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Manhunt Christopher Dorner Continues With Million-Dollar Reward; Obama Heads To Chicago On Friday; Former Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha To Receive Medal Of Honor; Dave Barry Talks About New Book

Aired February 10, 2013 - 17:00   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 5:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 2:00 p.m. in the West. If you're just tuning in, thank you very much for joining us. I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield. And here are the top stories we're following right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A $1 million reward for any information on this man, Christopher Dorner. He's that ex-cop on the run. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke a short time ago saying enough is enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), MAYOR, LOS ANGELES: We will not tolerate a killer targeting our officers and their families, targeting innocent people in this city and in this region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We'll have more on that search for Dorner coming up in just a moment.

Joe Paterno's family fighting back after releasing a report absolving the late coach of any wrong doing in the Jerry Sandusky child abuse - sex abuse, that is. It says that Penn State University's prior report by a former FBI director, Louie Freeh was quote "factually wrong," unquote. The family says Paterno never attempted to hide any information about Jerry Sandusky's activities. Paterno's widow speaking out on how she felt when she first learned that the accusations against her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUE PATERNO, WIDOW OF JOE PATERNO: It's so hard to accept. But when I read the first present charge, I actually got physically ill. I couldn't read anymore for a couple of days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The university responded to the family in a written statement saying quote "it is understandable and appreciated that people will draw their own conclusions and opinions from the facts uncovered in the Freeh report," unquote.

President Obama will head to Chicago on Friday to talk about economic proposals that he'll be laying out in this week's state of the union address. The White House press secretary says the president will also talk about gun violence that has affected communities across Chicago and across this country.

Yesterday, the first lady attended the funeral of a young girl who was the victim of gun violence. Hadiya Pendleton was killed just a week after she performed at President Obama's inauguration.

It's celebration time in China as revelers ring in the lunar new year. Drums, dragons, families and fireworks, it all came together to welcome in the year of the snake. In Hong Kong, performers dazzled on lookers at the 18th international Chinese New Year night parade including some of the dancers, marching bands and more. The Festivities also took place in the U.S. and around the world.

And it's called the biggest night in music industry. We're talking about tonight and talking about the Grammys in Los Angeles.

And our Nichelle Turner says she's seeing tighter security because of that manhunt for that ex-L.A. cop accused of murder. Singer Frank Ocean is up for six Grammy. We will go live in L.A. in just a few minutes.

And while the mayor of Los Angeles is making sure the Grammys are safe and secure, he's also vowing to find a dangerous ex-cop. That's Christopher Dorner. A $1 million reward now on the table.

Let's go straight out to Casey Wian in Los Angeles.

And Casey, a record reward now being offered here, right?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And LAPD chief Charlie Beck said, Martin, it was remarkably easy to raise the money for that million-dollar reward. Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles saying the money came from corporations, charitable organizations, law enforcement groups, the city, lots of people banding together, showing just how important this effort is to the city of Los Angeles.

Here's what the police chief and the mayor had to say at that news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE BECK, CHIEF, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is an act, and make no mistake about it, of domestic terrorism. This is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered. A society is defined by what it values. And we value our law enforcement family.

VILLARAIGOSA: Our confidence that we will bring him to justice is up shaken. This search is not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. And I want Christopher Dorner to know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIAN: Now, law enforcement officials have not released until now the identity of the police officer who was killed allegedly by Christopher Dorner on Thursday in Riverside, California. But they did release his identity and his photo today. He is Michael Crane, 34- years-old, officer with the Riverside police department. An 11-year veteran of that police department. Also a veteran of two tours in Kuwait, with the U.S. marine corps. He leaves behind a wife and two children, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Casey Wian reporting to us on the new reward being offered for Christopher Dorner's capture.

Thank you very much.

Millions of people got slammed by the blizzard in the northeast have to get to work tomorrow, so today they were digging out. Airports in New York, Boston and Connecticut are back open. Amtrak is restoring limited service between New York and Boston and they have resume some minified service in the other areas.

And the power is back for a lot of people, not everybody, though. About 340,000 homes and businesses are still in the dark. The Long Island expressway will stay closed until 9:00 p.m. eastern in both directions between exits 57 and 73.

Our Susan Candiotti is live now from Brooklyn with more.

Susan, how are people coping?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Marty. Well, you know, being Boston, they're coping pretty well. I have a - well, it is an interesting vantage point. This is what you're seeing all around Boston, piles and piles of snow. I can't tell you how tall this one is, but I can give you the viewpoint of what I'm seeing from here looking up from our own video phone, as a fire truck is going by. I hope you can hear me still.

But you have snowplows going all alongside streets to try to clear them out as best they can. While the main streets are basically clear. The city was working even through the blizzard to make sure that the streets were as clear as they could be before the Monday commute. And along those lines, they have also been working on the transit line, electric rails and the buses to try to get that schedule all back to normal.

Funny, it was perfectly quiet before we start. But now we have the sirens going. In any case, the state is trying to get everything back to where it can be, as best they can. But schools will remain closed tomorrow. There are still mayor power outages throughout the state, but that's mainly concentrated in the Cape Cop area, the southeast part of the state where as many eight nursing homes are still operating on generators and they are shipping in diesel fuels to keep those going.

Marty, tomorrow they are predicting rain, freezing rain in the morning. That's not going to make it easier for Bostonians. But somehow I think they will get through it, just like they did this blizzard, which amounted to more than two feet of snow-- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Yes. There has to be concern of the thing, Susan, with the rain, making that snow heavier on rooftops and things like that, (INAUDIBLE) integrity. But in the meantime, what do we know about the cost of this storm? Any idea what is going to head up to?

CANDIOTTI: I tell you - I was going to say not on that, but because of the freezing temperatures, this slash that is below the snow is freezing, making it very slippery on some of these side streets. The cost of all of these, they're still adding the because imagine all the offices and restaurants and airlines that have been affected by losing at least three day's worth of business. Airports back open again. So, at least, that is working. But they haven't tallied up the numbers just yet.

SAVIDGE: All right, Susan. Thanks very much. Great view up there. But, you be careful coming down. All right?

CANDIOTTI: I'll be very careful.

SAVIDGE: All right, thanks.

Well, speaking of coming down, while the snow is falling down outside, a baby in Massachusetts decided she wasn't going to wait till the blizzard came to an end before being born. The National Guard had to rush to the home of snow plows to clear the road so EMS crews could get to mom, but it all turned out fine. Mom and daughter are doing very well in the hospital now.

All right, let's get back to the Grammys. We have confirmed that there are extra LAPD deployed at tonight's award show in regards to that manhunt we've been talking about for Christopher Dorner.

Our Nischelle Turner is live in Los Angeles. And I understand you have some of the or some information actually on that and a couple of guests that are with you as well. Go ahead.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Martin. You know, we did confirm this information with commander Andy Smith of the Los Angeles police department, who did tell us that they did in fact deploy extra security here at the Grammys in an abundance of caution. They would not give specifics on how to many more officers are here or what is the protocol that they're participating in tonight or what they are doing , where their station or anything like that. But they did say that there is extra security here in an abundance of caution because of the manhunt looking for Christopher Dorner tonight.

And you're right, it's a little bit of a hard turn. But I do have the triple Grammy nominee with me tonight here, Goyte and Kimbra, which one would you like to be called?

GOTYE, SINGER: Call me Wally. Thanks.

TURNER: Wally, OK. I will call you Wally. You all know the song, somebody that I used to know, is so popular. It has got so much attention. This song, it seems like no one gets tired of hearing it.

GOTYE: Really? I've been tired of it.

TURNER: Who?

GOTYE: I've been tied of it.

TURNER: Are you tired of hearing it? Yes, you. So when you're nominated for three Grammys, I mean, that's a pretty big deal.

GOTYE: Yes, it's pretty exciting.

TURNER: Absolutely. Now, we have been talking so much about the music, but the Grammys and the Grammy red carpet is definitely about fashion as well. And you're is giving us fashion this evening.

KIMBRA, SINGER: Thank you very much. The dress by Jamie Lee Major from Western Australia. I feel like I'm in a work of art.

TURNER: Well, you pretty much are. Now, when you're thinking of what to wear for the Grammys, how do you decide I'm going to put this creation on?

KIMBRA: For me, fashion and dresses always have to reflect the world of the music and maybe, you know, a little more appropriate to celebrate the Gotye song and just yes, just having fun with it and making it about self-expression and being the extension of the world of the songs.

TURNER: That is definitely was the Grammy is all about.

Now, we know you were nominated three times, but there are some people who are nominated as many as six times tonight. Who are you excited to see perform and even just hear at the ceremony?

GOTYE: Well, frankly, actually Kimbra is telling me about people performing tonight. I wasn't even aware and how can they be able to perform because I always getting permissibly more excited, just (INAUDIBLE), she is with Frank Ocean, Elton John is performing.

TURNER: Yes. And they are doing -- Sting is doing a performance with Rihanna and Bruno Mars. Elton John is performing with Ed Sheer and this should be a really fun night of music. Yes?

GOTYE: Interesting collaborations.

TURNER: Absolutely.

Congratulations to you with all your success. Good luck tonight.

Kimbra, good luck to you. And I'm loving you. And I'm loving that you're wear thing and walking tall. I love it. All right.

Martin, we'll send it back to you. We'll, of course, have more here from the Grammys' red carpet, the 55th annual Grammys starts in just a couple of hours and we will also stay following the information that we have now that they have deployed extra security here to the Grammy awards in an abundance of caution while they search for Christopher Dorner.

Back to you.

SAVIDGE: Yes. Well, that's a good idea. And on top of that, we would just playing Gotye (INAUDIBLE) as you were talking there. And that, of course, the song we have dealing with the group records. So, it's great to hear and great to see you. Thank you both.

TURNER: All right, thanks.

SAVIDGE: As was mentioned just there, police hunting for that accused killer in California. They're changing their tactics. We'll tell you what they're doing and how they're concentrating their search now. And we'll tell you about that huge reward going to the public.

Plus, a former army sergeant about to receive an honor only three other living people have received.

And President Obama gets ready to layout his vision to the country. We will have a preview of state of the union address.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While our economy may be weakened, and our confidence shaken, we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this -- we will rebuild. We will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Remember that? That was President Obama's promise to Americans during his first state of the union address after he took office in 2009. Now it's almost time for this year's state of the union speech. So what is he expected to say?

Our Athena Jones has the details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The state of the union address.

OBAMA: Members of congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans.

JONES: The commander in chief's best chance to lay out his priorities and influence millions of television viewers.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a moment where he gets an uninterrupted, unchallenged opportunity to talk to the country and to define his agenda and what he thinks the debate in Washington should be about, which is one of the most important powers that a president has.

JONES: President Obama gave house Democrats a preview of what he'll say.

OBAMA: I'm going to be talking about making sure that we are focused on job creation here in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: It means that we're focused on education and that every young person is equipped with the skills they need to compete in the 21st century.

JONES: The White House says the speech will serve as a book end to the inaugural address. A sign the president will touch on priorities like immigration reform and reducing gun violence.

We could see new policy prescriptions to deal with issues like clean energy, But White House officials say the main dress of the speech will be on so called pocketbook issues, highlighting a mix of old and new policies aimed at helping the middle class. So how effective will it be in persuading Republicans on capitol hill?

BROWNSTEIN: The speech is one moment in a continuum. You have a president that wants to have a debate about immigration, who want to have a debate about guns. He is clearly taking us toward a debate about Climate and energy and a Republican party that really wants to shift the focus as much as possible to the federal deficit and debt.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: So, now we know the president will focus a lot on jobs and the economy in his speech on Tuesday. And we just found out that he is also going to Chicago Friday where he will also be talking about the economy and his anti-gun proposals.

Clark Judge is a former speechwriter for Reagan and Bush, and also Paul Orzulak is a former speech writer for President Clinton and Al Gore.

Welcome, gentlemen. Thanks for joining us today.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: You both have had the opportunity to put words in a president's mouth. What do you think that President Obama should say Tuesday to make say different from his past addresses?

And Clark, why don't we start with you?

CLARK JUDGE, FORMER REAGAN SPEECHWRITER: Well, he needs to reach out. I don't think he will, but he needs to reach out to the opposition party, to the Republicans. He's got to get an agreement, if he wants to move things forward in the economy and on other issues. He has to have a broad coalition that spans the two parties.

In his inaugural address, he defined a very idealogical agenda, and did it in idealogical terms. That wasn't the right way to get started. And frankly, I think he's going to continue that on Tuesday night. But he should reach out and start to work instead on trying to get a broad coalition going that can address some of these issues. Not just his base coalition, which is what he's been doing so far.

SAVIDGE: Paul, when you write a speech, when you work on a speech of this importance, is there some sort of overarching theme or is it a laundry list of points that have to be made?

PAUL ORZULAK, FORMER CLINTON SPEECHWRITER: Well, that's the challenge to writing a state of the union address, to identify a theme or two that carries across an hour's address, while weaving through a laundry list of issues and priorities. And the average president recommends 31 policies in an average state of the union address. About 43 percent of those get passed. In a post election year state of the union, it's a little more than half.

So, this is a real opportunity for the president to set a secretary of agenda to build on the inaugural address. If you think of the inaugural as kind of the movie trailer, the state of the union is sort of full-length feature on immigration and jobs and guns, and on climate change to talk really about what he hopes to accomplish.

And I think Clark is right, that he does need to reach out. But to be honest, he's made unity his calling card the last four years. The last thing I think he needs to do this year is to try to bring us together. I would prefer to see him talk about the real and honest differences that divide our country evenly on these issues in hopes of finding a solution as a way forward over the next four years.

SAVIDGE: And Clark, is this speech basically just a rewording of his inaugural speech or do you think there are new themes to be introduced and would you as a speechwriter to that?

JUDGE: I think what he will do is expand on the inaugural address. He marked out the broad areas of priorities in the inaugural address. He went light on the economy, he's clearly going to go heavy on the economy this time.

But I expect him to do it that way, rather than to bring in a lot of new stuff. This is clearly -- the White House is clearly looking at all of this as a continuum, where they build from one speech to the next and then go out on the road.

I disagree with Paul on one thing. I think that over the last four years, beginning when he went to the Republican caucus in, a few months after his election and said I won, just remember it. He's had a my way or the highway view and he's done very little consultation. The fact is, he's done very little consultation even with his own party. But he's certainly done very little with the opposition.

His problem right now is that while the Democrats control the Senate, the Republicans control the House, essentially this last election was for purposes of legislative negotiation, was a tie. And he's got to adjust himself to that or else play, as I think he is, for 2014 when I think he hopes to take the house --

SAVIDGE: Let me bring in Paul, real quick as we are just about out of time and I want him to have at least a chance to respond.

Paul, how much say do you have versus what the president has? Do you go back and forth when you craft these?

ORZULAK: Well, the president -- President Obama is the best writer in this administration. He's a wonderful writer, and he's so involved in these addresses, perhaps as much as president presidents like president Clinton and others.

But to Clark's point, I actually think the biggest debate happening right now is within the Republican party. The fact that they have two Republicans in the response to the state of the union is a party that's divided. And really, uncertain than election because I think in the past election, we saw that the Republican party is on the wrong side of history when it comes to immigration, climate change, guns, gay marriage, jobs, all these issues the president laid out in his inaugural address.

We're going to hear how he's going to move those issues forward Tuesday night in a way that is widely supported by the American people, and the Republican party just needs to figure out whether they want to get on board with the rest of America or want to be behind the curve of history and be an afterthought over the next decade.

SAVIDGE: Paul Orzulak, I've got to stop you right there. Thank you very much. And also Clark Judge, we appreciate it.

Both men writing speeches for presidents past and present. Thank you.

Don't forget, by the way, you can tune in at 7:00 p.m. eastern on Tuesday for our live coverage of the state of the union speech.

Former staff sergeant Clinton Romesha will be a guest of the first lady at the state of the union address on Tuesday. And tomorrow, President Obama will present him with a medal of honor for heroic actions in Afghanistan. You will hear his firsthand account of one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Today, U.S. marine general Joseph Dunnford for the super command of the naval lead international security assistance forces in Afghanistan. Dunnford replaces general John Allen. He will oversee the final two years of the war and the withdrawal of nearly all troops.

Heroic actions in one of the bloodiest battles in the war of Afghanistan will be honored tomorrow. Former staff sergeant Clint Romesha will receive the medal of honor. It is the nation's highest honor for courage. Out Jake Tapper spoke to Romesha about that day the Taliban overran his post.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT ROMESHA, FORMER STAFF SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY: There was movement everywhere. Muzzle flashes everywhere. You just couldn't pick them out fast enough.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: October 2009. Up to 400 Taliban fighters unleashed a torrent of withering fire upon a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan. The attack, so fierce, in the end more than half of the 53 U.S. troops at the outpost were killed or wounded. But as buildings burned and the enemy ran freely through the outpost, soldiers became heroes. One in particular.

ROMESHA: I know that there's so many great soldiers out there, that would have stepped into my shoes and done the same thing.

TAPPER: Former staff sergeant Clint Romesha is a reluctant hero. That day he helped plan the recapture of the base and he led troops in repelling the onslaught of Taliban fighters during a grueling day-long battle.

Romesha will receive the medal of honor, the highest award for combat bravery, becoming just the fourth living recipient among those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Chris Jones was a young private under Romesha's command when the Taliban struck.

CHRIS JONES, U.S. ARMY: He is, in my opinion, the only reason we came back that day.

TAPPER: You led them right into places where your fellow soldiers had already been killed. That's why you're get thing medal. Others had died in a place that you ran into. You weren't worried?

ROMESHA: It wasn't time to sit there and worry about stuff out of our control. We had the tools, we had the training, we lad the spirit, and we had the support of each other. It was the time.

TAPPER: By the end of the day, eight soldiers were dead, and 23 wounded. Clint Romesha now has a place in history., one that he shares with his comrades.

ROMESHA: It's a greater honor for me to know I couldn't have done what I did without those guys, that team. It was everybody that day. That's what's, you know, excites me about this. It's those guys.

TAPPER: Jake Tapper, CNN, in Minot, North Dakota.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And Jake's complete profile of Clint Romesha will air tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

Tomorrow is the medal service for another American hero, former Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. It will be held at Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas. Thousands are expected to attend. Kyle died last Saturday when a veteran he was trying to help allegedly turned his gun on him. Kyle survived four deployments in Iraq and was considered to be one of the deadliest sharp shooters in the military.

One top Republican is threatening to derail some of President Obama's national security nominations. We will tell you what senator Lindsey Graham is demanding from the president to play nice.

And what happens on and off the runway in Fashion Week in New York?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: 5:32 in the East. Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. For those of you just tuning in, thanks. Good to see you. I'm Martin Savidge. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A $1 million reward for information leading to ex-cop Christopher Dorner's arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), LOS ANGELES: We will not tolerate a killer targeting our officers and their families, targeting innocent people in this city and in this region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Dorner is accused of killing three people, including a police officer.

That big blizzard that went through the Northeast has left behind a lot of snow. Folks in that area are very busy clearing the roads and trying to dig out their cars today. Trying to get back to normal after a day of being stuck inside. But about 340,000 people are still without heat and electricity.

And Mother Nature packed another surprise south of the equator. A 5. 7 earthquake struck the central region of Chile, shaking buildings in Santiago. Early reports say that nobody was injured. We'll bring you more details when they become available.

President Obama's nominees for key cabinet posts could be in danger. One senator says he may put a hold on the president national security choices unless the White House provides more information about his response on the attack on the American consulate in Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I don't think we should allow Brennan to go forward for the CIA directorship, Hagel to be confirmed for as secretary of defense until the White House gives an accounting. Did the president ever pick up the phone and call anyone in the Libyan government to help these folks? What did the president do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Athena Jones is on the north lawn of the White House right now. And Athena, how is the White House sort of responding to, I guess, what you have to look at as a threat?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Martin. They released a statement saying we believe the Senate should act swiftly to confirm John Brennan and Senator Hagel. These are critical national security positions, and individual members shouldn't play politics with their nominations. But as you know, in the ways of Washington, here Martin, that's unlikely to be the end of it.

SAVIDGE: How can one senator hold up the entire process of a nominee getting an up and down confirmation vote by the full Senate?

JONES: Well, it's an interesting parliamentary move here. Any senator can put a hold on a nomination. But it's unclear at this point whether that would block things from moving forward completely. A hold is short of a filibuster. A filibuster is what you need, you need that all-important 60 votes to overcome that kind of block. So a hold doesn't go quite as far. It's usually used as a negotiating tactic, and we heard from Senator Graham that he wants more information. No confirmation without information. We'll have to see what ultimately happens in the end. Martin?

SAVIDGE: And we know that the president, after he makes his state of the union address, plans to take his message on the road Tuesday night. Where is he going?

JONES: Well, he first heads to Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday. Then to Atlanta on Thursday and he'll be making a stop in Chicago, his adopted hometown on Friday. He'll be talking about some of the proposals he's expected to lay out in his state of the union address, proposals the White House says will help the middle class. But we're told he'll also discuss gun violence in Chicago, which is a city that's really seen an epidemic of shootings and gun violence there. Martin?

SAVIDGE: Athena Jones on the front lawn of the White House. Thank you very much.

JONES: Thanks.

Let's check the stories that are trending right now on the Internet. The music world waits with bated breath ahead of tonight's 55th annual Grammy awards. Top nominees include Frank Ocean, Fun, the Black Keys, Mumford and Sons and The Alabama Shakes. But high hopes are matched with, yes, very much heightened security at the event due to the ongoing manhunt for an ex-cop accused of three murders.

Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt was beaten in his first race of the 2013 season this weekend. He finished third behind two of his training partners in a 400-meter event in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica. Bolt was a triple gold medalist in the 2008 summer Olympic games in Beijing and in 2012 games in London.

And another top athlete looking something less than graceful. CBS Sports caught this shot of pro golfer Phil Mickelson taking a spill while retrieving a ball at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That's right, buddy. I know exactly how you feel.

A new week starts tomorrow on Wall Street. But can the Dow maintain its winning streak? Corporations and retailers could have a major impact on that. We'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: This just in to CNN NEWSROOM. Police are questioning two persons of interest in the slaying of 15-year-old Hadia Pendleton. That's a day after first lady Michelle Obama attended the funeral for the teen whose death became a symbol of escalating violence in Chicago. This information comes to us from police sources there.

It's going to be a busy week ahead in business. A couple key reports are out, and the big question is will investors keep up their momentum after both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 logged their sixth straight week of gains?

Kenneth Polcari is the director of floor operations for O'Neill Securities, and he joins me now from New York. Thanks for being with us.

KENNETH POLCARI , DIRECTOR OF FLOOR OPERATIONS, O'NEILL SECURITIES: Thanks for having me, Martin.

SAVIDGE: When the bell rings tomorrow, what's going to happen? And I realize that's asking a lot, but go ahead. Give us the future.

POLCARI: We're going to get a little bit of a churn. The market is exhausted, you could feel it. We've had this great move the last six or seven weeks, really straight up with no consolidation. And towards the middle of the week last week, you could feel kind of the Dow getting exhaustion (ph), turning over, teasing with 14,000, not able to make its way through. The S&P 500, they certainly want to push that to resistance at 1,525 and they very well may. But that doesn't mean overall you're not going to get this churn, and actually some consolidation. And actually, that would be something that you should welcome as an investor.

SAVIDGE: All right. When we say terms like that, and I read between the tea leaves, it implies you think the market will take a turn down. A correction or what?

POLCARI: No, no. Well, define the correction, right? Do I think the market is going down 10 percent, 15 percent? Absolutely not. But do I think the market should give back and consolidate and give back 3 percent or 4 percent? Absolutely. That would be healthy. That would be something investors should want to see because we've gone up in a straight line. They really want to see the market kind of consolidate and form a base from which then to move higher once again.

So, a three or four percent correction is not a correction by any stretch. When people think about correction, they may think about 10 percent, 15 percent. I don't think we're getting that all.

SAVIDGE: All right, good. Thanks for setting me straight.

Let's talk about the president's state of the union address. Does it have any impact at all on the markets?

POLCARI: Sure. Investors are going to pay very close attention to what he says because listen, we're 19 days away from March 1 and the sequester, the automatic cuts. We already heard him last week say it was probably going to be impossible to come to a budget. He's asking for temporary measures, essentially pushing that can down the road a little bit more, which will take the pressure off the market and will allow investors to at least for the short term, take the market higher because with the pressure off, the cuts won't come. The job losses won't happen, and the government will continue spending.

So, that will give investors a short term reason to kind of rally the market. They're going to listen very carefully what he says and try to understand where he's going. Is he going to say anything really new? Probably not. He's going to urge lawmakers to come together and do their job, but we've seen this story before.

SAVIDGE: Big day Wednesday of course because as retailers start releasing sales figures, we're going to be trying to read into what they have to say. What do you think we're going to see?

POLCARI: You can expect that the government report is going to sing the praises of the consumer being back. Look at how strong he is. People going out again, they're feeling better, housing coming back and the stock market is up. So, it's going to give people a reason to spend.

Now listen, be careful when you look at this number because it's going to be for January. Remember, the tax increases started mid- month when people get paid on the 15th and 30th. And now going forward, more tax increases are coming when we talk about the sequestration and the debt limit. So I suspect really the retail sales this month, be careful how you look at it. Even though they try to sing the praises, I think you're going to see some pull back in the month ahead as people now get used to less discretionary income in their paycheck.

SAVIDGE: OK, we're down to about 25 seconds. All week long, corporations releasing quarterly earnings. It's ood news?

POLCARI: Well, yes. We're at the end of that earnings cycle, right? Really, we're at the tail end of it. We've had earnings that have come in about 3.4 percent growth rate, which is above the 2.7 percent that all analysts had expected. So therefore, they're going to tell you it's been a relatively good season. I would expect we'll hear from General Motors expect good numbers. Coke and Pepsi, going to look for those names. I mean, those are big consumer names, right? But we are at the tail end. So it's going to have less and less of an impact.

SAVIDGE: Kenneth Polcari, O'Neill Securities, thank you very much for coming in and predicting the week ahead financially. We'll see how you do.

POLCARI: Thanks for having me.

SAVIDGE: Well, a blizzard is no laughing matter, unless you are a writer and a humorist like Dave Barry. He'll join us with his unique take on the storm that socked it to the Northeast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: If there is one man who can find humor in just about anything, it's Pulitzer-prize winning humorist Dave Barry. He's the author of "Insane City," which pokes fun at the city of Miami. But I also had to find out really what, if anything, he thought was funny or crazy about the weather in the Northeast. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BARRY, HUMORIST: First of all, I want to clarify that you are talking about a person who lives in Miami but is now in San Francisco about a blizzard in New England.

Here's what I have observed in Miami, which our equivalent is the hurricanes when they come. Everybody -- you watch The Weather Channel, you watch CNN, you watch the building up, building up, building up, and you get more and more nervous. Finally, you have to go to the supermarket, not because you need anything, but because everyone else is going to the supermarket. They keep showing it on television. And you go there and there's all these storm-crazed people running around buying products that they'll never use. Like you finally come home and you're like, I got nine volt batteries, and your wife goes, we don't have anything that uses nine-volt batteries. I know, but it's all they had left! You know.

But I have products, canned products, in Miami from , like, hurricanes in 1988. Things that I will never eat. Clam parts, you know. Things in a can -

SAVIDGE: It's just part of the prepper mentality, apparently, that even the birds, people have.

How about the -- there's always that one person, the maniacal shoveller. This is the person who before the snow comes, is out there putting the gas in the brand-new snow blower, which has a 300 horsepower engine on it or something. Why does that person always seem to be in my subdivision?

BARRY: Well, you should be glad, because he probably has shovelled - he blows his driveway in the first ten minutes. Then he's got this really nice multi-thousand dollar piece of equipment, and he's going to come around and do your driveway, and everybody else's driveway.

SAVIDGE: I'm not sure he does, other than blowing it in my driveway is one of the tactics that seems to be a favorite of his --

BARRY: The equivalent of that -

SAVIDGE: Go ahead.

BARRY: I was going to say, the equivalent we have of that in Miami is generators. People buy generators. And then they -- people have generators that could power Las Vegas. Ready to go. Ready to go. So they're waiting. They actually want the power to go out.

SAVIDGE: Hey, can you go knock on somebody's door and say, hey - with your cord and say, hey do you mind if I plug in for a bit?

BARRY: We do do that. If you drive around, when the power goes out in Miami, you will see extension cords crossing the street sometimes. Yes. I don't mean the cords are walking across the street. You know what I mean.

SAVIDGE: Let's talk about your book, "Insane City." This is a commentary, really about what life in Miami - and is Miami as crazy as you make it sound?

BARRY: It is. I live in Miami. I moved there from 1986 from the United States. It is the strangest city -- by far the strangest city I have ever lived in. Very strange people. Strange things happening. Drugs sometimes fall from the sky. People drift ashore all the time. All kinds of bizarre wildlife. Snakes, gigantic snakes slithering around. It's a very different place.

SAVIDGE: Dave Barry. Thanks very much. The name of the book is "Insane City." And thanks for talking about all things snow and weather related as well as the book. Appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: People of earth, an asteroid as big as half a football field is hurtling your way. We'll tell you when it will pass by hopefully. And just how close it's expected to get.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Brianna Keilar is up next, in for Don Lemon at the top of the hour. What have you got?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We will be talking about synthetic marijuana. I know a lot of people haven't even heard of it. I hadn't.

And this is a story for anyone who has a teenager, anyone knows a teenager. It's emotional and it's also something that parents especially need to know. This is something that's cheap, it's really easy to find. Some teens are going to convenience stores, and they're able to pick this up. And it's often advertised as a legal way to get high. But as we learned talking to one family who lost their son, it can be lethal.

SAVIDGE: Yes. The consequences of this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BURNETT, SON DIED AFTER USING SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA: And he passed away. And we feel what we're trying to do with the education and awareness aspect of our mission, we're doing as much as we possibly can to help other families around the country not have to endure the pain and lose somebody that you love dearly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And I've heard about the consequences. They are tragic.

KEILAR: It's really tragic. That couple that we talked to, Yvette and David Burnett, they've made this their mission to try to make sure what happened to their son last March doesn't happen to any other kid. We'll be catching up with them.

SAVIDGE: It is a great story to bring forward to the public. Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Thanks, Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right. What do a giant asteroid, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Mark Zuckerberg and Valentine's Day all have what in common? Is it love or something more? Well, find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: A military hero is awarded the nation's highest honor for courage. That tops our look at what's happening in the week ahead.

On Monday, President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Army staff sergeant Clinton Romesha. In 2009, when hundreds of Taliban fighters ambushed combat outpost Keating in Afghanistan, Romesha helped keep those enemy forces from overrunning the post. He will become the fourth living recipient of the Medal of Honor. Catch Jake Tapper's report, THE UNCOMMON VALOR OF CLINT ROMESHA. That'll be tonight at 8:00 p.m.Eastern.

Then on Tuesday, President Obama delivers his state of the union speech. President says his main focus will be jobs. But he will talk about taxes, debt, and the upcoming series of budget cuts. You can watch the president's speech live, right here on CNN.

Then on Wednesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hosts a fundraiser for New York - or rather, New Jersey Chris Christie. An advisor to the Republican governor says it is the first in a series of out-of-state reelection fundraising trips they've got planned.

Thursday, mark your calendar. Valentine's Day. So make sure you've got a gift or flowers for that special someone. Same-sex couples in Illinois may also be shopping for wedding rings soon. The state senate could vote on a same-sex marriage bill as early as Thursday.

And then on Friday, an asteroid the size of half a football field will fly pretty doggone close to earth. And by pretty close, I mean about 17,000 miles. So, consider this your heads-up. NASA scientists say the object this size really hasn't come this close to earth ever. But don't let that worry you. Relax. There's not a chance it will hit us. Do you think they'd really tell you if it would?

That'll be it for me. I'm Martin Savidge. Hopefully it's not it for all of us. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brianna Keilar.