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New Credit Card Rules; Afghan Offensive Success; Inside Operation Moshtarak; McCain's Next Challenge

Aired February 15, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Cheez Whiz? Cheez Whiz, that's disgusting.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.

All right, good morning, everyone. 9:00 in the East, 6:00 a.m. on the west. Let's go ahead and get going right now.

Sounds of Sunday worship silence. Three hooded men open fire, but these gun shots don't stop this congregation from praising God.

She is a college professor with four kids and a haunting past. She is charged with killing her colleagues now, but wait until you hear what else she may have done.

And a pileup from hell. A 30-vehicle crash turned this spot into a bridge to nowhere.

We begin with more offensive. War of words and winter's assault. Our correspondents covering them all for you. Fred Pleitgen in Afghanistan where the Taliban is on the run. Biden and Cheney in the ring. Suzanne Malveaux with the play-by-play of the dueling vice presidents.

And the Deep South can stand down. But if you live in Cincinnati, well, Rob Marciano is talking to you.

Taking it to the Taliban. That was the objective of this major offensive in southern Afghanistan. And it seemed that that's exactly what happened.

CNN's Atia Abawi, embedded with U.S. troops in Marjah in the Helmand Province.

Atia, bring us up-to-date.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the Marines came here into Marjah, the city of Marjah, early Saturday morning. They have faced resistance -- sporadic resistance when it comes to the Taliban. The Taliban is spread out in various parts of the city. It's not as easy as the fight as many are portraying it right now, especially within the Afghan government. But the Marines, they are making headway, slowly but surely. They have to deal with IEDs, they have to deal with the Taliban who are spread in various parts.

In fact, it's said that -- some Taliban were able to attempt to overrun several U.S. positions yesterday. Today, again, gun battles throughout various parts of the city. We're hearing explosions. Some of those explosions actually done by the U.S. troops themselves when they find these IEDs, these improvised explosive devices, that are actually the number one killer of NATO troops.

And in fact, responsible for more than 80 percent of casualties in Helmand Province alone. They're using their technology and their (INAUDIBLE) to find these IEDs and prematurely detonate it to curb back on casualties. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Now, Atia, you know, this is the largest joint operation with Afghan forces. How are they doing?

ABAWI: Well, I have to tell you, Kyra, when it comes to my viewpoint and the area of the city of Marjah that I am in, with the group of Marines and Afghan soldiers that I'm with, the majority of the fighting, I'm telling you right now, is by the U.S. Marines. They're the ones taking the lead. They're the ones making headway.

There are some Afghans soldiers out with the U.S. Marines and there are those who are actually working with the Marines, but the majority of the Afghan soldiers do not ready, do not seem fit to fight and take over any kind of the lead when it comes to any battles in Afghanistan.

And it makes one really wonder if it really is about quantity rather than quality. (INAUDIBLE) been talking the past couple of months, when we talked about President Obama's new strategy in increasing the troop levels for the Afghan soldiers alone. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Got it. Atia Abawi, there embedded with the troops. We'll continue to talk to you, Atia.

And you can consider the largest offensive of the Afghan war a major success so far. That's according to the troops there on the ground. U.S. and international troops now only facing what seems like token resistance from the Taliban.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joining us now from Kabul, Afghanistan.

So what do you think, Fred? Is that what operators on the ground are saying, and how do you define the fact that this has been what they are saying a success so far?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly we heard from the Afghan government, Kyra. We also heard from NATO. And they are saying that right now their forces are actually in control of the -- of almost all the territory that they set out to control. That means, basically, they are the ones who are paroling the street right now. It doesn't actually mean that the Taliban aren't there anymore. We just heard from Atia that there are still gun battles, that there are still Taliban actually trying to attack coalition forces' positions.

What the Afghan government is saying that they are there in force, however they do believe that there are still several hundred Taliban fighters holed up there, and they might be mounting a counter attack at some point. That certainly is one thing that NATO has always said is a big issue and could be a big issue.

And now what they're saying is that they want to move this whole thing to the next stage of the operation. They want to try and bring in a civilian administration in there as fast as possible once the fighting has died down to try and really get a civilian administration going, to get public services going there, to the people.

They know that that is going to be key in the end, is how the people perceive this offensive. Was it is a success? Was it not a success? Have their lives gotten better through it? And that's why NATO and especially NATO's commanding general here, Stanley McChrystal, believes he has to get that civil administration going as fast as possible, provide services to the people and make sure that they see their government as a better alternative than the Taliban -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred Pleitgen, we'll keep track it and throughout the morning and afternoon.

Now as part of our coverage, we want to help you understand the region and the enemy better. In a new series on "Operation: Moshtarak." It's around 9:30 a.m. Eastern. We're going to talk to Jeffrey Dressler. He's actually an expert on Marjah.

A political theater on the Sunday morning talk show stage. Vice President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Dick Cheney, going off on each other over terrorism and the Iraq war.

Let's get straight to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

You definitely didn't need coffee to wake you up if you're watching the Sunday morning talk shows, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not. I mean when you look at it, it was a smack down when you could hear both of them, one show, one vice president on the other, the former vice president.

Clearly the White House, Kyra, is trying to fight charges that it's weak on national security. One of the accusations that the White House botched the handling of the Christmas airline attacker Abumutallab by reading his Miranda rights and looking to try him in civilian court. Another accusation, that the Attorney General Eric Holder did not make the right call in choosing New York City as the location to try the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

And finally the other charge that this administration doesn't really see the threat of al Qaeda. What al Qaeda could possibly do, whether or not there's going to be another 9/11 type of attack.

Well, that is why we saw Vice President Biden out here trying to knock down each and every one of those charges. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I think, in fact, the situation with respect to al Qaeda to say that, you know, that was a big attack we had on 9/11, but it's not likely again, I think it's dead wrong.

I think the biggest strategic threat the United States faces today is the possibility of another 9/11 with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind and I think al Qaeda is out there even as we meet trying to figure out how to do that.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT: I don't think the vice -- the former vice president Dick Cheney listens. The president of the United States said at the State of the Union we're at war with al Qaeda. They are, in fact, not able to do anything remotely like they were in the past. They are on the run.

I don't know where Dick Cheney has been. Look it's one thing, again, to criticize, it's another thing to sort of re-write history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Kyra, the White House is saying this morning -- at least officials that I spoke with -- that this is another opportunity, essentially, to get their point of view across to explain how it is that they're defending the country.

And they do bring up a point that Cheney is a very unpopular figure when it comes to the American people so they don't feel like they've got anything to take him on point by point on these issues.

PHILLIPS: But -- one specific issue, though, it seemed that Vice President Dick Cheney had a bit of soft spot. There wasn't very much of a battle here when it came to the "Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy."

MALVEAUX: Well, that's absolutely, right, Kyra. He actually expressed support for the Obama administration's position on that, as well as the military's -- of all -- position on that.

Mullen saying essentially that society has moved on. They've gotten over this and that he believes it is time to repeal that policy, allow gays to openly serve their country,. That was one thing that he certainly agrees with. And then the second thing is he said he's a complete supporter when it comes to President Obama's Afghan policy, allowing and employing those -- deploying 30,000 additional U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan to go after al Qaeda and the terrorists there.

So there is definitely have some areas of agreement here. But I don't think this is the last we'll see of Cheney coming out and criticizing in large part this administration's national security policies.

PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Suzanne, thanks so much.

House of worship becomes a target of gunman.

Five gun shots stopped the singing, but faith pulls the congregation through the rest of the service.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center. Another storm rolling across the eastern part of the country bringing snow. Well, in some spots in the Deep South flights have been canceled. We will update the forecast in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: She is a mom and a professor and now an accused killer. Students and faculty at the University of Alabama Huntsville are trying to make sense of what happened on their campus. A prayer vigil was held yesterday to remember the three people killed at a faculty meeting on Friday.

A colleague, Amy Bishop Anderson, has been charged with capital murder now, but there are more questions about her past.

In 1986 Anderson shot and killed her brother in Braintree, Massachusetts. The police log at the time listed the shooting as accidental. But Braintree's current police chief says an officer involved in the case told them Anderson shot her brother during an argument.

Police records in the shooting are now missing. The police at the time of the shooting says the records were there when he retired and says there was no cover-up.

Our Brooke Baldwin is in Massachusetts and will have more on this story for us later in the next hour.

A church service interrupted by gun fire. The congregation left in shock but their faith not shaken.

Reporter Da Lin from our affiliate KRON TV has the story now from Richmond, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DA LIN, KRON TV REPORTER (voice-over): A place thought to be safe from street violence turned into a crime scene.

The shooting happened during service inside this Richmond church. You're watching a video taken by a churchgoer. You see the choir singing and then all of a sudden, five shots -- many people dropped to the ground. It was a packed service with about 100 people inside the New Gethsemane Church.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't be safe at church. Where can you be safe at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a church. You know, to me, it's like they committed a cardinal sin.

DA LIN: Police say the gun fire hit two teenage boys, a 14-year- old and a 19-year-old. Police say one was hit in the shoulder, witnesses say the other was hit in the leg. Both are expected to survive.

(On camera): Police believe this is a targeted shooting. That's because church members saw three people walk in. They appeared to be looking for someone. They left and came back shortly after and that's when they opened fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was 12:30 in the afternoon in the middle of church service, 12:30 in the afternoon. Very brazen attack.

DA LIN (voice-over): Police would not say if the two victims were the intended targets and they have very little information about the gunman. Investigators say the gunman had the lockhoods on and that they are black males in their teens or 20s. Two have short hair and one man had shoulder-length (INAUDIBLE).

Richmond police hope to get better descriptions from witness interviews. Churchgoers say after police finished gathering all the evidence, they went back to singing and finished their service.

In Richmond, Da Lin, KRON 4 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, we've all been told to watch out for those icy roads, but some people figure, hey, I can handle it. And they would be wrong. Why? Too big pileups on interstate highways in Kansas yesterday. The largest. A 40-car pileup on I-70.

Take a look at that. What a mess.

Emergency crews had to climb all over these cars to get to the injured. At least 15 people were hospitalized and later there was another pileup involving 30 cars on Interstate 30. Lucky when -- lucky that nobody died in either of the pileups.

And you can blame the heavy snow for this mess just south of -- south, rather, of Pittsburgh. The roof of a skating rink actually collapsed on the ice -- collapsed on to the ice rather then on that ring. The arena was hosting a kid hockey tournament but all the players were in the locker room when it happened, luckily. Zambonia was on the ice but that driver wasn't hurt. In fact, everybody got out OK.

Wow. Snow in other parts of the country, Rob? What do you think? It's tamed down here in Atlanta, thank goodness.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: OK. Always something that goes down in the record books.

MARCIANO: That's why we keep records and books.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: That's right. And read them and talk to you. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about bouncing back quickly. Former president Bill Clinton ready to get back to work. He's not letting last week's heart surgery slow him down that much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now. Former president Bill Clinton could be back at the office as early as today, though it's not likely that he's taking much time off after having heart surgery.

That was last Thursday. Two stents replaced in one of his coronary artery. When he got home from the hospital on Friday, Clinton quickly issued a statement on relief efforts in Haiti.

Iran moving toward a military dictatorship. That's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's fears. She wants a tougher global response to Iran's plan to heighten production of highly enriched uranium. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We do not believe that Iran should be a nuclear weapons power. We believe they do have a right to peaceful nuclear power, and we stand ready to engage with them, but we're going to have to move forward in the absence of any positive response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Cutter, Clinton says that the U.S. is working with allies to convince Iran to change course.

Some competition for John McCain. A challenger coming forward today for his Senate seat. Republican J.D. Hayworth leaving his radio show to join the race. The former congressman calls him the consistent conservative. Hayworth says he plans to pound McCain for his positions on health care reform, the national debt and illegal immigration. The primary is in August.

In Haiti, so many people still mourn the loss of family and friends, but part of the country's rich art culture is gone as well. We're going to tell you about Haiti's lost art.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Bail or no bail. A Haitian judge could decide today on whether to release 10 Americans being held on child kidnapping charges. The 10 are accused of trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after last month's earthquake.

The judge says that if he grants bail he could set conditions such as keeping the 10 in Haiti until trial or could let them go home until the next court hearing.

As Haitians attempt to pull their lives back together there are some things that just can't be replaced. The colorful paintings that marked the country's culture took a beating from the earthquake.

CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour shows us.

BLITZER:

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time since the earthquake struck January 12th, Frank Louissaint is painting again.

FRANK LOUISSAINT, PAINTER (Through Translator): Inevitably you will see elements in my work that will reflect this moment. There will be a combination before the 12th and after the 12th.

AMANPOUR: Louissaint is among Haiti's foremost painters. And he finished this painting called "American Rice" just weeks before the earthquake brought in tons of real American rice.

LOUISSAINT (Through Translator): It expresses aid, and some people may see it and think it predicted aid here. That's the beauty of art.

AMANPOUR: Some of Haiti's galleries, historic sites and art museums haven't fared as well. At the Nader Museum, George Nader surveys what's left of a family collection.

GEORGE S NADER, JR., GALLERY OWNER: We had about 12,000 paintings there. So I think from what I have seen so far, we might be able to save between 2,000 to 3,000.

AMANPOUR: The museum security cameras caught the moment the quake hit. Nader comes daily to salvage what he can.

NADER: This is (INAUDIBLE). They're the most famous artist. It's completely destroyed. The "Crucifixion" by (INAUDIBLE) 1959.

AMANPOUR: Sometimes he feels overwhelmed.

This was the (INAUDIBLE) which gave the Haitian art movement global recognition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to cry sometimes, you know, because it's awful for us. Everything is broken in this country. We have to do our best to start again.

AMANPOUR: Danielle Elie is working for the government to assess the damage to historic sites, including the heavily damaged national palace, where Haiti's oldest painting dating back in 1822 is still trapped in its walls. Elie also worries about the 1950s mural of the Cathedral of St. Trinity painted by Haiti's most renown artists.

DANIEL ELIE, HEADING CULTURAL RESTORATION (Through Translator): It's going to be very difficult to restore this (INAUDIBLE). We are still waiting for the opinion of specialists. It's a monumental mural.

NADER: Haitian art has been considered as a miracle for Haiti. What I'm trying to preserve right now is what is left in Haitian art, trying to restore what is left, trying to conserve what is left, because the future generations definitely needs to see these things and remember.

AMANPOUR: Christiane Amanpour, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Gaining ground in Afghanistan. A major offensive is a success so far according to troops, but Taliban fighters have left a lot of booby traps behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: No bulls, no bears. This is usually the time that we hear the bells going off, but not this morning. There's no opening bell to mark Wall Street's opening. The market federal government closed today for Presidents' Day, but we can still talk about your money and how to protect it.

New rules for credit card companies take affect one week from today, so are you ready? Gerri Willis is CNN's personal finance there joining us from New York. So, Gerri what do we need to know?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey there, Kyra.

Yes, here is what to expect next Monday when the bell goes into effect. They' start getting your credit card your bill at the same time each month which is a good thing because then you know when to expect it. There'll be no midday cut offs on paying your bill, so you won't have to send it in, taking it -- you'll have to have it there by 10:00 AM or noon. There's no due dates on weekends or holidays, and no double cycle billing. So, some of the tricks and tips that credit card operators use to get us to miss our bill, those will be gone, and of course, as you know, there is already a 45-day notice on rate changes.

However, there are going to be some changes you might not like that's because there's no restrictions on fees out there. Credit card companies have already said that this bill is going to cost them $50 billion in lost revenue. You can bet they're going to go looking for that money, probably see some annual fees.

There are a lot of credit card issuers already out there that are testing credit card annual fees in the marketplace, so you really going to want to read your mail, make sure you understand everything what's going off of your credit card.

And when you do finally get those credit card bills, they're going to look a little different. They'll explain a lot of stuff that you've never seen they explained in the bill before like how long it will take you to pay off your balance if you only pay the minimum or how become debt-free in just three years. They'll also give you toll free numbers for credit counselors.

So, there'll be a lot more information. There could also be some surprise fees coming your way out there as you get used to this new credit card law -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I know you can never avoid all the fees. That's the downside.

WILLIS: No. No, it's a downside, that's right.

PHILLIPS: What you can do is just cut up all the cards, but we can't do that either, so -- Thanks, Gerri.

WILLIS: Even pay it down might be the best suggestion out there, and if you don't like the terms your credit card issuer is offering, you can always get a new card. You can opt out at some of these changes, move on, and find a card that you really do like -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's a good point. You can negotiate a lot of those percentage points. Good point. Thanks, Gerri.

The next phase of the Afghan offensive underway. A spokesperson for the International Security Forces that troops are now clearing the area in Helmand province, finding roadside bombs left behind by Taliban fighters on the run. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us live from New York.

Now, Barbara you got new information. General McChrystal apparently gave President Obama a five-minute update via phone?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We have learned that, Kyra, General McChrystal, yesterday, giving the president a five- minute update on the operations in Helmand province in this region known as Marjah. Senior NATO military official say the operation is going well. They are not encountering massive resistance. They believe many Taliban fighters may have actually left the area, and they say that's just fine.

Their goal, they say, is to establish security here as fast as they can, so Afghan government can resume in this region, and the people in this region can have confidence that their government is going to look after them.

One other update, you know, we have been reporting that there was an errant misfire, if you will, of a rocket by U.S. troops in this region that killed 12 civilians. In fact, we reported that because the military put out a press release saying that it was an errant rocket well.

The senior official now says the rocket hit the target it aimed at, but once again, U.S. troops simply did not know that there were civilians inside that building. So, bit of an update this morning -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so what is the strategy moving forward and how long will troops be in the region?

STARR: You know, that's really the key -- that is the key question now, because it all depends on how fast they can get the afghan government to come back into this region and provide the long- term security. U.S. forces is really not certain how long they're going to have to stay here. They've been in the region, in this overall region for some months.

But in this area of Marjah, the key really is to try and get the farmers to give up growing opium, break that connection to the Taliban, and get the Afghan government to take hold and nobody is really predicting how long that's going to take.

All of that, a lot more complicated than just moving in and conducting combat operations. It's this long-term effort that is really the key -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, we're going to keep following it along with you and our correspondents on the ground. Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

And many of you probably have a lot of questions about this offensive. Where is it succeeding and where are the set back? Jeffrey Dressler is a research analyst that will be instituted for the study of war. He is actually an expert on Marjah. He is joining us live from Washington.

So Jeffrey, you actually briefed troops. What exact -- can you take me inside that briefing and what you told them that we may not have insight into?

JEFFREY DRESSLER, AUTHOR OF RECENT ISW REPORT "SECURING HELMAND: UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO THE ENEMY: This was several months ago. It was the battalion who's actually leading this offensive right now, and I was briefing them about what they are going to encounter. Typically, the way in which the enemy responds to offenses of the sort, and so far, everything is pretty much gone according to plan.

PHILLIPS: What did you tell them? What were you able to offer them that they didn't know? Culturally or intelligence wise?

DRESSLER: Pretty much about how the enemy typically operates. Also, how the people respond, why it's critical to explain to them what you are trying to achieve in an operation of this sort, and I think especially going forward that is going to be critical.

We have seen the Marines with Afghan troops really put an Afghan face on this offensive and explain some of the things that they are attempting to bring into the region after the Taliban are routed, captured and killed and pushed out. And so, I think the Marines do understand what it is that they have to do, and I think they've been pretty affective at that so far.

PHILLIPS: And why this area specifically? Is it because of the drugs and the Taliban having so much power over the farmers there, and making a lot of money off the poppy fields?

DRESSLER: Yes, there's no question. It's actually a combination of both. Marjah in particular is kind of a sanctuary for the Taliban, narcotic traffickers, ID production facilities. They're generating over $200,000 a month in profit just from the opium alone in this region, and so it's critical that we go into this region. The military in conjunction with Afghan forces disrupt the enemy and secure the population that has really been held hostage the Taliban in this area for several years.

PHILLIPS: Now, how did you get so much background on this area, and how did you become an expert and even get tight to the military to brief them?

DRESSLER: I spent several months working on report for the area, talking with scholars, and doing research, back grounding and also familiarity with military operations, but the important thing about Afghan stand in particular is that every region is distinct and separate, and you really can't say you know something about this area, and it applies to this area. It's very specific and so that particular knowledge, I think, was helpful in this specific instance, but the United States military is also very capable on their own right of launching and preparing for these operations, and so, I was just happy to help in any small way that I could.

PHILLIPS: Final question, you know Afghan forces were have really involved in this join offensive. What do you think they were able to offer, the U.S. Marines, that maybe the Marines were not aware of?

DRESSLER: Obviously, the cultural issues and distinctions in the area are important. Also, dealing with how searches, talking with the families of the compounds, and saying, "hey, listen this is what we want to do. We're going to come in and just make sure there is no insurgency here". More than that, it's about getting these Afghan troops practice, training, and actual battlefield experience that they can begin to take over for the United States military, for coalition troops in the coming months and years as we look to drawback from the region.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Dressler, we appreciate your insight this morning.

DRESSLER: My pleasure, Kyra, thanks.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

And coming up next hour, we're going to talk live with one of the U.S. Marine commanders there on the ground for a firsthand account of the fighting and the mission.

Hopes of the nation riding on an old wives tale. The U.S. ski team hoping to bounce back from disappointment at the last Olympics. Their top town land is hobbling but hopeful a little cheese can do the trick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The six-packed for the U.S. Olympic team in Vancouver got six medals so far. Today, a chance at more hardware in one of the premiere Olympic the downhill. CNN's Mark McKay is live in Vancouver for us this morning.

Hey, Mark.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, Kyra. It's cold here on ground level here in Vancouver, and it was freezing overnight up at Whistler Mountain. That's going to be good news as the men's downhill is set to go later this Monday here at the Olympic games.

You know, in the months leading up to the 2006 games in Torino, the U.S. ski team used the term the motto, "the best in the world". At that time, officially said it was a goal and not an assertion.

It's a good thing, the U.S. Alpine ski team came away with only two medals from the Torino games. So, making up for the disappointment of Torino currently being used as motivation here in Vancouver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDSEY VONN, CRASHED IN 2006 WINTER OLYMPICS: We know it's definitely not what the U.S. was hoping for as a team. I mean, I know we had a lot of favorites going in, and for me at least, you know, the whole feeling of Torino was just bad. It was just one event after the next, kind of --, you know, the wrong things happening, and I think, for a lot of the team it just was that day, where everything didn't come together.

One race went by and the next race went by and we were still kind of thinking, "hey we could do something more, and by the end of it, we were just kind of, you know, we were left depressed and sad.

MCKAY (voice-over): Whether it was crashes, mistakes, or sloppy runs, the biggest disappointment, by far, was Bode Miller. He had been projected to win as many as 5 medals but left Torino with nothing hanging around his neck but a bad reputation. T.J. LANNING, U.S. SKI TEAM: Bode is a tremendous athlete, and it's hard to take anything away anything from him, you know. It's just one week that he did not perform, and that could happen to anyone.

TED LIGETY, 2006 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: There is definitely the redemption factor, I guess there, and the team is really looking for a lot of good races out of all of us, but I mean, we're not really thinking too much about what happened in 2006, we want to move on.

VONN: I think we have a lot to prove. I mean, I think we still have not skied up to our potential in the last few Olympics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKAY: Speaking of living up to your potential, Bode Miller certainly did not do that at Torino. He started his preparations, Kyra, for the Vancouver games back in September. He is facing now that it's February, he will be peaking at the right time, and we will see over the coming hours up at Whistler.

PHILLIPS: All right now. We saw Lindsey Vonn there in your piece, and we sort have been talking about her little special remedy dealing with her shin injury, the gift (INAUDIBLE) Do we have any idea where this came from? Old family tradition?

MCKAY: The power of (INAUDIBLE) maybe we ought to get Dr. Sanjay Gupta on this, Kyra. Yes, this may be a medical breakthrough. Her story, Lindsey Vonn's story is certainly well documented, Kyra. She came here with that badly bruised right shin. She could not even put her ski boot on, but as the days have gone on, certainly, the weather has worked in her factor, and a cheese remedy, an Austrian cheese name Top Fin, her favorite cheese. She is putting it on the injury.

Apparently, it's working miracles or at least the cold nature of the cheese is reducing inflammation. Don't know if there is a medical breakthrough here, but Top Fin from Austria, that's her favorite.

PHILLIPS: OK. Also, good for cheesecake and gravy, I understand. as well.

MCKAY: All kinds of uses.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Mark.

All right. So, cheese works magic for Lindsey Vonn, apparently. So, you got any magic cures of your sleep? That's they were talking about on the blog this morning. Go to cnn.com/kyra. Tell us what your homemade remedies are. I will read some of the best ones on the air next hour.

Checking top stories now, passengers leave their trains on stretchers. Two trains collided head on in Belgium. At least, ten people dead and 11 hurt. The cause of that crash not known right now. We have a reporter heading to the site and hope to hear more from him later this morning. "It blowed up." That's what a little girl who hit the dynamite button said. It was a well-known condo building in West Palm Beach that was badly damaged by hurricanes in 2004. One of the tallest building imploded in the U.S., and left behind a 42-foot mound of concrete and plans for a brand new building.

The shuttle astronauts close to finishing work on the big erector set. They are attaching a new room and hallway in the International Space Station. The third and last space walk is tomorrow. The heavy workload forcing NASA to keep them up there, I guess, an extra day. We will be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Lets' talk about a wipeout in northern California. Take a look at this rogue wave slamming ashore on Maverick Beach. Yes, it's pretty scary. It's huge and it was a pretty dangerous rush of water that kind of came out of nowhere. This one hit a seawall and swept away a group of people who were actually watching a surfing competition, 13 people were hurt.

The wave was so strong it actually broke some bones. Explain rogue wave, Rob Marciano, how the heck does that happen?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, they have this surfing competition every year and this is the time of year when the north Pacific storms get cranking.

And my goodness, you know a buddy of mine texted me the morning of and saying, hey, he was going out there the surf was up and well, to say the least, this -- we haven't seen something like this in quite a long time.

There is a saying out along the Pacific Ocean, because those waves are so beautiful to watch come crashing in and even if you're not watching a surfing event you just go out to one of the (INAUDIBLE) and check them out. Never turn your back on the ocean and that's the reason why. Those rogue waves can really just sneak up on you. And in many instances they were very lucky that nobody was swept out to sea. That's for sure.

All right, let's talk about what's going on. A little (INAUDIBLE), we still have a high surf advisory out for parts of the California coastline and again that's because of action that's offshore, the storm now that's coming into the Pacific Northwest, not terribly strong. Although, we've got a couple more that are lined up that will be rolling their way into the West Coast here over the week or so.

This storm rolling across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys is winding up just a little a bit and it's getting a little bit more intense. Here is it. Low right there. You see a classic comma shape with the precipitation shield kind of streaming up towards the north and east from the south and west tapping moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and some of this is in the form of rain, some of it is in the form of snow. Had a bit of a snow scare because it was snowing this time yesterday in places like Tupelo, Mississippi and into parts of Arkansas and but things warmed up just enough across parts of Georgia and Alabama to where we haven't seen a ton of snow. So that's good news, mostly that's rain.

But it is all snow from places like Louisville to Indianapolis up to Cincinnati we're thinking we'll probably see anywhere from five to ten inches of snow here during the day today. And wrapping itself up sometime later on tonight.

The forecast for the northeast, as the storm rises into the New York metropolitan area, is for snow to arrive later on tonight. And they'll probably see three to six inches of snow maybe a couple of inches in D.C. but for the first time in a long time, we can say that this isn't a major snowstorm for folks in the major metropolitan areas from D.C. to Boston.

Although, you know, Kyra, any other year, we may be talking about the storm as being a big one, but it certainly in comparison to what we've seen in the past couple of weeks, it's small potatoes.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks Rob.

MARCIANO: You've got it.

PHILLIPS: Well, he's a big man in Hollywood, but is director Kevin Smith too big? Apparently one airline thinks so.

And you hear the name and it just scares the ever loving you know what out of you, Count Dracula.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELA LUGOSI, ACTOR: I am Count Dracula.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Sends chills down your spine. There it is. Oops, well, Bela Lugosi he starred as "Dracula" in the movie released on this day in 1931. The film was chosen for preservation in the nation's national film registry by the Library of Congress. The library called the film quote, "culturally, historically, aesthetically significant" but most of us just think of it as just plain scary.

And who can forget that voice. Nat King Cole, "Mona Lisa", "Unforgettable". Talk about Mr. Unforgettable; the music legend died on this day in 1965 only at the age of 45. Twenty years ago Nat King Cole was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "I know I'm fat." Award winning director Kevin Smith admits it, but he also says that still isn't reason enough for a Southwest Airlines pilot to just kick him off the plane. You may know him as the director of films like "Chasing Amy", "Clerks" and the upcoming "Cop Out". Let's just say he was more than a little angry at the airline and the man whose alter ego is Silent Bob was not keeping quiet.

He tweeted that they bleeped with the wrong sedentary processed food eater and talked about how he was embarrassed in front of the other passengers. But he never lost his sense of humor. When Smith arrived in Burbank, he said they cut out the side of the plane so he could be airlifted out while Richard Simmons stood by.

As for the airline, Southwest tweeted an apology but also offered a bit of a back-handed slap saying, Smith usually buys two seats instead of one.

So what's a guy going to do with 130 pairs of panties? We'll leave that's to your imagination. But here's the bottom line. The panty raid happened in Boca Raton, Florida. From where else, the Victoria's Secret store and the mother lode worth two grand. No granny panties here either. They only took the cold stuff or the good stuff. You know the stuff you wear on your wedding night, Valentine's Day.

Police are still looking for the panty pair caught with their pants down or rather on surveillance tape.

All right, it's a busy morning in the CNN NEWSROOM. And our CNN crews are in place for you with the latest details. Let's go in and check in with our correspondents starting with you, Frederik Pleitgen in Kabul, Afghanistan.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Kyra, we're going to be talking about one of the biggest NATO offensives in Afghanistan. The U.S. and its allies say they are making progress trying to (INAUDIBLE) the Taliban in Helmand progress.

MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. On the radar scope this morning a snowstorm rolling across Ohio; winter storm warnings are posted again. We'll tell you who, what, when and where the snow will be at the top of the hour -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, guys.

And just ahead, the battle for Arizona. We're going to get a closer look at Senator John McCain's challenger.

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PHILLIPS: So what have you done for me lately? That's what some people may be saying about Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican running for re-election in the November mid-terms. It's not a Democratic challenger he needs to be worried about.

CNN's Casey Wian has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A CNN photographer takes a ribbing from Senator John McCain at a ribbon cutting ceremony in Phoenix. McCain is spending a lot of time in his home state preparing for what looks like a tough primary fight against conservative Republican J.D. Hayworth, a 6-term former U.S. Congressman.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm tenacious. I fight. I love a good campaign.

WIAN (on camera): The primary is more than six months away. McCain is already spending an entire week campaigning here in Arizona. Here's clearly taking his challengers seriously.

MCCAIN: Actually, I started campaigning on November the 4th, right after I didn't succeed in the presidential campaign.

WIAN (voice-over): Hayworth says McCain is too liberal on government spending and illegal immigration.

(on camera): Why do you see yourself as the conservative alternative to John McCain?

J.D. HAYWORTH, RUNNING FOR SENATOR: In Arizona, this has come from the fact that John -- look, we all think the world of John. John's place in history is secure. But John no longer represents the common sense conservative philosophy that most Arizonans share.

WIAN (voice-over): Hayworth has ventured into a Republican committee meeting in a Phoenix suburb that has been a big stronghold for John McCain in elections passed. It's voters like these Hayworth is going to need to capture a seat in the senate that McCain has held for nearly a quarter of a century.

HAYWORTH: I will stand four square against amnesty of any form.

WIAN: Hayworth and McCain both lost their last elections to Democrats. Analysts say McCain has since moved to the right on several national issues.

(on camera): Is he doing it just for political purposes?

DAN NOWICKI, POLITICAL REPORTER, "AZ REPUBLIC": I think it's safe to say that McCain coming out of the presidential race was a concern about his possible re-election. I think he was kind of expecting a challenge from the right. So he definitely did shift to the right.

WIAN: McCain's campaign staff is already up and running full speed. They've secured endorsements from two darlings of the tea party movement including his former presidential campaign running mate Sarah Palin and newly-elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

(voice-over): Casey Wian, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)