"the situation room" with wolf blitzer starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. stand by for a hard look at what president obama needs to say in his state of the union address this coming week. first, the winter wallop in the northeast. let's go straight to the cnn center in atlanta. >> thanks, wolf. i'm brianna keilar at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta, in for don lemon. in a moment, the latest on the l.a. manhunt for a suspected cop killer. first, the story we've been covering all day, the blizzard in the northeast. we go to ashleigh banfield in fairfield, connecticut. how are things there? >> as the day turned into night, the temperatures are plummeting. and what started as a big snowfall story has become a snow on the ground story. the plows are still out all over this state and all over the northeast. trying to keep up with the mess that was left behind. this gas station behind me, it is dead. it is empty. not because they're out of gas, they're

i'm wolf blitzer.e in "the situation room." . >>> we begin with yet another sensational turn of events in the oscar pistorius murder case. after a week of shocking and sometimes heartbreaking testimony, pistorius is now out of jail. the one-time olympic athlete who is known worldwide as the blade runner still faces charges of murdering his girlfriend on valentine's day. cnn's robyn curnow is joining us. update our viewers, robin. >> reporter: hi there. thanks for having me. can you believe it, it's only eight days ago that oscar pistorius admitted to shooting his girlfriend on valentine's day. it's been such a roller coaster ride for all of us watching this tragedy, slowly learning about all of these new details and one part of the story which is certainly not over did come to some conclusion today as os star pistorius walked out of court and is spending the night at a family home. take a look at this. a media frenzy on a road at rush hour. cameras trying to see what's behind the tinted window of the s

also in d.c., our wolf blitzer who's joining me for a little bit of his take on what all this means. wolf, i want to repeat one line that stood out for me most, and that was this. "while you're in town, i hope you will with your congressional delegation and remind them of what's at stake," obviously referring to the looming sequester and those cuts that are set to take place, if a budget deal can't be reached. that was the whole point of this set of remarks, wasn't it, to pressure these governors to push their republican leaders to get a deal his way. >> but the whole issue right now, ashleigh, as you know, is coming down to increasing taxes, tax revenue, as the president is firmly demanding. unless he blinks on that, i don't see the republicans once again going ahead and raising taxes. they're not going to raise tax rates, but they're not going to eliminate these loopholes that the president is talking about, exemptions for the wealthy or corporations. as part of a grand bargain that would also include entitlement reform, reforming social security, medicare and medicaid. as part of t

wolf blitzer is standing by along with all our political team that we've asem beld here in washington. it was several hours ago when this incident in california really began anew. it had been several days since any word or action had been seen from the suspect, christopher dorner. the belief had been -- and according to "the l.a. times," to sources there, it seems to have been confirmed that at least for several days he has been holed up in a cabin, not the cabin you see on fire right now, but in a different cabin where he allegedly had taken a couple hostage, was holding them hostage for several days while he basically regrouped and was laying low. there was a massive manhunt, a manhunt hampered by the bad weather system that had moved into the big wear arbear area mt difficult for authorities to track him and to get air assets up into the sky. they had air assets, they had choppers ready with heat-seeking devices but because of weather they weren't able to get those up in the air. now it's believed the suspect was laying low in somebody's house. whether he moved from one house to an

i have to defer to my colleague, wolf blitzer. ing back to wolf now. >> we'll get back to you shortly. the most powerful and emotional moment of the president's speech perhaps came near the end as victims of gun violence stood and cheered and shed tears in the house gallery. the president demanded up or down votes on his proposals to end gun violence. >> along with more than two dozen americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. they deserve a vote. they deserve a vote. they deserve a vote. gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of aurora deserve a vote. the families of oak creek and tucson and blacksburg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence, they deserve a simple vote. >> the president demanding a simple vote, he says, on some of the key issues involving guns in the united states. let's go back to capitol hill, jake tapburn is standing by with a guest. >> wolf, that's right i am sitting here with david king, the president of the national rifle

i'm don lemon, "the situation room" are wolf blitzer begins right now. >>> guns, immigration, defense, the battle lines are drawn. and the first fights are being fought over the president's second term agenda. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords returns to testify on gun control. her husband, former astronaut, mark kelly, tells me how she prepared for that emotional event. >>> and sunday super bowl, featuring a rivalry between two brothers. we want to welcome our viewers from around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room". >> we're a little over a week away from president obama's state of the union address before congress. but the battles over many of the president's top priorities already are in full swing on capitol hill. both the president and lawmakers started a new push for immigration. this past week, also featured contentious hearings on u.s. defense policy and on slowing the epidemic of gun violence in america. we'll take a closer look at guns, first beginning with vice president joe biden's admission after meeting with democratic lawmakers on capitol h

all of it for you the very latest in one hour, i'm don lemon, "the situation room" begins with wolf blitzer, i'll see you in an hour. >>> an olympic track star and alleged murderer, free on bail. so what is next for the blade runner, oscar pistorius. allegations that the doctor secretly videotaped patients. >>> and after a brazen heist, can thieves sell $50 million without getting caught? we want to welcome our guests from the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room". >>> there is no deal in sight to keep the federal government from being hammered with $85 billion enforced spending cuts, beginning just days from now, that means pay cuts, layoffs for federal workers including those on capitol hill. but will the misery be shared by the law enforcements themselves? here is cnn's chief correspondent, dana bash. >> reporter: pain from forced spending cuts is a week away. and lawmakers are preparing their aides for fallout that could hit them like other government workers. >> we re-budgeted with a 10% cut in mind. >> we had to let people go last year, b

it was fun though, i'm don lemon, "the situation room" right now with wolf blitzer. >>> dire new warnings>>> and who will replace the pope, the surprise information in the vatican. >>> and a hero who confronted a killer and was shot more than a dozen times, helping the case on guns, share iing a story exclusively with cnn. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room". >> the pentagon's top brass sounding alarm bells over automatic spending cuts now only weeks away. the defense budget will take a significant hit, $46 billion slashed, unless the president and the congress reach some sort of last minute deal. that could affect america's security and hundreds of thousands of jobs. let's go to the pentagon, our correspondent, chris lawrence, is standing by there. very worried over there at the pentagon, aren't they? >> reporter: are, wolf, and you're already starting to see some of the effects of the possible sequestration, the u.s. navy, cancelling the deployment of some other ships, cancelling some maintenance and

i'm wolf blitzer, and this is i'm wolf blitzer, and this is "the situation room." -- captions by vitaca, it was a scene that shook the compound and rattled nerves all of the way to washington. ivan watson is learning more about the attack and attacker. >> reporter: wolf, the turkish government is blaming a suicide bomb attack against the u.s. embassy in ankara on a little known leftist marxist turkish organization. shortly after 1:00 p.m. friday the suicide bomber struck damaging the heavily fortified entrance of the u.s. embassy in ankara. it shattered concrete and stone and left the bomber and moustafa carchu one of the embassy guards dead. >> right now we are dealing with the loss of a fellow member of our embassy, and we salute his bravery, and his service to turkey and turkish/american friendship. our hearts go out to his family. >> reporter: among the wounded is a turkish television reporter who is now in the hospital. turkey's prime minister denounced what he called an act of terror. >> these acts are against the peace and welfare of the country and we will stand tall and stay t

wolf blitzer. >> all right, i'm sorry, that wasn't wolf blitzer, of course, that was frank the tank from d "old school." i get the two mixed up all the time. if you ask wolf nicely, he just might show you his six-pack. there is one way to make sure you're getting all the sweet, sweet alcohol you want. just make it yourself. it's like i always say, you can't go wrong with some good >>> tonight i promised you i would stay on this, and i meant it. guns in america. >> it will be okay, and it was not okay. >> hi, emotions as the senate takes on the assault weapons ban. >> if you think we're going to do paperwork prosecutions, you're wrong. >> just about the one person between you and an ar-15, senator dianne feinstein. plus, graphic new testimony, the scene from "law and order". >> yes, always. >> on dershowitz, marcia clark, and jodi arias. >>> and what was placed on the job? yahoo!'s chief builds a nursery in her own office, is this the way to break the glass ceiling? >>> good evening, the senate is locked and loaded tonight, taking a look at the most explosive and divisive controversial is

oh, looks like emma stone edges out wolf blitzer once again.s. [ laughter ] [ applause ] in health news, the flu epidemic is continuing to spread all across the united states. so here with an update is our flu correspondent. [ laughter ] ♪ [ flute plays ] [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: sorry. that's our flute correspondent. thank you for stopping by, dave. thank you. folks, a lot of people are talking about the oscars. so here at "night news now," we'd like to take a moment to reveal our oscar nods. ♪ [ laughter and applause ] ♪ [ cheers ] ♪ >> jimmy: thank you, oscars. now, as with any news source, we don't always get everything right. so it's time for retractions, the portion of "night news now" where i go over corrections from previous broadcasts. last week, we reported that democratic leader, nancy pierogi, met with foreign leaders. but, it turns out ms. pierogi met with domestic leaders. [ light laughter ] we also reported that lebron james held a charity event last weekend. but, it wasn't lebron james, it was a tiny pebble. and it didn

i'm wolf blitzer. situation room." >>> for republicans it was a shocking defeat that caught so many of their leaders at the highest levels off guard. many were stunned by president obama's november re-election, convinced that the struggling economy, the president's lackluster debate performance would give them the edge, but they lost every demographic except white men. and the gop has spent the weeks since then trying to figure out how to make itself more appealing to the new face of america. the house republican leader, eric cantor, unveiled his party's new approach at a closely watched speech today here in washington. but beforehand he gave a preview to our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. >> reporter: why do the house republicans need an extreme makeover? >> you know, i'm not agreeing with the statement we need an extreme makeover. what i think is that there's a lot of lessons to be learned from the last election, and, you know, frankly there are a lot of moms and dads out there that ar

. >> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the... >> jon: (jon hits button). ( cheers and applause ) i have to say, china, i'm not feeling that threatened. maybe iran could pick up the slack. >> now the greatest achievements of iran's space program to date, the islamic republic enters a monkey into space and recovers his safely. >> jon: or you could shoot a monkey into space. no one was more excited about this than the monkey himself. seen here doing his impression of hans solo in carbonite. iran, you think the c.i.a.... you just got pita on your [bleep]. that guys don't [bleep] around. not for nothing. a little propaganda advice. you can't brag to us. we did that 50 years ago. we had been launching space monkeys before you had us overthrow your democratically elected government. i'm sorry. it was eisenhower's idea. what's next, iran? >> this is the second time iran sent live animals into space. including a mouse, a turtle and a worm into orbit in 2010. >> jon: islamic space mouse, turtle and worm all of which inspir

now, "ac 360" with wolf blitzer in for anderson cooper. i'm wolf blitzer in for anderson cooper. tonight, a diamond heist straight out of an action movie script, thiefs in belgium make off with $50 million in diamonds in just minutes. a highly choreographied heist. now the question, who done it? >>> also ahead, a follow-up on a "360" investigation involving a veterans hospital contaminated water and multiple cases of legionnaires' disease. tonight, just how widespread the outbreak was and why there are now accusations of a cover-up. we're keeping them honest. >>> we begin with the murder charge that captivated and horrified millions of people around the globe. today, the suspect, the olympian runner oscar pistorius gave his side of the story. in his own words, reads by i had lawyer at the bail hearing, he described in dramatic detail what led him to shoot and kill his girlfriend in the middle of the night. you're going to hear his words in a moment. while his statement was being read in court, a private fun funeral was held for reeva steenkamp. steenkamp was 29 years old, a model

i'm wolf blitzer.ou're in "the situation room." >> let's begin today with the rally on wall street. major gains that can affect your retirement savings and more. dow jones industrials completely erased a steep drop earlier in the week. let's go live to felicia taylor in new york. what happened, felicia? >> ben bernanke in his testimony in washington basically saying that we are going to see quantitative easing through 2016. that's what the market is focused on. yes, we've got better than expected numbers on manufacturing and home sales but when they heard that ben bernanke still believes we aren't going to see unemployment drop to 6.5% until 2016, that means stimulus measures are going to be in place and that's what wall street wants to hear. wo wolf? >> the 14,060, the market had collapsed in 2009, as all of us know, because of the housing crisis. it was down at one point well below 7,000, approaching 6500 and now it's more than doubled. it's a pretty dramatic comeback. >> absolutely. no question abou

and he talked to wolf blitzer about that.tephen moore, whether you think -- does he really have a point, or is the white house does have a point also in saying, look, let's just go ahead and fix this now. no one wants these cuts. let's do a balanced approach. >> well, bob woodward is unquestionably correct that this was the president's idea, coming up with the sequester plan. he talks about it in his book. i've talked to republican leaders who were in the meetings, erin, who say, absolutely, the president who came up with this. and the reason why the president came up with this is because he thought that republicans wouldn't go along with these defense cuts, and therefore, they would agree to a tax increase. and that's backfired now. but i think the big story here, where we're sitting right now, erin, i think the president has really overplayed his hand. i think americans really see what's happening, where he said, we had the term, we had an aircraft carrier and it couldn't be deployed to the middle east and now they're relea

>> well, i think that wolf blitzer ought to look at his own longevity at cnn with jeff zucker comingoss fire any day now. >> marco rubio has done a fine speech and it's gone viral. 1 1.3 military results and this doesn't compare with bill clinton when he introduced michael dukakis for 45 minutes and barack obama has had his own problems, that first debate he got wiped out. this is a little glitch and the first outing of a candidate who's not going to be running, if he does run, for about three years, it doesn't mean a hill of beans, it will be done with and wait for all of these folks to stop talking about it. >> i love watching it. we have only on the other side of the screens, all of these democrats are taking sips of water. if the media paid as much attention to the gaffes or to bill ayers and bernadine dorn, i would say all right, it's fair game. but they didn't do that. lets, a for example, show a few of barack obama's, well, gaffes he made over the years. >> over the last 15 months we've traveled to every corner of the united states, i've now been in 57 states, i think, one lef

i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> but we begin in new orleans. a city deeply embarrassed by the power blackout that interrupted potentially could have changed the course of the super bowl. this is much more than a sports story. it's raising very serious questions about the city's readiness to host big events. cnn's brian todd is in new orleans for us. he's got the very latest on this investigation on what happened during that blackout. brian, what are you learning? >> reporter: wolf, learning se incremental things about the investigation. how it's proceeding, how they're looking into it. and what's interesting is the two entries responsible for handling the power and electricity to the superdome, they're the ones handling it. at various times over the past less than 24 hours since this happened, both of them have said they essentially didn't do anything wrong. this was a dramatic event. starting right as the third quarter got under way in the su

i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer.itac -- www.vitac.com >>> for the first time in almost 600 years the leader of the roman catholic church is resigning. pope benedict xvi made the stunning announcement today, saying he's stepping down at the end of the month because of his age and his health. the news caught everyone off guard, including the men who helped select the next pope. cnn's deborah feyerick is outside st. patrick's cathedral in new york. deb, what kind of reaction are you hearing there? >> reporter: you know, it's so fascinating. i just asked one man about the resignation, which some people are now calling an abdication. and he said, no, i don't see it as a resignation or an abdication, i see it as an early retirement. and he was very sympathetic to the pope's plight and the amount of thinking he probably did in order to make this happen at this time. ♪ >> we've been blessed with almost eight years of his pontificate, and we pray for him and we pray for the church. >> reporter: without any warning cardinals i

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> an epidemic of gun violence getting deadlier by the day. chicago saw more than 500 killings last year. up 15% from the year before. and there's no letup so far this year. among the latest victims, the sister of this teenager. while she was listening to president obama call for gun control, she had no way of knowing that in a matter of only a few hours, her family would become the latest in chicago to be ripped apart by a gunshot. her 18-year-old sister was shot and killed while walking with friends, one of whom may have been the intended target. cnn's ted rowlands has moran the story. he's joining us now. what are you finding out, ted? >> reporter: well, wolf, it is just another tragic story coming out of chicago. another teenager loses her life. as you mention, a 14-year-old girl who was up on stage with the president, listening to him talk about gun violence, would soon find out that her sister was also shot a

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> congress did it, congress can undo it. president obama is warning of dire consequences for all of us in lawmakers don't act quickly. we're talking about those forced budget cuts that take effect march 1st, slashing $85 billion from spending across the board this year. but with just ten days left, the consequences are backing more alarming. president obama outlined some of them today, told congress, let's make a deal while there is still some time. >> my door is open. i've put tough cuts and reforms on the table. i am willing to work with anybody to get this job done. none of us will get 100% of what we want. but nobody should want these cuts to go through because the last thing our families can afford right now is pain imposed unnecessarily by partisan recklessness and ideological rigid tea here in washington. visually, the president tried to make that point by having law enforcement officers standing behind him. many of them could lose their jobs.

i'm wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. anderson cooper is here in "the situation room." chris cuomo is here as well. chris, as we await the news conference, i think there's a limit to what law enforcement is going to be able to tell us right the now, since this is clearly a very ongoing situation, a very dangerous situation. >> absolutely, wolf, and let's be honest. that's not what matters. what matters is the authorities are doing everything they can. anderson and i are sharing reporting here from a tactical expert who's telling us there's very well cause for a scramble right now on the part of law enforcement. why? visibility issues. darkness is coming there. they're in a remote area. they'll have to set up nighttime perimeter for vision. they have tactics and assets that will allow them to discern if somebody's in the home. infrared scanners and things like that, but they're a little limited because they're looking at proximity. this is a sec

. >> talking with our own wolf blitzer last april.linton, of course, left that job just yesterday and questions are still swirling about her future. cnn political editor, paul steinhauser, has this look. >> good morning, randi. the biggest question in politics, will she run? the she is now, of course, former secretary of state hillary clinton. when asked in a global town hall if she was making another bid for the white house, this is her answer. >> i am not thinking about anything like that right now. >> here is what she said the same day in an interview with cnn. >> have you decided that you absolutely will not run? >> i have absolutely no plans to run. >> no plans but she isn't closing the door. clinton's returning to private life with poll numbers any politician would love, 7-10 in an nbc/wall street journal poll said they approve of the job she's doing as u.s. top diplomat. and two-thirds said they had a favorable impression of her. only a minority of republicans giving her a thumbs up. if she becomes a politician again, we could

wolf blitzer joins me now. it the president speaking in minneapolis, let's just you and i chat for a moment here again. there are the live pictures. look, there is a lot going on, obviously, nationwide, in terms of the gun debate. first just in terms of the president speaking there today, what should we expect to hear? >> i think we'll hear the president reiterate what he's been saying now for the last few weeks, especially since newtown, connecticut, the massacre there at that elementary school. he wants congress to take action. he's hoping congress can come up with a bipartisan piece of legislation that will win passage. if it can't, he says he will introduce his own legislation and ask congress, in effect, demand congress put it up for a vote. here's the key questions i think we have to look at. there are various components of what the president wants. as far as background checks, there is overwhelming popularity now for expanding background checks. there is also popularity for limiting the amount of bullets

number six, wolf blitzer shirtless. >> now you're talking. >> number five, knocking a buck off the super mega dog. >> you're killing him. you're killing him. >> number five, no longer fact-checking stories. number four, new president jeff zucker, zucking everything up. number two, lifting ban on anchors using steroids. number two, piers morgan deported. number one change at cnn, more coverage of goats. >> abc 7. could you not eat my pants? >> i'll see you back here at the top of the hour. your bottom line starts right now. >>> do you feel richer? good morning, everyone. 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 uncertai

i'm wolf blitzer.ou're in "the situation room." cutting our pay. that's how one u.s. officer says u.s. troops view the recommendation for a smaller pay increase in 2014. no one goes into the military to get rich but most servicemen and women need every dollar in their paycheck. so worried that next paycheck may be smaller is not going over well among the troops. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has the details. she's working the story. barbara, what's going on? >> wolf, in this town, there's nothing that causes more anxiety in budget politics than the concept of cutting the pay for the troops. but that is exactly what is on the table if congress and the president cannot reach an agreement on a spending plan. the troops usually are happy to see defense secretary leon panetta, smiles and handshakes all around. but days before he leaves office, panetta has bad news. he's proposing less money in their paycheck next year. panetta, a savvy washington operative in budget politics, is leaving it to con