The earth by some 17,000 miles. Now in space terms Scientists Say that was a close call. And there you see it. This streak of life is the asteroid, half the length of a football field and hurtling past earth at 17,400 miles per hour. Its a remarkable moment that passes by and then it will be headed out. Reporter scientists expect thad close call but they didnt expect what happened less than 24 hours earlier in a small russian town about 900 miles east of moscow. A meteorite shot through the skies in rough shah was about the size of a bus, weighed ten tons, and when it hit the earth, it exploded like an atomic bomb shattering glass and sending people into a panic. More than 1,000 people were hurt, most by flying glachls canadian mark canadian hockey player lives in russia. It was terrifying. I fell back to sleep and all of a sudden i hear this loud bang. I live in a 24level building and i was on floor 23. It was just incredible. Reporter scientists never saw the meteor right coming. They say against the backdrop of the university it was too small to track. Big stuff. It reflects more sunlight so that when its passing through the solar system we can see it better against the background of star its as simple as that. Reporter nasa say this fireball in russia this week is believed to be the largest reporting since 1908. Thats when a meteorite hit siberia, destroying an estimated 80 billion of trees. So why are all these encounters of a space kind of were going to talk with jeffrey kluger. Thanks for having me. When you see this coming in a group of threes, you wonder how rare is that . How unusual is it . Not only is it not unusual but its exceedingly common. The earth is hit with 100 pieces of debris err day, the size of basketball. Every few days like a volkswagen. You should think of our planet as playing in traffic. Its disconcerting. How come we dont hear about it more often . Because remember the atmosphere is like a wall of concrete which is why we get beautiful sky shows. It incinerated on the way down due to air friction. The problem is when the rock becoming too big to be consumed earn tirely then it bursts above ground which is call and air burst and thats what creates the technology. We hear that they need to shoot things down but dont have it. Is that something worth spending our money . It is. We have this technology. We have spacecraft that have orbited asteroids, landed on asteroids, weve been able to shoot an impacter inside of comet temple 1. Earth is moving. They have to occur at the same place in time. If you hit it and change the impact of speerkd it will either arrive too late or too early. Should we have seen this coming . Well, this one was a very small one. And also asteroids can sometimes do what Fighter Pilots do. They come at you from the sun so they blind you. But nasa has three observatories worldwide, in california new mexico, and puerto rico, scans the skies 24 hours a day, 7 day as week. They have picked up about 98 of the detects rocks. The problem is we even only cataloged 10,000 so far. Jeffrey kluger thanks. Thank you for having me. Ask any one of the 3,000plus passengers who were aboard the Carnival Cruise ship triumph when they made it back to port thursday night, theyll tell you it stunk. That was just part of the problem as they spent five days adrift and under tow. Anna werner is in mobile alabama, where the ship is docked. An narks good morning. Reporter good morning, anthony. The passengers who got off the ship call it the worst experience of their life. Others call it their first and last. Others want nothing but to get home. For the first time in nearly a week lights came on in the carnival triumph as it sought at the mobile dock friday night. A fire caused problems with the engine. The engine, from what we saw yesterday, appeared to be intact and probably operable. So the fire has a different origin and we just have to determine what that is for our investigation. Reporter the ship left galveston for a fourday cruise. Ashley riggs was enjoying her Bachelor Party on board until sunday. Passengers photos show what happened next. Sewage overflowing into carpets. Guests bedding down in hallways and in tents on decks. Its the best feeling in the world. God love texas. Reporter passengers praised carnivals crew but the executives came into question. It doesnt even cover peoples loss in wages. I think thats kind of laughable that theyre trying to offer 500. Thats not to carnival. 1. 5 million is what it adds up to. Theyre laughing at that. Since this ship is registered in bahamas that means the league is a maritime authority. They have ntsb and the u. S. Coast guard is asits in this giggs. All of them are trying to find out what caused the fire that caused this entire mess. Back to you. Thank you, anna. What was supposed to be a fourday cruise turned out to be no carnival for anyone aboard the ship and now carnival faces a wave of action. We talk id over one someone who knows the cruise business on the inside. Jay is the author of the truth of cruise ships. Great to have you with us. What is the truth. House does a fire disable a ship that large. 80 of the electricity used on board. I dont have all the details yet but the fire doesnt look like it took them out yet. The power grid or maybe the wiring. There are regulations in place now that the new ships have to have backup systems, correct . But the problem is these old ships cant be retrofitted. Exactly. Its too costly to try to duplicate something with a ship thats not designed that way. So i think wi may see new regulations or cruise lines voluntarily adding up backup generators. Are these ships too big to predict whats going to happen and also to protect the people who are on board . The larger the ship the more difficult. The reason theyre so big is because the larger they get, the more affordable they become for everybody. The cruise lines can have more money. And the cruise fare is a lot more notable for passengers. This ship was registered in the bahamas which is common. Why is that . They call it the flag of veeps. They dont have to adhere to a all the u. S. Regulations if it were flown in the u. S. The first lawsuits have been filed. And how are maritimes going to hold this . They may have a case. I dont think well actually see this go to trial. I think those who sue are less happy than those who take it in stride. If you get what do i get out of this, i dont think youre as happy a person. Dont you think these people they were literally living in squalor and part of the reason for that is this cruise line whether they like it or not, put them on the boat and the boat had a problem. No question. And if we look at the interviews from the passengers that come ff youre always going to have some that say, oh this is the worst experience i would never cruise again in my life and the other extreme youre going to see passengers that say im ready to cruise tomorrow, i would. I understand things happen youre on a boat millions of moving parts, somethings going to happen eventually. Jay, thanks so muchfor joining juice details are emerging about the last days of fugitive expolice officer Christopher Dorner and the murders. They say he shot himself in the head after the cabin he was finally cornered in caught fire. Carter evans has more. Reporter three days after this fierce fight it brought to the end of the life of Christopher Dorner. They continued to fill in the blachks of what happened tuesday afternoon. The information we have right now seems to indicate that the would that took Christopher Dorners life was selfinflicted. Reporter he stole two different vehicles Tuesday Morning and firing on san ber bernardino deputies including killing one. There are questions whether they set the fire on purpose to drive him out or kill him. You indicated on wednesday you did not burn that cabin down to get him out. You may know i was there and audio records differently. I stand by that remark. I would suggest to you those comments were made by somebody other than the tactile team. They spent searching the region for five days as he hid out in the condo. There was nothing unusual and the door was lock and nobody answered. We continued on to the nectar get. The sheriff stands by his deputies. He believes they made no mistakes and if he thad to do it again, he would do nothing different. F for cbs this morning, carter evans. Right now the chances of that look awfully slim and with the crisis approaching, congress is taking next week off. So where does it leave us . Lets ask maggie porter. This sounds a little like groundhog day. What are the chances of getting a deal done . We were saying never say never. Theres not a lot of time as you said. Theyre going on break. What will happen is some form of sequester will kick in automatic cuts to specific departments but when they deal with the resolution which is how you deal with the government they could potentially come in and save it that way. The current mantra is cutting is good. The incentive is slim. Senate democrats have put forth a proposal this week to stop sequester. It raises taxes on millionaires. Is this a viable plan . Well its only a viable plan if it can get passed in the house. I think its a starting point. Well see. This could be if there is a shortterm deal, this could be the beginning of the makings for this. The whole idea behind the sequester in the first place was make the spending cuts so painful congress has to come along and do something. Right. If they dont, as they didnt already, what does that say about congress and does this stuff each have teeth . I mean are laws like this one even worth passing . Its a really good question. The is no. Theres really no incentive to do it this way. I do think youre right, that congress will end up getting the brunt of the blame. If nothing happens it feeds into the notion that nothing gets done. Theres a strategy at work that doesnt seem to be working, which is breaking things off, forcing a disaster to happen and were in a cycle to keep going. The president bemoans this and calls it a shortterm deal. Without a deal it threat ps the sense of a recoverry. Theres been a lot of scare talk. Realistically were talking about staggering. The big question is how the markets react and what kind of question it leaves. And also what consumer reacts. Consumers have been sort of skittish as it is, but i dont think this is going to help. All right. Maggie haberman, thanks. Now to the latest revelations about Pope Benedict the 16 16 benedict was pushed toward his historic decision by a report he received in december on vicious infighting within the vatican. That report apparently convinced the pope that he lacked the stremgtd and nench required to get it straight. Lets set the record straight with allen pizzey. We dont know what forced him out but certainly that played a question. The pope spoke in church by saying the face of the church is disfigured and encouraged people in the church to move away from that. We also cant discount the fact that his health has played a role. Hes been in Failing Health for some time. We discovered he had a pacemaker, fell and cracked his head when he was in mexico city. He visited the last pope who resigned. Last august he ordered the convent where hes going to stay in vatican city after he resigns, he ordered that renovated last august. So he was think about about it a long time ago. What we also know is when he goes to castle began gandolfo. I understand allen, you have some breaking news on the timing of the conclave. Yes. The vatican says the conclave which is supposed to start 15 days after the pope retires, could be sooner. Because we dont have a dead pope, it looks like theyre thinking about moving it back. Jesse jackson jr. Could be looking at a 4 1 2year prison sentence. Yesterday prosecutors filed charges against jackson and his wife accusing them of spending 750,000 in Campaign Funds on expensive personal items for themselves. The couple is set to plead guilty. Facebook has been hacked. They say users do not have to worry. They december covered the hacking last month but only revealed it on friday. The cyber attack is the latest on prominent targets in recent weeks that include three major u. S. Newspaper. A dolphin is free after getting caught in a discarded fishing line. The distressed mammal was spot friday. Analysts say i mate have been entangled in the net for weeks. They say the dolphin appeared tired but was otherwise okay. Heres stacyann. A good part of the country has been pretty quiet as you can see. Were tracking potential weather, but pointing your attention across the midatlantic, this could be a doozy. Let me tell you. You can see a lineup coming through. That could actually bring along some freezing rain and snow. Yeah. Were talking about 2 to 4 inches around raleigh, virginia and columbia. Thats a look at the national weather. Heres a closer look at the weather for your weekend. Anthony rebecca, back to you. Stacyann, thanks so much. Coming up the latest on fast food and why it can be dangerous to your health. And later the rock of a hard job and getting older. How reinvention can help boomers handling in between. Youre watching cbs this morning. I i got it, i got it made i got it made, i got it made i got it made fresh at subway breakfast made the way i say [ male announcer ] at subway you got breakfast made. Like an under 200 calorie steak egg white cheese. Subway. Eat fresh. Get 36 months interestfree financing and save up to 500 on beautyrest and posturepedic. Get a sealy queen set for just 399. Even get 3 years interestfree financing on tempurpedic. But only through president s day at sleep train. Coming up in the next half hour, a shoerk coming out of south africa. Olympic athlete oscar pistorius, known as the blade runner because of his artificial limbs is being charged with the murder of his girlfriend and hes being held in custody. His team disputes the charges. Well be talking about that later this morning. Well be right back. This is cbs this Morning Saturday. I know. I didnt get the memo. I could have worn a pink tie if you told me. We should have given you the memo. We forgot. Im sorry. You guys look nice though. Thanks anthony. By the way, so cool you made it out. The weather people nothing personal stacyann, werent particularly helpful. Its going to be a doozy. Winter came on in a hurry. It would have been nice for a while. We know there were a lot of serious stories. Last week there were a number of things that happened. We were happy to hear you made it to the l. A. For the grammys . When you get a ticket to the grammys, youve got to go. I had two flight ss can sell. And in the end i got to jfk airport and there were about ten gates in front of me and one plane, but it was mine. How long did it take to travel overall . It wasnt bad. I was driving to the airport and i got word that my second flight had been canceled. So i told my driver to pull over. I got there at about 8 30 in the evening. It was the grammys. Favorite moment . It was tough. I saw Gladys Knight sing with jennifer hudson, not at the grammys, but at a party. Thats cool. Well be back with cbs this Morning Saturday in just a minute. It takes a lot to attraction attention here in new york and this qualifies as a lot. Its the eclipse. Its the worlds biggest private yachlt 557 feet long two swimming pools, a helicopter pad, and a mini submarine. I dont know. I think the second is a little bit of overkill. The yacht is usually seen in rich corners of the mediterranean and the caribbean. Its probable he dropped his girlfriend here because he wants her to have her baby here in new york. Probably a good yud. Coming up in this half hour, the stunning murder involving the blade runner. Oscar pistorius in court in pretoria on friday. Pistorius wept. Kelly kolb aya has more. Good morning. At least hes avoided the your crowded prisons but hes a long way from home. Theyre trying to differentiate him as the athlete versus the murder suspect. Hes spending the weekend locked away in a local jail while he prepares for his next court hearing. Its to give the defense a chance to be able to reporter the track star was arrested thursday accuse of killing his model girlfriend reeva steenkamp. Police say she was shot four times through the bathroom door in pistoriuss home with his 9 millimeter gun. Steenkamps family dont know what to call it just yet. The answer will come out. I must say one thing, you know. If you remember believe in the lord, that will come out, and we dont have to make any judgment. Reporter steenkamp was to appear in a reality show this weekend and the tv show says it will air to honor her death. Theyre struggling to understand it all. Last night an exgirlfriend of pistorius who dated him for five years tweeted he never lifted a finger to me. Pistorius is due back in court for a bail hearing on tuesday, the same day steenkamp has prepared a private memorial for her in her hometown. Thank you, kelly. We want to take a closer look at how this quickly risen athlete could rise so fast only to fall so fast. You covered the olympics last year. Its nice to have you with us this morning. Thanks for having me. Does this strike you, this story as it stands as the kind of person youve met so many times in your career . No. Its terrible. This is a real shocker. Weve seen these falls from gase before, but no one could have ever bet that oscar pistorius, such a wide inspiration, for him to do this is shocking beyond belief. How big a star haas he become . Its hard to figure. Every meet he went to he was pistorius. Others who dont get a lot of attention had to answer the question does he have an advantage, not have an advantage, yeah, he dominated the scene. As i ujs it you did see a different side of him. In the paralympics he lost and he accused a brazilian of having prosthetics that were too long. He defended himself when they said he had an advantage and he went after somebody who he thought had an advantage so it seemed hypocritical. The first time he got necessaryive press was at the paralympics. Its early but how do you think this is going to affect the whole paralympic field and track and field . Its huge. They got a lot of attention this summer mostly because of oscar. You know sports in general and track specifically its another example of an athlete that you know we thought was one thing and is now another. We dont know what to believe anymore. Pistoriuss team is going to say he was trying to defend himself, that south africa is a very dangerous place, youve seen he has guns in his house. This is something he did and kept supposedly to protect himself. Yeah. Hes kind of a gun enthusiast. He had a habit of going to shooting ranges and things like that. So its something he was into. Why he used it in this specific reason or case well find out. Yeah its just a sad story overall. Is there a larger takeaway from this do you think, in the end . Honestly i think that theres so much mythmaking in sports. This is