medical professionals, he may have gotten away with it. >> all i know is what the evidence showed that jury, and the evidence showed that jury the evidence showed that jury that this guy was a murderer. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >r > tensionp ov. president obama . p >> president obama wit >> hour-lohour-long phon hour-lon vladimir putin. >> a vote in crimea draws closer. this could make it a russian territory. we are live in ukraine and on the black sea, where an american warship is about to arrive. left in tears. oscar pistorius breaks down in court as a doctor describes his dying girlfriend's final moments, and there could be more fireworks at his murder trial, day four, today. a top army official now under investigation, accused of a sex crime.

it was his job to train prosecutors to handle sex crime victims. amazing. the new details we're learning this morning in just a bit. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." great to see you. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is friday. it bears repeating, it's friday. >> it is friday. >> march 7th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. a very busy week and a very busy end to the week. up first, the fight for crimea. western leaders condemning a referendum by crimean lawmakers to separate from ukraine and to join russia. the crimean people will vote on that measure in just nine days. ukraine's interim prime minister boldly declaring crimea was, is and will be an integral part of ukraine moving forward, a sentiment shared by president obama. >> referendum on the future of crimea would violate the ukrainian constitution and violate international law. any discussion about the future of ukraine must include the

legitimate government of ukraine. >> the president pushing hard for a diplomatic way out of this crisis, spending an hour on the phone with russian president vladimir putin thursday, urging him to hold direct talks with ukraine with outside observers on hand. meanwhile, russian forces remain in control of crimea, where a pro-ukraine rally is under way at this hour. let's bring in cnn's anna coren. good morning. >> reporter: hi, christine. that's right, we're at a pro-ukrainian rally. you don't see too many of these here in crimea, which as we know is very much staunchly p pro-russian. several hundred people showing out in this miserable, cold weather, but they want to get their message across -- they do not want to become part of russia in just over a week's time. that is when that referendum will be held on the 16th of march. and the people here will have to decide whether crimea stays with ukraine or breaks away and becomes part of russia. now, the people that we've just

been speaking to, you know, they have grave concerns. they feel that the government that's been newly installed here is at least illegal, what they're doing is illegal. they're pushing this referendum through. they say it's a violation of international law. they know it's dangerous just coming out here and taking to the streets, voicing their opinion, because it really goes against what this government here in this region wants to achieve. so, they know the score, they know what they're up against, but despite that, they want to voice their opinion. we have to remember that crimea is 60% ethnic russian, and they do have very close historical and cultural ties with russia, once part of the soviet union. so, that is the connection, if you like, between crimea and russia. but as far as these people are concerned, only a small minority, they don't want to see

crimea become part of russia. they want to stay part of ukraine, christine. >> wow. certainly a complicated situation, and a vote, anna coren, in just nine days. thank you. the "uss truxton" is steaming toward the black sea at this hour. according to navy officials, the guided missile destroyer with 300 sailors on board is on a routine deployment that was scheduled well before the crisis in ukraine erupted. nevertheless, it brings on new significance given the crisis at hand. i want to bring in ivan watson right now by phone. he is on the black sea. he's been following this. ivan, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, this destroyer, as you mentioned, the "truxtun" is on its way, heading through the canals and straits this morning and headed up towards istanbul's bosk rouse straits, the choke point that leads toward the black sea. again, the u.s. navy saying these were preplanned exercises

to be conducted with two black sea countries -- [ inaudible ] joint naval exercises. given the -- [ inaudible ] crisis at the moment in crimea, it's symbolic right now, and certainly when it comes to naval power, reports that the russian navy has been blockading a number of ukrainian navy ships off of -- actually even sinking a boat to keep those ships from coming out. we've actually seen a number of other warships sale through this bosphorus choke point earlier this week, with vessels and a ukrainian warship as well. they've been sending military signals, deploying extra planes to bolster eastern european controls in the baltics and poland as well, trying, it seems, to send a message that the u.s. will back its nato

allies, its european allies at a time when russia is clearly occupying part of ukraine. john? >> all right, ivan watson. you can hear him on the black sea right now, actually in the straits separating turkey right now, the bosphorus, where the u "uss truxtun" steaming the black sea on deployment, but as he pointed out, this is symbolic and meant by a show of force, both sides doing it, russia doing it, running training exercises in western russia, the u.s. running training missions all over the region. we are following it by the minute. this morning we're also hearing from venezuela's president, nicolas maduro, in an exclusive interview with cnn's christiane amanpour. maduro defended his country's crackdown on protesters who have been in the streets in venezuela calling for his resignation. he said those protesters are a minority, clamims the u.s. woul have followed the same path. we should say, this translation was followed by his office. >> translator: those who have

started this violent plan is a minority, is a tiny group belonging to the opposition, and they have put the rest of the opposition in a serious, dire situation. what would the u.s. do if a tiny group would say they're going to generate a revolution or a revolt to change the constitutional government of the u.s.? i guess the state will react with resort to the tools to restore order and peace. >> meantime, a group of u.n. human rights experts are now voicing concern over the allegations protesters have been attacked, beaten and tortured. the country's top prosecutor says of the 1,300 people arrested in the protests, fewer than 100 are still in custody. this morning a marine corps captain and master sergeant has been relieved of duty after an explosion that left four fellow marines dead during a training exercise at camp pendleton. the investigation into that accident, which happened last year, said the explosion was

probably the result of a dropped or kicked grenade as the marines gathered up unexploded ordinance united states. >> the army general who trains sex crimes prosecutors now being investigated for alleged sexual assault. lieutenant colonel joseph morris has been removed from his job. cnn learned he's accused of groping a female lawyer at a conference back in 2011. morris overseas nearly two dozen special victim prosecutors who are responsible for sex crime, domestic violence and child abuse cases. a bill designed to strip military commanders of their authority in sexual assault cases failed to get enough votes to proceed in the senate. 55 senators did back the measure, a clear majority, but that's five votes short of the 60 needed for a vote, an up-or-down vote on the bill. the bill's co-sponsor, new york senator kirsten gillibrand, says it was needed to combat an epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. it didn't take long for massachusetts lawmakers to respond to this controversial

court ruling in favor of a man who took upskirt photos of female subway riders. the state legislature approving a ban on such pictures, pictures of women or children in public. it comes a day after the state's highest court ruled the up-skirt subway photos didn't violate state law because the women weren't naked. the court said such actions should be illegal but weren't because the way the law was written. >> it set off like a 48-hour fury all over the northeast, but they have changed the law now. i think everyone agrees that was a wise, wise move. all right, we have new details this morning of a hack attack on the navy's computer networks believed orchestrated by iran. the "wall street journal" say they're blaming part of it on a poorly written contract to maintain parts of the network. apparently, hewlett-packard was not required to maintain security standards, which could have left the networks an easier target. >> oh, there's so many questions about security, information

security, and that's just the latest example. all right, it's friday. that means the weekend. indra petersons, how does the forecast look? >> i'm going to give you a little cheat sheet. we'll start off right from the beginning, what we're talking about. yes, a little bit of cold air is still around as the jet stream is farther down to the south, but eventually, we'll see the jet stream lift up. so, notice, by the time we get through monday, hello, things are warming up. that is all we need to know. so, things are improving. we're talking about temperatures today that, yes, they are still on the cool side, we know that. we're seeing some below-normal temperatures. but knowing it gets better as we go through the weekend, we can handle this. because look at monday. we go from below normal to above-normal temperatures. how long has it been since i have said even those words? 50s, 60s are going to be in the forecast. looks good. just keep in mind, we know there is that low in the south that brought a little bit of rain. today around the piedmont, maybe some wintry mix and even the mountains seeing some snow as the system makes its way up the coastline. so, d.c. this morning could see some sleet for the morning commute, maybe some icing. but here's even better news. that low is going offshore, not

hugging the coast. we're not looking for that snow in towards the northeast. see? looking even better. southeast, yes, you had a little bit of rain yesterday into this morning, but look at these temperatures! you're going near 70s, guys. jacksonville going up to 74, charlotte going up to 64 as soon as that system kicks out of here. in the midwest, a little burst of cold air behind it and it looks good there, too, guys. all gets better. little rocks along the way, but it's all right. >> good work, indra. well done. >> thank you. all right, global stock markets. what a week. and now we're looking for the monthly jobs report from the u.s. government. that comes out in just a few hours. this was a good week for stocks in asia, stocks in japan gained 2.8% this week. european stock markets slightly lower right now. the u.s. stock market looks to open mixed, but again, a record high for the s&p yesterday. this bull market turns 5 this weekend. >> happy birthday. >> some say that's a long enough run for the bull. but you know what? previous bull markets defined as a period of the s&p gaining 20% without a decline of 20% in

between. they have actually gone on longer than the current one. that means there's more room to run, if you believe that theory. >> run, bull, run. >> the biggest story today for your money, that jobs report comes out at 8:30. economists surveyed by cnn money say the jobless rate will likely hold at 6.6%, about 150,000 jobs created, but berman, i will tell you that the whisper, as they say, the whisper is that it could come in weaker than that. we just don't know how bad the weather held back hiring. >> who will be covering that live when it breaks at 8:30? >> yours truly. >> excellent. can't wait for that. you could be seeing a change in the price of airfares, not what you pay, but how it is broken down when you buy a ticket. congress right now is working on a bill to undo the changes just put in effect two years ago that required airlines to show the complete cost, including taxes and fees as one price. oregon democratic congressman peter defazio says while the rule was well intentioned, it reduced transparency, since you don't know just how many taxes and fees are piled on on top of your airfare.

the whole price is high, that's all i know. >> yeah, exactly. coming up, we've got tears and agony at the trial of oscar pistorius. another dramatic morning there. the olympic blade runner breaking down. the doctor describing what happened in the moments after reeva steenkamp was shot, describing her final moments alive. the latest from the courthouse in pretoria, next. and i want you to take a look at this. this is a sight never photographed before. you have never, ever seen this. something from close encounters? something from 2001 "a space odyssey"? no! it's an asteroid coming apart at the seams. should you be worried about this? we'll tell you, coming up. [ garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there, but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance

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as a neighbor describes running to the former olympian's home moments after he shot his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, to death. that neighbor back on the stand this morning along with one of pistorius's ex-girlfriends. nic robertson has the latest live from pretoria. really dramatic and very hard for oscar pistorius to listen to some of that testimony. >> reporter: yeah, it is, and it's clearly hard for this former girlfriend to give testimony. this is a young woman, samantha powers. the judge has been very specific -- samantha taylor, rather, excuse me. the judge has been very specific, saying no photographs of her can be taken whatsoever. she was just 17 when she started dating oscar pistorius in 2011. under cross examination, when barry rue, the defense attorney, starts questioning some of her testimony, she says that she broke up with oscar pistorius when he started dating reeva

steenkamp, but then she breaks down into tears. listen to this. >> the first time our relationship ended was when he cheated on me with -- >> just take your time, please. we'll just pause for a moment. >> reporter: but what this witness has also said is oscar pistorius used to carry a gun with him wherever he went, used to keep it by his bedside, that they used to argue, that their relationship was tempestuous at times, very importantly saying that when oscar pistorius started screaming at her, he sounded like a man, and not a woman, which is something the defense has been trying to put across in this case so far. also, we don't know why this is important yet, but the prosecution, the state making a big point that oscar pistorius used to use his phone at night and used to use his ipad at night to send messages to people. we don't know where that's going, but this is a witness

now, we've seen her get emotional and break down crying at least twice under this intense cross examination, christine. >> all right, nic robertson live for us this morning on day four of that trial. thanks, nic. >> 18 minutes past the hour now. chris christie says it is time for republicans to take on the media. the new jersey governor back in the national spotlight, addressing conservatives at the three-day cpac convention in suburban washington. the governor also targeting president obama for a lack of leadership and direction. >> we don't get to govern if we don't win. and it's not only bad when we don't get to govern, because we don't get to mold and change our society. what's worse is they do. we have to stop letting the media define who we are and what we stand for. [ applause ] because when we talk about what we're for, no matter what state we're in, our ideas win. >> interesting note there was when he said we don't get to govern if we don't win. that's a message to republicans

there, to conservatives, to perhaps be more accommodating to a wider degree of people in the party. christie was snubbed by cpac last year. why? after praising president obama for his help with hurricane sandy relief. all right, getting uninsured americans to sign up for obamacare proving to be a big challenge, but there are signs of progress. the consulting firm mckinzie surveyed 395 people who registered under the affordable care act by mid-february and found 27% were previously uninsured. that's an 11% increase from the number of uninsured americans who signed up the month before. all right, we have some amazing new pictures to show you this morning from outer space documenting the end of an asteroid. the hubble space telescope captured these images over several months. scientists think the effect of sunlight pulling on the asteroid caused it to fall apart. one researcher says they have simply never seen anything like this before. >> it is cool. >> whether you appreciate it or not, this apparently galactically cool.

scientists very, very excited about this. are you as excited? tweet us @earlystart a and @christineromans. she wants to know. coming up, there are losses, and men, there are losses. this one was one for the record books. the lakers just demolished, embarrassed, smeared, ugly. joe carter has the highs and lows -- >> he's not ugly. >> no, joe carter's a beautiful man, but he has the highs and lows -- really, the lows and lows, coming up in the "bleacher report." beautiful man, joe carter. what if you could shrink your pores just by washing your face?

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all right, the los angeles lakers have been a franchise from what, 54 years? >> that's about one year nearly for every point they got blown out by last night in one of the worst games in the history of ever. joe carter here with the "bleacher report." hey, joe. >> what happened? >> hey, good morning, guys. yeah, i have to say here that the lakers might have officially hit rock bottom here, because they lost to the clippers last night by 48 points. it's their worst lost in franchise history. i know the clippers are good now, but they used to be a team the lakers steamrolled on a regular basis. the clippers' biggest celebrity fan was frankie nunez. now, of course, that bandwagon is full, and for good reason. the clippers got to ice this one early. blake griffin, chris paul, deandre jordan didn't even have to play in the fourth quarter and the lakers are one loss away from their first losing season in ten years. trending this morning on bleacherreport.com, lebron james, he only scored 19 points in last night's blowout loss to the spurs.

san antonio never trailed in this route. and after the game, king james blamed his poor play on the nba's new sleeved jerseys. teams have only been wearing these jerseys on and off since christmas. lebron has never been a fan of these jerseys. he said they're too snug and it affects his jump shot. good thing it's the last time the heat have to wear these sleeved jerseys. and dr. frank jobe, the sports medicine pioneer the first to perform tommy john surgery died thursday in santa monica, california. he was 88 years old. now, the doctor first performed the groundbreaking elbow surgery back in 1974 on tommy john, a dodgers pitcher. he removed a tendon from his forearm to repair his elbow. john went on to pitch for 14 years. several big-name athletes have had the surgery and have jobe to thank. well, tiger woods only made it through ten holes at the cadillac championship on thursday, not because of his bad back, but due to the bad weather. the world number one looked a bit rusty before the severe

storms and darkness suspended play. tiger was 2 over par through ten holes, five strokes behind the leaders. he'll have to play 26 holes today, which could be tricky, given his back problems. and of course, clothes make the man, and if you're johnny manziel, it's going to make him a very rich man. johnny football signed a marketing deal with nike yesterday. no financial details yet, but sources say, guys, it's the most lucrative for a rookie in this year's class. johnny manziel, already making big money before he's played one down in the nfl. >> any impact on the nfl, but you want to talk about impact, talk about dr. jobe in baseball. we always look at players changing the game. dr. jobe fundamentally changed baseball sports medicine. that surgery has saved the careers of so many players. they owe him so much. and they know it, too, by the way. they know it. >> you talk about somebody like tommy john. tommy john went on to win over 100 more games, played 13 more years in baseball.

he saved the careers of chris carpenter, john smoltz, just recently stephen strasburg. i mean, you said it, john, this guy has definitely saved and extended the careers of many athletes, not just baseball, but many other athletes as well. >> what a legacy. all right, joe, really appreciate it. thanks. all right, an american warship now steaming toward the black sea as crimeans take up a referendum that could make them a permanent part of russia. we're going to have the very latest on the crisis in ukraine right after the break. geico motorcycle. see how much you could save. ...and let in the dog that woke the man

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on edge in ukraine. crimea moves closer to a vote on joining russia permanently, and

russia is indicating it will go along if crimea votes that way. the president calling vladimir putin again, asking for negotiations, but can diplomacy bring a peaceful resolution before it's too late? a warm welcome and a warning from new jersey governor to conservatives -- it's time for a change of attitude. but do conservatives want to hear that from him? we will break down chris christie's big speech and what it means for 2016. saved by a school bus driver. >> oh, wow. >> what he did to help a group of special needs students when smoke and flames break out on their way to school. terrifying. >> look at that picture. >> welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. 32 minutes past the hour. let's bring you up to speed, the latest developments on the crisis in ukraine. a referendum by crimean lawmakers to split from ukraine and join russia, it is triggering outrage from the west. still, crimeans will vote on that measure in nine days. and now this, this just in. the speaker of russia's upper

house of parliament says that moscow will support and welcome those results. those results that president obama declared a violation of international law, even before they happen, urging president vladimir putin of russia to negotiate directly with ukraine. that happened during a one-hour phone conversation with the russian president. that's the second time they've spoken in just days. very long conversations that as far as we can tell have not yielded any sign of agreement. and right now, the navy destroyer "unk snk sss truxtun" heading for the black sea. u.s. military officials say it's part of a planned routine deployment, planned before the crimean crisis. however, this adds to the significance. let's get the latest from phil black live in moscow. phil, we understand a pro-russian delegation from crimea is in moscow for meetings with russian officials. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, john. it's a delegation from crimea's parliament, meeting with leading

figures in russia's parliament, and they've received a very warm welcome, almost a hero's welcome, with a great deal of applause. russian politicians have praised them for their courage and their fortitude. the russians have been speaking of the delight and the pride they say they felt when they heard what they say was the joyous news that crimea would be voting with a referendum to join the russian federation. and these russian parliamentarians have promised to honor the results of this referendum, what they say will be the democratically expressed wishes of the crimean people by officially recognizing that result within days of the referendum's results being known. and a key point -- one politician said this morning that this will not change, that even international sanctions will not alter russia's view in all of this. and russia's president, vladimir putin, was also defiant last night on the phone with president obama, again making the point that he believes russia is acting in full compliance with international law, just responding to requests for help and that the government

in kiev is illegitimate. today, president putin is in sochi again, just weeks after he was there to welcome the world for the olympic games. he's doing it again today, this time for the paralympic games. he'll be at the opening ceremony in just a few hours. and the latest from there, we're hearing, is that ukrainian athletes will be participating in these paralympic games, john. >> they had been considering a boycott. phil black in moscow. again, so ironic that russia coming out on the side of self-determination in favor, peculiar and ironic, the united states coming out against self-determination in crimea. venezuelan president nicolas maduro claims his crackdown on protesters is justified. in an interview with christiane amanpour, he says those protesters are in a minority and the u.s. could take the same actions if it was dealing with a revolution. we should say, this translation provided by his office. >> translator: what would the

u.s. will do if tiny group would say they're going to generate a revolution or a revolt to change the constitutional government of the u.s.? i guess the state would react and resort to the tools to restore order and peace. >> meantime, a group of u.n. human rights experts are now voicing concern over the allegations protesters have been attacked, beaten and tortured. the country's top prosecutor says that the 1,300 people arrested in those protests, fewer than 100 are still in custody. a sex crimes investigation is now under way involving an army colonel who trains sex crimes prosecutors. listen to that again. a sex crimes investigation is now under way involving an army colonel who trains sex crimes prosecutors. lieutenant colonel joseph morse has now been removed from his job. cnn has learned he's accused of groping a female lawyer at a conference back in 2011. morse receives nearly two dozen special victims prosecutors responsible for sex crimes,

domestic violence and child abuse cases. republican congressman darrell issa now says he's sorry for cutting off the microphone of a top democrat at a hearing on wednesday. issa chairs the house oversight committee, got into a heated argument with ranking member elijah cummings during a hearing over the irs allegedly targeting conservative groups. now issa has phoned his colleague and apologized, and cummings says he has accepted. all right, it is nearly the weekend. that is fantastic news. will it be a good, sunny weekend? we're counting on indra petersons for that forecast. >> hey, indra. >> hey, indra. >> i would say for this time of year, yes. does that count, right, a little caveat in there? very easy to look at the country. we know where it's warm, out west, mild a little farther west. when you go east, this is where the cold air's creeping in again, but look at the southeast. it looks so nice as we start out our weekend. as we go forward, you are going to see the cold air kind of creeping a little bit farther to the south. you will start to see this little wave, but this is what's most important. it's the takeaway. by the time we start next week, instead of saying another blast

of cold air is moving in, not s. temperatures are going to be rebounding. it's going to feel pretty good out there. as far as today, what will we be watching for? the hotspot right around the piedmont. notice the wintry mix, also a little snow out in the higher elevations. well, this low will continue that in the morning. maybe d.c. seeing that morning commute with a little wintry mix, but the low goes offshore. that's all we need to know. things are improving, guys. and then, of course, the temperatures look so good into the southeast. keep in mind. northeast is going well up as well. midwest, temperatures going up for just about a day. that's good, right? 40s, 50s, have you heard that in a while? >> very good. thank you very much. stocks at record highs ahead of the jobs report at 8:30. asian markets ending the week higher, stocks in europe a little weak so far. and in the early going, it looks like stocks here will open mixed. this has been a wild week for the markets, two days of record highs for the s&p. yet, major concerns over the ukraine/russia crisis. an average investor might be wondering, what do you do? >> the best thing that investors can do are three things. first off, develop a portfolio

of well-balanced investments. rebalance that on an annual basis and then ignore. ignore the volatility within that portfolio, but also ignore people like me that you see on tv every day talking about buy, sell, based on the market going higher or lower, or in a sense, don't allow your emotions to get the better of your portfolio. >> listen to me but ignore me. >> ignore him, except don't ignore that part about how you have to ignore. that's pretty sage advice for your personal finances from a market historian. a lot of people are saying this bull market's going to keep running. they say don't think just because it's five years old that it's going to suddenly shut off. we'll see later today if, i guess the birthday candles on this 5-year-old will get blown out by the jobs report or not. >> 8:30. >> you got it, eastern time. all right, a minnesota school bus driver called a hero this morning and for good reason. he did the right thing, possibly saving some lives. alfred lewis was driving four special needs students near minneapolis thursday morning when a heater on the bus began

to smoke. look at this. so, he pulled over and got the kids, including two in wheelchairs and a nurse off the bus just as the heater burst into flames. you can see the situation there. >> he did exactly the right thing, and that is, you know, take things serious. when you smell smoke, do the right thing, pull over, get everybody off the bus or out of the vehicle. that's exactly what he did. >> lewis tried to put out the flames even with a fire extinguisher but was not able to do that because the fire was so out of hand at that point. luckily, everyone did get away safely. another bus quickly arrived to take the students to school. >> quite a story. all right, chris christie making quite the impression in front of a group of conservatives who, you know, haven't been shy about expressing their distrust of new jersey's governor. what he said and what it means for 2016, that's next. [ garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there, but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics.

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the new jersey governor came out swinging in a speech, a highly anticipated speech thursday. what did he do? he attacked the media and president obama, and of course, received a warm welcome for both of those things. now, this crowd, though, in the past has doubted the governor's conservative credentials. we're going to talk about this, because it is key, crucial to chris christie's future. >> oh, yeah. >> cnn political editor paul steinhauser joins us now from washington. >> hey, paul. >> paul, what were some of the highlights of the governor's speech? >> reporter: well, let's talk about that welcome right off the bat. some people did stand and applaud. i wouldn't call it a standing ovation, a very warm welcome. he was well received by this crowd, the largest conference of conservatives each year. you're right, though. remember last year, he wasn't even invited to this conference because his policies were not deemed conservative enough, this after the new jersey governor praised president obama standing right next to him over the federal government's response to superstorm sandy. but hey, that was then, this is now. remember, chris christie in the spotlight the last two months, being attacked in the media because of the bridge

controversy. while conservatives may not love christie, they like the mainstream media even less. you know the old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? he touted his conservative credentials to the crowd, his antiabortion credentials as well in his speech to the crowd. >> and when they said it could never be done, now twice, twice for the first time since roe versus wade, new jersey has elected a pro-life governor of new jersey. we have to stop letting the media define who we are and what we stand for, because when we talk about what we're for, no matter what state we're in, our ideas win. >> and check this picture out. mitch mcconnell, the senate minority leader, came well armed, i guess you could say, to cpac. there he is giving a rifle to retiring senator tom coburn for an nra courage award. listen, mcconnell not a favorite of those on the right, i think you could say. he's up for re-election today, facing a conservative primary challenger. maybe the rifle helps his image

a little bit. john, christine? >> who's on deck, paul, today? another who's who list of speakers. >> reporter: yeah, we had a bunch of potential gop 2016'ers yesterday. let's start with rick perry, the former texas governor. mike huckabee ran in 2008, rick santorum ran last time around, and the new candidate on the right, senator rand paul of kentucky. tomorrow, the results of the straw poll. much watched and analyzed, but is it a true barometer of what happens two years from now? >> senator george allen can tell us about the straw poll. thanks for being up with us. coming up on "new day," kate bolduan joins us. >> good morning, guys. happy friday. we'll be following breaking developments in ukraine. president obama and vladimir putin spoke on the phone for about an hour on the crisis, but of course, the question is, did it accomplish anything or do they continue to talk past each other? we'll be live across the region

covering the situation, which just continues to escalate. we're also going to break it down with experts, including the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine and our own fareed zakaria, of course, for his take and insights on this. then you've got to hear this one. this is kind of like maybe today's version of the up-skirting story that we had yesterday? a california man says he drank way too much at a casino. it happens. that he blacked out. then he woke up only to realize that he had gambled away some half a million bucks at a casino. he's now suing the casino, saying that they should have cut him off. does he have a case, or is this just a very expensive case of sour grapes? i don't know. >> this was not me. just to be clear. >> this is a case of fermented grapes, not sour grapes. >> oh! >> but we love fermented grapes. we don't love losing half a million bucks. >> wow, that's cool. i can't wait to hear about that story. thanks, kate. >> yeah. talk about a hangover! thanks, guys. >> look forward to it. all right, coming up for us, two marines now off the job after a deadly, deadly accident. we'll have that story when we

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welcome back. good morning. two marines, a captain and a master sergeant, have now been relieved duty, disciplined after an explosion that left four fellow marines dead during a training exercise at camp pendleton. the investigation into that accident last year said the explosion was probably the result of a dropped or kicked grenade as the marines gathered up unexploded ordinates. the two marines disciplined were in charge of that exercise. this morning, we're seeing the impact of those tough, new, abortion restrictions in texas. two more texas abortion clinics are closing their doors because they say no hospital would give their doctors admitting privileges, as required. backers say the rules crack down on dangerous, substandard care. opponents say they're designed to shutter these clinics.

40 clinics in texas are expected to drop to 6 by september. new details in aaron hernandez's first-degree murder trial in a shooting death that took place last year. now a massachusetts sheriff is pressing for misdemeanor assault and battery charges, saying hernandez punched another inmate. it will be up to a magistrate to decide if hernandez will be charged with a crime. happening today in california, state lawmaker plans to unveil his bill banning orca shows at seaworld. assemblyman richard blum says it's a reaction to cnn films' "blackfish," saying the creatures are too intelligent to be confined in small, concrete tanks for their entire lives. seaworld is not commenting. coming up, a wild day for a man who insisted he's not the father of bitcoin. a car chase, speculation landing media at his doorstep. that story, bizarre story in "money time," next. captain obvious: i'm in a hotel.

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happy friday. welcome back to "early start." it's "money time." happy birthday, bull market. almost 5 years old. and the s&p 500 right here at

record highs. not even a russian bear can blow out the birthday candles, but today it could all change with a jobs report at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. u.s. futures flat right now, european stocks lower today. asian markets had a very good week. tokyo ended up. here's the jobs forecast -- 150,000 new jobs created. that's the consensus of economists surveyed by cnn money. the harsh winter probably putting hiring in a deep freeze. the jobless rate likely held steady at 6.6%. bank of america launching a new checking account to prevent its customers from overdrawing funds and getting hit with fees. it's for chronic overdraft people, people who get chronic overdraft fees. the safe balance account will stop customers from taking out more than they have in their account at the atm or while paying their bills online or while using debit cards at places like retailers and restaurants. you've got to pay for it, though. here's the deal, you pay 60 bucks a year so that you don't overdraw, right? but when you compare that with the average $225 a year customers are currently paying

in overdraft fees, it may be worth it. a lot of personal finance experts say turn off the overdraft protection and then your card doesn't overdraft when you take it out. interesting product from bank of america. a growing mystery this morning surrounding the identity of the creator of bitcoin. "newsweek" just published a piece about natoshi nakamoto, the man considered the founder of the digital currency and that's created a frenzy. yesterday, i'm not kidding, there was a car chase through the streets of los angeles, news reporters following nakamoto. the 64-year-old denies he's the founder of bitcoin. fascinating article by "newsweek," and it sparked a car chase, a car chase in l.a. "new day" starts now. the proposed referendum ones future of crimea would violate

international law. >> one on one, president obama and vladimir putin facing off in an hour-long phone call. the u.s. plans for sanctions against russia. we are live in all the key spots this morning. >> breaking this morning. oscar pistorius' ex-girlfriend takes the stand testifying how he cheated on her with reeva steenkamp. super market sweep. joining albertson's. the question, is your favorite store about to change. your "new day" starts right now. good morning. welcome to "new day." it is friday, march 7th, 6:00 in the east. obama and putin are talking.

but the question is, are they talking to each other or past each other. an hour-long phone call, but putin says ukrainians need the help from russia. both sides say this is not about military action. but the mystery men in green continue to move. now, an american warship is headed to the region. >> it will perform exercises in the black sea. we were told these were planned before the crisis. meantime, growing fallout to schedule a referendum to break from ukraine and join russia. the vote is now being embraced by russian officials who add there will be no war. >> there are a lot of moving parts in this story and they take place in different places. let's start with michelle