Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20110201

president's own words against him in the ruling on "american morning." top of the hour to you here. welcome to this "american morning" on this tuesday, february 1st. i'm in for kieran chetry. following developments in egypt. thousands are gathering in egypt's tahrir square. just nerd soldiers did open fire into the air during a tense standoff with demonstrators in the heart of cairo. the situation was defused when they began chanting the people and the army are one. meanwhile, food and supplies are growing scarce in egypt. long lines outside of supermarkets and whatever is left is being rationed. banks and atm machines have gone dark and the internet is down. there is no cell phone service. hundreds of stranded travelers are trying desperately to get out and leave the country and most carriers have canceled all of their flights. a new development, opposition leader mohamed elbaradei warning to cut ties with hosni mubarak. >> your message to president obama is what? >> my message to president obama and i have lots of respect for him and i worked with him in the last year of my tenure and i have a lot of admiration for him, but i tell him, you need to review your policy and you need to let go of mubarak. you shouldn't be behind the curve. you need to start building confidence with the people and not with the people who are smothering the people. >> all right, we want to go live to cairo right now. our anderson cooper is there for us this morning. anderson, hello to you. called a day for a march of millions. does it appear they are on their way to that? >> it's hard to give you an actual crowd estimate but i'll step aside and show you the crowd here because this is the largest crowd that we have seen so far in liberation square and i'm not sure if the pictures from this angle do it justice but just wall-to-wall people here and standing shoulder to shoulder. this protest which began four hours ago here in cairo, but it still continues to grow. more people continue to pour into this square. it's very difficult at this point to move down there. i was down in the crowd before. there is just a lot of excitement, a lot of desire to keep the momentum of these protests going. protesters realize it's critical, t.j., that they keep the momentum going and they not give any sign that their efforts are lagging or their spirits are sagging. they want to send a clear message to president mubarak that nothing short of him leaving will satisfy them, t.j. >> you're saying this certainly appear toz be, no matter what the numbers there, this appears to be larger than the ones we've seen. any talk of what happens tomorrow? they want to keep the momentum but some people report of food short nls and people struggling in their day-to-day lives. can they keep this up? >> well, there's no doubt. this city is at a standstill. when you look at a crowd like this, it's not just young people as we have seen over the last several days. people here who are doctors and engineers and lawyers. i have spoken to people from wide variety of different parts of society here. so, most businesses here are shut down. the banks are shut down, atms don't have any money. there are long lines for bread and shortages of food and it's not clear how much longer something has to give, t.j. it's not clear which side will give, whether it's the government or hosni mubarak or the protesters. when you talk to the protesters they say they're not going to give up sxu bandon this squaaba and talking about having a larger demonstration on friday, two days from now, if mubarak has not stepped down. >> some of the protests clearly have been passionate and some anger out in the streets, as well. for the most part what you're seeing here is about the same and so far peaceful despite what police and army presence you are seeing down there, as well? >> yeah, you don't see a police presence. it is peaceful and a heavy military presence here and they're really controlling access to the square. tanks in front of me and military key checkpoints all around the square. they really control people's ability to get into this square. but, again, the crowd there is just, it is tremendous. there are military tanks on the far side there. american university in cairo over there. but in the square itself, you don't see any military personnel and what's really interesting, t.j., not only is it peaceful, but the protesters are policing themselves. they have taken it upon themselves to search people as they enter. as we came in along with thousands of other people we were all patted down and various layers of security and, again, not government security all just protesters who want to make sure there are no intigaters here and make sure that no one is here to cause any kind of violence. as people enter the square, peaceful, peaceful that's what we heard from organizers that were coming in. >> anderson cooper live in cairo. we appreciate you. we'll continue to check in as often as we can. at 6:30 eastern we'll be talking to lauren bohn studying at an american university in cairo and also a former intern here at cnn and offered an opportunity to leave egypt but decided to stay. we'll ask her why. a major storm to tell you about this morning. this winter it's been storm after storm after storm and hits the northeast and hits the south and hits different regions and this one seems like it is hitting just about everybody. a historic storm that will affect some 100 million americans. oklahoma city, snow is coming down and it's awfully windy. you can make out that wind certainly blowing across the screen there. also, another look in st. louis, they'll get some ice there and snow is expected later. the missouri governor there saying folks should batten down the hatches and hold on. >> this storm is huge. winter storm warnings stretch some 2,000 miles from albuquerque all the way to boston. rob marciano is live in chicago. we'll get to him in one minute, but, first, ed lavandera live in oklahoma city. good morning, ed, what are you seeing there? >> good morning, kate. people here in this state under a state of emergency. the governor declared yesterday before this storm even rolled in. you can see already this morning, this has happened in just the last few hours. the snow has really started to pile up here in downtown. the mayor of oklahoma city telling local reporters here last night that he wasn't sure that the city services will be able to keep up with clearing the roads for all of this as the storm blows through, so they are really warning people to kind of stay in place. there's been a run at the grocery store and, really, they've been told to expect blizzard-like conditions, possibly throughout the day as the wind gusts go over 35 miles an hour. but the snow already starting to pile up from oklahoma city to tulsa into the northeast corner of the state as we're expecting the most snow. as you and see right now, this wind is really what is going to make this so difficult for so many people. >> all right, thanks so much, ed. weal 'll check back in with you shortly. >> rob marciano who is in chicago for us. you said chicago was a place that could see historic snowfall. are they getting going yet? >> you know, you think of chicago, you think of really nasty weather and all sorts of snow, but eight or ten inch snowfall in this city is a fairly large amount unless you're getting a big lake-effect snow event. to talk about 12, 18, 20, potentially 24 inches of snow, that's historic and easily surpass that big one back in 1999. we did have a pulse of snow that came through last night and the rivers still flowing and a couple inches came through and they were able to clear that out. i can't remember the last time i saw so many kind of warm-up acts for the big show coming later this afternoon. michigan avenue is clear, they have 400 trucks ready to go to take care of this city, if you get 20 inches, it's going to be a tough route. blizzard warnings out for 3:00 p.m. today until 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. let's talk about the rest of the country. winter storm warnings that are posted from new mexico all the way to new england. blizzard warnings from michigan back through oklahoma. i can't remember the last time i saw a map that was this lit up with watches and warnings. we may see a swath of a foot of snow over almost a 2,000 linear mile area. truly remarkable. radar showing not only the frozen precip and heavy rain across part of the gulf. so, we're going to see severe over texas coast line and louisiana, mississippi, alabama and the pink is the worrisome area and we'll look for freezing rain and icing build up and an inch and a half and an inch of ice and, again, here, we could see as much as a couple of feet of snow and as you saw in ed's live shot that snow blowing sideways and with wind chills around zero, that is the dangerous effect. they don't want anybody sleeping outside if they don't want to here in the city of chicago. other cities across the midwest are taking the same precautions. back to you guys. >> thank you, rob, we appreciate you. also reynolds wolf, we'll check in with him live. he's in st. louis. we'll talk to him in about 20 minutes. also new this morning, unconstitutional. a federal judge has struck down president obama's health care law. he's not the first, but went much further than before avoiding pretty much the whole thing. ed henry live for us at the white house. hey, ed, what is the white house saying about this? how significant of a setback is this for president obama? >> a big blow but the white house through spokeswoman stephanie cutter is saying this is an overreach, a reagan employee, something that democrats pointed out right away. what does this remind us? a lot of this back and forth has been about politics. two lower courts saying that, in fact, the obama health care reform law is constitutional. there have now been two, virginia and florida saying, no, it's not constitutional. i think the bottom line is this shows it will drag on for a long time. what our viewers need to know in the short term some benefits that have already rolled out such as prescription drug coverage for senior, some extra drug coverage that's still going forward for now in terms of children with pre-existing conditions as well as the fact if you have a kid who is just coming out of college and don't have health inshrps they are covered through their parents' plan through the age of 26. the white house is pushing forward on those and they believe that will continue. it's it's the big picture stuff that you have to buy insurance not implemented until 2014 that is a jump ball up for grabs but the bottom line legal experts say this goes to the supreme court maybe likely decided in the summer 2012, which will only spice up that presidential race. we already knew health care might be one of those issues and this pretty much guarantees. this is going to be fought out in that 2012 election. >> not going away at all and for americans across the country, creating confusion along the way as we get to get a final ruling. interesting, ed, i wanted to get your thoughts on this the judge in florida then quoted candidate obama -- >> those pesky lawyers quoting what politicians said before. don't they hate that? this is one of the interesting ironies of the whole thing. barack obama has now, you know, it's been hung on him that he wants this individual mandate and the centerpiece of his health care reform law. people forget back in the 2008 campaign, he was not on board with that. hillary clinton wanted that in the democratic primaries and then president obama was saying maybe the mandate goes too far. not a surprise that the republicans are throwing his words against him. what the obama administration believes is that now they had more time, a couple years to study this and go through it, this is critical here. without an individual mandate demanding, pardon me, that you buy insurance, basically people would only buy insurance when they got sick. this demands that everyone, even when you're healthy that you have to get insurance. that balances it out and the administration believes that will be the driver of driving health care costs down. but bottom line, this is the issue that is dividing both parties and it's not going to be settled any time soon. it will probably take a couple more years to battle this out, kate. >> absolutely. ed henry at the white house, thanks so much, ed. >> good to see you. coming up, police in pennsylvania call it the worst case of bullacy they've seen. a 13-year-oldboten, dragged and hung on a fence. all videotaped by one of the alleged attackers. alina cho is following that story. one group where first amendment rights don't apply. kids enyour home. showing parent how to spy on their own children. and don't panic. but maybe you should panic a little bit. we're running out of internet addresses. what is the solution? i have no idea, but we're going to find out and we have it details for you coming up. 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(announcer) icy hot patches. targeted no-mess relief. icy to dull pain. hot to relax it away. pain's no match for the icy hot patch. 18 minutes past the hour here on this "american morning." six pennsylvania teenagers now charged with attacking their 13-year-old classmate. >> the bullying incident cause taped, actually, by one of the alleged assailants. alina cho is following this story. >> it is unbelievable. the attack lasted about 20 minutes. about seven of those minutes caught on tape. police in the area are calling it the worst case of bullying they've ever seen. authorities say a group of seven students in all, six have been arrested. they've been described as a wolf pack brazenly attacked a 13-year-old boy in broad daylight. it happened on january 11th outside an apartment complex as the boy was walking home from school and one of the suspects, classmates of the victim did videotape it on a cell phone. police near philadelphia released the disturbing video. it is about seven minutes long and it shows the boy as he was kicked, punched and dragged through the snow. the 13-year-old was even seen dangling upside down from a tree. >> tried to get out, try to leave, try to escape and try to get out the tree and run away. even when i did that, run away the first time, they attacked me and caught me again. >> that's bright. the alleged perpetrators eventually hung him by his jacket on a wrought iron fence. something police say could have impaled him, could have killed him. a woman was even seen on the videotape passing by while the attack was taking place and did nothing. authorities say the worst part about this, nobody called 911, even as the ball screamed for help. >> they could have killed that kid. impaling him by the neck on that metal barrier there. >> now, yesterday police arrested six of the seven alleged attackers at upper darby high school. they carded them out in handc f handcuffs in front of their classmates. the suspects range in age from 13 to 17 years oold and face charges including kidnapping and false imprisonment. authorities say they don't know what sparked the attack and still not clear if the victim was injured. but, guys, hardly the point when you look at that videotape. i mean, the police chief is calling the perpetrators bums and thugs. again, as i said, it's the worse case of bullying they've ever seen and this 13-year-old did say to local reporters that he had been bullied many, many times before. this isn't the first time that he says he's encountered these suspects. >> we don't know what sparked this? >> we don't know, yet. >> again, if we hadn't had that videotape, maybe we would have come to this. >> perhaps not because it would have been a he said/he said type of incident. but it is extraordinary. not the smartest move to videotape the attack, clearly. >> keep us posted. >> i will. >> thanks, alina. he says your kids have no, zero first amendment rights under your roof. a new york state senator and 20-year veteran of the nymd posted a video on youtube showing parent how to supply on their children. here's a clip. >> i always recommend to start off in a periodic fashion so you can be used to going through the room. the jewelry box of this nature, may be a simple jewelry box, but if you look through it closely, you never know what your child may be hiding. for instance, a gun could be hidden. a small caliber weapon could be hid inside a jewelry box. look to see what is inside your bux cases. more than just books. perfect place to hide cocaine. >> the head of a leading youth's right group said this could be very dangerous and undermine the parent/child trust. they are defending the video saying we need to do more to stop illegal gun violence. >> that is a great online question of the day. a lot of parents, old school would say, yes, i can do whatever i want to do with my child's room, but that seems like it's going a little far. >> well, i mean, how often are you going to find a gun and a bag of cocaine in your child's room? >> well, i was a bad kid at times but they never found a gun or cocaine in the room. >> tell us what you think about that. >> most kids keep dirty magazines, it goes a lilt littl there, it seems. coming up next on this "american morning" -- can you take this read? >> google is still helping folks in egypt get the word out. we'll tell you how. and you may not believe who's behind a new gun sting. very interesting. you want to stay with us. 23 minutes after the hour. 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[ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ] and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. ♪ and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. googingal helping egyptians get out the word after a communications crackdown there. our stephanie elam is minding your business this morning to tell us about this. >> there are ways around things, right? that's what they're finding out. we did know that the mobile phone networks were supposed to be shut down ahead of the march of omillions. there is a little bit of cell service still there but internet service has been down. how activity leading into the 27th and somewhere overnight in egypt, you see that? internet traffic, okay, people are sleeping and then it falls off a cliff. that's when most of the internet service was shut off, except for a few companies and also government ministries. but, now, egyptians have an option. let me tell you, this idea, apparently, these folks came up with it over the weekend. you know what we should do? call in a number and get your tweet out. take a look at what they're doing here. you leave a voicemail on an international phone number. a bunch of phone numbers and the numbers are available on google's blog and those messages instantly turned into tweets and you can call into those numbers to listen to the tweets, as well. then, also, you have to take it back to the old school sometimes and just dial up. that's what is also happening, too, in egypt. they can find those old school numbers and you get that, they can do that again. but, yeah, 30 numbers, you can dial in and get on the internet by dial-up. >> the google tweet thing, they had this sitting on the shelf to think about, or they came up with this overnight? >> they had to help the egyptians get their messages out and we should do this. >> is it in text form so people can read? >> you can get your tweets out and if you can't get on to read tweets you can call in. we have some smart people running around the world. >> what did you doover t over t weekend? >> nothing. well, of course, the other big story we're following, the massive winter storm is not hitting one or two parts of the country, it is hitting the entire area. just getting started. we'll have our reynolds wolf coming up live, next. an american student studying in cairo was offering a chance to leave the country and come back home, but she decided to stay. we'll ask her why when she joins us live from cairo. in just about seven minutes. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. if you don't like driving in snow. get the 2011 jeep grand cherokee. it has a select terrain snow setting. so it can grip snow covered roads. and if you do like driving in snow... get the 2011 jeep grand cherokee. it has a select terrain snow setting. so it can grip snow covered roads. for adults, stelara® helps control moderate or severe plaque psoriasis with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. in a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses, it's stelara®. we are at the bottom of is the hour here on "american morning." t.j. holmes with kate. the health care law ruled unconstitution. we got that from a judge out of florida. this is seen as being one of the biggest hits so far to the president's health care reform law. so far two judges have upheld it and called it constitutional and two others including this latest ruling find it unconstitutional. much more on this and what it means for you and your health care moving forward. new york city mayor mike bloomberg says it's easy it buy high-powered weapons in the u.s. and he has the video to prove it. bloomberg's undercover investigators were able to buy firearms despite telling vendors they wouldn't pass a background check. mayor bloomberg is challenging lawmakers to close the so-called gun show loophole that lets buyers purchase weapons from private sellers with no background check. also, it has been called the biggest, baddest, ugliest storm of the season. we have already seen some big, bad and ugly ones. this one, though, covers a whole big swath of the country. you see it there, 100 million people really affected from new mexico to new england. blizzard warnings from oklahoma to michigan. some mralss places expecting too feet of snow. >> reynolds wolf is joining me live from st. louis. reynolds, calm before the storm, is that what you're dealing with right now? >> absolutely. you know, guys, this is the beginning of just a monstrous system. hundreds of miles wide and bring snow, sleet and ice and right now in st. louis, all freezing ice and sleet. some of you can see it on your screen. when it hits it is bonding with the streets and road signs. we have a tremendous warning for all the st. louis met ropolitan area. we expect winds to intensify 30, 40, 50, 60-mile-per-hour gusts and with that the potential for widespread power outages. keep in mind, hundreds of power outages reported on both sides of the river and this thing is getting cranked up. we expect to see a big change going from the sleet to the snow and then the heavy, heavy snow this afternoon and evening and that coupled with the wind. guys, rough winter and, again, groundhog day is tomorrow. go figure not quite sure what the groundhog is going to see or not going to see, i have a few guesses. let's pitch it back to you. >> i think we had enough already. we'll find out tomorrow. reynolds, stay warm out there, we'll check back in with you. thanks so much. >> all right, we'll turn back to egypt now. the effort is under way to get americans out. at least 52,000 are there who live there or tourists who checked in with the embassy. they're trying to get as many out as possible. some have already left egypt, thanks to the state department. many others, at least 2,000 are expected to still want to come out but one of them says she's fought going anywhere. this one american lauren bohn is in egypt and a former intern here at cnn. lauren, hello to you. let me start with that. why are you one that is not taking the state department's advice and getting out of cairo? >> right. well, i've been here, t.j., for the past week covering this on the ground, not only as a young journalist has this been an amazing experience but just on a human level to see the sheer amount of hope out on the streets and to see all these people coming together, rich, poor, christian, muslim and standing hand in hand wanting change. >> lauren, i understand you have been in at least egypt for quite some time, if i have that correct. what got you to egypt in the first place? >> it's a fascinating country. i thought it would be a wond wonderful country journalistically and it certainly has been. it's been baptism by fire here. it's been an amazing experience to see the people come together and take to the streets as they have right behind me here in tahrir square. >> what do you family and friend think about your decision to stay there and how much contact have you been able to have with them as far as letting them know that you are safe? >> sure, t.j. the past week it's been essentially a media blackstorm. i was able to tweet yesterday for about an hour. i found internet, i can't tell you where i found it, but i was able to upload some video that people have been able to call me on my cell phone, on my blackberry. but i haven't been able to make outgoing international calls. so, it's been completely demobilizing and, of course, that's the whole point. >> lauren, have you at any point felt that your safety was compromised? >> no, i mean, look, t.j., i have been putting myself on the front lines trying to show you the amazing people i met through this experience. i've been caught in some tear gas and bumped around a few times, but, if anything, the people here on the ground is very protective of foreigners. they're telling us to stay away. to not go down certain streets that it's dangerous. so, at no time had i felt any danger, even any hostility towards americans. >> it sounds like we've seen reports that some people, at least on the streets, do have a problem with the american government as far as being seen as embracing mubarak or being supportive of him but it sounds like you as an american there embracing you, at least, and other americans on the ground and want to make sure you're okay. >> yes, yes, yes. they're embracing me on the ground and embracing people on the ground and, of course, quite vocal about the fact that they want the u.s. government to help them. they want to make sure that the u.s. government is hearing them, but we, by and large, have experienced a lot of hostility on the streets here, t.j. >> lauren, we appreciate you and hopefully some of your family and friends are watching right now. they'll be able to relay the message that lauren is okay and doing okay in cairo right now. lauren, you be careful and thank you for taking some time with us this morning. >> and we'll be tweeting soon, hopefully. thank you, t.j. >> thanks a lot, lauren. still ahead, just the sound of it. smashed windows, miles away. the biggest eruption yet of a volcano that has roared back to life in japan and the last surviving american veteran from world war one has something to celebrate today. can you guess how old frank buckles is today? they could be the biggest protests we've seen yet. people already gathering in cairo this morning or in what's being called a march of millions. cnn's zain verjee is following these developments from our london bureau. the egyptian military has found itself in a pretty difficult position during these protests, it seems. >> it really has, kate. i mean, the military is really popular. today they came out and said everyone who is out on the streets, go ahead. protest and do it peacefully and they were not going to turn on them. but it is in a pretty tough spot. you know, a lot of options there. they are in control. do they want a safe way out for hosni mubarak and egypt is not damaged? are they going to support some sort of a transitional process that will ultimately lead to elections and oversee any kind of vacuum of power there. the tough part is this, guys. you know, the army has actually benefitted fromregime. they have been part of it. the top generals have privileges and they gain from the relationship with the u.s. they get $1.3 billion a year in military support. they have businesses, construction businesses that they make a lot of money from. so, that's on the one hand. on the other hand, they're realists. they can see the writing on the wall and the question is, what are their calculations. do you think they will risk, for example, going towards an election if the outcome of the election is something they don't like. meaning, leaders who are anti-american and anti-israeli. we're seeing the tanks and they're out on the streets and we don't know what they think and what they really want. >> very good question. let's turn quickly to the muslim brotherhood. the main opposition group in egypt. what does the army think about the muslim brotherhood and do they think anything that we know of? >> well, many experts have said that they don't like the muslim brotherhood. the muslim brotherhood was started back in 1928. they kind of grew in popularity because they offered all these social services like education, health, food, you know, in a manner in which the egyptian government did not. they do have an islamist kind of ideology and they want egypt to be an islamic state and the army doesn't like it because the army is secular. they are pro-western. they get a lot of supports from the united states and they have a good relationship working in terms of even sharing intelligence with israel. so, they're not going to want the muslim brotherhood there in the driver's seat in a way they can't control or to a way that could lead to a lot of tension? >> let's turn to the crowds. we have seen reports, even that children are showing up with their parent at some of these protests but at the same time most of the pictures we're seeing we see a lot of young men out in the crowds. >> let's make a distinction here. between the police who are very hated by many people in egypt and the military, who are very popular. people take pictures with them, they embrace them. early on in the protests we didn't see too many women out there because the police traditionally have harassed them. it was one instance that one of our reporters said that they saw not in these protests, but in one before, where a woman was out on the streets. the police grabbed her by her hair and dragged her literally down the road to an alley and started sexually molesting her. you did not see a lot of pictures with women out there demonstrating. today, you do. because the army has said everybody come out and protest, it's okay. but today is really kind of d-day. going to be a breaking point. going to be pivotal. it's crucial to watch and see what happens. they want more than a million people to come out and hopefully that, they hope, will be enough to push hosni mubarak out of power. >> yeah, certainly be hard to count that number, but to reports we're seeing, these are the largest crowds we've seen in the crowds that have been gathering in the streets. zain verjee, good to see you, as always. for our viewers, you want to see more of zain verjee, you can catch her every morning now on world one right here on cnn. see you, zain. the danger zone is growing around a volcano that has roared back to life in japan. scientists say it erupted with its biggest explosion in recent days. shooting rock, ash and smoke five miles. witnesses say just it shook buildings and shattered windows. the last time it ruptured this strong was 52 years ago. officials urged more than 1,000 people to seek safer ground yesterday and about 240 residents were evacuated over the weekend. rob mar seciano up after th break. the empire state building run up. you won't believe how quickly last year's winner did this. it's amazing. as often as i can i will get into a hotel that is within walking distance' i try to avoid the use of rental cars or cabs. i always pack for long trips very lightly and i do my own laundry on the road. i will pack in a small suitcase and be gone for 17 days and i'll do my laundry four times. my name is peter king and i'm a road warrior. 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[ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. about ten minutes to the top of the hour now. a good chance that this massive winter storm is going to affect you. not just hitting one region or the other. it is hitting pretty much a third of the u.s., about 100 million of you will be affected by this storm. snow, ice, yes. but even tornadoes are in the forecast and chicago could have two to three inches of snowfall per hour. >> that's where we find our rob marciano live in chicago this morning. rob, how are things looking now and what are you expecting? >> well, i tell you what, the storm hasn't even got here yet and it's a biting cold. a couple pulses of snow that came through last night and this storm is taking its sweet time developing but it's so big and so lumbering it is stretching almost already from coast to coast. from east coast back to the southern colorado rockies. this thing is huge. in the middle of it, an icing situation and you saw that live shot from reynolds, dangerous situation there. down to the south, dangerous situation with severe weather and damaging winds and/or tornados and to the north, blizzard conditions and dangerous cold. all right, radar to the northeast, your snow and your sleet and your freezing rain has already nosed its way in to the new york metropolitan area. substantial snows into the ohio river valley, as well. that's what came through here as well last night and slicing back through texas where they've had their fair share of heavier rain and thunderstorms already. we expect those thunderstorms to increase as the main pulse of cold air drives into what has been a lot of heat and humidity building over the last couple days. so, the orange, the orange texas and beaumont and will get hammered in the next couple of hours. here's what we think the storm will do with future radar showing the anticipated precipitation over the next 24 to 48 hours as this storm makes its way up. notice the westerly track. that's why the new york city area and i-95 area not all snow. that's why you're getting that mix and it's not until thursday afternoon until we get this thing off the charts. all right, travel today, obviously, not going to be fun. not going to be fun either tomorrow. chicago and calldallas, well upr an hour. clearly you need to call ahead before you venture out. new york city metros today not good, tomorrow will be worse and d.c. and philly all under the gun and the other issue with this is going to be the bitterly dangerous cold air behind this system. some areas won't get above the zero degree mark today across the northern plains. so, almost three-quarters of the country affected by this storm system, including chicago. blizzard warnings go up today at 3:00 p.m. the city itself is up and running for today and schools are open for today but come tonight things are going to go downhill in a hurry. t.j. and kate, back up to you. >> sounds a bit ominous, but it's the truth and we appreciate that. thanks. we'll check in with rob and all the crews out in the storm throughout the morning. also this morning, a story about my nemesis, red light cameras. you can't argue when they have a picture of you running the light. but do they actually save lives? that story coming up. if you watch the fridge score on the same tv you still have today, it may be time to buy a new one. the great deals out there that could land you a new tv in time, still, for the big game. we'll have that and more coming up. 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[ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ] and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. ♪ and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. and they danced. somewhere in america, there's a doctor who can peer into the future. there's a nurse who can access in an instant every patient's past. and because the whole hospital's working together, there's a family who can breathe easy, right now. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions. and the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. in just about an hour or so they will be off and running to the top of the empire state building it is. the vertical mile course covers 86 flights of stairs, which is, i'm sure you already knew this 1,576 steps from the ground floor to the observation deck. the race record, i was amazed, 9:33. our jason carroll will be testing his endurance and his poor quads and we'll check in with him in the next hour. >> is that necessary, poor quads. >> okay, his masculine quads. let's give a birthday shout out to the last surviving american veteran of world war one. frank buckles turned 110 years old today. his health, unfortunately, has been declining in the recent months. only awake a few hours a day, but from west virginia and also a prisoner of war and world war ii. so, heck of a life he has lived. happy birthday. congratulations. 110, that's quite an accomplishme accomplishment. >> happy birthday. top stories coming your way after a break. for every warrior who charges into the fight... is another who fights to keep moving forward until their return. military lives are different. at usaa we've been there. we understand. that's why our commitment to serve military, veterans and their families is without equal. usaa. for insurance, banking, investments, retirement and advice... we know what it means to serve. let us serve you. [ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. good morning! it's a march of millions against mubarak. they are bracing in cairo and the military is making a promise not to fire on protesters and take a look at the chaos at the airport. americans trying to evacuate. it's going on right now and they are scrambling to get on flights on this "american morning." hello to you all on this first day of february. welcome to this "american morning." i'm t.j. holmes. >> kieran chetry this morning. watching a massive storm across the country. ice, snow, wind, pretty much anything you can think of. 2,000 miles long and has the potential to impact 100 million people. rob is tracking the latest forecast from chicago where they are expecting the largest snow storm there since 1967. the health care reform law has now been ruled unconstitutional by another judge. this is a major ruling. our jeffrey toobin will be along to tell you what that means now for the health care reforms that have already gone into place and if the supreme court, ultimately, is going to decide this. up first, though, the uprising in egypt where massive crowds are swelling to begin a march of millions as they've called it. this could be it country's defining moment. just yesterday in the heart of cairo, government troops fire under to the air as angry mobs closed in. the look on one soldier's face really speaks volumes. a portrait of fear. a tense situation defused when demonstrators began chanting, the people and the army are one. egypt's embattled president hosni mubarak scrambling to install a new cabinet and concessions to keep his hold on power. his troops promising not to fire on peaceful protesters today. our anderson cooper is joining us live from cairo this morning. anderson, earlier you said this is probably the largest crowd you've seen since you've been there. what is the atmosphere like? what is the feeling? >> well, the crowd has only grown larger in the last hour. literally people pouring in here by the thousands, i would say, in the last hour. the crowd is, i mean, there's no official estimate, but a number of us believe it's well over 100,000 people at the very least here in this square. it's certainly the largest crowd that we've seen in many, many days, if not ever so far in this square. the atmosphere is enthusiastic, to say the least. i mean, people are here, they're here, staying here for hours and they're chanting and moving around and they're arguing and discussing things with one another, but it is very orderly. it's very peaceful. what's amazing, for a crowd this size, there are no police visible in this crowd. there are soldiers but they're only on the periphial and as you come in they search you, they pat you down and they check i.d.s and that's all protesters doing that on their own initiative, just want to make sure that everyone remains calm, remains peaceful. we've seen a number of political leaders who are in the crowd, as well. but this is a crowd, not necessarily about a any one political party or any one religious group, these are just people from all walks of life in cairo who have come to be here, to voice their opposition to president mubarak. >> i can only imagine how loud it is where you are because we can hear it on your mike. you the the unique opportunity to talk to opposition leader elbaradei. do you get the sense in the square that this is a tipping point in the protests? >> well, certainly the protesters hope that's the case. whether or not that turns out to be the case, we'll have to wait and see. but that is the idea of the prost protesters, they want a big show of force. they want to keep the momentum going. i am going to step out of the way here so you can get a sense of the sea of people here packed shoulder to shoulder. but very important when you talk to protesters. they want to keep that momentum going. they don't want the president here or the united states or anyone who is watching around the world to get the sense that the protesters, that their spirits are lagging or that their enthusiasm is lagging or that they're willing to settle for anything less than president mubarak stepping down. if you are in the crowds as i was today, nothing short of mubarak leaving will satisfy them. >> can they keep up the energy and the momentum? that is the big challenge ahead. anderson, thanks so much. great work. we'll check back in with you. one of the other great challenges there trying to get messages out and get messages around the country. the internet is effective shut down in egypt, but listen to this, google now offering egyptians a new speak to tweet service. you can call one of those numbers that you see there. if you want to take those down and maybe get it to someone in egypt, by all means, do so. this allows people instead of having to get on the internet, they can actually just leave a voice message and then google converts that voice mesinage to a tweet. you don't need an internet connection for this. this was an idea they came up with over the weekend trying to help people in egypt get the message out. so far people are starting to use it. we know a lot of americans are particular trying to get out of cairo. trying to get out of egypt. this is what they're finding at the airport, just other chaos. most have canceled their flights in to and out of egypt. thousands of people there still stranded. 100 million americpeople were evacuated and in total about 500 americans were evacuated yesterday hoping to evacuate another 1,000 today. listen to how one british tourist sums up the frustration of trying to get out. >> today we have been here, we couldn't get to the embassy yesterday, there was nobody here. and egypt, their office is in chaos. >> now, according to the state department, 52,000 americans have registered with the embassy there, so they know that many, at least, are there in country. there could be here. but, at this point, just 2,600 americans have contacted the state department asking for help in getting out. now, what could be the biggest and baddest storm of the season and that's saying a lot this winter, considering we have had several. massive in terms of strength and size. winter storm warnings from new mexico to new england, blizzard conditions expected from oklahoma to michigan. in some spots, they'll be measuring snow in feet, not even inches. the midwest right now bearing the brunt of it all. plows are out in force this morning and people are finding their cars already covered with snow and ice. so, let's get a first-hand look from some of the cities that are getting hit with this historic snow and ed lavandera in oklahoma city and rob marciano in chicago. let's begin with ed in oklahoma city. hey, ed, what are you seeing? >> good morning, kate. well, it's already the snow starting to pile up this morning. the state of emergency all across the state of oklahoma as emergency officials are telling us this morning that they're really waiting for the brunt of this snow storm to blow through, but, really, before they start sending out the snow plows and the trucks on to the roadways, essentially they're saying just kind of a futile effort at this point with so much snow falling across the street. downtown oklahoma city and, kate, you can see just how quiet the streets are. we would imagine it would be this way throughout most of the day and a lot of these roads impassable. some concern with the high winds that are blowing through that that could cause major power outages across the state, but so far we're told by state officials that they haven't had any reports of power outages. so far, that's good. they really expect the brunt of this snow storm to last until about mid-day. at that point, they'll send the trucks to clear out the roadways. essentially, kate, they're urging people to stay indoofrs and if they don't have to be on the road, no reason to be out there. that's the story here in oklahoma. let's send it up the way to our good friend reynolds wolf in st. louis. reynolds? >> thanks, chief. right now the situation is all freezing rain for the time being, but i'm telling you, we're very confident that we'll see a lot more in terms of wind and snow. apparently the national weather service agrees because a blizzard warning in effect for parts of the st. louis area through tomorrow. for the time being, we're seeing freezing rain and also quite a bit of traffic on the roadway business hind us. a truck that made its way behind us. a lot of plows that are preparing for the day ahead which, may, of course, include several possible feet of snow before all is said and done. the area is prepared. this happened back in 2006 and it was a big shock to a lot of people. they have been prepared for this. a lot of people out and about getting plenty of supplies. power outages are a big concern. we had several hundred of those on both sides of the river and as things intensify in terms of the winds, we may see more of those. again, speaking of the freezing rain, we have a little bit of a coating of ice, but if you want to talk about something super cool, we'll send it to chicago and rob has the story in the windy city. rob? >> thanks, reynolds. there you see it from oklahoma city to st. louis and now to chicago. i was reading one of the technical weather diskshz discu this morning and typically pretty dry but the forecast said today mother nature is laying down the hammer and that's what we will experience not only today but as we go through tomorrow, as well. break it down for you. chicago just really getting the precursor of what's to come. stretching from new england to new mexico and really remarkable, especially the blizzard warnings out from michigan back through eastern parts of oklahoma. radar showing exactly where the precip is and a smorgs borg of it. the ice and freezing rain and the thunderstorms that are developing and moving across parts of texas. by the way, dfw, ground stop because of the nasty weather that's rolling through there. the line of thunderstorms motoring and crosses in the next couple hours. dangerous winds potentially there and severe weather and, of course, the snow. the snows is also reaching into the great lakes and the northeast. so, you know, to get a snow storm that is bringing snow and sleet to new york, boston and also back through dallas and denver, that tells you just how massive this storm system is. we could see up to two feet of snow here in chicago. doesn't sound like a lot, you think chicago gets nasty weather. if you get ten inches of snow in chicago, that's a big deal. so, this will probably be historic event, could be in the top five and this city is certainly bracing for the worst. t.j., kate, back out to you. >> thanks, you guys. thanks to all of you guys. thanks, rob. we'll check back in a little while. take a look at this. an emergency landing on a highway in new jersey. they had to shut down only one lane, if you look in there, you see the plane being towed. there it is. but it had to make this emergency landing and what do you think? some bozo flying the plane around and doesn't know what he's doing, maybe a training pilot. no, this plane is actually owned by your government. in particular, the justice department. they were actually taking part in a training flight for homeland security and safety efforts when they had a fuel issue. nobody was hurt. only two people were in that plane. illinois is the sixth state to legalize same-sex unions. it will give same-sex couples many legal protections now given to married couples, like hospital visitation, adoption and parental rights and president bush's daughter breaking with her father. now saying she supports same-sex marriage. she took part in a video for the new york's marriage campaign. take a look. >> new york is about fairness and equality and everyone should have the right to marry the americ person that they love. join us. >> we turn now to pictures in dallas. this is always a nice moment. you see these guys acting like kids again, but these are the steelers and the packers showing up in dallas for the super bowl. this is the packers first here arriving. also we have video of the steelers taking. you see the steelers' quarterback. these guys, a lot of them never been to a super bowl and may never get back to one. taking advantage of this one. you see them with the flip cams getting off the plane. hines ward told the younger guys, everybody's eyes will be on you and you need to be dressed good and paying attention and some of them, clearly, didn't take his advice and some came out pretty fresh. we don't have the picture of hines ward but he came out dressed as cowboy. he had the hats, the boots, the big buckle. speaking of super bowl. do you still need a tv fit for the big game? now is the time to buy. stores are trying to get you to upgrade and, of course, impress your friends with some very sweet super bowl week deals. at target, a panasonic 50 inch plasma hdtv for under $600. at walmart samsung 46 inch led hdtv for under $900. that comes with a blu-ray player, as well. to think i just bought a television and did not get that deal. >> they take advantage, everybody is thinking about the big game. you have the people coming over and you want to be impressive. >> i was unaware of these super bowl super sweet deals. well, coming up, we are going to have jeffrey toobin come along to help you understand the latest ruling on the health care law. it was ruled unconstitutional. the government's new dietary advice. eat less. that doesn't sound so surprising. what does the powerful food industry think about this? major race taking place here in new york, but not on the streets. they are actually running up in the skies of new york. we'll explain this coming up. ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ [ dance beat ] [ male announcer ] join theladders.com. we don't just post the $100k+ jobs. we give you the tools and guidance you need to be irresistible. t adththod it's dif - alcium crhea the president dealing with another big blow to his health care reform this morning. another federal judge ruling that key parts of the plan are unconstitutional and he took it even further saying the entire law has to go. we want to bring in our jeffrey toobin, cnn senior analyst to get more perspective. we're now two for two in terms of these challenges in the lower courts and some two dozen challenges still kind of working their way through. why is this one so significant? >> well, this is the one that was brought by 26 republican attorneys general. it's the case with the most institutional backing. it's so far the longest, most detailed opinion against the law. but it is just one of many, as you point out. this is going to be resolved by the supreme court, not a district judge in florida. >> that's still much more time to come, obviously. >> the justice department has said they will not try to go directly to the white house, which will probably be possible. they'll go to the court of appeals first and several different court of appeals dealing with the subject and it might be a year before the u.s. supreme court gets this case. >> you and i read a lot of supreme court rulings. they can be kind of dry, if you will. this one was more colorful than i'm so used to. a couple passages. one being congress could require that people buying broccoli at regular intervals not only because the required purchases will positively impact interstate commerce but also because people who eat healthier tend to be healthier. referencing a watch, the act like a defectively designed watch needs to be redesigned and reconstructed by the watchmaker. this is some pretty colorful language. what is the judge trying to do here by bringing in this kind of interesting -- >> in the first passage what he is trying to do is say if you can regulate the health market, you can essentially regulate anything that americans do. >> like a slippery slope. >> frankly, i don't think that's a persuasive argument. the health care market is very different from the broccoli market. if you don't buy health insurance, you're going to go to an emergency room and you're going to be a burden on the taxpayers. if you don't eat broccoli, you might eat something else. a lot less direct connection to the public good. but as that watch analogy is very important because that's what he says required him to invalidate the whole. the part he found unconstitutional was the individual mandate. the part of the law that said you have to buy health insurance. what he said is that as the that's so much a part of the whole structure of the law is he has to throw out the whole law which includes many provisions that are clearly constitutional and not even up for debate. things like allowing kids to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26. no pre-existing conditions exclusion for children. all of that is clearly constitutional, but he says he has to throw the whole thing out. i think that's a very dubious part of the ruling. >> so, likely to go to the supreme court. it's going to take some time because it's going to work its way through the courts and many other challenges and also causing a lot of confusions for just americans in general. what should people know in the meantime? >> in the meantime, the law is in effect. the parts of the law that have gone into effect like the business about keeping kids on insurance who have pre-existing conditions. that's still in effect. some of the appeals courts are probably going to deal with this question of what happens in the meantime, but for the time being, the law is in effect, the parts that have gone into effect and another odd part about this ruling, the individual mandate does not go into effect until 2014, but he declared it unconstitutional now. for the time being, it's really just a waiting game until the u.s. supreme court gets it and we don't know when that will be, but it will be -- >> just in time for the election. >> sounds like the timing will shape up that way and that's how we like the drama. >> that's how we like the drama. dramatic it will be. we will need you very close to help us through it all. senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. thank you for being here. good to see you in person. >> it's like we're used to seeing each other through tv and now we get to see each other in person. >> t.j.? >> oh, we're having a moment that was outstanding. also still ahead on this "american morning," listen to me, folks. put the shaker down and back away from the salt. if you don't want to listen to me, will you listen to the federal government maybe? some federal guidelines on what you should be eating. also, i'll admit i've been caught a couple times. these red light cameras you hate it when they bust you like that. are all those tickets actually worth it? 25 minutes past the hour on this "american morning." welcome back. a lot of people started to use the wi-fi on the plane. more and more carriers are starting to do this. you have to pay that for service for the most part but now facebook could allow access free while you fly . stephanie, really? when i see people's computers -- >> we're learning a lot about him today. >> a lot about him today. >> the first thing they often do is go to facebook. >> that is the number one site that people visit. in the skies, that's the case, as well. so, a lot of companies are gy i getting their in-flight service through go-go. in the month of february on seven airlines you can facebook it for free. airtran, delta, usairways, american airlines, united and virgin america. for the whole month, of course, if you want to go anywhere else on the internet, you're going to have to pay for that. that's not going to be free. all being paid for, believe it or not, by ford. because they are actually t.j. is looking at me like i'm crazy. they're doing a promotion for their new 2011 explorer suv. they hope once you go to facebook and check it out and maybe a link to a cool site and you want to go see that that you'll pay for it and you'll be hooked and you'll do it. kate thinks this not the best thing because she likes it quieter. >> i feel like you open it up to facebook and then cell phones and then -- >> owway down the road. >> you're probably going to lose that bougattle, too. moving on to the markets, let's take a quick look at what happened yesterday. despite all the things going on in egypt and the fear the markets were up yesterday. nasdaq up 13 and s&p 500 up 9 and the dow posting its best january in 14 years and its first positive january in 4 years. so, things starting to look better. so goes the rest of the year, if that's the case -- >> look at you ms. positivity this morning. >> i hate it because i've been saying negative stuff for a really long time. >> stephanie, thank you. come back any time. >> okay, good, thanks. all right, so, the biggest protests we've seen yet in egypt, millions called to the streets to demand a new president and a new beginning. who fills the void if the government goes? we'll take a closer look at the muslim brotherhood? are they good for the u.s. or al qaeda? plus, the storm that could top them all. a winter we won't soon forget. a live report from the blizzard zone. sorry, we have to call it that, just ahead. 27 minutes after the hour. unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. where you book matters. expedia. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. good morning, everybody. taking a live look at oklahoma city. little bit of snow, oh, actually, a lot of bit of snow will head their way and many places throughout the country. a massive storm system. 2,000 miles long hammering the midwest this morning. we'll go live to our ed lavandera in oklahoma city in a moment. good morning, everyone. i'm kate baldwin and kieran chetry has the morning off. >> i'm t.j. holmes. give you a look at the other stories we're keeping an eye on. what has been happening in egypt over the past week and in the last few hours. another demonstration taking place today, they're calling this the march of millions and according to all reporters on the ground, this appears to be one of the largest collections of people in the week of protests, of course, calling for the ouster of president hosni mubarak and keeping a close eye on what is happening there. he was forced from power seven years ago and went to south africa. but now the haitian government says it's ready to issue him a diplomatic passport. it follows the controversial return four weeks ago. also, have you ever opened the mail and saw a picture of your vehicle running a red light? well, yes, those red light cameras and those pesky things, you hate to get those tickets. but according to the insurance institute for highway safety, they are saving lives. they have a campaign out saying red means stop. it says the cameras have reduced the rate of fatal crashes by 24% in 14 large cities between '96 and 2004. they say it has saved about 159 lives over that time. now, to the massive winter storm bearing down on a huge swath of the country right now. the storm system stretches from albuquerque all the way to boston. the worst of it will bring heavy snow, fierce winds and dangerous accumulations of ice. in oklahoma city where the snow has been falling for hours already, people are being warned to stay off the streets. that city is bracing for snowfall rates of up to three inches an hour. let's go to ed lavandera. he's live in oklahoma city right now. hey, ed, how are things? >> good morning, kate. the snow is really starting to pile up here across the state of oklahoma where they are really ex. ecting the worst of the snowfall to be from oklahoma city into the northeast corner of the state near tulsa. in some areas they're expecting blizzard-like conditions, if not full-out blizzard conditions as these winds have picked up. they died down a little bit here but gusting through at times quite heavily and that's what makes the storm so powerful. they were telling people to be on the lookout that the possibility of power outages is possible across the state, even though state officials have told us this morning that so far they have had no reports of power outages. but this is the snowfall that has essentially fallen since about midnight. it has come quite heavily and you can see the winds now starting to pick up and the wind gusts barreling through and state officials say they are not even really plowing the streets yet. they are waiting for the for the storm to pass through. they are doing it in case the emergency vehicles need to move around. but they are urging people to stay indoors. a lot of people taking heed of that warning right now. kate? >> ed, from what i can see of your shot, it almost looks like the snow is coming in sideways. i mean, is it the wind that seems to be most concerning or how much snow is going to be falling? >> there will be quite a bit of snow. 10 to 12 inches quite possibly and we'll see how that plays out in the hours ahead and the wind is the difficult part and you can see right here essentially we're kind of stuck between some downtown buildings here. you can get that tunnel effect of wind blowing through here. as you look out else where, this is the thing they're concerned about and worried about. imagine driving on this and across roadways in oklahoma. the plains here of the central united states. if you're out on the roadways and these winds if they gust up to 35 miles per hour where that's expected in some places, that could cause a lot of problems if you're out on the roadways. it's also one of the reasons that you've seen people racing to the grocery store to stock up on everything they need so they can hunker down for the next few days. >> very smart. not the first time everyone's been hunkering down this winter. it's been a tough one. thanks so much, ed, we'll talk to you soon. t.j.? kate, it's been one of the biggest questions. suppose president mubarak leaves? who fills that void in egypt? who becomes the new leader in egypt? this is a band political movement there that president mubarak has called extremists. let's turn to our terrorism analyst who sat down with top leaders of the brotherhood. he joins us now. paul, thank you for being here. not calling them a terrorist group, but would you call them anti-american? this muslim brotherhood? >> well, they're certainly not a terrorist group. they abandon violence in egypt, political violence in egypt 30 years ago. they're very anti-al qaeda, but they do have some policies which are problematic for the united states. they are very hostile to israel. hamas is associated with them in palestinian. they sort of have this anti-american ideology but this is not an organization that is very radical like al qaeda. there's a new progressive generation of leaders, which are taking leadership positions within the muslim brotherhood and they're willing to be much more pragmatic to epoen up a dialogue with the united states, not to tear up the peace treaty with israel to contain iran. and if they, indeed, do stand for elections in egypt, they will only get maximum 30% of the vote. they're not going to dominate egyptian politics in the future and also the army in egypt will have strong red lines. so, the sky is not going to fall in if there are parliamentary elections in egypt and the muslim brotherhood takes a role, t.j. >> you said it there, takes a role. in so much of the coverage people are saying mubarak is out and the muslim brotherhood would move in. any indication that, yes, they want to be a part of the process, but any indication that they actually want to rule the country? >> well, mubarak has set faid f many years it's either me or the islamest. the demonstrations we have seen, this is a secular, middle class university student taking to the streets. they're capturing the imagination right now, not the muslim brotherhood. that backing muhammad elbaradei. they will not present a candidate for presidential elections. they're being pragmatic in all of this. clearly the muslim brotherhood along islamic guidelines in no ways similar to what the taliban are doing or al qaeda. they're much, much more moderate than that. in a civil society flourishes in egypt, they'll have to work with all sorts of other parties. maximum 30% of the vote and they're going to really be mod erating by having to work with others, t.j. >> a lot of americans not familiar with the muslim brotherhood but they know al qaeda. now, the muslim brotherhood and what we're seeing on the streets right now of egypt you believe can actually lead to or help quicken the pace of the demise of al qaeda, why? >> that's absolutely right. this is a very dangerous moment for al qaeda now. you know, one regime has been toppled and another on life support and al qaeda has nothing to do at all and the people are aptu capturing the arab world and these young secular middle world and al qaeda seems irrelevant right now. if there is a transition towards democracy in the arab world, then the cultural, political, economic sclerosis that al qaeda was fed off in recent years, that will start to dissipate. this is a very dangerous moment for al qaeda, but also a dangerous moment for the united states because mubarak bars down and crushes these protesters and al qaeda will have new recruiting opportunities. so, the stakes could not be higher, t.j., at the moment. >> great point to make there. al qaeda trying to topple governments with violence and you see people out on the street trying to topple government great point to make. paul, we always appreciate your expertise. thanks so much. good to see you this morning. up next on "american morning," researchers say exercise may help with those trips down memory lane. we'll explain, coming up. and one day a year, they shun the elevator and sprint to the top of the empire state building. 86 floors up. all for a good cause and this morning a new york baseball legend is expected to compete in that race to the top. 39 minutes after the hour. 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[ male announcer ] it's morning... and quaker loves morning. ♪ because when you start your day with the power of oatmeal it's good for your heart. it gives you energy. and it can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day. ♪ quaker oatmeal is more than breakfast. it's a superfood. forget the brain games, people. turns out exercising can improve memory in older adults, that's according to researchers at a university in illinois after studying 120 healthy seniors those who walked three times a week for a year strengthened the part of the brain that's involved with the long-term memory of places, people, events and things. that's good news. more health news for you now. it's about what you eat. new guidelines out there, new dietary guidelines that are encouraging you to focus on what you eat and how you eat it. listen to this now. usda saying it sounds kind of common sense. cut back on salt, sugar, fat and trim the portion size. that's common sense, it seems, but limit alcohol to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. does that include weekends, though? >> i don't know, we'll have to check on that. to check on that, we go to the man who knows all the answers. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joining us live. sanj sanjay, we'll talk about the alcohol in a second. >> different rules for you guys, especially t.j. >> one of the recommendations, sanjay, lose the salt. but with salt in pretty much everything, is that even possible to cut back? >> well, it's very hard. one way to think about this salt besides a flavoring is used as a preservative. that's how a lot of foods in the grocery store keep their shelf life because of the salt. you buy a lot of the foods that have the longer shelf life and you'll get more salt. you buy less and you'll get less. that's one way to think about it on average americans eat. 3.5 grams a day where the limit should be 2,300. if you're over 51 and have hypertension, around 1,500. reading those labels seems to make a difference. as much as we sort of joke about the fact that these are common sense guidelines and they are, a lot of the various industries, including the food industry, are starting to do a lot of this stuff on their own. you think about the fact that they regulate it and mandate it to make changes with regard to these contents, but starting to make changes on their own. >> the government puts these out every few years. the ones that are out now, are they that drastically different than the ones in place before and any negative reaction or criticism to these new guidelines? >> they're not drastically different. always some criticism. for example, with salt, again, an institute called the salt institute, which may not surprise some people but surprise others and they say, look, is there really a correlation between salt and hypertension? there is a lot of medical literature to suggest there is, but always a little bit of criticism. i think this serves as even more for the consumer is the industry overall. general mills, for example, general mills was out there, the ceo and they talk about the fact that, look, we understand what this is creating in our society, two-thirds of adults being overweight or oobese and one-third of children, we have to start making changes here because we provide most of the food options for a lot of people to eat. so, we have to do our part because in the end that will benefit everybody. so, putting labels, for example, on the front side. putting labels for the inteenti package. making sure these labels are easy to read and contents come down to single digits, that's what you're hearing a lot from the food industry right now. >> very interesting. a little bit seems to be logical. so many people are not following these guidelines, so, we still need to be talking about them. sanjay, thanks so much. we'll talk to you soon. still ahead, going back to tucson, the judge orders the man accused in the tucson tragedy to stand trial in that very city. also, how do you keep 100,000 people gathered in the same spot safe? yes, super security in dallas. it's 46 minutes past the hour. ot t adwiwiout food al they could be the biggest protests we've seen yet in egypt going on right now. millions have been called to the streets to demand change and demand a new president. the egyptian government is tightening its grip sending groups to key locations but so far demonstrations have been peaceful protesters in cairo even setting up their own checkpoints to keep out weapons. it has been called the biggest, baddest, ugliest storm of the season. a season we've already seen a bunch of big, bad, ugly storms. this one will affect some 100 million americans. right now the midwest is getting pummeled, expecting some of the snowfall to be pleasumeasured i. a three-day event. so far hundreds of flights have been canceled. you need to check with your airline to see what's happening. republicans in the red. new republican national committee chairman says the gop is $23 million in debt. a lot of red ink as they try to overtake the white house in two years. as for the democratic national committee the i ink. the associated press said it was $15 million in debt as of december. >> the case against the alleged tucson shooter is going to be in tucson for now at least. jared loughner. the case being moved from phoenix to tucson. he has plett not guilty to attempted assassination to congresswoman gabrielle giffords. one of the victims killed by jared loughner was their colleague judge john roll. the nfl is getting help from the federal government to secure cowboys stadium and a hundred thousand fans for super bowl sunday. fans are being told that getting into the stadium will be more like getting on to a plane which is all of our favorite experience these days. air space around cowboys stadium on gameday will be cleared. >> the president not going to the super bowl, i don't think at least, because his beloved bears didn't make it. can you imagine, a lot of people saying don't come, mr. president. because they are worried about the security. >> it's always stepped up when vet service is involved for good reason. some of you skiers can respect this. >> whoa! >> this is the craziest stuff you will ever see! this is the free ride world tour in the swiss alps. they are not racing each other down the slopes. these guys are literally jumping off cliffs, it appears. oh, that is unfortunate! i hope his family wasn't watching. the competitors here are judged on their speed, their cliff drops, and the level of control they have, as you see. some of them have more control than others. >> oh, my goodness! >> these guys are serious business. >> it's beautiful and terrifying. t.j. is going to take that up next winter. first lady laura bush and now one of president bush's daughters are breaking with their dad. play you barbara bush's new gay marriage backing. >> i don't know if a gun is in there. one state lawmaker who is giving parents a how to on how to spy on those kids. what you think about that idea? 52 minutes past the hour. ♪ [ male announcer ] from jet engines that have fewer emissions, to new ways to charge electric cars, to renewable sources of clean energy, ecomagination from ge is advanced technology that's good for both the economy and the environment. ♪ it's technology that makes the world work. [ squawking ] ♪ the unlikely birthplace of a fundamental idea. it's where ethel percy andrus found a retired teacher living because she could afford nothing else. ethel couldn't ignore the clear need for health and financial security. and it inspired her to found aarp. for over 50 years, we've continued that work, to help all americans pursue their best life. discover more of what we do, for every generation at aarp.org. this is cnn breaking news. >> we are getting more breaking news out of the middle east. many people thought there would be a domino effect after what we are seeing in egypt and tunisia. we are getting word king abdullah of jordan has appointed a new prime minister. we have seen protests taken to the streets of ahman, jordan, as well. what we have pine them in do in tunisia and egypt and amman as well. amir rafi is the prime minister many people had taken to the streets specifically were going after and said we should have the right to elect our own cabinet members and our own prime minister and his name was specifically brought up with criticism from many off the protesters. however, some of the protesters have argued that our protests here aren't like the ones you're seeing in egypt. yes, we want reform but not calling for the ouster of king abdullah. king abdullah has now made a move. we don't know why. just announced by the local news agency. we haven't gotten word why king abdullah chose to make this move. it was in direct response of what is happening around the streets on ahman and jordan and very interesting he has made this mooch and now many people thought maybe we will see some dominos across the region. all started in tunisia a couple of weeks ago and now the president of tunisia has fled as we know and a new government being formed there and seeing this in egypt and yemen we have seen protests and now in jordan and it appears that maybe king abdullah is listening to the people on the street. a new prime minister being appointed in jordan but many people will say maybe this is a sign there are some dominos starting to fall in many of these leaders some say regimes in the region are starting to take notice. >> we had word this would maybe happen and how far the dominos would fall if they would. we don't know why the prime minister is replaced but get more information as the day continues. get to our top stories and they are coming your way in 90 seconds. [ female announcer ] you use the healing power of touch every day. ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving heat patch activates sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals for deep penetrating relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. top of the hour here now. good morning. welcome to this "american morning." for the first day of february. i'm t.j. holmes. >> i'm kate bolduan in for kiran chetry this morning. airlines canceling flights by the hundreds due to what could be the biggest storm of the season. storm warnings cover a 2,000 mile spot from new mexico to new england and travel expected to be difficult, near difficult, or impossible in some areas as the snow, wind and ice push through. >> a lot of people had concerns after the shooting of gabrielle giffords about these town hall meetings, the collections of folks come here and their congresswoman speak. one congressman held a tea party town hall and a freshman congressman with a concealed license to carry concealed weapon. our jim acostas will have this for us. king abdullah has appointed in awe prime minister who is replacing samir rifai. demonstrators were calling for rafai's ouster. >> that is a result of what we may see in the regions. leaders will start to pay attention and make reform in their governments. we are seeing watching closely what is happening in egypt right now. enormous crowds have been gathering and, so far, according to our correspondents on the ground, they say this is the largest gathering today that we have seen in a week-long protests there in the country. this is called the march of millions there in egypt that is underway right now. ivan, i want to start, if i could, with the news we are getting out of jordan where you were, not long ago, they have been seeing protests the last several days. what do you make of king abdullah making this change and replacing his prime minister? >> that's right, t.j. i was there about a week ago and there was a lot of speculation at that point that king abdullah would fire his prime minister amid a number of protests about rising food prices, about chronic unemployment there, and frustration with the government. there had been protests taking place outside of the parliament and called for the prime minister to be fired from the demonstrators. there is no question that the uprising that we saw in tunisia last month that led to the ouster of the president there after more than two decades has had a ripple effect throughout the arab world. many of the demonstrators you're seeing here in egypt telling me that that example that was sent to them added momentum to their own protest movement and i was hearing that in jordan as well. every time i mentioned the word tunisia, ordinary jordanians would break into a smile. it was interesting. i interviewed a deputy prime minister in jordan. he said in no way will the prime minister be fired. these are all just rumors. now less than ten days later a jordanian government falling and a new government being appointed, presumably in hopes to try to appease the frustrated population there. >> let's turn to what is happening behind you now. this was the march of millions as it was billed today. for the most part, we are hearing that this certainly larger than the protests we have seen in the past week there. is that the case from your vantage point and have things been relatively peaceful today? >> absolutely things have been peaceful. we will show you the scene of humanity today. we have been here at this location since saturday. there is no question this is the biggest gathering we have seen yet. i talked to one opposition leader of the group kathea. he called this a revolution and it's hard not to get caught up in the fervor and excitement of the moment as the egyptians come out and come out with these clever signs. they are painting them in the streets, denouncing, again, the president hosni mubarak who has been in power. as one told me since ronald reagan. and they are saying it's time for us to get a choice in who will lead our country. t.j.? >> all right. ivan watson keng an idea on things for us there in cairo. appreciate the update on what is happening in jordan as well and check in with our correspondents there on the ground. the military is make ago promise today they are not going to open fire at all if the protests they say are peaceful. but we have been seeing tense moments over the past week, including this one from yesterday. two soldiers down in this crowd were firing. they were firing into the air, however, trying to diffuse the situation and get the protesters under control. there he is in the middle. the looks on their faces. check out that look on his face. just a terrified look trying to keep people back. we are seeing these scenes play out. he was firing into the air in this particular situation but they are promising as long as these things are peaceful, protesters will not be fired on today. >> a lot going on over there. a google marketing executive has gone missing in egypt. he is the head of the marketing for middle east and north africa. he traveled to cairo for a conference last month and last heard from five days ago after he tweeted the following. pray for egypt. very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people. we are all ready to die. google is not commenting on his disappearance right yet. a major story today. a major storm that is going to affect you, more than likely, because it's going to affect some hundred million of americans. blizzard warnings all over the place. now they go from oklahoma city to chicago. just take a look at there. you see just how much of the country is being covered by some of these watches and warnings. >> oklahoma city is expected to get some of the worst of it. our ed lavandera is there live. the poor thing has been there throughout the morning. how are things right now, ed? >> the longer you stand out here, your jaw starts to freeze up so if i sound a little mush-mouth you will understand and bear with me as we try to get through. across oklahoma, 10, 12 inches of snow from oklahoma city to the northeast corner of the state and tulsa. it's rather difficult at times and that could change dramatically depending where you are. sleet and ice possibilities as you kind of venture into various parts of the state. just look here. there is supposed to be a curb here and hard to figure out. that is how much snow has fallen here in the overnight hours. it's really difficult driving situation. for the most part, we have been seeing some cars come through here this morning and everything is going pretty smoothly at least here in oklahoma city. it's mostly just snow so that makes it a little bit bit more easier to drive on. the parts of the state we get icy and sleet mixture on the roseways which will be very difficult. state officials saying no reports of power outages so far across the state and they will wait for the worst of the storm blow through before they sends out the trucks to clean up the roadways and that will be around mid-day. t.j.? >> ed, you hold on out there, buddy! talk to you soon. >> thanks, ed. snow and ice will make travel almost impossible today. hundreds of flights are already canceled. i'm ver to have to tell you that this morning. the national weather service says this is a, quote, life-threatening storm. i'm very excited about that. >> no, it's all right. rob is excited about the weather and he is out in it, where he loves to be. you're in a place a lot of people are going to be upset about what is coming. >> i think so. , you know, for the most part, chicago and much of the midwest have gotten off relatively easy this winter with the action over the east coast. they have the normal or average amount of snow but once this storm comes through it's anything but that. 8 to 10 inches in chicago is a big deal. you talk 24 inches which is potentially what to get here, that would be historic. the snow is beginning to fall. we have precursors of snow throughout the evening and through the morning but the main event certainly is going to come later on today when the blizzard warning goes into effect beginning at 3:00 p.m. speaking of warnings. and watches. take a look at this. we have been showing this map because it's just jaw-dropping when you saw about maine and new mexico. the winter storm warnings are up and blizzard warnings are up as well. this is going to be some nastiness. on top what have is going on below this in the form of severe weather. radar showing the moisture getting into already new york, into boston where you're seeing freezing rain and slick and snow. a slick go on the major i-95 cities. but this is still a thousand miles away from the main event which is back through texas and oklahoma. you saw the live shot from lavandera. that is where most of the intense snowfall is right now. thunderstorms stretching down to the texas coastline and ground stop at houston right now at intercontinental and ground stop at dallas and because of thunderstorms in houston. how dynamic this system, heat and humidity across the gulf states. could see 10 to 12 places of snow in eastern oklahoma and seen stuff like that. st. louis will get hammered with ice. reynolds wolf is down there. michigan area is flowing fine right now. chicago open for business today. not sure about tomorrow. lake michigan is there. we will get this storm and also get lake-effect snows on the back side of it and why we're thinking we will see historic snow amounts come this time tomorrow. t.j.? kate? back up to you. >> rob, appreciate you and talk to you soon. >> thanks, rob. one of former president george w. bush's daughter is breaking ranks over gay marriage. what young barbara bush has to say. there used to be a time parents had to worry their kids would go to bed on time but one state law maker said you have to worry about finding a gun in their bedroom. he is making an instructional video for you to spy on your kids. the story is coming up. 10 minutes past the hour. ♪ president bush's daughter breaking with dad. now saying she supports same-sex marriage. she took part in a video for the new yorkers for marriage equality campaign. take a look here at barbara bush. >> new york is about fairness and equality and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love. join us. >> she is not the first to split on social issues. her mom and former vice president cheney have also voiced their support of same-sex marriage. he says your kids have no first amendment rights under your roof. a new york state senator and 20-year veteran of the nypd posted a video on youtube showing parents how to spy on their children. here is a clip. >> i always recognize to start out in a periodic fashion so you'll be used to going through the room to look at the various items in the room. jury box of this nature, maybe a simple jury box but if you look through it closely, you don't know what your child may be hiding. for instance, a gun could be hidden, a small caliber weapon could be hidden inside a jewelry box. look inside of your bookcases. it could be more than just books. perfect place to hide cocaine. >> there you go. the head of a leading youth rights group said this could be very dangerous and undermine parent/child trust. i know t.j. has several thoughts about it. we want to know what you think. should you spy on your kids? >> kids that bad these days? i must be missing something. guns and cocaine in the room. it was talk of the town, the country was talking about this after the shooting of congresswoman gabrielle giffords and talking about the gatherings they have and so much contact with the public. this is one of the first events we have seen since that shooting in tucson and we have known -- he has been known for opening up. it was packed. didn't disappoint what we saw here. jim acosta is live for us in miami. normally, a lot of these events wouldn't' have gotten the attention this has gotten but good reason for this. one of the first gatherings we have seen. >> that's right. we haven't seen any of these town hall meetings since the shooting in tucson. republican alan west is determined to meet with his constituents and making unusual steps to make sure the events are safe. for example, last week at one of his town halls he wore a bullet-proof vest and he had another town hall last night as you mentioned and this one got testy at times. one of the moments came when west who is a tea party favorite as many of our viewers might recall and an iraq war veteran, he clashed with a member of a group that represents muslim americans. this was an activist in the audience last night and west has come under some criticism for some of his comments he has made about islam and this activist challenged west on those comments. >> me and my children continue to follow the islam. how do you defend your right and practice the constitution -- >> i will always practice the first amendment but if i am speaking the truth i am not going to stop speaking the truth because the truth is not subjective. >> west got a lot of cheers last night. this was a big tea party crowd for alan west down here in florida. one thing that we have noticed so far about the tea party activists they like to go to the town halls instead of the way they were behaving before the election when loosa lot of time they were giving the congressmen a piece of their mind and now showing up at the town halls to dher on their own. >> is that what we are going to see, all of these gatherings, bullet-proof vests and other congressmen saying they have licenses to carry concealed weapons? is this our new reality? >> it might be in some cases. congressman west has a permit to carry a concealed weapon and he says he will carry a firearm to some of his events and we asked him about it last night. >> i've had a concealed weapons license for quite some time, about the last two or three years and i take it upon myself and my personal responsibility, but i choose the venues in which i will carry it. >> are you carrying it now? >> i can't tell you that. >> west went on to say he is not going to talk about when he is carrying these firearms and when he is not. he feels like that is the safest way to go. we should also mention there was a pretty big police presence, more than we are used to seeing at these town hall meetings. >> jim, appreciate you as always. >> you bet. nba superstar is helping his former team to another nba record but cleveland isn't so thrilled with this one. morning talkers next. how can expedia save me even more on my hotel? by giving me ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. where you book matters. expedia. including your skin. [ female announcer ] now aveeno reinvents positively ageless. with shiitake complex, it's shown to visibly transform skin, helping repair the look of past damage and prevent future damage. positively ageless. only from aveeno. you know what wednesday is? you know what holiday it is? it's ground hog's day. wednesday is ground hog's day. can you imagine how tack a bell is going to celebrate that? >> delicious! >> poor taco bell. 21 minutes past the hour. speaking of, i guess, unhealthy food. taco bell, not known for nutritious food. the whoopi pie. a debate whether or not to make it maine's official state dessert. if you don't know what this is, it is a slab, not a slice, a slab. >> see? schlop! >> it's creamy frosting, sandwiched between two chocolate cakes. some are saying no, this shouldn't be our official dessert. why? because it's unhealthy. others say it's good for business. let the food fight begin. >> did you see the label in wicked whoopie. >> what is this? blueberries? an alternative. you go from the whoopie pie to blueberries. >> i know much has been stayed about the nearly 4,000 people that paid $6 apiece last summer to attend the second annual whoopie pie festival. do we want to glorify a list that listed lard as its primary ingredient? >> hard to argue with that point. >> if you put it that way. >> when you say lard, it doesn't sound delicious. last year with lebron james, the cleveland cavaliers were the first team to 40 wins. this year without him, the cavs are the first team to 40 losses. no nba team has done that before. lebron helped his old team reach the milestone last night, so kind of him, scoring 24 points as the miami heat routed cleveland 117-90. that score surprised me. it was the cavs 21st straight loss this season. >> too bad for cleveland. those fans still have been doing well in their attendance in cleveland, even though the team is horrid right now. you feel bad for the team and feel bad for cleveland right now. let's take you to the college game. let me show you what happens here. look closely at the screen. young fellow goes up for the dunk. oh, nice move! he is going to be on espn -- oh, it came out! yes, it's down in and comes back out! >> i can't remember what the rule is necessarily here but usually when it goes in and hits the net and comes back out, it still counts. but i'm not sure what happened in this particular game. something you don't see. it was in the kansas/kansas state game. >> very interesting. the annual race to the top of the empire state building. sounds pretty easy, right? sure, for some. 86 flights of stairs. i think we're taking a -- i think those are live pictures from there. 86 flights of stairs. 1,576 steps from ground floor to the observation deck and our jason carroll got the plum assignment of actually running that and we're told he just finished! he is, obviously, needing to get his breath. he is among the 100 or so running to support the multiple myeloma research foundation. we will talk with jason carroll in a little bit. also coming up, our steve knee elam. you have heard about egypt and no cell phone service there and people are trying to get their messages out on twitter. google and twitter are teaming up to try to find a way for you to get those tweets out. oon tous with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. how are those flat rate boxes working out? fabulous! they gave me this great idea. yea? we mail documents all over the country, so, what if there were priority mail flat rate... envelopes? yes! you could ship to any state... for a low flat rate? yes! a really low flat rate. like $4.95? yes! and it could look like a flat rate box... only flatter? like this? you...me...genius. genius. priority mail flat rate envelopes. just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. google helping egyptians get out the word after a communications crackdown there that we have been talking about. stephanie elam is "minding your business" this morning and joining us now. this is really cool. >> it is. it's cool because there are some people out there saying, you know what? egyptians should have the right to get their message out. a couple of companies looking to help out. you look at the unrest happening in egypt and they have cut down on cell phone service and internet service, all of this. so we have some interesting new developments here. take a look at what has happened to internet traffic for one thing. you've got the cell phone limited during the demonstrat n demonstration. internet service provider shutting down for most people. there are still a few ways around this. egyptians for one thing can actually speak to tweet. that is one option. this is coming from twitter and goog google. they have set up some international phone lines and egyptians can call in and say here is my message. say it, hang up and their tweet will go out instantaneously. they can also call in to those numbers and see what tweets are out there. this service came up over the weekend. the guys behind the companies came unand decided this is something that they need and came up with this idea and now it is working for them. remember old school dialup option which i was making the sound before, but t.j. didn't really like nap the old school sound. you remember how it sounds. >> do it again. >> tee-hoo! >> you can do that apparently still in egypt. you can get the old school dialup and get a service of the internet but take a long time and you need an international phone line to do that. you take a look what happened to internet traffic in egypt and running along line normal. all of a sudden, it falls off a cliff. there you go. you can see it's falling directly off. you can see where they shut it off on the 27th going into the 28th there. this has been difficult so some creative ideas to help out and let egyptians to get their messages out what is going on out there with the march million. >> you tweet out on your twitter profile, whatever it's called. these go to like specific hash tags like pound egypt. >> how are people going to follow this person or a follow a certain thing? >> fur fyou're looking for a certain chain, i don't think a lot of people are trying to keep up with their celebrities right now. trying to keep up with exactly what is going on and how they are following it based on that. pretty interesting, though. over the weekend, they came up with that. that is pretty cool. they say the necessity is the mother of all invention. >> pretty good. >> stephanie, thanks. out of ahman, jordan, king abdullah has fired his cabinet and appointed a new prime minister who is tasked with forming a new government. the new government will be marouf bakhit who is replacing samir rifai. they wanted him out. coming to the reports from jordan's government news agency, it says that king abdullah has asked bakhit, to etta practical and tangible steps to launch a plilt reform process. woman known as jihad jane is due in federal court in philadelphia today and her lawyer says she has changed her mind and plans to plead guilty. the feds say colleen larose was recruiting women online who had passports and could travel in europe and elsewhere to launch attacks. larose faces life in prison. take a look at here. this is what police are calling bullying at its worst. cell phone video out of pennsylvania where police say at least six, maybe seven teenagers beat a 13-year-old classmate. you see him, they are dragging him through the snow and at one point hung up by a tree and hung on to a fence but the savage beating took place and one of the classmates actually caught it on video, caught it on cell phone video. six of the classmates have now been charged with attacking him. the national weather service calls it a life-threatening storm. blizzard warnings from oklahoma to michigan. thousands of flights already canceled. just in to cnn, all of the runways at dallas/ft. worth international airport are now closed. hopefully, only for a a little while. >> how are conditions now, reynolds, in st. louis? >> getting worse. the rain is picking up. the freezing rain. it will be affecting travel. you were talking about flight delays. i can tell you that there is the possibility there may be up to 6,000 cancellations in terms of domestic flights over the next 48 hours ul due all due to the weather. this branch is coated with ice and this is your average tree of maybe 40 feet high and can have four tons of ice and when they the branches break they cause widespread outages. a hundred homes without power now but we expect that to increase. volume of the roadways, you're seeing more cars out. thankfully the department of transportation was out last night putting out sand and chemicals and salt on the roadways to keep things fine. as the rain continues and snow moves in, conditions will deteriorate. probably the worst of it later this afternoon and overnight and into tomorrow. a blizzard warning in effect for st. louis area. heavy snowfall in place of a foot and on top of that wind gusts can which may top 50 miles an hour into the afternoon. going to be a rough time. winter really getting a punch in right here. of course, we're going to keep the story and following it carefully here in st. louis and across the midwest and, of course, up to rob marciano in the great lakes. back to you in the studio. >> reynolds, thank you and talk to you soon. short of breath? for good reason. and for a good cause. jason carroll just sprinted up the 86 floors of new york's empire state building. yes, he did. this morning at 8:33 is what he did here. is there glory at the top? we're checking in with him live next. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. atamirfras ins. nieanteerte ♪ 37 minutes past the hour on this "american morning." live look outside. columbus circle outside where we are here at the time warner center. >> snowier there than when we came in this morning. >> a little bit but we're used to seeing this every single week this here in new york and one of our correspondents jason carroll had a heck of an eye signment this morning. not just reporting but participating in a race but not the kind you're used to. this is the 34th year they have done this, race to the top. >> race to the top, the top of the empire state building, that is. jason joins us now from the observation deck. he made it. i'm very proud of you, first off. >> yes! >> this is also for a very good cause. how did you do and how are you doing? >> okay. answer to the first question, i used to take breathing for grand, kate and t.j. but not any more. this is proof i did it. this is our medal and give it to our executive producer who made me do this assignment knowing i had not trained but i did it anyway! 86 flights, 1,576 steps, right? these are the guys who helped me do it. tom holland was my pacer and my coach during the whole thing. much props to you. >> thank you. >> and kathy goosey is the founder and organizer of the multiple myeloma research foundation. part of this is for a great cause. gorillas run the race, too. a demanding experience, isn't it? >> it's much harder than people think. it's straight up. >> feels like your heart is jumping out of your chest! kathy, once again, also for a very good cause. what is going on here? tell us about that. >> we had a hundred runners raising $250,000 for research for multiple myeloma and so grateful and amazing and wonderful event. >> i wonder on today if we ran the steps or did the iditarod. it's freezing up here! this is the top, ladies and gentlemen, the empire state building. you hear about the storm moving? take a look. you can imagine how cold it is up here. what an experience. i have to tell you climbing the steps, tom is like, jason, we can push it and i'm looking at him, really? with what are we going to push it with? >> you did a great job. you did really well. >> in terms of times? >> 20 minutes. it was our goal and we hit it. >> top of the empire state building. weak legs. weak heart but all for a very good cause. once again, bringing us back to our executive producer jim. thank you, jim, really appreciate it. thank you. >> earwe are impressed with thi. we were reading up on the record. 9:33 one year and i can truly not believe! i'm also reading quite a bit of strategy to this where the best runners, they take steps two at a time. was there a strategy for you guys? >> yeah, the strategy for me was to breathe. that was my strategy. it worked for me. but also i'm grabbing hold of the rails, right? >> yeah. >> that also helps. it's upper body as well as lower body but breathing is what i did. >> important, important. >> take every breath you can! >> you did very well at that. you did. >> thanks a lot. >> congratulations to you and to all of the other runners. that is impressive. 250,000 raised. there is a fun event and tough for you guys trying to run it but it's a lot of money raised today. congratulations to all. thanks so much and see you back here in a bit. >> all right. you see there, jason doing a bit of a weather report as well. some 2,000 miles of the country right now could get hit by a dangerous and destructive storm. could cripple parts of the midwest. our rob marciano is coming up next with the very latest on a forecast you have got to see. it's 40 minutes past the hour. or so about this storm that is hitting right now. we are seeing more of these effects. right now, dallas/ft. worth is shut down. the airport is closed. closed there because of ice. another airport in the area, love field, it is down to one open runway now. reynolds wolf reported a short time ago could see the country up to 6,000 flight cancellations the next few days because of a huge storm. >> it is a huge storm. 2,000 miles long. >> it's not intensity of it, it's the sheer size of this thing. rob marciano is standing by for us in chicago. you have heard us trying to put this thing in perspective. do you it for us, if you can. put it in perspective what kind of a beast we are seeing here with this storm. >> the storms that we have seen this year and a lot of the storms we saw last year on the east coast were these east coast storms, nor'easters that exploded in intensity as we were moving away from everybody and you'd get a fair amount of real estate. they got pounded with heavy snow. but this is a storm that is developing as it comes out of the rocky mountains and combining with that cold air from canada and tapping into some serious moisture. you got the entire eastern two-thirds of the country that it's got to go through before it's done. so just the amount of population, amount of real estate is really mind boggling with this. the amount of weather that we have with this to have a ground stop in houston because of thunderstorms and then have a ground stop at dallas because of winter weather, i can't think of when that's happened. it's probably been five or six years since any sort of ground stoppage because of winter weather at dfw. now the runway is closed and we are just getting started. folks out here on michigan avenue in chicago. schools are open and school hasn't started in earnest just yet but tomorrow will be a whole different ball of wax. here are the important figures you need to know. this storm is stretching from new mexico to new england. the airport delays with this are numerous and will be on the increase today. 600 cancellations, preemptive cancellations at o'hare today and the number will be on the rise. as far as the radar is concerned, we are stretching the moisture all the way from the east coast to the mexican border and the severe weather is going to be plentiful today. strong thunderstorms are approaching the louisiana border and the amount of snow that we will see will be striking in some areas. st. louis is in a blizzard warning but they are getting ice right now. that really is going to be a dangerous situation come later on tonight and then we are also looking at the potential for 12 to 18, maybe 20, could see 24 inches of snow here in chicago. it depends on how the winds set up off the lake. if that happens, it would be the worst snowstorm they have seen since the '60s. there is the river. it's green on st. patrick's day and flowing right now. but this entire city is going to be white by this time tomorrow. t.j. and kate, back over to you. >> rob, we appreciate you this morning. thanks so much. thanks, rob. he built decades long career in music, but had quite a secret. up next, dr. sanjay gupta sits down with the piano prodigy who could hardly bend his fingers. the amazing story coming up next. and give it a whole new life! with the aveeno nourish plus moisturize collection. the only hair care with active naturals wheat formulas, that target even the weakest parts of hair with hydrating proteins to help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger... ... hair with life. 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[ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nurspregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go, boy, go! whoo-whee! if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. there they are. >> there is phil. he always makes working well. 10 minutes to the top of the hour now. today's human factor we are talking about folks overcoming obstacl obstacles. >> a pianist is battling arthritis. itarily redetailed byron's career. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta with today's human factor. an amazing story. >> it is a remarkable story. you guys look very comfortable in those chairs, i have to say. can you imagine being a pianist at the level that you're about to see and slowly having arthritis creeping into your joints? this is your whole life and the pain is just debilitating, dealing with the pain is one thing but the idea you might lose your entire career is another. mind over matter is how a lot of people describe getting through something like this. this is what it looks like in action. byron janice has a rare gift. ♪ >> reporter: he has played the classics to crowds at carnegie hall and for u.s. presidents. yet, for most of his career, he has been tormented by wretching pain. >> it started with a little pat of red and it was painful. >> it was 1973, the height of his career he was dying diagnosised with crip'ing arthritis. >> at first, i ignored it. >> reporter: simply not thinking about the pain is what nan advice nis says enabled him to continue playing to overcome his pain. >> i learned then about the power of the mind. and i said, no, i'm going to keep playing the piano. >> reporter: but continuing had consequences. >> this thumb was operated on and shortened. then i had five more operations on my hand. >> reporter: janice hid his condition but eventually it became too much to bear. at a white house event in 1984, janice finally revealed everything. >> the disease is still with me. i have it, but it does not have me. >> reporter: the moment was, at first, cathartic. his wife was asked to compose a piece about her father and that piece that brought him back. >> i went back to play. i can still play and this is what i want to show people and i have been playing with this all my life. ♪ >> reporter: amazing to listen to him play. you know, you probably have a hard time guessing how old he is now. he is 82 years old. he continues to play. he has terrible pain, he tells us still. just it's really awful, but, you know, this mind over matter thing, though, is part of the point of these human factors. >> it really is amazing how many people suffer from arthritis. really. i'm not trying to be flippant here, but it is crippling disease. >> it is. for a lot of people, to be fair, there are some good treatments, some good options out there. byron tried a bunch of those as well but in his case, the pain was still there. he had a decision to make. he had the operation on his thumb and pinkie and you her him there. >> sanjay, mind over body, how the mind works. appreciate it. small town in nevada's desert got serious juice out there. america's largest sun-powered energy plant and it means jobs and perhaps a knew future out there. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. where are president obama has chadle american companies to lead the way toward clean green sources of energy. >> that is helping a struggling small nevada town seize the solar future. cnn's tom foreman is live for us this morning with our "building up america" report. good morning, tom. >> good morning, t.j. and kate. the sun is not up here but when it does arrive, it will be cause for some celebration. nevada has had a very, very tough time, but here in boulder city, people are finding a way to turn it around and build up through sunshine. >> reporter: out in the nevada desert, the future is growing wild amid a sea of solar cells in the hopes of folks like scott cryder. >> we have a million panels. >> who says he he would not want this massive solar field anywhere else. why is this a good location? >> a lot of available flatland and it's sunny and existing trmgs lines that provide access to the major markets throughout the western united states. >> reporter: those lines are near little boulder city because it was settled at another time when energy and the economy collided when thousands came during the great depression for another grand power generating project. so why is this town here? >> this town is here because it was a federal reservation to build hoover dam. >> reporter: that city council member who says the taxes and taxes are pay down, the solar facility has brought jobs and needed money because it leases the land from the power lines from the town. >> this year, we will get about current budget about $2.56 million, that is about 11% of our city's general fund. >> reporter: that's pretty important money for a town this size. >> it is and we can count on it. >> reporter: giving this town a real chance to build up a new future, by looking to its past. only created a few permanent jobs so far, but the city is excited because they believe what they have got here is the core of a solid business that, as duncan said, they can count on into the future to build more jobs, more tax revenue. let me tell you, nevada right now leading the country in unemployment, all of that is very, very important. t.j.? >> tom, quickly for me. we are going to see you all week this week on these "building up america" reports. where are we going to see you next time? >> next place is a place you may know. zappos. the company that has made internet shoe sales into a run-away success. who would have thought it? we are going there and have it for you very soon. >> i will e-mail you my order. thank you very much, mr. foreman. >> we will see you then. >> we appreciate you, our viewers, spending time with us here on this "american morning." the big stories we are following here on cnn and on "american morning" what is happening in egan

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