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Another Blast of Snow; Huge Crowds in Tahrir Square; Coach Donates Kidney to Player; Changing Care for Breast Cancer; First Lady Spotlights Obesity Campaign; Ten-Month Toyota Study Concludes Electronics Not to Blame; Incumbent's Power & Pitfalls; LeBron Drops 41 as Heat Win

Aired February 09, 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: Thanks, guys.

Good morning. 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning.

On Capitol Hill a hearing on a popular new drug. Bath salts. They actually contain a synthetic form of cocaine or ecstasy. So lawmakers want to add the drug to a list of controlled substances.

Facebook's founder rejects a friend request big time. California judge granted Mark Zuckerberg a contemporary restraining order against a fan after the 31-year-old tried to relentlessly contact him and was spotted outside his home.

Investigators in Mississippi trying to find out why a tractor-trailer clipped a school bus. Then slammed head on to a second one. The truck driver was killed along with one bus driver and a teacher. Buses were carrying high school students, 60 of them. Most of them suffered bumps and bruises.

We're bracing for another brutal winter storm. Seems like we can't even catch a break from this miserable weather.

Here's what we're dealing with right now. Winter storm warning is in place across parts of eight states from New Mexico to Mississippi. Heavy snow began falling Tuesday in places like Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. And it comes barely a week after a record-setting winter storm slammed the Midwest.

And snow is creating near whiteout conditions in parts of New Mexico making it tough for drivers to see just a few feet in front of them. The snow is falling so fast, even plows had trouble keeping up.

In Oklahoma, up to 12 inches of snow expected. And that's where we find our CNN's Ed Lavandera.

You always seem to get those nice, cold snowy assignments lately. How is it impacting the locals, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have angered the news gods somehow, Kyra. That's the only thing I can --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you had a fabulous piece yesterday.

LAVANDERA: Yes, yes. Good work. Now get out in the snow, right?

Hey, Kyra, look out behind me over there. A couple of little piles. That's the remnants from last week's snowstorm. So everything that fell here last week, still had not all melted away. The roads and everything were really nice and everything, but there are still remnants of that big snowstorm from last week.

This one here at least in Oklahoma City not as bad as what we saw last week, but north of where we are, across the northern part of Oklahoma just as bad. Twelve inches of snow have fallen near Tulsa.

Here in Oklahoma City, (INAUDIBLE), it's really the temperatures that are just absolutely painful. Wind chills dipping down -- it feels like minus 15 degrees right now and then state officials say that's really what's the most painful part of this.

They've got teams out on the highways looking for stranded vehicles. Last week, that happened a lot. People driving out in these conditions. Cars stalled out in the snow drifts and that sort of thing. You run out of gas, you're sitting there in extremely cold car. That's a very dangerous situation.

So we'll continue to monitor. The snow, at least for now, it's starting to kind of taper off. Forecasts show that the snow shouldn't last beyond or shouldn't keep falling beyond mid-morning so that's a good sign. And hopefully by this -- the temperatures will start coming up. In fact, they're expecting high temperatures, 50s and 60s, by this weekend so that will help melt all this away rather quickly -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed, we'll keep checking in. Thanks so much.

And of course Rob Marciano is tracking the wintry blast for us right here in our extreme weather center.

So -- oh, pink? I'm not used to pink and purple. Wait a minute.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well --

PHILLIPS: This is throwing me off.

MARCIANO: We've shown you so much red and, you know, just trying to soften it up a little bit here. It's been such a long winter.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: I think we just saw you yelling at your wall.

MARCIANO: If that's all I've done to this wall, it's in good shape.

PHILLIPS: Rob, thanks.

MARCIANO: All right. See you.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's time for a quick visit to Bell, California. The tiny poor town that put public corruption on the map. A court is trying to side if six of Bell's former and sitting councilmembers should go on trial. They allegedly made big money for doing nothing and used the system just to line their own pockets. The six have rejected a plea dale.

You remember Robert Rizzo, the former city administrator? Well, not offered a plea deal but his name is coming up a lot in the hearing. You may remember he was making more than 800 grand a year and prosecutors say he broke the law trying to hide that fat salary.

The one councilmember who's not charged with corruption? Well, this is what they had to say about Rizzo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORENZO VELEZ, BELL CITY COUNCIL: As a citizen, I thought that the council was the one that ran the city, but when I started participating there, I found out otherwise, that everything has to go through Mr. Robert Rizzo before it can be put on -- before it could be addressed literally.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rizzo's preliminary hearing will come a little later.

Washington might help Camden, New Jersey, out of its tough spot. Camden is so strapped for cash that it laid off a bunch of cops and firefighters and we're talking about one of America's most dangerous cities.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency might offer Camden more than $5 million to help rehire firefighters but the grant doesn't apply to the police department. The council nixed a proposal to hike property taxes. It would have helped the city rehire both officers and firefighters.

And yet another story about governments and money. This one is out of Austin, Texas. Governor Rick Perry addressing the high costs of higher education. He's got an idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: It's time for a bold Texas style solution to their challenge that I'm sure the brightest minds in our universities can devise. Today, I'm challenging our institutions of higher education to develop bachelor's degree that cost no more than $10,000, including textbooks.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A $10,000 degree. Perry says that online courses, innovative teaching techniques and cutting wasteful spending can make that happen. And some lawmakers in Maryland have an idea how to raise to cover transportation cuts. Slot machines. About 2,500 of them at Baltimore's airport. Yes, who needs Vegas when you can just go to BWI? This is actually the third time supporters have tried to push through the idea. They say slots beat the alternative money-maker, raising the gas tax.

Huge crowds funnel into the center of Cairo, defying predictions that the anti-government movement would lose momentum. It's day 16 of the uprising. Protesters again swarming Tahrir Square.

Now yesterday's gathering was largest in days and our crews in Cairo say that today's size could be just as massive. One of the focal points is that the very center of the square, a shrine displaying photos of some of those killed in the violence. Protesters have been pausing to pay their respects.

One of the emerging faces of the opposition is this man holding the microphone. Wael Ghonim. Egyptian police have jailed the Google executive for nearly two weeks after he posted online criticisms of the government and the beating death of an activist who is in police custody.

In fact, many protesters say that they've joined the movement only after hearing Ghonim's call to action.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in Cairo.

So, Fred, you were just there on the streets. Tell us about today's protest and the number of children that you actually saw there and then tell us what you know about Ghonim and his influence.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, it's quite remarkable. The crowd here today is really quite massive again. I wouldn't say it's quite what it was yesterday. However, we'll see how the afternoon progresses because it is, right now, 4:00 p.m., a little after 4:00 p.m. here in Cairo.

But it is, again, a large number of people who came here to the square. I would say tens of thousands again. And you're right. I mean it is a disproportionate amount of children who are here today. There was actually a children's demonstration earlier today, about 30 and 40 kids who were chanting slogans.

And kids that I've been speaking to actually tell me they are fully aware of what's going on here. They're fully aware of the freedoms that they are fighting for and their parents, obviously, say they are very proud of them as well.

As far as Wael Ghonim is concern, the Google executive who was, of course, held by the Egyptian security forces and then released two days ago, you're absolutely right. He also galvanized this whole movement and so many people turned up yesterday after he was released and gave that emotional television interview where he broke out into tears several times and finally had to leave the room. He's still being very unapologetic, calling for people to come out here. Calling for Egyptians aboard to come here and protest because he says right now is not the time to back down. And certainly from what we're seeing on the square there are a lot of people who are heeding those calls -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Fred Pleitgen there in Egypt. Thanks so much.

All right. Well, a college -- straight ahead, a college baseball coach is signing a player and then he signs up to save that player's life. Wait until you hear the amazing story of generosity that we have for you.

Plus a prescription mix-up nearly causes a pregnant woman to lose her baby. Find out what went wrong and how you can avoid taking home the wrong medicine.

We want to hear from you. Ever experience a pharmacy mistake? Find me at Twitter atKyraCNN and share your story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's buckle up and go "Cross Country." Here's some stories from all around the U.S.

First stop, Houston, Texas. Consider this. Revenge of the pothole. City crew showed up to patch it from the roadway collapsed and swallowed their dump truck. Apparently a broken water main had undermined the road.

Noblesville, Indiana, a sickly cat gets an x-ray and the images make the pet owner sick. Eighteen BB's lodged under the skin. A teen has been charged. That owner says that the cat is fine and will eventually have surgery.

Last stop, Kilgore, Texas. A woman says she bit into a spoonful of ice cream and it bit right back. She says a broken razor was inside that frozen treat and cut the inside of her lip. Wal-Mart says it's launching an investigation.

Well, so many stories about athletes and the focus on selfishness and greed, even crime. But this morning we're zoning in on a truly heart- warming story. That a college baseball coach donating a kidney so one of his freshman recruits can survive.

Jason Carroll joins us from New York.

Now, Jason, what a fabulous story. Take us through the string of events that actually led to this remarkable gift.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's incredible, Kyra. You know? And actually you know what the coach said about this whole thing, Kyra? He said it was a no-brainer. Imagine that. Giving your kidneys is a complete no-brainer. And he said he'd do again.

You know, Kevin Jordan. Let's talk about him. He was actually selected by the New York Yankees in the amateur draft, but Jordan decided to play baseball for Wake Forrest University. Now that decision ultimately may have saved his life.

Earlier this week, his coach Tom Walter donated one of his kidneys to Jordan. Both are now recovering at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Coach Walter is up and walking and made his first visit to his outfielder yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM WALTER, BASEBALL COACH, WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: I would do it again, a thousand times out of a thousand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: A thousand times over a thousand. Well, a little over a year ago, Jordan was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that eventually led to kidney failure. The search was on for a donor, but none of Jordan's family members were a match.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN JORDAN, FRESHMAN, WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: We tried about all of the people that we knew as donors, and coach came up a match. He came through, and his was a match. We're just thankful and happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Jordan says he already feels a difference not having to be on dialysis. He'll need to be on medication to keep his new kidney functioning properly, but his doctors say that shouldn't stop the star athlete from competing again someday. Expectations are Jordan will resume playing in the 2012 season.

Coach Walter plans to be back at work and in the dugout when Wake Forest plays its first game of the season against LSU next Friday. Both the coach and Jordan will be speaking at a press conference, that's going to be happening later today at a hospital.

And also I have to tell you that Jordan's father, when he was asked about this whole thing, Kyra, you know what he called it? He said it must have been divine intervention.

PHILLIPS: Aw. Well, what more do we know about Tom Walter and how this subject even came up and how he was approached and made this decision?

CARROLL: Yes. Well, that's a good point. Walter, he's 42 years old and, basically, when this -- when he found out that his player was ill, he just said, you know, "Well, look. If it turns out that he needs a kidney and things aren't working out, come talk to me, and I'll do a test for you."

And so, that's exactly what happened. He ended up doing the test after, again, all of Jordan's family members turned out were not a match, and of all of the people out there, one of the people who turned out to be the match was his coach. His coach said, "I'll do it," and it was just that simple.

PHILLIPS: Pretty awesome story. And Jason, we're hearing that news conference is going to be at 11:30 Eastern Time. Are we going to hear from both of them, do we know?

CARROLL: That is what we are hearing, that you are actually going to hear from both of them. And I think at that point you'll hear a little bit more about the recovery and how long Walter will be out. I think he said it might be about two months, and I think for Jordan, maybe six to eight weeks. It's going to be a process in terms of recovery, but I think you're going to hear more about how this whole thing sort of came about.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to take it live in just a couple of hours. Jason, thanks so much. What a great story.

CARROLL: All right. Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, a face-off in Florida involving a high school basketball player league. Well, rules, US law, immigration status. Krop High School will learn later today whether its basketball team is eligible to even play in the playoffs. That's because the Florida High School Athletic Association says that senior Brian Delancy didn't provide the right immigration papers.

So now, public schools in the US aren't allowed to ask about a student's immigration status, but in Florida, students are required to submit this information to play on a sports team. If Delancy is declared ineligible, his team will have to forfeit the 19 games that it won this season.

Picture this. You go to the pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic. You leave with someone else's prescription, one that actually threatens the life of the baby that you're carrying. Exactly what happened to this woman? Find out how you can stop it from happening to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK, when you get your prescriptions, how closely do you actually look at the label to make certain that the pharmacist handed you the right meds. Well, Mareena Silva's story should make you read those labels with an eagle eye. She's about six weeks pregnant. She went to Safeway to get an antibiotic that her doctor had prescribed to her. But she ended up with a pill that's actually used to terminate early pregnancies. Talk about a terrible mix-up. Now, Mareena could actually lose the baby.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAREENA SILVA, GIVEN WRONG MEDICINE: Maybe we could have deformities. There's a lot that goes with it. For all of this to happen now, it's really overwhelming, to know that I have to come home and sit and wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with one heck of a cautionary tale. It's interesting. We had a discussion even among our team, and you sort of take for granted your prescriptions. Especially if you take something on a regular basis. You don't usually check.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We forget, people can make mistakes.

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: We think of going to the pharmacy as like fast food. You kind of pull in there, get what you need, leave. This isn't burger and fries. These are drugs that can kill you. So you definitely want to check it. So, I've got three steps that you do --

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: When you go to get your prescriptions.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COHEN: And it's really very easy and very obvious, but I think not enough people do it. All right. So, step number one is, when you go to the doctor's office, he's going to hand you a prescription, right? Well, you're going to lose that. You're going to give that away, and then you're stuck. You don't know what you're getting.

So write it down. Get a piece of paper or put it in your phone or whatever, and write down everything, what you're taking, how often you're supposed to take it, all that. If it doesn't make sense, do it while the doctor is there so that he can decipher his own handwriting for you.

And then, when you're at the pharmacy, check the label. Just like you said, check the label and make sure that it matches what you wrote down at the doctor's office.

And then the third thing, I do this all the time, and people look at me like I'm nuts, but I do it. Open the bottle and show the pills or the liquid or whatever to the pharmacist and say, "Is this what it's supposed to be? Is this Amoxicillin? Is this whatever?" And they will know by looking at it if it is or it isn't.

PHILLIPS: Really, you do that?

COHEN: I open it up. And I show it to them. I'm going to give this to my child.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true.

COHEN: I want to make sure that it really is Amoxicillin and not some -- something else that begins with an A.

PHILLIPS: So, you're saying, don't even take for granted just looking at the bottle or the box, or whatever. Actually open it up and say -- COHEN: I actually open it and show it to them.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

COHEN: And say, "Is this what amoxicillin should look like? Is this what it is?"

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: It takes two seconds, there's no harm done, no reason -- and of course, also check the name. I was standing in line at a pharmacy once, Kyra, and the lady in front of me got her prescription and left. And then she came back and she said, "This is somebody else's."

PHILLIPS: Oh.

COHEN: They'd given her somebody else's prescription.

PHILLIPS: Well, you definitely taught me a lesson, that's for sure. When we saw this story, we were pretty blown away about it.

COHEN: Oh, it's awful.

PHILLIPS: And apparently, the mistake was made because they had the same last name.

COHEN: Right.

PHILLIPS: So --

COHEN: Think about how many thousands of prescriptions these people are filling. It is inevitable that they're -- that a mistake is going to get made. It just is.

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: It's not anyone's fault, it's just sort of the law of averages.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COHEN: Someone's going to make a mistake.

PHILLIPS: And you see all those pharmacists in there, and sometimes it's very disheveled --

COHEN: Right.

PHILLIPS: It's very busy and -- yes. OK. While I have you, if you don't mind, there's this new study about removing lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. This is something that just came across, and we wanted to know more about that, if you were able to get some info for us.

COHEN: Yes. This is very interesting because it says that what doctors are doing now may not be the right thing. So, let's talk about breasts for a minute, all right?

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: I'm going to use myself as an example, here. All right. So, you've got a tumor in your breast, right?

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: What's right next to the breast? It's the armpit.

PHILLIPS: Right.

COHEN: And so, the concern is that that cancer is going to spread to the lymph nodes. So what doctors do is they go in and they remove that surgically. They remove that tumor, and then they look for the lymph node that's most likely to get the cancer, and they remove that, too.

Now what happens is that if that lymph node has cancer, they then go in and yank another dozen lymph nodes just to be safe, it's kind of like a margin of error. This study says, no, don't take another dozen lymph nodes. You've already taken out --

PHILLIPS: Why is that?

COHEN: Because they say it doesn't really help.

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: And it could hurt. They say that the woman doesn't have a better chance of surviving. And when you take out that many, you're taking out a dozen lymph nodes, it can make her arm swell, it can cause nerve damage, it can really make life difficult later on. So they're saying it doesn't help. It hurts. So, just leave those lymph nodes there. If they are cancerous, radiation or chemo will get it.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: All right. First lady Michelle Obama's crusade against childhood obesity hits a milestone today. She helped launched the Let's Move campaign one year ago, and she's spent many of the past 365 days talking to mayors, governors, food manufacturers, schools, parents, kids, you name it. All in an effort to fight one frightening statistic.

The White House says one in three American kids is overweight or obese. And Mrs. Obama says the Let's Move campaign isn't just about food, it's about learning a new lifestyle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I've always talked about balance in this campaign. We're really trying to make some changes, and if you go at a parent and say, "You can never take your kid to get a burger," you've lost them, because that's not the reality that we live in. It's not my reality.

So, I do talk openly about my obsession with french fries, because I want people to understand the changes that we have to make in our lives are not whole-scale changes. Many of the changes for kids are small things. Things like adding fruits and vegetables and getting our kids moving and taking -- putting more water in the diet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the first lady will speak more about her fight against childhood obesity this afternoon right near Atlanta.

Eight million recalled cars in a ten-month long government investigation. The mystery of those runaway Toyotas still unsolved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the opening bell just about to ring on Wall Street. We're expecting a slightly lower open. Investors are waiting to hear from two of the nation's top money men, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Fed chief Ben Bernanke. Now, Geithner is set to speak -- there you go, there's the bell -- on the future of the job market and the economy, while Bernanke testifies before a Congressional committee about the rising deficit.

All right, $150 billion. It was your taxpayer money, and it was used to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Well, the companies are tied to half of all mortgages in the U.S. And the fear was if they failed, the economy would crumble. So now that crisis is over. The government may phase out the institutions and actually reshape the nation's mortgage system.

CNN's Christine Romans knows more about this.

And, Christine, how's it going to impact homeowners moving forward now?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could mean it's harder to get a loan, it could mean that borrowing costs go up, it could mean that a fragile housing market recovery remains very, very fragile.

Look, these are two huge giants that, yes, control, as you said, half of the mortgages in America. But guess what? Nine out of 10 home loans, at one point or another, go through either Fannie, Freddie, or the FHA. The goal of these organizations was always to make home ownership more available.

The big, huge economies of scale of having these two enormous giants actually buying up loans, packaging them into mortgage-backed securities and guaranteeing them against losses for potential investors meant there was all of this money in the system and allowed housing market to be very vibrant.

Of course, critics say, yes, all that government intervention in the housing market didn't turn out so well, did it? Now you've got taxpayers on the hook and a lot of people buying homes who should not have been.

So what could happen next? The White House -- Ed Henry confirming the White House on Friday will issue a white paper with three options -- three options to put forth before Congress to figure out a solution to how to get rid of these ailing, bleeding giants and have a healthy housing market.

One option, Kyra, get out of the mortgage market altogether. Get the government out of the mortgage market with the exception of the FHA, which makes home loans available to poor people or people who otherwise would never be able to get a loan. Backstop loans in some cases, or backstop loans only during market stress.

So now putting these three ideas out on the table, Friday, they will. And that will allow Congress, Republicans and Democrats to try to figure out what role, if in any, Fannie and Freddie, or something like Fannie and Freddie should have in the overall mortgage market. No question, though, those two were a mess.

And also, here's something interesting, Kyra. That would -- if you got rid of Fannie and Freddie, this is the destination of more former Congressman than I can think of, more senators than I can think of, more federal officials. They get done with their job, you know, representing constituents and they get a nice cushy, very expensive -- well-paid job at Fannie and Freddie. That's one of the reasons why many people have criticized these two too of being close to lawmakers. They survived too long in their former form -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's going to be interesting to see how the options weigh out.

ROMANS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Christine, thanks so much.

All right. Let's check our top stories. Another winter storm pounding the lower plains. North Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas, all smacked this morning. A foot of snow has already fallen in Tulsa, and brutal wind-chill factors are making things more miserable.

Egyptians who want President Hosni Mubarak out of office, back in Cairo's Tahrir Square for the 16th day of protests. Human Rights Watch says that Egyptian leaders have detained at least 119 people in the last two weeks, torturing at least five of them.

And pirates hijacked a tanker some 230 miles off the coast of Oman. Greek flag tanker was en route from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt. A crew of 17 on board. The ship's carrying more than a quarter million tons of crude oil.

Well, you remember the panic starting late -2009? There seemed to be almost daily reports of Toyota and Lexus cars speeding out of control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LASTRELLA, PASSENGER: We're going north 125 and our accelerator is stuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, in this incident just outside of San Diego, all four occupants of that Lexus involved in the accident died shortly after a passenger made that cell phone car to a friend of his at the California Highway Patrol.

In an emotional plea to Congress, another Lexus driver, Rhonda Smith, related the chilling story of how she made a desperate call to her husband that she thought might be her last.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHONDA SMITH, LEXUS DRIVER: I placed both feet on the brake after I firmly engaged the emergency brake and nothing slows the car. I figured the car was going to go its maximum speed and I was going to have to put the car into the upcoming guardrail in order to prevent killing anyone else. And I prayed for God to help me. I called my husband on the Bluetooth phone system. I knew -- I'm sorry -- I knew he could not help me but I wanted to hear his voice one more time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now after an intensive 10-month investigation by transportation and NASA engineers, the government has concluded that electronics were not to blame in the series of high-speed emergencies and deaths involving Toyota-built cars.

Peter Valdes-Depena of CNN Money joins me now.

And so Peter, what does the report actually blame the accidents on?

PETER VALDEZ-DEPENA, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, there are two things for which Toyota cars have already been recalled. One is pedal entrapment. Pedals getting stuck in the floor matter of cars. And in fact, that's what's been blamed in both of the cases that we saw here. The Sailor (ph) family and Rhonda Smith case -- it's just blaming pedals stuck in the floor mat.

And in the other recall they had was for pedals getting stuck just partway down, in other words halfway down. Pedals can (INAUDIBLE) and get stuck about halfway down. Toyota's issued recalls for both of those.

And the third factor which is probably a factor in maybe even a majority of unintended acceleration cases is simple pedal misapplication, as they call lit. People mistakenly thinking they're pressing the brake pedal to stop the car, when, in fact, they're actually pressing the gas pedal to make the car go faster.

PHILLIPS: So what impact has all of this had on Toyota?

VALDEZ-DEPENA: Well, obviously, it hurt their sales somewhat -- a good bit, actually last year, especially since they had to stop their factories on account of the recall. Since then, their sales are starting to come back and experts that I've talked to say at this point, it's hard to say their sales are not back where they were, but it's hard to say how much of that is because of unintended acceleration and how much of that is because many of the products in Toyota's product lineup are older and haven't been redesigned in a long time and they've got competitors from like Hyundai and the resurgent domestic automakers coming back with better products and taking some of their market share.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Peter Valdez-Depena of CNNMoney.com.

Thanks, Peter.

And later today, another trip to court for troubled actress Lindsay Lohan. We're going to bring you up to date on her latest legal challenge.

President Obama holds office for now. But, is that an advantage in 2012? We're looking at the presidential contenders and what's ahead in the campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Stories happening later today. Prosecutors in California expected to charge Lindsay Lohan with felony grant grand theft. A jewelry store owner says the actress just walked off with a $2,500 necklace. Lohan's lawyer denies the allegation. As you know, she's on probation for a drunk driving conviction. Judge said he'll send her to jail if she broke her probation rules.

Emotional testimony on Capitol Hill. A House hearing looking into reports that JPMorgan Chase actually foreclosed on 14 Military families while their loved one were overseas. An act protects active duty service members from foreclosures and mortgage rates above six percent.

Also next hour, the House Committee on Homeland Security will take a look into the current threats against the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will testify along with the head of the National Counterterrorism Center.

President Obama already has an edge on the 2012 competition. He's in the White House. But incumbency can also have its negatives. Our look at the presidential contenders continues.

And find out how a dancer named Ruby is causing a big headache for Italy's prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, the 2012 presidential campaign, well, it's like college basketball. As an incumbent, President Obama will go into the tournament top-ranked with an easy road to the final. But to win the big one, he's to put in some practice right now.

CNN's Ed Henry explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call it the power of the presidency, especially that 416-ton taxpayer financed jet that helps you rally voters, rake in millions, and grab headlines from coast-to-coast.

JACK QUINN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: When he goes into local markets and you've been all over with him, he sucks all of the oxygen out of the air.

HENRY: Allowing President Obama to road test a potential 2012 campaign slogan, popping up on new t-shirts that say, We Do Big Things.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can do what this moment demands and focus on what's necessary for America to win the future.

HENRY: But incumbency also has a downside.

ED GILLESPIE, FORMER REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN: They do bad things. And the policies that they've imposed have not helped us get unemployment down to where it ought to be.

HENRY: The candidate of hope and change in 2008 was largely a blank slate. Now he has to defend a controversial record, which is why he tried to hit the reset button and focus on jobs and his State of the Union. But the crisis in Egypt is a reminder. Sometimes incumbents set the agenda. Other times, it gets set for them.

OBAMA: Our hearts are broken. And yet our hearts also have reason for fullness.

HENRY: While the Tucson tragedy was also out of the President's control, he rose to the occasion and his approval rating has been on the rise, now hitting an impressive 55 percent. At this point in their presidencies Ronald Reagan was only at 37 percent, Bill Clinton was at 47 percent. But after suffering big midterm election losses they were both re-elected easily.

This President has learned lessons from Reagan and Clinton and has made key adjustments after last November's shellacking, shaking up his staff and moving to the center on issues like tax cuts.

QUINN: In order to move forward, he had to do that deal, and I certainly don't think he caved.

HENRY: Some liberals bitterly disagree but so far, there is no sign of a serious primary challenge to the President. And he may also be helped by the Republicans muddled field so far. But Ed Gillespie argues that tough competition could help the GOP. Just like the Democratic primary of 2008.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Shame on you, Barack Obama.

HENRY: While the pundits warn that the long drama of Clinton v. Obama would hurt the party, just the opposite happened.

ED GILLESPIE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: And it made it Obama better. And it made Obama -- when he emerged as the nominee he was a stronger nominee for it.

HENRY: By 2012 the President will have had four years of hand-to-hand combat, this time with Republicans. The big question now is whether those battles have once again, made him a stronger nominee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ed is at the White House of course. And Ed, as the President looks ahead to the campaign, that's impacting his travel plans, right?

HENRY: Oh, big time, Kyra. You look at that map. We set it up, he's been just in the last few weeks, last couple of months, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and he's tomorrow going to be in Michigan.

What do they all have in common, obviously, they are key battle grounds in 2012. And so while this President has not officially announced his re-election bid, that's likely to come maybe as early as this spring. Make no mistake about it. He's a candidate, he's a contender. Just like some of those potential Republicans that are going to be getting in pretty soon -- pretty soon as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we're going to be talking a lot about that, starting today.

HENRY: That's right, it just started.

PHILLIPS: Exactly. Thanks, Ed.

And 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 always go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

Well, here is a story that got us all worked up this morning. A 6- year-old girl forced to stay at home from school because her grandmother is in a wheelchair and can't get her there. The story is making headlines and we're going to talk about it.

But first, "Flashback": Today, 1971, pitching legend Satchel Paige became the first Negro league veteran to be nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that year, he was inducted. Paige is known for his fastball and his showmanship. In his career he pitched an estimated 2,500 games, had 300 shutouts and 55 no-hitters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, grab your passport and travel with us to some hot spots around the world. First stop, Milan, Italy. Italian prosecutors want the judge to approve a fast track for the trial of Italy's Prime Minister. They want Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial over accusations he paid for sex with a 17-year-old belly dancer nicknamed Ruby Heartbreak. He's also accused of using his influence to cover it up. The judge has five days to decide what to do. Of course, Berlusconi and the girl, who's now 18, by the way, denied they ever had sex.

Next stop, Canada: Tough time for an Edmonton woman who had her leg amputated. The city's icy, snowy streets made it impossible for her to accompany her granddaughter to school while trying to maneuver her wheelchair. Well, the school system says 12 blocks away is too close for the girl to ride the bus but it's also too far for the six year old to walk alone. The girl hasn't been to school in a month.

But there's some good news, after hearing about the story the woman has received offers from parents, police, even taxi companies to help get her to school.

And a snowman so big you can actually slide down it. His name Girby (ph); he stands ten feet tall there in Canada. Thousands of people in St. John Brunswick stopped by to see him. The man who built the snow giant says that he's been doing it for 14 years, using buckets, shovels, sometimes worked in temperatures that dip to minus 28.

And we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with meteorologist Rob Marciano -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They may be building snowmen across the south although I don't think it will be 10 high. Winter storm warnings posted for parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Already reports of snow over a foot, and it's snowing and sleeting and it's just miserable in Dallas. The full weather report in the next hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in New York where we are talking about shrinkage at work. A lot of American workers know what I'm talking about. We'll explain; that's coming up in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: LeBron James getting a little comfy on the beach?

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Yes. Right.

PHILLIPS: Little flip-flops, Speedo.

FISCHEL: It's how it's going right now in Miami, right. There had been trials and tribulations early on; everyone was wondering would it work, the big three. LeBron getting comfy now in Miami, for sure.

The Heat taking on the Indiana Pacers last night. There he is. Watch him chase behind Dwyane Wade. Going to the hoop, keep an eye on D. Wade, under the basket. The ball actually -- on the slam dunk by LeBron hits D. Wade in the nose. A bloody nose for Dwyane Wade, he would not slow down. Neither would LeBron, 41 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists. Pacers tried their best to keep up. Pushing to the hoop. Look at that 7'2 man driving down all the way for the hoop. But again, too much for the big guys. There goes wade. The Heat, they have won seven in a row now, they're chasing the Celtics for the best record in the eastern conference. Everything looks to be going well on South Beach for LeBron and company.

Battle of the two baddest dunkers in the NBA; look at Blake Griffin for the Clippers throwing one down, the alley-oop but don't pull on Super Man's cape. Dwight Howard, Orlando's big man; we know he's won a couple of dunk contests. He always pulls out something fancy. He had the biggest dunk of the night.

But Griffin knows how to throw it down too. In fact these two guys have more dunks than any other players in the league. Here comes Dwight Howard, rolling to the hoop; 22 points, 20 boards for the big man. Orlando wins 101-85.

Ok, 56,000 Packer fans packed into Lambeau Field for a Super Bowl party with the new champs yesterday. The weather totally a non- deterrent; with the wind chill, it was 8 below zero in Green Bay. I don't know what my limit is. I don't know temperature I say, you know what; I'm just not going to hit that. But 8 below is pretty rough to be sitting there for a couple of hours.

PHILLIPS: Try 20 below.

FISCHEL: Oh, man.

PHILLIPS: I can brag about that one.

FISCHEL: The party was called "Return to Titletown". Of course, it's their 4th Super Bowl title, 13 NFL titles in all for the Packers. It even felt like game day hours before the game. They were tailgating, the brats and everything.

PHILLIPS: Three things you have to understand. The weather doesn't impact true people of Green Bay. It doesn't matter.

FISCHEL: And as you're saying, you got to be prepped for a day like that.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you do. You have to be dressed like Frosty the Snowman. From head to toe, you'll be all covered up. The only ones you see are your eyeballs.

FISCHEL: Right. All right. Well, the NFL is sweetening the deal with the Super Bowl tickets for 400 fans that lost their tickets for the game. There's now two options: one we knew about $2,400 and a ticket to next year's game.

But some people are saying you know what; what if their team is not in it? They might not want to go to next year's game. So the league now has option two, a non-transferable ticket to any future Super Bowl, including air fare and hotel.

PHILLIPS: Yes, but still, it's just not the same. You want to see your team in the game.

FISCHEL: Ok. So I was going to ask. You are saying definitely option two. Definitely, your team is in it. You're saying that's what you want to go for? Your team's in it, no matter what.

PHILLIPS: The Packers are going to be in it. I'm a Packer fan. Yes, absolutely.

FISCHEL: The way they looked, the way Aaron Rodgers looked, I would not bet against them anytime soon.

PHILLIPS: Yes. They're on a roll.

FISCHEL: They look great and the city loving it right now.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's pretty cool. Like we're talking about, that's the whole city shuts down man. When Green Bay wins, it's all about the team. That's true.

FISCHEL: Even in 8 below.

PHILLIPS: That's minor. I'm telling you.

FISCHEL: I'm a southern California kid, so that blows my mind.

PHILLIPS: You can't understand. It's quite a trip, I tell you. Thanks Jeff.

FISCHEL: Yes. All right.