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Battered by a Blizzard; President Rallies Democrats; It's Palin's Tea Party Tonight; Saints on the March
Aired February 06, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody, and welcome to the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. You're now in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Saturday, February the 6th. I'm TJ Holmes.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Brooke Baldwin, in for Betty Nguyen. It is 11:00 AM on the East, where it's very snowy for some of you, and 8:00 AM on the West Coast.
HOLMES: Now, wherever you may be, thank you for joining us this morning.
We have a storm for the record books that we're keeping an eye on, a storm that is now a deadly storm. We know of at least two people killed in Virginia when they just got out, trying to help someone else who was having some car trouble, and they got hit.
But also, not just that, it's also a storm that has a lot of people in the dark. We do know hundreds of thousands of people are without power right now, the Mid-Atlantic right now just paralyzed. This is the second big snowstorm we've seen in two months.
Travel pretty much at a halt - talking about on the roads there, yes, but also in the air, flights just canceled up and down the Coast, mainly in Philadelphia, Baltimore, as well as Washington, DC.
Also churches starting to call off their weekend services. And, again, like I mentioned, hundreds of thousands of people right now are without power in some parts, don't know when they might get their power back, but not expecting it anytime soon.
BALDWIN: Also in Washington - yes, they're not just measuring the snow in inches there, measuring it in feet.
So, Karen Maginnis - busy, busy Saturday morning for her. She's been tracking the big storm for us in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We also have Reynolds braving the elements in the nation's capital, having a little bit of fun, hanging out with some - some skiers, it looked like.
But first, Karen, let's drill down on the fact that it is snowing, it is snowing hard, and it doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon. KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, and I think we are really in the brunt of it right now until we go - until this evening, and then we'll start to see it slack off. But it has really gotten so much worse since this morning until now. We're just seeing essentially whiteout conditions.
There, you can barely see the Capitol. Right now, we're seeing visibility at just about a quarter of a mile, wind gusts up around 30 miles an hour, near-blizzard conditions at times, and I checked Dulles, also Reagan Airport, they're saying all flights are canceled for the rest of the day. The airport is open. Don't go to the airport unless you're changing flights, but they're saying don't even do that. Just call and rearrange your flights if it's Delta, American, USAir, whatever other flights you have.
Here are some of the rainfall totals. These have gone up dramatically since this morning. We saw some of these snowfall totals - Germantown this morning had 7 inches of snow, and then, dramatically, now we're at 25 inches of snow. We're looking at - perhaps edging towards 3 feet before it's all said and done. Very dramatic totals coming out of there.
I want to show you where the storm is, when will it end. It's going to taper off later on this evening. We'll still see the effects of it for tomorrow. It will really dramatically decrease by tomorrow, but we're still looking at major power outages, road conditions that have really deteriorated.
I don't know if we still - we still don't, but if you could look at what's happened at Baltimore. The road conditions there are so bad, Brooke and TJ, it is deteriorated so badly, you rarely see a car on the road. That's just one city that we're talking about.
This is a terrible situation that has developed now.
BALDWIN: I know you said it was record-breaking, back in 1922 that was 28 inches.
MAGINNIS: Yes.
BALDWIN: We're looking to possibly break that record.
MAGINNIS: We'll come very close. This system already at Dulles in excess of 20 inches of snowfall there, Philadelphia's already seen almost 18 inches of snowfall, Philly, Baltimore, both DC airports, Atlantic City, it's - it's as bad there as well.
We're looking at major cities across the Mid-Atlantic that have been affected by this powerhouse.
HOLMES: All right. We're talking about city shutdown essentially right now in a lot of ways.
MAGINNIS: Yes.
HOLMES: Karen, thank you. MAGINNIS: OK.
HOLMES: We'll be checking in again.
Our Reynolds Wolf is - is out on the National Mall right now, and, Reynolds, we just heard her mention - it looked like an official truck went behind you just then, but she was mentioning how some places it looks like just nobody's on the roads. I know you've seen a few cars out there, but, for the most part, are people not getting out in this stuff?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I mean, on some of the back roads here on Third Street in - in Washington, we see - do see just some cars that are up and about, but, of course, at the major freeways, it's - it's at a standstill or nonexistent, I mean, in terms of traffic.
In terms of foot traffic, who do have quite a few people that are out and about. Where I'm standing - if we get a shot down here. Take a look at this, Jeremy. It looks like I'm not standing on much, but trust me, below my feet there is some packed snow of at least, I would say, about 8 inches or so.
Now, over towards the Capitol building, if you look over in this direction, you just see the Grand Statue. He's on horseback there. In that area, we walked over towards the pool there, easily 20 inches or even a bit more than that.
But, again, you'll notice some people out here, some dogs playing, a few people here with some cross-country skis are walking by and whatnot. We even got a couple over here. Hey, can we chat with you for a second?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Go ahead.
WOLF: OK. We're going to actually walk across. Got some traffic, as we mentioned, TJ, just coming across, and I'm going to hop over here.
How are you doing?
BETH: Hey! Good.
WOLF: What's your name?
BETH: I'm Beth.
WOLF: Beth, where are you from?
BETH: Chattanooga, Tennessee.
WOLF: Chattanooga, Tennessee. Beth, did you really pick a good time to come to DC?
BETH: Well, I live here, so every time is a good time to be here. WOLF: Yes. Chattanooga, though, one of those places not too - not too big in the snow belt, is it?
BETH: No, definitely not. We never get to see this.
WOLF: OK. Well, hopefully you're going to enjoy yourself. How are things at home? Do you actually live here in the city?
BETH: I do. I live on Capitol Hill.
WOLF: And how are things there?
BETH: They're pretty snowy.
WOLF: Yes.
BETH: It's been an adventure trekking down here, but we're having a good time.
WOLF: Beth, let the adventure continue. Keep marching, keep going. Have a great day.
That's Beth, America, how about that? From Chattanooga, Tennessee, who lives here in Capitol Hill, enjoying the beautiful snow.
And something else that we're seeing, a lot of the city service vehicles coming by. Right behind us, Jeremy, just get a shot of this guy right here. This is a Pepco bus. This is - the vehicle that's been one of the big snow removal companies that are in the area. Although they've been out and about and scanning and kind of looking around and seeing different things, a lot of the city services are not. City buses not working today.
One thing that has been working, the Metro trains underground. They're doing fine. They're picture-perfect because, obviously, they're shielded from the elements, but, of course, the trains that are above ground, no go for those. At third rail, the electrified rail, cars with snowfalls, they're not going to be moving possibly for the next day or so.
That's a wrap of what we have here at the nation's capital as snow comes down. Snow come - is coming down. We've got the blizzard warning in effect until late tonight. Let's send it back to you in the studio, guys.
BALDWIN: We've been talking to him since 6:00 AM Eastern.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: The snow has not stopped at all. Still coming down.
WOLF: Oh, absolutely.
BALDWIN: All right.
WOLF: No question. And, I mean, it's - it's beautiful to see, but what a - what a big mess it's causing for millions of people.
HOLMES: All right. Renny, we appreciate you, buddy. Thanks so much. Hang tight out there. We'll be talking to you again.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
BALDWIN: All right. Well, staying in Washington here, Democrats holding their winter meeting - emphasis on winter - in Washington today, buried under the blizzard you just saw and anxious of a possible GOP avalanche come November, talking about those midterms. Just minutes ago, we just brought this to you live, the president tried to pull party delegates out of their funk.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux was listening in on that speech. She joins us - well, I guess that's the presidential snow blower, but hopefully she's somewhere near the picture.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is. Brooke, that is the presidential snow blower.
BALDWIN: I guess the president - president's not shoveling his front lawn at the White House. He got somebody doing it.
MALVEAUX: He doesn't have to.
BALDWIN: Right.
MALVEZUX: He doesn't have to. We could be anywhere, but, you know, we're here at the White House, and that was one of the presidential snow blowers at the walkway, going right up to the West - West Wing here, and you can see they've been doing a lot of shoveling, a lot of blowing here.
It's a gorgeous scene here on the front - the north lawn of the White House. You see right there, on the front there, you've got more guys at work. These are the National Park Service guys who've been hard at work. They have not gone home. They spent the night close by to the White House, and they've been working ever since here.
But the drive to get the president out of here for his motorcade, just a five-minute drive. He managed to get over to the DNC, that winter meeting. And one of the main messages, obviously, is to try to buck up the party here and say, look, some areas, we've failed in our agenda, but the main items we haven't. We're trying to create a bipartisan jobs bill, to get it passed and to push it through Congress. That's the most important thing.
So we heard the president, this was really just 20 minutes ago, talking about the importance of the party, getting behind the president and getting behind their agenda and not giving up. I want you to take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When unemployment is 9.7 percent, when we are still digging ourselves out of an extraordinary recession, people are going to be frustrated, and they're going to be looking to the party in power to try to fix it.
When you've got another party that says we don't want to do anything about it, of course people are going to be frustrated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
MALVEAUX: Hey, Brooke. So that really was the main message there. Obviously, a couple of hard-hitting things that are happening in the weeks to come, but the bipartisan jobs bill is something that he wants the Senate to introduce as early as potentially Monday, if people can get back from their home districts and start to get that introduced, get that pushed through.
Another idea he introduced today was $30 billion (ph) of unused money that was supposed to go to bailing out those banks, to use that to try to encourage small banks to loan to small businesses. It's a controversial proposal because Republicans say that should go to lowering the deficit.
So still a lot of wrangling, a lot of things that are taking place in Washington, but clearly, the president spending this day, on the weekend, to help his party out and say this is worth the fight.
As you can see, they're still trying to dig us out here, obviously hard at work, trying to make sure that everybody here in DC, including the First Family, gets out OK.
BALDWIN: Sure. Fighting - fighting the good fight, fighting through the blizzard, fighting for the Democratic Party.
Suzanne Malveaux, we thank you.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you.
HOLMES: Suzanne is having a blast...
BALDWIN: She is. I love seeing her out there.
HOLMES: ... this morning at the White House. Always the professional, but still.
BALDWIN: Having fun today.
HOLMES: She's having a good time out there. And there's a shot of her. I don't know if she can still see us, but look at her, having a good old time. I hope she doesn't do anything silly while we're (INAUDIBLE) shot of her.
BALDWIN: Surprise! We're live.
HOLMES: But, Suzanne, thanks as always. We'll be talking to you again. We're going to move from that political story in DC to another political story happening in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tea Party Convention gearing up for Sarah Palin. She's crashing the party tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Sarah Palin takes the stage in Nashville tonight at the first National Tea Party Convention. The movement hoping to raise millions to target 20 key races in November, but, in the background, evidence that Tea Partiers don't speak with one voice.
CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take recession- raging Conservatives and Independents...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Barack Obama is anti-American.
ACOSTA: ... add a Democrat to the White House...
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think having the president dressed up as the Grim Reaper is a little over the top?
LAUREN BOER, TEA PARTY SUPPORTER: No, I do not.
ACOSTA: You think it's appropriate?
BOER: There's nothing disrespectful about this.
ACOSTA (voice-over): ... and you get the Tea Party.
There's more brewing in this rebellion against bailouts and big government than just Scott Brown's Tea Party-infused upset in the Massachusetts Senate race.
MARK MECKLER, CO-FOUNDER, TEA PATRY PATRIOTS: This is a major victory and what I would call the second American Revolution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on up, guys!
ACOSTA: Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin, founders of the Tea Party Patriots, want this movement to blow the lid off Capitol Hill in this year's elections. They plan to back candidates who stand for Tea Party principles, and it doesn't matter if it's Republicans or Democrats standing in the way.
JENNY BETH MARTIN, CO-FOUNDER, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: I think if it had been John McCain, the same thing would have happened. I surely believe that.
ACOSTA (on camera): Really?
MARTIN: I really do. Yes. MECKLER: I do too.
ACOSTA (voice-over): In one year, the Tea Party has gone viral, from dozens to now hundreds of loosely linked groups around the country. But Meckler and Martin don't tell them what to do. That's not the Tea Party way.
MECKLER: It's all bottom up. I mean, the real deal is that there are millions of leaders out there leading this movement.
ACOSTA (on camera): There may be leaders in the Tea Party Movement, but nobody's in charge. In fact, rival groups from Washington, DC to Sacramento, California, are battling over who will carry the Tea Party banner, and that fight has some Tea Partiers feeling hung over.
What do you think is happening to the Tea Party?
JIM KNAPP, TEA PARTY ACTIVIST: Well, I don't think the Tea Party knows what's happening to the Tea Party.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Sacramento Tea Party activist Jim Knapp fears the movement is about to be hijacked by one of the established parties.
KNAPP: I don't think there's any question that the GOP has their tentacles into the Tea Party.
ACOSTA: Knapp points to the Tea Party Express, the Conservative bus tour that crisscrossed the country last year. It's run right inside a Republican political consulting firm. To the right, Sal Russo runs the firm, to the left, Joe Wierzbicki runs the Tea Party Express. Their offices are side by side.
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think a lot of those Tea Party activists know that the Tea Party Express is based in an office that's run by Republican political consultants?
JOE WIERZBICKI, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: I think what you'll find is at Tea Party rallies, a lot of those people who are mad at the Republican Party, many of them are Republicans themselves, us included, you know? That...
ACOSTA: You're Republicans?
WIERZBICKI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's why we at the Tea Party Express endorse Scott Brown...
ACOSTA (voice-over): After spending $350,000 to air pro-Scott Brown campaign ads, these Republican consultants argue the Tea Party's home is the GOP.
WIERZBICKI: The - the people who formed this movement need a major political party. ACOSTA: The movement's future is on the agenda at the Tea Party's first convention set for this week. But even with Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin headlining the convention, it's being boycotted by some Tea Party activists scoffing at the $550 admission fee.
MECKLER: It wasn't the kind of grassroots organization that we are, so we declined to participate.
ACOSTA: Despite all that infighting, it's clear that Tea Party is on a roll. Where it rolls is anybody's guess.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. And we talked about the first ever Tea Party Convention. CNN's Deputy Political Director and friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, Paul Steinhauser. He's crashing the party in Nashville this morning.
BALDWIN: And Paul joins us once again live. A little bit of hustle and bustle behind you. I guess they've already eaten their breakfast by now.
But Paul, I just want so start with who these people are. I just hopped down the Tea Party Nation website. They say the purpose of this convention is to network and to support the movement's multiple organizations' principal goals. What are the goals?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, you know - Brooke, the goals are - and these are goals that are kind of universal among the Tea Party Movement - they want smaller government, they say. They want less federal taxes. They want to bring down that large federal budget deficit. They want less of Washington in their lives. That's kind of the common theme here.
And what this - this event - this three-day event is, it's not a protest rally like we saw last year in those - in Washington and elsewhere across the country. This is more like seminars and workshops where people from across the country are coming here to learn how to form their own Tea Party groups back home or build on those groups. So it's much more learning and networking here than protesting this weekend - Brooke.
HOLMES: And can we look at this, as well? I mean, people think about a Democratic Party or a Republican Party, and of course there are - there are offices all around the country, but still, we're talking about one Democratic Party, one Republican Party. Can we say there's one Tea Party? We just saw in the piece before we came to you that it seems to be different...
BALDWIN: Factions.
HOLMES: ... factions all over the place.
BALDWIN: Yes.
HOLMES: So - so is - is this the one that you're at? STEINHAUSER: You know, that's a great point, and Jim made a very good point in his piece there. This is a very big movement and it's growing. It's got a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, but it's very - anything but unified. It's - there's so many different national organizations and, of course, local organizations across the country.
I got with me right now, Amy Kremer. She's a Tea Party activist and she's with Tea Party Express. They're the people you saw in Jim's piece. They are the people who put on those cross-country caravans. So, again, a different group that's not - not, you know, not here, not putting this convention on.
Amy, tell me, though, why are you here? This is Tea Party Nation. You're Tea Party Express. So why are you here?
AMY KREMER, TEA PARTY ACTIVIST: Well, because this is about unity. This is about supporting the movement. We all need to come together and support each other's efforts. You know, it doesn't matter who's taking the credit. We just need to support each other, the organizations and the people within the movement, I mean, supporting these great patriots that have spent their money and taken time away from their families to come here.
STEINHAUSER: Now, the movement, as we're saying, has got a lot of energy. No doubt about that.
KREMER: Right.
STEINHAUSER: But do you think that it is a problem that the movement is very disorganized or just not united right now? There's so many different chapters nationally and locally.
KREMER: You know what? We're still having an impact. We need to stay focused on the mission and - and unify up on common ground. We're not all going to agree on everything, but, you know what? That's what's great about this country. You find your own group that fits you. You go with that group and you work with that group, and when we all need to come together, we come together.
STEINHAUSER: Now, the group here said that they're forming a political action committee. They want to get more involved in campaign politics, endorse certain candidates who believe in their conservative principles.
KREMER: Right.
STEINHAUSER: Is that something that you see other organizations like yours and others maybe getting into as well?
KREMER: Well, we are a pack, and I'm sure you know that we got involved in the Scott Brown race. We put approximately $350,000 into a campaign ad for him. So we are - already are a pack and we're going to be involved in more election activity going forth over the next 10 months and we look forward to participating in that and having a voice.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you very much, Amy.
KREMER: Thank you.
STEINHAUSER: TJ, Brooke, back to you guys in Atlanta.
BALDWIN: Paul, I have one more question. Just speaking about Sarah Palin tonight giving this - this keynote address, and she says whatever money she may be making she's giving back to the cause.
My question is she's a Republican. You've established this is sort of a - a movement. I mean, it's not a party per se, this Tea Party. What might she stand to gain by speaking tonight other than getting on - getting some primetime news coverage from us and other networks? Is it - is it about money or is there something else?
STEINHAUSER: I think it's - yes, it's probably something else because to be associated with this movement is probably beneficial to Sarah Palin if perchance she has political aspirations in 2012. And she says she agrees with the conservative principles of the Tea Party Movement.
So being here, and as - she will also be with the Tea Party Movement for the next cross-country caravan, so I think you're going to see Sarah Palin more and more associating herself with this movement.
BALDWIN: Interesting. Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser for us in Nashville. Paul, thank you.
HOLMES: And like we mentioned, you can see Sarah Palin live this evening right here on CNN. Our coverage begin 9:00 Eastern time, coverage from the best political team on TV. Again, her keynote address at the Tea Party Convention.
BALDWIN: All right. The excitement is building by the second. Can you feel it? Talking about kickoff Sunday. We are live in Miami.
Join the Super Bowl party just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A couple of top stories we're keeping an eye on, a school shooting to tell you about. This one was in Northern Alabama, a ninth-grader shot and killed at his middle school. The accused, another ninth-grader.
This happened in Huntsville yesterday. That ninth-grader has now been arrested and charged with murder. Police have not identified him or released a potential motive. School officials describe this, though, as a singular incident.
BALDWIN: Some of you have dubbed it "Snowmageddon", a blizzard that may prove out to be a record setter. But for now, definitely a major traffic snarler from Southwest Virginia on up through the New Jersey coastline. Look at this. Virtually whiteout. Tough going for anyone. Extreme winter weather even affecting mail delivery in the Washington, DC area.
HOLMES: And the US Department of Defense identifying a private contractor missing in Baghdad since last month. The military says he's 60-year-old Issa Salomi of California. He hasn't been seen since January 23rd.
Another check of your headlines coming up in 20 minutes.
BALDWIN: Well, I'll tell you somewhere it's not snowing - Miami this weekend. There is a blizzard of activity - a different kind of blizzard, I guess, going on down there.
We are live in Super Bowl City right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. Tomorrow all eyes focusing on Miami's Sun Life Stadium. The Super Bowl 44, Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts.
HOLMES: Yes. By now, everybody knows, the Saints versus the Colts. Now...
BALDWIN: You got it. You got it.
HOLMES: Now, the Colts were there not too long ago. They - they stayed in the playoffs since they've gotten Peyton Manning on their team. But for the Saints, it's a first time for them go to the Super Bowl. And our - as our CNN Sports' Joe Carter reports, it's been a long time coming.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN SERPAS, CHARLIE'S SAINTS MARCHING BAND: We kind of got excited November 1st of '66 when we were awarded a franchise because we really weren't sure we would get an NFL football team here. So that was exciting in itself, never dreaming the bond with that team would - would grow over the years as - as it has grown.
JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That bond began when Charlie Kurtz (ph), a New Orleans restaurant owner, decided to celebrate the Saints and formed Charlie's Saints Marching Club. His daughter was the first in line.
SERPAS: We paraded when they won their first game. We had a restaurant and bar. We got pots and pans and took to the streets and just had a great time.
TOM JONES, CHARLIE'S SAINTS MARCHING CLUB: He had three rules for the club. Number one, we were going to support the handicapped children, disadvantaged children. That's number one. Number two, support the Saints. And number three, to have fun. Let it rip. And that's - when it came to number three, there were no rules. CARTER: The club managed to have a good time, even when the once-called "Ain'ts" made losing as common as beer on Bourbon Street. But now, finally seeing a Super Bowl has something else flowing in the French Quarter as well.
CHARLES LUNDA, CHARLIE'S SAINTS MARCHING BAND: Tears started coming down my face because I remember all those bad years and what - what we as fans had suffered through.
JONES: When I just turned 20, we got the franchise. Well, I really thought, well, it might be 10 years or so we'll get our first Super Bowl, you know? So 10 years passed, we didn't get a championship. Another 10 years passed. And here I am, 63 years old, and it's like a dream come true.
CARTER: After Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city, the Saints were forced to play the entire 2005 season away from home. But much like many residents of New Orleans, the team returned and rebuilt.
SERPAS: I think to a lot of people it symbolized hope, tat there's hope that, you know, we still have a football team to cheer for. There was people at games on Sundays that didn't even have a house to live in.
LUNDA: It's not about economic value to the people who've filled those seats every week and sat in front of their TVs, it's about a dream that's about to come true.
SERPAS: For those three hours, three and a half hours, you forgot about all the badness, and you just focused on happiness and good times, and that's what the Saints did for the city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And our - our Joe Carter is in Miami for us today. And it's always so much focus put on this game and what's going to happen on the field, but has the storyline really, from what you can tell, been about these Saints who have now really taken up the mantel of being the new America's team in a lot of ways?
CARTER: Yes, you said it. America's team. Talking to fans down here, even when they don't have a direct tie to New Orleans, they say they'd like to see the Saints win, and I think you can see it in the piece right there, the emotional bond between the city and the Saints, all they've been through after Hurricane Katrina. So anyone outside the city, you see that and you want to root for the Saints because it would just be a nice ending to a story to see them bring home a championship.
I mean, for 43 years this has been a losing football franchise, and finally they're in the big game just four years after Hurricane Katrina. So, yes, definitely the sentimental favorite down here.
HOLMES: The sentimental favorite, but who is the actual favorite? CARTER: Well, that would be the Indianapolis Colts. When you got Peyton Manning on your team, you're automatically the odds makers' favorite, and of course they're in the Super Bowl down here in Miami just three short years ago when they beat the Bears in the pouring rain.
But I got good news. Now rain this time, so maybe it wouldn't play to the Colt's favor. Maybe we'll see the Saints actually win.
HOLMES: Well, we shall see and we see the sun is coming out behind you there.
BALDWIN: Nice gig.
HOLMES: Brooke and I have been talking all morning about the snow all the weather we've been showing, so it's nice...
BALDWIN: Either one guy in the sunshine.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: We like that. Sure you do.
HOLMES: All right. Good to see you, buddy. Enjoy Miami.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
HOLMES: We'll talk to you again soon. Speaking of that snow.
BALDWIN: There you go.
HOLMES: Blinding snow.
BALDWIN: Look at it.
HOLMES: Blowing sideways in some places. This is in Philadelphia, where it's still coming down there. You can't see any cars in, no people walking.
Potential record breaking blizzard in the mid-Atlantic, we're going to take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We're all in the same panic. I used all my ice in the last big snow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. A December snorm -- storm, I had nothing, is that snorm?
BALDWIN: Snorm.
HOLMES: Something we were trying, it's a mix between a storm and a something.
BALDWIN: It's a snorm.
HOLMES: It's a snorm. Measured by the yardstick right about now. Do you see the Delaware? Could see two and a half feet of snow by this time tomorrow morning in D.C.
BALDWIN: So, here's the deal. Technically the airports are open, but think about it, those planes aren't coming, they're not going, neither are trains or buses.
I-reporter Rob Bealfish saw this one stuck in the snow. Good thing everybody got off that thing. But a lot of places the snowplows out and about.
HOLMES: We were talking to a lady in Maryland this morning, a spokesperson for the transit authority, who said everything is shut down. There is no public transit to speak of, there, at least. Roads are treacherous all over the place. Also, hundreds of thousands of people do not have power right now and we do not know when they might get it again.
BALDWIN: So, as we continue to look at these pictures and the snow coming down, we have two meteorologists all over this, one being Karen Maginnis, nice and warm in the weather center, the other being Reynolds Wolf stuck in the snow. Karen, the fortunate soul who gets to be warm like us, the question is, you know, still been coming down. When might it stop?
MAGINNIS: We are going to watch it taper off by later tonight. But we've been watching this from our affiliate WPVI in Philadelphia. Snow, blowing snow, windy, wind gusts around 38 miles an hour. We have watched this literally in the last five minutes really come down very, very heavily, and the roads are very treacherous there. We go over here. This is Bethesda. You see just how bad this is. We've got one police car that's been sitting there for quite some time. I haven't seen any traffic. There's one little car sitting over here, but I don't have a report from them. We're going to go watch what's happening at Washington, D.C. Snow, fog, mist.
This is really deteriorated very badly in the past several hours but visibility is less than a quarter of a mile. The wind picks up, it dies down a little bit, picks up again, area of low pressure trying to move off the mid-Atlantic coast. They have been under a blizzard warning and will be until 10:00 tonight. There are no flights, as Brooke mentioned, going into or out of the Washington, D.C., airport. The airports are open. It is a distinction without a difference at all. The terminals are technically open. You can get there but no flights going in, no flights going out. This is where the snowfall is. It has really eroded as we go back across the Ohio River valley, but we've quite a bit of activity that has really descended across the Northern Virginia and Maryland.
That's the court over Washington, Maryland. The worst of the worst of the weather. And from Arlington to Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, over towards Hagerstown and into Southern New Jersey, we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people without power. It is only going to get worse because we're not seeing the end of the storm just yet. We've got hours to go. This is a slow-moving weather system. New Yorkers, you're mostly fine. This is not going to end very soon, but just to give you an idea, this area of low pressure is going to move off the coast. You have dodged a bullet in New York City. That is the good news. You're not going to totally escape it.
You'll see windy conditions, maybe you'll see some lingering effects of this, maybe some minor delays at the airport. Washington Dulles, Reagan, BWI, Atlantic City, Atlantic City is very bad. We' been hearing about that all day long. And I've seen Richmond, but all of those airports have been impacted substantially for the rest of the day. But this is that wind coming off of the backside of that area of low pressure, and that's why we're seeing the near-blizzard conditions. Now, this morning we saw Germantown, Maryland, seven inches of snow. But very, very quickly piled up on top of that. Now we've got 25 inches of snow.
So, in just a very short period of time, we see several feet added up on top of that. So, Washington, D.C., Knickerbockers storm, was devastating storm that killed nearly 100 people back in 1922, this storm system could rival that. We've said that a couple of times but this one is going to come close, Brooke and T.J., to rivaling that 1922 storm that had 28 inches. We're looking at just over 20 inches of snow right now and the storm system is not over. It has dealt really a devastating blow already, just shut down the traffic, and we'll continue to monitor it.
BALDWIN: Stay home. I was just texting my friend, throw a snowball for me. That's really all the day's going to amount to for a lot of people.
MAGINNIS: That's it. Yes.
BALDWIN: All right. Karen, thank you.
MAGINNIS: OK.
HOLMES: Karen, thank you so much.
I want to turn back to the Haiti now where we're still getting updates about those ten Americans charged with kidnapping. They say, of course, that they were just trying to help. The governments saying if you're trying to help, you have to do it the right way, still you have to get some paperwork, you have to get some documentation. Well, the ten have been separated, the five women sent to one prison, the men to another. The group was detained eight days ago, we'll trying to take 33 children out of Haiti. Former President Bill Clinton right back in Haiti yesterday, talked with our Joe Johns about this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, SERVES AS SPECIAL U.N. ENVOY TO HAITI: The Haitians are determined that Haiti won't become a ground where children can be trafficked or sold or anything like that. That's a noble goal. It may be that the Idaho missionaries -- their explanations is absolutely, they are 100 percent innocent. And I think what's important now is for the government of Haiti and for the government of the United States to get together and work through this.
HOLMES: Well, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also weighing in, saying it's up to the Haitian courts to decide. The group will have a court hearing coming up on Monday. They're trying to petition for bond.
BALDWIN: Helping Haiti is what a lot of big-name entertainers have been setting out to do, first with that all-star telethon which two weeks ago, organizers say, raised more than $65 million, and last night the two-hour telethon called "SOS: Saving Ourselves." Listen to Irede (ph), Jasmine Golden and Chrisette Michelle. Listen.
BALDWIN: Gorgeous. The event hosted by Sean P. Diddy Combs, Queen Latifah, Pharrell Williams, now, we'll get it how much they raised last night.
HOLMES: Well, everybody is wondering exactly who are they and what do they want. We talked about the tea partiers. We're going to go inside the party in Nashville.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There's a party in Nashville right now, a tea party and the delegates there are gearing up for tonight's king of speaker, Former Vice President candidate Sarah Palin this weekend's convention exposes some growing pains however for the movement. There's not really one Tea Party, not a single group, no real national leader. It's a collection of groups really and not all agree on where the movement should be going at this point. Want to bring in John Avlon. He's in Nashville. He's also a columnist for the Dailybeast.com.
John so, good to have you. We talk about this movement and so many different factions to it but at this particular convention, are they kind of in agreement at least there? Who is there and are they at least representing for the time being there in Nashville a singular group?
John Avlon, columnist, THE Dailybeast.com: Well, I think there are two things going on in the group here and I think it's indicative of the large movement going on beneath the tea parties in general. On the one hand, you've got the movement where it began. A fiscal conservative protest movement, folks very concerned about the growth of the government on president spending, debt deficit, a real sense of a wand to return generational responsibility to fiscal responsibility in America. That's the one hand, that's the good side, in my opinion.
On the other hand, you only got, you know, some Obama derangement syndrome baked into this cake. You have a lot of folks who are really angry at Obama not just on the level of spending but he's gotten level of obsession for some of them. And that's sort of the ugly side of the Tea Party movement that you see and you see it in some of the speakers. Last night Tom Tancredo spoke the first night, Judge Ray Moore, World Net Daily spoke last night talking about the birther stuff. So, I think, you need to understand both those. And I think really to move forward, they have to focus on a positive fiscally conservative message because...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Well, John, are they going to be able to reconcile those two sides you're talking about, those folks who have some legitimate gripes maybe with government and the Obama administration to -- I guess those just anti-Obama, forgive me, but looms as you kind of alluded to do there. Are they going to be able to reconcile two things? Any signs that he can be able to do so?
AVLON: Not yet. I mean, there's a real challenge. I think, they haven't fully made the pivot to a positive policy agenda. And I think, that's what they need to do. In some ways, that's the way this convention was sold. It was going to be a chance for the leaders of the states to get together in the first national meeting and kind of determine a road forward. Today, I think it's felt a lot more like a conference. There have been seminars, there have been speakers and a lot of the speakers who have really gotten the crowd riled up have really represented the more, you know, the angry side of the Tea Party movement.
A lot of Obama bashing. But I think, they're really going to have to pivot to a positive policy agenda. And indeed, they are saying, they want to play in congressional raises supporting conservative republican candidates. But still really channeling that to building the common ground of fiscal conservatism and excising a lot of the unhinged anger. That hasn't happened yet.
HOLMES: Well, from this -- we'll talk about Sarah Palin here to wrap up, but how can she help them move their message forward? She, of course, is the keynote this evening. But you talk about how some of the bad side, if you will, again using your words here. The bad side of the party kind of maybe brings it down and hurts its legitimacy. Does she, on the other hand, help to bring them up and give them more of a sense of legitimacy?
AVLON: Well, I think that's the hope. And there's another thing that unifies the folks here. They're excited to see Sarah Palin. You know, she is sort of the queen of the conservative populace and this is a conservative populist movement. I think the real question could be, what message does she come with? Will she going to try to help guide and direct the movement for her speech tonight or is she just going to be preaching to the choir? A lot of applause lines but no real direction. That's one of the questions that are interesting to see after her speech tonight.
HOLMES: Well, we are all interesting to see it. John Avlon is there in Nashville of course. Good to see you, we need to find a way to make you a regular here on Saturday and Sunday morning. I want to put you on the spotlight live. John, good to see you, buddy. Talk to you soon.
AVLON: Good to see you.
HOLMES: Sarah Palin got Tea Party address happening this evening. She is the keynote. You can see it right here on CNN in prime time coverage from the best on television, started 9:00 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hi.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi!
BALDWIN: Hello.
WHITFIELD: How's everybody doing?
BALDWIN: Good Saturday.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: A little off there. Good morning. I know you're coming up in a few minutes. All your live reporters, going to be family members out of D.C.
WHITFIELD: Right. They're all be on the phone, or via Skype.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Yes, safe places, that's good but it's so beautiful. The most gorgeous city in the snow. I'm homesick.
BALDWIN: Oh.
WHITFIELD: It's so beautiful.
BALDWIN: There it is.
BALDWIN: OK.
BALDWIN: Pictures for you.
WHITFIELD: Oh, beautiful, you know, and that's the most beautiful building in Washington. Just drive by, on your way to the airport, you just drive through the city, going through the mall. And I saw all, you know, the skiers.
BALDWIN: Cross country skiers. How about that?
WHITFIELD: Yes. I do that.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Cross country skier. I always admire people when they do it.
BALDWIN: I never tried...
WHITFIELD: That's a lot of work.
HOLMES: It is.
WHITFIELD: I like the downhill.
BALDWIN: The lift, going up.
WHITFIELD: Yes, OK. I digress. Let's talk noon eastern hour, of course, when we're talking about the big snow storm sweeping the Mid-Atlantic States and our legal guys are also going to be with us because Michael Jackson's Former Doctor, Conrad Murray tried to strike a deal or negotiate with prosecutors at the L.A. District attorney's office on Friday. Something didn't happen.
So Monday, we expect there will be charges, but what will the charges be, our legal guys will be delving into that. The other big legal case that Avery and Richard will be talking about. We're talking about sex stapes involving Former Presidential Candidate and the Former Aide to the Presidential Candidate John Edwards, Andy Young. He has these videotapes. He claims they are sex tapes involving John Edwards, but now he's been found in contempt of court. Why? Our legal guys will talk about that as well.
HOLMES: Amazing. Could have been President of the United States and we're talking about sex tapes about him.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's nasty.
HOLMES: Isn't that amazing?
WHITFIELD: Sordid and embarrassing and, yikes. And of course, some, you know, people are going to be glued to their television sets, unless they're in Miami and going to the Super Bowl.
HOLMES: Right.
WHITFIELD: Rooting for either the Saints or the Colts.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: People also will be rooting for the best commercial or not?
BALDWIN: Yes. I love it. Love it.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: We're talking about the commercials and the excitements over such. Do you watch the game for the game or watch it for the commercials and half time?
BALDWIN: For the game.
HOLMES: We all know, what I'm watching it for the game, yes.
BALDWIN: I like the commercials. I do.
WHITFIELD: OK. OK. A lot of fun, yes. I'll be watching a little bit too. You know, because you got to. You got to watch the Super Bowl game.
HOLMES: It's the Super Bowl, it's pretty much a holiday.
WHITFIELD: I like the fun there, so, you know, I'll watch a little bit on television. But I'm not going to watch the whole games.
BALDWIN: All right.
WHITFIELD: All I got to say. Got to be honest.
BALDWIN: I know.
HOLMES: We know your whole weekend now.
WHITFIELD: I know. I'm an open book. I'll tell you everything.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HOLMES: We'll see you in a few minutes.
WHITFIELD: OK.
BALDWIN: Thanks, Fred.
All right. So, well, we're also talking about a birthday celebration for you and, hmm, 400 million of your closest friends. Have you joined the Facebook Party?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Four hundred million users worldwide. That is the latest status for Facebook. The social media network celebrating a birthday this weekend.
BALDWIN: The site launched just six years ago. But now just about everyone is a friend or at least a friend of a friend. Our Josh Levs is on lookout and he says, millions of users cannot last a single day without logging on to Facebook.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is amazing how fast the world of technology moves and how quickly it changes people's lives in this era, and this is a good example of it. Facebook now turned six years old. I'll show you numbers from it that I find pretty astounding. The first one might not totally shock you. You might have heard this before.
But the total Facebook population, the number of active users around the world, now more than 350 million. We are talking more than the population of the United States. Facebook is also available in more than 70 languages. And it's available in more than 180 countries. But what amazes me the most isn't this overall population of how many are using it. It's how frequently they're using it because that is the indicator that you're getting technology, how big a roll it plays in people's lives.
That's why I want you to see this. Check out these statistics here. Fifty percent of active users of Facebook logon any given day. So, you're look at this massive population and the 50 percent of active users getting on in a given day. So, think about that web traffic. Then, you have 35 million that update their status each day. And by the way, wondering how much time people spend on Facebook? Average, 55 minutes a day. That information directly from Facebook. I can give you statistic all day, but because it is Facebook, you know it make senses if we could be hearing from you. So, we reached out to you.
We asked how has Facebook changed your life, how has it affected you, what are your thoughts on its anniversary? Here's some responses that you're getting.
Craig Nelson wrote, he says, I've found old friends, I thought I had lost at times and made many new ones near and far.
Helen Walmart (ph) wrote us about how she found a group of people who suffer from the same illness that she is suffering from. She is now has a support group. Thanks to Facebook.
Now, it's not all rosy. There are also a lot of people out there who question Facebook. How much information it's getting about you. How much information it shares about you and the more mammoth something in technology becomes. The more people getting involved, you find there are more people have concerns about that information then how it's being shared. Now, we certainly invite to you weigh in on this and everything.
And here's how you can reach me. You got my Facebook page, of course, right there. It's Joshlevs@cnn or if you prefer Twitter or our blog right here. You got "mailto:Twitter.com/JoshLevs@cnn" Twitter.com/JoshLevs@cnn or my blog, Cnn.com/Josh. Let us know your thoughts on the 6th Birthday Anniversary whichever you want to call it or Facebook.
HOLMES: All right. We need to hand it over to Fredricka. Are we Facebook friends? I don't know if we are.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HOLMES: We are?
WHITFIELD: I'm sure we are.
BALDWIN: I think by just by osmosis. We were friends.
HOLMES: We are?
WHITFIELD: You check your Facebook everyday?
HOLMES: Well, I do. I update the thing but ...
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) HOLMES: I don't know. I'm going to check. I want to make sure we are all friends.
WHITFIELD: OK. That caught my attention. I'm a little lax. I guess I may skip a day or two every now and then.
BALDWIN: Yes.
