0 memorable moments today. i think we did. stay here though because more is coming up in the cnn newsroom. we turn to our colleague fredericka whitfield. i m going to borrow the words of sage, the olympians, you corked it out. now i m going to cork it out. that s my new lingo for the day. i m feeling the olympic spirit. thank you. appreciate it. we ve got a lot straight ahead. it s the 11:00 a.m. eastern hour of the newsroom. starts right now. controversy at the opening ceremony of the olympic games. russia gives one of the most prestigious roles of the night to a woman who sent a racially offensive tweet recently about president obama. we are live from sochi. and firing back, woody allen writes a column in the new york times addressing allegations he sexuallys a alled his adopted daughter. he lays out his case and addresses rumors that his son may actually be frank sinatra s child? plus, we dig deeper into the story of the mysterious cast away. did he really survive 13 m
0 but reacted quickly when he saw the panic in john s eyes. hi again, everyone. i m fredricka whitfield. here are the top stories we re following in the cnn newsroom. u.s. attorney general eric holder is about to make a major announcement on same-sex marriages. his plan and the impact it will have on millions of americans lives. in sochi, russia, the medal count climbs in the u.s. who s winning and who s on top of the tally board. and model carmen carrere until noticed just for her beauty and poise. she s breaking transgender barriers. we begin with a historic announcement in u.s. attorney general eric holder involving same-sex marriage in america. in a speech tonight hold letter announce the justice department s plan to extend the federal government s recognition of same-sex marriages even in the 34 sthats don t consider it legal. i want to go straight to cnn s erin mcpike. actually, let s go to evan perez on foent with us now. evan what do you know about mr. holder s spee
0 weather. i can t stay too long because i have class or whatever. this is nothing. snow used to cut through the cars. thanks for joining us this week for your money. join john berman and me every morning on early start. until then have a great weekend. hello everyone. i m fredricka whitfield. welcome to the cnn newsroom. just in to cnn, a historic announcement from u.s. attorney general eric holder involving same-sex marriage in america. in a speech tonight, hold letter announce the justice department s plan to extend the federal government s recognition of same-sex marriages, even in the 34 states that don t consider it legal. i want tocnn correspondent in washington. taking place later this evening, where will it be and what will be said? reporter: fred, he s in new york city to headline the annual gala at the waldorf. a move by the obama administration to extend federal recognition to married same-sex couples in all the states, even those that don t recognize marriage
0 we have much more straight ahead and we will get a restart right and we will get a restart right now. captions by vitac www.vitac.com hello, again, everyone. here are the top stories we re following. escala escalating tension in a florida courtroom. a man accused of murdering a teenager during a fight over loud music claims self-defense. hear today s heated exchanges and the testimony that could be critical to this case and woody allen breaks his silence addressing accusations he molested his adopted daughter. his detailed account and his daughter s reaction coming up. then to sochi, russia, where team u.s.a. has snagged its first gold. find out who won and where the u.s. medal stands, where the u.s. rather stands on the medal board. all right, let s get started. in florida and that trial over the death of a teenager and he was killed after an argument over loud music. prosecutors from the george zimmerman trial are trying this case. they say michael dunn opened fire into a
simon didn t finish as well. five teams make it to sunday s final. another new event this olympics is the slopestyle competition. jamie anderson, she s got eight x games medals in the event. she pulled off some pretty awesome jumps in round one, advancing all the way to the finals. her teammate, karly shorr, also was impressive. she will join anderson in sunday s final. elsewhere, hannah kearney looking to become the first freestyle skier to win two olympic gold medals. she dominated the qualifying round of the ladies moguls competition. kearney is in first place heading into saturday s final round, and there is a good chance, guys, that she s the first american to win gold at the sochi games. and there are no events today. everyone getting ready for the opening ceremony, which, as you said, john, is in just a few hours, but we won t get to see it until later tonight. and nick paton walsh tells us there are still tickets available to open ceremonies. it is not sold out yet, which