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President Obama's State of the Union; Louisiana Watergate at Sen. Landrieu's?; Where are All the Jobs?; Toyota Halts Production Amid Massive Recall; Eating Once Every Three Days

Aired January 27, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, and thanks for getting your day started with us. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 out west. Here's what's happening in our world right now.

Toyota's ice and apples, the king of the car sales universe slamming on the brakes. Eight models you see on the road all the time. Eight models can't get them, not now. A flaw that's just too dangerous to chance.

No brakes for winter and no break for middle America. The ice age cometh to the southern plains again.

Then there's the newest wave of the digital age. Techno geeks around the world giddy over Apple's tablet. Yes, it's the latest installment of "as the worm turns."

Well, the big story today, the big speech. President Obama's first official State of the Union address, so much on the line. Where does he even start? Well, Suzanne Malveaux's got that covered for us.

Watergate light? A Louisiana version? Is that what we have on our hands? Brianna Keilar's got her ear to this story, so to speak.

And is the stimulus package giving us our money's worth? Don Lemon manning the "CNN Stimulus Desk" and keeping them honest.

Well, we are 12 hours away from President Obama's first State of the Union address. If the past few days are an indicator, getting America's financial house in order is at the top of the president's to-do list.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, help us out here. What's he going to say?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I've been speaking with White House officials this morning. And clearly what they're trying to do is create a tone of "yes, we can" once again to really give the American people, not only a sense of faith in this president, but also a sense of faith in their government, and what the role of their government is and what the government essentially can do.

He's going to be focusing clearly on the middle class and the kinds of economic policies that he's pushing forward. So what are we talking about here? We're talking about, yes, health care reform. That hasn't gone away in reforming those insurance companies and their practices.

Tax credits for child care. That type of thing. Limits on the federal student loan payments to help off -- help student loans and -- as well as expanding support care for the elderly. That is something, non-controversial, obviously, a lot of people looking for that kind of assistance.

$4 billion we have learned this morning from White House officials, that's additional spending on education. And then some fiscally conservative economic policies. We're talking about that three-year spending freeze on discretionary spending in areas -- particular areas, domestic programs.

And then finally, a message that the president gets it, Kyra, that he's talking about top White House officials whose salaries will also be frozen. We're not going to be looking at bonuses for those top officials saying, "I get it, I understand what the American people are going through."

Now, Kyra, I understand we don't necessarily have the sound but I want to tell you about it. I had a chance to talk to Robert Gibbs this morning and I pressed him a little bit on whether or not the president is going to acknowledge some mistakes, some lessons learned in this first year.

That is something he talked about in the campaign as a candidate. It was very refreshing. And Robert Gibbs said, yes, he is going to acknowledge that there were some missteps that were made.

And one of the main things that the president is going to address is that there needs to be more bipartisanship. That he needs to do a better job in bringing Democrats and Republicans together.

When he talked about a new change, a change in Washington, that clearly is not something that has happened. That is something that he is going to take on for this coming year. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Now you're going to be able to solicit questions to the president via YouTube this year. Right?

MALVEAUX: Yes. This is something really new.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: We'll see how that goes. But the White House is inviting people to not only listen to the State of the Union address, but then go to YouTube and post a question to the president.

Now the White House is going to take these questions and they're going to select them and then next week they're going to have a live kind of Internet chat activity, an event at the White House, where they say the president will answer some of the viewers' questions.

Now clearly they're going to pick which ones they want to answer so we'll see how this goes. If it's the president's favorite color. But we anticipate there'll be some other questions -- you know, more challenging that they will also take. So this is a new opportunity....

PHILLIPS: So what is his favorite color?

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Oh, I wish -- I used to know that actually.

PHILLIPS: OK.

MALVEAUX: But there's going to be a new opportunity clearly for the White House to project a sense of, look, we're reaching out to the American people.

PHILLIPS: Right.

MALVEAUX: He is listening to the American people, so we're trying to address some of your concerns.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, it'll be interesting. To say the least. Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Check back with us next week.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. Right.

In your prime time coverage of the president's State of the Union address will begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern with the best political team on television. That includes our Suzanne Malveaux. That's right here on CNN.

Well, hello? Is anybody listening? Do we have a Louisiana Watergate on our hands possibly? Well, federal agents have actually arrested four men now. They allegedly tried to tamper with Senator Mary Landrieu's office phone and one of the guys we've actually seen before. Dressed as a pimp.

I know, I know, this is Louisiana politics. And CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is all over it.

You know, Brianna, I worked in that market of Louisiana. And I tell you what, nothing is impossible. Nothing will surprise you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is so strange. I mean this is a very intriguing story, Kyra. And it basically starts like this.

A couple of days ago, according to the FBI, a couple of guys walked in to the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Louisiana senator, and they were posing as phone company technicians.

They had the full outfit on, work pants, work shirt, tool belt, they were holding hardhats, they had on reflective vests, and they said they needed to check the phone. They were actually given access to the phone at the front desk, Kyra.

And they sort of fiddled with the phone, according to the affidavit. They manipulated it and then they said there was something the matter with the phone system for the entire office basically and they needed to access the phone closet.

Now simultaneously there was a third guy, one of the guys who's also been charged in this situation, a third guy who's videotaping some of this going on with the camera on his cell phone.

His name is James O'Keefe. He is the one you referred to as having been dressed as a pimp and he and a fourth man have been charged with aiding and assisting this operation. The other two have been charged really with more trying to carry it out -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We should remind folks, James O'Keefe, he's the one that did those ACORN videos.

KEILAR: That's right. James O'Keefe really became a darling of some conservatives because he took a hidden camera, went into some ACORN offices. Some conservatives have said essentially that ACORN was corrupt and he really seemed to make his point with these undercover videos that he did.

He was posing as a pimp. He was with a woman who was posed as a prostitute. And they asked for and really seemed to get advice on how to -- get some tax advice on how to operate a brothel from some of these ACORN employees.

Actually one of our affiliates, Kyra, WWL, caught up with him yesterday after he was charged. Listen to what he told them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have anything to say about the charges against you? Why were you in Senator Landrieu's office?

JAMES O'KEEFE, FILMMAKER: The truth shall set me free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And what's really fascinating is he's not the only person, it appears, of note here. There's also another gentleman, Robert Flanagan, who is the son of the acting U.S. attorney for the western district of Louisiana -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so how did they get caught in the end? And obviously we haven't heard anything from them besides "the truth will set us free" to why they did this.

KEILAR: Yes, you know, we're not sure why they did this. Senator Landrieu isn't up for re-election. You know, it's going to be a tough midterm election this year for a lot of folks on Capitol Hill. She's not up for re-election.

But it seems that their story really seemed to unravel when the senator's staff says -- someone on the senator's staff said that they needed to talk to the building staff. Because remember her office is in a federal building. It's not just her office. There are a number of other ones.

Someone from the building staff asked for their credentials. They said they were out in the car. Seems at this point their story unraveled, according to the FBI. And then the FBI got involved. Now they're facing some pretty serious felony charges.

PHILLIPS: And the senator came out and talked about this. Right?

KEILAR: She issued a brief statement saying this was unusual, obviously, and this is very unsettling. She wants to find out more about it, but her office also said it's an ongoing investigation so they can't say a whole lot about it. She says the investigation hopefully will yield, you know, some more details but it sounds like she knows as little about this as maybe a lot of us do -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We'll try and find out more, that's for sure. Brianna Keilar, definitely intriguing. Thanks, Brianna.

Your tax dollars bailed out the banks but here's a question. Was the government short-changing you on the truth?

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner facing a Capitol Hill grilling next hour. A House panel is looking into the AIG bailout and how some of that money was funneled to other banks secretly. The government audit found that taxpayers may have lost billions of dollars on those deals.

Helping the fat cats but doing squat for the rest. That's how most Americans feel about the stimulus right now. Just check out the latest CNN Opinion Research poll. More than half of those polled say that the bill has helped bankers. Four in 10 say it's helped business executives, but only 25 say it's helped the middle class.

Only about 1 in 3 Americans think that the stimulus bill has helped people who have lost jobs.

In fact, there are jobs tied to the stimulus. Many of them require hardhats.

Don Lemon has his on today. He's at the "CNN Stimulus Desk" tracking the projects across the country.

Hey, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here really looking at this stuff here. Wasn't sure you're going to come to me.

Yes, jobs. That's what people really want right now. We've been talking a lot about health care, you know, the administration but people are really concerned about jobs. And what happened to their stimulus money? So let me walk over here to the -- and show you. Obviously I'm here at the stimulus desk but I want to show you what we're working on. We're working on projects all over the country to find out where all of that money went, all of your money went, the stimulus project all over.

So, listen, this is what we're working on. These are things that we're trying -- projects that we're trying to work. This is a total that we have accounted for so far. We have to account for $158 billion. This is the total now, $2 billion. So we still have a long way to go here. But don't worry we are going to get to all of that.

This is what we're talking about. Construction. Construction. Let's just show some of the construction workers that are out there. Improving roads and bridges, $36 billion so far allocated to helping out our bridges, our roads, reconstruction, what have you, improving them.

We're going to talk about -- drill down on some specifics on that, but let me tell you where the money sort of goes. So I'm going to break it down for you here. Some of that $36 billion, $27.5 billion goes to highway construction. Then $8.4 billion will go to public transportation.

That's how they're going to break it down. So how many jobs is this going to create? We are being told, so far, 250,000 jobs have been created for all of this. 250,000 jobs have been created through all of this, but again, those aren't permanent jobs.

So, listen, real quickly, if you look at one of the biggest projects here, I-95? This is a project that we're going to be talking more about in just a little bit here on CNN. We're going to be talking to CNNMoney.com writer there who is really drilling in on this project on I-95, one of the heaviest traveled corridors in the United States.

Specifically Broward County in Florida. Broward Country in Florida. His name is Tami Luhby, she's a senior writer for CNNMoney.com. She is going to come and talk about this project. They say that it's creating jobs. Some people say it is, others say it's not because they're growing, you know, a little bit sort of dismal with what's happening here.

But again, I want to show you -- again, this is our total. $2 billion so far that we've accounted for. And I want to tell you, the payoff in all of this, again. Here's the payoff in all of this.

How much has been created? $36 billion that was given so far, $24 million miles of road to improve, 250,000 jobs created for this specific overall project.

We're going to dig deeper, drill down on one community to find out where that $20.5 million is going that they got from the stimulus project coming up in just about 20 minutes right here on CNN.

So, Kyra, I'm going to toss it back to you. I'm going to get back to work on the stimulus desk over there.

PHILLIPS: All right, sounds great. Thanks, Don.

And tomorrow on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," the bridge was built to make the town's people safe? They feel safe, all right. Safe in saying what a waste. "STIMULUS PROJECT." All this week, only on CNN and at CNN.com/stimulus.

So you want to buy a Toyota? You better check the list and don't get picky. The one you want may not be for sale anymore, thanks to a potentially fatal flaw.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras taking the latest computer models. A powerful winter storm hitting the southern plain states for tomorrow that could literally cripple travel and leave thousands without power.

The latest on the forecast is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Trouble for Toyota. The world's number one automaker is having issues, big ones. Some top models off the market because of potentially deadly problems with the gas pedal. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joining us now live in Washington. Allan?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this problem led Toyota to recall top-selling models six days ago. Now the company is stopping sales and production of very, very rare step.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Toyota is putting a "not for sale" sign on some of the most popular vehicles in America. Eight models are affected. All were recalled just six days ago because the accelerator can get stuck in a partly depressed position, or it may return too slowly to an idle position.

RICK NEWMAN, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: It's so unusual. It's not just a recall which is expensive, they're actually going to stop selling some of their most popular models which means they're going to lose a lot of money.

CHERNOFF: Reporter: Models affected included RAV 4, Corolla, some Camrys, Avalon, Matrix, Highlander, Tundra and Sequoia.

In a statement Toyota said, "Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company." This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized."

All of the vehicles are made in North America. Plants in Indiana, Texas, Kentucky and Canada. Toyota says rather than immediately stopping production, it will keep assembly lines running until next week to allow time to notify suppliers and then it will fix all vehicles. NEWMAN: Whether they lose their customers is really what's totally at stake here. So it's clear they have a problem. It's clear they have a quality problem. And what will define how well they rebound is how well they handle this.

CHERNOFF: Toyota's problems may present an opportunity for troubled American auto companies to gain sales, especially since many consumers perceive Japanese vehicles as more reliable than American cars.

Now that image is taking a hit, though analysts say Toyota is showing it cares more about people than profits. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: We'll follow the story on, Chernoff, thanks so much and for a complete list of the cars, trucks and SUVs affected, and what Allan was talking about, just log on and go to CNN.com. You'll also find the number to call Toyota if you have any questions or concerns.

OK, Oklahoma. Get ready. Jacqui Jeras, you've got the big storm update.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Jacqui.

Curtain goes up. The details trickle out. Apple is about to unveil its newest product and we'll give you a sneak peek.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now. Telecom giant Verizon says it will shed some 13,000 jobs this year. It posted a lousy fourth quarter in 2009 and there may be something to the unlucky number of 13 for that company. Verizon paired its employee ranks by 13,000 in both 2008 and 2009. You figure it out.

And if you're an Apple person this might be old news, but bear with us. We're 3 1/2 hours away from Apple's latest big reveal. We're talking about the tablet. It's been shrouded in secrecy but analysts expect it to have a 10-inch touch screen that delivers music, video, text navigation and social networking applications.

Here on the brink of foreclosure? Maybe Bank of America has your back. The Treasury Department says that it's the first American Financial Institution to agree to its secondary mortgage loan modification program. Homeowners with the BOA second mortgage could get their payments lowered or eliminated.

Three meals a day? Not in Haiti. Some people say they're eating a meal every three days. As it runs out, the desperation grows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So was it a rescue after two weeks or not? Here's what we know from Haiti. A 31-year-old Haitian salesman was pulled from the rubble yesterday. U.S. soldiers who arrived to treat him say they don't know if the building that he was pulled from had just collapsed or was destroyed in the quake two weeks ago.

Logistics are still a concern in Haiti. Some 800 to 1,000 aid flights are still waiting for permission to land right there at the Port-au-Prince airport. The U.N. says that small trucks are needed to navigate crowded streets. The U.N. also estimates that two million people need food but only 5000,000 have gotten it so far.

Aid group are trying their hardest but as our Karl Penhaul reports, when the food runs out the anger definitely flares up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Empty stomachs and growing desperation. These Haitians needed food, but now they're choking on pepper spray.

Brazilian peacekeepers drive by the hordes trying to stop them from trampling and crushing each other.

"We lost everything. Our families and now our dignity, and we have to put up with this misery," he says.

Only two trucks of rice arrive at this distribution point in downtown Port-au-Prince. Yet thousands charge down the street, first come, first served.

COL. FERNANDO SOARES, BRAZILIAN PEACEKEEPER: We are not violent people. Violent people. They are normal people but they are scared. They want to eat.

PENHAUL: Two weeks since the quake but many in this crowd say they're still only getting something to eat once every three days. Every morsel counts.

(On camera): These are scenes as some aid workers have been predicting. The longer it takes to get aid to hungry and desperate people, the more difficult it will become in security terms to distribute that aid because people will be willing to fight to get their hands on what little there is to go around.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in deep (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

PENHAUL (voice-over): The lucky few make it through the barricades. Thousands more can only wait and watch the aid running out.

Then a brief moment of hope.

(On camera): Suddenly the crowd is breaking into cheers. They've seen another truck coming and believe it's full of more aid.

(Voice-over): But there is nothing more today. A slow fuse is burning. Filling those empty stomachs fast may be the only way to avoid an explosion.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Port-au-Prince.

The nation's foreclosure crisis. A new development could keep more Americans in their homes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK, the nation's biggest mortgage lenders signing into a program that could keep more Americans in their homes. We just had the opening bell. Susan Lisovicz, the New York Stock Exchange, with all that and more.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

This is a huge story for people who are really having problems making mortgage payments or in danger of foreclosure completely. And one of the reasons why is that it involves Bank of America which is the nation's biggest bank, that has agreed, the first big banker to agree to lower or eliminate payments on second mortgages. So that is a huge move. It could influence other banks, and obviously we'll be watching that quite closely.

But this is a very busy news day. A lot of focus is on Washington. Well, first of all, we have at 2:15 p.m., the Federal Reserve release its latest policy decision. The Fed widely expected to keep rates at their historic lows. The meeting comes as the Senate has finally scheduled a vote on Ben Bernanke's second term as chairman. That will happen tomorrow. Democrats say they have the votes they need.

Wall Street, of course, will also be listening to tonight's state of the union address for more details about a potential bank regulatory overhaul. We won't easily forget what happened last week when shares of big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs plummeted in anticipation of reforms.

Also, today, which you just mentioned something we've been talking about. Apple in San Francisco unveiling its highly- anticipated new touch screen device at a special event today. Apple coming off record sales and profits from, you know, gadgets that you may have heard of like the iPhone, Mac, things like that.

Right now, we're seeing a little bit of selling off. Not unusual, Kyra. We have a lot going on. And usually it's pretty cautious in the hours leading up to an interest rate decision.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thanks so much.

PHILLIPS: And the president's state of the union address tonight. He's going to talk to the middle class and to Middle America. One place that was pivotal to his bid for the White House, Ohio.

CNN's Carol Costello is in Youngstown with the view from a swing state. And, Carol, this is an area very close to your heart for a number of reasons.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I am in Youngstown, Ohio, and I'm from not very far from here, about 45 minutes away, Canton, Ohio. And I can tell you that this part of Ohio has been particularly hard hit by the economy.

I mean, the poverty rate here, Kyra, 33 percent. 33 percent of people who live in Youngstown are below the poverty level. Unemployment is very high. Higher than the national average. When people sit down tonight and watch the president's state of the union, they want to hear more than words. They want to hear a plan. They want to hear how the president is going to create jobs for them. Because even though this part of Ohio has gotten what -- $52 million in stimulus money, it hasn't created enough jobs to really make a difference. So, it will be very interesting to see how people react to the president's speech tonight.

PHILLIPS: And like we pointed out, I mean, this is -- this is your home state. This is where you grew up and you went there. You went back a year ago when the president was voted in. Within the past year, describe the mood, the changes, the viewpoints from when the president first came into place to now.

COSTELLO: Well, last year -- when I was here during the election, I mean President Obama visited Ohio quite a bit. He was here 14 times during the election. He was here twice in Youngstown, and people were very excited to hear his message of hope and change. In fact, the people of Youngstown, 70 percent of them voted for Barack Obama because they really believed that change was coming to an area hard hit by the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Today the mood, you want to know what it is? It is not exactly anger. It is more frustration. And people are really disenfranchised. They have lost hope, which is very unusual, I must say, for Ohioans because you know what, Kyra? We are a hearty group.

PHILLIPS: That is true. So, finally, when -- and I don't know if you have had a chance to go home while being on assignment, but around the Costello dinner table there in Ohio, what's the chitchat like? The things you can tell me on air.

COSTELLO: You really want to know the answer to that?

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly! There's some things we probably can say. That's a whole other story.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, I will say my parents are very conservative so they were not big fans of Barack Obama in the first place. So let's just say they're even less enchanted by Barack Obama than they were before. You know, they own a small business. They're struggling just like the rest of Ohio is. So I talked to my mother last night, she said she's not going to listen to the state of the union, but I bet she really will listen because she likes to argue with people, and we discuss things all the time like that.

PHILLIPS: And her daughter inherited that trait, for sure.

It will be interesting. It will be interesting to see what comes out of Ohio. You've been tracking that for more than a year now. And like you said, the president was there 14 different times. Carol Costello, thank you so much.

And our primetime coverage of the president's state of the union address begins 8:00 p.m. Eastern with the Best Political Team on Television. That's right here on CNN.

How's Uncle Sam spending your tax money? CNN's "Stimulus Project" tracking it this hour. We're looking at some concrete results.

$36 billion already spent on bridges and highways. Is the government getting the most bang for your buck? I don't know. Let's ask Don Lemon. He's looking for answers at the stimulus desk.

Don, what do you think?

LEMON: You know we're getting results, right, when you look on the official White House blog, and you see at WhiteHouseGov/blog, that they are actually commenting on what we're doing here. That's a good thing.

But what I want to get to real quickly is what we've been reporting here at CNNMoney.com. We talked about all the money that's for construction projects specifically for roads, highways in the nation, $36 billion so far. So I want to talk right now about the person who has been doing some really great reporting on this. And her name is Tami Luhby.

Tami Luhby works for CNNMoney.com. She's a senior writer there. So, Tami, I want you to talk about specifically -- let's drill down, if you will, on one project which involves I-95 and Broward County. You spoke to a construction company there. The biggest job they've had so far. They're happy about that, but there are some other things that they are concerned about.

TAMI LUHBY, CNNMONEY.COM: Right. Yes. They're finding that when they go to bid on these projects, instead of having four to five bidders that they've normally had for government projects, they're finding 25 people in the room. And it's been very, very difficult for them to get these stimulus projects.

Before they said they would have, maybe two years ago, they would have a 30 percent to 40 percent shot of landing the project. Now they say it is maybe 2 percent to 3 percent. So this widening of I-95 has been their biggest project. $20.5 million. They're very happy. It saved 20 people on their payrolls. But the other project they've landed only a handful of repaving projects other than this. They want more, but they can't get it.

LEMON: You said 20 people on their payrolls, and these are not permanent jobs, right? Like once this job is over, in particular I-95 job is over, these people are not assured of having a job.

LUHBY: Well, it will depend on what they get. What other types of contracts they get. I mean, they said their business was down 15 percent last year in 2009. And the only reason it wasn't down more is because they had a backlog from 2008. They still had to let 200 people go last year, so these 20 people were saved from that. They're saying that 2010 will be very tough and they don't know what's going forward. They don't know what they're going to do with their payrolls.

LEMON: Yes. They've had to lay off some folks last year. They're looking at layoff.

LUHBY: That's right.

LEMON: Don't go anywhere. Stand by. Because I want to show you real quickly, we're talking about again. We're talking about this. And this is Ranger Construction. This is I-95. We're talking about Broward County here, and that's where this project, $20.5 million that they got for that.

Now check this out. This is live right here of that I-95, part of the interstate that goes through Broward County. So, again, we're checking on that.

We've got CNNMoney.com. You saw Tami Luhby there checking on that. But, you know, Kyra, as I toss it back to you, here's the interesting thing. We said this $36 billion overall that's supposed to go to highway and transit or whatever, it's a 250,000 jobs. But, again, these are not permanent jobs, because once they get -- once these jobs are over, these temporary jobs fixing these roads, these people are not assured of a job.

So we're still checking here. So far CNN's working on about $2 billion that we've accounted for, and are working on when it comes to all of that stimulus money. So, Kyra, I'm going to get back to work, and I'll toss it right back to you.

PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Don.

LEMON: All right, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And tomorrow on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, the bridge was built to make one town's residents safe. But has it become a $7 million mistake? Waste under the bridge? The stimulus project, all this week only on CNN@CNN.com/Stimulus.

A potentially dangerous winter storm is brewing. What it means for you tomorrow, and possibly the rest of the week -- 70 seconds away.

But first...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The quiet before the expected ice storm in Oklahoma City. It's being touted as a real doozy.

Thanks to our friends at KOCO for this peek. Good luck tomorrow.

Jacqui Jeras, it's going to be rough.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: We sure will. Thanks, Jacqui.

What to do with U.S. troops. Just part of the discussion on Afghanistan's future. The major players are all getting tougher -- or together, rather, to get tougher and hash it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Making nice with Taliban fighters. That's one of the plans that we'll hear about at a special conference on Afghanistan tomorrow, also, how to hand over areas to Afghan forces.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us. So Barbara what might be new or different about this meeting?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, as you say, that's what people are going to look for, what's new, what's different. Another international meeting of the U.S., its allies and Afghan officials in London tomorrow to talk about the way ahead; talk about more troops, more security, more training for Afghans.

But this time one of the things they're going to be talking about is extending the olive branch to the Taliban, trying to bring the enemy in from the cold. There is expected to be a lot of discussion about this and it's something that is very politically tenable, something some of the Democrats on Capitol Hill want to see as a way ahead to get out of this potential quagmire in Afghanistan.

Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the very powerful Armed Services Committee, talked about all of this just the other day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Another thing to watch is to whether or not President Karzai and we can come up with a program for reintegration of those lower-level Taliban which will chip away at the power of the Taliban and help to support the efforts of the Afghan security forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, what are we really talking about, Kyra? You're talking just like they did in Iraq, about money, jobs, extending that economic olive branch, if you will, to some of the lower-level Taliban fighters who the U.S. feels basically are in it to earn money. If you can give them jobs, if you can give economic development, maybe they'll stop fighting.

But here's the wrinkle. What about the big guns? What about Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban? Is there some way to extend an olive branch to him and would the U.S. even want to get involved with him? That's a major question and right now, of course, the Taliban think they're doing pretty good in Afghanistan, so the other question is whether they'd even want to come to the negotiating table.

But this is what everybody will be looking for at this London meeting -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what's the reality of this? I mean, could it work?

STARR: Well, that -- that's really the bottom line. Could it work?

Right now, here's one example. The U.S. military intelligence community believes of 33 of 34 provinces in Afghanistan have Taliban shadow governments. That's an indicator of how the Taliban think they're doing. They think they have control and momentum in a good number of areas in Afghanistan.

Why would they come to the negotiating table? No matter how big the olive branch of money and development and jobs is, why would they give up what they think they have? That's going to be the hurdle to cross -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr, we'll follow it. Thanks so much.

Straight ahead, a gecko story that actually has nothing whatsoever to do with car insurance. But there is a human underwear involved.

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PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. I can see the movie title now, "Skinks on a Plane"; a German man got caught trying to smuggle reptiles out of New Zealand. Yes, that's just kind of skimming the surface of the story, though. How did he plan to get them out and onto a plane? Well, by hiding them in his underwear, of course; 44 small geckos and skinks, yes, skinks, he had them in a special panty pouch now we say. Here's a gecko in his natural habitat, not on some guy's pants or doing TV commercials with the charming accent.

And one woman one week, count them, three DUI's oh and three crashes too. Here she is in all of her glory. She's actually pretty lucky; she's only facing drunk-driving charges. Lucky she didn't kill anyone. So what are they doing to keep her off the road this time? Not much; $50,000 bail. Oh, and she's been ordered not to drink and drive. That's a good idea. That seemed to have worked real well so far.

She faces a $1,500 fine for each offense but no jail time. How about a good slap on the wrist to go with that?

And this one is going to outrage you. "It's their own fault." That's the sentiment from Paul Shirley. He's a former NBA player who seems to hate Haiti. Well, maybe not hate, but let's just say he's not a big supporter. He's also not much of a basketball player either; 18 games in three NBA seasons.

So why do we even care about this guy? Because in his blog he says he's not going to give any money to the Haitians because they'll just waste it anyway. He also says it's their fault for living in a quake zone.

You want another gem from this brilliant guy? In an open letter to the Haitian people he says, "As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request, could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty and shack towns and could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?"

I don't even know where to start with this one. How insensitive can you be, Paul, really?

Now we want to know, what would your response be to this letter? We posted it on my blog, CNN.com/Kyra. Post your comments and we'll read some of them in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

We've got a lot of news happening right now; CNN crews gathering all the details for us. Let's go ahead and check in with our correspondents beginning with Suzanne Malveaux in New York -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, it's countdown to State of the Union for President Obama and clearly he's going to try and give a kind of "Yes, We Can" inspiration to the American people. He's going to be acknowledging the challenges, the hard economic times, but he also is going to be proposing some initiatives to actually tackle that and to help the American people do better. I'll have all of that coming up at the top of the hour.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. The nation's biggest bank is announcing a new plan that aims to keep more Americans in their homes. Kyra, more on bank of America's plans next hour.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. A powerful ice storm to slam the southern plains states tomorrow. What you need to know to stay safe is coming up in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: Also ahead, a remarkable story of survival. A blind violinist rescued from the rubble in Haiti. In the next hour, he talks to us from the hospital.

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PHILLIPS: So, are stimulus dollars working for you? A new poll shows that most of you think that the suits or big-time execs are benefiting most from our tax dollars, not you or our neighbors on Main Street.

So CNN's Christine Romans actually went to a low income Delaware community to see how stimulus projects are actually working there. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: How long have you lived here?

ELEANOR WHALEY, WEST REHOBOTH, DELAWARE RESIDENT: About 20, 25 years.

ROMANS (voice-over): Eleanor Whaley lives in West Rehoboth, Delaware, where most make less than $20,000 a year and some homes have no running water. Whaley thankfully does but after her bathtub cracked a couple years ago it leaked water and ruined her insulation.

WHALEY: And my husband tried to fix it up, you know, pave it up or whatever but as the water came down, it ruined all of that.

ROMANS (on camera): So the hot air in the house just goes out.

(voice-over): It took $230 a month to heat her small home but her bathroom has been repaired and her bill is down $40, all thanks to your stimulus money.

Whaley is vice president of the West Rehoboth Community Land Trust and helped get a $130,000 stimulus grant to weatherize homes here. It's also training residents to do the work themselves.

RICHARD LEATSKI, WEST REHOBOTH COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: Stimulus in the terms of giving people a better standard of living and hopefully it will actually put some people into the economy on a long-term basis.

ROMANS: But this isn't the only stimulus program helping out Whaley and her neighbors. Just two miles down the road is Rehoboth Beach, a summer resort for Washington's elite. It may be the dead of winter, but the beach is hopping with construction workers, rebuilding the town's boardwalk with $5.5 million stimulus dollars.

(on camera): This project wouldn't be happening without the federal stimulus dollars?

STAN MILLS, CITY COMMISSIONER, REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE: Absolutely. Meaning there would be no workers here, there would be no workers potentially even getting paychecks.

ROMANS (voice-over): City Commissioner Stan Mills says the boardwalk, parts of it more than 50 years old, was in bad shape.

(on camera): So when you heard about the stimulus project, you immediately thought we have a shovel-ready project just waiting for federal dollars, looking for people to work right away.

MILLS: Absolutely.

ROMANS (voice-over): Mills says besides creating jobs now, a new boardwalk will mean more tourists this summer. But stimulus dollars for tourism? The project landed on a Republican list of wasteful projects and a local citizen, a democrat, staged a small protest.

ANGELA CLARK, REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE RESIDENT: It doesn't make sense to me, the concept of using money to build this boardwalk when it was already functional.

ROMANS: But back across town, Eleanor Whaley says the boardwalk project is important for her livelihood. She works in the resort town, like many of her neighbors, and depends on tourism.

(on camera): Some people say this whole stimulus thing is a waste. This isn't waste for you

WHALEY: Oh, my God no. I think it's the best thing that could have happened not only for me but other residents that's living here in the community.

ROMANS (voice-over): Christine Romans, CNN West Rehoboth, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)