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American Morning

Mid-Atlantic Digs Out; Reagan National Airport Reopens; New Orleans Victory Over Colts Set Off Celebration; Assault on the Taliban; New Credit Card Rules Coming; "R" Word Politics; Michigan Governor's Race; Toyota Owner Considers Lawsuit

Aired February 08, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello. It is Monday, February 8th, the day after the big game. Did you watch?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did. Apparently, you did as well.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, you know, we're flying by the seat of our pants this morning.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. John Roberts is off today. I'm Kiran Chetry.

HOLMES: And hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. I'll be hanging out here in place of John Roberts this week while he's taking so much deserved time off. I want to tell you about some of the top stories that we're keeping an eye on.

People still digging out from the snow again on the east coast right now. They are struggling to recover from a record-setting blizzard. Tens of thousands still without power right now, and flights still grounded as well. Roads are blocked. It's just a mess still. And this morning more bad news for people dealing with the mess. We are live on the ground with all the details.

CHETRY: Also, the New Orleans Saints, the Super Bowl champs this morning, for the first time ever. They beat the favorite Indianapolis Colts and set off a wild all-night party in New Orleans. And our Ed Lavandera was in the middle of it all.

HOLMES: Also U.S. forces set to launch a major offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan. NATO and Afghan troops are going to be helping out. But instead of trying to take the Taliban by surprise, plans for the attack being made public. And that's on purpose. A live report on a not so secret mission. That's ahead.

CHETRY: But first, the mid-Atlantic bracing for round two. That's right. The region that was hit hard over the weekend with a blizzard dumping more than two feet of snow in some places now bracing for a second storm. The record-setting storm over the weekend brought Washington to a standstill. Still that way this morning in many places.

A convoy of plows are still working to clear the roads. Tens of thousands of people still have no power, flights canceled and it's having a ripple effect across the country. In fact, most schools and businesses in the D.C. metropolitan area are closed.

And the federal government also taking a snow day. Officials this morning say that the commute is just too dangerous. It's a decision that ends up costing taxpayers $100 million in lost productivity. Also to top it all off, this morning, there is another storm expected.

Rob Marciano is live at the extreme weather center. We also have Sarah Lee live at Reagan National Airport. We start though with Reynolds Wolf. He's in Alexandria, Virginia. That was one of the hardest hit areas.

Hey, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really was. You're absolutely right. This morning we're still digging out.

Now, we're currently in downtown Alexandria, right across the section of Royal Street and Cain (ph) street. And let's take a shot to show you what's happening down here.

You can see though we've got pretty decent conditions on the roadways, but on either side the snow is packed up as the plows have been coming through. They're still going to try to remove this and, of course, the more snow in the forecast, that's the last thing they want to deal with.

Now although the roads are pretty good, you have to remember many of the back roads all across the region are in horrible shape. But these guys are doing everything they can. You see the plows coming on through here. This is going to be a busy time for them. And again, they've been doing a great job on the freeways. But in terms of travel in other places around the area like say D.C. metro, well for the trains, the underground trains are the only ones operating and they're operating only every 30 minutes. So it's certainly is slow and go.

But here in Alexandria, it is certainly a new morning, a new day and we've got the mayor with us. Mayor Bill Euille. Great to have you.

You're a lifelong resident. You've ever seen it like this?

MAYOR BILL EUILLE, MAYOR OF ALEXANDRIA: Never. Never. Been here 59 years, and this is the biggest storm back-to-back storms we've seen in terms of having to deal with, and it's a lot. It's really cramping our lifestyles and impacting, you know, quality of life and the economy and everything else.

WOLF: What can people expect today? I mean, obviously, you know, people shouldn't be on the roads but they try to come here or people that live here. What can they anticipate today?

EUILLE: Well, I think folks can anticipate what they experienced for the past several days. The fact that we're in cleanup mode we want folks to stay home, stay off the street, be safe so we can get the streets cleared. And we've gotten the primary roads. We haven't really touched a lot of the secondary and residential streets, and so people may not be able to get out of streets. We've got a few e-mails last night for folks saying hey, I haven't seen a plow yet.

Well, you know what? They may not see a plow for another couple of days. But we're doing our best. We've got manpower equipment everywhere. We're working 24/7. The emergency operation command center has been up since Friday morning working 12-hour shifts. And you know at this point now, the people, manpower is beginning to become exhausted, the equipment is exhausted. Everything else we're bringing in, the equipment from outside the state and other areas to help us. And all we ask the folks is to just cooperate with us, be safe, stay at home.

Schools are shut down. The federal government is shut down, local government is shut down. Businesses are saying does that mean that we're shut down, too? No. It means, you know, use your best judgment.

WOLF: Absolutely.

EUILLE: If you want to open up, fine. We know that people are going to be out and about. They're going to walk around and have a nice, sunny day coming up. But we're going to be hit with another five to 12 inches tomorrow.

WOLF: It could be a rough time for you. No questions about it.

EUILLE: That's right.

WOLF: But thanks again. That's a wrap what we have here. Guys, let's send it back to you in the studio but certainly still some icy times here in Alexandria, Virginia. Back to you.

CHETRY: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning. Thank you.

HOLMES: And the mayor was there talking about how much it shut down businesses, schools, government. Well, not too far from where they are there in Alexandria, Virginia, other things have been shut down. We're talking about the airports, essentially impossible over the weekend trying to get in and out of those airports.

Sarah Lee is live at one of them, Reagan National. Sarah, good morning to you. We certainly don't expect things to be normal anytime soon, but still are things starting to go in the right direction at least for some folks?

SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are trying their best to get open, but we are still in a holding pattern here at Reagan National Airport. A quick look over my shoulder you can see this is not typical for a Monday morning.

Taking a look at the board here, it explains it all. Canceled, canceled, canceled. Some carriers are hoping that they'll get some place off the ground so they're putting some markers in there just in case, because that's what Reagan National is saying here at airport operations.

They want to try to open later on today, but the problem is the refreeze from overnight. Same thing they're seeing out of Dulles, same thing out of BWI. At BWI and Dulles, however, they do have limited service right now, but they are dealing with the refreeze and only a couple of runways that are open.

Let's take a look at the lower level here at Reagan National. Again, not really anyone walking around except for the people who work here and a few travelers that are hoping to be able to get out. So again, here at Reagan National, nothing that's moving in and out. And this is an airport that on an average day has about 700 flights that move here. So you know that once they do open the doors, the picture here is going to be a lot different. There are going to be a lot of people trying to get to where they need to be -- T.J.

HOLMES: That's Sarah Lee. We appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you again. And for a lot of people out there, you need to make sure you check with your airlines. Technically, a lot of these airports are open, but still the airlines themselves are the ones who are canceling a lot of these flights. So that's a good tip, folks, you need to check before you head out to the airport.

CHETRY: As they try to clear all of this and get things up and running again, we're bracing for yet another storm in the same area. It's five minutes past the hour right now. We get a check of the weather headlines this morning.

HOLMES: Rob Marciano. Rob, we were so relieved to hear that this one was going away. Got another one coming?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it didn't look like this one was ever going to go away. It broke a lot of records. I mean, we have to really retrace the record books back into the 20s and in some cases break out the diaries of Jefferson and Washington back in the 1700s. And we've got more snow on the way. And the snow that's there now is going to stick around.

Check out some of the current temperatures. I don't suspect that temps will get above the freezing mark today in D.C. or Baltimore, 22 in Washington, D.C. With all the snow on the ground, that's basically refrigerating the air.

You will be clear today, though. The sun will come out. But here's the next round of precipitation into that colder air, and this would bring at least another five inches if not 10, in some cases a foot of snow in the same spots that got three feet over the weekend. The hits just keep on coming. We'll have much more details, T.J. and Kiran, in about 30 minutes.

CHETRY: Sounds good. Rob Marciano for us. Thank you.

HOLMES: Mardi Gras, it's s coming up a few weeks from now. But the party is going to go up until and through Mardi Gras more than likely because unless you were under a rock yesterday, you know the Saints won the Super Bowl, their first-ever Super Bowl and there, of course, their first win. You're seeing some of the celebration here.

Kind of a strange game in some ways. Coach Payton there was taking some chances here and there and they paid off for them. But yes, they beat the mighty Colts and M mighty Peyton Manning, 31-17. That's nice.

CHETRY: That was an amazing game. But even before the game ended, the city erupted with fans pouring into the streets in the French Quarter. Ed Lavandera has been in the middle of the big celebration, and he join us live from New Orleans.

I can't emergency what it must be like for them down there today.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my goodness. I thought when I left here a few hours ago that it might be a little bit calmer here this morning, but actually the police officers here in New Orleans starting to put a little bit of the clamp down on the party, pushing people along the way. But this is the scene along Bourbon Street, and even people who have lived here for quite some time say this has been a party for the ages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Euphoria and pandemonium erupt in New Orleans' French Quarter. Even the city that likes to brag it perfected the art of partying has never seen a celebration like this.

This moment is a dream come true for Angie Koehlar who grew up in New Orleans' French Quarter and caught up in this moment. She told me when she dies she wants to be buried in this homemade jacket painted in honor of the Saints which she wore when they won the Super Bowl.

(on camera): What does this mean to this city?

ANGIE KOEHLAR, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: This is everything. This is collectively this is the happiest days of our lives through the region, Louisiana, the gulf coast. Thank you everybody for your support. We are truly the happiest place on earth. Disneyworld has nothing on New Orleans.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The magnitude of the Saints' victory is not lost on the team's most popular player, quarterback Drew Brees.

DREW BREES, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS QUARTERBACK: What can I say? We played for so much more than just ourselves. We played for our city. We played for the entire gulf coast region. We played for all the entire who dat nation.

LAVANDERA: More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, the theme of New Orleans coming back from the brink of death runs deep through the city.

CROWD: Who dat. Who dat.

LAVANDERA: Overshadowed by the Saints' Super Bowl victory was the election of a new mayor on Saturday. Mitch Landrieu won a decisive victory with more than 60 percent of the vote becoming the city's first white mayor since his father left office 32 years ago.

MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS MAYOR ELECT: The only way to do that is for us to seek, to find and to secure higher common ground where we come together as one people and do what is necessary to secure our future.

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, OUTGOING NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: We've got a party like it's 1999.

LAVANDERA: Just days before the Super Bowl, we caught up with outgoing Mayor Ray Nagin who could only imagine what a Super Bowl party would do to a city already celebrating a rowdy Mardi Gras season.

(on camera): You need to say a little prayer for New Orleans?

NAGIN: Well, I think you're going to pray for us after. They're going to be a lot of people in detox, you know, AA and what have you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): New Orleans is back, and who knows when this party will end.

CROWD: Who dat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And someone please send cases and cases of aspirin for these people to help them out. The cleanup process here, T.J. and Kiran, has started. The trucks are going through, started to clean up the street. And as you look around here, there is a big mess to clean up. Back to you guys.

HOLMES: It's a good mess. It was a mess that was a long time in the making. Ed, thank you so much. We'll be checking with you again. Be safe out there.

Of course, millions of folks tuned in at the Super Bowl trying to see the game, but this is the one event where people actually sit down and pay attention to the commercials. Later this hour, we'll show you some of our favorites.

CHETRY: All right. Meanwhile, it's 11 minutes past the hour. Time for a look at some of the other stories new this morning.

At least five people were killed and dozens of others injured after a gas explosion. It happened at a Connecticut power plant. Officials say that workers were purging a natural gas pipeline when the blast happened. You could hear it 20 miles away. According to witnesses, some thought there was even an earthquake. The clean power plant in Middleton, Connecticut is currently under construction. Rescue teams will resume searching this morning the possibility of more victims.

HOLMES: Now the shuttle "Endeavour" is now on its way, yes, a day late, but still it is on its way heading to the International Space Station for a 13-day mission. It lifted off this morning from Kennedy Space Center. We saw this live about two hours ago. Had some bad weather yesterday, so they had to scrub that attempt. The shuttle crew is going to be taking the last major addition to the International Space Station. It's scheduled to dock Wednesday with that International Space Station.

CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead on the Most News in the Morning, the U.S. is gearing up for a major offensive in Afghanistan. We're going to have much more on the mission about to be launched.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It is about a quarter past the hour this morning. We've got a quick check of a story that's making some headlines. A strange story I guess you could say really.

Sarah Palin, you know, she's often under scrutiny for things she does or says out there. She has a lot of critics but she's on a scrutiny now for something that happened at the tea party convention which she gave the keynote address. She sat down with the organizer of the event to answer questions.

Now, watch - take a peek at this video. You might be able to see the moment when it happens, but she actually looks down at her hand. She appears to be looking at some notes that were scribbled on her hand. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: We've got to start reigning in the spending. We have got to jumpstart these energy projects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: OK. Well, you see here in a different shot a still shot that, in fact, there are some notes on that hand. The words can be clearly made out, actually. It says energy, tax cuts, and lift American spirits. That's on her palm. She actually gave those three things as the three answers to questions she got about the top things that Republicans needed to do.

Now, she also criticized, ironically, President Obama during that speech for using a teleprompter.

CHETRY: What do you have on your hand this morning?

HOLMES: I've got nothing.

CHETRY: I - I did write down some notes. HOLMES: You've got to remember who your co-anchor was today.

CHETRY: It just says T.J. That's all.

All right. Well, we'll have a little bit more on that. Actually, our John Avalon was at the Tea Party.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: He heard her speak and he listened to the crowd reaction. So we're going to talk to him a little bit more about that a little bit later.

Meanwhile, US troops are planning a large scale assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, and when they do launch the attack in Helmand Province, NATO and Afghan troops will be along to help, and it wouldn't come as a surprise to the enemy. In fact, US military leaders want the Taliban to know what's coming.

Our Barbara Starr is live in Washington this morning, and Barbara, it's very interesting because usually these are the types of things that you keep close to the vest. Military leaders often don't discuss their plans publicly.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's absolutely right, Kiran. You know, the law of the land around the Pentagon is we don't discuss upcoming operations. That's what we've heard for years.

This time, very different. General Stanley McChrystal personally has said it's OK to go ahead and talk about this upcoming operation. He wants the Taliban to know that NATO, US and Afghan forces are coming to this area of Central Helmand Province. This is a major poppy-growing area. The Taliban really rule down in this area of Central Helmand, and General McChrystal's strategy is to tell the Taliban they're on the way to deal with them and hope - hope that the Taliban pack up and leave.

Of course, the risk here is that the Taliban wouldn't pack up and leave but instead will stay behind and fight as they have in the past. The risk of improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, grenades, all the kinds of ambush activity that US and coalition forces have run into in the past.

They're not saying exactly when this operation will kick off, but it is very clear it's coming in the next few days - Kiran.

CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us this morning. Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, next on the Most News in the Morning, Christine Romans. She's "Minding Your Business".

It's 17 past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

We have Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. You're talking about some of the biggest changes to the credit card rules that we've ever seen.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. Your money is - the way you handle your money is going to change. This is so big. I cannot stress to you enough these new credit card protections on February 22nd are going to be incredibly important for millions of Americans and for millions more it's going to be a shock in the mailbox.

Your credit card statement is going to look different. We've got one from Bank of America to show you what it's going to start to look like. Very clearly, in that circled part there, it's going to show if you make no additional charges and use this card and you pay only the minimum payment, it's going to be shocking. It's going to tell you how long, how many years it will take you to pay off your credit cards.

CHETRY: Wow!

ROMANS: And it will also tell you how much you have to pay every single month to pay it off in 36 months.

For most Americans, that will save thousands of dollars to pay off your credit card bill over the next three years. It's going to very clearly show you what fees will have been charged, the interest charge, and it's going to very clearly show the actual cost to borrow money.

Millions of Americans never really realized how much it cost to borrow money, and that's one of the reasons we got ourselves into this huge debt crisis in the first place.

CHETRY: So that part's not necessarily changes. That's just more transparency in what...

ROMANS: More transparency.

CHETRY: ... what's happening now.

ROMANS: Here are the changes. Forty-five days notice before they can raise your rates or raise your fees. No rate hike for the first year on most cards unless you're 60 days late. Folks, if you're 60 days late, your protections go out the window. Do not be late with your credit card.

It will prohibit those overdraft fees. They're going to ask you - they have to ask you if they can charge you to go over your limit. Say no. There's no reason to do that. And it will also prohibit some - a couple of other fees, too, and it will also have restrictions for people under the age of 21. So if you're under 21 and you don't have a job and your parents have bad credit, it could be - it could be tough. Quickly, they can also just drop you if you have bad credit. They can slash your credit limit. They don't have to tell you. They are going to have annual fees. They're going to have inactivity fees. We've already seen these. And they can still hike your rates. So there will be some things that -

Look, they're - they're not going to give up all that money for nothing. They made $26 billion or something last year on overdraft fees. They're going to find new ways to fee you - charge you. So just pay your bill on time.

HOLMES: Well, fee you (ph) that works too. We got to get to the Numeral very quick. We have time for it.

ROMANS: Yes. It's 48 years.

CHETRY: This is how long it would take you to - average person to pay off their credit card if they paid only the minimum?

ROMANS: Yes. Forty-eight years. If they add nothing - you have a $10,000 balance, you add nothing to the credit card - nothing - you have an 18 percent interest rate, which is just about right, it would take 48 years for you to pay it off. It will say that in big, bold letters on the top of your credit card bill, and I think a lot of people are going to be shocked when they see that.

HOLMES: That's helpful. That is going to be awfully helpful. It's shocking, but still, people need to see that.

ROMANS: They do. You're absolutely right. Knowledge is power.

HOLMES: Well, thank you.

CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE). Thanks, Christine.

Well, coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, Rahm Emanuel in hot water for saying something, but Rush Limbaugh also said it. Why the movement to ban a certain word is gaining momentum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- six minutes past the hour right now. Time for an "AM Original". It's something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're talking about a - a word that we've heard, unfortunately, used a lot lately in the public discourse.

HOLMES: Yes, and what - I guess maybe it could do some good now. People are starting to possibly use it to - to educate themselves.

We're going to bring in our Carol Costello now. Carol, we - we have seen Democrats and Republicans both use this word and throw it around at each other, even, but now a group is trying to use it, to put it to some good, maybe.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's the politics of the "R" word. You might term it that way.

You might think that "R" word controversy has blown over, but no. People who are called the "R" word are using the controversy to push their own agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): The "R" word. In the world of partisan politics, it's become a favorite non-partisan slur. Everybody's doing it.

The president's chief of staff called Liberal Democrats "F-ing retarded". Conservative pundit Ann Coulter called Pennsylvania voters "retards". A "Huffington Post" columnist jokes Sarah Palin would run on a retardation platform in 2012.

And then there's this.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: Our political correct society is acting like some giant insult's taking place by calling a bunch of people who are retards "retards".

FRANK STEPHENS, SPECIAL OLYMPICS: It's very hurtful for those who are trying to live in this community.

COSTELLO: Frank Stephens has Down syndrome. He's part of a campaign to - well, here's how he puts it.

STEPHENS: Let's stop using the "R" word. It's time we come up with a new word. Respect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have used the word.

COSTELLO: Most people we talked with agree, although many admitted they were guilty of using the word themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just shows ignorance. I mean, it's like calling somebody a - an "F" word, and "N" word.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very offensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it a word you use?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I usually say it about myself most of the time.

COSTELLO: But thanks to the constant "R" word banter in the world of politics, Frank might get his wish. The Special Olympics organization has declared March 3rd as the "Day to spread the word to end the word".

Not only that. Because of Rahm Emanuel's "F-ing retarded" remark, Special Olympics officials were able to meet with the president's chief of staff in the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My understanding is he was apologetic and felt remorse for what he said.

COSTELLO: Emanuel also signed a Special Olympics online pledge that read, "I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the "R" word from everyday speech," and he promised to examine Congressional legislation that would remove the "R" word from federal law, a tough task since you run across the term mental retardation in federal documents and letters all the time.

Maybe the whole "R" word controversy sounds silly to you, but to people like Frank Stephens, it's anything but.

COSTELLO (on camera): Do you think people are being mean when they say it?

STEPHENS: No. They just don't get the time to - take the time to get to know us better. When they do, really, people really like us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we certainly liked Frankie. He was awesome.

Emanuel and the "Huffington Post" columnist apologized for their use of the "R" word, but Rush Limbaugh did not, telling his audience he's - he was only quoting Rahm Emanuel, and in explaining that, that's why he used the term "R" word. It was satire, he said.

But, you know, if you ask Frank, it doesn't really matter whether the word was used in jest, whether it was used in satire. To Frank, the "R" word should just be banned from the public language.

CHETRY: Yes. And he wasn't just quoting Rahm Emanuel. He went off on his own rant as well, which we'll hear a little bit more about later.

COSTELLO: Right. And, you know, the big controversy is Sarah Palin sort of OK'd that in the end by saying, you know, it was satire. Maybe you could live with that. But not Rahm Emanuel's remark because he meant it.

CHETRY: All right. Carol Costello for us -- thanks.

HOLMES: Thanks, Carol.

CHETRY: And we want everyone else to be able to weigh in as well. What do you think of this controversy? Sound off on our blog, CNN.com/amFIX.

HOLMES: Well, it's the bottom of the hour. It means time for us now to check some of our top stories.

Second day of digging out after the Mid-Atlantic's worst snowstorm this season. Tens of thousands people are still without power for the third day for a lot of people. Amtrak is scaling back service from New York to Washington. Air travel is limited as well. And this morning, another storm is heading in. It's heading east. We're going to be checking in, again, with Rob Marciano. He's coming up in about 15 minutes.

And "Who dat?" nation is still celebrating this morning. They'll be celebrating for quite some time after their Super Bowl win. They beat the Colts, the mighty Colts and the Peyton Manning last night, 31 to 17.

The Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who is really a big deal down in New Orleans, he has really helped in the recovery of that region. He was the game's MVP. All Saints night on Bourbon Street, French Quarter rocking. It looks like a Mardi Gras party, but Mardi Gras is still a couple weeks away. A parade to honor the Saints is expected to take place tomorrow.

Let's turn to Haiti where 10 American missionaries facing kidnapping charges are searching for a new attorney this morning. The Haitian lawyer representing them tells CNN he has resigned. The missionaries are charged with trying to illegally remove 33 children from Haiti without the proper documents. They're scheduled to be questioned by a Haitian magistrate today and face a maximum of life in prison if they are convicted.

CHETRY: T.J., thanks.

Well, Michigan is known, of course, as the home of the auto industry. More recently, though, it's a state in despair hit hard by the recession. It has had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for much of the last four years.

Lansing's mayor, Virg Bernero, has been on the front lines of the economic battles. In fact, he has actually gone to Washington. He's lobbied for the auto bailout. And believe it or not, he's itching for more.

And this morning, Mayor Virg Bernero joins us from Detroit with a big announcement -- which you're right here on our show. Let's have it. Make it official for us.

MAYOR VIRG BERNERO (D), LANSING, MICHIGAN: Well, I'm running for governor, Kiran. I'm ready to take this fight to the state and to the nation's capital. We are hurting in Michigan. Our people are on their robes (ph).

But we're not -- we're not out by any means. We're ready to fight the battle and make Michigan the number one place in the country to do business. We're going to get our house in order here in Michigan. We're going to do everything we can to lay out the red carpet instead of the red tape to grow business, and we're going to stand up for the American worker.

When necessary, I'll go to Washington -- as I did with a group of mayors -- to fight for fair trade, because we know that fair trade means jobs. And we need -- we'll do our part in Michigan. We've got great, hard-working people, productive people.

You know, we've talked about putting the P in GDP, putting people back to work. That's what we do in Michigan, we make things. And we want to do that again.

And so, we're going to do everything we can in Michigan to get our house in order, and when we need to, we'll go to Washington and fight for our workers there.

CHETRY: Well, let me ask you about this. Your state basically -- as we said -- has been dead last in unemployment 46 months and counting. I know that you talked about productivity and you talked about, you know, becoming a place where you can grow jobs.

But what other plans do you have in the works to turn things around for Michigan?

BERNERO: Well, you hit the nail on the head. I mean, look, the Michigan I grew up in was at the top of some other lists. We were at the top of all the good lists. We were at the top of industry, education, environment, culture, arts. You name it -- Michigan was at the top of every good lists.

We really made the things that made America great and we can again. You know, we need to go -- we want the greasy jobs and the green jobs. We're going green. We're going to go with advanced manufacturing, with bioscience and biotech, with high tech, with I.T., with insurance.

CHETRY: Well, let me ask -- you have a lot of good ideas out there. A lot of this will require retraining, a lot of this stuff that you talk about.

Right now, we know that the unemployment rate for people with a four-year bachelor degree is significantly lower than those without it. Your state right now, I believe, it's 22 percent of Michigan residents hold four-year degrees. And you add that to the huge number of unemployed.

It costs money to retrain people. How are you going to do it?

BERNERO: Absolutely. Tuition is expensive, too.

Look, we're going to be working with our universities in a more cooperative fashion than ever before. We're going to work with them to get a tuition freeze in place. Rising tuition is killing people. Also, the cost of this tuition ought to be tax-deductible.

So, we encourage the kind of activity that we want.

You're absolutely right, education is a key. We need to promote that. We need to invest in K-12, and also, early childhood. You know, so much important learning happens zero to five.

So, there are key investments. We're going to make those strategic investments while we continue to right-size government, make sure that we're not paying too much for government and get rid of some of the duplication, but also make the strategic investments.

We're not going to simply cut our way to prosperity but we're also not going to tax our way to it. We have to have balance and we have to have predictability with our tax system so that we can promote business growth.

That's some of the things I talk about when I -- when I talk about laying out the red carpet. We've done this in Lansing. You know, as mayor of Lansing, I've done it, Kiran. And I invite people to go to VoteVirg.com, my Web site, and see what we've done.

You know, we've had four years where we've had a balanced budget, no tax increase, no use of reserve in the city of Lansing, and over half a billion dollars in new investment in our city. We've done it in Lansing, and we can do it for the state of Michigan.

CHETRY: I want to ask you a question about green technologies, because, obviously, that requires some help, support and cash from the federal government as well to make this happen. It has to be a nationwide push.

You know, a lot of the reporting shows that we're falling behind already some of our competitors -- Japan, China and other countries -- when in terms of green technologies. How do you make that happen on a state level without a ton of money coming from the federal government?

BERNERO: Kiran, you hit the nail right on the head. We -- our government needs to get on the side of people. We need to support the American worker. So again, we'll do our part in Michigan by preparing people, by having great, quality vocational education. Our vocational education needs to be a great place, not a dumping ground for students who can't make it in the regular classroom.

CHETRY: Right.

BERNERO: We need top quality technology in order to have a pipeline to prepare for those green jobs. But the federal government has to step up and do their job, too. You're right about that. Because in other countries, they are stepping up and they are making investments.

And so, we got to get over this free trade business, this doctrinaire approach, because in other countries, our competitors, their governments are heavily involved and they're steeped in this and they are promoting the companies and supporting the companies and we're losing the battle. And this is so often the case in this global situation...

CHETRY: Right.

BERNERO: ... this global market that we're in.

We need a government that stands with the American worker, and I'm going to stand up and fight for that here in Michigan and in Washington when necessary.

CHETRY: All right. Well, you certainly bring the passion with you that you showed when we had you on many times as mayor of Lansing. Good luck for your governor's run and thanks for announcing it here on our show.

BERNERO: Thank you so much.

CHETRY: Virg Bernero, great to talk to you this morning.

HOLMES: See? Always have that much passion...

CHETRY: Yes, he does.

HOLMES: ... at 5:30 in the morning there.

CHETRY: Yes, he does.

HOLMES: My goodness.

Well, we'll be following him on the campaign trail.

But coming up here on the Most News in the Morning -- you know, Toyota has been having an issue with gas pedals. They've been having issues with brakes. Well, one woman we're going to introduce you who had an issue with hers that sent her over a hillside.

Her story of survival -- coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 40 minutes past the hour.

We're still waiting to hear what Toyota plans to do about 270,000 Prius hybrid models that might have brake problems. So far, they haven't said they're going to have an official recall here but they do expect a fix at least to be in early this week.

CHETRY: Right. So, still a lot of moving parts for Toyota right now, trying to figure out what to do. But meanwhile, a California woman says that she is considering legal action herself against the automaker for an accident that left her seriously injured.

Our Deb Feyerick is here this morning with her story.

Hi, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Kiran. Hey, T.J.

You know, one of the things that this is just so scary -- I mean, imagine you're in your car, you press your accelerator, it just takes off plummeting down a cliff. You try to regain control of your car, not knowing, in fact, whether you're going to live or die.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Right now, I'm doing less than 10 miles an hour, and I'm riding the brakes.

NICOLE POZEN, ACCIDENT VICTIM: Yes, you have to. FEYERICK: So, this is the only way you can, because this is very easy to lose control on this road. You knew that?

POZEN: Oh, yes.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Nicole Pozen knows this winding road like the back of her hand. Her house used to be at the top of the mountain. A year ago, on a rainy afternoon, as Pozen slowly steered her 2007 Toyota Tundra around this hairpin turn, she says the unthinkable happened.

POZEN: As soon as I touched the accelerator, it just -- it just -- it just jumped. I mean, it just went. It went over the curb, and there was nothing I could do. I was too close to the curb to be able to do anything.

And I pressed the brakes, I did. I mean, I did everything that I thought I could, and I couldn't get my car to stop. I just remember seeing cactuses, and then, that was it. And then I remember seeing the road.

FEYERICK (on camera): At that point, you're coming down that incline, what are you thinking to yourself?

POZEN: Am I going to die? I was thinking, you know, am I going to survive this? What's going to happen? Am I going to -- am I going to die?

FEYERICK (voice-over): Pozen believes what happens to her is what's happened to many other driver who is say their Toyota vehicle accelerated without warning. Toyota says these incidents are rare and, generally, do not occur suddenly.

(on camera): You're going from 50 to 60 miles in a vehicle that's pretty much out of control to sort of a dead stop.

POZEN: Yes.

FEYERICK: This tree...

POZEN: It just -- it just stopped. I mean, it just stopped.

FEYERICK: When the police came, what did you tell them?

POZEN: I told them -- I told them -- they asked me what happened. I told them the truck -- I told them exactly what happened up there, and I told them the truck just kept going. I said it just kept going. And that's what I kept saying.

FEYERICK: Did the police believe you?

POZEN: No. They thought that I was drunk or on drugs.

FEYERICK (voice-over): The police report says Pozen was not drunk. Missing, however, is Pozen's account of her Toyota truck accelerating wildly. (on camera): Why didn't they put it in?

POZEN: I have no idea. And I was surprised when I looked at -- well, I wasn't really surprised, but I was when I looked and it said, opinion, it said, driver -- "My opinion was the driver was just driving at unsafe speeds."

Yes, of course, I was, down the cliff.

FEYERICK: Asked to explain that report, police told us they try their best to record driver's comments accurately.

David Wright is part of the class action team that recently asked a judge to widen Toyota's recall, to include all models involving sudden acceleration incidents, not just that models Toyota identified like Pozen's 2007 Tundra.

DAVID WRIGHT, PRODUCT LIABILITY ATTORNEY: When the police come to a scene and they can't reproduce an event right there, too often, it's easy to just say, well, the vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed with the -- with the implication being it was the driver's fault.

POZEN: Everybody told me that I was crazy.

FEYERICK: Pozen, who has two young sons, suffered serious injuries to her neck and back, and is now on disability and considering legal action. When she heard about Toyota's recall of millions of vehicles, hers included, she felt vindicated.

POZEN: I'm so angry at Toyota because they could have prevented so many things, and it wouldn't have been that hard. I mean, how hard would it have been to look into a problem? They didn't look into it at all. They wrote it off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, Pozen says she's outraged that so many people had to feel that same kind of fear that she felt.

CHETRY: I mean, she -- you know, it was really interesting when she talked about the police report as well, because we were all wondering. I mean, it seems like in some cases it's probably underreported and also hard to prove, I mean, because there's just -- I don't -- obviously authorities don't know there's a problem.

FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. And when police come in, it's one driver in a car, no sort of obvious explanation. The obvious explanation is, well, it's driver error, and Toyota may have been relying on that to -- for the numbers.

CHETRY: Wow. All right. Deb Feyerick has been following this for us every step of the way. To be continued. Watch if she's OK.

Thanks, Deb.

FEYERICK: Thanks.

HOLMES: Thanks, Deb.

CHETRY: Well, right now, it's 44 minutes past the hour. Rob is going to be coming along in a minute with his traveler's forecast. He's tracking yet another snowstorm headed for the exact same area that caused so much problems this weekend.

HOLMES: And we'll see him right after the break.

Then in 10 minutes, you're going to see Jeanne Moos. You know, she always brings us something a little special, something a little different. But this time, I'm not talking about sleep walking, we're talking about sleep running and more. Exactly what your pets up to when they doze?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We're talking about Super Bowl ads from last night. See, you saw the game. That was great, but were the ads great as well? One that has a lot of people talking was very simple. It was very short. How in the world do you get Jay, Dave and Oprah on the couch together. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE LETTERMAN, HOST: This is the worst Super Bowl party ever.

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: Now, Dave, be nice.

JAY LENO, HOST: He's just saying that because I'm here.

LETTERMAN: He's just saying that because I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There you go. I wonder if they taped this before all the drama, huh?

HOLMES: Yes, because they went at each other pretty hard during the whole mess.

CHETRY: All right. Another one of the most popular Super Bowl commercials; it was a Snickers ad. He turned Golden Girl, Betty White playing in a neighborhood football game. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN MALE: Mike, what's your deal man?

UNKNOWN MALE: Oh, come on man. You've been riding me all day.

UNKNOWN MALE: Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there.

UNKNOWN MALE: That's not what your girlfriend says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There you go.

HOLMES: They hear here to talk like -- yes.

CHETRY: I love her.

HOLMES: To hear her say that line, not what your girlfriend says.

CHETRY: She's a good sport.

HOLMES: She is a good sport. She is -- that was another movie, "Lake Placid". She was a kind of foul-mouthed lady.

CHETRY: I didn't see it, but I heard it was good.

HOLMES: She was hilarious in that. Rob Marciano, you have a favorite from last night?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: As dorky as it is, there was a cute kind of environmental notsy kind of campaign going on that morphed into an Audi commercial that was...

HOLMES: Yes.

MARCIANO: Kind of clever.

HOLMES: The green police, right?

MARCIANO: Exactly, but you know, Betty White will always be the Golden Girl. That's for sure.

CHETRY: Amen.

MARCIANO: Check out some of these numbers, guys. Just a recap. Forty-eight in Colesville, Maryland National Park, New Jersey 28 inches, American University in D.C. 27, and just to round out some of the bigger cities, and again, much of these are record shattering, but in some cases, you have to go back some a good 80 years if not 200 years to tight some of these. Thirty-two inches in Dulles, 28 in Philadelphia, and Baltimore 24.

All right. Now, it's not really going anywhere. Today's high temperature in D.C., if you're lucky, 36 degrees, but I think it will probably hover around the freezing mark, and there's not going to be a whole lot of melting, so it's there. It's pretty much going to stay, and then what we have coming down the pipe next is going to keep it there and then add onto it. A complex of area of a couple of lows that will be riding this very active El Nino type of jet which brings the storm tracks into the mid Atlantic, and this will be not much different.

It's moving rapidly so the moisture will be there quickly. It will go across the Midwest. We're already seeing warnings and watches posted from this area, Chicago nearly gets several inches of snow from this as it moves off to the east, and from Albuquerque all the way through the Ohio River Valley, we have warnings and now watches up. The only reason that New York doesn't have a watch up yet is because we're just not close enough, but I think as we get towards later on today and then especially tomorrow morning, New York will be in the watch as well.

They could see ten or so inches of snow from this thing, and D.C. will see 5 to 10 beginning as early as tomorrow afternoon, so not getting much of a break. Kiran, back up to you.

CHETRY: Unbelievable. Colesville is not far from where I went to high school. Colesville I cannot -- 40 inches, you know, and in New York we got nothing.

MARCIANO: I know. It's frustrating. You got totally scuffed. I'm sorry.

CHETRY: No, actually.

MARCIANO: We'll be better just go around.

CHETRY: I think, you know, hey, we'll save or shoveling shoulders for a little later. Thanks, Rob.

HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHETRY: This morning's top stories are just a couple of minutes away including from signing up to shipping out. We've been following a soldier's story. It's a special series, and this morning, we're going to hear from one recruit's parents as they talk about the most striking change they've seen in their son since he enlisted.

HOLMES: Also, Sarah Palin was turning out the tea party convention they had it over the weekend, but it was the question and answer session that followed her speech that a lot of people are talking about. You see the moment right there. Literally, talk to the hand is what she told the interviewer. Answering a question, she had to look down at some talking points that she had on her hand that were written on her hand. Is she really ready for a national campaign? We'll ask CNN senior political analyst Ed Rollins and independent analyst John Avalon who was at the convention over the weekend. Those stories and a whole lot more just minutes away at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Five minutes until the top of the hour. It is time for the Moost News in the Morning with Jeanne, and he's a hit. The dousing dog. You've seen us one, right?

HOLMES: Yes, Jeanne Moos has the sleeping sensation. Also a kitty cat in a bog. Please do tell, Jeanne. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Let sleeping dogs lie? No way. Not one that sleepwalks and then breaks into a sleep run. Run girl, run!

You're about to become an Internet hit.

That even woke up Biscuit. PetCo doesn't make helmets posted one wag.

Sure, there are countless sleeping dog videos featuring dreaming dogs twitching, some set to music, some seem to be having nightmares or giving us nightmares, but none have achieved Biscuit's internet stardom. She even barks in her sleep.

Your dog is possessed posted someone. Put some holy water in his dish, her dish actually, and the dog that's dreaming of a nice cold drink seems to be this one, but Biscuit's disturbed sleep has left some folks disturbed. Your dog is having a seizure. Go to the vet. We did.

MOOS (on-camera): Should we be alarmed by this.

DR. BOAZ LEVITIN, VETERINARY NEUROLOGIST: Not really.

MOOS (voice-over): Here at NYC veterinary specialist, the vet neurologist admits Biscuit's simulated sleepwalking is extreme.

Is it the most you've seen or you've seen worst?

LEVITIN: That's the most I've seen.

MOOS: But if it's only happening during sleep, the doctor suspects they're not seizures and could be treated with a Valium-like drug if the owner will worry about the dog hurting themselves. Cats can also look pretty demented while sleeping, but in the case of Shadow here, the lethargy was caused by her owner. He put the cat in his home-made marijuana bong to calm her, he told police, when they came to his house to arrest him on a pot possession warrant.

UNKNOWN MALE: It appeared that there was something moving in the box.

MOOS: Shadow will be put up for adoption. Meanwhile, this guy has adopted Biscuit's position.

MOOS (on-camera): I bet I know what this guy is dreaming of. Internet Fame.

MOOS (voice-over): He'll go to the wall to get it. Okay, it may be a stretch, but one person theorized Biscuit was dreaming that he was chasing a naked mailman covered in bacon.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Still makes me laugh every time.

HOLMES: We'll see with the guy.

CHETRY: Yes.

HOLMES: Why would you take yourself and do that?

CHETRY: Just like she said, Internet fame.

HOLMES: Internet fame and he's on CNN. Congratulations, young fella.

CHETRY: Yes, congrats.

Two minutes to the top of the hour. Your top stories are 90 seconds away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)