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President Bush to Hold News Conference; Iran's Involvement in Iraq Topic of Military Briefing; Winter Onslaught

Aired February 14, 2007 - 08:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

For the next three hours, watch events as they come in to the NEWSROOM live on February 14th. It is Valentine's Day.

And here now is what's on the rundown.

Iraq, Iran, North Korea -- President Bush facing questions on those topics at a news conference. You'll see it live in the NEWSROOM two hours from now.

HARRIS: An Iraqi-American soldier kidnapped in Baghdad last fall. Today he turns up in an undated video on a militant Web site.

COLLINS: Trouble on the runway, trouble on the highway. A rip roaring Nor'easter let's loose on the East. Travel delays, school closings, snow day in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And at the top this morning, the Bush White House at war in Iraq, under siege on Capitol Hill, and facing reporters later this morning.

CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano is in place for the news conference. She is part of the best political team on television.

Elaine, good morning to you.

What do -- what do we expect to hear from the president this morning?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

Well, a senior administration official tells CNN that President Bush at the outset of his news conference will make a brief statement about five to seven minutes long on Iraq, as well as North Korea. And this official says that this statement will include a mention of that House debate taking place over a non-binding resolution opposing the president's idea for a troop increase in Iraq.

And you can expect some of what the president will say, to incorporate what his new commander on the ground, General David Petraeus, has to say. In fact, this hour another senior official says that the president is talking to or set to talk to General Petraeus via secure videoconference.

Now, it has been, Tony, nearly two months since President Bush last held his last formal news conference. He had been having them about once a month. But of course, in January he delivered two major addresses. One, of course, on Iraq, the other on the State of the Union. So this will be his first formal news conference since late December since those speeches, and a lot, Tony, on the agenda.

HARRIS: And Elaine, are we expecting to hear anything from the president about the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al- Sadr?

QUIJANO: Well, we're not sure if that will be mentioned in the statement, but you can be sure that he will be asked about that. Of course it was just yesterday when news of this broke that two senior administration sources confirmed to CNN that, in fact, they believe Muqtada al-Sadr had fled to Iran. You can be sure that the president will be pressed on that and a host of other topics later this morning -- Tony.

HARRIS: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us.

Thank you, Elaine.

And CNN will have live coverage of the president's news conference. It is scheduled to get under way less than two hours from now at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

COLLINS: Iran's involvement in Iraq the leading topic today at a military briefing. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joining us this morning.

Barbara, nice to see you.

What exactly do we expect to hear from this news conference?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, General Caldwell, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, wrapped up a little while ago. It was one of the major topics of conversation over the weekend.

There had been a background briefing where a top official who would not be named said that these Iranian weapons coming into Iraq were at the direction of the highest levels of the Iranian government. Those are important words to remember, because then, yesterday, of course, there was a lot of controversy.

General Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, not so fast. He wasn't at all sure it was all really tied to the government. All a topic for the White House. The president expected to be asked about this.

Let's have a listen, though, today to what General Caldwell had to say, backpedaling just a bit. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: I think people want to make an inference. I think people want to hype this up.

What we are saying is that, within Iran, that these EFP component parts are being manufactured. Within Iran, weapons and munitions are being manufactured that are ending up in Iraq. And we are asking the Iranian government to assist in stopping that from occurring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So what wasn't said at the Caldwell press conference, Heidi? General Caldwell would not endorse what a background intelligence briefer said in Baghdad over the weekend. He would not on camera endorse the notion that this was all at the highest levels of the Iranian government, even though he acknowledged that had been said over the weekend.

What appears to be emerging here is people are about to get on General Pace's message point, and that may be because the administration is continuing to try and ratchet down tensions with Iran. We'll wait and see what the president has to say, of course.

COLLINS: Yes, of course. And it does strike me a little bit, too, Barbara, what Caldwell said, using the words "hype," you know, trying to hype this up. Does that say anything to you?

STARR: Well, General Caldwell doing, one can only say with great respect, what many military people do when they get into trouble on these mixed message points. They blame the news media.

They say the media is trying to hype this up. In fact, the news media pretty accurately reported what was said over the weekend at a background briefing that the U.S. military organized that they would not go on camera, they would not allow their names to be identified. They would not even allow the news media to record this news briefing.

They only passed out these pictures that you see on our air now. So there's been a very significant struggle to try and get this information out accurately.

The bottom line, Heidi, is the U.S. certainly does have intelligence tying these Iranian weapons shipments to Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It's not something that the Bush White House wants to talk about in public too much because they really do not want to ratchet tensions up with Iran, the facts aside -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Barbara Starr clearing it up for us today.

Thank you, Barbara.

HARRIS: Iran's government meddling in Iraq. The Bush administration states it has facts, but the nation's top military commander not convinced. Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace says he hasn't seen evidence proving the Iranian government is funneling weapons to insurgents. Pace's comment led to this testy exchange, CNN's Ed Henry questioning White House press secretary Tony Snow yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: But isn't it really a question about whether or not you have strong evidence? When the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff seems to be saying something different than the White House, does that raise questions about how solid this evidence is?

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No, because you've got -- you've got -- you have explosively-formed penetrators. He says they exist, correct?

HENRY: I didn't see that in this particular quote, but...

SNOW: Well, no. No, he said that there are weapons coming from Iraq.

HENRY: He says there are projectiles manufactured in Iraq, yes.

SNOW: OK. So there's no doubt about that, correct?

There are Iranians in Iraq. There's no question about that, correct?

HENRY: Sure.

SNOW: All right. So where's the credibility program in terms of -- are you saying...

HENRY: In terms of the Iranian government being behind it. That's not -- nobody's disputing whether it's manufactured in Iran. You keep changing what my question is.

SNOW: No. No, I'm trying to clarify your question because I think this is...

HENRY: I don't need clarifying. I'm trying to tell you -- I know what my question is. And basically, he's saying that he doesn't see evidence that the Iranian government clearly is behind it.

That's my -- I've asked that three or four times. You haven't answered that. You're saying the Iranian government is behind it.

SNOW: OK. Let me put it this way -- I'll say it one more time. The Kuds force is part of the Iranian's government. The Kuds force is behind it, is associated with it.

HENRY: OK.

SNOW: All right?

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. No word for four months. Today, a kidnapped American soldier surfaces in a brief video clip.

Live to Baghdad for today's developments in minutes.

COLLINS: Icy roads and runways. Schools shut down. Homes and businesses plunged in the dark.

What a mess today from the Midwest to the East Coast. And right in the middle of all of this misery, the state of Ohio. The situation there dangerous today. The snow's so heavy in some areas, drivers could be arrested if they go out.

CNN's Rob Marciano with us now from Cleveland.

Rob, tell us what you're seeing around you. I can see all kinds of wind and blowing snow, obviously.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, that pretty much sums it up, Heidi. Temperatures in the lower teens. Winds gusting at times to 40 miles an hour. Wind-chills around minus 10. Not to mention, when you've got snow blowing sideways, visibility is reduced.

Here's the -- you've got plenty of plows out here today for sure. This is a secondary roadway. But beyond here about a block, just up that road, yesterday was absolute gridlock. People trying to get home early before the storm, and today it's pretty much a ghost town.

The Ohio Highway Patrol is telling us that they've had over 1,000 accidents since this storm began yesterday. Almost 100 of those have been accident-related.

Got a lot of drifting. Unofficially, about a foot or more of snow so far. But at the airport, where they're open, by the way, but a lot of delays. They've had four and five-foot drifts.

This is the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland right on the lake with a lot of snow blowing around it. It kind of looks like the pyramids in Egypt during a snowstorm. But alas, this is all white and it is all snow, and it continues to come down.

We have winter storm warnings that are posted until noontime today. But there has been no letup in sight, Heidi. Winds have not dropped down at all today. They're out of the north, which tells us that this storm is moving off to the east, towards New York and the East Coast.

But it's snowing about as hard as it was at this time late last night before we went to bed. So it doesn't seem to want to let up -- Heidi.

COLLINS: No. And boy, a thousand accidents certainly not a good report on that.

But listen, Rob, I know you're right by the lake, Lake Erie. Is this lake-effect snow that we always talk about?

MARCIANO: Well, you're right. You know, Cleveland, especially the counties east of Cleveland, are in the snow belt of Lake Erie, and this wind right now is off of the lake out of the north, but this isn't lake effect snow.

As a matter of fact, this time of year -- Lake Erie is one of the more shallow lakes. It's, you know, 60, 70 feet average depth. So it gets quite a bit of ice. So there's a fair amount of ice cover on the lake, and when the ice cover is on there, it kind of puts a cap on lake-effect snow.

So, no, this is all snow that's developed from that storm that's been rolling across the Plains and into through the Ohio River Valley, now about to skip over the Appalachians. We've had that cold air in place for several weeks, really, and we've just been looking for the timing with some moisture to make a big old wintry mess. And that's exactly what we've seen here. And they're trying to keep up pace.

Schools are closed, as you can imagine, Heidi. Pretty much, folks are going to try to stay in and wait for this one to come out. But this will be the biggest storm here in Cleveland this season. It could be the biggest one they've seen in several years.

COLLINS: Wow. And really quickly, Rob, what about tomorrow, more snow tomorrow?

MARCIANO: They'll see a few snow flurries, a couple of snow showers. But nothing that should accumulate here. But it will be bitterly cold.

The cold air drawn in behind this system is going to be the larger story. Temperatures, if they're lucky tomorrow, will get above 10. And that doesn't include the wind-chill. So it will definitely feel like winter.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: Yes. Certainly far from the tropics in this case. All right.

Rob Marciano in front of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Interesting.

All right, Rob, thank you.

And Chad Myers joining us now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And let's bring you up to date on this news. You saw it just moments ago with Ali Velshi and AMERICAN MORNING.

CNN has now confirmed that Chrysler, a unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler, will eliminate about 13,000 jobs. More than expected.

Thirteen thousand jobs, or 16 percent of its workforce by the end of 2009. The automaker also announcing the idling of its newer Delaware plant and a reduction of shifts at its Warren, Michigan, truck plant.

Heavy cuts. Big job losses for DaimlerChrysler. We should tell you that Chrysler is holding a news conference at the bottom of the hour. Ali Velshi is following that and he will join us at about 9:40 this morning with an update here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And president Bush getting ready to meet reporters. See his news conference at 11:00 Eastern live. We talk with the best political team on television about it, questions and answers in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Devastated again. Homes rebuilt in the wake of Katrina now torn apart by a rare tornado. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A bold move by the defense in the Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial and why his former boss, the vice president, will not be there. Ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Big delivery. A newborn really tips the scales, but he's just following a family tradition. Big baby. A big, big baby in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A peaceful observance today in a tension-filled city. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut's Martyrs Square to honor Rafik Hariri two years after his assassination. The pro-government supporters were separated from Hezbollah-led opposition activists by soldiers and barbed wire.

Hariri, the former Lebanese premier, was killed in a bombing. Hariri's supporters and many in the international community blame Syria for the attack. Syria has denied responsibility for that incident, as well as other Lebanese bombings over the last two years. A U.N. probe into the assassination continues.

HARRIS: An American soldier kidnapped in Baghdad nearly four months ago, today he is shown alive in an undated -- again, undated video. It appeared on a militant Web site.

Live now to CNN's Arwa Damon in the Iraqi capital.

Arwa, what can you tell us about this tape?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, well, the video was posted by the group that is claiming responsibility known as the Ahel al-Beit Brigades. They are a fairly unknown Shia militant group posting the video that has no audio on it. And it's only about 10 seconds long, but posting that video on a Web site for supporters of the Mehdi militia. That is the group that is loyal to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Now, CNN is not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video, but we have been in touch with Altaie's uncle, Entifadh Qanbar, who is in the United States, and he said that he is 100 percent sure that the man in the video is, in fact, his nephew. He also told us that the family that he is representing has been in contact with the kidnappers for quite some time now over e-mail and trying to speak with them and have them provide some sort of proof of life. And these are the first images that we are seeing of Altaie since he was kidnapped on October 23rd. Qanbar, his uncle, again, also telling us that the group appeared to be sophisticated and that some of the correspondence was even in English.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ENTIFADH QANBAR, UNCLE OF MISSING SOLDIER: I have been in touch with this Ahel al-Beit group. They have -- we have had some exchanges. I don't want to get into the details, but I'm hopeful -- we were looking for proof of life, proof of life was the condition for us to continue the conversation or the dialogue with them.

We haven't been provided the proof of life. Now we have it. However, obviously there's no date, there's no specifics, so we don't know how old this video. We don't know if Ahmed is in good shape now or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: The U.S. military saying that they are also trying to authenticate the video and that they remain very concerned about Altaie's situation -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Arwa, if we could, let's change gears just a bit.

The security plan along the Iraqi border with Iran and Syria, we understand that is being implemented today. Any signs that it is actually happening?

DAMON: Well, Tony, we did hear from a senior spokesman for the Iraqi army. He said that, in fact, the security plan has gone into effect, in the sense that the borders with Iran and Syria are closed.

We heard this being announced last night, that the Iraqi government, once it decided to go forward with this security plan, bearing in mind that this is actually them -- the surge that is beginning, that is the crackdown that is beginning on the capital that we have seen start to build up. But they did close two border crossings with Syria and four with Iran -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Arwa, what's the latest on the reports that Muqtada al- Sadr has fled, fled to Iran? And I guess the other question, I have a follow-up, is what does it matter where he is, whether he's in Iran or Iraq?

DAMON: Well, Tony, to answer your first question, if you asked the U.S. military, Muqtada al-Sadr has fled to Iran. If you ask Muqtada al-Sadr's spokesmen, members of his political bloc, they will tell you that he is in Iraq. In fact, his political bloc put out a statement saying flat out that the United States was lying and that this was just American propaganda.

Whether or not he is in Iran, it would not even be unusual for him to have traveled to Iran. He has been there on about half a dozen official visits, countless of personal visits. So whether he's here or there, his reasons, his whereabouts, pretty much at this point it depends on what you're -- what you're trying to draw, what sort of conclusion you're trying to draw from his whereabouts. But really, it doesn't matter in the big picture -- Tony.

HARRIS: Right.

CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.

Arwa, thank you.

COLLINS: Devastated again. Homes rebuilt in the wake of Katrina now torn apart by a rare tornado. Look at those pictures.

We'll tell you more about it, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A big bundle of love just in time for Valentine's Day. Meet a baby who is living large from the get-go. Big baby in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Severe weather indeed. Let's take you to New York City now.

February having its way with so much of the country right now. Live pictures, Columbus Circle. Oh, my goodness, about 59th and Broadway.

This particular area, this city, so much of the Northeast now catching the wrath of what Chad has described as a classic Nor'easter. Wind, snow, blowing and drifting snow, just a real headache right now.

Split the frame for you now and you've got a wider view of Manhattan as well. Difficult for folks trying to get around, as you can see.

We are going to check in with Chad Myers and get an update on the situation for our friends in New York and beyond.

COLLINS: You see, Tony, that's exactly why I moved from New York. Exactly the reason.

HARRIS: There you go. Welcome.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, though, moving on with more of the weather situation, another crushing blow for people in New Orleans. A tornado ripping through homes, trailers and lives.

CNN Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six- year- old Brianna Roby crouched down in the bathtub with her mother, both hoping that what they saw in the street would not follow them inside.

PATRICE ROBY, TORNADO VICTIM: All type of debris just circling, you know, just circling around. And there was no beginning and there was no end to it. When you looked up to the sky, you couldn't see where it stopped or where it began. You just seen blackness. ROESGEN: Like their neighbors, the family lives in a FEMA trailer, no match for a tornado. This one hop-scotched across the New Orleans area, touching down in several different places.

It tore the roof off this motel, leaving the guests in their beds with the ceiling falling down around them.

KEN HOOD, TOURIST: My roommate ran to the door to see what the noise was, and the door was literally blown off. And then I, then I looked up and the ceiling, the whole ceiling caved in and the roof just took off.

ROESGEN: Amazingly, no one in the motel was seriously hurt. Nearly every place the tornado struck, people said they couldn't believe they weren't killed.

But back in little Brianna Roby's neighborhood, an 85-year-old woman who lived around the corner was trapped. You're looking at the wheels that were under Stella Chambers' FEMA trailer. The rest of the trailer was blown to bits, and Chambers did not survive.

ROBY: Someone was hollering for help here. And that's when we found out that there was one of our neighbors that had gotten really hurt in the tornado. But we've been through so much down here and it's like, here we go again.

ROESGEN: The Louisiana governor has issued a disaster declaration and said the state would send in National Guard troops for security.

But in a city still crippled by Katrina, it's hard for some to accept that it was not a hurricane, but the relatively rare strike of a tornado that destroyed what little they have left.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Chad Myers joining us now from the CNN weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.

HARRIS: We are talking a lot about this Nor'easter that is whipping across New England, right now. And classic calling card of a Nor'easter, high winds, heavy snow, bone-chilling cold. WMUR's Paige Kornblue is in Plymouth, New Hampshire, wishing she was in the Bahamas.

Paige, good morning to you.

PAIGE KORNBLUE, REPORTER, WMUR TV: That's right, wishing we were in the Bahamas. This is some white snow. Cupid has really come through for us here in New Hampshire. It's been a mild winter here. This storm is great news both for the ski areas and for the businesses in this ski country. Several inches of snow has fallen overnight.

I want to show you some of it. It's now up to my ankles in snow here. It was just covering parts of my boot this morning, light and fluffy snow here.

Unfortunately, flights have been cancelled or delayed at the Manchester, Boston Regional Airport. And out there on those roads, this morning, is very slick. Poor visibility out there. The state emergency operation center is open here in New Hampshire.

I just want to show you some of this light and fluffy snow. Of course, not great packing powder for some of the snowmen for the kids out there who will be -- have some free time on their hands today.

A blizzard warning in effect out here. The concern, as this snow continues to fall, the wind will increase as well. Reporting in Plymouth for CNN, I'm Paige Kornblue.

HARRIS: Oh, Paige, we're not done with you yet. Let me ask you something. You mentioned ankle-deep snow -- weenie, weenie, weenie -- how about schools? Are the schools closed, kids getting a snow day?

KORNBLUE: Hundreds of schools here in New Hampshire are closed today. This is the first big storm of the season. Many town offices will be closed as well. But there are some businesses that are open. They've been open all morning. And did visit some florists yesterday, many Valentine's Day bouquets were delivered yesterday to get ahead of this storm. You can bet there will be Valentine's Day it dates on our ski slopes for days to come.

HARRIS: Well, you have made Heidi happy. Paige, we appreciate it. Thanks for your time this morning.

Well, the snow belts absolutely spanked. The big storm spreading snow and ice up the East Coast today. Piling it on. That's what we're doing here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: I could say something but I won't.

President Bush getting ready to meet reporters. A live shot, there, of the White House. See his news conference coming up at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We will talk with the best political team on television, all about it, questions and answers in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BELL CLANGING)

COLLINS: So here we have -- or here we have, I should say -- ready, there it is, the opening bell on February 14th, which means it is --

HARRIS: Valentine's Day.

COLLINS: And Tony's very happy because all the this bad weather across the country, that's why the flowers are late, right? HARRIS: That's the truth.

COLLINS: Meanwhile --

HARRIS: Honey, dear.

COLLINS: Dow Jones average up about 16 points, sitting at, right now, 12,672. Big, big, big business story is, all of these layoffs and job cuts at DaimlerChrysler. And 13,000 by the end of 2009, so we're going continue to follow that story and numbers from Wall Street coming up later in the show.

HARRIS: And another reminder, President Bush holding a news conference this morning. The war in Iraq and the new security measures there, certainly the debate in the House on an Iraq resolution, and weekend claims of Iran's involvement in supplying deadly EFPs, those explosively formed penetrators, or at the very least the technology to make them. Expect plenty of questions on those topics this morning in the news conference gets underway at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, from the East Room of the White House, and right here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Let me get back to the weather situation now and show you pictures across the country. Tens of thousands of people shivering in the dark, ice-slick roads, passenger planes stuck on the runway. Even federal offices shut down in Washington.

That's the scene from parts of the Midwest to the East Coast, another winter onslaught dumping snow and ice across the region.

Check this out, record snow in that city there, Indianapolis, also dealing with below zero wind chills, too. Chicago best to stay indoor there, as well. Windy city coping with all sorts of snow and cold-related problems. Many roads across Illinois impassable. Even in parts of the South now there is no escaping the misery. Treacherous roads across Virginia, ice blamed for a chain reaction on Interstate 64. More than a dozen vehicles slammed into each other. Two people were taken to the hospital.

HARRIS: Well, the state of Indiana slammed by the winter onslaught. Heidi just outlined it for you. Record snowfall, subzero wind chills. CNN's Allan Chernoff -- loving it, in Indianapolis.

Allan, Good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

That's actually true. I absolutely love snow. This is my favorite part of winter. This is the reason we have winter. Over here in Indianapolis, of course, the snow no longer coming down; we've got a beautiful day.

But snow was blowing quite a bit earlier this morning, creating some pretty good snowdrifts. Have a look at this one. Probably about 4 and a half feet high up here. So we certainly did have a lot of wind, about 20 miles an hour. Also very chilly today with the wind, it's minus 6 degrees right now.

The main impact here, though, has been on the roads. We've got about 10 inches of snow yesterday, all of the way through early this morning. You can see here, this is Massachusetts Avenue, still filled with plenty of slush and snow even though the plows have been going back and forth.

The secondary roads, forget about it. They haven't even had a chance to get to those roads. To the north of Indianapolis, some towns got a foot and a half of snow. The south, well, not as much snow, but plenty of ice. They had real problems there.

In Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, more than 250 accidents. So it certainly has been very tough going on the roads. And in the south where I mentioned lots of ice, power problems; 4,800 customers without power this morning. But that is an improvement from yesterday, as 13,000 customers, at one point, had no power at all -- Tony.

HARRIS: I was about to complain about the fact that secondary roads always are last to get some attention. But then it occurred to me that's the reason they're secondary roads.

COLLINS: That's it.

HARRIS: Thank you, Heidi.

But I have to ask you, Allan, florists -- this is Valentine's Day are florists getting out making those deliveries of flowers to those sweethearts on this Valentine's Day?

CHERNOFF: Yeah. Well, you know, the florists are definitely out. They've got the flowers ready. The problem is many of the offices, even here downtown in Indianapolis, the offices are closed. And the florists tell me, you know, a lot of people want to get their flowers at the office, so everyone else can see that they got flowers.

So, lots of cancellations this morning. One florist told me his business is down 40 percent. It's going to be a lousy Valentine's Day for the florists. For myself, well, I'm not able to be with my wife, Robin. So, I made her a little Valentine's Day right here in the snow.

Sweetheart, I love you. That's what it says over here.

HARRIS: Oh, man.

CHERNOFF: Tony, back to you. Happy Valentine's Day to you, as well.

HARRIS: Well, thank you, Allan. Everyone in the NEWSROOM collectively, aahh!

COLLINS: Aah, Allan Chernoff, the soft side.

HARRIS: Very nice.

COLLINS: What's your excuse?

HARRIS: I just -- you know, it changes every minute. It really does.

All right, Allan, thank you.

COLLINS: The only thing is here, the delay with the flowers that you sent to us all -- HARRIS: Really have no excuse.

COLLINS: Yeah, no. The weather's just fine.

Moving right along.

A bold move by the defense in the Lewis Scooter Libby perjury trial. And why his former boss, the vice president, will not be there. It's all coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And we are "Minding Your Business" this morning, in big business this morning. Ali Velshi here with a preview.

Ali, good morning.

ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Tony, not a very good Valentine's Day for lots of DaimlerChrysler workers. Chrysler in the United States, announcing 16 percent of its workforce will be cut. That's 13,000 jobs across North America. I'll have details on that when we come back. Stay with the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Captain Roger T. Renfro in Baghdad, Iraq. I'd like to say Happy Valentine's Day to my lovely wife and daughters, Jennifer, Renee, and Tawny Renee Renfro, in Tucson, Arizona.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 1st Lieutenant Russ Anderson with the 1st Calvary Division, in Baghdad, Iraq. I want to say hello to my wife Angela, and my kids, Jaden, Ashlynn and Cadence Anderson, in Lake Utah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That was great.

DaimlerChrysler unveils the details of the restructuring and it involves a lot of job cuts. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Ali, if you would, put this big number that you're about to share with us in some perspective.

VELSHI: I will.

HARRIS: Sounds like heavy cuts.

VELSHI: Yes, it's 13,000 workers in North America. That's 9,000 hourly workers in the United States, 2,000 hourly workers in Canada and 2,000 white-collar or salaried workers. That is 16 percent of Chrysler's workforce in North America.

Now, the thing that's different about Chrysler and Ford and GM, which we've been hearing about cuts for a long time, is that Chrysler, the brand Chrysler is largely a North American brand; 90 percent of its vehicles are sold in North America. So, as the North American market for American-made cars has declined, this company is being disproportionately hit.

The part company, DaimlerChrysler, has been under pressure to either do something about this, or get rid of this unit. Because it's a bit of a drag on the company as a whole.

So here's the plan for Chrysler. It's going idle an assembly plant in Newark, Delaware. It's going to idle a distribution plant in Cleveland. And it's going reduce shifts at a Warren, Michigan, truck plant and a St. Louis, Missouri, assembly plant. They're going to reduce overall production, Tony, by 400,000 cars per year.

They want to be profitable. The Chrysler Group wants to be profitable by the year 2008. To do that they're going to introduce 20 new -- all new -- vehicles between now and 2009. And they're going to refurbish or -- as they call it -- refresh 13 other vehicles between now and then.

HARRIS: Ali, analysts who follow the automotive industry, have they been clamor for something this dramatic from Chrysler?

VELSHI: Well, there's two problems with what we call the Detroit three, right now, the American automakers. Toyota and Honda can come in here and make vehicles and sell them at a greater profit. They don't have what they call these legacy costs, old costs associated with pension and health care. That adds a price, an extra price per car, that makes an American made car from the Detroit companies, less profitable than a Toyota or Honda. That's problem number one.

Problem number two is misreading what the customer wants. We have seen a long-term decline of trucks and SUVs as gas prices have gone up. That's a very big part of Chrysler's business.

HARRIS: And what do you think, as someone who follows the trends, is the market likely to see this as being at just the right move at this time, not enough, more needs to be done? What do you think?

VELSHI: No one else has gotten it right so far. In other words, all the major cuts we've seen from the other large automakers have had to have been followed by more and more and more.

Chrysler wasn't in as much trouble as the other ones are. But the bottom line is -- what the world is starting to see, whether you're the union or the investors -- is that if the companies don't so do something to stay afloat, be profitable, and sell cars that people want to buy, all the extending, the paying -- you can do that all you want. It's not going to solve the problem.

They've had to do this. I don't think they had a choice in the matter. The trick is can they turn the corner and make this into a profitable interesting company?

HARRIS: We will watch that stock price today. Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business", this morning. Ali, thank you.

VELSHI: Pleasure.

COLLINS: President Bush getting ready to meet reporters. See his news conference at 11:00 Eastern live. We will talk with the best political team on television about it, questions and answers in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The defense getting close to resting its case in the perjury trial of Scooter Libby. But it's what Libby and his former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, won't have to do that's raising eyebrows. More now from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A bold announcement from Scooter Libby's attorneys, neither the defendant nor his former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, will take the stand on his behalf.

Libby stands before the judge, asked if he is sure he wants to forego testifying in his own defense. He replies, "Yes, sir."

The announcement makes the testimony of this obscure bureaucrat all the more crucial for Libby. John Hanna, now Vice President Cheney's national security advisor. One of two jobs Libby once had under Chaney simultaneously.

Hanna worked under Libby during that summer of 2003, when prosecutors contend Libby was fixated with administration critic Joe Wilson and his wife, then covert CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson. But Hanna testifies Libby's workload was at times overwhelming during that period, taken up with the war in Iraq, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a crisis in Liberia, and much more. One expert says this goes right to the heart of Libby's defense.

LARRY BARCELLA, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What this comes down to is an incredible busy man, doing incredibly sensitive, serious things. And this small little gnat of something that he was doing, was something that he forgot about, or at least misremembered certain portions of it.

TODD: The memory question, another way Hanna helps Libby. Telling the court, quote, "On certain things Scooter just had an awful memory."

Hanna says he briefed Libby on something in the morning and then just hours later Libby would give excited give Hanna the same information, as if it was new. With Libby now not taking the stand, does his freedom depend on Hannah's testimony?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FMR. SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Hannah stands in for Libby in the sense if he can testify, from personal experience, that Libby's job is demanding, because he now holds Libby's job. And, second, he can testify that Libby is forgetful.

TODD (On camera): Those were crucial arguments that Libby's defense team has always made to deny charges that he knowingly misled investigators. That defense team, now expected to wrap up its case on Wednesday and deny prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald the chance to sharply cross-examine Libby and the vice president. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: He is accused of stirring up trouble in Iraq. Question of the morning, did this militia leader flee to Iran? Locating al-Sadr in the NEWSROOM.

Also, President Bush getting ready to meet reporters, no matter how snowy it is there in Washington, D.C. He'll have a news conference coming up at 11:00 Eastern. We'll take it live for you and talk with the best political team on television about it.. Questions and answers, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, I'm Lieutenant Commander Dave Bealer stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. I'd like to say Happy Valentine's Day to my wife, Lisa, in Lansing, Kansas, and to all of my family in Kansas City, Missouri. Have a Happy Valentine's Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, my name is Specialist Sylus Reed out here at Camp Liberty in Iraq, with 17-FA. I just want to shout out to my friends and family back home. Hope to see you soon back in Colda (ph), Idaho. Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Isn't that sweet?

HARRIS: That is sweet.

COLLINS: I just wanted to share with the viewers at home, my lovely partner.

HARRIS: Thank you.

COLLINS: This is a fantastic Valentine's Day gift that was actually given to him by one of our fantastic crew members, so he could be bailed out and have a little treat for me to eat here. My favorite.

HARRIS: But here's the thing, it was my request. I put the plan in motion. Absolutely gluten free.

COLLINS: Which is important. You just made my Valentine's Day so much better. Thank you.

HARRIS: So, high five me.

COLLINS: You're really genuine and terrific.

HARRIS: And don't be your favorite word, "snarky".

COLLINS: OK, no snarkiness.

HARRIS: All right.

COLLINS: Moving right along. Talk about a big bundle of joy -- besides you, Tony -- there is an Arizona couple celebrating -- look at this -- the birth of their very healthy baby boy. Jeremiah came into the world at a whopping 14. 6. Yes, that's 14 pounds, 6 ounces.

HARRIS: Big baby.

COLLINS: No shock to the family, though. Jeremiah's big brother, who was born at 13 pounds, 11 ounces. I just want to say that woman is a saint.

HARRIS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER0

COLLINS: Good morning to you once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris. The second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and staying informed. Here's what's on the rundown.

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