from you. log on to cnn.com/kyra, share your comments. thanks so much for joining me. don lemon in today for tony harris. don. >> thank you very much, kyra. it is thursday, february 4th. here are the faces of the stories today making headlines. james ray, self-help guru, goes to court charged in the deaths of three people during a sweat lodge retreat. and living in poverty along the u.s. border and leery of the census. scott brown, senator-elect. today the republican is soon to fill the seat left by ted kennedy. good morning, everyone, i'm don lemon in for tony harris and you are in the "cnn newsroom." the last thing toyota needs is another problem, but it got one. this time it is the brakes on the prius, the company's popular hybrid. the transportation department today announced an investigation into brake problems on the 2010

prius. toyota says it is a software glitch that's to blame but the company says it has fixed the problem on models sold since late last month. it's still deciding what to do about the ones sold earlier and toyota has put a price tag on the recall involving sticky gas pedals. the automaker estimates it will cost as much as, get this, $2 billion. we are hearing from you about toyota's troubles through your ireports. many of you say the automaker should have acted quickly, more quickly in handling the problem. >> we got a letter saying take off the mats. we got a letter saying this is what you should do even though we don't think it's a problem should your car start to accelerate. luckily for us, our cars have not been called up for recall but it's very frustrating because i do believe that toyota knew what was going on. you can't be at the top of the game for so long, for so many years and not know when your equipment is faulty. >> make sure you keep sharing your thoughts at ireport.com. our susan candiotti will join us

in a little bit. she has been spending time in a dealership. plus toyota's trouble continues to add up. what does this mean for the bottom line? allison will join us from the new york stock exchange. let's check some of the big stories right now. scott brown getting ready to take his seat in the senate just hours from now. the massachusetts republican's victory was officially certified this morning in boston. he is scheduled to be sworn in on capitol hill a little bit later on today, one week earlier than he had planned. he had been pressured by conservative radio host and newspaper columnists to go ahead and take the seat. brown pulled a shocker last month, winning the special election for ted kennedy's seat. with his win senate democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority. right now on capitol hill, a focus on money. a couple of key players in the obama administration are appearing before senate committees. they are talking about president obama's budget. live pictures right now. you can see that peter orszag is

testifying. he's the director of the office of management and budget. there he is right there. also testifying right now, treasury secretary timothy geithner. the $3.8 trillion budget was unveiled on monday. president obama carrying on a tradition this morning. he addressed the 58th annual national prayer breakfast in washington. mr. obama criticized partisan politics. >> become numb to the day-to-day crises, the slow-moving tragedies of children without food and men without shelter and families without health care. we've become absorbed with our abstract arguments, our idea logical disputes, our contests for power. and in this tower of babble, we lose the sound of god's voice. >> president obama also slammed efforts to pass anti-gay legislation in uganda. it would punish same-sex acts with long prison terms or even death. an ethics group accuses the

sponsor of the breakfast of supporting that bill. james arthur ray is headed to court today. the self-help expert is being held on a $5 million bond following his arrest yesterday. ray is charged with manslaughter. three people died during one of his sweat lodge ceremonies in arizona last year. a woman who was there talked with our anderson cooper just last night and our senior legal analyst also offered some insight. >> a lot of facts that we don't know at this point will be very important in this case. what had happened previously, did he have warnings that this could have happened or had had it gone off without a hitch in the past. what kind of precautions were taken. how were people warned. were there medical personnel on the premises. it does appear like there was at least one doctor there. all these questions will go to his good faith or lack thereof. and i think that's really the critical legal question. >> beverly, did they take like a medical evaluation of you before you were put in the sweat lodge?

>> nothing. no medical history was taken at all. >> wow. i want to read you something, beverly, that this guy, james ray, gave in an interview recently. when asked what did you do after making sure 911 was called, because that's what he said he did, ray replied i did everything i could to help. there was a medical doctor there and i was having peep her make sure things went. i was there the entire time doing whatever i could to help until i was detained by the detectives. beverly, you were there. is he telling the truth? >> no, that's completely false. the medical doctor was there as a participant and she actually was laying next to me. and when i actually was coherent and i started actually reviving one of the people in critical condition, i said we need medical assistance here action and i knew she was a medical doctor. so i asked her to come and help. when we saw that they were doing cpr over in another area, that's actually when i told -- they were calling for medical

assistance. i told the lady you need to go over -- she needed to go over there. >> so you were the one directing the doctor around. what was ray doing at this time? >> correct. james ray was about five or ten feet away from kirby and james shore while they were actually conducting cpr on them. he just actually stood there. he was nowhere on our side of the tent. there's no way he was helping anybody. those are very false, very false statements. he was nowhere, anywhere near any of us. >> well, these are huge issues for the criminal case because was the doctor there because she just happened to be a guest or was she an employee who was someone there. >> beverly, do you know the answer? was she an employee or actually taking part in the sweat lodge. >> no, she was just a participant. >> ray's attorney calls it a terrible accident but says it was not a criminal act. the attorney brad brian will be larry king's guest tonight.

it is a primetime exclusive right here on cnn that begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern. larry king live. from victim to survivor, some of haiti's children are back in class. a bit ironic that history is being taught in a cemetery. and there are winter weather watches out in nine states right now. this massive system could dump as much as two feet of snow on parts of the mid-atlantic. rob marciano joins us in just a few minutes. at this point the dow down 176 points. we're going to get a check of the dow a little bit and go to alison kosik standing by. new jobless numbers are out as well. many people will take any job they can find but what makes a company a good place to work. "fortune" magazine has its list of the best 100 companies to work for. before we tell you the name of this company, see if you can guess it. >> reporter: this business wants everyone to take it outside. where can employees ride like the wind in the middle of the

day? we'll tell you after the break. oh sure, we have plenty of employees that... you can label as "different." like janice. uh-huh. yeah. fashion deficient. and tom... copy incapable. it's open kimono time. looking good, dan. oh, we want to make sure all our ducks in a row. yeah. volume control syndrome. but we focus on the talent and skill that each person... brings to the team. i mean, no one's really concerned about labels. not even mine. labels get in the way. disabilities rarely do. visit thinkbeyondthelabel.com to evolve your work force.

what company lets employees take a bike ride during the work day? the corporate headquarters of rei. the outdoor equipment retailer offers its workers paid sabbaticals after 15 years. it also has health care coverage for part-time employees. workers can test out new products and apply for grants to get equipment from the company for a personal sports challenge. rei is number 14 on "fortune" magazine's list of the 100 best companies to work for. we want to tell you what's happening right now in haiti. ten americans jailed after

trying to bus 33 children out of haiti are to appear in court today. a prosecutor will decide whether to file charges or release the baptist missionaries. international aid workers say adequate relief supplies are arriving in the country but poor transport, corruption and bureaucracy are hampering distribution. former president bill clinton travels back to haiti tomorrow for the second time since the quake hit. he is 8 u.n. special envoy to haiti. he is charged with overseeing aid efforts and later reconstruction. a few schools are reopening in the earthquake zone. some classes are even meeting in a cemetery. our john vause reports from port-au-prince. >> reporter: in a world turned upside down, the morning school bell was a familiar reassuring sound. it didn't seem to matter much that class was held in a tent. the kids sitting on damaged desks pulled from the rubble. even in a cemetery.

that's where jacques was teaching history. 28 of his 45 students turned up. it's as if they were thirsting for school. they were happy when they arrived, happy to be back in the classroom. >> and she asked how they feel right now. >> reporter: israeli counselors gave teachers a crash course in dealing with posttraumatic stress. they say the first month after a disaster like this is crucial. what do you do during this period? >> during this period we try to encourage them to go out of this feeling of being a victim into being a survivor. >> reporter: and to do that, children are encouraged to talk about what happened. the house fell down and i almost died, this little boy told his class. many struggled even to say the word "earthquake." my grandma was screaming "where's your mom." then my mom came and we were all at peace even when the thing was happening.

their old school is a pile of rubble. two students died here and five teachers are still unaccounted for. thousands of schools in the capital collapsed just like this one. by one estimate as many as 80% have either been destroyed or badly damaged. experts say it will take years to rebuild this country's education system, just to get it back to how it was before the quake when it was considered to be one of the worst in the world. it's hard to know for sure, but st. marie is one of the handful of schools to have reopened in port-au-prince so far. the government still hasn't announced plans for the rest of the school year. but for a few hundred students, school is in, and for a few hours, life seems just a little bit like it was before the "thing." john vause, cnn, port-au-prince. haiti's government is being strongly criticized for its ineffectiveness following the quake.

our anderson cooper leads this discussion in about 30 minutes from now. a community with no running water, no heat and hundreds of people living there. we're not talking about haiti this time. it's in texas. each year food executives come to grasse, france to work with roxane. here in this centuries old town cargill creates flavors.

and food companies come to collaborate with cargill. creating unique tastes from thousands of rare flavors. helped by roxane... an ingredient mixing robot. and a team of flavor experts. food companies find the recipe for success. this is how cargill works with customers. they live in a ramshackle neighborhood near the mexican border. some are illegal immigrants and most are mistrustful of the government so persuading these residents to take part in the census means overcoming fear and anxiety. ed lavandera has the story from texas. >> reporter: i'm going to take you into one of the poorest neighborhoods in america. this is the san carlos colonia along the texas-mexico border. you walk through here and it's like stepping into another

world. a colonia is a cluster of homes carved out of the most undesirable property along the southern u.s. border. in texas, it's estimated some 400,000 people live like 14-year-old anabelle. >> who do you live here with? >> my mom and little sister. >> reporter: the three of you live here? >> yeah. we had one bed. i sleep on the floor. >> reporter: you slept on the floor? >> yeah. >> reporter: she and her family are moving into a new house for $200 a month. it's not much better. this is the house they're moving into. it's 264 square feet. there's going to be five people living here, three brothers and sisters, two small children and they're still working on the house as we speak. they have been painting and this is the area of most concern, a big hole in the ceiling and it's been leaking water since we've been here. follow me inside here and you can see this is what passes as a bathroom in colonias and the owners aren't even sure that the sewage system here even works. the roads aren't paved, there's no air conditioning or heat and

finding water is a daily quest. so this is life in the colonia. we're jumping in the back of this pickup truck. the man driving the truck will take us to the water pump so he can fill up this tank and he'll start driving the neighborhood streets here in the colonia and fill up barrels of water for people. >> reporter: most of the people who live here make under $10,000 a year, finding work wherever they can. so you'd think the farthest thing from their minds would be the 2010 census count. but anabele says the census sparks fear. >> i think they're just scared like going out. >> reporter: you think they're scared? >> i think so, yeah. >> reporter: why do you think they're scared? >> i don't know because most of the people are immigrants here. >> reporter: so they don't trust them. >> i don't think they do. >> what can we do to do a better job to make sure we count everybody? >> reporter: congressman henry and the census director are trying to build trust. many have relatives living

illegally but they assure them it's not about deporting immigrants. >> the benefits of participating in the census are quite large. we return as a country over $400 billion a year to local areas, neighborhoods like this, cities and states depending en-- dependent on census counts. if you get counted, you get your fair share of that money. >> reporter: this is her mom and she just listened to the meeting with the census folks. she's moving into her new place here. she's telling us after listening to that, she feels confident to answer those questions and something that she'd want to do. ed lavandera, cnn, laredo. you might not be aware of it but if you don't fill out your census form, you're breaking the law. will the government really come after you? would they come after you? we turn to suzanne simonson and she's done some back checking on this. can you go to jail? can you face a fine? what happens? >> well, our fact check desk

actually wanted to know that very question because a lot of us simply get too much mail. are you going to fill yours out? >> always. >> you would say that too. okay, look. they can come after you. you're going to get the form in the mail. if you don't send the form make, they'll send you another form. if you still don't send that back you can expect someone to come visit your house. they might leave a little door hanger saying call us, you've been a bad person, you need to fill out your census. they can come back up to three times. after that if you still don't comply, they can fine you up to $5,000. the detail here and the fact we dug in on is they haven't actually fined anyone since 2000. >> that's what i was going to ask you. i was going to ask one of our viewers if you have been fined by the census bureau, shoot us an e-mail here at cnn. >> as we just saw, you are required by law to do this. it's something that was spelled out in the constitution. the reason why it's important and worth the time to do it is because it helps determine the

number of seats in the house of representatives. you remember the electoral votes, how important those have been in the last few elections? it also affects the number of electoral votes. so actually taking the time to fill it out, whether or not you have to pay the $5,000 fine, it's definitely worth it. >> we're actually in a state that's probably because of the census, we're going to gain representation. >> that's right. >> here in georgia because of the number of people and other states are going to lose it. >> exactly. >> it's all about representation. >> yes, it is. >>s some people say it goes all the way back to the bible. did you know that? >> i did not know that. we'll have to do some fact checking on that too. thanks. thanks for that. >> all right, thank you. always good to see you. so fill out those census forms. in our next hour, the stimulus desk and census. our josh levs takes a look at how much of your money is paying for the census and exactly where that money is going. time to give you some of our top stories. a tea party movement opens a

convention in nashville. they largely oppose president obama's agenda. the convention headliner, sarah palin. our newsroom blog question, what do you think about the tea party movement? make sure you weigh in at cnn.com/newsroom or go to twitter at don lemon at cnn on twitter. president barack obama's aunt in front of an immigration judge in boston today. the court is reconsidering her request for asylum. the president's aunt was ordered deported to kenya six years ago but never left the u.s. ben bernanke has been sworn in for a second term as chairman of the federal reserve. bernanke vowed to preserve the fed's independence, despite a move in congress to tighten control over the central bank. and preparing for a snowy weekend from 1 inch in new york to almost 2 feet in baltimore. meteorologist rob marciano tracking this massive winter storm. what's going on. feast appetizer. [dinner bell chimes]

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some developing news on the cute front. not so cute this carriage but what they're carrying certainly cute. we're talking about those pandas, mei lan and tai shan. we're following news that they are headed back. they were born in the u.s. but they're going back to china. they belong to china and will soon be flown to their new homes. again, 3-year-old mei lan from the atlanta zoo and her 4-year-old cousin, tai shan are from washington's national zoo. you're looking at pictures live

from washington dulles airport and they're waiting to be flown to china. hey, is rob marciano there? >> i wouldn't miss a panda story. are you kidding me? >> atlanta beauty, that's what mei lan means. >> my favorite chinese restaurant is moo lan. i don't know what that means but it's pretty good. >> rob. let's look at these pictures a little bit. we'll get to the weather. we said this was the ahh moment of the day. look how cute they are. >> that's pretty good dig that say fedex got them set up in. as big of celebrities as these beautiful pandas are -- >> you'd think they'd be in a limo, right? >> yeah, i'd think they'd be in the elite first class seats where they kick back with the headphones, completely horizontal, something like that, sipping on the bubbly. >> i'm listening to you but i've got like eight people talking to me. >> i guess we want to do weather. >> i guess. >> we've got snow on the way

right now. it's in the form of heavy rain that's developing across texas, especially into louisiana and now moving into alabama and beginning to take shape across parts of georgia. this is all stretching up towards the carolinas where temperatures are certainly cold and cold enough for snow, at least north of virginia. how far north does this moisture get? we'll talk more about that in a second. know this, the rains over the next 48 hours are going to be pretty potent from new orleans up through columbia, south carolina, and in through charlotte as well. maybe two or three inches of rainfall. as we get to tomorrow, though, high temperatures forecast for d.c. and atlanta are in the mid-30s and that is cold enough for snow. so the national weather service has upped their winter storm watch in the baltimore-d.c. area to a winter storm warning. 10 to 20 inches is what we were going for earlier in the day. the national weather service has upped that in their warning language to forecast 16 to 24 inches of snow. it was just the third week of

december of this past year where we saw similar amounts. that was record-shattering snow across this area. and to have two storms like this in the same year is certainly rather unheard of. we're going to see the storm with heavy rain down to the south and that snowfall a pretty narrow band of the heavy snow across the virginia and maryland and delaware borders. also a lot of wind with this so that is going to be the other concern, especially if you live near the coast. if you live in miami, you've got big things happening this week and this weekend. some rain expected the day before the super bowl, and temperatures fairly chilly for miami this time of year, into the mid-60s for daytime highs tomorrow. figure game time temperatures right around 60 degrees but it will be dry as opposed to the last time the super bowl was in miami. it was quite a mudfest. >> i'm going to be really excited, you know. i'm going to be really excited because i'm from louisiana, so hopefully -- >> i assume you're going for the colts then. >> yeah. who are -- what? who's new orleans playing? no one. we don't have those live

pictures, do we -- we do? so rob, we started with this and we'll end with this. look how cute. >> they are cute. for all the teasing, you know, we do, we all love these pandas. >> their pictures are on the side of this fedex plane. >> they're rock stars. awesome. awesome animals. >> i'm already getting tweets about it. so rob on three, 1, 2, 3, ahh. thank you, rob marciano. speaking of fuzzy, some fuzzy math when it comes to jobs. turns out the counters may have been off by about a million. we're adding it up right here in the "cnn newsroom." announcer: there's a better way. intuit quickbooks online p9 organizes your business in one place, and helps you stay on topof , anywhere. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. like i couldn't catch my breath. i couldn't believe i was actually having a heart attack. i remember being at the hospital, thinking about my wife.

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so as promised democrats are rolling out plans they say will create jobs. it is not a single jobs bill but rather several targeted measures. for example, renewing highway construction funds, incentives for cities and states to begin building projects and tax breaks to encourage small businesses to hire and invest. listen. >> our agenda is not about politics or partisanship. we have a jobs agenda. it's about putting people back to work. our motivation is to help americans sleep a little better. our mission is not to stop until every american who wants a job can get a job and our message is this one. for senate democrats, creating jobs is job number one. >> claims for first-time jobless benefits took an unexpected jump last week. this is the fourth increase in the last five weeks and shows a fragile state really of this recovery. government numbers due tomorrow may show job losses in this recession were grossly

undercounted. stephanie elam joins us from new york. a million jobs undercounted? says who? should be say what? >> reporter: i know, that's true. it's crazy to hear, don, but when you look at this, you can see sort of the reason why this happens. we all know that a lot of jobs were lost during this recession but now it looks worse than we originally lost. here's what the bureau of labor statistics is saying. for the 12-month period beginning in april of 2008 and went through march of 2009, the government is saying there's a revision which we'll get tomorrow that it should look like we lost another 824,000 workers during that time. that's on top of current estimates. now, the government's current reading shows we lost 4.8 million jobs during that period. the revision would put a total loss of 5.6 million jobs so it just shows you how much more we're talking about. that's the largest downward revision in the 30 years comparisons could actually be made during that period. the bureau of labor statistics do this annually.

the thing is normally it's just like a .1% or 0.2% change that they'll see. basically if a company goes out of business or a company started during a year they may not catch up with all that data so they're able to go back and just do the numbers again and see what comes up. the thing is, that 12-month period was not normal to say the least. you think about the brink of depression that the economy came to in the united states and you can see why it's just not a normal situation. so that's why they're saying for the entire recession, which began december, 2007, that instead of losing about seven million jobs as we had previously thought, it looks like we lost more like eight million jobs so a huge number there. it's just an extraordinary period, don. >> yeah, the difference of about a million, i'd say. listen, in the not-so-distant past there were times when these numbers would come and you'd see them and they weren't necessarily big news but now people are hanging on these numbers because they want to know what's going on with the job market, so what do we expect

from this big jobs report tomorrow? >> reporter: rita right. this is a big deal for business correspondents. this is the number that will tell us how many jobs the government said we lost from the private sector and public sector over the month of january. right now analysts estimate we'll add 13,000 jobs. compare that to january of 2009 when we lost 741,000 jobs. just to put that in a little perspective. but there's a lot of skpep ae discrepancy. so we'll wait to see what the government says tomorrow morning. but the consensus is that we will have added 13,000. >> okay, we shall see. hey, thank you so much. >> reporter: sure. you know you may just want to retire but you can't afford it, right. a new report estimates people lose out on $455,000 by not signing up for 401(k) plans. get the facts on cnnmoney.com. let's talk now about toyota.

dealerships around the country are racing to repair those sticking gas pedals and reassure anxious car owners. our national correspondent, susan candiotti joins us from a dealership in new jersey. susan, what are you hearing from there? >> reporter: hi, don. well, this is the service area of parkway toyota. a couple of mechanics are called master technicians and just returned from a toyota training session here. we're going to talk with one of them about what that fix is all b coming over here we'll talk with mike gauge. mike, you just came back from that session. can you show us what you'll be doing with the pedal. give us an example. you've loosened it up a little bit to move this along a bit. >> we're going to remove the accelerator pedal for the installation of the reinforcement bar. >> reporter: we're going to come around the other side of the car now so we can get a closer look while watching the cables here, i want to make sure we don't trip and i don't trip. mike, you've got this over here to show us now. bring it right over here.

normally you'd be at the workstation but you're going to hold this for us right now. >> we're going to measure the clearance here and install the reinforcement bar right in behind this stopper. >> reporter: and what's important about what that's going to do? >> it's going to reduce the friction inside the pedal. >> reporter: so this is where the pedal is, everyone would recognize this. as the foot goes down, will the customer notice any difference? >> the customer won't feel any difference. >> reporter: and what will the driver -- this is going to prevent it from -- you don't want friction because why? >> the friction, excessive friction caused the sticking problem. >> reporter: and that's what caused some of the problems. >> that's what we're going to eliminate with the bar we'll put in there. >> reporter: you're going to be a busy man i think in the coming weeks and months. let's talk now to the general manager of this dealership. his name is dennis lazan. now, dennis, the big question is we all heard the transportation secretary yesterday, ray lahood, make a comment that people should stop driving their cars and then he backed off and said well that's not exactly what i meant. what kind of reaction did you

get from your customers once those statements were made? >> well, the phones lit up like a christmas tree at the time. people concerned, which obviously you would be concerned. they came, we talked to them, calmed them down after 10, 15 minutes on the phone. but it also put a problem with other people that really did have problems, you know, with the car broken down and stuff like that, we couldn't get to those people because the phones were lit up for people that were hysterical about the fact that somebody from the federal government was saying not to drive toyotas. >> reporter: are people settled down now? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> reporter: you have been having difficult years, the entire auto industry has. but what kind of hit are you taking now that this has happened? what are you worried about in terms of sales? >> for the time being it's going to be difficult for us. we will come out of this. toyota still builds a quality product. they're taking care of a problem, which is what they're doing right now. something that no one has ever done. they stopped the production line to take care of customers first. tell me another manufacturer

who's ever done that. they haven't. they're taking care of the customer first and the customer is the one they want to take care of. >> reporter: for now sales are down. you say you'll bring it back. >> we're still selling used cars and the cars not involved in this. don't forget 40% of our inventory still has nothing to do with this. >> reporter: and you have enough parts and technicians to -- >> plenty of parts. >> reporter: -- take care of this recall. >> we started with training at 8:00 this morning at a school. we have a couple of guys each hour that are having it done. we're going to be full-blown taking care of this starting tomorrow morning. we're going to be doing it today as well. >> reporter: thank you very much. now, the cars you're seeing here were here for other reasons or are rental cars that they're taking care of first. other customers will be able to make appointments and bring their cars in just as soon as they can. don, back to you. >> yeah, very interesting. i wonder what those customers are saying too because i've been reading and you've been reporting on some really irate people. so susan candiotti it's good to

see the inside of what they're doing. thank you, susan. you know, as toyota's troubles continue to add up, what does all this mean for the company's bottom line? our alison kosik is crunching the numbers and joins us a little later on from the new york stock exchange. and we showed you michael jackson there, video of the late michael jackson. seven months after his death, the doctor who was the last person to see the pop star alive prepares to face charges. we're going to break down the case with our trutv legal contributor, midwin charles, and there's other information to report on this case involving conrad murray. we're back in just moments. 20 minutes later, she'll bring one into the world in seattle. later today, she'll help an accident victim in kansas. how can one nurse be in all these places? through the nurses she taught in this place. johnson & johnson knows, behind every nurse who touches a life... there's a nurse educator... who first touched them. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference

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listen, before we get to the michael jackson story, we want to check some of your top stories right now. hours after toyota acknowledged brake problems with its 2010 hybrid prius, the transportation department launches an investigation. national highway traffic safety officials say they have already received 124 complaints. toyota says it's fixing the brakes as well as sticky gas pedals on other models. listen to what happened when the owner of a toyota tacoma says she was pulling into her garage. >> i felt it take off, like a rocket, and i immediately hit the brakes hard. i was laid out, stretched out on the brakes, which had no effect.

>> paulson said her car crashed through a wall, demolishing a bathroom. self-help expert james arthur ray has just arrived in court on manslaughter charges. he was arrested yesterday in arizona. last year three people died during one of his sweat lodge ceremonies. ray's lawyer, brad brian, calls the charges unjust. brian is larry king's special guest tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. make sure you tune in. you know, they were born right here in the usa, but they belong to china and that's where two giant pandas are going now that they're old enough. 3-year-old mei len and her 4-year-old cousin, tai shan from washington's national zoo are at dulles airport right now. these are live pictures. they're waiting to be flown there -- those aren't live pictures, we saw them live just moments ago getting to that plane with their little pictures right on the side. best of luck to them.

let's turn to the michael jackson story. a lawyer for a doctor, dr. conrad murray, says his client will surrender tomorrow to face charges in the death of singer michael jackson. murray admits he gave jackson an anesthetic sedative and anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep. the combination was lethal as we know and all indications point to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. an attorney says jackson's family is upset about that and feels the charge should be second-degree murder. let's talk about that and the entire case now with midwin charles. she is a criminal defense attorney and a contributor to our "in session." midwin, listen, just coming across the wires i'm going to read it to you and we'll get your reaction. it says michael jackson's personal physician, conrad murray, presently negotiating, negotiating with prosecutors on plans to surrender to authorities to face charges related to his death. negotiating with the district attorney's office. what's there to negotiate right now? >> well, i think one of the things that dr. murray wants to

avoid is doing what we all call the perp walk. he does not want to be seen walking in with the handcuffs and all that drama, so i think by negotiating that he come in on his own behalf, i think he averts that image. >> does this -- by negotiating this, starting this way, is this foreshadowing something. maybe there's some sort of plea or negotiation to go on before we even get to a trial? >> you know, that's a good question, don. i wouldn't be surprised if you saw a plea out of this. if he is in fact going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter, it's not as serious, obviously, as murder because you don't have intent, you don't have premeditation. the most i think he could be facing with involuntary manslaughter in california is four years. so for him to plead to that, you know, it wouldn't necessarily be a high amount of time spent in jail. >> okay. so four years involuntary manslaughter. i told you, you know, when i introduced you that the jackson family thought it should be

second-degree murder charges. this propofol that he allegedly prescribed for michael jackson, a very powerful drug and other sedatives as we said, the coroner says it contributed to his death. so why is it involuntary manslaughter and not something else as the jackson family says? >> because i think one of the reasons why you just can't get into murder with respect to this case is that the facts are just not there to support that. in order to get anywhere near a murder charge, whether it be first degree or second degree, you have to have premeditation. you have to have intent. and you just don't have that. remember, michael jackson was dr. murray's meal ticket. aeg, the event promoter that hired dr. murray to follow michael jackson throughout his upcoming tour, which as we know never is going to happen, was going to pay dr. murray a tune of $150,000 a month. so the prosecution would have a really hard time proving that dr. murray intended to kill michael jackson. so i think you have to go into involuntary manslaughter. >> but you know what, midwin, there are other things and maybe this is not part of this case

and be subsequent charges. the amount of time that it took before he -- they allegedly called 911, doing it on a bed instead of a floor, all these other things and other evidence that they found at the house. his car being towed away and him leaving and not speaking. there are other factors, though. >> you know, but those factors, don, would go more towards a civil case either of wrongful death or of negligence. you know, i mean i'm sure at some point there may even be inquiries to have dr. murray's license pulled. who's to say that he did not commit malpractice here. he did commit malpractice by administering something that should be administered under the care of an anesthesia specialist at a hospital. this isn't something you give someone because they want to go to sleep. it is a very serious drug and it ought to be administered in a hospital. >> so listen, i have to run here, if you can just give me two seconds. bottom line you said manslaughter, probably four and a half years but won't spend that much time in prison. maybe a couple years, a year.

>> i doubt it. >> midwin charles, "in session" a contributor to a program on our sister station. thank you so much. it airs weekdays at 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on trutv. i want to make sure we get that in. thanks again. three weeks after a devastating earthquake hit the poorest country in the western hemisphere, many people are asking where the haitian government is. where's the government? it guides. it shows. it slides. it tows. it sees. it calls. and it fits. we gave it more ideas per square inch... because more is what we do. introducing the terrain, the all-new smaller suv from gmc.

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you know, we have been talking about this here on cnn and you've been hearing about it in the news, haiti's ineffectiveness after the catastrophic earthquake, but the issues are very complex, as we hear in this discussion from cnn's "ac360." >> the haitian government has also been hit by the -- by the earthquake, and ministers have lost their parents and families, one minister lost a son. but clearly there has been communication problem. public recommendations problem for the haitian government, because when you're dealing with such a tragedy, one would hope that the president, the prime minister, would have come out in the first few hours and asked the foreigners that had come first to provide some relief to provide them with communication in order to speak to the people, but unfortunately, that didn't seem to have happened, and in

haiti people are wondering, haitians are wondering what happened. >> yeah. >> why didn't we see the president to provide some leadership and live up to the moment. >> it's interesting, president preval has said in print, look, i'm not there for photo-opes. but in a country where they make the argument, well, the government's broken and we don't have money, so there's not much we can do. the least you can do is lead by example. and if your countrymen are suffering and -- then you should be out there helping people pick through the rubble in those first few days or doing something visible. i know you talked to some haitian government people today. what's their excuse? what are they saying? >> well, look, i mean, what we know is that this is a country that is the poorest country in the hemisphere, made poor, kept poor by the west. its leadership has been undermined essentially for centuries, and that comes right to this day. the leadership in this country is not respected by a lot of the people.

a lot of the people say they're not doing anything. so, we did go to the information minister here in haiti today, asked a couple questions about that. and she said, look, we're working quietly behind the scenes. let's listen. >> i say that all the countries who came to help us, they are there because we need them. and canada, united states, venezuela, africa, they asked us because we have a lot of priorities. so, even when the population can see people come any kind of country, but we asked them to help us. so, the government is working in coordination, in articulation, with all that country. >> well, joe, he's essentially saying, what we did was we asked for help and we should get praised because we asked for help. i mean, in terms of specifics, you know, a state-run company

did collect the bodies that the were on the streets of port-au-prince, so that's -- in fairness, that's something they did, though, as we know, a number of those bodies were just dumped on the side of the road and not actually buried. there are now people picking up rubble, but that's funded by the u.n., right? >> reporter: yeah. a lot of that's funded by the u.n., but there are also people from the government here picking up rubble as well. there are thing the government's doing. i mean, i don't want to overstate it, but they're working on inoculations. that could be very important. they're working on a lot on the new orphans, trying to figure out who they are and helping out all the ngos in port-au-prince place them, and that's a massive effort. in fact, ngos is one of the biggest problems for the government, because sor decades so many people that gave the money to this country were giving money to the private charitable organizations and not the government, so the government couldn't stand up for

the safety sector and new infrastructure, and that's where we are today. that's why the government is broke and can't do anything. >> make sure you tune in tonight for "anderson cooper 360." for every orphan leaving the chaos of haiti, thousands are left behind. how do we help? we search for answers on an "ac360" special series, tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. restarting a bills after a huge hurricane. we'll take you inside a 3d imaging company that became a worldwide leader despite the recession. host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music charlie:hat's how you do it son. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

we want to tell you what we're working on for the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." his stunning election victory was a major blow to democrats. republican senator-elect scott brown takes office today.

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okay, listen, we have something just in to cnn. we've been telling you about dr.

conrad murray, the guy charged in the death investigation of michael jackson, facing manslaughter charges. we're just getting from our sources at our l.a. bureau that dr. conrad murray made a tentative arrangement -- agreement. his arraignment will be tomorrow. i should say, he will turn himself in tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. local time, that's pacific time, 4:30 p.m. eastern time at the l.a. county -- at the los angeles courthouse. that's according to our sources there. again, a tentative arrangement for dr. conrad murray, set for friday, 1:30 local at the los angeles courthouse, 4:30 p.m. eastern time. we'll be following that. and make sure you stay tuned to cnn for developments as well as tonight, all the way through prime time, "ac360" until midnight tonight, we'll bring that to you. it's time for your "top of the hour" reset. i'm don lemon in for tony harris in the "cnn newsroom." it's 12:00 in new jersey where a toyota dealership begins

the first repairs of the recalled cars as the company's problems widen today. it's 11:00 in nashville where the fractious group that make up the tea party movement gather for a convention today. and it is noon in boston, where scott brown's election to the senate was certified today. he'll be sworn in five hours from now. so, why don't we get started, shall we? and we start with toyota. toyota's troubles just keep coming. in addition to the massive recall, the company faces new problems with its popular prius hybrid. the transportation department announced just today it has opened an investigation into brake problems on the 2010 prius. toyota blames a software problem, but has not issued a recall. and dealerships around the country are racing to make repairs on millions of toyotas that were recalled because of sticky gas pedals. the troubles just keep on coming, as we've been saying for toyota and also for toyota owners. first, it was sticky gas pedals, now it's the brakes on one of its most popular cars.

if you've had it with your toyota, our personal finance editor, gerri willis, has some advice for you now. gerri, what's your advice? what can you do? >> well, don, look, if you have an affected model, you might want to get rid of the car, as you said, but you have to 23 whether it makes sense. a sticking gas pedal is rare. not all of the gas pedals in the affected models are problematic, because the mechanism is supplied by more than one vendor. 65% of what toyota's currently selling is being recalled, but that is a drop in the bucket when you consider all the toyota cars out there in the marketplace. second, there is a fix, according to toyota. the parts needed to repair the pedals are already being shipped to dealers. installation training is under way. of course, the service departments at many of the dealerships will work extended hours to complete the repairs as quickly as possible. some staying open 24 hours a day. that's cold comfort, but the fix is coming. if you're still adamant about getting rid of your affected

toyota, realize that your resale value now is down about 10% on this news alone. don? >> ooh. okay, then, you know all the incentive offers to trade in your toyota, what about that? are they worth it? >> well, they're coming in the mail right now. ford, gm, hyundai, offering trade-in incentives to current owners of toyota vehicles. ford offering 1,000 bucks to owners of toyotas that are 1995 or newer. gm offering drivers up to $1,000 in lease payments if they end their toyota lease and turn to gm. and hunyundai is offering 1,000 bucks to toyota owners. the dealers claim they'll give you the fair price of the trade-in plus $1,000, but what often happens is the fair price is lowered by the amount they're giving you, trading in any scar is tough, and it's very easy to be drawn into a cycle of negotiation. bottom line, don't get caught up in the hype, get as many numbers

and estimates as can, if you're dedicated in selling this vehicle. don't make the process too confusing. just work on one thing at a time. eventually it will blow over, hopefully you'll get the repair done and get it done quickly. i know people are frustrated out there. >> this is what people tell me, when they bump in to me. maybe they have an older toyota, and maybe it's part of it or maybe it isn't. how do you sell given all the recall news? >> it makes things tricky, doesn't it? if you want to sell the older models not part of the recall, here's what you do. make sure you print out the display, the year, make and model of the cars being recalled. make sure your car is identified as not part of the recall. get records of all your service charges so you can present the evidence that your car is in fine shape. and keep in mind that the older your toyota is, the more removed it is from what's going on now. it may be worth your while to wait and see how this all plays out. and not put your car on the market just this minute. and coming up this week on "your

bottom line" we'll have more on this massive recall from toyota, plus making a smooth transition into a new job. how to change careers without bungling the opportunity. that's "your bottom line," saturday 9:30 a.m. eastern right here on cnn. >> i'm going to get up early just to watch. thank you, gerri. appreciate it. >> excellent. you know what, it is hard to keep track of all the recall news about toyota, so we want to give you a timeline about toyota's troubles. last october the automaker issued a recall for 3.8 million vehicles because of floor mats that caused the gas pedals to jam. well, that recall was expanded in november. on the 22nd of last month, toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles in the u.s. because of a different problem that caused the gas pedal to stick. and then four days later, the company halted production on eight models because of the new gas pedal problem. altogether, a total of more than 8 million toyotas have been recalled. and ahead this hour, we'll hear from experts who say the toyota recall doesn't go far

enough, and from the family of a woman who died in an accident involving toyota. >> she nicked that tree, and the car went airborne, and it was going 80 miles per hour, and hit the tree and the top, and it just went down. she died instantly. >> her story coming up, right here, momentarily, on cnn. other big stories that we're following today -- claims for first-time unemployment benefits took a big jump last week. the labor department claims shot up by 8,000 for a total of 480,000. first-time applicant now have risen for four of the last five weeks. as promised, the democrats are rolling out plan x they say will create jobs. it's not a single job, but several targeted measures. renewing highway funds and incentives for steto city and s for building projects and plans

to hire and invest. >> it's not about politics and partisanship. we have a jobs agenda about putting people back to work. our motivation is to help americans sleep a little better. our mission's not to stop until every american who wants a job can get a job, and our message is this one, senate democrats creating jobs is job number one. president obama's aunt, in other news -- president obama's aunt -- could soon know whether she'll have to go back to kenya. federal immigration judge is holding a hearing today. it's happening in boston. the half sister of the president's father applied for political asylum in the u.s. back in 2002, claiming violence in her homeland, and her request was denied. two years later and she was requested to leave the united states. she has lived in the country illegal since then. the white house said president obama bleeveelieves the case sh run its ordinary course. james arthur ray is going before a judge right now. he was arrested on manslaughter

charges. three people died during one of his sweat lodge ceremonies last year. his lawyer calls it a terrible accident. brad brian is scheduled to be larry king's guest tonight. it's a prime-time exclusive right here on cnn, "larry king," 9:00 p.m. eastern, only here on cnn. the tea party nation is kicking off its first national convention. hundreds of leaders are now starting to gather at opriland hotel in nashville, tennessee, tickets to the banquette featuring sarah palin are still available and the darling of the tea partiers is in a fight for his political life. our jim acosta has all of it for you. >> we know that it's important that we pass a stimulus package. >> reporter: for republican florida governor charlie crist it's the hug that just won't let go. his embrace of the president and the stimulus program at this town hall meeting last year

could cost this once-rising gop star a shot at a u.s. senate seat. >> i've been hearing about the tea parties for a while. >> reporter: meek marco ruble be, he's challenging crist for the senate see and a darling of the tea party movement. he's turned the hug into a fund-raising gift that keeps on giving. would you give president obama a hug? >> why? depending. why would i hug someone i don't know? >> reporter: well, charlie crist has gotten himself in a lot of trouble for hugging president obama. >> ultimately, you know, that gets a lot of attention. but what he really got in trouble for was for supporting a plan that is helping to bankrupt this country. >> what i find at events like this is a growing number of americans who have never been involved in politics before, i bet that's a lot of you. >> reporter: rubio takes his message of smaller government and lower taxes to tea party rallies. >> it's a great awakening. >> stop the spending on unnecessary things. >> reporter: and his youtube page features tea party

activists venting their anger at washington. he has closed the gap and might win the primary. would you be the first tea party senator? >> i'm running as a republican. >> reporter: a political party. >> it's not a political party. >> reporter: crist by contrast is no tea party activist. have you sat down with a tea party and talked to them? >> no. >> reporter: not once? >> no, i'd be happy to. >> reporter: for the tea party express there's anner. >> the republicans embracing massive tax-and-spend policies, that's what the gop is about, and that's what charlie crist did. >> reporter: republicans and even former democrats are ready to take down some of the biggest names in politics from democratic majority senator harry reid to republican john mccain. but democrats say all that infighting between crist and rubio actually presents an

opportunity. >> i take either one of them as long as they are wounded and limping into the general election. >> reporter: dricrist is not backing down program a tea party fight. he defends the stimulus as a job save and notes rubio has stated he, too, would have accepted funds from the program. >> about 20,000 teachers would be out of work in my state today. i can't look them in the eye and say you and your family will be without a breadwinner. people have to eat. >> reporter: he's defying conventional wisdom in his own party, crist met president obama for another stimulus event last week. did you get any feedback from your fellow republicans in this state that maybe you shouldn't be there when the president landed in tampa? >> a lot, actually. >> reporter: they were telling you don't do it? >> yeah. quite a few people. i got a lot of advice. >> reporter: they shook hands for 27 seconds. >> i think people really want, i think they're honestly sort of tired of the bickering coming out of twasht. i think that's part of the

change they want to see. it's one the reasons i'm running for the united states senate. i think we need more civility. we also want to know what's on your mind regarding the tea party movement, so make sure you leave a comment on our blog, cnn.com/newsroom, or go to our failsbo facebook pages or twitter pages. we'll pass on what you have to say later this hour. getting very interesting comments. thank you very much for that. listen, this is breaking news just in. a locht t of breaking news toda. we're hearing from the new york attorney general andrew cuomo, and it involves bank of america and the purchase of merrill lynch. andrew cuomo has unveiled a major legal action, we're told against bank of america, including bringing charges against former ceo, ken lewis. the new york attorney general has charged the ex-bank of america ceo kennel liken lewis with fraud.

his office has been pursuing an investigation into this merger and the subsequent bonuses paid to former merrill lynch employees and i just want to read this quick quote here. it says that bank of america, through its top management, engaged in a concerted effort to deceive shareholders and american taxpayers at large. andrew cuomo, the new york attorney general said that in a statement. we'll continue to update this story on cnn. stay tuned.

yeah, we like to call this our "random moment of the day," but tiger woods is probably teed off about our "random moment of the day." today a canadian company is selling a set of golf balls called the mistress collection. a dozen golf balls, each featuring a woman who allegedly had an affair with tiger woods. one of the women known in the porn industry as joslyn jamens, well, she may sue. >> as a victim of violence myself, it bothered me to think that someone would be standing with a dangerous club in their hands and hitting a ball with my face on it. >> more mileage from the tiger woods' sex scandal. again, the mistress collection, our "random moment of the day." yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one.

well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. let's get straight now to our meteorologist, chad meyer. hey, chad, i don't know if you have the radar up. but that thing spinning, is it still in the same place, is it still hovering over the south? or has it moved on?

>> it's still sending very heavy rain from mississippi and alabama and from the parishes of louisiana, a little bit of street flooding but it's minor at this point. and then there's a line right here that is going to be the boundary when where it rains, which will be a lot of the area, and where it snows. and where it snows, it is going to come down, because we're going to have an awful lot of moisture. we're going to have plenty of cold air, and then that heavy snow line is going to be where the cold air mixes and the moisture comes together. sometimes we don't get storms to what we call fade, and fade, kind of like thinking like a sine wave, it came up and it was plenty far north and it didn't snow, because there was not much cold air in place, it snowed in richmond and places like that, but it didn't snow very far south. this time it will smash together. the area is going to phase, cold air and warm air will come together right along a front of, that's what a front is, it separates warm and cold or hot and dry, whatever it may be.

but anyway, there's the rain for atlanta, 2 to 5 inches of rainfall from the orange to the yellow and the red. and obviously it shows there will be precipitation to the north here, the computer doesn't know the difference at this point because of snow and rain because that line could seriously move. it could move through d.c. it could move through philadelphia and baltimore, but right now, to make my -- to make my best forecast, is that there's going to be a rain/snow mix right through here. so, south of d.c., north of richmond, it's just going to be slop. it's just going to be coming down, and there will be snowflakes in the air, but it will not pile up. north of d.c. it piles up, and then you get north of d.c. from, oh, i don't know, fredericksburg and up to baltimore and allentown and beth le thlehembe philadelphia, and it won't get that far to d.c., but some spots 20 inches of snow, thank goodness it's on a saturday. don't want to get stuck out there. >> slop, meteorological term.

>> that's what my father would get fed in north korea, slop. >> that's an accurate way to describe the weather, i don't know about the war. thank you, chad, we appreciate it. born in the usa but now heading to their homeland, two gorgeous giant pandas, mei lan and tai shan, and our reporter is at the washington dulles airport for the breaking story. hi, courtney. >> reporter: hi, don. we have the two giant pandas en route to shanghai right now. they are making their waiy, a 14 1/2-hour journey, they'll enter a breeding habitat. it's a bittersweet good-bye for everyone here in washington. we watched as he grew from cub to giant panda. >> for me, i'd go home after work and turn on the panda cam and see what he was up to, so i think he's a little part of all of our lives.

>> reporter: now 4 years old, tai shan is saying good-bye to the u.s., to washington and is returning to his native china. people are very emotionally attached to him and i was surprised by that. >> reporter: early this morning national zookeepers loaded the nearly 200-pound panda into his crate, he arrived here at dull leps to join mei lan to their trek to china. they really always belonged to the chinese under an agreement reached in the 1970s when china gave president and mrs. nixon the two first giant pandas. >> it's really sad because he's been here for four years, i don't know. i hope they get another cool panda like him. >> reporter: and the hope now is that both will reproduce and save the dwindling population of the endangered species. >> getting down to the wire and do you know what, it's heartfelt. we love him too. >> reporter: and speaking with everybody out here on the tarmac, out here at dulles, they

really do love these two pandas. a sad thing to see, tai shan specifically leave washington her it has been his home for four years, but, of course, don his two parents remain at the national zoo. >> everybody has got to go home at one point or another. so we wish them well. >> reporter: thank you. >> courtney, good job out there. you got to see them in person. >> reporter: i know. >> courtney robinson from dulles international airport. we have a lot to tell you about today, including these top stories now. more troubles for toyota, the federal government opening an investigation into brake problems with the prius hybrid. toyota has been battered with two major recalls here in the united states. they involve gas pedals that can trapped under floor mats or get stuck on their own. a spokesman for the pakistani taliban says the group's leader is still alive and is in hiding. authorities have been looking in to reports that he died after being wounded last month in an american drone attack.

there's been no official word on his base from either the u.s. or pakistan. >> michael jackson's doctors negotiating with prosecutors on plan as for him to surrender fo arrest in the singer's death. we're told he will surrender at 1:30 p.m. western time. no word from dr. murray. let's talk about scott brown now, set to be sworn in today as the senate's newest member. his oath means democrats lose their supermajority, but will brown necessarily toe the gop line once he gets in? we're digging deeper into his voting record for clues. iscovers to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

ted kennedy's seat in the senate about to be taken by a republican. scott brown is getting set for his swearing in a little bit later on today. our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, live from capitol hill. hi, dana.

good to see you. >> reporter: you, too. >> we understand you're learning a little bit more about what kind of digs the incoming senator will enjoy, and then we'll talk about his record, whether he's conservative, liberal or somewhere in the middle. >> reporter: absolutely. >> what about his digs? >> reporter: let's start with that, we had the cameraman, chris turner, turn around to where scott brown will ultimately have his offices. it's down the hall. here's why this is important. this is the former office spales space of ted kennedy. he isn't just taking his old seat, he's literally moving into his offices. not today. today he'll have some temporary offices and for the next couple of days. but this is really pretty remarkable, because this office suite which i think you're seeing down the hall here in the russell senate office building, this is prime real estate. this is where ted kennedy obviously had immense seniority, he had his offices for some time. you see that all of these offices down to where you see the flags down the hall, they

are occupied, were occupied, by ted kennedy. now are occupied by his temporary replacement, will ultimately where scott brown is. the beautiful views of the capitol, beautiful balconies. i'm told it is just being done for convenience sake, because it is an open office, but it certainly is symbolic that scott brown will be taking over this pretty plush office space that ted kennedy once held. we used to see him walk here, all the time, every day, because we do the live shots from right around the corner and that's why we were able to bring you this view. >> you took the words right out of my mouth, symbolic. there is symbolism. you walk in a freshman senator and you get ted kennedy's office space. >> reporter: just for a couple of years. >> just for a couple of years. i want to talk to you about this, much is being mailed of scott brown, where he's going to be. i've read his voting record, i've seen him on television, talking about his stance on gay marriage to abortion to health care. health care obviously, you know,

in massachusetts, people said it was similar to what the obama administration was proposing. he is for a woman's right to choose. his state allows gay marriage. so, then, what does that make him? where does he stand on the big issues? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, we can go through some of those. in fact, we prepared some graphics just to give our viewers a sense of where he does stand. let's start with the fiscal issue. as a republican, he is really right down the line, a true, blue -- true red, i should say, conservative on fiscal issues. he campaigned on lowering taxes and also lowering government spending. also, remember, he campaigned, another big issue that he will be facing here, on opposing terror trials in civilian courts. that his become a very, very big, very emotional issue, even among democrats, in part because scott brown so successfully campaigned on that ishusissue. he does vehemently oppose same-sex marriage, that is regarding gay rights. and on gun rights, he has an "a"

rating from the nra. he supports gun rights. then it comes to abortion. this is where he is a -- more of a new england republican. he is not going to be in line with some of his many -- in fact, most of his colleagues in the republican conference. he supports abortion rights. he says that point-blank unabashedly. he said he's against late-term abortion. he says he is for parental notification and things like that, but when it comes to that social issue, which you don't really see that many votes on in -- in the united states senate these days, he is somebody who says that he is maybe more in line with the region he is from. and when it comes to the republican leadership, don, they understand that he is a new england republican. although he is very much in line with the rest of his 40 colleagues here on a lot of issues, they do understand that he is going to have to get re-elected from the state of massachusetts and that will mean he won't necessarily be with the republican party on all their issues. >> dana bash, thank you, our

senior congressional correspondent, good information, dana, we appreciate it. we want to move and talk about toyota, because it is huge. a lawyer representing toyota drivers said the recall only covers half the models with problems, half the models with problems. and one family's painful loss may illustrate the point here. we're digging deeper on the story right here.

many toyota owners are confused and frustrated over the automaker's troubles and a deadly accident involving a toyota that wasn't on the recall list is prompting calls for the company to take further action. cnn's deborah feyerick talked with the woman's daughter about what happened. >> okay. >> reporter: driving this road in flint, michigan, lilja

alberto is haunted by her mother's last moments. the fear the 76-year-old woman must have felt desperately trying to control her 2005 toyota camry as it barreled down a quiet street at 80 miles an hour. >> she nicked that tree, and the car went airborne, and it was going 80 miles per hour. and hits the tree on the top, and it just went down. she died instantly. >> reporter: guadalupe alberto by all accounts was an extremely careful driver in good health. >> that was the first thing that i knew something had to be wrong, because my mother would never cross the street. because of the two-way traffic. >> reporter: witnesses say the car seemed to speed out of control. no one knows exactly why, but it fits the pattern of thousands of incidents of unintended acceleration involving toyota vehicles. after a recent spate of high-profile accidents toyota recalled millions of cars, not including the model driven by guadalupe alberto.

they blamed floor mats and sticky gas pedals. yet a growing number of automotive experts and class action lawyers like richard mckeown say that explanation just doesn't fit. >> what i hear over and over and over again, i'm driving down the road and my car just takes off on me. i apply the brakes. sometimes it works. sometimes it doesn't. that's the pattern that we have seen. >> so, i think unequivocally that these recalls simply do not get to the core of the problems that toyota has. >> reporter: safety analyst john cain has looked at more than 2,000 accelerator exdents involving toyota and believes the root of the problem lies in the electronic throttle system that controls the speed of the car. >> these are completely computer-guided systems and we all know that electronics fail. they do fail and they will fail. the problem is toyota is they haven't built enough fail-safe devices into their cars to ensure that drivers get control of the vehicle when a failure happens. >> reporter: during a press

conference in japan this week, a toyota executive ruled out any software or electronic issue with the accelerator. >> translator: for the electronic control unit, we could not come across any case where we found that there was a misfunction in the control system. >> reporter: mckeown says toyota's recalls are disturbing in their limitations, because they don't apply to all makes and models that have allegedly experienced the acceleration problem like the '05 camry guadalupe alberto was driving. based on your evidence, you're suggesting that there are cars on the road that right now should be recalled? >> i think the recall covers less than half of the models and model years that need to be part of this recall. >> reporter: toyota says it bases its recalls on defects that have been identified, and not solely on reports of unintended acceleration. late wednesday, mckeown filed a

motion for a preliminary injunction, demanding toyota recall all vehicle models allegedly affected. and also install a brake override system that would stop a car that's accelerating out of control. >> while everybody tries to figure this out, including toyota, i presume, we need a system so that these sudden accelerations do not become deadly accidents, and that's what the brake override system does. >> reporter: a system that possibly could have saved the life of guadalupe alberto. >> once in a while when i'm -- if i come by this, just to say a prayer or just to come and look and remember the place where she died. but it's very painful. it's still very vivid in my mind, in my heart. >> reporter: deborah feyerick, cnn, redland, california. >> that is bringing the situation home right there. the government already pays for the census, we're talking about right now, so why spend $1

billion in stimulus money on it? josh levs, what's going on? we're going to check in with him at the stimulus desk. don't tell me now. the one with a five star crash safety rating? the class leader in highway fuel economy? or a consumers digest best buy? how about all of the above? the eight passenger buick enclave. may the best car win. the eight passenger buick enclave. how do we know howow many classrooms we need? the census helps us know exactly what we need. so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food.

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transferable powertrain warranty, from buick. withoadside assistance and courtesy transportation, it's the best coverage in america. boy, we want to get right over to the new york stock exchange because the dow has tumbled more than 200 points. looking at 199 now, right at 200. let's get to alison kosik at the new york stock exchange to explain what's going on. what triggered this, alison? >> reporter: the big selloff on wall street right now it all boils down to jobs. the consumer is what really drives the economy, and if people aren't working, they're not going to spend, so wall street's getting nervous. you know, tomorrow we're getting the government's crucial big

jobs report for january. now, there was some hope that employers would be adding jobs, but we got a weekly report today that showed that those expectations definitely cut. we learned that the number of people who joined the unemployment line last week rose to 480,000. wall street expected a decline. so this was a really big surprise. now, what's worse is that claims haven't been this high in two months, so investors not liking what they're seeing. the dow right now, as you said, tumbling 203 points, don? >> okay, we'll check back. thank you so much. >> reporter: sure. yeah. we're talking money right now. so, let's talk about the stimulus and the census. it's time to be counted. census forms are in the mail right now, so fill out yours? you better, because you're paying for it. josh levs over at the stimulus desk. how much stimulus money are we talking about it, josh? we wouldn't be talking about it if it wasn't a lot of money, right? >> it's a lot of money, but it's

also a really tricky situation. the point is the government already pays for the census, so we're trying to wrap our minds around it, why the census also needed this, don. $1 billion. they got $1 billion from the stimulus fund. again, i'll remind everyone we're looking at the $862 billion stimulus package that passed last year, we're looking at what they're fundi ining cen is getting $1 billion. the total cost will be $14 billion, they said that last year. the government already pays for it so why another billion out of the stimulus, why anything out of the stimulus if the government's paying for it? this is what is the government is telling us. this is what's happening with the billion dollars. three-quarters is going to early operations and local costs, helping the early operations gathering information about you. another $1.5 million for advertising and the partnering and trying to reach out to populations that might be

undercounted and another $26 million to follow-up operations, so these are all the kinds of things they already do, right? but what they're saying now is they're going to use the billion dollars from the stimulus to do that. so, we wanted to know how many jobs is this billion creating? we don't know yet, because what's tricky is we are not finding out yet from the xren sus. we asked yesterday, we're asking again today. we're waiting for an answer from them. how many jobs would have happened anyway. if it's already the government's responsibility to pay for the census, then how many jobs might have happened if it weren't for the billion dollars that they're getting out of the stimulus here. we have some video of the kren spus. we know they are operations under way. there are huge operations and a lot of people have a lot of questions and concerns about it. we also know it's a very big, very expensive proposition. everything about it. now, there's one more thing that i'll tell you abobefore we go a that's on the screen behind me. within the billion dollars we're looking where it's going, are different agencies getting it. we can tell you about one company here in new york that's

getting almost 100 mill, they are true north communications, they're getting $96 million of that $1 billion, don, to work on census promotion efforts, get the word out, try to reach more people, try to get to as many people as possible. and with that $1 billion added in, we're adding even more now to the total amount that cnn is able to follow. we'll be following that number for you throughout the day. our massive total now, $11.6 million, pretty close now. we just jumped. $12.6 billion of the stimulus is now under review by cnn. and, don, you can see what we're waiting for from the census, right? if they're already funded by the government, why get another $1 billion from the stimulus, how many jobs can you really say come out of the stimulus? >> you have a lot of questions. but very stimulating nonetheless, josh levs, we appreciate it. listen, we have some information for concerned toyota customers coming up after the break. and also the latest on the doctor accused in the michael jackson death investigation.

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want to check your top stories for you. problems with the 2010 toyota prius under investigation now by the transportation department. federal safety authorities say they have received 124 complaints about the brakes not working. toyota recalled because of sticking gas pedals. that now totals more than 8 million vehicles. his lawyer says dr. conrad murray is negotiating his surrender to los angeles police. the doctor's widely expected to face charges in the death of singer michael jackson. a source tells cnn arraignment

is tentatively scheduled for late friday afternoon. two steps forward and, well, a step back. after signs of improvement earlier this year, first-time jobless claims increased last week by 8,000 to 480,000. continuing claims also jumped by a couple of thousand to more than 4.6 million. if you're looking for a job, this could be your growth industry. how one state is turning to pot in hopes of solving its high unemployment in the "cnn newsroom." where are you?! arghhh... (announcer) dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles give you outrageous comfort, all-day-guaranteed. woah. it's not too far... (announcer) are you gellin'? dr. scholl's.

if toyota gets credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to anyone. may the best car win.

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you know, you learn something every day. i didn't realize that there were 14 states now, that have legalized medical marijuana. it is a fight that continues across the country, but in michigan it is creating economic opportunity. cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow explains now. >> this is a strain i call vietnam 1969. >> reporter: the weed in travis williams' living room isn't getting him high or arrested. as a registered caregiver, it's a job in a state with the highest unemployment rate in the country. >> it should be a pretty lucrative industry, you know, not street money lucrative, but enough to make a living. >> we got a whole bunch of cops right here that all look the same. >> reporter: it's here at meg grow cannabis college where

williams learned a new way to make a buck after his construction job fell as rapidly as michigan's economy. he sees the legalization of medical marijuana as the quick fix that detroit needs. >> as far as new industries, this is it for right now. >> reporter: this is it, medical marijuana? what about green technology or electric cars? >> that's coming. that's coming. but that's going to take some years. so, for right now, when you got to pay the mortgage, you can't wait a couple years. you have to move right now. >> reporter: when michigan voters put their stamp of approval on legislation legalizing medical marijuana in 2008, nick tenet saw dollar signs. >> because of the economic climate in michigan, we are particularly poised for growth. people are looking for a new industry to get into. >> reporter: so in september, tennnant founded med-grow the first medical marijuana trade college in michigan. unlike most businesses here, his is booming. hundreds of graduated from the

six-week course which has been sold out for the last few months. >> it's a new frontier and i'm excited to see this for the state. they need help as much as they can get. >> reporter: but there's a clear catch-22 when it comes to what's legal and what's not. registered patients can smoke medical marijuana, but they can't legally buy it. and caregivers can plant it, but they can't buy the seeds to grow it. >> it's like you think the government or the state is playing a joke on you. okay, marijuana is legal. but then they combust you. >> reporter: the michigan department of community health, which oversees the program, admits the law is unclear. in a statement it says, quote, the michigan medical marijuana act has many gray areas that are causing much confusion about marijuana usage. the largest gray area is obtaining the drug. this is a problem that only the state legislature can resolve. and, don, doesn't look like the state legislature's really doing anything to solve that problem.

we talked to the michigan department of community health this morning, they said some state senators have put a few proposals forward to further regulate the use, but not to clear up that clear catch-22 in the law. don? >> i know poppy harlow will be checking it's. >> reporter: we will. >> thank you very much, poppy. you know, we're celebrating a milestone for a way millions of people stay in touch or waste a lot of time, depending on your point of view.

facebook nation has a reason to celebrate. the world's biggest social networking website turned 6 today. what is that social networking do? and it is 375 million strong. our colleen mcedwards looks back at its rapid growth. >> reporter: six years ago mark zuckerberg and three partners founded facebook while attending harvard university. >> facebook just started off as a little project and exploded out of control. >> reporter: it exploded in 2006 when membership restrictions were lifted and the whole world could join. today facebook is available in more than 70 languages, in more than 180 different countries. and, get this, the number of people who play the game "farmville" on the site far exceeds the number of actual farms in the united states. 76 million to 2 million. facebook's entire population,

more than 350 million active users. so, imagine, if facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, behind china and india and just ahead of the united states. >> we believe, really deeply, that if people are sharing more, then the world will be a more open place, so we can understand what's going on with the people around them, and that's really what we want to get towards. >> reporter: facebook is growing at the astounding rate of about 5 million new users a week. it's become an important communication tool, even for news gathering. >> now you've got real-time reporting from people on the streets, showing pictures, showing the violence, and that's not something that any government can control anymore. >> reporter: a good example is iran. pro-reformists have been using social networking sites to organize their protests. and the government can't seem to stop them, even after websites are censored, videos continue to be uploaded through proxy servers. as a business, facebook may have passed a tipping point that will

make it almost impossible for any other social network to catch up. >> we wanted to grow revenue by 70% year-over-year and we become cash-flow positive by the end of 2010. so we updated that we're basically ahead of those predictions and specifically that we're cash-flow positive. >> reporter: but facebook's fast growth has also brought criticism, including users' concerns about the privacy of personal information they share online. >> if you're a user and you're umes e user and sharing with small friends, why not share with everyone and be a public face, and i think to some people that's really been a concern that has blown up as a privacy issue. >> reporter: how much sharing is too much sharing? how much privacy will facebook users demand? one of the challenges facebook will face as it moves through another year. colleen mcedwards, cnn, atlanta. you know what, this is a first for the last chief

executive of sun microsoft. last night, jonathan schwartz tweeted his resignation in the form of japanese poetry called haiku. today's my last day at sun. i'll miss it. it seems only fitting to end on a haiku. financial crisis, stalled. too many customers. ceo, no more. we'll share your blog comments about the tea party after this. o get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem, as well. we're making a big commitment to finding out... just how much algae can help to meet... the fuel demands of the world.

hey, guys, thanks for writing in on our blog and social networking sites. we've been telling you about the tea party convention under way in nashville, sarah palin, keynote speaker. a couple comments. these are from our blog. darren said it's nothing more than a right-wing finance group trying to undermine the newly elected president any way they can. and from kevin, the tea party is fueled by misinformation. if they had done their research, they would have real ilezed democrats are not destroying this country at least not more than republicans. and scott wants us to know the tea party represents a loose confedation of citizens who see a government growing too large and one out of touch with me, the people. your coverage today attempts to deceit those carrying. and the most hideous posters and signs as the norm of the movement, anyone familiar with the crowds knows that this group represents the worst and only a tiny fraction of the movement. so, thank you nor your conversation, thank you for your questions, thank you for your comments. we really