Can you feel the excitement . Were just an hour and a half away from the Oscar Nominations, so whos in, who got snubbed . Were going to bring it to you all live. The action is right here coming up. Among our guests this morning, connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal will be joining us, new york congressman joseph crowley, dr. Sanjay gupta is with us, the dog whisperer, cesar milan and comedian jay thomas joins us as well. Its thursday, january 10th. Starting point begins right now. Good morning, welcome, everybody. Our starting point this morning, the majority of the United States now dealing with a severe and deadly bout of the flu. The cdc reporting that influenza cases are widespread across 41 states. More than 2200 people reported hospitalized. Here are the hardesthit states. Pennsylvania, south carolina. Each reporting 22 flurelated deaths. Massachusetts declaring a medical emergency. 700 confirmed cases in boston since october. Rates ten times higher than what they saw last year. Our chief medical correspondent, dr. Sanjay gupta, joins us this morning. Hes at cnn center in atlanta. Sanjay, good morning to you. Put this in perspective for me. How do we compare it to last year . As you pointing out, you take a place like boston, for example, and its about ten times worse, 700 cases versus 70. But this is clearly a much more severe season as compared to last season which was relatively mild. The question that a lot of people are asking now, is this more and this is early peaking and will taper off earlier as well or will it just stay high now for the rest of the flu season . We dont know the answer to this. Also this particular strain. Its h3n2 just appears to be a more severe strain. Weve seen this before. It was severe then, its severe now. More people having significant sickness as a result. Every year around this time you hear two things. People saying every time i get a flu shot it makes me sick so im not going to get a flu shot. Or they say i never get a flu shot and im healthy and so im not going to bother getting a flu shot. So as a doctor, what do you tell them . The flu shot is not perfect. Its about 60 effective. Theres another flu virus going around not included in this shot so its much better than nothing. It takes a couple of weeks for your immunity to build up after you get the flu shot so youre not protected right away. Heres an important point and i think you and i have talked about this before. When you get a flu shot, what the body is doing is sort of ramping up the immune system. So its recognizing that virus so that if it sees the virus again, it can get rid of it more quickly. But that ramping up of the immune system, thats what makes people feel a little crummy. You might sort of have those flulike symptoms but its not the flu after you get that shot. This year it seems that there is this aggressive flu and then whooping cough as well and then the norovirus, the three of them coming together. They have predicted 50,000 people could die this season. Are these all going to be mostly people who already have compromised immune systems . Those are the people that are certainly the most vulnerable. When you look at numbers like that, 50,000 people potentially dying, 200,000 potentially hospitalized, obviously Healthy People are in that crowd as well. So a lot of times its Healthy People who simply they get very dehydrated, their fever stays elevated for several days and they dont get to a doctor or hospital on time. So, you know, theres a lot of people who are getting quite sick from this. Do you have a list of when people should go to the hospital, that its not sort of the flu that you can stay in bed and resolve at home but that it is so serious that you need to be hospitalize ed. Lets walk through some of that. For the vast majority of Healthy People, theyll be able to stay home and the focus is on isolation so they dont get other people sick. But if youre unable to keep fluids down, for example, as a result of this, if your fever stays elevated as a result of this, over 103 degrees, most importantly if you suddenly develop difficulty breathing, that is a big red flag. Also one thing that can happen is you can have this viral infection. You get better after the flu goes away but youve developed a bacterial infection afterwards, so you feel better and then a couple of days the symptoms come back. That can be a red flag. Dr. Sanjay gupta. Thank you. I should mention sanjay will monitor the flus spread over the weekend. Turning now to washington, d. C. , president obama prepared to go, maybe, around congress to enact some tough new gun control laws that sort of comes, according to his Vice President joe biden, talking about that yesterday on the eve of his meeting today between Gun Violence Commission and the National Rifle association, its going to be a busy day for the Vice President. Later this morning hell meet with sportsmen and wildlife groups. This afternoon its representatives from gun owners groups including the nra and tonight he sits down with members from the executives from the Entertainment Industry. The white house saying theyre in listening mode today and the Vice President acknowledging that the president is prepared to use the powers of the presidency possibly to push through a comprehensive gun control plan. Heres what he said. The president is going to act. There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We havent decided what that is yet. But were compiling it all with help of the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe is required. He says we havent decided what it is yet. Lets get right to White House Correspondent dan lothian whos in washington, d. C. , this morning. So talk more specifically. Hes not being very specific but what are people thinking that hes talking about . Reporter well, i think we have to really wait and see. The white house is still in the process of compiling what some of those options might be for the president to go it alone. They have these two tracks, as youve pointed out, where legislatively there are things they believe such as reinstating that assault weapons ban but they also want to have options for the president to go it alone. And theyre working with the Justice Department on some of the specifics. Obviously what theyre trying to do here is they realize the Political Climate here in washington, it is very difficult to get things done very quickly here. Weve seen that over the last few months with the fiscal fight. Frankly over the last few years as well here in washington. And the Vice President pointing out that things need to happen very quickly so that lives can be saved. Take a listen. I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything, were going to do nothing. Its critically important we act. Reporter now, in addition to the group of people that you mentioned, the Vice President will be meeting with today, yesterday he sat down with a dozen faith leaders. They talked about the moral imperative of taking action to prevent the violence that weve seen across the country. In addition he had a Conference Call with governors, state and other local officials across the country. Theyre trying to put together proposals and present to the president all of these proposals by the end of the month. Whats been the reaction, dan, among gun Rights Groups . Reporter well, theyre very concerned when they hear about executive action that the administration might be taking. Weve heard from the gun owners association, weve heard from the National Rifle association as well. Theyre concerned about the talk of reinstating this assault weapons ban as well, and in fact we heard from the nra saying that this is just a phony piece of legislation. They say that you should be looking at other things, such as violent video games, looking at Mental Health issues. Thats where the focus should be, not on gun control. Dan lothian for us this morning in washington, d. C. Thank you, dan. Appreciate that. Turning now to whos in and whos out of the president s cabinet, the white house chief of staff, jack lew, is going to be nominated to become the next treasury secretary. He would replace timothy geithner. The search is on now for a new labor secretary now that hilda s solis has announced shes stepping down. Staying on the job for now is attorney general eric holder. Hell be working with the Vice President on those new gun control measures that we heard biden talk about just a few minutes ago. He could leave by the end of the year. The white house also announcing health and man less than 90 minutes. Some films are considered to be shooins for nomination. Lots of drama, though, in this case. A nischelle turnpike e turner is angeles for us today. Reporter the good thing about the academy is they like to zig when other folks zag so there could be five to ten nominations for best picture this morning. Conventional wisdom is its been a really good year for film. Theres a Little Something for everyone. I like our chances now. Reporter the campaign for best picture is about to get real. And theres no doubt lincoln will be a leading candidate. Steven spielbergs civil war drama should land a slew of nominations and not just for best picture. Daniel daylewis, obviously, for best actor. Youre going to see him nominated and hes by far the front runner to win. Im sure youll see sally field nominated in supporting actress. And also Tommy Lee Jones in supporting actor. Reporter as many as ten movies could be nominated for best picture. Deadline. Coms pete hammond points to a handful of top con terns. In addition to lincoln, its les m if tis. Argo and zero dark thirty. Reporter playbook should get best picture and its stars. Robert de niro, who has not been nominated, believe it or not, for 21 years. Reporter among the possible oscar nominees, one movie stands out as a major question mark. What will oscar voters make of Quentin Tarantinos django unchained. Django is the wild card here. It could get a ton of nominations or virtually nothing. Reporter the d may be silent but critics havent been. Some of them aconfusing tarantino of trivializing slavery. Its such a box office hit. That can only help. Reporter the controversy should make for a suspensionful oscar nomination announcement. Now, if the academy decides to expand the best picture category, django could get a nomination if they go to six, seven or eight movies but it would be a bit of a surprise if jamie foxx does get a nomination for best actor for that film. The best actor category one of the tightest this year. We probably will see people like daniel daylewis and Denzel Washington get nominations, but there could be heavy hitters in hollywood like richard gere, Bradley Cooper or Joaquin Phoenix that could find themselves on the other side of the nomination. All right. Lots of drama there. You can stick around for our special coverage of the Oscar Nominations that begins at 8 nic8 15 this morning. A. J. Hammer will join me and well talk about it live on the air. Go to our Facebook Page or tweet us your thoughts on the nominees. It our hash tag cnnnoms. Other stories making news this morning. In colorado, the evidence hearing against james holmes has wrapped up. The presiding judge will decide tomorrow if this case will go to trial. Holmes accused of opening fire inside the Movie Theater last july killing 12 people, wounding dozens of others. Yesterday prosecutors claimed that holmes cased the theater up to three weeks before the massacre. They presented photos recovered from his cell phone along with chilling cell photos of him posing with weapons. Afghanistans President Hamid karzai is making the rounds in washington. Today he stops by the pentagon for a meeting with leon panetta. Hell also see the pentagons 9 11 memorial. The two men will discuss the american troop situation in afghanistan after the nato combat mission officially ends next year and of course tomorrow hamid karzai meets with president obama. So its a race against time to free a pack of killer whales trapped by ice. 11 of them trapped in a 50 foot by 50 foot space near a small canadian village in northern quebec. Experts are headed there today to see if its possible to save them but if the hole theyre using to surface and breathe freezes over, the orcas will eventually die. Earlier i asked William Hurley of the Georgia Aquarium why these whales ended up there in the first place. Were seeing a lot of changes in the arctic. In this case it looks like these animals were probably looking for food and found themselves in a place they wouldnt normally be exploring and Mother Nature took a turn and brought the ice in quickly. This is one of the number one killers for Marine Mammals in the arctic areas. We didnt used to have iphones in places where we could spot them like we do today. Icebreaking ships are about a day and a half away and open water is about six miles away for those whales. There was a movie that came out last year and there was a case in 1988 in alaska, where they were able to make a path for whales but the ice breakers may be too far away this time. Still ahead this morning on starting point, as the Vice President s task force looks at gun control, senator Richard Blumenthal will join us. New rules on mortgages. Will it make it harder for you to get a loan . [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no stop humans. One day were coming up with the theory of relativity, the next. Not so much. But thats okay youre covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from Liberty Mutual insurance. Total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Learn about it at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Sven gets great rewards for his Small Business how does this thing work . Oh, i like it [ garth ] svens Small Business earns 2 cash back on every purchase, every day woohoo so thats ten security gators, right . Put them on my spark card why settle for less . Testing hot tar. Great businesses deserve great rewards [ male announcer ] the spark Business Card from capital one. Choose unlimited rewards with 2 cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day whats in your wallet . Heres your invoice. [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble. Its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. Introducing the allnew cadillac xts. Available with advanced allwheel drive. [ engine revving ] its bringing the future forward. Welcome back, everybody. Our team this morning, will cain is back, hes a columnist for theblaze. Com. I missed you a little bit. We kind of butt heads occasionally. I missed you. We have a full day to get together on that. Jen is with us, democratic strategist and former traveling press secretary for the obama campaign. Jeff toob in. Nice to have you with us. Potential faceoff in washington, d. C. Vice President Joe Biden will meet with the nra a day after the Vice President said the president might take his own action on the issue. Listen. The president is going to act. There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We havent decided what that is yet, but were compiling it all with help of the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe is required. Senator Richard Blumenthal is a democrat from the state of connecticut. Hes a member of the Armed Services committee and also the judiciary committee. Its nice to have you with us, sir. Great to be back. What do you make of what joe biden was saying. I think very realistically hes focusing on what the president can do to improve enforcement through executive action, which, by the way, ought to be very welcome to the gun rights advocates because they have been saying for years and years lets enforce the existing laws better than we have. And i agree that existing laws should be enforced more aggressively and proactively. So this kind of well, gun rights activists did not welcome it. I mean they didnt hear a sense of they didnt read that as lets enforce existing laws. Many read it as the president is going to do what he can to go around congress and put into effect what hed like to. And the Vice President is reaching out to them, will meet with them today, perhaps better explain exactly what he means. But i think that we need to act on all fronts. There needs to be a comprehensive strategy. No single solution exists to combat gun violence. The proposal ive made for background checks on ammunition purchases also is a common sense enforcement tool that basically says we need to do the same kind of checks with the federal database that we do for 60 of firearms purchases. Lets walk through the specifics of what you are pro potions. We have a graphic of that. Background checks to buy ammunition is part of the ammunition background check act of 2013. Sellers must keep track of ammunition sales and their inventory. Seller must alert police when theres 1,000 rounds or more bought within five