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Toyota's New Troubles; Mistaken Attack by NATO; Broken Politicians; Saving Abbey Road; Medical Mistakes; Olympic Medal Counts

Aired February 22, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, the news continues right now. CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.

Hi, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, guys. Thanks you so much.

So how many of you out there would love to tell your insurance company to stick it? Well, an hour from now, President Obama will tell us how his new rules would stop insurance companies from sticking it to us.

The prescription kills a 2-year-old little girl, but this pharmacist didn't write it. So why is he in jail breaking down before our reporter?

And you know the saying -- there are Canadian hockey players, then there is everybody else. Well, not this time. It's a shocker in Vancouver, the U.S. beats Canada in Olympic hockey.

Here is where our reporters are right now. He bragged about millions of dollars in savings at the expense of your safety. Allan Chernoff with Toyota's latest PR nightmare.

Costly mistake on the battlefield. Ben Wedeman in Afghanistan with NATO air strikes take innocent lives.

And one, two, punch, Rob Marciano watching storms in the east and west for us.

One hour from now, President Obama charges up his chest pedals trying to jolt his health care overhaul back to life. Today he takes his fight to the insurance companies. He wants to give the government new authority to limit rate hikes by health insurers.

He'll unveil the proposal just ahead of this week's health care summit with congressional leaders of both parties. The House and Senate have passed their own versions of health care reform and today's proposal is an attempt to bridge the differences.

The stakes are huge for President Obama. Maybe his last chance to salvage his signature issue.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House and actually being briefed on the details of the president's proposal. As soon as that wraps up, we're going to talk with her about that discussion she had with the administration. She'll join us live with the details right here.

All right, let's take you back for a second to how this all got started. Just one month into office, the president addresses Congress and rails against the crushing cost of health care. Just a couple days later President Obama's first budget calls for $634 billion over 10 years for a health care overhaul. He calls it a down payment.

But the numbers don't add up. An analysis by congressional budget experts warns than emerging House legislation would increase deficits by $239 billion over a decade.

After months of debate, lawmakers take action. In early November, the House passes the health care bill. Then on Christmas Eve, the Senate follows suit, passes its own version of a health care overhaul.

When President Obama speaks, you'll see him right here live on CNN. We're going to take that coverage as he unveils his proposal next hour. He's due to address the National Governors' Association. That's about 10:05 Eastern Time.

Another big bump in the road for Toyota's public relations. Newly uncovered internal documents show that a top company executive bragged how the automaker saved $100 million by steering clear of a full recall.

CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chertoff has more on Toyota's bragging (INAUDIBLE) today.

Hey, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra.

The question here is did Toyota place profits above safety? Internal documents from the company give you that impression.

Let's just give a little bit of background here. This is a top executive in North America for Toyota, bragging about having saved more than $100 million by limiting the scope of a recall two years ago.

This was when Toyota had a whole bunch of complaints dealing with unintended sudden acceleration, a very, very serious problem. Toyota's recall? It just took back the floor mats and replaced the floor mats on 55,000 Toyota Camrys and also Lexus ES vehicles.

Let's have a look at the document right here. OK? This is an internal presentation from the head of the North American operations.

Wins for Toyota within the safety group. Negotiated, quote unquote, "equipment," that's talking about the floor mats recall on Camry/ES, the Lexus ES. Re-sudden acceleration saved $100 million with no defect found. Now Toyota is saying the documents -- well, don't trust the impression that it's giving over here. Let's listen to what Toyota says in a statement.

"Our first priority is the safety of the customers and to conclude otherwise on the basis of one internal presentation is wrong. Our values have always been to put the customer first and ensure the highest levels of safety and quality."

But NTSA, the government organization that oversees this, they are not taking that impression at all. NTSA is saying this morning it's the responsibility of automakers to come forward when there is a problem, unfortunately this document is very telling.

Kyra, we're going to have congressional hearings this week on Capitol Hill. Toyota's chief executive is going to be appearing. The heat will be very high on him.

PHILLIPS: We'll be covering the fire. That's for sure. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much.

Now the churches burned across east Texas, two people in custody now. A 19-year-old and a 21-year-old both facing arson charges in one of the church attacks, but police are pretty sure they set the other nine as well. That comes from DNA evidence.

Arson was blamed for 10 fires in east Texas since January 1st. A call to a police tip line led to those arrests. Now police are trying to figure out what in the heck the motive was.

New developments in Iran's defiant nuclear plans. The chief of the country's Atomic Energy Program says that 20 potential sites have been selected for two planned nuclear enrichment plants. The construction slated for early next year on both.

Again, the official reiterating his nation's nuclear intentions are energy based, but much of the international community is worried that Iran wants to weaponize those nukes. Today Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu calling for tougher economic sanctions in light of the Iranian announcement.

And a mistaken attack in Afghanistan. More than two dozen civilians are dead including women and children. NATO thought they were aiming their air strikes at insurgents, but that wasn't the case.

CNN's Ben Wedeman live in Kabul this morning.

So, Ben, what's NATO saying about this attack? I know there's been an apology to Afghanistan's president.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what they said is that -- they saw this convoy of several cars going from a central Afghan province in the direction of where the fighting is currently going on, in Operation Moshtarak in Helmand Province.

So they assumed they were Taliban fighters. They struck this convoy killing 27 civilians, including four women and one child.

Now the United States has -- rather, the coalition has apologized, General Stanley McChrystal calling the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to say they will do their utmost to make sure this does not happen again.

The Afghans very unhappy about this incident. We also heard from a Taliban spokesman saying that this kind of incident is only going to increase resistance to the coalition forces in Afghanistan. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, this offensive continues to Marjah. All of this a plan to take out the Taliban and its acts of terrorism. How is that going? Do you have a progress report?

WEDEMAN: Well, apparently they are still having difficulty. There are a lot of snipers in that area, lots of IEDs.

They are reporting progress. Yesterday I spoke to the deputy minister of the anti-narcotics ministry here who said that they had found 600 kilograms of opium down there apparently being smuggled in and out of the country.

So there is progress. But the situation is difficult. We heard from one group, the Afghanistan Rights Monitor, saying that the price of wheat in the area has doubled, that civilian supplies are beginning to run low, but the military offensive continues. It's expected to go on for several weeks but it's not going to be easygoing. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman, live in Kabul. Ben, thanks.

Broken government. It's often the politicians who break it. Remember this moment?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I want to you listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All week we're talking broken government. We're going to look at other politicians who've broken their faith with you.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. A couple of storms on the radar scope today. One bringing snow and rain, the other one bringing snow across the Deep South. We'll run it down in about 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Stormy eastern U.S. this morning. Some seeing snow, some seeing rain. Meteorologist, Rob Marciano, seeing it all for us.

Hey, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Sounds good. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: Yes. See you.

PHILLIPS: Well, a man's home can be his castle or his tomb. Why police believe one homeowner did the unthinkable and fought foreclosure with natural gas and with deadly consequences.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Suicide by natural gas. Police in Casper, Wyoming believe that a man who is facing foreclosure intentionally blew up his own home Saturday hours before he was to be evicted. Fire crews surround 44-year-old Michael Lester still alive under the smoldering rubble of his house after a natural gas explosion they believe he deliberately rigged. Lester died hours later.

And who were the three teenage girls that were hit and killed by a train this weekend in Melbourne, Florida? Witnesses to the accident say they had warned the teens not to walk on those tracks shortly before impact. A male friend survived by jumping off the trestle and into a nearby creek.

Mission accomplished for the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour after a rare late night landing Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center. Astronauts completed the second week or the two-week mission, rather, to install a new solarium-styled room at the International Space Station. Only four more shuttle launches, by the way, are scheduled before the entire fleet is retired.

Salacious scandals from the White House to Congress. We're looking at broken government this week and we start with some politicians who broke your faith.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. That's how many Americans are feeling about their government these days. Then we're tapping into your own strong feelings all week look with a look at broken government and what needs to be done to fix it.

Democrat, Republican, independent, whatever your political stripe, you probably have been burned by your leaders' bad behavior, right? Well, you can be assured that broken government comes with broken politicians.

How about our commander in chief not in command of this situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And who can forget the senator playing footsy in an airport restroom stall?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Let me be clear, I am not gay. I never have been gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And don't leave out the House. Remember the congressman caught with cold cash in the freezer?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WILLIAM JEFFERSON (D), LOUISIANA: Did I make a mistake in judgment along the way? Yes, I did. That I deeply regret. But did I sell my office or conduct official acts for money? Absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So how much of the blame goes to the politicians themselves who are broken? Well, we're partnering with our corporate cousin, "TIME" magazine to shine a light on that issue.

Our next guest played a large role in that coverage. Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for "TIME." She joins me live from Washington.

You know, Karen, you have covered these politicians for years, you've seen those scandals. Just looking at those sound bites, I mean, we kind of forget, wow, we've really had some bad apples in the mix who've done some really bad things, and it goes way back.

KAREN TUMULTY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: It does. It does. But, you know, I think that there's two kinds of scandals. There are scandals that voters see as symptoms of larger problems, symptoms of arrogance, symptoms of entitlement, and symptoms of Congress just essentially, you know, insulating itself from the needs of its constituents.

And then there are other kinds of scandals that people see as kind of personal failings. And I think that those bring a different set of consequences. Essentially, that usually speaks to the individual himself who is badly behaving, but it doesn't tend to sort of splash all over his party or splash all over the institution.

And I noticed I said his. Isn't that amazing?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's right. I'm trying -- I was thinking about, OK, where can we track her? There was a...

(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: There was a politician recently, it will come to me, and she was spending taxpayer money. But we'll get back to that. But you bring up a good point. I mean you've got Bill Clinton, hey, look at what he did. Heck, the guy is still a rock star.

But then you have someone like William Jefferson, right, the cold cash in the freezer, and you know, he's still in the pokey. So is it OK to be a crooked politician with bad character and bad moral judgment, but when it comes down to really hosing you and your money and doing something with your cash, there's a whole different standard?

TUMULTY: You know, I think so. And I think it depends, too, on how the institution reacts. Don't forget, Bill Clinton, the middle of impeachment, 1988, the Democrats picked up seats in Congress. They didn't lose them.

I think at that point people -- the American public perhaps, ahead of the media perhaps ahead of the politicians saw this as a personal failing on Clinton's part. But then you see other scandals. Jack Abramoff, the Mark Foley page scandal -- those things costs the Republicans control of Congress.

Back in the early '90s, there was the House banking scandal. A number of scandals where top leaders of Congress had to resign. Those things will cost the party because people see those as reflecting on the institution and the government itself.

PHILLIPS: So 86 percent of Americans think that government is broken. 86 percent. So how big of a role do you think broken politicians play in that?

TUMULTY: Well, Kyra, I'm going to stand here in defense of politicians. I think most --

PHILLIPS: Say what!

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: OK, you're saying most are clean and wonderful and do great things for us.

TUMULTY: No, I think beyond that. I think most of them are smart. Most of them are talented and most of them come to Washington for the right reasons. What happens is once they get here, the things that they have to do to stay in office tend to kind of make them loose touch with all the reasons that got them there in the first place.

It's about fundraising. It's about amassing power and it's about hanging on to power.

PHILLIPS: OK, see, you bring up an interesting point. So we get a lot of nice, clean cut, well educated smart folks coming in, saying hey, I'm going to change the world, kind of sounds like our business, and then we get stuck covering stories that we could care less about, right? And they're total exploitation. But seriously, so what is it, though, about politics? About -- is it Washington? Is it the lobbyists? Is it the easy chance to get paid off or get a little perk here and there? What is it that changes the character, someone who really had it together and then ends up, you know, getting thrown in the slammer or doing something unethical?

TUMULTY: Well, I think that once a politician gets to Washington, particularly if they are on an important committee, like the Appropriations Committee, they are suddenly surrounded by flatterers and enablers, many of whom have an agenda of their own.

And it's a -- you know it is very difficult then for them to not lose again the sense of what got them here in the first place. And again, I still think that most people on Capitol Hill are hard working and continue to be well intentioned individuals, and smart and talented.

Those are the forces.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's interesting, because Evan Bayh, as you know, he said it's not necessarily the person, it's the system. Let's take a listen to what he said over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: We have a lot of wonderful people, well-meaningful people, but they're trapped in a system that's dysfunctional. Part of that is because of the rules in Congress, part of that is because of the way funds are raised, but part of it is cultural.

And that's what Norm is talking about. Back in my father's day, there was a lot more interaction. You had friendships across the aisle regardless of partisanship, regardless of ideology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And now he says that's it. I'm getting out. I can't take it anymore. So is it even possible to change the system? Can you go back to that time that Evan Bayh talked about when it maybe was a cleaner system, shall we say?

TUMULTY: Well, I think you have to go back to the way people get elected. There are very few true swaying districts left in this country anymore. People either come from very -- in the House in particular. Very conservative districts or very liberal districts. And so that doesn't really give you a lot of incentive to be reaching across party lines.

The other problem is the amount of money that it takes to run. From the minute you get here, you hit the ground running and all you're doing is raising money for your next election. And that's even true in the Senate, where these guys get six-year terms, and they're supposed to, you know, have at least a few years of doing the peoples' business.

PHILLIPS: Karen Tumulty, correspondent for "TIME." Always enjoy your work. Great talking to you, Karen. Thanks so much.

TUMULTY: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," President Obama has proposed giving $30 billion to community banks to help small businesses, but is the proposal coming just a little too late?

Well, "AMERICAN MORNING" is going to look at what small business owners think about that fix. Tonight on "CAMPBELL BROWN" at 8:00, one of the top 10 greatest hits of congressional incompetence. Campbell Brown seized up what has people so upset.

Then on "AC 360," who really runs Washington? May just be the lobbyists. "AC 360" reveals how beltway lobby shops are really just waiting rooms for new politicians.

Of course, we want to know what you think. Weigh in on my blog. Tell us if you think this is the right strategy to help fix health care, and if not, what is? Head to CNN.com/kyra and tell us what you think.

Well, you know you love it when your credit card company jacks up your interest rate for no apparent reason. Well, the fun ends today. New rules in play, folks. A new dawn in plastic land.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, on Wall Street investors are looking to extend the market's decent winning streak?

Darby Dunn in New York with a look at the depot.

Hey, Darby.

DARBY DUNN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. Well, stocks have posted two straight strong weekly gains. And in fact, last week was also the Dow's best weekly performance in three months.

Today, we are expecting a higher open saying some parts to up feet earnings from low. The nation's number two home improvement retailer said that quarterly profits jumped by nearly 30 percent. Those surprise lows made cost cuts, but the company also got a boost because shoppers are apparently spending more money on home repairs.

Lowes CS says that worst of the economic cycle is likely behind us, and he expects sales to continue to rise in the near term. Of course, much of that will depend on the housing market, though. In the meantime, Lowe's shares are up. They are currently up 1.25 percent and that will be even stronger in the pre-market. The Dow industrials, they are up 14 points and the S&P 500 is up 6; the Nasdaq tacking on up six as well.

And finally, Kyra, EMI Group is trying to save Abbey Road, the iconic music studio made famous by the Beatles also known as the Fab Four. EMI was planning to sell the Abbey Road facility, but Paul McCartney and many Beatles fan said that they hope the studio could be preserved. The Abbey Road Studio has been struggling financially. EMI is hoping to find an investor who will put up some cash to save the studio. Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, Darby there has to be somebody. That is a piece of history there. We should reach out to Paul McCartney --

DUNN: Exactly. Certainly.

PHILLIPS: Somebody! Yes.

DUNN: We will keep an eye on what happens.

PHILLIPS: OK. We will get a campaign out there to save Abbey Road.

DUNN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Darby.

A new credit card rule kicking in today. That should grab your interest. Hopefully, grab it and keep it from being jacked up out of the blue. Let's talk to Christine Romans about that. She is good at dejacking things. All right. What can Joe credit card swiper expect?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You can expect to have more money stay in your own pocket. That's the point of all of these credit card new rules, and finally, they are here as of today. This is what the benefit should be for you. The design of it -- no rate heights on existing balances used to be. They could just raise your interest rate on the balance that it was sitting on your credit card. They are not going to do that anymore. They're going to have give you 45 days notice on any new rate hikes, and it will only apply to purchases you make from that point forward.

All and all, this is expected to save you, Kyra, about $10 billion annually, but what this means is there are billions of dollars in fees that the credit card companies are going to lose, and they are not going to do that very lightly, so watch out for some traps and also some places where you're going to be shout out from these new rules. Among them, company cards, small businesses that have a company card, this is for consumer credit. It's not for company cards, so remember that. Also late payers, if you are behind two payments, forget about it. I mean, you are in trouble again here, and they're going to have the right t charge you more to use their money if you are late, and if you are a risky borrower, you could be shut out altogether.

They're just not going to be able to get the fees off the risky borrows that they used to. That also means, Kyra, if you're one of these people who put a lot on your credit card every month, you use it as a cash management tool; you pay your household expenses; you paid it all off, they're going to find some new ways to try to get fees out of you. You will probably pay more fewer rewards programs or probably get fewer rewards and you could pay an annual fee, so people who did it all right and were not messy with their credit, you could end up paying a little bit of a price, too.

PHILLIPS: All right. Talk about being messy with our credit, did you have a credit card when you were in college?

ROMANS: I did. Did you?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I did, but it didn't last very long. That was one of those things that I just was not mature enough to handle. I could not keep up with it, and then I remember not being able to balance my checkbook, balling (ph) at the bank. You know, you learn quickly as an 18-year-old, but things are going to change now, I guess, right, for college students in credit cards?

ROMANS: They really are. Look, now. I don't know about you, but when I went to college, when I bought my books, in the books there were credit card offers. There was a table out front where they were handing, you know, free T-shirts and sweatshirts to sign up for credit cards. That's not going to be allowed anymore. It's going to be much harder for somebody under 21 to get a credit card. No more of these campus inducements.

You might need a cosigner with good credit. So look, if your parents don't have a lot of money and they don't have good credit and they cannot help you go to college, you might have a harder time getting that credit card that a lot of people have used over the past few years to help with their expenses. You might need to get a prepaid card if you can or a debit card. It's just going to be harder overall to get a credit card. If you have income, if you are lucky enough to be 19 years old and have some kind of job that's giving you steady income, you will be able to get a credit card, but the idea here is to prevent people from charging up all this stuff very young.

I mean, some kids don't really have an idea that this is borrowed money, and it's expensive to borrow money, and you have to pay it off.

PHILLIPS: Because parents are paying for those credit cards and that's your first mistake. Parents should not be paying for kids to have credit cards. That's a whole other issue.

ROMANS: And other kids are getting credit cards and their parents don't even know about it. It was awful easy to get a credit card, and you're parents don't even know about it. You are graduated from school, you know, and this was -- you know, our Romans numeral today, more than $3,000 is what kids have in college have in their credit card balances right now. If you don't have a job, I mean, just racking up interest rates and fees.

So the idea here is to promote responsible borrowing of credit card, but for -- I will say that for some young people who need a credit card to help them through school and all of the expenses, it's going to be more difficult.

PHILLIPS: Yes. All right. Christine, thanks so much.

At least one group of economists thinks the economy is out of the ER and into the recovery room. A survey for our National Association for Business Economics actually predicts that 50,000 new jobs every month for the first quarter of this year, and that figure could hit more than 100,000 later this year. Most of the economists in that survey say that businesses would lead the recovery and that corporate earnings would be up 15 percent.

You might be thinking so a bunch of pilots for a German airline are on strike. Big deal. But Lufthansa strike could have a ripple affect here in the U.S. Continental United and US Airways are all partners with Lufthansa and they share ticketing and international routes. So, let's go ahead and check in with CNN's Fred Pleitgen; he's in Frankfurt. So, Fred, tell us about the strike.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. There is a actually lot of Americans who affected by this Lufthansa strike. I am standing in the main terminal building here in Frankfurt. We just pan around. You can see, it's actually pretty empty here right now. What we are seeing is a lot of people have not actually even showed up for their flights. A lot of people seemed to have known about this from the get go. However, there are also a lot of passengers who are stranded or who have to take massive detours.

You know, there are a lot of Americans who do fly through Frankfurt. They used it to hop on to Asia, to hop on to the Middle East, so there are a lot of flights who go through here. Now, a little bit earlier, we were able to speak to a couple from Philly, who was actually on their way to India, and they now have to take a massive detour. They are not alone, but listen to what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK WORRELL, TRAVELER: We were supposed to continue to India, but because of the strike, we now have to catch a Thai air to Bangkok, so we get all those free extra miles, plus they are letting us rest up for 13 hours in the terminal Bangkok before we go to India. Bad timing on my part, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So Kyra, you are absolutely right. It is very, very important for people who are traveling through Frankfurt, even if they're not traveling on Lufthansa, if they're in affiliated airline, to check with their travel agent, check on the website to see whether or not their flight might have been canceled. You can also check on Lufthansa's website. Certainly, I can tell you that about two thirds of Lufthansa's flights that they would do on a regular day have been canceled. Looking right now, the next couple of days could be exactly the same. They're still trying to get the strike stopped, but right now it's looking very difficult -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll track it with you. Thanks, Fred.

And hey, let's blow our top together. Want to? This story will do it . A convicted rapist on parole. Apparently old habits die hard, and ankle monitors come off way too easily.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A freak accident kills a race in Chandler, Arizona, near Phoenix. You can actually see the tire from the drag stir coming off at the start. As the car flipped, it nailed the tire sending it into the crowd. A one in a million accident. No one else was injured including the driver.

A risky drug left on the market too long. That's the charge in a senate report. They are talking about the diabetes drug Avandia. The 2007 report linked Avandia to 83,000 heart attacks. The newer center (ph) reports says that drug maker and the FDA hid the risks. The maker of Avandia, Glaxo Smith Kline, dispute that claim. We're going to have more on this story next hour.

Evacuation orders lifted for homes around a derailed train in Central California now. A fire sparked that accident, and it's finally out. It actually burned in a tunnel for most of the day sending thick, black smoke into the air. It's unknown what caused those train cars to jump the tracks near Bakersfield.

All right. Let's check out cnn.com. We love going to the news polls part of that webpage to see what you're looking out, and the most popular stories right now if you're clicking onto, the most popular right now, Toyota saving $100 million dodging recalls. That's right. Hey, they say we saved millions of dollars, but guess what? It was at your expense, at your safety. Check out more about that. We are covering that throughout the show.

But here is a couple that we had not gotten and a serial killer in Indonesia. That is the fourth most popular story, and then if you go down into the top ten, you may want to check this one out. It's a pretty good PSA that caught all our attention. Very powerful. Embrace life. That's the PSA that has gone viral. You can actually see it here on cnn.com. It's not gruesome; it's not gory, but boy does it make the point? Check it out. You won't want to miss it.

Every 15 minutes this page gets updated. Just go to cnn.com Go to the news polls icon right at the top, left of that page. It's updated every 15 minutes.

Deadly medical mistake. One pharmacist sent to prison for not double-checking the dosage, but this punishment could keep other mistakes behind closed doors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A crack in the system. An Ohio hospital pharmacist is now out of prison, but his case could have long-range repercussions keeping any future medical mistakes quiet. The hospital's dirty little secret. The CNN's David Mattingly investigates. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2006, Eric Cropp was a pharmacist at a Cleveland Hospital when a 2- year-old cancer patient Emily Jerry was killed by the medical error of a pharmacy technician. She was given a chemotherapy drug mixed with a salt solution 23 times more concentrated than the normal dose.

But because Eric Cropp was the supervising pharmacists and should have caught the mistake, he was sent to jail. And that's where I found him, confused and struggling with regrets.

Do you think it was your fault?

ERIC CROPP, FORMER PHARMACIST: In a way, sometimes, because I have been called everything in the media and the way my co-workers have treated me, it's been hard.

MATTINGLY: But not as hard as it has been for Emily Jerry's mom.

KELLY JERRY, EMILY'S MOTHER: She would go up and down the slide. First thing was the middle we're was still on those child safety swings.

MATTINGLY: After Emily's death, Kelly Jerry pushed for laws in Ohio requiring new training and certification for pharmacy workers.

(on camera): Cropp says the mistake that killed Emily Jerry came on a day when he was overloaded and rushed. These are common complaints throughout the nation's medical system and patient safety advocates warn that cases like this might actually make it harder to change the conditions where tragic errors are made.

MICHAEL COHEN, INST. FOR SAFE MEDICATION PRACTICES: And people are going to be afraid to come forward and identify problems that they've been involved with, because of fear for losing their license, or in this case, they even have criminal charges brought against you.

MATTINGLY: Michael Cohen of the Institute for State Medication Practices was among experts sending letters to the judge, calling Cropp an easy target, saying, "the greater good is served by focusing on system issues that allow tragedies like this to happen."

But in the court's eyes, Cropp had no excuse for missing the mistake that killed Emily Jerry. He's serving six months for involuntary manslaughter. He will never work as a pharmacist again.

David Mattingly, CNN, Cleveland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A raging flood of mud. Take a look at this. Thick waters sweeping up anything in its path: people, vehicles, houses, all of it wiped out. Locals on the Portuguese Island the Madeira said that Saturday's storm was the worse they can ever remember; at least 42 people have died in flash floods and rock slides.

And here in the states stock in snow for the Lone Star States? Hang on cowboy and cover up that 10 gallon hat.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Meteorologist Rob Marciano, you got your boots on? MARCIANO: Oh well, of course, who doesn't, right? Well, not quite, but if you live in Texas you may want to have them on. If you live in Missouri, you probably have them on as well. These are some of the snow totals from this storm that's currently crossing of the east: Chillicothe and Missouri seeing 12 inches, so a foot there at Liberty; eight inches, Trenton, 7.5; the list goes on.

This storm is slowly making its way east of the Mississippi, actually now east of the Appalachians. And it is spreading snow, especially to the northern part of it. How much snow do we expect to see? Well, likely -- likely in the range of -- anywhere from two and in some cases six or eight inches of snow. And mostly wet snow, especially north of I-80 and a wintry mix and then heavy rain expected down to the south.

There is a storm and mostly snow up to the north and although it's wet it's still causing some problems at the airport. We've seen an hour and a half delays in Chicago, we've seen delays now in Atlanta because of this rain that moved through earlier in the day. And we're also seeing delays at the San Francisco Airport.

And the next storm (ph) is going to come in tomorrow; it's going to drive down to the south. And this is what it's producing across parts of the south west right now, six to 12 inches -- 24 inches of snow, depending on your elevation across parts of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, which continues to get hammered with storms from the El Nino pattern that we have been in across -- across the southern state.

All right, one, two tomorrow and then the third storm coming in for the West Coast; this is going to bring more widespread rain across much of California. Higher elevations snow in the Sierra. So they're going to get a good pounding with this and that will drive it to the inter mountain west.

So a pretty active weather pattern shaping up. And then one last thing to point Kyra, just when you thought it was safe to get to your sandals out, this should also stay cold and that's going to be driving down to the south. And we'll stay in this cold pattern easily through the end of the month maybe even into the beginning of March. Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, not so miraculous anymore. But a big win is still a big win, the U.S. hockey team on the right track for gold taking down one of the favorites.

So what happened on this day in history? Well, the Purple Heart was reinstated as a military honor. That was in 1932. George Washington used it as commendation during the Revolutionary War. And on Washington's 200th birthday, it was brought back by the military to honor soldiers wounded in battle. The order came from then Secretary of War, General Douglas McArthur. So if you received a Purple Heart, we remember, honor and salute you today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oh, here's yet another example of how some convicts have absolutely no business on parole. Phil Garrido, Jaycee Dugard's alleged kidnapper, rapist on parole. And remember John Couey the guy who kidnapped, raped and buried 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, on parole at the time.

And now we have William French from the Boston area. This guy served eight years for rape, assault and battery and gets out on probation. He violates it, fails a drug test. And that won him an ankle monitor last week. Well, within days, that monitor was gone, cut right off. And French was back in custody. Guess what? Accused of rape.

Here's what his dad said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR GUDE, WILLIAM FRENCH'S STEPFATHER: I guess he blew off the handle when they decided to put one of those leg bands on him and couldn't handle it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There you go. It was the ankle monitor's fault. French is back in jail without bail and facing a dangerousness hearing. It might be time for tougher ankle monitors and tougher sentencing.

PHILLIPS: The government takes on insurance companies, credit cards and pharmaceuticals. And our team of CNN correspondents live and following the stories making headlines this morning like Suzanne Malveaux, she's at the White House -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're in the basement office of the White House here where we are monitoring essentially eight minutes away, that is when the White House says it's going to release the president's own health care plan right here on the White House Web site. That is where they're going to be rolling out all of the details.

We've been talking to White House officials about it all day. And we will tell you what he leaves in, what he eliminates and all in preparation for that show me what you got health care summit that's going to happen on Thursday with Democrats, Republicans and the President.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And if you're under 21, big changes today concerning your credit card. New credit card rules taking effect today. They're going to mean big changes on college campuses. Why it's going to be a lot harder for college students to get that credit. That's all coming up and more at the top of the hour -- Kyra.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. A Senate investigation shows that a drug company knew that its drug was linked to heart attacks but kept it on the market. And the investigation also shows that the FDA knew that it was linked to heart attacks. I'll explain what's going on here at the top of the hour.

PHILLIPS: That's good. Thanks, guys. Don't forget, we're going to take you live to the White House as soon as President Obama speaks in just a matter of moments. That'll happen right here from the CNN NEWSROOM about 8 minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Bode Miller, Apolo Ohno, Lindsey Vonn; American Olympic stars all adding to their medal hauls. CNN's Mark McKay has been there for all of them. There he is. We'll see him with that beautiful Vancouver sunrise, I guess. Good morning.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you from the Pacific Northwest here. You know Sunday was Miller time here at the Olympic Winter Games as Bode Miller started it off with a gold at Whistler. He wins a gold in the men's super combined, it's Miller's first Olympic gold. And he's really progressed here, Kyra, going from bronze to silver, silver to gold.

He has two more events to race. That comes up Tuesday. The giant slalom in Saturday's slalom. It could be a good bet that Miller becomes the first man to win four medals at a single Winter Olympic games. We'll be watching Bode. What an improvement, though, from four years ago and Torino -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, big hockey win last night for the U.S. You know, I thought Canadians, what's the saying? When they're born they're pulled out by the ice skates, by the blades?

MCKAY: Yes, yes. And there was a lot of disappointment. The streets of Vancouver cleared out last night when this colossal match between the United States and Canada faced off. It was all USA and another Miller stepping up, goalie Ryan Miller with 42 saves; Brian Rafalski with two goals, the United States beating Canada, 5-3.

The United States now in prime position. They find themselves as the top seeded team in the quarters. The Canadian hockey team, so much pressure, Kyra, on this group of young men they will have a long road if they're going to win gold here at the Vancouver games, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. I in no way, shape or form am getting involved in this controversy. But first it was curling that got all kinds of disses about being a real sport. Now the talk is ice dancing.

MCKAY: Yes. And it comes off of what the controversy we were talking about at the end of last week, Kyra, the men's figure skating. This is a sport that certainly does court its share of controversy. But a couple of American pairs look to be in prime position to pick up the medal as the ice dancing wraps up in Pacific Coliseum with the free dancing. A Canadian pair leads the way but the U.S. duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White, they currently sit in silver medal position and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are in fourth. So if they improve tonight they could find themselves on the podium. Two U.S. pairs poised to possibly win a medal here in ice dancing tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Are you picking up a few good moves there, Markey Mark McKay?

MCKAY: I'm just trying to stay up right after 20 days.

PHILLIPS: There you go. Not a bad place to be.

All right, Mark. We'll keep talking. Thanks.