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Sarah Palin Speaking at the National Tea Party Convention; One Weather System, Two Different Results; Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu Elected Mayor of New Orleans

Aired February 06, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is the top of the hour. And you're watching CNN. I'm Don Lemon.

Sarah Palin speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville moments ago. Now she is taking questions.

Let's listen back in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

QUESTION: I think this will have to be our last question.

If you are president tomorrow, you had everything in place, what three problems would be the first problems you tackle?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, we talked about the energy projects that have got to be introduced and progressed so that they actually come to fruition, and we're not just talking about them. And we talked a little bit about the spending cuts that have to take place and this growing debt that we have to get our arms around.

I think that I'm all for the bipartisan work effort that is needed in Washington, D.C., but I think one of the issues that has to be tackled in D.C. -- and if I were ever in a position to help with this is -- is not make the promises about the bipartisanship if the promise can't be fulfilled, if truly there is not an intention to work with the other party on a specific issue.

Because say they are so fundamentally disagreeable to something like the takeover of the private sector health care -- one-sixth of our economy -- then don't tell the American people, don't fake it, don't pretend like you want to work with the other party on that because that distrust that is built -- and this is what I would work on if I were in a position -- the distrust that is built makes us distrust all the decisions that are made coming out of Washington and that makes us a less secure nation.

(APPLAUSE)

QUESTION: I know that people out there aren't going to like this, but I know you have to go.

CROWD: No. QUSETION: So thank you so much for coming down here. We really appreciate it. You may have to fight your way out of here from all these people who don't want you to leave.

PALIN: Well, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I have to apologize if I had anything to do with any of the controversy that some of the media spun up.

QUESTION: What controversy?

PALIN: Yes, right. I am happy, honored and proud to take any speaking fee that was ever going to be written out for me via a check and turn it right back around and give it to the cause. This is not about money. It is not about a title. It is not about a leader position here in this movement. It is about the people. I will live, I will die for the people of America, whatever I can do to help. And this party, this party that we call the tea party, this movement, as I say, is the future of politics in America. And I am proud to get to be here today. So thank you so much. Thank you, guys.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you.

(END OF COVERAGE)

LEMON: Sarah Palin making a very strong speech and having a very strong presence there in Nashville, Tennessee. Just finishing up her Q&A in front of the National Tea Party. She has been a governor, she's been a vice presidential candidate, and now some people across the country are asking, should Sarah Palin be the next president of the United States?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: I caution against allowing this movement to be defined by any one leader or politician. The Tea Party Movement is not a top- down operation. It is a ground-up call to action that is forcing both parties to change the way that they are doing business, and that's beautiful.

CROWD: (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE).

PALIN: This is about the people! This is about the people, and it is bigger than any king or queen of a tea party, and it is a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More than 1,000 people paid more than $300 to hear her give the keynote address tonight at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. And you saw it live right here on CNN just moments ago.

Tonight we ask the question, "Is this her moment?" This hour you'll hear from Americans just like you who were there. And we'll have expert analysis from the Best Political Team on Television.

So good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. It is the perfect political pairing. Sarah Palin, political maverick in the spotlight as keynote speaker at the National Tea Party Convention. A gathering of people with a deep dislike and a distrust of the political establishment. And just minutes ago, as you saw right here on CNN, Sarah Palin cover the political landscape from taxes and spending to terrorism and national security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: It is not politicizing our security to discuss our concerns, because Americans deserve to know the truth about the threats that we face. And what the administration is or isn't doing about them, so let's talk about them. New terms used like Overseas Contingency Operation instead of the word war. That reflects a world view that is out of touch with the enemy that we face. We can't spin our way out of this threat.

It's one thing to call a pay raise a job created or saved, it is quite another to call a devastation that a homicide bomber can inflict a man-made disaster. And I just say, come on, Washington, if nowhere else, national security, that's one place where you got to call it like it is.

The events surrounding the Christmas Day plot reflect the kind of thinking that led to September 11th. That threat then as the "USS Cole" was attacked, our embassies were attacked, it was treated like an international crime spree, not like an act of war. We are seeing that mindset again settle into Washington. That scares me for my children and for your children treating this like a mere law enforcement matter. It places our country at great risk because that's not how radical Islamic extremists are looking at this. They know we are at war, and to win that war, we need a commander-in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's head to Nashville right now. CNN's Mary Snow was inside the room for tonight's keynote address. John Avlon is here, too. He is a columnist for TheDailyBeast.com. And a former speech writer for Rudy Giuliani. Also joining us Alex Castellanos, a CNN political contributor and a long-time Republican campaign strategist. He joins us via Skype from Alexandria, Virginia.

Listen, as someone who can be a bit more neutral than our correspondent there, John Avlon, I want to ask you, Sarah Palin, what did you make of your thoughts from her speech tonight?

JOHN AVLON, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think this was really Sarah Palin's State of the Union Address wrapped up in a tea party message. But what's really amazing, in the course of this whole Tea Party Convention, I think it basically end with the "Palin for President" rally. And folks all around me were shouting, "Run, Sarah, Run." So a very friendly reception, but a very wide range of speech that really covered foreign policy, economic policy and the Tea Party movement only as a frame around those four themes almost like presidential campaign. LEMON: Yes. And I want to get to Alex Castellanos right now. Alex, she's had -- you know, we talked about this a little bit earlier. You kind of had some idea what she was going to say. She hit the administration hard. She talked about all the spending, she believes, the stimulus, and a lot of the things that she said, of course, is going to be fact checked over the next couple of days. We are working on it here as well.

But she talked about big government as they said. What did you make of her speech? It was really more, not so much policy, I think as more as John said more of a campaign-style speech.

ALEX CASTELLANONS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Very much a campaign speech, and I think John is right. She anointed herself leader of this movement tonight. She said that this is the future of politics, and she kind of walked in and took the reigns.

So I think that there are a lot of people tonight, a lot of Republicans, who are concerned about her -- is she the next Republican presidential candidate, who are going to still have doubts about her as the next candidate, but who are going to find it hard to disagree with anything she said this evening. It was a very tough message on the Democrats, on President Obama. I think you are going to see a lot of candidates echoing her message of, you know, if you are not against lowering up terrorists, you are not going to do well in the next election. So it was a powerhouse political speech.

LEMON: Mary Snow, someone who was there in the room. We could see the reception here. Did you look around and notice expressions on people's faces? Take us inside the room.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Don, by my account, I counted 11 standing ovations throughout that speech. And, certainly, this was a friendly crowd toward her. One thing that struck me is that over the past couple of days, and talking to people about what they were here for, big government spending, they said was number one on their list. Sarah Palin really hit national security as a policy in her speech before she touched upon the stimulus and government spending. So that kind of stood out, but certainly she had the crowd on its feet several times.

And as John mentioned, you know, when she was asked about whether the two words liberals would hate would be President Palin, that certainly brought the crowd to its feet and they were chanting "run, Sarah, run."

LEMON: Yes. And I want to tell all of you again at the CNN fact check desk working on some of the things that she said. But, you know, if you guys listen, it was very interesting. She said, you know, we always talked about how is she is sort of coquille in her speech in every man.

"How's that hope-y change-y stuff working for you? If you can't ride two horses at once, you shouldn't be in the circus. So I have some advice to those in D.C. who want to shine in the biggest show on earth." John, your final thoughts on that?

AVLON: Look, she's an expert at one liners. There were a lot of good once. You know, her really many As is speech writer and speech giver is this sort of folksy sarcasm that she delivers very well. She can really, you know, slip into rhetorical while smiling. She's very good at it. She got some new one liners in there tonight.

LEMON: Yes. And it goes over very well with those in that crowd. Obviously, a crowd who was on her side.

Thank you. Alex Castellanos, John Avlon and our Mary Snow.

Thank you. We really appreciate it.

And as we said, Sarah Palin covered a lot of ground in her keynote speech. Here's what she had to say about the health care debate and the Democrats call for bipartisanship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: They need to get government out of the way.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

If they would do this, if they would do this, our economy, it would roar back to life. For instance, on health care, we need bipartisan solutions to help families, not increase taxes. Remember that red reset button that America through Secretary Clinton, she gave to Putin -- remember that? I think we should ask for that back and hand it instead to Congress and say, no, start all over on this health care scheme and pass meaningful market-based reforms that incorporate some simple step that have brought support. The best ideas, not back room deals, but things like insurance purchases across state lines and the tort reform that we have talked about.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Those things that are common sense steps toward reform that the White House and leaders on the Democrat side of the aisle in Congress, they don't want to consider. So it makes you wonder, what truly is their motivation? What is their intention? If they won't even consider these common sense broad-base support ideas that would work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So we promised every day Americans who were in the room tonight. We are going to speak with them in just a little bit. They are getting all wired up there, getting their earpieces in so they can listen to us and get questions from us. These are the tea partiers who were there tonight. We're going to get their response to Sarah Palin's speech in just a moment.

Plus, there was this today. The weather. It rained and it poured, then the ground gave way. And tons of mud slid downhill taking cars and homes with it. Our Thelma Gutierrez is live from suburban Los Angeles.

And boy, oh, boy. We know it is winter, but this is really severe. A really severe storm. This is what it looks like. We're going to take you right into the thick of it.

And they say don't subscribe to one party line or another, right? But did Sarah Palin's speech tonight sway independent voters? We are getting a whole panel of them to weigh in.

Also, we want you to weigh in. We are getting a lot of responses on Twitter and Facebook tonight, and I'm going to read some of them for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There were rowdy rounds of applause towards Sarah Palin's speech, and she brought the room to its feet while talking about limited government and constitutional rights.

So let's talk to some of the people who were cheering her on. Priscilla Stewart and Fremont Brown joining us tonight from Nashville. This is the first time either of them has attended a tea party event. And from Orlando, Lloyd Marcus, a seasoned tea party rallier who decided to sit this one out. He's joining us tonight from a different spot.

So let's go to the ground now, and talk to Pricilla Stewart.

Priscilla, thank you so much for joining us. Your first time. What did you think of what Sarah Palin had to say tonight?

PRISCILLA STEWART, ATTENDED SARAH PALIN BANQUET: There was nothing that I disagreed with, so I thought she spoke really eloquently. I liked what she had to say, and her spirit was really positive. So it's been good.

LEMON: Do you think that this set her up for a run in 2012, Mr. Brown?

FREMONT BROWN, TEA PARTY CONVENTION ATTENDEE: I would hope so. I would love to see her run. Everything she said tonight was right on. And we need to get back to our constitution, which is one of the things she brought up. And a smaller government and a financially responsible government.

LEMON: What did you make of -- was there anything -- I know that she got lots of cheers for things, you know, the folksy lines that she says, but also her criticism of the administration. Did you agree with that at all, Priscilla? Was there anything that made you uncomfortable about that?

STEWART: I agreed with her criticism of the lack of transparency. You know, one of the things that I wished there was more light being shed on everything that was being done right now. So I agreed with that, definitely. LEMON: Yes. So do we have Lloyd? Can Lloyd hear us? Lloyd Marcus, we are waiting to get Lloyd Marcus in Orlando. Excuse me, I'm getting some guidance in my ear here. We don't have him, but he's been on before. He's a loyal tea party person, but he decided to sit this one out. So I'm going to go back and to Priscilla and Fremont Brown.

So Mr. Brown, you haven't gone -- this is your first time attending an event, at least a convention. You didn't attend any of the events this summer and over the past year, right? None of the demonstrations at all throughout the country?

BROWN: No. I was working and didn't have the time, unfortunately.

LEMON: Where are you from?

BROWN: I have decided that -- Asheville, North Carolina.

LEMON: So what made you make the trek from North Carolina to Nashville?

BROWN: Well, I decided it was time and I quit sitting by the side and just talking about it to my customers, and get out and join a group of people. Just add one more voice to a voice that needs to be heard. And I think the tea party has the wherewithal to be speaking loud enough to get things changed, hopefully.

LEMON: Sarah Palin said tonight that she thought if the Republican Party is smart that they would try to absorb as many tea partiers as possible to try to siphon off those people and bring them into their tent.

What do you think about that, Priscilla?

STEWART: I think she's right, but I think they are going to have to do some work before they can do that. I mean, they have to walk the walk that they are talking, especially to get tea party support. You know, we were watching everything that everybody is doing on both sides. And if they are not walking that walk, that's specific to our values, then they don't get our support, either. But if they do, then yes.

LEMON: All right. I want to thank Priscilla Stewart and Fremont Brown joining us from Nashville tonight. My apologizes to Lloyd Marcus who is in Orlando. We are having trouble. Some technical difficulties there. We'll try to get him back on.

Meantime, I want to talk about other news here. One weather system, two different results. This is what severe weather storms look like on the East Coast. We'll take you right into the thick of it.

And on the West Coast, the ground gives way to tons of mud, and it's all sliding down hills, taking away homes and cars. People are having to leave their homes to save their lives. We're live from the scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: El Nino is back. Heavy rain in the west. Blizzards in the east. Tonight, the tail of two storms on opposite coasts linked together by a weather phenomenon over the Pacific. So let's begin on the east coast where hundreds of thousands of people are in the dark tonight. They lost power as a massive blizzard slammed the mid- Atlantic today with more than two feet of snow. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, all are socked in right now.

The nation's capital is at a standstill and flights to all three Washington area airports canceled. Amtrak, idle. The subway, shut down. And greyhound buses won't run again until at least 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Sarah Lee is live in Washington tonight. What a mess, Sarah.

SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. Essentially, the nation's capital at a standstill. And I'm not talking about Congress. Take a look. We are at the point where we are talking about feet, not inches, as far as snowfall for the nation's capital. Now, some people, may be to the north, to the Midwest, might make fun of us and say, hey, it's just, what, two feet. But you are talking about a city that only handles about 15 inches of accumulation every year.

So, really, this has got this city into a lockdown. Libraries are closed, federal offices are closed, post offices, parks, all of that closed today this Saturday in February. People just can't really get around. The best way to get around is with your own two feet.

Now, one person who did get a lift around town today, that is Mayor Adrian Fenty, the mayor of the District of Columbia. He went around on a snowplow, hitched a ride so he can go check out what was going on around the district so he could see how people are coping here.

And people are really sticking it out. We had a lot of folks coming down earlier here to the national mall just to see how things were doing. A lot of folks on skis. People just braving the elements because this is just such an unusual event -- Don?

LEMON: All right. I see that you are almost knee deep, if not knee deep in snow in our nation's capital.

Sarah Lee, thank you very much for that.

Now we want to get to the West Coast in a massive mud slide just north of Los Angeles that swept away cars and heavily damaged at least 41 homes. Hundreds of families have been evacuated.

Our Thelma Gutierrez live in La Canada Flintridge where people are dealing with a muddy, muddy mess right now. THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely true. Right now what we can tell you is that there are more than 500 families who have been evacuated, and most of the residents out here have spent most of their day shoveling mud and debris just like this right out of their driveways.

Now, 43 homes have been damaged. 12 completely destroyed. And some of that devastation is up the road from where we are standing right now. Now, that area has been closed to traffic because authorities say that there are cars up there. There are boulders that have started to slide, and so they are not letting anybody in right now. But we talked to a homeowner earlier today. She told us to come on in. She wanted to show us just how close that mud came to her house.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: I'm standing in Stacy Kozicar's (ph) driveway. She says at 5:00 this morning, she woke up to this loud roar. She says she felt her home shake. Then she walked outside, and she saw a wall of mud waist deep actually coming down her street. Some of that mud started to pour down into her driveway.

You can see where it ended up there in front of her house on her front yard. Stacy says that she had her garage door down. That's why the mud didn't go in, but the water went right through all the way into her backyard. Stacy says she ran to her backyard and then noticed that all of her drains were covered in mud, and her backyard was starting to overflow. You can see what happened to the pool.

Stacy, that must have been the most frightening thing to experience.

STACY KOZICAR, RESIDENT: It was terrifying. I mean, I came out here. The noise was incredible. The whole house was shaking. I could see it coming in from the front and then the backyard started to flood. It just --

GUTIERREZ: This whole area was covered with mud.

KOZICAR: Covered with mud, water and all the drains were plugged up.

GUTIERREZ: You are going through this right now, but just a few months ago you were evacuated because of the fires that were burning out here.

KOZICAR: Yes. We were all packed in the car and we were evacuated for four days. Then we got back in, and then we had to evacuate again as they lit the backfires along the hills up there.

GUTIERREZ: And I understand that's exactly why the residents up here are having this problem, because of the fires. It's been terrifying.

KOZICAR: It was, it was terrifying. I didn't know how high it was going to get. I didn't know if it was going to come into the backyard. You know, sweep all the trees down, the trees hit the house, you just never know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, 540 homes in three communities are under a mandatory evacuation, but Stacy says she is not going, Don. She says that she wants to hang back. She wants to make sure that if it does rain again, she's around to clean off those storm drains to make sure that her property isn't flooded. And many of the other residents that we've talked to in this area have said the same.

LEMON: Thelma Gutierrez. Thelma, thank you so much for that.

Two planes slam into each other in the sky over Boulder, Colorado. One of our iReporters was on the ground and caught the stunning image.

And there's no question Sarah Palin can rip up a room full of tea partiers, but when it comes to independent voters, is she their cup of tea? We'll ask a panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is a really, really frightening story. Two small planes collided in the air near the Boulder, Colorado, airport today. Three people died in the fiery crash. A CNN iReporter sent in this video. You can see one of the planes there was pulling a glider, and a pilot of the glider was able to detach from the plane and land safely.

The U.S. military is actively searching for an American civilian who disappeared last month in Baghdad. Issa Salomi is a contractor with the U.S. army. Video has surfaced on an Iraqi Web site supposedly showing the missing American. But CNN has not confirmed the man's identity.

A Korean-American missionary is on his way back home to the U.S. from North Korea. Robert Park was detained for 43 days for illegally entering the country preaching Christianity. Park had been outspoken about political and religious reform in North Korea, but he is now quoted by North Korean media as being ashamed of his biased view of the communist country. There are questions whether Parks' statement was coerced.

Well, you've got five more chances to see a shuttle launch before the entire fleet is retired later this year. And one of them happens in the predawn hours tomorrow when the "Endeavour" blasts off.

Our John Zarrella standing by live at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. John, this is also the last night time shuttle launch so it is kind of sad.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is, Don. No question about it. Bittersweet here at the Kennedy Space Center. But if you can make it to 4:39 a.m. Eastern Time, you might want to go outside if you are somewhere in the Florida area, a little up or down the east coast, and get a look at this or watch it on CNN because it's the last time there will be a night launch in the shuttle program. And as you mentioned, just five left this year. The last one scheduled to lift off from here in September.

Now, the "Endeavour" is on the launch pad tonight getting ready for its 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The astronauts will be getting up and moving about right about now getting ready for their final weather briefing and making their preps to come out here to the pad at about 1:30 in the morning.

Now, when they get up to the International Space Station, they will be carrying up with them the final two major components of the station. One is called the tranquility module, which is literally a habitat facility with life support and crew support equipment. A treadmill, the Colbert treadmill will be put in there. They are also will be bringing up the cupola, which has that six windows. They really call it a window to the earth. They can look out at the earth from there, and on top of that, they'll be able to direct remote vehicles that are going to be docking, cargo carriers that will be docking with the station. They'll be able to maneuver those in for those docking procedures from that area.

So the last two major components, when they are done with this mission, the International Space Station will be 90 percent complete. And then everyone hopes that the major science that's been promised for so long, Don, will finally begin to take place -- Don?

LEMON: All right. CNN's John Zarrella. John, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

And you can see the shuttle launch live on CNN early tomorrow morning. Our coverage starts 4:30 a.m. Eastern, 4:30 a.m. Eastern and lift off is supposed to be nine minutes later at 4:39. So if you are awake, be sure to join our morning team. We'll have it all covered for you.

His athletic center was an escape for Haiti's youth. Now it is a refuge for dozens of families after the recent earthquake. We'll introduce you to one of our CNN heroes of the week.

And they say they don't subscribe to one partly line or another, but did Sarah Palin's speech tonight sway independent voters? We're getting a whole panel of them to weigh in tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Every week we honor a CNN hero, an every day person doing extraordinary work. Tonight, we salute a 2007 hero currently working amid the tragedy in Haiti.

Before the earthquake, Bobby Duval was serving some 1500 kids from nearby slums at his sports and feeding program. Now his center is also home to more than 100 homeless families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice-over): More than two weeks after the earthquake, Bobby Duval is overwhelmed. The soccer field he built for kids is now a home for hundreds.

BOBBY DUVAL, CNN HERO: It's really something. We were already in a hole. And now, we are in a much deeper hole now.

COOPER: Duval was a CNN hero in 2007. He founded a soccer training center called Athletics of Haiti, giving some from the kids from the poorest neighborhoods in Port-Au-Prince an opportunity to get off the streets, play a sport, and get a meal.

DUVAL: The kids never missed practice and they are disciplined enough to keep focused on something positive.

COOPER: That program is now a lifesaver. Many families of the children who played soccer for Bobby have now moved on to the field, nowhere else to go.

DUVAL: What we're trying to do is just keep it clean, give them a little bit of, you know, set up some bathrooms, set up some water and give them care. That's all. Understanding. So they are safe here.

COOPER: Safe and sheltered. Duval provided what tents he had. Those without them have gotten more creative.

(on camera): Are these goalposts, too?

DUVAL: Goalposts, yes.

COOPER: Someone has made a little home out of goalposts.

DUVAL: Right.

COOPER (voice-over): Some kids still play soccer to pass the time. Families are making due the best they can.

DUVAL: Save and serve.

COOPER: And that's what's essential right now. Save as many as you can.

DUVAL: Save as many as you can and serve as much as you can. That's -- that's it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: An estimated 3 million survivors of the Haiti earthquake are still in dire need of food, water and also medical supplies. For more information on how you can help, visit CNN.com/Heroes.

Hey, getting some breaking news in here to CNN. You know, there's a lot going on in New Orleans. We are talking about the Super Bowl and also Mardi Gras. But here's what we are hearing. There was an important election there today. It was a mayoral election, and according to the Associated Press, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu elected mayor of New Orleans. He replaces Ray Nagin. Again, that's according to the Associated Press. Also, what's interesting here, for the first time a white mayor in New Orleans since 1978. Again, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, according to the Associate Press, elected mayor of New Orleans, replacing Ray Nagin, the first white mayor since his dad in 1978.

More on that throughout this broadcast as we get more information.

An elderly woman killed inside a speeding Toyota, but not one of the models that was on the recalled list. Does Toyota need to expand that list?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We turn now to our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. Bonnie, we have mudslides in the West, we've got a blizzard in the east. And guess what, it's all connected, so many miles apart. What's going on?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's really part of the same weather pattern, Don. Not necessarily the same storm system, though. These systems have been rolling in from California and then working their way across the country. But they have to have a steering mechanism in order to do that. It's the jet stream.

In a typical El Nino pattern, we get a lot of moisture coming into California. It seems to the south through Texas, rides up through areas into the Carolinas. And then sometimes lows develop offshore. And that's what happens with this storm that we are seeing right now. And boy, I have to show you these snowfall totals. They are incredible.

Come, take a look at this. In Baltimore, I just spoke to the National Weather Service. They are still, kind of tabulating all the totals. This is what we have so far in the two days storm period. 24.8 inches. Unofficially, that does shatter the record, but officially they have not officially listed it as that. But just note, that these are incredible totals that likely, when we get the official reports, did shatter records because this is over the course of storm totals of two days.

And notice in Elkridge, Maryland, that's in Howard County, 38 inches. 38 inches of snow. That's almost as tall as me. I can't even imagine. But that's what people are going to have to deal with, shoveling out.

The good news is the snow is now all the way offshore. It finally has stop snowing into Philadelphia, into Washington, D.C., though it certainly tough to travel. We had just the stoppage of complete travel with planes across much of the region.

Hopefully, we'll get everything back going tomorrow. Here's the concern for tonight. The winds are blustery in Atlantic City and Virginia Beach. And with these strong winds, we're going to see the snowdrifts kind of build and then lower and then build and then lower. It's so unpredictable because a strong gust of wind can make all the difference when it comes to how high the snow piles get, especially when you are shoveling out.

Keep in mind, temperatures tonight, Don, are in the 20s. Watch out for ice. Everything will freeze over tonight and stay frozen for tomorrow.

LEMON: It doesn't take much snow to get taller than you, Bonnie. You're a little thing. You're very petite.

SCHNEIDER: I was thinking about that as I said that. I'm like, well, it's not so much.

LEMON: It could just be a sprinkle, and it would might get taller than you. Just kidding.

Thank you, Bonnie. We really appreciate it.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

LEMON: Hey, we told you about our breaking news just a little bit earlier. We want to take you to New Orleans. These pictures courtesy of our affiliate WVUE. This is Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. Now mayor-elect of New Orleans. The Associated Press has confirmed it. He is going to replace Ray Nagin. That is at his headquarters. He is speaking there again.

Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, elected mayor of New Orleans. Again, according to the Associated Press. And this is his victory speech. We'll follow it here on CNN.

We'll also meet a funny man who was hiding a very sad affliction. Why his story is an unusual one in the African-American community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Sarah Palin was playing to a favorable crowd, but did she connect with people outside the tea party line? Specifically, independent voters who can really sway elections.

So let's welcome back our independent voter panel we spoke to just a little bit earlier. Joe Gandelman is editor-in-chief of "The Moderate Voice." He joins us from Naples, Florida. And Nicole Kurokawa is also independent voting analyst, and she is in Chicago.

So did Sarah Palin's message resonate with you, Joe?

JOE GANDELMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE MODERATE VOICE: Part of it. I mean, the thing is, I'll be candid with you. I'm turned off by candidates once they get into what I call the talk radio political culture. And once she talked about Obama being a law professor, it smacked to me of Rudy Giuliani talking about him being a community organizer. And I felt sort of a window shutting in my mind at that point, saying, here we go, another partisan speech.

Now, how did she connect with me? I think that was a big step forward. That was a speech that had a lot more substance. On the other hand, I'm listening to that speech and thinking, this is supposed to be a non-partisan movement? That was almost like a keynote speech to a Republican convention.

So I think -- I realize she can do a speech with a little more substance when I heard it this time, but I was turned off by the hopey, dopey thing that she said. I mean, these are nice lines she said.

LEMON: Hey, right there. You know what, let's play that for you and then we'll talk about it.

GANDELMAN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Obama administration promised that it would be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Remember, remember Vice President Biden? He was put in charge of a tough, unprecedented oversight effort. That's how it was introduced. You know why? Because nobody messes with Joe.

Now -- this was all part of that hope and change and transparency. And now a year later, I got to ask supporters of all that, how is that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So listen, Nicole, Joe said that turned him off hearing that. And I asked one of the people who was at the tea party earlier, two of the people, if it made them uncomfortable that she was so critical. And some of the comments we are getting are saying that she was sort of snarky when it came to criticizing the president.

What did you think about comments like that?

NICOLE KUROKAWA, INDEPENDENT VOTING ANALYST: I thought it was interesting that she had said that. She called politicians out for taking pot shots at other people, and then she went and did the same thing. She did the same thing she did in the vice presidential debate, you know, colloquially talking about Joe Biden.

It was a very red meat speech. I'm not surprised that the people that were there liked it, but she certainly wasn't trying to win over any converts. It was -- she played -- she was among friends and she played to that. But in terms of, you know, appealing to the middle, there was none of that.

LEMON: So I just want to get it clear here. And if you can give me one answer.

Nicole, do you think she appealed to independents in this speech?

KUROKAWA: No.

LEMON: Joe, do you think she appealed to independents in this speech?

GANDELMAN: Absolutely not.

LEMON: Absolutely not. OK, then what would you -- and that the thing is, she said here, you know, I think the Republican Party would be smart to try to bring in as many tea party people as possible. So is she -- I don't know, sort of just preaching to the choir when it comes to this, Joe? Is she speaking to a group that is already on the side of the Republican Party or on the side of the tea partiers?

GANDELMAN: That's been her problem since she was on the campaign. That Sarah Palin, she does have some real political abilities, but she essentially seems to be continually consolidating the people who already support her. And you think that she would want to reach outside her constituency and also try to reach outside the existing constituency of the tea party movement to bring others in, because there are independents who might say, well, we will listen to what you are saying about big government and taxes, and some of the things that you don't like about the Obama administration.

But if it is so snarky and so partisan, it's just -- it's like you can hear that on talk radio. I like talk radio sometimes, but I can just turn on the radio and hear that.

But there is more substance than I feared from that speech. I thought that it would be a speech that would just be a bunch of personal attacks and demonization. But she had a lot of substance in that speech as well.

LEMON: Yes. I started taking notes on it, and that was really the assessment of some of the people here, the political people that there was a lot of meat in the speech. There was a lot of substance.

So, Nicole, listen, she said at the end, she said what she liked most about tea partiers is that now even Democrats may be looking at them, and there may be some converts from the Democratic side, converts from the Republican side, and that people are just sort of peeling back the curtain and looking. And she's going to win more people over.

Is that -- is that stretching it to say that Democrats might join this movement?

KUROKAWA: Well, I think, obviously, it is a very motivated group of voters. I don't -- in terms of actually speaking to the American electorate, I don't think they actually speak for the majority of Americans. I think most Americans are very moderate. But they are very motivated. They are getting out the vote. And they are pushing people over it.

So when they are pushing the whole political landscape towards the right, they are forcing Republicans to become more conservative. They have also forced Democrats to re-evaluate some of their spending priorities. So I think it has certainly changed the political landscape, but I don't know -- this was not a politically inclusive speech. We keep hearing about Ronald Reagan.

I would love a compromise to be worked out where the Republicans don't talk about Ronald Reagan anymore, and the Democrats don't talk about George Bush anymore. That would be real change to me. That would be great. This was not inclusive.

LEMON: Yes. It seems like both of you are saying is, she had the opportunity to win over some independents and did not do it.

So Joe Gandelman and Nicole Kurokawa, thank you so much. Our independent panel. Appreciate it.

GANDELMAN: Thank you very much.

LEMON: He battled feelings of depression, even struggled sharing that with his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: She was the only one I could really open up to. But I didn't give her everything, because I still wanted her to know that, you know, I'm taking care of this family, you don't have to worry about anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We are talking about an issue that often goes undiscussed -- depression and its impact on African-American men.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tonight in "What Matters," our partnership with "Essence" magazine. We talk about an issue that often goes untalked about in the African-American community. And that is depression among black men.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's make some noise right now for Mr. Lance Thompson. Make some noise.

LEMON (voice-over): For Lance Thompson, making people laugh is his life.

LANCE THOMPSON, COMEDIAN: Like, men, we'll get a cup out of the cabinet, see that it's dirty, and we don't put it in the dishwasher. Where do we put it, fellas? Right back in the cabinet.

LEMON: On stage, he masters the crowd, but at home it's a very different story.

THOMPSON: I just felt like I was in a dark place. I didn't know what to do. I was -- I was not motivated to do anything. I was at work, I wanted to come home, just go to sleep, just get away from it all because sleep was my escape.

LEMON: There's a history of depression in Lance's family, and his wife worried that his condition could be severe.

OLIVIA THOMPSON, WIFE: I was afraid to leave him home with the baby. I didn't know if he was, you know, going to just -- if I was going to come home and he would not be breathing.

LEMON: Thompson was pursuing a dream and supporting a family, what most people take in stride. But for some reason the balancing act drove him deeper into feelings of depression.

L. THOMPSON: I love comedy. Comedy is my passion, but it made me feel -- I guess, less of a man to watch her work while I pursued my dream.

O. THOMPSON: I didn't want him to work. I wanted him to pursue comedy. Because he gave me the same opportunity when we were in Maryland. He said, just quit your job and go do hair. I'll take care of everything.

LEMON: The author of "The Things That Make Men Cry," Dr. Gloria Morrow says Thompson is no different than most men who typically don't share personal feelings. But for African-American men, it's an even bigger challenge.

DR. GLORIA MORROW, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: For black men, talking about emotional problems is not OK because, first of all, they would have to admit they have emotional problems. And we have been taught in our community that if you have emotional problems or mental health problems, then you are crazy.

LEMON: The Black Mental Health Alliance reports seven percent of African-American men experience serious depression in their lifetime. But as Dr. Morrow says, this isn't an exact science because many of these cases go unreported.

MORROW: To say that you are suffering from depression would suggest that you are weak and you are not a man. Men have been taught to fix problems and to provide for women. So for them to acknowledge that they are struggling in that area, that would be very problematic.

LEMON: So now Thompson is talking to anyone who will listen.

L. THOMPSON: If anybody else is going through it, talk about it is the first step. Get it all out and be real with yourself.

LEMON: Lance Thompson, breaking the silence that stole lives before him in order to save others.

L. THOMPSON: My name is comedian Lance Thompson. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And what you are saying about Sarah Palin's speech tonight coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. Time now for some of your comments. Men, you guys have been going on.

OK, let's see. "Please mention that she wrote notes on her hand while mocking teleprompters."

You know, a lot of people wrote that, I didn't see it.

Someone said, "I would rather be a charismatic guy with a teleprompter than a misguided woman with an index card."

"I just turn to CNN. Thank God, Palin's speech is over. I can watch again."

"I'm an independent. I voted for Bush twice, Obama in '08, and I think that Palin is a loom, leading a group of racist."

"Why did CNN cover Palin? This is not a national news. Given a small turnout at tea party gathering."

And for the person who said, "Don, you're looking thin. Are you OK?"

Thank you. I've been eating right. My mom fat me up for Christmas, so I'm trying to slim back down. Thank you for joining us. I'll see you back here tomorrow night.