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Second Snow Storm Assaulting Mid-Atlantic; BET CEO Talks About Network's Programming Changes

Aired February 09, 2010 - 14:01   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, President Barack Obama not expected to come out and do the daily briefing at the White House and that happens at 1:30 Eastern every day, but he did show up and it was quite a speech. He was talking tough largely about bipartisanship, but he did touch on healthcare, he touched on Iran and a number of other issues, including energy.

Let's go right to Gloria Borger, our Senior Political analyst to try and make some sense of what the President were saying. Gloria, thank you for joining us on this.

The president in a state union pledged that he was going to make greater efforts at bipartisanship. So he held a meeting this morning with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell, and they discussed a bunch of things, and then he came out to talk about it.

But I thought it was very interesting off the touch where he said, American people are tired of everyday being election day in Washington. What do you make of the tone of the speech about bipartisanship?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it is kind of interesting. First of all, this is part of the new Barack Obama who is coming out there surprising us many times, you know. Reporters said there has not been a formal press conference, right, in a long time.

And suddenly he just shows up in the press room at the White House. There is a lot of skepticism about what is going on particularly in health care both on the Democratic side, but particularly on the Republican side. He met with Republicans this morning who are clearly thinking they are being set-up in all of this.

VELSHI: Yes.

BORGER: That the Democrats are going to agree to their own health care bill, and what are they doing there if none of the ideas are going to be adopted? And they are going to look like the obstructionists, so there is clearly a great deal of tension there.

And very clear that the president is setting them up to have to come to come to the table. He said a few things. He said, I won't hesitate to condemn what I consider to be abstinency. He said bipartisanship can't just be the president or the Democrats agreeing to Republican suggestions, but not Republicans not agreeing to Democratic suggestions.

VELSHI: I can't tell what happened in that meeting given the speech, because it sounds like words that he would use before going into that meeting to warn them about it. What do we have any sense of that meeting?

BORGER: Well, I think that it is clear that Republicans were saying to him, for example, we want some questions answered before we even sit down with you. In other words, can you promise us that you won't try to go around us and use this budget process to only get a majority vote to approve this health care bill?

Some Republicans are saying, look, like Olympia Snowe, we need to start from square one again, because your approach has been rejected by the American people, and the Democrats are saying, absolutely no way. We have done nine months' worth of work on this, and there are some things that we can agree on.

So what the president is saying, we will give some and I will be prepared to give some maybe on malpractice reform, which is what you want, but if you think you can cover more people and it is going to cost less money, you got to show it to me.

Right.

BORGER: And so, it is pretty tough. Pretty tough.

VELSHI: He did say he would work around the Senate in particular if they don't deal with some confirmations. He actually said he would consider recess appointments in the upcoming recess if the senate continues to refuse to confirm some -- I don't know what word it was he used, but routine confirmations and other confirmations that are not controversial.

BORGER: Yes, there is some precedent to this. The Senate is holding up a lot of the president's appointments, and particularly Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama who is holding up, because he has not gotten a couple of the ear marks through the Congress that he would like, and Senators can play games this way with the White House.

And the president is saying, if you want to play these games with me and hold up my appointments most of which I consider to be noncontroversial then I am going to appoint them any way when you're in recess. And they're going to be out in recess for the upcoming, I guess, President's day or whatever it is, and he says if you don't move them through the pipeline. He put them on notice about that.

And of course, he has a meeting coming up February 25th, on healthcare, a bipartisan meeting and I thought it was interesting, he quoted Senator Moynahan saying you are entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. He emphasized that you need to be in agreement on the facts of coverage and cost and then move forward from a shared base of understanding.

BORGER: Right and he keeps going back to the example. If the you have a way to cover all of these people and it costs less money, bring it on. He said it at the conference with House Republicans that he attended and said it again today. Look, the interesting thing that is going to be when we head into the February 25th session, Ali, is it going to be kabuki or is it going to be real?

VELSHI: Right.

BORGER: And we just don't know the answer to that right now. Right now, you have skeptical people on both sides of the aisle. There are many Democrats who have gone to the president and said, this is not going the happen. We understand why you are going to happen, but you can't leave us in the dust and start adopting Republican ideas when we have been taking the tough votes in Congress all year long on your health care proposal, endangering our congressional seats, and you cannot leave us stranded out there. He has problem on both sides.

VELSHI: Very interesting speech, Gloria. Thanks very much for helping was this speech, but it is not a speech, it is a White House briefing. It is not working that way, and he came out to say what he said in lieu of the normal briefing and then he took questions. It did certainly start out sounding a good deal like the speech.

All right, when we come back, we've got weather systems moving across this country making some havoc, dumping a lot of snow. It's in the mid-west right now headed to the north east in the Atlantic states. We're going to go back to Washington where Reynolds Wolf is bracing for more snow there and give you the whole picture across the country. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

All right, we have severe weather across this country. Right now, it is in the Midwest of the country heading east. Snow will start in the mid-Atlantic states in the east again this evening. You can see that weather pattern moving quickly.

Let's take a look at Chicago O'Hare Airport. There are some delays there, and this is not -- it looks serious, but Chicago is used to snow, so it is able to muddle through this, and there are delays. That is WGN, our affiliate, there and the snow is continuing to go through there in the evening. We will check in with Reynolds in D.C. and Chad who is handling it here.

But our affiliate did check in with some passengers at O'Hare to get some sense of how they're feeling. Listen to this.

Of course, we all get freaked out, but we hope we are one of the lucky ones to leave.

Right now it says on time, but once I get to the gates, I don't know what will happen.

Totally done. My 3-year-old son wakes up every morning and looks outside and says I'm tired of Christmas, Mommy.

Tired of Christmas! What kind of attitude is that? Take a look at the map here and take a look at this. I got Chad here on the case, and we can see as we have been watching all day the storm system moving.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and in fact, I now have Santa tracker back turned on. It is turned on again just to see if maybe he is confused.

VELSHI: Right, this must be Christmas.

MYERS: Yes, let's deliver some more toys and I have sent out my list already. And the snow and the purple area here is a large small map and zoom in here, the purple here, all of the way from Allentown, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Lancaster and through the Delaware gap, that is where I believe the heaviest snow will be. There could be a chance of strong weather across parts of Florida.

VELSHI: And we have been watching that. We've seen twisters there through in the past few weeks.

MYERS: Yes, but the difference is when this low comes in and makes the turn here, it will increase the snow and something ugly to go on in Boston. Here are my numbers right now. D.C., it is not a big deal for you, although, five inches on any other day, that is a big deal.

Any other day, five inches is a big deal, but it is relative with 20 inches on the ground. Philadelphia another 10 and New York City another 10 and some spots could be 18. Then the wind starts to blow and then it can get ugly. This is O'Hare and I saw you had a picture earlier, but 100 planes in the air out of O'Hare and 95 to O'Hare back in. So planes are still moving.

VELSHI: It is happening

MYERS: It still just fine, and a couple of planes are slow, but compared to what it could be and sometimes is on a non-snow day is going to be. D.C. is going to be seeing snow soon and New York later tonight. Look out tomorrow, and although you may not have school anyway, you may not have school from the next storm.

VELSHI: You make an interesting point, O'Hare is moving and D.C. will get more snow, but it is different in D.C. and Chicago than other cities.

MYERS: Well, I worked in the Delphi and one inch of snow would shut down the government.

VELSHI: So, they are not equipped to handle that.

Yes, you have it piled up this high already. And we want to talk about the mudslides in California, because we have been reporting for couple of weeks the heavy rains there. There continues to be mudslides there in California and a lot of those deforested areas, and we have pictures here where we vanish shoe in some areas where 541 homes have been evacuated or should have been evacuated at this point, because of the mudslides. What are we looking at here? Is this San Francisco?

MYERS: This is your hometown. VELSHI: This is New York?

MYERS: Well, I have pulled up -- I am totally discombobulated.

VELSHI: That is the Hudson hawk which is the next storm. Do you know the Hudson hawk?

MYERS: It is a cold wind blowing down the Hudson which is cold in the west side. And it is also a movie.

VELSHI: Yes, I know movie.

MYERS: And "swinging on a star" is my son's favorite song and I wanted to show you that.

VELSHI: I thought you were pulling California, because we were talking mudslides.

MYERS: Well, the rain in San Francisco and L.A. is an inch at best and not a story.

VELSHI: So the mud is a bit of a question?

MYERS: Already saturated and it is moving because it is saturated.

VELSHI: All right, let's go to D.C. We've been talking a great deal about that. Reynolds is in D.C. standing by in Georgetown right now?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In Georgetown, indeed, and we have quite a few people out and about and making some last-minute shopping. And some of them may be getting ready for the storm, but many of them, Ali, are happy to get out of the house due to cabin fever, and something else that is coming out is the sun.

Look at this, and this is a shot of the sun coming through the clouds. That is certainly a promising sign, but still, the winter storm warning is still in effect for the area and as Chad said, maybe five inches of snowfall and some places more and some less, but still, snow is in the picture.

You see the snow on the sidewalks still, and people coming through here and no problems coming along the streets here in Georgetown, but the snow in the center divider, but maybe more in the forecast. Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Reynolds we will stay with that story and find out what's going on D.C. and Chad is continuing to watch how the storm is developing. You promised us an update to the snow totals you will give us a sense of what is going on?

When we come back, I will talk to one of the most successful women in entertainment and business. Stay watching us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: OK, the Black Entertainment Television network hit the air in 1980, the only channel dedicated to airing programs targeting African-American audiences. Most of the programming features urban music and entertainment. The network also shows syndicated TV series, original programs and some public affairs and Christian programs. Right now BET is said to reach about 11 million viewers nationwide.

We are paying particular attention to it in Black History Month right now. I want you to listen to this. We were talking yesterday about "Black List" volume three, an HBO special that aired last night. Here is someone named Debra lee. Listen to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA LEE, CHAIRMAN & CEO, BET NETWORKS: The network should be ashamed where they are in terms of showcasing diverse audiences on TV. It is never going to change until you have minorities running these networks or at least in the room who point out if you see a commercial or you see a show and you don't see a black person or a Hispanic person or an Asian person that someone should ask why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. Debra Lee joins me now, she's the chairman and CEO of BET networks.

Debra, thank you very much for being with us.

LEE: Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

VELSHI: We just played that clip of you. Do you believe that we are not just with respect to African-Americans, but our newsrooms and our networks and our entertainment in this country, is far off from being adequately representative of the nation?

LEE: Oh, well, of course. I mean, you don't see very many diverse faces on TV. We have made some progress and I think cable especially has held that with the advent of 500 channels, you can have niche targeted networks, a network like BET that has been around for 30 years, you said we have 11 million viewers, but we have over 90 million subscribers in this country and not to mention we have probably about 15 million overseas.

So there has been some progress, but when you look at ABC, CBS, NBC, there is still a lot that needs to be done and the problem is our voices aren't being heard and that is something that we try to do every day, but unless you have television executives of color in the newsrooms and in the programming meetings, you are never going to see a wide variety of voices for these folks.

VELSHI: This argument can be used with respect to anything. You can talk about it in the boardrooms of America. What is the solution?

LEE: That is true.

VELSHI: It's one thing to say it. What do we have to do to better reflect the nation in our boardrooms, in our newsrooms? What is the work to be done?

LEE: Well, there has to be an ongoing concerted effort to have television executives of color. You are right. The same can be said for boardrooms across the country. I think you see a change in the movement there to try to get more women, more minorities on these boards, but any company that is not thinking about how do I appeal to -- I can't even say minority anymore, because we are becoming the majority -- but if companies and boardrooms and television networks and advertisers aren't thinking about this population, they're going to be left behind.

VELSHI: Let's talk about you have been with BET for a very, very long time and you back in 2005, you had protesters at your home. It was actually sort of a big movement saying that BET was perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-American people through music videos and through entertainment that was stereotypical.

Tell me about that and where you have come since then.

LEE: Well, a lot of the purpose of that protest was really sparked by the Don Imus situation and by the public's outcry that hip- hop music should take a different stance and because, and because we are so music-oriented, BET was in the midst of that. Since I became CEO of BET almost five years ago, what I tried to do was focus more on original programming, show African-Americans in all different aspects of life, whether it is reality shows or scripted programs, news, in addition to music to show the overall depth of our community.

And we are beginning to see progress in that area. Our ratings are up. We just finished 2009 and had our best year in our 30 year history, saw audiences really relating to that as we do different kinds of programming. So our challenge is to create original content that is compelling and that's truly reflective of the diversity of even the African-American community.

VELSHI: Debra Lee, great to talk to you. Thank you very much for being with us.

LEE: Thank you.

VELSHI: Debra Lee is chairman and CEO of BET networks.

When we come back, we are going to drop in on our security desk. The Department of Homeland Security is taking your suggestions. We're going to tell you how is it that you speak up and get listened to.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Want to have a bigger role in government and have a say in how things are done? You can do that now. Let's go to Jeanne Meserve. She is with our Security Desk in DC, talking about how the Department of Homeland Security Jeanne is actually so listening and trying to take ideas from average Americans. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That is right. A lot of people have complaints about the Department of Homeland Security. Now you can make those complaints or make suggestions on the web. If you go to their website which is www.dhs.gov/open, they're going to give you the opportunity to make a comment. Some people are already doing so.

Here is a sample of what one person said. The Detroit office as of last month has approximately 4,328 pending cases. I am sure they are doing their best to resolve most of them. Hiring more officers surely would help in resolving these cases quicker. So there is a very positive approach from one person, but not everybody is buying into this.

We have another one that's pretty negative. National security isn't a web 2.0 Wikipedia-like undertaking. I trained for years to be expert in my field. I expect those protecting our country to be trained experts who have done the same and can lead with their knowledge, experience and creativity. This forum is nothing more than a feel-good exercise. I hope if the safety of the country depends on a suggestion box, we are doomed.

Now the Department of Homeland Security says this is all about transparency. It's all about making government more responsive. They said that the TSA did this exercise internally and some of the suggestions may actually did lead to changes (INAUDIBLE) this screening. So if you have something you want to say, go ahead and say it.

VELSHI: I was going to say, I never really think that just because somebody's opening it up to suggestions that all of a sudden the Department of Homeland Security is being run by average Americans. I assume that nobody is being replaced just because they are soliciting e-mails and comments.

MESERVE: I think that is probably a very safe assumption to make Ali. They just want to get some ideas and sometimes the public does see things that people inside the bureaucracy don't.

VELSHI: Jeanne Meserve at our Security Desk, thanks. Good to check in with you and we'll keep on doing that all week.

One of the things we're going to keep on doing all day and all week and given the weather that is going across this country is we're going to keep on checking in with Chad Myers at the severe weather center.

We'll be with him in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let's pop back in on Chad to see what is going on in the weather situation across the country. Unlike the last storm, Chad and I'm an amateur at this, it does seem that this one is moving very rapidly across the country. MYERS: Yes, if it does this little watusi as we call it, which is kind of a dance -- but that's what we call it. It's a weather term. If the low comes out, swings through and then does a loop, that loop slows everything down by six hours. If you are getting two to three inches of snow per hour for six additional hours, all of my numbers are out to lunch. They're all done.

But the way we see it now, in the computer models that we see now, DC about five more inches of snow. That is a paralyzing snowstorm on a regular day, not when you already have 20 on the ground. Philadelphia though 10, New York City, 10 to 18, Baltimore probably somewhere in the same period here and then Boston a wind event at 10 to 16. And at this time every day, what do I like to do?

VELSHI: You like to go off of the radar.

MYERS: I like to go OTR.

VELSHI: And how that's off the radar? We've been looking at the White House all afternoon.

MYERS: Did you see that guy right there?

VELSHI: You were mentioning earlier that you see him a lot and he walks across the top. I would assume he's doing something important.

MYERS: That's just my guess. But this is the White House that does not have a flat roof, but a lot of buildings in Baltimore, in DC, all those areas, all those row houses all do have flat roofs. If you put 40 inches of snow on a flat roof that is the same as four inches of water on a flat roof, so if you take that -- I'll kind of draw a building here because I can -- we make a building there and then all of a sudden there is the roof and here's a little window, there you go. So if you put 40 inches of snow on that roof up there and it is weighing down on the roof and you melt it down, that is a lot of weight. That is the same -- if you have a 1,500-square-foot house, that is the same as putting 200 people on your roof and having a party. How safe are you with 200 people on your roof? I wouldn't be happy about it.

Well, I don't recommend going up there and shoveling, although that's what we did in Buffalo. If you didn't shovel your roof or you didn't shovel your pool, the pool deck, it will all collapse.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: That's right.

MYERS: You would lose it all. They do that in Minnesota as well. But the deal is here, and this is because there are so many people that I don't want them climbing up on the roof shoveling, if water starts coming through your ceiling, if you hear cracking above you, it is time to get out and call an expert.

VELSHI: Call an expert. That's a good point. Don't try and do it yourself, because you will get more injuries out of that.

MYERS: There must be men out there, people out there, willing to do this better, insured and you don't want them to fall off your house, because then it is on your insurance and then talk about the big roofs like the big gymnasium roofs. We can worry about that now if you have 40 inches of snow on top of a big gym roof, things start to slide.

VELSHI: And in the snowy parts of the country, folks, they do know that after a while, you got to do this and there are people who do it. One thing you mentioned with last week's storm was the density, the amount of water, why it wasn't as big an accumulation in some places, because it was a wetter snow.

MYERS: Big snowman snow.

VELSHI: Big snowman snow.

MYERS: And so you have a lot of water density, compared to light fluffy 60 inches of light powder that you might ski on in Utah, different than 40 inches of dense snow, very heavy, all pushing down.

VELSHI: Do we know what this storm is carrying? Is it a denser snow or is it normal snow or is it light fluffy snow?

MYERS: Both. The first half of the storm will be a wet heavy snow and then after that, it begins to blow around so then we have the ground blizzard blowing around the light snow.

VELSHI: Very good.

MYERS: Just be careful and look at those warning signs.

VELSHI: Good to know. If you see water coming in, don't try and figure it out yourself and don't go getting on your roof to try and figure it out if you don't have an expertise in this area.

Now, way above you in the space shuttle "Endeavor" in space, it is getting ready to dock at the international space station. This is an interesting story. All six astronauts aboard are now asleep. They have been working through the early morning hours to prepare the shuttle for docking. They've also checked to make sure that "Endeavor" was not damaged during liftoff . This is a 13-day mission that "Endeavor" is on. It includes three space walks and the delivery of another piece of the space station to make it even bigger and about 90 percent complete.

All right. When we come back, we are going to tell you more about this new mission in Afghanistan that we have been talking about for the last couple of days. We are going to break down the battle for you. What exactly are they trying to achieve? And I'm going to talk to a member of the Afghan parliament to see what he thinks about all these NATO troops trying to change the course of history in Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let's get this latest offensive in Afghanistan is about breaking down the Taliban, but let's just revisit what exactly the Taliban is and how powerful the Taliban is, because we, it really is the focus of the American offensive in Afghanistan. You will remember that the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan as a result of the formation of groups that had been fighting the soviets in Afghanistan. They were defeated in 2001 with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and they had been in power at that point for about five years. They were seen as an alternative to factions that were sort of militias around the country. Now, the Taliban as you will recall repressed women. They repressed minorities and they did things like cutting off the hands of petty thieves. They stopped girls from going to school. They banned music in the country. Well, they were defeated, but they have gradually returned to power, not officially, but they gradually returned to power forming shadow government, meaning not the official government, but a shadow government in 33 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan with the exception of that one that you can see in red. Now, most, most Afghans dislike the Taliban.

They were happy to see them gone, but they are frustrated after eight years of President Hamid Karzai's government. Let's talk a little about what is happening now. They are frustrated by it. NATO forces are still in there trying to create a better situation. Let's talk to Daoud Sultanzoy. Daoud Sultanzoy is a member of the Afghan parliament. He joins me now. Mr. Daoud Sultanzoy, what is your view of this new offensive and this new mission by NATO to sort of sniff the Taliban out into the open and make them fight a one on one battle. Is it going to work any differently than the last eight years have worked?

DAOUD SULTANZOY, AFGHAN PARLIAMENT: I think this is a very important turning point and this is a new chapter in the Afghan endeavor. It's success will be measured later on by nonmilitary follow-ups that will become very meaningful, because I am sure that the military operation will be successful, but the sustainability of the success will be determined whether we can follow it up by nonmilitary achievements later on that were lacking in the past eight years which allowed the Taliban to receive such a perceived ascension to where they feel that they are in power.

VELSHI: And let's talk about that for a second, because people who are looking at this from the outside think that the forces went in, defeated the Taliban and that there were pockets of resistance. It seems that they have built up these shadow governments. What do we mean by that? Are they running services for people? Are they perceived as the government by some people?

SULTANZOY: Actually, they are not doing anything. They are not providing any services. They are not providing any vision or leadership. All they are doing is they are filling up a vacuum that is badly created by bad governance, by corruption and by the alienation of the population and the lack of the ability to deliver the expected services that people were expecting in the last decade, although there have been achievements, but because of the perceived performance that the government has delivered and lack of performance, I should say, the Taliban have received much more attention than they normally will. They haven't provided any services. They I haven't provided any governance or vision, but all they have done is fill up a vacuum that we need to deny them from having. VELSHI: And they had filled up a vacuum before they were defeated. That was the point, that was how the Taliban got in there in the first place. There was such factionalism, such political factionalism, that again they were able to fill that vacuum. What is the answer to solving that problem in Afghanistan because you said it is non-military or the non-military follow-up. What has to happen to make that a functioning country again?

SULTANZOY: I think in this 21st century a population of 30 million in a country where 47 nations are here to help us, deserve at least some services, some governance, rule of law and whatever the people are looking for are not what Americans or Europeans are looking for. All they are looking for is some sort of governance, some sort of services, health care, education, rule of law -- those basic services that every other society in the world is entitled to. This doesn't mean that we are looking for western style democracy or American or European style democracy. All we need is justice, basic health and education services and basic governance and rule of law.

VELSHI: What has been the difficulty in getting that imposed? Clearly that is what you as a member of parliament and your colleagues would like done, so what is the problem? It has been eight years. What has to happen to do that? Is it the security situation that has to be resolved first or do we need government services and rule of law in there first? What happens next?

SULTANZOY: I think we have caught ourselves in a "Catch-22" situation from the very beginning by a weak government and not providing what was required. We created more security vacuums and more security vacuums diminished the return of good governance to the people of Afghanistan, so we got caught in chasing ourselves. What we need to do is break the cycle. What we need is provide some services to the people of Afghanistan so they can be brought back to the process. They feel a sense of ownership. They feel that this process is there for them. They feel that the government is there for them, and then that will create a momentum in the right direction. We need to break this negative momentum, negative direction and then build on it and we have to be able to chew gum and walk at the same time.

VELSHI: Right and do you think that this new offense by NATO might actually go some distance to at least solving the security problem? Do you think they're going in the right direction right now?

SULTANZOY: As I said, this will be looked at as a turning point if we follow this up by providing what I mentioned in terms of non- military solutions, non-military aspects of what our population needs. And I think the military has always been on the front, up front and they have achieved things and it has been the non-military lack of achievement that has derailed their achievements.

VELSHI: Dauod Sultanzoy. He's a member of the Afghan parliament, obviously we follow very closely the developments there and we wish all of Afghanistan good luck. We hope that this is a turning point as you say, thanks for joining me.

When we come back, I want to talk about mushrooms and I want to talk about Thailand. I like mushrooms, never been to Thailand, but I have always liked it and I think that Thai food with mushrooms is good, but do you think that this should be part of the stimulus project? Josh Levs is going to tell you about your tax dollars that might be going toward growing mushrooms in Thailand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I'm here with Josh Levs at the stimulus desk. We have been running the stimulus project in the background. It's been going on and you and your team have been looking stuff up and you got something to do with mushrooms and Thailand?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You didn't see that coming did you?

VELSHI: I just knew that you were talking about mushroom and Thailand. I like mushrooms and I like Thai food.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) Let's remind everybody. We've been looking through binders like this and tens of thousands of projects. It's all coming out of that $862 billion pile that passed last year for the stimulus. So we were wondering what some of these projects are, right and we're going to get to Thailand mushrooms in a second, which we know you will have some things to say about. But first we want to show you a different project. We got two projects from the University of Arkansas and we're going to zoom in here. We're going to show you the first one. We think it's pretty interesting. Let's zoom way in to the University of Arkansas right now. What you're going to see right here is the first project we're going to talk to you about is $500,000 for corn. It is a grant studying corn fungus. We can just go on some of these pictures and they're talking about the jobs here, four jobs, two full time, two part time created by this. This is such a serious problem, Ali in that region. Corn, the fungus problem has devastated all sorts of crops. It has caused millions and millions in dollars of damage. It's put people out of work. So the people who got this, the University of Arkansas are saying this project is helping fight that problem. That one, we saw where that came from. What we didn't see coming was another one from the same school on the other side of the world over in Thailand.

VELSHI: What is this food talk. You are making me look short by the way.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE)

VELSHI: What is with the mushrooms in Thailand?

LEVS: The mushrooms in Thailand, let's just go (INAUDIBLE) so here's the thing, mushrooms in Thailand. We were like, what is the deal with that? Well, it turns out that the University of Arkansas also has a big project going on in Thailand, Now in the big picture, it's not that much money. It's $150,000 and it no jobs are created from it at all. ... some images on the web.

VELSHI: But it is here in America. It's studying mushrooms in Thailand? LEVS: No it's not. It's taking place inside Thailand, but we talked to the National Science Foundation which deals out this grant. This is not frivolous at all. They say they're studying (ph) a lot of science from it. They say there is a lot to be gained from it. They say they really take their time looking at which projects will do good things and we also talked to the people behind the project and they say that they are learning about the ecosystem this way and that it benefits scientists in America, because they are learning to work with scientists overseas and they (INAUDIBLE) the big picture, $150,000 out of $862 billion might not be the biggest. You see some of the points we got there from the people who are organizing it. They say look in the end, this is doing a lot of good, saying it has people value and science value. Nevertheless, this is a really good example of what we are doing at the desk right now.

VELSHI: We're just finding out.

LEVS: We are giving you facts and it's up to you, what should and should not get stimulus funding? And when (INAUDIBLE) it's all inside Thailand. This is worked on in Thailand, not on the U.S. soil, but they're saying look, it has value even though it is not creating jobs. I is up to you. What do you think should or should not (INAUDIBLE)

VELSHI: Well, that is what you are doing, 56,000 projects funded by the U.S. government in this $862 billion, and we are -- are we even keeping track of what we're up to? We were in the tens of billions.

LEVS: We'll get that far. But here is something we are keeping track of. Your questions, let's show where you can weigh in with your questions. We have it going at Facebook, Twitter, also at the blog and I also put it up at your blog, cnn.com/ali. We'll get there right now. People are sending us your questions, your thoughts, what you want to know about the stimulus money. Because look in end, we're talking about $862 billion in tax money that's supposed to create recovery. It's the recovery act so it's not just where does the money go, but does it lead to recovery and everyone has a lot to say about that and we certainly want to hear your questions.

VELSHI: All right, we're going to take a break. (INAUDIBLE) Can you give me a box for the next time I talk to Levs? Listen, you're going to watch 6:00 p.m. Eastern, watch our coverage of the Super Bowl parade. We're covering this whole thing. Ed Lavandara is down in New Orleans getting ready for this parade. I think he might be eating some food. He said they were cooking some food, because I don't see him in that shot anywhere. Ed, if you can hear me, get back in front of the TV. We're coming to talk to you in a minute.

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VELSHI: I want to bring you an update from Middlesex, Massachusetts the district attorney's office there confirming that they have ruled the death of Daniel Kerrigan, Nancy Kerrigan's father, 70 year old Daniel Kerrigan, they have ruled his death a homicide. You will recall that his son, Nancy Kerrigan's brother, Mark Kerrigan had been accused of assault and the father had died subsequently. This has now been ruled a homicide, but we do not know of new charges that have been brought against Mark Kerrigan as a result, but he has been charged with assault in the death of Daniel Kerrigan. That has now been ruled a homicide. We will bring you more on that as soon as we have it.

All right. We have been following the Super Bowl, the Saints, the return to New Orleans and the big parade, the country has an opportunity to celebrate along with New Orleans, something that the country has been wanting to do for a long time. Let's go to Ed Lavandara who is our point man in downtown New Orleans, somewhere near the beginning of where that parade is going to take place and you're going to get to watch that on CNN. Ed, what's going on right now?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, we are at the intersection of Fortress (ph) and Loyola and this is very close to where the parade's going to start here this afternoon. The Super Bowl is just a couple of blocks away. That's where they'll be coming down this way, the players. The streets are about to close down and as you can tell people are already lining up to take advantage of this fun day. One of the families out here, we have Phil Munoz. You lived here in New Orleans for a long time and you brought out your family. What does this mean to everybody?

PHIL MUNOZ: It is great. It is great to be out here and watch the Saints and out here just like a parade, just like a New Orleans parade. Mardi Gras is early.

LAVANDERA: So you've grown up, the Saints have been terrible all of your life and now you get to enjoy this moment.

MUNOZ: Yeah, no more bags! No more bags. Who dat, who dat.

LAVANDERA: But your kids are spoiled. They are going to grow up thinking they are always great.

MUNOZ: Yeah, yeah.

LAVANDERA: Well learn to appreciate the fine things in life, kids, right?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yep.

LAVANDERA: All right. You guys have fun. Ali, everybody is lining up along this parade route. It's going to go through much of the downtown New Orleans district. It winds down onto Canal Street, ends at the convention center and what is beautiful about this parade today is that we are in the middle of Mardi Gras season and a lot of the Mardi Gras crews have donated their floats to be part of this, so as you'll see, this will not only be a parade for the Saints, but it is definitely going to have a Mardi Gras festive feel to it. As any city knows who throws a parade, New Orleans definitely...

VELSHI: Ed, (INAUDIBLE) who dat says Don Lemon as he walks by. You've done too many dangerous things in your life, because you don't see any danger in saying to a lifelong Saints fan that his team has sucked for his entire life, but let me ask you about this. Does he and do other people out there -- LAVANDERA: I'm a Cowboys fan, this is the problem.

VELSHI: You're in dangerous territory. Do they know that America is watching this closely? Do they know that people are following this differently than they would be a normal Super Bowl parade?

LAVANDERA: Absolutely. I think that is what they are kind of touched by. I've have talked to a lot of people here over the last few days who not only as they have celebrated. I remember I was struck by one woman that we interviewed in the French quarter who basically just gave thanks to the rest of the world for all the support that they have given to the city of New Orleans over the last four or five years. So, it definitely means a lot to them and they are relishing this moment because of that.

VELSHI: All right. Ed, good to talk to you. We'll be following the parade very closely at 6:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We'll have full coverage of that parade with Ed Lavandera and those beautiful floats going down in downtown New Orleans.

All right. When we come back, I will tell you what to do if you've got one of the Toyotas, the third recall, Priuses, Lexus hybrids. Stay with us. We'll tell you what to do about it.

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VELSHI: 6:00 Eastern watch the Saints. Ed Lavendara is there. We're going to watch that parade. We are going to celebrate along with New Orleans. How long have you wanted to celebrate something with New Orleans? You get the do that at 6:00, but you don't get to celebrate that if you are a Toyota owner, a whole lot more of you now have to take your cars in for repair. Let me tell you a little about this. First of all, there was supposed to be hearing on Capitol Hill tomorrow. It's going to be a snow day for Toyota officials. They don't have to go because of all the snow in DC, February 24th, they're going to have a hearing and then the 25th. The bottom line though is the recall has been issued, the one that we have been worrying about and that's the Toyota Prius. This involves the braking systems in two hybrid models, the 2010 Prius and the 2010 Lexus HS 250h. that's a hybrid, 437 vehicles (sic) were (INAUDIBLE) Separately another much smaller recall on some 2010 Camrys. This is a different issue altogether to head off a potential power steering problem. This is the non-hybrid four cylinder Camry, 2010. If you've got one of the Priuses or the Lexus', what do you do? According to the National Highway Transport (sic) Administration, while you wait for your recall notice, I like this, leave a little extra stopping distance between you and the car in front of you as a precaution and if you do experience something that feels like brake loss, just press firmly on the pedal to stop your car. After that, call your dealer. Don't start meddling around with that. We'll get you more information (INAUDIBLE) for this Toyota story.

OK, it's time now for the XYZ of it. All today, the case of the Shackleton Scotch (ph). Actually it's more than a case, five crates of 100-year-old spirits imported to the bottom of the world by the legendary British explorer Sir Earnest Shackleton. This is the 1909. The brand was McKinley's rare old scotch. The voyage was abandoned and the liquor spent a century buried under the floor boards of Shackleton's hut, not on the rocks, but in them. Over the decades as you might guess, the recipe was lost with the distiller White and McKay (ph) I'm not sure how they say that. It's still in business and last November launched an expedition to get all the old Scotch back. We told you about it at the time. Well, guess what? The South Pole search team struck gold, not just the rare old scotch, but some brandy besides. White and McKay will do some testing, some tasting and they may produce, they may reproduce the formula. The company's master blender says it is a gift from the heavens. And that is the XYZ of it. I'm Ali Velshi and you can find me here every weekday starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10:00 a.m. Pacific. Now here is Rick's list with who dat, Don Lemon.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, RICK'S LIST: Making news right now on your national conversation.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toyota's explanations do not account for the share of unintended acceleration complaints that we have examined.

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LEMON: So what does account for all the those complaints?