that does it for us. thanks for watching. join us tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern for guns in america, a town hall discussion with president barack obama. i will be asking questions along with people on all sides asking the president questions as well. "cnn newsroom" is next. >> this is hour, market turmoil stops and chinese markets tank again and trading shuts down for the second time this week. was it a hydrogen bomb or a blast from the past? skepticism grows over north korean claims they tested an h-bomb. plus, prosecutors in los angeles decide not to file charges in two cases of sexual misconduct against bill cosby. 4 i'm john vause "newsroom l.a." starts right now.

now on the very latest on the chinese financial market which is plummeted for the second time this week and circuit breakers put in place had kicked in to stop trading for the day. the shanghai composite fell more than 7% and the shen xiang market was off more than 8%. more right now. it was about three hours from now trading was stopped. walk us through how we got to this point. >> this has been a very, very rough week for chinese markets as you mentioned right off the top. this is the second time this week trading was halted. today trading was haltsed within half an hour of the markets opening. a very, very steep decline. once the markets drop by 5%, there's a 15-minute delay. and then 15-minute malt in

trading. as soon as is that 15-pln win doepded and trading resumed, it took just a for short time after that for stocks to go down even lower, hitting that 7% threshold, which then automatically halted trading for the rest of the day. as for how we go to this point, the big culprit today according to most of the analysts we spoke to this morning appear to be the chinese currency. the chinese central bank lowered the midpoint of the chien nez yuen about 4.5%. in august it was low rerered to. that would be the weakest that the chinese currency has been since 2011. and so many of the people we have spoken to say that is really what's caused this big selloff today. now, chinese regulators are trying to do what they can to alleviate investor concerns. they did announce an injection of liquidity into the marks that would be roughly just under $11

billion u.s. dollars as well as new regulations about mayor shareholders selling off their stakes in listed companies moving forward. but that would be too little too late for the day, for today anyway as trading has already been suspended. >> is the situation in north korea with its nuclear tests, is thatti that contributing to this market turmoil? >> well, uncertainty is obviously never good for stock markets. no matter what's gong on in the world. and so certainly investors here in china are paying attention to what's going on in north korea. and what will continue to happen over the next several days. but you could also look into what's gong on with the diplomatic tensions between saudi arabia and iran. you could look at the oil prices being the lowest they've been in 12 years. and you could even look at what the world bank has said recently. it cut global growth forecasts for the third year in a row. so all of this kind of uncertainty around the world coupled with what we're seeing

with the chinese southern devalue has proved very rough for chinese markets. >> matt rivers in beijing, thank you. we'll turn now to north korea's claim of testing a hydrogen bomb. and right now, the focus on what it may have detonated if it wasn't an h-bomb. the white house says initial analysis has not been consistent with north korea's claims. still some experts say it's possible pyongyang detonated a boosted weapon, which would have had a hydrogen element. meanwhile, world leaders continue to condemn north korea. u.s. lawmakers are discussing broader sanctions on north korea with a vote possibly going to the house floor as early as next week. u.s. president barack obama spoke with a number of asian leaders on wednesday including south korea's president, reaffirming his support to their security. >> paula hancox live with more on this. paula, i guess the doubts are really starting to grow now over

north korea's claim that this was, in fact, an h-bomb test. . >> we heard from the intelligence agencies here in south korea. they briefed lawmakers who in turn briefed supporters who they say was very difficult to give credibility to the north korean claim that it was an h-bomb. just looking at the numbers, they say, there should be a destructive force of somewhere between 15 and 50 megatons if it is an h-bomb. even if it's militarized or has failed, it would be about 50 to 60 kilotons. but, in fact, it was 6 kilotons that was measured, the initial reading. they say that in itself would suggest that this couldn't possibly be a hydrogen bomb. but, of course, there are other analysts that say there may be an element of a hydrogen element in it.

there may be hydrogen gas, there may be a smaller amount of hydrogen isotope which basically allows a bigger destructive force, a greater yield for the explosion. and maybe this is what allows kim jong-un to claim that he has the h-bomb. but we've got to bear in mind, this is really for a domestic audience. let's recap what happened woenz. >> kim jong-un signs the order for nuclear test number four. saying the country is, quote, starting the year with exciting noise of the first hydrogen bomb. if this is true, it would signal a huge jump in the country's capability. but south korea's defense ministry said it would be difficult to believe it was hydrogen, according to a news agency. officials say it could be days before they know for sure. some say they may never be 1 you recollect h% certain.

condemnation around the world. they oppose the test, saying it did not have prior knowledge of it. the south korean president calls it a provocation which threatens people's lives. >> it is important to take stern measures with the international community with the yao its and our allies. >> the united states, japan, the uk and others adding to the condemnation. south korea's military are on alert. a peace treaty was never signed after the korean war. a united nations security council meeting has been called wednesday. previous nuclear tests have been met with sanctions. >> it can apply sanctions. it can condemn verbally, it can point fingers, but as we've seen before, north korea doesn't really respond to that. >> so now we know the

neighboring countries are trying to gather up this dust. no word on when they could have results. john? >> thank you. north korea says its latest nuclear test was a hydrogen bomb. and if it's true, that would mean a giant leap forward for the country's weapons program. cnn's tom foreman explains. >> if north korea actually gets a hydrogen bomb it will wall street right into the top tier of nuclear weapons, because when the united states, russia, france, china or great britain talk about their nouk leer arsenal, they're talking about hydrogen bombs. not merely atomic bombs like we talk about them. what's the difference? well, an atomic bomb is basically 70-year-old technology. it's a vision explosion. that means it blows adoms apart. hydrogen bombs crush atoms together, releasing energy and a lot of heat, too. that's why these are called thermo nuclear bombs.

a hydrogen bomb is a complicated two-stage explosion, much more technically involved. and an atom ball, while physically it has to be beinger usually, it delivers a smaller blast in nuclear term, wrz a hydrogen bomb can be smaller with a bigger blast. that matters because it's easier then to get it on to a missile and get it somewhere. how big are we talking about? let's bring a model of the two blasts of the bombs that were dropped in world war ii. if their yield, their explosions were roughly this big, we'll add one more atomic blast here for comparison to show the improvements on atomic bomb. but those last three there, those are tests of hydrogen bombs. and you can see how huge they are by comparison. the reason authorities think north korea doesn't actually have one of those because the seismic signature of the blast that was recorded was more like in. but you can also understand why

there's so much concerned why they're trying to get something like that. >> thanks to tom foreman for that. we're here with an expert on knot korean security issues. thanks for being with us. we look at the seismic event that happened. what's your assessment? was this a hydrogen bomb or was it something else? >> if it was a hydrogen bomb, the whole purpose is to get something 100 to 1,000 times with a bigger bang. they didn't get that. they got something similar to the hiroshima weapon. >> so this is some kind of boosted bomb or something? >> even then it wouldn't be boosted. you got maybe 10 kilotons. if it was boosted it would be 50 or 100. >> so not anything which was even supersized here. >> if they did have hydrogen elements in it, they fizzled. >> let's look at the supersizing

element here. is that a big technological leap. would thwould that be a great lp forward, if you would like 234? >> the question is, are they doing it on their own or getting help from scientists from russia or from the united states. >> both the u.s. and russia had a serious difficulty going to a hydrogen bomb. they started in 2006 with a very small yield. ten years tlaert now, they're doing something that's only 70 years old technology for the u.s. >> you mentioned russia and the united states developing h-bo s h-bombs. the united kingdom, for instance, china, the original nuclear powers. but others like india and pakistan, they haven't but they are building up their nuclear stockpile, especially the pakistanis. within the next five to ten year, pakistan may, in fact, have the third biggest nuclear arsenal in the world. that would seem to go way beyond any issue of deterrence here and

nobody seems to be talking about it. >> pakistan may also be working on boosts elements. the elements that create fusion, that they seem to be trying to develop themselves. they've been working on that for almost 20 years. >> nuclear arms race in the iegs region. >> certainly india and pakistan is starting in that direction. india and china could become an arms race. certainly if north korea goes very far, both south korea and japan are going to consider going nuclear. >> doesn't j pan have a virtual nuclear bomb? is. >> very quickly. it might still be a couple of years to get the real weapon, but they can do it very quickly. and they have probably 1,000 times the amount of plow tone yum that north korea has. >> the test being carried out by the north koreans, or for them

having nuclear weapons, there's also this real risk, which is playing out of other nations developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent? >> yeah, other nations doing that and in particular learning that you can dpis respect china if you have nuclear weapons. >> you can disrespect the united states and the u.n. and whoever you want. >> absolutely. so countries like the film peens, like vietnam, are going to look at this and say china is trying to put major pressure on us, but if we had these weapons they wouldn't be doing that. >> that's a good point. with your assessment, which country with nukes worries you more right now? the north koreans or the pakistanis? >> north korea. 1993 when we had the first nuclear price sis, kim il-sun, the grandfather, called together his military and asked them so what do we do if we fight the americans over our nuclear program and we lose? and kim jong-un's father said if we lose, i will destroy the earth. what good is the earth without

north korea? so this is a loose cannon. we're not just talking about deterrence. if they have a problem with the regime, they could do it. and one has to wonder, why did they do the test now? >> what's your theory? >> they were trying to make up with china. and let kim jong un go to beijing. china has to be furious. i would suspect they have internal problems. >> we'll have more on that later this hour. it's a good point that you raise. >> we appreciate it. whether it was an h-bomb or a plutonium device, the fallout diplomatically for the north koreans is likely to be the same. >> reporter: north korea's claim it tested a hydrogen bomb brought swift condemnation from around the world. >> this act is a profoundly destabilizing for regional security. >> north korea's nuclear test is

a serious threat to our nation's security and absolutely cannot be tolerated. >> even china, north korea's neighbor and closest ally quickly denounced the test. after down playing the nuclear threat for years, growing concern in beijing over the program under north korea's erratic and unpredictable leader. u.s. officials hope north korea's largest benefactor will finally put the squeeze on kim jong-un and wants the u.n. security council to impose tough new sanctions. >> what we do want to see is a response to this provocation and unanimity about raising the stakes further on the regime. >> but decades of sanctions have failed to curb three generations of north korean leaders. president clinton's 1994 agreed framework backfired and gave the north diplomatic cover to build a weapon.

president bush came close to a deal for exchange of aid for a peace treaty. president obama continued sanctions until pyongyang agreed to negotiate an end to its program. instead, the u.s. negotiated with iran. meanwhile, north kr -- three of kor korea's four tests have come since obama was in office. >> some policy options need to be put on the table. in my view, a deal like iran, similar like by had before in exchange for food, fuel, lifting of some sanctions, they curb their nuclear weapons. >> but the regime has shown no

willingness it's ready to talk. so it's unclear what they're going to bring to the table. north korea has demanded to be officially recognized as a nuclear state. but the white house and state department reaffirmed after this latest test they do not and will not accept north korea as a nuclear power. cnn, washington. as gun control in the u.s. takes center stage once again, cnn rides along with some new york city police officers who work to get illegal guns off the street. in my business i cbailing me out my i.all the time... i'm not the i.t. guy. i'm the desktop support tech supervisor. and my customers knowing right when their packages arrive. introducing real-time delivery notifications. learn more at myusps.com

introducing centrum vitamints. a brand new multivitamin you enjoy like a mint. with a full spectrum of essential nutrients... surprisingly smooth, refreshingly cool. i see you found the vitamints. new centrum vitamints. a delicious new way to get your multivitamins. you know the symptoms when they start. abdominal pain. urgent diarrhea. now there's prescription xifaxan. xifaxan is a new ibs-d treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms. and xifaxan works differently. it's a prescription antibiotic that acts mainly in the digestive tract. do not use xifaxan if you have a history of sensitivity to rifaximin, rifamycin antibiotic agents, or any components of xifaxan. tell your doctor right away if your diarrhea worsens

while taking xifaxan, as this may be a sign of a serious or even fatal condition. tell your doctor if you have liver disease or are taking other medications, because these may increase the amount of xifaxan in your body. tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or are nursing. the most common side effects are nausea and an increase in liver enzymes. if you think you have ibs with diarrhea, talk to your doctor about new xifaxan. i'm bushed! i've been on my feel alyea me too.

excuse me...coming through! ride the gel wave of comfort with dr. scholls massaging gel insoles. they're proven to give you comfort. which helps you feel more energized ...all day long. i want what he has. s.

>> the heated debate over gun control is being reignited this week after barack obama announced executive actions on tuesday. and a group of police officers are trying to get illegal guns off the streets. here's jason carroll. >> reporter: shots fired near a

supermarket in brooklyn. more sounds of gun fire captured by another security camera on another snorks street. >> there are the sounds these officers hear too often. ner part of an elite group of officers assigned to the new york city police department's anti-crime team. there are about 50 of them who work throughout the city in plain clothes and patrol in unmarked cars. their task, get illegal guns off the streets. >> tall order e, right? >> it's not easy, but you have to be consistent and work hard. >> reporter: this is the fist time the anti-crime team has allow allowed news cameras along. this area is high crime and economically depressed. >> it brings drugs. drugs bring guns, guns bring violence.

>> hue does that make your job more challenging? >> every night looking for a criminal who's carrying a gun, they know the consequences of carrying that firearm. so they'll do whatever is in their power to get away. whether it's to flee on foot, to flee in a car, to shoot it out with the police. >> we do encounter a lot of dangerous situations. and at the start of your day, you don't know what you're going to encounter that night. >> what are you seeing when you recover these illegal guns on the street. >> whatever they can get their hands on. we have recovered all different types of revolvers, semiautomatic firearms held together by duct tape. >> held together by duct tape? >> yes. shotguns that have been cut down to about a foot. anything that will fire a bullet. my first gun arrest, the gun looked like it was pulled off the titanic. it was so old and rusted. >> reporter: whatever type of gun is confiscated, it ends up here at the forensics lab in

queens. >> any idea how many guns come through this on a daily, weekly basis? >> thousands come in each year for examination. >> according to the with nypd, some 9,000 guns end up in the lab. more than 3,200 of those from gun arrests, hundreds stored in a room aptly called the library. racks of weapons all makes and models kept for reference, such as a world war ii japanese pistol. >> and you can see kind of the antique look to it. the most current popular model on the streets. >> there's a high point .9 millimeter that is commonly seen. >> this one. any idea why? >> at this time. i couldn't say. >> reporter: each gun goes through a multistep process to determine whether it was used in more than one crime. the inspector walked us through it from the gun's basic

examination to the tank room. >> why do we call it the tank room? >> because there's a large tank that's filled with water. and the purpose of this tank is so that we can discharge a weapon and acquire the bullet. the bullet will travel the water a certain distance and then drop to the bottom of the tank. >> reporter: once a bullet is recovered, it goes under the microscope then tested for fingerprints. >> if there were any fingerprintsflouresce under thi uv light. >> it's a narrow dichotomy. we want to go out there and do a good job and make gun arrests, but we also want to go home safe and in one piece. it's not easy to balance those two things. >> jason carroll, cnn, new york.

in chicago on the same day mr. obama made his announcement, 12 people were shot and four of them died. two people were shot before the president even started speaking on tuesday morning. of the dead, two were teenagers on the city's south side. authorities say that incident was gang related. chicago police say murders have jumped 8% in the last four years. anderson cooper will host an exclusive one hour live town hall event with president obama on thursday. you can see guns in america 8:00 p.m. in washington friday 9:00 a.m. hong kong time. and 1:00 a.m. friday in london right here, only on cnn. well, experts are casting doubt on north korea's claim it tested a hydrogen bomb. just ahead we'll see what kim jong-un may be trying to prove. also, more victims are coming forward with asalt and robbery in germany. hear one woman's frightening starter later this hour.

[ scanner beeping ] sir, could you step aside? "sir"? come on. you know who i am. progressive insurance? uh, i save people an average of over $500 when they switch? did you pack your own bags? oh! right -- the name your price tool. it shows people policy options to help fit their budget. [ scanner warbling ] crazy that a big shot like me would pack his own bags, right? [ chuckles ] so, do i have the right to remain handsome? [ chuckles ] wait. uh-oh. choose,

choose, choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter sleep number, and the lowest prices of the season. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store... find the lowest prices of the season, going on now. save $600 on the #1 rated i8 bed. know better sleep with sleep number. amerivest selects the funds and manages your portfolio. is it run by robots? no no, you can talk to a person anytime. 'cause i don't trust robots. right...well, if the portfolio you're invested in doesn't perform well for two consecutive quarters, amerivest will reimburse your advisory fees for those quarters. i wasn't born yesterday. well, actually it looks like you were born yesterday. happy belated birthday. thanks. for all the confidence you need td ameritrade. you got this.

for the new mattress models! it's time to make room during sleep train's huge year end clearance sale... get beautyrest, posturepedic, even tempur-pedic mattress sets at low clearance prices! save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory! plus, same-day delivery, set-up and removal of your old set. why wait for the new models? sleep train's year end clearance sale is on now! superior service, best selection, lowest price-- guaranteed! ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

welcome back. you're watching cnn live from los angeles. the headlines this hour. the united states security council is condemning north korea's latest nuclear test. the u.n. is voting to punish north korea for their test. north korea is, at the very least exaggerating the success of the test akorgd to the u.s. chinese stock markets have shut trading for the second day this week. the shanghai composite and the csi 300 both fell more than 7%.

sunni majority qatar is the latest country to recall its ambassador from iran. recovery official says that is from an attack on the saudi embassy in tehran. and protesters called on the government to cut ties with the saudi kingdom over the execution of a prominent shiite cleric. the leaders of a native american tribe in oregon say the armed men and women occupying a wildlife refuge should leave. the protesters say the federal government illegally took land from ranchers and farmers and they won't leave until the government hands it back. but tribal leaders say the protesters are desecrating one of their sacred sites. more now on north korea's nuclear test. many experts are debating why pyongyang chose to carry out the test now. brian todd has some possible answers. >> with an explosion the size of a moderate earthquake and the unattainable glee of a news anchor, kim jong un makes his

rivals shutter and sends intelligence agencies scrambling. a senior u.s. official tells cnn north korea's nuclear test, whether it's a hydrogen bomb or not is very concerning. analysts give a stark assessment of change danger. north korea is moving towards a warhead that's miniaturized that can hit japan, guam, the american territory or perhaps hawaii or the west coast. that's where they're moving. and it they're doing it with impunity. >> from seoul to washington, officials are assessing kim's motives. one possibility, he's signaling his enemies who he sees everywhere. >> kim jong un is facing threats from all fronts. domestically, internally, from his elites. and so he has to be able to manage and control all of that internally. but, of course, there's always the threat that north korea believes comes from its external environment. >> external rivals like south korea and the u.s. kim can't compete with him from

his conventional military and needs nuclear weapons to balance the field. but he's got another possible motive with his outside rivals. >> we have nuclear weapons they can blackmail, intimidate and threaten the united states, japan, south korea, china, to get economic aid, sanctions relief, and other things to preserve their regime. >> u.s. officials say this test could be an important ramp-up to the highly anticipated congress of the korean workers party in may. north korea hasn't held such an event for 36 years. and at that gathering of the elites, kim is expected to con doll sate his rule, shift more power from the military to himself. experts belief kim is flexing his nuclear muscles now because the internal threats he faces are constant. >> he has to be more fearful every morning he wakes up that he won't get a bullet in his head. there are general officers inside north korea who can't mobilize against him, but if they have an opportunity to take him out in the future, i think he can't rest peacefully about

that. >> if kim finally develops a deliverable nuclear weapon, a key question, is he dangerous enough, unstable enough to actually use it? most analysts believe kim would not launch a nuclear weapon just to provoke, but could do it if he's desperate. or if there's another standoff like the one he had with south korea last summer, he could miscalculate. brian todd, cnn, washington. joining me now from danville, former u.s. ambassador from south korea. thank you for being with us. do you worry that kim jong un is unstable and dangerous enough to use a nuclear weapon he had that capability? >> he's certainly inexperienced. he's certainly shown some ups and downs in his personality. without having -- without being a psychiatrist and certainly not having examined him, i can't say for certain, but there's a lot of reasons to be concerned.

>> wolf blitzer interviewed donald trump. he asked him the best way to deal with north koreans. he basically said to be on china. this is what he had to say. >> china could shovel that problem. if they don't solve that problem, we should be very tough with them on trade, meaning start charging them tax or start cutting them off. you would have china collapse in about two minutes. >> we have great power over china and we just don't know how to use it. >> should the united states be outsourcing its foreign policy to china that sne and does flchlt trump have a point? >> of course the united states has a lot of influence over influence, as china does with the united states. and certainly china has influence over north korea. and i should say any strategy and the u.s. should involve beijing.

china does not have any position with respect to north korea. certainly the business community in shanghai, for example, would love to be rid of this. there's minute who lost relatives in the korean war. what if north korea goes down. a lot of issues. it argues for kind of a deep dive between the u.s. and china to really talk about these issues. and as we're seeing over to you, china, i don't think that would really work. >> chinese officials told us today in a briefing that it's actually the united states which has all the leverage right now because kim jong-un wants to meet with president obama. do you agree with that? >> i think the u.s. has made clear it's prepared to meet the

north koreans. >> i think to restart talks and have some high level meeting in the absence of any conceivable commitment by the north koreans to fulfill their obligation would, i think, look week and to some extent rather foolish. >> finally, these chinese officials also made the point to us that right now there's no credible number two in north korea. if kim goes, the whole thing could collapse. they say his uncle was someone they could do business with in the past, but he was purged. >> well, certainly china has some real concerns about the stability of the leadership there. and as i said earlier, i think they worry if north korea goes down, it will be viewed in china, certainly within security services and various groups as a victory for the viets and a ze feet for china. so for the chinese, there's a lot at stake here.

on the other hand, they must be increasing increasingly angry about north korea. the chinese had a tacit agreement with them over many months to the effect that they would ameliorate relationships in return for which the north koreans would not test. the north koreans thumb their nose with the chinese and they're going to have to respond in some way. i would like to see a much deeper dialogue with china, the united states and other participants or other frontline states. >> more are talking on the streets what they said happened in new year's celebrations in colon. and why prosecutors in los angeles say they will not charge bill cosby in two sexual assault cases. ♪

there it is... this is where i met your grandpa. right under this tree. ♪ (man) some things are worth holding onto. they're hugging the tree. (man) that's why we got a subaru.

or was it that tree? (man) the twenty-sixteen subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i am i'm in search for thelong elusive...affordable 2 bedroom apartment. you know what you should do before you start? what's that? check your credit score. why would i need to do that? somebody else is going to check it, don't you want to know what they might find? sign up on credit karma. credit karma? yeah. huh, that was easy! kinda regret buying all this stuff now. looks good though, right? looks great. ladies love a man in a uniform. laughs... first step, credit karma. ♪ light piano today i saw a giant.

it had no arms, but it welcomed me. (crow cawing) it had no heart, but it was alive. (train wheels on tracks) it had no mouth, but it spoke to me. it said, "rocky mountaineer: all aboard amazing". watching tvs get sharper, you've had it tough. bigger, smugger. and you? rubbery buttons. enter the x1 voice remote. now when someone says... show me funny movies. watch discovery. record this. voila. remotes, come out from the cushions, you are back. the x1 voice remote is here.

>> welcome back, everybody. the mayor of the jones city colon is advising women to stay an arm's length away from male strangers. people are furious about that comment which came after dozens of women say they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by arab or north african men at new year's eve celebrations. >> a day after the allegations of mass sexual assault were made public, colon colon continues to search for the perpetrators and answers. how could things get so out of hand. more victims are coming forward and describing their harrowing experiences. >> translator: suddenly we were surrounded by a group of between 20 and 30 men. they were full of anger and we had to make sure that no one of us were pulled away by them. they were grabbing us and we

were trying to get away as quickly as possible. >> witnesses and victims continue to speak of a group of up to 1,000 women, groping and often robbing women an coron's main railway station. nearly 100 criminal complaints have already been filed. germany's interior minister criticized the police's slow response to the violence and said authorities must do better in the future. >> we still do not have a clear picture as to who may be behind the crimes. all we have are some clues. the action of the perpetrators are not acceptable. >> with germany now announcing, the country took in about 1.1 asylum seekers in 2015, the new year's eve incidents are causing many to criticize angela merkel's open arms policy. but authorities say there are no indication refugees were involved. meanwhi meanwhile, col colon's minister

is saying it's the women's fault. >> such advances could be misunderstood and that's something every woman and every girl should protect herself from. >> as the search for the perpetrator continues, questions still remain as to how this night of celebration turned sour so quickly. >> over 50 women have accused comedian bill cosby of sexual assault, but he will not be charged in two cases here in los angeles. the district attorney's office now says the statute of limitations in those cases has expired. and in one case, prosecutors say there just was not enough evidence. cosby is still gasing charges in a separate case in the state of pennsylvania was he's now out on bail and denies all of the allegations. a criminal defense attorney joins us now with more on this. two cases here, both thrown out because they're essentially old. they couldn't meet the statute of limit fapgs but there were evidentiary issues in the second

case. >> right. they didn't survive the statute of limitations, which is an artificial time limit that says, look, you've got -- it's only fair for you to bring these claims within a certain am of time. and that had expired. but even more on that other case, there was review that suggested that the district attorney's office cowl not meet their burden. prosecutors who have this obligation to seek justice aren't supposed to file a case unless at the time of filing they believe they have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that that crime has been committed, that they can prove and win that case. what they found when they did their investigation is that there were a lot of conflicts in the evidence such that they couldn't meet their filing burden, even if it was timely. >> they went through the video at the party they were both meant to be at. they couldn't find them. >> right. then there was a time that she said an incident happened when he was provably not even in the

state. >> does this decision impact what's happening in pennsylvania? >> it's very interesting. i would not be surprised to note that authorities were in conversation about this. in a way, the pennsylvania filing took the pressure off los angeles because there's already the filing out there. i think that these victims or alleged victims out here in california can actually be more useful to the prosecution in pennsylvania. prosecutors there are going to try to get evidence, testimony from many, many women to parade -- >> bad behavior. >> this is going to be the source of much legal argument, as trial draw nears. generally speaking you're not. prior acts of misconduct generally aren't admissible to show conduct in con firmty there

with. but if it is so unique as to be a signature. if there's something there that is unique, that makes it more reliable, then it comes in. 10 that's where the fight is going to be. >> flip that around. can the defense say listen, this case was thrown out. the evidence just wasn't there. this is these women who are making up these allegation against our client. >> i think we can expect to hear arguments just like that. and obviously if ms. goings hits the witness stand, you can expect her to be vigorously cross-examined. >> camillecosby will not be deposed. will she never give evidence in that case? >> no, no. this is a temporary relief for mrs. cosby, camille. it's highly unlikely she will ultimately be deposed. but with this legal ruling, it's an opportunity for an appeals court to now weigh in on whether or not setting her deposition was proper.

she was arguing that have it was improper. and because of the law there that shields spousal communications, that she shouldn't have to give the deposition. on the other side, the judge in the initial ruling saying that no, you do have to be deposed said that didn't apply, that was something for trial. but couldn't keep her off the deposition. >> she wasn't there by his side when he went to pennsylvania. >> it's interesting. i think at the end of the day, because she was also his business manager, she is's likely going to be deposed. and i don't think it's going to hurt cosby that badly. i expect her to be expertly prepared. and i think we're going to get a lot of i don't remembers. >> i do not recall. always good to speak to you. appreciate it. >> still to come, drivers in los angeles are flogging through a bad commute as weather sets in. also someone out there may be a

whole lot richer. we'll look at the winning numbers from wednesday's $500 million powerballotry when we return. if you have high blood pressure many cold medicines may raise your blood pressure. that's why there's coricidin® hbp. it relieves cold symptoms without raising blood pressure. so look for powerful cold medicine with a heart. coricidin® hbp. type 2 diabetes doesn't care who you are. man woman or where you're from.

city country we're just everyday people fighting high blood sugar. ♪i am everyday people. farxiga may help in that fight every day. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. one pill a day helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug, farxiga may help you lose weight and may even lower blood pressure when used with certain diabetes medicines. do not take if allergic to farxiga or its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you have any of these symptoms stop taking farxiga and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, low blood sugar, kidney problems,

and increased bad cholesterol. common side effects include urinary tract infections, changes in urination, and runny nose. farxiga. we are everyday people. ♪i am everyday people. yeah. yeah.♪ ask your doctor if farxiga is right for you and visit farxiga.com to learn how you can get it for free.

digestive core.r so choose ultimate flora by renewlife. it has 30 billion probiotic cultures. feel lighter and more energized. ultimate flora. more power to your gut.

>> a major gasoline leak has prompted california's governor to declare a state of emergency. it was discovered back in october, but the southern california gas company has not been able to stop it. the methane leak forced more than 2,000 people from their homes. the gas company says it hopes to stop the leak by the end of march. storms pound el nino with rain. these are images of flooding in los angeles. forecasters expect rain and showers to continue into the weekend. that could affect areas already left vulnerable by cent wildfires. more of the dangers of the rain, especially in those areas that have been burned out. let's go to the cnn center in atlanta. >> it's really important to note actually with this past summer, over 9,000 individual fires occurred across the state of california. it consumed almost 1 million ache oefrs land. you think about the massive burn scars in place. you take a look at the perspective of what occurs.

we have bush, leaves, brush, trees across this region. once you have a major fire take place, well over 9,000 of them took place over california, all the brush burns down and creates a sand-like layer. you have heavy rain events now across this region, some of that water is absorbed into the sand lake layer. unfortunately the extreme heat creates a hydrophobic soil, essentially a lid blocking the water that's entirely absorbed into the soil. now we create you take a look, hateful still in the forecast

over the next couple of days. this is beneficial hateful. we'll take it. but severe weather over the past 24 hours, two tornadoes across parts of california, one of which across the san diego county area. first to be confirmed in this area since 2006. so again, very incomplement weather across parts of california, but again, beneficial as well. >> certainly wet outside. pedram, thank you. >> the winning numbers for wednesday's $500 million power ball have been drawn. the winning combination, 2, 11, 47 are, 62, oh, my gosh! 63! 17. aww, do, i didn't win. the single largest lottery jackpot in the world currently stands at $656 million. it was split among multiple winners back in 2012. isle see you back here tomorrow because i didn't win. >> he's the third in line for the british throne, but first

thing's first, prince george started school. reports say he will attend three days a week and he won't be home schooled. thank you for watching cnn news room live from los angeles. i'm john vause and i will be back for another hour of news all across the world after a short break. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like ordering wine equals pretending to know wine. pinot noir, which means peanut of the night. where our next arrival is... red carpet whoa! toenail fungus!? fight it! with jublia. jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed

by your doctor. are you getting this?! most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application site redness, itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. oh, epic moves, big j! fight it! getting ready for your close-up? ask your doctor if jublia is right for you. visit our website for savings on larger size. frequent heartburn brand in america. i hope you like it spicy! get complete protection with the purple pill. the new leader in frequent heartburn. that's nexium level protection. his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... this is brad. hey brad, wanna trade the all day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no.

for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve.

it's gotten squarer. over the years. brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier.

but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. >> the u.s. president gets set to sell his executive action on guns for american public. hello, welcome to our viewers from the united states and all around the world. thanks for being with us. i'm john vause. another hour of "news room l.a." starts right now.