>> axelrod: tonight, striking gold: the first trip for a u.s. athlete to the top spot on the medal stand for sochi. alphonso van marsh has our olympic round up. self-defense or murder? ( gun shots ) >> oh, my god, someone is shooting! >> axelrod: testimony today in the latest test of florida's stand your ground law. mark strassmann is following the case. an affordable care act surprise. carter evans talks to a mother whose daughter lost coverage at a top-ranked hospital. >> reporter: this is an approval letter for the coverage? >> yes. >> reporter: four days later this is a denial? >> exactly. >> axelrod: and going to the dogs, the mixed breed dogs. elaine quijano on the mutts who have finally gained a place at the westminster dog show. >> maybe their tails are a little off or maybe their eye color isn't right or whatever, but with agility, that doesn't matter. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news." displim good evening, i'm jim axelrod and this is a western edition of the broadcast. >> the first day of competition is in the books at the 22nd olympic winter games in sochi, russia. while concerns about terror attacks and human rights have dominated the run-up to the games, now the events start and olympic organizers certainly hope that the athletes will take center stage. all told, 230 u.s. athletes will go for the gold in sochi, and tonight one of them already has it. alphonso van marsh has a wrap-up of day one-- fair warning, he is going to tell you which american was the first to win gold. >> reporter: big board, big tricks-- that's slope-style snow boarding and an american sage kotsenburg took the gold medal in the sport's olympic debut. >> honestly, it feels like a dream right now. just winning a gold on the first day and the first event of slope style ever being in the olympics is seriously the craziest thing ever.

>> reporter: the 20-year-old from park city, utah won it with one trick he had never tried before. the 1620 is a helicopter twirl which involves spinning four and a half times. hannah kearney, a 27-year-old from norwich vermont, grabbed the bronze in the women's moguls. she won gold at the 2010 winter games. americans are in fourth place in the medal count after the first day of competition. but in a games mired with controversy, even before they began, the choice of russian figure skater irina rodina to help light the olympic torch last night caused a stir. back in september, she tweeted a photo of president obama that some considered racially offensive. it was removed. answering critics, the head of the sochi organizing committee said rodina's selection had nothing to do with politics. olympic champion, one of the most respected in the world

olympic athletes. >> reporter: the t >> reporter: the torch-lighting ceremony brought cheers at this outdoor olympic viewing party, among them 19-year-old american morgan gandi. >> far better than i expected it to be. it's so much fun. the people here are awesome. they're friendly. everyone wants to talk to you. so that's just really cool. >> reporter: jim, not everybody is happy with the olympics or the perceived crackdown on dissent. while many people were watching the opening ceremonies, there were coordinated protests against russia's antigay laws. in moscow, police arrested many pro gay rights demonstrators who sang the national anthem and unfolded a rainbow flag. >> axelrod: alphonso van marsh on day one at sochi, thank you. in a speech to a gay rights group this evening, attorney general eric holder will announce the justice department is expanding its recognition of same-sex marriage. among other things, the new policy will affirm that gay and lesbian spouses cannot be compelled to testify against each other in federal court.

extend death benefits to the surviving spouses of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty. and guaranteed visiting rights in federal prisons. now to jacksonville, florida, where a man named michael dunn is on trial for murder. dunn, who is white, shot an unarmed african american teenager after a confrontation. if this sounds familiar, it is the highest-profile stand your ground case in florida since george zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of trayvon martin. here is mark strassman. >> reporter: 17-year-old jordan davis and three other teens sat in this parked car in a gas station when michael dunn demanded they lower their music. an argument began. tevan thompson was in the car with davis. >> did the defendant say anything to you or in your correction? >> turn your music down i can't hear myself think. >> and what did jordan davis say? >> turn the music back up. >> dun pulled a pistol from his glove box and fired nine shots into their vehicle. jurors watched the surveillance tape from inside the gas station. >> oh, my god, somebody is

shooting. >> davis was shot twice and killed. dunn told police he thought the teens wer were armed. >> in court today, dunn listened as investigators told jurors that no gun was recovered from the teenagers' car. >> and did you find any evidence of any weapons there? >> no, i did not. >> reporter: the case has attracted national attention because of stand your ground laws and the similarity to the shooting death of trayvon martin nine months earlier. last summer, a jury ruled george zimmerman had acted in self- defense. jordan davis' father, ron davis, spoke with us last year. jordan had told his father he thought he looked like trayvon martin. would that have happened without the stand your ground law in your book? >> no, i don't believe he would have done it. >> reporter: testimony in dunn's trial is expected to conclude next week. jordan davis would have turned 19 next weekend. mark strassman, cbs news,

atlanta. >> axelrod: we've been reporting steadily the last few months on the drought that has been plaguing northern california. although it certainly didn't look like there was any problem with rain today, the san francisco bay area is getting its first major storm system in more than a year. forecasters say this won't end the drought but it sure will help. there's a three-day cease-fire in place in syria, which was supposed to allow relief workers to get inside the old city of homs and get help to people who have been living under siege for a year and a half. as elizabeth palmer reports, a mortar attack today put that plan in jeopardy. >> reporter: as the cease-fire came into effect a few residents dared to come out into the open, ready to leave, while the very weak or sick were carried across the no-man's-land that separates the rebel-held streets from the syrian army. from there, buses took them shelters where they received medical care and food. this old man said at times he'd had nothing but grass. just like rabbits, he said. look at this.

in november 2012, the syrian military took us to see how they'd sealed off the old city. more than a year later, the rebels inside haven't given up. no one knows exactly how many civilians were trapped in their with them, but the ones who have emerged during the cease-fire are hungry and exhausted. tonight, there are reports that the humanitarian operation in homs was attacked. amateur video appears to show the u.n. truck stopped deep in the old city after coming under mortar fire that injured a driver. both sides blamed the other for the violence. it's a setback for the u.n., but not a surprise in a war that has now killed 130,000 people. a second round of peace talks is due to start on syria in geneva on monday, but, jim, nobody's expecting any breakthroughs. in fact, until friday, it wasn't

even clear that both sides were going to show up. >> axelrod: elizabeth palmer in london, liz, thank you. it got rough on the streets of istanbul today. police battled demonstrators protesting new turkish government restrictions on the internet. police fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of marchers angry about a law that would let the government block web sites. a sight-seeing trip in the french alps turned tragic when a bolder the size of a car slammed into a train. two people were killed, nine others injured. look at the front car of the train dangling precariously over an embankment. the new farm bill president obama signed into law yesterday cuts $8.6 billion from food stamps during the next decade. now this comes on top of $5 billion in cuts during the last year. jeff pegues tells us what this means for families who use the programs. >> potato, onions, please. >> reporter: jeff bredt was earning six figures a year as a wine expert in restaurants.

>> we have chicken thighs, ground turkey and catfish. >> reporter: but now he's out of work and counts on federal food aid and food banks to fill the cupboard at home. you have to stretch that out over a number of days? >> absolutely, yes, absolutely, yes. >> reporter: he, his wife, who is disabled, and unable to work, and daughter beatrix, can only afford to eat on a budget that amounts to a little over $5 each a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. >> you want to make sure you have fresh fruit, fresh vegetables. you want the healthy kids. that's not cheap. >> if you want children to eat, it has to be good. >> my daughter needs to see us, even though we're in tough straits-- and she knows we're in tough straits-- she's no fool, our daughter-- but she doesn't see us collapse. >> reporter: they rely on nearly $497 a month in snap benefits. in three weeks the money is gone. they go without basics like

lunch meat, fresh fruit, frozen vegetables. bredt says, food options become tiresome. >> for a few days it's, you know, pasta with onions and butter. that's what you are going to eat for a couple of days. it's just the way it is. >> reporter: with his snap card depleted the grocery store is no option. turns to food banks and by then his anxiety level sup. >> oh, it's depressing. i'll be frank-- we ask for help from our family. "we're not going to make it. could you spot us a couple of hundred bucks?" >> reporter: bredt, a recovering alcoholic, can never return to the food and wine business and studies to be a paralegal and volunteers because he considers himself lucky. >> as bad as i think i have it, there are people out there who have it worse than i do. >> reporter: what do you care about? >> i care about keeping us alive, keeping us going. i care about the future. >> reporter: the future for him begins on the first of every month with the hope that his family's struggle to survive

will get easier. jeff pegues, cbs news, washington. >> axelrod: later, make way for the mutts competing for the first time at the westminster agility trials. and how the health care law is limiting this four-year-old's hospital coverage. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ abe! get in! punch it! [ male announcer ] let quicken loans help you save your money with a mortgage that's engineered to amaze. thanks, "g."

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♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >> axelrod: the filmmaker woody allen is denying the charges of sexual abuse raised by his adoptive daughter dylan farrow. in a piece for the "new york times," allen now says that she was coach bide her mother, mia farrow, and said he hopes one day dylan, "will grasp how she has been cheated out of having a loving father and exploited by a mother more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter's well-being." in response dylan farrow tells the hollywood reporter she stands by her accusation.

the obama administration is revising the health care web site to allow changes like a new family member or the death of someone who was enrolled. some families say the affordable care act is limiting their doctor and hospital choices. here's carter evans now with a case in point. >> reporter: what began as an ear infection for four-year-old kate fink soon became much movie serious. her mother sarah. >> she couldn't hear ought at all in one ear so that was really scary. >> reporter: kate's eardrum had ruptured. her doctor recommend a specialist at seattle childrenna hospital. >> the care was authorized by sarah's insurer through washington state's health care exchange. this is an approval letter for the coverage. >> yes yes. >> reporter: four days later this is a denial. >> exactly. >> reporter: that letter says the hospital is out of network. is this an isolated incident? >> this is not an isolated incident. >> dr. sandy melzer is with seattle's children's hospital. >> the exclusion of a major

provider like seattle children's from the major insurance network in this market is unprecedented. >> reporter: the hospital is considered in network on only two of the seven plans from washington state's health exchange. it's now suing to be included on all of them. >> we're seeing denials of care, disruptions in care. we're seeing a great deal of confusion, and at times anger and frustration on the part of these families who bought insurance, thinking that their children were going to be covered and they've in fact found that it's a false promise. >> reporter: the affordable care act is supposed to provide a wider choice of doctors and lower premiums, but the insurance industry says it is simply too extensive to do both. that's reflected in a new study by an insurance industry consulting firm. it found the number of in-network providers is shrinking nationwide. 70% of insurers on state health exchanges are offering narrower or ultranarrow hospital

networks. >> that's why we all pay into the system because in that moment when you're in a dire situation, then you hope that the insurance company is going to take care of you. >> reporter: and what did you find out? >> that it kind of backfired. >> reporter: for now, seattle children's hospital is picking up the tab for kate and more than 200 other patients facing the same dilemma, but eventually, their parents may have to pay the bill. carter evans, cbs news, seattle. >> axelrod: just ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, high-tech innovations that could be worth their weight in gold at sochi. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'.

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competing in sochi have spent years preparing for their shot at olympic gold, but sometimes, victory depends on some other people who have been at it for years-- engineers. here's vinita nair. they careen around the track 80 miles per hour head first with no steering system other than their bodies. it's why the fit of the sled is so important for the skeleton competition and why four teams of engineers took five years to design it. >> i think when you're talking about this kind of equipment, >> i think when you're talking about this kind of equipment, they're just shaving off hundred hundredths of a section. >> reporter: jennifer bogo is an editor with "popular science" magazine. she compares the winter olympics to an arms race in technology. she showed us the revamped skeleton sled. what's the biggest change?

>> probably the biggest change to sleets is the fact that this saddle, where they lay down in, is custom molded to their bodies. so they literally made casts of the athletes, and used if to bend the steel in such a way that it frames them perfectly. >> reporter: no american has won a medal in the two-person bobsled since 1952, so this year they overhauled it. u.s. athletes enlisted engineers from car company b.m.w. they shed 15 pounds from the frame and made the sled more aerodynamic. >> they actually redistributing the weight in the bobsled to lower its center of gravity which also made it faster. >> reporter: at today's final training run in sochi, bodie miller had the fastest time coming down the hill. when he and his teammates compete for the medal they'll be wearing new suits modelafter sharkskin. >> scientists have found out over time really smooth fabric isn't necessarily the fastest. if fabric had a little dimple or text, it actually manipulates the air flow and creates a

faster surface overall. >> they are constantly tweaking and may make changes even in sochi. they want the athletes to perform at the highest level with a leg up on the leg technology. vinita nair, cbs news, new york. >> axelrod: the creator of the flar game flappy bird said he's planning to take it down by midday tomorrow. in a series of tweets, the game designer says the app has just become too popular and, "i cannot take this any more" which is an interesting sentiment considering "forbes" magazine said he makes about $50,000 a day from the game. still ahead, calling all dogs. mixed breeze getting their paw in the door at the westminster kennel club. westminster kennel club. try bayer back and body. it's bayer aspirin plus a special pain relief booster, to relieve sore backs and soothe aching muscles fast. get moving again,

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thanks, "g." score one for the mutts. the westminster dog show, the nation's oldest and most important dog show, is breaking with a 138-year tradition. no longer do you have to be a pure bred to enter at least one event. as elaine quijano reports this evening, mixed breed dogs are being allowed to compete for the very first time. >> reporter: these are the picture-perfect images of the pure bred show dogs most closely

associated with westminster. for the first time since its earliest years, the westminster kennel club is making a place for mixed breed dogs like seven-year-old alfie. owner irene palmerini stumbled across the poodle-terrier mix in a pet store at the mall. >> they told me they had it get rid of himed that weekend and he was in his cage with a big sign and a big red "$99 on clearance." i just couldn't resist him. he had such a sad little face and he looked like he needed a home and for $99 who could pass up that bargain. >> reporter: alfie the clearance dog is now getting a chance to scheer hurdle hurdlesn westminster's new agility competition. david frei has served as cohost for more than 20 years. >> it's the hottest growing canine sport out there. and you can see the dogs, how excited the dogs, are. >> an agility competition features an obstacle course where the dogs are judged on

speeds and the movements through each obstacle. >> maybe their tail's a little off, or maybe their eye color isn't right or whatever, but with agility, that doesn't matter. they're having fun. it doesn't matter if you win or don't win, the dogs are having a great time. >> reporter: westminster received more than 600 entries of top-performing ajilt dogs. 225 spots were given out at random. 16 of them went to mixed breed dogs, or as westminster calls them "all-americans." a successful run requires a close bond between dog and human. the pressure is intense. handlers receive a map of the course ahead of time, but the dogs don't get to run it until the competition. in suburban new jersey, palmerini takes alfie to a trainer twice a week, and runs her own drills in the backyard. and her being selected for westminster is an honor. >> i'm just representing everybody who sits at home with their dog on the couch and loves them because they're just their pet. >> reporter: in the end, alfie

did not advance to tonight's final round. but that makes no difference to palmerini. she still sees her mark-down mutt as a winner. >> there he is! say hi. >> reporter: elaine quijano, cbs news, new york. >> axelrod: and a reminder that cbs news will mark the beatles' 50thant anniversary with an interactive multimedia event streamedded live from the ed sullivan theater tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. eastern time on cbsnews.com. and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. later on cbs, "48 hours." for now, i'm jim axelrod in new york. and for all of us here at cbs news, thanks for joining us, and good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

of rain. hardware stores doing a bri business. th rain, wind, flash flood warning. the area that got nearly a foot of rain. >> hardware store doing a brisk business. the items flying off the shelves. >> this was no match for heavy rain. complete storm coverage coming up. ,,,, save up to $500 on beautyrest and posturepedic. get a sealy queen set for just $399. even get 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. keep more presidents in your wallet.

sleep train's presidents' day sale is on now. so much rain -- a flash flo warning is in effect in sona captioning for you in realtime is linda marie macdonald. pounded with winds and rain so much rain a flash flood warning is in effect in sonoma county until 7:45 tonight. good evening, i'm ann notarangelo. >> i'm brian hackney. i'm meteorologist paul deanno reporting live with the kpix 5 mobile weather lab in a brisk soggy windy pittsburg. it