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The Big Dig; Risking Everything to Protest in Iran; Security at the Olympics

Aired February 11, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Fredricka Whitfield here in the NEWSROOM.

On to Tony Harris now to continue our coverage for the day, this February 11th, from the NEWSROOM.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That looks like fun. Fred, appreciate it. Thank you. Have a great day.

It is Thursday, February 11th, and here are the faces of the stories behind today's headlines.

Bijan Khalili, an Iranian expat, watching today's anti-government protest in Tehran from California.

Christine Lumumba, a mother believed dead, reunited with her husband and sons after nine years. You won't believe this.

Barbara and Clarence Nepinak announcing the winter Olympic games in their mother tongue, Ojibwe. Ani (ph), that's hello in Ojibwe.

I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

After record-breaking snow, the cleanup begins. How do you say that in Ojibwe?

It will be days before much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast gets back to anything close to normal. You are sending us incredible iReports of the big blizzard. Plus, our Rob Marciano will be joining us in moments live from New York. Reynolds Wolf in snowbound Alexandria, Virginia. And, of course, we will talk to Jacqui Jeras in just moments.

Reynolds, look, let's start with you.

Snow removal and road salt budgets, as you know, are flat-out busted right now, and there is still so much work to do. Are we really talking days before people on let's just say the side streets can get their roads cleared?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely. I mean, Tony, many of the side streets, especially downtown Washington, D.C., are just choked with ice and snow. In Virginia, things are a little better. One of the reasons why is because, well, underneath the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that we have here, which is a span that runs from Maryland back here to the old dominion state, we've got mounds of snow. And you'll see right behind me a couple of the trucks.

And of course you see the snow they have dumped. You see the tracks here also. But then, if you happen to look off here in the distance, you can see a couple of these trucks that have been coming in around the clock dumping the snowfall.

And Tony, to you and to our viewers tuning in across America, you see these big piles of snow and you wonder, how big are these things? We need something in terms of scale to show us the enormity. I'm going to be the measuring stick for you guys.

Let me climb up here real fast. I'm going to do my best Sir Edmund Hillary and climb Everest, this mountain of snow that's been piling up.

HARRIS: You're crazy.

WOLF: Some of this stuff is nasty, by the way, too.

HARRIS: Yes, it is.

WOLF: Way up here. Now, the thing is, why in the world would they pile the snow in this particular place? Well, I'm going to tell you why.

The reason why is because the bridge actually runs from north to south. The sun sets up, of course, comes up in the east, and then sinks in the west. So what happens is the sun's rays hit underneath the bridge in the morning and the afternoon, and the idea is that what's going to happen is the snow is going to melt, all the salt and all the guck is going to stay in the soil. And then the snow, the great thing about that, it eventually gets in the soil and then runs out in the Potomac River. And that's the game plan.

But this is something that is not going to be cleaned up in one day. This is going to take a while on both sides of the river, across the region. It's just one small step to getting things back to normal.

I'm going to get my breath back to normal after climbing that hill. Let's send it back to you.

HARRIS: All right. You know, we need to scale this out just a little bit. You are, what, 6'3, aren't you?

WOLF: I'm about 6'4" with my lifts in my shoes.

HARRIS: OK. So think about that as we watched you sort of climb that mountain of snow there. Reynolds, appreciate it. Thank you.

WOLF: You bet.

HARRIS: Quickly now, let's get to Rob Marciano. He's in New York City.

And Rob, yesterday we were talking about -- you were explaining to us how New York City was preparing for the snow. What's the reality now of the snow on the ground from this blizzard in New York City?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, let me give you some scale as well. I stand a towering 12 feet tall, so what you're looking at is about five feet of snow right here, and they're handling it quite gracefully. Obviously not nearly as much snow here in New York City as down in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia area. They got about four feet in many spots in the last.

We've got about a foot or less here in lower Manhattan. They've prepped the streets well, they got on there and they plowed everything well. And aside from temperatures falling to below freezing last night, and things crusting over, the sun now beating down on at least whatever semi-blacktop there is, and that certainly helps things out.

But they do have a fair amount of snow that they need to get out of the way. They have got to deal with bus stops that need to be cleared.

You've got a lot of infrastructure here. I know people don't drive much in New York, but you've got buses you need to deal with. You've got, well, a lot of fire hydrants here.

So, the sanitation department has had to come and dig out every fire hydrant so they're exposed in the event, well, that there's a fire. So there you go.

The canyons of Wall Street, the markets are open as they were yesterday, but schools are back in session today. And after getting a day off, a rare one in New York City, the kids unhappily certainly went back to school today.

So the city dealing with it fairly well, Tony. It could have been a lot worse. It was a wet snow, so that certainly helped them clear the streets fairly rapidly. But the cold air is going to be in place for the next two weeks.

It looks like the pattern is firmly in place probably through the end of February, so this will certainly not be the last one. Hopefully it will be the last one-two-or-three-foot snowstorm that we see for the rest of this season. It certainly has been one heck of a winter season, for sure -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, it has.

Rob, appreciate it. Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Let's check our other big stories today. Rain is adding to the misery for earthquake survivors in Haiti. Streets littered with debris got drenched by heavy downpours overnight. People living on the streets and in tent cities are struggling to stay dry. The earthquake left an estimated one million people without shelter.

Iran today marks the 31st anniversary of its Islamic Revolution. Anti-government demonstrators report being attacked by security forces.

Well, this amateur video shows a huge presence of riot police and security. Opposition groups say they were prevented from reaching the square in Tehran where a massive pro-government demonstration was taking place.

I've got to tell you, those demonstrators in Iran are risking arrest and even death sentences, but that is not stopping them.

Our Jim Clancy spoke with a demonstrator to understand what motivates the movement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight months after the first protests against the outcome of Iran's national elections, the protesters return to the streets.

One of those who marched told us why.

"REZA," IRANIAN DEMONSTRATOR: Because we know they are not good people and they do nothing for the people in the country. And all the country's wealth is being looted, whether material or spiritual wealth.

CLANCY: Reza is not his real name. His face is obscured out of concern for his security, but he insists threats will not deter him.

REZA: Every day almost before every protest someone comes, a higher or mid-ranking or low-ranking authority telling us, "We will kill you." The threats are ineffective because people come out on the street each time they threaten us.

CLANCY: Given the recent executions of some of those involved in the protests, we asked him what goes through his mind when he's out in the streets risking a similar fate.

REZA: I do not feel afraid. And if I'm going to be killed, it is not important. The more bullets are fired, the more we want to fight. And it feels this way for everyone. When I look at everyone's faces in the protests, they all feel the same way.

CLANCY: On the government side, the Basiji militia are the enforcers, along with members of the Revolutionary Guards. But Reza sees cracks developing among them, especially ordinary police.

REZA: They are people too with families, wives, kids, parents. Many are not bad people. They just get orders they do not want to carry out.

In the past eight, nine months of the protests, many have either joined the people or leave the people alone. I, myself, am amused that in the past eight, nine months, many Basijis have left, as well as many in the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

CLANCY: As pressure mounts on Iran's nuclear program, so too does talk about tougher sanctions. Reza is clear that sanctions should target the regime, not the people, but sees hypocrisy in some of the West's pronouncements.

REZA: France and Germany say every day that Iran and Ahmadinejad are bad, but their cars are being manufactured in Iran -- Mercedes- Benz, Peugeot. So they're making black deals with each other, and nobody among the people likes these black deals, and that's not what we want. The biggest message is, help us.

CLANCY: But even Reza isn't sure how that can be done. In the meantime, he says protesters will continue to use Facebook and Twitter to get their message out to the world that these protests aren't going to end.

Jim Clancy, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So we are watching the anniversary parades, protests and President Ahmadinejad. What is the government doing to handle the opposition movement?

And we will also keep returning to the Severe Weather Center and meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for updates on, boy, the snow removal efforts now and this other blast that is -- she mentioned just moments ago. And it may reach the Deep South this weekend. The "it," the snow.

But first, here is the latest on the Dow, New York Stock Exchange now.

Take a look at the numbers, flat to negative, as you can see here. We're down eight points.

Following these numbers with Stephanie Elam for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A quick break and we're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, let's see here. The scene in Iran's Freedom Square, massive state-sponsored celebrations marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the occasion to flex some nuclear muscle. He announced his country has highly-enriched uranium, the kind that can set off a nuclear reaction, and that more is on the way. Iran's opposition movement also tried to get its message out on this Revolution Day.

Our Ivan Watson is monitoring the situation from the Iran Desk.

And Ivan, let's take a step back and then move forward here.

The opposition, since the summer, say July, how has it changed? How has the opposition movement been really able to sustain itself, metaphorically speaking for a moment here? I'm talking basic needs. Right? We're talking food, water, shelter, and money, communications.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question. There is no clear leader of this opposition movement. There are a couple of politicians, reformist politicians who have, numerous times, admitted that we don't really lead this, this is more of a civil society movement, a civil rights movement, some have described it as, not really hierarchically structured.

So, even though thousands of people have been arrested, there have been allegations of widespread torture -- I've met dissidents, journalists who had to flee across the border, out of Iran, because they have been hunted by security forces -- the movement has stayed alive. But the fact is the government, Tony, has a monopoly on the use of force, and it's used it to crush opposition protests in the past. It seems to have done that again today to try to break things up.

It also has a monopoly on media in Iran, on state media. So, even though the opposition leader said we want to try to get to Freedom Square, the central square where the hundreds of thousands of government supporters celebrated the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, they were not able to get there.

And take a listen to this. This is what the government media said about those opposition protests today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARDIA HONARDAR, PRESS TV ANCHOR: A few hundred supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidates have rallied in the capital, Tehran. Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi gathered in a western Tehran district. Police had stepped up security in the area to prevent possible disturbances. Defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi was seen among the protesters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, Tony, come on back with me right here and take a look at some of the video we've seen coming out, being smuggled out over the Internet, not through formal media. Andrea (ph) is going to show you this. Look at this.

I believe this was filmed today. And there we have security forces beating somebody up in the street, in a chokehold. He punches the guy there.

And we've been hearing from the opposition leaders, former high- ranking politicians, that they were attacked when they tried to go to the central square today. We spoke with the son of one of these leaders who said his father was attacked with tear gas.

Let's take a listen to that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD TAGHI KARROUBI, SON OF MEHDI KARROUBI: Unfortunately, my father received very bad gas tears and his face is burned. And also, because a rampant problem, internal problem at the moment, we asked the physician is coming to check.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Your brother was arrested by them?

KARROUBI: My younger brother was arrested by the police. And we are surprised, because for two days, we just came to demonstrate, to rally, to participate, to show what we want, and also ask about their rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: As you see, Tony, that's not really tolerated in Iran right now.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.

All right. Ivan Watson for us.

Ivan, appreciate the update. Thank you.

A Los Angeles man thinks today's protests in Iran could change the world. Our Ted Rowlands has the inside scoop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, security at the Olympics is always a big concern, and it's not just about security protecting people at the games.

CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joining us now from Washington.

Jeanne, good to see you.

What are security officials worried about?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you know I was up in Vancouver a week or so ago, and at the integrated security unit that's running the whole security operation for the games there is a special division looking just at the question of cyber. But despite the precautions they are taking, there are some experts who are worried that because of the number of government officials and law enforcement people who will be there, there's still some possibility that there will be intrusions. They're worried about things like Bluetooth. They're worried about your BlackBerry. They're worried about your cell phone. They're worried, of course, about their computer.

They say that these can be exploited, that people can put malware or spyware in your system, or that they can extract valuable data. And so cyber expert David Gwartz (ph) has published an article in "Frontline Security" magazine, along with the Online Safety Foundation, and they've made a number of specific recommendations on things you can do to try and protect yourself and your information.

They say saying, one, turn off your Bluetooth, to guard your phone like your wallet. If you use your phone to surf the Internet, and perhaps you access your brokerage accounts, you could have your passwords in that phone that could be, of course, very useful if somebody wanted to try and commit some cybercrime.

They say the obvious -- have the latest firewall protection in your computer. Don't access sensitive information particularly from, let's say, the business center at a hotel or a cyber cafe, because those are places where somebody may be trying to extract some data and monitor what you're doing on your computer. And finally, there's a suggestion that when you travel, you clean your laptop of sensitive information.

I will tell you, though, that I've talked to some experts this morning who aren't that worried about Vancouver. There was a lot of worry about Beijing, in part because the Chinese government doesn't have any sanctions against cybercrimes. Some would say they encourage it.

The Canadians take this a lot more seriously. I'm told they have a pretty serious legal regime in place to try and prosecute anyone who conducts cybercrimes. But it's something to be aware of if you travel up there -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, and maybe this is the perfect follow. I know the Security Desk is following another story about a simulated cyberattack in the U.S.

Jeanne, what do you know about that?

MESERVE: Yes, it's called Cyber Shock Wave. It's a war game that's going to be conducted next Tuesday here in Washington.

It's going to pull in a lot of people who were former government officials, like the former secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff; Fran Townsend, the former White House counterterrorism adviser who you see here on CNN on a regular basis. There's going to be a simulation of a massive cyberattack on the United States.

They're going to be looking at how they mitigate this, whether or not they retaliate. The idea is to see whether or not we're ready if something like that really occurs -- Tony.

HARRIS: Terrific. All right. Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, in Washington.

Jeanne, thank you.

MESERVE: You bet.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The blizzard in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast did a number on air travel. Major airports shut down and thousands of flights cancelled.

Jim Cook (ph), were you telling me that Reagan National is open again?

OK. Reagan National is open again.

How long before all of this, the backlog, is straightened out and folks can get to where they want to be.

CNN's Allan Chernoff, live now in New York, at New York's LaGuardia airport.

Good to see you, Allan.

What are you hearing?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Tony, for the first time today -- and we've been here since before dawn -- for the first time today I'm looking at the board here, and it's saying on time for virtually all of the flights. Now, that is a huge change.

We haven't seen that, not only prior to today, but, of course, yesterday as well, cancellations throughout the Northeast, the Eastern Corridor. We had 700 cancellations here at LaGuardia yesterday, 400 this morning. And a lot of travelers are wondering, well, what's going on?

I mean, the runways were all clear, the airport remained open through the storm. The roads were just fine. So why weren't the planes taking off this morning? Well, the reason is that what they do in the airline industry is they try to get the planes away from the storm, have them ready, have the crews ready so they can get back into place once the storm passes.

We spoke a little while ago with the general manager of LaGuardia airport, who explained the system to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN KROEPPEL, GENERAL MANAGER, LAGUARDIA AIRPORT: They schedule and realize, OK, if I cancel these and I know I'll be able to recover at this time today, let's say at noon, like right now, by 10:00, they're sending all their aircraft back to start their schedules again, and basically reset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: So, now that they pretty much have the system reset, the planes are taking off. But the cancellations were quite severe yesterday, well over 2,000 at some of the major airlines. United, Delta, US Airways, American, they all cancelled hundreds of flights. JetBlue, 66 cancellations.

In all, it was a setback for the industry, but because they use the system of resetting, the damage is minimized. The damage, Tony, of course, is most severe, though, to those who have been cancelled, travelers trying to get somewhere, and a lot of these folks now can't get a flight for several days.

One gentleman I spoke with, he's trying to get to San Francisco, couldn't get another flight until Tuesday. I think he's going to check out New York a little bit, become a tourist for a few days.

HARRIS: Oh yes. Appreciate it, Allan. Thank you.

Allan Chernoff at LaGuardia airport in New York City.

One revolution brought in the current regime. Can the new opposition movement bring change to Iran? One man says yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: For weeks now, U.S. and British forces have been preparing for a major assault on the Taliban's last urban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, the town of Marja. U.S. commanders estimate a force of up to 1,000 Taliban fighters might still be in that city.

Atia Abawi is covering all of this on the ground for us in Afghanistan, and she's on the phone with us from Helmand Province. Atia, if you would, sort of set the scene for us and give us a bit of the flavor, the color of what's going on and maybe the fine tuning of the plan, if you would.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Tony, Marja is considered the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province and the U.S. marines prior to now, prior to President Obama's troop surge of up to 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, said that they didn't have enough forces to actually perform this operation, Operation Moshtarak, which means together.

The reason they call it together is because it's supposed to be the largest NATO operation in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. And it's supposed to have the most Afghan soldiers than any operation in the past within the country. We're hearing that the Afghan soldiers and the marines are going to be going side by side into this city into an area that still is under a shadow government by the Taliban.

We're hearing that Marja, it's an area, it's a population of about 80,000 to 100,000 people and it's got a very big bazaar that many people through Helmand go to to actually go shopping. It's a type of normal city there. But the problem is when these people leave the city to go back to their respective villages, they are attacked in certain checkpoints by the Taliban. This is being likened by some people as the Alamo really for the Taliban.

So the last place in Helmand Province that they have very strong control over because if we remember last summer, we saw a flood of U.S. marines pouring into Helmand Province. We saw Operation Khanjar, which was the strike of the sword, where they cleared villages throughout Helmand Province. This time they stayed, they stayed. They wanted to clear and build.

And right now we're seeing the building process in certain areas and at the moment, Marja is the last place and they want to go clear, hold and build from there, get the Afghan people on their side, separate them from the Taliban so they can see what the international community and what the Afghan government can do for them in the future.

HARRIS: All right, CNN's Atia Abawi for us on the phone from Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan. Atia, appreciate it, thank you.

I've got to tell you, blogs and opposition Web sites showing amateur video of government protesters on the streets in Iran. Take a look at it for yourself here. They turned out to counter the regime supporters today, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Unconfirmed reports say opposition leaders were attacked and protesters fired upon. The government slowed the internet to a crawl and shut down Google's Gmail hoping to frustrate protesters. 350,000 Iranians now call Southern California their home. Bijan Khalili is one of them. The ex-pat runs a bookstore in Los Angeles and is one of today's faces of the story. He talked to CNN's Ted Rowlands, who joins me live now.

And, Ted, Mr. Khalili had really high hopes for opposition rallies today. What's he hearing about the turnout and how is the day going from his point of view?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, you know, a lot of people had high hopes. There's a lot of disappointment.

We're above that bookstore you talked about where people who are on the phone here disseminating information about what's coming out of Tehran. And one of the major things you talked about was the lack of information that has been plaguing this sort of sense of giving the people in this community the latest of what's going on. But it's clear, Tony was just mentioning there has to be a sense of disappointment about what did transpire.

You really thought this was a golden opportunity. Give us a sense from the ex-pat's point of view of how disappointing it is.

BIJAN KHALILI, BOOKSTORE OWNER: Former President Richard Nixon said that we cannot win all the battles, we should win the fight. For the last eight months, we had e-mails, telephone calls, everything from Iran and we distributing through Iranian community here. But for the last week, they shut down all the communication. Still, there is no problem, we'll have a big demonstration today, this afternoon in Los Angeles.

ROWLANDS: So you're basically saying that the fight continues on. Let's talk to one other person here who's been up all night. Pooya Dayanim, you gave us a sense that this really was a golden opportunity because if on this specific day, the opposition would have outnumbered the regime, it would have been over. This could have been game, set, match. Give us your sense of disappointment and also why you think it didn't work out as so many people had hoped.

POOYA DAYANIM, BOOKSTORE: They shut down SMS, Twitter, Facebook, G-mail, Google. If the demonstrators cannot communicate with each other, they can't organize very well. But there will be other opportunities. And you obviously will have other opportunities where people will show their dissatisfaction of the regime and of the government.

ROWLANDS: And another part of this equation is that there is no clear-cut plan b really that has been agreed upon. So if you're going to overthrow the regime with no clear-cut direction of where it's going, that adds, doesn't it, to sort of the resistance that some people may have had to come out.

DAYANIM: The majority of the people know that they don't want the regime but they don't know exactly what it is that they want. So until that happens, until a clear alternative emerges that people can agree upon, they're not going to give up their lives or go to jail or get arrested. They're not going to risk it.

ROWLANDS: Got you.

Tony, as you can see behind me, they're working the phones here because there's so many people here in Southern California and around the world really that have ties to Iran that really were hoping that this would have turned out differently today. And they're looking for the latest information, which is just trickling out of the country.

HARRIS: Let me try something here with you, Ted, and the gentlemen you were just speaking with here. This idea of, you know, maybe we're at a place where there is a opposition group that is not happy with what is going on in Iran but not quite sure of what comes next, that speaks to something -- that speaks to leadership. It may be a vacuum in leadership in the movement. What about the leadership of the opposition in Iran, what form is it taking? Where is Mir Hussein Moussavi, for example?

ROWLANDS: Right, and that's a good point. And really what we were talking about earlier, it's given them the opportunity to evade destruction, if you will, from the regime because there's no clear-cut leader that they can just take out. So it' an advantage on one side, but on the other side, it's a total disadvantage because people are reluctant to follow something, they're not quite sure what will turn out. Moussavi, yes, talk about Moussavi, or where does this go? If let's say the regime topples, where are you going to go?

DAYANIM: Well, like I said, because we don't have free political parties inside Iran and we don't have support outside of Iran for the opposition, we don't have an organized opposition that can replace the regime.

ROWLANDS: So why are you confident that eventually you said this fire is still burning, what's the end game here?

DAYANIM: The divisions within the regime are increasing. I mean, basically look at who the opposition is, a former prime minister and a former speaker of the assembly. And today they arrested the supreme leader's own nephew. They arrested Karroubi's son. So you're seeing more and more increased division amongst the regime itself.

ROWLANDS: OK, bottom line, Tony, there were a lot of hopes pinned on this day because the theory was if they came out en masse, it could have been game, set, match, really taking a play out of the Ayatollah's playbook 30 years ago. That's how people stayed, they went out and they stayed, but it doesn't look like it happened.

HARRIS: Ted Rowlands, appreciate it. Thanks, that's good stuff, Ted, thanks.

Let's check the hour's top stories right now. Rewarding employees for good work, what a novel idea. Apparently it's a new one for AIG. The financial giant is now promising it will hand out future bonuses based on performance rather than just hanging around.

More misery for Haiti. The rains have started, leaving streets full of mud and trash. The concern is greatest for the homeless, obviously. More than a million people living in makeshift shelters. And a programming note here, be sure to watch Anderson Cooper for more reports from Haiti, "AC360" tonight at 10:00 Eastern Time.

Former Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson has died. He served 12 terms in the House starting in 1973. He is perhaps better known for the movie "Charlie Wilson's War." He was played in the film by Tom Hanks. It told the story of Wilson's efforts to arm Afghan fighters after the Soviets invaded.

One group of homeowners who are seriously delinquent on mortgage payments might be allowed to stay in their homes. Citigroup starts a new program tomorrow. More on that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In two weeks, Congress opens hearings into the Toyota recalls. There's growing pressure for Toyota's top executive to show up for questions. Lawmakers want a House committee to issue an invitation to Mr. Toyota himself. He planned to travel to the United States this month to meet Toyota dealers and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. But reportedly, that trip has been pushed to March due to the blizzards in Washington. Now all of this brings us to today's blog question. If you've gotten your Toyota repaired recently, how did things go? We're just curious, we want to know. Log on to CNN.com/tony and leave a short comment.

The latest foreclosure numbers paint a pretty bleak picture. More than 300,000 Americans received a foreclosure notice last month, putting them squarely in the foreclosure process. But one of the nation's biggest banks says it has a plan that will help ease the pain. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with details for us. Alison, what is it that Citigroup is proposing here?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, Citi Mortgage is launching a pilot program tomorrow. And there's a downside to this, of course. People, they're still going to lose their homes, but the upside to this is it's going to be in a more orderly, less expensive way. And here's why.

Borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will be allowed to stay in their homes for six months and then they have to turn the deed over to the bank. But there are some benefits. Those six months should give people time to figure out what their next move is going to be. Usually the bank evicts you immediately, plus their credit will take a less severe hit. Once the deed is handed over, the borrower walks away free and clear. Citi will even give folks losing their homes $1,000 for moving expenses.

HARRIS: All right. So let's be clear here. This isn't just a bit of a goodwill effort here, a gesture, it's going to save Citi some money too, isn't it?

KOSIK: It certainly will. Think about it, foreclosure is a long, expensive process for the bank so this will save Citi a lot, mostly in legal fees. It also helps to alleviate a growing problem. Many borrowers are simply walking away from their properties because they owe more than on their mortgages than what the homes are worth. Now to qualify, you have to keep your home in good condition and that helps out the banks too, because chances are they will want to put it back on the market.

Stocks, they turned higher. European leaders gave a big pledge to help Greece. It's its struggling under a mountain of debt. The Dow Industrials turning positive, up 92 points, the NASDAQ higher by 20. It looks like investors are happy about the new jobs number that say came out. Tony?

HARRIS: Yes, encouragement there. All right, Alison, appreciate it, thank you.

You know, folks are pretty tight when it comes to spending money on entertainment these days. Makes sense. Live music has taken a hard hit, including symphony orchestras across the country. Now one symphony is fighting to be relevant in the eyes of young people, using hip-hop as the lore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SINGING)

I'm singing and rapping in front of the orchestra while the conductor is conducting the music. Wow.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: How about this, classical music meets hip-hop. It is a breakout story for you, a story you might not expect from us, tomorrow at Noon Eastern.

We continue looking at the various stimulus projects. Next hour, Josh Levs examines one that's got $1 million attached to it. The mission, to hand out BlackBerrys to help people stop smoking. Huh?

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HARRIS: I've got to tell you this whole "random moment" thing is just like wildfire. We've gotten them from you. You're sending us "random moments." Crazy. Was it real or just some kind of stunt, we'll let you make the call on our "random moment of the day." We'll have another one next hour.

It is video from YouTube of a minivan getting hit by a wrecking ball. Take a look and a listen here. Yes, according to the YouTube description, the van entered a closed construction zone in Manhattan, and the driver suffered only minor injuries. What do you think here? True or false? It's our "random moment of the day."

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HARRIS: So, Jennifer Cook, we have live pictures? Oh, live pictures, from KDAF, our affiliate, and one of our affiliates, in Dallas. What is it? We're making a snowman? And we're too close to the road. OK. So, look, what a winter so far, right? We're talking snow, ice, bitter cold, in the North, in the South. Let's get you to Jacqui, Jacqui, I just think they're too close to the road.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, this is why I love you, Tony, here because this is exactly what I would say.

HARRIS: Were you thinking that?

JERAS: Heck yes, hello. And what are they doing? It looks like they're doing surgery there. What do they have? They have tools and they're putting coats on him, it looks like a snow family.

HARRIS: I get the idea that you don't get a lot of snow in Dallas so you want to have a little fun, but come on.

JERAS: You know, they've had more snow today than they'll typically get in an entire season. Yes, so this really is a big deal for them. And obviously they want to have a little bit of fun in that, but be careful and notice the intensity of the snow too here. It's really coming down. In fact, it could be as much as an inch in an hour. This is an incredibly heavy band right along and just north of I-20 is where we've been seeing the worst of it. Latest estimation, about three inches or so out of Dallas. This is heading now off to the east. Shreveport, you are getting some of this really heavy snow right now and that's going to be moving over into parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Check out all the warnings which are in place now. You know, the snowfall totals for the most part, you are going to count on one hand, maybe two-ish, but this is a huge deal in places that maybe don't have snow plows, people don't have snow shovels or even scrapers to scrape the ice off of their cars. So this will be a huge storm stretching through the Southeast into the early part of the weekend.

HARRIS: Jacqui, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Very quickly here, got a lot coming up next hour. Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Iran's power struggle, 31 years after the Islamic revolution, we look at the key players in today's political battle from the government to the military to the clergy and the opposition.

Athletes aren't the only ones getting ready for the winter games. You're going to love this story. A Canadian couple prepares for their moment in the spotlight, broadcasting the games in their native language. We're back in a moment.

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HARRIS: They came to America nine years ago, thinking their mother had been killed in Congo's war. Christine Lumumba is one of our faces of the story as she finally makes it into the arms of her loving family. Jackie Congedo of affiliate WLEX has their emotional reunion in Lexington, Kentucky.

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JACKIE CONGEDO, WLEX CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is she coming? The question they've asked themselves for nine years is answered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

CONGEDO: Now just an escalator length separates a mother, her three boys and her husband. First, contagious cheers, then an embrace.

CHRISTINE LUMUMBA, WIFE: I don't mind about this tear, this is the tear of joy. But I feel -- I feel they were my sons. They are amazing.

CONGEDO: Her husband is content to watch. Right now his sons won't let go. It's been so long since they could do this.

C. LUMUMBA: This boy was here, a small boy of 6 years. Now, look at him. Now this one also, this one was --

CONGEDO: Piere was 13 when his mother was taken. In her place, he took his brothers and ran. The weight of responsibility was heavy. Now, the burden is lifted. It's OK to cry. PIERE MANGA, SON: At the same time, it's very emotional because I don't how to compare. It's probably the greatest day of my life and the greatest thing ever.

CONGEDO: Now, it's his turn. A husband and a father who never gave up home.

JONATHAN LUMUMBA, HUSBAND: Nine years and one month and four day today for me to see my wife. That is the miracle from God.

CONGEDO: It's that steadfast faith they'll now get to share with her.

J. LUMUMBA: I have nothing to give to you, but this is the words will keep you, will take care for you here in the United States of America.

CONGEDO: It's overwhelming, but not insurmountable now that her family is there to pick her back up.

C. LUMUMBA: Now I have carried. You know, mother, without kids, how you feel, and how it is. Now when I see my boys here, I'm happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)