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Oklahoma Snow Record Shattered; Teens Attack 8th Grader; Chaos in Cairo

Aired February 02, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: OK. I want to show you three things we're following right now.

The top left of your screen, that is Robert Gibbs. He's the White House press secretary, in the middle of a briefing that started about an hour ago. Almost all the questions are about Egypt and what the president is going to do as this situation in Egypt continues to unfold.

On the top of your screen on the right is a live shot of Tahrir Square, where our reporters are, where anti-Mubarak protesters are, where pro-Egyptian government protesters are, where they're been gunfire, there have been Molotov cocktails, all sorts of clashes all day. We're staying on top of that story.

And in the middle is Chicago. You're looking at a picture across the Chicago River. It is -- that city is almost at a standstill. There's more snow than that city is used to getting.

We are going to tell you more about the storm right now. It's a storm that's brought misery in one form or another to three-quarters of the nation.

The good news is that it is moving fast. If you're going to have blizzards and ice storms and thunderstorms and thundersnow, you don't want it hanging around.

Now, there's no -- that's not to say that recovery from the storm is going to be quick. The nation's second busiest airport may not see any takeoffs or landings until tomorrow.

You're looking at it. Chicago's O'Hare is technically open, but more than 2,000 flights have been canceled today alone.

Since yesterday, Chicago has picked up more than 19 inches of snow. A blizzard warning is in effect for two more hours. It's coming to an end in Chicago. In fact, Chad was telling us it's mostly to the east of Chicago now, and to the south, into Indiana.

That same blizzard brought almost as much snow to Oklahoma. It was followed by plummeting temperatures. Even now wind-chill readings are well below zero, actual temperatures barely in the double digits.

Oklahoma's governor wants President Obama to declare her whole state a federal disaster area. Look at these pictures. And that brings me to Ed Lavandera. He weathered the storm in Oklahoma City. Now he's braving the cold.

Ed, we saw it yesterday. How is it feeling now?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it's actually a beautiful day if you're just looking up at the sky here in Oklahoma. But it's really only the kind of place if you like subfreezing temperatures, this is definitely the place to be.

As you mentioned, the temperatures now are really the story, just how cold it is, especially with the wind that is still pushing through here rather intensely. It's really giving those wind-chill factors, minus 12, minus 13, kind of depending on the time of day. So it is definitely very jarring.

We've been hearing from city and state officials here this afternoon. They're beginning the process of trying to clean themselves out of all of this. But the officials are saying, look, it's going to take some time to clear off these roadways.

They're really focusing right now, since the temperatures are still so cold, on the roadways that are essential for emergency crews. That's what they're focusing in on first. So it's going to take several days.

In fact, one of the top road people here in Oklahoma City saying about a year ago, they had a really bad blizzard here in Oklahoma City. It took nine days to kind of get the roads back to normal. So we're possibly looking at some of that. So they're really working intently now on clearing the major roadways to get emergency vehicles to be able to move along slowly.

We're on the edge of downtown Oklahoma City, Ali. And this a little river that runs into an area called Brictown, just on the edge of downtown Oklahoma City. And this a little river that runs into it.

We came out here and checked this spot here late yesterday afternoon, and the water was still moving. And check out what it looks like now. You can listen to just how --

VELSHI: Wow.

LAVANDERA: I mean, that is really just solid ice that this has quickly converted to. So it kind of gives you a sense of just how cold and how intensely cold it has been here over the last 24 hours.

But if you look up there on the roadway, that's Interstate 40. That's a major artery that cuts across -- east to west -- across all of Oklahoma. Traffic, we've seen it throughout the day kind of moving, not a lot of traffic, by any means. Many people still staying indoors, but traffic, the cars that I've seen up there and the trucks that I've seen up there, are moving pretty well so far -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Ed, good to see you. Stay warm. Thanks for all reporting on this. It was really remarkable to see Oklahoma City come to a complete standstill yesterday under the snow, but that storm has moved up, as you said.

You know it is a big storm when even Chicago is -- people are hunkering down there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: We were talking about Chicago. You know it's bad when Chicago shuts down. That's pretty much the situation today.

CNN's Sandra Endo is there. Oh, there she is. We actually see her this time.

Is that Michigan Avenue?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is, Ali --

VELSHI: Wow.

ENDO: -- believe it or not, because Michigan Avenue is usually packed with cars and shoppers. You can see it's pretty empty, and you see the dirty snow still covering this major thoroughfare here in downtown Chicago.

But the worst is over, the sun is shining. And that means, pretty much, the city will try to get back to normal.

This is a good sign. We're actually seeing black pavement for once all morning. This has all been covered with snow. Finally, those plows are making a difference and trying to clear up this major thoroughfare.

But it was a different story yesterday, as you've seen some of the video from Lakeshore Drive. That was completely shut down because hundreds of motorists were stranded in snowdrifts, and because of the snowy conditions. Good thing though, this morning, the fire department says they have rescued all of those stranded motorists.

Unfortunately, there is one death to repot because of someone -- a looky-loo who went to the lake to try to see the freezing waves and got engulfed by one of the massive waves.

But again, here on Michigan Avenue, you see the sun is shining, the snow is melting. People are coming out taking pictures.

And this is really historic, Ali, because in total, so far we know officially that 19.5 inches of snow slammed Chicago, making this the third biggest snowstorm for this city. And some good news, I guess. In 12 years, for the first time, Chicago city schools had a snow day. So a lot of kids pretty much happy today -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Sandra. Well, enjoy it out there. They're not usually scared of the weather in Chicago, so I suppose people will start, as you say, coming out and enjoying themselves.

Good to see you, Sandra. Thanks very much. That's one major story we're covering. The other one, of course, is the uprising in Egypt, the violent clashes on the streets of Cairo. One person has been killed, more than 400 wounded, as Egyptians turn on each other.

Now, the last hour, the White House strongly condemned that violence that had some supporters of President Hosni Mubarak tossing Molotov cocktails at anti-government supporters earlier in the day.

Here's a live look now at Tahrir Square, where protesters have been told to evacuate. As you can see, that hasn't happened.

Fred Pleitgen joins me by phone from Cairo with the latest on this volatile situation.

What is happening now, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, those Molotov cocktails are still flying in Tahrir Square or near Tahrir Square. And not only that, but also, there's these -- what they call fireballs, which seem to be sort of pieces of cloth doused in gasoline and then set on fire that are being tossed from houses by these Mubarak protesters on the anti-Mubarak protesters.

The way that this protest has evolved is that it was a pretty big melee at the beginning, where you had this back-and-forth where either side was charging the other side, throwing rocks and everything else they could find, basically, on the square. Now it's more of a trench battle, if you will, with both sides having sort of fortified their positions with metal sheeting and are still throwing rocks at each other.

But the battle here in central Cairo continues. And I can still see a lot of people milling around there as I look at Tahrir Square right now.

There's also still a lot of ambulances on the scene bringing those who were injured -- and there were a lot of people injured. I know the number right now, I think the Egyptian government gives its around 400. It looks to us like it might be way more than that -- Ali.

VELSHI: Yes. And we're looking at those live pictures, as you said, of the ambulances in there. We understood there was trouble getting ambulances in there.

Give me some sense of it, because the picture that we're looking at, the one of the ambulances, all you can see are the lights. And the other is a very, very distant high shot which you're familiar with of Tahrir Square.

What's going on? Is there pandemonium? Is there still fighting? It looks calm from a distance.

PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes, I know that one shot, especially that sort of wide shot of Tahrir Square, that really doesn't tell the whole story, because the fighting has sort of moved to one street that sort of goes towards the Nile from Tahrir Square.

And yes, I mean, there is still fighting going on, there's still rocks being pelted. There's a lot of noise coming from that area as well, with people sort of beating on metal sheeting, it sounds like, and throwing rocks at each other and chanting.

So there is still quite a bit going on there. And you're right, it was very difficult for these ambulances to get through for a large part of the time. For the longest time, we didn't see any ambulances at all, because it was simply impossible for them to get here and because this melee was going on.

I mean, if you think about it, there were so many people at that point there, at that square, and then all of a sudden, you said this before, about 50 or 60 riders on horse and camelback started to charge into the crowd. Not only that, they also had these fighting chariots where they started hitting people from these chariots. And that really -- there were a lot of people injured at that as well. So, for ambulances, it was absolutely impossible to come through.

And I can tell you, I've seen some pretty freaky scenes going on here in central Cairo today. I mean, that horse and camel charge was really something that I've never seen at any of the many protests that I've ever been to -- Ali.

VELSHI: Yes, we're looking at it now. It truly, truly -- I mean, we in the news business, we've got the TVs on all the time. We don't always stop to look at exactly what's happening. This one made everybody stop and look, these images of these men coming through on horses and camelback, charging through the crowd, whipping at people. A remarkable, remarkable scene.

Let's hope that this comes to an end fairly soon.

Fred, good to talk to you.

Fred Pleitgen, in Cairo right now.

We are monitoring these situations, the violence and, of course, the situation in Tahrir Square, and what the world's response is, including coming out of the White House.

Today, online, I asked the question, "For what would you be willing to protest in the street?" What would make you so angry as to participate in violent protests?

Here are some of your responses.

Rolando posted this on my Facebook page: "If a president stayed in power for 25-plus years, bad economy, and no jobs, I would protest."

Tony says, "I think many average Americans would take to the streets in defense of our freedoms and also as political parties use their influence to separate the classes." Laura says, "Another decision like Bush versus Gore, where a partisan Supreme Court appoints a president against the will of the people."

And the comments keep on coming. Send them to me on Facebook or Twitter. You can also head to my blog, CNN.com/Ali.

All right. What he went through might have made a grown man cry. Talk about a tough kid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADIN KHOURY, ATTACKED BY GROUP OF TEENS: What doesn't break just makes me stronger, so yes, I'll put it like that. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Wow. When we come back, we'll hear from the boy attacked by seven older teens in a Philadelphia suburb. All of it -- all of it caught on tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, police compare them to a wolf pack. Seven teenagers jumped an eighth grader on the way home from school, and they captured all for posterity, probably YouTube, on a cell phone camera. It happened a few weeks ago outside Philadelphia.

The younger boy was tackled, dragged, kicked, punched, hung upside down from a tree. He fell from the tree, so he was chased down, then hung up by his coat on a metal fence.

Eventually, the video made its way to police. This week, they raised the suspects' school, led them all out in cuffs except for one. They finally got him. The gang of seven faced a judge today.

Meantime, the victim is OK. He suffered only minor injuries, but the violence has shocked and disappointed his parents. It turns out they fled Liberia's civil war for a better life in America.

The boy and his mom just sat down with CNN's Brooke Baldwin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHOURY: Me and my friend Mickey (ph), we were just walking home from school, and we saw them all coming off the trolley. And they mess with us in school all the time, so me and him started walking in the other direction.

And a few of them came down the street because the street goes into a U, so they basically had us boxed in. They taunted me, put me in a tree, kicked me, punched me, hung me on a gate, and punched me in my stomach, and that type of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Brooke's going to bring you her full interview with Nadin and his mom when she signs on at 3:00 Eastern, right after me.

And today on Facebook and Twitter, I put out the question about whether the bystanders should have been prosecuted for not calling out for help. Here are some of your responses from Twitter.

One says, "Yes, they should. When I was their age, I saw a violent act and did something about it. No excuses there!"

Another one, "Having the Internet cut off would sure do it."

And here are some of your Facebook comments.

George says, "Absolutely. Picking up the phone and calling for help is considered by many to be a form of medical intervention. The same attitude should apply when it comes to requesting help from fire or police."

Pat says, "OK. I'd go and help the kid, and I have to fight the juveniles, then I get arrested for hitting a juvenile. It would be a no-win situation."

And Tim says, "Yes, bullying has taken over our schools. And if adults won't step in, what are the poor kids to do? This is why kids turn helpless and turn to violence and guns. Our society and kids need a major attitude adjustment! This kid is just a sample of our schools and the way we are."

OK. Coming up, are you looking for a great place to work with perks like free lunches, massages and ice cream? We found one for you. "Building up America" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: President Obama is consulting with some of the nation's top tech firms this week, following up on his State of the Union call for more innovation to help create new jobs. And even though Nevada is struggling economically, he might want to look at one firm there that's rewriting the book on Internet.

That's where we find Tom Foreman with today's "Building up America" -- Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. You know the president has been talking all about the need for more entrepreneurial spirit, especially in tech firms, to create more jobs. Well, he could do with a visit out here to Nevada, to one particular firm that is just lighting up the Internet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): 24/7, two by two, Zappos.com is moving shoes. More than $1 billion annually in Internet sales, fueled by a wide selection, free shipping, and money-back guarantees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling Zappos.com.

FOREMAN: Not bad for a company that started a dozen years ago with a radical concept -- success is about service --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. No problem.

FOREMAN: -- not selling.

CEO Tony Hsieh.

TONY HSIEH, CEO, ZAPPOS: And for us, culture is just important, it's actually the number one priority of the company.

FOREMAN: The culture is raucous, infectious, and everywhere. Employees decorate as they choose, enjoying an unbelievable array of company services, including free lunch, ice cream, massages.

We asked our guide, Ray Andre (ph), about the business environment.

(on camera): This is a business meeting?

RAY ANDRE, ZAPPOS: This is a business meeting.

FOREMAN: There's a lot of giggling go on in there.

ANDRE: There is.

FOREMAN: Getting in is not easy. Zappos takes months to screen applicants, and even in training, new hires are offered $4,000 to quit just to weed out those who might not really want to be here.

ANDRE: So we figure we could train most people to do their jobs, but we can't train somebody to fit into our culture.

FOREMAN (on camera): What is your key philosophy about running this business?

HSIEH: Internally, we have a saying that we're a service company that just happens to sell shoes.

FOREMAN: You realize nobody in America who sees this is going to want to go to work tomorrow?

(voice-over): So they can laugh at comments like that because everyone here seems eager to come to work every day, building up this runaway success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Zappos has now expanded beyond shoes, to clothing and housewares and handbags and all sorts of things. They're going to keep expanding, taking advantage of strong Internet connections here and strong shipping conditions at their warehouse in Kentucky, sort of the infrastructure geography of the country. And they're creating jobs all along the way -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Tom. Good story. Thanks very much.

Hey, it's 2:22 on the East. Time to check in on developments on our top stories.

(NEWSBREAK)

VELSHI: And coming up next, detailed coverage on the major storm affecting one-third of Americans.

Stay with us. I'll bring you more on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We've got a monster storm. We're at the tail end of it right now, but it's still out there. And by the way, in its wake it's left a lot of mess to be cleaned up.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: The latest on that incredible situation unfolding right now in Egypt's Tahrir Square. We're going back there right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Thirty minutes after the hour. Here is a look at what you may have missed this hour.

In Egypt, groups of anti-government supporters have set up makeshift barricades, vowing to defend Cairo's Tahrir Square from supporters President Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian troops have put out sporadic fires in the square caused by Molotov cocktails, attacks by Mubarak supporters. More than 400 people have been wounded; one person killed in the clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Cairo. And that's according to the Egyptian health minister.

As snow and ice continue to build in the Midwest, the major snowstorm much of the country has been bracing for continues to move east. For those of you traveling by air, be prepared to wait. At Chicago's O'Hare airport more than 1,800 flights have been canceled. Airport is open, very little flying. Boston's Logan International Airport has been shut down completely because of icing on the runways.

Big move today aimed at making our drinking water safer. The Environmental Protection Agency sets a limit on the amount of the chemical perchlorate as well as other toxic contaminants in our water. Perchorlate is both a naturally occurring and manmade chemical used in fireworks and rocket fuel. That could affect proper development of infants and fetuses. Researchers say it can also affect people's thyroid function. And estimated four percent of public water systems contain the chemical.

President Obama and Senator John McCain plan to sit down this afternoon for a one-on-one meeting. This all came together after the president read Senator McCain 's op-ed in "The Washington Post" on political civility following the Tucson shootings. In it, he praised the president's speech at the Tucson victims' memorial and went on to say that even though he disagrees with some of the president's policies, he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country's cause.

The Senate has rescheduled a vote on repealing the new health care law. The Republican-led House passed a bill to repeal the law while the Senate vote is seen as procedural. Democrats, including President Obama, agree that parts of the law can be improved but are against an all-out repeal. Democrats are expected to block the motion.

Fear and desperation in the battle of Cairo's Tahrir Square. The stunning sounds and the scenes coming up after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The situation in Egypt is changing by the minute with one person killed, more than 400 injured just today. CNN is staying on top of all the developments. Our Brooke Baldwin brings us up to speed on some of what we have seen so far today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cairo's Tahrir Square again in upheaval. Government supporters protestors attacking each other with anything they could get their hands on. Egyptian army tanks meant to separate them overrun. The military standing by.

CNN's Ben Wedeman and his crew captured the images of Egyptians turning on one another, fueled by their own passions for their future of their country.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): It certainly comes as no surprise there are so many people wounded in these clashes. We were right in the middle of it and just rocks flying in every single direction, pieces of metal, sticks. Whatever anybody could pick up they were throwing.

BALDWIN: Just outside the square, CNN's Hala Gorani was making her way in --

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was just shoved out of the way there. This is just a completely surreal experience.

BALDWIN: Trying to assess the tension level in what began as a relatively quiet morning. Didn't take very long to get an answer.

GORANI (via phone): Out of nowhere it seems demonstrators on camelback and horseback started charging in. At that point, there was a rush of people in the other direction. I got caught in it. I got slammed against a gate and was threatened by one of the pro-Mubarak protestor.

(on camera): This is a little chaotic. I had someone helping me out here.

BALDWIN: This as the military stood by in most cases, even at the museum where CNN's Anderson Cooper witnessed the fight where the front lines are being constantly redrawn. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): You see the large crowd of pro-Mubarak supporters are now trying to reestablish their front line in the area where the overturned military vehicles are. That was the front line up until about five or ten minutes ago when they overturned those vehicles and started to push forward.

So, again, it's this ebb and flow, back and forth, that's the area that we were down in earlier when we got attacked, punched around. My cameraman, Neil Hallford (ph), my producer Mary Ann Fox, you know, punched and kicked for about five minutes as we retreated quickly from the square to seek safety in the building we're in now.

BALDWIN: Just five to ten minutes away, out the rant of the rage of our TV cameras, there were reports of more peaceful protests, but that wasn't evident here where the sites of Molotov cocktails and a fire at the museum indicated the fight would continue well into the night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: OK, let's bring you up to speed on what is happening now in Egypt today. This Google map that I'm about to show you takes us to the heart of today's demonstrations in Tahrir Square, the city's famous antiquities museum that Brooke was just talking about.

As we've told you it's been a remarkable day of chaos and violence, pro-government and anti-government protestors fighting each other with swords, rocks, firebombs and more. At least one person was killed, more than 400 wounded.

Joining me now, CNN International anchor and correspondent Michael Holmes and Jill Dougherty joins us live from the State Department. Jill, what do you have?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There's quite a lot going on. The latest, we just got this a couple of minutes ago from a senior U.S. official, Ali, is that secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been talking on the phone with vice president Omar Suleiman, the new vice president. Not known precisely what they're talking about, but obviously, you have the violence unfolding on the streets and then a very complicated "what's next" question politically. So, they're on the phone.

We also can confirm that Frank Wisner, the special envoy from President Obama and from Hillary Clinton, is still there. And then also we've been speaking with U.S. officials here about that violence on the street. And they are saying that there is some suspicion in the Obama administration that Mubarak loyalists may have unleashed some of these Mubarak supporters to intimidate the protestors on the streets. As one put it, "perhaps Mubarak is making a mess that only he can solve."

Then, finally, I'll just give you a little bit from an Egyptian government official that we spoke to this morning. He was bristling about some comments and what happened yesterday, saying that President Mubara is going to move at his own pace, not be pushed or nudged by President Obama or any other leaders, and that the government, he said - the Egyptian government has a serious problem with what he called the "spin" that was coming from the Obama administration that he had been pushed.

VELSHI: All right. Jill, thanks very much for that. I want to go over to Michael Holmes now, follow up on that discussion. Jill said we're worried about what's next. There are two "what's nexts" going on right now. One specific to Egypt --

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes.

VELSHI: -- and one specific to everywhere else in the Arab world. You have covered this for long enough to know there is something of a sea change going on.

HOLMES: There is. The Middle East in totality is going to look very different after all of this, at least it in a political and social setting.

What you've got and very significant, too, that what's been happening in Jordan, you've got the king there throwing out the prime minister, putting in a new one. Changing prime ministers is a pretty common thing. It's the king who can do it. Since the Hashmin (ph) kingdom came into being in the 1920s, I think they've had 70 prime ministers, so that's not likely to placate those who want change in Jordan.

VELSHI: But he's trying to get ahead of it. Because some protests in Jordan, nothing like we've seen in Tunisia --

HOLMES: No, nothing like that. Preemptive strike. Trying to get ahead of the game. Significant, too. Egypt, Jordan the only two with peace treaties with Israel. Yemen, watch out for that. Got a rebellion in the north, secession in the south. An al Qaeda battlefield, the Yemen government that's helping the U.S. --

VELSHI: That's going to have people worried. Because we don't know who would take over in a power vacuum. But the reality is we've never seen anything like this, where a ground swell, political movement in the Arab world has caused leaders to change their mind. They're been under dictatorships, rulers, colonial leaders, people who have redrawn their boundaries, never before this kind of thing.

HOLMES: Don't forget you're looking at planned demonstrations in Syria on Friday, Saturday. So, that's significant if that happens. There's been more in Algeria. It is across the region.

Revolutions are not exportable. I mean, these are different countries with different nuance in the political system. But there are commonalities. There is unemployment, people not being heard by their governments or regimes.

VELSHI: Right. Let's talk about another big story that people have been tweeting me, asking me about. Australia, the cyclone.

HOLMES: You wouldn't want to be Queensland, would you? They just had all that massive flooding --

VELSHI: Look at the size of that! That's -- that's super imposed over the United States. That's the size of Yasi -

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: -- on top of the United States to give you a sense of how big it is.

HOLMES: The same size of Katrina, carries three times of the amount of water in it. Rain, they've already had like 300 millimeters of rain there. The storm surge was seven meters, over 20 feet. It's now been downgraded across the coast as a Cat 5, winds touching on 300 kilometers an hour.

VELSHI: Unbelievable! 186 miles an hour. I mean, it's quite remarkable that it didn't wreak more havoc than it did.

HOLMES: Well, we don't know yet. It's just coming on daylight in Australia now. And so, we'll know Unlike Americans, I've got to say, Ali, our guys don't generally go out and hang off light poles when these things are happening.

VELSHI: Right, they're waiting --

HOLMES: They're going to go out in the morning and have a look at it. It is a huge run, of course, and it follows the flooding. Just north of that area. There are going to be more floods out of this. It's downgraded to a Cat 3 but it's well inland, and there's a lot of water.

VELSHI: All right. Michael, we'll stay on this. I know you're covering that. I know you're covering -- we'll continue to have these conversations with Michael everyday.

I want to leave you with the sights and sounds of a group of protestors. It captures their desperation and fear as they struggle to help someone who's been injured.

(VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Today's "Big Breakdown" is a force of nature, and I mean force. All week, we've been tracking this monster winter storm that at one point spanned three-quarters of the nation. This is a NASA satellite on top of the United States of America. You think I'm exaggerating, check it out.

This is yesterday's storm, looks like a blanket of snow -- deep snow, by the way at that. Many places now have record snow, including Chicago -- 20 inches and counting. Storms like this come around at most once a decade. Some of them pick up the unofficial title "storm of the century."

Here is one of those, by the way, from 1993. It brought snow and rain from Alabama to Canada. It was a lot smaller than the beast of 2011, the one we're in right now. So, what happens every few years to make one of these megastorms? For that, we turn to our severe weather expert, Chad Myers. Chad, what is it. What makes this different?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you've generously given me 45 seconds for a 10-minute story.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Story of our lives!

MYERS: So, let me be quick. You're going to need a jet stream, probably a ridge in the west and a big trough in the east. That trough means it's a low pressure center. That means that cold air is allowed to come up. Along the trough, there is a secondary low, a mid-level low that comes in and starts sucking up Gulf moisture. When you get the Gulf moisture all of a sudden now, you have humidity down here. Water 60, 70 degrees now, and now you're pushing it into the cold air. And the warm and the cold clash.

But it becomes its own engine. It just wants -- the cold wants to go farther, the warm wants to go farther. And then you get the spin. The spin runs up along the jet stream. So, if the jet would be here, it would be a coastal nor'easter. Our jet wasn't there this time. Our jet was here this time, so our storm was here, right through the middle part of the Plains, and wherever it sets up, that's where the storm is going to be its biggest swath to the north of that.

We've had a lot of swaths on the East Coast this year. I think it's time for one in the Midwest.

VELSHI: Oh, we were just sharing. Just spreading the love. All right. Thanks, Chad. Good description, by the way. I'd like to sit and have the 10-minute version with you later on. But I like that 45- second version.

Hey, we've got a new segment we've been showing you on the show. It's called "You Choose." I'll give you three news stories. Then I want you to go to my blog, CNN.com/ali and vote on the story that you'd like to hear about the most.

First, we've been hearing about the Farrah Fawcett swimsuit being put into the Smithsonian. But it wasn't just the swimsuit. We'll show you what else was donated.

Your second option is a doctor guilty of dispensing a key ingredient to illegal recreational drunks called purple drank.

Your third option, how about a husband who was able to put his wife on the terrorist watch list. Once again, go to my blog. CNN.com - CNN.com/ali. You can vote on it. We're going to bring you the story that "You Choose" in ten minutes.

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VELSHI: On Saturday, Super Bowl eve, negotiators representing NFL team owners and players will meet for the first time in almost two months. Why? Well, the owners want to rewrite the collective bargaining agreement. Why do they want to do that? So that their workers, the players, get a smaller cut of the revenue, or at least a smaller amount than they agreed upon after the last set of negotiations. And if the owners don't get what they want, they will lock the players out, which could lead to a shortened NFL season in the fall.

Another major sticking point in the negotiations is the owners' desire to increase the players' workload by moving from a 16-game schedule to an 18-game schedule .

Let's go straight to my Stream Team to discuss this. Pete Dominick, Jamal Anderson and Chris Howard, all joining me now. Jamal, let's start with you. You suffered a career-ending ACL tear. I don't know if you have a view on 16 games versus 18 games, but in football, you get an injury you're out of the game.

JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER (via phone): Yes, there's no question about it. The 18-game schedule is not popular right now for a lot of fans and in fact a lot of players, especially when you're talking about the emphasis that they've put on, Ali, in making sure the rules and then the big hits and the fines and those different rules that the NFL has been implementing this year has been a factor also. So, people are saying now, oh, you want to add a couple more games?

Me? If they're cutting down the preseason games, I was not terribly against the plan of doing it. But the bottom line with this whole thing is the union wanting to preserve at least a 50/50 split in the revenue. That's where the impasse is in addition to the fact the owners have failed to show the financial books. That's major, Ali. You know finance.

VELSHI: Absolutely! It's very unusual. That's one thing, Chris Howard, that's unusual. The other one is that the NFL doesn't have to provide these guaranteed contracts. I mean, it is a little weird. How does the NFL get away with the deal that it has?

CHRIS HOWARD, PRESIDENT, HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: Well, I tell you what. When you're dealing with sports you're dealing with part of the American psyche, and I think there might be a little bit of hide-and- seek that they're playing here.

But I do think this, and I'm not sure if Pete and Jamal would agree, but I think the question now is one of enlarging the pot. The thinking now that two additional games which some cutting down on the preseason, spring training period and so forth, so on. But I think all parties agree that for this to work, whether it be a 50/50 revenue sharing or 50/40 like it is now, the pie has to grow from $9 billion -- again, we haven't seen the books, but we're assuming it's about $9 billion to something -- probably doing my math to something like $10 billion or 1$0.5 billion for this to keep working, everyone feel comfortable with the agreement.

VELSHI: All right, Chris, let me talk about another issue that we've got going on. State lawmakers in South Dakota have introduced legislation that would require all residents over the age of 21 to purchase a firearm. This is merely a stunt to protest the health insurance mandate. It did make me think back to a small town in Georgia just outside of Atlanta that did this. In 2008, Kennesaw, Georgia, passed this ordinance by unanimous decision.

Pete - Pete Dominick joins me now. Pete, we were talking about guns last week. What do you think about this?

PETE DOMINICK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, this is -- obviously it's a stunt because they're trying to bring attention to the individual mandate in the federal legislation for health care law. But it doesn't make a lot of sense because states actually get to decide on these issues whereas the federal government deciding on legislation is not the same case. So, it doesn't apply. And it's also just a strange thing.

First of all, 22 of gun owners -- you're more likely, apparently, to get shot if you have a gun. 22 percent I believe is the number of people who have guns that get shot. But, anyway, look through those statistics yourself.

It provides for a strange situation. You get pulled over by a cop, license, registration and what kind of firearm are you packing there, son? I mean, it's just a ridiculous stunt, kind of a strange idea. But they're trying to do it to get attention to point out the individual mandate requirement for federal legislation on health care.

VELSHI: Jamal, do you think it gets the point across? Like, oh, wow, you're informing everybody, telling everybody -- Jamal is on the phone with us -- they've got to have a gun. Some people say that's rediculous. You can't force me to have a gun. And they're saying that's kind of like what the health insurance reform is doing.

ANDERSON: Yes. Just like Pete says, it's absolutely a stunt. I mean, I know a couple of people from South Dakota. I'm not sure they'd be totally against it. But I was, like, what?

No, but I mean, the stunt of it and here we go again, the political theater. I'm, like, c'mon, really, everybody? It's just another thing. After this, Ali, what they're going to talk about is the cost of the gun and how it's going to be subsidized next, you know.

VELSHI: All right, guys, good to talk to you, as always. Chris Howard, Jamal Anderson, and my good friend Pete dominick over at Sirius. We're getting ready for his show.

All right. Putting the Egyptian revolt and Mideast crisis into context. I'll bring that to you in my "XYZ" right after this break.

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VELSHI: OK. Time for "You Choose" where we asked you to vote on the news. Here as the winner. A doctor in south Georgia pleaded guilty to illegally dispensing codeine syrup. According to the "Florida Times Union," that codeine syrup is used as a key ingredient in the illegal recreational drink called purple drank. It's a mixture, it's made of a mixture of lemon- lime soda or fruit-flavored candy. The 71-year-old doctor, William Morris Williams, faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. We'll post the stories about Farrah Fawcett and the other story that you wanted on my blog, CNN.com/ali.

Time now for the "XYZ" of it. Today's mass protests in Egypt, Tunisia and the Arab world are truly riveting to watch. But to really appreciate what's taking place, we need a little historical perspective.

In the past century, we've never really seen whole Arab populations stand up and demand the right to define their own system of government. What we're watching now are revolts against specific Arab autocrats, who have largely ignored the wishes and concern of their people, marginalizing them in the process.

But in a way, these revolts are also a reaction of the West's mixed history in that region. Modern Arab states owe their existence to borders that were drawn by Western colonial powers that physically dominated the Arab world early in the last century and into the twentieth century. Eventually these same states gained their independence and installed strongmen who just as ruthlessly dominated their people while garnering support abroad from countries like the U.S. because they serve vital interests in an important part of the world.

For many protesting today on the Arab world streets about their own Arab government, the Western backing for the region's autocrats have been a very big problem to them as well. It's a bit of context worth remembering as we push our own governments to do the right thing, whatever that may be.

That's it for now. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin.