that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. remember, you can follow us what's going on behind the scenes here in "the situation room" on twitter. tweet me @wolvesblitzer. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. erin burnett "out front" starts erin burnett "out front" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com next, breaking news. more than 100 million americans feeling the wrath of a catastrophic winter storm. snow and ice wreaking havoc on the south and east. where the dangerous storm is leaving next because it is not leaving the coast. senator rand paul sues the president today. he's "out front." are americans ready for paula deen? let's go "out front." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett.

"out front" tonight we begin with breaking news. deadly winter storm gaining strength affecting right now more than 100 million americans. it is being called historic by the national weather service. sleet, snow, ice, rain creating dangerous conditions across the entire southeast and the storm is moving very quickly up the coast. it's incredible how many cities are going to be affected. yes, palm trees, too. snow and ice in tennessee, georgia, and the carolinas have nearly shut down entire states. more than half the flights in and out of atlanta's hartsfield airport, the busiest in the united states, are canceled. the total for today and tomorrow are about 6500 flights. nearly half a million homes are without power tonight and at least nine deaths are being blamed on the storm. take a look at the conditions in raleigh, north carolina, today. hundreds of cars stranded skidding off the road. obviously they're not used to driving in those conditions. there also aren't the machines needed to clean the roads. you don't have the plows.

you don't have the ice scrapers. the treasurer choice conditions got worse throughout the day and it's not going to get better any time soon. in the next few hours as darkness has fallen, washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york, boston, almost every major city in the northeast will be affected. state emergency centers and shelters being activated up and down the coast. hundreds of national guard troops being mobilized to address the storm. we have this covered from all angles tonight. ed lavendere is in our rolling vehicle and david mattingly is in charlotte, nbc nbc, which is where we begin and where so many of the horrible pictures have been coming out throughout the day, david, where you are. people stranded on highways reminisce sent of what happened in atlanta. what are you seeing there tonight? >> reporter: talking just a few minutes ago to a spokesman from the highway department, they say the traffic in raleigh is beginning to move. it's moving slowly, but it is moving. they do have the national guard on stand by to make sure that

they are available to go out and rescue anybody who might be stranded in that line of cars, but at this time their goal, they say, is to make sure that no one out there has to spend the night in their car like they did in atlanta. unlike atlanta though, the good news tonight is that gridlock that we saw earlier, the cars are now slowly moving and the plows are starting to make some progress there. they're also towing away those cars that are blocking some of the progress. things are slowly getting back on track here but people are way overdue getting home. here in charlotte officials in the city just recently told us that they're not having any major problems. it's pretty much a ghost town here. right now this storm is living up to its billing, it seems, as the storm of the decade. >> reporter: throughout the day entire cities slowed to a crawl. the national guard responded from alabama to the carolinacar.

in charlotte, snow fell so fast streets why covered in minutes, not hours. the city expecting 10 inches of snow and bracing for the ice that's predicted overnight. >> do the common sense things, we know it's commoning. take the precautions right now. do not wait. if you wait, that means you're going to take action which puts our emergency operations people lives at ris zbk. >> too many motorists waited too late to travel. some wiping out, others stuck in long, slow moving linings. >> we're not kidding. we're not just crying wolf. it is serious business. >> reporter: conditions in atlanta look much different than two weeks ago when just two inches of snow brought the city to a stand still. highways that looked like parking lots then were now empty. at the world's busiest airport, planes were busy waiting, and more than 3,000 flights were canceled nationwide. as the storm moves up the east coast, the biggest concern

becomes power outages. across the southeast, over 450,000 are without power. thousands in georgia and there are no promises of a quick fix. >> we're looking at possibility of hundreds of thousands of outages so this could be a long duration. >> reporter: all it takes is a quarter of an inch of ice to bring down power lines and atlanta may see three times that much by tomorrow morning. >> there's no way you can deal with ice. i don't care what yankees say, you can't drive in ice. >> reporter: and the mayor of charlotte issuing an emergency declaration a little bit earlier this evening. that means that they will be accepting funds from the state and federal level to help them pay for all of this mess. aaron? >> david matdingly, thank you so much. so many images, how atlanta just a couple of weeks ago was paralyzed by a mere 2.6 inches of snow, almost no snow. they took no chances there. schools and offices were closed in advance. the highways empty as opposed to

last time where people spent 24 hours sitting in freezing cars waiting for aid and assistance. what we'll show you, a complete and you thor ghost town. obviously much better than the alternative. sort of an eerie sight. makes you think of a horror movie. that's what it was a couple of weeks ago. ed lavandara is there in atlanta. it is an eerie picture to see those interstates just empty. >> reporter: it's a far cry from what you mentioned what we saw a few weeks ago. it doesn't take much for things to really kind of get into a messy situation. we just finished driving up the hill. what we've seen in the last 20 minutes, about a dozen cars or so slip and slide. some of them having to come back around and drive the roads. the conditions at night as you can look out into these intersections that we're driving around in now, as the sleet and freezing rain continues to fall, these conditions will only

worsen in the hours ahead so it's going to take quite a bit of time for these roads to be cleared up. the good news is, aaron, that people have heeded the warnings and they've stayed off of the roadways. that has made the situation a lot more manageable, especially for the emergency crews, the power line crews that we've seen working throughout many neighborhoods here in the atlanta and northern georgia -- northern georgia area. like i say, it doesn't take much. a slope that we just drove up a moment ago, there was a handful of cars and the front two cars couldn't get up the hill. before you knew it there was just a back log of cars slipping back down the hill having to turn back around and go against traffic. that's when these situations get very dangerous very quickly and so, you know, even now that darkness has settled here across atlanta, this is even more important to heed the warnings to stay off the roadways because visibility is very low and that freezing rain continues to fall and these roads have really become treacherous. >> ed, thank you very much.

it may sound very strange to say this but it seems like it could be a blessing in disguise, what happened to atlanta two weeks ago. not only be was atlanta ready but they saw the horrific debacle for people, public relations nightmare and got ready and were prepared. 100 million people will be affected by this storm as it's just beginning. it's not moving out to sea, it's moving up along the coast. our meteorologist chad myers is tracking the storm. chad, how bad is it going to get? >> well, it's still icing in atlanta. it has been icing since 2:00 in the morning, but that's the difference, erin, is that the storm, the last one that paralyzed the city, started at 2:00 p.m. so people were already out doing things and they got caught off guard. at 2:00 a.m. you're not doing anything except sleeping. people woke up and went, i ain't going out in that, and they didn't. completely different situation happened. the situation that atlanta had is now happening right now in raleigh durham because it

started snowing at noon. people were already out doing things. that snow is moving up towards d.c. it's already snowing in resh month, hampton roads and icing all the way down here. david mattingly in charlotte, going to get freezing rain, sleet all night. really more sleet. now sleet is frozen by the time it hits the grouchbtnd. it hurts you when it hits you. sleet freezes on contact. freezing rain is more dangerous than sleet. there will be a big snow event. i'm drawing that line. that's until about here. that's i-95. if you are east of it, you don't get much. if you are west of it, you get a lot. right along that will be where the transition is. the low itself will go right up the coast. the closer you are to the low, the warmer the air will be. it will be warm through here but it will be cold back here. that's where all the snow is going to be. talking about raleigh a little

bit ago, still seeing delays in raleigh. that's what raleigh's traffic looks like. that spot on 640, that's what the cars look like right now. those are all taillights. they're not moving yet. they're trying. they're getting some traction. once you get one car to stop on a hill, you can't get another one going. >> chad, thank you very much. the manmade line of i-95. i don't know what to read into that. there you go. act of nature. still to come, rand paul says he's suing the president on your behalf. is this a stunt or the real deal? well, the senator rand paul "out front" to answer the questions. plus, controversial comments by supreme court justice clarence thomas. is america more racist now than the 1960s. and a sinkhole swallows six cars at the national museum and it's all caught on camera.

[ phone dings ] [ nephew ] hi, heath. i can't wait to see you win gold! bye. [ male announcer ] there when you need it. at&t. the nation's most reliable 4g lte network. bob will retire when he's 153,

which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

are americans too sensitive about race? well, that's what supreme court justice clarence thomas thinks. the high court's only african-american jury list said, my sadness is that we are probably more race and difference conscious than i was in the 1960s when i went to school.

rarely did the issue of race ever come up. now name a day it doesn't come up. the worst things that have been done to me and the worst things that have been said about me are by northern liberal elites, not by the people of savannah, georgia, where he grew up. joining me cnn commentator angela davis. this is a fascinating conversation. does he have a point? by the way, he's written in books before about horrible things that have happened to him based on race when he was younger so this does seem a bit different in terms of that from his perspective. does he have a point? >> i think he may have used a word that we're being too simplistic about race. i think we're not being smart versus sensitive. i think with clarence thomas, he's looking at things through his prism. i see his point by thinking we're having the same conversations over and over again and they tend to be simplistic and quite literally and figuratively in black and white and we have to have a little more complexed nuanced

conversations about race. i think he's hearing the same things over and over again. >> crystal, what's your point of view. you agree with the justice and explain why? >> i agree with mckayla. too many people have been marginalized in our conversations about race. whether you're white or black, particularly white americans don't feel comfortable like mckayla and i having a conversation about race. where i think justice thomas is correct is that we don't even know what racism is before because everybody's so quick to hunt down people and turn something into racism where it might not be racism. and it reminds me of a book that i think everybody should look at and read by shelby steel called "dream deferred" and he writes a lot about this. what shelby steel writes about in the book is he says during the civil rights movement or era when justice thomas grew up, you had blacks like my parents fighting to end racism.

now fast forward to over the last 30 years since 1964, you have blacks who are fighting to make sure racism stays alive and well like kornell west, al sharpton, reverend jesse jackson who are making a living going out, hunting down people and organizations and saying, oh, you're racist. >> you're racist. >> that's the kiss of death. >> a lot of people put clarence thomas in that category on the other side. >> right. >> they say, oh, look, these are the people who are apologists and they say there isn't racism. they obviously aren't really black. >> well, there again lies the simplicity of it. we're not talking about systemic racism. we're not talking about institutionalized racism. we're not talking about ptsd with homeland terrorism. what we're trying to do is make it very simple. in the 1960s, most people were afraid to talk about racism. it's very dangerous to compare what was happening in the civil rights movement to now. and we've been very quiet until

this administration has sort of like pressed the pause button on our conversation about race. america is changing by 2043 white folks are going to be in the minority so we have to talk about it in complex targeted ways. >> are people using race and it's being used politically, o too. here's what harry reid is saying about the president. i hope and i say this seriously it's based on substance and not the fact that he's african-american. >> what kind of comment is that? i'm he not saying people don't go after the president because they don't like him because he's black. some people do, but that's a pretty aggressive thing for harry reid to say, isn't it? >> erin, i think there is a machine that helps to keep this race conversation going because people are getting paid for it, people are tuning in for it, and it helps to keep it simple. it's the complicated, hard conversations that we need to have continuously and repetitiously.

i think both sides benefit on keeping these simple one-sided, better/worse, he's racist/he's not. i rarely agree with crystal, but i do think there is a machine in place that wants to keep this race conversation going because there are people benefitting from it. >> final word to you, crystal. what about things like donald trump? questions whether the president was born in the united states. some people say to raise that point is a very racist thing. >> what about it, erin? donald trump has a right to raise an opinion about whether the president was born in the united states, but i don't think you would be saying that about him if he was white. >> i don't want to get into a birther conversation. >> okay, but wait a minute. take a step back. i mean, i'm a black woman and i can have this conversation. i'm just saying if he was black, i doubt that you would be having the same reaction. this goes back to what mckayla said. we need to start having a complex conversation about race.

clarence thomas started that. he grew up in, you know, an era where he was -- his race was impugned as a blackman. my parents dwru up in that era. my father was the only black male to integrate his medical school class when he went to dental school and he helped the white kids study. they got better grades than him, but he didn't let that hold him back. what i'm saying is i think this conversation about race, i think a lot of people are making a lot of money off of calling people racist. it's like the big shame shakedown that's going on. so when racism really occurs, which we know it still happens, i've been a victim of racism, we don't really see it. that's honest. >> in a new day we have to have a new conversation. >> exactly. >> it's all about pointing the finger so many times. "out front" next, paula deen attempting a comeback.

$75 million. what made comedian john oliver say this? >> you no longer are the underdogs. it's very important that you realize that. >> announcer: erin burnett "out front" brought to you by princess cruises. come back new. ncer ] you've nevr watched her like this before... never taken the time to just...watch. but something about spending this time together, sailing past ancient glaciers in alaska... talking under a universe billions of years old... makes you realize how old time is and how short life is. she can take all the time she wants. princess cruises, come back new. ♪ did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape?

yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ with limited availability in select markets. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help

for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial.

gapping up on google? all right. well just last night comedian john oliver was the latest to take a jab at the tech giant for creating a painful divide between the have and have-nots. he took issue with the plush and private buses that are using public bus stops to transport google and other office workers to google in the silicon valley. >> you're no longer the underdogs. it's very important you realize that. you're not the scrappy people that people get behind. it used to be people who worked in the tech industry were emotional shut-ins who you could root for. now those days are gone. you're pissing off an entire city, not with just what you do at work but how you get to work. >> oliver went after the high salaries paid to the tech companies which have caused rent prices to skyrocket. >> you're being accused of

overcharging a city that was already the most expensive city to live in. that's not mathematically possible. you're doing something that was already done three times before you. you can't do it anymore without going full circle and turning this into a [ bleep ] hole. >> john oliver is far from anyone who has that opinion. there have been weeks of protests. is all of this anger at fwogoog joe, you have people on the left who are angry that google is cutting down the number of cars commuting on the road. all right, i'm just saying. you can make jokes on this from every side. google has pointed this out, the buses that are causing so many problems are the equivalent to taking 4,000 cars off the road. that's their side of it. what do you think about this? is it fair to pick on them about these buses? >> google can take their 48,000 employees and go to india, right? new delhi would be more than

happy to take all of those buses and all of those employees and all of that work in. you know, google, they have, what, 60 billion in revenue last year. >> right. >> they're choosing to take some of that money and give it back to their employees by making their commute to work better. by the way, making the environment better. we're seeing occupy wall street 2.0 except it's more militant. there are workers going to the homes of google employees. one guy went there and scared the hell out of my son. they're putting flyers up. this guy works at google, he's part of the problem and they're blocking him from going to work. makes no sense to me. >> this bussing happens everywhere so there are plenty of conditions, people who work outside of new york, they'll have people who come through. they'll use the public bus stops. people say google using the public bus stops is bad. they're doing that so they're not creating traffic by creating all kinds of other stops.

it sort of seems like no matter what they do they'll get picked on. >> now these protests, erin are spreading to seattle with microsoft employees. >> who also get bussed to headquarters. >> right. they employ 100,000 people, right, also billions in revenue, also good for the economy. these protesters might want to find another hobby like, i don't know, getting a job. they seem to have time on their hands and wreaking havoc all over the city. people are saying i'm working hard, earning a good paycheck. rents are going to go up, but that's capitalism. that's people succeeding. if people are going to raise rent, what do protesters want for the rents to come back down? by nobody working. i don't understand the question. >> your a raising the questions about the issue that's gathering steam. rand paul says he's suing the president for you. tonight he's out front to answer the questions. plus, a lawyer killed after

a package at his home explodes. eight cars at the corvette museum sucked into the ground. we have the dramatic video of the moment it happened. ed peopl, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

♪ choc-choc! [ female announcer ] introducing chocolate toast crunch. new crazy little squares in a crunchy chocolate flavor. ♪ choc choc ♪ choc [ female announcer ] new chocolate toast crunch. you're an emailing, texting, master of the digital universe. but do you protect yourself? ♪

apparently not. when you access everything, you give everyone access to everything about you. but that's ok. while you do your thing... [ alert rings ] we'll be here at lifelock, doing our thing. watching out for things your credit card alone can't. [ alert rings ] and relentlessly protecting your identity. get lifelock protection and live life free. [ alert rings ]

welcome back to the second half of "out front." a tennessee town terrified to check the mail tonight after a retired lawyer opened a package

and it exploded and killed him. authorities have recovered a note that was attached to the package. people who knew them say they have no idea why the couple would have been targeted. he specialized in bankruptcy and living trusts. investigators are trying to figure out who delivered the package. a freak of nature, a 40 foot sinkhole opened up in kentucky today and this one was caught on camera. i mean, just look at this. this is in the middle of the national corvette museum. you'd think like zoning and things would have been done. no, the middle of the museum, all of a sudden the floor opens up. eight corvettes were damaged after falling into the sinkhole 30 feet deep. they learned something was wrong when motion detectors set off the security alarm. they're trying to figure out how much damage was done. one was a 1992 model. the 1 millionth corvette ever made.

that car alone could have been worth $1 million. rand paul versus barack h. obama. he sued the president of the united states and other national security officials. he says he's trying to stop the national security agency's gathering telephone data. he is the most recognizable to do so and in a moment we're going to talk directly to the senator about his suit but, first, dana bash has more on the senator himself. >> reporter: rand paul likes to describe attending an early tea party meeting and deciding to run for senate. i got started running as part of the tea party movement in 2010 because i was unhappy with republicans. >> reporter: the ophthalmologist was an outsider, exactly what the times required when paul rode the tea party wave into the senate in 2010. >> we've come to take our

government back. >> reporter: but he was no stranger to politics. >> please welcome, my father, ron paul. >> reporter: the son of an original outsider, ron paul, who shook things up on the presidential campaign trail. in many ways, rand paul is the ideological heir apparent. he was in the senate just a few months when he sought us out to rail against his own party leaders for not all loug changes he wanted to the patriot act. >> as you know, this is unusual around here for a republican freshman senator to come on and really lash out at his own leadership. why are you doing that? >> i'm disappointed. i'm disappointed they don't want to allow debate. >> reporter: last year he waged a senate filibuster against the use of drones. >> i will speak until i can no longer speak. >> reporter: he went 13 hours surprising leaders in both

parties. >> did they know you were going to do this? >> no. in fact, we didn't know we were going to do it that day. >> reporter: a precursor against president obama against nsa spying. paul doesn't try to hide his presidential ambition. this is classic. >> i've been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from professor stevens, i would have relieved you from your post. i never have intentionally presented anyone's ideas as my own or tried to pass off anything. >> reporter: still, he has the attention of conservative activists. >> he's establishing a persona that we haven't seen very much in the republican party stand up to the obama administration and actually prevail. >> dana bash, cnn, washington. the republican senator rand paul of kentucky joins me now. senator, the obama administration responded to your

lawsuit today. they said there are quote 15 previous judges have previously found it legal. why is your lawsuit going to be different? >> the interesting thing is the 15 judges found it in secret to be legal with only the government's argument being presented. many people who follow jurisprudence and legal history will tell you that the truth is achieved by having a lawyer on both sides in an open court so we are going to try to have a decision whether the fourth amendment applies to our phone records. i'll have the former attorney general of virginia defending me. in most of the decisions, there was no defensz and there was no attorney. >> obviously you're talking about ken kuch ccuccinelli of virginia. i was hesitant to bring this up. the district of columbia is misspelled.

it has no l in there. it's a spelling typo but, still, it is right at the top. i read it further and this caught my attention when you're talking about you're standing personally to bring this case. it says defendants have without legitimate basis collective, stored, retained, periodically searched telephone meta data he made or received since may 2006 and the defendants continue to do so. so let me ask you about that. this is crucial. i you have to prove that to bring this case. the nsa collects 20% of the calls. do you have a question that yours are in there? >> the question of sanding is a legal question. there have been a report in the "wall street journal" saying that all of verizon's calls were collected, all of at&t's calls were collected. the actual legal standing, i'm

not someone who will be able to make that determination. several people have gotten into court and have received standing. >> let me ask you this. cnn's senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, you know about him as well, he talked about that issue and the class itself that you're claiming. here's how he phrased his issue. senator paul does not have a legal standing and no court will accept that with mlts of plaintiffs. i know you're saying you dispute the issue on standing. what about the issue of class. i'm looking out there. i did some quick work. walmart, the biggest employee discrimination case, 1.5 million. the visa master card could have been better. 300 million people. >> here's the whole point of what you want to do, this warrant is so generalized.

a single warrant is being applied to everybody who has a cell phone and rel really everybody that has a land line, too. everybody who has a phone connection. that sounds to us like a general warrant. it says the warrant should be specific to the individual. you're telling me a single warrant can apply to everybody who has an at&t phone call. that sounds like it does go against what our founding fathers intended in the fourth amendment. i think we will be heard. i think we have a strong argument. things are complicated by how big a class is. we didn't decide the size of the class. this is by the arrogance of the government. it shows the enormity and the egregiousness of the government's intrusion. >> let me ask you one other thing before we go and that is 2016. obviously the democratic front-runner right now is hillary clinton. you've been aggressive against

bill clinton talking about an affair with monica lewinsky. you called him a sexual predator. karl rove said frankly rand paul is spending a lot of time talking about the mistakes of bill clinton. doesn't look like a big agenda for the future of the country. what do you say to karl rove? >> well, i have this terrible habit, when people ask me a question, i usually respond. what's interesting is people have come up to me and say, hey, what a great strategy. he deserves it. other people are saying, why are you beating this to the soul. people keep asking me this question so i keen answering the question. i think that hypocrisy should be pointed out and i think when people claim to say they are for women's rights, particularly in the workplace, and yet they seem

to be a purveyor of some sort of troglodite mets sage to women, i think >> you brought it up and you and i have talked about it. you and i had a conversation in the context of the whole war on women. it turned out it was off camera, but you brought this up to me a few months ago. i mean, this is something you've been thinking about, right? let's gist be honest. >> no, answer questions, purely and simply. when david gregory asked me that question on the sunday morning program, i had no idea what he was going to ask me. he was prepared. he knew what he was going to ask me but it wasn't like we got together and compared notes cli. i think it is fair game. he had -- made a statement this week raising money for the

democrats and so if you're going to take his money, really you ought to explain whether you agree or disagree with his treatment in the workplace. there were many feminists at the time who think he got a walk on something as important as the safety of women in the workplace. so, no, i think it's at issue but, you know, it's not like i'm bringing it up. if you want to talk about t i've got time. i'll talk about it. >> our thanks to rand paul. "out front" next, paula deen raises tens of thousands of dollars in comeback money. so is america ready for her return? and a westminster winner has been crowned. cute or, i don't know? well, we're going to show you the dog best in show. that's coming up. that's correct. cause i'm really nervous about getting trapped. why's that? uh, mark?

go get help! i have my reasons. look, you don't have to feel trapped with our raise your rate cd. if our rate on this cd goes up, yours can too. oh that sounds nice. don't feel trapped with the ally raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

choose two melt-in-your mouth entrees, olive garden's best 2 for $25 yet is ending soon! like new parmesan crusted chicken, 3 courses, 2 people, just $25 at olive garden! also enjoy weekday signature favorites, four classic pastas, now just $10!

>> around this time of the year.

>> the first wisconsin girl, the doll that started it all. >> the swimsuit issue will get it. she only weighs 7 1/4 ounces. if barbie makes your daughter feel bad, how about these cover girls? >> with any imperfections cured with air brush. look at her sideways because she would look curveless. >> she probably has a roll. the too perfec barbie is totally unimpressive by the

modern s.i. standards. she may have started it all. is barbie more real than modern real life models. after taking heat paula deen is ready to get back into the kitchen. she's going to grow her celebrity business. a reported $17 million one. it took a major hit last year before she admitted to using the "n" word. will deen's come back be a success. great to have you both with us. everybody loaves a comeback story in the united states. this is somebody who is beloved, all right? but she used the "n" word. people were really angry about it. can she come back? >> she can come back and she's going to have some loyal customers who will stick with her and that's what marketing is all about but, and a big but, when you use the "n" word you are thrown into a racial controversy that won't go away

quickly. people will use that as a competitive advantage because of something similar to other shelves for example. it will be those who have an action to grind because they're utilizing her to use the "n" word for civil rights groups that might jump in and there will be all of those who have never liked her putting $75 million behind this. she was worked by the food network, walmart, target, home depot, j.c. penney, qvc. this was a serious running for the hills. if this is going to work, companies like that have to come back and endorse her. and given what he just said, is there

>> her book sales soared. she's sold out two cruises and has 19 million loyal twitter followers. if she punts her head down and gets back to cooking she's going to be just fine. i also think everybody needs to remember that she was taken to task for something she said two decades ago. if you turn on the radio today and listen to "holy grail" you're going to hear jay-z say the same word nine times on your radio. so the case that was -- >> jay-z happens to be back. >> the genesis of this was dismissed. >> really? come on. >> really come on. >> not just from issues that were more than two decades ago. if you look through the entire case, and yes, it got thrown out. >> mike it was dismissed. the discrimination claims were dismissed. >> talking about the court of public opinion now. not an attorney, okay? so we're talking about branding, talking about reputation. and one of the biggest things that was said in that case is there were employees that were there working for paula deen who

had to tolerate the jokes and the nonsense around the n word in a culture that was uncomfortable. that is still something that could be going on today. and that's something that is a fair question to be asked of her today as well. >> mel, it's interesting -- >> it might just be. you're right, mike. it might just be. >> go ahead. >> if you take the example of somebody like michael vick, don imus, tiger woods, we can go on and on and on of people that have really screwed up and america and sponsors have come back to the table. >> i'm one of the top crisis p.r. people in the world. the bottom line is they didn't say the n word. it wasn't a racist issue. you could talk about michael vick and tiger woods. those dent deal with racism. >> don imus, racial issue. >> don imus is a racial issue. he isn't paula deen. we'll see how she handles it. he had an excellent mea culpa.

she's running for the hills. >> i don't think she is at all. >> what's your analysis on those two things? don imus said nappy-headed hoes, she use the n word. are those equal things? >> it's not about whether they're equal things, how do you deal with it when that happens. if someone's message is, i is what i is and look what happened to my family. don imus eventually came out and said i made a big mistake. i fully apologize. when he's asked about it on a regular basis he continues to say that. paula deen is comfortable around your audience and family. she's not on your show right now talking about this. i think there are big issues because shi not comfortable with the issue. >> mel, maybe the thing is she doesn't need those people. she's comfortable with the base that she has, and that base doesn't care about this. >> we'll see when she approaches major media. >> i think mike's analysis is exactly right in terms of the

apology. the first one was terrible, the second one was not that great, the third one was way better. she certainly seemed very sincere and very sorry. and i think you're it arright, . she has a strong customer base and fan base. that's why somebody's putting $75 million into her. >> the rule is you don't just give an apology once. you have to be comfortable to deal with it on a daily basis. >> eat humble pie day in and day out. we want your feedback on this whether you think she can succeed or not. $75 million is that a smart bet? outfront next, the westminster dog show. there's the winner. and we have more. olive garden's best 2 for $25 yet is ending soon!

choose two melt-in-your mouth entrees, like new parmesan crusted chicken, 3 courses, 2 people, just $25 at olive garden! also enjoy weekday signature favorites, four classic pastas, now just $10!

they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

the westminster dog show came to an end last night. the best in show was crowned. here's the entire two-day competition in case you missed it. >> the annual event's long history dates back to the late 1800s. with each passing year, its legacy grows, growing even more ven erable, esteemed, admired, loved. tonight for the 138th time, a champion will be named best in show. >> and there you see before you the long-time announcer here at westminster, mike lafave who introduced close to 100 dogs. >> german short-haired pointer. wire-haired pointing -- >> irish setter. >> english setter. >> spaniel. >> black cocker spaniel. >> party color cocker spaniel. >> chin ook.

>> introducing the seven group winners competing for best? show. >> beautiful outstanding lineup. >> best of show this evening -- is the wire-foxed terrier. [ cheers and applause ] >> he's so ugly he's cute. best in show. sky is going on a media blitz this week making an appearance at the empire state building, enjoying a free meal at sardi's new york restaurant. she's going to be a spoiled pooch. $55.5 million. according to the american pet products association, that's how much money americans spent on their pets last year. in one year. yeah, that number is mostly about dogs. and it includes everything from all those -- what is that? see, that is abuse. all right. anyway, clothing, yes, even we're beer. you can go to a dog barkery i

mean bakery. last year americans spent only $10 billion on movies. yeah, five times more money on their pets. please stop with the clothes for the little ones. they may look cute, but honestly they have pride! they do! thanks so much for joining us. anderson starts now. good evening, everyone. if you are watching this in alabama, georgia or the carolinas, please stay off the road. if you're watching anywhere else along the i-95 corridor from virginia to maine, get ready to a big mess. it is only just begun. and if you're trying to fly anywhere tonight or in the next few days, i wish you a lot of luck. to breaking news, parts of the country now are at a complete stand still on ice. highways covered with it, cars stuck anytime. nearly half a million homes without power. thousands of flights canceled. at least nine lives lost. more than 100 million others affected or about to be affected by yet another winter wallop. the chaos started