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Wicked Weather From Chicago to New York; President Bush: Iranian-Made Weapons Have Made Their Way to Iraq

Aired February 14, 2007 - 13:59   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips.

Iced over, blacked out and grounded. Plenty of chilly misery going around from the Midwest to the Northeast. We've got the latest on everything winter.

LEMON: Also, too close for comfort. Questions persist over Iranian weapons in Iraq. And now al Qaeda may be striking back at Iran's Shia majority.

PHILLIPS: Plus, the latest on the chaos over Anna Nicole Smith's remains. An emergency hearing under way right now in Florida.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Oh, it's bad out there. Wicked weather from Chicago to New York. We're covering it all for you this afternoon as the system moves east.

We begin with our very own Rob Marciano. He is in Cleveland, where we hear people are being told they may be arrested if they get out on the roads -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Don, you know, I talked to the mayor. And that's -- they're not going to arrest anybody if they are on the road. They are just encouraging you to stay home.

Your car will be towed if it's on the road. There's a parking ban in place. But they want to make sure they can plow the roads.

So do not park on the public streets, because your car will be towed. And the mayor is just encouraging everyone, including businesses, to keep their employees at home, just to keep people off the road.

Why? Well, because roads are dangerous. No doubt about that.

I talked with the Ohio Highway Patrol just a few minutes ago, 1,229 accidents statewide since this storm came on board, 117 of those accidents are injury-related. One fatality. We've been mentioning that. Thankfully, that number hasn't increased.

Over 2,600 assists, meaning helping people, you know, get their cars stuck out of -- out of a snow bank, helping them change a tire, or just getting out of their car and warming them up if they happen to -- if the car happens to be stalled.

The airports, 180 flights canceled yesterday. Today, 110. So not too bad. They did shut down the airport for about 20, 30 minutes, but other than that, they are getting it done over there at the airport even though winter storm warnings remain in effect now until 4:00 p.m. It is still snowing and could get another couple of inches.

Took a ride around town, and these are some of the visions that we saw. Basically, people are out and about on the streets a little bit. But it is a mess. No doubt about that here in Cleveland.

The visibilities have increased the past couple of hours. And that's probably the good news. And this bit of a break in the snow is giving folks the upper hand on trying to get through the snow.

We have seen 15 inches of snow. By the way, we're on the lake front right by the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. Beyond that is the Cleveland Browns stadium. And earlier today we couldn't see any of this because of all the blowing snow.

Fifteen inches of snow. And we're almost knee deep in it here. Might get another inch or two.

By the way, schools closed today. We're told by a concerned parent it's the sixth day so far this year. And after five days of schools being closed, they have to start making up for it during the summertime. So I don't know if it's a good or bad situation for the kids, but I'm sure at least right now they are happy to be out of school.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right, Rob. Not arresting people, but you can understand why they may give such a stern warning because the roads are not safe.

MARCIANO: You are right about that. Just, you know, take a snow day.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.

PHILLIPS: Well, blowing snow, pelting sleet and bone-chilling cold. It's only going to get worse in upstate New York.

Our own Jason Carroll in Albany, right there in the middle of it.

Jason, how are you holding up?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm holding up, Kyra. Holding up pretty good so far, even though the worst of what is to happen hasn't happened just yet.

A blizzard warning is in effect here in Albany. So far, we've had about half a foot that's fallen so far. You can see what that translates into.

When you try to make it over to a bench, you can see what happens when you get near a drift. It's a little more than half a foot, isn't it, if you can look where I'm standing right now.

The worst of it is out there on the roads. That's what we've been experiencing. Anyone who is trying to drive up in these neck of the woods knows what I'm talking about.

Near whiteout conditions near the airport where we were as we were trying to get in so far. They are expecting 16 to 26 inches in Albany proper. But even more than that in the outlying areas.

Of course, the concerns are high winds and low visibility. Driving conditions are hazardous. Just to get to our live spot location we had to go very slowly, about 20 miles per hour.

We checked in with the local police. They said no major accidents to report at this point. Only minor accidents so far. And that's probably because they are telling people to stay off the roads.

Schools are closed. Most of the schools are closed. Businesses closed early. Government offices closed early as well.

What they are advising at the point is for people to stay off the roads. And that's because the worst conditions aren't going to happen until about 8:00 tonight. That blizzard warning in effect until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. So we're still waiting for the worst of it to hit us. We're just standing by hoping it doesn't get too bad -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So from where you are, has it pretty much shut down all the activity and the businesses, or are people trying to keep some of them up and running?

Did I lose you?

I lost Jason. See, the cold. It's already blowing out his microphone and his IFB.

All right, Don. Take it away.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Jason.

On the road and in the air, this storm system is stranding travelers at Chicago's O'Hare, one of the world's busiest airports. About 400 morning flights canceled. A city spokesman said the bad weather in the Northeast was to blame for all of that. Some travelers were cool about the delays, but others got a little heated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Valentine's Day, and I'm supposed to go out to dinner, so I'd really like to get back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually think this is kind of funny. So, I mean, it's hard because we're trying to make it out for a conference that starts tonight, and there's nothing available. But what can you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we were headed to Colorado to go skiing and we just got bumped. Flight got canceled. We sat on the plane for two hours and then malfunction. They couldn't fix it. They just canceled the flight. So we're out of luck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the fourth flight we've been booked on. So now we're going to try to book our fifth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're getting frustrated about it. It's just one of those things that happens when you travel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What can you do? Just surrender. It's Mother Nature.

The storm has also been a headache for the FAA.

And joining us from the FAA command center in Herndon, Virginia, CNN's Kathleen Koch.

A lot going on there today, I'm sure, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Quite a lot. They have had their hands full yesterday, today, but things are beginning to improve. And that's the good news here.

And on these giant screens behind me is information that basically is reflecting what's happening around the country. And it is here really at the nerve center where they monitor the flow of air traffic and try to keep it moving. At the same time, try to keep the system safe.

Now, on the big screen up here to my left, you'll see we have just a couple of airport closures, some really small general aviation airports right now in the New York area, Poughkeepsie, Orange County. You see a lot of ground stops, but that's not for the -- all of these airports.

Six airports have ground stops. You'll see Boston, Cleveland, Reagan National, JFK. But that's only for certain airlines.

Another map that has got interesting information is the one with the red blips behind me. Now, those are all the aircraft that are in the air right now as we speak. The number right now is averaging about 5,600. That's down from what it normally would be. It would be over 6,000, but still, it's improving.

Earlier this morning, air traffic nationwide was down by a third. So as the weather improves, the number of aircraft in the air are going up.

But weather is still an issue to contend with. Up on the screens also they watch the developing weather systems. And you can see on this screen, they've still got that big one moving over the Eastern Seaboard, keeping an eye on things very carefully there. And it is still causing some issues, particularly for the New York airports, where they are trying really hard to keep the airport runways, taxiways clear.

A lot of them are down. Many of the runways closed. So got a lot of delays.

And across the system, even before noon today, they already had 1,600 cancellations. And that was just at the major airports, not even tabulating the smaller airports. So it's been a real tough couple of days, but they are keeping the system flowing, and the main thing, keeping it safe.

Back to you.

LEMON: All right. Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

LEMON: Of course, we want to remind our viewers, please send in your I-Reports. And also, we're going to go back to Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center. He's going to update us on this weather system moving across the country.

PHILLIPS: Well, who gave the go-ahead? Who knows? But President Bush says one thing is for sure, Iranian-made weapons have made their way to Iraq. He made that point crystal clear to our Ed Henry at his first news conference of the year.

Ed joins us live now with more.

Hey, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Kyra.

That's right. The president did say firmly that he knows for sure the Iranian government is behind these explosive devices that are being sent across the border into Iraq to kill and maim U.S. troops. But he said he's not sure if this can be tied to senior members of the Iranian government.

Now, that seems to contradict what we've been hearing from some other U.S. officials in recent days. So I pressed the president on that point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: You're saying today that you do not know if senior members of the Iranian government are, in fact, behind these explosives. That contradicts what U.S. officials said in Baghdad on Sunday. They said the highest levels of the Iranian government were behind this. It also -- it seems to square with what General Pace has been saying, but contradicts with what your own press secretary said yesterday.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't say -- let me finish, Ed -- I can't say it more plainly. There are weapons in Iraq that are harming U.S. troops because of the Quds force. And as you know, I hope, that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government.

Whether Ahmadinejad ordered the Quds force to do this, we don't know. But we do know that they are there, and I intend to do something about it. And I've asked our commanders to do something about it, and we're going to protect our troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, the president went on to deny that all of this intelligence gathering about Iran is about a case for war with Iran. He insisted once again, as he has several times in recent weeks, that that is not the case. And I can tell you privately, White House officials are insisting there's no contradiction here between what the president is saying and various other U.S. officials. They believe this is much to do about very little -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Ed, what's the relationship then between the Quds part of the government and the president? I mean, does the president listen to the radicals? Do the radicals listen to the president? And then there's the ayatollah, the clergy.

Who listens to who?

HENRY: Well, that's certainly one of the questions that everyone is trying to pursue, exactly how far up do they go? I mean, as one of my colleagues in the press corps said yesterday to White House spokesman Tony Snow, is it just government in general?

You know, there could be a deputy assistant secretary of agriculture in the U.S. government who goes ahead and does something. That doesn't necessarily mean that President Bush ordered that low, low level official to do it. And so that is going to be one of the bottom-line questions here, and that's obviously one of the questions that U.S. intelligence officials are trying to answer. How far up does this go?

But I can tell you, those officials in Baghdad on Sunday were much more certain in believing this went to the senior levels and the Quds force was very senior. And that it could be tied all the way up there. But today the president suggesting no, not necessarily that senior.

And also, secondly, General Caldwell, in his briefing in Baghdad this morning you saw right here on CNN, seemed to be much more cautious about how high up this goes than U.S. officials were over the weekend -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry live at the White House.

Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. We want to update you on a situation that's happening right now. New developments in the Anna Nicole Smith case.

Her mother and Howard K. Stern, her companion in her last days, are fighting over who should get the body. An emergency hearing happening right now.

Our very own Susan Candiotti is there. And as soon as we get information on that, we'll bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Well, Ronald Reagan did it. So did Fred Dalton Thompson, Sonny Bono. Even the guy who played Gopher. Will Al Franken trade show business for politics?

We're on it, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A new twist to terror. Is al Qaeda shifting focus in light of the rise of Shiite Muslims in the Middle East? Up next in the CNN NEWSROOM, a deadly attack in Iran sets off alarms.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: There are weapons in Iraq that are harming U.S. troops because of the Quds force. And as you know, I hope, that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. Whether Ahmadinejad orders the Quds force to do this, I don't think we know. But we do know that they are there, and I intend to do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The commander in chief backing up his commanders in Iraq. In his first news conference of the year, President Bush repeated claims that Iranian weapons have made their way to Iraq, though not necessarily on the orders of Iran's most senior leaders.

Mr. Bush vowed to do something about it, but what and when and how far is he looking to go?

Let's take a look ahead with international security analyst Jim Walsh.

Good to see you, Jim.

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We should probably begin by just laying out the three parts of the government. Do you agree?

WALSH: Yes, absolutely.

PHILLIPS: All right. We've got the president, we've got the Quds, the radicals, then we've got the ayatollah, the clergy.

So my question to you is, who listens to whom? Who really runs the show?

WALSH: Yes. The decider, to use the phrase of President Bush, the decider in Iran is the supreme leader.

It's not President Ahmadinejad who has said those horrible things about the Holocaust who would order the Quds or the Revolutionary Guard to go and attack Americans. The person who would decide something of that importance would be the supreme leader. He is the top person, the decision-maker in Iran. And the Revolutionary Guard swears their allegiance really to the supreme leader. He has -- the Revolutionary Guard has good relations with President Ahmadinejad, but it's the supreme leader who counts.

PHILLIPS: Jim, stay with me. Just got to break away for just a second.

WALSH: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Don, you've got some news on Al Franken?

LEMON: Yes. We're just getting some news coming in from Minnesota now.

"Saturday Night Live" performer, former celebrity there, has made a run. Says he's going to make a run for Senate. This is coming -- Al Franken.

Just coming over the wires. Now he says he plans to make his first public appearance as a candidate tomorrow at a clinic in south Minneapolis.

So the former "Saturday Night Live" performer and actually creator -- one of the creators of "Saturday Night Live" -- says he is going to run for Senate in Minnesota. This is his last day on this radio show, Air America, as well. So he's making that announcement on his last day here.

We're going to have many more details as they develop right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, including a board of panelists who's going to talk about whether or not he has a chance in all of this, Kyra.

So Al Franken making a run.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll get back to that, talk more about Al Franken jumping into the Senate run there.

Meanwhile, Jim Walsh, back to Iran, we were talking about these weapons. A lot of talk in the past couple of days about weapons being made in Iran, being funneled into Iraq to support the insurgency.

You're saying that when it comes down to it, when you break it down, everyone listens to the supreme leader, the ayatollah. So, the question is, do you have reason to believe, is it possible, that the ayatollah could be directing the Quds, the radicals, to make these mortars, make other weapons and send them into Iraq to help the insurgency?

WALSH: It's possible. I think it's unlikely. But in any case, we don't have any evidence of that. In fact, this is a story, this weapons from Iran story, has been all over the map.

Several weeks ago they were going to have a big press conference. And then they pulled back because the national security adviser said, well, we need to vet this some more, maybe we're making too many claims. Then they have a press conference but they don't have it in Washington. They have it in Baghdad, which is sort of odd.

And then today we had the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff come out and say he doesn't know of any direct tie. And then as Ed reported earlier to you, Kyra, now the president says that he doesn't have any direct evidence.

Do I think Iran is putting money and arms to some of its friends in Iraq? Yes. That's the way, unfortunately, nations try to win friends and influence people, is by providing them cash and guns. And that's what Iran wants. They want a friendly government, lots of friends in Iraq.

But are they, as a matter of national policy, ordering the death of Americans? I doubt that very seriously. That would undermine their own national interest. And frankly, it's the Sunnis and al Qaeda that are killing more Americans in Iraq, not the Shiite militias.

PHILLIPS: OK. And I want to ask you about that in just a second because we're going to talk about the al Qaeda attack in Iran. But just before I get there, so then you are saying -- you are saying you doubt that the supreme leader is ordering these weapons to be made and sent into Iraq.

Could President Ahmadinejad know about this and be involved with it? Is that a possibility? Or could it just be the radicals, the Quds, that are doing this, like the president says?

WALSH: Well, I think it is possible that Ahmadinejad knows about it. He, because of his own personal history, his service in the military, has friends and strong ties to both the intelligence apparatus and to the Revolutionary Guards.

It's certainly possible that the Revolutionary Guards are acting on their own autonomously. You know, that happens here in the U.S. government. It's happened in Iran a lot over the years.

That's a government in which there are lots of different groups who are competing against each other. So it's possible. But it would be -- it would be -- it really isn't in their interest to do it. And so it raises a question about why -- why would they do it.

PHILLIPS: All right. This attack, this al Qaeda attack in Iran, what does it tell you? What does it -- I guess it sort of surprised us to see this terrorist activity inside Iran when all we've been talking about is terrorist activity in Iraq funneled through Iran and these weapons.

So what do you make of this, and what does this tell us?

WALSH: Two big things here, Kyra.

Number one, it actually shows that there is a common interest between the U.S. and Iran in that we both hate al Qaeda. We both think of al Qaeda as an enemy.

Remember, al Qaeda are Sunni extremists. Iran is a Shiite government. And Iran has never liked al Qaeda, didn't like the Taliban. The Taliban ended up killing a bunch of their diplomats some years ago and then harbored al Qaeda. So we both appose -- both the U.S. and Iran oppose Sunni violent extremism.

The other big thing here, Kyra, very quickly, is that it portends a very scary future. One of the future scary scenarios is, imagine if Iraq falls apart, you have Sunni extremists, they are mounting attacks in Jordan, as they did before with Zarqawi. Now they start mounting attacks in Iran because Iran might be helping the Shiites who are attacking them. And pretty soon, you spin up into a very, very ugly scene in which the violence is not solely in Iraq, but spills over to borders through terrorist attacks and other sorts of operations in the neighboring countries.

And that's -- that's something that no one wants to have happen.

PHILLIPS: Real quickly, when are you going back to Iran? Do you know yet?

WALSH: I'll be going back within the month.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll talk when you get back.

WALSH: Excellent.

PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, thanks.

WALSH: Thank you.

LEMON: And again, this just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. Al Franken, the comedian and creator -- one of the creators of "Saturday Night Live," has announced that he will run for Senate in Minnesota in a seat currently held by Republican senator Norm Coleman.

Now, he made that announcement from his Web site. There you're looking at his Web site now . And on that Web site, he says, "Minnesotans have the right to be skeptical about whether I'm ready for this challenge and to wonder how seriously I would take the responsibility that I'm asking you to give me."

That is from Al Franken. We will talk to a number of CNN analysts and correspondents about this race, about Al Franken jumping in the race here. That's coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, breaking up is hard to do. Not in Hollywood, though, where divorce lawyers may outnumber Botox parlors. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, fame and the flip side of Valentine's Day.

LEMON: And we're following two developing stories for you. Comedian, actor, talk show host Al Franken has thrown his hat into the ring to run for senator in Minnesota.

And we're also following a developing story out of Florida. Anna Nicole Smith's mother and her former companion both fighting over her body. An emergency hearing going on.

We'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens -- as soon as we get some results from that, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

A celebrity's death fires up lawyers from coast to coast. Who knows when Anna Nicole Smith will be allowed to rest in peace? Details right here live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But first, breaking political news. He's famous for the funny stuff but, as his readers and radio listeners know, Al Franken is serious about politics. And now it is official. He's eyeballing a job on Capitol Hill. CNN's Brianna Keilar is in Washington with the very latest for us -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don.

Al Franken made the announcement on Air America, the liberal radio talk network, that he is going to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota. It's also on his website, where you can see if you want to volunteer, you want to get involved in the campaign. So it's up there on the web, as well.

And, of course, you probably know Al Franken from "Saturday Night Live". He used to be one of the cast members and a writer there. And one of his very popular skits was actually that "Daily Affirmations with Stewart Smalley". And it makes you wonder -- you know, I can't resist to say perhaps maybe the mantra will be that, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, doggone it, perhaps Minnesotans will vote for me for a U.S. Senate seat."

Several years ago Al Franken made the turn from comedy into politics, espousing liberal political views. He wrote a number of books. First up, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot and Other Observations". Definitely someone who has spoken his mind over the years.

And then his latest job as a talk radio host on Air America. This was his last day on the liberal talk network where he made his announcement today, Don.

LEMON: And you know, Brianna, he is serious about politics. Many people know that. Of course, this is a state that elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura as their governor. So, about Al Franken, is he a viable candidate? Can voters really see a comedian as their U.S. senator?

KEILAR: Well, certainly pointing to Jesse Ventura, they've certainly looked at someone's who a pro wrestler to be a candidate and then their governor. Now, observers are saying he's not exactly a shoe-in. Franken isn't a shoe-in, but he's certainly a contender. He was very much involved in many Democratic campaigns over the last midterm elections, raising money. He's got a lot of name recognition as well. And that certainly does give him a step up.

LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you for that.

PHILLIPS: Well, in New Jersey what you see depends on where you live. Snow in the northwest, ice in central Jersey, heavy rain with fierce winds on the southern coast.

Reporter Tony Caputo with our affiliate News 12 New Jersey is weathering the elements and he's not alone.

TONY CAPUTO, NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're never quite sure what you are going to get here in Manasquan with this storm. Now it's raining again and the wind has died down dramatically. A short time ago it was all wind and no rain. So it's a real mix here.

Let me bring in Jim and Betty Hatten (ph) from Tom's River, took the ride up, wanted to see what was going on.

Here, you just wanted to come out and take a look at the ocean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my wife is originally from Colorado. So she's never seen a Nor'easter.

CAPUTO: Is that right? It's the first time for her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been down here six years and she's never seen a Nor'easter. So, I said, "You know what? Let's go over and see if the ocean is still there."

What do you think, Betty?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's amazing. I'm afraid of water, basically. But this is awesome. I could stay here all day and look at it.

CAPUTO: You don't see this in Colorado?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, just high mountains.

CAPUTO: No Nor'easters there in Colorado. No ocean, either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were on a cruise to Bermuda last February and we hit a 65 mile-an-hour crosswind coming back from Bermuda.

CAPUTO: No kidding.

So you've certainly had your experiences. Well, folks, thanks you very much for your time. We appreciate it. Please be careful.

And, yes, that's basically the situation here in Manasquan right now. You've got a lot of folks coming out. They want to take a look. You know, not quite sure exactly, our meteorologist could tell you better than I, what we can expect in the near future here in this part of our state. Of course, along the shoreline cooling temperatures are expected. A lot of folks today very concerned about icing into tonight. Of course, tomorrow morning's commute we'll have updates throughout tonight and tomorrow right here on News 12 New Jersey.

That's the latest from Manasquan. We'll send it back to you.

LEMON: That guy, wind gusts in Bermuda and now this. I don't want to be near him.

Well, this winter blast is blamed for at least 12 deaths, sadly. And two of them in Indiana. About 5,000 people there are still without power. Many roads are still impassable. Our senior correspondent Allen Chernoff was out in it in Indianapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Indianapolis everyone is trying to pitch in. And right now we have this truck trying to clear the way because the city, well, they've only been clearing out the main streets. Side streets such as this, still packed with snow. As a matter of fact, they're trying to pull out that minivan right behind this truck as well. So a lot of activity going on over here. People have been pitching in all day long, shoveling, getting the snow blowers out. And this truck in particular is trying to clear the way because most of the people who live along this block, they keep their cars in the back and they drive up through an alleyway. And that alleyway is still packed with snow.

About 10 inches fell here in Indianapolis. And that really made the roads quite slick. More than 500 accidents since yesterday, really very dangerous driving. To the north, 18 inches. And areas around Munsee, to the south, far less, only about four inches. But there was plenty of ice over there. And that caused some real power problems.

At the peak of the problem, we had more than 13,000 customers without power yesterday. Right now, it's about 2,000 customers who are down.

But, clearly, still a very difficult go over here. Lots of people putting in plenty of man-hours and lots of lots of sweat-hours, as well just to get the area cleared so people can get their cars out.

And, of course, some people are just taking the lazy route. The gentleman who owns that car told me he's just going to wait for it all to thaw out.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Indianapolis. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Do you miss the snowy cities that you once lived in?

PHILLIPS: Sometimes I do.

LEMON: You do?

PHILLIPS: Old Green Bay, Wisconsin.

LEMON: But not of all this craziness?

PHILLIPS: There was no such thing as a snow day in this business. You've got to be out there in it.

Well, you, our viewers, are sending us what you are seeing in your cities and towns. We appreciate it. Let's look at some of our iReports.

From Lisa Ellison, neither rain nor snow nor dark of night shall keep the postal carrier from his appointed rounds. She says, "I guess we can add blizzards to the list. The postal carrier's truck got stuck twice on our street in Kokomo, Indiana and he had to shovel himself out to continue his route."

LEMON: And speaking of going nowhere. This is a parking lot in North Homestead, Ohio. Oh my goodness, look at that. George Abraham sent in this iReport, saying he couldn't dig his car out of the snow, so he didn't go to work today. That's a legitimate excuse.

PHILLIPS: And then there's this. Jenny Grasse of Annandale, New Jersey says they lived there for 15 years. This is the first time this pond has frozen in the shape of a heart. She says it's perfect for Valentine's Day.

We're going to read some other iReports straight ahead from the NEWSROOM this Valentine's Day. How do CNN viewers make their love last a lifetime?

LEMON: Plus, breaking up certainly is hard to do. Not in Hollywood, though, where divorce lawyers may outnumber Botox parlors. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, fame and the flipside of Valentine's Day.

PHILLIPS: And our Susan Candiotti joining us live in just a moment. Anna Nicole Smith, that emergency hearing we were talking about, the battle over her body. We're going to bring you more right after the break.

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LEMON: The fight over Anna Nicole Smith's baby isn't the only custody battle brewing after her sudden death. There's now a tug of war over her body. We're following dueling hearings and judges decisions from two coasts. CNN's national correspondent Susan Candiotti has just left the courtroom in Florida where an emergency hearing was happening. And Susan, what did the judges say? SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's the most memorable quote, I think, from the hearing. Quote, "The body belongs to me now." That's from Judge Larry Sidelynn (ph), he is the probate court judge here. And he said, for now, this matter will be taken up by me in probate court.

And he's going to decide many of the issues possibly as early as tomorrow. That's when the bulk of this matter will be heard.

What is at stake here? Again, the main argument for this day seems to be who is in control of the remains of Anna Nicole Smith. As you know, she is currently -- her remains are at the Broward County medical examiner's office. And attorneys for Howard K. Stern, her partner, have gone to court, an emergency hearing to say we want custody of the body. In fact, we want to bring the body to the Bahamas where Anna Nicole Smith wanted to be buried next to her son Daniel, who died in September of an overdose.

Now there is no legal documentation for that. And Mr. Stern is said to be the executor of her will and he maintains those are her wishes. But the will has not been placed in court, nor has he been officially named in a California court where the will was filed.

But nothing has happened on that track. Then you have other matters at play here. And that is, what about a paternity test? As you know, there are several men who claim to be the father of Dannielynn. That is the 5-month-old baby of Anna Nicole Smith. That baby is in the Bahamas now.

And attorneys for one of those who claims to be the father, Larry Birkhead, an ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, they have lawyers at this hearing today, too. And they said, your honor, we want to have samples done or oversee samples that have already been taken, DNA, so that we can have it tested by our own people and that matter hasn't been decided yet either.

So the bottom line here is that they decided not to decide anything at this emergency hearing and to take all of these matters up starting tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning here in probate court -- Don?

LEMON: All right, Susan Candiotti, stick by. We may need you. We're going to talk to Jeffrey Toobin now, our legal analyst, senior legal analyst here at CNN.

OK so Jeffrey, we've got this happening in Florida. And according to what Susan said, she wanted to be buried with her son who died last September. Also she bought a plot big enough for four caskets. And that was supposed to be -- she wanted to be buried next to Daniel, two spots for that, and then also for her late husband J. Howard Marshall, the ashes and one for Howard K. Stern.

So we've got this, we've got the DNA. Can you guide us through some of these legal questions and ramifications here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST (on phone): Well, the main issue is, will there be a DNA sample that can be used to identify Dannielynn, her newborn baby's father?

And so they will need DNA from the mother, from Anna Nicole Smith, from the baby, and from the prospective fathers. It sounds like this is a problem that is going to work itself out. As long as the judge in California is satisfied that a DNA sample has been taken that can be used in testing, I assume he will consent to the release of the body in short order. Perhaps even tomorrow.

But this relatively minor controversy illustrates the enormous complexity of the legal battle that is shaping up over her prospective fortune and custody of her child.

LEMON: And just real quick, Jeffrey. Of course the judge is saying it belongs to him, the probate court will decide possibly as early as tomorrow as to who gets the body. If there were a living will or some sort of will, might this -- all of this may not be going on right now?

TOOBIN: Well, not necessarily because a judge's concern about the custody issue could trump a will. Howard K. Stern has said that a will does exist and I don't think anyone has seen it yet. It's early for it to be filed.

But he says it does exist and that could address some issues about custody and disposition of the will and a guardian for the baby. But certainly the DNA tests will have to take place in any case, even if the will specifies those other issues.

LEMON: OK, all right, Jeffrey. Don't go anywhere. We're going to bring Susan back in. Susan and Jeffrey, here are the two things. Just for our viewers, we've got Vergie Arthur, who is the mother of Anna Nicole Smith and then we have Howard K. Stern, who was her last companion and they are fighting over the body.

And then we have Larry Birkhead, who says he is the newborn baby's, or the five-month-old baby's father, as well as Howard K. Stern. So there are a couple of things going on. And we'll get to Susan a little bit later.

But, Jeffrey, again, this probate judge in Florida, how much power -- can he trump anything that will happen with the judge in California? Or anything that will happen in the Bahamas? How much power does he have in all of this? He seems to be the key player in this when it comes to getting DNA and who is going to get the body, which will determine everything here.

TOOBIN: Well, the -- it's not a legal saying, but it is still largely true that possession is nine-tenths of the law. And he's in Florida, the body is in Florida. It's likely he'll exert more influence on how these issues are resolved than the one in California.

Ultimately, if Larry Birkhead is convinced that his rights are being violated, he could go to federal court, which might trump the state court judge in Florida. But it does sound like this is an issue that can be resolved without the two courts fighting because the only issue that the California judge appears to be concerned about is preserving a DNA sample.

The California judge is not participating in the issue, as I understand it, of who gets the body for burial. He's just trying to protect Larry Birkhead's right to get a sample so that his claim of parentage can be resolved.

LEMON: OK, Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much for that. I've got to ask you, in all your time of being a legal analyst, you've done this a lot. Have you ever seen anything like this?

TOOBIN: You know, the Anna Nicole Smith is -- case is unique in many respects. And certainly the intersection of Florida, California and Bahamian law is unique in my experience.

LEMON: And clearly, we are sort of laughing here because it's just sort of exasperating. There are so many things here. Sadly, there's a small baby involved in this and of course, the death of Anna Nicole Smith and people fighting over her body and DNA and custody of the child as well. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much. Don't go anywhere, we're going to have details on this story, including other breaking news, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM on the other side of the break.

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PHILLIPS: Soaring executive pay is the hot topic on Wall Street and Capitol Hill. Now, one company is doing something about it. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.

Happy Valentine's Day, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy Valentine's Day to you, Kyra.

This is something sweet to investors, I'm sure because they've been burned on this. We're going to do a little show and tell. It's the company behind this duck. See it, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: It's cute.

LISOVICZ: He actually -- he does talk.

PHILLIPS: It's not the Aflac duck, though.

LISOVICZ: It's the Aflac duck.

PHILLIPS: He looks kind of small.

LISOVICZ: With a big, big mouth, though. And, you know, it's the kind of -- there it is. There it is. I don't know if you heard it.

It's the kind of -- that's it. It's the kind of issue that makes investors scream just like that, just like that duck. The insurance company behind the duck, Aflac, is going to let shareholders weigh in by allowing them to vote on executive pay packages. The vote won't be binding, but some analysts say it will be difficult for Aflac to ignore its investors.

The move would, obviously, better align CEO pay with performance. Aflac, which is famous for that exasperated duck in its ads, is the first major U.S. company to give shareholders the right to vote on executive compensation. Others are expected to follow.

Of course, this comes amid a growing outcome about exorbitant executive pay packages. Most recently, Home Depot's chief Bob Nardelli was ousted due to his hefty pay check and management style. During his time at the helm, Home Depot's stock didn't move much. But Nardelli still took home a $200 million severance package, something that still burns up investors -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we've never heard of that before, some big CEO or exec taking home a nice, big bonus check. Just never happens, right?

LISOVICZ: No, sometimes, you know, there's the golden parachute. Even -- remember Michael Ovitz at Disney? I think he was there less -- maybe a little over bit a year and he got a $100 million payout. They're contractually binding. And so you've got to get -- you've got to make sure these contracts haven't been written in the first place, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, a lot of people have been talking about this, no doubt.

LISOVICZ: Yes. Well, I mean, President Bush was just here two weeks ago and that was one of his complaints about executive pay. And Congress is considering an amount of deferred compensation that executives can receive.

Let's turn to Wall Street real quick.

(MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Maria Lucas, she did fall in love. But forget love story. Love on the rocks better describes the bulk of Hollywood marriages. Why do celebs have such a hard time with the mating game?

CNN's Brooke Anderson tries to take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Seems right now that all I've ever done in my life has been making my way here to you.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happens all of the time in the movies. True love played out on the big screen, like in this scene between Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in 1995's "The Bridges of Madison County".

So why does it seem in Los Angeles County, home to many of Hollywood's biggest stars, love and marriage often do not end happily ever after? COOPER LAWRENCE, PSYCHOLOGIST/RADIO SHOW HOST: Anybody who gets any kind of fame or notoriety very quickly, it gives them a certain sense of entitlement. It changes who they are. So once you get into the marriage and you have to start compromising -- "Well, my life isn't about compromise. I don't have to compromise any other aspect of my life and you should understand that."

ANDERSON: Overly pampered lifestyles and often challenging career demands could be to blame.

LAWRENCE: Reese and Ryan are two kids who got married very young and, whereas the rest of us developmentally, we would continue together and grow together, her career, specifically, took on such another life of its own.

RYAN PHILLIPPE, ACTOR: There are so many different factors that go in and 50 percent of people in the country have found themselves in that situation who have been married once.

ANDERSON: Despite the very public celebrity splits, many marriages in Hollywood can and often do overcome the glitz and glamour.

COOPER: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are great example, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick, and Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, they've been together a very long time. So there can be very happy marriages in Hollywood.

ANDERSON: Eastwood's second trip down the aisle has lasted for ten years, while Streep has been happily hitched since 1978.

For many A-list couples, it's all about finding that delicate balance between work and family.

COOPER: Helen Mirren is almost a visionary when it comes to marriage, especially in Hollywood, because it's the idea that you have to be individuals. You've got to allow the other person to create and be who they are.

HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: We allow each other the freedom to work and that I think is the greatest gift a husband can give a wife and wife can give a husband. And, especially when they're both artists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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