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American Morning

Legislators Back to Work After Tucson Tragedy; Tucson Shooting Suspect's Trial Could Be Moved; Gun Show Goes On; Arizona Victim Lashes Out; You're Golden; New Drug Recall for Johnson & Johnson; Swiss Banking Secrets Exposed; Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.; Oprah With Piers Morgan

Aired January 17, 2011 - 06:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well new this morning, Congress back to work this week after last week's tragedy in Tucson. The House plans to vote on repealing the health care law, a politically-charged issue, but both Republicans and Democrats are prompting to at least tone down the rhetoric. Can they deliver?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, the remarkable recovery continues. Doctors upgrade Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' condition this weekend. Also, we've got new details about the trial of her accused shooter.

CHETRY: And Hollywood honors the best in TV and movies. It was last night's Golden Globes, which included a surprise appearance from actor Michael Douglas.

We have the highs and the lows from last night's ceremony ahead. This is AMERICAN MORNING.

HOLMES: Top of the hour here, now. Good morning to you all. Thank you for being here on this AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday, January 17th, a day of service on this MLK Day. So wherever you may be, you maybe have the day off. Hope you're serving in some way, form or fashion. I'm T.J. Holmes.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Up first, though, Congress is getting ready to get back to work this week, just one week after the tragic shootings in Tucson. Republicans and Democrats are both saying that they're going to tone down their war of words, and that this week they'll test that, promising to work together, even though Republicans want to repeal health care reform.

Brianna Keilar live in Washington this morning. So it will be interesting to see because it's a highly emotionally-charged issue, the repeal of health care reform. At the same time both sides promising a more civil discourse.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Definitely, Kiran, and we'll be getting to see whether they can keep things toned down, starting tomorrow. Because yes, very politically-charged week. The health care repeal vote is on Wednesday, but debate will begin tomorrow, and, of course, it's the words that we're going to be paying so much attention to. The other issue is that next week, the State of the Union, another politically-charged event, where you really normally will see Democrats on one side, Republicans on the other. And you just really see that party division. One side will stand up and clap for certain issues. The other side will stay seated. And we're starting to hear some different rhetoric when it comes to this.

Just listen to Senator Chuck Schumer talking about a Democratic idea in the Senate to have Republicans and Democrats sit next to each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Violent discourse in political life, right, left or center, is wrong and should be rejected. But I do think we as elected officials have an obligation to try and tone that down. And if we tone it down, then maybe the media will be less vociferous. Let me give you one example.

My colleague, Senator Mark Udall, called for Democrats and Republicans to sit together at the State of the Union. I called up Tom after he did that and he graciously agreed we're going to sit together Wednesday night at the State of the Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So Senator Chuck Schumer there on "Meet the Press." And I have to tell you, Kiran and T.J., we're also hearing this from Republicans. On Friday, at the House Republican retreat in Baltimore, Kevin McCarthy, the number three Republican in the House, said that he would really like to sit next to Steny Hoyer. So we're kind of wondering if we're going to be seeing a Kumbaya moment and if it's going to translate to something more substantive.

CHETRY: Yes, we'll wait and see. But good first steps, I guess you could say. Brianna, thanks so much.

Also this morning, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues to amaze her doctors. Just a little more than a week after she was shot in the head at close range, she's now been upgraded from critical to serious condition. We're going to bring you the latest in about 10 minutes.

And we're also going to be speaking with Tea Party leader Trent Humphries out of Tucson. He was threatened at one of the -- by one of Tucson shooting victims at a town hall meeting that he was holding. We're going to find out exactly what happened at 6:10 Eastern.

HOLMES: And a lot of people will be having this day off today, it's MLK Day. The nation stopping to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but it's also a day of service. A lot of people taking the time to serve in some way, form or fashion. What you're seeing here are never before seen images just being released. We'll go back to those pictures here in just a moment. But never before seen images taken during the civil rights movement. These were taken between 1957 and 1961. Just a variety of pictures, just coming to light. This coming to us from life.com.

Now if we can go back to that live picture I was showing you just a moment ago, this is where a lot of families will gather today. A lot of parents take their children down. This is the day to honor Martin Luther King. This is at the King Center in downtown Atlanta, right next door to Ebenezer Baptist Church, where, of course, Dr. King did his preaching. But this is where he is buried, right next to his wife, Coretta Scott King with a live picture there. And this will be where a lot of people start gathering throughout the day today.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we also expect to hear from Haiti's former dictator today, after a surprise return after nearly 25 years in exile. Supporters greeted Jean-Claude Duvalier at the Port-au-Prince airport yesterday. "Baby Doc,' as he's called, overthrown back in 1986 amid accusations of corruption. Still unclear why he returned, but it comes as Haiti struggles to recover from an earthquake, a cholera epidemic, and now allegations of fraud in November's presidential elections.

HOLMES: Well, the brother-in-law of former President John Kennedy is in the hospital. We're talking about Sargent Shriver here, reportedly hospitalized. Not exactly sure why. He does suffer from Alzheimer's, 95 years old. As I mentioned, the brother-in-law of the former president, but also the father-in-law of Governor Schwarzenegger. Of course, the father as well of Maria Shriver but in the hospital right now. He's, of course, as well, the former vice presidential candidate from back in '72 running with George McGovern. We'll keep an eye on his condition.

CHETRY: Also, Cuba says that President Obama's latest plan to loosen travel restrictions falls short. Starting in about two weeks, students, church and cultural groups can visit the island legally but ordinary tourists are still banned. Cuba wants Washington to lift all travel restrictions and to do away with the decades-old trade embargo.

HOLMES: Well, it's just been a rough few weeks of weather around the country, even around the world. But we're going to focus right now on the northwest part of this country where Washington and Oregon states, those two places are getting hampered right now by a lot of rain waters, causing flooding and causing a lot of mudslides that are making things treacherous. A lot of roads have been buried in mud and rock and don't know if they are going to get relief any time soon. It could possibly ease up today with some of that weather. But right now, just got a mess going on in the northwest.

CHETRY: Yes, and it's heading east, as it always does.

Seven minutes past the hour right now. We get more on that severe weather on the West Coast to the rest of the morning's headlines with Jacqui Jeras.

Good morning, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. Yes, things are getting a little better in the Pacific northwest. Still a good chance of rain today and some spotty showers tomorrow, but much drier weather than through the rest of the week.

In the meantime, things are picking up quite a bit in the east. And we'll start out by showing you the rain showers, which are going to be heavy at times, especially across the panhandle of Florida, moving into southern parts of Georgia. Jacksonville getting in on some good rain right now. A little sleet maybe mixing in for you. Memphis and up towards Nashville, we've got snow across parts of the Midwest. A couple inches accumulation for you, up towards Milwaukee and down into Chicago. And some very cold air in place across parts of the northeast.

That southern storm headed your way, guys. We'll talk more about the track of that one and have your travel forecast coming up in the back half hour. I'll see you then.

CHETRY: All right, Jacqui. Thanks.

HOLMES: Well, it's the final four of football. Right now, we are down to four in the NFL. It was a big playoff weekend and nothing bigger than the game last night, the late game which saw a shocker. Tom Brady and his hair are out of the playoffs.

CHETRY: That was a shocker?

HOLMES: It was. The Jets --

CHETRY: The Jets were talking smack all week promising they were going to win.

HOLMES: Well, they do it all the time and they get their butts whipped oftentimes on Sunday.

But it didn't happen this time. They went into New England and walked out with a victory. Mark Sanchez, which is the young buck, if you will, he's had kind of some ups and downs, but he led his team to a victory yesterday. So the trash talk continues for the Jets.

CHETRY: Some incredible throw-downs in the actual games. Did you see that?

HOLMES: Well, I wish more people could have seen your little throw- down gesture that you made off-camera here.

CHETRY: Well, the NFC also playing as well. Chicago Bears had a pretty easy time with the Seattle Seahawks.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: Of course, the Seahawks stunned last week. Even though they had a losing record, they ended up going. But it's over for them now. Quarterback Jay Cutler threw two touchdown passes and run for two more. The Bears ended up winning it 35-24.

So this Sunday, it's a big battle. Four teams for the right to appear in Super Bowl XLV. This is going to be great. The Jets and the Steelers, the Packers and the Bears. So I'll be watching.

HOLMES: Yes. The Falcons didn't show up this weekend.

CHETRY: Yes, well, there's always next year.

HOLMES: But losers always say that.

CHETRY: Yes.

HOLMES: We're going to turn now as what we're seeing as trouble, more trouble for Johnson & Johnson now. The company recalling even more over-the-counter products.

CHETRY: Right. Christine Romans is here. And you've been talking about this before. This trusted brand, you know, that parents and, of course, you know, people use and look for really having to recall more products.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It feels like a broken record here, but 43 million more bottles of medicine that Johnson & Johnson is recalling. Let me tell you what they are in case you have them in your medicine chest. Tylenol, Benadryl, Sudafed and Sinutab, some 43 million separate bottles. The company is going through its quality control records because of a year now of quality control problems and says that these products were distributed in the U.S., the Caribbean and Brazil and they have not been reported to cause any problems. But because of the problems this company has had, they are taken these off the shelves.

Brand and reputation problems for this company have been coming for a year now. Last January, they had to recall a bunch of medicine over a moldy smell. Then in May, that's what Kiran was talking about, 40 different kinds of children's medicines pulled. In August, there was a contact lens recall. In December, Rolaids were recalled over foreign materials. These are multiple kinds of problems, with multiple kinds of products all for Johnson & Johnson over the course of a year. What does it mean?

Well, they've had sales plunge at the company. No surprise. What are the long-term effects? I think you're going to see a lot of people who have already over the past year switch to store brands and generics.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROMANS: -- who have found that it's cheaper and they just want to stay away from J&J products, so this is a Johnson & Johnson reputational crisis that continues.

CHETRY: And the odd thing is, for a while you couldn't find certain children's medications.

ROMANS: Right.

CHETRY: And so you just got used to buying the generic brand. You couldn't find the brand names.

ROMANS: And those generic drugstore brands are cheaper. And Johnson & Johnson still trying to grapple with all this but it has been a year and different -- it's a very big company with lots of different subsidiaries. But the fact of the matter is that for consumers, they see something like Tylenol and Children's Tylenol and Motrin over the past year recalled. Rolaids makes them concerned. Rolaids has a labeling problem, but still a different kind of problem still show the quality control lapse.

HOLMES: Christine, we appreciate you.

ROMANS: Sure.

HOLMES: Thank you. We'll see you again here shortly.

CHETRY: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, lifestyles of the rich and famous. We could be knowing a whole lot more about their lifestyles, and particularly their finances. And it's thanks to WikiLeaks. Our Atika Shubert is standing by in London for us this morning.

Atika, we're talking about another WikiLeaks document dump, if you will, but this time not having to do with national security. We're talking about finances.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is supposed to at least show the financial lives of the rich and famous turned inside out.

Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer says he's going to be handing over documents to WikiLeaks today. I'm actually here at the Frontline Club where that press conference is due to take place in just a short while. Now the big question is, is he going to name names?

He has said that he has several politicians in these documents listed. And it's not just the names of account holders, but obviously their financial dealings and these documents should show who has been stashing money where. And he says it will show how these individuals, high net worth individuals are basically evading taxes. And that's why he says he's handing them over to WikiLeaks. He wants to expose Swiss banking secrecy laws and expose the abuse of tax havens.

HOLMES: Atika, we're going to see Julian Assange today?

SHUBERT: We probably will only see him if at all on video conference. He's under house arrest. He can't come here to the Frontline Club in London. But he may be making in a video conference. We'll just have to wait and see how this turns out today.

HOLMES: All right, Atika Shubert standing by. Again, that's supposed to happen any minute there. We'll continue to keep an eye on it and check in with you again.

Atika, thanks so much.

CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, new reports on the trial of Jared Loughner, the man accused of shooting Congresswoman Giffords. It could be moved now from Arizona. We're going to have more details coming up. HOLMES: Also, just one week after the shooting in Tucson, a big gun show takes place. Is that just bad timing? Is it insensitive timing?

CHETRY: Also, one of the Golden Globe moments, the biggest one, when this man took the stage. We're going to show you Michael Douglas' return to the Hollywood spotlight, coming up.

Thirteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: By the way. 16 minutes past the hour.

The remarkable recovery continues for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Over the weekend, doctors upgraded her condition from critical to serious. She is now breathing on her own, she's off the ventilator, she's still breathing through a tracheotomy tube, however, but she is doing much better after - and we're talking about a full week now, and all these developments in her recovery, it continues.

Also, her friend, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, telling CBS that Gifford's now moving both sides of her body.

Meanwhile, two shooting victims still in the hospital as well besides Giffords. Both of them listed in good condition.

About the accused shooter now, Jared Loughner, we're getting word that his trial could possibly be moved out of Arizona. Washington reports (ph) reporting it could be moved to San Diego, of course because of all this pre-trial publicity.

Meanwhile, we are hearing more and seeing more about his mental state. We're going to show you now a video, it was first obtained by "Los Angeles Times". It's one that Loughner made as he was taking a tour, really, through his community college and you hear him talking behind the camera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JARED LOUGHNER, TUCSON SHOOTING SUSPECT: All the teachers that you have are being paid illegally and have illegal authority over the constitution of the United States under the First Amendment. This is genocide in America.

HOLMES (voice-over): So you hear his voice there. And another - there's another moment on the video where you actually see his reflection in a window. But just kind of eerie stuff, people trying to make out exactly what did he mean by a lot of this. The community college, the Pima County Community College, suspended him because of this video and, of course, you remember, they asked him to go and get some kind of a mental evaluation before they would let him back in the school.

Meanwhile, the city of Tucson itself trying to move on from this. Again, here we are, a full week now after the shooting. The Safeway store where all this happened has reopened. It reopened over the weekend. A lot of shoppers determined - they say, first of all, we just need supplies but also we need to - this is a way to - to move on. They did have counselors on standby.

But what you're seeing video of here is also a gun show. It had been planned long in advance before the actual shooting and it took place.

The president, Bob Templeton, told CNN he doesn't see new gun control laws as the answer to anything. But, still, take a listen here.

BOB TEMPLETON, PRESIDENT, CROSSROADS OF THE WEST GUNSHOW: The fact is that it was an isolated incident by a deranged person and it really, in the final analysis, has nothing to do with gun control as such. Nothing short of total elimination of all firearms would have protected us from that situation.

He went through the background check and cleared the background check.

HOLMES: Again, a lot of people were scratching their heads about this gun show. Again, it was long planned, but no real backlash, apparently, from this and there have been several reports around the country that gun sales have reportedly increased since the shooting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well a man who was one of the 13 victims in the Tucson shooting rampage was arrested for disorderly conduct over the weekend. Right, somebody who was actually shot in this rampage.

Police say that 63-year-old James Fuller threatened Tea Party leader Trent Humphries during a taping of the Tea - of a TV program, saying, quote, "You're dead," as he was taking his picture. This morning, Fuller is being evaluated at a mental health facility. Trent Humphries, the founder and organizer of the Tucson Tea Party joins us now.

Thanks so much for being here with us this morning.

TRENT HUMPHRIES, FOUNDER AND ORGANIZER, TUCSON TEA PARTY: Glad - glad to be on with you.

CHETRY: I imagine that was pretty frightening. You guys were holding this town hall debate, and tell us what happened, how this person who's now still being evaluated in a mental health facility, what did he say to you?

HUMPHRIES: Well, it wasn't really a debate. It was just a discussion, you know, and I was making the point that, you know, sometimes we're really quick to jump on political angles and - and maybe we need to slow down and look at the victims first and then - and then have a discussion about the politics a little bit later. And then he - he rose from his seat, took a picture of me and said, "You're dead," you know?

And then - and then that's pretty much what I saw. And then immediately afterward, you know, they - they closed the program down and then I - I was taken out, so I didn't see anything after that. CHETRY: Right. They actually thought it was safer to actually remove you from the situation. And then what was the crowd reaction -

HUMPHRIES: Yes.

CHETRY: -- to this - to this person, Mr. Fuller?

HUMPHRIES: Well, I think it was shock. I think most - everybody had the same reaction I did. He just didn't really say that, did he? You know? I think most of us wanted to think that he - we misheard what he said or what - or what happened, and I think it took a - it took probably a good two, three or four minutes before it sunk in, what actually had happened.

CHETRY: And I -

HUMPHRIES: But the deputies, you know, they were on it pretty quickly.

CHETRY: As I understand, they recommended to you that you should go forward with charges because that would be the only way they could then hold him, I guess, for a mental health evaluation. So is there a real concern among law enforcement that he could be a physical threat, that he's dangerous?

HUMPHRIES: I mean, I don't know. I think we just have to see what the results of the evaluation are. I think the most important thing is that he did get that evaluation. You know, I think that's one thing we've learned from this is that we need to really take, you know, these issues seriously and make sure that the people that need help get help.

CHETRY: Yes. He said - apparently, just to give some context, James Fuller may have had some psychological issues, especially in the aftermath of the shooting. He blamed the Tea Party. He blamed national Tea Party leaders. And he also apparently went to Jared Loughner's home, as he told his friends, to, quote, "forgive him for the shooting," so it sounds like he had some issues.

HUMPHRIES: Yes, and - and it's unfortunate. Again, I'm glad that we're able to - you know, it's unfortunate it took this - it took something like this to - to make sure that he got that help, but I'm glad that he's getting that help. And - and hopefully we'll be able to determine, you know, what - how to best proceed to make sure that he's not a danger to himself or other people.

CHETRY: All right. Trent Humphries, Tucson Tea Party founder and organizer. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

HUMPHRIES: I'm glad I could be on.

CHETRY: T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Kiran, coming up, we're going to take you to a place, a country, that saw three presidents in a matter of 24 hours over the weekend, and now turmoil ensues. Also, it was the magic moment of the Golden Globes last night. Michael Douglas makes a surprise appearance.

It's 22 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 25 minutes past the hour.

Now, I missed it. Did you catch any of this?

CHETRY: Yes. I - the Golden Globes is always pretty funny because they're all sitting around tables, getting drunk. You know, it's a lot less formal than the Oscars. And when somebody wins who they don't expect to win, they have to come from really far away.

HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: Up in the - poor Katey Sagal.

HOLMES: Sounds like a party, though.

CHETRY: Yes. It was a party.

HOLMES: Big winners, some, I guess - I don't know about the shockers, necessarily. We've never - some people expected to win, and they won, but I guess some weren't expected and kind of shocked everybody.

CHETRY: Yes. That's right.

Well, the show generally sets the tone for the awards season, especially, when it comes to predicting Best Actor, Best Actress. Well, our correspondent Kareen Wynter wraps up some of the highlights for us. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICKY GERVAIS, HOST, GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS: It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen call it, breakfast.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This year's Golden Globe ceremony kicked off with host Ricky Gervais raising a glass and immediate taking aim at some of Hollywood's biggest targets.

GERVAIS: Our first presenter is beautiful, talented and Jewish, apparently. Mel Gibson told me that. He's obsessed.

WYNTER: And although no one was safe from the British comedian's sharp tongue, one movie was a safe bet.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: "Social Network."

WYNTER: The Facebook drama, "The Social Network" took home four trophies, including the night's biggest award, Best Motion Picture, Drama. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, "The Kids are All Right."

WYNTER: The Best Picture, Comedy/Musical went to "The Kids are All Right," with star Annette Bening also taking home a Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.

SANDRA BULLOCK, ACTRESS: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech."

WYNTER: Other movie acting nods went to "The King's Speech's" leading man, Colin Firth, who was crowned Best Actor in a Drama.

JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR: Natalie Portman.

WYNTER: And "Black Swan's" Natalie Portman was named Best Actress. Supporting Actor Globes went to "The Fighter" stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Glee."

WYNTER: This year's Globes was filled with "Glee" when it came to the small screen categories. FOX's megahit earned three statues, including Best TV Series Comedy or Musical, along with acting nods for Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch.

KEVIN BACON, ACTOR: "Boardwalk Empire."

WYNTER: On the Drama side, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" was named Best TV Drama with the series' leading man, Steve Buscemi, earning Best Actor.

STEVE BUSCEMI, BEST ACTOR, DRAMA: I'm going to try and talk fast before that sad music comes on.

WYNTER: There was no interruption, only applause for Michael Douglas, who closed the show. The actor recently announced that he's beaten throat cancer after months of rigorous radiation treatments, bringing the audience to its feet.

DOUGLAS: Just got to be an easier way to get a standing ovation.

WYNTER (on camera): And for even more Golden Globe highlights, you can log on to CNN.com/entertainment. You can also watch all of our coverage on HLN's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" - T.J., Kiran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Kareen Wynter for us. Thanks so much.

It was pretty cool to watch Michael Douglas out there. Like, it looks great.

HOLMES: Very nice moment, and he had the perfect line for it.

CHETRY: There's got to be an easier way.

Well, at 8:30 Eastern, our own Alina Cho is going to be with us. She joined the stars last night, and she's going to have a look at some of the most magical and memorable moments from the Golden Globes.

HOLMES: Martin Luther King Day, as you know, celebrated a number of ways today, but for some kids, they're spending the day in school and some are upset about that. We're taking a look at a controversy.

CHETRY: Also, Queen Elizabeth apparently not happy with some of the royal wedding plans. Uh-oh. We're going to have some new information from across the pond, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Bottom of the hour here now on this AMERICAN MORNING.

We'll give you a look at some of the stories we're keeping a close eye on -- that includes work returning in Congress today. Of course, they were off all last week after the shooting in Tucson -- just kind of put everything on hold last week. All sides now are urging a more civil tone in Washington. We'll see if that plays out.

One of the first things they're going to take up, certainly going to be a contentious issue, repealing health care reform.

CHETRY: Also, more good news from Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' doctor. Her condition is now upgraded from critical to serious. The hospital says she is breathing on her own through a tracheotomy tube. And Giffords' friend, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also telling CBS that Giffords is now moving both sides of her body.

HOLMES: Also, a developing story. He's been gone for 25 years, and now, he's just decided to show up. This is in Haiti -- we're talking about the former dictator there, Jean-Claude Duvalier. He's expected to speak today. But he has made a surprise return to the country after 25 years in exile, driven from power there back in 1986 because of allegations of corruption and brutality.

CHETRY: Well, today, a nation honors memory of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. At 11:00 Eastern, there will be a march in the nation's capital.

And also at 11:00, President Obama and the first lady will be participating in a community service project. Last year, dropped by a Washington -- they dropped by a Washington food bank to try to serve hot meals to the needy.

Also at 10:00 Eastern, the King Center will be holding a memorial service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. King preached.

HOLMES: So many school children are going to be out of school today because it's a federal holiday. A lot of businesses closed as well. But not everybody is going to be off. Students are going to have to go to class in at least two states. That's causing a bit of controversy here.

Jason Carroll is joining us with this.

And these were schools were talking about that were supposed to be off today. But some decided -- let's make up a snow day.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what's going on. Some local leaders are saying this is being disrespectful to the King holiday. But school leaders are saying they basically have no choice.

And we do somewhat of a significant update for you this morning. Several counties in northern Georgia that had planned on being open today are now closed, but not's because of political pressure, it's because of bad roads. The county said many were just too dangerous or flat-out inaccessible because of the storm.

So, that leaves at least two cities in South Carolina and two counties in North Carolina, including the one around Charlotte, by far the biggest district there. So, by our count, approximately 168,000 students in about 230 schools will likely be in class today. We say likely, because in Charlotte, the local chapter of the NAACP is calling on parents to keep their children home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

KOJO NANTAMBU, PRESIDENT, CHARLOTTE CHAPTER OF NAACP: We do not want to use Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday at any time as an alternative. That's the only celebration that we have.

SANTRIE WALLS, PARENT: I'm not sending my daughter to school. I won't send her to school on that day.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

CARROLL: You can hear what some of the parents are saying about that. Protests and calls for boycotts have also come in from Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Sharpton saying, "We're urging people to keep their kids home. It's un-American not to observe the holiday."

As for the school districts, they say they really have no choice in all this. They said there was no intent to dishonor the legacy of Dr. King. But they simply have too many snow days to make up and only a handful of days they can legally use. Another option would have been to shorten the spring break. But many schools say they are encouraging teachers to take the opportunity to talk about the Dr. King holiday.

But, Kiran and T.J., it's a very sensitive topic, as both of you know. King, of course, was born in Georgia. And after his death, there was a very, very tough fight in the Carolinas, just to get the King holiday recognized. I wasn't finally recognized until 2000.

And I think there are a lot of civic leaders out there who say perhaps what can happen is they can use this as an opportunity to teach. We'll see what happens.

CHETRY: All right. Interesting, though, to see that even though they tried to make school happen, it was Mother Nature that ended up --

CARROLL: Right. That ended up.

CHETRY: -- closing them anyway.

CARROLL: -- closing them anyway.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Jason.

HOLMES: Jason, thanks so much.

CARROLL: All right.

HOLMES: Also new this morning, a three-state manhunt for suspected cop killer has ended now. You're seeing video here of a SWAT team surrounded a New Jersey apartment. This was yesterday. They ended up taking into custody a 19-year-old man by the name of Jahmell Crockham, taken into custody -- again, suspected in the killing, the execution- style killing of a police officer on Friday.

CHETRY: Well, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline should be flowing at full capacity by the end of the week. A leak in the 800-mile line forced officials to shut it down more than a week ago. This pipeline pumps 642,000 barrels a day when it's operating at full capacity.

HOLMES: All right. And I have been told all morning by our writers that you must pay attention to this video. It's a warning of what can happen and the dangers of texting. Not while driving, but while walking.

Look in the middle, the woman is walking and she's texting at a mall and she falls right into the fountain. Now, we're going to re-rack this for you so many times, it's going to be ridiculous. But this is security camera footage of a person walking through the mall, looking down, and texting and walks right into the fountain there.

CHETRY: That could totally happen to me. I could just see it. I'm just so glad --

HOLMES: Again, as you see, the person gets up, hops out, shakes it off -- and keeps a-pushing. But you always hear about the dangers of texting and driving. It could be embarrassing if you're texting and walking as well.

CHETRY: Poor thing. She just didn't even pause, just jumped right out and just kept going. Hopefully, no one saw that.

Well, I don't know if you saw it, but our own Anderson Cooper had a bit of a cameo on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend. We're going to show you what he did, coming up.

HOLMES: Also, we told you about this country that has seen three presidents in a matter of 24 hours over the weekend. We'll tell you why, though, this could mark the dawn of a new era.

It's 37 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Forty minutes past the hour. A lot of people asking question exactly what is going to be next in Tunisia.

CHETRY: That's right. Also, Italy's prime minister is firing back amid a scandal over a teenaged prostitute.

A lot going on, and Zain Verjee is following all of that from our London bureau this morning.

Hey, Zain. Let's starts with Tunisia. So, some developments there this weekend after the stunning ouster of their president.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, developments over the weekend. Some pretty major developments. Also, just a few minutes ago, what's happening right now is that the government there is trying to figure out how to move forward. It's a temporary government and they're just trying to get together on a deal to stabilize the country.

But unstabilizing events continue to happen, guys. Just moments ago, 2,000 protesters were out on the streets. They're protesting against the current people that are in control. The police, I understand, have fired tear gas. It's thickened the air on the streets. They've also been shooting above the heads of demonstrators.

There's been looting as well over the weekend. As you know, President Ben Ali, who had been in power for something like 23 years fled after these massive month-long protests. He's now in Saudi Arabia.

The reason, guys, this is an important story for the U.S. to keep an eye on is that they've always been kind of reluctant to push autocratic Arab regimes for fear that Islamist may move in to that vacuum. So, it's going to be important to see what happens with Tunisia. And also, countries like Libya, Egypt, Morocco keeping a close eye, because their regimes are autocratic, and people are not happy. So, they're waiting to see what will happen to them.

HOLMES: Zain, let's turn to Italy. Silvio Berlusconi.

VERJEE: Yes.

HOLMES: He just keeps things interesting, does he not? Facing charges, nothing really new for him to be charged with something, if you will. But some serious charges, certainly he's denying once again.

VERJEE: He is. And basically what's going on is he's been accused of paying for sex with a teenaged Moroccan prostitute and a dancer, and throwing parties for prostitutes. Some witnesses have said that there were topless women that were dressed as nurses and police and they undressed for Berlusconi at one of his parties.

He is saying this is totally absurd. It is not true. And he insists that he's had one stable partner. He says he's been seeing this woman for a long time and that he has nothing to do with any of this.

But it's grabbing the headlines and making him look pretty bad at 73 years old. CHETRY: Yes. What is the reaction? It's fascinating because I'm just trying to think if that happened in the U.S., if our president was accused of that -- I mean, the uproar that would ensue. I mean, how is Italy taking this?

VERJEE: Well you know, it's not the kind of uproar that we'd get in the U.S. Italy is taking it as -- oh, there he goes again. There's our president.

But -- I mean, you know, underneath the eye rolls and the winks, I mean, these are -- these are pretty serious accusations. And if he's involved in this and one of the accusations is that he that he used and abused his political office just to get this Moroccan teenager out of jail who was detained for theft.

So that's the seriousness. But there are some eye rolls and winks over in Italy.

HOLMES: All right. Zain Verjee, good to see you this morning from London. Thanks so much. And you can watch Zain Verjee's new show, "WORLD ONE." Every morning, 5:00 a.m., right here on CNN. That's so much, Zain.

CHETRY: Thanks, Zain.

VERJEE: Thanks, guys. Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, still to come this morning, we are going to be talking weather for you. And it could be disrupting some of your travel plans. Our Jacqui Jeras is coming up in just a moment.

CHETRY: Is it going to snow again? I think so.

HOLMES: Likely.

CHETRY: Well, left hanging, we're going to tell you what ruined the day on the slopes for nearly 100 people in Ohio.

Forty-four minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: Forty-six minutes past the hour and at 14 degrees. Good morning to you, New York City. Good morning, everybody this morning. Going to get up about 24 degrees a bit later today in New York. As long as it's not snowing, I'm OK.

CHETRY: Yes. A little chilly, though. Got to bring the gloves, and the hat and the scarf today.

Dozens of skiers were stranded about 30 feet in the air. This doesn't seem like fun. You wanted to go down the lift, but you got stuck. So, 90 of them, one by one, had to be rescued after this ski lift in Ohio broke down. They gave blankets out to some of the passengers. Hand warmers to keep them warm, and eventually, everyone made it down safely. That's why you stay in the lodge. You know, got nothing to worry about.

HOLMES: What do you do in the lodge? You just stay by the fire place?

CHETRY: Stay by the fire, sip a, you know, nice cocktail or some hot chocolate.

HOLMES: Jacqui Jeras, you ski, right?

JERAS: A little bit.

CHETRY: She wants to be in the lodge, too. I can feel it.

JERAS: I'd rather be in -- I was a water skier, not a snow skier. So --

CHETRY: There you go.

JERAS: What can I say? It's going to be a while before we do that, huh?

CHETRY: Yes. Unless, we're going to be in Hawaii, unfortunately.

JERAS: There you go, yes, one of the few places you can actually do that now. Anyway, we've got more winter weather heading New York guys this way. The good news is, even though, it's going to start out as snow in many areas of the northeast, we're going to see a little mix and then change over to rain. So, hopefully, by the time you wake up or at least, you know, get through mid-morning, things will be looking better for you tomorrow.

Let's talk about the storm system as it takes shape. Right now, it's bringing in some heavy wet weather across parts of the southeast. The rain really, really coming down at times right along the I-10 corridor here as well as I-75 and northern parts of Florida, and this is going to be pushing up towards the north and the east throughout the day today. We also have some wintry weather across parts of the Tennessee Valley and then the upper Midwest dealing with a little clipper-type system here.

Bringing snow showers from Minneapolis over towards Dubuque. Milwaukee and Chicago, you're going to get in on this very shortly, and most of what you're seeing there in Missouri is not actually reaching the ground. So, that's a little bit of good news. But we do expect some delays today. Biggest problem spot we think is going to be Miami. This afternoon, thunderstorms could be strong, possibly even severe. So, delays could reach over an hour.

Memphis and Nashville, 30 to 60 minutes because of the rain. A little sleet mixing in this morning maybe at times too, by the way. Chicago and Milwaukee could be over an hour due to the snow. Denver, we've got windy conditions and some fog this morning for you in San Francisco as well as Dallas. But things should look better for you this afternoon in the Dallas area. So, the big picture for today shows that most of the action happening in the nation's midsection and to the southeast. Things look good today into the northeast, so plan ahead as that storm system is headed your way. Watches and advisories are already in place. Ahead of the system, we think Philadelphia could get hit pretty hard with some light freezing rain, and that's going to make things really, really slick for that commute for tomorrow. Notice Boston and New York City, you're not in it and that's because we think most of the winter weather comes in overnight.

And then, it's going to change over and see that rain transition, but could see some significant freezing rain, we think, especially upstate New York into the Adirondacks. So, be aware of that if you're traveling tomorrow. High temperatures for today, look like this, a bit on the nippy side, but feeling a little bit more where we should be for the time of the year across parts of the southeast. Kiran and T.J., get all ready for that storm. Hope you got those boots, by the way, T.J.

HOLMES: I'm good to go.

JERAS: OK. Good.

HOLMES: Jacqui, thank you, as always. We'll talk to you again here shortly.

Also, coming up, we're going to be talking more about the Tucson shooting suspect. We're getting a new video that's kind of shedding some light possibly on his state of mind. We will show you that video, coming up. >

CHETRY: Potentially, blowing the whistle on the rich and famous, WikiLeaks set to expose more secrets today this time about offshore banking. Will they name names? We're live in London with the latest.

HOLMES: Also, it was the big party last night. We will tell you who the big winners were, also who the best and worst dressed were, and also, a beautiful moment last night for that guy, Michael Douglas. We'll show that to you, as well. It's ten minutes until the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Seven minutes until the top of the hour. When we started here at CNN probably about four years ago, do you remember your very first guest you ever had on?

CHETRY: We interviewed Larry King.

HOLMES: That was your first guest?

CHETRY: Beside Richard Roth (ph), but yes, we sat down here with Larry King, and he interviewed us.

HOLMES: First nonemployee.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: None co-worker you interviewed. You can't remember, can you?

CHETRY: It wasn't Oprah. That's for sure.

HOLMES: It wasn't Oprah. Our newest co-worker is going to remember who he interviewed first when he started at CNN. That first-ever guest is Oprah Winfrey. She is going to be the first guest on "Piers Morgan Tonight" which premieres, yes, tonight. Oprah says it was one of the toughest interviews she's done in some 20 years. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: I had been betrayed by somebody in my family who had gone to the tabloids. And for, you know, $20,000, had sold me out. And Stedman came into the room with tears in his eyes. We knew that it was coming out. Stedman came into the room with tears in his eyes, and he said, the story's out. I have a copy of it if you want to see it. And I'm really sorry, you don't deserve this. It was that moment.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST: And you looked at him and you thought, I love this man?

WINFREY: No. I looked at him, and I thought, here's somebody who -- is willing to stand in and stand up for you. And that's what love is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. "Piers Morgan Tonight" kicks off tonight, 9:00 eastern time. Like we said, first guest is Oprah Winfrey.

CHETRY: They had a really good rapport, actually. She also talked to him about how depressed she was when "Beloved" didn't do well at the box office. And she said that she actually wanted to macaroni and cheese binge, try to eat away some of her sadness. So, you know, she really opened up to him about a lot of things.

HOLMES: Our viewers will be able to see all of that this evening. You kind of saw the list of guests he's going to have this week, Howard Stern, Condoleezza Rice, Ricky Gervais who, of course, was on stage last night at the Golden Globe, George Clooney, as well. So, a heck of a first week for our newest co-worker here.

CHETRY: Yes. And also, for Anderson Cooper who got to be on "SNL." Can you imagine? You had a cameo and a digital short picturing Pee- wee Herman and Andy Samberg, and it was all the rage online. Here's the setup if you missed. It's a Pee-wee and Andy meet at a bar. He starts buying him tequila shots, and after some more tequila shots and some dancing on the bar, they bump into Anderson Cooper outside the bar. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the best night of my life, Andy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Same. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a ba-bad influence on each other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(CHEERING) shots!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: let's celebrate by doing some shot.

(CHEERING) shots!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, hey Anderson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You almost hit me in the eye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That's pretty brutal. He's OK. We should explain. Anderson is all right. All right? Just a joke, just a skit. But people got a kick out of that. You can check it out. We need to find a place we can put that up so people can find it on a link online.

CHETRY: And see the whole thing. Some of that got lost in the editing process.

HOLMES: We will get that for you.

Your top stories coming up in just a moment. Stick around.

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