i'm deborah feyerick. here are the top stories we're following for you in the "cnn newsroom." >>> bye-bye blizzard, that huge blizzard that came and conquered parts of the northeast is headed out to sea right now. it left a very white powdery calling card. people across the region are digging out today. connecticut, not boston, as predicted, was hit hardest with some cities getting more than 3 feet of snow. 65,000 customers across the region, they are without power. we're live in the storm zone and have a report straight ahead. >>> in chicago, first lady michelle obama is attending the funeral of a 15-year-old honor student and band majorette who was killed about a mile from the obamas' family home. hadiya pendleton was shot and killed while she and friends were trying to escape rain by seeking shelter in a children's park. the shooting happened just days after the teenager who always had a smile performed at the president's inauguration. a $40,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest. >>

i'm deborah feyerick in for randi kaye. it is half past the hour.s for boeing after the first test flight of their 787 dreamliner. the two hour flight was, quote, uneventful. that's the good news. all 50 of the company's 787s had been grounded after two of the planes had major problems with the batteries. one plane caught fire. boeing is planning more test flights to test the batteries. >>> c ucht e tue the parties. it is carnaval time in rio. >>> now to the weather and the aftermath of the big blizzard in boston. residents are cleaning up after the storm dumped more than two feet across the city. the cleanup turned deadly for one teenaged boy. he died of carbon monday kacaro poisoning trying to warm up the car. they don't have a lot of time to clean up the city. >> reporter: they don't. we have 24 hours here to clean up. right now the state of massachusetts 300,000 people still without power. you can see the sun is slowly starting to come out here, but it is cold. temperatures are in the teens. but here is the good news. yeah, we have one day, temp

i'm deborah feyerick in for fredricks whitfield. >>> danica patrick makes history as the first woman to win the pole for the daytona 500. that puts her in the best starting position for the race next sunday. she clocks a qualifying speed of 196 miles an hour. she spoke a short time ago, giving thanks to those who helped make this moment possible. >> i'm grateful for all those things. i feel like, first and foremost, i feel like i grew up with good values and good goals and i was brought up tonight fastest driver, not the fastest girl so i feel like that was instilled in me from very young and -- well, from the beginning and then i feel like thriving in those moments where the pressure's on is also gonna help for me and i feel like i've also been very lucky in my career to be with good teams and have good people around me and i -- and i don't think that any of it would have been possible without that. >> a team effort. danica will join our don lemon live at 6:15 tonight to talk about her big win. >>> some days, being president has to be the best job in the world, especially if you're

deborah feyerick is here. what do you have?hat's happening. you had the asteroid that just came within the earth's gps satellites. then the meteor that fell to earth as you're seeing there in russia, hurting more than 1,000 people. and last night there was a flash over the skies in san francisco. so we're going to be taking a look at all that, talking to a nasa expert, and also getting a live report out of russia as well. plus, our legal guys, they uls have plenty to say, as you know. >> yes. >> we'll be talking about the twisted sex tale of jodi arias and what she's testifying to on the stand as she fights for her life. she's accused of killing her boyfriend. also we'll talk about a pregnant teenager who's gotten a restraining order against her own parents. we'll give you the reason behind that. and in case you feel you haven't been putting in that exercise you need to put in, we'll talk with jillian michaels for the skinny on getting skinny. >> do not mess with her. >> she will make you cry. >> she will. >> also in this marke

i'm deborah feyerick in for fredricks whitfield. if you are just tuning in, thanks so much for being here, spending part of your day with us. these are the top stories that we are following right now in the cnn newsroom. >>> danica patrick makes history as the first woman to win the pole for the daytona 500. that puts her in the best starting position for the race next sunday. she clocks a qualifying speed of 196 miles an hour. that's also her first full-time season in nascar's sprint cup series. patrick spent a lot of this week answering questions about her private life, dating fellow sprint cup requires a, ricky citizen house, jr. now, yes, she has something else to talk about. >>> in washington, thousands of people are marching. their demands? they want more action on climate change. among their calls is for president obama to kill the big keystone xl pipeline. we have a reporter been in the crowds all afternoon. we will take you there in a few moments. >>> massachusetts soaked again with a thick blanket of snow a week after that

here is cnn's deborah feyerick. >> when am i going to get my money?begging for money is not something katherine hall ever thought she had to do. >> i had to run to the bank and beg them to give me a loan so i could pay my contractor and once he's finished doing this segment of the work, we have to stop because we don't have any more money. >> reporter: nearly four months since superstorm sandy destroyed her home she's been calling her mortgage banker every day. she's begging them to release insurance money so they can rebuild and go home. >> we have a 4-year-old little boy who basically we spent his college fund. the money that we've put by since his birth towards being able to send him to college later in life is what we've spent. it's gone. >> reporter: hall, who is originally from britain, and her husband bob and 4-year-old son nathan have been living in a hotel since november. the halls are among more than 6,000 families still waiting for insurance money. new york's governor blamed unnecessary red tape and accused banks of failing to release more

i'm deborah feyerick. here are some of the top stories we're following in the cnn newsroom for you. people in russia are cleaning up the damage after a meteor blast over theure rales. officials estimated the destruction at over $33 million. more than 1,000 people were injured in the meteor blast. divers looking for the meteor in a frozen lake have not found any traces so far. >>> in south africa, the country's olympic hero oscar pistorius denies killing his girlfriend on valentine's day. he's spending the weekend in jail. he's charged with the killing of his model girlfriend reva steenkamp with a .9 millimeter gun. the reality tv show featuring steenkamp premiered just a short time ago despite her death. >>> this could come out of the means. police in texas shoot and kill a fugitive who had a community on edge and schools on lock down for days. guards were driving alberto morales to las vegas. they stopped for a bathroom near dallas. that's when police stay he stabbed a guard with a pair of eyeglasses and took off. he was shot just midnight a few miles from there. the guard who was

i'm deborah feyerick. here are the top stories. bye-bye blizzard, the huge blizzard that conquered parts of the northeast is headed out so sea leaving a very white calling card. people across the region are digging out today, but while some are cleaning up, the storm is still causing whiteout conditions on the massachusetts coast. in fact, we'll check in with ali velshi in the middle of all it in a minute. connecticut was hit hardest with some cities getting more than three feet of snow. 650,000 customers across the region lost power. and they're right in the storm zone. that is straight ahead as we go there. >>> first lady michelle obama is back in chicago, not far from the obama family home. she's there for the funeral of 15-year-old heidial pendal done the student shot and killed in a chicago park just days after performing at the ez's inauguration. police are offering a $40,000 reward for information. >>> and near houston, texas, police say one person was injured at an explosion this morning at an industrial plant. the facility

i'm deborah feyerick in this morning for randi kaye. it is 7:00 and we're so glad that you could join us here this morning. we begin this hour with the massive multistate manhunt for a rogue ex-cop who apparently has vowed vengeance on the men and women he used to work with. police are on alert in three states, california, nevada and arizona. and in mexico for any sign of christopher dorner. by land and air, search teams are combing the mountainous resort area of big bear what i can where dorner's truck was spotted thursday. he's accused of killing three people, including a police officer and the daughter of a retired cop. police say it's just a matter of time before they catch him. >> we're coming together today to catch mr. dorner. what that means is we will look under every rock, we will look around every corner and we will search mountaintops for him. the riverside police department is pledging all of their resources to this effort. >> police are urging dorner to turn himself in. they say no one else has to die. he's apparently leav

deborah feyerick in new york.hanks to both of you. >>> and there aren't too many 85-year-olds on twitter, even though fewer with more than 1 million followers. but benedict is a tweeting pope. so it is only natural twitter is exploding with news of his resignation. and samuel berk is monitoring all things social media for us today. samuel, what are folks are saying? >> look at this visualization of all the twitter conversations in the world. the entire planet is talking about the pope. but a lot of people are focusing in on this tweet from the pope he sent out last night. he says, we must trust in the mighty power of god's mercy. we are all sinners, but his grace transforms us and makes us new. and over in latin america, people are asking -- why not a latin american pope? 42% of us catholics are latin americans. similar over in nigeria. why not an african pope? mentioning cardinal francis arinze. >> we discovered the number one most populous catholic country, maybe speaking portuguese, brazil. twitter can be fun.

i'm deborah feyerick. cnn "newsroom" will continue with don lemon at the top of the hour. up next, food worth dying for. sanjay gupta md starts right now. >>> hello and thanks for joining us. today a test for young athletes. parents and kids need to listen to this. this could save some lives. >>> also, my friend jillian mike michaels will stop by. you know her from "the biggest loser." good, solid advice for losing weight. first up, i want to ask just how much is too much? the death of a spokesman for a restaurant in las vegas making some headlines and critics say the owner of the restaurant should accept some of the blame. you decide. ♪ gimme gimme gimme that heart attack burger with a side of fries ♪ ♪ yeah >> our food is absolutely bad for you. >> reporter: heart attack grill owner, john basso, dresses up as a doctor and says the food in his restaurant is, quote, worth dying for. john almond was the volunteer spokesman at the heart attack grill in las vegas. he ate there every day. and, well, he just died of a massive heart attack. right outside the restaurant. the last

despite a recession in europe, major mergers in the -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> i'm deborah feyerick in for fredricka whitfield. thanks for joining us and spending part of your afternoon here. these are the top stories that we're following right now in the "cnn newsroom." at this hour thousands of people marching in washington. they want more action on climate change. among the demands, they're looking for president obama to kill the keystone xl pipeline. we've got a reporter right in the thick of it and we'll take you there, just moments away. >>> massachusetts is covered with a thick blanket of snow again, just a week after a monster blizzard slammed into it. boston is the hardest hit with strong winds and blowing snow, making it very difficult to see. as you can see that driver there. in detroit a snowstorm resulted in a massive pile-up on the highway, southbound 175, i-75 was shut down for hours after about 20 to 30 cars spun out of control, drivers said it was simply impossible to see in a snowstorm. >> it was just like somebody suddenly threw a white sheet across the -- >> we c

i'm deborah feyerick in for brooke baldwin. the news starts now. if there is a song in here, it is a sad one. country music's mindy mccready, so much talent, so much turmoil. mindy mccready has died at age 37. last night the only sign of life at her arkansas home was the light above the porch where her body was found on sunday. in a final tragic twist to a life filled with pain, it is the spot where her boyfriend and the father of her child david wilson was found last month. both died of gunshot wounds, both apparently self-inflicted, say police. mindy mccready's star rose fast, but plummeted even faster. i'll show you the cliff notes version of a turbulent life that included several arrests, drug abuse, family drama and several suicide attempts. in 2009, she did a stint on "celebrity rehab" during which she had an apparent seizure as you see there. dr. drew pinsky got to know her from the show. says the two talked within the past few weeks. >> i did not treat her, was not her physician, but when i heard she was struggling, i r

i'm deborah feyerick with a check of our top stories. deadline is just days away. this could affect all of us if the congress and the president don't agree on a deal, agency will face major cuts. here's what you could see changes. tsa at the airports, defense, social programs and law enforcement. >>> a scene of destruction in iraq today at least 21 people died in a series of car bombs and roadside explosions. 125 others wounded. markets in shiite neighborhoods were the main targets. sunnis in the country have been demanding better treatment from the shiite-led government. >>> pope benedict xvi led tens of thousands in prayer for strength. he gave his second to last angulus prayers. he announced he is resigning because of old age. >>> coming up at the top of the hour, model kate upton describes the experience of doing the "sports illustrated" photo shoot in antarctica in 35 degree below temperatures. >>> fareed zakaria "gps" continues right now. >> mr. speaker, mr. vice president -- >>> president obama's state of the union speech containe

that's where deborah feyerick is standing by. have you talked to any parishioners?ut the timing is very surprising. it is just before lent, just before easter. the resignation caught many by surprise, among them the archbishop of new york, cardinal timothy dolan. he said he's heard rumors at various time, but when the official cord came this morning, he said he was startled and he's waiting for in-structure like other leaders, he said clearly the pope would have confided to his closest staff, so there must be some sort of transition in place. benedict is the one who made dolan a cardinal and the cardinal today spoke of his affection for the man and the humility he must have for the office to make such a drastic move and resign. take a listen. >> my admiration for him is even higher because of his humility. i would presume, i don't have any insider information, but i would presume that his esteem for the office as the successor of st. peter and the chief pastor of the church universal, that esteem is so high that in all humility he simply said i can't do it anymore.

i'm deborah feyerick.re sill under a state of emergency. cape cod is getting hammered right now with heavy snow and strong winds as the rest of the northeast starts the difficult task of digging out. >>> back in big bear, california, authorities lunting for a fired cop who has threatened to kill his former comrades and their families. he's got the skill, the strength and the savvy to back up his threats. the search is urgent, complicated and extremely dangerous. >>> and in chicago, the first lady joins the mourners maying their respects to a teen nerd victim. hadiya pendleton sank at the president's inauguration. back to the int winter storm that's hammered the northeast. parts of new england are still under a blizzard warning now. in boston, an 11-year-old boy died from carbon monoxide poisoning. he was helping his father shovel when he went into a running car trying to stay warm. the car exhaust was buried in snow causing carbon monoxide to fill the car. five other deaths are blamed on the storm. heavy s

cnn's national correspondent deborah feyerick was in court yesterday. can you hear me? sunny -- >> i can hear you. i'm listening to you from a television just behind me. here it is. okay, go ahead, brooke. >> we'll roll with it, deb feyerick, my first question to you is what is the feeling inside the courtroom today? >> you know, it is really fascinating. what prosecutors now are trying to do is they have put several women on the stand who actually knew gilberto valle, what they're trying to do is establish that some of his alleged targets were women who he knew either from high school or from college, and they're going over text messages and e-mails about the kind of relationship they had. so far there has been nothing really explosive, nothing showing that he was in any way stalking them. almost a casual conversation that you would have with any friend. but they are trying to establish that, in fact, he did know them. and so that when he's talking to other people online, that, in fact, they're about specific people. however, the defense is saying, no,

deborah feyerick joins me with the latest. a really grisly, grisly case. guy just fantasizing or was there enough evidence to suggest he was planning to do this? >> that's what the jurors are going to have to decide. was this some crazy fantasy fetish or do the facts show that he was planning to do this? what prosecutors did today was introduced a series of e-mails to try to prove that this cop, this six-year veteran of the nypd actually conspired with others online to kidnap a woman, then cook her, and eat her. they talk about a different body parts, how they're going to basically prep her. make bacon out of her stomach or at one point they're going to cook the feet as she watches and screams in torture and terror. there was a lot of thinking that appears to have gone into this. but valle's lawyer, gilberto valle, his lawyer said this is pure fiction. there's no evidence to suggest that any of this sort of kidnapping was going to take place even though he was online chatting with another man, there was no exchange of real details. so they were sort of exi

i'm deborah feyerick in for randi kaye. here are some stories we're watching for you this morning. head back out to a resort area in southern california to find an accused cop killer. looking for christopher dorner, rogue excop who allegedly gunned down three people, including a police officer, and the daughter of another officer. it's believed he wanted revenge for being fired from the lapd in 2008. that termination is now under review. >> schechief beck has directed we reopen the allegations that officer dorner made while on the department. the allegations that resulted in him being terminated. >> police searching for dorner by land and air. helicopters will fan out again today over the big bear mountain. >>> back on the east coast, people waking up to as many as three feet of snow. the blizzard blamed for nine deaths, including a 14-year-old boy in boston. airports are open. and flights have resumed. people are finding it difficult getting to their final destinations, nearly 400,000 people are still without pow er this chilly morning. >> you don't know how hard this really is. a

i'm deborah feyerick. more from anderson in a moment. first a "360" news and business bulletin.sident obama is directing the justice department to release classified documents to congress justifying the targeted killing of americans. it follows complaints about secrecy surrounding the nation's drone program. this comes on the eve of the confirmation hearing for john brennan. president obama's nominee for cia director. >>> police in texas releasing a tape of the 911 call that led to an arrest in the murder of decorated navy s.e.a.l. sniper chris kyle. the chilling call coming from the sister of suspect eddie ray routh just after the shooting. >> yes, listen, my brother just came by here. i was at [ bleep ] street. he's now left. but he told me that he's committed a murder. >> okay. hold on. >> and i'm terrified for my life. >> okay. hold on. >> because i don't know if he's going to come back here. >>> the boy scouts of america delaying today's vote on lifting its ban on gay members and leaders until may. last month the boy scouts announced they'd consider changing their rules. to

he would be banned, but deborah feyerick got a good look at his gun collection when she visited his ranchguns, and the second maempth. >> fire in the hole. >> for ted nugent, gun control is putting the second bullet in the same hole as the first. >> two down. >> a lot of people look at the tragedy at sandy hook and they say, something's got to be done. >> agreed, something has to be done. >> they point to weapons that wer used as the cause. >> it's not the weapons. the weapons have nothing to do with it. these -- again, these weapons are in every pickup truck in texas. >> the famed platinum selling rocker is passionate about his music, his family, and his firearms. he's fiercely protective of the rights of law abiding gun owners and he's invited us to his 300 acre ranch in waco, texas, to explain why. >> i'll give you some real eye candy in a second. >> we see wild turkey, and black buck antelope. all fair game during hunting season. like tens of millions of americans, nugent grew up hunting with his dad and brothers. guns are a family tradition he has avidly passed on to his wife and kid

. >>> i'm deborah feyerick with some breaking news.off the solomon islands in the south pacific has triggered a three-foot high tsunami described by one official as significant. immediate evacuations ordered for people living on the eastern coasts of new call done ya and the loyalty islands. both are south of the solomon islands near australia. there are no reports so far of injuries or damage. the tsunami warning is still in effect for the immediate area. the tsunami watch covers a larger zone including the marshall islands and new zealand. cnn international meteorologist joins me now. are people tracking the wave? what's the latest? the. >> basically, deb, there's a series waves. the initial wave sometimes isn't the most destructive. there's going to be several here. and depending on the or the yen tation of the slope of whatever shoreline it arrives, that will depend on the destruction. we have a significant changer. the depth has been revised. you get new data coming in. just the network we have in the pacific to bring us informati

deborah feyerick, thanks so much, deborah. >> so we're standing by for a news conference that's comingher dorner. >>> we're standing by for a news conference on the christopher dorner investigation. let's go to the scene. brian todd is standing by. set the scene for us. >> we're waiting for more information as officials work to confirm this could be a remains of christopher dorner. listen to an announcement here, the police are announcing they're about to open this road. this may get us a little bit closer to where that burned out cabin is. probably not right up to it, but maybe a little bit closer. they're making that announcement now as we speak. still a very heavy law enforcement force here on this mountain range and although officials have not yet confirmed that the remains are the remains of christopher dorner, a palpable sense of relief on this mountain range today. you talk to merchant, citizens, they are very relieved this appears to be over, but again, waiting for final word those are his remains in that burned out cabin. >> that's coming up in a few minutes. we'll be right ba

deborah feyerick, she's been in the courtroom today. that makes my skin crawl. what's the latest on this one? >> well, one thing that stood out today this is not usual in federal court, but the judge was not happy with either side. and he reprimanded both the prosecutors and defense lawyers saying the information was just dribbling out, all things it should have been taken care of before trial, only now being made public. and he was talking about the testimony of one of the women today who is set to testify, one of the supposed victims. we did hear more of the e-mails between gilberto valle and another man, 35-year-old from pakistan who describes himself as a butcher, whose killed goats in the past and who keeps getting kicked off this fetish website where they met for taking the fantasies too far. the e-mails are exchanged over a nine-month period, and it starts in january. at first the cop is tentative. then he gets into it, talking about hog tying a woman, putting an apple in her mouth, talking about using the foot for soup and eating