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CNN Saturday Morning News
Snow Piles Up, Paralyzing Nation's Capital; Facebook Celebrates Sixth Birthday
Aired February 06, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, how you doing?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good, how are you?
HOLMES: I'm well.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: You're not traveling today, are you? Right?
BALDWIN: Hallelujah! I'm not. A lot of people are though. Not a good day to travel.
HOLMES: Yes.
Hey there, folks. It is February the 6th. Not a good travel day. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BALDWIN: Good morning. I'm Brooke Baldwin, in for Betty Nguyen, who did travel. Hopefully she's fine, wherever she headed.
HOLMES: She's fine.
BALDWIN: She's fine.
HOLMES: Trust me, she's fine.
BALDWIN: She's in Vegas (ph).
HOLMES: Ahh.
BALDWIN: Thanks for starting your day with us.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Lot going on, snow-wise if you're in D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, anywhere in between - take a look at this. Yes, snowmageddon (ph). I have all my friends in D.C. tweeting or Facebooking, "snowmageddon," "snowpocalypse."
Whatever the word.
HOLMES: That's a great word. But this is Baltimore. Similar scenes all around the country. We will be showing you.
And let's show you one of those scenes, a place that's getting hit hard.
BALDWIN: Aww.
HOLMES: And Reynolds is getting hit hard.
Reynolds, good morning to you. Kind of tee this thing up. I know we're going to be checking in with you a little later. But we can kind of see how it's going.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, very quickly, what we have for you, is still with the blizzard warning that's going to be in effect through this evening. I would say, in our area, we have at least - I'd say, eight to 10 inches of snowfall. But before all is said and done, there's still that potential that the D.C. area could have 20 to 30 inches.
More on that coming up.
HOLMES: Wow!
BALDWIN: Wow!
HOLMES: Wow. Reynolds, thank you so much, buddy. Thank you for braving the elements. We'll be checking in with him again shortly, and also our Karen Maginnis here on our Weather Center. We'll be talking to her as well.
But first, we do want to get a check of some other headlines we're keeping an eye on.
First, those 10 Americans jailed on Haiti on child-kidnapping charges - well, they do have a bail hearing that's set for Monday. They're accused of trying to take those 33 children out of Haiti. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has chimed in, and she's saying the case is for Haitian courts to decide.
BALDWIN: And an American missionary detained in North Korea since Christmas Day will soon be coming home. Robert Park arrived in Beijing today. He will be meeting with U.S. officials before flying back to the United States.
Park was arrested after he crossed the border into North Korea from China, and a State Department says Washington did not make any details with Pyongyang to get Park released.
HOLMES: Well, tea, anyone? They're having it in Nashville right now.
Hundreds of folks gathering there for the National Tea Party convention, the first of its kind. Former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is tonight's keynote speaker. Tickets just to see her running about $350 for the evening.
Palin says the money she's earning, which is reportedly around $100,000 - she says she's not going to pocket that. That was going to go back to the cause, as she put it. Well, a lot of you don't really have $350 to spend to go see her. Can't get there. So you don't need a ticket. You can tune in right here; you can see her keynote address, Sarah Palin, right here, live on CNN. That coverage of the tea-party speech starts around 9:00 Eastern Time.
BALDWIN: Well, they are billing this as one of the largest storms on record. A blizzard just pounding the Mid Atlantic states.
Look at these near-whiteout conditions here. Forecasters say the D.C. area specifically - it is snowing two inches an hour overnight now and into the morning. A record two and a half feet is predicted.
For those of you waking up in Virginia, here's the news out of there: A father and son who stopped to help another driver were killed when a tractor-trailer just hit them. The weather is having a domino effect on air travel across the country, as you can imagine seeing that word all over the place: "canceled." Major airlines, including Southwest, Midwest, United and US Airways canceling flights to several cities on the East Court, of course.
And cleaning up - oh, that's a tough job today. Many, many cities and states already overspent in terms of dollars and cents here, on their snow-removal budgets. So several thousand people in West Virginia and Pennsylvania are without power this morning.
And we will get to our Karen Maginnis here in just a minute. We're - she'll talk a little bit more about it - where the - where the snow possibly is - is the worse this morning.
HOLMES: Yes, where it is, where it's going.
We know where it is right now, at least in one spot: Washington, D.C., with our Reynolds Wolf.
Reynolds, again, is - is that stuff still coming?
BALDWIN: Looks like it.
WOLF: It is still coming down.
You know, they've got the blizzard warning in effect through about 10:00 tonight. Keep in mind that when you - when you - when we talk about blizzards, blizzards are primarily a wind event. I mean, you don't have to have any precipitation. It's just stuff that can be on the ground, or falling from the sky. And it's just the steady winds that you - that we happen to have.
This though, we - we may still see that precipitation, as Karen Maginnis is going to talk about coming up, and that may continue through a good time yet. And we could see that - that snowfall begin to stack up.
Now, in our area, the snowfall we've seen, I would say probably ranges around eight to 10 inches. Again, there's that possibility that by the time the event ends, we could see anywhere from 20 to 30 inches of snowfall. Some place a bit less, others more.
And the reason why we mention this as being a - the possibility of being a historic storm, is the heaviest snowfall on time - for all time, recorded in Washington, D.C., was back in - in 1922, January 27 and January 28, something they refer to as the Knickerbocker Storm, where you had the Knickerbocker Theater - heavy snow on - on the theater roof, caused the roof to cave in. Ninety-eight people were killed.
Don't think it's going to be, again, that kind of - in terms of life - loss of life. But still, we could see some snowfall that may top that.
Let's show you around a little bit. I'm on Third Street right now. If you look over here, you can see the Nation's Capitol kind of. You can see the dome up there. Snow continues to swirl down there.
Now if we pan around back to me, and you go over to the street, you can see the street's got a lot of snow here and there. And then - I was going to show you the Washington Monument, but trust me, don't even bother; you can't see it because of the heavy snow that's coming down. And the snow - what's interesting, last night, outside the hotel, we didn't have anything. Right now, we have about - again, about eight to 10 here, with some higher drifts in a few spots.
Traffic in this area has been minimal. We've seen a few of the nations' finest police officers coming through, an occasional snowplow. As Brooke was talking about earlier, all your major airports -- forget about it. From Reagan over to Dulles, even over to BWI, no one's going to be moving today.
The only thing that will move with any consistency today is going to be the Metro railway, below ground. Above ground, it's not going to happen. The reason why, as we wrap things up, is because, once you think you have your train tracks on either side, then you have the center rail - that center rail, which is electrified. If the snow gets higher than eight inches, guess what? The trains aren't going to be able to run, because it won't be able to get that power from that center rail.
So that's where it stands right now. Today, it's going to be the big snow time. It's going to continue through the evening. And tomorrow, all this stuff gets cleaned up. So it looks like we're not going to be going anywhere for any straight bit of time.
Oh look, a driver. Hard to believe.
Let's send it back to you guys in the studio.
BALDWIN: Look at that.
HOLMES: They come right - right on time...
BALDWIN: Yes, right on cue.
HOLMES: ...don't they, Reynolds? Hopefully, a lot of people are going to be staying off the road. They don't have a choice but to do so.
Reynolds, thanks so much for being out there, buddy.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: We'll check in with you again.
Want to turn to Karen Maginnis, who's - who's manning things over in the Weather Center.
The - the question a lot of people have now, where exactly is this thing - where is it going, and how quickly would it - I guess, will it get out of here?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is a powerful, monstrous system. And we're focusing on that corridor pretty much from Northern Virginia towards Maryland and into New Jersey and the southern portion of New York, because that's where we have the most populous region.
However, into the Ohio River Valley, they're getting socked with record snowfall as well. But we're going to hit the highlights here.
This is a view of what's happening at the Philadelphia airport. Are they open? Well, officially, the airport is open, but no flights going in, no flights going out. As a matter of fact, just in the last few minutes, the visibility has gone down, and it looks like it's going to stay that way for most of the day. They're looking at heavy snowfall, gusty winds.
Here's a view, Washington, D.C. D.C. - DCA, also in Dulles, no flights, no flights out. I'll show you more on that coming up in just a few seconds.
And this is a look - this has really deteriorated. We're seeing some very strong winds here. We had seen a picture of 95 and 395, this out of Baltimore. It was kind of an exchange. We only saw a couple of cars. The snow is coming down very, very heavily, with visibility almost zero, wind gusts up to around 45 miles an hour.
Want to show you what's happening on Flight Explorer. In Washington, D.C. - just want to show you very quickly, here is Washington Dulles and Reagan. No flights in, no flights out for the rest of the day.
And Brooke and T.J., we'll monitor that and let you know where the storm is headed. And yes, this could be a record-breaker.
Back to you.
BALDWIN: That's amazing.
HOLMES: Oh, that's a mess. No flights in or out. Not a lot of people are going to want to hear that.
Karen, thank you. And please, to a lot of folks out there, you need to check with your airline. Because like she said, a lot of these airports, people will assume, OK, they're technically open, but their airlines are the ones canceling a lot of flights.
BALDWIN: Yes, I mean, I chatted with them before the show, and I think it's pretty safe to assume, through this evening, no flights going in or out. I think Dulles has one - one runway open, but that doesn't mean planes are coming or going there, right?
HOLMES: Doesn't mean a thing, folks.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: So just make sure you check. It's going to be a mess today, probably tomorrow as well.
Again, our Reynolds Wolf is out there in that cold weather. You saw him. He's covering weather, of course, as well. But he's also doing a little something else weather-related. He got behind the wheel of a car in this mess.
BALDWIN: Hmm, got behind the wheel of a car in this mess.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: We'll see more. He's taking a driving class in the snow. I'm not so good at driving in snow, being an Atlanta girl, so...
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: ...I guess I'll learn from that.
Also, the other big story this morning besides the weather, the big story out of Haiti, those 10 Americans - those 10 Baptist missionaries facing kidnapping charges, criminal-association charges in Haiti.
Karl Penhaul has been all over this story. He will have an update from Port-au-Prince here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, RIHANNA, "SHUT UP AND DRIVE")
HOLMES: This is not a story about Toyota, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Despite the song.
BALDWIN: Thanks. News flash.
HOLMES: Yes. We'll get to that later.
BALDWIN: Well, you won't want to drive today. At least that's what so many people are saying. We're talking about this massive, possibly record-breaking snowstorm from, you know, really, Northern Virginia on up through the southern area of New York.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: Shouldn't drive in it, but apparently, Reynolds is learning how to?
HOLMES: Reynolds is learning how to drive. It - it's an important skill to have right about now. Yes, we - we see him there. And we saw a guy pass you a moment ago in your first live shot there. I assume not too many people are out on the road, but - but you now know how to drive in that stuff.
BALDWIN: Do tell.
WOLF: The idea of Reynolds Wolf behind the wheel of any motorized vehicle can wreak horror and terror in the hearts of anyone.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Let's be honest about that.
But - and seriously, in winter driving, winter situations like this, we have seen a few people come through on Third Street. Although it looks relatively easy to drive in the snow - trust me, I found out recently, it's a - a bit more difficult than you'd think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Do you know that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more accidents during the wintertime as opposed to in - during the summertime.
In fact, 36 percent more happen during January as opposed to July. And this is the reason why: the ice and the snow, all that wintertime mess.
And that's the reason why we're here in Steamboat Springs, at the Bridgestone Winter Driving School with Mark Cox.
Mark, what are we going to do today?
MARK COX, DIRECTOR, BRIDGESTONE WINTER DRIVING SCHOOL: Well, basically, we're going to jump in the car, go out on the track and teach you the skills that you need to get around safely, and have a little fun in the worst-possible conditions.
WOLF: It sounds scary and fun and amusing all at the same time.
COX: Winter driving should be fun. There's no need for it to be scary.
WOLF: Let's get to it.
COX: All right.
WOLF: How deceiving can winter conditions be? Snow on a road, ice on a road? COX: You know, winter conditions can be really deceiving, because it may look like it's snow, and underneath it could be just black ice, just glare-shiny ice. And it's hard to tell. So it's important that you as a driver make sure no one's behind you, and every now and then, hit your brake, and see how much traction is available.
WOLF (voice-over): And on this course, traction will be hard to find. Coated with more 250,000 gallons of water, this experience is like driving on a hockey rink.
COX: The more slippery it becomes, the more you have to anticipate each action, from steering to braking, to accelerating.
WOLF: One of the first lessons: the weight transfer of your vehicle plays a bigger role in controlling your car than the steering wheel.
COX: No, don't turn more.
(CROSSTALK)
COX: See how when you turn left, it steers more?
WOLF (on camera): Yes. Wow.
COX: It goes - it's totally counterintuitive, but sometimes less steering is more effective.
Choose just the perfect amount of steering; not too much, not too little.
WOLF: I see.
COX: And if the car doesn't turn, don't give into the tendency to just keep steering more. It won't help.
WOLF: I see.
COX: In - in fact, it makes it much worse.
WOLF (voice-over): Another difference maker? The type and condition of your tires.
COX: You have to remember that a half-worn winter tire performs like an all-season tire. A half-worn all-season tire performs like a summer tire. And really, a summer tire has no place in winter conditions.
WOLF: But Mark says the best thing to have in place when facing those icy roads is the wealth of experience.
(on camera): Like a pro. Nice.
(HORN HONKING)
That's a wrap. There you go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Now, that great experience was sponsored by the good people at Bridgestone Tire.
And I'll tell you, the best thing that Mark Cox, the instructor at that course, told us - and this goes for anyone who's driving these kind of conditions - the No. 1 thing you have to do is just drive slowly. That's the key thing. Because everything is going to be exaggerated in terms of your braking, your stopping, your starting. Everything is, it's - you know, it's always going to be a little bit different.
And speaking of different, we see some trucks moving along. I believe we have a plow, or at least a sand truck that's going to be coming through. The first of many, no doubt, today here in the nation's capital.
Got more coming up in just a little bit. Let's toss it back to you at the CNN Newsroom.
BALDWIN: Thanks, Rennie.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Reynolds. We'll see him shortly.
Parts of Maryland, as well, have gotten about 20 inches of snow. We want to check in for more on what's happening there, particularly Baltimore, of course.
Jawaunna Greene is the spokeswoman for the Maryland Transit Authority (sic). She's on the phone for us.
Ma'am, we appreciate you getting up and hopping on the phone with us. Tell us how - I don't know, is - is it impossible, the roads right now? Or have - have you been able to make any - any headway with getting some of that snow out of the way?
VOICE OF JAWAUNNA GREENE, MARYLAND TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION: Well, good morning, T.J.
I have to tell you, it - it's been a difficult morning. But, you know, for the Maryland Transit Administration, our primary concern is the safety of our passengers as well as our employees.
At this point, we have decided that we have to shut down. We sent our supervisors out to kind of survey the roads and look, and even they are having some difficulties. And you have to know, we have a - a really diverse transit system here in Baltimore, so we're looking at above-ground rails in the form of our light-rail trains, as well as some sections on our Metro system.
And we are reporting, we're having significant difficulties in operating it. So at this point, we're just going to do a phased approach. And we're waiting to see how the conditions unfold. HOLMES: And I want to make sure I hear you right there: Is there anything working? I heard you use the word "shutdown." So essentially, has all that public transit been shut down?
GREENE: We have to. We - we have not sent any buses down on the streets, and at this point...
HOLMES: Wow.
GREENE: ...we really have to defer to road conditions.
We are advising customers who have urgent medical needs - because, you know, we do operate a mobility-care transit service, to call 911 or to call the hospitals to get transported to these facilities. And at this point, we really have to think about the safety of our employees as well the safety of - of any passengers.
HOLMES: And at this point, any accidents, injuries or deaths that you know of to report right now?
GREENE: Not involving our system, and we're very fortunate. We have wonderful professionals here at the Maryland Transit Administration who have seen incidents of snow and ice before. So our folks are out there, surveying the system, and they're telling us, 'Listen, we've got to put safety first.'
HOLMES: And you - last thing here, I - I guess some of the snow is still coming, so you don't see anything in the foreseeable future of this improving. So you're going to be shut down for awhile, it sounds like.
GREENE: I have to tell you, we are going to be shut down pretty much throughout the day.
HOLMES: Wow.
GREENE: We are looking at safe approaches for our Metro, for only the underground system. But again, this is a minute-by-minute call that we'll be making.
HOLMES: All right. Miss Greene, ma'am, thank you so much for taking the time out to hopping on the phone and giving us the update.
But everything shut down in - right now. Thank you so much, and good luck to you guys.
GREENE: Thank you.
HOLMES: You got to do what you got to do. It is shut down. Safety is first, but you just can't move around. You're talking about 20 inches...
BALDWIN: Twenty to 30 inches.
HOLMES: ...of snow (INAUDIBLE)?
BALDWIN: That's kind of the headline, "Shut Down. Don't Go Anywhere. Don't Drive," right?
HOLMES: The public transit - just, people can't get around. People can't get to work. People - oh, it's a mess.
BALDWIN: At least those plows - at least those plows salting and sanding.
HOLMES: That's right, (INAUDIBLE)
BALDWIN: And we saw those out along the National Mall.
Well, if you're hanging inside, maybe you're on the computer, on Facebook.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: Hey, guess what? Facebook is - I can't believe, six years - has it been around that long? Six years old. It's become one of the leaders in social media, and some people might say it's a little addictive.
HOLMES: Yes, it's kind of embarrassing sometimes.
BALDWIN: It is sometimes.
HOLMES: You'll see - well, I mean just so many folks are at work....
BALDWIN: Checking your status.
HOLMES: Yes, all that stuff.
BALDWIN: What you doing. Yes.
HOLMES: So just how many times a day are people logging on? Are you one of those folks? We're going to give you some numbers coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, JASON DERULO, "WHATCHA SAY")
HOLMES: All right. What you say out there, on Facebook?
More than 350 million people got something to say, not shy about saying it. The social-media site, Facebook, celebrating a birthday: Its sixth.
BALDWIN: Sixth birthday.
So whether it's friending someone or kind of that voyeuristic checking out other people's profiles, status updates, maybe reconnecting with old friends, Josh Levs is on the lookout, and he tells us millions cannot last a single day without logging on.
(MUSIC) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's amazing how fast the world of technology moves, and how quickly it changes people's lives in this era.
And this is a good example of it: Facebook has now turned 6 years old. And I'm going to show you some numbers from it that I find pretty astounding.
The first one might not totally shock you - you might have heard this before. But the total Facebook population, the number of active users around the world, now more than 350 million. So you're talking more than the population of the United States.
Facebook is also available in more than 70 languages. And it's available in more than 180 countries.
But what amazes me the most isn't this overall this population, how many people are using it, it's how frequently they're using. Because that is the indicator that you get in technology of how big a role it plays in people's lives, which is why I want you to see this - check out these statistics here. Fifty percent of active users of Facebook log on any given day. So you're looking at this massive population, and the 50 percent of active users are getting on any given day. So think about that Web traffic.
Then, you have 35 million that update their status each day. And by the way, wondering how much time people spend on Facebook? Average, 55 minutes a day. That information directly from Facebook.
Now, I could give you statistics all day, but because it is Facebook, it only makes sense to be hearing from you. So we reached out to you, and we asked, 'How has Facebook changed your life? How has it affected you? What are your thoughts on this anniversary?'
Here's some of the responses we're getting.
Craig Nelson wrote us (INAUDIBLE). He says, "I found old friends I thought I had lost to time, and made many new ones near and far."
Helen Wilmot wrote us about how she found a group of people who suffer from the same illness she's suffering from, and she now has a support group thanks to Facebook."
Now, it's not all rosy. There are also a lot of people out there who question Facebook, how much information it's getting about you, how much information it shares about you. And the more mammoth something in technology becomes, the more people get involved in that, you find the more people have concerns about that information and how it's being shared.
Now, we certainly invite you to weigh in on this and everything. And here's how you can reach me: You got my Facebook page, of course, right there. It's joshlevscnn. Or if you prefer Twitter or our blog right here. You got Twitter.com/joshlevscnn, or my blog, CNN.com/josh. Let us know your thoughts on the sixth birthday, anniversary, whichever you want to call it, of Facebook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And of course, this seems like a perfect time to promote our Facebook pages. You can talk to me, you can talk to Betty, you can talk to Reynolds as well, or anybody here with CNN, the CNN weekend team especially, by going to our Facebook pages, our Twitter sites as well, and our blog.
Brooke, you're on Twitter. I'm supposed to mention that.
BALDWIN: Yes, I'm tweeting.
HOLMES: They had to remind me.
But you don't like - you're getting away from Facebook you said, right?
BALDWIN: Yes, I'm just - you know, I - I - I'll pop on Facebook maybe once a day, but I'm just not really - Twitter.
HOLMES: Twitter's your thing now?
BALDWIN: Twitter's my thing.
HOLMES: Because it's so easy.
BALDWIN: I'm getting to be hip.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) . Tweethip (ph), yes.
BALDWIN: You like that?
HOLMES: When I think 'Brooke,' I think "tweethip."
BALDWIN: Super.
Let's check the top stories, shall we?
HOLMES: Let's do so.
BALDWIN: Let's do that.
All right. Coming up here this morning, despite all the snow we've been talking about hammering the Washington area today, aides to the president say, yes, he will remain on schedule. In fact, he's expected to speak this morning at a hotel in the district at the Democratic National Committee's winter hearing. And according to its chairman, the president will talk jobs, he'll talk health care and his vision for the Democratic Party, of course, among other topics.
And you can watch that speech live. That starts at 10:30 Eastern time this morning. And we'll bring it you to right here on CNN. HOLMES: Yes, a little bit of damage control going on over at Toyota right now. The CEO is stepping out; he's trying to find ways to fix the company's battered image.
The company's reputation for safety and quality taking a bit of a hit here lately since an issue with gas pedal triggered the massive recall two weeks ago. The hybrid Prius now also being investigated because of problems with the braking system.
The recall affected more than eight million cars, expected to cost Toyota more than $2 billion.
We are looking in-depth at this issue. You can go to CNN.com/Toyota. You can find out if your car has been recalled and what to do if your gas pedal sticks. It all comes to you from the worldwide leader in news, of course, CNN.
Well, we've all done this - all these things really: you send a text, you buy some popcorn at the movies and also that mini bar at the - at the hotel. All of those things.
Now, we've - we're lumping those together because you've probably done one of them, and it's costing you a pretty penny.
BALDWIN: A lot of money.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: We know that. But do you really realize how much you're actually getting ripped off when you did it?
We'll dig into that, coming up.
(MUSIC, GWEN STEFANI, "RICH GIRL")
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, EAGLES, "HOTEL CALIFORNIA")
HOLMES: A lovely place, that Hotel California. But if you open the bar - the mini bar in your room...
BALDWIN: The mini bar.
HOLMES: ...at the Hotel California, that's going to cost you.
Also, a lot of people, you like to text a lot. Most of us probably have that unlimited plan. But if you don't, you probably found out the hard way just how hard it's costing you big time to send texts.
BALDWIN: So we're going to take a look at some of the biggest rip-offs. Did you actually think about how big of a rip-off some of this stuff is? Let me just run down this list for you here.
HOLMES: Wow. BALDWIN: A computer-science expert says text cost just a third of a cent each - that's nothing. But if you're on that pay-per-text plan, those texts, they say, could be marked up $6,000. That's 500 percent. Talk about - wow, that's a lot of money.
CNNMoney.com says that isn't only the biggest rip-off. What else you got?
HOLMES: Also - now, we know when you go to the - the movie theater, you are paying - I mean, they have no idea, it seems like, how much this stuff costs in the rest of the real world.
BALDWIN: I totally get the popcorn, too.
HOLMES: Got to.
BALDWIN: I got to.
HOLMES: It's just something about that stuff at the movie theater, ain't it?
BALDWIN: I get sucked in. I do.
HOLMES: Well, it costs you a lot. It costs them about 60 cents to make this stuff, and you probably pay around six bucks for it. So that's a 900 percent mark-up, for the most part, that you are paying at the movie theater.
Concessions are where theaters, of course, make most of their money.
BALDWIN: And consider this the next time you travel: That teeny, tiny little hotel fridge - you know, the mini bar? It is a huge price gouger. I'm sure you know if you've checked out the - the prices.
Mini bars in some Manhattan hotel rooms they charge $10 for just a pint of water; $12 for a toothpaste kit, and $150 for candles. Yikes.
And just staying in the hotel room, those in-room movies may end up being epic downers once you get your hotel bill, they are what, $10 to $15 a movie. You might want to make sure your room has that DVD player and just bring your own flicks. Or I'll just tap on my laptop and Netflix it. That's my little secret.
HOLMES: Is that how you do it?
BALDWIN: Yes, you should try and do that next time.
HOLMES: OK, I'm going to a Manhattan hotel tomorrow.
BALDWIN: You are?
HOLMES: I'm raiding the mini bar.
BALDWIN: Ixnay (ph) on the mini-bar-nay. (LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Well, hopefully I won't have a problem getting into New York tomorrow.
BALDWIN: Yes.
HOLMES: We're tracking severe weather all up and down the East Coast right now. Take a look at what's happening at just three cities we chose to highlight. You're looking at Baltimore, there, on the top left, on top right, you are looking at Philly, and then, of course, you can guess where that is on the bottom, that's D.C. But everybody getting hit and hit hard with snow right now.
BALDWIN: Yes, and as a result of that, think about the airports, the conditions at three major airports. We're looking at conditions, hearing from Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, who is out in the elements for use on The National Mall, in D.C. And we are talking to Karen Maginnis. She will let you know everything you need to know when it comes to snow this Saturday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Music City, USA is where we begin our top stories. Nashville, that's where hundreds of people are gathering today for the National Tea Party Convention. It's the first of its kind.
Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, is tonight's keynote speaker. Tickets to see her are going to cost you about $350. Palin says, though, the money she's earning, which is reportedly around $100,000 is not going to her pocket, it is going back to "the cause", as she puts it. Well, a lot of people not going to be shelling that out. You can get to Nashville. You don't have to go anywhere, you can watch Sarah Palin's keynote address, right here live on CNN. Our coverage of the Tea Party speech starts around 9:00 o'clock Eastern.
BALDWIN: Another deadly school shooting to tell you about; this one happening in Madison, Alabama. A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed at Discovery Middle School. The suspected shooter, here, a fellow ninth grader. Police arrested and charged him with murder. Police have not identified him nor have they released a possible motive in the case.
HOLMES: The president of the United States not necessarily taking a snow day today. Four hours from now President Obama scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting in Washington. He's expected to touch, of course, on jobs, the economy, also health care. And you can watch that live right here. That speech expected to start around 10:30 Eastern Time.
BALDWIN: Well, we're talking about a possible record-breaking snowstorm; 2 inches here, per hour, overnight. We'll get to Karen Maginnis, who is talking weather specifics and where the storm is right now.
HOLMES: Well, we know it's right where Reynolds is. He's out there in D.C. for us.
Reynolds, once again, set the scene. Starting to get a little daylight out there, I believe, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, sun's coming up, snow continues to come down. By the time all is said and done, we could have record-breaking snow falling anywhere from the tune of say 20 to 30 inches of snowfall in some places.
We're here right near The Mall. I'm with the CNN photo journalist Jeremy Moore.
Jeremy, let's show people what's happening. Come on homie. We're going to do a little walking here up towards the Capitol.
Jeremy, if you can pan down a little bit, show the folks what type of snow we're walking in. It doesn't seem as deep where I'm walking, because you've got to go a little bit deeper. The bottom is way down here. We're walking on I'd say at least a solid four, then an additional maybe six, may in some spots up to eight.
But as trudge through this, this is basically the story that we have all around. Not only the Capitol, but over in Virginia, back over to Maryland, same deal. We talk about the snow, we've already mentioned how it's been affecting travel, anyone trying to fly out of this place. Ha, good luck at that.
And we're going to see delays stack up in another place. When you have the backups over at Reagan, when you have the backups over at BWI, and over at Dulles, no doubt it's going to affect all of the airports in places like Philadelphia, New York or even in Atlanta.
Now, travel is going to be an issue here in the city, obviously, and around the surrounding area. Another thing that's going to be a big issue is when it comes back to money. For example, the state of Virginia's budgeted for $79 million a year, this year for snow removal, they've already spent $84 million.
On top of that, it's going to affect other places in terms of education spending. Montgomery County, Maryland, they've already had four snow days, four snow days, they've used them all up. They may have to extend the school year, which, of course, means it's going to cost more. So, affecting lots of people in many ways. Of course we will be telling you more about what's happening here in the nation's capital and surrounding area, coming up in mere moments. Let's send it back to you in the nice warm, cozy studio.
BALDWIN: Yes, sorry about that. At least it's nice, pretty, not very quiet normally in that part of Washington. So enjoy that while you can.
And now, we'll talk more weather specifically and with Karen Maginnis here.
Karen, you can still kind of see the flakes coming down in Reynolds' live shot. I guess the question is when will we stop seeing them fall?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's just say that the air travel, the rail travel, the car travel has been crushed across that area. There aren't any flights going in or out of D.C., Reagan National, or Dulles. And we're looking at -- the airports are open. But for all intents and purposes, it's closed, because flights aren't going in or they are not going out.
Even at BWI, we do have a live shot out of BWI. Earlier we were looking along the southern edge, along I-95 and 195. The wind was blowing, visibility very reduced, very, very difficult on those roads. But I want to say one other thing. And that is that if you're getting on those roads, be very, very careful. We've heard about a number of accidents along the roadways there.
But beyond that, it does look like we're going to see a number of power outages. And when these things happen, there we go. There's Baltimore. And as you can see, the wind is blowing around. That is why the visibilities reduce, a few brave souls getting out on the roadways.
Let's get out on this map and show you what's happening. This is where that line of messy weather is. New York, you're just right on the periphery of it. Here you are. But most of this is going right across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and New Jersey with near blizzard conditions. So New York, not going to see the brunt of this, but Washington, D.C., kind of in those primary corridors for travel. That's where you are. And that's why those areas where we're looking to make transportation routes. You're going to be affected there, as well.
Let's go ahead and show you what's happening as far as blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings out. Where you see the red, yes, even in Ohio. Yesterday record-setting snowfall totals in Indianapolis. Washington, D.C. could see 20 to 30 inches of snow. As Reynolds said, Brooke and T.J., maybe 30 inches, that would be an all- time record. It would beat the Knickerbocker storm 28 inches of snow. It was a deadly storm, almost 100 people killed back in 1922.
BALDWIN: 1922.
MAGINNIS: We'll keep you updated. This is a terrible system. It is. It is very powerful.
HOLMES: All right. Karen, thank you, as always. We'll be checking in with Karen, and also Reynolds, throughout the morning.
Now, I'm sure a lot of people have told you throughout your life, coming up, probably parents, teachers, and others, you can do anything if you can put your mind to it, Brooke. We really do believe that. But we have some proof out now, that she can actually move things just by thinking about it. I'm serious. Check this out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have this headset on, which is measuring my brain waves and the second I start concentrating, this cart should move forward. Let's see. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: I'm told that that's the Empire State building in the distance. It's supposed to be lit up this weekend with the colors of the Colts and the Saints. Can't really make it out. I'm sure as the daylight comes we'll try to get this picture back, and always looking for an excuse to use this song.
Now, on Monday, they're going to change the colors and it's just going to be whatever winning team.
BALDWIN: Oh, yeah?
HOLMES: Just their colors on Monday. But we'll get a better view of that hopefully for you this morning.
BALDWIN: Yes, I know, kind of tough to see anything this morning.
Well, tomorrow, all eyes, of course, on Miami for Super Bowl 44.
The New Orleans Saints, the sentimental favorite for a lot of folks. The new America's team a lot of people are saying. But they've got to get past Peyton Manning.
Joe Carter has the horrible assignment this morning in, Miami. He was originally supposed to go cover the storm, the winter weather storm up in the Northeast, but some kind of way he's kissing the right butts around CNN, he got to go to Miami.
No. Good morning to you, sir. How's Miami looking?
JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're guys are exactly right. I got that e-mail. When they told me my shift was changing. I was like, yes, all right, I got the sunny weather. In just a few short minutes that sun is going to come up behind me and it's going to look beautiful here in sunny South Florida.
And "Super Bowl XVIV", about to take place behind me on Sunday. The Saints playing in that game for the very first time in franchise history. And if you know anything about the team, for the better part of 43 years, this has been a losing team. And for one group of fans, they have stuck by their Saints through all of the bad times, and now the good, and finally have something to celebrate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN SERPAS, CHARLIE'S SAINTS MARCHING CLUB: We kind of got excited November 1st of '66 when we were awarded a franchise, because we really weren't sure we were going to get an NFL football team here. So that was exciting in itself. Never dreaming the bond with that team would grow over the years as it has grown.
TOM JONES, CHARLIES SAINTS MARCHIN CLUB: Well, I just turned 20, we got the franchise. Well, I really thought, might be 10 years so we'll get our first Super Bowl, you know? So 10 years past, we didn't get a championship, another 10 years, well, here I am 63 years old, and it's like a dream come true.
CARTER (voice over): After Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city, the Saints were forced to play the entire 2005 season away from home. But much like many residents of New Orleans, the team returned and rebuilt.
SERPAS: I think to a lot of people, it symbolized hope that there's hope that, you know, we still have a football team to cheer for. There was people at games on Sundays that didn't even have a house to live in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not about the economic value to the people who fill those seats every week and sit in front of their TVs. It's about a dream, that's about to come true.
SERPAS: For those three hours, three hours, three and a half hours, you forgot about all of the badness, and you just focused on happiness and good times. And that's what the Saints did for the city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARTER: That, right there, captures the emotion between the Saints and the City of New Orleans. Now, win or lose, Sunday night the City of New Orleans will throw a parade for their Saints on Tuesday. And you can bet Charlie's marchers will be there to lead the way as the Saints come marching back into town. Back to you.
HOLMES: You know, that's awesome. And it's tough for a lot of people to understand just what that -- this is not just another team, in another city, and other folks cheering for their team. That's a lot more on the line here. And people looking at this franchise and this game.
Good to see you this morning. Thank you, kind sir. Enjoy Miami. We hope to check in with you again.
BALDWIN: But first, a quick check of some of the day's top stories. Those 10 Baptist missionaries, those 10 Americans jailed in Haiti on kidnapping charges have a bail hearing this coming Monday. What they are accused of essentially is trying to take these 33 babies, young children, out of Haiti into the Dominican Republic. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the case is for Haitian courts to decide.
HOLMES: Well, a little damage control going on over at Toyota. They're trying to find a way to fix the company's battered image. The company's reputation for safety and quality, well, that is ex- reputation now, I guess you could say.
A lot of people have big issues, because they have issue with their gas pedals, triggered the massive recall that happened about two weeks ago. And now the hybrid Prius, a pretty popular car out there is also being investigated because of problems with its braking system. The recall affected more than 8 million cars and is expected to cost Toyota $2 billion plus. You can get expanded coverage of the Toyota recall by going to CNN.com/Toyota. You can also check there to see if your car has been recalled. Also find out what to do if your gas pedal actually sticks. It has some tips in there for you. All comes to you from the worldwide leader in news, us, CNN.
And also still to come. Yeah, we were kind of talking about mind power, brain power earlier. I had kind of a neat assignment where I went out to San Jose, California, talked to this company, NeuroSky, where they are really just sort of at the precipice of this new kind of technology, where you can start moving things with your mind.
You don't believe me? Stay right there, we'll show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. So this is one of those stories I really had to experience truly believe it. What I did -- and this is sort of only part of the story. I actually moved a ball, part of this game using just my brain. Really, I did. Sounds like science fiction, but it is very real. I got a chance to test out this amazing, basically brain wave technology. Just watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TANSY BROOK, NEUROSKY: So, right here.
BALDWIN (voice over): I am moving this ball with only my mind.
BROOK: Try to relax just a little bit.
BALDWIN: No keyboard, no game controls, just pure brain power. This is brain wave technology taken to a whole new level by a Silicon Valley-based company called NeuroSky.
BROOK: It's kind of a first application of telekinesis.
BALDWIN: Engineers here have big plans to revolutionize the way people, work, and play and live, using just their thoughts. And the starts with this, Uncle Milton's Star Wars Science Force Trainer, a new game that goes for about $100.
BROOK: Well, the goal is to get the ball to rise and control it.
BALDWIN: This headset has a sensor that reads my brain's electrical signals, it then sends them to a wireless receiver inside the game's base which lights up when I'm concentrating.
(On camera): Too much concentration, relax my brain. That's tough.
(voice over): And your brain waves can control bigger objects, too.
(On camera): This is what NeuroSky calls the brain race. I have this headset on which is measuring my brain waves and the second I start concentrating, this cart should move forward. Let's see.
OK. That is kind of cool.
BALDWIN (voice over): Now imagine a reality TV show like CBS's "Survivor" and throw in this type of technology. NeuroSky is in talks with TV producers to develop new reality shows that will do just that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wouldn't it be fun to have a reality show? Wouldn't it be fun if people could change their environments? Using their minds? Could you light things on fire? Could you raise a drawbridge by concentrating? Could you have to relax enough to have something levitate to move you to the next level?
BALDWIN: But if a reality TV contestant could start a fire with his mind? What about a terrorist? James Carafano with Washington's conservative Heritage Foundation says, that it is not a major worry yet.
For every single technology that you develop somebody figures out a malicious for it. We're still very limited in terms of-you know, how far away you can be. Very primitive in the kinds of things that you can do. So, at this point, I think we're far away from this being some kind of neuro threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It goes all the way up and you run you middle program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
BALDWIN: But right now, the technology is being used to help train world class athletes like the U.S. archery team.
(On camera): Whew! How did it feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels good.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN (voice over): Brady Ellison is one of the youngest U.S. archers to compete in the Olympics. He says a strong mental game is everything. That is exactly why he and his teammates are among the first to test brain wave technology to keep them in the zone.
BRADY ELLISON, USA ARCHER: You know, I'm certainly getting to where every time I put this headset on it is just confirmation that I'm doing the right thing.
BALDWIN: This headband monitors the athletes brain waves determining how focused and relaxed they are before, during, and after a shot.
(On camera): How many of you have seen a concrete change in the way you have been shooting since this headset.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us.
BALDWIN (voice over): NeuroSky is sharing its technology with other companies. And there are unlimited possibilities for its use. For example, it might one day be used to keep drowsy drivers off the road.
BROOK: Say the care could detect that, and do something like turn on your radio or set off a little alarm, warning you that you need to pull over and get some coffee.
BALDWIN: Also in the works, stress relief. There will soon be an app for that. Imagine using this technology at home to see how relaxed your mind can get by watching your brainwaves in color on your iPhone.
BROOK: I think it is a very fundamental desire people have to move things with their minds. Everyone has always wanted to do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: So, your asking me like 80 billion questions during the piece.
HOLMES: I've got a lot of questions. Yes, about it. Because I thought, initially, you are essentially, it is measuring what you are- it is training your brain, versus just looking and saying, OK, move ball, move ball?
BALDWIN: Exactly. So, here is the Star Wars toy. This game, essentially. And you don't look at the ball and think, all right, ball, move. And the ball doesn't move. What it is doing with these things on this headset, it is measuring your brainwaves, specific brainwaves. So you mind is a muscle, essentially. And you are teaching your mind, your brain, to either focus, or you are using perhaps a different muscle to relax. And there are all kinds of other applications, including, you know, NeuroSky is using-giving this to kids in other video games, where kids, if they have attention issues, ADHD, even some kids with autism, and it is helping them focus.
HOLMES: So, this is a toy, it is a game, but man it has some serious implications down the road.
BALDWIN: It does.
HOLMES: And some uses.
BALDWIN: Kind of wild.
HOLMES: It took you a while, you said it is not easy.
BALDWIN: It did. No, it is not easy. The first time I sat there, of course, the magic of editing, we cut to when it was actually working. But no, it took a while and you get frustrated and that is definitely not when the ball is going to move. But eventually you learn how to train your brain.
HOLMES: Wow. I'm going to try that a little later. We were going to try it live here, but it just that it takes a while. And Lord knows, I can't focus.
BALDWIN: We'll try it. We'll throw this thing on you, we'll see how it works.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you for that. That was interesting stuff. Good stuff.
BALDWIN: Thanks.
HOLMES: We'll try to continue here. Ignore this while we talk about Tea Party. Talking about Nashville and what's happening there. Don't know what they are using their brains for there. But they are trying to put their brains to good use for this movement, people are calling it. The Tea Party, their first ever national convention going on right now. All eyes on tonight's main attraction. You may have heard of her, Sarah Palin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. From the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for February 6. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BALDWIN: Good Saturday morning to you.
I'm Brook Baldwin in for Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your weekend with us.
And man, if you are in, what, the Mid-Atlantic area you are hanging out, staying indoors, staying warm. All kinds of pictures we are showing you this morning. We are blasting out the snowmageddon, if you will. Not a lot of people moving very fast. In fact, the snow really outpacing a lot of the plows that are trying to move the snow away.
No flights coming or going, really, out of a lot of the airports out of Northern Virginia, D.C., Philadelphia.
We have Reynolds standing by for us in the thick of things. There he is on The National Mall.
Reynolds, good morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys, what we are seeing here is still we have that blizzard warning in effect until 10 o'clock tonight local time. Some places in the capital area have anywhere from say 10 to even 20 inches of snowfall. More on that, coming up.
HOLMES: Reynolds, thank you. We will see you here shortly.
And also, the Tea Party throwing a party in Nashville, Tennessee. They have about 600 folks at their first-ever convention. We'll tell you what they are looking forward to, this evening. Sarah Palin the keynote speaker tonight. We'll get into, exactly, what this group is about. What they are trying to do. That is coming up in just a sec.
BALDWIN: But first we want to get a quick check of some of the top stories overnight.
Talking about those 10 American Baptist missionaries, all jailed in Haiti on kidnapping charges. They have a bail hearing Monday. CNN's Karl Penhaul is in Haiti and tells us the country's attorney general is considering the charges too serious for even giving them bail. Those Americans are accused of trying to take 33 babies and children out of Haiti, into the Dominican Republic.
HOLMES: Turn to Alabama, now, where this is just west of Huntsville, in Madison, where a 14-year-old is dead. He was shot and killed at Discovery Middle School. The suspected shooter? A fellow ninth grader. He is in custody right now and charged with murder. Police have not identified him or released a possible motive.
BALDWIN: Well, despite all the snow just hammering the Washington area today, aides to President Obama says he will stay on schedule. In fact, he is expected to speak this morning at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting. According to its chairman, the president will be talking jobs, health care, really his vision for the Democratic Party, among other issues. And we will be bringing that speech to you live this morning, starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. Right here on CNN.
Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, all getting pounded today by a blizzard that could leave record amounts of snow. So far what we are hearing, a record two and a half feet predicted for the Washington area alone. Look at these pictures.
A sad story out of Virginia here. A father and son, they stopped to help another driver when they were killed when a tractor trailer just slammed into them.
And the weather, it is really having this domino effect on air travel across the country. Not a lot of flights coming and going in some of these cities. Major airlines, including Southwest, Midwest, United and US Airways canceling flights to several cities up and down the East Coast.
And a whole other issue here. Cleaning it up. Pretty tough job for those folks today. And many cities and states have already overspent. They have already spent all the money in their snow removal budgets.
HOLMES: All right. And Reynolds Wolf is-we checked in with him just a moment ago. We will continue to check in with him throughout the morning. That is his live picture there. It looks like a couple of people on the road. You see the camera moving around a bit there. Hopefully nobody had an accident there. But a few people have been out in the road. He is in D.C. We want to check in first with our Karen Maginnis, standing by with the question everybody has, as we see that camera move all around.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But the question everybody has is just when is this going to stop?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is going to be the next 24 hours. And the two biggest aspects of this storm is the roads are terrible. It is really going to be more than tricky to get out on those roadways, unless it is an absolute emergency.
The other thing is the snow is coming down so hard and it is so heavy that power outages are going to be big problem. We saw that in Oklahoma City. In some cases it took more than a week for the power to come back on.
And the third aspect is at the airports, the airports themselves may be open, but the flights are not coming or going, no aspect of it. We have some live pictures out of Baltimore. Take a look at this interchange. I've been watching this all morning, wanted to show you this. This is a little tiny corner of Northeastern Baltimore. I've been watching to see if cars have been going along what looks to be a very precipitous area to drive on. If you make one false move, that could be very treacherous. Anyway, just wanted to show you that and just how bad the roads are.
All right. Washington, D.C., they have already seen 10 inches of snowfall. Could see an additional foot to 15 inches. Philly could see an additional foot. But look in New York City. Now we typically think, all right, it is going to go through the I-95 corridor. No. Not necessarily. New York, I think you are going to get spared.
These are the warnings that we do have and we have blizzard warnings out for that Cape May area, the Atlantic City area could see 50-mile-an-hour winds. Flight explorer-want to show you this, real fast. No flights going in or out of D.C., Reagan, BWI, Philadelphia. Oh, it's a mess.
Brooke, T.J., back to you.
BALDWIN: Well, at least you said, New York is hopefully getting spared from all of this.
MAGINNIS: A little bit, yes.
BALDWIN: Let's take a look. We have a couple of pictures here. Triple box, if you will. You are looking at Philadelphia, of course, Washington, and New York. And like Karen said, you know 20 to 30 inches possible. Record breaking snow. Stay inside. Let those plows do their thing. Enjoy it from the indoors and stay warm.
HOLMES: We want to turn now to what some could call organized anger, or we could call it Tea Party Nation. Either way, a group of activists fed up and ready to boot some lawmakers out of office. They wrap up their first national convention tonight with a keynote speech from Sarah Palin.
But this may be the real headline: A new CNN poll finds that a third of the country thinks the Tea Party is on the right track. Daniel Stone, a senior reporter for "Newsweek" is at that convention.
Daniel, good morning to you. It has been a couple of days so far and, of course, the big keynote tonight. Explain to us here, is this the start of something much grander? We saw those huge protests back in the summer and thousand upon thousands organizing around the country. But now it is being organized in a whole new way.
DANIEL STONE, SR. REPORTER, "NEWSWEEK": You're right. This is a movement that started a year ago, when Barack Obama was sworn in, and it showed itself to be strong. The fact that they are having a convention now really takes it to the next level. They want to be taken seriously. They want to seen in a fancy location. They want to be seen with money and organizing potential and that they can be a force and a formidable one, especially heading into November.
HOLMES: Yes, you mention that organizing potential. And a part of that, besides just you know marches and protests, which make for good pictures. Now they are forming a political action committee. They are, I guess, essentially, officially now, getting in the game, if you will?
STONE: Right one of the organizers announced yesterday the intent to pool a lot of the left over money from the convention and use it for political action committee that was going to used to really support several races; mostly in the South, coming in November. Now that is very different from the Tea Party movement that we saw earlier this year, on The Mall, that was just for everything that the Democrats and a lot of Washington was against. Now they are really focusing their anger. They are really focusing their attention. And of course, now their money, which you know in politics, speaks a lot louder.
HOLMES: And you talked about supporting races. What kind of candidates are they supporting? A lot of people maybe under the impression that simply they are anti-administration, anti-President Obama's agenda, but are they willing to support Republicans or Democrats, any candidate out there who is speaking to their issues?
STONE: That has been one of the big surprises of this convention. A lot of folks have told me, of course, they are against the Democrats and President Obama's agenda. They are also against Republicans in Congress. They are not pleased with anyone in Washington these days. So they are going to be focusing their efforts on getting new people into Congress.
There is going to be a litmus test for folks that are already running. Someone like Marco Rubio, down in Florida. They are going to support him because he passes that test. But they are not just going to throw blind support behind any Republican because, frankly, a lot of Republicans in Congress aren't conservative, enough, or aren't against President Obama's agenda, enough, or aren't against the ways of Washington, enough to really be supported by this movement.
HOLMES: And we saw a video there of Scott Brown, of course, who just won that race, I think now a senator, Senator Brown, out of Massachusetts. Now I know one Tea Party branch was backing him, but how have they organized? There seems to be so many Tea Party branches and chapters popping up all over the country. Do they all fall under this one Tea Party umbrella?
STONE: No, T.J., the Tea Party umbrella is very broad. They are very against very broad things, like government spending, the ways of Washington, and they want fiscal conservatism. From there it branches off. What has been interesting is that a lot of the breakout sessions at this convention have been about a lot of the things, that frankly, propelled President Obama to office in 2008. They want to tap into social media, they are talking about things like Facebook and Twitter, grassroots organizing. They want to phone bank. That is exactly what they did for Scott Brown, they'll tell you. And it worked. And they want to use it in a much broader way come November.
HOLMES: All right. Daniel Stone, as I say, again, is a senior reporter for "Newsweek" He has been partying with the Tea Party, the past couple of days. And I guess the biggest-the biggest highlight of the convention, this evening, for a lot of folks, Sarah Palin going to be speaking. I know you will be there. But we appreciate you getting up early and taking some time with us and dealing with the clanging back there. They are getting ready probably for breakfast. You said some of the sessions start around 8:30.
STONE: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Daniel, good to see you. You enjoy the rest of your time there.
STONE: Certainly (ph).
HOLMES: All right. You can catch that keynote address by Sarah Palin, live on CNN this evening. Our coverage starts at 9:00 o'clock Eastern, right here.
BALDWIN: Well, we are continuing our coverage of really what is billed as the Blizzard of 2010, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. And of course, what do we do with Reynolds Wolf? He's in the thick of things.
Hey, Reynolds.
WOLF: Hey, guys, that is the way it goes sometimes. We're talking about 10 to 20 inches of snowfall here in the nation's capital, and believe it or not, we've got more coming on the way. You are watching CNN SATURDAY. Stay cool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: I assume Betty put that request in before she left. She loves that song.
BALDWIN: She loves that song? I love that song.
HOLMES: She loves that song.
Not, so glamorous of a life right now for Reynolds Wolf.
Reynolds, you know what, we shouldn't complain. I know Reynolds isn't complaining. This is what he lives for.
You hear me all right, there, buddy?
WOLF: I'm doing great. These are good times. I mean, that is if you like the snow you are going to be a happy camper. But let's be honest. I mean, if you live here in the nation's capital, this is treacherous stuff, because we are not even done yet. We have a long ways to go before this storm is over. In fact, blizzard warnings continue until 10:00 o'clock local time And you can see behind me, part of The Mall, you see the nation's capitol, there in the background. And just right in front of the capitol, you can see the statue of General Ulysses S. Grant, former president also. And I think the way the statue is this morning, you know, basically frozen solid, it is how many of the people in this region feel. We are going to be dealing with this for quite sometime.
We have been talking about the snowfall totals, here in the area, 10 to 20, right here in the capital. Many other places around the area, a bit more, others a bit less. And what is interesting, Jeremy, let's pan over here and get a shot of these trees. I know it is going to wreak havoc on the lens, because the snow is going to be hitting it. But look at one of the side of the trees you have all the snow building up, but on the other that is not the case. That is the east side of the tree, which means that we have that wind spinning around that center of circulation, area of low pressure, picking up all that Atlantic moisture and boom, there it goes.
Reynolds Wolf is about to do a no, no. We are not supposed to cross over here, but I'm going to do it anyway, just for a little bit. Just for you viewers at home. I'll do anything for you guys. Take a look at what we've got. It is really wet, damp snow. If you ever go out west in the Rockies, and you get a nice powder; this is not powder. This is like some real moist kind of nasty stuff. And this is the thing that has really been causing issues.
Not just, of course, on the roads and the side streets, but also on the train tracks. The only thing that is working in terms of public transportation here at the capital is the Metro railway, the stuff that is underground. The stuff that is above ground won't work, because once the snow gets over that center rail, that electrified rail, the trains aren't going to work. So, you are going to have big problems there.
At the airports, as Karen has been telling you-forget about it. You are not going to be flying out. Maybe tomorrow, but even tomorrow you are going to have that backlog of planes trying to take off.
Now, everything else here at the capital, well, again you see some police officers out and about. Taxis not at all, city buses certainly not working today. And I am sure you are going to see more of the same over towards Baltimore, back in Annapolis. And the thing that is interesting about it is when you have one area that has really been hammered, in terms of the travel, like the major airports here, it is going to have that affect on Atlanta, on New York, on Chicago. It is going to have the affect in places like Los Angeles.
So, a huge mess for millions of people, but what can you do? It is all nature. It is all-again heavy, heavy snow. And it is going to keep coming down for sometime to come. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
HOLMES: Rennie, we know the public transit, those things aren't working, and I know it is still early there, but for the most part, everybody off the road? Is it-are the roads abandoned right now? Nobody is trying to drive through that stuff?
WOLF: Well, you have goofballs like us that are out. There is no question about that. You definitely see some people that are out and about. Some people in the four-wheel drive vehicles. A few- Jeremy, I think, yes, Jeremy and I saw, I guess, an Acura trying to go by. And it was actually stuck over in this intersection a short while ago. There were a couple of D.C.'s finest that help dig them out, move them on their way, probably with a good talking to, too.
Because let's be honest, if you don't have to get on the roads, if you don't have to be out here, by all means, don't not good news at all. We have had two fatalities in Virginia. People, Good Samaritans, on the side of the road, trying to help others. Got hit by another vehicle, moving-it is a dangerous time. If you can stay at home, by all means do so.
BALDWIN: And real quickly, when was that last record? You said it was in the '20s? 1920s? The Knickerbocker?
WOLF: Oh, you are talking about the Knickerbocker storm, The Knickerbocker storm took place back in the 1920s, 1922, to be exact.
BALDWIN: Yes, that is the last time -
WOLF: On January 27, 28, yes, a big, big stuff. And back then they didn't have things like this. Jeremy, let's sweep if we can, get a shot of the snow plow, one of many that are going to be out today.
BALDWIN: All right!
WOLF: They certainly could have used those back in the '20s.
BALDWIN: All right.
WOLF: You betcha.
HOLMES: Rennie, thank, buddy. We'll be talking to you again later this morning.
WOLF: See you guys later. BALDWIN: Well, you know what else has been cold lately? The job market. But there are some great companies out there so, we will tell you where you might want to send your resume, hoping for a good ol' job.
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HOLMES: All right. The Labor Department says the nation's unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in January. That is from 10 percent in December. At the same time, though, we still lost 20,000 jobs. A lot of people scratching their head. What? That doesn't make sense. We lost jobs but the unemployment went down? Well, the reason being, the people who just gave up and stopped looking they are not counted as part of the job market anymore. So, many more people still just stopped looking. That is why the rate went down and also we lost jobs.
Now, the jobless rate, so far, doing pretty good right now, so 10.2 percent was the high we saw not too long ago. Well, if you are unemployed and looking, there are some good news at least, according to CNNMoney.com. Twenty-two of the best companies to work for have at least 500 job openings each. So, that equals about 87,000 jobs in all.
BALDWIN: That's pretty good. Let's take a look at some of the companies. Here are the top four companies on the list. That is Edward Jones, which is a financial firm, Wegmans grocery store, Google, and Qualcomm, a telecommunications company.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, President Obama, he says small business will also play a role in rebuilding the economy. During his weekly address, released just this morning, the president urged lawmakers on both side to pass a series of proposals. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last year the steps we took supported over 47,000 loans to small businesses, and delivered billions in tax relief to small business owners, which helped companies keep their doors open, make payroll, and hire workers. But we can, and must, do more.
That is why I've proposed a series of steps this week to support small business owners and the jobs they create. To provide more access to credit, more incentives to hire, and more opportunities to grow and sell products all over the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Among the president's proposals is a plan to take $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, and create a small business lending fund. The president also wants to give a tax credit to small businesses that do hire employees, or give them raises.
BALDWIN: Well, here is something a lot of us know. College is expensive, but you don't have to pay the full price. Clyde Anderson is here, in fact, he has a special guest, over here, to give us some tips, something he does each and every Saturday, Sharp at 7:15.
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BALDWIN: Let's talk about just how much college tuition has gone up this year. Attending a public school is now $7,000. That is up 6.5 percent from last year. Tuition at a private college is more than $26,000 a year. That is 4.44 percent of an increase. Those figures officially coming from the CollegeBoard.com.
HOLMES: Well, people trying to pay for college, the thing is, of course, millions of people are out of work at the same time. Other families may look like they in good shape on paper, but they still need help paying for college. Our financial analyst, Clyde Anderson, is here to answer all of our questions, every weekend. But even on this one, Clyde had to bring in some help.
CLYDE ANDERSON, CNN FINANCIAL ADVISOR: Yes.
HOLMES: Clyde, good morning to you.
ANDERSON: Good morning, T.J.
BALDWIN: Hi, Clyde.
ANDERSON: Well, this is the season to find money for college. And today I have a guest, Felicia Ferguson Ailster is here. She is a financial aid professional and she is going to help us get the answers to find the financial aid.
Felicia, what advice do you give parents, right now, looking for financial aid?
FELICIA FERGUSON AILSTER, FINANCIAL AID PROFESSIONAL: The first thing I tell parent is to complete their income federal returns as soon as possible. And once they complete that tax return the next step was to complete a FAFSA form, if the student is going to a public institution. Now, if that student is going to a private institution, they'll need to complete a FAFSA form and a CSS profile form as soon as possible. It is the best way and it helps determine what types of financial aid the student will be eligible for.
ANDERSON: OK, that is great advice. Now what are some of the most common misconceptions you hear from parents when you are dealing with financial aid?
AILSTER: The most common misconception I hear from parents is that they make too much money to be able to be eligible for financial aid. And what parents don't realize is that federal student loans are part of the financial aid award package.
ANDERSON: OK.
AILSTER: And many times even if the student isn't eligible for a federal grant they could still be eligible for need based federal loans. And, Clyde, these are great loans. They have low interest rates and the interest does not accrue while the student is in school.
Now the parent can make a million dollars and still qualify for non-need based student loans. These are also great loans. But the interest does accrue while the student is in school.
ANDERSON: OK, well, we are talking about need-based right now.
AILSTER: Yes?
ANDERSON: A lot of people are out of jobs, you know, we are experiencing a downturn in our economy. What can those parents do that are really looking for money for college and they are out of work? What happens?
AILSTER: Right. And we are obviously experiencing economic difficulties, right now, at this time in our country. And one good thing that has happened is that now, students whose parents experienced a lay off are getting special consideration when it comes to federal grants.
Now, on the FAFSA it asks, is your parent a dislocated worker? If you answer yes to that question, and the parent completed a 1040A, or a 1040EZ tax return, their eligibility for a federal grants are immediately reconsidered.
ANDERSON: OK, well, it looks like student loan reform is on the president's mind as well. He has currently made a new proposal and this is what he had to say earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now you've got a lot of banks and financial service companies who are still middlemen in the federally guaranteed loan programs. And if we can cut those middlemen out, then you have several billion dollars that you can invest in the programs that I just described. This is something that I've made a top priority. I want us to once again have the highest college graduation rates of any country in the world. By 2020 we can get that done but this is legislation that needs to pass. And the last point I would make, colleges and universities also, though, have to figure out, how can they cut their costs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Felicia, tell me, how is this going to effect schools?
AILSTER: Right now, the govern is in the beginning stages of revamping the direct lending program at this time. But I will say, one of the other proposals would be to increase the federal Pell Grant rates. And I think that any increase in the federal Pell Grant will always benefit the neediest students, especially with the increase in tuition and fee costs.
ANDERSON: Well, Felicia, thank you very much. I have three little ones at home, so I'm going to stay close to you. We'll be watching. AILSTER: No problem. It was my pleasure.
ANDERSON: Thank you for joining us.
HOLMES: Clyde is going to have to-he has a house full of women, actually. The little ones are little girls and they are going to want to go to the biggest most expensive university they can find.
ANDERSON: Exactly.
HOLMES: All right, Clyde. Good luck to you.
Clyde is with us, of course, every week. We love having him here with us. He is here to answer your questions. And he's not too proud, if he can't answer them he'll bring in some help. Somebody who actually can answer them. Again, just love that picture, the leaning tower of Clyde we call it around here.
(LAUGHTER)
You can send your e-mails to Weekends@CNN.com. You an also find Clyde's web site, at Financiallifeconnection.com.
BALDWIN: All right. Well, Clyde, nice job this morning.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: And in the 8:00 o'clock hour, we will stay on this snowmageddon story. We'll talk weather for, really, seems like the rest of the day.
HOLMES: Yes, but of course, as always around this time, "SANJAY GUPTA, MD."
That is coming up right after the break.
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