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Toyota's Troubles; Eight Americans Freed; Two Americans Still Held in Haiti; The Foreclosure Fix One Year Later; Firefight in Marjah, Afghanistan; Why China Matters; Lindsey Vonn is Queen of the Hill

Aired February 18, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. Good Thursday morning to you. Our news plate is pretty full. Here's a peek.

President Obama, the Dalai Lama meeting today. Whatever you do, please don't tell China.

Another example of just how bad the recession is, as if we needed it, a town so hurting for money it will make you pay for emergency calls. Better save up before you fall and can't get up.

And remember the big plan to help fix the foreclosure mess? That working out for you? Still in your house? If so you are one of the few.

And check out who's playing with us this hour. Josh Levs on the Toyota patrol. A very busy beat right now. He's covering the Corolla complaint for us.

John Zarrella in Miami. Eight American missionaries very happy to be back in the U.S.

And Gerri Willis, telling us how the government's big foreclosure fix is or isn't working.

Let's start with the enough is enough. The U.S. government now opening a new investigation into Toyota. This time it's about steering problems, not brakes or accelerators. The car, the Corolla 2009 and 2010 models. That's about half a million cars.

Many of those cars, part of the sticky accelerator recall. Toyota executives say they're monitoring the new complaints and may have to recall them again. Two House committees hold hearings on Toyota next week. They want to know if the complaints dragged its feet on earlier recalls.

And I'll tell you what, those complaints just keep piling up. Kind like the safety concerns, right, Josh Levs?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, pretty much. It is amazing. Yet another stage now in the troubles plaguing this Japanese automaker, Kyra. And this one, as you said, involves the Corolla.

This is Toyota's second most popular model, right after the Camry. And CNN is now told the U.S. will be opening an investigation today looking into some Corollas from the past two years.

And officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is telling us 363,000 Corollas for model year 2009 and 136,000 from 2010 could be affected. Now as of last week, the administration had collected 80 complaints about problems with those vehicles, a lot of them are involving the car drifting at high speeds.

Other owners complain of steering wheel vibrations or exaggerated motions from steering which basically means you move the steering wheel a little and the car swerves a lot more than you expect.

Now yesterday at a news conference in Japan, Toyota's vice president commented on whether the company will be announcing Toyota Corolla recalls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHINICHI SASAKI, VICE PRESIDENT, TOYOTA (Through Translator): If this is a problem that threatens the safety, but if it's not we will provide the usual repair service based on customer complaints.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So Kyra, we are all over the story. We're going to be seeing what the company does next. Our CNN Money team is reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be officially announced in that investigation today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how many vehicles has Toyota already recalled?

LEVS: Yes, you know what? If you put everything together, they've already announced recalls on more than 8.1 million, all over the world for various issues. And a lot of cases sticking accelerator peddles. The company is promising much stricter safety control.

The company is going to have some representatives at congressional hearings next week, but Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, does not plan to attend those on Capitol Hill -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's been kind controversial as well.

LEVS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Josh, thanks.

For more on the Toyota recall, you can go to CNN.com/Toyota. We have information on whether your car has been recalled as well as what to do if your gas pedal sticks.

Now back here in the U.S., eight Americans get off an Air Force C-130 cargo plane at Miami last night. They were jailed in Haiti for nearly three weeks accused of child kidnapping. However, two of them are still in a Haitian detention center.

CNN's John Zarrella at the airport there in Miami on more with the missionaries who did get out. John?

JOHN ZARRELLA: Hey, Kyra. That's exactly right. Eight of them coming into Miami this morning, early this morning. Now, just a little while ago, within the last half hour, we were told that they would be leaving here and headed to their airplane, and for sure they did.

We managed to catch up with them as they were going through the security checkpoint to catch a Delta flight out of Miami. Now when I managed to throw a question to them through the glass, one of them said to me, he was feeling OK, gave me the thumbs up and smiled, and then I asked if he had got any sleep, and he said yes, he did. Well, in fact, where they slept was here at the Miami International Airport at the hotel here.

Now they got in at about 11:30 -- well, they got in about 11:30. Their plane landed, that C-130 military plane, and on that plane, along with them as they deplaned, were members of the military coming home as well.

It took them an hour and a half to clear customs before they were released, and when they were released, they didn't come through the normal checkpoint that everyone else comes through. They were taken out a separate exit, and then they made their way to the hotel at the airport.

And as they went from one elevator to another elevator, they seemed very, very tired. Again, they would not talk to the media there and then they went straight up to their rooms.

We did talk to the attorney for Jim Allen, one of the eight, and he said that his client was very glad to be home and that there was a celebration, a homecoming of sorts, planned for later today back in Amarillo, Texas when they get there. Sometime late this afternoon.

So, Kyra, at this point in time we don't know if all of them have left Miami, but we do know that at least four of them, four of the men, have at least gotten down to the gate and are boarding planes to leave Miami, and head, perhaps, back to Idaho. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: So, John, I hope we got the situation in your ear figured out. Are you still able to hear me OK?

(LAUGHTER)

ZARRELLA: I got you.

PHILLIPS: OK, good.

ZARRELLA: Yes, I got you now.

PHILLIPS: There seems to be some technical issues. So do we think we're going to hear from them? Do they have a lawyer representing them here in the states? I mean we know how this works. There's so many questions that want to be asked. Will they make themselves available? I mean what's your take?

ZARRELLA: Well, this is what we're hearing. One of them who had the lawyer, Jim Allen, whose lawyer was here, he was the only attorney here -- that we know of representing any of the eight who came back.

What we also know is that they were telling us that they have been advised -- this is all they would say -- not to say anything right now because, remember, they still have kidnapping charges pending in Haiti. So they have been advised not to talk.

So we don't know what they might say when they return either at Amarillo, Texas or back to Idaho. But at least here now what they're saying is, they're keeping their mouths shut. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Got it. John Zarrella there at the Miami airport. John, thanks so much.

Now let's talk about the two missionaries who are still locked in that Haitian detention center.

John Vause is in Port-au-Prince.

Why are they still there, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the investigating judge in this matter have been asked and he says he still has some more questions for Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter.

He wants to know why in particular the two women actually traveled to Haiti before the earthquake. They were here last year. And being the French legal system here, because it's a former French colony, the judge is actively involved. He doesn't just sit back and weigh the evidence as presented by the defense and prosecutor.

We were told by the lawyers that Silsby and Coulter could appear be in the judge's chambers sometime today for that questioning procedure to begin. Those lawyers were optimistic that this process may, in fact, just take a couple of days and they are confident that once it was over that their clients would be granted unconditional bail like the other eight missionaries received yesterday.

But under Haitian law, the judge has up to two months. Judging by how long it took to get a decision on the bail for the eight missionaries, it may be on the balance of probably that this process for Silsby and Coulter could take about another week or so. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll track it. John Vause, thanks so much.

Earthquake survivors have been left to make do with what they have in Haiti, whether it be living in makeshift tents or shanty towns. But that could change today. The government may announce a plan to help the 1.2 million people left homeless after the quake, but there's been a lot of debate over what land should be made available and whether people should be given ready-made tents or plastic tarps. It's been a year since Uncle Sam threw a life preserver out there, hoping people about to lose their homes to foreclosure could grab on. But how's that plan working out? Let's just say it could be a heck of a lot better.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center. How's the plan working out to get some warm air in here? Well, not too quickly. We're going to warm up a little bit and then cool down again. Full details coming up. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New signs the economy just doesn't have the juice it needs to create more jobs. Just moments ago the Labor Department revealed jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week. 473,000 people filed for unemployment for first time last week. It's up 31,000. And it follows a drop of 41,000 from the previous week.

Well, news like that doesn't make Americans feel very confident. As a matter of fact, they're losing faith in Congress when it comes to getting those jobless numbers down.

A new CNN Opinion Research Poll shows that only 14 percent think Congress has done enough to create jobs, but a whopping 84 percent don't think so.

So what about the economy itself? Only 17 percent of those surveyed said that the economy is in good shape. Nearly 40 percent say economic conditions are somewhat poor, while 44 percent say that they're very poor.

Well, the government's big foreclosure rescue plan, it's been a year since the president put it out there.

CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis to talk about -- well, it's kind of hard to call the plan a success right now, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: In fact, it would be wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIS: You remember a year ago we started talking about this was an ambitious plan to help some four million Americans get more affordable mortgage loans. But it just hasn't worked.

Let's take a look at the numbers. Some 116,000 permanent loan reductions have actually been made under the terms of this program. 830,000 trial modifications, that means they're in the first three months of the program. And 60,500 have been denied modifications.

Remember again the goal was to help four million people. At the end of the day, what we're finding the government's mortgage relief plan has helped just 12 percent of people who have applied. So big problems with the program. Remember, the goals were very high. The president himself has really put a lot of pressure on the lending industry to go out there and help people. He's called lenders right into the oval office to talk to them, to twist their arms, but people are still struggling.

In fact, the expectation is that foreclosures will rise again this year to over three million. We had 2.8 million last year. And experts I talked to, Kyra, they say that what's going on here is that people are getting into foreclosure the old-fashioned way. They're losing their jobs.

And what's more, some of the super duper loans that people took out, so-called option arms, as they begin to reset and people can't pay those new, higher loans, then they're going to not be able to be part of the president's plan because they're going to be so far under water their house value is going to be so low.

So we're still looking for solutions to that. House prices continue to tumble. You probably remember when they were well over $200,000. Today they're at $173, 200. That's according to the National Association of Realtors.

So more pain on the housing front. We're still looking for those glimmers of hope out there. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I know. And some -- I guess in the past month, a number of people have been saying within the industry that things should get better by this summer. But is that a long shot?

WILLIS: Well, I think you're going to still see this foreclosure problem building throughout the year. Now the good news is, you know, we have that home buyer tax credit going on, and that's been a real spur to the economy.

And it's been raised and the term that's available has been lengthened so you're going to expect to see more people doing that. That will probably give the spring market a real boost.

But it's hard for the overall housing market to recover when you have so many foreclosures out there. It's a real drag on the market. So we'll be following it, Kyra, and I'm sure we'll be talking to you about this again later.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Gerri, thanks.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, we've got more cold on the way, right, Rob Marciano?

MARCIANO: Yes, just when you thought -- kind of like the foreclosure market, just when you thought it was starting to get better --

PHILLIPS: Forget about it.

MARCIANO: It's going to get worse. Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.

Breaking news I have to tell you about out of Afghanistan. Our Atia Abawi on the ground with U.S. troops there in the Helmand Province as we've been following the offensive that took -- started within the last week.

Atia, what's going on right now?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I can tell you that I'm embedded with Unit 16 Alpha Company with the U.S. Marines, and there has been an ongoing gun fight that went on for over an hour.

This was unusual coming in today because this morning started fairly quiet, sporadic gun fire in the city, but not too serious until the late afternoon when the firing started at the U.S. position that we are located. The Taliban trying to overrun various U.S. positions.

And I have to tell you, Kyra, they are fairly close. We could hear the AK47 bullets whizzing by our ears. We heard the mortar fire coming back from U.S. Marines targeting the Taliban fighters that are hiding in the sealed in compound surrounding the city of Marjah and the U.S. positions hoping -- hoping that they can find some way to overrun them, hoping that they can cause some kind of casualty when it comes to the U.S. troops and the Afghan forces.

We actually ran over to the U.S. position that was under fire. It went on for so long, Kyra, that re-supply for ammunition had been made to that position, and I have to tell you that's not an easy thing to do in the city of Marjah when you have big military vehicles trying to take the ammos to different positions, even though they're not too far away from each other.

It causes problems and it can cause casualties. Right now we're not sure if there were casualties and how many if there were. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, and therein lies the controversy. I mean troops are saying what a success this mission has been, possibly getting closer to the end zone, but it seems like as the Taliban is taken out, more Taliban show up.

ABAWI: Absolutely, Kyra. The Taliban here is relentless. And I was clarify when we say the U.S. troops, you're absolutely, when it comes to NATO forces and government of Kabul saying that the battle from Marjah is almost to an end, but when I talk to the troops on the ground here, the commanders on the ground here, they'll tell you right away that the battle of Marjah is not over.

They do expect more Taliban fighters to pop up in different parts of the city. They're trying to blend in with the population and they also know, the Taliban know, that they cannot come out in large numbers because of U.S. weaponry. If they do come out in packs, it's easily -- it will cause mass casualties to their fighters, so what they're doing right now is they're coming out in small squads. That's roughly 12 to 14 fighters popping out in different parts of the field or urban areas whether it'd be the stores or even civilian compounds. And hoping that they can inflict some kind of casualty even though the Taliban -- they know that they cannot win this battle.

They will fight to the death especially these ideological fighters that they were able to recruit. And they had months of planning to do, months, because this operation was publicized well before.

And the reason for publicizing the operation was the NATO forces hoped the not-so ideological fighters would put down their arms, but it also gave them time for more recruiting across the border in Pakistan. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Got it. Continue to keep up updated. Atia Abawi there embedded with troops in Marjah.

Let's do a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Way too close to America's number two. A man was arrested after getting within 12 rows of Vice President Biden at the opening ceremonies of the winter games in Vancouver.

A security officer says that Biden was never in danger and that the man may suffer from mental illness. Canada's CTV which first reported the story says that the man's pass appeared to be printed right off the Internet and laminated.

Is President Obama, (INAUDIBLE) knows that China despite protest, the president is meeting today with the Dalai Lama. Welcoming Tibet's spiritual leader to the White House but don't expect to see a lot of pictures for China's sake.

CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has more on the ties that bind the U.S. and China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. A symbol of the old China Americas still think of.

(On camera): Was that a poor China at that point? We're going 150 years ago.

DOUGLAS H. PAAL, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTL. PEACE: China was very poor and under a lot of stress. They had both civil wars and foreign invasions.

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): But Douglas Paal says that's out of date. He studied China for decades as an investment banker, diplomat, CIA expert and presidential adviser. China, he says, is now a major international player holding more than $1 trillion of U.S. debt and a burgeoning economy.

PAAL: China doesn't want to make cheap things. It wants to make better things. But if you have an iPhone or if you have an Apple computer, that came from China. It didn't come from the United States.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): What's happening with U.S. exports to China?

PAAL: U.S. exports are zooming to China. It's the largest export market for the U.S. Largest growing export market for the U.S. It grew 65 percent this past year alone.

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): So in spite of disagreements about the Dalai Lama, and U.S. arm sales to Taiwan, neither China nor the U.S., Paal says, can afford a major falling out.

(On camera): There's often the impression that the United States, let's say, needs China more than China needs the United States. What is the true story?

PAAL: Right. Well, we both need each other. We need each other for a number of international security issues, to deal with the global climate crisis, to deal with the global financial crisis.

DOUGHERTY: For an average American, what is the most important trend in China that they should be looking at?

PAAL: The Chinese are always looking at America to see whether we are gaining strength or losing strength. Americans should ask themselves, are we at home taking care of our economy and moving ourselves forward so that China will always see us as a source of strength and not as a potential weak party to deal with and put pressure on.

If that's done, everything else becomes easy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Jill Dougherty at the White House for us.

So, Jill, could today's visit by the Dalai Lama torpedo the U.S. relationship with China?

DOUGHERTY: I don't think you could say, Kyra, that it's going to torpedo. Now it's going to hurt, because obviously the Chinese are very angry about this. But it's not as if they didn't know that this was coming.

In fact, President Obama put off a meeting with the Dalai Lama last year before he went to Beijing in order to -- one reason, to make sure that trip to Beijing would go smoothly. But it exacerbates what's going on right now. And you've got all of these tensions coming together at the same time.

And emotions are pretty high, but you know, you'd have to say, as you heard from Mr. Paal there, both sides do want to make sure that this relationship goes well because they are locked in this economic and other embrace.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll definitely follow the discussion, the fallout, the impact, all of that with you, Jill Dougherty. Thanks so much.

Wouldn't it be nicer to have an easier, more efficient and safer experience at the airport? Well, there's a story on top of our stimulus desk right now that says a big chunk of your tax money is doing that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, Wall Street getting set for a pretty busy day as investors digest away with economic and earnings news.

Alison Kosik, I'm laughing because I don't we've ever seen the Best in Show ring the opening bell. I don't know. Is that a first?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not a first. But this is --

PHILLIPS: Oh, it's not.

KOSIK: I'm going to tell you about Sadie in a little bit. First let's talk about the numbers. We are looking at a lower open, Kyra, coming off those two days of strong gains.

The Dow has risen more than 2 percent in that time, and it's up more than 4 percent since last Monday. But today investors have a lot to digest including a bigger-than-expected increase in weekly jobless claims. An additional 31,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week, and it's yet another reminder that the pace of the recovery in the jobs market is lagging behind the rest of the economy.

And we got quarterly results from a couple of profit heavy weight to tell you about. Wal-Mart says profit rose more than 20 percent from a year ago, but investors are likely to focus instead on a key measure of its sales which fell for a third straight quarter, and what happened was Wal-Mart aggressively cut prices during the holiday shopping season, but that strategy ultimately hurt sales.

Hewlett Packard says both businesses and consumers started spending on technology again during the holiday season. HP said sales rose 8 percent and opposed to the profit of $2.3 billion. That the Wall Street expected. Checking on the early numbers, we are lower. The Dow down about seven and the NASDAQ off about 3.

And now, what you've been waiting for, Sadie, who rang the opening bell, that the Scottish terrier, the winner of the best in show at 134th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Kyra. Sadie is the first Scottish terrier to win at Westminster in more than 20 years. She won this year after taking second place a year ago, and that's after, Kyra, she had a little accident on the show floor and she placed second, but this time she is top dog.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Here we go again. The U.S. government is now opening a new investigation into Toyota. This time, it's about steering problems, not breaks or accelerators. The car, the corolla, 2009 and 2010 models. That's about half a million cars. Many of those cars are part of the sticky accelerator recall. Toyota executive say that they're monitoring the new complaints and may have to recall them again. Two house committees hold hearings on Toyota next week. They want to know if the company dragged its feet on earlier recalls.

The next time you fly, don't be surprised if the security worker says, palms up, please. The Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane has led to a new security measure at the nation's airport, so the Transportation Security Administration will soon begin randomly swabbing the hands of some passengers for traces of explosives. The secretary of Homeland Security says it's meant to keep our sky safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: When there is a positive reading, what will happen is the passenger will be pulled aside, and there will be a secondary screening. They'll be asked questions. There may be a hard pat down and things of that sort to make sure that they are not trying to bring something like an explosive on the aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: TSA has about 7,400 explosive trace detection machines. The President's next budget calls for buying about 800 portable ones.

Josh Levs, the man who knows the stimulus so well. A bridge to nowhere somewhere should be named after him. Josh, you found something --

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: My goodness.

PHILLIPS: In the stimulus bill that could affect the way we fly, right or at least the way we prepare to board the plane?

LEVS: I guess that is how some people view the stimulus. Yes, this is interesting. I mean like, Kyra, one of the things we look out for as we piece through what's happening on these billions of dollars just what that might affect you? And this is an interesting one, because it's affecting airports all over the country. The TSA, the Transportation Security Administration has handed out $700 million to upgrade the baggage systems, and we're seeing that in 21 given airports all over the country. There's a new called inline baggage inspection system. They are more efficient. This is supposed to save you from having to wheel your bag over to security after you check in. So, Kyra an example of something that might affect people everywhere then.

PHILLIPS: So, let's talk about how the systems actually work then, and how they are going to help?

LEVS: OK, sure, let's do that. The new system here, this new inline system uses this conveyor belt to sort and scan your luggage electronically, so they're designed to make things faster and give bags a thorough checking. We have a map here. I want to see where the cities are that are getting this a brand new -- you can see them linked there for you. It includes Orlando, St. Louis, Dallas Airport outside Washington, and even two airports in Hawaii.

Now, we actually talked to one of the airports that's getting this upgrade, Sacramento International Airport. They said their project is still in the planning stages, and so far, it's created four planning jobs. I really like this video, which is why I am showing it to you. What we are seeing here is plans for the new airport over in Sacramento. Fresh for a whole new terminal there, but I will emphasize that it's only the baggage system part that has been paid for by stimulus funds. They expect the job numbers to go up when they start the construction.

Airports also say the automated system is going to let them re- assigned some TSA workers who had to spent their time logging bags around under the current system. So, Kyra, another way, that should help there.

PHILLIPS: The blogs just lighten up with all this stimulus stuff. What are they saying?

LEVS: You know it, because you remember yesterday, right? We were inviting viewers to give us some feedback. I will just let you know, we had a massive outpouring of response in the blogs. We will be sharing some next hour and here's how you can weigh in right now. Your thoughts on the stimulus in general. Go on my blog, CNN.com/josh or Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. Let us know what you think is a good or not a good use of stimulus funds, and most importantly, how is the stimulus affected you. We would love to give this anecdote and will have some next hour -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, sounds good. Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: Thanks. You got it.

PHILLIPS: When something bad happens at home and you got to call 911 ASAP, do you really want to worry if you can afford the $300 or $400? for the department visit. What's your life worth, anyway?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I had no idea that song was going to play, but that was brilliant. Tiger Woods has finally resurfaced. He is going to speak for the first time to the public since the big sex scandal. His agent says that he will apologize for his bad behavior tomorrow. Yes, bad behavior. Wood will read a statement for a small group of friends, colleagues and associates. He will not take any questions, imagine that.

Speaking on CNN's Larry King Live last night, sports columnist, Steven smith, was pretty teed off with Woods orchestrated events shall we say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Steve, are you surprised that the way he is doing this?

STEVEN A. SMITH, COLUMNIST, "PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER": Absolutely. I'm shocked at his stupidity, to be quite honest, because it's absolutely idiotic the way he's going about doing this, to not take any questions from the media, to have -- to wrap himself by colleagues and friends. Basically he's sheltering and shielding himself from the venom and the vitriol and some of the interrogation or the interrogation tactics that were inevitable and, more importantly, that any other athlete would have to go through in this day and time.

Clearly, Tiger Woods has revealed himself as a person who believes he's above reproach and he's not somebody that needs to be questioned. This is one of the things that shocked America, because he had projected himself as being somebody that he wasn't.

So now that you have the opportunity to make amends -- you dropped the ball initially, because your PR campaign was absolutely disastrous. I don't know if it was because of him, his repusanta -- his representation or whatever the case may be, but it was absolutely disastrous. Everybody knows that.

Now you have another chance to make amends. But before you do that, you're going to let the world know that you're not going to subject yourself to the media, you're not going to subject yourself to any kind of inquisition whatsoever. And on top of it all, you're surrounding yourself with friends and loved ones.

So certainly the things that most other athletes, high profile individuals have to go through, oh, no, you're different because you're Tiger?

America is going to look at him and say, we're the land of second chances, but we're not Boo-Boo the fool. You've got a lot of nerve coming at us with this nonsense. And that's what I predict will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Boo-boo to fool. You got to love that. Go Steven! He'll join us on CNN Newsroom tomorrow to hear what boo-boo the fool Tiger Woods has to say at 11:00 eastern.

All right. Let's check our top stories. It was just a routine late night check on a closed restaurant, and then it would wound up being a huge drug bust. We're talking 10 million bucks. Police in the south central reserved town (ph) of Waynesville got nearly 200 pounds of cocaine and meth in the trunk of a car. An officer was investigating several suspicious vehicles at the business when he found the drugs. Several people ran off before anyone could even be questioned.

Venezuela's President has a message for his people, hey, turn off the lights. A drought and the aging electric network are so bad that led President Hugo Chavez to declare a state of emergency. It's announced billing sanctions and reward space on how much energy people use.

And remember the Hollywood director asked to leave a plane because he was too fat? How about if you smell? Yes, no kidding, a passenger waiting for an air Canada Jazz Flight from Prince Edward Island to Montreal was taken off the plane because he just plain stunk. Passengers had been complaining about the smell, and when the crew can isolate the offending passenger, they just asked him to get off. Mr. Smelly got another flight the next morning.

In one town, the fire department is the first to get to your house if there is a problem. If there is a fire, you're golden. If not, your husband just had a heart attack or your child fell and broke a bone. Get the checkbook ready. It shows just how hard some places are for money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's another story from the how bad is this recession file. A town so strapped for cash is going to start charging for some emergency calls. Under a new rule, if you call 911 in Tracy, California, for a non-fire emergency, congratulations! You get to pay up to 400 bucks. That alone will give you a heart attack. Here's Laura Cole, the CNN affiliate KOBR.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA COLE, KOBR REPORTER (voice-over): If you call 911 in the city of Tracy, the fire engine is first to respond, and that means you better open up your wallet if you have a medical emergency in this city.

GREG BIDLACK, RESIDENT: You think twice about anytime you are spending $50 or $300.

COLE: At 71, Greg Bidlack (ph) is on a fixed income and has to watch every dollar he spends.

BIDLACK: There is no question we feel our taxes should take care of that kind of a service.

COLE: The city of Tracy will now charge people anytime they call 911 for a medical emergency, but residents have a few options. A household can pay a $48 voluntary fee, like a subscription and get help from 911 as many times as they need each year, or pay $300 each time they call if they do not subscribe. And if you're not a resident and need help in an emergency, it will cost $400.

BIDLACK: It's a $300 fee, and you don't want to even be thinking about that when somebody is in need of assistance.

COLE: The city council was split on the decision. Council member Steve Abercrombie did not agree with the fee. He is worried many people won't be able to afford it.

STEVE ABERCROMBIE, TRACY, CALIFORNIA, CITY COUNCIL: Do I run the risk of not paying $50 bucks and hope I don't have to call for medical service, or do I try to scrape up the $50?

COLE: But council member Michael Maciel says the city is faced with a $9 million budget short fall for its 2010-2011 fiscal year. And they must make tough choices to keep from cutting important services.

MICHAEL MACIEL, TRACY, CALIFORNIA, CITY COUNCIL: I would much rather say look, we're going to have to pay a little bit more, we need to find the revenues so we don't have to cut the service. We're talking about emergency life support here. And you know what's somebody's worth?

COLE: But Greg has to pay for his life and retirement, so he must either choose between peace of mind or take a $300 gamble on the game of life.

BIDLACK: But I do hope that this thing is short term situation for Tracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Three hundred bucks?

Yes, that's pocket change compared to what a family in Indiana paid. They lost their home in a fire last year apparently the mailbox wasn't damaged because the next thing they knew they got a bill from the volunteer fire department. Ready for this -- nearly $28,000, everything from the water to the oxygen in the firefighters tanks neatly itemized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bottled water, they charged for bottled water.

BRIAN FAIRCHILD, HOMEOWNER: I always thought that volunteer fire department was just that, volunteer, and taxes help to pay for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the owner of the company that sent the bill said usually insurance companies will pay it, but sometimes like in this case, they don't. Well, we hope they change their mind.

So what do you think about all of this? Should you, would you pay for 911 calls? Give me your two cents on that. Leave your comments at CNN.com/Kyra.

And in just a few minutes, we have another emergency story, 911 calls that were made in vein. The problem, too much snow, it cost someone his life.

So how would this sound to your kids? No school for 23 straight days, and I bet they would be for it. Well, that's a reality right now in Grayson County, Virginia School. Officials are actually saying that snow and ice covering dirt roads in the western part of this county make it impossible for buses to reach most of the students.

The scheduled last day of school in Grayson County is May 12th, but it's a sure bet students will still be going to school beyond that date.

Rob Marciano, the kids may be digging the days off but the parents are probably going crazy?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I can imagine that some parents and the like getting a little bit -- going a little bit bananas that the kids are home and that's not often and you know maybe the kids even want to go -- no, no, they don't want to go back to school. I remember those days.

All right, listen. No major storms in the forecast for the next five or so days for the Virginia and New York City and D.C. area and in those areas that were affected by all that snow. Another thing that has occurred with the heavy snow across D.C., at least, is this and unfortunately, George Washington wouldn't like the looks of this.

A tidal basin and some of the cherry trees damaged because of the heavy snow on the tree limbs. So cracking some of those bigger branches and even splitting some trunks in some cases, so they're going to have to do some repair work or at least some trimming here.

The Spring and the Cherry Blossom Festival may not very well be what it usually is. Anyway they'll recover at some point, they always do but nonetheless it gives an idea of just how strong those storms was back there in D.C. or several snow storms.

All right, you get a little bit of wind in D.C. and in the New York City Metros today in Philly and some delays because of that. And we're already seeing delays at JFK and New York of about 30 minutes and also some delays in San Francisco because of fog. Also Los Angeles might see some fog delays and Salt Lake City a little bit in the way of snow.

And the cold air continues across parts of the south now barely creeping above freezing. And again, this is the time of the year we typically get into the early spring and the sun is getting strong and higher in the sky. And we're just seeing these cold air mass very stubbornly move off to the east.

Some lake-effect snow is in the forecast for parts of upstate New York which shouldn't be a ton but the up slope or the west slopes of the Appalachians will see more snow today. And then, also some snows across parts of Wyoming and the Colorado Rockies. This will get into the plain states and as it does so a little bit of snow expected in parts of Kansas and Nebraska maybe stretching a little bit farther to the east.

Today's high temperatures: 49 degrees in Atlanta; it'll be 62 degrees in San Francisco and 59 degrees in Seattle. So the warm air continues to be the case across parts of the west.

Here comes that storm tomorrow into the plains. Excuse me and the folks, maybe a couple of snow days in parts of Nebraska and Missouri, but I don't think there will be enough snow for those mid- westerners. You know there, they plow through just about anything with just two or three feet which is what they got in Virginia and D.C. because of all those snow days.

That's the latest from here, Kyra. Back over to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Rob thanks.

MARCIANO: You bet.

PHILLIPS: A university is condemning the way some students celebrated black history month. It's pretty hard to believe that this happened in 2010.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Nothing wrong with a barbecue; how about a Compton cookout? Sounds like a family get-together until you realize what some desensitized kids were up to. Get this -- students at the University of California San Diego celebrated -- and I use that word very loosely -- black history month with a party off campus. That party titled "A Compton Cookout".

A Facebook invite promised a taste of life in the ghetto and had chicken and watermelon on the menu. Could you be any more stupid? Campus administrators now looking into this.

Meanwhile another invite on another Facebook page. This one asking for your participation in getting these students reprimanded. Teachable moment? Well, the chancellor is planning a teach-in next week to discuss respect and civility.

A popular Italian cooking show host is stewing in his own hot water right now. Check out what he said on the air. The translation is at the bottom, by the way, and take a look at the co-host's face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EXCERPT FROM ITALIAN COOKING SHOW)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated text): Of the best great dishes is stewed cat, because people don't eat chicken, they don't eat rabbit and they don't eat pigeon, et cetera, no. Cat, kept soaking for three days in running spring water from the river Ciufenna, comes out with its white flesh quite tender, and I assure you I have eaten it many times. I assure you it's delicious. But now we'll get letters from nature lovers. Tomorrow is carnival Thursday. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: At least it's in Italian. It sounds really fancy and delicious to us. Mr. Cat Stew, by the way, has been suspended for those comments.

There's a lot happening today and our team of reporters have plenty to tell you in our next hour. Let's go ahead and start with John Zarrella -- John.

ZARRELLA: Kyra, those eight Americans imprisoned in Haiti, released, now back in the United States and today heading home. I'll have that story at the top of the hour.

LEVS: The U.S. is opening an investigation today into another Toyota vehicle. Which one it is and does it affect you? I'm Josh Levs. I'll have that in the next hour.

MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano from the CNN Severe Weather Center. Yesterday we told you that January went down as one of the warmest months ever globally and the folks across the southeast going, yes, right. Guess what, there's more cold air on the way. We'll talk more about that at the top of the hour -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks guys.

Also ahead, a TV reporter's stunning on-air confession to killing a dying lover who had AIDS. Was it an act of mercy or murder? Police are now involved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. The cheese worked. American Lindsey Vonn, the queen of the hill, the fastest woman on skis. Now she says the pressure is off, she's got her gold, the rest is gravy.

Mark McKay, you can actually make gravy with that Topfen cheese, I read the recipe. I'm obsessed with this.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're amazing. Don't work for CNN, put you over on the food network, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: There you go. I like to cook.

MCKAY: I could tell you she is -- Lindsey is absolutely happy and thrilled. Did you see the way she reacted as she fell to the snow yesterday after simply dominating in the downhill? The American skier is indeed off and running here at these Vancouver games winning the first of what many believe are going to be multiple medals. For the very first time in Lindsey Vonn's career, she's golden at an Olympic games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY VONN, WON GOLD IN WOMEN'S DOWNHILL: It's been a really emotional day and there's so much happiness and so much emotion, so much relief knowing that I've finally done it after working my entire life essentially to get here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: All right. We're going to be watching for Lindsey in the coming hours here in Vancouver, Kyra, as she races in the super combined. It could be another medal for Ms. Vonn here at the games.

PHILLIPS: And the most successful day for the U.S. in Winter Olympic history, right?

MCKAY: Very much so, yes. It started with Vonn up at the downhill. It saw Shani Davis defending his medal in the 1,000 meter speed skating and it ended with Shaun White defending his half-pipe gold medal. He put on a spectacular show, six medals overall.

Team USA is rolling. They are at the top of the overall leader board here as we continue at the winter games in Vancouver -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be talking more. We'll talk more about that Shaun White in the next hour.

Thanks so much Mark.