good morning on monday. hope you had a nice weekend. probably a lot of football watching, huh? i'm robin meade. morning, sunshine. here's what's going on. people are still scrambling to find anything that will help them survive as the desperation grows in the aftermath of haiti's earthquake. the situation is turning violent, but one military expert says there is a way to avoid that. your future health care options may fend on what happens in massachusetts. why the race between these two politicians could make or break the proposed health care reform. plus, a car engulfed in flames and the driver trapped inside. you'll see how police got her out. the big issue right now in haiti is the nightmare of trying

to funnel all the help from all over the world into a country with, one, an overwhelmed airport, two, a main port that's been destroyed, and three, roads almost impassablimpassable. the global response has been remarkable but the bottleneck is straining some of the efforts to help. this morning we'll bring you key developments. first, an incredible rescue to show you. about five people were pulled from a demolished grocery store, but it took 24 hours to reach them. now, at one point a concrete slab buckled and rained debris on top of the rescuers. they ran outside and made sure that everyone was safe. the rescuers say that the survivors including a 50-year-old american woman made it because of where they were trapped. >> this happens to be a pancake collapse which even though is the worst type of collapse, it has void spaces. they have been stuck inside a void space. now, if you were to be stuck inside a collapsed structure, the best place to be stuck is a

supermarket. surrounded by food, food has fallen on them. we've had multiple situations where victims have even some of the food to stay alive. >> well, one woman who thought her cousin died in the quake saw her photo on cnn. joseph got to speak with her cousin for the first time on sunday. and she found out she had lost a leg, but she is alive. her cousin said don't cry for me. pray for people who still may be alive. well, there have been violence outbreaks in haiti, and it is hurting the rescue effort. about 1,000 u.s. troops are in haiti right now. another 3,000 are working from ships. authorities say that more than 12,000 are expected by today. but the american general who oversaw the response to hurricane says that police and u.s. troops there should not overreact. that haitians are just trying to survive. >> we shoot people who try to get the food that they sent,

smell or sensing who turn this into something totally different. this is a humanitarian operation, and people are trying to get food. aid is pouring in, but it is not easy. doctors without borders says that its cargo plane got redirected to the dominican republic yesterday. it was carrying an inflatable hospital badly needed. the group's emergency communications officer said that conditions for patients are getting worse. a brooklyn man returning from haiti is accused of causing a security scare at jfk airport. the tsa says that he went into a restricted area saturday. his attorney said that he accidentally went through the wrong door. a terminal was evacuated. people were rescreened and the flights were delayed. he could get up to seven years in prison if he is convicted. the health care debate could hinge on one state election tomorrow. now, it is the race to fill the late senator ted kennedy's seat. state senator scott brown, a republican, is running against massachusetts attorney general martha coakley, a democrat.

recent polls suggest the race may be closer than expected. and that got president obama on the campaign trail. >> you sent a leader to washington who is going to work tirelessly every single day to turn this economy around, to move this country forward, and to keep the american dream alive in our time and for all time. that's what martha coakley's about. >> many people in massachusetts are not happy with what's happening in washington, d.c. i think president obama coming in actually helped scott brown. >> if republicans win the senate seat, they would potentially have enough votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. also, democrats would lose their filibusterproof majority in the senate. the taliban is claiming that it struck the nerve center of afghanistan's government this morning. it says that militants and suicide bombers attacked the presidential palace in kabul. it is unclear whether they made their way inside.

but nato confirms bombings at government buildings near the palace. heavy gunfire has been going on for hours. at least five people died, and 38 are injured. you know what? it's going to be a nasty week for the people on the west coast. a series of storms has started coming in ashore in southern california. the mountains could see ten feet of snow. some areas may get 20 inches. 20 inches of rain! obviously that could trigger some mudslides especially in the areas burned by the wildfires. it's five minutes after the hour. take a little breath here. and then bob's going to tell you what's going to be on tap weatherwise. how was your weekend? a lot of football? >> yeah, a lot of football. jets, furthest i've seen them go, tied for my lifetime. they went to the championship in '98. that was the last time. >> j-e-t-s. >> low-pressure region, show you some of that video from california. one storm coming in around seattle. that's weaker. but look at the one across the west. heavy rain, lots of snow out there. we have warnings and advisories.

you can see two to four feet of snow today through tomorrow total. grand total could get to about ten feet of snow above 6,000 feet. winter storm warnings out there. flood watches around l.a. two to four inches around l.a. today through tomorrow. look at the heavy storm around new york city. as that thing exits away. it does drag that snow and rain along with it. but for the morning, winter storm warnings posted for interior sections of new england. five total towards new hampshire and maine. full details on that in about a half hour. >> you got it. find out which blockbuster film was a big winner at "the golden globes" last night. and you could have a chance to wear the same clothes that you saw on the red carpet. more on that. and then there were four nfl playoff games over the weekend and only one cinderella slipper.

our "salute to troops" is for staff sergeant chris, but his wife and his little boy want him to know even though he's far away, he's never forgotten. >> morning, robin. my name is becky. christopher turknet is in the air force. my, honey, we love you and miss you. landon misses you. we miss your smile and cooking. sorry you missed christmas and we can't wait to see you. love you. >> all right. thank you. sweet message. if you have somebody in the service, go to cnn.com/robin. hollywood stars were apparently thinking about people in haiti at "the golden globes" last night. many of them wore red and yellow ribbons in support of the relief efforts. some including meryl streep and olivia wild are donating their designer duds to be auctioned off. among the big winners, the

science fiction blockbuster "avatar" won a best movie director globe for james cameron. sandra bullock was named best actress in a movie drama for "the blind side." and it is her first golden globe. >> the cast that gave me a beautiful family, that made me better every single day. and to the twohey family who allowed me into their home, closets, business. they remind you a family is not who you were born to or what color you are, it's who's got your back. >> actor jeff bridges says that his reputation for being underappreciated is being ruined. he got a standing ovation when he won best actor for his role as a washed-up country singer in "crazy heart." your text messages have raised more than $16 million to help the survivors of the earthquake in haiti. well, now some of those wireless companies are trying to make sure the money gets there faster

than it normally would. our money expert, jennifer westhoven, is here to tell you how. >> good morning. $16 million. that's amazing for this completely new way of giving for most of us. normally it would take up to three months for your pledges to actually turn into money and get to the charity because, you know, think about it. you're not really paying that bill until the end of the month. but the phone companies say with people's lives at stake, they are realizing that this is just not time for business as usual. they are changing things. verizon and sprint together have sent millions of dollars of those pledges straight to the red cross, even though they haven't got the money in yet. you know, desperately needed help for a lot of people. think your airline didn't treat you so well maybe on your last trip? well, the federal government has changed up one of their web pages to make it easier for you to say something. they put a file your complaints section right at the top. and this is airconsumer.gov. and the secretary of

transportation says, look, we can't do anything if we don't hear about it. if an airline pushes your button, push our button. when did you ever hear a government official talking like that, robin? >> that's true. >> well, i was, like, this is a complete change in language, in terms of how they talk to us. >> well, they didn't seem to be happy with the way that the airlines were policing themselves, so to speak. thank you, jen. a coffee house in georgia has found a way to promote business by hooking up with a professional cycling team. stephanie elam explains in this "small business success." >> reporter: jittery joe's coffee is fueling the people of georgia and has since 1994. co-owners bob googe and michael rips attribute some of the success to the brand itself. >> i would describe the jittery joe's brand as fun and nonpretentious but quality. so the whole idea is to be sort of southern impoverished chic. you feel like you could maybe

just stay a while. >> reporter: a unique element to the blend is an unlikely marketing method. a professional cycling team. >> i think the impetus for jittery joe's franchising was tied to our sponsorship of our cycling team. one of our cyclists beat lance armstrong in one of the stages of the tour degeorgia. after that there was lots of coverage. >> reporter: the athens-based company grew from one so to 12 and now have a web store. michael also points to charlie mustard as a crucial part of the winning formula. >> he is a master at his craft. the product really shines through because of who roasts the coffee. >> if you don't have good staff, you don't have a good business. >> if you're a small business owner, we'd love to see your success story. go to cnn.com/robin. upload a video ireport and share your info. you could be featured here. 13 minutes past the hour. brett favre wasn't looking like a fool yesterday, but wait

until you see his rendition of "american idol" hit, brett favre's! plus, a man plunged over a bridge in his car. and you won't believe how he saved himself from drowning.

good morning. hope you're well today. you know, the pictures from inside port-au-prince, haiti, have been overwhelming. now we're starting to see how hard this earthquake has hit the rest of haiti as well. richard lui, correspondent, is here with us this morning. so new pictures may be coming in because we've seen a lot from inside the city. but what about elsewhere? >> yeah, tells what still is a developing story here, robin, a week later. in the last 24 hours, we started getting our first look at the city of leogane. no relief or help of any kind got there until saturday. now, that is five days of no public services. building after building, as you see here, lying in ruin and bodies everywhere. >> i felt weak, you know. i felt there was nothing i could do. there was nothing i could do. 90% is destroyed. and the other 10% is just

surviving. trying to make it. >> trying to make it. in a city of 130,000 there, robin, officials estimate tens of thousands of them were killed. >> and this story, i'm sure, has the potential to be repeated in other towns around haiti. >> absolutely. >> there must be a lot of people in need for medical help here. with that city in ruins, though, i mean, it is a medical emergency, i would imagine. >> right, robin. many of these pictures are tough to watch, as we've been showing throughout the last week. nurses there specifically are saying they are simply running around town begging for supplies. reporter karl penhaul found a nursing school being used as a macshift hospitalized there, they're completely understaffed for this kind of disaster. listen. >> this emergency center was being run by a group of nurses and trainee nurses all from haiti. and they say that in the course of the week, they've treated almost 5,000 patients. >> and robin, these nurses don't have vital medicine. here's a sense of how bad it is, as we have seen in previous

stories. cardboard being used to make temporary splints for broken bones they've got there. >> and a little child holding a tiny doll, maybe the only piece of comfort she has right now. richard, thank you so much. brett favre, nfl quarterback who retired from football five months ago is one win away from playing in the super bowl. joe carter's in for rafer. joe, the one, you know, of the many things that i like about brett favre is his joy when he plays and it really showed yesterday. >> oh, man, he looked like a little kid just enjoying the game. this is why he came back to play football, for another shot at the super bowl and he's so close. the old man by nfl standards, of course, played like a guy half his age. you could see it on his face. favre threw four touchdown passes. the first time that he's done that in his playoff career. keep in mind, he's played in 22 playoff games. the vikings, they whipped the cowboys and move on to play new orleans next sunday in the superdo superdome. the last place brett favre won a

super bowl some and years ago. >> pants on the ground! pants on the ground! >> the song we can't get away from, robin. >> pants on the ground. >> even brett favre is enjoying "pants on the ground." he got into with his players and team after the game. the "american idol" audition song that simon cowell said would be a hit and i think it is. i didn't think they could do it, the jets won again and their improbable run to the super bowl continues continues. they beat the favored chargers and move on to play indianapolis in the afc championship game. the jets, the team that spoiled indy's chance at a perfect season, remember, back in december. so it should be an interesting matchup next weekend. we've seen baseball managers get into fights with umpires during the game. usually it's just an argument. this time an umpire actually

takes a punch. kind of takes a punch. that's former all-star jose offerman. doesn't look like he connected. >> looked like an elbow instead. >> he got thrown in jail. the staff got the heck out of the dominican republic and headed back to america. thes enou they said enough of that. he's been in altercations before. the guy has definitely gotten his fair share. >> looks like something i'd do in a clash. >> good acting. four little girls in north carolina are stepping up to help people in haiti. little girls. >> i think it's great. and some people are just stopping without even getting anything. >> they're selling hot chocolate to help the red cross, but you also have to hear how much one person donated. that's new for you in about 20 minutes. hello, business travelers sitting there on the terminal. i find you. hi, bob.

>> morning, robin. the entire west coast going to be tough to get in or out of for about the entire week. it's going to be round after round of heavy rain, heavy snow moving into the california coastline. sfo, one plane getting in there. l.a.x., a couple toward san diego, too. rain and wind. here's what we're calling for with delays. not just there. boston, morning rain and snow and a little wind. winds gusting to near 40 this morning. watch for an hour or more delay. chicago, freezing fog reported right now. you have a freezing fog advisory for that whole area till noon your time. then it's going to be los angeles, san francisco. one hour or more delay because of heavy rain. new york city metros looking at wind and fog and just about everyone else in the midwest. many families adopting children from haiti are waiting to hear how the kids are and when they're going to finally come to the united states. also -- >> the guys here are -- they don't want to leave. they want to continue working. >> rescuers fight to free the quake survivors as many haitians

turn to faith to pull them through the devastation.

1,000 u.s. troops are in haiti right now trying to bring security and a sense of calmness. but officials say that violence is increasing there, and that could really hurt the rescue effort. retired general hustle honore who led the rescue effort after hurricane katrina says that security forces need to be careful not to overreact as starving people scrounge for food and water. we've got new video in this morning. this was shot late tuesday as the quake was happening. look at the room start to shake. and this woman runs as the house begins to collapse around her. moments later, much of the city of port-au-prince would be leveled. the turkish man who tried to

assassinate pope john paul ii in 1981 was released from prison after 29 years. his lawyer says that the next thing for him is a psychiatric exam. some have been questioning his mental health. pope john paul had visited him and forgave him. "avatar" has passed "star wars" to become the number three highest grossing film in the united states of all time. it made more than $41 million this weekend. the book of eli came in second with about $31 million. rounding out the top three was "the lovely bones" with $17 million. good morning. it is 31 minutes past the hour. on a monday. hope you're doing well. you and your bedhead. i'm robin meade. let's jump right back into the stories. you're looking at one man's terrifying walk home right after the quake struck in haiti last week. he walked for an hour trying to reach his wife and baby son. seconds after the shaking ended, he was taping the aftermath on his cell phone. and you can see how confused

people are about what's happening. he saw a crushed school and injured people just wandering in confusion. >> someone's saying, we are nothing. nothing. because in 40 seconds, everything is going away. >> well, he and his family are now in south florida. we have a heartbreaking story to tell you. do you remember the little girl that we told you about on friday? she had been rescued after a heroic effort throughout the day on thursday. her leg had been pinned and then rescuers worked with her, and they were able to cut away the concrete that was pinning her. we have learned now that she's died. officials estimate that as many as 100 to 150,000 people may have died in the earthquake. that is just so heartbreaking. just to know that she was rescued and still passed away. we're seeing some amazing people jump into action for haiti. correspondent richard lui is

here. these people are doing everything they can. >> yeah, that's right, robin. and we're talking about the "uss carl vinson" for one instance. it arrived offshore friday. that aircraft carrying a huge load and capability, too. officials say it brought 19 heavy-lift helicopters to bring in all of the supplies. 51 hospital beds and 3 operating rooms. teams are going as fast as they can here. >> definitely my heart goes out to them. you can definitely see the need in their faces. i think as an air crew, we -- we sympathize with their plight, and we want to do everything we can to help them. >> now, the "vinson" can also help with another high priority, and that is simply water. it can make hundreds of thousands of gallons of fresh water per day from sea water. >> you think about all those people who are just living in parks and open spaces now. they have no water, and obviously everyone needs that. so relief is getting there, but is it going to be enough for the

doctors and nurses to work with? >> yeah, robin, this is the other side of the dynamic. sadly, the answer is a simple no. we found one makeshift hospital in port-au-prince where gangrene has set in for half of the patients there. there's basically no technology, no blood testing, no x-rays. they have two blood pressure cuffs, for instance, in this hospital. they'd like to ship patients to other hospitals. but there's no where else to send them. one doctor grimly describes it as a, quote, death camp. so that's the other side of the story, robin. >> and the people wait and wait for the help on the medical care. richard, thank you. well, doctors may have a new way to fight childhood obesity. a medical advisory panel suggests that you screen kids and teens. and if they need to lose weight, they should have intensive counseling, dieting and activity. some insurers won't cover obesity programs, though. but this recommendation could change that. still, one doctor says that such programs are scarce right now because they are expensive. for many americans today is

a day of remembrance dedicated to the life and legacy of the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. these are pictures right now. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll asked americans, has the u.s. fulfilled the vision that he laid out in his "i have a dream" speech? 51% of those polled said yes. conan o'brien could get more than $30 million to leave nbc. $30 million to leave. the network is working on a deal that would ultimately put jay leno back in his old time slot while "saturday night live" was loving it. >> i want to get to the bottom of this. so you move to 10:00 p.m., and that was a colossal failure, is that right? >> come on, larry, i don't know if that's true or not. >> it's true. and that's where conan comes in. conan, you were doing great at 12:30. >> that's right, yeah. >> you had loads of fans, great ratings. then they moved you to 11:30 and it was a colossal failure, is that right? >> no, larry, i didn't really have a chance to -- >> but that might have been because of your lead-in which was jay which was, again, a

colossal failure. >> oh, come on. that is not fair. >> i love the conan impersonation. leno's staff says that he's unfairly being made the bad guy. they say network execs are making these decisions, not jay leno. meanwhile, conan o'brien is seeing a big jump in ratings. and his supporters plan to hold rallies in several cities today. >> yeah, i watched that live on saturday just to see what they would do, if they would mention it. it was the greatest. i need a pair of those larry king glasses. those are fantastic, aren't they? >> i can hook you up with the spend e suspenders. >> we have a whole closet full. here's what it looks like today. storm system was riding through the southwest over the weekend, mid-atlantic yesterday. now a snowmaker for interior sections around new england. heavy snow from portland down to just west of boston into lower new hampshire. lower vermont and parts of that hudson valley, too. we have winter storm warnings for the areas shaded in red.

five to nine inches last night through this morning. by this afternoon most of the snow should be around that maine cloes line pulling away from the major cities around new england like boston in towards new hampshire, too. look at boston now. heavy downpours still there. basically all rain. but you get west, that's where you start to see that snow begin to pile up. also west of here, dense fog advisories. high pressure setting up. a lot of moisture still in the air. freezing rain chicago through indianapolis. big pacific storms. one come in over the weekend. still around seattle. another one coming in for you today. you'll really see rain off and on through the weekend. and you'll see that piling to a lot of snow. let me show you the snow video so far. this is blue canyon out of the sierras. calling for two to four feet between today and tomorrow and the first part of wednesday. then through friday. basically could see as much as six to ten feet in the highest elevations. that's above 6,000 feet. enjoy the snow if you're going up there, be careful, though. i'd wait till next week before

you could finally make the trip. more on that in about a half hour. >> thank you. some of you are going to have to pay more money for your cup of joe. why starbucks says that it plans to raise prices on some of its drinks. also ahead, mark mcgwire made his first public appearance since he admitted that he used steroids. hear about his new role on the baseball field.

let's get a check on some of the stories making headlines this morning in the papers. from "usa today," red light cameras are losing their luster in many towns. they were installed to catch drivers who run red lights, obviously. but they're now being questioned as some call them simple money makers for the city. in "the new york times," even the plaza hotel's fame and

glitz cannot escape the reach of tough financial times. it says that many residents have sold their condos at a loss and its posh stores and restaurants are struggling. one consultant says it's gone from a landmark to just a building. that's a check of the papers. he i know you're trying to get out the door, but if you have time, come see this video. three police officers pulled a woman out of a burning car in ohio actually last november but the dash cam tape was just released. five people got commendations for their role in the rescue. police charged the woman with dui. a lot of american companies are doing what they can to help quake victims in haiti. they have pledged tens of millions of dollars so far. our money expert, jennifer westhoven, it's been heartwarming to see the response. >> it is. $43 million so far, says the chamber of commerce. and i think that's just the so far, you know. this is going to be where we've got a running tab. also, a lot of companies are saying many of the world's largest say they are giving

millions of dollars to help, and companies of all sizes have rushed to put in matching gift programs. so every dollar that you give might be matched by your company. and some of the big companies, ge, citibank, jeffries, have already pledged millions of dollars. some companies are also donating supplies and services that are directly helpful like free air travel. some airlines are doing that for relief workers. water, food or medicine. while we talk about, you know, basics for haiti, kind of an interesting twist here. what do you think? is this the time -- good business decision or no -- is this the time for starbucks to raise prices? that's what they're doing. yeah, they're raising prices on some of their bigger drinks by as much as 35 cents. now, this is mostly in big cities. but seems a little bit like a risky move. their sales have dropped for the past two years as people have been trying to adjust their

budget so they don't have a $3 coffee every day. starbucks says while prices have gone down on some drinks and they say this is part of the normal course of business. i was thinking maybe, you know, maybe if you really couldn't afford a $3 coffee every day, people said, you know, that's it and they cut that out. and maybe the people who are drinking starbucks every day can afford it? >> how much is the rate increase going to be? how much? >> 25 cents and up for some of the big ones. >> woo! okay. >> we'll see. >> all right, jen, thank you. you know, in the middle of the suffering caused by the earth quake in haiti, some families find a reason to be happy. how the quake may have allowed this happy reunion to take place.

the wait is over for three kansas families waiting to adopt kids from haiti. seven children arrived at the kansas city airport yesterday to be united with the people who spent years trying to adopt them. >> never could i have imagined that an earthquake would bring the kids home.

when the earthquake happened, the first thing i thought was, this is going to prolong this even longer. we're never going to get our kids. but it brought them here. >> goed brought them here. this is our little bitty one, and she's been wearing all, the whole trip, just a t-shirt and a pullup, even no socks or shoes. our friend, esther, got her something to wear. >> well, the kids already had their passports before the quake hit, but they needed clearance from the u.s. embassy to leave haiti. and here they are now. well, four young girls in north carolina are doing their part to help people in haiti. they set up a table and sold hot chocolate to raise money. many people in the girls' community think this is wonderful. >> well, i think it's just wonderful, you know. this whole thing with haiti has been such a disaster. and everybody's caught on to it. and to see these young people get involved i think is just wonderful. >> i think anyone sees us doing

this should do it also and try to get as much money as possible because they really need our help. >> well, it seems many other customers were very generous. one person driving through handed over a $100 bill. i am moved by their get up and go, you know? hi, bob. >> morning, robin. moxie. good for them. >> there you go. >> let me show you what's happening. trying to get in or out the northeast so far, we have a winter storm pounding new england. we're calling for delays first thing of the day. for boston, probably an hour or more because of the rain and snow. also the wind all afternoon long. so count on that around logan. for chicago, the morning, freezing fog. that advisory lasts until noon. and then los angeles, san francisco, it's going to be heavy rain. that's going to be through today all the way through friday. so anticipate delays and problem ifs you're traveling to the west coast any day this week. more on that in just a bit. >> thank you. i could not believe this when i saw this this morning. that a 26-year-old player, nfl player, died in his sleep.

not even at practice which would be strange enough. but while he was sleeping. joe carter's in for rafer. >> too young too soon. too young too soon. a tragic story. >> very much so. so he played for whom? >> for the chicago bears, was drafted by the tampa bay buccaneers. gaines adams was at his family's home in south carolina when he died from a heart attack in his sleep. an autopsy revealed adams had an enlarged heart. now, his family was not aware that he actually had a medical condition. as i said, he was drafted by tampa bay, played for the bears and went to clemson university. gaines adams, just 26 years old. well, a couple weeks ago rex ryan, the coach of the new york jets, said he didn't think his team would make it to the playoffs. well, now they're one win away from the super bowl. and bob called it, said they'd beat the chargers and they did. next up for the jets, though, peyton manning, the mvp of the nfl, and those tough colts. whoever wins goes to the super bowl. >> so their own coach said they weren't going to make it? >> he didn't think so.

now he's on the other side. >> i don't know. well, 40 is the new 30. at least for brett favre. of course, for any of you other 40-year-olds out there. the most popular man in minnesota became the oldest quarterback in nfl history to win a playoff game. he threw four touchdown passes in a rout over the cowboys. the vikings now travel to new orleans to play in the superdome which happens to be the last stadium brett favre won a super bowl in 13 years ago. ♪ robin, fans forgive and forget. just look how cardinal fans treated mark mcgwire. he received a standing ovation sunday when he made his first public appearance since adm admitting to using steroids. mcgwire will be in st. louis spending a lot of time in st. louis. he's been hired as the team's new hitting coach. when i think of st. louis, i think of mark mcgwire. >> yeah, me, too. so they gave him a standing ovation. i don't know, was it because he was going to go to work again or just because he admitted it?

>> i think when he came clean. i think people forgive when they admit their shortcomings. >> it leaves a bad taste in my pulling hair and throwing elbows. in a women's college basketball game, two teams go fistta cuffs before the game. this is georgetown and lieu vil. this happened before the game so no one was kicked out of the game, but the schools and conferences are reviewing it. my goodness. it was just over what? the practice? >> a girl try today trip a girl. words were exchanged. >> all right. you know what, you might get upset when you find out about the new instant credit proposal. hln money expert clark howard says store clerks may ask you more questions than you barged for? >> did you ever notice when you're at a retail store

checkout, the cashier ringing you out has to say would you like to save 15% on your purchase today? you know what that pitch is? they expect if you hear a question like that, you're going to say yes. all you have to do is you have to apply for instant credit with the store and right while you're at the register, they can get you deeper into debt. what i always say is no i don't want to save the money and the cashier's head will pop up because that's not the usual response they hear, but there is something that the retailers are veryup set about, under the new credit card holder bill of rights before somebody extends you credit, they have to know if you can afford it, if you can actually pay it back. the retailer is going crazy about this in trying to get that requirement overturned because it would end their ability to give you instant credit which i think is actually a good thing for you and me. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to keep your finances under control, go

to cnn.com/clark howard. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon on saturdays and sundays on hln. .

good morning. 7:00 on monday. what did you do over the weekend? you watched football, didn't you. people are scrambling to find anything as desperation grows in haiti. the situation is turning violent, but one expert says there's a way to avoid that. your future health care options may depend on what happens in massachusetts. why the race between these two politicians can make or break the proposed health care reform. plus a car engulfed in flames. a driver is trapped inside. you can see how the police get her out. 2,000 marines are expected

in port-au-prince to help get supplies to the survivors of a massive earthquake. they are going to be reinforcing the 1,000 u.s. troops on the ground. bill clinton said he will arrive today to meet with the leaders and survivors. first hear is an incredible rescue to tell you about. five people were pulled from a demolished grocery store, but it took 24 hours to reach them. at one point a concrete slab buckled and rained debris on top of the rescuers. they had to make sure everyone was safe. the survivors including a 50-year-old american woman made it because of where they were trapped. >> this happens to be a pancake collapse, which even though it's the worst type of collapse, it has void spaces. they have been stuck inside a void space. now, if you were to be stuck inside a collapsed structure, the best place to be stuck? is a supermarket. you're surrounded by food.

we have situations where people have eaten some of the food to stay alive. about 1,000 u.s. troops are in haiti now. another 3,000 are working from ships. authorities say more than 12 now are expected by today, but the american general who oversaw the response to hurricane katrina says police and u.s. troops should not overreact. haitians are just trying to survive. >> we shoot people for trying to get food that they smell or any other incensing will turn this into something totally different. this is a humanitarian effort. people are trying to get food. >> tonight, do not miss a special two hour "larry king live" about how you can help people in haiti. the show is going to feature celebrity guests like susan certificate an done and ryan seacrest. >> security has been restored in afghanistan's capital after a major taliban attack this

morning. the taliban says that militants and suicide bombers attacked the presidential palace in kabul. it is unclear whether they made their way inside. bombings at government buildings near the palace. at least five people reportedly died. 38 are injured. the health care debate could hinge on one state election tomorrow. it is the race to fill the late senator ted kennedy's seat. state senator scott brown, a republican, is running against massachusetts attorney general, martha coakley, a democrat. recent polls suggest that the race may be closer than expecteded and that got president obama on the campaign trail. >> send a leader to washington who is going to work tirelessly everyday to turn the economy around, to move this country forward and to keep the american dream alive in our time and for all time. that's what martha coakley is about. >> many people in massachusetts are not happy with what's happening in washington, d.c.

i think president obama coming in actually helped scott brown. if republicans win the massachusetts senate seat, they would potentially have enough votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. also dems would lose the filibuster proof majority in the senate. today is a day dedicated to the reverend martin luther king, jr. has the u.s. fulfilled the vision he laid in his i have a dream speech. 51% said yes. you are looking at live pictures from the king center in atlanta, georgia. he's buried there with his wife. king's tombstone is engraved with the word free at least, free at least. thank god all mightty, i'm free at last. >> 28 years that is how long since a science fiction movie won the top award at the golden

globes. that changed when "avatar" was named best movie drama. sandra bullock was named best actress for "the blind side." this is her first golden globe. >> the cast that gave me a beautiful family, that made me better every single day. for the family who allowed me in their home. they reminded me that a family is not who you were born to or what color you are, it's who got your back. actor jeff bridges that his reputation for being underappreciated is ruined. he got a standing ovation in his role in "crazy heart." >> i haven't seen that movie yet. i haven't seen any of those. >> me neither. >> because we go to bed at 6:00. >> big power house storm is

moving away from you now, but the wind is out there, you're still watching for snow around portland. just west of boston and lower sections of vermont and new hampshire. most of the action slides away this afternoon and the snow is going to hang around the eastern sections of maine. let me take you live to new york city. the wind will be up out of the northwest, approximately 20, 25 miles an hour. that skating rink in the middle of central park. gusty delays, travel delays through new york and boston. let me show you the warnings, mainly around massachusetts, vermont, coastal sections of maine. boston radar picture picking up the rain pretty well. get in towards the cape, it's all rain. the picture here is snow, in western sections of

massachusetts. dense fog advisory, visibility shaded in white, less than a quarter mile. coating on the ground with a little ice in indianapolis and chicago. then the pacificment get aload of the storms coming in. number one in seattle number two across the pacific. heavy down pours through the entire day. los angeles, all the blue, green, that's the rain. the white is all snow. that's that's going to be above the 5,000 foot mark getting township 6,000 feet in elevation, 2 to 4 feet of snow between today and tomorrow. right along the coast, it's all rain, los angeles down to san diego, flash flood watches. that's because of the 2 to 4 inches of rain. rain around seattle getting down towards portland. we will have more details coming up in a half hour. it happened again, hundreds

of travelers were delayed for hours because of a security breach, but it happened apparently because someone didn't read a sign. there were four nfl playoff games this weekend. only one cinderella slipper though.

our salute to the troops is for staff sergeant chris tark net. he's in afghanistan with the air force, but his wife and little boy want him to know even though he's far away, he's never forgotten. >> my name is becky turknet. hi, honey, we miss you, we love you. we miss your smile, your cooking. sorry you missed christmas and we can't wait to see you. love you.

>> if you have somebody in the service, why don't you salute them. cnn.com/robin. a brooklyn man returning from haiti is accused of causing a security scare at jfk airport. the tsa said he went into a restricted area saturday. his attorney said he accidentally went through the wrong door but the term nal had to be evacuateded, people were rescreened. he could get up to seven years in prison if he is convicted. among those nervously watching the rescue efforts in haiti are american families waiting for word about children they plan today adopt from haiti. >> i really had given up, and i didn't understand it, but i thought it's not going to happen now. >> new for you in 20 minutes, meet one family whose prayers were answered. your text messages have raised more than $16 million to help the survivors of the earthquake. now some of the wireless

companies are doing what they can to get the money there faster than it would normally. our money expert jennifer westhoven? >> $16 million people have pledged to pay through that the 0999, but think about it, you're saying you're going to give the money but you haven't paid it yet. normally the way companies handle this, it could take up to three months for the money to actually get to haiti, because you don't pay it for awhile. now some phone companies are saying we know that people's lives are at stake and this is not business as usual. this is a time when that money can mean the difference between life and death. verizon and sprint sent money right away. lawmakers in washington from both parties in the house and senate are looking at a move to let you claim those donations on

your 2009 tax return, even though this all happened in 2010, and the lawmakers are thinking that may encourage you to give more. you won't have to wait until next year's tax return for it. congress could act as soon as this week, the lawmakers said. maybe on your last trip, maybe you were traveling for the holidays, you thought your airline didn't treat you so well, the federal government says they want to make it easier for you to let them know about it. they changed the top of the website to put file your complaint right at the top. the secretary of transportation says on his blog, we can't do anything if we don't hear about it. if an airline pushes your buttons, go ahead and push our button. you don't usually see people in the government talk like that, use plain speak to say let us hear about it. if you for any reason you want to make your complaint, we've got the link on cnn.com/robin.

maybe you're in the airport and -- >> the west coast is splamed with delays today, tomorrow through friday. lots of rain, in waves, one today, tomorrow, wednesday and friday. heavy down pours. saber flight explorer, there's the california coastline. the rain already is in place, through l.a.x. and san diego. here's what we have for the delays for the day. it's early, we don't have anything, but boston with your rain and wind, you can see about an hour delay. chicago, freezing fog out there, watch for an hour delay to start off the day, we're talking about los angeles and san francisco, one hour or more delay because of the rain. we'll talk about that again in just a little bit. brett favre wasn't looking like a fool during the vikings game yesterday but wait until you see his rendition of an "american idol" hit. plus a man plunked over the bridge in his car and you won't

believe how he saved himself.

>> a boy in haiti will have an amazing story to tell when people ask him why his name is israel. his mother gave birth saturday night in an israeli field hospital setup there. she named him in honor of the medical crew. the pictures from inside port-au-prince have been overwhelming and now we're starting to see how hard the

earthquake hit the rest of the country as well. richard lui has a look at that? >> six days later, we're still seeing the story develop here. we take you in the last 24 hours, the city of leogane, it's about an hour west of port-au-prince. no relief or help of any kind got there until saturday. that is five days of no public services building after building as you see here lying in ruin. bodies everywhere. >> i feel weak. there's nothing i could do. nothing i could do. it's destroyed and the only thing i could do was survive. >> we start to learn more about that city. it's a city of about 130,000. officials are estimating thousands died. >> there must be a lot of people in that city needing help. the rescue effort slow, it

sounds like they have a medical emergency too. doesn't sound like they are getting much attention at all. >> you're right, nurses in leogane saying they're running around town begging for supplies. reporter robert found a hospital that is completely understaffed for this kind of disaster. >> this center was being run by a group of nurses from haiti and they say in the course of the week they treated almost 5,000 patients. >> robin, these nurses don't have vital medicine and if this is one indicator, we're still seeing cardboard being used as splints. it breaks my heart holding a tiny doll. thank you, richard. brett favre, the nfl quarterback who retired from football five months ago is

looking good. he's one win away from going to the super bowl. joe carter is in for rafer. he had the tape about old brett. >> this is why he came back for another shot at the super bowl. the 40-year-old quarterback is so close to that shot. the old man by nfl standards played like a guy half his age. favre threw four touchdown passes of the, the first time he has done that in the playoffs in had his career. he played in 22 playoff games. the vikings whipped the dallas cowboys. they move on to play new orleans in the superdome, the last place favre won a super bowl 13 years ago. ? papts on t pants on the ground. pants on the ground. >> the "american idol" song, brett favre singing with his teammates after the win. the pants on the ground made famous by a 62-year-old guy on

the "american idol." >> are they saying the other team looks like fools because they got the pants on the ground? >> something like that. i admit it, i didn't think they could do it, the new york jets won. the jets beat the chargers. the jets are now a 7-1 favorite to win the super bowl. they started the playoffs 25-1 long shots. people are starting to believe in the jets. if you watched any of the blaoff games you may have noticed the public service announcements. the nfl spent $1.5 million on these ads. in all the nfl has donated 2.5 million dollar there are to help victims in haiti. we've seen managers get into scraps with umpires, but this one is an actual physical scrap.

i've never seen a manager throw a punch at an umpire. this happened during a winter league game and got jose offerman thrown in jail and charged with assault. the umpire took his crew out of the dominican republic. offerman was a player then and he got hit by a pitch and charged the pitcher with his bat. >> he has had some anger problems before? >> to say the least. this guy has some problems. i don't think we'll see him in baseball again. they gave him another job after he tried to hit somebody with a bat. >> singer wyclef jean is hoping his charity can help victims in haiti. find out why he's having to defend his efforts. and saturday night live gives their unique take on the late night mess between jay leno and conan o'brien. something you cannot miss.

[ music ] >> welcome to comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson, and my guest this hour is leslie prewitt, director of external operations, opportunity builders. good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> can you tell the viewers about opportunity builders incorporated and what exactly the organization does? >> absolutely. we have been around for 47. we were started in 1962. we provokessa provide training d rehabilitation.

>> what are the services you offer your clients? >> there are 170 that stay in our warehouse that do packaging then we have 180 individuals that go out and work for local employer. >> you have the employers who are helping out and also having the contracts to give those, like you said, in the warehouse employment possibilities. >> absolutely. we're always looking to new contracts to fulfill, inside of our warehouse and then outside we're always looking for new employers to hire our adults. >> now all of this, i know it takes funding, and you've got a fund-raiser coming up. >> right. >> so tell us about your mardi gras. >> well, hence the beads so you know why i'm wearing beads. we are very proud of our 12th

annual mardi gras. we have live music, we have a casino, an auction, great food, beer, wine, and ice cream and it's a great night and a lot of fun. >> it does sound like a lot of fun. how much are the tickets to be able to enjoy all this fun? >> the tickets are $50 each. >> very, very reasonable, and it sounds like you're getting a huge value with the opportunity of the casinos and the great food and the auctions and the dancing. >> uh-huh. >> so with this, because i know it takes a lot of dollars in order to run the program, how do you plan to use the proceeds? >> the proceeds will help with our operating expenses, especially with the downturn in the economy and budget cuts, we will be using it to assist the organization. >> leslie, i do have a question.

how do your clients become a part of opportunity builders? >> they are funded for the developmental disability administration. if someone is interested, if a family is interested in having family members participate in an opportunity with opportunity builders, they would call and then we would direct them to our director of employment that would start them through the process of the program. >> once they're in the program, do you also provide training before the clients either work in the warehouse or go out to work with your partner businesses? >> absolutely. in the warehouse, we do have an instructor to assist individuals with each contract, and as far as the individuals who go out into the community and work, we do training for those individuals. they have a one on one coach so we'll make sure the individual knows how to do the job before we have them working on their own. >> in going back to mardi gras,

do you need any volunteers to help out, because that's a big undertaking you have so many different activities going on? >> absolutely. we can always use volunteers, but we can always use the ticket sales, and that's really a big emphasis for us, ticket sales and sponsorships. >> exactly. so there are sponsorship opportunities available? >> absolutely. >> how can they reach you if they want to buy tickets or become a sponsor? they can call our office. >> perfect. well, leslie, thanks so much for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> our guest this hour is less by prior to director of external operations at opportunity builders. for comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson.

[ music ]

a thousand u.s. troops are in haiti right now trying to bring security, but officials say that violence is increasing there. retired general russell. the turkish man who tried to asas pope john paul is a psychiatric wham. some have been questioning his mental health. pope john paul visited him and had forgiven him. "avatar" has become the third highest grossing film in

the united states of all time. it made more than $41 million this weekend. the book of eli came in second with about $31 million. "the lovely bones" with 17 million. i believe i hear your alarm going off. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. wow, that's new video we just got in. it was shot last tuesday as the quake was happening. you see the rook start to shake and the woman running as her house beginses to collapse. it was only moments before much of port-au-prince was levelled. we've got a heartbreaking follow-up. do you remember this little girl that we told you about on friday? she had been rescued after a heroic all day effort. we learned that she passed away.

officials estimate that as many as 100 to 150,000 people have died in the earthquake. aid is now coming into haiti, but as it gets there it is still a long way to reach the victims. correspondent richard lui is here now. we've heard so much about fresh water being a problem. >> very key. the world health organization is saying that water is the number one issue right now. eight agencies, what they have done is distributed treatment chemicals that can help people use that on small amounts of water of the the united states is also supplying four water purification systems. each one of those can make enough water for 10,000 people a day. an officer on the uss vinson says delivery is a problem. many times people end up carrying the water in buckets. if their hands are dirty, the

water gets con tram natured. they are still distributing in front of the presidential palace through hoses. you're talking about medical supplies too, the next thing. right now, doctors and nurses, they do not have enough of what they need, even while they're there, the supplies may not be. >> that's the flip side. they're doing everything they can, but injuries are on a scale that is almost unimaginable. >> gangrene has set in for half the patients at this hospital. there is no technology, no blood testing no x-rays. they have two blood pressure cuffs. they like to ship patients to other hospitals but there's nowhere else to send them. they grimly describe it as a death camp. >> you hate to hear that, meaning people are there wanting help and it can't come to them yet. information from haiti is really spotty. sometimes unreliable. nobody knows that better than the families of those missing.

from lynn university in florida, 12 students and staff were in haiti. six are still missing. you may remember the family of one of those, brittany gengel, they have been told twice she was found alive only to be told later that was a mistake. >> these young ladies are young, intelligent, beautiful girls with their whole lives ahead of them. they traveled to haiti with food for the poor on a journey called "hope." now they are lost in the collapsed hotel. >> the hotel montana was popular with tourists and visiting officials. french officials say 200 french tourists have not been heard from. four orphans who survived the quake just arrive today their new home in the united states. yesterday the kids met a kansas family who has been trying to

adopt them for four years, but the quake cut through the red tape and the adoption finally went through. here's the reaction. >> i'm overwhelmed. i'm just overwhelmed. i don't want to let him go. >> the kids are between 5 and 16 years of age. doctors may have a new way to fight childhood obesity. a medical advisory panel suggests screen kids. if they need to lose weight, they should have intensive counseling, dieting and activity. some insurers won't cover that program. one doctor says such programs are scarce right now because they are expensive. hollywood stars were thinking about haiti at last night's golden globes. many of them wore red and yellow ribbonens. some including meryl streep are donating their designer duds to be auctioned off.

mike tyson was on the stage. he was in the cast of "the hangover." robert downey blamed his wife for not having an acceptance speech ready. do downey won for sherlock holmes. >> it was a collaboration, we did this together. i'm certainly not going to thank warner brothers, allen horn. they needed me. "avatar" was going to take us to the cleaners if they didn't have me, we didn't have a shot. >> mo'nique won the golden globe for best supporting actress in the movie precious. . >> robert downey was good on the

spot. 36 minutes past the hour. weather wise, bob is watching something moving on the east coast but also on the west coast. >> first things first. this is the nor'easter we're watching pull away from the northeast coastline. it's going to take a couple hours for the rain and snow to move away. the radar, the white is 9 snow. you can see the blue around the coastline it's all rain. we're getting a mixture around boston. logan is in a ground stop in boston until about 8:00 this morning because of the wind and rain and ice. winter storm warnings for the areas shaded in red. 5 to 9 inches total. look at the rain already overhead around boston, there's a little snow mixed in there too. heavy snow in areas around boston and maine. dense fog advisory for the morning for all the areas shaded in white, less than a quarter

mile visibility in the yellow shaded areas, chicago, indianapolis, freezing fog. it's going to coat some of the bridges with ice. that advisory lasts until noon. out west it's a couple of storms. number one by steet seattle, two still in the pacific ocean. that rides in later tomorrow. heavy rain out there, very heavy for southern parts of california, into arizona and nevada too. flood watches we have them in the lower parts of california, san diego, l.a., areas to the north. rain around seattle but turning into snow for higher elevations. if you're going to travel to areas above 6,000 feet, it's going to be dangerous today through the weekend, 2 to 4 feet of snow is what you're going to find. winter storm warnings because of that. look at the rain for the next two days. this is liquid equivalent. red shaded areas, that's about 5 to 6 inches of rainfall for the next 48 hours.

that's today and tomorrow. the rain is going to continue off and on through friday. by saturday finally, getting the all clear for california. but it's going to be tough over the next five days. we'll talk more about that. newly released video shows police rescuing a woman from a burning car. some of you will have to pay more for your cup of joe.

now, i know you're getting ready to go out the door. look at this video. three police officers pulled a woman out of this burning car.

it happened in ohio last november, but the dash cam tape was just released. five people got commendations for their role in the rescue. police charged the woman with dui. american companies are stepping up to help the quake victims in haiti. they have pledged tens of millions of dollars so far. i have been impressed with the way companies are stepping up and people in general. >> i think this is really a time when companies are looking at their policies and saying in a case like this business as usual is not going to do it when people's lives are at stake. $43 million so far from corporate america. that's from the chamber of commerce. that number could go higher depending on you. a lot of the world's largest companies are giving millions of dollars to help, but companies of all sizes have rushed to put in place matching gift programs. they're basically saying that they'll give more if you give more. they'll be matching every

dollar. some of the companies are ge, citibank, jeffreys, ups. some companies are donating supplies and services like free air travel for relief workers. we have been calling it the great recession in the united states, so here's a little quiz. what would you do if you ran a major company? is this the time to raise prices? starbucks is doing that on some of the bigger drinks, some of those big super mochas by as much as 35 cents. >> robin is laughing. >> i want a tall slim. >> it could be a risky move for starbucks to raise prices now. their sales have been dropping for the past two years as people have try today cut down on some of the little luxuries to get their budgets in order to make sure they are not spending more than they're making.

starbucks says this is part of the usual course of business. >> i understand it when they say, milk prices have gone up, but they just said it's part of the usual course of business. >> all right. >> i'm not a coffee drinker, but i could understand how it could hurt. you are a coffee drinker? >> i am a coffee drinker, i can't have any coffee after like 10:00 a.m. or i can't go to bed at night. >> thank you. conan o'brien may lose his role as the host of the tonight show, it doesn't look like he's going to have to worry about paying the rent. a man saw a crushed school, you're going to see his long journey home through his eyes.

there is tragic news for the nfl this morning. a 26-year-old player died in his sleep. joe carter is in for rafer with more. this is somebody that you interviewed before. let's talk about him? >> this is a guy that i interviewed many times before when i worked in the clemson television market. this guy was a gentle giant.

always made time for the media. a tragic story. gains adams was at his home in south carolina when he died from a heart attack in his sleechlt autopsy results revealed he had an enlarged heart. his family was not aware of his condition. he was drafted by the tampa bay buccaneers, played for the chicago bears. he was 26 years olds. >> rex ryan said he didn't think his team would make it into the playoffs. now they're just one win away from the super bowl. led by a rookie running back, a rookie quarterback. they beat the san diego chargers. next up though, peyton manning and the indianapolis colts. the winner goes to the super bowl. the most popular man in minneso minnesota became the oldest quarterback in nfl history to win a playoff game. 40 is the new 30. he threw four touchdown passes in a route over the dallas cowboys. the vikings travel to new

orleans to play in the superdome, the last stadium brett dav won a super bowl in 14 years ago. robin, looks like st. louis fans are ready to forgive and forget. they treated mark mcgwire with a warm reception. he received a standing o. his first appearance since admitting he used steroids. he has been hired as the team's hitting coach. >> i think i would like to ask the audience how they feel about him getting a standing o. >> we talked about that women's soccer player who was pulling hair and throwing elbows, now which are seeing violent action in college basketball. these ladies got into it because apparently someone tried to trip someone before pregame warmups. the schools and the conferences are reviewing this.

punishment is certain to be handed out shortly. i don't know what's going on in college sports. so much aggression. it's just a game. >> joe, thank you. >> you bet. >> you might get upset yourself when you find out about the new instant credit proposal. hln money expert clark howard says the store clerks may ask you more questions than you bargained for. >> did you ever notice when you're at a retail store checkout, the cashier ringing you out has to say would you like to save 15% on your purchase today? you know what that pitch is? they expect if you hear a question like that, you're going to say yes. well then all you have to do is you have to apply for instant credit with the store and right while you're at the register, they can get you deeper into debt. what i always say is i say no, i don't want to save the money. then the cashier's head will pop up because that's not their usual response they hear, but there is something that the retailers are very upset about.

under the new credit card holder bill of rights, before somebody extends you credit, they have to know if you can afford it, if you could actually pay it back. the retailers according to the about this and trying to get that requirement overturned because it would end their ability to give you instant credit which i think is actually a good thing for you and me. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to keep your finances under control, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will type you to save more, spend sxlesz avoid getting ripped off. catch him on noon at saturdays and sundays on hln. am i the only one that thinks this is weird, mark mcgwire got standing ovation? >> did they cheer for this guy? >> let me show you what's going on. first major delay on first coast, logan. over a 2 one-half hour delay

because of the snow, wind and ice. la guardia, 30-minute delay because of winds. rest of the day, boston, over an hour. 2 1/2 to 3. you see chicago freezing rain -- freezing fog which acts like freezing rain. coats the ground with ice. los angeles, l.a.x. is an atlant san francisco, over an hour delay. >> thank you. by the way, if you want to comment on the mark mcgwire, facebook, honey. >> i want to hear what they have to say about that. i was shocked. >> i was, too. missionaries from ohio were helping in an orphanage when the earthquake hit last week and barely got out live. they made it home this weekend. a trip later for the united methodist church said they helped save lives just before the orphanage collapse. they want to get back to haiti as quickly as possible to help out. one family was waiting to hear about the hirsh an children that they adopted.

they got their prayers answered.

good morning. i see you are up early. look at you on the treadmill. is that what you are doing? ij robin meade. people in haiti are scrambling to find food, supplies, and anything to help them survive and many of them are facing off with armed haitian soldiers. what one military expert says could stop things from getting violent. the taliban says it is behind a wave of attacks this morning in kabul. what they say they were targeting. people around the country are honoring the reverend martin luther king jr. we have the results of an interesting poll about dr. king's vision of civil rights. try to imagine the tragedy

in haiti right now. estimated 100 to 150,000 people have died. including 16 americans and thousands are in the hospitals waiting for medicine, waiting for doctors, and help is pouring in from around the world. but there may be more than 3 million people who still need help. and a bottle neck is enormous because the airport's tiny and main airport has been destroyed. roads are almost impasse. we have an incredible rescue story. five people were rescued from a demolished grocery store. it took 24 hours to reach them. at one point a concrete slab buckled and rained debris on top of the rescuers so they ran outside and made sure everybody was safe. rescuers say that survivors, including a on 50-year-old american woman, made it because of where they were trapped. >> what's one of the first things? >> i ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly. >> they look pretty good. i love they had access to water.

we gave them water once we made contact with them and drank the water bottles, as you can assume, very quickly. they were remarkably in very good condition considering they had been in there five day. >> aid is pouring in. it is not easy. doctors without borders says that its cargo plane got redirected to the dominican republic yesterday. it was carrying an inflatable hospital. obviously badly needed. the group's emergency communications officer says that the conditions for the patients are getting worse. security has been restored in afghanistan's capital after a major taliban attack this morning. that's from president karzai. the taliban says that militants and suicide bombers attacked the presidential palace in kabul. it is unclear whether they made their way inside but nato confirms bombings and government buildings near the palace. and at least five people died and 38 are injured. the health care debate could hinge on a one-state election tomorrow. it's a race to fill the lay senator ted kennedy's seat.

senator -- stay senator scott brown, republican, is running against massachusetts attorney general, martha coakley, a democrat. recent polls suggest that the race may be closer than expected. and that got president obama on the campaign trail. >> send a leader to washington who is going to work tirelessly every single day to turn this economy around and move this country forward and to keep the american dream alive in our time and for all time. that's what martha coke sly about. >> many people in massachusetts are not happy with what's happening in washington, d.c. i think president obama coming in actually helped scott brown. >> if republicans win the massachusetts senate seat, they would potentially have enough votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. also, dems would lose their filibuster-proof majority in the senate. a brooklyn man returning from haiti is accused of causing a security scare at jfk airport. he went into a restricted area

saturday and his attorney said he accidently went through the wrong door. but a terminal had to be evacuated and people were rescreened and flights were delayed. he could get up to seven years in prison if he is convicted. hollywood stars had their mind on haiti at the golden globes last night. many wore red and yellow ribbons in support of the relief efforts. some, including meryl streep are donating their duds they wore to be auctioned off. "avatar" was named the best movie drama and best movie director for james cameron. sandra bulk on, best actress for "the blind side." this is her first golden globe. >> the cast, they gave me a beautiful family that made me better every single day and to the tuohy family who allowed me into their home and closets and the business. they reminded everyone a family is not just who you were born to

or what color you are. it is who has your back. >> actor jeff bridges says his reputation for being underappreciated is being ruined. he got a standing ovation when he won best actor for his role as a washed-up country singer in "crazy heart." four minutes past the hour. there is a weather system coming on the west coast. that's the west coast. what about the people waking up right now -- >> you didn't look over. >> i did. you can tell my cheat sheet. when i go to weather i go -- >> we have been work together for almost eight years. we don't have to talk to each other anymore. we start with a nor'easter. boston logan airport -- 2 one-half hour delay because of the snow and ice overhead. that's the east coast. i want to start with the west because this will be a major story over the next couple of days. as a series of storms works into north of california and washington state. look at the clouds already out here. heavy downpours. that's all the blue, green is all red. all the rain coming down. that includes los angeles and

san diego. stretches in towards phoenix, too. heavy rain is out here now. it is going to last through friday in waves coming in. flash flood watches around the l.a. xwrans, towards san diego. all the areas shaded in the dark green. that's because we are going to see two to four inches of rain today followed up by additional two to four over the next couple of days. look at the l.a. radar. north of town, you can see the rain showers in there already. then those rains ex-tend way in towards arizona so phoenix, you are going get heavy downpours shortly. you see the oranges. indication of very heavy rain. it is all moving over towards the east. over arizona and including phoenix, you will see heavy rain over the next couple of hours. get up to north of the bay area. rain here, too. once it unfreezes itself. there it is. showers just south of here by san jose. santa cruz getting decent rain, too. pull that picture out further we do have what we have looking at the winter storm warnings for the sierra nevada. that's what it looks like out there. the reason why, it is easy. let me show you video we have now to the sierra region. this is the blue canyon area.

seen about one to two feet of snow here. over the next 24 to 48 hours, two to four feet of snow above 6,000 feet in elevation. it is going to be a blast for you. it is not just going to be today. it is going to be again tomorrow, one on wednesday, and another one on friday. more details on that in just a bit. i think i will give california the all-clear by saturday morning. but we have mud slight potential. specifically for southern california. more in that in a half hour. >> what a week ahead. have you seen the desperate search and rescue efforts in port-au-prince, haiti. there are other parts of that country where it has taken days for help to arrive.

our salute the troops is for staff sergeant chris turknet. his wife and their little boy

want him to know that they are still thinking about him. >> good morning, robin. i'm becky. i'm saluting chris. hay is in the air force. hi, honey. we miss you and we love you. brandon misses you. your smile. sorry you missed christmas. we can't wait to see you. love you. >> such a cute picture of the baby looking out the window and dog. if you have somebody in the service, cnn.com/robin so we can salute them. pictures from inside port-au-prince, haiti, have been overwhelming. now we are starting to see pictures from other parts of haiti. correspondent richard lui is here. sometimes it might be hard to remember here that an entire country was impacted. >> very good point. looking at perhaps the next fronts for aid as they get into the country. last 24 hours, we are starting to get a fresh look at one city. it is about an hour west of port-au-prince. when we understand now is no relief for help with any kind got there until saturday. that is five days of no public services for them.

building after building, lying in ruin and bodies everywhere. >> see what i could do. nothing i could do. 90% is destroyed. 10% surviving. >> this is a city of about 130,000. officials estimate tens of thousands of them were killed just there. >> there must be so many people in that city who need medical help and right now so much of the focus is to port-au-prince. what about them? >> take a look at this. it could be a medical emergency certainly. nurses saying that they are running around town just begging for supplies there. our reporter who is on the ground says that he found a nursing school that's being used as a makeshift hospital and they are completely understaffed for

this kind of disaster. >> this emergency center was being run by a group of nurses and training nurses from haiti. they say that in the course of the week they treated almost 5,000 patients. >> robin, these nurses don't have vital medicine and we have seen almost a week now cardboard being used to make temporary splints for broken bones. >> that little baby just holding on to a little doll to try to comfort it. richard, thank you. your tax messages have been raised more than 16 million dollars. some of the ireless companies want to speed up the money getting to the people that need it. and our money expert jennifer westhoven is here to tell you how. >> yes. it is really a good thing. i think we all see these pictures and you peel powerless because there's not much you can do besides sending money. it is really not a time for anybody to be volunteering to go there yet. so $16 million has been raised through this text messaging

campaign. normally the way this usually works is your money would take up to three months to actually get to haiti. because think about it. you are just giving a promise to give that money. you don't actually pay it until the bill comes. some of the phone companies are saying that they can see that, you know, people's lives are at stake here. it is not the time for business as usual so they are taking very extraordinary measures, breaking the way they usually do things. verizon and sprint together have sent millions of dollars of the pledges directly to the red cross already. just to try to get this help there and on the ground. a bit of a turn and look at the travel trends out there. today is martin luther king day. if you want to teach your kids about the historic movement for civil rights in america you can take them to the national civil rights museum in memphis. one spot built where martin luther king was assassinated in 1968. they are saying that over the next three years, they are going to get a renovation. we will have more interactive

exhibits to increase their appeal, to increase your connection to the story, to history. and you may even get to be in a sit-in protest which a lot of people use very effectively back then to protest segregation. other places you can go, by the way, police clashed with civil rights protesters or the civil rights institute in birmingham, alabama, and greensboro, north carolina, where they had a sit-in 50 years ago about integration. lots of different place ace cross the country you can go that maybe today you can't go but you think maybe next year, that would be very interesting. >> even make a website visit. >> yes. >> thank you. brett favre was than look liking like a fool during the vikings game yesterday but sure likes the song "pants on the ground." doctors are being urged to get overweight kids to help themselves. or help the kids help themselves.

for many americans today is a day of remembrance. dedicated to the life and legacy of the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll asked americans has the united states fulfilled a vision it laid out in his i have a dream speech. 51% of those polled said yes. doctors may have a new way to fight childhood obesity. a medical advisory panel suggests screen kids and teens and if they need to lose weight they should have intensive counseling and dieting and activity. some insurers won't cover obesity programs and this recommendation could change that, though. still one doctor says that such programs are scarce now because they are expensive. conan o'brien could get more than $30 million to leave nbc. network is working out a deal to

put jay leno in his old time spot. conan is seeing a big jump in his ratings and supporters plan to hold an i'm with coco rally in several cities today. coco refers to an old conan o'brien skit. >> i'm with coco. don't leave. he is great. >> he is great. come on, $30 million. sit back and go to bed early. brett favre, the nfl quarterback who obviously retired from football five months ago is one win away from going back to the super bowl. he's been there before. it has been a long time. >> 13 years. remember when fans this summer said retire, hang it up. get out of football. >> i said it. once you cry on national tv it is over. >> i was cheering from the guy from day one. this is why he got back into football for another shot at a super bowl. and the 40-year-old quarterback is so close. the old man who by nfl standards is replying like a guy half his age. favre threw four touchdown passes and the first time he's done that in the playoffs, he's

played in 22 playoff games. the vikings with the dallas cowboys and now move on to play the new orleans saints in the superdome. 13 years ago. ♪ pants on the ground ♪ pants on the ground >> ♪ pants on the ground we got this video of brett favre on youtube. he was leading his team through a rendition of "pants on the ground." the song made famous during the latest episode of "american idol." simon cowell called and said this would be a hit. >> he forgot one part. looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. >> i didn't think they could do it. new york jets won again in their improbable win at the super bowl continues. they beat the favored san diego chargers and now they move on to

the afc championship game to play peyton manning and the nfl mvp and the indianapolis colts. should be a great game. if you watched any of this weekend's playoff games you may have noticed the public service announcements, the nfl spent $1.5 million on these ads. used players with ties to haiti tone courage people to donate to the red cross. in all, the nfl has donated $2.5 million to help victims in haiti. i have covered sports for a long time. for a while at least. i have never seen this. a manager pun an umpire. this happened during a dominican winter league game and it was former major league all-star jose offerman. that punch there got him thrown in jail, charged with assault. the umpire took his crew and got the heck out thereof and went back to america. this isn't the first time offerman has been in trouble. in 2007, when he was a player, he actually charged the mound and swung a bat at a pitcher. >> oh, my gosh. anger problems there. >> big-time anger problem. >> the tape, you are not sure if

he hits him with an elbow or what he is hitting him with. >> he may have grazed him. we are mott sure if he hit him. whatever it is, you can't do that, big no-no. it doesn't look good. really not classy at all. >> professional people. all right. eight people clung to life for more than 50 hours in the rubble of a hotel destroyed in the haiti earthquake. rick santos was in port-au-prince at the hotel montana when the earthquake struck. he and his colleagues survived only on chewing gum and tootsie roll, tootsie pop. after repeated attempts to get rescuers attention their calls were finally heard. >> finally we had a response and they said in french, haitian french, they said, you know, how many are you? we sedate. because there was my group of six and then there were two other gentlemen trapped in the elevator shaft. we had been communicating with. they said are you well? we said no, we are hurt. and that was it. then it really wasp until we

were rescued, until 7:00 p.m. the next time somebody came. we heard nothing. >> this is a story repeated that you are talking about a lot of time for people to get rescued. we will have more on the efforts to help haiti.

a thousand u.s. troops are in haiti right now trying to bring security but officials say that violence is increasing there. retired generous el who led the rescue effort after hurricane katrina says security forces need to be careful not to overreact as starving people scrounge for food and water. the race to fill the late senator ted kennedy's seat is turning into a nail-biter. state senator scott brown, republican, is running against massachusetts attorney general martha coakley, democrat. if republicans win they could have enough senate votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. "avatar" passed "star wars"

to become the number one grossing film in all time. it made more than $41 million this weekend. okay. 30 minutes past the hour. good morning. welcome. that was a short weekend. i'm robin meade. here is what's going on. that's the new video we got in this morning. shot last tuesday. as the earthquake in haiti was happening. you see the room start to shake and the woman running it is a house begins to collapse. it was only moments before much of port-au-prince was levelled. you know, we have a heartbreaking update. do you remember the little girl that we showed you here on

friday? she had been rescued after her heroic effort throughout the day. she was awake during the whole thing and talking with people. we have learned she has died. officials estimate that as many as 100,000 to 150,000 people may have died in the earthquake. that's just a heartbreaking update. you saw her get rescued and hoped all right, she's going to be okay. she passed away. the port-au-prince airport is now operating at maximum capacity as 24 hours a day. but just because the aid is arriving it still has a long way to go to reach the people who need it. correspondent richard lui is here. so much has been said about water, water shortage. how is this helping people? >> one of the more difficult items to transport, the world health organization saying water is the number one issue now. aid agencies have water treatment chemicals that they can use. only small amounts of water. the united states also supplying four water purification systems. each one of those can make

enough water for 10,000 people a day. charity has sent in ten more of those as well. and we also have the "u.s.s. vins vinson" that can pump out 100,000 gallons of water a day. delivering that is still a problem. many times have you people -- people carry the water in buckets. hands are dirty and the water gets contaminated all over again. that's a difficult thing. >> the teams are also rushing medical supplies in. doctors and nurses just don't have enough of what they need. once they arrive to place. >> everything they can. injure reese on a scale almost unimaginable. we found one makeshift hospital in port-au-prince where gangrene set in for half of the patients. there's basically no technology there, no blood testing. no x-rays. we heard they only have two blood pressure cuffs there. they would like to shift other patients to other hospitals as a result but there is nowhere else to send them at the moment. one doctor saying grimly they described it as a death camp.

>> that's so disheartening to hear once people get to where they need to get, it is not coming through. those are shouts and appear to be from five american terrorist suspects arrested in pakistan. they were in court where their former attorney says the men claim they were tortured in jail. the prison officials deny the allegations. the five men were arrested last month for allegedly plotting attacks in pakistan. they also demand ad new attorney today so that their case was adjourned until february. it is going to be nasty for week people living on the west coast. a series of storms started hitting southern california. the mountains could see ten feet of snow and some areas might get 20 inches of rain. and that could trigger mudslides especially in the areas that burn wildfires. the problem is once it gets burned by wildfires you don't

have any vegetation stopping the earth as it moves downward basically. would you say i'm correct? >> absolutely. >> you better say i'm correct. >> i know. this time you are right. >> hey. >> heavy rain and it is going to be really the main story over the next four to five days as we have series after series of storms moving in off the pacific. here's the latest. one inch around seattle. one that came over the weekend through a good shot of rain across southern california and oregon and now the second one is emerging into the picture. coming off the pacific. how much rain over the next two days? this is just two days worth of rainfall. let me show you how much we are anticipating. liquid equivalent. we start seeing rain around the sierra and that's just snow. it will be heavy at times. red shaded area five inches of rain. that's going to be over the next 48 hours. that equates to about four, maybe five feet of snow. that's what you will get there. los angeles, sacramento, calling for as much as two to four inches of snow out there, too. let me zero in towards the southern california area. you can see wave after wave of

light showers moving in through southern california cal. towards arizona, too. zoom towards the phoenix radar. that's going to come up and you can see the rain sex tending right across the areas by l.a. and down to long beach, too. flash flood watches out there. showers around phoenix and heavy downpours still. up the line further when you get in towards vegas, cloudy skies. take you live to las vegas. here is the way it looks. overcast skies, 53 degrees. temperatures not going to get above that too much. look at that sky. that's just eerie. that's las vegas. and anticipating rain this afternoon, lasting through tomorrow. and really a shot at rain all the way through to saturday morning for las vegas. heavy downpours around san jose. you can see it here. towards santa cruz, too. bay area right now just a lot of clouds with the rain back into the picture there, too. rain showers around seattle, turning into snow for the highest elevations and mainly around the cascades but the winter storm warnings are all up and down. two to four feet. just for today and tomorrow. if you add to it it could be a grand total since last night of closing in on ten feet of snow

above 6,000 feet. something we are watching. pretty closely the next five days. more in a half hour. >> thank you. look at the map. yeah. massachusetts family is agonizing over false reports that they keep getting about their daughter missing in haiti with other students. a newly released video shows police saving a woman from a burning car. look at this thing. find out why she was charged.

the last thing we need is for you to go outside in your robe and get the paper. i did it for you already. here we go. from "usa today" today, red light cameras losing their luster in many towns. now, they were installed to catch drivers that run red lights. now they are being questioned as

some call them simple money makers for the cities. "the new york times," even the plaza hotel's fame and glitz cannot escape the reach of tough financial times. it says that many residents have sold their condos at a loss and posh stores and restaurants are struggling. it has gone from a landmark to just a building. quick check of the papers. american companies are stepping up to help the quake victims in haiti. they pledged tens of millions of dollars so far and our money expert jennifer westhoven is here to tell you about that. sosy sense are stepping in and the companies are coming through, too. the companies are, too. and, you know, i'm sure they are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. but also, your workers, you know, i think have real faith in your company when you see them respond like that. at least $43 million we know of so far from corporate america has been pledged. according to the chamber of commerce and now some cases it is the big companies who are giving away to millions of dollars all at once.

the companies of all sizes rushed to try to put in place these matching gift programs. that means that you are making a difference, too. every dollar that you give could be matched by your company. so double your giving power there. some of the big names giving g.e., citi bank and u.p.s. pledging millions. partly cloudy skies companies like airlines and instead of sending money, they can donate a service like free air travel for relief workers or doctors and nurses. we hear about water, food and medicine as well. just heard that story we have been telling you about how, you know, maybe it is not such a guilded age now the plaza hotel, does anybody want to be so fancy anymore? well, how about one that comes to your coffee. what do you think? this is the great recession. yet, maybe a little surprising. starbucks says it is raising prices on some of its bigger drinks by as much as 35 cents in some of the big cities. that could be a very big risk for starbucks. it has already seen its sales

shrinking over the past two years as people try to get their spending in line with what they are earning and try to save some money and think, you know if you are looking to save quickly, you may think i can get rid of the $4 latte in the morning. starbucks says prices have gone down on some drinks but say this is just part of the normal course of business. i don't know. i was trying to -- i'm trying to figure out how does that logically work? >> tightening their belts. >> i think my theory is only the die-hard addicts are left. they are going to pay $4. >> it is barista fans. >> coffeemaker. which is no problem with that. i never heard the word fancy barista. they have to pay important the name, raise the price. >> like being a bartender. they take pride in a their work. they are not just pouring coffee. >> thank you. some american families are waiting for years to adopt kids from haiti. you are going to hear how that earthquake helped that process go through.

believe it or not. first, mark mcgwire made his public appearance, first one since admitting he used roids. why is he getting standing ovations?

quake in haiti is a chance to put aside politics and help people in this despair. that's what former presidents george w. bush and bill clinton say they are leading a bipartisan effort to raise money for haiti. the former president spoke with john king on our sister network cnn. >> i would define success as setting up a network quickly to get the food, water and medicine and security and information people need. then as quickly as possible, resuming the path they were on before the earthquake to build a strong modern country. >> the first call is to save the lives and that's what the american people want to see

happen. this situation will stabilize. >> former president bill clinton will go to haiti today to deliver the aid. the wait over for three families in kansas who are waiting to adopt kids from haiti. seven children arrived at the kansas city airport yesterday. look at the reunion here. to be reunited with the people that spent years trying to adopt them. >> never could i have imagined a earthquake would bring the kids home. the first thing i thought was this is going to prolong this even longer. we are never going to get our kids. but it brought them here. >> god brought them here. this is our little bitty one. she has been wearing the whole trip a t-shirt and pullup the whole trip. our friend esther got her something to wear. >> the kids already had their passports before the quake hit. they needed clearance from the u.s. embassy to leave haiti. have you seen these

pictures? three police officers pulled a woman out of her burning car. this happened in ohio last november. the dashcam just became available. five people got commendations for their work in the rescue. but police charged the woman with dui. this is so hard to believe. a 26-year-old nfl player died in his sleep. now, he was a chicago bear. joe carter actually interviewed him alive before. >> the clemson television market, played for clemson university, a chance to cover this guy every week. talked to him after the games. always willing to make time for the media. gentle giant. a guy with so much potential in life. >> 26 years old. >> 26. 26 years old. so much potential. way too young, way too soon. adams was in his family's home when he died from a heart attack in his sleep. an autopsy revealed adams had an enlarged heart, a condition that can often lead to heart attack. his family was not aware that he had this medical condition.

she was drafted by the tampa bay buccaneers, fourth overall pick. he also played for the chicago bears and went to clemson university. just 26 years old. tough story. a couple of weeks ago rex ryan, the coach of the new york jets, said he didn't think his team would make it to the playoffs. now his jets -- funny. your coach says that. they had to prove him wrong. they are one win away from the super bowl. bob called it. i didn't think they would make it. just one win away. led by a rookie quarterback, rookie running back. beat the favored san diego chargers. peyton manning and the colts next up. the winner will go to the miami and the super bowl. for the most popular man in minnesota, became the oldest quarterback in nfl history to throw a touchdown in a playoff game. 40 is the new 30 for brett favre. he threw four touchdown passes in a rout over the cowboys. the only stayed favre won a super bowl 13 years ago.

>> i was watching this game. this was yesterday or saturday. >> yesterday. >> whole weekend was football. he really played with a lot of joy still. that's why he is so fun to see. >> jumping and slapping, high-fives. he plays the game with so much passion. college sports is supposed to be about sportsmanship and higher education. apparently these girls didn't get the mission statement. before the georgetown/louisville game the girls about get into a fight because apparently someone tried to trip somebody during warmups, words exchanged. because it didn't happen during the game, before the game, no one was kicked out. the school's conferences and officials are reviewing the fight. mark mcgwire, the guy that said he used steroids when he played, got a standing ovation from st. louis fans at an event sunday. >> roids, what roids? >> i am surprised he did this. he is a hero in st. louis. he does this anywhere else, he will not get the same reception.

this guy is st. louis when you think about it. >> he will be their hitting coach. >> he will be the hitting coach. they certainly are ready for him to join the team and represent st. louis again in a a positive light. >> i don't know. we don't have any facebook comments. i thought for sure we'd get facebook comments from our viewers getting a standing oovation. you may be upset when you find out about the new instant credit proposal. hln money expert clark howard says store clerks may ask you more questions than you bargain for. >> you ever noticeses when you're at a retail store checkout the cashier ringing you out hases to say, would you like to save 15% on your purchase today? you know what that pitch is? they expect if you hear a question like that you're going to say, yes. then all you have to do is apply for instant credit with the store and right while you're at the register they can get you deeper into debt. what i always say when i'm asked

that, no, i don't want to save the money and then the cashier's head will pop up because that is not the usual response they'll hear. something the retailers are upset about. under the new credit card holder bill of rights before somebody extends you credit they have to know if you can afford it. the retailers on "the wall street journal" going crazy about this and trying to get that credit overturned. give you instant credit which i think is a good thing for you and me. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to keep your finances under control, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. sounds good to me. so watch him on the weekends at noon and 4:00 p.m. four little girls in north carolina are stepping up to help people in haiti the best way that they can. they're selling hot chocolate to raise money. wait till you hear about how

much one person donated to their cause.

well, time for you to rise and shine, 9:00 eastern. i'm robin meade. glad you're with us today. start your week by getting you informed on what is going on. as desperation grows after haiti's earthquake. the situation is turning violent, but one military expert says there is a way to avoid that. your future health care options may depend on what happens in massachusetts. why the race between these two politicians could make or break the proposed health care reform. plus, a car ingulfed in flames and the driver trapped inside, you'll see how police get her out. officials are saying an

estimated 100 to 150,000 people died in the earthquake in haiti, including 16 americans. thousands of injured are in the hospitals waiting for medicine or waiting for doctors. the help is pouring in from around the world, but the bottle neck is the problem there. an airport that is overwhelmed and it's tiny and the main port for water has been destroyed virtually and the roads are almost impassable. we do have an incredible rescue story for you. five people rescued from a demolished grocery store. at one point a concrete slab buckled and they had to run outside and make sure that everybody is safe. survivors including a 50-year-old american woman made it because of where they were trapped. >> what's one of the first things she told you guys? >> i ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly. >> i don't know if they had access to water. we did give them water once we

made contact with them and they drank those water bottles, as you could assume, very quickly and they were remarkably in very good condition considering they have been in there for five days. >> for so many people there is nothing to do but wait. at a haitian american restaurant in atlanta a man keeps his tv tuned to the news hoping for word about his sister. >> every time my phone rings hoping it is her on the other end. >> i'm a member of all these groups and what i do is go ahead and post her picture, i tag her picture on these groups so that, you know, hopefully somebody know something. >> he hasn't seen his sister in nine years but he talked with her every other week by phone. aid is arriving by the hour but there are big problems doctors without borders says its cargo plane got redirected to the dominican republic yesterday. the group communication officer said communication for the patients is getting worse.

security restored. the taliban says that militants and suicide bombers attacked the presidential palace in kabul. it is unclear whether they made their way inside, but nato confirms bombings at government buildings near the palace. at least five people died and 38 injured. the health care debate could hinge on one state election tomorrow. it is a race to fill late senator ted kennedy's seat. now, recent polls suggest that the race may be closer than expected and that got president obama on the campaign trail. >> sent a leader to washington who is going to work tirelessly every single day to turn this economy around, to move this country forward and to keep the american belief alive. that's what martha coakley is about. >> many people in massachusetts

are not happy with what's happening in washington, d.c. i think president obama coming in actually helped scott brown. >> if republicans win, massachusetts senate seat they will potentially have enough votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. democrats will lose their filibuster proof majority in the senate. a brooklyn man returning from haiti is accused of causing a big security scare. he went into a restricted area on saturday. his attorney said that he accidentally went through the wrong door, but the terminal had to be evacuated and people were reskruned and flights were delayed. he could get up to seven years in prison, if he is convicted. 28 years since a science fiction movie won the golden globe awards, that changed last night. "avatar" won the best drama. "et" won it in 1982. meryl streep was named the best

actress in a comedy for "julie & julia." she joked to change her name to honor t. bone burnett. >> i want to change my name to t. bone. t. bone streep. i think it sounds good. in my long career played so many extraordinary women that basically i'm getting mistaken for one. >> well, sandra bullock won her first golden globe and she was named best actress in a drama for "the blind side." it is based on a true story. the guy is still playing in the nfl. >> that's the one i got to see. >> i would agree. i guess we'll go to the matinee with all the old folkses. >> we got to get the early bird special at 4:00 p.m. we have to get to the movie

quick. trying to get in or out of boston logan and arriving delays two and a half hours to three hours because of all the snow overhead and it's beginning to thin out quite a bit. winter storm warnings for a good chunk of massachusetts and lower vermont and new hampshire stretching to the coast of maine and portland. probably five to nine inches of snow total and another half inch to inch and a half. look at the light snow over boston and heavy at times when you get to the north of here and around the midwest where the dense fog advisories and dense fog means you'll see visibility less than a quarter of a mile down through the fog and freezing fog where temperatures are below 32 and for chicago and indianapolis. that's something you have to watch out for later today. look at the rain showers coming in across northern california and portland and oregon getting into seattle, too. the first round of another system coming on through and bringing the heavy rain with it towards l.a. and san diego and

stretching towards nevada now with heavy downpours out there for the rest of the week anticipated. l.a. getting down towards long beach and san diego and all flash flood watches because wuhl see two to four inches of rain over the next two to 48 hours. that is the heaviest rain right there. look at phoenix, you can see rain overhead going down to the border with mexico and get into san francisco and heavy at times also. take you live to nyc. gusty winds today out of the northwest, about 20 miles per hour. currently laguardia has a 30-minute delay and more on that in a bit, robin. >> thank you. you've seen the desperate search and rescue efforts in port-au-prince, haiti. but other parts of haiti where it is still in desperate need of help, too. if you have one of the nightmare experiences while flying, new way to make sure that your complaint is heard loud and clear, honey.

the quake in haiti is a chance to put aside politics and help people in despair. that's what former presidents george w. bush and bill clinton say. they're leading a bipartisan effort to raise money for haiti. the former president spoke with our john king of our sister network cnn. >> i would define success as setting up a network quickly to get the food, water, medicine, security and information people need and then as quickly as possible resuming the path that they were on before the earthquake to build a strong, modern country. >> the first call is to save the lives and that's what the american people want to see happen. this situation will stabilize. >> well, former president bill clinton will go to haiti today to deliver aid. our salute to troops, which we do every day is for staff

sergeant and he's in afghanistan but his wife and their little boy want him to know, even though he's far away, they're thinking about him. >> morning, robin. my name is becky and i'm saluting staff sergeant christopher turknett he's in the air force. we miss your smile, your cooking. sorry you missed christmas and we can't wait to see you. love you. >> so sweet. did you see the picture of the little boy and the dog looking outside. do you have somebody in the service and you want to salute them? sure. go to cnn.com/robin. your text messages have raised more than $16 million to help people in haiti and now some wireless companies are doing everything they can to make sure the money gets there faster. jennifer, i think this is a really great effort because people make it so much easier by doing the texting and the money goeses automatically. you don't even really have to try and you're donating money.

>> really spread like wildfire. $16 million has been pledged to help people in haiti. a lot of companies started to dig around and reporters started to look around and say, hey, you know, that could take up to three months for the money to actually get to haiti, this money that we're all pledging. you don't really pay until the bill comes, it's just a pledge. some people said with people's lives at stake they realize this is just not the time for business as usual. they're going to break with that. at least some companies. verizen and sprint together have sent millions of dollars of policem pledges directly to the red cross so they can help people as quickly as possible. if you do decide to make a dooination to haiti through that text system or other ways, you may be able to claim it on your taxes a lot earlier and i don't give money for that but it is something that you are very much allowed to take advantage of in

your taxes. in fact, lawmakers from both parties in both the house and the senate, too, are supporting a move that would let you claim any haiti deductions made by february this year on your 2009 tax return, the one that i know you're getting to work on it soon. you're thinking about it. you can do it now, is the point, instead of next year. congress could act on the bill as soon as late this week. it's monday morning and maybe you're getting on your business trip this week. something to think about. maybe the airline on your last trip didn't treat you so well or you think something went wrong. the federal government has changed up a web page to make it easier for you to lodge a complaint. the secretary of transportation says, hey, we can't do anything if we don't hear about it. if an airline pushes your buttons, go ahead and push our button. i find that really fun, bob because normally i have to paraphrase the government.

look, he's actually speaking. >> how about that. >> we have a link to that website, if you do have a complaint. cnn.com/robin and go to looking out for you and you can put it in. >> okay, automatically goes to recycle bin. i hope they do something with it. >> they said they're logging it. >> good morning, jennifer. couple problems on both coasts. boston two to three-hour delay because of the snow and ice. here's boston just three planes right in the vicinity and couple more trying to get in and heavy at times and that is there on the east coast and west coast, san francisco, currently has a two-hour delay wbecause of the low clouds and the rain. basically, you'll find that popping up through friday. boston over an hour, we have it already. and freezing fog around and l.a. and san francisco heavy rain and that will last, as i said, until at least friday. new york city metros, a lot of

wind. already laguardia has a 30-minute delay. full details on that in a half hour. brett favre wasn't looking like a fool with his pants on the ground. plus, doctors are being urged to do more to get kids that are overweight to help meet the new recommendations that could lead to big changes for insurance companies.

good morning. live pictures from the king center in atlanta, georgia, now. living memorial dedicated to the advancement of dr. martin luther king jr. he's buried there with his wife. king's tombstone is engraved with the words free at last, free at last, thank god almighty i'm free at last. brett favre the quarterback who retired from football for five minutes is one win away from playing in the super bowl and joe is in for rafer. he is a joy when he plays. >> he has so much passion for the game, robin. this is why he came back to the

nfl for another shot at a super bowl and the 40-year-old quarterback is so close. the old man by nfl standards is playing like a guy half his age. favre through four touchdown passes the first time he's done that in his entire playoff career. this guy has played in 22 playoff games. the vikings whipped up on the dallas cowboys and now move on to play new orleans in the super dome, the last place favre won a super bowl 13 years ago. >> got a little video for you from youtube brett favre after last night's win, pants on the ground for the team. the "american idol" made famous by that 62-year-old man. simon cowl said it is going to be a hit and it is, robin. >> it is a phenomenon. well, i didn't think they could do it, but they did it.

the new york jets won again in their improbable run to a super bowl continues. live another week led by the head coach who is a rookie and a quarterback who is a rookie and a runningback who is a rookie. beat the san diego chargers in san diego and they go play peyton manning and the indianapolis colts. if you watched any of this weekend's playoff games you may have noticed the public service announcements. the nfl spent $1.5 million on these commercials and encourage people to donate to the red cross. in all, the nfl donated $2.5 million to help victims in haiti. robin, i covered sports for a while and i've never seen something like this. a manager punches an umpire. this happened during a dominican winter league game and that's former major league star who throws the punch and gets thrown in jail. the umpire who takes the punch, kind of, tagets the heck out of

there. not the first time he has been in trouble. back in 2007 when he was a player he went after a pitcher with his bat after he was hit by a pitch and he was arrested for that and charged with assault. not the first time this guy has done it. but probably the last time we'll see him on a baseball field, at least the last time getting paid to be on a baseball field. >> interesting. thank you. >> you bet. you might get upset when you find out about new instant credit proposal. hln money expert clark howard says store clerks may ask you more questions than you bargain for. >> you ever notice when you're at a retail store checkout the cashier ringing you out has to say, would you like to save 15% on your purchase today? you know what that pitch is? they expect if you hear a question like that you'll say yes. all you have to do is apply for instant credit with the store and right while you're at the register they can get you deeper into debt.

what i always say when i'm asked that, no, i don't want to save the money and then the cashier's head will pop up because that's not their usual response that they hear. under the new credit card holder bill of rights, before somebody extends you credit, they have to really know if you can afford it and actually pay it back. the retailers going "wall street journal" are going crazy about this and trying to get that requirement overturned because it would end their ability to give you instant credit which is a good thing for you and me. i'm clark howard. for more ways to keep your finances under control, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped. you're going to see a long journey home to reach his wife and baby moments after haiti's earthquake.

1,000 u.s. troops are in haiti right now trying to break security but violence is increasing. russell honore says security forces need to be careful not to overreact as starving people scrounge for food and water. the race to fill late senator ted kennedy seat. if republicans win, they could have enough senate votes to defeat president obama's health care plan. "avatar" has now passed "star wars" for the number three highest grossing film of all

time in the united states. made more than $41 million this weekend. "the book of eli" was second with 31 mill and "the lovely bones" got 17 mill and it was number three. those are some of our headlines. good morning, how is the coffee going this morning. i'm robin meade, here's what's going on today. that is new video we got in this morning and it was shot last tuesday as the earthquake was happening in haiti. you saw the room start to shake and the woman running as the house starts to collapse. it was only moments before much of port-au-prince was leveled. we have a heartbreaking follow up. remember this little girl who we told you about on friday. she had been rescued after an

all-day effort on thursday. she was awake the entire time. there they are working to remove the concrete around her but now we learned that she has died. officials estimate that as many as 100 to 150,000 people may have died in the earthquake. this particular story is disheartening just because you saw her being rescued and thought she'd be okay now but she passed away. take a look at more than two dozen children who have been sleeping outside since the quake. their orphanage was run by two american women and they were worried their adoptions would come to a screeching halt after the earthquake but two days after our sister network six of the children are now with families in the united states. >> team work effort. i mean, a lot of moving parts in that coming together and contingency state department and cnn crews and the u.n. and a lot of people back in the state and that working together. >> if you want to help the quake

victims, you can go to cnn.com/robin and click on the impact link or cnn.com/impact. you'll find a list of local and international groups providing aid. going to be a rough week for people on the west coast, the series of storms starting hitting southern california and now the mountains could see ten feet of snow and some places will get 20 inches of rain. well, that could trigger some mudslides, especially when you're talking about areas where wildfires have already cleared out the vegetation. those shouts appear to be from five american terror suspects arrested in pakistan. they were in court today where their attorney, their former attorney claim the men were tortured in jail but prison officials deny those allegations. the five men were arrested last month for allegedly plotting attacks in pakistan. they also demanded a new attorney today so their case was

adjourned until february. have you ever forgotten to pay your bar tab? there is an iphone app for that. a group in texases has invented a system to let you open a tab, keep track of it and pay it all by clicking on an iphone app. you can even settle your tab after you leave the bar. >> you can close it in your car on the way home or in your cab, that's why things are consistent. >> we take plastic out of the equation and the security benefit to that is you don't have it sitting behind a bar for multiple hours at a time or leaving your pockt to go into hands of people you don't know. >> if you leave the application, you have to leave at least a 20% tip. any thoughts, bob? >> my thoughts, yeah, they'll let you out of the bar without paying your tabs. boom, you're out of there. >> i remember. >> what's up, robin? series of storms coming in. round number two off the pacific

and heavy rain and a lot of snow all wrapped up within this and the way it goes, storm number one from the weekend is pulling in towards bc and rain around seattle and this batch of cloud cover and you can clearly see it with the circulation here throwing pacific moisture into california. how much rain in the mix for the next 24 to 48 hours. next two days calling for two to four inches of rain and mainly in the areas you see shaded in yellow. red shaded areas, five inches and then you get into the sierra nevada range and make that into snow and that is four to five feet of snow over the next 48 hours. winter storm warnings posted out there. lower parts of california, that's what's getting hammered right now. just southern parts of the bay area get in towards l.a. and the flood watches are all around los angeles down through long beach and that stretches down to san diego. that's for the morning into the afternoon and you'll really see the rain continue off and on by

friday. by this coming saturday, i'll finally give california the all clear but a rough four to five days. look at heavy rain around phoenix and stretching in towards tucson, too. most rain falling north of san francisco and light showers working into the bay area and already a two-hour delay at sfo and the rain and snow goes all the way up towards seattle. winter storm warnings, we have them, again, two to four feet of snow over the next 48 hours. more on that, robin, in about a half hour. british comic ricky and no one knew what to expect when he hosted the golden globes last night. one of the funniest moments was about mel gibson when he introduced him. >> i didn't mean to offend anyone. honestly, i like a drink as much as the next man unless the next man is mel gibson.

>> touche. was mel gibson making fun of himself. mike tyson was actually on the stage at the golden globes because if you saw "the hangover" he played himself and it won for best comedy or musical. comedian monique won the golden globe for best supporting actor and she played an abusive mother in the movie "precious" she has mostly played comedy roles. some of you will have to pay more for your morning cup of coffee. why starbucks says it plans to raise the prices on some of its drinks. mark mcgwire made his first public appearance since admitting he used roids and the crowd gave him a standing o.

eight people clung to life for more than to hours in the rubble of a hotel in haiti. rick santos was at the hotel montana in the port-au-prince. they survived on chewing gum and tootsy pop. their calls were finally heard. >> finally, we had a response and they said in haitian french they said, you know, how many are you? and we said eight because it was my group of six and then two other gentlemen trapped in the elevator shaft who we had been communicating with and they said are you well? and we said, no, we're hurt and that was it. and then it really wasn't until we were rescued until 7:00 p.m. the next night that actually somebody came. we heard nothing. >> well, rick was pulled from the rubble thursday and reunited with his family over the

weekend. american companies are stepping up to help the quake victims in haiti. they have pledged tens of millions of dollars so far, maybe following some of our viewers' lead here. hi money expert jennifer westhoven. >> $43 million so far has been pledged from corporate america that's from the chamber of commerce and that is the tally so far, it might get larger. we'll have to see when the money gets there, when does it get on the ground? many of the companies say they are giving millions of dollars, it is easier for them to make that size donation and we are seeing companies of all sizes rush to try to put matching gift programs in place. sometimes where they didn't have them before, so a lot of quaemps looking to go outside as business as usual and those matching gift programs that means every dollar you give can have double the giving power. some of the big companies that have pledged a lot ge, citibank

and jeffries and some companies are donating say supplies or services, for example, like i was reading about how u.p.s. they know that some of the roads don't work so that knowledge can help with the relief missions or airlines can donate free air travel in some cases. all right, we're bringing you all the different stories out there. how about this one. you know, it's being called the great recession, does it seem like a good time to raise prices for expensive coffee? but that's what starbucks is doing. they're raising prices and as much as 35 cents in big cities. if you want a double mocha latte no whip whatever you get -- it's going to cost a lot more. this could be very risky for them. their sales have been shrinking for the past two years because a lot of people are, you know, trying to get their budgets in line and getting a very different handle on their money than we were used to. starbucks says this is part of the normal course of business. >> i have a calendar that says

i'll take a mocha latte multivolume, please. a man who could not find out any information about his father in haiti contacted cnn and susan hendricks has a preview of what happened next. it's coming up in the next half hour. hello. >> that's right, robin. we'll hear from the man who attached a picture of his father to an e-mail to cnn and the incredible, sometimes agonizing search for him. you don't want to miss this story. the fbi is apologizing for pictures of what osama bin laden may look like today. one politician is angry saying the pictures look a little too much like him. john gotti jr. says he may leave new york. what he is thinking about doing while the government is trying to put him behind bars. a massachusetts dad is agonizing over false reports he is getting over how his daughter is in haiti and he isn't holding back about it.

shows police saving a woman from a burning car and find out why she was charged.

the families of u.s. college students and staff missing in haiti want answers from the u.s. government. we heard from those families earlier this morning about 12 lynn university student and staff members are missing or were in haiti and six are missing. you may remember that the family of one of those, britney jengal, they have now been told twice that she was found alive only to be told later that was a mistake. >> we have not heard from one government official yet. and we would appreciate it if they would call lynn university and give them an update as to what they intend on doing. asap. time is of the essence. tonight at 5:00 is six days of hell. >> well, the students were staying at the hotel montana near port-au-prince. it was popular with tourists and visiting officials. french officials say that about 200 french tourists staying there have not been heard from. have you seen these pictures

yet? three police officers pulled a woman out of a burning car. this happened in gates mills, ohio last november. the dash cam tape was just released. five people got commendations for their role in the rescue but police charged the woman with dui. there's tragic news from the nfl, a 26-year-old player for the chicago bears died in his sleep and joe carter is in for rafer with more on that. you don't expect to hear that about a 26-year-old. what happened to him. >> too young and too soon and a healthy 26-year-old at this. a medical condition that neither him or his family knew anything about. he died from a heart attack in his sleep. the autopsy says that adams had an enlarged heart, a condition that can often lead to a heart attack. now, as i said, his family was not aware of this medical condition and he was drafted by the tampa bay buccaneers and also played for the chicago bears and went to clemson university.

a couple weeks ago rex ryan the coach of the new york jets said he didn't think his team will make it to the playoffs and his team now just one win away from the super bowl led by a rookie quarterback and runningback and they beat the favored san diego chargers and next up for the jets, peyton manning the nfl mvp and the winner goes to miami to play in the super bowl. one of the most popular men in the super bowl, brett favre said history four touchdown passes en route over the dallas cowboys and the vikings now travel to new orleans to play in the super dome which happens to be the only stadium favre won a super bowl in and that was 13 years ago. college sports is supposed to be about sportsmanship and higher education and these ladies did not get the memo. these ladies got into a little bit of a fight and it happened before the game which means no

one got kicked out of the actual game but the schools and the conferences are reviewing the fight. mark mcgwire, the guy who said he used steroids when he played got a standing ovation at an event in st. louis sunday. now, this guy cheated baseball, cheated fans and they seemed to not mind, they just dismissed it. i'm not surprised because it is in st. louis, if it happened anywhere else, the guy is not going to get a warm reception and, nevertheless, st. louis fans forgive and forget. he is going to be the team's hitting coach come this spring. robin? >> it did seem weird for him to get a standing ovation. >> very weird. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. hello, bob. >> good morning, robin. hitting coach, that's it? none of the, this is where you put the needle type of thing. that's the only coaching i hope he's doing. boston right now, two and a half hour to three-hour delay because of the heavy snow that's been over the area and that will last

for at least the next four to five hours. delay there in boston and more delays in chicago possible this morning. freezing fog all around and no delays currently and watch for some andsome. otherwise l.a.x. and san francisco heavy rain, right now only san francisco has a two hour delay for incoming flights. i'll show you all the radar pictures coming up. the west coast gets slammed over the next four to five days. let's gets a check on a couple of the other stories making headlines in the papers. from "usa today" red light cameras are losing their luster. they were installed to catch drivers who ran red lights. some call them money makers for the city. in the new york times even the plaz ask hotel's glitz. many have sold the condos at a loss. one consultant says it has gone from a landmark to just a

building. conan o'brien could get more than $30 million to leave nbc. the network is working out a deal to put jay leno back in his old time slot. meanwhile, conan o'brien is seeing a big jump in his numbers. supporters plan to hold a i'm with coco rally. nasa is going to start trying to make contact with the lander on mars. for the next three dailies the spacecraft will look for a signal from the lander. scientists say they don't expect to find it because phoenix wasn't designed to with stand the extremely cold temperatures. medicine and food may be on the ground in haiti, but it's still not reaching the people. in the middle of the chaos, many are turning to their faith to pull them through.