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American Morning
Blizzards Hit Washington D.C.; Saints Win Super Bowl; Tea Party Politics: Palin Considering White House Run in 2012; New Credit Card Rules Coming; A Soldier's Story: How One Family Copes With Their Son in the Military
Aired February 08, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're with us on this Monday, February 8th, the day after the Super Bowl. That was big game. A lot of you, guys, are still wiping your eyes this morning. Glad you're with us, though. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: I thought it was a bad luck if I called in sick when I'm filling in this week.
CHETRY: The day he after the Super Bowl.
HOLMES: Wouldn't look good. But I'm here, T.J. Holmes sitting in for John Roberts. Here are some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on.
The mid-Atlantic will dig out for probably a couple more days. The big blizzard over the weekend was one for the record books. It paralyzed travel and forced the federal government to shut down, essentially. A lot of people are using snow blowers and shovels now, do not put them away. Another storm is brewing.
CHETRY: Note to self, Sarah Palin got caught using crib notes Saturday night at a tea party convention in Nashville. The former Alaska governor had the words "energy," "tax cuts" and "lift Americans' spirits" written on her palm. Palin also told FOX News she's considering a 2012 presidential bid if it's right for the nation and her family.
HOLMES: Also, a California teenager answering a call of duty from civilian to soldier. We are watching the entire transformation. This morning in our special series "A Soldier's Story," we hear from his family about the impact military service is having on their son.
CHETRY: First this morning, some wicked weather and more to come. The mid-Atlantic buried and bruised, waking up and cleaning up after this morning's weekend storm. The record-setting storm system dropped more than two feet of snow from Virginia to New Jersey.
And the result -- delays, cancellations at the airports, tens of thousands still without power on this cold morning. It's also forced the federal government to make the call to shut down today, deciding that the morning commute would be too dangerous for employees. Also, to make matters worse, there is another winter storm on the horizon heading east. (WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: We'll turn to air travel now, which was a mess over the weekend. Reagan National was hit pretty hard. That airport sees about 40,000 passengers a day, and over the weekend saw about two. I'm exaggerating there, but it was something like that. Take a look at the picture at least. The place is empty, airport deserted over the weekend, nobody dropping off bags and barely anybody on the concourse. Shops deserted as well, and delays still spilling over until day. Sara Lee live for us there this morning. Do you have any company at the airport this morning?
SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not much. Maybe the lady at Starbucks, because that is open, but since the last time we checked in with you, it hasn't really gotten any busier here.
This is very atypical for a Monday morning in the nation's capital. Look at the board. Canceled, canceled, canceled. The red notation is a place maker. The airport authorities are telling us that they are not, in fact, open at here Reagan National Airport.
And what they're contending with now is the refreeze from overnight, because they made a lot of progress yet, and when the sun was up it warmed up the asphalt a bit. But if you look out the window, there's a lot of ice on the ground right now.
One of the unique problems here at Reagan National is it's a relatively small airport, only about 800 acres. So they can't just push the snow out of the way. They actually have to fill up the dump trucks and then haul the snow away.
So again, we're dealing with great progress here, but again, a refreeze and ice situation.
So if we go regionally here, if we take a look at Baltimore, Washington International Airport, they did open last night with limited service. So a couple of flights have gone in and out of there, but they are not at full operation as far as their runways.
Dulles international airport, they opened a runway yesterday morning, and they were operating with limited service yesterday, and they opened a second one. So they are doing a little bit better over there. They're saying that gives them greater flexibility.
As far as rail travel, if you're going to be on the northeast corridor today, it is open, but there are some cancellations. They are saying, though, that Acela is up to speed right now. So all of those Acela trains are running. The regional trains, though, a little bit limited there.
And as far as Metro rail here, that's the public transit system here in the nation's capital, they are only doing underground service for the rails.
So that's the picture here. Again, we're hoping that Reagan National is going to open up later on today. That is the goal for this airport's authority here, but, again, we have a lot of ice on the ground. So that's something they have to deal with now that the sun is coming up and hopefully it will warm things up so everything will melt off.
Again, people who are watching this broadcast, keep in mind that it's -- there's a residual effect and there's going to be a domino effect throughout this region. So you really -- the best bet bottom line is for you to just call your carrier and make sure your flight is running. T.J.?
HOLMES: Even if the airports do open, it will still take a while to get everything it back on track, back on schedule. Sarah, thank you so much.
CHETRY: Five minutes past the hour right now. To add insult to injury, there are another big snowstorm heading to the mid-Atlantic set to hit sometime on Tuesday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Another big story we're keeping an eye on this morning. You might have heard this was a little football game tonight. This is not just a sports story. This is the story about the city of New Orleans. Their Saints won their first ever Super Bowl last night.
They beat the Colts, who were favored in the game by six points I believe it was, but 31-17 was the final score. The quarterback for the Saints, a guy who has embraced that city and the city embraced him, Drew Brees, appropriately named MVP of the game.
CHETRY: As the Saints sealed the victory, Mardi Gras came early in the French quarter, fans pouring into the streets to celebrate the win and their team, and of course, to celebrate the city. Our Ed Lavandera was in the middle of it. He's live still this morning. People are still out there, right, 7:00 in the morning? People are still out there?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're staggering and stumbling, but their smiling here on Bourbon Street. And the bars are closing the doors and pushing people home. Here's the heavy artillery to clean up the mess left behind on Bourbon Street.
But all of the locals who have lived here for many, many years say this is the biggest number of people they've ever seen down here on Bourbon Street.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHEERING)
LAVANDERA: 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.
(CHEERING) 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.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Angie, what does this mean to this city?
ANGIE KOEHLAR, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: This is everything. This collectively is the happiest days of our life 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.
(CHEERING)
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.
RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: We're going to 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 on to a city celebrating a rowdy Mardi Gras season.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Do we need to say a little prayer for New Orleans?
NAGIN: You need to pray for us after. There will be a lot of people in detox, AA, what have you.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): New Orleans is back, and who knows when this party will end?
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And you're looking at a live picture, one of the buildings in downtown New Orleans. That is the Saints Fleur de Li, and the Who Dat flag flying proudly over the city this morning.
And as the sun comes up and people try to piece together what happened last night, there's still thousands of people in it this city who can't believe the Saints won the Super Bowl last night. It all will culminate on Tuesday afternoon when this city honors the New Orleans saints with a parade here in New Orleans. Guys, back to you.
HOLMES: We should let him go.
CHETRY: Don't look now. There's some fans behind you.
HOLMES: You get nervous when people party all night and then get live on television.
CHETRY: It's now 11 minutes after the hour. Note to self, Sarah Palin made some headlines this weekend at the tea party convention. It wasn't the words coming out of her mouth that had some tongues wagging. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 14 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. And Sarah Palin spent the first half of her weekend bashing President Obama. She was actually at the national tea party convention in Tennessee.
HOLMES: And she went on to Texas from there. She was there yesterday to lend a hand to the Republican governor, Rick Perry. She had a few things to say there as well. Always has something to say.
And our Mary Snow is reporting for us now that many observers believe both events suggest Palin now laying the groundwork for a run at the White House in 2012.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all the talk of big government spending dominating the tea party convention, it was national security that Sarah Palin targeted first in her speech on policy issues. She took aim at the Obama administration's handling of the attempted Christmas Day bombing attack and blasted the fact that suspect Umar Abdulmutallab was read his Miranda rights.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: We need a commander- in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.
SNOW: She then turned to the issues that brought many here. A call to crackdown on government spending and she slammed the stimulus package and said the tea party movement is at the forefront of preserving conservative values.
PALIN: This is the movement and America is ready for another revolution, and you are a part of this.
SNOW: The convention's organizer hopes that revolution will bring conservative victories in 2010 House and Senate elections. In a question and answer session, Judson Phillips asked Palin her top three priorities should that happen. She listed reining and spending, jump starting energy projects, and what she described as getting America back to its roots of being a God-fearing nation.
PALIN: We don't have all the answers as fallible men and women, so it would be wise of us to start seeking some divine intervention again in this country.
SNOW: But the most forceful response from the crowd came when Palin was asked about 2012.
JUDSON PHILLIPS, TEA PARTY CONVENTION: I can think of two words right now that scare liberals, President Palin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were plenty in the crowd endorsing that idea.
TANYA ASHE, TEA PARTY CONVENTION ATTENDEE: I would love to see her run, you know. But if she doesn't, I'm sure she's going to be right where she needs to be.
JORDAN MARKS, TEA PARTY CONVENTION ATTENDEE: I think she has a lot of people to still win over. It was disappointing of her mentioning that she was still kind of going to be loyal to presidential candidate McCain.
SNOW: "Daily Beast" columnist John Avlon who attended the dinner says it's clear Palin is leaving the door open to running for president.
JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR, "WINGNUTS: HOW THE LUNATIC FRINGE IS HIJACKING AMERICA": The fact that she spent so much time on foreign policy tells me that she's aiming a lot higher than just the tea party movement. She knows that this wave, she may be riding this wave into the Republican nomination. She's going to surf that way as far as it can take her.
SNOW (on camera): Plus Sarah Palin cautioned the audience against following any one leader in the tea party movement. She intends to have a part in this movement. She announced that she's going to be taking part in a number of events in coming months.
Mary Snow, CNN, Nashville, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That keynote address she gave was on Saturday night.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
HOLMES: But it wasn't until yesterday when the blogosphere went nuts with this next story. Take a look at why. We're going to show this you. She's sitting in here during a question and answer period, and right there, that moment, she appears to look down at some notes. Refers to her hand, that left palm during the Q&A part to remind herself of what to say. We all use notes every now and then. Now watch and listen to it in real time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: We've got to start reining in the spending. We have got to jump start these energy projects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Here is a still, a close up of her hand. Zoom the video in a little bit there. You can see kind -- you can make out what it says. But there are three words to there, energy, tax cuts, and also it said lift American spirits. All that written on her palm. And if you listen to that sound bite again from her, she said those three things. That was part of her answer. So she needed those notes.
But everybody is going crazy with that. All right. This, of course, calls in a lot of story this morning.
Joining us in 15 minutes to do a little of palm reading if you will, and looking at the tea leaves of the tea party, John Avlon, columnist at the dailybeast.com and Republican strategist Ed Rollins.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're looking forward to talking about that.
Still ahead though, we're also looking forward to bring you an "A.M. Original." You may remember Will McLain. Jason Carroll has been following him from the time he decided to enlist all the way to basic training. And how about now? He checks in with Will's parents as well to see how deciding to enlist changed his life. It's an "A.M. Original." "A Soldier's Story," coming your way in 10 minutes.
Eighteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the 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 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 you if you make no additional charges and you 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 be 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 does not necessarily changes. That's just more transparency on what's happening now.
ROMANS: More transparency. 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 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, you don't have a job and your parents have bad credit, 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're 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 not going to give up all that money for nothing. They made $26 billion or something last year in overdraft fees. They're going to find new ways to fee you, charge you. So just pay your bill on time.
HOLMES: That works too. We're going to get to the numeral real quick. We have time for it.
ROMANS: Yes, 48 years.
HOLMES: Forty-eight years.
CHETRY: This is how long it will take the average person to pay off their credit card if they paid only the minimum?
ROMANS: Yes.
HOLMES: Wow. ROMANS: Forty-eight years. If they add nothing with 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.
HOLMES: Well, thank you.
CHETRY: Good stuff.
HOLMES: Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
HOLMES: Well, it's the story that doesn't seem to want to go away. Rahm, Rush and the "r" word. The controversy not going anywhere, but some want the word to go somewhere away. Our Carol Costello reports.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Our top stories are only three minutes away. But first, an "A.M. Original." It's something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
From the home front to the front lines, we've been following one recruit's journey in our special series, "A Soldier's Story."
HOLMES: Yes. And this morning, we check in with the family of this California teenager to find out what they think about the training, the stress, the time away from home. How are they doing?
Jason Carroll is following this guy's every step. How is the family holding up?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a lot for them to deal with. You know, we've been focusing a lot on Will McLain but what we're doing now is obviously we're switching some of this focus to his parents to get their impressions, to get their feelings about his experience. It's been very, very difficult for them. We now want to tell you what it's been like for them as they have a recruit in their family for the very first time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LORI MCLAIN, MOTHER: This is William's last letter. It says hey, mom and dad. How are things going at home? I hope well.
CARROLL (voice-over): Nearly every time Lori McLain reads a letter from her son Will or Junior, as they call him here at home in Rosamond, California, it's hard for her not to become emotional.
L. MCLAIN: I love you guys and I'll talk to you when I can. Love Junior.
It doesn't take much. But I keep all of his letters.
CARROLL: The letters come from for the Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where new recruit Will has been at boot camp for the past nine weeks.
RECRUITS: Yes, drill sergeant.
CARROLL: From the beginning, we followed him through his training...
RECRUITS: One, two, three.
CARROLL: ... chronicling his toughest challenges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you seriously coughing and crap?
CARROLL (on camera): How would you explain to a parent who doesn't have a son or daughter going through this what it's been like for you so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't explain it if they didn't have a son or daughter.
L. MCLAIN: It's because if you don't have one, you have no clue how you would treat it or what you would do.
CARROLL (voice-over): His parents say they've seen the impact military service is having on Will. There's the physical transformation. They saw it when Will was home on holiday leave, but it's his letters, they say, where they see the most striking change in him.
L. MCLAIN: William's (ph) never been a person to pour his emotions out. He's always held them in and been strong. And now he doesn't so much as pour his emotions in as he's wondering what the rest of us are all doing and how we're getting along without him.
CARROLL: His two brothers feel the void as well.
JEFF MCLAIN, BROTHER: I think sometimes you say you miss him, you know. You go through life or work or something, and you forget the fact that he's gone. You come home and you want to relax, and let's go play something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not here.
CARROLL: Will's father says his son is no longer the young 18- year-old who left home. He's had to grow up in a matter of weeks.
(on camera): Sort of a crash course, right.
BILL MCLAIN, FATHER: Yes, it's a crash course. It's not just physical but mental. You can see mentally he's never been farther than Rosemont, you know what I'm saying? And now, he's clear across the country with nobody is here to bail him out. So he has to do it on his own.
CARROLL (voice-over): And along with pride comes the concerns with every passing day as will comes closer to learning whether his next step from boot camp will lead to war.
(on camera): As we draw closer to the end of his training, we draw closer to, you know, word of his deployment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.
BILL MCLAIN: You got to do what you got to do. They'll send him wherever. He'll survive it.
reporter: That is still worrisome to you?
BILL MCLAIN: Nobody wants their child to go into war, but I mean, it's something we're fighting for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, Will should get his orders for deployment in just a few weeks. He still has some specialized training to complete. Tomorrow we take a look at that training and get Will's feelings about deployment as it draws closer and closer.
HOLMES: And real quickly, the family is enjoying -- they're getting a glimpse. Is it too much information? Would they rather not see some of the stuff he's going through? Or they like to see it?
CARROLL: You know, that's a good point. I mean, actually we spoke to him about that, and they actually like it. Because they get a chance to check up on him through us, through our eyes to see how he's doing. So for them, it's been a good thing.
HOLMES: All right. Well, he's looking good. He's looking good out there. Jason, looking forward to the rest of it. Thanks so much.
Well, it's about half past the hour right now. So it's time for a check of this morning's top stories. Power crews across the mid- Atlantic scrambling to get the lights back on for tens of thousands after this weekend storm dumped more than two feet of snow.
In D.C., the federal government announcing it will not open for business today. Airports in the area back up and running. But you need to be checking with your airlines because a ton of flights still canceled today.
Also, it's mud and not snow folks are cleaning up in Southern California after a weekend of rain in Los Angeles. People there have been allowed back into their homes now, but three dozen houses were damaged, several others were declared uninhabitable. Another storm expected tomorrow.
And state and federal investigators expected to converge at a central Connecticut power plant later today after an explosion killed at least five people, injured dozens more yesterday. The plant was under construction at the time of this explosion. Residents up to 20 miles away reported hearing that explosion. Kiran.
CHETRY: T.J., thanks. Well, the first national tea party convention wrapped up this weekend in Nashville. Sarah Palin was the featured speaker. Organizers were hoping that she can help them turn their conservative grassroots movement into a political force.
Now that the event is over, here to read the tea leaves for us, Ed Rollins, republican strategist, CNN senior political analyst and also John Avlon, a columnist for the dailybeast.com. Great to have both you with us this morning.
So let me start with you John, because you were there and you had a chance to see this. You basically said there were two competing camps, I guess, if you will, at the tea party conventions. One with a principal commitment to fiscal conservatism and two, you say a group of people with a serious case of Obama derangement syndrome. Your words.
JOHN AVLON, DAILYBEAST.COM: Yes.
CHETRY: Explain what you saw there in Nashville. What was it more of?
AVLON: You know, look, this movement has its genesis in people who are genuinely concerned about the unprecedented spending and deficit and debt. They feel like Paul Revere trying to warn their fellow citizens about the long-term cost. And on the other side, you do have this very disturbing strain that's getting baked right in that cake, which is this case of Obama derangement syndrome.
People believing that he's culpable for all sorts of sinister plots. And the speakers they chose, you know, for primetime slots didn't necessarily help that. Sarah Palin, I think being an exception. They really did end up confirming stereotypes rather than undercutting them, which is what's necessary to really build bridges with the independents who will probably agree with them on many fiscal issues.
CHETRY: But if you take a look at what has sucked up the oxygen, I mean, it's spent talking about the tea party movement. How does this affect the GOP? I mean, does this fit into a bigger scheme? Is it good for the mainstream GOP or bad for it?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: We have to wait and see. I think the bottom line here is anybody who takes these voters for granted is fooling themselves. Their natural inclination is to be against Obama, to be against people running Washington, which are the Democrats. And if the Republicans can somehow get in front of that and have good candidates that appeal to them, then they'll benefit. If not, if there's a Republican incumbent, there's no guarantee they're going to be for you.
CHETRY: Do you drown out some of the more moderate voices though with the tea party?
AVLON: Not just that. If you really talk to these folks and listen to the speakers, there's a consistent theme of rhino hunting throughout all this. They go after and kick out who they call the Republicans in name only. So there is this ailment and effort to kind of purge centrist Republicans. A real anger about that. It has really become a conservative populist movement to try to run conservative candidates in primaries and move the party further to the right.
CHETRY: But with that amounts to for people actually, let's say in the house, Senate Republicans, I mean, if you want to get anything done, you have to work with the other party and if you work with the other party, it affects your re-election chances back at home?
ROLLINS: I think this election is not about getting things, for Republicans it's not about getting things done in Washington. I think it's about stopping Obama and Nancy Pelosi from getting things done, and I don't think there's any rhinos left in the Republican Party. But I think at the end of it -- still the hunt will continue for the great white rhino, but at the end of the day, I think the bottom line here is we're an opposition party today, we're not a party that should be pushing for the process.
CHETRY: I want to ask you a question about Sarah Palin's speech. There was much made of and we'll show the video right now. She sort of made digs at President Obama before for using a teleprompter. And at the convention apparently she had things written on the palm of her hand that people saw. It actually looked like she had written on her hand energy, tax, and lift American spirits. What was that about?
AVLON: Well, it came up during the Q and A. It's totally clear that she got the questions in advance. They have been submitted via the web site. It looked like she had written the answers on the question. What would you do? First top three things you do either as president or when Republicans took back Congress.
And the answers are pretty inaccurate. It's energy, tax cuts and lift American spirits, in reference to bringing more god into politics. Look, if you need crib sheets on that, I mean that's the political equivalent of reminding yourself to breathe. This is not a real impressive moment. I think this could and should be a big story.
CHETRY: What do you think this, Ed?
ROLLINS: Well, I think this will be a big story. I think this combined with the story of her husband and all the e-mails when she was governor of Alaska, but I think at the end of the day, Sarah Palin is back on the national stage again.
CHETRY: What about this specifically -- if you were advising her, what would you say about that situation?
ROLLINS: I would basically advise her to be well prepared, and you aren't well prepared when you walk out with scrib notes. I think at the end of the day for all the good she may have done, this one little story will damage her, not immeasurably but certainly significantly.
AVLON: And remember, it doesn't do any help -- independents, a new poll, 58 percent believe she doesn't understand complex issues. That's just the reality of where she is with independents. Things like this don't help at all.
CHETRY: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you this morning. John Avlon and Ed Rollins, great to talk to both of you. T.J.
HOLMES: Geez, John, the equivalent of reminding yourself to breathe. Oh, my goodness. All right.
Well, coming up here next, probably a story these two gentlemen could probably tell us a little bit about and have an opinion about. The r word that's dogging Rahm and Rush. And it's not going anywhere but some are still trying to get rid of this particular word. Our Carol Costello with the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: That song should probably be playing in a non-stop loop in Washington, but it's not. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Time for an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Politically incorrect, that is really putting it mildly. Both Democrats and Republicans have thrown around the word retard to slam each other. Now another group is using it for much different reasons. Our Carol Costello with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The r word, in the word of partisan politics it's become a favorite non-partisan slur. Everybody is doing it. The president's chief of staff called liberal Democrats f-ing retarded. Conservative 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, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Our political correct society is acting like some giant insult has taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards retards.
FRANK STEVENS, AFFECTED WITH DOWN SYNDROME: It's very hurtful for those trying who are trying to live in this community.
COSTELLO: Frank Stevens has Down syndrome. He's part of a campaign to -- well here's how he puts it.
STEVENS: 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 an f word, 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.
ANTHONY SHRIVER, BEST BUDDIES INTERNATIONAL: 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 Stevens, it's anything but.
(on camera): Do you think people are being mean when they say it?
STEVENS: No. They just don't take the time to -- take the time to get to know us better. When they do, people really like us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That's for sure. Emanuel, "The Huffington Post" columnist apologized for their use of the r word but Limbaugh did not, saying he was quoting Emanuel and it was political satire. But if you ask Frank, it doesn't matter how you use the word. The word itself is inappropriate. He wants the r word banned. T.J.
HOLMES: Well, we will see if that campaign works. Carol Costello for us. Thank you so much.
And of course, we want to hear what you have to say about the r- word. You can sound off on our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, 44 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is going to be joining us. He has this morning's travel forecast. Still tough going in parts of the mid-Atlantic, D.C. area and another storm coming.
HOLMES: Yes, that's the nasty part.
Also, we're checking out your favorite Super Bowl ads this morning. Betty White starred in one, and she was playing a little football. The Snickers add. There was the e-Trade baby about a milka what?
CHETRY: Milkaholic.
HOLMES: A milkaholic. We're right back after the break.
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CHETRY: They sure are the champions. A happy city this morning. There's a live picture of New Orleans. They have the fleur-de-lis flag flying proudly. And they also had a "Who Dat" flag...
HOLMES: "Who Dat" flag.
CHETRY: ... that's up there right now.
HOLMES: I don't think the NFL has tried to sue them for that just yet.
CHETRY: Oh, gosh. That would -- that would be...
HOLMES: That would be horrible, yes.
CHETRY: Forty degrees right now. A little later, it's going to be sunny, of course, and 52 degrees.
HOLMES: And I'm sure you've heard by now, New Orleans -- not just the team, but the whole city won the Super Bowl last night. The game was great, had all the action you expect. It was a close game, all that good stuff. But, how good were the commercials? A lot of people are grading those as well.
One of the most popular featured Betty White in a -- in a way you're not used to seeing her and you wouldn't expect to see her. This is a Snickers ad, and she's playing a little neighborhood game of football. Check it out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, come on! Mike, what is your deal man?
BETTY WHITE, ACTRESS: Oh, come on, man. You've been riding me all day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there.
WHITE: That's not what your girlfriend says.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby! Eat a Snickers. Better?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That hurt!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not you when you're hungry. Snickers satisfies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was Abe Vigoda.
HOLMES: They'll be in there (ph).
CHETRY: How about it? He was a good sport, too.
HOLMES: He was, but just to hear her -- this little, precious little old lady and something that foul comes out of her mouth.
CHETRY: Yes. That's not the Rose we know from "The Golden Girls".
HOLMES: No it's not.
CHETRY: All right. Well, then there's the E-Trade talking babies.
HOLMES: Love it.
CHETRY: I'm the only one that found this one disturbing.
HOLMES: Oh, goodness.
CHETRY: Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, yes, sorry about last night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't understand why you didn't call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, well, I -- I was on E-Trade, you know, diversifying my portfolio, taking control like a wolf.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that? That's volatility in the market. Taking care of, wolf style.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that milk-aholic Lindsay wasn't over?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lindsay?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Milk-a-what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build a diversified portfolio at E-Trade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: How can you not like that commercial?
CHETRY: So you're teaching little girls -- at such an early age, you got to fight over some...
HOLMES: Rob, did you hear this, please?
CHETRY: Oh, no! I can't take it.
HOLMES: Do you hear this?
CHETRY: It's my daughter's 4-year-old birthday today. She's already dancing around to Miley Cyrus, "Party in the USA". It just makes me nervous.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know what? That's your problem. Take control! Be that wolf! I mean, you don't see (INAUDIBLE), you know, put the hammer down.
CHETRY: She is 4.
MARCIANO: They're going to drink milk, and -- and trouble's going to happen.
CHETRY: Exactly. I guess so.
HOLMES: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: When he was -- when he was drinking milk in the first class, that was also a cute E-Trade commercial. So they -- they haven't disappointed.
And how about Abe? I -- I missed that. Go Barney Miller there.
Thirty-two inches of -- you know what? Speaking of Betty White, let's show you the -- maybe she was out in DC over the weekend with the rest of these kids going at it. The battle line is drawn, and one of the largest snowball fights ever serving our nation's capital. Facebook have helped organize this. They blew the horn and the -- the two sides just -- it looks gloriously fun. Oh, God, a smile on everybody's face. Nobody seemed to get at least drastically hurt.
The only downside was it's not very packable snow. A cold air came in and it was the light, fluffy stuff. So that was the only issue there, but 30 to 40 inches of it, my goodness, it made for some good fun.
It's going to stick around. Temperatures will briefly get above the freezing mark today in DC, but generally speaking, everything that's there will stick and stay and there's more on the way. Six to 12 inches of snow expected beginning tonight in Chicago, four to eight across part of the Central Plains. Memphis got a quick burst of three inches of snow overnight last night, so a complex storm system rolling towards the east will -- it already has a decent amount of moisture and will develop more moisture as it gets close to the Atlantic seaboard, and that will bring more snow in places that have already seen it.
I think we'll probably see six to 12 inches of snow from DC to Philly. Some of that will get up to New York. And New York will get just a little bit more than they got last time. You guys pretty much got nothing over the weekend for this past storm, but obviously folks from DC got the brunt of it. It is pretty, and it can be fun, and enjoy your milk or hot chocolate after you play in the snow.
HOLMES: We were arguing the whole time with your weather hit about that commercial still.
MARCIANO: Well it -- it's a point of contention. Let -- don't -- don't let it be too much of a rift (ph), guys.
HOLMES: OK.
CHETRY: Let's agree to disagree.
MARCIANO: Let's get along.
HOLMES: Let's do that. We will -- we'll do that. Let's run it one more time, though. No.
MARCIANO: Get -- get Kiran a glass of milk during the break and everything will be fine.
CHETRY: Would you pour some milk in this Red Bull? I'm sure it will taste great.
HOLMES: Rob, thanks buddy.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
Well, this morning's top stories just minutes away, including the major development today in the Michael Jackson death investigation. In fact, prosecutors say that charges will be filed against Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. So how strong is the prosecution's case?
We're going to be breaking it down with criminal defense attorney Paul Callas (ph).
HOLMES: Well, New Orleans, they know how to party in that city, but they are throwing a party now unlike one they have ever had before. A Super Bowl party. We're live in the Big Easy.
CHETRY: Also, the worse kept secret or a new military strategy? We're live with details on a large-scale assault that is targeting the Taliban. Our Barbara Starr with new details this morning. Those stories and much more at the tops of the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's five minutes now before the top of the hour, time for your "AM House Call."
So if you chugged a couple of cans of soda during last night's Super Bowl, there's a new study finding it might just be enough to put you in a higher risk for pancreatic cancer. Medical Correspondent -- our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us to break it down for us.
First of all, we're talking about regular soda, right, not diet?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're talking about regular soda because, Kiran, the culprit here appears to be the sheer amount of sugar that you get in sodas. And what this study did is it found that people who drink on average about five sodas a week have an -- have about an 87 percent increased risk of getting pancreatic cancer.
Now, that is a huge number, an 87 percent increased chance of getting pancreatic cancer, but want to keep in mind here, this is not a perfect study. There were only 140 people with pancreatic cancer in this study. But what it basically points to is this. Sodas have quite a bit of sugar in them.
In fact, because I don't know if you can see, but I gathered together here all the sugar that you would have, you'd like -- we're talking lots of bags of sugar, tons of bags. A hundred bags of sugar if you're drinking five sodas a week -- 100 bags of sugar. What that can do is that can make you fat and it can also increase your chance of getting diabetes, both of which put you at a higher risk of pancreatic cancer -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So -- so it's not just soda, but it could be any type of -- any large amount of sugar. I mean, if you're getting it from juices, if you're getting it from other things. If you're taking in a lot of sugar, you're upping your chances of getting pancreatic cancer?
COHEN: Well, you know, it's interesting, in this study they did find that people who drank a lot of juice also had an increased risk of getting pancreatic cancer, but it wasn't nearly the same amount. It wasn't along the same lines as the soda.
But, yes, being overweight will put you in an increased risk of getting pancreatic cancer, and some people get overweight by just drinking too many sugary drinks.
CHETRY: And in general, what are your chances of getting pancreatic cancer as a cancer?
COHEN: I mean, it's very small. The risk of getting pancreatic cancer is much smaller than, say, getting colon cancer or breast cancer or something like that, but the issue with pancreatic cancer is it's so hard to treat, so that your chances of dying from it if you get it are relatively high compared to something like a colon cancer or a breast cancer.
CHETRY: What do the beverage industry have to say about this? I'm sure that they're not pleased with this study.
COHEN: You know, they're not pleased with the study, and I got to tell you, a lot of actual real researchers, apart from the soda industry, aren't pleased either. It's not a perfect study.
But let's listen to what the -- let's hear what the American Beverage Association says. They said that the -- they say that the authors are skipping several steps in trying to make this link between soft drinks and pancreatic cancer. The fact remains that soft drinks do not cause cancer. You can be a healthy person and enjoy soft drinks.
And, again, I really want to emphasize here, a lot of people are saying that this is not a perfect study, but it really may point to this whole issue that you really need to keep your weight down to decrease your chance of getting pancreatic cancer.
CHETRY: Interesting. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Thank you.
Let's take a quick break.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: It's two minutes before the top of the hour.
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