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American Morning
Two-Thirds of Nation in Deep Freeze; City of St. Louis on a Mission to Get the Homeless Off the Streets During the Deep Freeze; Leno/Conan Shakeup?; New Video of Man in Airport Security Breach Released; President Obama Orders Major Intel Changes; Politics of Money; Turning White Collars Blue
Aired January 08, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, good morning, good morning. It's a Friday. That's always a good thing.
It's January 8th. Thanks for joining us for the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot of big stories we're going to be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, it's still a deadly deep freeze and it's tightening its hold on two-thirds of the country. It has been decades since a system like this has hit so many Americans at once. And if you thought it couldn't get worse, think again. In some places, the extreme weather will be turning even more extreme over the weekend.
ROBERTS: President Obama saying we failed. The buck stops with him, and make no mistake, we are at war. He has ordered intelligence agencies to make some major changes and make them fast, after releasing a report on what we missed before the attempted Christmas Day attack. Changes that could impact your next trip.
CHETRY: And a developing story this morning. NBC reportedly considering a late night shakeup, getting ready to give up on its prime time experiment and bring Jay Leno back to its old timeslot. But it would only be for a half hour. And that's not the only change. We've got details on what's behind the shuffle and what might happen to Conan O'Brien and Leno's who's now Leno's "The Tonight Show" successor.
ROBERTS: It's been 25 years since so much of the nation has shivered through a deep freeze like this one. Our top story this morning, a dangerous winter weather system that has two-thirds of America in its bone chilling grip.
In Georgia, a rare sight, up to an inch of snow on icy roads giving highway guard rails a workout. It was warmer in Fairbanks, Alaska than it was in Atlanta yesterday. Imagine that.
In Chicago, nearly a foot of snow along the lakefront. Road crews having a hard time clearing drifts off the highways. And in Overland Park, Kansas, kiteboarding got you there faster than any car possibly could.
CNN has got the extreme weather coverage for you this morning. Martin Savidge is live in St. Louis this morning where they're racing to get people off of the streets and into shelters. We'll be with Martin in just a second.
We begin, though, with Rob Marciano. He's still in Memphis, Tennessee, where there have already been casualties of the bitter cold.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. And I can tell you this. We've reached out to authorities this morning because it is a different day today than it was yesterday. Much, much colder. Wind chills right now down at minus three with an actual temperature of 10 degrees. So you can bet that if anybody was outside last night trying to survive this kind of weather, they likely didn't last too long.
There are shelters up and they've taken the precautions they need to, to try to help people through this unusual and in some cases unprecedented cold snap here in Memphis. Just yesterday alone, seeing snowfall on Beale Street, and not entirely unusual but certainly a rare event. And then a cold behind of that continues to be the big story.
Just down the road in Nashville, a little bit more in the way of snow anywhere from a half an inch to an inch and a half and that got people slowing down for sure and closing down schools. Even the birds flying south for the winter saying what's up with this. This is not how natural it's supposed to be in Music City.
All right. Oklahoma City, well, they get their fair share of winter weather but they got blasted with this and weren't really prepared for it. Thousands without power across Oklahoma because of the winds. Over 40 and 50-mile-an-hour winds there taking down transmission lines, and still people within the dark this morning.
All right. That's just part of the weather story from the Canadian border all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. This thing is taking over two-thirds of the country and its pushing off to the east.
Take a look at the radar here. Snow across the northeast, yes, but this is not a crippling snow like you saw a couple of weeks ago, just an inch or two, maybe three inches along the I-95 corridor, but certainly enough to slow down the morning rush.
And again, the big story continues to be the bitter cold. The actual temperatures in Nashville in the teens. Wind chills well below zero. Twenty, 21 degrees in Atlanta, so the snow that fell yesterday will stay. And now the cold front goes through parts of Florida where it's currently in the lower 40s. But it will drive all the way south into central Florida, and we've been reporting on the citrus situation there. They did OK with the first blast of air, but as this cold air mass settles in for the weekend, farmers no doubt will be struggling to keep their crops in order as we go through the next couple days.
Warm-up begins the beginning of next week. Jacqui Jeras will have much more on that. But this is certainly like something we haven't seen in well over a decade.
John and Kiran, back over to you.
ROBERTS: Yes. The cruel irony there, Rob, that utility companies have turned the power on for a lot of people who didn't have it and nature with the winds turns the lights back out again. All right. Rob Marciano, we'll be checking back with you throughout the morning. Thanks.
CHETRY: And as Rob said, people who tried to make it overnight outside probably wouldn't have lasted very long. Well, those most at risk from the brutal cold are the homeless. CNN's Martin Savidge is in St. Louis where the city is redoubling its efforts to try to get people off the streets and into the safety of indoors.
Good morning, Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran. It feels like that arctic air mass is just flowing right down the Mississippi River, with the wind chill right now here in St. Louis. The temperature is in the double digits below zero.
The emergency operating center says they have about a thousand beds for the homeless in the city. Yet despite the brutal cold, there are always those who refuse to come in. So last night we went out looking for them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Darkness falls in St. Louis and with it, the temperature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blowing snow as well, the wind chill index five below downtown at the arch.
SAVIDGE: And at the New Life Evangelistic Center the homeless have begun showing up for the night. But despite the bitter cold, there are some who refuse to come in. They're the ones that the Reverend Larry Rice wants to find.
(on camera): Do you try to bring them in or do you just try to look after them in place where they are?
REV. LARRY RICE, NEW LIFE EVANGELISTIC CENTER: We often look after them in place letting them know that we have a place available that they can come. But as meager their belongings may be and as primitive as their place may be, that's still home.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Our first stop is an abandoned home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to check on these people regularly. OK? SAVIDGE: That's not abandoned at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, how are you doing there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. How are you all doing? Staying warm, are you?
SAVIDGE: Inside we find a community of young people in their teens and 20s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you all doing? I've got a new coat here for you. Can you all use a sleeping bag?
SAVIDGE: Thanks to roaring fires and gas heaters it's warm. For Susan Fanter, it's heaven compared to the street.
(on camera): How many people are in the house here?
SUSAN FANTER, HOMELESS WOMAN: Fifteen, 20. I don't know. I haven't really -- I never count.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): At the next stop, we realize Susan was right about the heaven part. This is where she was living, in a tent, in a tunnel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Larry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Larry Rice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
SAVIDGE: And as the temperature heads toward zero, we find others still here.
(on camera): What do you do to stay warm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My lantern.
SAVIDGE: That lantern is your source of heat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. When I have fuel for it.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Next door, the tent has no ceiling.
(on camera): And why don't you go to a shelter?
DAVID HUCKSTEP, HOMELESS MAN: We prefer to stay out here. We don't like to be around a whole bunch of different people that we don't know. We're kind of like a small group of people that get along good.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): A small group of people living in the Stone Age just beneath the modern American city. Surviving a night so cold it could kill.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SAVIDGE: Incidentally in this frigid January, it marks the 38th year that Reverend Rice has been reaching and preaching to those on the city streets, the homeless. And it turns out in this bitter weather he may be doing a lot more than just saving souls -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Martin Savidge for us this morning in St. Louis. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Six minutes after the hour and other stories new this morning.
Police in St. Louis say the gunman who allegedly opened fire at a manufacturing plant shot himself after killing three people and wounding five others. The motive for the workplace shooting still isn't clear, but police say the gunman was a plant employee and part of a group that was suing the company over retirement benefits. That trial began this week.
CHETRY: And it's Alabama's return to glory. The Crimson Tide defeating Texas last night 37-21 to win the BCS national championship. The game's key moment may have come in the opening minute when Texas star quarterback Colt McCoy suffered a game-ending shoulder injury. The Longhorns got within three points late in the game before Alabama finally pulled away. So the Tide ends up finishing with a perfect 14- 0 record. It is the school's 13th national title but the first since 1992.
ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, it looks as though NBC is considering pulling the plug on Jay Leno's prime time experiment.
CHETRY: Yes, and this is just less than four months and a massive media blitz and roll out. It's been reported that Jay Leno will return to its old stumping ground. The 11:35 p.m. Eastern slot, possibly pushing current "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien back a half hour. In fact, Leno joked about the reports and speculation last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": As you may have heard, there's a rumor floating around we were canceled. I heard it coming in this morning on the radio.
KEVIN EUBANKS: I heard it too.
LENO: So, fine, nobody said anything to me. But, Kev, you know, if we did get canceled, give us time to maybe do some traveling.
EUBANKS: That would be wonderful, man.
LENO: I understand FOX is beautiful this time of year.
EUBANKS: It really is.
LENO: Beautiful. Beautiful this time of year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, NBC saying only, quote, "We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O'Brien on NBC. He's a valued part of our late-night lineup as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers in television."
ROBERTS: Now last night Anderson Cooper spoke with the "New York Times" Bill Carter who's been on top of the story about the reported deal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: What is the latest you're hearing about how solid this plan is and what's the plan?
BILL CARTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" (via telephone): It's pretty solid. I think the only remaining issue is, I guess, the contractual problems that might come up with this rearrangement. But the parties have been talked to, and it looks like they've all agreed that this is going to happen, that Jay will move back to 11:30, but in a half hour version. And that Conan will slide back half an hour, and then he'll continue to do an hour-long show. Interestingly, his show will be called "The Tonight Show," not Jay's show. But Jay will have the show at 11:30.
COOPER: So it'll be Jay Leno from 11:30 to 12:00 over there roughly speaking.
CARTER: Yes.
COOPER: And then Conan O'Brien from 12:00 to 1:00. And then what happens to Jimmy Fallon?
CARTER: He just moves back. He's going to start at 1:00. I mean, I don't think this is in any way a reflection on Fallon, who I know the network is very high on. I think this is them attempting to solve two issues, which was the fact that their prime time 10:00 show was just not performing and was hurting their late local news, and "The Tonight Show," the 11:30 show had started to lose badly to David Letterman and CBS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So what do you do? Everything old is new again.
CHETRY: Yes. There's one person laughing right now and that's David Letterman. You should have given me the job.
ROBERTS: Although Leno might be laughing yet again.
CHETRY: We'll see.
ROBERTS: We'll see what happens.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead. There's newly released surveillance video now showing the man behind that big security breach at Newark airport that really stopped the airport in its tracks and thousands of travelers because of it. We'll show it to you coming up.
It's ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's twelve-and-a-half minutes after the hour. A quick check now of other stories new this morning.
We are getting our first look at the man who breached security at Newark international airport. This is Continental Airlines surveillance video. You can see the man in the light colored jacket standing by the rope lines kind of halfway up the exit lane there. He is approached by a TSA security guard who was manning the desk there, seems to be telling him to move back a little further, get out of the line of traffic there.
About four minutes later, and the video takes a little while to play out here, the same TSA officer leaves his security post. Watch. He gets up here, walks back out of the lane again. Not clear exactly what he's doing.
He says that he was distracted by someone asking a question. Now watch what happens. With the desk unattended, the fellow in the light-colored jacket moves up toward the desk here. So he's right in front of it and then along comes this woman in another light-colored jacket. The two of them exchange a greeting. He ducks underneath that sort of, you know, bank teller line there. He comes up, gives her a kiss right there, and then the two of them walk into the terminal together.
So he got into that terminal area, the secure area without passing through security. Got in through the exit lane when the desk was unattended. The incident set off a mad scramble, locked down terminal C for hours. The TSA later learned that the unidentified man left the terminal about 18 minutes after this video was taken.
CHETRY: Yes. And the other interesting thing is this was all alerted by a passenger, by a fellow passenger who was waiting for somebody to pick them up and saw that.
ROBERTS: Yes. You saw some other people who were standing in the area with them. Ostensibly it would be one of those people who said, hey, by the way, a guy just walked in while the desk was attended.
CHETRY: Right. So it wasn't even the TSA or airport officials that noticed that a security breach had happened.
ROBERTS: There was no one there from the TSA.
CHETRY: Yes. All right. Well, so that's that.
And meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is staying on for at least another year. The Pentagon saying that Gates met with President Obama just before Christmas and made the commitment. The president asked him to come over from the Bush administration to bring some stability in a time of two wars.
ROBERTS: The so-called Christmas bomber will be arraigned in federal court today. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is charged with the attempted murders of nearly 300 people on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. It was a plot that could have been stopped according to the president and caught us off guard, according to the report that was made public yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. government had the information scattered throughout the system to potentially uncover this plot and disrupt the attack. Rather than a failure to collect or share intelligence, this was a failure to connect and understand the intelligence that we already have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now the president has ordered every agency to make changes and make them fast. Our Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry is on the Security Watch for us. He's live right now inside the White House, because it's cold out there early this morning.
Ed, I - I got to say, I don't blame you. But we're - the president yesterday seemed to be saying all the right things, but I guess a question a lot of people might have is there any action really going to be taken here? Will it make a difference?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good question, John. First of all, a big question about whether or not any action will be taken in terms of what the president promised last week in Hawaii about accountability at all levels of government.
So far, at the lower and mid levels, there's been nobody fired, nobody stepping up to resign saying, look, I'll take responsibility here. But what you do have to say for the president is that at the top level of this government, he stepped up yesterday and said I'll take the heat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I am less interested in passing out blame than I am in learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer. For, ultimately, the buck stops with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: The president also laid out (INAUDIBLE) and he says the government is now going to take moving forward, specifically identify the agency that's responsible for taking the lead and following up on - on leads of intelligence they get, such as when the father of this eventual suspect went to the embassy there in Nigeria. Also, beef up intelligence analysis once it comes in. Also, speeding up and making it faster and wider dissemination of these intelligence reports, the CIA saying when they get information, they'll make sure it's shared within 48 hours for example.
And also, strengthen these terror watch lists. We've known now for some time that the suspect was on a very wide terror database, if you will, but not on the more select no-fly list. If he had been on that, he obviously - it would have been much less likely he ever would have gotten on the plane in the first place.
But I think the bottom line is a lot of these things have been talked about since 9/11. They were supposed to be fixed after 9/11, and yet here we are, talking about some of the same fixes yet again. That's why there's so much pressure on this administration to get it done, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Ed Henry for us at the White House this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
By the way, we're just getting this just in to CNN. Remember the case of Najibullah Zazi, the - the 9/11 plotter, 9/11/2008. He was arrested in New York City. Apparently the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has now made a couple more arrests in connection with that case. We'll have more information on that as it develops this morning.
CHETRY: And meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Chris Dodd, announcing that he is leaving, not seeking a sixth term in the Senate. Christine Romans looking into whether his connections to the financial industry hurt him at home.
Seventeen and a half minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour.
It means it's time for "Minding Your Business" and when he announced his retirement, Democratic Senator Chris Dodd said that he's in the toughest political shape of his career, but his troubles seemed to have more to do with his finances than his politics.
Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning with more about whether his decision not to seek a sixth term has to do with a lot of the financial entanglements that he was investigated for.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It have - it absolutely does, and it has to do with a long, long list of ties to the financial industry from Chris Dodd and many other people in Congress right now have the same situation. For years they were sitting on these important committees and this big bubble was building around them and they took a lot of money from financial companies.
As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd's connections to the financial industry didn't help at all with his constituents. Senator Dodd came under a lot of criticism over the financial industry bailout and for not aggressively investigating the subprime mortgage - mortgage controversy. Doug Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, says Senator Dodd's approval numbers dropped with each new controversy, including allegations the senator received a sweetheart mortgage deal from subprime lender Countrywide and his role helping write legislation, allowing AIG executives to keep their bonuses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SCHWARTZ, DIRECTOR, QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL: People blamed him for those bonuses. We asked specifically about it, and, at the same time, that the news on that came out, his job approval numbers came down to an all-time low of 33 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senator Dodd's ties to the financial industry go back to early in his political career. Since 1989 he received $13.9 million in campaign contributions from the financial insurance and real estate sector.
But the senator isn't the only one with strong ties to this industry. Seven senators who served on the Senate Banking Committee and 25 Congressmen who served on the House Financial Services Committee - these are powerful oversight committees - they are up for re-election this year. Political analyst Larry Sabato says their ties to the financial industry could be used against them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Anybody on the Banking Committee who's gotten money from the banking industry or Wall Street firms, they can be tied by their opponents to the scandals that took place that created, in part, the recession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Sabato says freshman and sophomore congressmen are most at risk because they're not well known among their constituents. A well-funded opponent's going to try and - and tie them to the banks, Wall Street - anything else the public blames for the recession.
One silver lining, according to Sabato, now that Senator Dodd is not seeking re-election, it could boost the chances for overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SABATO: One of the side effects of his deciding not to run again may actually be a bill that can pass. He doesn't have to worry about political considerations now. He can work with people on both sides of the aisle and he can try and sell it as his legacy bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: But bottom line here is there are a lot of people in the public who years after watching some of these veteran senators and congressmen on these important committees are saying, wait a minute, how many of them have fingerprints all over the financial crisis? Where was the oversight and why should we trust them now to fix it?
ROBERTS: Yes. They'll be asking these questions for some time to come, I'm sure.
ROMANS: They sure will.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: So, in this terrible job market, believe it or not, there are a lot of jobs out there to be had and a lot of them are going wanting. Why are so few people interested in them? Our Carol Costello reports, coming up next.
It's 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- six minutes past the hour.
You know, we talk a lot about unemployment and how, for example, for each job there are six people applying for it in some cases. But, you know, the economy has been shedding jobs, as we've said, for almost two years.
But, there is a section of the population that can always find work.
ROBERTS: That's true. Skilled laborers are in high demand, even in this economy. People who can maintain elevators, fix electronics, actually in short supply.
Our Carol Costello is looking into this this morning. She's live in Washington with an "AM Original" for us. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
I know what you're thinking. Jobs available in manufacturing? Get real!
Well, I'm not talking about making widgets. Those assembly line jobs have largely gone away, but skilled labor like welding, engineering, electrical work or plumbing or something else, right now, even in this terrible economy, employers are desperately seeking people who use their brains to make or fix something with their hands.
The problem? America's just not into that anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO (voice-over): In the '80s movie "Flashdance," Alexandra Owens can't wait to leave blue collar work behind. It wasn't long before she said good-bye welding torch, hello fame. Yes, it's old fiction, but it neatly sums up where we are today.
Kim Barbano graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in public relations in 2008. She has yet to find a job. And even though she's struggling economically, the thought of taking this time to learn a trade is incomprehensible.
COSTELLO (on camera): Is there some kind of negative connotation to it?
KIM BARBANO, UNEMPLOYED COLLEGE GRAD: I think there is a lot of pressure to go to college and to get the - the typical day job and that isn't the working with your hands field.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Let's face it, there is little real passion for becoming electricians, manufacturing engineers, high-tech welders, plumbers, or custom construction workers, even in this economy.
CHRIS KUEHLS, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FABRICATORS AND MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION: There are still hundreds of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing, but, unfortunately, the people that are looking for jobs don't necessarily have the skills necessary to get into this field now.
COSTELLO: According to a 2009 study by Deloitte in the manufacturing institute, manufacturing top a list of 7 key industries that's most important to the US economy, yet only 17 percent of young Americans desire a job in manufacturing and only 30 percent of parents said they'd encouraged their kids to learn a trade.
MATTHEW CRAWFORD, AUTHOR/MECHANIC: I had to fabricate some brackets here.
COSTELLO: Matthew Crawford, who has a PhD in political philosophy, proudly works with his hands. He's saddened by that attitude and has written a book about it, "Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work."
CRAWFORD: I think we've developed a kind of - this idea that if the work is dirty, it must be stupid.
COSTELLO: Crawford says working with your hands and using your brain to create something then seeing the finished product can be much more satisfying than a life behind a desk. And yes, it can pay more too.
CRAWFORD: I think we've developed a kind of - a sort of one- track educational system where just about every kid gets pressured to go to college, and I think the truth is that some people, including some who are plenty smart, would rather be learning to build things or fix things. COSTELLO: The challenge for the skilled labor industry is to change that perception and to get people to run to blue collar jobs instead of away from them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: I loved that movie, didn't you? Although I thought it was cool she was a welder.
The manufacturing industry is working hard to convince young people to become skilled workers. They're recruiting kids in junior high school now. They've convinced community college to offer courses in things like Electrical Engineering, and there is even a camp for kids who are interested in working with both their brains and their hands to get them excited about getting a job in skilled manufacturing.
CHETRY: There you go. She was a welder, but all she really wanted to be was a ballerina.
COSTELLO: Or dance half naked with water pouring over her.
CHETRY: But that was just her...
ROBERTS: She was a welder, but she was so much more. Carol, thanks so much.
Half past the hour, that means it's time for this morning's top stories. The weather causing huge problems across the country.
Our Jacqui Jeras tracking it all right now.
Hi, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. Yes, it's kind of a weak system but it's causing a lot of problems this morning. We're going to have some big-time travel problems all up and down the eastern seaboard. Snowfall accumulations of the northeast here, only about an inch or two, but you will see those slick roads as well as travel delays by the airways.
Now you can see things are starting to clear up to the southeast, but check out those temperatures. Still brutal cold. And we saw some snow across the Deep South yesterday, so we are going to have travel trouble here as well. The arctic grip continues to keep its hold across the nation's midsection with advisories from Minnesota to Texas. We're going to get a little break on some of that cold air by the end of the weekend.
John and Kiran?
CHETRY: That's certainly welcome news. Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.
Well, the so-called Christmas bomber will be arraigned in federal court today. Umar Abdulmutallab is charged with the attempted murders of nearly 300 people on Northwest Flight 253. We're going to be live outside of the courthouse at the top of the hour.
ROBERTS: New Jersey State Senate has defeated an amendment that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state. The bill needed 21 votes. It got 14. Supporters had hoped to get it approved and signed into law by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine who leaves office on the 19th of January.
CHETRY: Well, with terrorism now front and center in Washington, it appears that some people are trying to exploit the issue for political gain.
ROBERTS: And that has earned two people a dubious honor from independent analyst John Avalon in his weekly Wingnuts of the Week. John is also a columnist for TheDailyBeast.com, and he's here with us this morning.
So who are you calling out for playing the politics of fear using terrorism for political gain here?
JOHN AVLON, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ANALYST: We started the year off with a bang with the Wingnuts. On the right this week, we've got a conservative congressional candidate for Minnesota named Allen Quist who got caught online with sort of an unwelcome accusation that Democrats represented a greater threat to the country than terrorists.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN QUIST (R), MINNESOTA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: And this is our time. This is it. Terrorism, yes, but that's not the big battle. The big battle is in D.C. with the radicals. They aren't liberals, they're radicals. Obama, Pelosi, Waltz, they're not liberals, they're radicals. They are destroying our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: These comments were made before the attempted Christmas bombing but they really took flight on the Internet afterwards. What I think is so troubling, he is actually speaking his mind. He actually believes what he said.
CHETRY: And so --
ROBERTS: Faint echo of Michelle Bachman in there.
CHETRY: Yes. But the important thing, the difference is that he's a candidate. He's actually not a representative right now. What are his chances and moving forward, I mean, does he have a shot at getting elected?
AVLON: He's facing a four-way congressional primary for the Republican nomination, but he's a figure in conservative Minnesota politics. He's been a mentor to Michelle Bachmann, and he served in the State House in the past. So this is somebody who is a player in conservative politics up in Minnesota. And what's troubling is he is echoing the kind of sentiments you hear on the far fringe of these protests. People who really believe that the politics in our country are a greater threat than enemies -- sworn enemies of the United States. That's wingnut stuff, that's also dangerous stuff.
CHETRY: And the same goes for the left, your wingnut on the left who is making a real stunning accusation.
AVLON: Real stunning wingnut accusation. Liberal radio talk show host Mike Malloy who said this week in response to the attempted Christmas bombing that it was actually a conspiracy theory hatched by conservatives against President Obama.
Let's take a listen to what he said on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE MALLOY, HOST, MIKE MALLOY SHOW: There are forces alive in this country who are very active in this country, very wealthy in this country, who want to see Obama fail no matter what. And the idea of killing 200 or 300 people on board a jetliner in order to make the point is nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Cue the "Twilight Zone" music there people. I mean, that is far out conspiracy stuff. And this temptation to politicize something like terrorism, again, like moths to a flame, Democrats and Republicans, far right and far left, blame that accusation. Just totally insane.
ROBERTS: We've seen a lot of flame throwing from conservative talk radio at the president. What about Malloy's track record on issues and statements such as this?
AVLON: Well, it isn't a different problem with talk radio. You see people trying to appeal to this narrow but intense nature of listeners. And the way they do it is by throwing bombs. Malloy, no stranger to this dynamic. Earlier this past summer in '09, he indulged a really bizarre on air fantasy about Glenn Beck committing suicide and having it become a YouTube clip. So this is ugly, cheap stuff. So Mike Malloy has definitely earned wingnut of the week on the left.
CHETRY: And so we talk about terrorism and exploiting it for political gain. What about the comments from both of these people that you've named wingnut this week? Is there a common thread there besides the fact that they're, you know, using terror for political gain?
AVLON: That is the common thread. I mean, what we're seeing already, beginning of the year there's a tendency for people -- the partisans on both sides to try to politicize something like the war on terror.
We are facing a real clear and present danger against people who want to divide us into us against them. We cannot afford to do that in our domestic politics. And yet -- we need to remember a little wisdom from the cold war, partisan politics ought to end at the water's edge, people.
ROBERTS: All right. John Avlon this morning with our Wingnuts of the Week. You can read his Wingnuts blog on our website, CNN.COM/AMFIX. Great to see you.
AVLON: It's great to see you.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
All right, still ahead, we're going to be talking about why Yemen is such a perfect breeding ground for terrorism. We're going to get up close in that country in just a moment.
Thirty-five minutes past the hour.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Big stars, elaborate sets, and lots of lighting. In Hollywood, making a movie takes money. But at Warner Brothers headquarters, their focus is on green of a different kind.
SHELLEY BILLIK, V.P. OF ENVIRONMENTALISM, WARNER BROTHERS: Shall we take a ride in it?
BALDWIN (on camera): Hop in.
From the front seat of her solar powered golf cart, Shelley Billik is driving the studio's environmental charge.
BILLIK: You can imagine when you do make television shows and films, you have a lot of material.
BALDWIN: Shelley's job is to look behind the scenes and find ways Warner Brothers, which, like CNN, is owned by Time-Warner can reduce its impact on the environment.
Her latest project, Stage 23. It's believed to be Hollywood's first green south stage, with fly ash in the concrete, sustainably harvested lumber on set, and energy efficient lighting from above.
Even stars like "The Closer's" Kyra Sedgwick are playing lead roles in reducing their environmental impacts. On the set, her crew has barred plastic water bottles, they eat off biodegradable plates, and recycle old scripts.
KYRA SEDGWICK, ACTRESS, "THE CLOSER: As you can see, you can read the other lines from, you know, an old script.
BARRY MEGER, CEO, WARNER BROTHERS: We think in the long run it is good for business.
BALDWIN: Warner Brothers CEO Barry Myers says green investments pay off long term and advises even the smaller studios to follow suit.
Shelly Billik says the challenge is changing a culture, but anyone can help play a part.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Burbank, California.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Yemen now believes hundreds of al Qaeda fighters are operating inside its borders, many of them training in remote areas with anti- government tribes.
CHETRY: Officials say that studying in Yemen, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab likely did meet with one of the terrorist group's leaders.
For security watch this morning, our Paula Newton traveled to Yemen. She explains why the region is al Qaeda's land of opportunity.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, one of the key problems in trying to fight al Qaeda in Yemen is the fact that many of the operatives have shelter from very powerful local tribes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice-over): Just beyond Yemen's international airport in capital's poor northern suburbs, a road begins leading to thousands of miles of Yemeni tribal lands. Effectively out of government control and the perfect setup for al Qaeda.
(on camera): We're just about a mile from the international airport here. If you want to get an indication about how tribal they are here, we're going to try and go north up this road about a couple miles. It's called Haphap. That is where the al Qaeda strikes have been taking place in the last few days. Up until the last few weeks, the government hasn't even dared enter that tribal area. They have absolutely no control over.
(voice-over): But just as we're approaching the check point, we're quickly turned away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's getting calls saying we need to be out of this area.
NEWTON (on camera): OK, so they're not even letting us approach the check point. We've been on the phone with many people and they're saying not to go to Arhab. Arhab is very telling here. It is just two miles down the road this way, through that check point, and the government is saying, a, it's not safe for us to be there, and, b, it's not safe for them to be there.
(voice-over): It's not just Arhab. There are huge tracks of deserts in mountains across Yemen, al Qaeda sanctuaries where attacks like this are masterminded and executed. Last March four South Korean tourists and their Yemeni guide were killed when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility saying the South Koreans were U.S. allies in the war on terror.
And just days later when South Korean investigators were in this airport zone, the Yemeni government says it uncovered yet another al Qaeda plot against Korean authorities. All possible because the government simply doesn't control wide areas of the country. And that's where radical preacher Anwar al Awlaki is counting on. Part of a large and powerful southern Yemeni tribe, he's still out of American and Yemeni reach, almost certainly sheltered by his tribe. Even though Yemeni officials confirm there is evidence he may have given Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the inspiration to attempt to blow up flight 253.
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NEWTON: On a positive note, American officials say, look, the Yemeni officials do have the intelligence on the ground, if they now turn their attention to al Qaeda, they may be able to make some headway. John? Kiran?
ROBERTS: Paula Newton for us in Yemen this morning. Paula, thanks so much.
We're following the severe weather for you across the country. Coming up, we're going to check in with our Jacqui Jeras. Plus, we'll show you how animals accustom to warmer climates are dealing with the cold temperatures.
CHETRY: Also in ten minutes, nerdy is sexy. That's right. Jeannie Moos introduces us to Peter Orszag, the president's budget director.
Forty-three minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: In this morning's "AM House Call," it is a high-tech battle of the bulge. Scientists creating portable devices you can wear for overweight people that monitor exercise and eating habits. That's a big key there. The sophisticated gadget snap photos of your plate to keep your portions in check. They tell you if you you're eating too fast, and they can measure the intensity of a workout. Researchers say the goal is to keep people honest so they get better weight loss results.
It's like having your wife, a portable wife just on your hip, always telling you, don't eat that. Work out harder. ROBERTS: Believe me, I hear that a lot. It's 47 minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. This could also be a health story. Our Rob Marciano is -- No, it's not Rob, it's Jacqui Jeras. She's in the weather center this morning. Rob Marciano is braving the cold in Memphis this morning. What have we got, Jacqui?
JERAS: Yes, this is a much better place to be today by the ways, guys, and you know, it's one of those mornings where you're so thankful for your job when you come into work much earlier than everyone else, that's because the roadways in the morning can be really a mess for a whole lot of folks. You know, it's not a lot of snow here in the northeast, in fact, only just a couple of inches expected, but the winds are going to be blowing creating visibility problems that just blowing all that snow and ice back over the roadway.
Now, we are still looking at some showers, mostly on the coast into the southeast, but we're still wet on the roadways, and the temperatures are below freezing, so it's going to be really icy. Bridges and overpasses, in particular, will be difficult this morning. Watch out for that block ice too. Atlanta and charlotte looking at delays due to the wind; Boston, New York City, Metros, and Philadelphia due to the snow; Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh getting the snow; the lake-effect snow as that cold air moves over the warmer lake waters.
Talk about cold air, oh, it is just brutal. Again, the upper Midwest seeing the worst of the wind chills, in the 20s and 30s below zero this morning, and as temperatures drop down tonight, wind chill warnings have already been an issue -- issued in advance of that front coming on in and that extends all the way down into the deep south. Even New Orleans today looking for wind chill between five to 15 degrees. That's really cold down there in the Gulf Coast.
Staying below freezing for pretty much everybody today. We're going to finally start to warm up a little bit in the plain states by the end of the weekend on Sunday and then into the east as we head into Monday, so things will very slowly begin to moderate. John And Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. In the meantime, though, bundle up for sure. Those wind chills are unreal. Thanks, Jacqui.
This extreme weather that we've been talking that much of the country is dealing with isn't just affecting people and crops but actually animals as well.
ROBERTS: For example, did you know that when iguanas get cold, they go into hibernation? And they drop out of trees. Our John Zarrella tells us how these exotic animals are staying warm in these cold times.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just throw me a blanket, will you? Even with all that hair, Bonnie, the orangutan wasted no time wrapping up against the cold at Miami Metrozoo. Her buddy, Mango, sipped on a cup of hot chocolate. Vet approved. The tortoises, well, they're not too swift with their feet or the brains.
RON MAGILL, MIAMI METROZOO: We have to take actually plywood and lock them in there, because they're not bright enough to know to stay in there. They'll go out and then they'll freeze and then they always stop in the frozen and that's it.
ZARRELLA: In Florida, the animals are no more used to this kind of cold and people. Zoos are doing what they can to provide creature comforts. Space heaters for the parrots and the Komodo dragons. Boxes for the primates. This little guy shut his own door. Don't ever say dumb animals. For beekeepers in Tallahassee where the temperature has been in the teens, the only hope? Save the queen.
UNKNOWN MALE: As long as the queen and some of the bees make it through the winter, then we're fine.
ZARRELLA: No, you're wrong. That's not protozoa under a microscope. They're manatees, 300 of them. The heating system at a power plant was turned on to warm the waters for them. Sea turtles, lethargic and stunned by the cold are being rescued and brought to marine life sanctuaries, nearly 100 so far.
ZARRELLA (on-camera): Now, to be honest, there are some animals here in Florida that just don't get, and won't get, any love.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): So how do you feel about rats? Maybe a foot long? They're not crazy about the cold either. Well, they're scrambling and slithering and squeezing their way into nice, warm homes.
CHAEP'N HURST, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Kind of rat should be in New York, it shouldn't be in Florida, and it certainly shouldn't be in my apartment with my kids.
ZARRELLA: And there are the iguanas, invasive species overrunning South Florida. The cold weather puts them literally in a state of suspended animation, not good when you live in a tree. Florida's version of Groundhog Day. When the iguana falls out of the tree, six more weeks of winter.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
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CHETRY: Poor things.
ROBERTS: There is a great line.
(LAUGHING)
CHETRY: Yes, love the little like rodent that closed his own door. So cute.
ROBERTS: Iguana day.
CHETRY: Six more weeks of winter. Hopefully, it moves fast. This morning's top stories just a few minutes away including the suspect in the failed Christmas airline attacks just hours away from his first court appearance. We'll be live in Detroit for more on what he can expect today.
ROBERTS: Big name comedy kings reportedly on the move at NBC. It appears that Jay Leno may be returning to his old time slot. What does that mean for Conan O'Brien? We'll bring you the very latest developments just ahead.
CHETRY: Also more of our special investigation into a nationwide chain of yoga centers. This morning, our Kyra Phillips is digging deeper into the heart Of Dahn Yoga's philosophy. Is it shoddy science or respected medicine? Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: That's the great thing about working a morning show, it doesn't have to be 5:00.
CHETRY: Right. As long as it's 9:00 a.m. You're clear.
ROBERTS: Our 10 o'clock is everybody else's 6 p.m. It's coming up on five minutes before the top of the hour, that means it's time for the Moost News in the Morning. President Obama's budget chief may have learned the value of a dollar by having bullies steal his lunch money.
CHETRY: Yes, maybe, but look who's getting the girl or girls now. Jeanne Moos has more on Washington's accidental heartthrob.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whoever thought?
UNKNOWN MALE: look at you.
MOOS: That the country's budget director.
UNKNOWN MALE: Write that down.
MOOS: Would become the poster boy for sexy nerds.
UNKNOWN MALE: So there.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: I'm a bit of a nerd myself, so I find that sexy.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Not to me.
MOOS: Budget Director Peter Orszag never budgeted for this brouha-ha, front page for "The New York Post." His former girlfriend, a shipping heiress just had his baby a few weeks before his new fiancee, an ABC correspondent went on Good Morning America.
UNKNOWN MALE: Let's see the rock on that finger. Bianna got engaged yesterday.
MOOS: Did we mention Orszag is divorced with two children from his first marriage? In the words of one blogger, but frankly, I don't see how Orszag can balance three families and the national budget. Until now, he's been one of the most eligible bachelors in Washington. On blogs like the Huffington Post, he's not just Mr. Hot. He's hot with nine O's. He's making nerdy sexy, posted one admirer, I'll take me some Orszag, thank you very much. Delicious.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: I like the intelligent nerd. My husband's bald.
MOOS: He's considered one of the most eligible -- you're shaking your head at me.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: No. He doesn't look overly masculine to me. He doesn't look like a man. He looks like, you know, a boy that was on the chess club.
MOOS: Oh, yeah? Well, just like in the movie Revenge of the Nerds.
MOOS: This nerd gets the hot girl. Orszag is considered a brilliant economist. He discussed the budget on the daily show.
UNKNOWN MALE: Department of Commerce.
UNKNOWN MALE: There we go.
UNKNOWN MALE: Do we need that?
(LAUGHING)
MOOS: One person posted he looks like Stephen Colbert's cousin.
UNKNOWN MALE: I think he's sexy nerdy. He looks like Anderson cooper with dyed hair.
MOOS: Even the President has joked about him.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: TLC's got something called "Jon and Kate plus Peter Orszag."
MOOS (on-camera): The budget director is also a country music fan. Occasionally at congressional hearings, you hear him quoting lyrics, referring to the budget.
PETER ORSZAG, BUDGET DIRECTOR: But as the country music singer, Toby Keith, once put it, there ain't no right way to do the wrong thing.
MOOS: Does quoting a country western singer like Toby Keith...
MOOS: Make Peter Orszag a nerdy cowboy or a nerdy playboy? Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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CHETRY: Well? What do you think?
ROBERTS: Hey, you know? Live and let live.
(LAUGHING)
ROBERTS: I ain't saying nothing about nobody.
CHETRY: Our lips are sealed. All right. Well, our top stories...
ROBERTS: I've got a closet too, you know.
(LAUGHING)
CHETRY: Oh, man. But you live in New York. So yours is small.
ROBERTS: It's a very tiny one.
CHETRY: It's so small you can hardly fit anything in there.
ROBERTS: I couldn't get this calculator in my closet.
CHETRY: Two minutes at the top of the hour. Your top stories coming your way in 90 seconds.
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