i'm joined by my good friend, christine romans. host of "your bottom line." john avlon is a cnn contributor and senior columnist at "newsweek" and the daily beast. margaret hoover is a cnn political contributor and republican consultant. christine, let's start with you. economists warn the sequester could lead to a recession. that's not scaring business away. american airlines and us airways will merge. warren buffett is buying heinz. michael dell is taking his company private. there's business going on. as you've said before, uncertainty is the new normal. >> absolutely. you see these movements within the corporate sphere that are telling us that they are trying to be on the offense. at the same time, you see a retrenchment deepening in europe. that europe story is so instructive for the discussion going on about the skweser in washington. by the way, there's going to be a ten-day break coming up for your elected officials, for our elected officials, so they don't have much time to get this straightened out. when you look at companies in america and merger an

christine romans, host of "bottom line." and jeffrey toobin.hat kind of money are we talking about with oscar pistorius and nike? >> about $2 million from a diverse array of sponsors and they're doing exactly what brand managers would tell them to do. say you feel terrible about the situation. say that he is innocent until proven guilty and then distance yourself from his brand. and that's exactly what we're seeing. brand managers that we've talked to say, quite frankly, the seriousness of these charges and his stature in society, how many people know about him there, he will never recover financially from this. most likely. they haven't cut their endorsements just yet but many people think they will. >> is that what it takes, does it take murder for them to say we're out? we have sports controversies. bad behavior in bars. shooting incidents. steroids and dogfighting. and a lot of time, sponsors hang on for a long time. >> sometimes, they do. sometimes, they don't. look you look at livestrong and lance armstrong. he will not recover from that.

it turns off our own christine romans knows a little something about bradley cooper.ok at this. >> what? >> we have run out of things to say. now we're like two girls in a bar, this is terrible. >> what's next for bradley cooper? >> really? really? that's how it goes? that's how it is. >> i'm sorry. i've never been that way with you. but that's bradley cooper. >> wait, wait. christine, you should be that way with him. i want to show you something. this is amazing. if you only knew what lies underneath. here is a picture. a trip down memory lane for you. >> serious stuff. >> bradley cooper. >> oh, that's -- >> there is berman. >> we'll oogle over berman. >> at the end of the day. >> you want to fall off your bike. that will give you something to fall off your bike. you want a sex riot? that's a sex riot? >> bradley cooper, john berman. >> jobs reports at 8:30, you got to get yourself together. >> won't be spinning with bradley cooper. something about that guy. >> 27 minutes after the hour. thank you, christine. >>> an emergency high in the sky. the pilot of a packed ju

christine romans has the blow by blow. >> is she backing down? no, she's not.een the governor and a woman who cared for three sitting presidents, began after christie went on t"the david letterman show" and munched on a doughn doughnut. the arizona physician says she likes christie, she would like to see him run for president, but her public remarks about the possibility of the governor dying in office sparked this angry tirade from christie. >> she must be a genius. she should probably be the surgeon general of the united states, i suspect, because she must be a genius. i think this is -- listen this is another hack who wants five minutes on tv. and it's completely irresponsible. completely irresponsible. my children saw that last night. if she wants to get on a plane and come here to new jersey and ask if she wants to examine me and review my medical history, i'll have a conversation with her about that. until that, she should shut up. >> christie says his 12-year-old son saw the comments on tv and asked him if he would die. so he called mariano personally to

i'm christine romans. john berman will join us later on "starting point." >>> let's get started here. a 5-year-old boy held captive for six days in an underground bunker in alabama is back in the arms of his farmly this morning. we are so happy to report that. we're told that he is thrilled to be reunited with his favorite toy which is a dinosaur. little ethan's kidnaper is dead, 65-year-old jimmy lee dykes killed yesterday in the fbi raid that freed that little boy. victor blackwell, live from midland city, alabama this morning. i know you're very excited to be sharing this information, victor. what do we know about the raid and why law enforcement actually decided to go in? >> good morning, zoraida. two reasons primarily. the first is because authorities say they observed jimmy lee dykes with a gun and the second reason is because in the day leading up to that raid, the communications with dykes had broken down. so they realized they could not wait any longer to go in and rescue ethan. ethan is safe. thi

gloria borger, john king, christine romans in new york. jessica at the white house. gloria, if this is such a horrible idea, why did the white house come up with this plan in 2011 to begin with? >> iffy noticed, wolf, the president kept calling this a manufactured crisis. well, in fact, it was manufactured right here in washington by the president of the united states and voted for 174 house republicans voted for these forced spending cuts to force them to do their jobs. now we're in this crazy situation in washington where publicly people are protesting, politicians saying we can't do this, but privately, there are liberal democrats who say you know what, this wouldn't be such a bad thing, cut self-defense, can and conservative republicans says 5% across the board in domestic spending, not such a bad idea. >> and talking about defense cuts, john, these are cuts only in washington language. there will be increases in defense spending every year over the next ten years. but if the so-called sequestration goes through, they won't be as huge as they would have been with

. >> i'm christine romans. 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started. >>> first, the not so triumphant turn of the carnival "triumph." thousands of passengers who spent five days stranded at sea and slogging through sewage are sleeping on warm beds or on buses or trains, finally headed home it blocked in mobile, alabama. listen to the cheering bounds on board. but also family members waiting for them. passengers began streaming off about an hour later. some were angry and others were stateding it all in stride. all of them relieved to be back on shore. >> we are happy to be on dry land. it's been a horrible experience for us. it was a great cruise to start off with, but it just -- you know, the morning of the fire. >> there was a fire alarm. >> and we've been kept in the dark a lot. we haven't been told everything that we probably should have known. and it was just, you know, the -- the things just kepting worse and worse and we could never, ever really get a straight answer, the bathroom facilities were horrible, we couldn't flush to

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christine romans here. >> it will take a financial hit.es tumbled 4% yesterday in response. i'm going to show you the last four days and you can see the public relations nightmare for carnival is something investors have been feeling. all this coverage is going to build up attention for carnival. cruise loyalists and investors probably long term probably won't be deterred. that's right. it's just going to keep putting cruising or cruises on the front page. but carnival says this will cut into its profits in the first half of the year by about $70 million. the issue is voyage disruptions, repair costs. they're going to have to fix this boat and it's going to mean there's going to be some cancelled cruises in the meantime. 3,000 passengers, though, the money they care about is what they're going to get back. full refund of this cruise, a 15 to 25% discount on a future cruise if they're brave and $500 in cash. of course carnival paying for all the expenses here in the meantime as they have to get them home. they're not home. 3,000 people are

i'm christine romans, along with john berman.p trends on the web. >> at age 22, she's already an academy award winner. hollywood's leading lady. but this morning, the buzz is about jennifer lawrence and how she tripped. it was on her way to accept her best actress oscar. this, after she allegedly ripped her dress at the s.a.g. awards. she handled it with unbelievable grace and charm. >> the fall on the way up to the stage. >> was that on purpose? absolutely. >> what happened? >> what do you mean what happened? look at my dress. i tried to walk up stairs in this dress. that's what happened. >> there's like 100 feet long. >> hollywood's biggest night, on the minds of the late-night hosts this weekend. michelle obama, making an appearance at the oscars last night. and jimmy fallon, showbiz may be in her future. here are the late-night laughs. >> the academy awards. it's television's answer to jetblue. you sit there for four hours, waiting for it to take off. >> adele getting nominated for that song. ♪ >> that was -- >> that's awesom

let's head to new york and check in with our business guru christine romans. onomic analysis. crawling around kind of moving ahead. you know, you're absolutely right. the most important part of this is that number modest jobs growth, it kind of allayed concerns we might be heading to a soft patch. the economy actually shrank at the end of last year, big surprise, and now the jobs report shows us that job growth was strong in november and december and a little more modest in january. and so now people aren't very concerned about some sort of a rough patch in the early part of the year barring washington doing anything really crazy. so 14,000 in the dow, you know, the path of least resistance is still higher for stocks because lots of people like you and me, carol, regular investors after the s&p has doubled over the past five years, now they believe it and are rushing in with money. >> it's hard to wrap your mind around. because there's still 12 million people unemployed and the unemployment rate went up a smidge to 7.9%. >> there's main street and wall street.

i'm christine romans. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin.ien starts right now. >>> welcome, everybody. the storm for the record books. historic blizzard could hit new england. we have live team coverage with everything you need to know. >>> he is considered extremely dangerous. new developments in the hunt for this man. a suspected cop killer, including what we've learned about a potential sighting overnight. >>> john brennan in the hot seat as he tries to become the new cia director. surprising views on interrogation tactics and drones. >>> then, he's out. the man squatting in a multimillian dollar mansion in florida gets the boot. >>> and we'll speak with jim clemente, dr. michael welner, james usera, a former classmate of christopher dorner. ronwiden, and david frei of the westminster kennel club. we want to wco

i'm christine romans in for john berman today. >> i'm zoraida sam bbowlin. it is friday, february 22nd. >>> we have learned that at 7:30 this morning, oscar pistorius will learn the decision in his bail hearing. pistorius claims he mistakenly shot his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, believing she was an intruder. robin kurnow has been outside the courthouse. what can you tell us? >> reporter: i can confirm we are expecting a decision by about 7:30 a eastern time. we'll bring that to you live on cnn n terms of what's happening now, the defense has been responding to the prosecution's final argument. essentially they're maintaining that oscar pistorius shouldn't be charged with murder, that it should be culpable homicide. that it's not a murder charge, yet on the other hand his intention was to kill. even if he didn't know it was reeva, the fact was that he intended to shoot, to fire, to kill. on the other hand, again, the defense saying, listen, he shot blindly. that in itself is an indication that he did not intend to kill, that it was just a panic kind of reac

i'm christine romans minding your business. stock futures up despite fini finishing lower.he dow and s & p, best january since 1994 and are very close to all-time highs. dow 850 points up in less than two months. >>> in less than an hour, we'll get the january jobs report. the labor department is expected to report that the economy added 180,000 jobs, and the unra unemployment rate fell lightly to 7.7%. those are forecasts. when we get official numbers, we'll bring them to you live. >>> we continue to follow lots of breaking news. suicide bombing taken place outside the u.s. embassy in turkey. the the latest, live in turkey coming up next. [ tylenol bottle ] nyquil what are you doing? [ nyquil bottle ] just reading your label. wait...you relieve nasal congestion? sure don't you? [ nyquil bottle ] dude! [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. in-wash scent boosters, here with my favorite new intern, jimmy. mmm! fresh! and it's been in the closet for 12 weeks! unbelievable! unstopables! follow jimmy o

i'm christine romans. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point "with soledad o'brien starts right now. >>> welcome, everybody. the storm for the record books. historic blizzard could hit new england. we have live team coverage with everything you need to know. >>> he is considered extremely dangerous. new developments in the hunt for this man. a suspected cop killer, including what we've learned about a potential sighting overnight. >>> john brennan in the hot seat as he tries to become the new cia director. surprising views on interrogation tactics and drones. >>> then, he's out. the man squatting in a multimillian dollar mansion in florida gets the boot. >>> and we'll speak with jim clemente, dr. michael welner, james usera, a former classmate of christopher dorner. ronwiden, and david frei of the westminster kennel club. we want to welcome our international viewers as "starting point" starts right now. >>> hey, everybody. welcome. our "starting point," everyone bracing for the monster blizzard. could turn out to be a storm for

i'm christine romans. john berman will co-host "starting point this morning." >> i'm zoraida sambolin, friday, february 15th. we're on earlier this morning. it's 4:00 a.m. in the east. up first, the return of the triumph. the cruise from hell is finally over. thousands of passengers who spent five days stranded at sea and slogging through sewage and now sleeping in warm beds, we understand, or on buses, trains, and planes heading home. carnival's crippled cruise liner docked last night in mobile, alabama. listen to those cheering crowds. passengers began streaming off an hour later. some were angry, others taking it in stride. all of them relieved to be back to shore. >> we are glad to be on dry land. it just has been a horrible experience for us. it was a great cruise to start off with, but it just, you know, the morning of -- >> sunday morning at 5:30, there was a fire alarm and, oh. >> and we have been kept in the dark a lot, and we have not been told everything that we should have. and it is, you know

christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> in the middle of practice, lee ann?n thank me later. >> this team is your family, michael. you have to protect them. tony is your quarterback. you protect his blind side. when you look at him, you think of me. >> yes, ma'am. >> sj, you're going to want to get this. >> wow. >> a lot of people know michael orrer as the subject of a popular book and movie "the blind side" but also helped lead the baltimore ravens to this year's super bowl. joining us now from new orleans -- i can say that -- lee ann tooley portrayed by sandra bullock in the movie. and i don't think sandra would mind me saying that, you're much better looking than sandra bullock in that movie. and her son, her other son, sj, is there with her, as well. so how are you doing, lee ann? how are you doing, sj? are you guys all right? >> can't complain. being here at the super bowl. >> i know, i'm sure you guys are full, stuffed with food and with drink. so mom, which is more exciting for you? which is a more exciting moment, the premier of the movie "the blind s

i'm christine romans in for ashleigh banfield. the blade runner walks for now. a bombshell ruling in an announcement from pretoria. she swirms and tries to stick to her story. jodi arias. >>> two days away from historic daytona 500 danica patrick is on a roll. >>> oscar pistorius is getting out on bail. the blade runner will walk out of a courthouse today after days of uncertainty. his bond has been set the 1 million rand. about $100,000. he can't return to his house and must report every monday and friday to a police station. he must avoid witnesses, surrender his passport and can't go near an airport. the magistrate took two hours to explain his position and why he doesn't consider pistorius a flight risk. >> it may not necessarily be the case that he is now committed to face 15 years imprisonment or life imprisonment. i cannot find that the accused -- i cannot find that it has been established that the accused is a flight risk or that that ground has been established that is needed to be established. >> robyn curnow is live from pretoria, south africa. tell u

i'm christine romans. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin.rning, welcome, everybody. our starting point this morning, another shocking bombshell in the oscar pistorius murder trial. this morning we're learning that the lead investigator in the case is facing seven counts of attempted murder himself. that's as final arguments get under way as we're speaking. the defense is claiming that the olympian could not have committed premeditated murder. we'll take you live to south africa for reports. >>> also nearly half the country is under a wintry blast. here's a live look this morning at wichita, kansas. feet of snow in the heartland, tornado warnings in the gulf, snow blanketing the desert. we'll tell you where that storm is going next. >>> and then we've got breaking news this morning out of syria where 31 people are reported dead after a huge car bomb blast near the ruling party's headquarters. we'll bring you the latest on that story as well.

christine romans, cnn, new york. >> edmonton tryly warm and cold temperatures, tornadoes, flood, and snow. a wild week of weather. we'll tell you what's causing it. >>> and a new twist in the murder trial of a woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend more than two dozen times. ...tax time can ofbe...well...taxing. so right now we'll give you... ...$10 off any turbo tax deluxe level software or higher! find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax. for over 75 years people ...with geico... ohhh...sorry!. director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...what...what did i say? gecko? i said gecko? aw... for over 75 year...(laughs. but still trying to keep it contained) director's voice: keep it together. i'm good. i'm good. for over 75...(uncontrollable laughter). what are you doing there? stop making me laugh. vo: geico. saving people money for over seventy-five years. gecko: don't look at me. don't look at me. for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the times you

christine roman introduces us to a woman forced by the recession to piece together a new way to makeerer, a, pastor, office manager, host for air b and b. >> they travel, people really appreciate some place clean. >> reporter: english language tutor, professor and a singer/songwriter. >> i'm busy. in 2007, decosta left her job as an executive assistant to pursue singing full time, then the recession hit. >> the bottom fell out. >>. >> reporter: forcing decosta to get creative to make ends meet. >> took music jobs, catering jobs, administrative work, any job that would actually pay me and was legal. the economy is forcing people to use their 00 talents. >> reporter: and redesigning traditional careers from nine to five to 24/7. >> the office manager around the pastor jobs pay the same. the catering jobs vary and then there's the b and b, which actual slit bomb. i can make, in one week, a b and b, what i make in two weeks on my other jobs. >> reporter: can being the operative word here. six jobs don't equal six figures. >> now off to church to do my other things. not the life most peop

. >> christine romans, save me. >> not even 7:30 east coast.ness. >>> a team of scientists unveiling the face of long lost king richard iii. the most controversial british monarch and the last to have died in battle in the if 1 5th century. his skeleton found at a dig site 90 miles from london. one of the many controversial man arcs. this 500-year-old skeleton is that of the long lost king. erin mcloughlin joins us from london. what does the discovery mean? >> this means that beyond any reasonable doubt, they have, in fact, found the remains of richard iii. it means we have more clues as to how he died. we know that he was 32 years old when he rode into the battle of bosworth. we know that he likely died due to blunt trauma to the back of his head. scientists think his naked body was strewn over a horse and carried to a shallow and ill fitted grave and tossed inside without any shroud or coffin. we have a better idea of what richard iii looked like. scientists have used 3-d printing to make a reconstruction of his face. i got to take a look at

we want to begin with christine romans who breaks down the president's previous jobs promises.ing. >> the president in the same address issued the word jobs, 42 times. i ran the text of that speech through the word cloud. this word cloud. shows the weight of all the words in the speech last year. look at how jobs prevails. more weight than anything else except the word america. how has he done? 2 million jobs added. and the unemployment rate 7st%. and this from the press briefing yesterday. >> continue to build on the job creation we've achieved. over 6.1 million jobs created by our businesses, over the past 35 or 36 months. >> all right. fact check on those numbers. true, soledad. the private sector has been claiming jobs for 35 months, adding 6.1 jobs. here is the reality check to the fact check. down more than 3 million jobs since the recession began in december 2007. in the hole. and the jobs are not the same quality as those lost. look at this study by rutgers university. it found 54% of people who found work, unemployed people who found work, had to do so by settling for

i'm christine romans in for john berman. >> nice to have you.utes haas the hour. it's a beast of a storm that could bring transportation to a complete halt. take a look at the radar, right now, the storm moving its way up the east coast with heavy snow expected to start really soon now. you are looking at a live picture from boston. by this time tomorrow, they could be digging out from three pete of snow. may not be able to see the sight. new york expected to get a foot or more. people are lining up for blocks at gas stations to fill up before the weather gets really bad and before the first flakes fall, nearly 3,000 flights scheduled for today and tomorrow have been canceled. meteorologist jennifer delgado tracking the storm. but we will go first to zain asher, live at lagaraguardia's airport. yesterday at o'hare, they had a lot of cancelations and that just trickles down, doesn't it? >> reporter: yeah, zoraida, a lot of cancelations right now. 30 minutes into a blizzard warning that started at 6:00 a.m. and blizzards and travel are like oil an

. >> christine romans back. will cane is a contributor around resident nice guy conservative. will, let me -- just hold on a second. >> hold on. >> yeah. >> can i -- congratulations. >> why? >> who told you taxes are going to go up on everyone? there's not enough rich people in the country to pay for all -- >> always agreed with you on that i would like -- i have been on the record on this i would like a return on investment like everybody would f your taxes are going up, i would like to think we are getting something in return. don't try -- i heard you mutt berg this in the break. you are going to say i think is a job creation program, that infrastructure not a great job creation program. i'm not really worried about it as a job creation program. i think it will be great incidentally if we build all these things and they create jobs. i'm really concerned about the fact in 15 or 20 years if we do not keep our infrastructure up, we will not be competitive. businesses will go to countries that have good infrastructure and not in the united states. >> that's good stuff. let's sta

i'm christine romans. 2013 could be a boom year for the economy. how do you capitalize? start with understanding that today smart is the new rich. who better to have on than the smartest, richest man in the u.s., bill gates? you'll hear from him in a moment. >>> plus, media mogul arianna huffington on creating jobs. first, the soaring stock market. does that mean the economic recovery is real or is something else going on here? >>> looming budget cuts. >> we can't keep spending money we simply do not have. >> tax uncertainty. >> the deficit is still too high. >> gridlock over how to fix it. if it weren't for politicians in washington, 2013 could be a boom year. take a step back. your home, your investments, your job. the three ways most people build wealth are all set to take off. home prices rose 5.5% in november, biggest jump in six years, stocks are at five-year highs, near records. the dow is up 800 points in just four weeks. jobs are coming back. things are looking bright in 2013, but to capitalize, you'll have to get ready. and get smart. because smart is the new r

good morning, i'm christine romans. 28 months in a row, 6.1 million jobs created in the past three years, but the jobs we're adding are not the same quality as the jobs we lost. survey from rutgers university finds 60% of people who found work in six months settled for lower pay. these aren't jobs you can send a kid to college on or buy a house. president obama detailed his blueprint for boosting the middle class. the only new proposal was an old one, raising the minimum wage. >> let's declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. >> free action was swift and fierce. conservatives say, hey, that's a jobs killer. progressives say it lifts families out of poverty. the problem, you can't find studies to support just about any position. a study found the new minimum wage actually means fewer jobs for low-skilled workers but a study by alan krueger concludes minl mihm wage hikes dewpoint reduce employment for fast food workers in new jersey. a study from the chicago fed found every $1

christine romans is here. >>> just into cnn, the average price for a gallon of gas has gone up to $3.75if you're counting, the 33rd straight day it increased. prices have gone up about 45 cents in just over a month. the record high for the national average is $4.14. that was set in july 2008. we're expecting to hear a ruling in the bail hearing for oscar pistorius. the magistrate set to decide on whether it was premeditated murder. the olympic star breaking down sobbing at his defense team as his defense team denied the killing was premeditated. they maintained her death was not even murder. the prosecution says pistorius put on his prosthetic legs and walked 20 feet and then shot through a locked bathroom door killing her. >>> the case of kill patrick in the hands of the jury. killpatrick, his father and a detroit construction contractor are accused of engaging in breath taking corruption. >>> swiss food giant nestle is suspended deliveries of all products that include beef from a german supplier. nestle is also recalling beef ravioli and beef tortellini in italy and spain along with a

christine romans, how will the market close today? >> i know how it will close.the days when i know how markets will end up exactly as they closed on friday because they're closed. dow and s & p could hit record high this is week. check out the s & p 500. it is riding a seven-week winning streak. 4% from the all time high. the market pulled back from a solid start to 2013. we're looking for what kind of data is going to propel it to the new highs. we have a lot of data. two big readings on the housing market. housing starts along with bulling permits that, is new home construction, a new gauge of that. existing home sales comes thursday. as you know, existing home sales are 90% of the u.s. housing market. so that will be a critical read on recovery in the housing market and also a fresh look the consumer price index. we know that gas prices are squeezing. gas prices are 20 cents high they are week than they were the same time last year. 20 cents higher. and you're taking less out of your paycheck because of payroll tax holiday expired. for those of you really wor