our own lee cowan has the story from los angeles. >> the ten films selected as best picture nominees9 are -- >> reporter: if you're the betting type, the odds of you naming most, if not all the nominated films in your office pool this year were better than ever. not just because there were the obvious contenders like the blockbuster "avatar" or "the hurt locker." most agree those were a given. this year you almost could have thrown a dart at a movie marquise and come up with a nominee. >> you want to be in the boat? >> yeah, alone. >> reporter: in all there are ten films that got the coveted best picture nod. surprises were "blind side," "up" and "district nine." there were others, "education," "a serious man" inglorious basterds." and "precious." there haven't been this many since 1943 when "casablanca" got the oscar. >> play it again, sam, for old time's sake. >> the academy wants to give the nod not just artistic, but popular, as well. there was a bit of an uproar last year when "the dark knight" was snubbed. this year movies that stole audiences' hearts like "the blind side" or t

jenna, back to you. >> all right, lee cowan, good to know. thank you so much. >>> time for a check of the morning's other headlines and we'll turn to melissa francis at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. >>> president obama has signed a one-year extension to several provisions of the patriot act. the controversial counterterrorism law was set to expire today. the act expands the government's ability to monitor americans in the name of national security. it was first signed into law after the 9/11 terror attacks. >>> more than a quarter of a million people from new york state to maine are still without power this morning following friday's massive storms. crews are working around the clock to restore power and in new york city ice crashed through a skyscraper's glass atrium causing it to collapse and causing minor injuries >>> hundreds of people packed into shamu stadium on saturday just three days after a killer whale dragged a veteran animal trainer underwater to her death. it was an emotional show that started with a photo montage of

lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> paula's boyfriend, kevin klym, is with us exclusively along withaula's sister and kevin's attorney. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> kevin and kelly, first of all, our condolences at the loss of paula, but let me ask you, kevin, beginning with you, i'm sure this is even more difficult because of the fact that the police at first considered you a suspect. and although now they believe that you are telling the truth, that your story is truthful, you're still a person of interest. how have you been dealing with all of this? >> i've been fortunate. i have good family and friends that have been supporting me through this whole matter, and kelly has been, you know, on my side the whole time, and you know, she's been speaking out on my behalf, so. >> kelly, let me ask you, why have you stuck by kevin through all of this? >> because i know he didn't kill my sister. >> without a doubt, you're convinced of that? >> yeah, definitely. >> there is a new witness that came forward, kevin, and based on the description that that witn

we're going to talk to him and his two passengers in just a moment, but first, here's nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: when brandy hepburn and her son jaden were strapped into the cockpit of a glider near boulder, colorado, saturday, they thought they were going for the ride of their life. turns out, it was almost their last. the piper pawnie that towed their glider up to altitude was piloted by 25-year-old alex gilmer. photos that day show it was a serene view, but at just over 8,000 feet, trouble. >> we heard a boom, and we immediately saw two flames. >> reporter: witnesses looked up to see an airplane plummeting back to earth in front of a trail of black smoke. 911 calls started pouring in. >> yeah, we just saw a plane crash or something. it exploded in the air. >> reporter: the ntsb says the wreckage everyone saw was what was left of this plan, a sirus sr-20. on board, brothers mark and bob matthews. investigators believe they somehow had flown straight into alex gilmer's tow plane, the one with the glider tied behind it. gilmer and the two matthews brothers a died. the three planes