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Monster Storm Threatens Midwest; Egypt's March of Millions; Oil Giant BP Reporting Major Losses in 2010; Volunteerism up in Egypt; Australia Braces for Cyclone; Heat Blast Cavs

Aired February 01, 2011 - 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: Thank guys. Good morning.

We are following two major stories this morning. On the left, a massive winter storm in the nation's midsection. Blizzard warnings in the north. Tornado threats in the South and a hundred million people in its path.

On the right, Egypt in turmoil. Protesters call it the march of millions. The future of a country may hang in the balance right now.

Let's start with that monster storm, though, taking aim at the Midwest. Warnings, watches, advisories all posted in some 30 states from New Mexico to Maine. And before it's over, this storm could affect 100 million Americans over a 2,000-mile stretch.

Now it's going to unleash sleet, ice, wind, and a whole lot of snow and think feet, not inches. It's already coming down in Texas.

I wouldn't want to drive through that, that's for sure.

And then in Oklahoma City, one brave reporter actually taped the commute, the wipers running fast and furious. And the snow just keeps coming. The streets already blanketed but no one's out. It's a virtual ghost town there.

And in Michigan drivers filling up and stocking up as the storm sweeps in but it's a no go for thousands of flyers. The storm means cancellations and delays and so you better check your flight status before heading to the airport.

Reynolds Wolf is actually on the ground in St. Louis for us. Ed Lavandera is in Oklahoma City where it's really coming down.

But Jacqui Jeras, let's start with you.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, this is a monster of a storm. You know this isn't a record storm in terms of the worst storm of all time but it's probably going to hit the top five for some major cities in the Midwest and that includes Chicago.

There are about 30 plus states which are under a winter storm warnings or blizzard warnings at this time so it's covering a lot of real estate and it's really going to be crippling a lot of cities. We've already got runway closures in Dallas/Ft. Worth and expect in places like Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis to be in the worst of it today.

Look at this pink area. The ice accumulation could reach an inch somewhere within this swath. There are going to be people without power for days and it's going to take days to clear out this storm because not only are we going to see epic amount of snowfall, we're also going to be seeing those winds gusting to 40 miles per hour.

So people on the roadway could get stuck and have to stay there through the overnight hours and then this thing is finally going to move out of here as we head into Thursday.

Bitter cold wind chills back behind it. A huge impact of a storm, Kyra. Really ugly conditions. We'll talk more about some specifics in just a minute.

PHILLIPS: All right. Great. Thanks, Jacqui, so much.

Well, Ed, let's take it out to you now in Oklahoma. Most of it under a blizzard warning right now. How are people getting ready?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a lot of people take their preparations yesterday making runs to the grocery stores to stock up for what could be a couple of days kind of just being home bound here.

But we're in downtown Oklahoma City. So far, we've had about 7 inches of snow fall here but as if that wasn't the worse, it feels like minus 11 degrees already, Kyra. And what's the problem here is the wind.

Kind of the best vantage point I can get you, if you can look in there, that is into the brick town area on the edge of downtown Oklahoma City. And look at the American flag there and I think it's the Oklahoma flag. It's hard to make out from here. But just look how powerful and how strong the wind is here and that is really the concern -- with these high winds they're worried about power outages but so far we haven't heard any reports of that.

But that would be the big concern here as we move forward with this storm is that if a lot of people start losing power with these wickedly cold temperatures that could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll keep talking, Ed, try and stay warm.

Reynolds Wolf is standing by now in St. Louis.

Reynolds, it's a whopper of a storm and Missouri already mobilized hundreds of National Guard troops, right?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. They are getting prepared for what Mother Nature is going to unleash on this area.

Right now we actually have a blizzard warning, it is in effect. Blizzard, keep in mind, is primarily a wind event. The wind has been kind of intermittent. Snow, we haven't seen any but freezing rain you better believe it's been coming down. And there's a layer of ice on everything. On roadways, on sidewalks and on city streets, of course. And of course on trees, too.

You can see this branch already coated with some of the ice. We're expecting a bit more of this before the snow begins to pick up in earnest and with that that's when winds are going to really begin to materialize into the afternoons.

And with the heavy trees filled with ice, we could see some widespread power outages, about a hundred homes without power right now.

One thing has been moving, although the winds has been, the traffic has been relatively strong. We've seen quite a few cars on the roads behind us. Just a few right now. Roads are actually in pretty good shape for the time being. They've already been pretreated with some sand, some chemicals, some salt.

That's the good news. Bad news, though, is as this snow is going to come from the west and of course as the ice comes down, that treatment of the roads is really going to be insignificant, insufficient as the elements continue to pour on the area.

In terms of travel, we're talking about the roads. Airlines are going to be a mess. In fact there are a bit about 6,000 cancellations for today and tomorrow. At DFW all your runways are closed. We expect that those kind of conditions are going to continue travel wise. More nightmares for millions of Americans as the storm pushes more to the east.

Kyra, that's the latest we've got for you. Let's kick it back to you in the studio.

PHILLIPS: All right. Reynolds, thanks so much.

Now, Jacqui Jeras, who is in the line of fire next?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, thanks. We'll be talking a lot this morning.

JERAS: OK.

PHILLIPS: Our other big story. Two cities on edge, a presidency on the line. Right now, a sea of protesters washing over Egypt, demanding that Hosni Mubarak surrender his power. This is the day or day eight rather of a possible revolution and a national revelation.

This is the human face of the uprising. People have discovered the power of their voice and the strength of their numbers. They have also witnessed the dangers of a desperate government trying to hold on. Those flashes of violence have been mostly contained. But the stakes and the tensions rising.

You're going to see here an Egyptian soldier panicking in the face of a growing crowd. Yet the anger seems to be giving way to optimism. The emerging leader of the opposition says that change is now inevitable and the White House needs to take a stand for democracy. Take a look at that soldier's face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED ELBARADEI, OPPOSITION LEADER: You need to review your policy. You need to let go of Mubarak. You need to be -- you shouldn't be behind the curb. You need to start building confidence with the people and not with the people who are smothering the people.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Anderson Cooper is in Tahrir square, the epicenter of today's massive rally in Cairo.

And how does it appear to be at this point, Anderson? Is it calm?

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S AC 360: It is calm but the crowd is excited, to say the least. And this has been going on for hours. This protest really was called to begin at 9:00 a.m. here. It's now in the afternoon. It's now after curfew. Curfew began at 3:00.

But the crowds, as you can see, are not going anywhere. There are certainly more than a hundred thousand people here and exact numbers, impossible to give you. But I just want to pan down here, just to give you a sense of just how crowded this square is. I mean literally people standing shoulder-to-shoulder and it has been like this for hours now.

And as I look out at the see of people, more people still seem to be arriving not that there is all that much room left in the square for them here.

It's been a remarkable day and, most importantly, a peaceful day. The military has been holding back as they promised they would. They have been controlling access to this square, but they have allowed people to come in and people have been really organizing themselves.

There is no one single organizer of this protest, but the demonstrators have taken upon themselves to provide security. They actually pat down people as they come into the square. They check IDs, they ask you your name. They say welcome and they tell you to be peaceful.

And that message has certainly been received, but it is a jubilant atmosphere. People feel that this, on the eighth day, that they still have the momentum, that they were able to turn out a large number of people today, and they hope that President Mubarak got the message.

Everybody has -- though they come from all walks of life and different backgrounds, some are from religious groups, some are from trade groups, some are doctors or many of them are students, just young people. They all have a single message which is for Hosni Mubarak must go.

PHILLIPS: Anderson, any -- are you getting a sense of when they will begin to march? How far they will march and where they will end up? COOPER: I think it's pretty clear at this point they are not going to march unless something changes. There are so many people here in this square. Frankly, there was talk yesterday of them marching on the president's palace, but it is quite a distance away. There is about 20 military checkpoints between this square and the president's residence.

So the likelihood of them actually being able to get there and not having some sort of confrontation is very small. I think protest organizers clearly, given the fact that the sun is just starting to go down here now, it's already after curfew, I think they've clearly made a decision to stay in this square.

There were some other groups elsewhere in the city. It looks like they have now come to this square. So once again, this square really has become the ground zero, the epicenter of the revolution in here.

PHILLIPS: All right. Anderson Cooper, we'll keep checking back with you. Thanks, Anderson.

And the State Department says it's still ferrying Americans out of Egypt. Charter flights whisked about 1200 Americans out of the country yesterday. That's nearly half the number of those who requested to help. But the State Department says that more requests are still streaming in.

The American evacuees will be required to pay back the State Department for the cost of those chartered flights.

Now over the last couple of weeks anti-government protests have boiled up in five Arab nations. One of them is apparently taking action in response. We found out now that the king of Jordan has appointed a new prime minister just days after several protests there demanded change.

The king has told the new prime minister to assemble a government that will bring about swift political reforms.

Jordan's King Abdullah, by the way, is an important U.S. ally in the region there.

Stay with us for continuing coverage of the crisis in Egypt. Our crews are in place to bring you all the latest development as it happens.

And we're keeping an eye on the storm as well packing a punch that could be felt through most of the country. We are checking back with our folks in just about 20 minutes.

Plus, some thieves who need to be really careful about tooth decay when you steal Snickers, Skittles, Starbucks by the carton. Well, maybe you should steal some toothpaste while you're at it. Look at these guys. Like taking candy from a baby but easier and way more lucrative.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC - "Freeze Frame")

PHILLIPS: We are starting our look at news Cross Country with dessert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Whoopie pie, whoopie pie, I love a whoopie pie!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Yes. Who doesn't love eating a whoopie pie? If you're a Mainer, it's the stuff of song. Maine's legislature about to make these little gut bombs the state's official dessert, but critics say, why would you glorify anything that uses lard as its main ingredient?

And check out the security camera here in Richmond, Virginia. No five-finger discounts here. These three shoplifting musketeers are taking whole boxes. Police figure these guys stole about $5,000-worth of candy from several convenience stores. Either each guy has a raging sweet tooth or they sold the stuff elsewhere. The three were arrested. Candy bars to jail bars.

And this in Fletcher, North Carolina. A Baptist church on Sunday, no less. Some members want the longtime pastor to leave over some money issues. Others want him to stay. At some point, the faith got lost and the fists just started flying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people are not of God if you come in to fight. Don't you understand? This is God's house! They don't understand! This is God's house! It's a song to God in God's house, it's so wrong! It's so wrong!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, what would Jesus do? It took 30 cops to break this up. No one was hurt or arrested.

Another Baptist pastor raising some eyebrows right now. Reverend Ralph White in Memphis says that he won't baptize any babies of unwed parents, not in his church, anyway. He says he's trying to send a message to young fathers to man up and provide for their families. Now, Reverend White says that the church needs to focus on the issue of teen pregnancy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RALPH WHITE, PASTOR, BLOOMFIELD FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH: In the Bible, if you want a Biblical speaking, a man who doesn't take care of his children or his family is worse than an infidel. We step up when it comes to, like you said, the gay rights issues and all that. But there's so many other issues that we've not stepped up to the plate on. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, now a story about California thieves who probably don't understand the enormous value of what they stole. Families of military veterans hoping whoever is responsible will let conscience trump greed.

Listen to this story from Norma Yuriar from KMPH in Fresno. Listen to how the mindless theft of unique, very personal American flags that once draped the caskets of heroes has impacted an American Legion post.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE LILLES, VOLUNTEER: It came from each individual family with the name embroidered on there.

NORMA YURIAR, KMPH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forty American flags with the names of Madera County military men and women killed in action were stolen from the American Legion hall.

LILLES: Whoever it was that took these flags, I don't think they really realize what they've done.

MELISSA O'ROURKE, AMERICAN LEGION: There was a lock here. They broke it open. The lock is now over there on the ground. There's one lock here on the ground.

YURIAR (voice-over): Melissa O'Rourke says the flags were in two plastic tubs kept in a storage unit.

O'ROURKE: It looked like somebody took a crowbar and just popped off the locks. We have tables and chairs stored in here for our meetings, and there were two large storage containers, as well, full of veterans' flags.

YURIAR (voice-over): Families of fallen soldiers donated those flags to the American Legion Madera Post 11 so they can see them flown at Calvary Cemetery on Memorial and Veterans Day.

CAROLINE LILLES, VOLUNTEER: I know the ladies that come, looking for their flags from their loved ones. They feel the flags, because that's the last that they had of their loved ones.

YURIAR (voice-over): Joe Lilles feels a sense of guilt.

JOE LILLES: I feel that, in a way, we're kind of letting these peace families down. These fallen members, we've kind of let them down.

YURIAR (voice-over): But investigators say it's the thieves that should feel guilty. Each flag had a veteran's name embroidered. Some feel a piece of history was stolen.

TROY MARTINEZ, COMMANDER, POST 11: These are flags that were placed on the casket of veterans and, as you can see that the meaning is very profound. YURIAR (voice-over): Fellow veteran and local businessman Scott Gonzalez made a donation to get the flags replaced.

SCOTT GONZALEZ, DONATED TO REPLACE FLAGS: We're sitting here, sometimes we get taken by the dollar amount, what it costs to replace flags. But ultimately, those -- the price paid for those flags, it's the ultimate price, and that was with their lives. So, how do you place a dollar amount on those? You can't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, no sign of the stolen flags yet. Replacing them will cost about $4,000.

Thousands of people gathered in Egypt for the March of Millions. It's the largest crowd that we've seen since last week. Protesters hope it will send a message. We'll bring you to the middle of the action.

And we're keeping an eye on the massive storm packing a punch that can be felt through most of the country. Live pictures, right now, from Veneta, Oklahoma. We're checking back in with our weather folks in just about ten minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures, right now, of Tahrir Square in Cairo. The heart of the moment to hopefully force Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to resign. A similar rally taking place in Alexandria, as well. Protester organizers calling today's show of force the March of Millions.

And you can actually see, that's our Ivan Watson. You, first of all, see the crowd shot, and then you can see our Ivan Watson, who's right there in the middle of the crowd on the other side of your screen.

Now, we don't have comes with Ivan, right now. You can see that everybody wants to talk to him and let him know -- or let their voice be heard. But as you can see, he's got his BlackBerry with him, and I've got his Twitter up here on the set with me.

So, as we're seeing these live pictures of Ivan, his latest tweet says that "I want to see a new president every eight years like other countries." Apparently, this is a demonstrator that he just talked to right there next to him.

Another demonstrator there said -- actually this one's coming from Ivan. He said, "This is the biggest rally yet in Tahrir Square. Soldiers, plains clothes, security, and volunteer demonstrators from organizing committees are here doing pat-downs."

He also is tweeting out, "Egyptian Information Ministry official is telling me all cell phone networks will be shut down shortly ahead of this Million-Man March." But so far, he's still able to tweet off his BlackBerry, there. So, I'm reading these as he is right there in the middle of the crowd. We'll try and get in touch with him. Also joining me there, live, who was in the middle of that protest is "New York Times" columnist Nicholas Kristof. Kristof, are you still there in the middle of the crowd? Where are you right now?

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, well, I stepped out. I was there all day, but I've stepped out in the middle of the crowd.

PHILLIPS: OK, got you. And obviously, it's much more quiet in the background of your phone call. All right, so describe to me, Nicholas, what it was like, what people were telling you, kind of set the scene for us as we're looking at this live picture.

KRISTOF: Sure. Well, it's just an unbelievable scene. I actually dropped by some of my oldest friends in Egypt, and they were initially afraid of going. There had been a lot of stories how there were going to be infiltrators, there was going to be violence.

But they agreed to walk me part of the way, and then they got a little braver and walked me a little further. Before you knew it, there we were. They had accompanied me all the way there.

And today --

(AUDIO GAP)

KRISTOF: Important to say that it had kind of a festive air to it today. There were a lot more women today. There were a lot more children today.

And maybe what doesn't come through is just how good-humored a lot of the signs are. There are a lot of jokes, a lot of rhymes. One man was standing in the trash heap today and saying, "Mubarak, you're fated for the trash heap of history." And another man was holding a sign saying, "Mubarak, resign, my arms are getting tired," things like that.

PHILLIPS: People are still keeping a sense of humor?

KRISTOF: Yes. There are -- a lot of the jokes, a lot of that humor. Really, a sense the tide is coming in for them, that there -- that this is snowballing, that they're going to win.

I must say that, if I were Mubarak, I would also take note that are, in addition to the signs calling on him to resign, there also are beginning to be some signs saying that he should face criminal charges, that he should be put on trial. And I saw one sign saying that he should be hanged. So it -- he might want to -- he might want to hurry up.

PHILLIPS: And Nicholas, you were saying -- you actually wrote a piece that we read that the streets of Cairo feel eerily similar to Tiananmen Square?

KRISTOF: Yes. I covered Tiananmen, and I have this really nagging recollection of there being the same kind of jubilation and celebratory feel to it. And then, of course, it all -- people thought the army would never shoot but, in fact, they did. I sure hope it doesn't come to that. But, ultimately, the outcome of this kind of a popular uprising usually depends not only on the courage of the people, but also on the willingness of the soldiers to shoot.

PHILLIPS: Nicholas Kristof, sure appreciate you breaking away from the protest, giving us a call, giving us an inside feel for what's happening there in the square. Nicholas, thanks so much.

And the son of the late Shah of Iran sees what's happening in Egypt right now and says that he hopes history has taught us that things can go wrong very quickly, and he's hoping that Egypt in 2011 isn't like Iran in 1979.

We're also going to get you up-to-speed on winter's latest production. A monster storm stretching about 2,000 miles. It's starting to absolutely pound the heartland as it marches east. Live pictures, right now, of Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, closed because of the storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: It's just past 9:30 out in the east, 6:30 out west. Let's take a look at other stories that have us talking this morning.

Oil giant BP reporting a 2010 loss of $4.9 billion. That loss blamed on the April oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The loss includes nearly $41 billion set aside for charges related to that spill.

Another stumbling block for President Obama's health care legislation. A federal judge in Florida rules the sweeping legislation is unconstitutional. Florida and 25 other states filed a lawsuit challenging the law last spring. Judge Robert Vincent ruled that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring most Americans to buy health insurance or face penalties. The Justice Department is appealing.

And get the shovels ready. Powerful winter storm rolling over the Midwest and heading east. Sub-zero temperatures are forecasted across the upper plains in Midwest. Whiteout conditions reported this morning in Oklahoma city.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: March of millions may be under way in Egypt, but when it's all over, thee protesters will gather again for an entirely different reason. I'll explain, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here is look what happening in Egypt right now. The U.S. Department of State ordering all non-emergency government personnel and their families to get out of the country.

Protesters standing shoulder-to-shoulder in Cairo for the march of millions. They want Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Thousands of people prayed on their knees on the asphalt and chanted for their president to leave.

The son of the late Shah of Iran seeing all of this and having flashbacks to 1979.

Listen to what he told CNN's Piers Morgan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": As you know better than most in 1979 in Iran, the wrong kind of people took over, many would argue.

You got these Islamic fundamentals came in. Suddenly it turned into a different country very quickly. I could see potentially the danger here with Egypt. If people aren't careful and this goes on to long, you could see a similar problem where extremists come in and you end up with a very, very different country.

PRINCE REZA PAHLAVI, EXILED SON OF SHAH OF IRAN: Of course, I would understand also be concern about that outcome. But, then again, don't we learn from history? I hope we do. And I don't think you should underestimate the intelligence of people who have known how wrong things could turn by looking at what happened in Iran. I don't think that what has propelled Tunisians or Egyptians or Yeminis or even Jordanians to speak out is motivated by the Islamists who took over our country and kept it hostage for 30 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty at the State Department.

Jill, I tell you, it is very eerily similar, the two scenarios that we're seeing.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Kyra, here at the State Department, they are looking at what's going on right now. They're trying to predict, perhaps, what could happen where this could all develop.

But we are told that no one here really feels they can adequately say what is going to happen. But if you gain it out and you look at history and you try to get some lessons, Iran is certainly one that comes to the foreground. And, as you just heard, that really would be, at least for the west, a nightmare situation.

So let's look at it specifically. Are there similarities? Are there differences? Let's start with the popular uprising. Popular uprisings, yes. You know, look at the pictures, 1979. Look at the video coming out in the live shots from Cairo right now. A lot of people on the streets, very, very fluid situation.

But let's go to the next thing, charismatic leader. In Iran, 30-some years ago they had the Ayatollah Khomeini who was a charismatic leader. He was able to focus people, spearhead the movement and really inspire them to take over.

In Egypt, you don't have an Ayatollah Khomeini. You have Mohamed ElBaradei, who at this point, is at least the nominal leader of this coalition. It's really a coalition that started on the streets. A lot of groups. And they are the people -- he is the man that they've coalesced about. But he is not a charismatic leader in the way the ayatollah was.

And then finally, etiology. And this is what the Shah's son was referring to. In 1979 in Iran, it was an Islamic etiology. In Egypt, it is not. You could say it's jobs, jobs, jobs. It is the economic situation. In fact, I heard one statistic this morning which is really amazing that the number -- that Egypt has the highest number of unemployed college graduates in the world. And that is a major problem. Well-educated people who have nothing to do, no jobs, and very few possibilities. That could be a tinder box.

PHILLIPS: And what is the sense there at the State Department, as you talk to your sources, Jill, and you're covering what so many people are saying on the political side of things.

How likely is it that these events -- well, the events will repeat themselves and radicals could hijack this movement?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, that's exactly the question. Could they?

Well, you know, the group they point to, most people point to is the Muslim Brotherhood. And traditionally, historically, they have been considered an extremist group.

Now, there are others who say that they have, you know, developed or morphed into something else. They're certainly a political power, they're certainly well organized and they have a certain amount of support. But that doesn't mean necessarily that in Egypt they could really take over.

And you know, another important really important issue, Kyra, is in Iran, they stuck with the Shah to the bitter end. And that, many would say, was a major mistake. Here, with Egypt, you've seen the State Department and the White House moving -- some would say too slowly. But they have been moving away from Mubarak and that could be a big difference.

PHILLIPS: Jill Dougherty. We'll be talking a lot more. Thanks, Jill.

And this programming tonight. Piers Morgan talks with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair about the crisis in Egypt. That's "PIERS MORGAN," 9:00 Eastern tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Republicans aiming to take over the Senate in 2012 buzzing about a challenger for a Democrat seat.

Senior political editor Mark Preston is here to tell us about him. Hey, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey Kyra, good morning.

Yes big 2012 news for Republicans on two fronts. First, in the Senate, Congressman Denny Reberg of Montana is expected on Saturday to announce that he is going to run against the incumbent Democratic John Tester.

This is very big news because Reberg has been a congressman from Montana. He was first elected in 2000 and in Montana there's only one congressman. So Reberg has a state-wide name recognition. He is by far the strongest challenger Republicans could fill against Tester heading in to 2012.

Right now, as you said, Democrats hold the Senate Majority but they need to defend 22 seats in 2012, while Republicans only need to defend ten.

Some other big 2012 news: John Huntsman, he is the ambassador to China in the Obama administration has effectively resigned. He is going to leave office on April 30th and come back to the United States. Why is this big news? It's big news because he's a Republican and he is said to be considering running for president.

Now, what's interesting about this would the fact that he served in the Obama administration hurt him in a Republican primary. We are not sure. He also has some views on issues such as civil unions that might not be well liked by some of the real social conservatives in the Republican primary.

So it would be interesting to see what John Huntsman who is the former Utah governor, again, served in the Obama administration said to be looking at 2012 as a possible challenge to President Obama -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Mark, thanks so much.

We're going to continue to have your political updates every hour. And a reminder you can always go to our Web site CNNPolitics.com around the clock.

Now, "Flashback" giving a birthday salute to America's last-living World War I Vet. The last Doughboy, this is Frank Buckles, born February 1st, 1901. More than a 1,731,000 Americans served during the war to end all wars. Buckles is the last man standing, 110 years old. He was an Army Corporal who lied about his age to enlist, serving in England and France and he's a man of few words.

But here is what he had to say on his birthday last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK BUCKLES, WORLD WAR I VETERAN: With good health, I made it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Buckles is on a mission to get lawmakers to grant federal status to an obscure D.C. memorial to World War I Vets. Right now it only honors those who served from D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Day eight of the uprising in Egypt. Protesters hope to bring a wave of change to the country, but they are also seeing a wave of volunteerism amid the chaos. Protesters participating in a massive clean-up efforts to basically just clean up after themselves.

CNN international anchor, Zain Verjee live in London with your "Morning Passport". And they're also taking on the role of security as I was reading as well, calling themselves the people's security.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, hi, Kyra. They have a whole new sense of pride here, it seems. They want to get tens of thousands or up to a million, they hope, people out on the streets, but it's come along with the sense that, hey this is -- you know, let's all get together, let's look after things.

And so what they've done is they've banded together. And they are cleaning up the streets, they're picking up the trash. They are handing out water. They're handing out food, and the hospitals Kyra, are even reporting that more people are just coming in to donate blood.

With the weapons that you mentioned, they have created these kind of ad hoc volunteer groups and they're searching people coming into Tahrir Square in the center of Cairo, just to make sure nobody is armed and no one is going to create trouble.

So it really is this really great sense of volunteerism that's come out of this.

PHILLIPS: And another side of things, flood-ravaged Australia now bracing for the worst, a massive hurricane -- cyclone zoning in.

VERJEE: Yes, you know, they just can't seem to catch a break. This cyclone is heading straight for Queensland, that's the same place that was hit with the devastating floods, something like 32 people were killed and they're still trying to recover from it.

So if you think back to hurricane Katrina, this cyclone is on a par with that. The winds are expected to hit and go up to as much as 155 miles an hour. There a lot of warnings out there. About 250,000 people are going to be affected and there are mandatory evacuations for folks in some of the low-lying areas.

So it's going to be big.

PHILLIPS: We -- we will continue to follow everything out of Egypt and check in with you, Zain. I know you're keeping a close eye on it as well. Thank you so much.

And we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go ahead and start with that massive storm. Reynolds Wolf in the cold on the ground in St. Louis. REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Kyra. First it was the freezing rain. And now it's the sleet. Next up the snow and with it some wind gusts possibly approaching 50 miles per hour, all part of a giant storm system that will affect over 150 million people. We have more coming up.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. If you had to choose, which one would you give up, would you give up your cable service, your Internet service or would you give up your cell phone? Or you may be surprised to hear what some people will give up. And it's not one of the top three. Kyra and I will chat about it coming up in the next hour.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'm Ivan Watson here in Cairo's central Tahrir Square where there is an historic demonstration under way, a revolution here people say. They are demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. I'll have more for you at the top of the hour from Tahrir Square.

PHILLIPS: All right, all of you, thank you so much.

And the President -- the present rather, collides with the past in Egypt as crowds swarm in the streets in Cairo, people form a human chain protecting the museum, holding national treasures after looters break in.

We're looking at how these priceless artifacts are being protected next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. LeBron James sounds like he's trying to kiss and make up with his hometown. Is he getting desperate, Jeff Fischel? It didn't seem to bother him a little while ago.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: A few weeks ago, right, he tweeted "karma is a b", referring to his home team.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes.

FISCHEL: After the team got blown out. Of course, the Cavaliers really struggling. LeBron perhaps trying to make nice. He says he wishes Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans, quote, "the best". That's what he says now. Of course, the Cavs without him, have the worst record in the league last night. The two teams facing off in Miami.

Look at LeBron driving, dishing to Dwyane Wade. Wade had 34 points, of course, LeBron wasn't too bad himself. King James poured in 24. And the Heat, really, take it to the Cavs again. The Cavs have now lost 21 in a row. 117-90 the final.

All right. This Sunday, it isn't just the Super Bowl. It's, well, the hair bowl. Green Bay's long-locked linebacker, Clay Matthews versus the Steelers' main man with the long mane, Troy Polamalu. Advantage Polamalu, the safety edged-out Matthews to be named Associated Press defensive player of the year. Another guy to keep an eye on, by the way, on Sunday if you are into beautiful luxurious hair.

Steelers defensive end, Brett Keisel, but his is all on his face. He hasn't shaved since June. Nice beard. It actually looks pretty good. He says he shampoos and conditions, the whole thing.

PHILLIPS: It does not look good. Move on.

FISCHEL: Who will win the big game? Jenny, the elephant from the Dallas Zoo was given the choice of two watermelons. You can't see them right there. If we could lose that font, they're there, I promise. Steelers and the Packers, and Jenny stomped the Steelers right there. So she's picking the Packers, which should make you happy as well.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. I'm going for the Packers, baby.

FISCHEL: And today a big day, media day; it's where all of the high jinks go on at the stadium. People ask the craziest darn questions. You never know what you're going to see.

And this right now, here we are in the Dallas-Ft. Worth/Arlington area. This is the Packers on their to Cowboy Stadium. The cathedral built by Jerry Jones cost over $1 billion. Should be on great display on Sunday.

Packers, first team there to the stadium this morning. They will soon be followed by the Steelers. Both teams will meet with the media for an hour. And no doubt, we'll hear lots of crazy questions, including about their hair.

PHILLIPS: All right. And they might have moved you in high school for practice because --

FISCHEL: Yes, absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Because of the bad weather.

FISCHEL: Yes. You know, the Packers need a place to practice, and, of course, Texas -- football's huge in Texas, right? So a high school has a great facility to use so the Packers, they were going to practice at SMU, a local university. Instead, they're going to head to a high school because football is big in Texas. High school has an indoor facility.

PHILLIPS: I learned that quickly living in Lovick (ph). That's right. It's all about Friday night lights.

FISCHEL: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks so much, Jeff.

FISCHEL: All right, Kyra.