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American Morning

Taco Bell Defends Its Beef; Old Spice Man is Back; Small Explosion in Davos; Ally on Edge; Tea Party Caucus Holds First Meeting; Kucinich Sues Over Olive Pit; MTV Supporting "Skins"; Giffords Recovering at Lightning Speed; Super Volcano Underneath Yellowstone National Park; Big Day for the Dow

Aired January 27, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): We are covering yet another monster snow storm for the East Coast this morning. The eight time that we've seen snowfall here in New York, at least, since December 14th. From Washington all the way up to north east, paralyzed this morning by this super-sized snowmaker. We had airports shut down. We have highways snow covered. Schools closed in all of the major cities in the northeast this morning. Much more coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (on-camera): And good morning to you. It is Thursday, January 27th. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We'll be getting back to the weather here in just a moment, but also a story we have been covering this week on AMERICAN MORNING. Taco Bell having to defend its beef. They're having to do it once again, probably not a good sign when you have to say how much meat is actually in your meat. We'll explain.

CHETRY: Also ahead, pay attention, ladies, the Old Spice guy is back. He's got a new ad out there. Our Stephanie Elam brings us a sneak peek a little later.

HOLMES: But now let's get to that storm. Once again, another big storm. We're talking about measuring some of the snow levels by the foot. And you can see what happens. People trying to get out, get around in some of this stuff.

The federal government, we'll let you know, is going to be opening two hours late in D.C. The schools however in D.C., Philly, New York, Boston will not be opening today. They are all closed.

Let's give you a live look outside at what's happening in New York City right now. The city is under a weather emergency. That sounds like the norm right now. Some places got 15 inches or more of snow overnight. Also having to deal with thunder snow, if will you, some lightning and thunder. Take you to Boston now, they're expecting more than a foot after all is said and done. That's a picture of our Reynolds Wolf out there doing his duty for us this morning. We're going to get back in just a second. You see them getting ready for the live shot.

But let's check in with our Rob Marciano. He's in the extreme weather center. Is this stuff just about done, Rob in getting out of here?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's trying to wind down. It has done that in New York City. It's done that in points farther to the east. A winter storm warning still up for all of Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts, Boston, back to the cape, eight to 14 inches expected in these area for total snow accumulations. That's about what we've seen some of the other large cities, another wide range of real estate and highly populated area crushed by snow.

You can see the back edge of this thing is already out towards, say, east Hampton and Gratin, Connecticut. It's moving out quickly. There is a little snow behind this but not a tremendous amount.

Temperatures are not drastically colder, but cold enough to keep the temperatures where it is. This has been a heavy snow event, a high- water content event. Not where you have the light fluffy stuff blowing around. This is heavy, hard to shovel stuff, and not bad snowball and sledding stuff either, so kids get out there and enjoy.

But adults are going, please, enough -- 15.3 inches in central park, the month of January, all-time record for snow. Philadelphia, 14.9, Newark at 14.2, you see the highly populated cities getting crushed. Travel has been shut down at New York and Newark. If you're traveling ought of those airports, including Boston, D.C. and Baltimore, also you're going to see a tremendous am of delays if not cancellations already today.

And Chicago, Minneapolis, also some snow. This is a moisture-starved evidence system, there it is, so temperatures potentially coming at you tomorrow through Sunday. Enough is enough, I suppose, but we haven't even gotten to February. And we've had serious snowstorms during the month of February as well.

CHETRY: I don't know where we're going to put a couple more inches. I mean, seriously, you see these enormous mountains made by all the plowing. What a mess. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, Kiran.

CHETRY: The storm's paralyzing travel up and down the I-95 corridor this morning. This is a scene in interstate 95, this is in Darian, Connecticut northbound. It was shut down. They're claiming they were going to get it open at 6:00 a.m., idling trucks star the eye can see, and still challenged to get it open. They were trying tour 6:00 a.m. but we're hearing it is in fact shut down.

And the snow-crushing budgets up and down the east coast. The nation weight capital spent 49 percent of their $6.4 million. In Boston, they depleted about 66 percent of their $16 million snow budget. And now another expensive snow emergency in Boston, it's still coming down. The kids are already getting their fourth snow day today. Boston has already gotten more than 50 inches of snow this winter. The city has so-called snow farms set up in vacant lots because as we're talking about, you need some place to dump it all.

Reynolds Wolf live outside in Boston this morning. So, boy, what a mess.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I'm telling you what, we're in Boston's back bay where the snow has really begun to taper off a bit. What you're seeing for the time being is the wind. The wind's actually moving through the high buildings. It accelerates a little bit. So when it gets here, about 40 miles per hour. So visibility for drivers could be kind of poor to sate least.

The bottom line is if you don't need to get out on the roadways, by all means don't. In terms of travel, things are tough not only for the runways but the airports, 200 departures have been canceled.

We're with CNN photojournalist Bob Crowley. Bob, come here for a moment. Folks, I want to show you something. You know when you have a four-wheel drive car and you feel like you have a sense of security in terms of driving. I want to show you a jeep over here a little bit ago, stuck, mired in the frozen goo. The area of low pressure continues to kick out. The snow continues to pile up now, just wind- driven.

Got some good news, sidewalks are in in pretty good shape. Crews about working around the clock to keep things clear. That's good news. It's also good news for students. Public schools in Boston are closed for the day. City services, city hall, will be open. And one of the reasons why is because of the great job these guys are doing. Watch your eyes, bob. These guys have been busy throughout the morning.

Again, we may see sunshine throughout the afternoon. Better weather to come for Boston throughout the day, possibly an inch of snowfall as we get towards the middle of the weekend. Let's kick it back to you in New York, guys.

CHETRY: All right. You talked about plowing through your snow budget up there as well. It is unbelievable. Do you have any look ahead in terms of February? Is this supposed to be tapering off or are we looking at round after round?

WOLF: Well, I'll tell you what, April's a long way away, isn't it? It really is. They've had snow here in Boston for opening day when the Sox take over at Fenway Park. There's a possibility we could see a few more snowfalls. No question about it. But I'm telling you it seems like a long winter, the rest of February to go through, march and April. It's certainly possible we may see a few more doses of heavy snowfall in the region.

CHETRY: Reynolds for us in snowy Boston, thanks so much. HOLMES: Well drug smugglers are going medieval now, using an ancient weapon. Take a look. It was all caught on tape. According to federal officials, what you're seeing here is some surveillance video of alleged Mexican drug smugglers catapulting marijuana across the border. This is at the U.S./Mexico border in Arizona. But they are launching this stuff using a catapult.

Authorities seized some 45 pounds of marijuana.

CHETRY: Homeland Security getting rid of the color-coded terror alert system. Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to make it official today. A lot of critics slammed the system from the start saying it scared the public and scared people rather than prepared them for anything. Sources say it will be replaced by a national terrorism advisory system that will focus on specific threats.

HOLMES: And take a look at the tumble that Jimmy Buffett took off the stage in Australia. Did you see that? It was caught on video. This knocked him unconscious. He had to go to the hospital where he was treated. He got a few stitches on his head, but the 64-year-old singer is out of the hospital now, said to be doing OK. But, man, that was a heck of a tumble.

CHETRY: It was.

Ford's issuing a recall for more than 400,000 Windstar minivans in cold weather states. There are defects in brackets and mounts that could force a driver to lose control. The Windstar covers 1988 to 2003 model years. Ford says there have been seven crashes and several minor injuries related to this problem.

HOLMES: And there are more than 500 million of you Facebook users out there, and all of you concerned about your security on that site. Well, this won't make you feel any better. The founder of Facebook, even his fan page was hacked.

A message was posted on Mark Zuckerberg's page, And it read, let me quote it to you here, "Let the hacking begin. If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way?" Of course making reference to hundreds of millions of dollars that Facebook has just raised from investors. Facebook is not commenting on this hack so far.

CHETRY: Well, Taco Bell wants you to think outside of bun. But this morning many people are wondering what's inside of the tacos. We've been talking about this lawsuit filed against Taco Bell by a consumer group that claims that their, quote, "beef" is actually a meat mixture that doesn't even have 50 percent meat. Our Stephanie Elam is "Minding your Business" this morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A meat mixture does not at all sound good.

HOLMES: It's so delicious.

ELAM: I have had Taco Bell, but I haven't had the beef since high school, no junior high, probably. But, this is a big deal for a lot of people, this whole story here about what's going on with Taco Bell.

It reminds me of an older commercial, "where's the beef?" because that's really what's at the heart of this conversation here. What this consumer is claiming, a woman in California who started this class action suit, she's saying that there is just not enough beef.

Take a look at this graph here. They're saying, their claim is Taco Bell's beef is 65 percent of fibers, additives, flavors, and coloring, and only 35 percent beef.

Now, to Taco Bell's point, they're saying that this lawsuit is completely bogus, that that is not the case. And they say, hey, our beef is 88 percent beef. Does that make you feel better? What the heck is 88 percent?

(LAUGHTER)

Well, they're saying that the reason for this difference is because there's also seasonings and spices and water and all the other ingredients that you put in there like your mama's meatloaf. Here's the statement they put out, saying they basically cook with a proprietary recipe "to give our beef with texture just like you cook at home."

The reason this claim came up, too, is because if you look at the packages that the meat arrives in, it does say "taco meat filling" on the packaging.

HOLMES: "Meat filling."

ELAM: So that's with they're saying this isn't real. But they're saying it's because we have spices in there.

CHETRY: Yes, but it's to fill the taco. It's the taco filling.

ELAM: That's what they're saying. I did love T-Bell growing up, I'll say that.

CHETRY: Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Coming up, there have been protests in the streets of a major U.S. ally. We'll tell you how the U.S. is responding.

CHETRY: Also, Gabrielle Giffords, an update on her condition and the next phase of her remarkable recovery. Doctors were able to remove the tube draining fluid from her brain. They say that situation has resolved itself and now she's going to be headed to the rehab center. We're going to talk to the head of the rehab center about what is ahead for the congresswoman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN, breaking news. HOLMES: This is a breaking story we are following out of Davos where there has been an explosion at a hotel. This is, of course, Davos, where our Sanjay Gupta. He's there covering the World Economic Forum. Sanjay, what can you tell us about how significant of a blast this was?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're just getting more details in now, T.J. what we know, this happened at a hotel called the Hotel Morsani. It's one of the bigger hotels, a hotel where a lot of people from Davos stay. It's also the base for the Swiss government during this forum as well.

It's about half a mile from the conference center specifically. And what we now know, near the back entrance of the hotel there was an explosion. It was described as a small detonation. It blew out one of the windows. There was no confirmed injury as a result of this. For some time, it was unclear whether this was either a criminal activity or not.

We're just learning, now, T.J., that there was in fact an e-mail sent by an organization that is an anti-World Economic Forum organization, sent an e-mail to the folks around the hotel, threatening some sort of attack on the hotel. That e-mail came in before this explosion. So that's what we're sort of gathering now.

I will tell you as well, that this particular hotel is home to lots of different events, including a party. A reception tonight, by the Coca-Cola company with special guest, Bill Clinton, the former president. That was scheduled to happen tonight. We don't know if that's still going to occur or not. I think though details are still being worked out.

But again, a small explosion, a major hotel for a lot of forum attendees here, T.J., so a lot of the people trying to figure out exactly what's going on.

HOLMES: Sanjay, you just mentioned the former President Bill Clinton there. Give us an idea of how many people actually attend this conference and just what kind of names you do have running around there, the kind of VIPS?

GUPTA: Yes, let me give you a little context. You have about 2,500 people overall, but they are a veritable who's who in the financial world, in the government world. You have more than 30 heads of state, including former President Clinton. David Cameron was here. The Russian president was here yesterday. You have a lot of people who are CEOs of large organizations. It sort of meant as an opportunity for a private public collaboration that's not official, not formal, but certainly gathers a lot of people here.

And just Davos as well, T.J., I should tell you it's a very small remote mountaintop town here in Europe. There's only one road in and one road out. Thirteen thousand people actually live here. But, you know, again, 2,500 people come and attend this particular conference.

I was literally walking down the street when I heard police starting to whisper about the Posthotel (ph) and started to get some details as a result of that. So it's a small community. Again, when something like this happens, you can see a buzz of activity surrounding something like this.

HOLMES: Sanjay, we appreciate you this morning. If you get any more details, by all means, let us know, and we'll come chat with you again. Thanks so much.

CARROLL: Meantime, we have another update for you. More headaches for your commute because of this winter storm. We're getting an update from Amtrak right now. Their media relations saying they've now suspended service from New York to Boston. Amtrak service suspended now from New York to Boston. They've also suspended service from New Haven to Springfield, Connecticut.

Also, the Empire services, this is what services New York City to Albany. They say this is operating now on a reduced schedule and that they're also reduced and limited cancellations between Washington and New York. Obviously a very popular commuter corridor there. They say to call 1-800-usarail, or amtrak.com for the latest updates on this. But again, the headline on this is that the service from New York to Boston suspended. Service from New Haven to Springfield, Connecticut, also suspended.

Meantime, of America's closes allies in the Arab world on the brink right now. Police clashing with thousands of demonstrators in Egypt. They want President Hosni Mubarak out. Witnesses say that protesters were hauled off in unmarked vans. They're being silenced online as well with some of the social media blocked. Seems to be having a domino effect in the Middle East right now, with recent clashes in five other Arab nations.

Ben Wedeman is live for us in Cairo this morning with more on this. What is the latest, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran, we're hearing reports of clashes between police and protesters in Ismailia, which is a town on the Suez Canal. Our crew is in Suez which is another city on the canal, saying that the population there is seething with rage. That was a town where on the first day of protest on Tuesday, three protesters were killed. Last night, the protesters sort of went on a rampage in Suez, firebombing the police station there. Police obviously very nervous.

Here in Cairo, the situation seems to be calmer than it was yesterday. But it's still earlier in the day. Usually the protests really pick up around 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon when people get out of university. Get out of work. We're hearing of also a gathering of striking workers in the town of Helwan (ph) which is south of Cairo. So all of this is really just building up to tomorrow.

The opposition parties and the protest movement are all calling for a million people to come out into the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, after Friday prayer. So the government is bracing for this thing to really go even bigger than it already has gone -- Kiran. CHETRY: Ben Wedeman for us this morning in Egypt. Thanks so much.

HOLMES: Well, when is a party a party? Well, the brand-new Senate Tea Party caucus having its first meeting today. But exactly how many people will show up. We'll talk to one of the founding members.

CHETRY: Also, beware of a slumbering super volcano. That's right. It is sitting underneath Yellowstone National Park. It's been there for centuries. But scientists say there is a possibility it could erupt. What would happen? We're going to talk about it up coming up.

Twenty minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, at 21 minutes past the hour now, we are going to see a first on Capitol Hill today. The first ever meeting of the new Senate Tea Party caucus. One of the founding members is with us this morning. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Republican, joining us now.

You are a founding member of this thing. How many members do you have, sir?

SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: We have three members so far. And we're looking forward to our meeting this morning.

HOLMES: Now, three members, that doesn't sound like much of a party this morning.

LEE: No, no, it's a relatively small group at this point. And I don't think it necessarily needs to be big. We're not intending this to be a full-blown influential caucus. We're intending this to be a conduit for information to pass between individuals who sympathize with the Tea Party movement and the United States Senate.

HOLMES: Now, you said you don't want it to be a full-blown and influential caucus. If not influential, then what?

LEE: No, my point is simply to say that this caucus exists, first and foremost to be a conduit of information between Tea Party sympathizers and the United States Senate. Initially it's going to be small, but in time it may grow. We've invited every member of the Senate, regardless of which party they belong to, to join with us and we hope we'll get some more. If not, we'll have some good discussions.

HOLMES: Now, you hope you get some more, but do you have an idea of how many you would actually like to make it at least sound successful or even relevant? Just the number three, I understand what you're saying, but it just sounds small to people. It sounds in some ways, maybe even insignificant?

LEE: No, again, my point is, that as far as I'm concerned, even if it stays at three, it will fulfill its purpose of allowing people who sympathize with the Tea Party movement to communicate their ideas to the United States Senate. HOLMES: Would you like Senator Marco Rubio to be a member? He, of course, of Florida got all kinds of Tea Party support during the campaign and probably owes a lot of his success to the Tea Party. But so far, he's refused to join.

LEE: Yes. Look, we'd love to have Marco. We'd love Marco and lots of other members of the Senate to join. I'd love every member of the Senate to join with us. If anyone chooses to join, we welcome them. If not, we'll wait for them next time. We'll see what happens.

HOLMES: Do you think that will come across as some kind of a rejection, or even betrayal, given how much support he did receive from the Tea Party?

LEE: Absolutely not.

HOLMES: No.

LEE: Absolutely not. Look, this is a voluntary thing. Again, we'd love to have him. We'd love to have any other member of the Senate. And hopefully, we'll get him to some of the meetings. We'll see.

HOLMES: Well, sir, Michele Bachmann, Republican, also a Tea Party supporter. She gave the Tea Party response to the State of the Union the other night. If you had your way and you could have Republicans -- excuse me, Americans only have listened to one response to the State of the Union, would you have preferred them to hear the official GOP response or the Tea Party response?

LEE: Well, look, I've never supported any effort to have the Tea Party become a party. And so, anytime you have a member of the Tea Party speaking, I think that's a good thing but I don't think it's there to try to replace any Republican response. It's certainly not there to replace the Republican Party. So that's not a closed question.

HOLMES: Do you think it certainly was a different tone from the official GOP response? And was that the point?

LEE: I think that the message of the Tea Party is one of limited government and that's an idea that's in lockstep with the Republican Party. That's why I've never seen the Tea Party as anything that would replace the party. It's simply a grassroots political phenomenon that's sweeping across the country, as Americans have realized that their federal government has grown too big and too expensive.

HOLMES: One of the concerns of Senator Rubio, at least, was that this was supposed to be a grassroots, leaderless movement. And by having a Senate Tea Party caucus, you are here now as a founding member, as almost a face now of the official Tea Party caucus. Are you -- do you have that concern as well that maybe this will become and you will become a face or a leader of the party that's supposed to be leaderless?

LEE: No, no, that risk is not present here. And that's what I meant initially when I was describing to you the purpose of this. The purpose of it isn't to speak for the Senate or to speak for any one group of people within the Senate. The purpose is, rather, to provide an open forum in which members of the Tea Party sympathizers out there can come and discuss with some United States senators their concerns. That's all it is. And it remains a leaderless movement. We've gone out of our way to make sure that neither this caucus, nor the movement generally changes in its forum from simply being an organic spontaneous grassroots political phenomenon.

HOLMES: And I know that you, along with Senator DeMint and also Senator Rand Paul are the founding members. Three members, but still you're expecting today a decent crowd of people. What are you expecting at the meeting today?

LEE: I suspect we could have 200 or 300 people there. Yes. And we're looking forward to it.

HOLMES: All right. Senator Lee, good luck. We appreciate you spending some time with us today. But just getting started, the first ever meeting of the Senate Tea Party caucus.

Sir, thank you for your time this morning. You enjoy the rest of your day.

LEE: Thank you. Same to you.

HOLMES: All right -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, T.J., it seems like we talk about this once a week. Actually, we do talk about it once a week.

Another monster snowstorm hitting the northeast. It snowed once every five days since the middle of December around here. Airports shut down. More than a thousand flights cancelled. We're going to tell you what to expect at airports today. The information changing by the minute.

Also, she's ready for rehab. Doctors say that Gabrielle Giffords is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head at lightning speed. We're going to talk with one of her doctors still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, I wonder why everyone's on the roads in Boston this morning because schools are closed. And I guess people still have to get to work though this morning. It is quite a mess out there as this nor'easter moves up, dropped about 10, 12 inches in Boston. A foot or more in many parts of New York.

And welcome once again, a major nor'easter slamming the I-95 corridor. Good morning to you. I'm Kiran Chetry.

HOLMES: And hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. But the person you really need to be talking to this morning is Rob Marciano. He is down in Atlanta for us. We have more on the thousand flights cancelled. New York area airports some of them closed right now. If you are flying, if you have a loved one flying, you need to make sure you get online to the FAA Web site or some of these Web sites for these airports and find out exactly what's going on, because, Rob, this is kind of an evolving situation. These times are kind of moving around as well. So people, you need to check.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And you would think, you know, by the time we've got to this storm, after all the storms we've had, T.J., that, you know, we'd have it down as far as removing the snow and getting those runways up and running. But there's so much tarmac to clear out, and on top of that you got to deal with all the snow removal around the gate, just to get the people around and those flights out.

So it's just a bigger project than you can even imagine. A couple of that that with a foot, a foot and a half snow in some spots, it's a bit of a tough go out there. All right. We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's not another train. This snow is beginning to move out and beginning to wind down.

There's not a tremendous amount of cold air behind us although it's cold enough to stick around but you will be around the freezing mark, and a couple of degrees above it. So at least on the streets, we'll see a little bit of melting but it's not going to melt away anytime soon. The snow will stick around, refrigerate the air overnight tonight and tomorrow will be a chilly one as well.

Here are some of the numbers, 15.3 inches in Central Park, Philadelphia 14.9, Newark has seen 14.2, Norwalk just came in at 17.0. And some of these numbers were taken late last night so these totals may very well climb up a little bit even though the snow for the most part has stuck.

Newark and JFK runway shut down right now until further notice. They're working feverishly to do that for you, to open those things up. New York, Philly, Boston, obviously those areas are going to have some issues, if not cancellations, serious delays today. And Baltimore and D.C., similar situation although their snow has stopped a little bit later on.

This is our next system. How much snow is that going to bring towards the northeast? Probably just an inch or two. But we've already broken a record, T.J. and Kiran, as far as the month of January is concerned, over 32 inches of snow in New York City, that's the most they've ever had since keeping records.

CHETRY: Wow, breaking records, certainly feels like it but to know that we're at a historic high of snowfall. Pretty crazy. Thanks.

MARCIANO: I mean, if you're going to suffer through it, at least knowing that you broke a record. You got the t-shirt.

CHETRY: I'm going to get t-shirts made, especially for T.J.. This is his first New York winter. Boy, they really delivered for you.

HOLMES: Yes, I feel better now. We're here for history. Thanks, Rob. MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHETRY: Well, an "US" magazine cover featuring Elton John and his partner, David, with their new baby Zachary triggering a bit of a controversy in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Customers complained that it was obscene, so managers at Harps grocery store decided to cover up the magazine by using a family shield. Once they did that, more complaints started pouring in about the shield. So now it's been removed and the magazine is being sold openly again in all of Harps 65 grocery stores.

And Dennis Kucinich, just how bad was your lunch? He is now suing a congressional cafeteria. This is over a sandwich he bought, apparently, three years ago. He bit into it and he bit into an olive pit and it caused all kinds of damage in his mouth, to his teeth. He's now suing four different companies, the vendors, for $150,000.

Listen to this quote from the lawsuit. It says, "he sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment."

CHETRY: That's terrible. He must have bit very hard into that pit.

HOLMES: He was hungry that day.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, critics have called it child porn. MTV is saying no, it's not and we're sticking with the show "Skins." Even they've gone back and re-edited some of the episodes, we understand. Parent Television Council wants the government to investigate the show for exploitation and child pornography. Wrigley and Taco Bell have now pulled its ads from airing in the new show.

But the network has said in a statement, ""Skins" has earned the loyalty of fans across the globe for its thoughtful and honest portrayal of teen life today. An internationally acclaimed scripted drama, the show has been honored with a long his of prestigious awards." I think they're talking about the original "Skins." That was the one that was the British version.

I don't know if this MTV version is getting numerous awards and accolades.

HOLMES: We're still talking about that show. Justin Bieber, is he even old enough to realize who Ozzy Osbourne is? Well, he knows now. Would you believe, this duo teaming up for a Super Bowl ad. Best Buy has kind of a futuristic theme but the two are getting together. And it wasn't too long ago that Ozzie Osbourne was asked about Justin Bieber. And his quote was, "who the blank is Justin Bieber?"

Well, they barely know who the other is now but we look forward to that Super Bowl ad as well as many others.

Also, coming up this morning, there is a super volcano right here in the U.S. that could erupt in the next few minutes - just kidding, folks, about that. CHETRY: Come on.

HOLMES: But we really don't know when it might, but, boy, when it does. It's 34 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 37 minutes past the hour on this "American Morning." More safety problems for Qantas Airlines. This time, 352 passengers are stranded in Bangkok, the flight they were on, the 747, had engine problems. Apparently burning fuel too fast. Now, also, the flight from Bangkok was headed to Sydney had to be turned around.

Also, there was another problem earlier this week, Qantas flight, was heading to Melbourne, it lost cabin pressure. It was forced to make an emergency descent, had to plunged some 25,000 feet. And then you can go back to November 4th, there was an engine explosion on another Qantas A-380 plane. They were forced to make an emergency landing in Indonesia.

CHETRY: Well, there's some good news this morning about the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords from the gunshot wound to the head she suffered less than three weeks ago. Doctors are saying that she's progressing, "at lightning speed and that she is beginning a full regimen at a rehab facility in Houston.

Dr. Gerard Francisco is the chief medical official of TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital where she will be doing this recovery and he joins us now from Houston. Thanks so much for joining us this morning, Dr. Francisco.

DR. GERARD FRANCISCO, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, TIRR MEMORIAL HERMANN: Thank you for having me here.

CHETRY: We talked about lightning speed. That's an amazing quote from the doctors. Can you give us an idea of how she's doing this morning and how she's progressing that has surprised and pleased her doctors so much?

FRANCISCO: Well, it's only been a few weeks since this happened and she's been tolerating our aggressive therapy program. We actually started this therapy program the moment she arrived in Houston. And we have been upgrading it as she tolerates the therapies.

CHETRY: A couple of things that there was some talk that she could perhaps begin speaking. That her speech function is improving and she's undergoing speech therapy. Has she been able to speak?

FRANCISCO: In the next few days, we're going to assess her further progress in all domains. Her ability to speak. Her ability to move more. So it's something that we will be monitoring closely.

CHETRY: Then there are no more concerns, though, about the fluid on the brain? That's resolved?

FRANCISCO: Well, according to the neurosurgeons in our team, it has been stable, but we are going to monitor that, as we would the other potential problems that may occur after a brain injury.

CHETRY: And when they talk about her, you know, recovering. I know that it's a long road ahead. People say this is more like a marathon than a sprint. But what is the potential best case scenario life going to be like for her, one the rehab is over?

FRANCISCO: Following a brain injury, practically all aspects or all - well, I shouldn't say all, but some functioning may be affected, depending on what part of the brain has been damaged. And rehabilitation - we watched closely the progress of our patients. And we modified the therapy program in order to address these individual impairments and deficits so that we can bring people to their maximum potential.

CHETRY: What is the most surprising optimistic sign that you see so far with Gabrielle Giffords?

FRANCISCO: I believe it's just the speed of her recovery. The fact that when I see her every day, there is something new. So that's been quite challenging to us. Which is great, because now we will have an opportunity to challenge her as well.

CHETRY: Well, it's certainly been amazing, remarkable progress for somebody as we said less that less than three weeks ago suffered this type of injury. Dr. Gerald Francisco, the chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. Thank you so much.

FRANCISCO: Thank you.

CHETRY: T.J..

HOLMES: Well, Kiran, coming up on this "American Morning," take a look at what happened in one courtroom. We'll tell you what happened to cause one man to go after another.

Also, this morning, what is the most popular pup in the country> We'll tell you. 41 minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: Well, at 43 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to this "American Morning." You need to know that schools are closed in Philly, New York, Boston and New York today. Did I say that already?

CHETRY: Yes.

HOLMES: What was the fourth one? Philly, Boston -

CHETRY: D.C. schools.

HOLMES: D.C., that's the other one, you needed to know about. Thank you for that. Good to have you here, Stephanie.

CHETRY: Hey, I said it first. Why are you thanking her, I said it first.

HOLMES: I'm looking at here direction. She's the first one -

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I said it. I look at him crazy and he knows my look.

HOLMES: She looked at me sideways. You need to know that and it has to do, of course, with all these snow. A lot of people are saying over a foot in a lot of places. But also the airports right now, I got a few updates here for you. This keeps changing. But JFK airport now scheduled to re-open at 10:00, Newark scheduled to re-open at 9:00 a.m. but 1,000 flights so far canceled in the area. You need to check the FAA web site constantly and also need to be checking your own airline web site to see what's going on with your flight.

CHETRY: If you're trying to take a train also just be aware that Amtrak cancelled the New York to Boston route. Right now, they also have some slowed service in some of the other routes so check amtrak.com to find out about that if you're trying to take the train instead.

Well, some tense moments inside of a Columbus, Georgia courtroom. Gerald Carter (ph), that's him grabbing the chair attempting to attach the man accused of killing his sister and her unborn child. Deputies quickly stepped in. No one is seriously injured. Officials say Carter will not face any charges surrounding that attack.

HOLMES: Well, gas prices out there seem like they constantly go up. We're are at about $3.10 a gallon, I believe, for an average. So, would you drive this thing if you got 261 miles a gallon?

CHETRY: Two-sixty-one, not 260.

HOLMES: Two-sixty-one. You have to be specific here. But, yes, you probably would drive this futuristic thing. Volkswagen is unveiling a new diesel plug-in hybrid concept car. And they say it could get 261 miles per gallon. However, let me end on this note, they don't know if they'll ever make the thing. But at least unveiling this concept thing. A lot of these are just that -- concepts -- and never make it to the production line.

CHETRY: That's a great concept. I like that concept.

HOLMES: It's a great concept.

CHETRY: We'll see if it ever happens.

HOLMES: That's a good idea, right, Stephanie Elam?

ELAM: All I was thinking is, could you get a baby seat in the back of that thing? It looked a little cramped back there.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Speaking of numbers, the Dow crossing the 12,000 mark. Dropping back down, but that's amazing.

ELAM: Right. We closed just below it yesterday. But this is -- for all those people who are snowed in along the Eastern Seaboard and you need something to do today, hey, go ahead and read your 401(k) report. It actually might not upset.

In fact, let's show you what has happened with the Dow since we hit our low over the last 12 years. The low was on March 9, 2009. That's where this chart starts. And it takes off and we closed just below 12,000 yesterday. That is a gain of 83 percent, my friends.

So, for all those people who got out at that low when we were in the middle of that recession, they missed out on all this getting (ph) back. I know a lot of you out there are thinking, yes, but are we back to where we were before the recession? I got an answer for that. And the answer is, not quite. We're about 15 percent away from that.

So our all-time high of 14,164, which was hit in October of 2007, since then, see, we did a nice little dippy-dip and then we came back, and we're 15 percent away from that. So, if you take a look at this, with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing at their highest levels since the summer of 2008, things are looking better for a lot of people. People getting ready for retirement.

And for everyone looking out there at their 401(k), who haven't been looking, which by the way, you should be doing that anyway, this is good news. So we're moving back in the right direction.

CHETRY: Absolutely.

ELAM: Yes. It's (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: The American Kennel Club, out with its list of most popular dogs in America. What do you think is at number one? Well, for the 20th straight year, the Labrador Retriever is at number one. Number two, the German Shepherd. Number three, the Yorkshire Terrier.

CHETRY: Beagle rising steadily.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHETRY: Going up in the ranks. There's a cute little beagle, number four spot, overtaking the Golden Retriever. And so the Golden is now the fifth most popular breed in America.

HOLMES: There go. That's good.

ELAM: He's not a dog guy. He doesn't get the beauty of this at all. (INAUDIBLE) have a German Shepherd/Labs.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: I have a Boston Terrier. They snore. They're adorable but they snore like crazy. Very cute, though.

(CROSSTALK) HOLMES: Coming up ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, you do not want to miss this guest and this conversation we're going to have this morning. You know him as an NBA Hall of Famer and NBA analyst. But do you think Charles Barkley is going to want to show up this morning and just talk about basketball? No way.

CHETRY: Also, how young is too young? Wal-Mart now selling a line of anti-aging cosmetics targeted at young girls? Come on. We'll have the details, still ahead.

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CHETRY: Fifty-two minutes past of the hour.

One of America's most popular and picturesque national parks has a little bit of a secret. Yellowstone in northwest Wyoming, land of geysers, mountains and lakes is also sitting atop a super volcano. And it just took what scientists describe as a deep breath, causing miles of ground to rise dramatically.

So, what does this mean? Well, joining us right now is Michio Kaku. He is a physics professor of the City University of New York and the author of the upcoming book, "Physics of the Future."

Thanks so much for joining us.

MICHIO KAKU, PHYSICS PROFESSOR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: Glad to be on.

CHETRY: So the last time this happened was 640,000 years ago. We're due?

KAKU: We are due. Forget Yogi Bear. Forget Old faithful. It's sitting on top of a sleeping giant. If you're sleeping next to an 800-pound gorilla, you monitor every burp, every snore of this gigantic gorilla because when it blows, it could destroy the United States as we know it.

CHETRY: This is a pretty scary prospect. I want to just show people what we're talking about here when we talk about this super volcano and we have a little thing to show you, a map, with some of the details.

So that's where it is. It's beneath Yellowstone. It's been there, as we know. I guess it's erupted three times in 2.1 million years. But what they're worried about is the fact that they say the ground has started to swell in levels they have not seen before -- 10 inches in some places in the past year.

What does that tell us?

KAKU: It tells us there is activity in the super volcano which erupts roughly every 600 million years. And the last eruption was 640 million years ago --

CHETRY: Oh, 640 million or thousand? KAKU: Thousand years ago. I'm sorry. You're right.

CHETRY: OK. Because then we have some more time.

KAKU: Then we have some more time, right.

But that's what's making us very nervous because the cycle time corresponds to the present day era. So every single burp, murmur of this gigantic, potential super volcano, including the rise of the sea level has to be watched very carefully.

CHETRY: All right. So when we talk about this -- and we have pictures of Mount St. Helen erupting back in 1980. Let's just show this right now. You say that an explosion with this super volcano under Yellowstone -- and there we're seeing the Mount St. Helen's -- would be a thousand times bigger than this.

What type of damage are we talking about here?

KAKU: We are talking about immediate damage up to a hundred miles from the site that is total devastation, basically wiping out everything in sight. However, the real damage goes out to 500 miles, if you include volcanic ash, poisonous gases, death of wildlife and vegetation. And that's a ring about a thousand miles across. That is the heart line of America.

CHETRY: It would pretty much wipe out earth as we know it.

KAKU: It would be wipe out the United States as we know it. And again, we don't want to panic anybody. It could happen tomorrow or it could happen a hundred thousand years from now. It's black magic trying to predict exactly when it's going to blow, but we do know one thing. One day, it will blow.

CHETRY: You say that something on this scale is what wiped out the dinosaurs?

KAKU: 65 million years ago another super volcano coincided with this meteor that hit Mexico, and we think it was a double-whammy that knocked out the dinosaurs. So it's something that we take very seriously. But again, the cycle time is measured on a scale of a hundreds of thousand a years.

CHETRY: Would there be anything we could do to prepare or to get people out? I mean, how much of a warning might we get with this eruption?

KAKU: All you can do it run. You don't get much warning. What happens is the ground starts to rise. More and more earthquakes take place. More ash and volcanic gases start to unleash. That's about the only warning we get because we do not have a good way to predict volcanic eruptions.

CHETRY: Are we getting a better way to do it? Or are we just at the mercy of mother nature? KAKU: We're still clueless. We're still monitoring it very carefully, looking for the warning signs. That's why this sudden rise in the earth, even though it's not immediately dangerous is being looked at very carefully because we have no experience with super volcanoes. We have seen Mount St. Helen's, we've seen Krakatoa. But a super volcano erupting in our lifetime we have no understanding of the scope of that thing. We just see the evidence of previous eruptions.

CHETRY: It's amazing. So you say it could be tomorrow, it could be in a hundred thousand years. But it's under there.

KAKU: It's there and it will happen. At one point it will destroy North America as we know it.

CHETRY: That's scary.

Michio Kaku, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

KAKU: Thank you.

Well, his soon to be published book, by the way, titled, "Physics of the Future." You can check it out so look for it soon. Fascinating stuff. Thanks.

Top stories coming your way in just 90 seconds. We'll be right back.

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