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Winter Storm Blasts the South; Site of 9/11 Terror Trial; Blair Grilled on Iraq; Geithner's Rough Week; Psychologist Helps Heal Mental Wounds; Ready to Rally
Aired January 29, 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: Hey there. Happy Friday guys. Good morning, everybody. So glad that you are getting your day going with us. Tell me, how is the weather?
This hour the U.S. is feeling a hard winter kick to the midsection and it's headed east. If this monster storm has not hit your neck of the woods, just wait. Jacqui Jeras watching it from the CNN Weather Center.
The 9/11 trial, New York City, wanting justice but not keen on the drama or the cost: Suzanne Malveaux says the White House might be bending a little.
And a lottery winner's good fortune runs out, his body found buried under concrete, $17 million might have cost him his life.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.
PHILLIPS: We begin with ice, white outs. Pounding rain. We knew it was coming, and boy, was it delivered. The southern plains getting the smackdown. Now the mid-south bracing for the punch.
Lights out, trees down, and flights cancelled. It's lockdown in Oklahoma. Right now more than 146,000 homes and businesses without power. And snow messing with Lubbock, Texas. More than a foot of it closing down I-40 from the New Mexico state line to the Texas-Oklahoma border. And if you head south to Midland, it's the ice storms' dreaded cousin. Flooding. You don't want to be driving in this mess, folks.
Jacqui Jeras, you're all over it for us.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and we've got a lot more of that to go today, Kyra, and into the weekend as well.
So the storm, kind of a lingerer and on the move, and certainly caused a lot of problems. About 150,000 people without power this morning in the Oklahoma area, including Oklahoma City.
The freezing rain still coming down three quarters of an inch of accumulation here approximately in the city. And we're going to start to watch that turnover to some snowfall now, minor accumulations, though, expected. The worse of the ice storm starting to put in along the I-40 corridor here across parts of Arkansas and heading into the Memphis area right now.
Here's a live picture to show you out of Memphis of what those conditions are like. I guess we lost that camera, but they are starting to get a little bit of that light rain. There are temperatures hovering around 32 degrees.
Watch the freezing rain this morning. And then this afternoon, we'll see the sleet and snow begin to mix in. Memphis and Nashville, two of the cities that are going to be hardest hit with this storm for today.
Now the freezing rain accumulations likely more like a quarter of an inch to a half of an inch. So we don't think the power outages are going to be as bad or widespread as they were in Oklahoma yesterday.
But the snow will be very heavy in this narrow corridor right along those state lines of Arkansas, Missouri, through Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia as well as North Carolina. And that's really going to be focusing for tomorrow.
I mean, Richmond, Virginia, 6-12 inches of snow. That's a lot of snow for parts of Virginia that certainly isn't used to it. We're also looking at a lot of wet weather on the southern tier of this storm. Heavy showers and thunderstorms across parts of Texas.
Flood watch is extended all across the southeast through Saturday, at least, because we could see a good one to two inches of rainfall. Thunderstorms in the Houston area right now causing ground stops at both of the major airports. Because of those thunderstorms, we'll watch that begin to pull out.
One of the other big problem we're dealing with, Kyra, is that that cold air is going to be kind of holding in place, at least through your Sunday. So temperatures staying below freezing, even after that storm moves out which means that ice is going to stick around for a while. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.
In New York, dread and outrage have been building. At issue, the government's plans to hold the 9/11 terror trial in Manhattan. This morning a senior administration official tells us that the White House may now cancel those plans and move the trial elsewhere.
CNN White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, has been working her sources.
So, Suzanne, what are you learning at this point right now?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as we know there's tremendous pressure on the White House and the Justice Department to potentially move this trial from Manhattan to some other location, perhaps in another state. Now the people that I've been speaking with here, White House officials, say look, the president has not ordered the Justice Department to do this. But there are certainly some conversations that are going on about the fact that that might be the prudent thing to do.
A senior administration official told me this morning, saying that, "Conversations have occurred within the administration to discuss contingency options should the possibility of a trial in Lower Manhattan be foreclosed upon by Congress or locally."
So what they're saying here is that it doesn't have to happen in Lower Manhattan. This could happen safely and securely somewhere else. The White House officials are also trying to emphasize stress here that this does not mean the president is backing away or not supporting Attorney General Eric Holder's decision for Khalid Sheik Mohammed to be held at a civilian criminal court, not a military tribunal.
We heard from Bill Burton yesterday, White House spokesman, who was asked about the appropriateness of having this in Lower Manhattan. And here's how he responded.
He said the president agrees with the attorney general's opinion -- that in November -- that he and other can be litigated successfully and securely in the United States of America just like others have like Richard Reid. Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists and the president's opinion has not changed on that.
What is really interesting, Kyra, as you go back and you take a listen to the attorney general's reasoning in November about holding it in Lower Manhattan. He says a number of things.
He says, first, it was a tough decision. There were other locations they were considering. But he said that's a hardened area. You can actually take these alleged terrorists from the courthouse -- from the jail to the courthouse in underground tunnels. Nobody ever has to see them. That it is very secure.
But the other part of it, Kyra, is that it was symbolically important. They had the backing of New Yorkers and New York officials, the mayor, the governor, all of them, at that time in November, saying they thought it was appropriate, because the World Trade Centers, those towers coming down there. They thought hey, this is a place where justice is really going to be done.
So it's a big, big decision. Could be a big turnaround as well. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, we'll wait for the outcome. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.
And in just a few minutes, we're going to take you to London where former British prime minister is testifying about Britain's involvement in the Iraqi war. Blair saying it was a judgment call. CNN's Phil Black will join us with what else is being saying at this moment.
Chances are you know someone who has lost their job over the last couple of years. That someone may even be you. So this morning, President Obama is unveiling a plan to create more jobs and get more Americans back to work.
His proposal, a $5,000 tax credit for each new worker hired this year. Businesses would also be rewarded for giving raises and increasing a worker's hours. In those cases, the businesses would be reimbursed for the extra Social Security payroll taxes that they would pay.
No quick fix for Toyota, too. Replacement parts are being cranked out as we speak, but it's unknown where exactly they're going to be going. Millions of Toyotas were recalled because of a potentially fatal gas pedal problem. Others are getting "not for sale" signs at dealerships.
Toyota is not saying if the parts will fix cars already on the road or if they are headed to the assembly line so new cars can be sold.
Our Deb Feyerick actually got a lesson on how to stop one of those recalled Toyotas. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So you're driving, the car suddenly begins to accelerate. So you take your foot off the pedal and jump on the brake with both feet or one foot?
LARRY WEBSTER, POPULAR MECHANICS MAGAZINE: It doesn't matter. Just press the brake as hard as you can with all your force and then move the shift lever from drive to neutral, and then turn the car off.
FEYERICK (voice-over): It's not smooth, but as we see, it definitely works.
(On camera): So as long as the driver knows how to stop the car in the event the accelerator doesn't return, you should be OK.
WEBSTER: Yes, I mean -- I think we need to come up with a song or something, like, hit the brake, shift to neutral, hit the brake, shift to neutral.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The maker of these gas pedals, CTS Corporation, is blaming Toyota's design. The House Commerce Committee plans to hold hearings on Toyota's problems late next month.
How many trees died to document how your tax money is being sent? I'm sure you want to know where your stimulus money is going, but do you really want to read through all of that? Well, Josh Levs is doing that for us on the stimulus desk, looking for bridges to nowhere.
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PHILLIPS: On the hot seat over Iraq, live pictures right now. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is testifying, explaining how Britain got involved, his relationship with President Bush, and his own fears over 9/11.
Here is a small part just a moment ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I never regarded September 11th as an attack on America, I regarded it as an attack on us, and I said we would stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We did in Afghanistan, and I was determined to do that again.
If it came to military action because there was no way of dealing with this diplomatically, we would be with them. So we'd been through this with Saddam several times, 1997, 1998 and so on and so forth.
You know, the fact is, force was always an option. What changed after September 11th was that it's necessary and there was no other way of dealing with this threat, we were going to remove him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Phil Black, interesting. You know, with all the controversy about Britain's pulling troops out, adding troops, Tony Blair saying that he would still do exactly what he did all over again.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, pretty defiant performance from Tony Blair this morning. Anyone who is hoping that he would come here with a change of heart, having reconsidered his various positions and arguments over that period of history.
Well, they have been pretty much strongly disappointed. Tony Blair has knocked back quite defiantly much of the questioning. He's dealt with it all very, very smoothly. And as you say has said that he would be prepared on pretty much every point to do exactly the same again.
He has been unapologetic for considering Iraq to be a threat at that time in that immediate post 9/11 period. And he said, indeed, it was that period which really reshaped the international environment in dealing with -- or its tolerance for potential threats like Iraq.
The one time Tony Blair perhaps looked a little troubled during questioning here was when he was asked about an interview that he conducted last year in which he said that he would have been prepared to remove Saddam Hussein even if he knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction.
That is in contrast to what was -- has been his very public statement and argument for all these years. And that is the reason for going in were weapons of mass destruction.
Take a listen now to Tony Blair responding to or trying to explain just what he meant in that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAIR: I did not use the words regime change in that interview and I did not in any sense mean to change the basis. Obviously all I was saying was you couldn't describe the nature of the threat in the same way if you knew then what you know now, because some of the intelligence about WMDs were shown to be wrong.
It was in no sense a change of the position. And I just simple say to you the position was that it was the breach of the United Nations' resolutions on WMD. That was the cause. It was then and it remains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: So in the interview that he is talking about there, Tony Blair had stated that he believed it would be right to remove Saddam Hussein regardless of the weapons of mass destruction or even if it was known that he didn't have them. As you heard there, he said he never used the word regime change, that's not what he meant, the inquiry accepted that answer, and moved on -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what does all this hope to achieve, Phil, bottom line?
BLACK: Well, this is not the trial. The inquiries attains to make that point over and over and over again. What this is all about is simply -- I guess the lingering unpopularity of this war. It was unpopular at the time that Tony Blair authorized the action.
But the thing is he didn't just authorize, he fought for it. He pushed it through against a great deal of public opposition, a great deal of political opposition as well. And then of course after the military action, nothing from there quite went to plan.
No weapons of mass destruction were found and Iraq descended into a bloody chaos of sectarian violence. So the point of this inquiry supposedly is to learn the lessons from all of that experience. What went wrong and why and to make sure it doesn't happen again. It is not, the inquiry says, its job to lay blame -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Phil Black, we'll follow it. Thanks.
You think it's been a rough week? Well, try telling that to Timothy Geithner. The treasury secretary ran into a buzz saw on Capitol Hill, shall we say, as lawmakers railed against the bank bailouts. He also faced some pretty tough questions from us.
That's where Christine Romans comes in as part of the CNN money team. She joins us live from New York.
Christine, you definitely -- you gave it to him?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just wanted to know how he was feeling about all this political heat around him on Capitol Hill and how the AIG bailout and the second guessing about what was done there continued to dog this treasury secretary and this administration even as they're trying to turn the page and talk about jobs.
I asked him about that political heat and how it compares with the couple of years ago when it was a real economic heat he was facing. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: The economy today is in dramatically stronger shape. You know, we've done that kind of thing growing now for six months after shrinking for a year half.
We are -- just to the point, now we see businesses starting to invest and grow again. With that will come greater confidence. It will greater -- you know, faster growth and incomes. And that will help restore some of the damaged trust and confidence that people were left with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And that's why he says he can take whatever they throw -- they're throwing at him on the Hill and he actually welcomes these questions and investigations into the bailouts because he too would like to make sure that we're never in this situation again.
And he said that's why urging Congress to focus some of its attention and anger, also, on regulatory reforms so it doesn't happen again.
I asked him with all of this hammering swirling around him, you know, now you read in the papers it's the embattled treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner. I said how is he managing to be a good steward of the president's policies. He says he is. He is working with the president and pushing the jobs agenda.
I also asked him if it was the right decision to make the banks hole in the AIG counter party situation that seems to be the crux of all these issues. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEITHNER: I carry the burden of those decisions forever. And I'm proud and very confident in the choices we made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He will bury those --the burden of those decisions on AIG with him forever, but he says that they did the right thing for the American people and for the taxpayer at the time. And that people are rightfully angry about AIG. They are. And if you were angry about AIG, he said you need to turn your attention to regulatory reform that the president is pushing so it doesn't happen again -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Christine Romans, great job. Appreciate it.
Hands free for no reason? Well, a study on car crashes looks at whether cell phone use is really a factor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Top stories now.
The 9/11 trials may be moving. Obama administration officials say that they are open to the idea if the Justice Department says so. Accused 9/11 conspirator, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others were supposed to be tried in Manhattan. That didn't sit well with a lot of people. It's unknown whether the trial will be moved now.
Watch the move or not. The new study finds a ban on cell phones and driving isn't making much of a different. The Highway (INAUDIBLE) Data Institute says that the crash rates haven't dropped in states that banned handheld devices. They are also pretty stayed the same as states with no ban.
A Georgia man got a free in his $400 used car, 200,000 bucks in cash. He found it by accident actually in the secret compartment behind the backseat. But before you start thinking about his dumb luck, the money is counterfeit. The Secret Service is now investigating.
He won $17 million in the lottery, then friends say he was taken advantage of. Now police believe somebody buried him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Children of Haiti, homeless and hungry, and many without parents. Now pedophiles and human traffickers preying on them. The U.S. says that horrifying scenario is actually happening on the streets of Port-au-Prince right now.
The State Department says a couple of troubling cases have been uncovered in the recent days. The U.S. is working with the Haitian government and international aid groups to try and protect children, orphaned or separated from their parents after this quake.
Those efforts include registering children and reinforcing Haiti's child protection police brigade.
There's also concern about the emotional well-being of these children. They're sad, they're lonely and extremely fearful about their future, but some are getting help from a child psychologist who's determined to help heal their mental wounds.
Our Ivan Watson reports from Port-au-Prince. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A song and a dance for children who have witnessed unspeakable horrors. These are child survivors of the earthquake who now laugh and clap as a child psychologist leads them through the Haitian hokey pokey.
Gertha Francois calls this therapy.
GERTHA FRANCOIS, CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST (Through Translator): I sing with the kids and observe their behavior. The kids that are said and unhappy, they don't sing and they don't dance. I take notes and afterwards I meet with them one-on-one.
WATSON: Francois is part of a team of Haitian social workers at one of the first United Nations shelters set up to help child victims of the disaster. All of these children have somehow been separated from their parents. The goal here is to give them some much-needed stability.
AMANDA MELVILLE, UNICEF CHILD PROTECTION SPECIALIST: What we need to do is try to as quickly as possible, first to put them in a situation where they're safe, where they have things to occupy themselves, but also as quickly as possible, to establish a relationship with someone who can to love and care for them.
WATSON: No one needs this more than little Benoit Wilson, filmed here last Monday shortly after he arrived at the shelter. He was found homeless and alone in a public park. His face said it all.
And now, four days later, look at the difference. He joins in as Francois leads a group of kids do an exercise where they imagine they're riding bikes. Later she asked the kids what they're afraid of.
"Earthquakes," says Benoit. "I'm afraid when the earthquake comes a building will fall down on me."
Francois tells the children, if they get scared she will be here for them.
FRANCOIS (Through Translator): The most important thing is to show them affection and empathy, to show them that we love them.
WATSON: What better way to prove this than with a song. For children who have learned they can count on nothing, they now have a woman who is looking out for them. A champion.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Port-au-Prince.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, after more than two weeks of death, injury, hunger, violence, misery, chaos -- you name it. Pure hell with more to come. Where do Haitians find it? This moment is in, brought to you by the Haitian people. This was outside a hotel in Port-au-Prince last night. Pretty remarkable stuff.
We're tracking the numbers. CNN's stimulus desk looking at the controversy over a big bridge in Florida. A big waste or a big jobs creator? We'll ask Josh Levs coming up.
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ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Stocks tumbled yesterday, but today new investors have a new report showing the economy grew last quarter and at a pretty solid pace, right, Susan Lisovicz?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Stock futures are climbing following the first look at Gross Domestic Product in the final three months of the year.
It shows that the U.S. economy grew at a 5.7 percent annual pace. Much stronger than expected. That number may not mean much to most people but it is the fastest pace in more than six years.
So the big question now, will that strong pace continue after the stimulus runs out?
Solid corporate earnings could also help lift the markets today on this final trading of the month. Microsoft's quarterly earnings surged 60 percent. A sigh the computer industry is turning around.
Amazon's earnings jumped 70 percent because shoppers spent more than ever before. And Mattel's earnings also surged largely because sales of Barbie rose for the first time in nearly two years.
Toyota's recall unfortunately taking another dismal turn. Edmunds.com says it expects Toyota's U.S. market share in January could fall to the lowest level in four years, which could open the door for GM, Ford and Chrysler to gain some ground. Meanwhile, Congress has scheduled a hearing for next month to investigated the recall.
One worry for traders, put to rest, yesterday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed by the senate for a second term, and what we're seeing, green arrows. You know, this has been a rough month. Everybody talks about how important January is. The market is going to be down overall, but we are seeing a nice rally in the first few seconds of trade, and GDP helping out quite a bit -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Good news. All right Susan, I'll see you again in a little bit.
President Obama continues his focus on the economy as specifically putting more Americans to work. Next hour, he heads to Baltimore to unveil a plan to create more jobs that would give businesses a $5000 tax credit for each new job they add to their payroll. The President first mentioned the proposal in Wednesday's State of the Union Address. Today, he offers all the details.
Here is a look now at the President's schedule. Later this morning, he unveiled his tax credit plan. Just afternoon Eastern, the President reaches across the aisle to pitch the idea. He speaks at a gathering of Republican House Members. Then this afternoon, the President returns to the White house then he meets with Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.
The federal stimulus plan won't win any popularity contest, but there are a few things that many Americans are in favor of. A CNN opinion research corporation poll finds it 70 percent approve of the tax credit, nearly 3 in 10 disapprove. 80 percent give a thumbs up for road and bridge projects and 20 percent give it a thumbs down, and with the nation's unemployment at 10 percent, this maybe no surprise. 83 percent say that money should be going to people who lost jobs, 17 percent disapprove.
All this week CNN has been going over the massive stimulus package tracking that money. The largest stimulus expenditure in Florida, by the way, is for a bridge in Stewart, and that's north of west Palm Beach, and that's what our Josh Levs has been checking into there, the stimulus, so Josh not everyone is pleased with the project?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, and it's interesting because we have been following this story for months. It's close to a year now since last year as just one of the many projects that you are seeing here among the 57,000 that we have been following all this week. This is a really interesting one. As you said Kyra, it's the largest transportation project in all of Florida. We have a map here that shows you Stuart, Florida which is where this project is a $72 million project, and we also can show you a screen right after this. This is going to talk to you about how many jobs it has.
We're talking about they're saying 48 people have worked on this project so far, and ultimately, it could be more. What I want to do now is bring in our Jessi Joseph, because she has actually been following the story since last year, so Jesse talk to me, this is a pretty controversial project, in the first place. Just lay it out for the viewers, what is the controversy here?
JESSI JOSEPH, CNN STIMULUS DESK: Yes, it is, and that's actually why we went down there last year. There is some residents there that say we really need this bridge. It's very important for our community. It will create jobs. There is too much traffic on the existing bridge.
LEVS: This is the existing bridge we're seeing right now which is just a few miles away, right?
JOSEPH: Exactly, yes. They say they need it for hurricane evacuations as well. It's just overall to get things for the community, but there are some residents there that say it's a total waste. There is a bridge that already exists, and we don't need this new bridge.
LEVS: So, this is what the new bridge would be. We are seeing the animation out what the new bridge would be when you drove on the bridge that was a few miles from where this new one would be. You didn't see any congestion?
JOSEPH: Yes, exactly. They say that's one of their reasons for the bridge. They say there's too much traffic on the existing bridge, and we need a new one, so we went during rush hour, and honestly, there wasn't a lot of traffic there. There's a lot of traffic leading up to the bridge but not actually on the bridge.
LEVS: Wow. So, with the continue controversy. Now, there is a new wrinkle, because there is an environmental lawsuit about this?
JOSEPH: Yes. We went to follow up on that project we reported last year for you, guys, and what they're saying now is there is an environmental lawsuit pending, so one of the local residents that we interviewed, Diane Smith (ph), has a lawsuit in federal court, and it could keep them from moving forward with construction on the bridge.
LEVS: But as of now, the government is saying, look, this is a necessary bridge. We have done all the due diligence in terms of the environment. There's thing, there's no question about, but the question one thing we're following is whether this is going to slow down the process, right?
JOSEPH: Exactly. I guess we'll have to wait and see what then judge said. They hope to start construction in February, so, we'll keep watching.
LEVS: And quickly, let's show the computer. We have my favorite thing as we have one for you. Let's show the computer where you have been doing a lot of your reporting about. This is at CNN.com. You can get a lot of information about this, and one thing I like about this example is we've been working on this for so long. You can actually see all the background, and now we get to have fun with the ultimate stimulus desk tally of the week.
Here we take a look at how many dollars CNN itself has looked at from this massive high of the -- now $862 billion stimulus plan. We are not doing so bad. We're at about almost 10 percent there in terms of dollars. Under review by CNN, we are now at $8.3 billion in terms of what just we at CNN has taken a look at. Here are just the latest examples there for you. The great work done by our crack team, researchers here always log, CNN Stimulus Desk.
PHILLIPS: I feel like I am playing Wheel of Fortune, you know, on the slots in Vegas when those numbers turn.
LEVS: Exactly, yes.
PHILLIPS: If we could only win that amount of money, that would be nice.
(LAUGHING) LEVS: You know what, some people do like it because it's such a massive pile of money. Some people do like to think, you know, like how high would it be if you stack it all up, and that kind of thing. It's hard to wrap your mind around, but ultimately, this is the billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars that the government says is aimed at getting our economy moving again. We'll see how that place out.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: You got it, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Snow, ice, and still no power. A storm putting the smack down on Oklahoma. Let's go to our reporter, Emily Wood (ph). She is with our affiliate in KWTV joining us live from Oklahoma City. So what do you think Emily as it has been a while since you have seen that conditions like this? I'll tell you I got the nation talking.
EMILY WOOD, KWTV REPORTER: Good morning Kyra.
You got it. We're not used to dealing with this amount of ice and snow. It is pretty miserable out here this morning. It's freezing. The wind is picking out, and we're getting more snow this morning, and I want to show you just what the road conditions are like here. I'm standing on one of the main road out here just at Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City. It's solid ice. You can't kick through that, and unfortunately, our city truck has not been able to do a whole lot with these conditions.
We also want to give you an overhead view at Interstate 44 right there. Not a whole lot of traffic out there this morning, and you can see even the Interstate is still pretty tough to travel, and as this precipitation keeps changing from freezing ring to sleep (ph) to ice to snow, it's just been very tough for our crews to keep up with, then again, just miserable for us this morning -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What was it like to try and make it into work this morning. Was it tough for you, and also, what about folks trying to get into work at this hour? I mean, I can imagine, this is really shutting down the city.
WOOD: Right. Right. It's not easy. You know, we have an SUV, of course, working in news, and we are somewhat used to traveling in these types of conditions, but we had a tough time this morning. We were slipping and sliding around. It's even tough to walk out here this morning. To be honest with you, I have fallen down a few times, but have not seen a lot of cars. State officials are asking people don't drive this morning, stay home, and it seems, most people if they can, are listening to that warning from the State -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Emily Wood with our KWTV. Sure appreciate you joining us, Emily. Jacqui Jeras, there you go, with all the reporters in certain parts of the country not used to covering stories like this, you know. It's a big weather story.
JERAS: It is, and it is going to continue to be a big weather story right into the weekend easily, Kyra, and you know, we are starting to pull the focus of the height of the storm away now from places like Oklahoma City and pushing to places like Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and eventually over towards Raleigh and even Norfolk, and Richmond, Virginia. The snowfall total, you just heard about the ice there at Oklahoma City. We had some really hefty snow as well especially in Northern parts of Texas and Western Oklahoma, a couple of records here; Dalhart, Texas had a foot of snow. Amarillo had 10 and so that's a close down parts of I-40 yesterday in the panhandle of Texas.
So, snow is going to continue to be a bit of a story with this as well as the ice. This system progresses eastward and the forecast snowfall totals over the next 48 hours, showing you kind of a very small area of the heaviest of snow, but these are areas that are used to getting 6 to 12 inches of snowfall, and most of which you see over here is going to be tomorrow as opposed to today. Today, we're going to be focused more towards that Mississippi Valley.
Windy conditions with this front. We have strong storms on the south side of it. The Houston Area will have problems today. That is going to move into Louisiana and into Florida as well. We are expecting airport delays. We already have a couple of ground stops in Denver, Baltimore due to wind and Houston because of those thunderstorms. Temperature wise, we are staying very cool. The arctic ear (ph) continues to spill down to the south. So, Kyra temperatures are going to stay below freezing here, and so that ice is going to stick around probably through the weekend.
I have a couple pictures I want to show you. David Hanyen (ph) our senior producer, we were talking about him yesterday being stuck in Oklahoma City. He put together a little Maun Taj of a bunch of photos of those. I guess they don't have those. We're going to try and get those. You did have them. Okay, we've got them. Show it. Can we see it? Negative. I am getting confused in the information here. We will hit it next time I see you Kyra, but they are amazing. It just really puts it into perspective with bending trees, and you hear the crackle. Really nasty stuff to deal with there.
PHILLIPS: All right. We should try and make it clear to the viewer that you are competing with the stimulus desk right now. Everything is over there. Stimulus desk, weather, and so we are not able to always get everything up and moving. You're working hard over there, Jacqui. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
The highway shutdown, not for a big rig, but small plane. Pilots land far short of the intended runway.
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PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. It was not easy, but Fed Chair, Ben Bernanke heading for his second term. Democratic leaders and the Obama administration had to do some heavy lobbying, still, the 70-30 senate vote was a squeaker in terms of Fed Chair confirmations. They are usually overwhelming and done by voice phone. Bernanke opponents believe that he should get a lot of blame for the recession. In Portland, Oregon, a young man sets himself on fire. The cop sees him, grabbed the red canister out of truck, sprays it down, and trying to put the flames out, but there's one problem, wrong canister. Yes, the cop was trying to extinguish the fire with pepper spray. The guy ended up dying, by the way. Big question now, did the pepper spray feed the fire, make it more intense. Investigators say no because it's water based.
The Interstate definitely not the place you want to land your plane. The pilot had engine problem so I-75 in South Florida became a landing strip yesterday. Nobody was hurt, thank goodness. A smile on his face and steel in his voice. The Republican tough man gets testy with reporters. We will share one exchange and run a fact check on who is right.
But first, this day in history, once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. Quick. Who wrote it? Okay, you know because you're looking at it now. Edgar Allen Poe is the raven first published on this day in 1845.
And we got 1936, baseball 's hall of fame welcome its charter members. Cooperstown really hit it out the park too. Remember Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson (ph), Walter Johnson, and some guy named Ruth (ph)? We love you, babe, and on January 29th, yes, cue the music. Remember this in 1983, cruising in our hoopties, big hair. He just smiled and gave me a vege of my sandwich. Hope he is not quite the raven, but who is good enough to put men at work who top the British pop chart with the song "Down Under." And so, now you know.
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PHILLIPS: And Republicans has scored some big political victories lately, but the light hasn't always shined as favorably on the party's national chairman. In fact Michael Steele apparently carried some of that stress with him to Hawaii, where the Republican National Committee is holding its winter meeting.
Here is one of his testy exchanges with the news media.
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MICHAEL STEELE, REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: We bested the Democrats and let's be conservative, six out of six months last year in fund-raising, well, we raised more than they did.
Don't believe me? Well, what do you think it is? Check your facts. I am sure you will. But get it right, because you have been getting it wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Ok, well, we did in fact check our facts and it seems that neither Steele nor that reporter were entirely correct. According to numbers supplied by both parties under Steele's tenure last year, Republicans won the fund-raising battle in different five months, that's exactly the same number of months that the Democrats won.
He won $17 million and turned up missing. Then police believe his body is buried under concrete. It sounds like the plot of a mystery novel, but sadly this is real life. WTSP's Kathryn Bursch, with the story of the lottery winner and the lost luck.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found human remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you, it's been here for some time, yes. It's definitely been here for some time.
KATHRYN BURSCH, WTSP REPORTER: It's the news that relatives dreaded. A body found buried, most likely that of lottery winner, Abraham Shakespeare.
CYNTHIA JOHNSON, LOTTERY WINNER'S COUSIN: He was a good person. He was just used; they're manipulating, because they know he did not know any better.
BURSCH: Shakespeare picked the winning numbers back in 2006 and took a lump sum payout of $17 mill. But all that money brought him not happiness but trouble.
A woman named Dee Dee Moore befriended Shakespeare and Moore ended up acquiring much of Shakespeare's cash and assets. Shakespeare disappeared last April, and Polk Sheriff Grady Judd calls Moore a person of interest.
A tip led investigators to this property in Hillsborough. The house here belongs to Moore's boyfriend. Using heavy equipment, investigators broke up a large concrete slab and for two days now they've been digging and sifting, digging and sifting inch by inch. And shortly before six Thursday this missing person case turned into a homicide investigation.
SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, PORK COUNTY, FLORIDA: Prior to us meeting with you, we dispatched deputies to Abraham Shakespeare's mother's house to tell her that we have found human remains.
SHERIFF DAVID GEE, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Somebody has obviously put him there and we're going to get to the bottom of it. It's going to take some time, it's a complicated investigation.
BURSCH: The medical examiner will have to make a positive ID, but no one here expects any surprises. Relatives of Shakespeare say they want him remembered as a good man and whoever killed him, caught.
What do you say to this person who did this?
JOHNSON: I hope they rot in hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well and authorities say that person of interest, Dee Dee Moore, transferred more than a million dollars from Shakespeare's bank account into hers. She said the money was a gift.
Remember the movie "Airplane"? Well, everyone who got the fish got just nasty sick. Not sure if they were eating Walu (ph), but they could have been. If you want some do yourself a favor. Eat about 100 cups of Activia yogurt instead.
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PHILLIPS: Question, if a fish has a nickname and that nickname is the "Ex-Lax" fish? Would you eat it? Yes, not around me you wouldn't.
Get this, a lawmaker in Hawaii trying to get a fish named Walu banned like it is in Japan and Italy. Eat it and you'll pay. We're talking stomach issues so bad they'll put you in the ER.
The problem is Hawaiians think they're getting something else when they buy it.
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DR. JAMES IRELAND, TREATED WALU VICTIMS: One lady had such bad diarrhea she had an accident in her pants, an adult. Her husband had to go to the Emergency Room. I mean it's pretty serious.
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PHILLIPS: Oh, and get this, the native Hawaiian word for the fish translates into exploding intestines. Enjoy.
And I love this story; I just had to pass it on. A 76-year-old Polish bee keeper was dead allegedly, in his coffin about to be put in the ground when his widow made a last-second request. She wanted his necklace.
She got that and a bonus. She actually got her whole husband back. The undertaker reached down to get the necklace and noticed a faint pulse. The reaper wasn't ready and that created quite a buzz. After a few weeks of recovery to get his heart stronger the not-quite- dead man is back doing his thing, tending his bees.
"I feel bad but it's not my fault." That's what Jay Leno was saying about the whole late-night fiasco. He actually spoke with Oprah Winfrey about his relationship with Conan O'Brien.
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OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": You said earlier you haven't called him?
JAY LENO, NBC HOST: It's not the right time because I'm not sure what I would say right now. Let some time pass and I would hope we can talk again.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Leno says that he never believed that he'd be offered his old job back. When asked about Conan O'Brien's comments that moving to 12:05 would hurt "The Tonight Show" franchise, Leno said that Conan had already hurt the franchise with his low ratings. With friends like that, well, you know the rest.
It's been a crazy morning here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Our crews are on top of all the latest developments though. Let's check in with our correspondents beginning with Josh Levs at the Stimulus Desk -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra a section of Alaska that has native villages and very few roads is getting $88 million to build broadband from your stimulus money. We're going to show you in the next hour.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where investors are cheering a report showing the U.S. economy powered ahead at the fastest pace in six years. Kyra, I'll tell you what fueled recovery next hour.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. About 150,000 people waking up without power today in Oklahoma; this ice storm is on the move. Watch out in places like Memphis and Nashville. We'll tell you what you can expect with the latest on this storm coming up in the next hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, guys.
Also ahead, racist death threats on a college campus. Some students are so scared they're dropping out and the school is taking it pretty seriously too. We'll tell you about it and how the FBI is involved.
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PHILLIPS: Sending the stimulus into space; NASA got a chunk of the federal money for a couple of different programs but may not have much to show for it.
We'll get more now from CNN all-platform journalist, John Cowles.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1, 0 and lift-off of space shuttle "Atlantis".
JOHN COWLES, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: But not for much longer. The shuttle is retiring. The countdown clock will remain dark.
NASA's replacement is called the Constellation Program, but its primary mission to send astronauts back to the moon. And it received a quarter of a billion dollars in stimulus funds which is being awarded to contractors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received $165 million between last year and this year.
COWLES: The stimulus dollars went toward building the astronaut's crew vehicle, Orion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were facing a reduction in workforce and the stimulus money helped us to retain the employees that would have otherwise been reduced.
COWLES: Between 50 and 100 Lockheed Martin jobs were saved. A lot of them were in New Orleans.
Another $25 million came here to Kennedy Space Center, creating 125 new jobs.
The construction behind me is a launch tower. It's the first one to be built here for human space flight in decades. But now if all that stimulus money, the whole constellation program may get scrapped next week.
The local Congresswoman is angry, saying that if the Constellation program is cancelled America's space flight gap will become an abyss. Others bemoan the waste of money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think some of the things they're working could be used regardless of what the program is. Some of it, however, I think is just going wind up on the cutting room floor.
COWLES: NASA officials insist that much of the new technology and facilities could still be used for other programs.
Just like Constellation's first and possibly last test flight that went nowhere, so with the stimulus dollars.
John Cowles, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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PHILLIPS: The White House is expected to make an announcement about the future of the Constellation Program next week. Many in the space industry expect it to be abandoned or at least cut back despite those stimulus dollars.
