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Former Edwards Aide Found in Contempt; Tea Party Convention

Aired February 06, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you all stay dry and warm and toasty today, because while the mid-Atlantic is seeing lots of snow in the southeast, there's a little precipitation, too, but we'll have Karen Maginnis talk a little bit more about that.

For now, let's talk about that snow in a very big way. The nation's capital and a lot other areas in the mid-Atlantic, paralyzed by a major winter storm. More than two feet of snow is expected in Washington. And it could turn out to be the city's worst snowstorm in modern history.

And across the region now, travel has ground -- I guess a ground halt if you will, in many places. Businesses are closed, the power is out in hundreds of thousands of homes as well, so it's quite miserable. Those are pictures from the Philadelphia area.

And authorities are pleading with people to stay off the roads so that snow plows can do their job and crews can spread salt and sand in the areas where it is most necessary. It is the second major storm to hit the region in just two months. Been a pretty brutal winter, but if you like the winter, then you're happy with all of this snow.

Karen Maginnis in the Weather Center, it has been an incredible winter, really, along the eastern seaboard, really.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And a lot of these cities and towns as well as states have just busted the budget as far as snow removal is concerned. Most have met or beaten their budget, which is in millions of dollars. This is from our affiliate, WTBI (ph), they keep giving us different looks and that's why the camera has shifted.

There you can see some brave folks walking around, but they have seen just an enormous amount of snowfall and we expect to see several feet of snowfall before it's all said and done.

Let's go ahead and show you what's happening with the capital. Fred, I heard you talk about this, this is a spectacular view, but you wouldn't want to be out in this miserable weather. Visibility only a quarter of a mile, they're seeing near blizzard conditions. 1922, Knickerbocker storm killed nearly 100 people when the roof collapsed of a theater building. And now they're looking at blizzard conditions coming up until later on this evening.

Now, I want to point this out. Here are some the snowfall totals we've seen. Very impressive. 30 inches, as you can tell, 30 inches, Elk Ridge, Maryland; 20 inches in Baltimore. But Baltimore this morning saw five, six inches of snow. That was when I came in, early this morning. And very quickly we saw this accumulation, 20 inches of snowfall.

So, it's come down very rapidly, and that's because we're kind of in the midst of the heart of this system, and by this evening we'll start to see it taper off.

Here's another aspect of the system. Here is -- and I'll point this out. This is Dulles and we've got Reagan, BWI, otherwise known at Baltimore. Here's Atlantic City. Atlantic City has been hit very hard, lots of power outages. Also Philadelphia. Any of these planes that you're looking at, not going in, they're not going out of any of those airports. They may be going to other destinations, like Atlanta or Miami, I'm sure a lot of them are, but this is really stymied a lot of the airports in this mid-Atlantic corridor.

I will also point out across northern sections of Virginia, extending on over towards Atlantic City, hundreds of thousands of people without power. Not just because it's snowing, but because this snow is heavy, it's persistent and there's lots of wind. So topple down the trees and power lines, and it has made for just very treacherous weather.

Let's show where you that storm system is. You can see the back side this is really eroded, and now it's just slowly pushing its way towards the east as it does, still on the back side of this, we're going to continue to pick up that snowfall and it's going to taper off as we go towards the evening hour.

And Fred, I don't know if were you going to come back up here and join me or not, but, yeah. You're from Washington, D.C.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

MAGINNIS: Yeah, it's not over for them.

WHITFIELD: I know.

MAGINNIS: This may be one for the record books, if not, a record. It could be the second worst that we've ever seen. The last one, 1922.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that incredible?

MAGINNIS: Yes, I know. It is.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, folks know how to kind of, sort of know how to deal with it at this point. They know...

MAGINNIS: You've got to be hearty.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, you've got to be hearty and they know because they had the other storm a couple months ago, you might as well just stay inside. The Metro is not working. You can't fly in and out of, you got to stay off the road and you know, it's a mess. MAGINNIS: Snow emergencies, declarations of emergencies, and that's because they can bring out National Guard, they can bring out the Humvees, they bring in all kinds of volunteers, and so that's why they have to make those declarations so they can get that extra help.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's zoom in on Washington, shall we, and let's find our Reynolds Wolf who is there on the National Mall, where it is a beautiful, pristine picture, at least for now.

I know, Reynolds, earlier there were a lot of folks who were snowshoeing and cross country skiing, there on the mall. What are they doing now?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes, but there's more, so much more than snow skiing or cross country skiing. Right behind we've got a replay of the Ice Bowl. Yes, Green Bay Packer styles. We have a guy out there who has an arm very similar to that of Brett Favre, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, and of course, New York Jets, now with the Minnesota Vikings. So, good times seeing them out there. Oh my goodness. What a almost touchdown, amazing stuff we're seeing out here.

So, people are out here. They're making the most of the elements. I have to tell you that the snow continues to pile up. It really has intensified a little bit over the last couple of hours. In fact, over here towards the capitol building, which you can hardly see, you see, of course the Grant statue, there are some places there where the snow up to at least I would say easily 20 inches maybe a bit more closer to two feet and still it's coming down.

We've seen moms out here, some kids, some dads, people of all ages enjoying it. But, I'll tell you, on the roadways, though, all major thoroughfares, all shut down. Travel in the city in terms of your roads, you will see people pass through here occasionally, but certainly not of what you'd normally see on a Saturday morning. Sort of, I guess getting close to Saturday afternoon, in this part of the world on Third Street.

I will tell you in terms of Metro travel, the train itself above ground is all shut down, because you have to remember that the metro train, electrified rail in the middle, as soon as the snow gets in excess of eight inches that's going to shuts down. But still, the underground trains still operating. So, that's some good news.

Out towards Reagan, out towards Dulles, out towards BWI, standstill. And that's probably going to continue a couple of days, because you're going to have some issues, even though when the weather moves off, you've got that backload of customers that are going to be all getting crammed at the airport trying to take off. So, more problems are going to exist there.

As Karen mentioned, a very, very wet snow, blizzard warnings going to continue for some time. More of this is coming down in some place, again, well over several feet. Let's send it back to you at the studio. WHITFIELD: Well Reynolds, you heard that, you know, Karen said folks there are pretty diehard and proof in the pudding behind you. I saw a jogger behind you. No kidding.

WOLF: You know, again, there is insanity. Yes. People come out and actually exercise. I mean, they're diehards. You know, you got to respect that. But, at the same time, walking on foot is one thing, when you're trying to get on the roads, it really is kind of a scary thing.

We have someone who's actually walking, not only walking, but also on skis. Yeah, she's walking, out for a nice stroll. Things looking good. She's enjoying herself. There are a lot of smiles. And, you got to make the most of it. But we're going to send it back to you in the studio and wrap it up.

WHITFIELD: All right, try and stay warm. It's still the most beautiful city in the world in the snow. All right, thanks so much, Reynolds Wolf on the National Mall. Appreciate that.

WOLF: You bet, guys.

WHITFIELD: And of course, right in the middle of this big blizzard, President Obama, talking about the blizzard of another sort -- jobs. In both his weekly radio and Internet address and again this morning at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: And 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)

WHITFIELD: The president acknowledged that his campaign pledge of change can't come quick enough for the millions of Americans still out of work.

And Tuesday night here on CNN, a Larry king primetime exclusive with first lady Michelle Obama on the first family's first year in the White House, plus she's getting tough on childhood obesity. Why you should, too, she says. LARRY KING LIVE Tuesday 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

And let's still talk politics and the Tea Party movement hoping to raise $10 million to target 20 midterm races in November. The conservatives are angry over Washington's direction. CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is in Nashville.

What is taking place there today -- Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIR: Hey afternoon, Fred, actually, morning still here. But, today a second day of workshops and seminars here for the about 600 people attending from across the country. Fred, that's part of what's going on, here. They've got people from Tea Party organizations all around the U.S., they're here to learn, they're here to form their own groups, strengthen their groups, learn how to use social networking. So, a lot of that is happening today.

In fact, earlier this morning I spoke with a younger Tea Party activist who was leading one of the seminars to get younger people involved in the conservative movement. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN MARKS, TEA PARTY ACTIVIST: The workshop that I led was on how to reach out to young conservatives in the movement, how to brining more young people in the tea parties and involve them in the process. Education, engagement and also working and building for the next generation. At my work shop I'm with an organization called The Young Americans for Freedom and we had three generations at the front. I stood up, somebody from the '60s, somebody from the '80s and somebody from myself, from 2000. I showed when you invest in the youth have a great grass roots organization, you can own the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: And Fred, the organizers here, they announced yesterday, you know what, they're going to hold another convention in July. They haven't told us where it will be yet and they also announced they're forming a nonprofit corporation and a political action committee so they can raise money and as you mentioned, endorse candidates who they say agree with their conservative principles.

And one other thing that's happening, here, Fred, speeches by former politicians and others and there's been some tough language directed at President Barack Obama. We've heard all that. It'll be interesting to see tonight what Sarah Palin says.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Paul, we're going to talk a little later on in this hour about who these 600 people are that are part of this movement. What is the movement all about? And who are the members and what's the real objective, here? We're going to be talking about that later on in this hour. And since you mentioned it, Sarah Palin, she is the keynote address speaker this evening, primetime. We'll be covering it live, as well, 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.

All right. 8.1 million recalled vehicles, now. Toyota owners and dealers prepare for a big weekend, but will the fix work?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. One day after Toyota motor chief executive Akio Toyoda apologized for problems that lead to the company's massive recall, dealers and consumers still dealing with fallout. The recall affects 8.1 million vehicles worldwide and will cost the Toyota Company an estimated $2 billion in repair costs and lost sales. So, what now? And what's next for motorists and for Toyota? Well, automotive journalist Frank Washington is joining us from Detroit with some answers.

Good to see you, Frank. Can you hear me OK? Uh-oh, I think we're going to have to work on our audio. Frank, this is Fredricka in Atlanta. Can you hear me?

OK, we're going to try and work out that audio with Mr. Washington there out of Detroit, momentarily.

All right, so, of course, you may still have some questions about Toyota. You can also go to our Web site, CNN.com where there are some temporary answers for you until you come back to this segment with Frank Washington.

All right, well, no weekend in jail for Michael Jackson's doctor. Our legal guys join us next to discuss the latest developments. Plus, what charges Dr. Conrad Murray might face once he surrenders.

And "Fortune" magazine is out with its lists of the best companies to work for. Twenty-two of those businesses have at least 500 job openings each, including Intel with more than 1,200 and Accenture with 45,000. We're taking a closer look at some of the other companies on "Fortune's" top 100 list. See, if can you guess the names of the next business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): It's a bear business that's gone to the dogs. What company let's you work side-by-side with your four legged friend? Find out after the break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): What company lets employees bring their dogs to work? Build-a-Bear Workshop. And kids are welcoming too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel so well cared of here because of the family environment that we have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the headquarters in St. Louis, employees can opt for a compressed workweek. But other benefits also make working more bearable. A concierge takes care of dry cleaning, onsite oil changes, and even Fido can be picked up for doggy day care. Build- a-Bear Workshop is 80th on "Fortune" magazine's list of the best 100 companies to work for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk autos, now. Millions of Toyota vehicles recalled. And Toyota says it may have a fix. Automotive journalist, Frank Washington joining us from Detroit.

This time hopefully you can hear me. Good to see you, Frank.

FRANK WASHINGTON, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to hear you. Yes, I can.

WHITFIELD: Good we can hear each other. All right, let's talk about a potential fix. Toyota says all these vehicles recalled, we got a fix for you. Go to your dealer, get it fixed. Is this the fix that Toyota motorists can feel comforted by?

WASHINGTON: I think they can feel comforted by it. But, the question remains, will it work? Toyota has been trying to solve the problem of sudden acceleration in its vehicles for almost three years. It first surfaced in 2007 with the Tacoma then in 2008, it yet again it happened with the Yaris and the Iego (ph) in Europe and now we're at this point, where they're literally recalling something like eight million cars.

The point of it is that I think engineers on both sides in terms of Toyota engineers as well as this engineers have basically certified this and think it will work. But the question really is, will it? Because I think the last thing that Toyota needs, one, all this publicity, bad enough, then, two, to say that it's going to fix the problem after you know, halting sales and so forth and three (INAUDIBLE), fixing the problem and then say six months from now, seven months from now, the problem is still there. I think that will damage Toyota's reputation more so than this whole ordeal has to date.

WHITFIELD: So, while the jury is out as to whether this is indeed the right fix, it really is being upstaged by how long did Toyota knew about this problem? How long did it take Toyota to render a fix on this problem and all the while jeopardizing a lot of people's safety?

WASHINGTON: I think you're absolutely correct, because in terms of, according to automotive news, the bottom line is that Toyota senior executives had been getting complains of sudden acceleration since 2003.

WHITFIELD: So, Toyota's image, is it permanently damped? How in the world can they kind of recoup this is a vehicle of safety?

WASHINGTON: You know, I really think it's all about how they -- one, if the fix works. And then, two, how do they handle the implementation of the fix? Because if they bring people in, fix their cars, do so graciously, then their image may not suffer as much damage as if they bring the cars in and people have a tough time getting the repair done. They're not treated properly. That could have a long- lasting effect on Toyota's image. Because the bottom line of it is, is that most of the time your image really derives from word of mouth. If one person has a bad experience, they go and tell three or four more. And that's what gets you either a good reputation in terms of customer service or a bad one.

WHITFIELD: So, Toyota has been the No. 1 seller in this country. So, many American car dealers, there in Detroit have been hurting so much lately. In a strange way, might this help the American carmaker?

WASHINGTON: Yes, particularly General Motors. General Motors as well as Ford. And the reason I say that is they have new products, products that have been winning awards, very stylish. And even GM made an entree to Toyota customers when they halted sales of the eight models involved. So, I think they were giving them an insensitive of something like $1,000.

And how should I say? Basically, what is happening, they have moved up on consideration list in terms of people willing to take a look at their product. So certainly both General Motors and Ford have benefited from this problem that Toyota is having.

WHITFIELD: So, meantime if I have a Toyota and I don't have one of the vehicles on the recall list, how nervous need I be about my vehicle?

WASHINGTON: If you don't have one of the vehicles on the recall list, I don't think you should be nervous at all. But the issue is to make sure that you don't, because if you count in the problem with the gas pedals and also the problem with the floor mats, there is something like 15 - no, I think it's 16 models involved. So, you need to call and make sure through the VIN number, which is the car's kind of registration number, to make sure your vehicle is not involved. And if not involved in the recalls you should be, feel relatively secure. There's no reason not to be secure.

WHITFIELD: All right, Frank Washington, about that car dot com. Glad you could hang with us out of Detroit.

WASHINGTON: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, for an in-depth look into the Toyota recall go to CNN.com/Toyota there you can find out if the your car has been recalled if it's one of those 16 cars that he was talking about, as well as what to do if your gas pedal sticks. Thee are some pretty explicit instructions on what to do just in case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. A look at our top stories right now. The 10 American missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti await court hearing on Monday. The group is accused of trying to take 33 children out of the country. U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton says the case is a matter for the Haitian judicial system.

And Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was scheduled to surrender this week, but that changed when prosecutors delayed filing charges in Jackson's death. Now set for Monday. The D.A. didn't say who would be charged or what the charge might be. Another check of the top stories, 20 minutes from now.

All right. Let's talk with our legal guys about that case, Dr. Conrad Murray and what might be next. We turn to Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor.

Hello to you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see you.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: Hi Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, Avery, where are you today?

FRIEDMAN: Well, we had a flood in the main studio, so I'm here in the control room, so my brilliant guys made it happen.

WHITFIELD: All right. Excellent. Well, kudos to them.

All right, well, Richard, let me begin with you in the case of Dr. Conrad Murray he tried to do negotiating with the L.A. district attorney. Something didn't happen. We don't know what. What might happen on Monday?

HERMAN: Yeah, well what didn't happen was, they couldn't get the bail package in place and assure him when he went in for arraignment Friday they would let him out that day. Usually when you get arrested a Friday afternoon you have to sit in prison for the weekend until Monday before appearing before a judge. So, that's the benefit they gave him. To come in on Monday and see if he could get processed, get his bail in place and get out Monday afternoon. But, he's going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter, Fred. That's going to definitely happen on Monday. It's a difficult charge. He's facing two to four years if he gets convicted on it.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so, Avery, is that appropriate, if that ends up being involuntary manslaughter, is that the appropriate charge?

FRIEDMAN: It is the appropriate charge, Fredricka. It's a two to four year -- it's the least serious of all homicides. The case really will be whether or not the district attorney can prove recklessness to the degree that it turns into criminality. That's the issue here, but, again, the charade that went on this past week and the battle between the police wanting to put him in cuffs and the district attorney saying we didn't have to do it, this was the compromise. Monday he'll surrender. They'll be bond, he'll be out. That's the end of a controversy that should have never really happened here.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder if the Los Angeles district attorney's office feels a lot of pressure and wants to be extremely careful about this, given the history of all the other cases that have involved Michael Jackson or anyone around Michael Jackson, and the L.A. D.A.'s office, Richard, how might one impact the other?

HERMAN: Yeah, could have been an absolute charade, Fred. I mean, it could be for public safety reasons, also, that they set this up for a voluntary surrender on Monday. You know, with the crowd surrounding the prison there and the police station and the courthouse. So, maybe they made special arrangements for Monday. Every criminal defense attorney writes to the prosecutor and says I will bring my client in. Please, don't do this. Don't make him to a perp walk, we will bring them in. Most of the time they don't agree to that.

FRIEDMAN: Another part here. And that is that it is uniquely Los Angeles. You can take it all the way back to the O.J. case. All of the celebrities that get involved had this stuff, it always is sort of like a chess game and frankly, this past week should not have happened the way did. Bottom line is, they'll be the charge, the arrest, the bond, it's out, let's move forward. It's the way it should have been. We wasted a week.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, you talk about...

HERMAN: If it gets two years he'll only do one and he'll be out and he'll probably write a book and get on the talk show circuits.

FRIEDMAN: Well, he certainly won't be practicing medicine.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, you talk about being parading in front of cameras, let's talk about the case of Americans who are jailed in Haiti. We did see some of the images in the past 24 hours of them being paraded and they've got coats over their heads, et cetera. They've now been separated. Ten in all arrested for allegedly kidnapping or trafficking of children. They've now been separated. What is likely to be the road for them, Richard, as they face potential prosecution? In Haiti?

HERMAN: They've got a tough, they've got a tough road there, Fred. They're going before a Judge Hizaiah Jean Louis (ph). I love that name in Haiti. Anyway, they're facing very substantial charges, here. These children have families, they have mothers, they have fathers. The group did not go thought the appropriate channels. They did not get the requisite paperwork. There are allegations of fraud, here. These are very, very serious charge they're facing.

WHITFIELD: OK, and you know what? I'm going to shift gears real quick because we're out of time almost on this segment. So can we talk about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Avery I know you've got some strong opinions about this and now we've got lawmakers who want to jump into the fray here about how and whether he would be tried -- explain.

FRIEDMAN: An unpatriotic move in my judgment. We have 92 convictions of terrorist, all of whom, by the way, were given their Miranda rights, every one during the Bush administration, now during the Obama administration. There is no excuse. We should bring these five people right to the site where the committed the crime, get that prosecution going. I've been touting this since Eric Holder make that decision in November. No excuse to block this prosecution. And also just because the mayor said it's going to cause, oh, a traffic jam or cost a lot of money, look, we have lost young men and women, we have spent billions in these wars. It's time to get these guys at trial in Manhattan. Let's go. WHITFIELD: And Richard, you get the last word on this. How is this different? If the Bush administration there are more than 90 cases tried in civilian court, why is this any different?

HERMAN: It's -- the only way it's different is because we have a Democratic president right now. But, Fred, it's going to cost $200 million a year. They're projecting three years for this. The contra argument is, look, this is not crime. This is terror, and we need to try this in Guantanamo, under the act that was enacted by President Bush.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard and Avery, I'll talk to you again. We're going to talk about John Edwards' former aide and talk of the sex tape and how that's led to contempt of court. Oh, it's so sordid and yuck, yuck, yuck. But you guys are going to talk to us and tell us why this is legally valuable. This is a pretty strong argument being made. We'll see you again in a few minutes.

HERMAN: See you shortly, terrific.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk weather as well. Blinding snow, blowing sideways, piling up to your knees. Potentially record- setting blizzard in the Mid-Atlantic States. We'll take you right into the middle of it. Isn't it beautiful, though? The Capitol.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Snow everywhere from D.C. to Delaware. Well, it started falling yesterday, and it will not stop until tomorrow. People are already getting out their yardsticks trying to measure it and they're grabbing the snow shovels as well. As you see there, only snow plows seem to be getting through with any ease, however. Airports are open but flights not going anywhere. And to top it all off, hundreds of thousands of people don't even have power in some areas. Karen Maginnis has been keeping a close watch on this whopper of a storm. Nothing's worse than having no power when all of this is taking place.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, that is pretty miserable and I think it's only going to escalate as we go into the next several hours, but Fred, this is interesting. We were talking about the distinction, with that difference in that the airports were open. But there aren't really flights taking off or landing or anything. But Dulles International is closed, officially closed.

WHITFIELD: So do not drive that way.

MAGINNIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Do not expect to pick up anybody at the airport. Don't go there. Don't think you can fly out of that airport.

MAGINNIS: Yes. Nothing's going to happen at all until tomorrow morning. At all, that's it.

WHITFIELD: OK, we get it now. MAGINNIS: Until 6:00 in the morning. I've never really seen that. You usually hear, oh, they're open, but no flights.

WHITFIELD: Usually in the metropolitan area, that will be the last airport to close. But this time looks like it's the first one.

MAGINNIS: Yes, well they said, don't really go to the airport, but we're open. All right, anyway, I want to show you what's happening in Baltimore. We've seen some better shots than this. You can kind of see this, an overpass right here. And I've been watching the traffic, just the little cars going by and that's just about it.

We had one spectacular shot of just kind of intertwining overpasses and they were all completely snow covered and just nothing was moving. And I want to show you the airports, and we have Dulles and Reagan and Richmond and BWI, Atlantic City's been hit very hard. But along this Northern Virginia corridor, Maryland and into New Jersey, this is where we have hundreds of thousands of people without power.

And it's not getting better, because the snow is not tapering off. We're kind of in the midst of the worst of the storm. Now the back side of the system has eroded. But now we're starting to see those 30, 40, 50 mile-an-hour wind gusts, Fred. So we're not going to really see it taper off until probably after midnight.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh.

MAGINNIS: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: That's brutal stuff. This sounds like it's going to be a new record set, maybe.

MAGINNIS: Yes, we'll know tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Feeling like it? Yes, OK, all right, thanks, Karen, appreciate it.

All right, well here's the order. Hand over the alleged sex tape, that's what a judge tells John Edwards' former aide. But will he comply? Our legal guys are back to discuss this latest twist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a look at our top stories right now. The Pentagon has identified an American civilian contractor missing in Iraq. Issa Salomi who works for the U.S. military was last seen in Baghdad late last month. CNN has not confirmed reports that a video found on an Iraqi Web site shows Salomi detailing demands from his abductors.

And President Barack Obama braved the blizzard in Washington to address the winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee. He told party members it's time for Democrats and Republicans to work together for the good of the country and he pushed his bipartisan plan to create jobs. All right, let's welcome back our legal guys, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman. All right, let's talk about the John Edwards' case, and how this continues to take one turn after the next. We're talking about his former aide, Andy Young, who said in his book as well as he said on television interviews that I've got this tape, this sex tape, involving John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. And so now the judge has weighed in saying, wait minute, not only do I want that tape, but Avery, I am filing you in contempt of court.

FRIEDMAN: Yeah. Richard liked the name of the other judge, Judge Isaih Louise (ph). This is Judge Abraham Penn Jones and what Judge Jones did is said turn this stuff over. Well Andy Young, the author and the former aide never did. So what happened yesterday morning, Fredricka, is that he was held in contempt. Now, he can cure the contempt by simply bringing in this so-called sex tape, and other photographs under seal and then he purges the contempt. But what a really stupid thing to do. Just turn the stuff over. If you have good reasons, you can argue them, but comply with the court order.

WHITFIELD: So Richard, help me understand, is this an issue of who has ownership of the property of the tape or is it because of the subject matter of the tape? Because if it was found in the home of the former aide, is it not, even though he didn't create the tape, that someone else allegedly created the tape, is it not his ownership because it was on his property?

HERMAN: When did you graduate law school?

WHITFIELD: I've been learning from you all.

HERMAN: Very good. These are the issues. These are the essential issues this judge will have to fight with, but let's put it straight.

This tape was the -- the tape was removed from the cassette and thrown away. He found the tape. He restored the tape. Avery's right. The judge directed him to turn it over. And then what people do in these situations, they play cute game. They give it to their lawyers to hold so they can say it's not in my possession, I don't know where it is. Well the judge said, too bad. If you don't give it by Wednesday of this week, I have power to put you in prison. And I can assure you, that tape's turned over Wednesday.

WHITFIELD: Now what if it's duplicated? What if he were to keep a copy of and hand over the original versa and vice versa?

HERMAN: Absolutely it's been done.

FRIEDMAN: That's a suicide. I mean, he can't do something like that.

WHITFIELD: No?

HERMAN: I mean, technically he can do it, unless he flaunts the law to that degree, he's looking at a big bowl of trouble with that. I don't know -- WHITFIELD: And how does this play into the grand jury investigation of the, the use of campaign finances? I mean, people are confused about what this case is really all about in the end?

HERMAN: Exactly. I don't think the tape has anything to do with the campaign finance investigation, but Avery, if there's no restraining order on him restraining him from disseminating the tape, he could turn it over to whoever he wants. He could even give it to us over at CNN.

FRIEDMAN: That's a form over substance argument and given what happened in court yesterday morning in North Carolina, I think it would be ill-advised if not foolhardy, Richard, to do something like that.

WHITFIELD: OK, well let's talk about...

HERMAN: Well the judge says -- I'm sorry, the judge is going to store the tape, put it away until after the hearings. Do you think the judge is going to take a look at it? I don't know, I'd just throw that out there.

FRIEDMAN: Ah, come on.

WHITFIELD: We don't know. All right, let's talk about this about this self-help guru, James Ray. He was indicted. He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges and his attorney says he doesn't have the $5 million to post bond. Where is this case going? Richard?

HERMAN: He's going to get fitted for -- see that suit? It's going to be a pink jumpsuit with Sheriff Joe, because this guy is going down. He's facing three counts of manslaughter. Each one --

WHITFIELD: In the case of the sweat lodge, people dying.

HERMAN: Yes, the sweat lodge, 12.5 years each. There were people in their crying. There were people in there saying they can't feel good, they can't breathe, they need to get out, and he just said, get in there.

WHITFIELD: And he allegedly said you're going to feel like you're dying, but you're not.

HERMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: So there was that kind of warning, Avery.

HERMAN: That's terrible.

FRIEDMAN: But the other side of the coin is, he's going to have to defend this case, Fredricka. And you know, his claim to fame is that he had Dr. Phil, and you know who else backing him up? He had Oprah. So the question is, if I'm defending the case, I think subpoenas are going to be issued. And guess who might be testifying in the defense?

WHITFIELD: No? Really?

FRIEDMAN: I think so, $9,000 an attendee, his book sold like crazy because of the two of them. It's a credibility issue. Hey, if I'm defending, I'd give it a shot.

WHITFIELD: Hey and real quick, lottery winner Abraham Lee Shakespeare, his body found buried. I mean, this was somebody who won quite at few million dollars, $17 million back in 2007. And then in 2009, somehow his body was found in the backyard of his former girlfriend.

HERMAN: Next door.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but she has been charged with accessory after the fact, that she allegedly hired a hit person? Richard?

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: No. She's charged with buying lime and trying to preserve the body and make arrangements to get rid of the body. They're still investigating this case, Fred. I wouldn't be surprised if she's charged with accomplice or even murder in this case. This is a very, very bad situation, a tragic situation here.

FRIEDMAN: Wait, wait, wait, she is charged as an accomplice. They've not charged her with the direct murder but they found...

WHITFIELD: Accessory after the fact.

FRIEDMAN: ... the body under a bunch of, two slabs of concrete. I don't know how it got there, right next door to Abraham's house. But it strikes me, you know, all of these really dumb cases, why do they come out of Florida? I don't know.

WHITFIELD: That's a rhetorical question, right?

FRIEDMAN: It is.

WHITFIELD: OK, just checking.

HERMAN: Big money involved there, Fred. Big, big money.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I know, and it's so sad.

FRIEDMAN: Of course it is.

WHITFIELD: This poor man and his family members have to grieve his loss after being so excited about the win, and then a couple years later, he mysteriously dies.

HERMAN: Very sad, you're exactly right.

FRIEDMAN: And he's been tortured since the win.

WHITFIELD: Avery and Richard, thanks so much. Good to see you.

HERMAN: He's been tortured.

WHITFIELD: See you next weekend.

HERMAN: Take care.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, normal obesity, have you ever heard it stated as such? CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on a different type of fat.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just a few days back from Haiti and already some tough news I have to share with you about something known at normal weight obesity. This is what we're talking about here.

Simply put, a lot of people pay attention to their weight, and for good reason. It's an important thing to follow. You get on the scale. If your weight seems normal, you think good, I have decreased my chance of developing all sorts of different problems. And you probably have, but if you have something known at normal weight obesity, where your body fat percentage is too high and your lean muscle mass too low, you may still be at increased risk.

So this is sort of the important point here. People who fall into this category of normal weight obesity have about four times a risk of developing something known as metabolic syndrome, putting an increased risk for hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. So that's why a lot of people focused on this. The guess is around 30 million Americans may fall into this category of normal weight obesity right now.

So here's the important thing. First step, probably get your body fat checked. If you're not sure where you fall into this, get it checked, even some of the home scales do a pretty good job of checking it within about 10 percent. Better readings come from your doctor's office, maybe even your gym has a machine to test it. Find out what it is. Take a look at the numbers. For men, it gets dangerous over 23 percent. For women, over 33 percent.

Also, the second sort of piece of advice here is that depending what you're doing, you may want to add more resistance training to your workout. You may want to add more interval training. You want to do things to build up muscle mass. Anybody can do this. I talked to my mom recently about this. She's someone who did aerobics her whole life. And I got her lifting dumbbells, actually lifting dumbbells, building up some muscle mass in her upper body, decreases her chances of osteoporosis later in life, helps her respiratory capacity and also again, with this whole idea of changing percentages between body fat and muscle mass, it helps with that as well. So a little bit of a tip there. Normal weight obesity, tuck that term back away. There's something you can do about it. Back to you for now.

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WHITFIELD: All right. In Nashville this weekend, the national Tea Party Convention exposes growing pains for the movement. There's no single Tea Party, no national leader, no unified agenda. So what is it? Let's talk to Erick Erickson in Nashville. He edits the conservative blog RedState.com. All right, good to see you, Erick. So explain, then, what is the Tea Party? What's the makeup of the 600 people who are there at this convention?

ERICK ERICKSON, REDSTATE.COM: You know, it's really across the board. It's Democrats, Republicans and Independents that I've talked to. The unifying issue is just government spending. They don't like the size of government. They don't like the burgeoning debt. They're mad at Democrats and they're mad at Republicans. In fact, I think the Republicans have a lot more to worry about right now than the Democrats because a lot of these guys feel that their natural home should be the Republican Party because it says it's committed to small government, but it isn't acting that way. So they want to go into a lot of Republican primaries and start picking off longtime Republicans from Washington.

WHITFIELD: So give me an idea of these discussions. There are meetings that are taking place during this convention. I heard one gentleman describe it there, there are meetings that are focusing on education, on engagement, on reaching out to the conservative. But what does that really mean?

ERICKSON: Right. You know, a lot of these people, I hate to use the word amateur, but they're not professionals. These guys are blue collar, white collar workers, they're stay at home moms. They don't know how to organize. They don't know how to run an e-mail list. They don't know how to pick out campaign signs. They don't really have the political discernment on candidates and how to do research on candidates and issues.

So there's a lot of training going on here on how to better, more effective political activists. You know, this is -- it's kind of like what the Japanese said in World War II about waking up the sleeping giant. I think the government spending Democrats and Republicans have woken up a sleeping giant. And these guys are now mobilizing and they're going to become a powerful force, I think.

WHITFIELD: When you say that this is a movement that really is about kind of anti-big government that the feeling is there's too much spending going on. When you see the images, like you just saw on that one poster of the president, is it really directed at this president? Not necessarily at government, but is this is more of an anti-Obama, anti-current administration movement?

ERICKSON: You know, I don't think so. I think if George Bush were president right now, you would see these same people marching and protesting against him. He did start TARP. He did start the auto bailout. It's just that Barack Obama is now the president. He's the head of the government, the figurehead so to speak. So he's the visible image these people are rallying around. But you do see some images of George Bush here that aren't very favorable. You see some images of some of the Republicans that aren't very favorable. These guys really, they don't like anybody in Washington right now and frankly I can't really blame them given what's going on. WHITFIELD: And the feeling has been that there's some Republicans who stayed away from this convention and they've said that they stayed away in part because of the fee that was involved, but is that really at the root of why some Republicans are staying away from this movement, or is there another reason that they don't want to be associated with this movement or something in particular?

ERICKSON: By and large, the elected members of Congress, they had to. And the reason was, let me just say full disclosure, that up front I thought this thing was probably a bit scammy. I referred to it as equal to a Nigerian e-mail scam. But you know, the more I met the people here and the more I've talked to people, I've realized that it's not that it was a scam, it's just they had no idea what they were doing. And the reason the guys in Washington had to stay away is because they set this up as a for-profit and they're funneling money into now a packet of 527. And under campaign rules for the House and the Senate, elected members of Congress can't participate in something like this. And the guys here really had no idea. They've got no sense of what campaign finance laws are.

WHITFIELD: Now, you're a blogger. You've got your RedState.com. Now, are you, conservative RedState.com. Now are you a member of the Tea Party or of this movement?

ERICKSON: You know, I don't know that anyone really is or is not an active member of the Tea Party. I've spoken at a lot of rallies around the country. In Macon, Georgia where I'm based, there have been several Tea Party rallies, and I've written about these guys, and written for these guys, and trying to give a voice online and on TV and radio to a lot of their concern. I've been telling these people for a while, and it looks like it's happening, that they're going to have to put down the protest signs and pick up campaign signs. They're going to have to get involved in the political process if they really want to have any influence.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erick Erickson of RedState.com. Thanks for your time, joining us from Nashville. Appreciate that.

ERICKSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. This evening, there's a lot of buzz about the keynote speaker who will be at this Tea Party Convention. That will be former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Start time, 9:00 Eastern Time, and we'll be covering it live with the best political team on television. That live coverage beginning at 9:00 Eastern this evening.

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