These kids, it was her mission. Captioning sponsored by cbs this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Mason scott is on assignment. Im anthony mason. It happened in a flash and without warning. A meteor weighing 15 Million Pounds streaked across the sky over russia today causing a shock wave with a force equivalent to a small atomic bomb. The biggest meteor blast in more than a century. More than a thousand people were hurt, most from flying glass, when windows were blown out. That streak of light could be seen for hundreds of miles. The city of chelyabinsk 900 miles east of moscow bore the brunt. Mark phillips begins our coverage. Reporter thi reporter i m outer space may have been happening since the dawn of time but never before in the age of the dashboard video camera. On a highway outside of chelyabinsk in central russia a flash of light emerges out of a clear blue sky. It becomes a streak, then foreboding glow. It leaves a trail and other cameras are drawn skyward until explosions and screaming a blast and its echos are captured here and here. Some of the explosions are the sonic boom caused by a space object the size of a large bus moving through the air at what the Russian Academy of science said was 33,000 miles an hour. If you were in your apartment, you suspected something was up. And then you were sure. If you thought you were safe in a classroom, you werent. It caused widespread damage to buildings, blew out thousands of windows, knocked down walls. Miraculously, the damage to people was minor, mostly cuts from splintered glass. Michael garnett, a canadian goalie who plays for chelyabinsk in the Russian Hockey League has felt a few bangs in his time, but nothing like this. I was terrified. I had just hit the snooze bar on my iphone for another nine minutes of sleep and all of a sudden, you know, i fell back asleep and i hear this loud bang i live in a 24story building on the 23rd floor and all of a sudden i look up and the lights are shaking and i hear car alarms going off and it was just incredible. Reporter 70 miles outside of town a meteorshaped hole in the ice of a lake indicates the nameless visitors last resting place. Meteorite fragments were scattered around like interstellar calling cards. As if anyone would ever forget. Chelyabinsk has made history before for not being in the news. It was part of the old soviet unions Nuclear Weapons program and was a closed zone, forbidden ground for foreigners. Now its famous as the place where heaven and earth met with a bang, anthony. Mason mark phillips, thanks, mark. Derrick pitts is chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute in philadelphia. Derrick, what caused this huge explosion and sonic boom thats associated with this meteor . And why did it cause so much damage over such a wide area . Reporter anthony, this meteor was coming into the earths atmosphere at 40,000 miles per hour. As it comes into the atmosphere, it has to dissipate that energy somehow and the dissipation goes into heating the air around it as it plunges in. But it also goes into breaking up the meteor, so it breaks up into smaller pieces. That helps to dissipate the energy. The reason why it was spread over such a large area is because the measurement on the contrail behind it is about 300 miles long. This is essentially skipping into the atmosphere so its going to create a shock wave, like a sonic boom, that rolls along the surface of the planet for quite some distance, that would create the damage over such a wide area. Mason there was another Close Encounter today as an asteroid passed within 17,200 miles of earth, well inside the orbit of some of our satellites. Are these events related or is this a cosmic coincidence . Well, you know, there are all sorts of events going on in the solar system. It just so happens in coincidence that these two events happened today. We had the one that we already knew about for quite some time and this one that just sort of shows up out of no place. We could track the asteroid so we knew it was happening, but thats much more difficult to do with objects as small as this meteor is. Mason derrick pitts, thank you very much. In case you were wondering, an asteroid is essentially a mini planet, a piece of rock that orbits the sun. A meteor is a small piece of an asteroid that enters the earths atmosphere as a shooting star. Those that hit the earth are called meteorites. President obama went to his hometown of chicago today, the last stop in a threeday tour to drum up support for the programs he outlined in his state of the union address. He started off talking about the need to stop gun violence. Chicago has been plagued by it. Last year, there were 443 murders with a firearm on the streets of this city. And 65 of those victims were 18 and under. So thats the equivalent of a newtown every four months. Mason chicago already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. This week, mayor rahm emanuel called for making them even tougher with mandatory minimum sentences for gun violations. Would that work . Dean reynolds takes a look. Right there, right there reporter last december, minutes after he allegedly shot at a neighbor man with a gun, man with a gun. Reporter julian gayles was caught by chicago police. We got the guy. Reporter gayles, 22, already had a record of gun crimes and parole violations but little time behind bars. Since 2009, hes been sentenced to seven years in jail but has served just two. He was on parole when we witnessed his arrest by Police Commander leo schmidt. Get him in the car. Check him very thoroughly. Reporter and is now in custody again awaiting trial. Chicago Police SuspectGary Mccarthy wants such offenders to face a mandatory minimum sentence. This has to stop. Gun offenders have to do significant jail time. Reporter but Cook County Sheriff tom dart wonders where. You dont have enough cells . God no. We are at capacity right now. The state prison system is beyond capacity. Talk to them right now, they havent had a population like this in decades. And theres no place to put them. What are you in on . Possession. Reporter straight possession . Reporter dart runs the largest county jail in the country, nearly 10,000 inmates. Youve got 300 people in a former cafeteria. You got people in the hospital sleeping on the floor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is, you know, not something that you would design. Frankly, at this time, this should be a building that we should have empty right now at this time of year. There should be no one in it. Because of our population explosion this is full. Reporter experts say the prison population would swell by thousands if mandatory minimum sentences came to pass for gun violations. We just cant have this irrational type of notion that theres magic jail cells all over the place that we can just put people that are all sitting there empty. Its as if all of a sudden we just raise penalties and these people get shipped off to the moon or something. No, we know where we need to put them and we need money to fund that. Reporter but illinois doesnt have the money, anthony, and has actually been closing prisons to save money. And as s hoping that by saving money it can get out of the budget spiral where it owes 9 billion in unpaid bills right now. Mason Dean Reynolds in chicago, thanks, dean. Criminal charges were filed today against former chicago congressman jesse jackson, jr. Prosecutors say he spent three quarters of a Million Dollars in Campaign Money on himself. Including furniture at his home in northwest washington. Thats where nancy cordes is tonight. Nancy . Reporter anthony, according to these court documents, jackson spent more than 9,000 on childrens furniture for this house using Campaign Funds and that was one of the more mundane purchases. He has been charged with one count of conspiracy which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Prosecutors paint 47yearold jesse jackson, jr. , as a profligate spender who used Campaign Donations to indulge frivolous and expensive whims. 43,000 on a goldplated mens rolex watch. 5,000 on fur capes and parkas. And a long list of bruce lee and Michael Jackson memorabilia. Including a 4,000 guitar and a 4,600 fedora. Prosecutors say tens of thousands more went to pay down personal credit cards. Jackson, jr. , came to congress in 1995, the promising and personable son of a civil rights leader, the reverend jesse jackson. Last summer, the congressman disappeared for a month before revealing that he was being treated for bipolar disorder. He resigned in november and two months later his wife sandy, who served as his campaign manager, stepped down from her position as a chicago alderwoman. Today she was charged with one count of filing false tax returns. In a statement, the former congressman apologizes for improper decisions, but he adds it is my hope that i am remembered for the things i did right. Lawyers for mrs. Jackson say she has signed a plea agreement and sources tell cbs mr. Jackson has, too. That means he likely wont face the maximum penalty, though he could still be looking at a couple years of jail time a anda very large fine, anthony. Mason nancy cordes, thank you, nancy. There are still questions tonight about the fire at the california cabin where police cornered an excop bent on revenge. Was that blaze an accident or did Law Enforcement set it on purpose . Carter evans has the latest on the information. Reporter were getting a first look at the charred remains of the cabin where alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner made his last stand on tuesday. We were there caught in the cross fire. The gun battle was so intense we were forced to take cover, but we left our cell phone on. At the very beginning of the shootout, you can hear authorities near the phone talking about burning dorner out of the cabin he was holed up in. Reporter over the next three hours, authorities brought if reinforcements. Armored vehicles, more swat teams, and this battering ram which authorities told me at the scene would be used to deploy a powerful form of tear gas also known as a burner into the cabin. The burner gives off intense heat which often causes a fire. Recordings of Police Scanners during the final assault confirm their plan. Reporter despite those recordings, the day after the shootout, San Bernardino county sheriff john mcmahon insisted it was not on purpose. We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get mr. Dorner out. Reporter weve repeatedly asked the Sheriffs Department for a response but no one has returned our calls. Here at headquarters today, they have declined to answer any questions ahead of a press conference which is scheduled to take place in about 20 minutes. Anthony . Mason carter evan, thank you, carter. Facebook said today its been hacked. The Worlds Largest social network says it discovered last month that it was the target of a sophisticated attack by unknown hackers. But it says no User Accounts were compromised. The athlete known as the blade runner breaks down after being charged with murder. Passengers describe the deplorable conditions on that disabled cruise ship. And a baby orca is born to swim when the cbs evening news continues. But with advair, im breathing better. So now i can be in the scene. Advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. Unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an antiinflammatory and a longacting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. Advair wont replace fastacting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. People with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. Advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking advair. If youre still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. Get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd. Com. I work for 47 different companies. Well, technically i work for one. 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Investigators are trying to find out how and why the engine fire began that left the ship without power. Coast guard marine investigator Patrick Cutty spoke to cbs news by phone after seeing the damaged engine room. Reporter eight days after what was supposed to be a fourday cruise to mexico passengers cheered then some literally kissed the ground when they finally got off the ship late last night. The floor is covered in water. Reporter more pictures of the squalid conditions on board emerged today. Sun decks turned into tent cities, plastic bags were substitutes for toilets. And carpets were stained by seeping sewage. Passenger bettye priebyl. What was the worst part about that for you . Not having a toilet. It was just really gross. And we had no at times we had no water. So we couldnt even wash our hands. Reporter but many passengers like Melissa Mcdavid had only praise for the crew. They were going on no sleep for days and days and days. So they were awesome. Reporter nicole brown from dallas kept a bed sheet that passengers used as a memory wall to sign their names and write messages. What do you want to remember out of this . I just want to remember that we were all family, we made it, and we survived. Reporter many of the passengers were put on buses to be taken to new orleans before going home. Bad luck struck again when one of those buses broke down midtrip. Now, those passengers were put on another bus and many of them are in their hometowns tonight. Now, this ship is registered in the bahamas, that means that the Bahamian Maritime Authority is actually in charge of the investigation which means the u. S. Coast guard and n. T. S. B. Are only assisting in this investigation. And tonight, anthony, a passenger has filed the first lawsuit against carnival over that cruise. Mason knew that was coming. Anna we werer in mobile, alabama, tonight. Thanks, anna. Airbus, the european aircraft maker, said today its dropping lithium ion batteries from its newest model. Instead, it will use traditional nickel cadmium batteries on its a350 which comes out next year. Airbus made the decision after its rival, boeing, was forced to ground all of its new 787s when two lithium batteries overheated one caught fire. Investigators still havent found the cause. An olympic star learns he could face life in prison for murder. Thats next. By acid reflux disease. Oms caused there is risk of bone fracture, and low magnesium levels. Side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Call your doctor right away if you have persistent diarrhea. Other serious stomach conditions may exist. Dont take nexium if you take clopidogrel. Ask your doctor if nexium is right for you. Find out how you may be able to get nexium for just 18 a month at purplepill. Com its nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. 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Cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. Tell your doctor if you are prone to or have any infection like an open sore or the flu or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. Orencia may worsen your copd. Heres information you need to know. Orencia is available in two forms, infusion and also selfinjection. Talk to your doctor to see if orencia is right for you. And see if you can change i want to oh, yes i can mason South African prosecutors said today they plan to charge Oscar Pistorius with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend. Pistorius lost his legs as a child but ran in the olympics on carbon fiber blades. He cried in court, pistorius could face life in prison if hes convicted. We got our first look today at venezuelan president hugo chavez since he underwent cancer surgery in cuba two months ago. Photos show him reading yesterdays edition of cubas state newspaper, his daughters by his side. Officials say chavez is breathing through a tracheal tube and struggling to speak. At seaworld in san diego they welcomed a newborn baby orca. The mother, a killer whale, gave birth in the water yesterday and the new baby immediately took off swimming. They dont know yet if its a