. In a few hours president obama will head to chicago to speak at a south side high school. Hes expected to focus on improving the middle class but also hell likely talk about gun violence. Thats because 15yearold Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed a mile from obamas chicago home, days after performing at the inaugural luncheon in washington, d. C. , during inaugural week. That sparked a petition with nearly 50,000 signatures demanding the president visit chicago and outline a specific plan to prevent gun violence. Joining us from chicago is the woman who helped start the coalition, kathy cohen and mike shields, president of the chicago fraternal order of police. Welcome to you both. Good morning. Thanks for having us. Kathy, the president made a plea for congress to vote on his gun control proposals during the state of the union. That didnt satisfy you . No. I mean were really looking for the president to offer a comprehensive analysis of kind of the factors that underlie gun violence. We support the president in looking for legislation to deal with gun control, but we also want the president to talk about the unemployment that young people face, the levels of poverty that they face, the kind of failed experiment with excessive incarceration, and we know that unless we deal with these underlying factors, actually well never really deal with the crisis of gun violence. It seems to be difficult in this country to deal with shades of gray. It seems everything is in black and white. Is that our problem . I think its hard for people to understand that we have a longterm issue here that deserves kind of sustained investment. I th