SEFFNER, Fla. Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.
It could be days before officials decide whether they will attempt to recover Jeff Bush's body, and they were still trying Saturday to determine the extent of the sinkhole network and what kind of work might be safe. As the sinkhole grows, it may pose further risk to the subdivision and its homes.
Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night in Seffner — a suburb of 8,000 people 15 miles east of downtown Tampa — when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five others in the house escaped unharmed.
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Man feared dead in sinkhole freak accident
On "CBS This Morning: Saturday," reporter Grayson Kamm of CBS affiliate WTSP-TV in Tampa, Fla., reported that Bush was not planning to stay in the house for long, just a few months. He was planning to move out Saturday, Kamm reports.
Because of Florida's unique geography, experts say sinkholes are common across the state, with thousands erupting each year. Most are small, though, and deaths rarely occur.
"There's hardly a place in Florida that's immune to sinkholes," said Sandy Nettles, a geologist. "There's no way of ever predicting where a sinkhole is going to occur."
Florida is prone because it sits on limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water. A layer of clay is on top of the limestone. The clay is thicker in some locations — including the area where Bush became a victim — making them even more prone to sinkholes.
Most are small, like one that was found Saturday morning in Largo, some 35 miles away from where the Seffner sinkhole. The Largo sinkhole, about 10 feet long and several feet wide, was discovered in a mall parking lot. Such discoveries are common throughout the year in Florida, though some factors — such as drought and development — can exacerbate the development, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Sinkholes
Still, it's unclear what, if anything, caused the Seffner sinkhole.
"The condition that caused that sinkhole could have started a million years ago," Nettles said.
On Saturday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ronnie Rivera said one of the homes next door to the Bush house also was compromised by the sinkhole, as determined through testing. The family, which had evacuated Friday, was allowed to go inside for about a half-hour to gathering belongings, Rivera said. The family was outside, crying and organizing boxes.
Engineers had been testing since 7 a.m. Saturday. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street.
Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. On Saturday, officials were still not allowing anyone in the Bush home.
Jeremy Bush, who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened, lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house Saturday morning and wept.
He said someone came to his home in the Tampa suburb of about 8,000 people a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other issues, apparently for insurance purposes, but found nothing wrong. State law requires home insurers to provide coverage against sinkholes.
"And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said Friday.
The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Jeremy Bush running.
Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.
VATICAN CITY Much speculation surrounds the date when leaders of the Roman Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting their new pope.
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Pope Benedict XVI: "I am no longer Pope"
The date for the conclave of cardinals to begin their deliberations has not yet been set, although one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts before resigning his office was to amend the rules governing the election of a successor, allowing the cardinals to meet earlier than the usual 15-day transition between pontificates.
On Thursday, soon after Benedict left the Vatican on his final day as pope, Monsignor Carlo Maria Celli, a papal communications officer, hinted that the date could be March 11.
That could not be immediately confirmed.
The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Easter Sunday March 31. In order to have a new pope in place for the church's most solemn liturgical period, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17 -- a tight time frame if a conclave were to start March 15.
Cardinal Francis George, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, told CBS News he hopes the papal conclave will work quickly to name a new pope when it convenes next month -- but he does not know who he will vote for.
"Not yet, I honestly don't," he said. "I've got four or five names in mind. That's part of the next days' work, to check and see do the others think what I think?"
Regarding the issues the cardinals will be considering as they choose a new Pope, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, told CBS News that cleaning up the church after a number of scandals most likely will be part of the conclave's goal.
"Sadly, tragically, we leaders of the church have often given people reasons not to have trust in the church anymore," he said.
The Navy is investigating the deaths of two divers during an operation at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the second deadly incident at a deep pond there in the past month.
CBS Baltimore reports that the two divers that perished on Tuesday were 28-year-old James Reyher of Caldwell, Ohio and 23-year-old Ryan Harris of Gladstone, Mo. Both were members of a mobile diving unit based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach.
The Navy says its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two is conducting an investigation into the deaths, which they called "perplexing."
CBS Baltimore reports the two men were on a training dive when they were killed. Both had been communicating with the surface by tugging on a line. When these communications stopped, other divers went down and found them unresponsive.
According to the Baltimore Sun, both divers had been working in the pond using air hoses rather than self-contained breathing units. Both divers were in cardiac arrest when they surfaced.
Late last month, an engineering technician also died while performing maintenance at an underwater test pond at the Army site. The pond is used for a variety of tests, including shock testing of boat hulls.
More than 80 "conservative voices" have signed onto a legal brief supporting the notion that same-sex couples should have a fundamental right to marriage.
The brief is in support of the plaintiffs in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case now before the Supreme Court, which challenges California's Proposition 8 barring same-sex marriage. The case, which will be argued starting in late March, could result in the invalidation of statewide bans on same-sex marriage across the country. It is one of two same-sex marriage cases being considered this term by the Supreme Court; the other challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Among the signatories to the letter are former Republican Governors Christie Todd Whitman and Bill Weld; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; former Republican Reps. Deborah Pryce and Mary Bono Mack; 2012 presidential candidates and former governors Gary Johnson and Jon Huntsman; and former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, the onetime George W. Bush campaign manager who has since come out as gay.
Notably not among the signatories are some Republicans who have expressed support for same-sex marriage in the past, including Dick Cheney and Laura Bush.
The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which organized the effort, said more names will be added before the brief is filed. The brief was first reported by the New York Times, which reported that it made the case that same-sex marriage reflects conservative values of "limited government and maximizing individual freedom."
Among those working to legalize same-sex marriage are conservative lawyer and former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson, who was among the first prominent conservatives to express support for same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage supporters hope the fact that numerous well-known conservatives and Republicans are signatories to the brief will help sway conservative justices.
"The conservative movement toward the freedom to marry is what we like to call the 'Ted Olson effect,'" said AFER executive director Adam Umhoefer. "We value the support of our conservative colleagues and welcome their voices to the growing majority of Americans who stand for marriage equality."
A CBS News poll in February found that 54 percent of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, while 39 percent believe it should not be legal. House Speaker John Boehner and most Republicans in Congress oppose both federal recognition of same-sex marriage and a mandate that it be recognized by the states.
Blizzard conditions slammed parts of the Midwest on Monday, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand anew just days after a massive storm blanketed the region with snow.
National Weather Service officials issued blizzard warnings and watches in Kansas and Oklahoma through late Monday as the storm packing snow and high winds tracked eastward across West Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Forecasters warned of possible tornadoes in the southeast.
Snow covered Amarillo, Texas, where forecasters said up to 18 inches could fall, accompanied by wind gusts up to 65 mph. Paul Braun, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said whiteout conditions and drifting snow had made all roads in the Texas Panhandle impassable. Authorities closed Interstate 40 from Amarillo to the Oklahoma state line and Interstate 27 from Lubbock to 60 miles beyond Amarillo.
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February snowstorms blanket U.S.
"It's just a good day to stay home," Braun said. "This is one of the worst ones we've had for a while."
The weather service issued a blizzard warning for the Oklahoma Panhandle and counties along the Kansas border, warning that travel in the area would be "very dangerous" until Tuesday morning with near zero visibility and drifting snow.
Texas officials called in the National Guard to respond to emergency calls and help stranded motorists after Department of Public Safety troopers found roads impassable.
Billy Brown, a farmer in the town of Panhandle about 30 miles northeast of Amarillo, said the snow was coming down so hard that he could only see for about 100 feet and that it was forming drifts up to 3 feet deep. The whiteout forced all vehicles from the roads — even the snow plows, he said.
Visibility drops to less than 200 yards on north Kansas Avenue early Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 in Liberal, Kan., because of blowing snow, powered by winds around 30 mph.
/ AP/Southwest Daily Times, Larry Phillips
But he said he was hopeful the snow would bring some relief to the drought-stricken region.
"We have been super dry," Brown said.
A rancher in the Texas Panhandle, Jay O'Brien, warned that for cattle out grazing in pastures, including some calves born in recent days, the storm could prove deadly. The wind will push animals into in a fenced corner where they could suffocate from the moisture.
KABUL, AfghanistanAfghanistan's president says all U.S. special forces must leave eastern Wardak province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.
Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi says Sunday's decision was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are linked to the U.S. special forces.
He said the government wants the individuals, whom he did not identify, to be handed over to the government.
Wardak is a restive province next to Kabul and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts.
Meanwhile, suicide bombers targeted Afghanistan's intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas on Sunday in a bloody reminder of the insurgency's reach nearly 12 years into the war.
The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three-hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as U.S. and other foreign troops gradually take a back seat and shift responsibility for security to the government.
The deadliest attack occurred just after sunrise — a suicide car bombing at the gate of the National Directorate of Security compound in Jalalabad, 78 miles east of Kabul.
Guards shot and killed the driver but he managed to detonate the explosives-packed vehicle, killing two intelligence agents and wounding three others, according to a statement by the intelligence agency. Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai confirmed the casualty toll and said the building was damaged in the attack.
A guard also shot and killed a man in an SUV filled with dynamite that was targeting an NDS building on a busy street in Kabul, not far from NATO headquarters. The explosives in the back of the vehicle were defused. Blood stained the driver's seat and the ground where security forces dragged out the would-be attacker.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the Jalalabad attack and two others in the eastern province of Logar in an email to reporters. He did not address the attempted assault in Kabul.
Shortly before the Jalalabad attack, a suicide attacker detonated a minivan full of explosives at a police checkpoint in Puli Alam, on the main highway between Kabul and Logar province. One policeman was killed and two others were wounded, along with a bystander, according to the NDS.
Also in Logar province, which is due south of Kabul, a man wearing a suicide vest was stopped by police as he tried to force his way into the police headquarters for the Baraki Barak district, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the provincial government spokesman. The attacker detonated his vest while being searched, wounding one policeman, according to Darwesh and the NDS.
"Once again the enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan ... staged coordinated attacks against the Afghan security forces and the Afghan people," the intelligence agency said.
The attacks were a reminder that insurgents are still on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces prepare to end their combat mission by the end of 2014.
Afghan soldiers and police are easier targets than their NATO allies because their checkpoints and bases are less fortified.
More than 1,200 Afghan soldiers were killed in 2012 compared to more than 550 the previous year, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
U.S. troop deaths, meanwhile, declined overall from 404 in 2011 to 295 in 2012.
The National Governors Association, a bipartisan collection of state executives meeting this weekend in Washington for their annual winter conference, delivered a timely message to lawmakers working on a deficit reduction package: balance the budget, by all means - but not at our expense.
"Deficit reduction should not shift costs from the federal government to the states," said NGA chairman Gov. Jack Markell, D-Del. "We know the cuts are coming, but we don't want to suffer disproportionately, and we want to have some input in terms of what that looks like."
"We understand that the federal government needs to make cuts," said NGA vice-chair Gov. Mary Fallin, R-Okla. "We're all concerned about our federal debt. We're just saying, as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to realize those savings too."
Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., explained that debate is not about the imperative of deficit reduction, but about what form it takes: "I haven't heard a single governor not recognize that the deficit and the level of indebtedness is a serious risk," he said, adding that states are willing to "share the pain" caused by cutbacks.
"We think it's very important that governors have a seat at the table," Markell said. "We are partners."
Several governors bemoaned the automatic spending cuts in the so-called "sequester" that are due to land on March 1.
"The uncertainty of sequestration is really harming our states and our national economy," said Fallin, arguing that "we can lessen the effect of sequestration if the states are given flexibility" in terms of how they spend federal money.
The sequester, said Hickenlooper, was originally designed to be "so odious, so repellent" that it couldn't possibly take effect. "This is something nobody wants. It's not a balanced, thoughtful compromise."
And Markell argued that the White House's repeated warnings on the dire impact of sequestration is "really important," saying it makes the cuts "more real for people."
The governors also addressed the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, noting a "divergence of opinions" among different states about how to approach the expansion.
"We believe the expansion of medicaid in [Oklahoma] would be unaffordable," said Fallin, noting that, despite her judgment on the issue, "We respect eachother's opinion."
Fallin repeatedly stressed the theme of flexibility, arguing that "more leeway" for states would produce better policy outcomes on a range of issues, from deficit reduction to health-care reform.
She also took aim at the nation's tax code, calling for federal tax reform and labeling the current U.S. tax structure "unwieldy."
Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who came all the way from Hawaii to attend the bipartisan executives' confab, admitted, "I can't really say I'm delighted to be here."
But as Abercrombie, a former House member from the Aloha State, stepped onstage, he greeted his former GOP House colleague Fallin with a smile and a handshake, later taking the opportunity to admonish an often-fractious Washington.
"It is possible," he said, "to set aside these Democratic and Republican and ideological points of view and concentrate on the object, which is to serve our people."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today warned of the "enormous impact" the looming sequester budget cuts will have on air travel in America, given that his department will have to cut nearly $1 billion from its budget, with more than $600 million coming from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
As the one former Republican congressman in President Obama's cabinet, LaHood put the responsibility squarely on Republicans to step up and work with Democrats to find a way to avert the cuts, slated to kick in on March 1.
"What I'm trying to do is to wake up members of the Congress on the Republican side to the idea that they need to come to the table... so we don't have this kind of calamity in air service in America," he said. "So that we're not just taking a meat axe to one part of FAA."
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LaHood: GOP must "step up" on sequester to prevent air traffic "calamity"
Cutting $1 billion from the Transportation Department would affect dozens of programs, LaHood said. For instance, the vast majority of the FAA's nearly 47,000 employees will face furloughs, he said -- and the largest number of FAA employees are air traffic controllers.
The Transportation Department is beginning discussions with unions today to close more than 100 air towers with fewer than 150,000 flight operations a year, such as towers in Hilton Head, S.C., and San Marcos, Texas. It's also discussing eliminating overnight shifts in more than 60 towers.
"We're going to reduce the number of controllers, which will reduce their ability to guide planes in and out of airports," LaHood explained.
Flights to major cities like New York and Chicago could experience delays up to 90 minutes during peak hours, he said. Furthermore, with fewer employees on staff to efficiently deal with issues such as runway repairs, there could be even more delays. Customers would likely see these impacts around April 1 -- 30 days after the cuts go into effect.
"These are harmful cuts with real-world consequences that'll cost jobs and hurt our economy," LaHood said.
"Obviously, as always safety, is our top priority," he added. That said, he expects customers to be very angry.
"Nobody likes a delay. Nobody likes waiting in line," he said. "If we can't get our hamburger within five minutes... you know what happens. They start calling their member of Congress."
Most members of Congress agree the sequester cuts should be averted, but they've been incapable of agreeing how to do so. Democrats want to replace the cuts with a plan that includes some new tax revenue and spending cuts. Republicans, however, say they refuse to raise any new tax revenue, after agreeing to some new revenues during the "fiscal cliff" debate.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said it's "factually incorrect" to say both parties are unwilling to compromise -- Democrats, he pointed out, are willing to make significant spending cuts while the GOP is obstinately against any new tax revenue.
LaHood, who repeatedly pointed out he served as a Republican in Congress for 14 years, said, "I think Republicans need to step up here... I'm telling them to come to the table and start talking to Democrats to figure out how do we solve this."
He said he's talked to about half a dozen Republican congressional offices about the impact the sequester will have on the Transportation Department, and their response is "not good. They get it."
The secretary said it was "nonsense" to suggest he was exaggerating the impact of the sequester.
"It's going to be very painful for the flying public," he said.
Sequestration poses threat to government agency budgets
For the first time since the waning days of the "fiscal cliff" battle in late December, President Obama reached out to congressional Republican leaders to talk about next week's impending budget cuts known as the sequester.
"He placed calls earlier today to [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House] Speaker [John] Boehner," White House spokesman Jay Carney announced today. "Had good conversations, but I have no further readout of those calls for you."
Both Boehner's and McConnell's offices confirmed the calls took place but neither would give details about what was discussed. An aide to Boehner said "the last substantive conversation" he had with the president was on Dec. 28; McConnell's office told CBS News it was Mr. Obama's first outreach to McConnell since New Year's Eve.
Today on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show, Mr. Obama said, "We continue to reach out to the Republicans and say 'this is not going to be good for the economy and it's not going to be good for ordinary people,' but I don't know if they're going to move. And that's what we're going to have to try to keep pushing over the next seven, eight days."
"Whether or not we can move Republicans at this point to do the right thing is what we're still trying to gauge," Mr. Obama said.
The calls come a day after Boehner wrote an op-ed criticizing the president charging that the public "might not realize from Mr. Obama's statements is that [the sequester] is a product of the president's own failed leadership."
The $1.2 trillion sequester cuts, which were initially set to kick in on Jan. 1, emerged out of Congress' 2011 budget negotiations. Congress agreed that if a congressional "supercommittee" couldn't come up with an acceptable deficit reduction plan, Congress would just slash $1.2 trillion from the budget over 10 years -- half coming from defense spending and half from non-defense. Nearly everyone in Washington agrees that indiscriminately slashing $1.2 trillion would damage the economy, but lawmakers can't agree on a deficit reduction package with which to replace the cuts.
Given the economic damage the sequester would inflict, Congress this year stalled the cuts for two months -- which is why they're set to go into effect on March 1. Unless Congress acts before then, $85 billion in across-the-board cuts will kick in this year.
PRETORIA, South AfricaThe investigating officer in the Oscar Pistorius murder case made an error in his court testimony Wednesday when he identified a substance found in the athlete's bedroom as testosterone, the national prosecutor said.
Medupe Simasiku, the spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, told The Associated Press that it was too early to identify the substance as it was still undergoing laboratory tests.
"It is not certain (what it is) until the forensics." Simasiku said, adding that it wasn't certain if it was "a legal or an illegal medication for now."
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Pistorius case: Police say they found testosterone, needles in bathroom
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Olympic athlete charged with murder
Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, the investigating officer, said earlier in court during Pistorius' bail hearing that police found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the bedroom of the Olympic athlete, who is charged with premediated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
It was a mistake to identify the substance now, Simasiku said, as it was still unknown. He said the discovery of needles was in Botha's statement, however.
Pistorius denies murder, saying in an affidavit Tuesday that the Valentine's Day shooting was accidental because he thought there was an intruder in his house.
In response to Botha's claim, the defense said Wednesday, the second day of Pistorius' bail hearing at Pretoria Magistrate's Court, that the substance found was not a steroid or a banned substance but an herbal remedy.
Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux had slammed Botha's testimony earlier, saying police "take every piece of evidence and try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court."
International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence told the AP soon after the substance claims that Pistorius — the world's most famous disabled athlete — was drug tested twice in London last year by the IPC, on Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. Both test results were negative, Spence said.
The Aug. 25 test was an out-of-competition test, and the Sept. 8 one in-competition, a day before the end of the London Paralympics.
The International Olympic Committee said it didn't test Pistorius at the Olympics, but referred the AP to the IPC's negative tests. International athletics body the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency would not comment because it was an ongoing legal case.
"Bearing in mind the ongoing police investigation, WADA must refrain from making any statement at present," WADA said.
Giving testimony, Botha said police made the discovery of testosterone in bedroom of the double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion's upscale Pretoria house after the shooting of Steenkamp but offered no further details or explanation. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel also had to correct Botha when he initially called it "steroids."
Simasiku later told the AP that the detective, Botha, thought it was testosterone by reading the first few letters of the label.
Pistorius' lawyer Roux, said on questioning the detective — who has 16 years' experience as a detective and 24 years with the police — that it was not a banned substance and that police were trying to give the discovery a "negative connotation."
"It is an herbal remedy," Roux said. "It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance."
The debate over the substance added another dramatic twist to a case that has already gripped the world's attention since Steenkamp's killing at Pistorius' home last Thursday.
Prosecutor Nel also had to clarify that police were not saying that Pistorius was using the substance, only that it was discovered along with the needles in his bedroom.
Pistorius said Tuesday in a written affidavit and read in court by Roux that he mistakenly killed model Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day when he fired four shots into a locked toilet door, hitting his girlfriend three times after thinking she was a dangerous intruder.
The prosecution claims Pistorius intended to kill the 29-year-old Steenkamp after they had a fight.
Oscar Pistorius, the famed double amputee South African Olympian, has been charged by prosecutors with intentionally murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home.
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Pistorius: I thought girlfriend was a burglar
He has said it was an accident, that he mistook her for a burglar when he fired several rounds through a locked bathroom door with a 9mm pistol. When a judge ruled Tuesday that he could not outright dismiss the prosecution's premeditated murder charge, Pistorius told his side of the story to the court on the same day Steenkamp's family laid her to rest in coastal Port Elizabeth.
The following are the portions of the statement Pistorius' lawyers submitted to the court via an affadavit that offer his view of the tragic events of this past Valentine's Day:
16.2 I have been informed that I am accused of having committed the offence of murder. I deny the aforesaid allegation in the strongest terms.
16.3 I am advised that I do not have to deal with the merits of the case for purposes of the bail application. However, I believe that it is appropriate to deal with the merits in this application, particularly in view of the State's contention that I planned to murder Reeva. Nothing can be further from the truth and I have no doubt that it is not possible for the State to present objective facts to substantiate such an allegation, as there is no substance in the allegation. I do not know on what different facts the allegation of a premeditated murder could be premised and I respectfully request the State to furnish me with such alleged facts in order to allow me to refute such allegations.
16.4 On the 13th of February 2013 Reeva would have gone out with her friends and I with my friends. Reeva then called me and asked that we rather spend the evening at home. I agreed and we were content to have a quiet dinner together at home. By about 22h00 on 13 February 2013 we were in our bedroom. She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television. My prosthetic legs were off. We were deeply in love and I could not be happier. I know she felt the same way. She had given me a present for Valentine's Day but asked me only to open it the next day.
16.5 After Reeva finished her yoga exercises she got into bed and we both fell asleep.
16.6 I am acutely aware of violent crime being committed by intruders entering homes with a view to commit crime, including violent crime. I have received death threats before. I have also been a victim of violence and of burglaries before. For that reason I kept my firearm, a 9 mm Parabellum, underneath my bed when I went to bed at night.
16.7 During the early morning hours of 14 February 2013, I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in and closed the sliding doors, the blinds and the curtains. I heard a noise in the bathroom and realised that someone was in the bathroom.
16.8 I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. There are no burglar bars across the bathroom window and I knew that contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside. Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on I have mobility on my stumps.
16.9 I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on.
16.10 I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed.
16.11 I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realised that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed and I did not see anyone in the bathroom. I heard movement inside the toilet. The toilet is inside the bathroom and has a separate door.
16.12 It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet. I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window. As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself. I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger. I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps.
16.13 I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.
16.14 When I reached the bed, I realised that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet. I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help.
16.15 I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open. I think I must then have turned on the lights. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door. A panel or panels broke off and I found the key on the floor and unlocked and opened the door. Reeva was slumped over but alive.
16.16 I battled to get her out of the toilet and pulled her into the bathroom. I phoned Johan Stander ("Stander") who was involved in the administration of the estate and asked him to phone the ambulance. I phoned Netcare and asked for help. I went downstairs to open the front door.
16.17 I returned to the bathroom and picked Reeva up as I had been told not to wait for the paramedics, but to take her to hospital. I carried her downstairs in order to take her to the hospital. On my way down Stander arrived. A doctor who lives in the complex also arrived. Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms.
16.18 I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva. With the benefit of hindsight I believe that Reeva went to the toilet when I went out on the balcony to bring the fan in. I cannot bear to think of the suffering I have caused her and her family, knowing how much she was loved. I also know that the events of that tragic night were as I have described them and that in due course I have no doubt the police and expert investigators will bear this out.
LOS ANGELES Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers' playboy owner who shepherded the NBA team to 10 championships from the Showtime dynasty of the 1980s to the Kobe Bryant era, died Monday. He was 80.
He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Bob Steiner, his assistant.
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Jerry Buss: 1933-2013
Buss had been hospitalized for most of the past 18 months while undergoing cancer treatment, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure, Steiner said.
With his condition apparently worsening in recent weeks, several prominent former Lakers visited Buss to say goodbye, including Bryant, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come," NBA Commissioner David Stern said. "More importantly, we have lost a dear and valued friend."
Under Buss' leadership since 1979, the Lakers became Southern California's most beloved sports franchise and a worldwide extension of Hollywood glamour. Buss acquired, nurtured and befriended a staggering array of talented players and basketball minds during his Hall of Fame tenure.
"He's meant everything to me in my career in terms of taking a risk on a 17-year-old kid coming out of high school and then believing in me my entire career," Bryant said Friday during the NBA's All-Star Game weekend. "And then for the game itself, the brand of basketball that he implemented in Showtime carried the league."
James Worthy, the Lakers' Hall of Fame forward, tweeted:
Few owners in sports history can approach Buss' accomplishments with the Lakers, who made the NBA finals 16 times through 2011 during his nearly 34 years in charge, winning 10 titles between 1980 and 2010. The Lakers easily are the NBA's winningest franchise since he bought the club, which is now run largely by Jim Buss and Jeanie Buss, two of his six children.
"We not only have lost our cherished father, but a beloved man of our community and a person respected by the world basketball community," the Buss family said in a statement issued by the Lakers.
"It was our father's often-stated desire and expectation that the Lakers remain in the Buss family. The Lakers have been our lives as well, and we will honor his wish and do everything in our power to continue his unparalleled legacy."
Buss always referred to the Lakers as his extended family, and his players rewarded his fanlike excitement with devotion, friendship and two hands full of championship rings. Working with front-office executives Jerry West, Bill Sharman and Mitch Kupchak, Buss spent lavishly to win his titles despite lacking a huge personal fortune, often running the NBA's highest payroll while also paying high-profile coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.
Always an innovative businessman, Buss paid for the Lakers through both their wild success and his own groundbreaking moves to raise revenue. He co-founded a basic-cable sports television network and sold the naming rights to the Forum at times when both now-standard strategies were unusual, further justifying his induction to the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
"Dr. Jerry Buss was a cornerstone of the Los Angeles sports community and his name will always be synonymous with his beloved Lakers," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "It was through his stewardship that the Lakers brought `Showtime' basketball and numerous championship rings to this great city. Today we mourn the loss and celebrate the life of a man who helped shape the modern landscape of sports in L.A."
Johnson and fellow Hall of Famers Abdul-Jabbar and Worthy formed lifelong bonds with Buss during the Lakers' run to five titles in nine years in the 1980s, when the Lakers earned a reputation as basketball's most exciting team with their flamboyant Showtime style. The buzz extended throughout the Forum, where Buss used the Laker Girls, a brass band and promotions to keep Los Angeles fans interested in all four quarters of their games.
Jackson then led O'Neal and Bryant to a three-peat from 2000-02, rekindling the Lakers' mystique, before Bryant and Pau Gasol won two more titles under Jackson in 2009 and 2010.
Although Buss gained fame and fortune with the Lakers, he also was a scholar, Renaissance man and bon vivant who epitomized California cool — and a certain Los Angeles lifestyle — for his entire public life.
Buss rarely appeared in public without at least one attractive, much younger woman on his arm at USC football games, boxing matches at the Forum, poker tournaments — and, of course, Lakers games from his private box at Staples Center, which was built under his watch. In failing health recently, Buss hadn't attended a Lakers game this season.
Buss earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at age 24 and had careers in aerospace and real estate development before getting into sports. With money from his real-estate ventures and a good bit of creative accounting, Buss bought the then-struggling Lakers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and both clubs' arena — the Forum — from Jack Kent Cooke in a $67.5 million deal that was the largest sports transaction in history at the time.
Last month, Forbes estimated the Lakers were worth $1 billion, second most in the NBA.
Buss also helped change televised sports by co-founding the Prime Ticket network in 1985, receiving a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 for his work in television. Breaking the contemporary model of subscription services for televised sports, Buss' Prime Ticket put beloved broadcaster Chick Hearn and the Lakers' home games on basic cable.
Buss also sold the naming rights to the Forum in 1988 to Great Western Savings & Loan — another deal that was ahead of its time.
Born in Salt Lake City, Gerald Hatten Buss was raised in poverty in Wyoming before improving his life through education. He attended USC for graduate school, eventually becoming a chemistry professor and working as a chemist for the Bureau of Mines before his life took a turn into wealth and sports.
The former mathematician claimed his fortune grew out of a $1,000 real-estate investment in a West Los Angeles apartment building with partner Frank Mariani, an aerospace engineer and co-worker.
Buss purchased Cooke's entire Los Angeles sports empire in 1979, including a 13,000-acre ranch in Kern County. Buss' love of basketball was the motivation for his purchase, and he immediately worked to transform the Lakers — who had won just one NBA title since moving west from Minneapolis in 1960 — into a star-powered endeavor befitting Hollywood.
"One of the first things I tried to do when I bought the team was to make it an identification for this city, like Motown in Detroit," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. "I try to keep that identification alive. I'm a real Angeleno. I want us to be part of the community."
Buss' plans immediately worked: Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and coach Paul Westhead led the Lakers to the 1980 title. Johnson's ball-handling wizardry and Abdul-Jabbar's smooth inside game made for an attractive style of play evoking Hollywood flair and West Coast sophistication.
Riley, the former broadcaster who fit the L.A. image perfectly with his slick-backed hair and good looks, was surprisingly promoted by Buss early in the 1981-82 season after West declined to co-coach the team. Riley became one of the best coaches in NBA history, leading the Lakers to four straight NBA finals and four titles, with Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and A.C. Green playing major roles.
Overall, the Lakers made the finals nine times in Buss' first 12 seasons while rekindling the NBA's best rivalry with the Boston Celtics, and Buss basked in the worldwide celebrity he received from his team's achievements. His womanizing and partying became Hollywood legend, with even his players struggling to keep up with Buss' lifestyle.
Johnson's HIV diagnosis and retirement in 1991 staggered Buss and the Lakers, the owner recalled in 2011. The Lakers struggled through much of the 1990s, going through seven coaches and making just one conference finals appearance in an eight-year stretch despite the 1996 arrivals of O'Neal, who signed with Los Angeles as a free agent, and Bryant, the 17-year-old high schooler acquired in a draft-week trade.
Shaq and Kobe didn't reach their potential until Buss persuaded Jackson, the Chicago Bulls' six-time NBA champion coach, to take over the Lakers in 1999. Los Angeles immediately won the next three NBA titles in brand-new Staples Center, AEG's state-of-the-art downtown arena built with the Lakers as the primary tenant.
After the Lakers traded O'Neal in 2004, they hovered in mediocrity again until acquiring Gasol in a heist of a trade with Memphis in early 2008. Los Angeles made the next three NBA finals, winning two more titles.
Through the Lakers' frequent successes and occasional struggles, Buss never stopped living his Hollywood dream. He was an avid poker player, frequently participating in high-stakes tournaments, and a fixture on the Los Angeles club scene well into his 70s, when a late-night drunk-driving arrest in 2007 — with a 23-year-old woman in the passenger seat of his Mercedes-Benz — prompted him to cut down on his partying.
Buss owned the NHL's Kings from 1979-87, and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks also won two league titles under Buss' ownership. He also owned Los Angeles franchises in World Team Tennis and the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Buss' six children all have worked for the Lakers organization in various capacities for several years. Jim Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel and the second-oldest child, has taken over much of the club's primary decision-making responsibilities in the last few years, while daughter Jeanie runs the franchise's business side.
Jerry Buss still served two terms as president of the NBA's Board of Governors and was actively involved in the 2011 lockout negotiations, developing blood clots in his legs attributed to his extensive travel during that time.
Oscar Pistorius weeps in court in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb 15, 2013, at his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. /AP Photo
Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius has claimed he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp accidentally because he thought she was an intruder, but a report in a major South African newspaper casts some doubt on that scenario.
Police recovered a "bloodied cricket bat" at the 26-year-old runner's Pretoria home after the shooting, and it has turned into a central piece of evidence in the case, City Press reports.
The paper also claims Steenkamp's skull had been "crushed," and police are investigating whether the bat was the cause of that injury.
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Pistorius, Steenkamp families in shock
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The fall of Oscar Pistorius
32 Photos
Oscar Pistorius' model girlfriend
There are allegedly three scenarios police are investigating involving the bat, according to City Press: The first is that Pistorius somehow used it against Steenkamp; the second involves the possibility that Steenkamp used it to defend herself after barricading herself inside a bathroom; the final scenario is that Pistorius used it to break down the bathroom door once she had been barricaded inside.
Police have also allegedly requested a drug test from Pistorius, City Press reports.
A police spokeswoman told The Guardian newspaper she could not explain how the "bloody cricket bat" and drug test claims had emerged in South African newspapers, but did not deny them.
"We are not commenting on anything in the newspapers today as the case is still before the court," she said on Sunday. "They are insinuating they got the information from the police."
Meanwhile, Pistorius' agent told the Associated Press that the double-amputee Olympian has received "overwhelming support" from his fans as he remains in custody in a South African police station.
Peet van Zyl said Sunday outside the Brooklyn police station that "international fans from literally all over the world" have sent their good wishes to Pistorius.
GRAPEVINE, Texas A Florida prisoner who escaped after stabbing a detective with his eyeglasses was shot and killed by Texas law enforcement officers early Saturday after police responded to a report of a home burglary, authorities said.
Alberto Morales was shot shortly after midnight when officers, with assistance from a police helicopter, spotted him in a wooded area near a lake in North Texas, Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling said. Two hours earlier, officers responded to a report that jewelry and men's clothing had been stolen during a break-in at a home near where Morales was found.
Eberling said at a Saturday news conference that officers instructed Morales to lay on the ground and show his hands, but he rushed toward them, at which point they opened fire. He said the fugitive was still wearing part of his prison-issued jumpsuit as well as jogging pants, but Eberling said he couldn't comment on whether the stolen clothing and jewelry was found with Morales.
The residents arrived home around 10:30 p.m. Friday to discover the burglary at their home and called law enforcement officials, Eberling said.
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911 call: Alberto Morales allged stabbing victim
The 42-year-old Morales escaped Monday at a Wal-Mart store parking lot in Grapevine, a community near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Police said he used a sharp piece from his eyeglasses to stab a Miami-Dade detective who was transferring him by car to Nevada, where Morales was to serve a sentence of 30 years to life after being convicted of a sexual assault.
Det. Jaime Pardinas was expected to recover after being treated at a Dallas hospital for deep stab wounds to the neck, shoulder and back and a collapsed lung. It wasn't clear when he would be released.
Pardinas was accompanied by Miami-Dade Detective David Carrero during the transfer. They flew to Houston with Morales and then decided to drive the rest of the way after he became disruptive on the flight. They had stopped near the store while waiting for a third officer who was flying to the Dallas area to join them. Department policy requires three officers to be present for ground transfers of prisoners.
On a recording of a 911 call of the incident released Wednesday, Pardinas can be heard breathing heavily as he tells the operator that he's been stabbed. He described Morales' height, weight and appearance and then added, "He's a schizophrenic."
The escape set off a massive five-day manhunt in North Texas.
(CBS News) Thousands of passengers erupted into cheers Thursday night as the crippled triumph finally pulled up to the dock. As they stepped onto dry land, and into the arms of their loved ones some couldn't contain their excitement.
Carnival then chartered a caravan of buses to transport folks out of Mobile, Ala. To add insult to injury, at least one of those buses became stranded on the way to New Orleans, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.
The nightmare started Sunday, when an engine fire knocked out power.
Passengers leave cruise ship telling tales of woe
Kendell Jenkins won the trip in a contest, but said it was more like cruising on a floating port-o-potty. "I'm just really thankful and blessed to be back," she said. "I mean there was sewage, water everywhere, mix that with some rotten food smells and welcome to carnival Triumph."
"No ships were coming, no boats, were coming, we saw no helicopters," said Jenkins. "It scared us because we thought the ship wasn't notifying or coming out to help us."
It took more than a day before the first tugboat arrived. As passengers got cell reception, they shared photos revealing squalid conditions - sewage seeping through the floors, plastic bags used for restrooms. Tent camps above deck, and mattresses sprawled out below. For some, the hardest part was losing contact with their family.
Stricken Carnival Cruise Line ship Triumph expected to dock in Mobile, Ala.
It took several grueling hours to drag the massive ship through a narrow channel Thursday. At the terminal, carnival C.E.O. Gerry Cahill addressed reporters.
"We pride ourselves in providing our guests with a great vacation experience and clearly we failed in this particular case," he said. He then boarded the ship and apologized to passengers, but some still want answers.
For Anna Werner's full report, watch the video in the player above
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., slammed Republicans today for attempting to filibuster the confirmation of former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as defense secretary, suggesting the Pentagon could be left without a leader if Hagel's confirmation is blocked tomorrow.
Despite Reid's comments, there won't be a vacancy at the Pentagon; current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will not step down until Hagel is confirmed as his successor, the Pentagon told CBS News.
That didn't stop Reid from dramatizing the matter.
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Reid slams GOP for delaying Hagel vote
"In less than two hours, our country will be without a secretary of defense," Reid incorrectly suggested on the Senate floor today. "Republicans have been telling our troops, you can have a leader later."
Pentagon spokesman George Little told CBS News that Panetta believes Hagel should be confirmed as quickly as possible but plans to stay in office until that happens.
Reid has scheduled a vote on Hagel's nomination for Friday, when Republicans are expected to filibuster it. It takes at least 60 votes to break a filibuster and officially end debate on an issue. If the vote to end debate on Hagel's nomination receives 60 votes, then the Senate will take a final vote on his confirmation, when just a simple 51-vote majority will be needed.
Reid noted again today that it is "unprecedented" for the Senate to filibuster a defense secretary nominee. Senate tradition dictates that the president has the prerogative to nominate whomever he chooses for Cabinet positions and that nominees should not be filibustered.
Hagel has "answered exhaustive questions about his record," Reid said. "He has the support of the president of the United States... He has the support of this body, a majority vote of this body... At a time when America faces so many threats... It's tragic they've decided to filibuster this qualified nominee."
A Senate Democratic leadership aide told CBS News in an email, "Senate Republican leadership has informed us that they intend to withhold the votes needed to clear cloture" -- meaning they intend to effectively delay Hagel's confirmation. CBS News has learned that there are four Senate Republicans who have said they would not support a filibuster, which, when added to the 55 Democrats who are expected to support Hagel, would appear to leave the Democrats one vote short.
So far, two Republicans have said they would vote for Hagel to be confirmed - Sens. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Mike Johanns, R-Neb. One would assume they would also vote in favor of breaking a filibuster.
A third Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced yesterday that she will vote against Hagel's confirmation, but in favor of breaking a filibuster.
Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said last week they would not support a filibuster, but today Burr changed his mind and said he would back a filibuster.
Meawnwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., previously said he wouldn't support a filibuster, but he is reportedly considering changing his mind.
The impact of war on Syria's youngest residents is depicted in a striking video released Wednesday by Global Post. A correspondent, identified only as " Maya," spoke with kids in a Syrian children's shelter about their experiences growing up in a war zone.
The sound of explosions can be heard in the background as the footage opens to a room filled with young people.
"When the shelling starts we don't hear the explosions as much, so we feel safer," says 14-year-old Mariam. "But when the shelling is heavy we feel only God can protect us."
Between images of the children playing--with hula hoops, computer games and, in one case, a bullet--the young subjects give their personal accounts of war. They speak candidly, and without tears, about witnessing brutal massacres, the deaths of classmates and dreaming about bombs.
Turkieh, an 8-year-old with bouncy curls and a bright pink sweater, is calm as she recounts the loss of her mother.
"My mum went to buy bread and was coming back when the sniper shot her," she says.
The United Nations say more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict started.
Three people died Monday morning in a shooting at a courthouse in Delaware, including the shooter, authorities said.
Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack confirmed three people died in the shooting at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington. He said the suspected gunman and two women are dead. The city's mayor said one of the women killed was the shooter's estranged wife, but Shavack said police had not confirmed that was the case.
Shavak said in a noon briefing that the motive was still to be determined but that it was not a random shooting. He cautioned against information coming from any other source.
Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams said in a telephone interview that he was told the man shot and killed his wife.
Shavack said two police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
He said officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter in courthouse's lobby before he passed metal detectors. Shavack did not say whether the shooter killed the two women or whether they were killed in the gunfire. Shavack also did not say how the shooter died.
According to CBS affiliate KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Mayor Williams said the suspect's estranged wife and a second unidentified female were shot and killed by the gunman. Williams says the suspected gunman was then killed by police. Earlier, the situation had been described as a "gunfight."
Dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles were on the streets surrounding the courthouse in the hours after the shooting, and police were searching the courthouse room by room as a precaution.
Jose Beltran, 53, a court employee who works in the building, was entering the lobby Monday morning when he heard two shots. He said he turned around and ran.
"It happened so fast," he said, adding he heard three or more shots as he ran.
Dick Lawyer works part time across the street at the law office of Casarino, Christman, Shalk, Ransom & Doss and said his office building had been on lockdown since about 8:15 a.m. The shooting occurred about five minutes earlier. He said he and colleagues were shaken at first but calmer hours later. "We have a couple of people whose relatives work at the courthouse," said Lawyer, who works as a document management specialist for the firm.
He said the building was still on lockdown at 12:40 p.m.
Robert Vess, 68, dropped off his wife, Dorothy, 69, for jury duty at the courthouse Monday morning. He said it wasn't until after 10:30 a.m. that she was able to call him and let him know she was safe. Vess said his wife, who works as a baker at a grocery store, was crying when she called, but he thought she would be all right.
"She had said, `If I had my way, I'd do jury duty every day,' but I don't think so after this," Vess said.
CHICAGO A prominent Chicago pastor remembered a slain 15-year-old girl Saturday as the face of an "epidemic of violence causing funeral processions around the country."
Father Michael Pfleger spoke at Hadiya Pendleton's funeral, telling a packed South Side church that "we must become the interrupters of funeral processions."
Pendleton was a band majorette and honor student who was shot and killed on Jan. 29, just a few days after performing for events surrounding President Obama's inauguration. Police say Pendleton was an innocent victim in a gang-related shooting.
Hundreds of mourners and dignitaries including first lady Michelle Obama stood and applauded Pendleton's family for their strength after her death brought national attention to the city's staggering gun violence.
Mrs. Obama met privately with the family and accompanied the girl's mother to the open casket at the front of a packed South Side church just before the start of the service.
Mrs. Obama, who grew up on Chicago's South Side, put her arm around Cleopatra Pendleton and patted her back. The woman threw her head back and wailed as the lid of her daughter's flower-strewn casket was closed.
Moments later, the hundreds in attendance rose to their feet to begin the service with a round of applause "to the strength of this family." Then, the choir began to sing so loud the floor shook.
Some of Illinois' most recognizable politicians and clergy were also in attendance, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Father Michael Pfleger. But Pendleton's family says her funeral service was not about politics — it was about remembering a girl who loved to dance, who once appeared in an anti-gang video.
"Everything is about Hadiya," said Shatira Wilks, one of Pendleton's cousins and a family spokeswoman.
None of the dignitaries was slated to speak during the service, which was officiated by the teen's pastor, the Rev. Courtney Maxwell, and the Rev. Eric Thomas, the pastor of the Greater Harvest Baptist Church, where the service was held. The teen's brother was also expected to speak, and the musical group that Pendleton was a member of will perform.
Pendleton was shot and killed while she talked with friends after school at a park not far from the Obamas' home in the Kenwood neighborhood. Police have said the shooting appears to be a case of mistaken identity involving gang members who believed the park was their territory. No charges have been filed.
Pendleton's death brought new attention to Chicago's homicide rate and the national debate over gun violence. Pendleton's slaying came in a January that was the city's deadliest in a decade. In 2012, Chicago recorded 506 homicides.
Earlier Saturday morning, a line of hundreds stretched from the church as mourners filed past Pendleton's casket. A woman who walked in with the girl's family sobbed loudly while organ and piano music played.
A glossy, eight-page funeral program included photos of Pendleton and details about her life, including her favorite foods — cheeseburgers, fig cookies, Chinese and ice cream — and the numerous school organizations she was involved in, and said she wanted to major in pharmacology and journalism in college.
The program also included a copy of a handwritten note from Mr. Obama addressed to the girl's family.
"Michelle and I just wanted you to know how heartbroken we are to have heard about Hadiya's passing," it reads. "We know that no words from us can soothe the pain, but rest assured that we are praying for you, and that we will continue to work as hard as we can to end this senseless violence. God bless, Barack Obama."
Other dignitaries at the service were Gov. Pat Quinn, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett — all of whom are from Chicago.
Quinn mentioned Pendleton's death in his State of the State address earlier this week as he called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
"There are no words in the English language — or any language — to relieve the pain of parents who lose a child," said Quinn, who said he spoke with Pendleton's family two days before his speech.
(CBS News) More than a dozen local, state, and federal authorities have joined the three-state manhunt for Christopher Dorner, the ex-LAPD officer suspected of killing three people in a vendetta against the police force.
Thursday afternoon, the search shifted to the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, where police found his burned-out pickup truck and tracks leading away from the vehicle.
Bill Bratton, Los Angeles Police Chief while Dorner served on the force said Friday that the truck was "possibly a diversionary tactic to just draw people up into that area when he's actually heading south."
Bratton said that despite the increasingly complex search, "the LAPD is superbly equipped for" the hunt.
"The Southern California police community is incredibly well networked with each other," Bratton said. "The manhunt that is underway is coordinated, sophisticated, and very complicated."
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer with former Police Chief William Bratton.
/ AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department
Bratton does not remember Dorner personally but did pose for a photo with him before he was deployed to serve in the Navy. Referencing the photo, Bratton said "chances are this is when he was being deployed into the military. I bring them up into my office and wish them well ... and give them a good luck charm."
The good luck charm -- a ceremonial coin -- was one of the props Dorner used, along with a lengthy manifesto, to indicate his targets. Dorner mailed CNN a package and the manifesto referencing Bratton. The package included the ceremonial coin, with Bratton's name on it and three bullet holes in it.
"[It's] very chilling when you see that," Bratton said. "It's a custom that you give as a sign of respect, a good luck charm for those who are going overseas. When you see that that a coin that was given in friendship and respect has three bullet holes, it's certainly very chilling."
Turning to the tactical elements of Dorner's rampage, John Miller -- CBS News senior correspondent and former head of the LAPD Major Crimes Division -- said the attacks likely took a "remarkable amount of pre-staging" and added that "somebody who put that much pre-staging planning into a series of events ... it's doubtful that they didn't put the same amount of planning into the end game ... It makes you wonder what his plan is for the end game."
Bratton said he found it "very surprising that now with all this attention he has brought onto himself, he has not started to reach out to the media to exploit it ... it's very interesting that he has stayed quiet."
Miller explained that Dorner "cut off all his cell phones and other connections" on Jan. 31 and Bratton said, "he's aware that anything he uses electronically can be immediately zeroed in on so he's possibly staying quiet because of that understanding.
As they look to bring the manhunt to an end, "the police are certainly on edge," Bratton said, emphasizing that Dorner is "an incredibly dangerous individual."
Miller added, "He has brought this to a certain pinnacle. It seems like he is going to be moving towards however he wants this to wrap up.
For more with Bratton and Miller on "CTM," watch the video above.
