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American Morning

America on Ice; Snow Plows Sighted in NYC; 49 of 50 States Covered With Snow; Accused Gunman's Family Speaks; Obama to Remember Victims; NYC Snowed Under; Securing Members of Congress; One Millionth Soldier Comes Home

Aired January 12, 2011 - 06:00   ET

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


ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: The northeast getting hit by a bomb this morning. A weather bomb. Two big storm systems colliding with snow exploding. And it's not just the northeast that's getting bombarded. Every single state in America has snow this morning except for one.

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Wednesday, January 12th. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We have a lot to tell you about in regards to the weather. We'll get to that in just a moment.

Several developments to tell you about out in Arizona after that shooting, of course. Some positive developments at least when it comes to the condition of the congresswoman who is still in intensive care out there. But also we're hearing for the first time from the parents of the accused Tucson, Arizona gunman. They are breaking their silence now, speaking out for the first time and they're actually apologizing. We'll have all the details on that story including, as I mentioned, the promising update about Congresswoman Gifford's condition.

CHO: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now joining a very touchy debate over the suspected shooter's motives, calling him extreme, comparing him to a terrorist. She sits down with us one-on-one just ahead.

HOLMES: Also, take a look at the screen here for a moment. Did you see that flash? We all see the flash, but we don't exactly know what it is. Dozens of people saw it. This was in Mississippi, Arkansas, several other places as well. Police have confirmed it was something, but we just don't know what that something was. We'll show you more of this video and some of the maybe assumptions about this mystery that are out there.

CHO: Doo doo doo doo.

HOLMES: There you go.

CHO: Doo doo doo.

But first -- up first, America on ice and snowed in. As we've been saying, forecasters are calling this a weather bomb. The map tells the story really. Take a look.

The northeast now in the grips of another monster snowstorm and listen to this. Forty-nine of the 50 U.S. states have snow on the ground right now. Only Florida has been spared and even parts of Hawaii have snow.

HOLMES: Ah, Florida. Just about everybody looking out their window and they are seeing this this morning, stuff there she mentioned, Florida. This is what they're seeing in places like Washington, Philly, New York, of course, as well. Some cities could see well over a foot of snow before this weather is done. Air travel, I don't even to tell you. We've got hundreds and hundreds of flights already canceled. Airports at a standstill right now. Nobody going anywhere.

CHO: Well, of course, when the weather becomes the news, CNN is the most trusted name in news. We've got team coverage. Meteorologist Rob Marciano live from centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, a city that is virtually paralyzed this morning. Our Jason Carroll is in New York City where the snow is coming down hard right now. And we can officially report happily that snow plows have been sighted. But we begin with Carter Evans. He is live at LaGuardia airport with a look at what's happening or not happening in the air.

Carter, good morning.

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alina. Well, you know, you could see behind me and I think that pretty much tells the story. Not a lot of action here at LaGuardia. It appears people got the message last night.

You know, we were headed in here this morning. The roads were not great but they were looking OK. They were making some headway. As far as the number of passengers here at the airport right now, not too many.

You look at the board behind me. There are a lot of cancellations on the board. In fact, I see no flights running on time. It's still unclear as to the three major airports here in the New York area as to how many flights are canceled but workers here at LaGuardia are telling us that the airport is going to be essentially closed at least until 2:00 p.m. That's when they're going to be opening up the gates. Until then, not a lot of action. But generally speaking, you know, there are always people that are caught in the middle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I may be able to stay here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EVANS: OK. So this gentleman trying to get to Palm Springs. He says he called his airline this morning. They told him to come to the airport and take a chance. Of course he got here, took that chance, and it didn't work out the way he wanted. Right now, people that I'm talking to, passengers here at the airport are saying they're trying to book themselves on later flights after 2:00 p.m. It appears at least from what they're seeing online that those flights are still going to be departing. At least that's the story right now. But as you know with weather like this things can change -- T.J. and Alina.

CHO: All right. Carter Evans at LaGuardia Airport. Carter, thank you.

HOLMES: And we can officially report -- and we both can actually -- coming in this morning. There were sightings. Snow plow sightings. That is a big deal right now.

CHO: Not just one.

HOLMES: Not just one.

CHO: Dozens.

HOLMES: Several.

CHO: Several, yes.

HOLMES: There's absolutely a caravan going down at least Central Park. Now that street is taken care we know at least. But other parts of the city we don't know. Of course, this is a big deal because of the last big storm a lot of people complained there were not enough of those snow plows out there. New Yorkers hoping, waiting to see how the city is going to perform this time around. Jason Carroll live for us this morning from Central Park.

Jason, I assume you have seen some of what we saw this morning which was a few snow plows out there.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, you guys are excited about those plows, aren't you? You know, a lot of New Yorkers are excited about those plows as well.

You know, actually, I started hearing the first one last night, T.J., Alina, at about 11:30 and heard and saw some more this morning. Right here at Central Park, snow has stopped. That's certainly some good news.

I want you to take a look at how much has fallen here. This is sort of an unofficial estimate. About, you know, about a little over eight inches here at Central Park. Not too bad. You take a look out here at the streets. You can see the streets here at least are clear.

Once again, this is in part to the mayor's new 15-point snow action plan that is now in place. And that includes putting 1,700 plows out there, 360 salt spreaders, more than they had last time. They're equipping some of this equipment with GPS. That's going to help them keep in contact where some of the trouble spots are. And in addition to that as part of this new plan, they're also going to have scout teams out on the roads. These guys are going to be equipped with monitors so they can report back again where some of these trouble spots are. All this because of the poor response the city had last time.

I want you to listen to what the mayor had to say about what New Yorkers are expecting this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), NEW YORK: We do know that we didn't do the job that New Yorkers rightly expect of us in the last storm. And we intend to make sure that that does not happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: You know, there were actually city council hearings into what exactly went wrong the last go-around. The Sanitation Department came under, you know, some accusations that they intentionally had slowed things down as some way of payback for some sort of cuts to their department. The department vehemently denies that. However, there is an investigation into that going on.

The mayor says this time around, folks are going to be watching to make sure that the Sanitation Department has their equipment out on the streets, but you better believe people are going to be watching the mayor as well -- T.J., Alina.

HOLMES: All right, Jason. We Appreciate you. We want to continue to check in with you this morning. Certainly this one going to be a better round. Everybody hoping at least, the city council a little better. But I guess it's pretty telling. I believe the schools are open here today.

CHO: Yes.

HOLMES: They've announced the schools will be open. So that at least gives you some indication this time around this storm certainly not as bad as the last one.

CHO: Well, the plows are out, I can tell you that --

HOLMES: Yes.

CHO: -- from first-hand experience. All right. Jason Carroll, thank you.

If you live in the United States and you're not in Florida this morning, you've got snow. Forty-nine of the 50 states, in fact, have snow on the ground right now. Incredible. In the lower 48, nearly 70 percent of the ground is covered. That's more than double the amount from December. It's a rare snowmaker. In fact, so rare, no one even knows the last time this happened because records are not kept for this kind of event.

HOLMES: Yes. And Ron Marciano, our meteorologist, he's live for us in Atlanta this morning outside once again. Rob, help us with some perspective here. We had the big weekend storm that Christmas weekend and now here we go again. I mean, how out of the ordinary is this?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I tell you. What's out of the ordinary, T.J. and Alina, is that we really started this cold snap in the beginning of December and we were thinking or at least hoping by the time the middle of January rolled around that there'd be a reversal in the weather pattern that would at least bring a bit of a warmth to the eastern half of the country. That hasn't happened. The things that go on in the Atlantic Ocean that kind of controlled our winter weather haven't reversed and we continue to get this onslaught of Canadian and arctic air and we're feeling it again here in Atlanta. With a brief warm-up yesterday, temperatures getting above freezing for just a few hours to melt some of the snow.

Boom, we're back into the 20s and wind chills well into the teens this morning. And everything is frozen over again and this city for the most part is shut down for a third straight day. Schools are shut down. Some areas are maybe delaying things by a couple hours, hoping that we start to melt this again today, but I doubt we get above the freezing mark.

All right. Let's talk about the storm that's creating all this. Remember we had the southern storm and then we had the winter storm rolling across the plains. Those two have combined and just exploded off the northeastern coastline.

Weather watches and warnings that are posted for the northeastern corner of the country here they are. Winter storm warnings in the pink. The purple are advisories. And that little sliver of orange right around Boston, that is a blizzard warning through tonight for 12 to 18 inches of potential snow. I think in New York in the Tri-State area you might get another two to four but for the most part the snow is beginning to wind down. They've had about eight to nine inches in Central Park as Jason Carroll noted.

So there's the radar. Incredible amounts of moisture. A lot of this is tropical moisture that came in from the southern system. And then the winds coming in off the Atlantic are going to be quite brisk today. We'll see visibilities drop at times to zero and the wind chills will be pretty bad as well as this thing rolls this way up toward the north and east.

There are 58 vehicles equipped to remove snow and they've got all sorts of varieties here at Atlanta. They've increased them because they were, you know, they were hoping that this would melt. But the "let it melt snow removal" mentality clearly doesn't work in a situation like this here in Atlanta so they have farm equipment out. They're just trying to get the city back on its feet and that the people that are out this morning are moving very, very slowly.

That weather bomb you speak of, there's actually a technical term for that. Cyclo bombogenesis (ph) in the weather community.

CHO: Wow. MARCIANO: So it's not just, you know, a nice headline that you're throwing out there, guys.

CHO: That's a dollar word.

HOLMES: Cyclo bombo --

CHO: Don't even try.

HOLMES: Say that one more time.

CHO: Don't even try.

MARCIANO: Cyclo bombogenesis (ph). And don't make me do it --

HOLMES: OK.

MARCIANO: -- because my mouth is freezing up.

CHO: OK.

HOLMES: Sorry, buddy. But impressive the first time, nonetheless. We'll talk to you again. Rob, thanks.

CHO: All right. Thank you.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHO: Other news this morning, bracing for disaster down under. Raging floodwaters are now threatening to overwhelm Australia's third largest city. The already rain-swollen river running through Brisbane is now swamped by water released from a dam that was in danger of collapsing. At least 12 people are dead, dozens remain missing and nearly 20,000 homes are expected to be flooded before the waters peak sometime tomorrow.

HOLMES: Also this morning, working toward peace and stability in Pakistan. The vice president is in Islamabad. He's meeting with Pakistan's president and prime minister. He wants them to step up the fight against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants who hide in the northwest Pakistan area and launch attacks on American troops across the border into Afghanistan.

CHO: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on a visit to Oman. She sat down with CNN and took time to remember the victims of the Tucson shootings. She also gave her thoughts about a possible motive comparing the accused shooter to a terrorist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Based on what I know, this is a criminal defendant who was in some ways motivated by his own political views, who had a particular animus toward the congresswoman. And I think when you cross the line from expressing opinions that are of conflicting differences in our political environment into taking action as violent action, that's a hallmark of extremism, whether it comes from the right, the left, from Al Qaeda, from anarchists, whoever it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Secretary Clinton made the comments at a town hall meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, asking the audience not to judge his actions as representative of American ideologies.

HOLMES: Also, Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, he has been ordered to stand trial in connection with the singer's death. This was after a six-day hearing that a judge in Los Angeles ruled there is enough evidence to try Murray for involuntary manslaughter. The judge also revoked Murray's medical license. Michael Jackson, as you know, died in June of 2009 from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic Propofol.

CHO: And the final voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery could finally happen next month. NASA says it's figured out what caused the cracking in Discovery's external fuel tank. Shuttle managers blaming inferior materials and assembly problems. Discovery's mission has been delayed since November. Now if all the repairs go well, officials say it could launch as early as February 24th.

We know it wasn't the shuttle.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHO: But something mysterious lit up the night sky in the south last night. The video comes to us from Scott and Paul King of Ridgeland, Mississippi. Their home has six security cameras and each one of them picked up that flash there. Bright light at about 8:45 Central Time last night. Now the sheriff's office received dozens of calls apparently from people who also saw the same thing. All of them describe something brilliant flashing across the sky with a long trail. There is speculation this morning it might have been a meteor.

HOLMES: What else could it have been?

CHO: I know.

HOLMES: We will never know. They said they went out and looked around because a lot of people heard a boom to go along with it as well.

CHO: I kind of looked around.

HOLMES: Well, they tried to find something. And these are the officials now. They actually went out to try to find something. Nobody ever came back with anything. Who knows?

CHO: To be continued.

Coming up, their son is accused of trying to assassinate a congresswoman. A mass shooting that shocked the nation. Now Jared Loughner's parents are breaking their silence. We'll tell you what they're saying. HOLMES: Also, I want you to take a look at new pictures we are getting. Look at that, folks. That really does tell the story itself. Not much needs to go along with that. But what you are seeing there is the husband of Congresswoman Giffords. A new picture we are seeing of him simply holding her hand and keeping vigil by her side at the hospital. We'll give you the very latest on her condition and once again, her condition is promising.

CHO: Plus, GM at the Super Bowl? What's that all about? We'll tell you when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Seventeen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING.

We have some new and promising developments to tell you about this morning on the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And look at this picture we'd like to show you as well. We are seeing for the first time inside of her hospital room. And what you're seeing there is her husband holding her hand, holding vigil by his wife's bedside. You don't see any other part of her. Just her hand in these photos, but it certainly does tell the story of what's happening there.

And it seems so many people have their well wishes going that way and have prayers going up for her. And some of them may be, some would suggest, being answered. She is still in critical condition. She is in stable condition at the same time, however. But doctors say she's breathing on her own for the first time. Also, listen to this, they're saying the chances of her surviving this gunshot wound to the head are now - and I quote here, "101 percent" - Alina.

CHO: That is encouraging. And this morning for the first time, we are hearing from the parents of the accused gunman Jared Loughner.

Ted Rowlands is live for us in Tucson, Arizona this morning. And, Ted, we are hearing from Jared Loughner's parents. They've released a statement. What did it say?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alina, yes. We're hearing from them through a statement. We still haven't heard from them in terms of any sort of public statement in which they actually spoke. They've been holed up in their home. Last night, they actually left their home for a period of time. They covered themselves as they went to their car and had their dog with them.

But before they left their home, we did get this written statement from them. And it reads in part, "We wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss." That statement was hand-delivered to members of the media camped outside their homes.

CHO: Ted, President Obama, of course, will be there later today for a memorial service. There was a memorial mass last night. What was that like? ROWLANDS: Yes. A lot of people from the community showed up to this memorial mass. And this was really the first of a number of ceremonies that we are expecting over the next few days. There's the makeshift memorial here at the Tucson Medical Center, which is getting a steady stream of people coming in as well.

Governor Jan Brewer was here last night for a short period of time talking to people at the memorial going through, looking at some of the mementos left. And then, of course, the president and the first lady are scheduled to arrive later today for a service at the University of Arizona. And then, on Thursday, the funerals start. There'll be a funeral for that 9-year-old little girl, Christina Green, on Thursday and then Federal Judge John Roll will be remembered at a funeral, which is scheduled to take place on Friday - Alina.

CHO: All right. Ted Rowlands live for us in Tucson, Arizona this morning. Ted, thank you - T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Alina, thank you.

Coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING, you remember when MySpace used to be all the rage? That was the big social networking site. Did everybody have a MySpace page? Well, major announcement now from MySpace. Is this going to get them back in the game? Actually, this is not good news coming from MySpace right now. We'll tell you about it.

Also, it's the thing you can't imagine living without. Now, the governor of California is about to make about 50,000 state employees go without it. Yes. He's taking it away. We'll tell you what it is.

It's 21 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Welcome back. Twenty-four minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.

The one-time leader in social networking MySpace is slashing nearly half its workforce. That's roughly 500 job. The company says the cuts are part of an effort to reinvent itself amidst slumping membership. MySpace has about 130 million members - not bad. But Facebook, it has about 500 million.

HOLMES: And, listen to this. Is this an indication that maybe GM is getting back in the game? Well, they're getting back in the big game at least. For the first time since this commercial back in 2008, the automaker will advertise during the Super Bowl. GM is going to be focusing the ads on its Chevy brand right now. The 30-second spot costs you about $3 million.

CHO: And along with those industrial-sized ketchup bottles and laundry detergent, you can now get a health plan with your bulk buys at Sam's Club apparently. The wholesale warehouse is now offering a $99 prevention plan. Now, we want to be clear. This is not health insurance but rather it's a program that provides you access to a 24/7 nurse hotline and the information apparently will help you achieve a healthier lifestyle.

HOLMES: OK. This next story initially made some of us chuckle. Violence is never funny and somebody got a broken nose out of this. But the guy we're talking about calls himself a superhero. Now, I don't know about you guys, but superheroes, you know, Superman, Spider-man, Batman, they take on two guys, that's nothing.

CHO: Right.

HOLMES: That's no big deal. Well, this superhero we're talking about here -

CHO: (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: Oh, no. No, no, no, please. Look at this here. This is Seattle's real life superhero, calls himself Phoenix Jones. And what he does - stop laughing, man, I'm trying to work here. The guy goes around in this suit, in tights, the mask and he calls himself a modern-day and real life action hero.

All right. Well, the thing is, though, a stun gun and two real criminals got him. Now, he was trying to break up a fight he saw Saturday night. Two men then turned on him. One man held him at gun point. The other broke his nose. Jones had to call in back-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHOENIX JONES, REAL LIFE SUPERHERO: You know, I train for these situations. I don't just come out willy-nilly and just run on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: God. Oh, my goodness. Police say -

HOLMES: I'm sorry. I hadn't heard that earlier. I didn't hear the sound bite before. He trains for these things. OK.

CHO: Police say they would prefer the superheroes simply to call 911 if they spot a crime in progress.

HOLMES: You know, he's trying to do a good thing.

CHO: He is.

HOLMES: He actually is. But they don't want people out there doing this.

CHO: Bless his heart.

HOLMES: Yes. Because they say it actually adds to their problems and injured people. You've got to take care of people who are actually involved in the crime and you've got to take care of the beat-up superhero.

CHO: Somebody mentioned earlier, you know, when you dress like that sometimes you might be a target.

HOLMES: Maybe. OK.

CHO: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, New Yorkers are waking up to a sea of white. Are the snow plows out this morning? The city has promised to do better.

We will check in live with Allan Chernoff who is driving the streets of Brooklyn, an area last time wasn't plowed for days.

HOLMES: Also, this morning, it's been really the top of mind of lawmakers right now - protection. How do you protect all those members of Congress, not just in Washington, D.C. but when they go to their home districts? We're going to be hearing from one man whose job it is to protect those lawmakers.

It's 27 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Good morning, everybody, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you in Atlanta, Georgia, where the temperature right now is 21 degrees. But don't worry, it's going to warm up today to 29.

Now, the problem is, it's still below freezing, still a lot of snow and ice on the ground. Not going to be melting any time soon. So, even though the storm, the weather has gone by at least, the snow has. Still it's going to stay on the ground there for a while. So, still, the city kind of paralyzed still.

CHO: Yes, there are some people who were saying, who have the "just let it melt" theory, but I think they're over that now.

HOLMES: That's usually our option A in Atlanta.

CHO: Right.

HOLMES: Not working this time.

CHO: No, no, a different storm.

Good morning, everybody. It's 30 minutes after the hour and it's time for this morning's top stories.

One year ago today, the ground shook and Haiti fell. More than 200,000 people were killed by a massive earthquake. One year later, hundreds of Haitian children have found adoptive homes in America, but hundreds more remain in federal custody, still in shelters. Their status tangled in red tape.

In all, nearly 1,100 Haitian orphans have found new families right here in America.

HOLMES: Turn to North Korea now where North Korea and South Korea are actually talking again. The South says a diplomatic hot line was used for the first time in eight months today. North Korea cut all talks last May amidst tensions over the sinking of a South Korean ship. But today, the North reached out. The two sides spoke for about 10 minutes.

CHO: And no matter where you are in America, you've got snow except, in Florida. But the other 49 states have snow on the ground somewhere right now. Another massive system is pummeling the Northeast this morning. Airports and cities are paralyzed. And before this system clears out later today, more than a foot of fresh snow could be on the ground in places like Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

HOLMES: Let's go back to New York, as you said there, Alina. The snow has been piling up overnight. So, a lot of people were wondering if we're going to see the same thing we saw last time.

Look at some of the pictures from this last storm -- hoping this would not happen again because last months, streets there in Brooklyn in particular, went unplowed for days after the holiday blizzard. The mayor here, Mayor Bloomberg, says things will be different this time around.

Allan Chernoff is going out to see for himself whether or not things will be different. He's actually driving around the streets of Brooklyn. Looks like he's making a pretty good clip there.

Allan, how is it?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J.

You know, I have a special interest in checking these streets out because this is my borough. This is where I was born. In fact, right now, we're driving just about half a mile from where I grew up as a little kid.

We're in the park slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, right next to Prospect Park. Absolutely gorgeous out here, as you can see, and we've been driving for a good half hour. So far, it's all plowed. The streets are covered with snow, but certainly passable. And as you can see to my side, the cars, that's the big challenge, people digging out their cars.

We're on a fairly large street right now, what they call a secondary street, Eighth Avenue. I'm making the turn now up towards Prospect Park and to our side, to the right, Steve, if you can see that, somebody carrying a few shovels, just passing that. And you can see the big job people are going to have digging their cars out.

Already, some folks here in Brownstone, Brooklyn, are digging their front steps, trying to get rid of that beautiful white stuff. Most of the people walking around at this hour, they're walking on the street. But as you can see, the street at least in this part of Brooklyn, is pretty well-plowed. We haven't actually seen any plows. They've been through here before.

But it's looking pretty good, T.J. HOLMES: All right. Well, Allan, you keep making circles there in Brooklyn. We'll continue to check in with him throughout the morning.

But, it sounds like, Alina, so far, so good there at least.

CHO: That's good news.

Traffic is finally moving again this morning on Interstate 30. That's near Little Rock, Arkansas. The highway was shut down because of a sheet of ice on the highway. There you see it. The Arkansas National Guard was called in to help police help drivers who were stranded in their vehicles.

And forget Hotlanta. You might call it Icelanta. There is ice on the ground in Atlanta, T.J., this morning.

HOLMES: You know, we're not, as we say, used to this. We only had -- Rob was reporting, we have about 50, not snow plow trucks. We have just 50 variations of things that can get snow off the ground.

CHO: Farm equipment.

HOLMES: Farm equipment, retrofit, a tractor, whatever. We'll do whatever we got to do. But the city there is still paralyzed. A lot of delays at the airports right now. Of course, Delta, AirTran, two major airlines, they have their hubs there in Atlanta, busiest airport in this country, in the world really. Many travelers still there, forced to spend the night unfortunately.

CHO: And also forced to spend the night in Greyhound bus terminals as well.

HOLMES: That as well. Yes, we're never going to be too far away from the still developing weather story this morning.

We want to turn to a bit of politics right now. In Mississippi, for the governor there, Haley Barbour, he used his final State of the State Address to take on of all people, the president. Haley Barbour blasted the president's health care and energy policies. The Republican is said to be considering a run for the GOP nomination in 2012.

CHO: Well, Newt Gingrich is showing more signs he could run for president. The former House speaker is going back to Iowa again -- of course, the site of the first presidential caucuses. He will visit Des Moines at the end of the month, and that will be three visits to Iowa since September. Gingrich says he will make a final decision about a presidential run this spring.

HOLMES: And we know so many people are attached to their cell phones and BlackBerrys. Well, you better let it go because the governor of California, Jerry Brown, he is now taking those cell phones away from about 48,000 state employees. He says this move will save the state $20 million a year.

The governor actually ordered a review and found that California taxpayers are paying for 96,000 cell phones. That's about 40 percent of state workers. It costs them on average about 36 bucks a month for these cell phones. You add that up, it's a lot of money.

You don't need it. Get one on your own if you want one.

CHO: It's a bold move.

HOLMES: It is. We're going to save money. You got to do what you got to do out there.

CHO: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING: a big concern in Washington after the shootings in Tucson. What can be done to protect government officials? We'll talk to the sergeant-at-arms for the U.S. Senate.

HOLMES: Also, it is a huge milestone, an R&R milestone. So many soldiers coming back from the war zone, but, now, we'll tell you why they got a special standing ovation at the airport yesterday.

It's 37 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Forty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING.

There are discussions under way in Washington about how to best provide security for our legislators, an issue that's been a concern, always a concern really even before the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several others. Threats seem to be going up in the Senate over the past year. What exactly is being done now to protect our lawmakers?

Well, joining now, a man who's responsible for a lot of the security, sergeant at arms for the U.S. Senate, former chief of the U.S. Capitol police, Terrance Gainer.

Sergeant Gainer, we appreciate you taking the time out with us this morning. First of all --

TERRANCE GAINER, SENATE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Good morning.

HOLMES: -- explain to people who maybe didn't realize just how little sometimes security lawmakers have when they go back to their home districts. Who is responsible for that security of these lawmakers when they leave Washington, D.C.?

GAINER: Well, the Capitol police still has nationwide responsibility for their security, but we're not spread throughout the nation. So, we rely heavily on local law enforcement. So, the members find themselves really in the same position as every other citizen.

HOLMES: So, what that means is, typically, they're just out there unprotected for the most part. Would that be fair to say?

GAINER: Yes. Again, as every citizen is. But when there's a special event or any they're having, we're going to reaffirm and hopefully work closer with their staffs to make sure they give some consideration to what the security ought to be.

HOLMES: In some regard, though, sir, is it really just impossible to give every member of Congress a presidential-esque, you know, Secret Service security? That's just an impossibility, is it not?

GAINER: Well, I guess money can do anything. I don't think the members want to do that. We don't currently have the manpower to do that and I really don't think that's what's needed. The threat level, given the amount of interaction members have with the senators, is very low.

HOLMES: And you kind of mentioned money there. For the most part, you do, would you say, have the money you need to protect these lawmakers?

GAINER: We certainly do up on Capitol Hill and to work with local law enforcement. But many of the members, senior leadership has talked to me about what else is it we need to do. And like the meeting today where we'll have leading members of the Capitol police, the Secret Service and the FBI, we'll explain to the members and the staff how we can work together with them and local law enforcement to provide an optimum amount of security.

HOLMES: Yes. An optimum amount there and you kind of mentioned what else you can do. You know, really, what else can you do? You protect them pretty well there in Washington, D.C. But when they leave -- leave that bubble at least, what else really can you do, sir?

GAINER: Well, the first thing we do is monitor threats they get, whether that's people coming in person, e-mails, telephone, letters. And there's a system that we have with the United States Secret Service and hundreds of law enforcement agencies around the United States where we gather that information. So, it's very important that the staff, no matter how uncomfortable they are about something, whether it's a threat or not, they give that to us. Then we can analyze whether there's a pattern, connect the dots, if you have will, as we talked about after 9/11.

Then we take a look with them at what event they're going to have, how big, where it is, what's the nature, what's the subject, what area. And the members, their staff and the local law enforcement have a pretty good sense about their neighborhood. Together then, we can decide whether they need no policemen, crowd control, traffic control or some special security.

HOLMES: And, sir, two last things I want to get to here with you, quickly. First, what have you have noticed in terms of an uptick? Has there been much an uptick in threats to lawmakers over the past two years?

GAINER: Well, there has. Last year, there were 49 threats. The year before that, there were 29. A year before that, 27. So, that's a slight increase.

But compare that to the tens of thousands interactions that members have with the public, I think there's a good news story here. HOLMES: All right. And last thing here, sir, I know you probably heard at least a couple of members of the House are talking about carrying a concealed weapon at least more often. What would you say to other members of Congress? Do you think this is a good idea to have members of Congress taking it upon themselves to carry a gun?

GAINER: I do not. The violence perception -- excuse me -- violence prevention is a very difficult matter. Preventing homicides is very difficult. I think every chief and sheriff across the nation is trying to figure out how best to do that.

Putting more guns in the mix is not the answer. It may be part of a solution to have more police, more law enforcement. But we shouldn't just turn to guns as the how to ends violence.

HOLMES: All right. Sergeant-at-arms Gainer, a big job you certainly have there on Capitol Hill, going to be meeting about security today as well. We'll monitor that.

So, we appreciate you taking the time out with us and good luck to you there.

GAINER: Thank you, sir.

HOLMES: All right. And one of the lawmakers I mentioned just a second ago, they're going to be taking up arms on his own, right there, Representative Jason Chaffetz. He is going to be joining us a little later this morning. He's one who does have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and he says he is going to carry it and maybe even more often now. He's going to be coming up with us in the next hour -- Alina.

CHO: All right, T.J.

A bittersweet ceremony at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport to tell you about. The U.S. army chief of staff, General George Casy, was on hand yesterday to commemorate the arrival of the 1 millionth U.S. soldier now on break from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also honored thousands of volunteers from the welcome home a hero program.

And still to come this morning, a major winter storm is blanketing the northeast in snow. Rob is tracking it all for us. He will have this morning's travel forecast right after the break.

Plus, we've all done it, trip and fall while everyone is watching, but secretary of State Hillary Clinton's foreign trip puts her in, well, let's call it some exclusive company. We'll explain.

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CHO: Welcome back. It's 48 minutes after the hour and good morning, Central Park in New York City. What a beautiful shot there with snow on the ground. Unofficial tally from our own Jason Carroll is eight inches on the ground. Very unofficial. But, you know, we could get a couple more inches before this monster storm moves through and out to sea.

But just an enormous storm system, which forecasters are actually calling a weather bomb. We will get, of course, the latest on all of the snow conditions with our team coverage coming up. But first -- go ahead.

HOLMES: Yes. I don't know. We've got to go from unofficial. And not that we don't trust Jason. Jason is great, but let's go to something a little more official and that is our Rob Marciano who is out in the conditions once again for us this morning in Atlanta. Rob, do we have a more official idea of just how much snow has fallen here in this area, here in New York City, in particular?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think 8.8 inches, so far, in Central Park. They'll probably take another measurement now that the snow has wound down. So, at least eight, maybe nine or ten inches and places to the west and south, we've seen a little bit less than that. Here are some of the numbers. Newark seeing 8.6. Philly, I think, got about 5 inches.

But the numbers you see in Connecticut, it's still snowing there. So Goshen has seen 14 inches. Burlington, Connecticut, 12.2. A foot in Berlin. Some similar numbers in parts of Massachusetts. And this bomb, as you've called it, and as we sometimes call it when the pressure of a storm drops significantly in a 24-hour period, 24 millibars. Hasn't done that quite yet, but it's on its way to doing that. That's when you really got the snow coming down.

And you'll see the winds crank up as well. So, from Connecticut, eastern parts of New York, Southern New England including all of Massachusetts, they're going to see snowfall rates this morning, and through early afternoon, two and three inches, maybe four inches an hour. In some cases, you'll see some lightning as well. The intensity is going to be that much. Twelve to 18 inches total is what we expect to see with this storm as we go through time.

And behind it, a lot of cold air down here in the south. So cold, take a look at some of this video taken, I think, yesterday morning. Peachtree Street, you know, that's the Main Street. There's a couple of them in Atlanta, but Peachtree Street was so frozen, this hotshot got his blades on and, yes -- I mean, the Zamboni did not come through and do this. This is all Mother Nature, baby! He's doing crossovers. He's skating backwards.

Even comes down to a stylish, a hockey stop. So, when you said yesterday there was like a skating rink, we're not kidding. We did see a little bit of melting. But even this morning, with temperatures in the 20s -- don't have my skates on. There we go. Did the video stop? Yes. I don't have my skates on, guys, but, you know, it's still kind of slick here. That's for sure.

CHO: Rob, those are some fancy boots you have on there.

MARCIANO: Yes, these are my training skates.

(LAUGHTER) MARCIANO: My double-bladers.

CHO: You know, your friend, T.J. Holmes, was forced to go out and buy himself some boots yesterday.

HOLMES: Look, Rob knows on average --

MARCIANO: You finally do that?

HOLMES: You know, Rob. We only get about four inches, I think, you all said annually snow in Atlanta. That's home for me.

MARCIANO: Yes, if that. Right.

HOLMES: I had no reason to have snow boots, but yesterday, they all sent me out and --

CHO: Took him all day.

HOLMES: Took a while. But I'm good to go, Rob. Thank you.

MARCIANO: Be prepared. Embrace the cold. Embrace the winter weather.

CHO: That's right.

HOLMES: Embrace. Not there yet, but I'm working on it, Rob. Thank you, buddy.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHO: This morning's top stories are just minutes away. It's being called Australia's Katrina. An instant tsunami. A 26-foot-high wall of water wiping out everything in its path down under. We are live on the ground with an incredible look at the damage.

HOLMES: Also, Congresswoman Gifford, she is in the hospital, fighting for her life right now, said to be doing fairly well, improving even, breathing on her own, but other lawmakers now concerned about their safety, some of them taking it into their own hands and deciding to carry guns themselves. We're going to be talking to one of them. Also, we've already heard from somebody this morning who says that's not a good idea.

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CHO: What's worse than tripping and falling on your face? That would be doing it in public.

HOLMES: Somebody sees it. Yes.

CHO: Somebody sees it. How about doing it in front of television cameras?

HOLMES: Yes. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now knows that feeling. Here now our Jeanne Moos. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it was a foreign trip with a little too much tripping. Her aides say she was OK, unlike the last time she tripped while walking to the White House and broke her elbow. She cited that injury when dismissing talk that her role in shaping foreign policy was being diminished.

Hilary Clinton, secretary of state: I broke my elbow, not my larynx.

MOOS: She's had a lot of practice boarding and exiting planes.

MOOS (on-camera): Steps are tricky enough, but imagine, having a camera trained on your every arrival and departure.

MOOS (voice-over): Presidents develop their own style. President Obama prefers to jog. Bill Clinton was more leisurely. And George Bush occasionally clutched the railings, something Gerald Ford should have done. His fall while deplaning in Austria has been embellished with sound effects and lives eternally on YouTube. President Ford even stumbled going up the steps.

MOOS (on-camera): And it's not just American officials who slip on the airplane stairs while everyone is staring.

MOOS (voice-over): French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, managed to stay on his feet but just barely. So far, President Obama hasn't lost his footing, but he has lost his Blackberry while jogging up the stairs, and he bonked his head while boarding the presidential chopper. But then, so did President Bush more than once. And Michelle Obama has banged her head on air force one.

MOOS (on-camera): Even presidential pets know better than to trust those airport steps.

MOOS (voice-over): President Bush had to give Barney a push to get him to go up, and he had to nudge spot to get her to go down. As we learned in a Jimmy Kimmel bit, the only thing more treacherous than using the stairs is having them go nowhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president was surprised when air force one pulled away without him. He suffered only minor bruises.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: These people have very important jobs. You know, they can't think of everything. You know, their mind is on world peace.

HOLMES: And the camera is on every move. It's impressive we don't see more of them falling.

CHO: That's right.

HOLMES: All right. We're getting close to the top of the hour. Quick break and your top stories when we come back.

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