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President Obama Speaks Live at National Prayer Breakfast; Historic Cyclone Hits Australia; Tensions High in Cairo After Bloody Clashes; Egyptian Police Rounding up Journalists; Yemen's Day of Rage; Anti-Abortion Group Goes Undercover at Planned Parenthood; Poll: Florida Senator is Vulnerable; Young Packer Fans' Team Spirit

Aired February 03, 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: Good morning, guys. Let's start off with a little faith, shall we?

Let's go to the president of the United States. The Prayer Breakfast has just begun. What makes this so unique this year? Well, apparently the president plans to give an unusually personal speech about his religious faith, talking about the way he praise, studies scripture and some other spiritual disciplines that impact his daily life.

So we're going to go ahead and listen in. In a time, by the way, where a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life says that more and more Americans still believe that he's is a Muslim. But as you know, he's proclaimed he is a Christian and he's going to share a story of his personal faith this morning.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to begin by just saying a word to Mark Kelly, who's here. We have been praying for Mark's wife, Gabby Giffords, for many days now, but I want Gabby and Mark and their entire family to know that we are with them for the long haul and God is with them for the long haul. And even as we pray --

(APPLAUSE)

-- even as we pray for Gabby in the aftermath of a tragedy here at home, we're also mindful of the violence that we're now seeing in the Middle East, and we pray that the violence in Egypt will end, and that the rights and aspirations of the Egyptian people will be realized, and that a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world.

For almost 60 years, going back to President Eisenhower, this gathering has been attended by our president. It's a tradition that I'm proud to uphold, not only as a fellow believer, but as an elected leader whose entry into public service was actually through the church.

This may come as a surprise, for as some of you know, I did not come from a particularly religious family. My father, who I barely knew -- I only met once for a month in my entire life -- was said to be a nonbeliever throughout his life. My mother, whose parents were Baptist and Methodist, grew up with a certain skepticism about organized religion, and she usually only took me to church on Easter and Christmas, sometimes.

(LAUGHTER)

And yet my mother was also one of the most spiritual people that I ever knew. She was somebody who was instinctively guided by the golden rule and who nagged me constantly about the homespun values of her Kansas upbringing, values like honesty, and hard work, and kindness, and fair play.

And it's because of her that I came to understand the equal worth of all men and all women, and the imperatives of an ethical life, and the necessity to act on your beliefs. And it's because of her example and guidance that, despite the absence of a formal religious upbringing, my earliest inspirations for a life of service ended up being the faith leaders of the civil rights movement.

There was, of course, Martin Luther King and the Baptist leaders, the ways in which they helped those who had been subjugated to make a way out of no way and transform a nation through the force of love.

But there were also Catholic leaders like Father Theodore Hesburgh, and Jewish leaders like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Muslim leaders and Hindu leaders, and their call to fix what was broken in our world.

A call rooted in faith is what led me, just a few years out of college, to sign up as a community organizer for a group of churches on the south side of Chicago. And it was through that experience, working with pastors and laypeople, trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods, that I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace him as my lord and savior.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, that was over 20 years ago. And like all of us, my faith journey has had its twists and turns. It hasn't always been a straight line. I have thanked God for the joys of parenthood and Michelle's willingness to put up with me.

In the wake of failures and disappointments, I've questioned what God had in store for me and been reminded that God's plans for us may not always match our own short-sided desires. And, let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith. The --

(APPLAUSE)

The presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray.

(LAUGHTER)

Abe Lincoln said, as many of you know, I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go. (LAUGHTER)

And, fortunately, I'm not alone in my prayers. Pastor friends like Joel Hunter and T.D. Jakes come over to the Oval Office every once in a while to pray with me and pray for the nation. The chapel at Camp David has provided consistent respite and fellowship. The director of our faith-based and neighborhood partnerships office, Joshua DuBois, a young minister himself, he starts my morning off with meditations from scripture.

Most of all, I've got friends around the country, some who I know, some I don't know, but I know their friends, who are out there praying for me. One of them is an old friend named Kaye Wilson. In our family, we call her Mama Kaye. And she happens to be Malia and Sasha's godmother. And she has organized prayer circles for me all around the country.

She started small, with her own Bible study group. But once I started running for president and she heard what they were saying about me on cable, she felt the need to pray harder.

(LAUGHTER)

By the time I was elected president, she says, "I just couldn't keep up on my own. I was having to pray eight, nine times a day just for you." So she enlisted help from around the country.

It's also comforting to know that people are praying for you who don't always agree with you. Tom Coburn, for example, is here. He is not only a dear friend, but also a brother in Christ. We came into the Senate at the same time.

Even though we are on opposite sides of a whole bunch of issues, part of what has bound us together is a shared faith, our recognition that we pray to and serve the same god. And I keep praying that God will show him the light and he will vote for -- vote with me once in a while.

(LAUGHTER)

It's going to happen, Tom.

(LAUGHTER)

A ray of light is going to beam down.

(LAUGHTER)

My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time. We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us, but whether we're being true to our conscience and true to our god. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, as well.

As I travel across the country, folks often ask me, what is it that I pray for? And like most of you, my prayers sometimes are general. Lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office. Sometimes they're specific. Lord, give me patience as I watch Malia go to her first dance, where there will be boys.

(LAUGHTER)

Lord, have that skirt get longer as she travels to that dance.

(LAUGHTER)

But while I petition God for a whole range of things, there are a few common themes that do recur. The first category of prayer comes out of the urgency of the Old Testament prophets and the gospel itself. I pray for my ability to help those who are struggling.

Now, Christian tradition teaches that one day the world will be turned right-side up and everything will return as it should be. But until that day, we're called to work on behalf of a god that shows justice and mercy and compassion to the most vulnerable.

And we've seen a lot of hardship these past two years. And not a day passes when I don't get a letter from somebody or meet someone who's out of work or lost their home or without health care. The story Randall told about his father, that's a story that a whole lot of Americans have gone through over these past couple of years.

And sometimes I can't help right away, but sometimes what I can do to try to improve the economy or to curb foreclosures or to help deal with the health care system, sometimes it seems so distant and so remote, so profoundly inadequate to the enormity of the need, and it is my faith that that Biblical injunction to serve the least of these that keeps me going, and it keeps me from being overwhelmed. It's faith that reminds me that, despite being just one very imperfect man, I can still help whoever I can, however I can, wherever I can, for as long as I can, and that somehow God will buttress these efforts.

It also helps to know that none of us are alone in answering this call. It's being taken up each and every day by so many of you. Back home, your churches, your temples and synagogues, your fellow congregants, so many faith groups across this great country of ours.

I came upon a group recently called charity: water, a group that supports clean-water projects overseas. This is a project that was started by a former nightclub promoter named Scott Harrison who grew weary of living only for himself and feeling like he wasn't following Christ as well as he should. And because of Scott's good work, charity: water has helped 1.7 million people get access to clean water. And in the next 10 years, he plans to make clean water accessible to a hundred million more.

That's the kind of promoting we need more of, and that's the kind of faith that moves mountains. And there are stories like that scattered across this room of people taking upon themselves to make a difference.

Now, sometimes faith groups can do the work of caring for the least of these on their own. Sometimes they need a partner, whether it's in business or government, and that's why my administration has taken a fresh look at the way we organize with faith groups, the way we work with faith groups through our Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

And through that office, we're expanding the way faith groups can partner with our government. We're helping them feed more kids who otherwise would go hungry. We're helping fatherhood groups get dads the support they need to be there for their children. We're working with nonprofits to improve the lives of people around the world, and we're doing it in ways that are aligned with our constitutional principles. And in this work, we intend to expand it in the days ahead, rooted in the notions of partnership and justice and the imperatives to help the poor.

Of course, there are some needs that require more resources than faith groups have at their disposal. There's only so much a church can do to help all the families in need, all those who need help making a mortgage payment or avoiding foreclosure or making sure their child can go to college.

There's only so much that a nonprofit can do to help a community rebuild in the wake of disaster. There's only so much the private sector will do to help folks who are desperately sick get the care that they need.

And that's why I continue to believe that, in a caring and in a just society, government must have a role to play, that our values, our love, and our charity must find expression not just in our families, not just in our places of work and our places of worship, but also in our government and in our politics.

Over the past two years, the nature of these obligations, the proper role of government has obviously been the subject of enormous controversy, and the debates have been fierce, as one side's version of compassion and community may be interpreted by the other side as an oppressive and irresponsible expansion of the state or an unacceptable restriction on individual freedom.

That's why a second recurring theme in my prayers is a prayer for humility. Now, God answered this prayer for me early on by having me marry Michelle --

(APPLAUSE)

-- because whether it's reminding me of a chore undone or questioning the wisdom of watching my third football game in a row on Sunday, she keeps me humble. But in this life of politics, when debates have become so bitterly polarized and changes in the media lead so many of us just to listen to those who reinforce our existing biases, it's useful to go back to scripture to remind ourselves that none of us has all the answers, none of us, no matter what our political party or station in life, the full breadth of human knowledge is like a grain of sand in God's hands, and there are some mysteries in this world we cannot fully comprehend.

As it's written in Job, God's voice thunders in marvelous ways. He does great things beyond our understandings.

The challenge I find, then, is to balance this uncertainty, this humility with the need to fight for deeply held convictions, to be open to other points of view, but firm in our core principles. And I pray for this wisdom every day.

(END COVERAGE)

PHILLIPS: A different touch to the Prayer Breakfast this year in Washington, DC. The president actually giving an unusually personal speech about his own faith, taking a very serious approach, but also a very light-hearted approach as well.

On a serious note talking about how he does meditate on scripture every morning, and that, as he is constantly questioned by Americans about his faith, that he is a Muslim, he and Michelle work really hard to stay focused on God and the fact that he, 20 years ago, did embrace Christ as his lord and savior, and that he is a Christian and that's exactly the type of values that he and Michelle instill in his children.

A little fun note there. He says he prays not only for strength in office, but also for patience as his daughter Malia gets ready to go to the school dances, hoping that that skirt just gets longer and longer as she journeys to the dance where boys will be.

So, the president giving, obviously, a serious, heart-felt speech on his faith this morning, adding a little humor. And we'll follow it, of course, throughout the rest of the morning.

If you want to watch the entire thing, you can actually go on the White House website to watch it in its entirety.

All right. We're going to have more on Egypt and the chaos there. Give you an update on what's taken place this morning, and how it is looking right now. A lot calmer than yesterday, when you saw pro and anti-Mubarak forces going at each other. A lot more calm this morning. We'll update you in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And good morning, everyone. If you're just waking up, here are some of the stories that we're talking about this morning. You might be able to fly today. Most airports hope to get back to their normal schedule. Some 14,000 flights had been canceled because of the monster winter storm. Dallas is still feeling the effects. About 17 icy degrees there. Feels like zero, though.

And a terrible time to be forced out of your bed and into the cold. That's what's happening this morning. A big fire at a Dallas apartment complex still burning. No reports of injuries. The ice making it really hard for firefighters to get their footing in there.

And people in northern Queensland in Australia woke up to this this morning. Cyclone Yasi is the biggest storm to ever hit the region. And let's turn to Cairo now. One day after the bloody free-for-all, there have been occasional bursts of violence between anti-government protesters and supporters of the embattled president. But rock- throwing gave way to isolated clashes, and it's a breathtaking contrast to yesterday's massive explosion of violence between those groups.

Guns, rocks, machetes, even Molotov cocktails. Five people were killed, more than 800 wounded. And the police force blamed for many of the casualties.

This is actually amateur video that was posted on Facebook. A policeman roars through a crowd on a city street, makes little effort to avoid innocent passersby.

Now, here in the United States, President Obama called attention to the plight in a National Prayer Breakfast that's still going on right now in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Even as we pray for Gabby in the aftermath of a tragedy here at home, we're also mindful of the violence that we're now seeing in the Middle East, and we pray that the violence in Egypt will end, and that the rights and aspirations of the Egyptian people will be realized, and that a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now the White House says that the next couple of days are critical, and the situation could get worse. As a matter of fact, this just in. The State Department -- actually, its spokesperson, PJ Crowley tweeted a short time ago. Let's get the latest from Cairo and CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

What exactly -- actually, what did that tweet say? Let's -- can we bring that up for viewers? I didn't see --

Here's what Crowley actually tweeted. "There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in Cairo and interfere with their reporting, and we condemn these actions."

All right. Frederik Pleitgen, with that in tow, yesterday, we saw a number of journalists get attacked, including our own. How do you feel about this tweet? Do you think that they will listen? Have there been any issues today?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Oh, there've been masses of issues today, already, Kyra. We've had one of our crews harassed, I myself have been harassed by pro-Mubarak demonstrators. We've certainly heard of a lot of other people who have been harassed, as well.

By the way, as the battles here in Cairo have been picking up again, things have drastically deteriorated over the past couple of minutes. I don't know how much you can see on our live feed, but it is going. There is raging battles in the streets here right now.

But yes, crews keep getting harassed. Eight now, it's very, very dangerous for foreign journalists to actually wander outside of their hotels or their building or wherever they are, simply because, if you run into the pro-Mubarak crowd, you're in serious danger of getting beat up and possibly even detained. Because one thing I can tell you is that each side of this battle that's going on here are taking prisoners.

Now, the anti-Mubarak crowd, they, obviously, want to see the Western journalists in here reporting, but the pro-Mubarak crowd is a far different story.

And yes, I've seen a lot of people harassed, I've seen cameras confiscated, I've seen camera crews beat up. I've had a mob of people try to beat me up, and really we had to barrel out of a situation in our car, and our car got pelted with rocks.

So, yes, it is really commonplace. By the way, these street battles, I don't know how much you can see, are really, really getting worse here in the streets, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it -- do you get the feeling, Fred, that it's sort of moved away from, "OK, this is the message we're trying to get across, we want Hosni Mubarak out," and now it's just turned into a bunch of thugs running around, beating up anybody they can? There's no reason to beat up journalists who are trying to cover the story.

And just to point out, if you've been attacked, you're almost seven feet tall. So, that says a lot for -- they just -- they're going at everybody and anybody.

PLEITGEN: Yes, you're right, if they attack me, then they'll try with anybody. But no. It really is still about the message. The situation has deteriorated for us journalists. Really, once the pro- Mubarak protesters had entered the scene, because they don't -- clearly don't want this story to get any international coverage, and they're doing everything they can to try and prevent that.

Now, remember that Egypt, even before, was a very, very repressive police state, and that journalists were being intimidated even before all of this was happening. So now, as these street battles here rage, it is the pro-Mubarak crowd that are really trying to keep us from getting the message across.

And the violence also has come into this area, really, as these two sides started clashing yesterday, as these pro-Mubarak protesters came here into Cairo, they came into Tahrir Square in the middle of town and, then, the violence erupted.

And since then, it's become so much more dangerous for us journalists to operate here, because the anti-Mubarak protesters, they've always been very fair with us, they've allowed us to shoot everything. They obviously welcome the international media presence, because one of the things that they're actually fighting for is more press freedom, Kyra. Oh, and I'm hearing some -- hearing some more gunfire, by the way, and I'm going to have to lay low here a little bit. There's some gunfire going on on the street. Soldiers shooting into the air at this point. We'll have to monitor that situation. But yes, the street battles, also, Kyra, have gotten a lot, lot worse in the past couple minutes.

PHILLIPS: All right. Do me a favor and just do what's best for you right now. And Fred Pleitgen, we'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning. Appreciate it.

You know, the protests have also flared up in Yemen, despite efforts by the president to tamp down on public anger. He says that he will step down when his term ends in 2013, and will not install his son to replace him. Yemen's president has been in power more than three decades, much like Hosni Mubarak. His supporters gathered today a mile from the anti-government protests. There were no clashes reported, though, between the groups.

And anti-government protests boiled up in six Arab states. New concerns turn to two countries in particular. Opposition groups in Syria and Jordan are planning big rallies there tomorrow. In Jordan, the protests planned despite major concessions by King Abdullah. Earlier this week he absolved his government, as we told you, and ordered the new prime minister to launch swift reforms.

Stay with us for continuing coverage of the crisis in Egypt. Our crews are in place to bring you the latest developments as they happen.

Plus, the morning after the monster storm. That's right. The U.S., digging out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Well, that massive winter storm loosening its grip on the U.S. and it's leaving behind mounds (ph) of snow and frigid temps and rescue. In Indianapolis, a woman is safe after fire crews used a rope to rescue her from an icy river embankment. That woman had been walking along the river when she just slipped in the snow and she got stuck.

And look at these amazing pictures. Affiliate cameras rolling when a warehouse collapsed under heavy snow in Easton, Massachusetts. Luckily, all of the workers inside got out before the cave-in and no one was hurt.

Now watch as one reporter gets punchy with the ice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go. Grand experiment here inside my car. I'm going to see if I can roll down the window. There you go. A shell of ice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Jacqui, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to pass as you're covering the storm. JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ouch. Did that hurt?

(CROSSTALK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well a new thrill ride in Florida combines a zip line and a pond of alligators. That's right. We're taking you there in our first stop Cross Country. This is crazy. Gators snapping below as riders take a zip line tour of the alligator farm in St. Augustine.

Tears of the Virgin Mary? Let's take a look at this. Visitors claim that this figurine of the mother of Jesus is weeping. Tourists are packing the shop hoping to see it themselves.

And finally, watch these disturbing pictures from a jail in Escambia County, Florida. A deputy caught on surveillance camera throwing an inmate to the ground. The officer then drags the prisoner by his handcuffs, leaving him there bleeding. The incident happened in December. Abuse charges were filed this week against that deputy.

A fake pimp and a fake teen prostitute go into a Planned Parenthood clinic and ask some unnerving questions. But the answers they get are shocking. It's all caught on tape. It got the clinic employee fired and we're going to have you watch it for us as we talk about it today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. We've seen a lot of undercover busts. But the one we're about to show you doesn't involve drugs or weapons. If you have a daughter, it will make you cringe. Made us cringe.

Here's the back story. Two people posing as a pimp and a hooker go into a New Jersey Planned Parenthood clinic. They've got a hidden camera and they ask the clinic manager about pregnancy tests and abortions for prostitutes as young as 14.

Listen what happens next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is they need an abortion, though?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's a completely different story. This is more just for testing and stuff like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. If they come in for pregnancy testing -- (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- at that point, it'd still be -- you'd still be. You never got this from me. Just to make all of our lives easier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they're 14 and under.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just send them right there if they need an abortion, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the spot? OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will they ask questions or anything? Will they need I.D. or something?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They won't need I.D. then they're going to be a little bit more different but their protocols aren't as strict as ours and they don't get audited to the same way that we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just to make all of our lives easier. Shocked? Well, hold on. There's more. Here's another blurb from the 11-minute edited video. Check out what happens when the fake pimp ask how girls are still supposed to make money even after an abortion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then a question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mmm-huh?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it turns out that they do need an abortion, how long until they can be sexually active again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Minimum two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Minimum two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Minimum two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any suggestions about what else they can do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, they still got to make money, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Waist up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Waist up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waist up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or just be that extra action walking by.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Waist up. Waist up. Doesn't even faze this woman that they are talking about a 14-year-old girl selling her body and this woman is so cavalier, acting like there are no red flags here when a pimp comes in with a teen hooker talking about abortions. So what does Planned Parenthood say? Basically, hey, we saw the tape, we're shocked. We fired that woman and she doesn't reflect who we are out what we do.

The group that went undercover is called Live Action. It's an anti- abortion group and its leader Lila Rose says that this is just one of nearly a dozen of examples of Planned Parenthood aiding and abetting a pimp and an under-aged prostitute and that the group should not get federal money.

Here is what Planned Parenthood says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STUART SCHEAR, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: The organization that is coming in and secretly taping was in Planned Parenthood Centers, they are not concerned about women and they are not concerned about abuse on girls.

They have very extreme political agenda which is to outlaw abortion for all women in the United States and to take that constitutional right away. And they are working with other groups to make sure that federal funds which Planned Parenthood receives for birth control, for family planning, for cancer screenings and preventive care, are taken away.

There is no training that can prevent this from happening. This was a complete breakdown in judgment. We don't understand what happened with this employee, but her behavior was completely not in keeping with how we handle health care and she was terminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That was Stuart Shear there, of Planned Parenthood. He also said that all the proper legal authorities, including the FBI, were told about this encounter. We're going to talk more about the trafficking of our kids next hour.

Fiery words in the fight for Chicago mayor. Carol Moseley-Braun tells an opponent you are strung out on crack. We're going to tell you what Braun's rival is saying back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, Republicans will be targeting Senator Bill Nelson of Florida in the 2012 election and a new poll gives an early peek to Nelson's re-election chances.

Our senior political editor Mark Preston is here with that story. Hey, Mark.

PRESTON: Hey, good morning Kyra.

Yes, talk about a wake-up call for Senator Bill Nelson down in Florida. A new Quinnipiac University poll just out in the past couple of hours spells some trouble for him. Right now his approval rating according to this new Q-poll at 45 percent -- below 50 percent. But probably even more troubling is the fact that 43 percent of -- of -- of Floridians believe that he should be re-elected, again, below the 50 percent mark. Now, he has plenty of time to make it up and, of course, he's going to run for re-election over the next couple of years but again, this is what we call one of these a wake-up calls for incumbent politicians.

And right now, we do not have a Republican frontrunner down in Florida although a lot of people are taking a look at it.

Big changes over at the Republican National Committee: we've been talking about this each week. There's a new chairman Reince Priebus out of Wisconsin. Well, he has just named a new chief of staff. This is basically the person who is going to see over the day-to-day operations of rebuilding of the Republican National Committee.

The gentlemen's name is Jeff Larson, our own Peter Hamby has the story up about Larson. A couple of things that are interesting. He was the CEO of the Republican National Convention host committee in 2008 up in Minneapolis. This comes at the same time now that Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the RNC has been down in Tampa trying to rebuild that organization for the RNC convention that will take place in 2012 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mark, we got to get to the juicy stuff. I mean, we know how nasty Chicago politics can get. But man, Carol Moseley Braun she just called out an opponent there in the mayor's race -- a pretty -- how should we put it -- shocking?

PRESTON: Shocking. I'll tell you, you know, Chicago politics is very much like Boston politics where I'm from. You know, they don't pat each other on the back. They throw rocks at each other and in fact that's what we saw with Carol Moseley Braun.

Let's just set up the scenario. At a candidates' forum, Kyra, Patricia Van Watkins who is one of the candidates running for mayor called out Carol Moseley Braun and said, "Look, you haven't been around here for 20 years. You don't know much about the community".

Well, Carol Moseley Braun fired back and let me just quote her directly. She said, "Patricia, the reason you didn't know where I was the last 20 years, is because you were strung out on crack," which is a very strong comment to make, particularly because Patricia Van Watkins has acknowledged that when she was a teenager she had some problems with drugs.

Now who was not at the forum was Rahm Emanuel who many believe is the frontrunner for the mayoral race. And of course, later this month, we'll see who's going to win -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how --how did she respond when -- when Moseley Braun said that?

PRESTON: Well, the producer (ph) in Watkins initially said that she would like her to maybe temper her views a little bit and maybe work with folks who are having drug problems but she has since followed up and said that Carol Moseley Braun needs to get out of the race. Not too surprising.

PHILLIPS: Well, yes. All right, Mark, thanks.

PRESTON: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: We're going to have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news you can go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

But first, "Flashback", today, 1959, it was the day the music died. Singers Buddy Holly, JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens all killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake Iowa.

Holly then only 22 had chartered the plane to fly to a performance in Fargo, North Dakota after heating problems developed on his tour bus. "The Big Bopper" was a disc jockey and singer whose booming voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock star. He was only 28 and then Ritchie Valens, he was the youngest, 17. He recorded several big hits, of course, "La Bamba". Who could forget that?

(INAUDIBLE) take us the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, here's what you can look forward to later today on CNN, a bipartisan Senate report on a November 2009 killings at Ft. Hood will be released about noon. That report is expected to detail failures by the U.S. government that led to the shooting that killed 13 people and injured 32 others. The FBI expected to release a response as well.

More than 4,000 square miles of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico will be reopened to shrimpers. The area affected is off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You may remember it was closed November 24th last year as a precautionary measure after a commercial shrimper discovered tar balls all caught up in its net.

And the New York City Council is holding a public hearing to decide what impact opening a Wal-Mart in the city would have. The retailer has been the target of strong criticism for its employment policies. Wal-Mart officials have declined to attend today's hearing.

All right, we're going to talk about addiction. Not so much to drugs or alcohol, but to things like violence, money, celebrity, the Internet, food, Smartphones. Stuff that might not get you arrested but isn't always good for you, either.

The one and only Jane Velez-Mitchell wrote a book about it, it's called "Addict Nation". She's going to join me live next hour.

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PHILLIPS: Well, Packer fans they're obsessed, passionate, wild and they come in all shapes and sizes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, go, go, Pack, go; go, go, go Pack go; go, go, go Pack, go; and win the Super Bowl. Go, go, go, Pack, go; go, go, go Pack go; go, go, go Pack, go --

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PHILLIPS: The brain washing starts very early. Right, Mark McKay. You've -- you've been there at Lambeau Field. You know how it is in Green Bay. They are obsessed and it starts young.

MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS: It does and well come to the frozen tundra of North Texas, Kyra. The high temperature at the Super Bowl city expected to be 21 degrees today and once you know another round of frozen precip expected here on Friday.

The big story heading into the big games on Sunday Kyra, has been the big freeze but for the Steelers and the Packers, they're saying, you know, what's the big fuss? These players play for teams in cold weather cities, and they're wondering, what's the big deal?

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RYAN CLARK, STEELERS SAFETY: I don't know about the weather. I live in Pittsburgh. People from -- people that are here that is visiting from nice places can't drive in this. I can drive in this in reverse.

RYAN PICKETT, PACKERS DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: It was funny how the whole city just shut down. I mean, it's like, everything was closed. I mean, we tried to go to the movies last night. It was closed. We tried to go grab something to eat. It was closed. And -- and just for the ice and snow, you know in Green Bay, this is just a normal day.

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MCKAY: Of course, it's worth noting that the Packers and Steelers have been practicing indoors but even if they had to be outdoors here in the element, you wouldn't hear Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones complaining especially how he was brought up. As a kid growing up, he and his mom moved from homeless shelter to homeless shelter until high school. With that kind of upbringing, this helps put all of this into its proper respective.

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JAMES JONES, PACKERS WIDE RECEIVER: It was tough. I mean, I -- I can't say, you know, it was easy. But you know, my mom had to do what she had to do. I believe it made me a better man, you know, living in those homeless shelters. You know, you -- you understand that, you know how to appreciate the little things.

Sometimes I go down there in the cafeteria, and we have food lined up, all the food you can eat, and you hear some of the players saying, damn, we've got the same stuff today. Just like I could never hear myself even fix (ph) my mouth to say that from where I came from.

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MCKAY: And, Kyra, Jones spends times in homeless shelters talking to kids saying don't blame your mom and dad, they're doing the best they can. Better days are coming. He's proof.

PHILLIPS: Mark McKay, thanks so much