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Digging out from the Blizzard; Stranded after the Storm; Terrorism Politics; Scavenging for Shelter ;Dow's Rough Ride; Toyota Shares Fall; Who Dat Celebrating?

Aired February 08, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that is our traveling music. That's it for us. But we're not done here at CNN, though.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: No, absolutely. We'll see you guys back here Monday -- I mean, Tuesday, but meantime the news continues with Brooke Baldwin in the CNN NEWSROOM.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday all day, right?

CHETRY: Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I know. We're all living (INAUDIBLE) our way, guys. Thank you.

CHETRY: It's Monday all day, right?

BALDWIN: I know, I know, I know. Thanks, guys. Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday to you, I'm Brooke Baldwin in for Kyra Phillips. And here is what we are working on.

First question. Playing political football with national security. The White House pushing back over GOP criticism of the Christmas bombing case.

And some call it the worst kept secret of the Afghanistan war. Why a new Afghan offensive is getting a bit of buzz before getting launched.

And samba princess outrage. Look at this young girl. Critics say a 7-year-old girl in makeup and in mini skirt is just plain wrong. A family judge will decide if her show goes on.

It is the start of the workweek, but for many people waking up this morning in the mid-Atlantic region work means grabbing a shovel, and rolling up the sleeves and digging out.

We have team coverage of the aftermath of the historic snowstorm areas. We have Reynolds Wolf braving the elements once again for us, taking a look at how the landscape really has changed for people in Northern Virginia.

Our Sarah Lee, she is at Reagan National covering all angles of travel. Not a whole lot of movement going on, I'm guessing, this Monday morning. And get ready for round two. Could it be a second snowy smackdown? Rob Marciano tracking yet another storm heading east.

But, first, I want to begin with Reynolds Wolf there in beautiful, old town Alexandria, just across from the Potomac River in Washington.

Hello, Reynolds. Really, just take me...

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Hello. So the big story is are, A, are people able to get out? I see a car behind you there so I guess people are driving, but how are road conditions this early Monday?

WOLF: Absolutely. You know looks can be deceiving. I mean you do see a lot of people on this main road. This happens to be King Street, and we're going to take America for a quick walk along parts of King Street to give you the idea of what's happening.

Hard to believe we haven't had a snow fake fall in this area for about, say, 48 hours, but still, I mean, anywhere you look, you're going to see it's all packed over here. Pretty solid, too, because where the plows have come through, it's been stacked up and out of the way, but then it began to melt a little bit yesterday and then froze solid overnight.

And then we've more snow in the forecast. I mean it's going to be some rough stuff. But in terms of the roads themselves, I mentioned the main roads are OK. Some of the freeways are in somewhat decent shape. But you're still going to run into areas where you have all kinds of messed up stuff.

When I say messed up stuff, we're talking about packed ice like this. First of all, you have some packed snow. You see the stuff that I am walking on, and then as you get over towards this area, you see a change a little bit where it's not really snow, but rather it is some black ice, which at times can be a very slippery thing, let me tell you as our photojournalist can tell you.

BALDWIN: Did he just fall?

WOLF: Certainly some slippery times. He's OK.

BALDWIN: Oh no.

WOLF: Are you OK? Are you OK, man?

BALDWIN: Is he OK?

WOLF: That's Tony. It's Tony. Is he OK? He's OK. But even more importantly, he looks good. But that's really a testament of what's been happening out here. I mean people will slip and fall and you have to be careful out there on the roadways to tell you the truth.

BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. Is he OK? WOLF: Very quickly. Very quickly. Couple of things. He's fine. He's smiling. And he's kind of laughing, too, which is a good sign. But very quickly...

BALDWIN: Maybe a little embarrassed.

WOLF: Couple of things to share with you. Trust me. America, trust me, Tony is fine. Couple of things to share with you is that the roadways, although they look good in some place, you're still going to have a lot of ice that you can slip and of course your car could have some issues with.

In terms metro travel, in terms of the railways, things are fine underground but the above ground stuff is going to be shut off. But even the stuff that's going to be underground, it's still serviceable every 30 minutes so you're going to have a little bit of a wait there.

Airports, we're going to give you some information about that and of course the forecasts including more snow and possibly more ice to slip on -- are you OK, chief? He's still smiling.

BALDWIN: All right, I'm going to let you...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'm going to let you give him a hand. Let him up. We thank him for sitting out there and we thank you as well. Obviously ice a big deal still in that area.

WOLF: Direct pressure.

BALDWIN: All right, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet, guys.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

All right, so Reynolds mentioned travel and we saw some people out and about on the road. But what about flying? Sarah Lee is live for us at Reagan National. Hopefully Sarah's feet are firmly planted on the ground.

Sarah, I know, technically, I guess, the airport has been opened. But are we seeing any flights coming or going yet out of D.C.?

SARAH LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really, Brooke, the only movement that we're seeing is inside the terminal, and that's hopeful travelers wheeling their bags.

This is pretty atypical for the beginning of the workweek in the nation's capital. Take a look at the boards. Still seeing a lot of cancelled, cancelled, cancelled. Where it does say "on time" those are really just place markers.

These carriers are telling us that they're hoping to be able to get these flights out sometime today once the airport's authority opens this place back up.

Similar situation in Baltimore, although they have opened with limited service. Out at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, they have now opened a second runway so they're getting a little bit closer to regular operations.

They do have four runways there total, but they're able to have more flexibility with that second runway open now to get more flights out.

Let's take a look outside. They made a lot of progress yesterday. They are really racing before this next storm comes in. But as you can see, there are no aircraft out there. But they are getting those fueling tanks out there. They've got some baggage carts so starting to see signs of life.

But again we are now contending with the re-freeze from overnight. They had five inches of ice on the ground out here in Reagan National yesterday so they were chipping and chipping and scraping that.

Plus we have the unique challenger here at this airport because it's relatively small. They can't just push the snow out of the way, they actually have to load it up into dump trucks and then haul it away. So just of course is taking a lot of time.

So advice to people who are watching this report, Reagan National Airport, right now aircraft are not going in or out and this is an airport that services about 700 flights on an average day, so we've got a huge backlog since the storm. So you've got to keep that in mind because it's going to have a ripple effect and a residual effect throughout the region, possibly throughout the country. Brooke?

BALDWIN: OK, so obviously it's a no go as far as flying. What about people who have to either get in or out of the district? I mean over on Capitol Hill Union station? What about the trains? Are those at least coming and going? Is that an option?

LEE: Well, the Northeast Corridor -- Northeast Corridor, very popular, well-traveled route between Washington, D.C. and up through Boston, that definitely has been affected by the storm. But things are looking up. Amtrak says they are operating the (INAUDIBLE).

It has their full allotment of trains, but the regional train, the one that stops a little bit more, they do have some cancellations there. So of course you're always going to want to call before you head out the door.

BALDWIN: All right. Sarah Lee, live at Reagan National for us this morning. Sarah, thank you.

And let's just get down and talk about the weather here, because there actually could be, Rob Marciano, another round of severe weather. Seriously?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. No, I think there's going to be one.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MARCIANO: It's not going to be three feet worth, but it's going to be substantial and you get anything on top of what they've already received, you've got some problems.

There is a complex scenario that's shaping up, but generally speaking it's affecting a lot of people.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: It's kind of fun at first but then it gets real old real fast.

MARCIANO: Those start to get old in February, yes.

BALDWIN: Wow. All right, Rob, thanks.

MARCIANO: OK.

BALDWIN: Let's talk Toyota, shall we? The company is saying hang on, hold on tight, a fix is on the way for all of you Prius owners.

The Japanese carmaker is expected to announce a fix for those brake problems. Remember with the antilock brakes, the hybrid, the 2010 model, this week? Prius, by the way, is the fourth best-selling auto in the U.S. Some 37,000 models are on U.S. highways today.

And Toyota plants here in the United States will be resuming production today on eight models. Those production lines were halted last week after those safety issues with the gas pedal service.

The company has recalled 8.1 million vehicles because of these different problems and fixing those cars will cost the company about $2 billion.

CNN, of course, continuing to follow today's Toyota troubles. You can also keep up with the story, just go to CNN.com.

It appears President Obama wants to make good in a promise made in his State of the Union speech. A White House official telling CNN that the president will meet a bipartisan group of lawmakers later on this month. The promise? The premise, rather, finding consensus on this health care bill. A prelude to that meeting is reportedly set for tomorrow at the White House.

And a power plant under construction in Connecticut. Now just in ruins. Have you seen these pictures? This massive natural gas explosion? State and federal investigators are heading there today. Search crews also have not finished just going through all the massive rubble.

Right now, in terms of numbers, we know five people have died, but more than two dozen others are injured in this blast. Some say they were thrown 40 feet by the explosion. It happened when workers purged a natural gas line. But it's still unknown exactly how many people were working at the plant when it actually blew up.

National security is a campaign issue. Are Republican complaints genuine? Not if you ask one of the country's top terrorism experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: T minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero, booster ignition, and lift off of shuttle Endeavor. NASA's final space station food (ph) compartment that brings a (INAUDIBLE) view to our celestial backyard.

BALDWIN: And there she went this morning. Picture perfect launch for the space shuttle Endeavor early, early this morning. After that low ceiling, that cloud cover delayed Sunday morning's scheduled liftoff. Belated (ph) after 4:00 a.m. that is Eastern this morning.

The six-member crew embarking upon a two-week mission, way, way up there to the International Space Station where they'll be delivering another connecting nodule to the facility.

This is the start of a busy week for NASA. Tomorrow the agency plans on launching an orbital observatory piggy backed on Atlas 5 rocket.

Playing politics with terrorism. That is the charge from President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser criticizing complaints from Republicans over the way the Christmas day bombing investigation has really been handled here.

CNN homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joining us live from our security desk in Washington this morning.

And, Jean, you know, I've read the complaints that the president is this Miranda-rights reading, soft-on-terror president. How was the administration responding to that?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday, a little push back from John Brennan, who's the president's top counterterrorism adviser. He said that he was tired of politicians using national security as a political football.

He accused them of making charges and allegations that were, quote, "not anchored in reality." And he waded into that controversy you mentioned about Mirandizing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He's the alleged Christmas day bomber.

Here is a bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: On Christmas night I called a number of senior members of Congress. I spoke to Senators McConnell and Bond. I spoke to Representative Boehner and Hoekstra. I explained to them that he was in FBI custody, that Mr. Abdulmutallab was, in fact, talking, that he was cooperating at that point.

They knew that in FBI custody means that there's a process that you follow as far as Mirandizing and presenting him in front of the magistrate. None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Well, those Republicans are pushing back. Kit Bond, he's the senator who's the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee issued this statement, saying, "Brennan never told me of any plans to Mirandize the Christmas day bomber. If he had I would have told him the administration was making a mistake. The truth is, that the administration do not even consult our intelligence chiefs as DNI Blair testified. So it is absurd to try to blame congressional leaders for this dangerous decision that gave terrorists a five-week head start to cover their tracks."

And so, if Mr. Brennan wanted to see the politics taken out of national security, that is a wish that is not going to be delivered. Not right away, anyway.

Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: What about the current threat situation? Did Brennan at all comment on that?

MESERVE: Yes, he talked about the fact that, of course, al Qaeda, is still an active threat, still trying to hit the homeland anytime. Specifically about Yemen. That's where we think the Christmas day bomber got his planning and got his bomb, got his training.

He said that they have had excellent cooperation from the Yemeni government and, using his words, he said we are now one step ahead of this curve.

Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Jeanne Meserve for us from our security desk in Washington this morning. Jeanne, thank you.

We're glad Jeanne got into work. Not a lot of you are able to this morning as we're still talking about a whole lot of snow in the mid-Atlantic area. And guess what? Apparently, there's a little bit more heading your way.

Our Rob Marciano is watching all of that happening in the Severe Weather Center.

Rob, in case people missed, I guess, a couple of minutes ago, go ahead and tell us again.

(WEATHER REPORT) BALDWIN: Sure. I know a lot of people in New York are thinking, we missed it, but I guess not so much, it sounds like.

MARCIANO: They may get a little bit.

BALDWIN: All right. Rob, thanks.

MARCIANO: You bet.

BALDWIN: Charges pending in the Michael Jackson case. The lawyer is in L.A., but when will he be in police custody?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Checking our top stories for you now.

We are still waiting for Dr. Conrad Murray to surrender to police or be arrested. Remember he's the man expected to face charges today in connection to Michael Jackson's death. Murray was there when Michael Jackson died of that prescription drug overdose last year.

And we will have a live report out of Los Angeles on that very story coming up next hour.

Also, actor Charlie Sheen due in a Colorado court today. He is facing charges stemming from a Christmas day fight with his wife, but she apparently doesn't want to press -- doesn't want to press the issue anymore. She said a judge originally ordered Sheen to Brooke Mueller, but now an attorney for the couple says the couple wants to work it out.

First time's a charm for the New Orleans Saints. Did you stay up and watch this one? Super Bowl champs in their first ever title game. New Orleans beating the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17. The victory parade schedule for tomorrow, and of course, we'll have much more on the party down in New Orleans later this hour.

Putting a roof over their heads. Hundreds of thousands in Haiti still looking for shelter. A shortage of tents is forcing some to rebuild with rubble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A court hearing is expected today for some of those 10 American Baptist missionaries held in Haiti, but it's still unknown exactly who's representing them. You see their attorney tells CNN he flat-out resigned from the case. He places a lot of the blame for the incident on the group's leader.

Now those missionaries are being accused of kidnapping 33 babies -- children all from Haiti into the Dominican Republic. These missionaries could be facing life in prison.

And nearly half a million homeless people are still living in those makeshift settlements in Haiti today. Only a tinny tiny percentage have made it to organize tent cities. The rest are making due with whatever building materials they can find hidden in that rubble.

CNN's John Vause has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a hammer and machete, Charles Jonas is building a new home.

"The corrugated iron came from my old house," he says. "The wood I got from around here."

He doesn't know how long he'll live like this with his wife, but with a shortage of tents he says he had to do something.

Across Port-au-Prince, it seems, there are hundreds of thousands of people just like Charles.

Sprawling shanty towns seem to grow larger and more permanent every day. This one is just across from the presidential palace. Street vendors have set up shop, and the women with the buckets, are walking pharmacies.

(On camera): So the people here are building these homes with whatever they can find. Sheets of corrugated iron, pieces of wood, this is actually what's left over from an outdoor billboard.

We asked this lady if we could go inside, have a look at the house, she said yes, so come on in. So inside here, this is all she has left. There's a bed, another bed, a mirror, some pots and pans. And inside this dark, hot, cramped house, she lives with her husband, her sister, and her four children.

(Voice-over): On the streets garbage is piling up and a pungent smell is a sharp reminder there's no sanitation. Ideal conditions for the spread of disease, say health workers.

(On camera): You got to get these people out of these conditions? And soon?

ISAAC BOYD, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: As quickly as possible.

VAUSE (voice-over): Isaac Boyd from Catholic Relief services is planning to move up to 200,000 Haitians into semi-permanent camps over the next two months. That will be home for up to five years.

BOYD: I haven't seen anything like this before. And that's saying a lot. I work in the different -- a lot of different context.

VAUSE: Thousands of tents are being given out, but that's just a fraction of what's needed. Medicines (INAUDIBLE) or Doctors Without Borders say these are strong enough to weather a hurricane. Welcome news for Frank (INAUDIBLE).

(On camera): He's been sleeping out in the open for almost a month now.

(Voice-over): So when he walked inside for the first time, he took off his shoes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

VAUSE: John Vause, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Tomorrow, it will be one month since that quake rocked Haiti. Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, they're heading back to Haiti to see how successful the relief efforts have been. You can watch on "AC 360" 10:00 p.m. Eastern weeknights.

The war in Afghanistan. A huge mission taking shape here. And a loud message getting sent. We will tell you why the allies want the Taliban to know they are coming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Right on cue. There is the bell. It has been a rough few weeks on Wall Street. The Dow's decline last week was the fourth decline in a row here. Stephanie Elam is in New York with more, and Stephanie, I know we have been watching the Dow in the past couple of weeks.

We have been flirting with that 10,000 mark yet again, have we not?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have. It's Groundhog's Day for us, and we keep going back to the 10,000 level.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

ELAM: But right now, we are expecting a slightly higher open today. It's a light week for economic report. Some investors don't really that have much to go on so that means we could see more volatility. Now, Toyota shares, they're down more than 1 percent in the premarket today. The automaker is expected to unveil a fix for the Prius' brake problems today. Some investors maybe a little under because the Prius is one of the Toyota's most popular vehicles.

Toyota shares fell nearly 3 percent last week, and CIT group. They found a new CEO. It will be John Thain who will now head up the small business lender which emerge from bankruptcy at the end of last year. They previously headed up (INAUDIBLE) was instrumental in getting Bank of America by the Company; however, Thain left the firm amid the outrage over bonuses and other reports that he spent $1 million redecorating his office. Then finally, the bank failure tally for 2010 has hit 16.

First American State Bank of Minnesota collapsed over the weekend but will reopen today under new ownership; 140 banks failed last year, so with that update, let's go ahead and take a look at the markets. The Dow industrials coming off their longest streak of weekly losses since last July. The Dow right now down 24 points and back below 10,000, 9,988 as you see there; the NASDAQ is off just a fraction right now, barely below the flat line at 2,141, so another day where we start in the red -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Oh men. All right. We need that rally. Stephanie Elam, keep an eye on this, will you.

All right, Stephanie. Sometime today, we should also know that we should be having an idea just how much money will be doled out to the nation's top bankers. New York's attorney general has stepped its deadline for the country's eight largest banks to reveal their planned employed bonuses. This issue really triggering public outcry from you, the taxpayer, who shelled out hundreds of billions of dollars in the all the bailout money. Many banks are trying to tent down the outrage by issuing the bonuses in the form of stocks instead of cold, hard cash, and tying the compensation to the company's performance.

Turning now to our security watch. There are some new concerns this Monday morning over Iran's nuclear program. Sometime tomorrow, the country says it will begin enriching uranium to 20 percent. Why do we care? That move stirs international fears that Tehran will use this enriched uranium to produce an atomic bomb. The oil-enriched nation is long contended that its nuclear program is intended solely for energy.

And to Afghanistan, NATO troops there about to launch their biggest defensive since the war began, and already the mission is now the worst kept secret of the war. So, why do the allies actually want the Taliban to know they are coming? CNNs Atia Abawi is in Helmand Province to explain why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President Barack Obama's new troops begin trickling in as a part of the 30,000-force surge, the U.S. coalition and Afghan government are abnormally vocal about the next major battle. NATO and Afghan forces will be fighting side by side in major numbers.

Operation Moshtarak, a word meaning "together" in Dari is said to have already begun and is shaping phases ahead of a full-pledge assault. The target: Marjah, the last major Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province. Its fertile land is right for farming poppies and the absence of government keeps the drug trade alive and strong.

GEN. LARRY NICHOLSON, U.S. MARINES: Where else would we go? It's the only place left in the Marine and its reiterative operations that we're not in. So I think it's fairly inevitable and I think there's a certain strength in this customary culture from stopping -- from, you know, just kind of laying it out there and say, hey, we are coming, deal with it.

ABAWI: Nearly 100,000 people live in Marjah, and the operation is an example of General Stanley McChrystal's strategy to focus on population centers and separate the Taliban from the people and then try to gain their trust.

NICHOLSON: I really think of the preponderance of force going very strong and fast will reduce the opportunity for civilian casualties. Our guys are well-trained. And I think we demonstrated over the last 10 months, we get it.

ABAWI: The coalition says they are preparing for a bloody battle boosting its hospital staff. Most casualties are expected to be caused by the number one killer of coalition troops, improvised explosive devices.

LT. CMDR. GREGG GELLMAN, U.S. NAVY: The way that they're planting them and burying them is pretty deep in the ground so they just blow straight up.

ABAWI: In Helmand alone, more than 80 percent of casualties among foreign troops are because of IEDs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Atia Abawi joining me now live from Helmand Province.

Atia, what do we know about all of the civilians? There are, I know, thousands of them in this particular area.

ABAWI: Absolutely. The population of Marjah is around 80,000 to 100,000 people. This is a part of General Stanley McChrystal's strategy to go to the population centers. The information that we are getting right now is that at least 95 families have left Marjah going to the capital of Helmand lost their gun (ph). Ninety-five families may not seem like a lot, but these aren't families of just three to four people, and Afghanistan, particularly in Southern Afghanistan, one family can consist of anywhere from 15 to 30 people.

So, obviously thousands of Afghans leaving the city of Marjah expecting a bloody battle between the insurgence as well as the coalition forces, but when you talk to commanders here on the ground, with the marines, with the Afghan general, they say that they understand the importance of civilian casualties. They know any civilian casualty comes at the cost of Afghan support and that's one thing that they know they cannot lose -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, they are heading out of town. Again, just to reemphasize, this is the biggest offensive since the war began. Atia Abawi live for us this morning out of Afghanistan. Atia, thank you.

China cracking down on a new breed of criminal making it a little bit safer for you to surf the web. We're back in a moment after we hit the refresh button.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Top stories now. A strange discovery onboard a Delta Airlines flight from New York to Japan yesterday. What did they find? An extra passenger found dead. Airport police say the body of a dark- complexed man was discovered in the plane's landing gear bay after arriving in Tokyo. Police speculating he might have frozen or became fixated at the high altitude, and investigation is underway there.

BALDWIN: Police in China say they have shut down what they believe to be one of the largest website to train cyber criminals with the arrest of three people accused of running the Black Hawk Safety Net which reportedly offered how to hack instruction and sold children's software. Crack down after computer giant Google threatened to leave China after those alleged cyber attacks.

And Ringo Starr, the longtime backbone of the Beatles about to break some new ground. The 69-year-old Beatle master for the "Fab Four" getting his very own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. That will happen later today. Did you know this? The last person not to have a star, front man/bases Paul McCartney, the last Beatle to be starless.

And now time to check the quick news polls. Taking a sneak peak over my right shoulder. Let me tell you what some of the top stories are right now buzzing around on cnn.com. A lot of people right now - of course, we just saw Stephanie Elam at New York's stock exchange talking stocks, already under 10,000 this morning stock, the number one story right now.

Also, did you watch the Super Bowl? The Super Bowl ads, a lot of people talking about the commercials. Third story down, 100-year-old whisky on ice and that is out of Antarctica. And the fourth most popular story, that story out of Connecticut, the massive blast that killed five people yesterday on inter-dozen more (ph).

Again, reminder, you can always go to that website. Go to newspolls.cnn.com And we want you to know the page is updated every 15 minutes.

Sarah Palin is sporting some ink like this kind of ink this day. Did you watch this? No, not talking tattoos. Good old from pin ink. The former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate did keep some crib notes, see in her palm of her hand, kept those crib notes to her fingertips this weekend, or make it her palm. More importantly, does she have a potential White House bid up for sleeve?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Former GOP vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin says she will not dismiss a possible run at the White House come 2012. Palin offered the very latest on her future political aspirations prior to her keynote speech Saturday at national at the first ever tea party convention where, check this out, her handy crib notes were spotted by cameras on her hand, palm of her hand, And her anti-Democratic rant was welcomed by that Nashville audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R) FORMER V.P. CANDIDATE: You know, considering the recent conservative election week, it's time that they stop blaming everyone else. When you are 0 for 3, you better stop lecturing and start listening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Regarding her plan for 2012, the former Alaska governor said she would run for president if she believed it was the right thing to do for her country and her family.

New workweek getting under way, but a lot of you waking up to a whole lot of snow out your windows. A lot of the country just paralyzed from the weekend's viscous storms. I want to take you to a couple of cities just to check this out, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that's where we'll start. We're seeing as much as 30 inches of snow and leaving a whole lot of roads just downright impassable. In fact, the city has brought in private contractors just to help salt and plow their roadways. They are actually helping out all of those public crews who work around the clock since the snows are falling Friday.

Over to Maryland where the snow total has reached 38 inches. Baltimore says most of its main roads are now clear. Cruise are now focusing on the secondary, the side street, and let's flip it and go to the other side of the country, where, yes, we are not seeing snow. We're seeing a lot of mud. Mudslides and heavy rains. They really washed out and washed away, burnt out and burying hillsides in the Los Angeles county area. The mandatory evacuations have been lifted, but at least 43 homes are damaged. That's the latest we have out of L.A.

We just got word that Reagan International Airport is re-opening in about 20 minutes time. In fact, checking my e-mail here's the note, flights will resume on a limited basis, but travelers are urged to call ahead to their carriers before coming to the airport. Keep that in mind.

Also, another storm for the mid-Atlantic states. Yes, another winter wallop, so they're going to be digging out of the stuff again.

Let's get straight to Rob Marciano for more on that. And I guess Rob, part of the story is the snow and the other is just the cold.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes and the cold is not going to go away for quite some time. The pattern that we're in globally or at least in the western hemisphere is remarkable and we're stuck, basically.

So the cold air is just going to keep filtering down, not dramatically bitter, bitter cold stuff, but certainly temperatures that will be at or below average over the next several days through a couple of weeks.

All right, the energy that brought the rainfall across Southern California and finally gave those hillsides in (INAUDIBLE) plenty of rains (ph) to give way, it's now moving down across the south in to Texas.

Meanwhile, we've got a piece of energy that's driving across the upper Midwest. Well let's see where those are going to get together and drive across the Mississippi River and in through Ohio River Valley over the next day or two. And as that happens we're expecting to see a confluence of events over an area that doesn't really need any more snow.

Snow up to 12 inches in some of this spots here; this is actually for later today and then tonight. The heavy rain across the south that includes parts of Dallas, getting close to Oklahoma City but north of that, it turns into a wintry mix.

And then the -- windy certainly behind this thing and cold we know that, because this pattern just doesn't want to give up at all. 34 degrees expected high temperature in New York, 35 in D.C. so slightly getting above freezing. That sunshine will help maybe some of the roadways clear some snow, but it's not going to melt it entirely.

And then quickly, here comes our next snow maker or here comes the moisture from Oklahoma City over to Memphis. Memphis got a quick three inches of snow earlier this morning. And now that's racing towards the southern parts of the Appalachians and as it heads across the Appalachians it will get into the D.C., Philly and Baltimore area.

A live shot of Oklahoma City, or maybe a tape turned anyway, we've got bad roads there. A mixture of rain sleet and freezing rain and snow will be turning to all snow later on today. Obviously, a bit of a slushy mix there on the roadways.

You have that live shot of Chicago that we've talked about, maybe we can throw that up as well.

But in the meantime, let's talk airports. As Brooke mentioned Reagan National is closed for now but will reopen soon.

There you go a magnificent mile, you will be probably covered in snow, later on tonight and tomorrow; about six inches or maybe more than that in the Chicago proper area.

Memphis, here you go. We got a ground stop over the next hour -- or until now. They may extend that, they've been extending it all morning. And Minneapolis, St. Paul seeing some delays as well. Ft. Lauderdale seeing some delays. And again, Reagan National about to open in about ten minutes on a regular basis.

That's what we've got cooking here. Six to 12 inches potentially across the same areas Brooke, that got the snow over the weekend. And again, on a longer term -- a longer term story, we're not going to see temperatures go above average I don't think for a good 10, if not 14 days as far as the weather pattern is concerned.

BALDWIN: Yes, I've got a lot of friends in the D.C. area and they are, you know, posting other fun pictures, you know, snow balls and stuffs, but after a couple of days it's like stir crazy city.

MARCIANO: But there are some people that want the snow. My friends in New York who felt a bit slighted...

BALDWIN: They were left out?

MARCIANO: Yes and folks here in the south a bit slighted as well. New York will get snow from this next system and then there's another storm late in the week that will likely bring snow across parts of the south so...

BALDWIN: So we'll get a little bit of it... MARCIANO: Everybody getting a little bit of it...

BALDWIN: All right, everybody is happy then for a little while, I guess.

MARCIANO: Yes.

BALDWIN: Rob Marciano, thank you.

MARCIANO: You bet.

BALDWIN: So have you heard this story? There's this samba queen at the center and suddenly this national controversy in Brazil. And why is it controversial? Well, here she is, she is 7. A samba group chose this young lady Julia Lira (ph) to lead a performance at next week's carnival. That means staying up late. Wearing costumes with not a lot of fabric and dancing a dance a lot of people consider suggestive, the samba.

Julia's parents, there they were, they say, she is just a little girl who loves to dance, but now a family judge is deciding whether to block Julia's vocation.

And that brings us to today's blog question. We want to know from you, what do you think about the 7-year-old being allowed to lead the samba carnival, given what she is wearing and how she is dancing? Or do you think hey, it's just a Brazilian culture, let her do it? Go to CNN.com/Kyra and post your thoughts. I definitely am interested and hear what you have to say and I'll read them live for you on the air next hour here on CNN.

Saints fans hiding their faces behind those paper bags? That is so '80s. Fast forward to now, "Who Dat," a whole new look compliments of the team's new title. They are not "the ain'ts," they are the Saints.

Super Bowl champs, we are bound to Bourbon Street, are you game?

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BALDWIN: New Orleans has elected a new mayor. Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu easily beat his opponents. Landrieu becomes the first white mayor of New Orleans in more than 30 years. The last one was his father, Moon Landrieu who replace outgoing Mayor, Ray Nagin, who simply couldn't run again because of the term limits.

But let's get to story out of New Orleans that you really want to hear about this morning. Really early start to the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans after the hometown team, the Saints, won their first ever Super Bowl title. This thing has been a long time coming.

CNN's Ed Lavandera got a pretty good gig; he's got a good here. He has the latest on the big party underway in the Big Easy -- hey, Ed.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Euphoria and pandemonium erupts in New Orleans' French quarter. Even the city that likes to brag it perfected the art of partying has never seen a celebration like this.

This moment is a dream come true for Angie Koehlar, who grew up in New Orleans' French quarter. And caught up in this moment, she told me when she dies she wants to be buried in this homemade jacket painted in honor of the Saints which she wore when they won the Super Bowl.

(on camera): Angie, what does this mean to the city?

ANGIE KOEHLAR, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: This is everything. This is, collectively, this is the happiest days of our life, through the region; Louisiana, the Gulf Coast. Thank you, everybody, for your support. We are truly the happiest place on earth. Disney World has nothing on New Orleans.

LAVANDERA: The magnitude of the Saints' victory is not lost on the team's most popular player, quarterback Drew Brees.

DREW BREES, SAINTS QUARTERBACK: What can I say? We played for so much more than just ourselves. We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for all the -- entire Who Dat nation.

LAVANDERA: More than four years after Hurricane Katrina the theme of New Orleans coming back from the brink of death runs deep through the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who dat? Who dat going to beat them Saints? Who dat? Who dat?

LAVANDERA: Overshadowed by the Saints' Super Bowl victory was the election of a new mayor on Saturday. Mitch Landrieu won a decisive victory with more than 60 percent of the vote, becoming the city's first white mayor since his father left office 32 years ago.

MITCH LANDRIEU, MAYOR-ELECT, NEW ORLEANS: The only way to do that is for us to seek, to find, and to secure higher common ground where we come together as one people and do what is necessary to secure our future.

RAY NAGIN, OUTGOING MAYOR, NEW ORLEANS: We're going to party like it's 1999.

LAVANDERA: Just days before the Super Bowl, we caught up with outgoing mayor, Ray Nagin, who could only imagine what a Super Bowl party would do to a city already celebrating a rowdy Mardi Gras season.

(on camera): Will you say a little prayer -- prayer for New Orleans?

NAGIN: I think you're going to pray for us after. There's going to be a lot of people in Detox, AA, what have you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): New Orleans is back. And who knows when this party will end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Now that the sun has come up on a long night of partying here in New Orleans, it doesn't show any signs of slowing up. The Saints return home this afternoon and then a big city wide parade on Tuesday afternoon. And we've heard of many businesses and schools that will be shutting down to celebrate the moment. Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera with the big party in New Orleans. Ed thank you.

Folks, there's a lot going on for a Monday morning. And our CNN crews are in place to bring you all the details.

Want to begin with meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in the thick of things in Alexandria, Virginia -- hey Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You know this is more of the many towns of the region that's still in a deep freeze. And the thing is we have more snow coming up right up the road. We have more on that coming up in a few moments right here on CNN.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Does the age of the mother affect a child's chances of developing autism? You bet it does. I'll have more on that at the top of the hour.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And the Toyota story that is ongoing. We're going to have the latest on Toyota's troubles. Also, if you're a Prius owner, listen up. Toyota might have a fix for that brake problem coming as soon as early this week. All the details at the top of the hour -- Brook.

BALDWIN: Thanks guys. Also ahead, a story I was just tweeting about. This pint-sized samba queen in Brazil, she is raising a whole lot of eyebrows for a country that sees a lot during carnival. And it's raising some serious questions. Is she too young for this saucy celebration? We will have the story straight from Rio de Janeiro.

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