ali is at ali velshi and i'm at christine roman. >> make sure you join us every week for "your money." log on 24/7, cnnmoney.com. christine, have a great weekend. stay tuned to all of you. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello. i'm fredricka whitfield. this sunday the midatlantic tries to break out after a record-breaking blizzard. further north, an explosion at a connecticut power plant. emergency crews are searching for victims right now at an energy plant in middletown,

connecticut just outside of hartford. police originally said there were two fatalities, but now say that cannot be confirmed. the mayor of middletown confirms that there are multiple casualties. near lay dozen people have been sent to area hospitals. let's bring in our susan candiotti who is there right now. susan, what is the latest? >> reporter: we're about a mile away from the site of that terrible explosion. there are described to be massive casualties, but we don't know exactly how many. an official told us that this happened about 4 1/2 hours ago while workers, construction workers because the plant had not yet opened were purging a gas line. as you indicated, about a dozen or so people were taken to a local hospital, but this is how some people said it felt. and some of these people lived as many as 20 miles away. listen. >> all of the sudden there was a big explosion, and the flames were higher than the stack

itself. it -- i never want to see anything like that in my life. >> it felt like an earthquake, but it was more of an explosion because we were able to see it, visually see the fire and the flames coming out of between the two towers. >> the flames were shooting up, and it just rocked the whole place. windows were blown out. >> the explosion came, and we had pictures on the wall. they were knocked on the ground. and stuff fell on the floor. i thought my house exploded. >> reporter: now about 100 rescue workers are said to be on the scene. we are told that they include urban search and rescue units, as well as dogs that are searching for any possible survivors among the rubble. again you heard the earlier report that there were two confirmed casualties, but police have now pulled back from that. they are saying they can't tell us for sure how many fatalities there may be at this time. in addition to how many total casualties. and again, it's a very active

scene, and we're told that there will be a press conference in about an hour from now. fred, back to you. >> and susan, you mentioned this was a construction zone area, this facility was not quite complete. is there any indication who a collapse or anything like that took place as a result of the explosion? >> reporter: we don't know exactly what caused it other than at the time they were purging a gas line. told that it took down much of the building. we hope to have photographs. some still photographs of what it looked like in the immediate aftermath. but a lot of heavy damage to the buildings, and at least the smokestacks i think are still in place, but heavy damage throughout. >> all right, susan candiotti, thank you so much from middletown, connecticut on this explosion. all right, meantime they're digging out from ohio to maryland today after a blizzard of historic proportions. washington, d.c. got a foot and a half of snow, and dulles airport outside washington had a record-breaking total of 32 inches.

more than 26 inches of snow fell in annapolis, maryland. and ironically, they had to cancel three performances of the disney on ice figure skating show in baltimore. and remember these steps in philadelphia from the rocky movies perhaps? well, instead of running to the top, kids were sliding to the bottom on sleds and anything else they can get their hands on. bonnie snider is in the severe weather center. a lot of folks had a lot of fun and will continue to do so because it's going to be around for a while. >> this is true. most of it happened on the weekend so the kids can enjoy the weekend. i think that's the most fun. for the parents that have to shovel out, you have your work cut out for you. check out the snowfall totals. almost 30 inches in philadelphia. you saw the pictures of the steps there dulles in washington, d.c. 32.4. you're probably wondering how, that sounds like a lot. this is a two-day snowfall total there. and in baltimore 24.4. annapolis 21 point 5. atlantic city, new jersey, right

on the jersey shore, 19.3 inches. i've never seen such high snoefrl totals for the midatlantic before. a lot of these are record breaking. but right now little bit of lake-effect snow into upstate new york. however, look at this. current temperatures right now into the d.c. area. we have them right at 31 degrees. so it is cold. it is below freezing. it feels actually a lot worse than that. the windchill factor is making a big difference because we still have blustery conditions, and we still have the strong windchill factor that we're dealing with. so it feels like it's a lot colder than what it actually is. it feels like it's 25 degrees. take a closer look at the windchill factors here into west virginia into roanoke and into charlotte, all feeling very cold. it's a little milder down to the south, though, into atlanta. so that's some good news. i want to talk about much of the situation with the airlines, because many of you might be stuck for the weekend. take a look at this. zoom in here. you can see we have new york city and into washington, d.c.,

baltimore, maryland. all right. here is the latest with the airports. most of the airports are open. the problem is flights are still not going in and out. still so many cancellations, still shoveling out. it's going to take a while when you have almost three feet of snow on the ground. at least d.c. we're getting some reports that things are improving. but really, for philadelphia, for baltimore, for d.c., many of you will be stuck for today, and possibly by monday temperatures will warm up little bit. it's just so much snow, i think that's the biggest problem of getting the runways cleared and getting everybody to their destination. i guess the only positive thing we can say, fred re, is that th honda the weekend. is there another system on the way? >> i'm glad you mentioned that we are looking at changes in the forecast. watch out because there is a brand-new storm system that will be coming in i would say wednesday and thursday. i'm going to have more on that throughout the evening tonight. but the same area could be impacted. probably not as hard. but after all this snow, can you imagine more? >> no! >> it's coming.

winter is not over yet. you heard that groundhog. six more weeks. >> that's right. pay attention and learn. appreciate that. all right. so the storm this weekend caused problems for just about anybody who wanted to actually get somewhere. roads were closed, and driving was very much discouraged. trains, planes, and buses were also canceled, and it may take quite a bit of time as you heard from bonnie there before transportation is back to normal. sara lee is at reagan national airport outside washington. oh, good thing you're inside. but how is it looking? are there any travelers inside? or is it still premature? >> reporter: barely. just very few, fredricka. on any day reagan international handles about 700 flights. take a look at the board. canceled, canceled, canceled. nothing has been moving in or out of here all weekend because of the storm. i'll show you why. let's go over here and take a look at the airfield and the ramp area here at the airport. you can see that they've made some progress, but they've still got a lot of snow here, and the

trucks working around the clock since through the storm. the problem with reagan national in particular is because this is on a relatively small piece of land, only about 800 acres. so they can't just push the snow out of the way like they can at larger airports. they have to actually load it on to dump trucks, and then haul it away. another problem they encountered was once they scraped some of the snow away underneath, there was about five inches of ice this morning. so they have been chipping away at that and trying to clear the runway that way. taking a look down the terminal again, you can see as i mentioned earlier, it's basically empty here. shops and restaurants mostly closed. you have a couple straggler, i would call them wishful thinking travelers that are hoping that they may get out tonight. but the airport's authority says they have to reassess and decide. and it's really not that hopeful that they're going to be getting out later tonight. it's probably going to be more like this -- tomorrow morning. and then you can just imagine after that whole backlog of

flights that haven't gotten out, and the residual effects when airports like this close down, that it's going to be a much different picture. and up in baltimore we're hearing reports of the same thing. very much a similar situation. >> i guess if you can maybe wait until midweek before you try to get in and out of that airport or the surrounding area airports. so what about power outages? because i understand there were a number of power outages in the d.c. area as well. >> there were. because if you remember, fredricka, this snow was kind of heavy wet. trees went down. power lines snapped. they had at the peak about a quarter million people in the washington metro area without power during the storm, through the storm. so last check that we had, just a few minutes ago, they told me region wide they're down to about 100,000. still a lot of customers without power. but certainly they made a lot of progress quickly. >> sarah lee, thank you so much at reagan airport.

appreciate that. well, good news for folks down south in miami. no snow there. just one of the most anticipated matchups of all time, super bowl fever is in full swing. will the underdog saints surprise the colts on their first trip over the the big game? [ male announcer ] for over 50 years, providing you with safe,

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the rest of the colts, family, friends, school. >> definitely the saints. >> the colts are going to rock the world. >> the saints are going to win handsdown. >> the saints! who dat? >> my mind says colts. my heart -- my heart says saints. >> okay. them are fighting words. fans are rooting for their teams. whether your heart is with the new orleans saints or the indianapolis colts, the big game is nearly here. just hours away for kickoff for super bowl xliv is just 2:10 away. let's go to joe carter is in miami. so you see more blue and white or black and gold? >> reporter: fredricka, black and gold of course. the who dat nation has invaded miami. over the course of the last couple of days, we've seen a lot more saints fans than colts fans. i think a lot has to do with the fact that it's their first super bowl in 42 years.

the team for many years was a complete losing team, a losing franchise, and finally these guys have something to celebrate. so they all made the trip. >> okay, that's good to hear. they've got a lot of places to celebrate. so drew brees obviously a big part of the saints, and he's got a huge following. is he part of the draw as to why so many new orleans fans made their way to miami as well? >> reporter: absolutely. i think the whole saints team is an interesting and compelling story and the reason why so many fans have come to make the trip to the super bowl from new orleans to miami. of course, new orleans would be a great place to see the super bowl as well. but drew brees, the connection there is just seven months after hurricane katrina destroyed the city, it was his decision to sign with the saints. and immediately, immediately since he stepped on to that football team, he not only helped the team rebuild, he helped the city of new orleans rebuild. and his wife and him have a really great foundation called the brees dream foundation. they have raised $4.5 million. they've built athletic fields.

they've helped improve some schools there. they've done a lot for the kids in the rebuilding of the city. so the support is not only within the city of new orleans, but it stretches to the greater area as well. and we've heard all week long. you heard people say my mind is with peyton manning and the colts, my heart is with the city of new orleans. we've heard so it many times this week. >> all right. and of course folks are going to be watching the game. that's the big draw, the players. >> reporter: of course. >> the commercials and of course halftime. so who will are we be watching at halftime? >> reporter: well, a good one, fredricka. a band who has been around since the 60s. it's the who. we had a chance to see them perform earlier in the week. they put on a media only event for us. they tuned up their guitars and went to work. well got to hear a couple of songs from them, and they were great. a band that has around a lot longer than i was alive. i didn't know a lot of their songs, but they sound great. people can expect at home to see a really good show. >> so by the end of this evening, you'll know all the songs. >> reporter: i hope so.

i hope so. >> all right, joe carter, thank you so much in miami. appreciate that. all the best of both to you. all right. the political landscape, well, it's changing in new orleans. we'll tell you about the new man in charge and why he has some pretty big shoes to fill. and let's talk about the job market. it's tough right now. but fortune magazine is out with its list of the 100 best companies to work for, and 22 of those businesses have at least 500 job openings. currently google has one thousand openings, and del loitte has 11,000. before we tell you the name of the number one on fortune's top 100 list, see if you can guess. >> reporter: this software company pampers its employees from head to toe. shoot some shoots or get a hairstyle without leaving the corporate campus? the answer 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. 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.

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what company has an onsite gym and a hair salon? software giant sas takes the number one spot on fortune magazine's list of the 100 best companies to work for. the firm's north carolina headquarters also has a free health care clinic, a day-care center, massages, and live music during lunch. >> i love it! i love it. i wouldn't want to work anywhere else. >> reporter: a work/life balance is also a priority. the company offers flexible hours, a 35-hour workweek, and unlimited sick time. no wonder it's number one. we have over ten-thousand advisors ready to listen to your dreams and help you plan for them. because the first step towards reaching what you want is reaching the person who can help you get there. our advisors. your dreams.

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garlique's clinically tested ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. a look at our top stories right now. there is a new mayor in new orleans. lieutenant governor mitch landrieu was elected in a landslide victory last night. he is replacing outgoing mayor

ray nagin in may. the 49-year-old democrat is the city's first white mayor since 1979, the year his father left office. his sister is u.s. senator mary landrieu. and prosecutors are expected to file charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of michael jackson. jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, was with jackson when he died last june after being given hospital-strength anesthetic and sedatives to help him sleep. murray's attorneys say he would plead not guilty if charged. and take a look at this near boulder, colorado. ireporter zack mitchell captured these images after two planes collided. three people were killed. a glider that was being towed by one of the planes disconnected right before the accident yesterday. the glider landed safely, but the two planes plummeted to the ground. the national transportation safety board is investigating the crash. and a rescue mission or kidnapping?

will the uproar over ten americans facing charges in haiti keep others from adopting children orphaned in the quake? and this is the first full week of february. and here is some of what happened this week in history. ten years ago this week, peanuts cartoonist charles schulz died at the age of 77. one day later, newspapers carried his final original sunday comic strip. 20 years ago in 1990, anti-apartheid activist nelson mandela was release affidavit 20 years in prison. he later became south africa's first black president. 50 years ago in 1960, tonight show host jack paar angrily resigned on the air after nbc censored one of his jokes. he returned to the show a month later. 60 years ago in 1950, senator joseph mccarthy declared that the u.s. state department was riddled with communists. that claim launched a

controversial crusade that became known as mccarthyism. 170 years ago in 1840, britain's queen victoria married prince albert. most of their nine children would eventually marry into the other royal houses of europe. a guy named his own price, wants a room tonight for 65 dollars. we don't go lower than 130.

big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal.

all right. more now on that power plant explosion in connecticut. it happened this morning at the kleen energy power plant in middletown. there are conflicting reports on possible deaths. police originally said there were two fatalities, but now say that cannot be confirmed. but the mayor of middletown confirms that there are multiple casualties. nearly a dozen people have been sent to area hospitals. cnn's susan candiotti is at the scene. susan, what more do we know about the accident that took place and how many may be injured? >> reporter: well, in fact officials tell me that there are definitely casualties on the scene, but they just don't have any hard numbers yet. you already talked about a number of people having been injured as well. we do know that there are about 50 construction workers onsite at the time when they were purging a gas line at the plant.

and joining us now to talk about it is the deputy fire marshall here, al santosstefano. this happened at about 11:30 in the morning. what were the workers doing? >> they were purging a pipeline. it was 11:13 when the first call became into the dispatch center. >> what happened to that? you had to get to the site. it's not an easy one to get to. we hear about flames. we hear a lot about people feeling repercussion and shaking from that. so did you. >> i live about five miles from the site of this construction. i was sitting in my living room, and i felt the vibration. and i knew something had happened, but i wurnt aware of where at the time. >> reporter: when fire rescue responded to the scene, they initially saw natural gas flames. what happened next? >> well, they had to wait because in that type of incident, you want to extinguish the gas, and then put out the fire that came from that after. so they had to find a point of

the gas shutoff, and then they were able to extinguish the flames and then start the search and rescue. >> otherwise it was a dangerous situation for them to approach at this time? >> correct. you don't want to extinguish the flame because then you're going to have gas leaking into the atmosphery wisconsin can cause more problems. so you want to cut the source off of the gas. >> reporter: do you know how much time passed before you were able to get up close to find any survivors? >> i'm not sure of the time. i'm sure it was done in a pretty timely manner. i know they had the flames extinguished in a pretty quick time. i'm going say no more than probably 15 minutes before all that took place. >> reporter: this is the first opportunity we've had to interview you live to tell us more about this. can you please confirm, were there casualties at the scene, fatales at the scene? >> yes, there were fatalities and quite a few injuries. the numbers yet haven't come down yet. as i said, they're in the search and rescue part of this. so they're waiting for that to

conclude before we come up with any solid numbers. >> reporter: what are you trying to do to see whether there are additional survivors to the 12 or so that are being treated for injuries? >> pretty much it's a slow dig. you pull pieces of material away slowly and carefully. in case there is somebody injured under that. and you don't want to injure the rescuers. so it's a slow process, and they're in the middle of that right now. >> but the ability to survive something like this, being upclose when natural gas explodes, what kind of blast and repercussions are felt that close to an explosion site? >> obviously, the repercussions from that are a lot of times cause a lot of the injury. and then any flying debris. you know, dependent on where a person was in the building, what they were maybe behind, some type of big machinery maybe that could have shielded them from some of the debris flying, that's all taken into consideration during this whole process. there is a possibility that this could be someone still alive

underneath that debris that's in there. >> reporter: and to be clear, this plant was not open at the time. it had been under construction. they broke ground for it what, about three years ago? >> approximately three years ago they broke ground for this. it's still under construction. they were hoping to be online some time in 2010. >> reporter: normally, do you know whether more people would have been working rather than the 50 or so, this being a sunday? >> yeah, usually on the monday through friday time frame there are a lot more construction workers up here at that time. >> reporter: such a terrible tragedy for this area. what impact will it have? >> obviously, it's going to put the plant behind. any loss of life is always tragic. it will be felt because a lot of those guys are from this area. most of the construction workers, they were from this area. so it will be felt in the community, that's for sure. >> reporter: thank you very much for joining us. and we can tell you this, that at this hour over at the city hall, the red cross is providing grief counseling for family members of those who were injured or lost their lives in this blast. fredricka, back to you.

>> all right, susan candiotti, thank you so much from middletown, connecticut. all right. nearly a month now after haiti's devastating earthquake, thousands of survivors are still in makeshift tent cities. and if there is criticism that aid is slow to reach those who need it most. in an effort to help the country recover, the u.s. and other g-7 countries are urging international lending agencies to grant new debt relief to haiti. the haitian government is refusing to grant bail for ten americans charged with child kidnapping. the baptist missionaries insist that they are innocent. their haitian attorney has been fired, allegedly for trying to bribe their way out of jail. he denies that. the americans insist they were on a humanitarian mission to rescue haitian orphans. let's take a closer look now at what and how this investigation just might impact any other upcoming planned adoptions, particularly for children of

haiti the executive director of closing on adoption institute. good to see you. >> good to see you, fredricka. >> as this investigation unfolds, i wonder how this might directly impact anyone who is in the process of adopting a haitian child? >> well, we're hoping it won't impact those who are in the process because there are safeguards that are already in place. but it is important to note that it is still not possible for a person who is not in the process to begin an international adoption in haiti. so it shouldn't impact too much at this point. >> so no matter what a group says or an adoption agency might say right now, to try to encourage anyone to begin the process of trying to adopt a haitian child or being convinced that they can actually adopt any one of these children that have been displaced right now, that's simply not possible, it's not true, it can't happen? >> that's right. and i really want to encourage

those watching this interview that there are a lot of placious can look on the internet that are reliable sources for that information. first and most importantly, the u.s. state department maintains regular updates about the status of all the countries that are open for intercountry adoption, including haiti. and that's a good and safe place to be getting that information from. >> so once you get that information, or you got your fingertips on that website location, what do you look for in an adoption agency? what is the criteria that you judge to see whether you can make a perfect match between you, the hopeful adoptive parent, and the agency that can help make it happen. >> well, one thing is the resource for most americans, even though haiti is not a signatory to what is called the hague convention on intercountry adoption, the u.s. is. and as a result, they have taken the time to accredit over 200 agencies for intercountry adoption. and a list of those agencies is also available on the state department's website. and so i would encourage people interested in adopting to look

at that list and to see it as a resource for them. >> and what is your concern right now about the many children that have been orphaned or many children who are kind of in a place where they don't really have a place to go. they may not necessarily be connected to any kind of orphanage or any adoption agency as a result of this earthquake. how do you see this kind of playing out? how will these children's needs be best met? >> you know, it's interesting. while no one would condone the actions taken by those who are now presently being charged, it is understandable why people are seeing the images of these children, seeing them in orphanages, and wanting to do something to help. the fact is that there were hundreds of thousands of children that were living in orphanages in haiti, and tens of thousands are likely to share the same fate. so we should be doing more to help the government of haiti move forward with the child welfare system that prevents that, that instead seeks to put them into families where they can be best cared for.

>> and what is your forecast right now? you cannot begin the process of trying to adopt a child in haiti right now, but when do you suppose that will open up again so that perhaps any of these children who might be looking for a new home can actually find one? >> i can't give you a definitive time frame, i can say organizations like mine are working to make sure that the child welfare system is up and ready in haiti some time soon so that we can make sure that children have an opportunity to be raised in families first and foremost in haiti, in extended parts of the country, but then also other places throughout the world. >> kathleen strottman, thanks so much for your time. i appreciate that. >> thank you. whether or not you love or don't love sarah palin, well certainly everyone can agree she can stoke some political talk. what is she doing right now with the tea party, and could another run for the white house be in her future?

a look at the top stories right now. tomorrow is deadline day for the country's eight largest banks. that's when bank of america, goldman sachs, and six other wall street heavyweights must detail planned employee bonuses. new york attorney general andrew cuomo demanded the information on executive pay last month, and he says transparency is essential at a time when many americans are suffering from the recession. and toyota usa is expected

to resume production tomorrow of vehicles affected by the mass recall. the world's top automaker suspended production of eight of its most popular models because of sticking gas pedals. it now says that it has found a comprehensive solution. toyota says it will also announce plans soon to deal with braking problems in the popular prius hybrid as well. and nasa will try again tomorrow to launch the space shuttle endeavour. clouds scrubbed this morning's liftoff, and nasa called it off with just nine minutes left in the countdown. endeavour and six astronauts will bring a new room and observation deck to the international space station. all right. let's talk politics now. sarah palin is making headlines again after her keynote address at the tea party convention in nashville. the former republican vice presidential nominee said today another run for the white house could be in her future. is the tea party movement

galvanizing her appeal or vice verse? let's bring in our deputy political director paul stein houser. is he is motiving the movement or is the movement galvanizing her? >> i think it's a little bit of both. when she was vice presidential nominee in 2008, those were some of the same people backing her back then are backing her now. i was in the room last night. very folksy address, but the crowd loved it. they ate it up. >> she definitely outline order she was asked to outline and would outline when she reiterated in her speech that it's important to address the economy. she criticized quite openly this administration. and there was some name-calling as well. but she ended up getting a lot of standing ovation. but there was no fact-checking. >> well, the crowd there loved it, but you're right. a lot of people will say there were some factual things wrong with what she said. but that crowd last night, it was electric in that room.

one thing, though, she didn't really bring up running for white house last night. in that interview that taped in nashville last night that ran today on some of the talk shows, she said he is wouldn't close any doors that would be opened down the road that is a possible hint of rung towards the white house. it sounded like a stump speech. maybe it's a taste of things to come. maybe not. >> so what about the republican party? what is the feeling about the republican party and sarah palin or this tea party movement? is it to be considered as one in the same, that tea party and republican party are hand in hand, or it is something very separate? >> a lot of the people that i talked to, a lot of the tea party activists at the three-day convention, they said listen, we are not republicans. we are not democrats. we are independents. and they said they have no desire right now to form a third party. but they did indicate a little bit i think they agree more with the republicans than the democrats. so they're to the right of the republicans. that's the thing. they want the republicans to kind of come see it their way and move more to the right. very interesting dynamic.

>> she criticized the obama administration for its handling of the attempted bomber on that american flight in detroit. at the same time, the white house is responding about whether this person should have had the miranda rights read to them or not. is it smart for the white house to respond to this, or does the white house feel like it has to be extremely transparent about this very issue because of the impending elections? >> they have to be transparent. but this is interesting. tourism is becoming more and more of an issue it seems. it was not an issue at all in the 2008 elections. you look at the exit polls, less than 10% said it was important to them. it's up slightly now. one of the top advisers to scott brown, they said that terrorism and how the obama administration was treating the attempted terroristic attack on the december 25th flight that. >> said that was really fuelling a lot of the support that they had. and that's interesting also last night. what was the first thing sarah palin talked about in her speech? >> national security. >> exactly.

that's where she first went. the story is becoming more and more in play. i think that's one of the reasons you saw the white house defending themselves saying listen, we're doing pretty much what the bush administration was doing when it comes to trying some of these suspects in civilian court. and they also said we talked to top republicans right after the december 25th attack and told them we would do doing this in criminal court. >> well, we'll see if this is any indication as to whether it's national security or it's the economy that helps control people's votes come this fall. all right, paul steinhauser, thank you so much. you'll be heading back to snowy washington. >> if i can get there. >> if you can get a flight to land there. safe travel. >> thanks. some think of detroit as a blighted urban landscape, but america's motor city could actually help reshape how you get around.

all right. by boat, train, car, or plane, america is a country on the move. what our transportation infrastructure is aging, and it's costly. could detroit, america's motor city, serve as a blueprint for future growth? that's actually the concept behind a new pbs documentary. >> reporter: 80% of all federal transportation dollars go to roads and highways. in michigan, there is even less money for public transit. 90% of state transportation funds go to building and maintaining roads. pressure to change that equation is building on capitol hill. where congress is preparing to debate a new $500 billion transportation bill, one that could fundamentally transform the way americans get around. >> and the director for blueprint america, beyond the motor city, aaron wolf joining

us from new york. good to see you. >> how are you? >> i'm doing pretty good. so what is it about detroit? we know that it is the birthplace of american automobile making and the industry, but this documentary really is about that and beyond, that there is a future of this evolution of transportation and it has to do with detroit. >> well, i think there is a future for detroit, and i think it will happen along transportation lines. detroit is a place that has invented and reinvented itself over and over again in history of long transportation. when we built the erie canal, detroit began to thrive as a city. of course now we all associate detroit with the automobile and the decline of the automobile industry. but i think detroit, because of its very decay, could be a canvas upon which we can redesign the notion of a city along transportation lines. >> in what way? what are the indicators? >> well, i think one example is the fact that there is so much

open space in detroit. and detroit now, in large part because of the highways that helped drain the city. now this open space is being considered for urban agriculture. and they're using public transportation planning to reconcentrate the city along its central corridors. >> so if i live in detroit, i've been working for the automotive industry for a long time, but i lost my job, am i going to look at this documentary and say wait a minute, there is hope, there is a way in which i can transition my skill, still be in transportation, but it really is going to be very different, it is not going to be about the vehicle with four wheels, but something else? >> well, i think that's the hope. and i think it's really connected to all this discussion right now about revitalizing america's manufacturing capabilities. you know, detroit is really the heart of our manufacturing heritage. and if we can take some of that expertise, as you say, fred, along the lines of buildings cars and begin to build the kind of transportation hardware for a

future transportation -- high speed railcars, street cars, which are being put in, have been put in, new streetcar systems in 19 cities, what if we could build those things in detroit, and detroit too could benefit from them themselves. >> and what about people who work in detroit have to say about this concept? did you get a chance to talk with folks who have some history in transportation in detroit? >> well, yes, we did. and i think one of the reasons why detroit was such a good setting for this project is you can really feel the human element. you can really feel the human consequences of some of the tragic things that have happened in detroit. a lot of people there are incredibly optimistic. detroit has become an emblem of american decline and decay, but it also could be an emblem of rebirth. i think you see that in the first utterance in the detroiters themselves. a recent "washington post" poll said that 63% of detroiters believe the city is going to turn around.

>> wow, all right. "blueprint: america beyond the motor city" airs on pbs beginning tomorrow, correct? >> correct. this is documentary is part of a year-long documentary to look into these questions, to look into infrastructure, to look into the future of transportation as a way of sending our nation down a different path. >> director aaron woolf, appreciate it and all the best. >> thank you very much. let's talk weather now. the midatlantic states digging out from that massive winter storm. rail, bus, air service, all of it moving very slowly. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan. one of car & driver's 10 best for the third year in a row. ♪ and now, cadillac announces the new luxury collection lease.

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all right. so the snow has finally stopped, but it's still there. the hard part now digging out. people in the midatlantic states are trying to recover from what in some areas was a record snowfall. up to three feet of snow fell in parts of northern virginia and maryland, and officials say it could be several days before all the streets are cleared and power is restored. and it may not be over just yet. our bonnie schneider is letting us know come midweek, yet another blast of nasty weather. >> that's so true, fredricka.

it's hard to believe, but it's coming. not as much. when i say not as much, look at these totals. now we can really get a good idea of how it all shape upped. in philadelphia 28.5 inches oof snow. dulles more than that. baltimore, annapolis, all through the region tremendous snow and fierce winds. particularly in atlantic city winds up to 50 miles per hour, blowing about the snow on the jersey shore. i want to get right to what we're looking at in terms of threat for new snow. right now it's cleared out across the region. but believe it or not, there are already advisories in place. the temperatures are cold enough to support new snow because it's already below freezing in washington right now. it's 31 degrees. but as you can see we have winter weather advisories for tuesday and wednesday back out to the west. here is where the snow is right now in omaha and kansas city. but look at this. it's headed towards minneapolis. and with that said, there is already a winter storm warning in effect for tonight for minneapolis, extending all the way back out towards chicago and into fort wayne and indiana. take a look at the big picture.

what you'll find is the threat for more snow, possibly five inches or so with a winter storm watch in effect not right now in washington, d.c., but for tuesday and wednesday, from pittsburgh all the way to, yes, baltimore and washington, d.c. you can see a few more inches of snow in the middle of the week. well, here is the good news. the kids are really happy. we have a great ireport to show you of daniela in anondale. there is 22 inches of snow. i want to see iffy swim in it. all right. they put on the snorkeling gear, and they were looking for snow sharks. >> that is a cute picture. i love that. i've never heard of snow sharks, but that's okay. it's a great photo. >> i love it. only a kid would think i'm going to swim through this. why not? >> i like that. that's a lot of fun. thank you so much. thanks, bonnie, appreciate that. >> sure. an energy plant under construction is rocked by a powerful explosion. what police say was going on just before the blast in connecticut. and this week saying goodbye to a pioneering fighter pilot

who flew and made history with the tuskegee airmen. lieutenant colonel lee archer played a significant role in a series of so-called dogfights over german-occupied hungary during world war ii. he is known for shooting down four german planes, three in a single day while piloting a f-51 mustang with the distinctive red tail of the tuskegee airman, the all black american fighter group in a segregated u.s. armed forces. a year and a half ago at the opening of the museum in alabama, archer reflected on the social climate during wartime. >> we were treated by enemies that we were fighting better than our own people treated us. we understand now that they were succumbing to the culture of the country at that time. i cannot believe that men so brilliant to be in the war college and who led us through the war, the greatest war in

history were that dumb. so we assume they submitted themselves to the culture of the country at that time, which said that there was a difference there is a great difference now. but it's still not perfect. >> lieutenant colonel archer died january 27th in new york. he was 90 years old. this wednesday, he will be interred at arlington national cemetery.

recapping our top story right now. search dogs are combing the rubble for possible survivors after an explosion rocked the