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American Morning

"Snowmageddon" the Sequel; Troops Prepare for All-Out Assault; Toyota Lawsuits; Wall Street Connection of Treasury Secretary; White House Bipartisan Meeting

Aired February 10, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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


T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well hello there everybody, good morning and welcome to the most news in the morning. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in today for John Roberts who's taking some time off.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That is right, it's Wednesday, February 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry. I'm glad you're with us. We have some big stories to tell you about.

The first is of course is this monster snowstorm hitting the east coast, creating quite a travel nightmare, crippling traffic on the ground and in the air. In fact, thousands of airline flights have been canceled. A blizzard warning now in effect in the nation's capital and we're live in Washington as well as New York and we'll have the latest on the travel forecast.

HOLMES: Also targeting the Taliban. U.S. marines joining forces with Afghan troops to drive insurgents from their last major fortress in that country. We have an exclusive look at U.S. commanders giving troops a pep talk as they ready for battle. We're joined by two experts on Afghanistan who will tell us what's at stake.

CHETRY: President Obama still promising real change, real bipartisanship and cooperation. So why is his press secretary taking a shot at a member of the GOP from the podium? A back-handed joke literally aimed at Sarah Palin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I wrote a few things down. I wrote "eggs, milk and bread" I crossed out "bread" just so I can make pancakes for Ethan if it snows. And then I wrote that hook and chain system in case I forgot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: We're live at the White House with some answers from our Suzanne Malveaux.

Meantime, fire up the snow blowers. A second major storm in less than a week is dumping fresh snow from Washington, D.C., to the New York metropolitan area. In fact, another foot or more is expected in many spots. More than 6,000 flights have already been canceled at major airports up and down the eastern seaboard and schools all over are closed. It's just the second time since 2004 that New York City public school kids have had a snow day. Uncle Sam, by the way, is still closed for business as well. It's the third straight day that the federal government has been shut down.

Our Reynolds Wolf is live in the nation's capital now under a blizzard warning. Also, Jacqui Jeras is tracking the new monster storm at the CNN weather center in Atlanta.

We'll check in first with Reynolds.

What's it like out there? How's it changed since we checked in with you last?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now, I'm coming to you and our friends from all across America from inside the snow globe. I think that's what we're going to rename the nation's capital because that's really what it's been for the last couple of days. Obviously, we did have a break there for about 72 hours.

But we had snow everywhere and snow continues to fall, not just for us but take a look over here. We see -- again, the nation's capitol over here, you can just see the rotunda. The snow continues to come down at a much quicker rate, much higher rate than what he had earlier certainly.

Something else that we've been seeing at the same time is the wind beginning to pick up. And that's an important thing because the nation's capital is now under a blizzard warning. You know, we often talk about blizzards and the number one we often think about happens to be the snow. But remember, a blizzard is primarily a wind event. So, if winds are above 35 miles an hour and at the same time your visibility is limited to about a quarter of a mile -- boom, you got a blizzard.

I want to show you what we got over here. Take a look over here on this side -- Dave, if you can get a shot over there towards the Washington Monument, it's going to be an impossibility because you can't see it, because the snow is coming in so strong.

Now, what something else that is coming along, not so strong, is traffic. It has been very minimal. On this stretch, we have along the Mall at 3rd Street, we do see some cars that are coming on through kind of slowly, with great trepidation, understandably so, because the roads are in pretty bad shape. These guys are doing pretty well this morning.

But in terms of cleaning up the snow, that's been a real struggle for people here inside the beltway because they only have really three-quarters of the snowplows working this morning. Everything else, they've had issues, mechanical problems. They can't get the additional parts in to get things tip-top because, of course, you can't get supplies in here because of the issues with the roads.

Now, in terms of travel, very quickly, in terms of the airports, the airports are open. You can actually go -- if you could get there, you go and you see the doors open. But the problem is, no one's taking off or landing. And as long as these conditions persist, which Jacqui is going to tell you how long it's going to last, I think things are going to remain pretty much the same.

That's a wrap. Let's send it back to you from snowy Washington, D.C.

CHETRY: All right. Now, a blizzard warning for you, guys. They just elevated that within the last half-hour. All right. Thanks so much, Reynolds.

HOLMES: And as we mentioned, storm has already grounded thousands of flights. Jacqui Jeras is at the CNN weather center in Atlanta.

Jacqui, good morning. I had some friends here yesterday whose airline called them and said, "We canceled your flight for this morning. We already put you on another one for last night." So they were making these moves in anticipation --

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Nice!

HOLMES: -- of what was coming today.

JERAS: Yes, good to know that they're preparing. And I'm sure they learned some lessons from what happened last go-around late last week. And that could very well be why we don't have any airport delays being reported on the FAA Web site because so many have been canceled and they have been taking those preemptive measures.

Some of the biggest cities that we're worried about, and I think it's even possible that you could have some closures here today. Go ahead and look at the map.

You know, we're looking at places like New York City, both LaGuardia and JFK. Boston, we don't think will be quite as bad. Baltimore, blizzard conditions. Delays well over an hour in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., both. And some of those closings, as I mentioned, could just be temporary, you know, for them to try and clear off some of these runways.

Chicago, you had record snowfall yesterday, more than a foot and a half. Finally done with the snow but still have some winds this morning. Expect delays in Detroit and Pittsburgh. And Atlanta and Charlotte, you're drying out but those winds are going to stay strong.

Winds will be intensifying in the northeast. That's why we have a blizzard warning, because gusts are going to be around 35 to 45- miles per hour-plus. That's going to cause some power outages, not to mention the blowing and drifting of snow.

Some of the heaviest snow at this hour is right around the Washington, D.C., area, as well as -- all along I-80 and just south of there. Throughout Pennsylvania, there you can see the wind speeds currently not too bad, you know, 10, 15 miles per hour. But we'll watch those intensifications show up as we head into the afternoon hours.

Big storm system for the east. Definitely looking at snowmageddon number two here, guys. Twenty-four hours from now, things are going to be looking a lot better. That snow is going to be pulling out and those winds will be dying down.

HOLMES: Well, we can't wait for that, but we'll deal with it for now. Jacqui, thank you so much. We'll see you again.

JERAS: Just one day.

CHETRY: Or if you live in D.C., a week down there.

HOLMES: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: Michelle Obama says she believes it's time to revisit the health care reform debate. In fact she's saying that America's health system is leaving so many people behind, that doing nothing is not an option. The first lady was on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night. She called on Republicans and Democrats to get a deal done soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE" HOST: You think you'll get a health bill?

MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: I think we don't have a choice. When we look at these statistics, we're spending billions of dollars on preventable diseases, and new health care legislation could go a long way to improving prevention, first and foremost. Health care reform -- people have to have a pediatrician in order to get good information from their pediatricians. People have to be able to take their kids to well doctor visits to have all this information tracked.

So, we have to get this done. And I'm hopeful that Congress will come together, that the American people will recognize that doing nothing is absolutely not an option.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The first lady is also saying that she believes her husband is doing a fabulous job and she admitted he's frustrated by the lack of civility that he's encountered in Washington.

HOLMES: Well, how civil is this? We've got a billboard to show you now that features the former president. You see it there? See his picture? It says "Miss me yet?" This is on I-35, north of Minneapolis.

Now, we need to say -- we don't think he took this out himself and is asking, do you miss him. But ask some people around town there what they think about this billboard.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, it puts us on the map and maybe we can get some business in here and put some people to work. And I think it's time that government stays out of the pockets of the people and, you know, is this billboard getting that message across? I don't know, but it's not hurting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not miss George Bush. Not even a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, the billboard's really been lighting up the blogs as well this week even though it's been up for a month. Minnesota Public Radio reports that it was paid for by a small group of business owners who feel like Uncle Sam is working against them. Also, the company who rented the billboard says that some of them -- some of the small business owners were supporters of President Obama.

HOLMES: I wonder if they're ever going to come out and take it -- take responsibility for it. It's interesting. You know the debate is kind of going on behind the scenes. Some people disappointed how things are going now. And some people maybe hearken back to those days of President Bush.

CHETRY: We'll see. And this is the funny part about the Internet age. It's been up for a month.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: No one really knew much about it. No one said much. And now, it just sort of exploded. They've had 1 million hits, right, just yesterday alone when that billboard was posted.

HOLMES: I'm sure they'll get some more now.

Well, coming up here, we got a secret to tell you. It's actually really, not really a well-kept secret. The Afghan war, major offensive against the Taliban is imminent and the Taliban knows it, and the U.S. military wants them to know it.

It's seven minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: An all-out assault on the Taliban is underway in Afghanistan. And we're giving you a special look at U.S. and Afghan commanders as they prep their troops.

The new offensive is being called the largest military operation since the start of the war back in 2001. U.S. and Afghan forces, side by side, hunting down Taliban fighters in a battle to seize the terrorist stronghold of Marjah. The goal: to establish security and gain the trust of some 80,000 Afghani citizens who are there.

CNN's Atia Abawi has the exclusive from Helmand Province.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It's beautiful.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a firebase in Helmand Province, the first battalion 6th Marine Regiment prepares for combat. This regiment has fought in two world wars, Iraq and Afghanistan.

(LAUGHTER)

ABAWI: Today, it has a new ally on the battlefield. Brigadier General Mohiyiden Ghori of the Afghan army wishes his soldiers luck and says thanks to the Marines who will be fighting alongside his men.

"You've made the best life for yourself," General Mohiyiden says. "You've built the best country, your people depend on you. You are the pride of your country. And now, you've come from many miles away to help us."

Although his soldiers say they are ready to fight, they also say they don't have proper equipment.

"We don't have things like night vision," Commander Gholam Rasoul Takan says. "And it leaves us unprepared."

General Mohiyiden and Brigadier General Larry Nicholson are going from base to base explaining the importance of the Marjah offensive and the importance of distinguishing civilians from the Taliban.

GENERAL LARRY NICHOLSON, U.S. ARMY: The population is looking for you. The enemy is not the population, OK? But we do have an enemy who's going to try to hide in that population. That's why we've got to be very careful. We've got to be very disciplined and we've got to be very active.

ABAWI: Marjah, a town of some 80,000 is considered the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province.

(on camera): But the U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have been preparing for the battle of Marjah for months now. But today, a visit from their commanding generals proof that the battle is about to commence.

(voice-over): This isn't the first time many of these men have fought in Helmand. The Marines cleared the Taliban out of another area in 2008, but the enemy has changed.

LANCE CPL. CHRISTOPHER LIMA U.S. MARINE CORPS: I think it will be a little harder. They actually know how to fight this year. Last year, they kind of used a lot of guerrilla tactics. They would shoot and then run. This year, I think they'll try to stay around.

ABAWI: General Nicholson agrees.

NICHOLSON: I think some of our units we'll go in to some pretty heavy contact and I think some of our units may have less contact. But we don't know. All I know is we've done everything we can to prepare. And on the eve of this big operation, I think we're ready.

ABAWI: Ready, but there are still some light-hearted moments.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: This is our secret weapon. This is the mullah. You don't want to mess with this guy. I'll tell you that.

ABAWI: Ahead of these soldiers, many unknowns. Will the Taliban fight or melt away? How many roadside bombs await them? And can they help turn the tide of this eight-year war?

Atia Abawi, CNN, Fire Base Fiddler's Green, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And 15 minutes away, we'll be joined by two experts on Afghanistan. They're going to tell us why the Marjah offensive is so important, and also talk about the effort to win over the locals there and what taking back this Taliban stronghold would mean to the future of the war in Afghanistan.

CHETRY: He was the treasury secretary who had to preside over the bank bailouts, Henry Paulson. Christine Romans sits down with him one-on-one and he responds to some of the criticism. Was he too close to Wall Street? Did he do the right thing? Would he change anything?

Thirteen and a half minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": The CEO of Toyota today took full responsibility for the problems they're having with the Prius. Millions of cars have been recalled because of brake problems and accelerators that supposedly get stuck. Here's the CEO, Akiyo Toyoda. Toyoda with a "d". He is the grandson of the guy who started the company. Here he is facing the press and blaming himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: That's just what Toyota wanted to see. Right? And all those customers out there.

HOLMES: You know, that's really not funny. It's a valid concern for folks. But people are worried about their cars stopping or taking off on them.

CHETRY: I mean that's what late night does, pokes fun at those things we just want to cry about.

Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. By the way, 17 minutes past the hour. We're "Minding Your Business" right now. And there are some big concerns about lawsuits. Experts say that Toyota could be looking at several billion dollars in legal settlements over recalls affecting about 6 million cars and trucks in the United States. There are already more than 30 lawsuits filed over the U.S. gas pedal problems.

HOLMES: Honda doesn't want Toyota to be alone in recall. They're expanding their recall to replace the driver's airbag inflator in 2001 and 2002 models. The models affected include Accords, some Civics, CRVs, Odyssey minivans, and some Acuras. The problem is the air bag can inflate with so much force that metal fragments are sent flying into the car.

CHETRY: Not good. Google is dipping its giant toe into the social networking scene today. Google buzz is being described as a blend between Facebook and Twitter. It will allow users to share messages, web links, video and photos with friends and colleagues directly within the company's Gmail system.

HOLMES: Not another one. Also, for the folks out there. Could you imagine going on vacation to L.A., wanting to take a picture of the Hollywood sign and it's gone for the day you're there? It is going to be gone for a day, folks. A San Francisco organization calling themselves Trust for Public Land. They got permission to cover the sign tomorrow with the words "Save The Peak." The group is trying to raise enough money to buy the property above the Hollywood sign to keep developers from building luxury homes on it. LAPD sent out a community alert, to Hollywood residents, so no one is alarmed when they see the big landmark covered in a blanket.

CHETRY: Maybe take a picture of that. That's only up for a day. You could always get a postcard of the Hollywood sign.

HOLMES: What? You go all that way for vacation and the sign's not there.

CHETRY: Are financial leaders too close to the bankers on Wall Street? That allegation has been made against treasury secretary Timothy Geithner. The same thing was said about his predecessor, Henry Paulson. Paulson just published a book called on the near collapse of the global financial system called, "On The Brink."

HOLMES: He sat down with Christine Romans to talk about the relationship between D.C. and Wall Street. How's he sleeping these days?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's sleeping a little better now than he was a year ago. You know, in fact, in this book he chronicles many instances where he was physically ill as they were going through some of these decisions. And he was making daily calls, multiple calls to big Wall Street bankers trying to figure out how to fix things a year ago. He was once the CEO of Goldman Sachs. He worked there for 32 years. Timothy Geithner ran the New York fed, he was the president of the New York fed. Also worked very closely with Wall Street CEOs. There's been criticism in hindsight that those close ties favored Wall Street over main street. I asked him if, though, his long history at Wall Street helped him or hurt him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HENRY PAULSON, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: In 20-20 hindsight, it was a huge help because one of the things that I brought to the table was understanding markets, understanding what was going on at the different financial institutions, and also the fact that I'd been a CEO helped me when it came to the decision making process, particularly during the crisis. I needed to be talking to the heads of all of the major firms in learning as much as I could in terms of what was going on in the markets. But again, I was driven only by one thing -- which was an understanding that if the system collapsed, the price would be paid by the American people and I certainly didn't want to be the treasury secretary who is sitting in the seat when that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A treasury secretary who once was sitting in the seat of one of the top Wall Street banks. I asked him about the pay structure, if CEOs and Wall Street should show more restraint. He said, yes, they should. He said pay is out of whack. He said pay was even out of whack when he ran a Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs.

And he actually told me that when he was running that bank he used to often tell his bankers, look, no one likes an investment banker. You are not the most popular person. No one likes you. They really don't like you if you build a 15,000 square foot house with your bonus. I'm just telling you.

He's been one of those people who's -- he's very into conservation, very against conspicuous consumption when he was running that firm but he admitted that even then, the Wall Street pay structure was out of whack and he urged more restraint. He says that the system should be so that when you take risks you have to pay for it. The public shouldn't have to pay for that. He urged people who are concerned about bailouts, second-guessing bailouts who hate the system we have the way that it's worked out, he urged them to push for proper regulation to make sure this doesn't happen again so that another treasury secretary doesn't have to be put in his shoes.

CHETRY: And did he say anything about whether he thinks that's likely that we will see regulation reform?

ROMANS: He did. He thinks that ultimately they're going to get the kind of reforms, the tools that he says he need. He didn't have the tools he need either for Lehman brothers he said or for AIG.

And he thinks, ultimately, we will get those tools but had he frustration for Washington. He says Washington -- congress only works when there is a really big crisis. They don't always work perfectly, it does not work perfectly when you're in a crisis. When you have the forethought to work things out.

He also pointed out that all of this was happening, the sleepless nights, all this chaos last fall was seven weeks before an election. He said everyone involved had to think first of their electorate and their campaign and where they sat with their constituents, and then about the markets and that was frustrating. HOLMES: Hard to get anything done like that.

ROMANS: But they sure did, and some people don't like what they got done.

HOLMES: Christine, and we can see more of the interview online with Secretary Paulson. We have clips of the full sit-down and also on our blog. You can read an excerpt from Paulson's new book "On The Brink" at cnn.com/amfix.

There was a moment yesterday in the White House briefing room that had all of the reporters gasping. What was it? Why in the world did he have to write his notes on his hand? We're getting to this bipartisanship day that we saw yesterday. Stay with us.

CHETRY: Also ahead, storm systems paralyzing much of the mid- Atlantic region. There are now eight different cities under a blizzard warning. A lot going on this morning. We're going to follow all of it for you from our extreme weather center. Twenty-two minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": In Washington, President Obama just held his first monthly bipartisan meeting and said that working together on jobs would be a good place to start. You know where else would have been a good place to start? A year ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Those guys are great. Aren't they? Something you'll only see here on "American Morning." An AM original for you now. Real bipartisanship something President Obama promised to bring to D.C.

CHETRY: It is what a lot of people really liked about him, it was refreshing, it was different. Even though bipartisanship's sort of become a buzzword again this week, some members of the president's staff seem to have missed that memo.

For more, let's bring in our Suzanne Malveaux. She is live at the White House for us this morning. You were there at the press briefing yesterday. What happened?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, everybody talks about bipartisanship but ultimately people here in Washington, they want what they want. And President Obama for the first time he held one of these monthly meetings, the bipartisan meetings that he promised in the State of the Union from republicans, democrats get together in the cabinet room to talk about some serious issues.

But what was interesting was what happened after the meeting, the tone coming from Republicans as well as this White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Keeping in mind what's best for the American people.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): On the one hand, the White House boasts they're all about bipartisanship.

OBAMA: The people who sent us here expect a seriousness of purpose that transcends petty politics.

MALVEAUX: On the other hand, the president's spokesman panned Republican Sarah Palin, mocking her apparent crib notes with scribbles of his own.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I wrote a few things down. I wrote eggs, milk and bread. I crossed out bread just so I can make pancakes for Ethan if it snows. And then I wrote down hope and change just in case I forgot.

MALVEAUX: Palin dissed the president this past weekend.

SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: I got to ask some supporters of all that. How is that hopey changey (ph) stuff working out for you?

MALVEAUX: Gibbs evened the score. So much for changing the tone in Washington.

OBAMA: Hello, hello, hello.

MALVEAUX: The jab came just minutes after President Obama made a surprise appearance in the briefing room to tout his own bipartisan creds.

OBAMA: A little while ago I had a meeting with the Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and it went well. In fact, I understand that McConnell and Reid are out doing snow angels in the South Lawn together.

MALVEAUX: Well, the Democratic Leader Harry Reid did not make an appearance after the meeting. His Republican counterpart did to insist any truly bipartisan health care summit hosted by the president could not include the Democrats' failed health care bill.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: What we need to do is start over, go step by step on a truly bipartisan basis and try to reach an agreement.

MALVEAUX: But could an agreement be hashed out at a summit in two weeks on live TV?

OBAMA: My hope is that this doesn't end up being political theater as I think some of you have phrased it. I want a substantive discussion. MALVEAUX: There appears to be a bipartisan hope for substance. Then again, we don't know what's written on the other hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So obviously you've got these kind of "talk to the hand" moments that are happening here in Washington. But White House officials believe - look, they say they don't believe this is all that serious, Gibbs did not need to be admonished.

Anyway, that's kind of this back-and-forth, this jockeying, if you will. I did have a chance to talk to republicans after that meeting, Senator McConnell saying that he did see some common ground with the president when it comes to nuclear energy and free trade, things of that nature. But clearly there is a long way to go in Washington here when you have got this kind of back and forth going on at the highest levels really.

CHETRY: Well, I don't want to keep you out there too long because you are getting snowed on pretty badly. But, just quickly --

MALVEAUX: We're going to make snow angels out here!

CHETRY: I know, and you need a hat, you poor thing.

MALVEAUX: I'm going to put a hat on next go-round.

CHETRY: But, I was going to say, do you have any word on whether the president knew that the press secretary was going to do that?

MALVEAUX: Well, we don't know if he knew it. But, you know, if you think about it, the two of them walked out in the briefing room together, that he had this written on his hand. They walk out together. And then when I checked back in with White House officials about whether or not Gibbs was actually admonished about this, he was not. They just didn't think it was that big a deal. It's not beyond the White House and these guys to perhaps play a joke, go back and forth in this kind of way. But, you know, they didn't really see it as something all that serious.

CHETRY: All right.

HOLMES: Before you go, can you give us a weather report, please, Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: I'll be happy to do the weather, too. There is a blizzard warning. I just want you to know that in the D.C. area, officially a blizzard warning coming.

HOLMES: All right.

CHETRY: She got a few gusts there when she was - when we were in some of the tapes. Wow. All right. Get inside Suzanne. Thanks so much.

HOLMES: We're crossing the half-hour now. That means it is time for this morning's top stories.

President Obama is announcing the U.S. is moving quickly to develop new sanctions against the Iranian government. The president says Tehran is still pursuing a program that would lead to nuclear weapons.

He spoke during an unscheduled appearance from the White House briefing room. You saw that there in the report. That was only hours after Iran announced that it had started enriching uranium at a higher level.

CHETRY: And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not step in to the case of ten Americans held in Haiti on kidnapping charges. A Washington lawyer who represents one of the missionaries asked her to intervene, but a State Department spokesman says it would be, quote, "Highly unusual" for Secretary Clinton to get involved with another country's legal process.

HOLMES: And there is a hook-up in space. Let me explain -- the shuttle Endeavour successfully docked at the International Space Station just after midnight. The Endeavour is delivering the space station's last big additions, including a dome-shaped observation deck.

The first of three planned spacewalks to install new equipment scheduled for tomorrow night.

We now want to take a closer look at one of the biggest fights ever in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan troops surrounding the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. It's the first offensive since President Obama agreed to send another 30,000 Americans to the front lines.

Here to help us break it down, two experts on Afghanistan. From Washington, Andrew Exum, served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and was on General McChrystal's review team and is now with the Center for New American Security in D.C., and then Mark Moyar, professor of national security affairs at the Marine Corps University. He just returned from training U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Gentlemen, great to have you both here. I will start by posing this question to both of you. Let's start with you, Mr. Moyer, just this offensive in the first place for Americans who have been watching this fight from afar who don't know where Marjah is, never heard of it in some ways possibly even -- put this in perspective for them why this is such a big deal.

PROF. MARK MOYAR, NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS, MARINE CORPS UNIVERSITY: Marjah is in Helmand province where they've made a major push in the past year with the marines. It is the last major enemy holdout, and it is serving as a sanctuary so it is allowing them to stage military attacks, build IEDs.

And it is I think militarily imperative and also psychologically imperative that we remove this sanctuary area, make it harder for the insurgents to operate. It's much harder for them if they don't have that sanctuary area now so they can still move into sanctuaries in other places like Pakistan, but we're going to work on those as well.

But this is really a big thorn in our side and one that we're clearly going to address in the near future.

HOLMES: Andrew, I'll let you pick up on some of those points as well but also explain why now we're going after it now, why haven't we gone after it before now?

ANDREW EXUM, FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: Unfortunately, when you look at our force to population ratios in Helmand and throughout Afghanistan really, we're not matched up to a degree where we can secure every place all the time.

However, the marines have had a lot of security gains in Helmand province over the past year, and so now it makes sense to go after Marjah at this time because we have had some gains elsewhere through that Helmand river valley.

HOLMES: And Andrew, is it fair to say this could be a game- changer? There are going to be plenty of steps -- there were plenty we've made before this, there will be plenty to be made after. But could this, which we all believe is going to be a victory for the NATO forces, is this going to be some kind of a turning point and could be a game-changer in this whole war?

EXUM: No, it's not. You're not going to -- in Afghanistan, unfortunately, there's no silver bullet, right. There's no one thing that we're going to do that's going to turn the tide.

What you're going to see in Afghanistan is very steady, very unglamorous offensives whereby we're moving in and trying to secure the population, to buy the Afghan government some time and space to build up key institutions.

No one thing is going to be a game-changer. There is no silver bullet in Afghanistan. This is the long, hard slog of counterinsurgency, unfortunately.

But so far the marines in Helmand province have done very well over the past year since they've been deployed there.

HOLMES: Mark, do you agree with that? Really not going to be much after game-changer, could help but it will still be a long, ugly process. So if we win this, then what?

MOYAR: That's right, it is going to be a long process. These types of wars aren't going to be decided by a single battle, and we're going to have to hold this area, even bigger than going in and clearing it out is going to be what we do afterwards, because we have gone in and cleared that area several times before but we haven't had a good follow-on plan, we haven't had robust security forces, and the enemy has come back.

And I think one thing that could be significant coming out of this will be the amount of damage to the civilian population. That's a big question mark right now and something a lot people are concerned about. We don't know yet whether the enemy is going to stand and fight. We don't know how many civilians will be there.

So in terms of public relations, it could be a significant event.

HOLMES: It is going to be more than just a military win or military fight for the U.S. and other NATO forces. Gentlemen, I appreciate both of you being here. We hope to certainly get you back. We've been told this thing is imminent even though we don't know exactly when it is happening. But again, it's one of the worst kept secrets there in Afghanistan.

Gentlemen, thank you both, appreciate you're expertise. You all have a good one.

CHETRY: It is a moment of elation for New Orleans, a city that's been through so much. But it's really interesting how the long love affair with New Orleans fans and the city wasn't always so great. We're going to take a look at how the times have changed. It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: So hard not to dance when that song comes on. It's 39 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

The Super Bowl champs celebrating Mardi Gras style, the Saints rolling through downtown New Orleans yesterday. They were on carnival floats, confetti, players were throwing beads into the crowd. The fans were chanting "Who dat!" and the Saints, as we know, beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17, the first time that the team has ever had a championship game under its belt in franchise history. And so it's long deserved.

But back when Peyton Manning's dad quarterbacked the Saints there wasn't quite as much love. The fans actually wore paper bags over their heads. It took them more than three decades to get their first playoff victory. So we're looking at how much the times have changed.

Ed Lavandera with a look at the rocky road to the Super Bowl in our series "Building up America".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Orleans' passionate love affair with their Saints is sizzling. The public displays of affection are everywhere. It is hard to imagine now, but not long ago in the months after hurricane Katrina, this relationship was on the rocks. The Saints and the city appeared to be star-crossed lovers in a Shakespearean tragedy.

(on camera): The New Orleans Saints almost didn't survive hurricane Katrina. Politics and the business of sports got in the way. The Saints owner Tom Benson was flirting with the idea of moving the team to San Antonio, and that's when people here got really mad.

In fact it reminded me of what I used to see on these streets in months after the hurricane. (voice-over): Refrigerators became angry billboards, and the Saints owner was the target of the venom. Some called Tom Benson the most hated man in town. Many thought he should be thrown out with Katrina's garbage.

We went to reminisce over those days with New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who was rather angry about the idea of the Saints leaving town.

(on camera): Do you remember what you said about Tom Benson?

RAY NAGIN, FORMER NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: I do. I do.

This is probably going to be very controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway. We want our Saints. We may not want the owner back.

LAVANDERA: I guess your feelings have changed.

NAGIN: Oh, he and I are buds now. We're absolutely totally cool.

(LAUGHTER)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Tom Benson is basking in the glow of the Saints' first-ever Super Bowl win. There's no more talk about moving the Saints out of town.

TOM BENSON, OWNER, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: We never lost any hope. We just have been better -- we've been a better club after the hurricane than we were before the hurricane.

LAVANDERA: And many argue that the Saints have also helped make New Orleans a better city after the hurricane as well. They call this time in New Orleans history the redemption era.

MICHAEL HECHT, PRESIDENT, GREATER NEW ORLEANS INC.: That redemption story really started when YouTube played "The Saints are Coming" back when they reopened the dome. And now that act has ended triumphantly with the Saints as champions of the world and with New Orleans, the city, the region, really the whole state of Louisiana having a chance to really become the best it's ever been.

LAVANDERA: Love is in the air. The Saints and its city have renewed their vows, and after more than 40 years of marriage, they're finally enjoying a romantic honeymoon.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Great scene yesterday.

CHETRY: A lot of enthusiasm. Save some for Mardi Gras.

HOLMES: This party will be going for a while.

CHETRY: Which foods get you in the mood for Valentine's Day? Do you buy into that? Do you believe that to be true?

HOLMES: Not at all. I think if you got it, you got it. Doesn't matter what you feed each other.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: I think I agree with you.

HOLMES: Some of these foods may surprise you, actually. It's not what you think. The chocolate, not really.

Also coming up, for those of you trying to get into the northeast, it ain't going to happen. Those of you trying to get out of the northeast, that ain't happening either. The flights are canceled all over the place, a second storm is moving in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, Columbus Circle; gorgeous Columbus Circle, we had cars moving a little while ago.

CHETRY: Well --

HOLMES: There it is -- it's just going.

CHETRY: -- oh there's a light, OK --

HOLMES: There is a signal.

CHETRY: -- that would get me worried.

HOLMES: Oh but yes, this is right outside of our door here. New York City. We're in the thick of it now. It supposed to go all afternoon, maybe into the early evening, that's going to be snowing and it's going to be a mess up here; gorgeous but a gorgeous mess up here in New York.

COOPER: That's right. And if you don't have to go anywhere and you don't have anything to do it's pretty. If you do it's a nightmare.

Our Jacqui Jeras has been following all of this there. We just got from you guys actually, our meteorologists down there, saying that we broke records. We shattered records. The snowiest of all time right now --

JERAS: That's right.

CHETRY: -- for Baltimore, D.C. and for Wilmington, Delaware?

JERAS: Yes, Washington Dulles but National still hasn't quite broken their record. But before the end of the day that's certainly going to be happening. And Philadelphia might be breaking some of those records as well.

So yes, the snowiest season you have ever seen. So certainly have complaining rights today. And unfortunately, conditions are just going downhill throughout the day today. We're really in the thick of it right now into Washington, D.C. We've got reports in Arlington Virginia that the snow has been accumulating about an inch per half- hour. So that's like two an hour. So it's really going to start adding up very, very quickly.

Philadelphia, you've seen a little freezing rain mixing in at times. And New York City, you know, it didn't look all that bad there at the Columbus Circle area, but this afternoon and into this evening, is when it's really going to be hitting the fan so to speak.

The winds are kicking into D.C. right now. In fact we've just had a report of gust 47 miles per hour at Dulles, 38 miles per hour at National. So, watch for those blizzard conditions to be developing. Back to you Kiran and T.J.

CHETRY: Wow, just a sea of white behind you this morning, Jacqui. All right. Thank you.

Well, you know, Valentine's Day by the way is around the corner.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: We hope you can dig out by then.

And we've got some advice for all of you hoping to set the mood with food. Now, you've got to convince us, we're a little skeptical. But researchers say there's a list of snacks that actually add a special spark to a romantic dinner; they include avocado, asparagus, licorice?

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) it's believed that chewing on bits of licorice root can actually inspire desire.

HOLMES: Where can I pick up some licorice root?

CHETRY: I don't know.

HOLMES: Ok.

CHETRY: Of course those chocolate we know it contains some feel- good chemicals but experts say don't eat too much.

HOLMES: All right, foods that can backfire. You might think those chocolate covered cherries do the trick. They say, no, you should avoid those. Also if you're looking to find love at first scent, say doughnuts work, lavender, pumpkin pie. That can awaken your man's appetite.

CHETRY: All right. I can buy that. With those nice smell of a pumpkin pie or nice at home --

HOLMES: A doughnut -- that's sexy.

CHETRY: I don't know.

HOLMES: Get some Krispy Kreme, honey. Let's get it on. Let's get down.

CHETRY: Yes, I brought you some licorice root to chomp on before a dinner. All right, well, there you have it.

Good luck with that. I always heard oysters work, too. So there you go. It's 48 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Before Haiti was flattened by last month's earthquake, it already had the worst tuberculosis problem at any nation in Latin-America or the Caribbean.

HOLMES: And now four weeks later it's gotten even worse. And if you think that's something that doesn't impact you, you need to think again.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside the quarantines tents of Port-au-Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There is something happening here in these blue tents behind me. And I can tell you, what's happening inside there could impact people all over the world.

Think of this as a quarantine tent. People in here are being quarantined since the quake. Many of them have tuberculosis which is why we're going to wear a mask like this.

You will notice the door is open. If you stay about 10 feet away from someone with tuberculosis, you will be OK. And sunlight kills the bacteria as well. But, once we go inside, you have to wear a mask like this. Let's go meet some of the patients.

This is Syndia. She's 20 years old. We've spoken to her already. You take a look at her. She's obviously had a lot of difficulty since the quake. She lost her home. She also lost her medications which puts her at high risk of developing drug-resistant tuberculosis.

How are you feeling?

SYNDIA LAURLENE, QUARANTINED TB PATIENT (through translator): I don't feel well.

There's a lot of things doctors pay attention to. Syndia, she definitely has some sweating. It's hot outside, but she's sweating is a little bit more than that. Also, those sweats often occur at night. Her lips are so chapped, as well. You can see just from the dehydration. A bit hard to tell, but she's breathing quite quickly, seems to have a little bit of difficulty breathing. Tuberculosis is a disease of the lungs.

What really brought her in here was this dramatic loss of weight. I mean, just look at her arms. She's lost so much weight; malnutrition, difficulty eating, that often happens as well.

A lot of these patients, including Syndia, say, you know, after the earthquake they lost so many things, including her home and also her medication. So she couldn't take her medications for a period of time.

What's the risk there?

DR. MEGAN COFFEE, UCSF DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE: There's two big risks. One, of course, we worry about the most is developing multi-drug resistance. She might be taking only one med that's working for TB and she might then develop resistance to all the other meds. And then she might be more infectious because the TB can grow back.

And most of these patients here are living in tent cities where they're sleeping nose to nose with their families, with hundreds of thousands of other people sleeping nose to nose with them. So it's a chance of just spreading it and spreading it.

GUPTA: People think of Haiti as over there, someplace else, not here. London, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, do people need to be worried about what's happening in this tent?

COFFEE: Over time this is going to grow and grow. If we allow TB to grow in Haiti, people are going to travel. People are going to be infected even workers like us here. And that can really spread to Miami, New York City, and eventually to San Francisco and the southeast.

And we really do not wish to have multi-drug resistance. It's something that even in the U.S. we can't treat well. So it'd be terrible if we had that spread.

GUPTA: Where will you go after you leave here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn't know.

LAURLENE (through translator): She doesn't have a house to go to.

GUPTA: What happens to someone like Syndia? I mean, is she medically -- from a medical standpoint, is she going to be OK?

COFFEE: I hope so, if the right infrastructure's in place. She has totally treatable diseases in the U.S. and right now I know I can treat all of her diseases.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: You could tell by looking at Syndia's face how much of an impact there is on this idea that they get all the care, their lives often are saved, but then what happens next? I think that's really the story of what's happening in Haiti through Syndia eyes.

This sort of what people call the heroic phase, saving people's lives, they're starting to move out of that because a lot of the quake survivors have been treated but what's going to be the follow-up? Where are people going to live? How are they going get their medications or rehabilitation? That's really the focus now.

And a lot of people are interested in trying to make that better but as you can see behind me, it's a really, really formidable task.

HOLMES: Yes. And Sanjay, we see this all the times it happened after the initial disaster, there is still another disaster, a humanitarian one, just waiting to happen.

CHETRY: Sanjay, also one of the -- go ahead.

GUPTA: I was just going to say people talk about the second wave of disease sometimes being a real issue and infectious diseases, I don't know if you guys can still tell, these tents behind me, they haven't gone away. In many ways they've just increased in number over the last nearly month now. So you're absolutely right, people sleeping nose to nose. That can be a real issue in terms of spreading disease.

CHETRY: One bright spot, these small miracles -- I mean these big miracles but few and far between that we've been seeing there. One was the 28-year-old Evan Muncie pulled from the rubble just a couple of days ago after being under the rubble for nearly a month. How's he doing?

GUPTA: You know, he's doing remarkably well. And you're right. It is one of those bright spots. I think, you know, medically, as a doc, I hadn't ever seen anything quite like this before. He must have had water at some point during these four weeks of being trapped.

But he is stable. He is eating now. He was asking the nurses for chocolate. That was his -- he really wanted to get some sugar in him apparently. Still a little bit confused.

You remember the first day after he was rescued, he still didn't even realize he'd been rescued. He's now being reunited with his family. He has two children who for the last nearly month didn't even know if their father was alive or dead. So there are some remarkable stories like that.

From all accounts, talking to the doctors, he's going to do well. What his life is going to be like after, where he's going to live, is he going to be able to get access to medical care in the future, that still does remain an issue there.

CHETRY: Sanjay Gupta for us in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Great reporting on all of this, thanks so much.

HOLMES: All right. And before the earthquake, corruption and greed were rampant in Haiti and hundreds of millions of dollars simply vanished.

Tonight 10:00 Eastern on CNN, a special "AC 360" investigation: "Stealing Haiti". Anderson Cooper reports live from Haiti tonight, 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

It's three minutes to the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: D.C. going through it once again. That snow looks like -- it's supposed to be coming down but it's going sideways for the most part. We have another blizzard issue, situation, snow-mageddon two hitting us right now. They will be seeing this throughout the day as well as we'll be seeing it here in New York as well. It is going to be another ugly, ugly day.

CHETRY: Yes. For many of these places, breaking all the records; 2009-2010 could be the snowiest season they've seen ever.

HOLMES: That's amazing.

CHETRY: Places like Baltimore and Dulles and Washington, wow.

Anyway, continue the conversation on today's stories by going to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. That's going to do it for us on this snowy Wednesday morning. Thanks so much for being here. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

HOLMES: Time for is to hand it over to Atlanta and the "CNN NEWSROOM" with Fredricka Whitfield.