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American Morning
President Bush News Conference; Missing Soldier Video: Militant Web Site Posts Proof; Is Iran Involved?; Storm Slams Midwest to Northeast
Aired February 14, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, February 14th, Valentine's Day.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
We're glad you're with us.
We begin with news just in from the White House. President Bush will have a news conference at 11:00 Eastern Time. Iraq, North Korea, the economy, a lot on his mind.
Our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joining us live now from the White House.
Elaine, tell us what prompted this news conference.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Miles.
A senior administration official tells CNN that by the time President Bush has his news conference, a couple of hours from now, he will have talked to his new commander on the ground in Iraq, General David Petraeus. He, of course, took command formally over the weekend.
The president will make a brief statement, we are told, about five to seven minutes long, talking about Iraq, including a mention of the debate going on in the House, on Capitol Hill. Also, the president will be talking about North Korea.
Now, we understand the president, of course, will be taking questions during this news conference, and he'll be asked about -- likely about Muqtada al-Sadr, the whereabouts of him. Two senior administration officials said yesterday that he in fact had fled to Iran.
Also, there are questions about recent statements by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Peter Pace. He seemed to contradict military and administration officials when he said that there was no evidence that the Iranian government is complicit in supplying munitions to Iraqi insurgents.
It's been a while, Miles, since he's had a news conference, nearly two months, so a lot on the agenda -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Elaine Quijano. We'll let you get back to work coming up with some very sharp questions for him.
Once again, that White House news conference is scheduled for 11:00 this morning Eastern Time. CNN will bring it to you live, of course -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: A couple of big stories out of Iraq that we're following for you this morning. There is videotape of a kidnapped U.S. soldier just surfacing. It happened just a couple of hours ago. He's an Iraqi-American working as a translator, hasn't been seen since October.
Another big story out of Iraq -- within the last hour, the U.S. is confirming that the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iran. That contradicts what we had heard. Reports had him in Iraq.
Arwa Damon's gathering details on both these stories for us this morning from Baghdad.
Arwa, good morning.
Let's start with the videotape of this soldier, first and foremost. The big question, of course, is when were these -- when was the videotape taken?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, and that is the issue that is of concern, this videotape which shows specialist Ahmed Altaie, an Iraqi-American who was kidnapped on October 23rd, has no date on it. The family -- we spoke to his uncle. Entifadh Qanbar said that he was very relieved to have seen this.
This is the first proof of life that the family has seen since he was kidnapped some four months ago, saying that Altaie looked like he was in good health, that he had aged. But again, there is no specific date on this videotape.
Now, according to Qanbar, the family has been in touch with the group that kidnapped his nephew known as -- it's a very little-known Shia militia group. And the video was posted on a Web site for supporters of the Mehdi militia. But they have been in touch with the family for quite some time now, and the family's main demand was some sort of proof of life. But the group had not come forward with anything and, in fact, cut off all communications on January 27th -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right.
Now let's turn to this other story this morning. This is a confusing one, because you have two groups reporting two very different things about where Muqtada al-Sadr is.
You were telling us earlier this morning that his people say he's in Iraq, you just haven't seen him because of the holidays, the religious holiday. Then you have the U.S. military, Major General Caldwell in his daily briefing, saying, no, we're confirming that he is in Iran.
Explain for me the nuance and background of these two different versions.
DAMON: Well, Soledad, I mean, look, there's a couple of things that could be going on here. It could be, I mean, that the U.S. military obviously has some sort of intelligence that indicates that Muqtada al-Sadr is not here. It could be that they are misinformed and that al-Sadr's people are in fact correct, that Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iraq. Or it could be that perhaps he has traveled to Iran and al- Sadr's bloc is merely telling us that he is in Iraq.
But his political group did come out recently, in the last hour, actually, with a statement saying that Muqtada al-Sadr is in Iraq, calling the Americans liars, and saying that this was just U.S. propaganda. But regardless of his whereabouts, even if he is in Iran, this would not be all that unusual.
He has made a number of official trips there in the past, about half a dozen of them. He has also made countless personal trips to Iran.
Now, if he has in some way received intelligence that he may be specifically targeted by U.S. forces, that could have caused him to flee, but it really would be highly unlikely. So really, Soledad, at this point two different stories. And it is very difficult to determine exactly what reality is. But this is Iraq, after all -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And you are watching it for us this morning.
Arwa Damon in Baghdad. Completely contradictory stories on that one, but we'll get to the bottom of it.
Thanks, Arwa.
Also out of Baghdad this morning, the U.S. is now clarifying remarks that were made by the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Peter Pace, that seemed to be in conflict with what his people in Baghdad were saying over the weekend. The question was, is the Iranian government supplying weapons to the insurgents?
CNN's Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon.
Barbara, good morning. What did he answer to that question?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, one hates to lay wagers right on TV here, but I'm going to wager that if President Bush is asked about this at the press conference, we will find out that the president is in agreement with his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Pace expressing a lot of caution, tying the weapons shipments from Iran into Iraq directly to the highest levels of the Iranian government.
Earlier today, General Caldwell, the chief spokesman in Baghdad, seeming to back off of those initial assertions that were made over the weekend. Here's what he had to say.
(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, Soledad, what was not said at this briefing in public today, General Caldwell would not go where the briefers anonymously went over the weekend, tying these weapons shipments to the highest levels of the Iranian government. He just wouldn't go there today.
He says all of this is really about force protection and that people were hyping it. General Pace, of course, since yesterday has been saying he was not willing to tie it to the highest levels of the Iranian government, and it looks like people are falling in line now with General Pace -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. So then explain to me, once again, we have these contradictory -- I mean, completely contradictory statements. So explain both sides of this to me.
STARR: Well, what appears to be going on, if you -- if one sort of just takes aside all the politics of Washington, there are weapons coming in from Iran. They are tied to an Iranian group of the Revolutionary Guard called the Al Kuds force. That seems to not be in dispute.
It's that extra step, that connecting of the dots. Is all of this -- and we see some of the pictures here, some of the evidence that the U.S. has presented -- is all of this evidence directly tied, are these weapons coming in at the orders of the highest level of the Iranian government?
What the military, what the intelligence community said over the weekend is that, yes, they were tying it to the Revolutionary Guard, which reports to the supreme leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The question General Pace is bringing up is this: he says, OK, we have the weapons, we have the evidence, but we do not know in the United States military, he says, whether we can really tie this to the orders of the Iranian government.
That really seems to be the issue here -- can you connect the final dot? Yesterday the White House was saying yes. General Pace was saying not so fast. We'll see what the president has to say a little later today.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You'll be certain that that's a question at his news conference that we're expecting a little bit later this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Barbara Starr clarifying it all for us, as always.
Thanks, Barbara. Appreciate it -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Old Man Winter throwing everything he's got at us today. Heavy snow, freezing rain, ice, gusty winds, blizzard warnings in effect in northeastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio. And big storm warnings just about everywhere east and north of there.
In Chicago, about nine inches of snow on the ground right now and more could be on the way. It could be the heaviest February snowfall in Chicago in seven years.
Indianapolis now. Ten inches of snow, very cold there. Overnight lows around 10 above. The temperature now is about 30, but the wind's about 20 miles per hour and gusty. It makes it feel a lot colder.
And Washington. You want to fly there? Forget about it this morning.
Reagan National and Dulles are closed until at least mid-morning. And federal workers can take a vacation day, if they'd like. If they decide to come in, they can roll in about two hours late.
We have complete coverage of the storm for you, of course. CNN's Rob Marciano is on the edge of those blizzard warnings in Cleveland, Ohio. And Bob Franken is in Washington, where it is very quiet on the mall.
Let's begin with Rob in Cleveland.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Miles, the wind has not let up at all here, sustained at 30 miles an hour, gusting at times to 40 miles an hour. Wind-chills well below zero, near 10 below. And you can see the wind blowing sideways.
We are on the shores of Lake Erie. That's behind me. Even though these winds are out of the north off the lake, this is not lake-effect snow. Most of the lake, actually, is frozen. So it's tough to get lake-effect snow this time of year.
So far, officially we've seen easily over a foot of snow, but reports of five-foot drifts in spots making it definitely difficult for crews to get around here. By the way, Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame off here in the distance, shrouded in -- shrouded in snow, much like maybe the Great Pyramids would be during a sandstorm.
We're told about two-thirds of the roadways are deemed passable, but road crews are out here just trying to get things done. Residential crews now trying to clear the residential roads. And then of course, you've got the private sector doing what they can to get manpower out here to actually shovel the roads and then rig up bobcats and backhoes to shovel some of the snow and clear it away. Schools, a lot of them are closed. This is not a paralyzing storm, but it is certainly not fun to be out here. It's going to be the biggest storm of this season in Cleveland. It could be, before it's all said and done, Miles, the biggest snow they've seen in quite a number of years.
Back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Rob Marciano in Cleveland -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Miles.
Let's check in with Chad. He's at the CNN weather center watching it all for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: And as we said, Chicago's on track for the heaviest February snowfall in the last seven years. We sent CNN's Jonathan Freed behind the scenes to see just how O'Hare airport tries to keep it all up in the center of the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When winter storms hit, snow removal crews at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport run around the clock to keep the airfield operating.
(on camera): Reports from pilots are key here in keeping a runway cleared. Once the planes touch down, the pilots radio in with what's called breaking action. Anything less than the level of good triggers a response from these teams, and the plows go out and start working the runways.
(voice over): Some 35 pieces of heavy equipment rush onto a runway at once. Working in tandem, they spread out across the 150- foot spans, clearing landing strips two miles long. The teams plow, sweep, and blow the snow out of the way, and can even de-ice the surface when necessary.
(on camera): So part of the strategy these days is to never actually to close a runway, but just to ask for a gap in takeoffs and landings?
BILL PALIVOS, ASST. COMM. FOR AIRFIELD OPERATIONS: Absolutely. We create a gap, along with the help of our personnel up in the tower, working with the controllers to form this 15 to 20-minute gap so we can get our equipment down the runway and off and have that airplane come right back into that runway.
FREED (voice over): And that means less holding time for passengers.
Jonathan Freed, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE) S. O'BRIEN: Believe it or not, there are no delays at O'Hare right now. We're going to keep you updated, though, on that situation. And of course Chad and all our other correspondents are tracking the storm all morning long for you -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: DaimlerChrysler in need of serious repairs this morning. In a little over an hour, at 9:30 Eastern, the company revealing it lost $1.3 billion last year. The problem, they say, too many unpopular cars rolled off the assembly lines.
We expect DaimlerChrysler to cut 10,000 hourly workers. Some white collar workers also will be let go. And three plants in Delaware, Detroit and St. Louis are slated for shutting (ph) -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a truly dangerous drive to tell you about. Take a look at some of these pictures.
A truck lands on top of cars, the highway shut down. We'll show you more of this videotape and tell you what exactly caused this big pileup.
Also, the stormy weather slows down the federal government in Washington, D.C. We'll tell you how things are looking in the nation's capital today.
A short break. We're back in just a moment.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
There was videotape that surfaced overnight. It shows a U.S. soldier who was kidnapped in Baghdad back in October. U.S. military officials say they are aware of this videotape, but the big question is, where is that soldier now and how old is this videotape?
Ice and snowstorms are slamming sections of the country, being blamed now for at least five deaths. Most of those deaths occurring on the very slippery roads.
Chad Myers is watching it all for us quarter past the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Washington is a place well known for hot air, but it's not enough to melt away the winter storm phobia that grips the city every year. This morning, federal workers deemed nonessential can take a vacation day, or if they feel compelled to come in, they can be two hours late without a tardy slip. Yesterday they got to head home early.
Our central man in Washington is Bob Franken. He's on the Mall with more.
Hello, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me use a technical term, Miles. We would call this a wimpy winter. Nevertheless, just the very hint of a storm is enough to make the Washington area very nervous.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice over): At 2:00 yesterday afternoon, nonessential federal employees were sent home to prepare and to celebrate Valentine's Day and the fact that they were among the nonessentials. In the name of full disclosure, we should point out that not everyone went right home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems a little silly to go home when there's barely anything outside, but with it icing over, it could be a little dangerous. So I don't know. I certainly don't mind the lessening of traffic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pretty pathetic, because, I mean, this is like a half inch of snow. And I'm from Pennsylvania, where we'll get two feet of snow and nothing shuts down.
FRANKEN: Closing down federal government offices here is not a decision to be taken lightly, by the way. Every day costs taxpayers about $67 million in D.C.-area payroll.
It happens every winter. Inclement weather causes this entire area to freeze. But sometimes it's a no-brainer.
A trip down the icy memory lane takes us back almost exactly four years ago to President's Day, 2003. That's already a federal holiday, a day off, Monday. But with 18 inches on the ground, the government offices stayed closed on Tuesday.
In January, 2000, another major winter dump, but this time the Office of Personnel Management didn't decide to call it a day off until 7:00 that morning, which really infuriated all those federal employees already on their way to their nonessential jobs.
That doesn't usually include Congress, by the way. I mean, the members are from out of town, they can't go home. They're not going anywhere, so they may as well to work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: So, we're sort of in a modified shutdown here. People can stay home if they want.
Miles, we've been watching all those reports from upstate New York with the snow towering over the head of our very brave reporters. I want to give you a point of reference here. I want show you what we're dealing with here in comparison to upstate New York. It's really tough going here, Miles, as I say. Wimpy winter.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Bob. Hey, I think your shoe laces are untied there. You might want to take care of that.
FRANKEN: Well, you know, somebody's going to have to foot the bill for this.
M. O'BRIEN: It's casual dress day for Bob Franken, wearing his jeans out there.
All right. Thank you very much, Bob. Putting it all in perspective for us. But hey, the airports aren't closed there, so there's something going on.
FRANKEN: That's true.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Some top stories we're following for you this morning.
Where is Muqtada al-Sadr? The U.S. military says the radical cleric is in Iran. His followers say no he's not -- he's in Iraq.
The Northeast is feeling it now. That major winter storm is hitting much of the country. The storm front brings snow and ice and sleet and high winds, too, from states from the Midwest to New England.
M. O'BRIEN: Microsoft is trying to plug some security holes in its software. The company says if you don't update with the fixes, hackers could take control of your computer. They affect Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Windows, Office and Works.
You can download the security updates at microsoft.com/security. You should probably always stay close to that site, because they always issue a lot of fixes to keep you safe as you surf the Web.
And starting today you'll no longer need an invitation to use Google's free e-mail service, Gmail. Google now saying it has enough storage capacity to handle more users.
Apparently, they had shut the door because it was just so wildly popular. And it's free. Isn't that great? All that space and it's free.
More space that I get on my CNN e-mail by a long-shot for free. Why is that?
Personalization is the hot new trend, and it seems like you can get your face on just about everything.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. M. O'BRIEN: And maybe some things we shouldn't have our face on. But nevertheless, Ali Velshi, at 25 minutes past the hour, is here with a Valentine's Day tip or two.
VELSHI: I'm not certain about this one, but if you really need your face or someone's face around, check this out. Kleenex, in order to kick up the market a little bit on sagging tissue sales, you can now have personalized Kleenex boxes. These will run you...
M. O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Soledad has no sagging tissue at all. I would not say that.
(LAUGHTER)
S. O'BRIEN: Can I see that?
VELSHI: And you can -- this is about to get way more dangerous than this. These are about $5, plus $3 for shipping, so $8 to get your face put on a personalized box of tissues. But here's what is really interesting.
This is what I got. Yesterday Soledad was a little annoyed that I was anti-Valentine's Day.
S. O'BRIEN: The anti-Valentine's Day cards.
VELSHI: So talk about romance. Customized romance books, novels. See the back here? It's got...
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, are we the authors, or are we...
VELSHI: No, we are the subjects.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, lord. Let me see it.
VELSHI: So listen to this. Listen to how this reads. "Racing Hearts." "In 'Racing Hearts,' our irresistible heroine, Soledad O'Brien, mixes business with pleasure as a big-league agent in the high-stakes world of auto racing."
S. O'BRIEN: May I read a line?
VELSHI: Go ahead.
S. O'BRIEN: "A strong voice shouted out orders from aboard the ship. Turning her head, Soledad saw the handsome pirate who boarded the dragon and knew without a doubt that he was indeed the famous -- her heart pounded with -- this is horrible!
VELSHI: Oh, yes, and that's about -- I was very worried, because you probably only grabbed the cleanest part in there. It goes on to say, "Soledad expects no better from the newest client on her roster, Ali Velshi, but our hard-driving hero has brains and charm to match his breathtaking good looks, and soon Ali has driven his way into her heart."
S. O'BRIEN: "He stripped off his shirt. A raw display of..."
M. O'BRIEN: Human resources, line three. Human resources on line three.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Be very careful for whom you order this.
S. O'BRIEN: Wait, so how do you -- how do you do this?
VELSHI: Thirty-five bucks, you get a form you fill out, and it will ask you things like your name, your last name, your eye color, your body type, your friend's eye color. You put all that kind of stuff in, and you have little options, and they send you this book in a few days.
Kind of neat. It makes good reading. I'll give you a little book review of this later.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Happy Valentine's Day.
We've lost Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: This is so funny. It's so bad, this would actually be an hysterical gift.
VELSHI: Well, Happy Valentine's Day, Soledad. I guess I'm not that much of an anti-Valentine's Day guy.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm kind of glad I'm out of the book.
Thank you. Appreciate that.
S. O'BRIEN: Top stories of the morning are coming up next, including a look at that brutal winter storm that's slamming the Midwest. We've been talking about it all morning. Severe weather expert Chad Myers is tracking it for us.
You'll want to stay with AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Deadly storms, snow, ice and whipping winds across a dozen states right now. The message for travelers, it's going to get worse.
S. O'BRIEN: On the run or at home in Iraq? The military says one of Iraq's most dangerous men has run off to Iran. Muqtada al Sadr's supporters have a different story on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning, welcome back, everybody, Wednesday, February 14th, Valentine's Day. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: Happy Valentine's Day to you. I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
We begin with some businesses, business I should say at the White House. Some news came into us just a short time ago. President Bush will hold a White House press conference at 11:00 a.m. Eastern today. It's his first press conference since his state of the union address. Obviously, a lot on the agenda right now -- Iraq, North Korea, the economy and more. Live coverage here on CNN, 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Our other top story this morning is this major winter storm that's churning into the northeast now. There are blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings and ice and heavy snow, bringing a lot of misery from the Great Lakes to New England.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the worst. It's the worst. It's terrible out here.
S. O'BRIEN (voice-over: Here, unfortunately, is all across the Midwest and into the northeast. In St. Louis, eight inches of snow on the ground as of last night, 30 mile-per-hour winds creating dangerous whiteout conditions. Ft. Wayne, Indiana, hammered with a foot of snow and six-foot high snow drifts in places. While the plows are out, most people are staying in. Government offices and schools are closed. More than 900 flights cancelled at Chicago's O'Hare. The highways not much better. Around Cleveland, drivers are stranded by snow, freezing rain, and brutal winds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long have you been stuck out here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just about 30 minutes now.
M. O'BRIEN: The winter blast is also being blamed for at least one death, a 9-year-old girl who was killed by a falling tree. East of Pittsburgh and Virginia, dozens of accidents already reported on slushy and icy roads. And in upstate New York, they've already gotten almost 12 feet of snow in some places. The plows in Syracuse and the guys driving them are getting ready for even more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just another day in Syracuse, you know what I mean?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: It is another day in Syracuse. Blizzard warnings are in effect, in fact, right now in upstate New York. And AMERICAN MORNING's Greg Hunter is in Albany, New York this morning for us. Good morning, Greg.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Soledad, 8 degrees here. The snow plows are running. Just about 45 minutes ago the snowplow came right along here. Can you tell? Well, looks like about an inch of snow has fallen. Firefighters we talked to who are driving around in the truck checking out the city said I think about six inches on the ground and they expect about at least 24 inches in the next 24 hours. Can you see the snow coming down? Isn't this amazing? It's just pelting, really coming down hard.
S. O'BRIEN: Quite a mess there this morning. Greg, hang onto that shovel, you're going to need it. You could make some bucks, man!
HUNTER: Hey, I could revert back to when I was a kid in St. Louis, except they didn't have a shovel like this, ergonomically- designed shovel, so it doesn't hurt my back.
S. O'BRIEN: Good luck today. Stay warm. Thanks Greg, Greg Hunter for us this morning in Albany. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: No ergonomics here, shoveling in bare feet.
S. O'BRIEN: The miles he had to walk.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's go to Chad now in the CNN weather center. He's tracking the storm for us. Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I just asked the news desk here to keep that shot up of Albany as long as we can, because it's going to start to get a lot harder. The snow is really going to start to come down now, because the winds have shifted some direction and they're beginning to tap the ocean moisture and that ocean moisture is going to get thrown back into the mountains, into the Berkshires, right on through the Green and White mountains, then back to the Pocono's as well. Many areas there are going to be 24 inches plus. This is what we expect in the next 48 hours. The snow will go from Albany right on back up into the Mt. Pellier (ph) area, right through Rutland and Killington, Killington ski resort may pick up 36, 48 inches of snow.
If you can get there now before it actually starts, today is going to be a powder day for you, by you're going to need the goggles for sure. That's how hard the snow is going to come down and that snow, that heavy snow, that two-foot snowfall totals all the way down even to Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Williamsport, maybe down to Lancaster, New York, as the snow comes pouring back in from the Atlantic. Maine, you're going to et it, Vermont, New Hampshire, you're going to get it. There will be an icy mix along the coast because the water's going to kind of keep the air just a little bit warmer. But I think I'd rather drive on snow than the ice you're going to get in New York City here in just a little bit, guys. I know there's some stuff out there now in New York City, but it's about to get worse.
S. O'BRIEN: But there's no ice in the subways, right? Just want to make sure that.
MYERS: Just careful as you walk down the steps to those subways.
M. O'BRIEN: Down the steps, all right.
MYERS: I have been on my heels many, many times.
M. O'BRIEN: And people just walk right over you. Thank you, Chad.
Politics and comedy intersecting this morning as Al Franken readies for a run for the Senate. The comedian and liberal talk show host is expected to make the announcement on his Air America radio show this afternoon. He's aiming for a seat in his home state of Minnesota, currently held by Republican Norm Coleman. His term is up in '08.
And speaking of 2008, you might have heard there is a race for the oval office under way. One day after his official announcement, Mitt Romney is launching a six-state tour. He will hit New Hampshire and South Carolina, not using the plane behind him there.
And while he has not made it official, there is little doubt Rudy Giuliani is running for president as well. The former New York mayor was in California Tuesday for the opening of the world agriculture expo. Giuliani will be a guest tonight on "Larry King Live" and you can bet Larry will hammer him for an announcement.
A pair of key black leaders in South Carolina offering support to Hillary Clinton's campaign. The two state senators endorsed native son John Edwards in '04, but now they're saying Senator Clinton is the only Democrat who can win the presidency. As for former Senator Edwards, his camp is hoping to put a controversy behind them this morning. A second blogger quitting the campaign after conservative critics accused those campaign staffers of making anti-Catholic remarks on their personal blogs. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, danger in the mail. Threats and now bombs have postal inspectors looking for another possible Unabomber. That story's straight ahead this morning. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories we're following for you -- where in the world is Muqtada al Sadr? The U.S. military is saying the radical cleric and fierce opponent of America is now in Iran. His followers, though, in Iraq are saying no, he's not. We're working on it.
And the northeast is feeling it. So is a good chunk of the Midwest, that major winter storm hitting much of the eastern section of the country. That's a live picture right now from Cleveland, Ohio, near blizzard conditions there. Rob Marciano is on the scene and we're watching it very closely there, all the way up into New England. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Lots of concern this morning about what could be another possible Unabomber. A suspect known as "The Bishop" has been mailing threats and now possibly bombs. CNN's Justice correspondent Kelli Arena tells us there is now a $100,000 reward to find this man.
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KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators are looking for a would-be bomber, a shadowy suspect known only as "The Bishop."
PAUL TRIMBUR, US POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE: We're working day and night on this investigation to solve it as quickly as possible for everybody's safety and security.
ARENA: In 2005, "The Bishop" sent threatening letters to financial services firms, demanding they manipulate stock prices. The letters had a religious overtone. Stocks were to be priced at 666. "The Bishop" claimed it was better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. Last month "The Bishop" upped the ante by sending actual explosive devices through the mail, one with the message, "bang, you're dead." Security expert Fred Burton has seen the letters.
FRED BURTON, STRATFOR.COM: You could tell in his tone that he's getting very belligerent and that he appears to be more agitated.
ARENA: The devices were put together properly, but were missing one final element -- a trigger to set them off. The targets, once again, financial companies. But as the threat increases, so does the hope "The Bishop" will be caught.
TRIMBUR: Whenever there is something that contains a lot of physical evidence, more so than just fingerprints or hand writing analysis, you have all these parts of the bomb that we can then trace back to where they were sold.
ARENA: Investigators thought they had enough information from one witness to release a sketch of a possible suspect, but decided it wasn't solid enough. Law enforcement officials say they have a good deal of forensic evidence, including fingerprints from earlier letters, but so far, no match, not unusual in cases like this.
GEORG BAURIES, FMR FBI OFFICIAL: So we're dealing with people that are very bright and meticulous, and they cover their trail and they're not going to be sloppy.
ARENA: "The Bishop" has made references to the Unabomber, the DC sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, writing, "it is so easy to kill somebody, it is almost scary." Investigators are hoping to catch him before it ever gets to that. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
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M. O'BRIEN: "CNN Newsroom" just moments away. Heidi Collins at the CNN center with a look ahead. Hello, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles. That right. We have these stories coming up on the "Newsroom" rundown. A presidential news conference, you will see it live right here in the "Newsroom." It'll come your way 11:00 Eastern. President Bush facing questions on Iraq, Iran, and the nuclear deal with North Korea. So watch for that.
And a major winter storm shutting down many schools and disrupting air travel. Two feet of snow could fall in some places, and there is ice in Washington and Philly. Collecting signatures, a ballot initiative would require couples to have children. Activists trying to force the courts into a corner on same-sex marriage. All those stories and more. Join Tony Harris and me, coming up in the "Newsroom" at the top of the hour right here. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Heidi, thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: Either way.
S. O'BRIEN: I'll take it. We both want to spend time with you this morning, Heidi. Thanks. Quarter to the hour.
And Chad Myers has been busy at work all morning, watching what's happening weather-wise, and it is a busy and ugly picture, Chad. Good morning, again.
MYERS: It is. Good morning, Soledad. The storm was just a regular good old North American snowstorm, until it hit the Atlantic Ocean, eight inches, 12 inches across this entire band from north of St. Louis, across Indianapolis, into Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio. South of there, there's some ice, ice through Cincinnati and into West Virginia.
But now, now the storm is interacting with the ocean. It's close enough -- and I put the winds on here. You follow this barb right here. See how that is pointing to the ocean? That means the winds are coming in this way. Down this one, the winds are coming in from the southeast. This ocean-effect snow, so to speak, a coastal low, a nor'easter, is blowing that moisture now back into the cold air here across the Mohawk Valley, the Hudson Valley, through the Alleghenies and the Catskills. The winds are now coming out of the north. So the spin is taking place. The increase in snow amounts taking place. And an exponential increase in the amount of snow and how fast it's going to come down for the rest of the day in progress now as this nor'easter takes shape, as we thought it would. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks for watching it, Chad.
MYERS: Yep.
S. O'BRIEN: We're watching for you this morning also this announcement coming to us from DaimlerChrysler. We're expected to hear that there will be some major layoffs, maybe 10,000 people laid off from the company. We're expecting that announcement in about 45 minutes or so. We're going to bring that to you when it happens.
Also ahead this morning, a high-powered couple and their aspiring love story on this Valentine's Day. We're talking about the former Defense Secretary William Cohen and wife Janet. They'll tell us what they've learned in all their years together about race and religion and romance. We'll talk with them straight ahead.
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M. O'BRIEN: Most news in the morning right here on CNN. Video surfacing overnight showing a U.S. soldier who disappeared in Iraq in October. Unclear how old the tape is or where the soldier is now.
In Iran, a rare terror attack, at least 11 revolutionary guard troops dead after a bomb tears through a military bus. A group linked to al Qaeda taking responsibility. Soledad? >
S. O'BRIEN: This morning we want to share with you a love story that at first glance might seem very unlikely. He was white, a prominent Republican senator from the state of Maine with an even bigger political future ahead as a secretary of defense under President Clinton. She was black, African-American journalist, grew up under Jim Crow laws, outspoken about her race, deep roots in the black community. So how did they find love in black and white? That is the title of a new book, which is a joint venture between our guests this morning, William Cohen and Janet Langhart-Cohen or Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. Nice to see you both.
It's a really terrific book and of course, I'm sort of personally interested in this as well. My mom's black, my dad's white and sort of a story of how people navigate race in their marriage and society has always been fascinating to me. First, let's talk a little about when you got married. You can tell from the book, you were smitten years and years before you actually got together. But there had to be people who said, politically, you don't want to do this. You've got a big future. You're going to marry a black woman. It's going to alienate some of the people who are your constituents. It's a mistake.
WILLIAM COHEN, AUTHOR, "LOVE IN BLACK AND WHITE": I started off perhaps politically alienating people. I was on the House Judiciary Committee way back in 1973-74 and found myself in a very difficult position. I knew at that point I was alienating people by making decisions. And so I've always been sort of outside that ring of the circle of power as such and not being concerned about what other people think. And so, I didn't really put much stock in those who said that you shouldn't do this. I was told I couldn't run for Congress because my name was Cohen --
S. O'BRIEN: Yeah, Cohens are never going to win.
W. COHEN: Exactly. I said well, there's a Senator Muskie. Why can't there be a Senator Cohen? So I've never really been deterred by anyone's opinion about what I can or can't do.
JANET LANGHART-COHEN: Soledad, I was one of those who said no, we shouldn't get married.
S. O'BRIEN: You actually said no several times. Why?
J. COHEN: Not because I'm black and not because he's white, but because America seems to be intolerant. And I thought about Maine. Bill has a wonderful career in politics and I didn't want to ruin it for him. I'd never forgive myself if we got married and he lost his chance to go further and he went on to be secretary of defense.
S. O'BRIEN: At the same time, you're a black woman who's very heavily involved in the black community. You counted Martin Luther King among your acquaintances, Muhammad Ali.
J. COHEN: Malcolm X.
S. O'BRIEN: A friend. You had to know there were going to be black people who say, you of all people, who's here helping the black people, why are you marrying a white guy?
J. COHEN: What does that have to do with the issues of fairness and justice, what color my husband is?
S. O'BRIEN: Didn't matter to you at all?
J. COHEN: Not at all. It's about love. Isn't that what Dr. King talked about, little black girls and white black girls or little black boys holding hands with each other? This is what it is about. Bill and I are not the poster couple for interracial love, but we certainly are an example of how far America's come.
S. O'BRIEN: 11th year anniversary is today.
J. COHEN: Seems like only 10!
S. O'BRIEN: You said as we mentioned, no several times because you found society would potentially be very intolerant. Were you pleasantly surprised? Did you feel like wow, I made a mistake? Society's actually been very embracing of us?
J. COHEN: I underestimated America and I underestimated Maine. That's not to say we still don't have racial problems. We do have racial problems. But Bill and I are working them out.
S. O'BRIEN: You're working out the racial problems of the nation?
J. COHEN: Listen, when we travel all over the world representing this country. When Bill was secretary of defense, people would ask me in certain places I would go, how do you feel representing a country that's been so hateful and mean historically to your people? And I said, look at us. I'm here, we're here, and we're working them out.
S. O'BRIEN: You know what else I'm curious, when I was covering hurricane Katrina, you'd see sort of the sea of black people in front of the convention center, one of those classic shots. And there were some people who thought that that was an indication of what it was saying about black America, it said everything. Other people who said this is not about race, and anybody who talks about race is being unfair. That, to me, said at the very least, we have a long way to go in having a discussion about race.
W. COHEN: Oh, I think we do have a long way to go, and we see it every day. There are stories about Barack Obama. Is America ready for quote a black person to be president? And they usually ask black people that. But it's really a question of whether white people are ready to accept a black person, and why is color a discriminating factor, so to speak? What does that have to do with the qualifications? It's not a question of me endorsing or not endorsing them, but the notion that we have to ask a question as to why a black person would be qualified. We are sending young black men and women over to fight and die in Iraq. We don't ask whether or not they're qualified. And now we raise a question, can a person of color be a president of the United States?
J. COHEN: Oh, it's amazing. We've been to the moon, and here we are on earth, in America, the leading country in the world, still talking about race and pigmentation. Let's talk about qualifications. Let's talk about merit. Let's talk about equality. Let's talk about justice.
S. O'BRIEN: All the things you do in this book, which is called "Love in Black & White." This is a terrific book and what a great book for Valentine's Day as well. Happy anniversary. Thanks for coming in and sharing it with us this morning. We feel honored about that.
J. COHEN: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you Soledad. Ali Velshi will join us after the break. He's got new information after the DaimlerChrysler restructuring announcement. A lot more layoffs than we first told you about. But first, here's a quick look at what "CNN Newsroom" is working on for the top of the hour.
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M. O'BRIEN: Breaking news here. Daimler-Chrysler just out with details of its restructuring plan and it's grimmer than we first thought. Ali Velshi here with the latest. Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, looks like Chrysler Group, the American arm of DaimlerChrysler, is laying off 16 percent of its work force, 13,000 people. This is 9,000 hourly workers in the United States, 2,000 hourly workers in Canada, 2,000 salaried workers in North America. They are going to idle a plant in Newark, Delaware. They're also going to idle an assembly distribution center in Cleveland, Ohio. They'll be cutting shifts in Warren, Michigan, where they make trucks. They'll be cutting shifts in St. Louis, Missouri, where they assemble vehicles. They are going to reduce production by 400,000 vehicles a year. The company is aiming to return to profitability by 2008 and the way in which they're going to do that is they are going to introduce 20 all new vehicles between now and 2009, 13 refreshed vehicles between now and 2009.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow, that's aggressive.
VELSHI: Unlike GM and Ford, the Chrysler Group's business is in America; 90 percent of what they do is sold in North America. This is not a brand that is all over the world. The Daimler part is, the Chrysler part isn't. So these are very big cuts.
M. O'BRIEN: In essence, though, they have some very popular models in cars and then in these trucks and SUVs, they have not done so well.
VELSHI: Everybody's suffering the same way on those. Because while people are buying fewer trucks, the non-American auto makers that operate in America can do it for less money than the American auto makers can. Fundamentally, that's what it is.
M. O'BRIEN: I've read some things on the web where there's talk perhaps that Daimler might spin Chrysler out.
VELSHI: A lot of pressure on the German parent company to just get rid of the Chrysler Group. This is an effort to sort of tell investors they can still make this work. It's both for Chrysler. They are not in the same trouble with the other two, the other Detroit auto makers are in. But there in trouble now and this is a bold move, 13,000 workers, never good news.
M. O'BRIEN: You got a busy day ahead of you.
VELSHI: Yeah.
M. O'BRIEN: Ali Velshi, thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) All right, Ali thank you. That's it. We're out of time. That's it for this AMERICAN MORNING. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: And good morning everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
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