snow and think feet, not inches. it's already coming down in texas. i wouldn't want to drive through that, that's for sure. in oklahoma city, one brave reporter actually taped the commute, the wipers running fast and furious. the snow keeps coming and streets already blanketed. it's a virtual ghost town there. in michigan drivers filling up and stocking up as the storm sweeps in but no go for thousands of flyers. it means cancellations and delays so check your flight status before heading to the airport. reynolds wolf is on the ground in st. louis for us and ed lavandera in oklahoma city where it's coming down. jacqui jeras let's start with you. >> this is a monster of a storm. this isn't a record storm but probably hit the top five for major cities in the midwest and that includes chicago. 30 plus states under winter storm warnings or blizzard warnings at this time so it's covering a lot of real estate and it's really going to be crippling a lot of cities. we have already got runway closures in dallas/ft. worth and expect oklahoma city, kansas city, st. louis to be in the worst of it today. look at the pink area. the ice accumulation could reach an inch somewhere within this swath and people without power for days and it's going to take days to clear out this storm because not only are we going to see epic amount of snowfall but the winds gusting to 40 miles per hour. people on the roadway could get stuck and have to stay there through the overnight hours and this will move out of here as we head into thursday. bitter cold windchills back behind it. a huge impact of a storm, kyra. really ugly conditions. we will talk more about specifics in a minute. >> ed, let's take it out to you now in oklahoma. most of it under a blizzard warning right now. how are people getting ready? >> i think a lot of people take their preparations yesterday making runs to the grocery stores to stock up for what could be a couple of days kind of just being home bound here. in downtown oklahoma city, so far, we have had about 7 inches of snow fall here but if that wasn't the worse. it feels like minus 11 degrees already! what is the problem here is the wind. kind of the best vantage point i can tell you that is into the brick town area on the edge of downtown oklahoma city. look at the american flag there. i think it's the oklahoma flag. hard to make out from here. look how powerful and how strong the wind is here and that is really the concern, with these high winds they are worried about power outages but so far we haven't heard any reports of of that but that would be the big concern here as we move forward with this storm is a lot of people start losing power with these wickedly cold temperatures that could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. >> we will keep talking, and you keep warm. reynolds wolf is standing by now in st. louis. reynolds, it's a whopper of a storm and missouri already mobilized hundreds of national guard troops, right? >> absolutely. they are getting prepared for what mother nature is going to unleash on this area. right now we have a blizzard warning that is in effect. blizzard keep in mind is primarily a wind event. the wind has been intermittent. snow, we haven't seen any but freezing rain you better believe it's coming down and a layer of ice on everything. on roadways, on sidewalks and on city streets. and on trees, too. you can see this branch is coated with the ice. we're expecting more of this before the snow begins to pick up in earnest and the winds will materialize in into the afternoons. we could see widespread power outages and a hundred homes without power right now. the traffic is relatively strong on the roads behind us. roads in pretty good shape for time being and being pretreated with sand and some chemicals and some salt. the good news. bad news is as this snow is going to come from the west and as the ice comes down, that treatment of the roads is going to be insignificant and insufficient as the elements continue to pour on the area. in terms of travel, talking about the roads. air lines will be a mess. about 6,000 cancellations for today and tomorrow. at dfw all runways are closed and expect those conditions to continue travel wise and more nightmares as the storm pushes to the east. kyra, back to you in the studio. >> reynolds, thanks so much. jacqui jeras, who is in the line of fire next? >> right now, the worse cities are places like dallas where you've seen that ice. oklahoma city and southwestern parts of missouri around springfield is where the really heavy snow is coming down right now. st. louis, you're just starting to get in on the cusp of this. those winds are going to be picking up as the storm follows you throughout the day. the northeast, this is just kind of a warm-up. we are going to get maybe a couple of inches of san antonio and light freezing rain moving in but the heavy accumulating snow and winter weather comes in late tonight and continues throughout the day for tomorrow. now, high impact at the airport. we mentioned dfw closed at this hour. ground stop in effect for houston and means people can't take off from other parts of the country to get into that airport. ground delays in philadelphia and san francisco nearly an hour. then there you can see houston hobby around an hour in terms of delays. snowfall accumulations, heaviest right here in this dark pirm band where we expect 10 to 20 inches of snow and somebody in this area is going to get two feet out of all of this. the other concern is that ice. that liquid rain. comes down as rain but freezes on contact. when you're talking anywhere around a half of an inch in here that enough to bring down tree lerves and power lines and that will cripple the city and bring people without power for sure. many people going to the super bowl trying to get from wisconsin to dallas, they are asking people to wait until after the storm at least until thursday before they make that trip. >> jacqui, thanks. we will be talking a lot this morning. >> okay. our other big story. two cities on edge, a presidency on the line. right now, a sea of protesters washing over egypt and demanding hosni mubarak surrender his power. this is the day or day eight rather of a possible revolution and a national revelation. this is the human face of the uprising. people have discovered the power of their voice and the strength of their numbers. they have also witnessed the dangers of a desperate government trying to hold on. those flashes of violence have been mostly contained. but the stakes and the tensions rising. you're going to see here an egyptian soldier panicking in the face of a growing crowd. yet the anger seems to be giving way to optimism. the emerging leader of the opposition says that change is now inevitable and the white house needs to take a stand for democracy. take a look at that soldier's face. >> you need to review the policy. you need to let go of mubarak. you need to be -- you shouldn't be behind the curb. you need to start building confidence with the people and not with the people who are smothering the people. >> cnn's anderson cooper is in tahrir square, the epi center of the massive rally in cairo. how does it appear to be at this point, anderson? is it calm? >> it is calm but the crowd is excited, to say the least. this has been going on for hours. this protest was really called to begin at 9:00 a.m. here. it's now in the afternoon. it's now after curfew. curfew began at 3:00. but the crowds, as you can see, are not going anywhere. there are certainly more than a hundred thousand people here and exact numbers, impossible to give you. i want to pan down here to give you a sense of just how crowded this square is. literally people standing showered-to-should shoulder-to-shoulder and it has been like this for hours now. more people seem to be arriving not that there is all that much room left in the square for them here. it's been a remarkable day and, most importantly, a peaceful day. the military has been holding back as they promised they would. they have been controlling access to this square, but they have allowed people to come in and people have been really organizing themselves. there is no one single organizer of this protest, but the demonstrators have taken upon themselves to provide security. they actually pat down people as they come into the square. they check i.d.s and ask you your name. they say welcome and they tell you to be peaceful. and that message has certainly been received, but it is a jubilant atmosphere. people feel that this, on the eighth day, that they still have the momentum, that they were able to turn out a large number of people today, and they hope that president mubarak got the message. everybody, though they come from all walks of life, from are doctors or trade groups or many students, just young people, they all have a single message which is for hosni mubarak must go. >> anderson, are you getting a sense of when they will begin to march? how far they will march and where they will end up? >> i think it's pretty clear at this point, they are not going to march unless something changes. there are so many people here in this square. frankly, there was talk yesterday of them marching on the president's palace, but it is quite a distance away. there is about 20 military checkpoints between this square a and the president's residence. so the likelihood of them actually being able to get there and not having some sort of confrontation is very small. i think protest organizers clearly, given the fact that the sun is just starting to go down here now, it's already after curfew, i think they clearly made a decision to stay in this square. there were some other groups elsewhere in the city. it looks like they have now come to this square. once again, this square really has become the ground zero, the epi center of the revolution here. >> anderson cooper, we will keep checking back with you. thanks. the state department says it's still ferrying americans out of egypt. charter flights whisked 1,200 americans out of the country yesterday and half the number who asked help. the state department says more requests are still streaming in. the american e ja-- the last co of weeks anti-government protests boiled up in five arab nations. one of them is apparently taking action in response. we found out now that the king of jordan has appointed a new prime minister just days after several protests there demanded change. the king has told the new prime minister to assemble a government that will bring about swift political reforms. jordan's king abdullah, by the way, is an important u.s. ally in the region there. stay with us for continuing coverage of the crisis in egypt. our crews are in place to bring you the latest development as it happens. we're keeping an eye on the storm as well packing a punch that could be felt through most of the country. we are checking back with our folks in about 20 minutes. plus, thieves who need to be really careful about tooth decay when you still snickers and skittles and starbucks by the carton. maybe you should steal some toothpaste while you're at it. like taking candy from a baby but easier and way more lucrative. . ♪ freeze frame freeze frame freeze frame now freeze ♪ we are starting our look at news across the country with dessert. >> whoopie pie, i love a whoopie pie! >> yes. who doesn't love eat ago whoopie pie? if you're from maine, it's their song. the legislature is about to make this the state's official dessert but they say why would you glorify anything that uses lard as their main ingredient? check out richmond, michigan. no five-finger discounts here. these three shoplifting m musketeers are taking whole boxes. they stole 5,000 of different candy. each has a raging sweet tooth or sold the stuff elsewhere. the three were arrested. candy bars to jail bars. this in fletcher, north carolina. a baptist church on sunday, no less. some members want the long-or to leave over some money issues. others want him to stay. at some point, the faith got lost and the 50s just started flying. >> these people are not right. you come in to fight? this is god's house! they don't understand! this is god's house! god's house, it's so wrong! it's so wrong! >> what would jesus do? it took 30 cops to break this up. no one was hurt or arrested. another baptist pastor raising some eyebrows right now. reverend ralph white in memphis says he won't baptize any babies of unwed parents, not in his church. he is trying to send a message to young fathers to man up and provide for their families. now reverend white says that the church needs to focus on the issue of teen pregnant. >> the bible if you want biblical speaking, a man who doesn't take care of his children or his family is worse than an infidel. we step up when it comes to, like you said, the gay rights issues and all that. but there's so many other issues we have not stepped up to the plate on. a story about california thieves who probably don't understand the enormous value of what they stole. families of military veterans hoping whoever is responsible will let conscientious trump greed. listen to this story from kmph in fresno, norm a. the unique personal american flags that draped the caskets of heroes has impacted an american legion post. >> it came from each individual family with the name embroidered on there. >> reporter: 40 american flags with the names of county military men and women killed in action were stolen from the american legion hall. >> whoever it was that took these flags, i don't think they really realize what they have done. >> reporter: there was a lock here. they broke it open. the lock is now over there on the ground. there is one lock here on the ground. >> reporter: melissa o'rourke says the flags were in two plastic tubs kept in a storage unit. >> it looked like somebody took a crowbar and just popped off the locks. we have tables and chairs stored in here for our meetings and there were two large storage containers as well full of veterans flags. >> reporter: families of fallen soldiers donated those flags to the american legion post 11 so they can see them flown at cal calvary. >> they love the flags. the last they had of their loved ones. >> reporter: joe lily feels a sense of guilt. >> i feel we have let these families down. >> reporter: but investigators say the thieves should feel guilty. each veterans flag had a veteran's name embroidered. >> these were flags placed on the casket of the veterans. >> reporter: fellow veteran and local businessman scott gonzalez made a donation to get the flags replaced. >> we're sitting here, sometimes we get taken by by the dollar amount what it cost to replace flags, but, ultimately, those are the price paid for those flags, it's the ultimate price and with their lives. how do you place a dollar amount on those? you can't. >> no sign of the stolen flags yet. replacing them will cost about $4,000. thousands of people gathered in egypt for the march of millions. it's the largest crowd that we have seen since last week. protesters hoping to send a message. we will bring you to the middle of the action. we are keeping an eye on the massive storm packing a punch through much of the country. we are checking back in with our weather folks in about ten minutes. 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>> i stepped out. i was there all day, but i've stepped out in the middle of the crowd. >> got you. obviously, it's much more quiet in the background of your phone call! so describe to me, nicholas, what it was like, what people were telling you, kind of set the scene for us as we're looking at this live picture. >> sure. i mean, it's just an unbelievable scene. i actually dropped by some of my oldest friends in egypt and they were initially afraid of going. there had been a lot of stories how they there would be infiltrators and violence but they agreed to walk me part of the way and then they got a little braver and walked me a little further. before you knew it, there we were. they had accompanied me all the way there. it had kind after festive air to it today. a lot more women today and a lot more children today. maybe what doesn't come through is just how good humored a lot of the signs are. a lot of jokes and a lot of rhymes. one man was standing in the trash heap today and saying, mubar mubarak, you're faded for the trash heap of history. another man was holding a sign saying, mubarak, resign, my arms are getting tired, things like that. >> people are still keeping a sense of humor? >> yeah. a lot of jokes and really a sense the tide is coming in for them that this is snowballing, that they are going to win. i must say if i were mubarak, i would also take note in addition to the signs calling on him to resign, there also are beginning to be some signs saying that he should face criminal charges, that he should be put on trial. i saw one sign saying that he should be hanged. so he might want to hurry up. >> nicholas, you were saying you actually wrote a piece that we read that the streets of cairo feel eerily to tiananmen square? >> yeah. i covered tiananmen. i have a nagging recollection being jubilation and celebratory feel to it. then, of course, people thought the army would never shoot but, in fact, they did. i sure hope it doesn't come to that. but, ultimately, the outcome of this kind of a popular uprising depends not only on the courage of the people but the willingness of the soldiers to shoot. >> nicholas kristof, appreciate you breaking away from the protests and giving us a call and inside feel for what is happening there in the square. nicholas, thanks so much. the sun of the late shah of iran sees what is happening in egypt and he says he hopes history has taught us that things can go wrong very quickly and he is hoping that egypt, in 2011, isn't like iran in 1979. we will get you up-to-speed on the winter's latest production. a monster storm stretching about 2,000 pounds and starting to pound the heartland as it marches east. live pictures of dallas/ft. worth airport, closed because of the storm. i have clients say it's really hard to save for the future and they've come to a point where it's overwhelming. oh gee, i'm scared to tell you i've got this amount of credit card debt or i've got a 15-year-old and we never got around to saving for their college. that's when i go to work. we talk, we start planning. we can fix this. when clients walk out of my office they feel confident about their retirement. 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[ disco music plays ] ♪ whoa, yeah is it just me, or is it getting funky in here, huh? get your groove on, y'all! catch you on the flip side! i'd tell him the sign's not finished, but it would just break his funky little heart. more discounts, more ways to save. now, that's progressive. call or click today. prices higher. oil settled yesterday at the highest level in two years. alson kosik is at the new york stock exchange with all of the details. >> good morning. oil prices have been making big moves topping $92 a barrel yesterday. we are seeing prices pull back a bit this morning but not by much. gaining 6.5 during the last two sessions because unrest in egypt could spread to other middle eastern countries that are oil exporters. a higher open today and we closed higher yesterday as well. analysts say those concerns about egypt are already priced into stocks and that that's worries priced in on friday. so investors considered worst case scenarios on friday. stocks are likely to drop again, only if the situation in egypt gets worse. later today, the focus is going to be on the home front. we are getting reports on manufacturing and construction and auto sales as well. taking a closer look at stocks. looks like egypt is on the back burner again. dow up 47 and nasdaq up 17. kyra. it's past 9:30 in the east and 6:30 out west. bp reporting a 2010 loss of 4.9 billion and blamed on the april oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the loss includes nearly $41 billion set aside for charges related to that spill. another stumbling block for president obama's health care legislation. a federal judge in florida rules the sweeping legislation is unconstitutional. florida and 25 other states filed a lawsuit challenging the law last spring. judge robert vincent ruled that congress exceeded its authority by requiring most americans to buy health insurance or face penalties. a powerful winter storm rolling over the heartland. whiteout conditions reported this morning in oklahoma city. that takes us right to meteorologist jacqui jeras watching it all. warning after warning, right? >> i know. now a tornado warning to go along with that. so we have all aspects with this storm. not discriminating here. a tornado warning in effect for a couple of parishes in louisiana. it could contain severe weather with it. no storm watches but they might do that in areas of arkansas and louisiana and texas as the storm moves on through. the worst of the weather in terms of the weather action is going on in oklahoma city stretching up into southwestern parts of missouri right now. we have a wind gust report in dallas/ft. worth at this hour, 43 miles per hour. take a look at a live towercam out of dfw. the airport runways closed the last hour and a half. i heard from an affiliate wfaa that one runway has opened up and because of the freezing rain. we have delays in philadelphia, san francisco, houston hobby, as well as intercontinental because of this weather. the snowfall accumulation a huge story. as much as 10 to 20 inches in nch dark purple swath but winds gusting around 40 miles per hour and crippling the cities and not to mention the ice accumulations which could cause people to be without power for days and worst concern is indiana, ohio and we heard from reynolds wolf in st. louis. a third of and this inch of ice. enough to coat everything on the roadways. he says things are getting bad there right now. >> this is just the beginning. jacqui, thanks so much. march of millions may be under way in egypt but when it's all over, thee protesters will gather again for an entirely different reason. i'll explain ahead. this is our advisory board. our field research team. and our product development staff. we know military lives are different. we've been there. that's why our commitment to serve the financial needs of our military, veterans, and their families is without equal. and why, we'll always be there for you... both here... and here. usaa. for insurance, banking, investments, retirement and advice. we know what it means to serve. let us serve you. here is look what happening in egypt right now. department of state ordering all nongovernment personnel and their families to get out of the country. protesters standing shoulder-to-shoulder in cairo for the march of millions and they want egypt's president hosni mubarak to step down. thousands fell on their knees and chanted for their president to leave. the son of the lay shah seeing all of this and having flashbacks to 1979. listen to what he told cnn's piers morgan. >> as you know better than most in 1979 in iran, the wrong kind of people took over, many would argue. you got these islamic fundamentals came in and it turned into a different country very quickly. i could see the danger here with egypt, if people aren't careful and this goes on too long, you could see a similar problem where extremists come in and you end up with a very, very different country. >> of course, i would understand also be concern about that outcome but, then again, don't we learn from history? i hope we do and i don't think you should underestimate the intelligence of people who have known how wrong things could turn by looking at what happened in iran. i don't think that what has propelled tunisians or yemenese or jordanians to speak out the islamic took over our country and kept it hostage for 30 years. >> jill dougherty is at the state department. jill, i tell you, it is very eerily similar, the two scenarios that we're seeing. >> yeah. here at the state department, they are looking at what is going on right now. they are trying to predict perhaps what could happen where this could all develop. but we are told that no one here really feels they can adequately say what is going to happen. but if you gain it out and you look at history and you try to get some lessons, iran is certainly one that comes to the foreground. as you just heard, that really would be, at least for the west, a nightmare situation. so let's look at it specifically. are there similarities? are there differences? let's start with the popular uprising. popular uprisings, yes. look at the pictures. 1979. look at the video coming out in the live shots from cairo right now. a lot of people on the streets, very, very fluid situation. let's go to the next thing. charismatic leader. in iran 30 some years ago they had the ayatollah khamenei was able to focus people and spearhead the movement and inspire them. to take over. in egypt, you don't have an ayatollah khomeini. mohamed elbaradei who is at least at this point the nominal leader of this coalition. it's really a coalition that started on the streets. a lot of groups and they are the people -- he is the man they coalesced about but he is not a charismatic leader in the way the ayatollah was. etiology and what the shah's son was referring to. in 1979 in iran, it wasn't islamic etiology. in egypt you could say it's jobs, jobs, jobs. it is the economic situation. in fact, i heard one statistic this morning which is really amazing, the number that egypt has the highest number of unemployed college graduates in the world and that is a major problem. well-educated people who have nothing to do, no jobs, and very few possibilities. that could be a tinder box. >> what is the sense there at the state department, as you talk to your sources, jill, and you're covering what so many people are saying on the political side of things, how likely is it that these events -- well, the events will repeat themselves and radicals could hijack this movement? >> the group they point to, most people point to is the muslim brotherhood. traditionally, historically, they have been considered an extremist group. now there are others who say that they have, you know, developed or morphed into something else. they are certainly a political power and certainly well organized and they have a certain amount of support. but that doesn't mean necessarily that in egypt they could really take over. you know, another important issue is in iran, the u.s. stuck with the shah to the bitter end and that, many would say, was a major mistake. here with egypt, you've seen the state department and the white house moving, some would say too slowly, but they have been moving away from mubarak and that could be a big difference. >> jill dougherty, we will be talking a lot more. thanks, jill. this programming tonight. piers morgan talks with former british prime minister tony blair tonight at 9:00 eastern tonight. republicans aiming to take over the senate in 2012 buzzing about a challenger for a democrat seat. senior political editor mark preston is here to tell us about him. hey, mark. >> good morning, kyra. in the senate, congressman denny reberg of montana is expected to announce on saturday he is running against the democratic indumb bent tester. reberg has statewide name recognition and by far the strongest challenger. as you said, democrats hold the senate majority but they need to defend 22 seats in 2012, while republicans only need to defend ten. other big 2012 news. john huntsman is the ambassador to china in the obama administration has he has resigned and leaving office april 30th and come back to the united states. why is the big news? because he is a republican and he is said to be considered running for president. what is interesting about this the fact he served in the obama administration hurt him in a republican primary. we are not sure. he also has some views on issues such as civil unions that might not be well liked by some of the real social conservatives in the. primary so be interests to see what huntsman who served in the obama administration said to be looking at 2012 as a possible challenge to president obama. >> mark, thanks so much. we will continue to have your political updates every hour. a reminder you can always go to our website cnnpolitics.com around the clock. last-living world war i fet. this is frank buckles, born february 1st, 1901. more than a million, 731,000 americans served during the war to end all wars. buckles is the last man standing. 110 years old. he was an army corporal who lied about his age to enlist, serving in england and france and he is a man of few words. but here is what he had to say on his birthday last year. >> i made it. >> buckles is on a mission to get lawmakers to grant federal status to an obscure d.c. memorial to world war i vets. right now it only honors those who served from d.c. ♪ >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) day eight of the uprising in egypt. protesters hope to bring a wave of change to the country, but they are also seeing a wave of volunteerism amid the chaos. pro--esters cleaning up after themselves. cnn international anchor zain verjee live in london with your morning passport. they're also taking on the role of security, calling themselves the people's security. >> reporter: yeah, hi, kyra. they have a whole new sense of pride here, it seems. they want to get tens of thousands or up to a million, they hope, people out on the streets, but it's come along with the sense of, hey, let's all get together and look after things. what they have done is they have banded together. they're cleaning up the streets, picking up trash. they're handing out water. they're handing out food, and the hops say more people are coming in to donate blood. with the weapons, as you mentioned, they have created these ad hoc volunteer groups and are searching people coming into tahrir square making sure nobody is arms and going to create trouble. it is this great sense of volunteerism coming out of this. >> flood-ravaged australia bracing for the worst, a massive hurricane, cyclone zoning in. >> reporter: yeah, you know, they just can't seem to catch a break. this cyclone is headed straight for queensland, the same place hit with devastating floods, something like 32 people were killed and they're still trying to recover from it. if you think back to hurricane katrina, this cyclone is on par with that. the winds are expected to go up to as much as 155 miles an hour. a lot of warnings out there. about 255,000 people are going to be affected, and mandatory evacuations for folks in some of the low-lying areas. it's going to be big. >> we will continue to follow everything out of egypt and check in with you, zane. thank you so much. we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of cnn newsroom. let's start with the massive storm. reynolds wolf in the cold on the ground in st. louis. >> reporter: that's right, kyra. first it was the freezing rain. now it's the sleet. next up the snow and with it wind gusts possibly approaching vift miles per hour, part of a giant snow system that will affect over 150 million people. more coming up. i'm stephanie elam in new york. if you had to choose, which one would you give up, your cable service, your internet service or would you give up your cell phone? you may be surprised as to what some people will give up. we'll chat about that coming up in the next hour. kyra, i'm ivan watson here in cairo's central tahrir square where there is an historic demonstration under way, a revolution here. they are demanding the overthrow of egyptian president hosni mubarak. i'll have more for you at the top of the hour. >> all of you, thank you so much. the president, rather, collides with the past in egypt as crowds swarming the streets in cairo, people form a human chain protecting the museum, holding national treasures after looters break in. we're looking at how these priceless artifacts are being protected next hour in the cnn newsroom. fe's great questions. and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. all right. lebron james sounds like he's trying to kiss and make up with his hometown. is he getting desperate? didn't seem to bother him a little while ago. >> a few weeks ago, he tweeted karma is a bleep. cavaliers struggling. lebron trying to make nice. he says he wishes cleveland cavaliers and the fans the best. without him, the cavs have the worst record in the league. the two teams facing off in miami. look at lebron. wade had 34 points. king james poured in 24, and the heat, really, take it to the cavs again. the cavs have lot 21 in a row. 117-90 the final. this sunday, it's not just the super bowl. it's the hair bowl. clay matthews versus the steelers' main man with the mane. he was named the defensive player of the year. another man to keep an eye on if you are into beautiful luxurious hair. brett keisel, on his face. he hasn't shaved since june. he says he shampoos and conditions. >> it does not look good. >> who will win the big game. jenny, the elephant was given the choice of two watermelons. you can't see them. steelers and the packers, and jenny stomped the steelers right there. so she's picking the packers, which should make you happy as well. >> absolutely. i'm going for the packers. >> big day, media day, where all of the high jinks go on at the stadium. people ask the craziest questions. here we are in the dallas-ft. worth/arlington area. the cathedral built by jerry jones cost over $1 billion. should be on great display sunday. packers first team there this morning. soon will be followed by the steelers. both teams will meet with the media for an hour. crazy questions. >> might move to a high school for practice because of the bad weather? >> the packers need a place to practice, and football is huge in texas, so a high school has a great facility to use, so the packers were going to practice at smu, local university. instead, they're going to head to a high school because football is big in texas. >> i learned that withly living in lubbock. it's all about friday night lights. thanks, joe. we start this hour with a monster storm stretching more than 2,000 miles from arizona to maine. heavy snow predicted along a sweeping line from central texas to connecticut. we've got new york, dallas, washington. delivered conditions in seven states. winter storm warnings, watches, and advisories in effect for some 30 states. our weather people say, well, this could be among the top five storms for several cities. the dallas-ft. worth airport is closed. ice accumulation across the midwest could bring down power lines and trees. winds gusting to 40 miles an hour. will make the subzero temperatures seem even colder. a lot of people, something like 100 million folks, going to get hit by the massive storm. all morning, jacqui, i see you running back and forth. you have so much going on. >> it's hard to get it in in a short period of time. we will bring it to you in bits and pieces. this is a massive storm. to put it into perspective for you, this is affecting millions of people. this is the worst storm of the year by far at least in terms of affecting the most people, and travel is really crippled already in many areas. this is a blizzard. this is an ice storm. this is a severe weather event. we just got a tornado watch issued that includes parts of louisiana, as well as mississippi, into this area. that's a problem through 3:00 today. tornadoes possible here. the worst of the winter weather is coming down at this hour along the i-44 corridor where snow is accumulating as up as an inch to fourisms an hour. you see the wind speed in the 20 miles per hour. we're seeing gusts beyond 40 miles per hour, and we're getting reports across oklahoma that there are between 1 and 3-foot snowdrifts all over the place. st. louis, you're getting the freezing rain. this is accumulating. we are worried about power outages there. reynolds wolf is there. how are conditions in st. louis. ? >> things are interesting. it's kind of funny. you look at chicago, not a lot of activity there. to the west, a lot of snow picking up. right here, in st. louis, there is a transformation over the last tleer hours. first it was freezing rain. now sleet pellets, and the snow and heavy winds will soon follow. we could see over a foot of snowfall here. we have john person, cnn photojournalist. we are showing people across america that we have a nice coating of ice. not nice at all. a destructive coats of ice. it is one of the things we're concerned about. because the trees are covered with ice, and when the wind picks up, the branches could break. it is on signs and roads and sidewalks. it is everywhere. as we pan over toward the freeway, the cars are having little difficulty getting around. they have done a heck of a job on the roadways with salt and sand and chemicals. drivers are good. no accidents for the time being but as the snow begins to pick up, the ice will take itsle to, and the chemicals will lose their effectiveness. although travel is good for the time being, we expect it to get worse on the roadways. the airports, a nightmare. they expect some 6,000 cancellations for today and tomorrow in terms of flight, and i would imagine the numbers will go up significantly. the airport is about at least 60% operational at lambert. that's the good news. as the storm gets closer and intensifies, we expect more delays and headaches and the possibility of widespread power outages. for the time being, only about 100 or so homes without power but the numbers will come up as the snow comes down and the wind increases. >> we will continue to check in with you. thank you. reynolds mentioned the airports. we have problems in places outside of st. louis. dallas-ft. worth, closed at this point. 45-minute ground delays in philadelphia, san francisco. atlanta, low clouds there. in boston, snow, 30-minute arrival delays, departure delays at houston international and houston hobb airport. this could be a top five snow maker for places like chicago where we could potentially get two feet of snow. add the winds, we are not going to have just power outages in st. louis but all across the ohio valley and midwest. this will be a major storm affecting everybody ascros the country. even if you don't live in the path of the storm, you have it earlier out west, and later in the week in the east. airports are a big mess. nobody is getting anywhere. planes are stuck. all of the super bowl fans. what a bummer. >> teams trying to make concessions on where they're going to practice. thanks, jacqui. >> sure. >> oklahoma right in the middle of the monster storm. most of the state under a blizzard warning. amy pedilla is holed up in her home and expecting at least 6 to 8 inches of snow. she is sending us pictures and joins us on the phone. amy called in. describe it, amy, how bad is it? >> caller: the winds are blowing fast. there is no way anybody can get anywhere today. the snow is up to nigh knees pretty much, and it's coming down really hard. >> and so do you think there's been enough preparation to handle the massive amounts of snow? >> caller: i think they have done well. the news prepared us days in advance. everybody went to the grocery store. rate last night about 7:00 if you wanted a loaf of bread, it probably didn't happen. >> what's a normal day for you and what's your day going to be like for you today? >> caller: normal day would be getting up, going to work and i do travel a lot with my work as far as within the state, so, you know, that's definitely not going to happen today. i'm going to be staying ip side. i don't plan on going anywhere at all today. >> amy, keep us posted. appreciate you calling in. >> caller: thank you. the crisis in egypt, a nation on edge, the presidency on the line. a lot of pictures of tahrir square in cairo. in arabic, tar rear means liberation, and the people are demanding that and demanding that hosni mubarak surrender his power. this is the human face of the uprising. people here have discovered the power of their voice and the strength of their numbers. they have also witnessed the dangers of a desperate government trying to hold on. those flashes of violence mostly contained, but the stakes and the tensions rising. you'll see here just a second an egyptian soldier panicking in the face of a growing crowd. there he is right there. and yet the anger seems to be giving way to optimism, however. the emerging leader of the opposition says change is inevitable and the white house needs to take a stand for democracy. >> you need to review policy. 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. well, cnn has deployed its vast resources to cover all of the angles of this developing story. we have a number of crews in cairo and alexandria, and correspondents in london and at the pentagon. we are following millions of points in between the internet and the social media sites that have become a huge player in the uprising. ivan watson has been on hand as the crowds have grown. he joins us live right there in the center of tahrir square. ivan, you can hear us okay? >> reporter: hi, kyra. we are in tahrir square here where you can see that this is not only an historic demonstration, huge numbers we haven't seen over the course of a week of protests, but there is also an element of a sit-in here, where people have built tents and been camping out here since last night saying they're going to stay here and use this place as a symbol of opposition to the government of hosni mubarak. i would like to introduce to you this gentleman here. i just met him. he's a consultant. why are you here today, and it seems like you're here with your family? >> yes. i'm hear to stand with the people on a historic moment of demanding the president peacefully to leave. 30 years, he had time enough to give all of his thoughts and all of his ideas, and this is not enough for the people's expectations. >> reporter: and, kyra, that is the sentiment that this gentleman has just expressed that many people around us say over and over. thank you. >> thank you. >> reporter: they carry signs that say "game over." there are signs with hosni mubarak's face in it with a red cross through it, and the people are just going on and on just saying that they want to have a choice in who their next leader will be. at a very important point here when they hear i'm an american citizen, they say over and over again, send a message to your government. tell your government to stop supporting this man. we wanted to choose our next leader. why do they say that? because the u.s. provides $2 billion in aid to the egyptian government year after year. it is perceived to be the strongest supporter of a man they no longer want to lead their country, and, kyra, i'm afraid i'm going to have to leave it at that because i can no longer hear you in atlanta. just to say that many of the people here are calling this a revolution. >> all right, ivan. we will keep trying to check in with you. to double check, i want to make sure you can hear me? no, we did lose communication with him. >> reporter: i can hear you now. >> fabulous. i have been following you on twitter, and i think you have your blackberry in your hand. are you able to tweet from there or has that been cut off? >> reporter: the only communication we have with the outside world via internet when we use the satellite phone that my signal is coming to you right now. the government's decision to shut down the internet with facebook and other social networking sites being used to help start this protest movement by the youth here -- the only way people can communicate with the outside world via internet is with satellite phones. that's significant because they have cut off a portion of the egyptian economy and the global economy as you can imagine. how can you conduct credit transactions and banking if there is no internet. the stock market has been closed for days, and even the newly designated vice president estimates that egypt has suffered losses of more than $1 billion just in the past week alone and it will take some six months at this rate to recover. there is a war of attrition right now between the demonstrators, who are demanding to keep this demonstration going for hosni mubarak to step down, and the president him. self, because these people are suffering as a result of these protests. the price of food has gone up. the price of cigarettes have gone up. 40% of egyptians live on less than $2 a day, and if they can't go out there and earn money, their children do not eat, but many of these people say they are just not going to stop until this president steps down. back to you, kyra. >> yeah. i am seeing a time line that they want him out by this friday. it looks peaceful and it looks calm. our ivan watson right there in the middle of the square where those thousands of protests have shown up today demanding that hosni mubarak leave power. ivan, thank you so much. now, let's travel from cairo to the other egyptian city that has thousands of protesters as well. cnn senior international correspondent nic robertson is in alexandria, and he joins us by phone. nic, i have been following you on twitter. you have been getting more tweets out than ivan has. how many people do you think are participating there? are you able to communicate, still, via your blackberry? >> reporter: you know, today, the blackberry is not working as well as it has been, and my iphone is working better than it has been, that is, been able to get some data out but it's been really sporadic. one hour one phone works, the next hour the other phone works. i have been communicating by making phone calls to my wife and she is tweeting for me. that's how i'm staying connected, and that's how people here are doing it as well. they're calling people on the outside to send messages. what we're seeing here in alexandria today is by far the biggest demonstrations. we are seeing them in one square away from the city center close to a large army base but not on top of it. very close to it. people coming in from many different directions. it's very hard to put an exact figure on how many people would be here, but they are filling several large, wide, city streets. in excess of 20 thousand, poem tens of thousands still making their way to the square even though the curfew is in place. what's interesting to listen to today is the young activists behind the facebook, twitter efforts to get people out beginning these demonstrations a week ago now. they are saying they are concerned about the groups that are coming out and hijacking the leadership, pointing at the muslim brotherhood and other opposition groups saying why didn't you organize the demonstrates and why are you coming out now? most people are saying the main thing is just to remove president mubarak. i said, what next? they say, that really doesn't matter, but we are also hearing voights of people saying, okay, we're getting a clearer idea of what should come next. there should be elections within a couple of months. they're even saying that, perhaps, the vice president who has been appointed could stay as an interim power as long as he says that there will be elections in the future. so beginning to hear some sort of clearer ideas of what people want beyond president mubarak's remove. >> nic robertson calling in from alexandria. thanks. >> what would thieves want with $5,000 worth of candy? and also delicious. like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious. for just $29.99 at red lobster. with fresh salads and biscuits. your choice of entrees. and an appetizer or a dessert to share. for a limited time at red lobster. to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. motrin pm. 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. let's go cross country with some sweet little gut bombs, shall we? >> whoopie pie whoopie pie. i love a whoopie pie. >> who doesn't love a whoopie pie. if you're a mainer, you sing its praises. they are about to make the pie the state's official desert, but folks say, why would you glorify anything that uses lard as the main ingredient. five-finger discounts? no here. these candy thieves are taking a whole load of boxes. police figure they stole about $5,000 worth of sweets from three convenience stores. the three were arrested and they're not snickering anymore. >> fletcher, north carolina, baptist church on sunday, no less. some members want the long-time pos store to leave over money issues. others want him to stay. at some point, words turned to blows. >> this is the house of god. don't you understand? this is god's house. they don't understand. this is so wrong! this is so wrong! >> it took 30 cops to break up that baptist brawl. no one was hurt or arrested, thank goodness. up next, charlie sheen's network has to do some fancy footing around now that their star is back in rehab. , we understand... that while you may come from the same family... you know, son, you should take up something more strenuous. you have different needs and desires. - i'm reading a book. - what's a book? 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(announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. dow industrials up almost 90 points. some people would rather give up food than the internet. if you think i'm kidding, i have backup on that. stephanie elam in new york. wonder what steph thinks? >> me and food are friends. i'm not giving up my food. >> i'm telling you. that the the last thing i'm giving up. i'm eating for three now in. >> exactly. you definitely need food. would you give up cable, internet or would you give up your cell phone service? which one would you pick? >> out of cable, internet and cell phone? i'd give up cable. >> yeah, me, too. we get it at work. yeah, 49% of people said they would give up cable as well. mobile phones, 37%, and then there's food and then there's the internet, which i thought it was pretty interesting. some people who said they would give up cable say i can still see my shows. i can go online. they can get aaround not seeing the cable shows. food, you can't go on the internet if you are dead. someone should tell them that. i don't know. >> all right. we're hearing about -- this is really random how we transition to this. bathroom mirror ads. >> yeah, well, you know, things you need, you need a bathroom. it's like that, kyra. yes, these are new ads that are going to be put in starting in o'hare airport, based on the amount of snow they are going to get, this may be entertaining for those who may be stranded there. this is a company you may have heard of. cheer channel outdoor, and they are working with a company called mirrors. they are going to put still pictures or video, and as a person cups close to the mirror, the video or ad goes up to the top right corner like that. you can see it up in the top right corner. they are planning on taking them nationwide to airplanes and sports venues. imagine that. they will have sensors to determine how long people stand in front of the mirrors. >> steph, thanks. a massive storm in the midwest and blizzard warnings and now tornado threats in the south and a 2,500 mile long storm that could impact 100 million americans. the storm hasn't hit in chicago yet, right, rob? >> not officially. but, you know, you could say that the storm hasn't hit places like new york or boston yet but they are still getting winter weather. the size and scope of this thing is truly remarkable, and the expanse. it is reaching out from the southwest to coal doll rockies up to the canadian maritimes, and everyone is slowly getting a piece of this. it is biting cold here. it is snowing now. we have two or three inches from the initial pulse, the front-runner of this storm, but that so far is it. we are not into a blizzard warning until 3:00 this afternoon. right now, chicago is up and running. as a matter of fact, the schools are open today. the main event is sometime tonight. we are on michigan avenue, the magnificent mile, as it's called. traffic moving fine. roads are pretreated. today we're fine. tomorrow is going to be a different story. the way the system is setting up, and the cold air behind it, and the moisture coming off lake michigan, we could see as much as two feet of snow. that's the high side of the forecast. if that happens, that would put the storm down in the record books, and as it stands, the top five category, and even a city as well prepareds a chicago, it will be a tough go the next couple of days. that's for sure. >> we'll be trabing it. that's for sure, too. thanks, rob. in egypt, we are watching a possible revolution, a sea of protesters wash over cairo's tahrir square, calling it the march of millions although they didn't march. they stayed there. they are demanding that their president, hosni mubarak surrender his power. violence came in flashes but the army says there will be none today. where the past and present collide, soldiers stand guard outside the egyptian museum, home to thousands of artifacts. 3,000 from the reign of king tut. looters got in there. it is not just a nation's heritage. it's a peep's history. egyptians are willing to stand and protect it. we have a renownedrenowned archaeologist, who is joining us from the phone in cairo. doctor, the last time we talked, it was exciting news surrounding king tut discoveries, but today we are talking about a rather more disappointing story, and that's the fact that looters actually went into the museum during all of these protests. what did you see, and what did you observe that was pretty heart breaking to you? >> you know, i want to tell you, two things happened on friday. the first, that some people entered the cairo museum at night. about nine people. those nine people actually were so lucky that the museum was dark. they could not see cases full of gold and things like this. they were looking for gold, and actually they did open some showcases, and they stole 70 objects in the gallery. when they tried to go out, the objects, they were stopped guess by whom, by young people who protected them and the army. we opened the museum, and we looked at the objects. the objects can be restored, and nothing is stolen from the museum. >> that's the good news. >> the second thing and i have a store that was full of antiquities, the bedouin attacked it and took objects, but the good news, the objects were returned back. the bedouin brought the objects back and i want to tell you that the fights in luxor, which has the tomb of king tut and contains the objects, they contain all of this artifacts, and also the pyramids of giza are safe. 20 museums in egypts are safe, and the islamic museum. who protects this? the people have to know that the monuments of egypt are safe. the egyptians, the young people, the students, men everywhere, they did hold the sticks, and they defended the monuments, and that really makes me very happy, and i want to assure you that egyptians antiquities are safe now. >> that is so good to hear, because it was really hard to see those photos of these antiquities being thrown on the floor, broken. we saw, in particular, dr. hawass, the statue of the king on a panther. >> you know, my dear, if you come and enjoy my excavations one day and see the objects that they discover from the tombs, they will be in ruins. we restore them and put them in museums. what you saw in the photographs of the 70 objects, and that statue of king tut above the tiger will be restored, and they will go back inside the cases, and things will be safe. i always say to people. if cairo museum is safe, egypt will be safe. >> and that would be an absolute honor to join you at some point. >> thank you very much. >> as you go out on a dig. that would truly be a fantastic experience for me. i'm going to take you up on that. great news to here that the security is in full force and that you are able to restore what was broken. dr. zahi hawass, always good to hear from you. >> thank you very much. the government urging americans to shake the salt. is that even possible? dr. sanjay gupta is going to tell you next. >> the average american consumes about 3400 milligrams of sodium but most people should reduce it to 1,500 or a half a teaspoon per day. it's hard to measure. 90% that people consume comes from restaurants or packaged food, not a salt shaker. dr. sanjay gupta shows us what to look for. >> reporter: there's a study that comes out that says if you get down to 2 grams per day, we could save 150,000 lives a year from that one thing. frozen foods. they have a lot of sodium in there for lots of reasons, mainly because it's a good preservative. canned foods. a lot of parents like me go to canned foods but you get almost 950 milligrams, almost a gram from things like this. cereals, obviously an important food choice for homes. make sure to read the labels again. one thing about reading labels, when you read labels, try to find foods with less than five ingredients. when it comes to the sodium, one thing we do is we never leave crackers or cookies sitting out. we pour them into a bowl. it's important to find substitute it is as well, but if you find a substitute or flavorings, you can cut done on sodium, increase potassium. simply put, the institute of medicine, the scientific arm of the national academy of science is urging the fda to start regulating the amount of salt in all of our foods, foods at the grocery store, at restaurants, come up with a national average and predict how much salt people are getting in any particular day and slowly bring that down in an incremental way. they say, look, we have known about the relationship between salt and hypertension, stroke, heart disease, for a long time, decades now, and public education campaigns simply haven't worked, so it's time for the fda to get more involved, and that's what the institute of medicine is sort of saying. again, for average products, like the can of soup you saw, it may mean a significant reduction overall in the amount of sodium because that single can of soup has your entire day's sodium so you really need to bring that down because you're going to eat other foods throughout the day. overall, they want to get people more to the level of 1,500 milligrams to 2 grams per day depending on health history, medical problems you may have had in the past. most people are buying into it, and the fda is mulling it over and have public hearings about it. there is a salt institute which we talked to as well. they say, look, this comes down to regulating what are lower levels of salt, they say, and carrying it out is sort of like conducting a clinical trial on all of society, so they are not supporting all of this. that stanford study last month said if you simply cut down the sodium across society, across the united states by about half on average, you could save 150,000 lives a year, and that's something a lot of people are paying attention to. interesting news there possibly coming out of the fda. we'll keep tabs on it and bring it to you. back to you. if you live in the midwest or up north, hitting the road will soon be a bad idea if it isn't already. this guy in oklahoma city is finding out the hard way. 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over a billion used. got a lot to update you on with regard to this powerful winter storm that could impact 100 million people. heavy snow and ice spreading from new mexico to maine. high winds bringing down power lines. we've got reporters out in the field all across the country. we will check in with them in a moment. more than 4,000 flights have been cancelled, and also 600 national guard members on alert in illinois. >> that's just in illinois, not to mention hundreds of others in other states. we have four states that have declared states of emergency. we have blizzard warnings in effect for eight states, and 30 states now are under the warnings. the worst of it right here into the nation's heartland with blizzard type conditions coming down, heavy snowfall accumulations and freezing rain, the kind that coats everything and causes power outages. we'll go ahead and show you the radar picture. we have a tornado watch for parts of mississippi and louisiana. the i-44 corridor here between oklahoma city and st. louis, the worst location in a nation, and a place you should not be traveling right now. we've heard rumors parts of it are closed down. we are trying to confirm that. the snowfall accumulating an inch or two per hour. the ice, those of you seeing the freezing rain, that's accumulating about one-enth of an inch. ed lavandera, i see you are bundled up. how are conditions there in the oak city? >> reporter:. doesn't matter how much you bundle up, you will still feel cold. in the last hour or so we really felt the temperature feeling colder. the wind chill feeling kind of below minus 10 degrees, and when you come out in the cold, it doesn't take lng for your face and cheeks to start freezing up but it's the wind here that's we're talking about. it is rolling through here downtown as snow has fallen. it gets obscured, but check out the american flag, and the oklahoma city thunder basketball team flag, you can see how the flags are whipping around in the wind. believe it or not, a while ago we spoke with officials from oklahoma city emergency management office, and they say they have a number of stranded motorists across oklahoma that they've had to use the national guard to go rescue some of those people. as you well know, being caught out in the weather in cold temperatures, if your car breaks down or you run out of gasoline, it is a treacherous and dangerous situation. >> thank you very much. we have reports of snowdrifts between one and three feet. that wind whipping things around. the snowfall accumulation is heavy across the nation's midsection. this big strip here from just outside oklahoma city and chicago and detroit where we could see 10 to 20 inches of snow. the other big story with the storm is the ice am cumulation making it impossible to drive and causing power outages and bringing down trees. st. louis has been getting the freezing rain and sleet for a couple of hours, and that's where we find reynolds wolf. how bad are things getting there in st. louis? >> reporter: it is getting worse hour by hour. we are indeed in st. louis. if you want proof, look at the arch. from the arch we have all kinds of freezing rain coming down, some right on the lens. our cnn photojournalist john person might have to give a dipsy do on the lens. it is also affecting limbs, not lenses. take a look. this pine tree coated with tons of ice, and this is a small sample of what we are seeing across the region. what's amazing if you are tuning in from miami or parts of southern california and you've never seen this type of precipitation, you have water droplets that drop to the surface and freeze. by the time they hit something like a tree branch, it bonds instantly. not just branchs, power lines, street signs and all kinds of stuff causing issues. roadways, cars are fine for the time being but jacqui, as you know very well, when you have this stuff continuing to come down, we will see issues piling up on the roadways, and obviously, as you mentioned, at the airports as well. jacqui, let's kick it back to you in the studio. >> thanks. we are getting reports of accidents across the st. louis area and in parts of the dollars ft. worth area. the airport is closed there. we have delays in san francisco, atlanta and philadelphia. half an hour, houston hobby looking at departure delays. flight tracker of the planes in the air. they are not flying through the freezing rains. that's one of the biggest concerns. the winds are gusts as much as 40s miles per hour. chicago, probably no flights in and out later on tonight. we will keep you up to date on the winter storm. kyra is back after a break. and all my investments, but it's not something that i want to do completely on my own -- i like to discuss my ideas with someone. that's what i like about fidelity. they talked with me one on one, so we could come up with a plan that's right for me, and they worked with me to help me stay on track -- or sometimes, help me get on an even better one. woman: there you go, brian. thanks, guys. man: see ya. fidelity investments. turn here. well, this story will literally take your breath away. a chinese military training drill starring maverick, slider goose and iceman. the only thing missing were the cheesy ballads and the outtakes. >> reporter: take off the sunglasses, tom cruise, and look where you might have ended pup the chinese television was showing a training drill of chinese fighter planes doing maneuvers, but someone online noticed that missile strike looked awful familiar. >> taking the shot! >> reporter: it sure looks like the final dog fight in the movie "top gun." omg. tom cruise has defected said one post. "the wall street journal" grabbed the footage before it was taken down from the