all righty, good morning to you. what day is it, guys? wednesday? that's all. that's how it feels, right? i'm robin meade. here's what's going on today. toyota won't sell you some of their cars, even if you beg to buy them. it's a big change from what they were saying yesterday. four people accused of tampering with a u.s. senator's phone. you may have seen one of these guys before, playing dress-up. also, the next big thing for gadget geeks comes out today. what to expect from the apple tablet. you want to talk about an about face? toyota stopped selling some of

the cars being recalled and they stopped production at six plants as well. it comes one day after toyota says they will keep making the cars in the recall because they are safe. >> we are try iing to buy a toyota. he said we can't because of the pedal. >> toyota has done this voluntarily. the safety speaks for itself. >> say you own a recalled toyota, there's no fix for the recall. what do you do? jennifer is here. good morning. >> thanks, robin. we know people have died in crashes related to this. people think why didn't they hit the gas or do this? sometimes people are trying it and it's not working. the things toyota says to try first, if you speed out of

control, put the car in neutral, let it slow down, turn to the side. some people tried that. they couldn't. then, try to turn the engine off. there's a key or button, you should be able to steer over. toyota said to use both feet to hit the brakes hard, then hold them down. don't pump any pedals, you'll lose power. if you go brake, brake, brake, you lose the power you are. these are toyota's best sellers. camry, corolla. we have all the models on our website to see if your car is affected. if toyota lets us know, we'll let you know. >> anything new, we'll put on the website and on the air, too. president obama and his team are putting the finishing touches on his state of the union address. the president will announce he's

free freezing the salaries and bonuses of top white house officials and political appointees. cutbacks are expected to be a huge theme in the speech. what topics do you want the president to talk about tonight? go to cnn.com/robin. hit the contact us or facebook icon to facebook us so we can read it on the air. thousands of haitians waiting for food were met with pepper spray, instead. >> it is so difficult to watch. that was the scene, though, when two trucks of rice arrived at the distribution point in port-au-prince. brazilian police say it's the only way to keep them from trampling each other. you can understand why they push and shove. many say they eat once every

three days. meanwhile, crews brought in heavy equipment to clear the ef vi rubble in hotel montana. an assistance professor at lynn university in florida is still missing. >> he's a wonderful person. all he wanted to do was make people happy and help people. that's what he did his entire life, up until the day this earthquake happened, he was helping people and helping and teaching. i want the world to know what a wonderful man by father was. >> four lynn university students are also still missing. the school's president plans to make a statement this morning. a hydrated man was pull frd the rubble in port-au-prince yesterday. it's not clear how long he'd been trapped. he said he survived 14 days by

rationing water from a two-gallon jug. u.s. soldiers say, it is possible a building collapsed on him in an aftershock as well. remember the conservative activist that posed as a pump and made videos at a.c.o.r.n.? he's one of four men charged with tampering with phones at a u.s. senator's office. we have more on this strange caper. >> we have wednesday intrigue for you. james o'keefe and three others are charged with infiltrating the office in new orleans and trying to manipulate the phones there. two men, joseph and robert posed as telephone repairmen, tool belts, hard hats. they got access to the phone

system. the aft saying o'keefe recorded their actions with a cell phone. later, the two men allegedly requested access to the main phone system. they were asked for credentials, they said it was in the truck. >> someone said it was like an "snl" skit. how are they responding to the charges? what are they saying now? what about the lawmakers? >> according to the fbi aft, they admitted to what they did. the state democrats calling it the louisiana watergate. marry landrieu saying this is a very unusual situation and unsettling for me and my staff. i'm as interested as everyone else about their motives. all four men posted bond. we'll have more on their backgrounds in 30 minutes for you. >> we're all ears, thank you

richard. you know, i promised our folks in the newsletter, if you don't get it, it's free. i tell you what's coming up on the show ahead of time. mid westerners, we're going to zoom in on your weather. >> tomorrow, the bulk of the winter weather comes in. the beginning stages are taking place now. the west coast and middle of the country, here's a cold front. very cold air. the cold air digging down to texas. that's what it's going to look like today. the low around los angeles. that's the storm that's going to move in and produce rainfall and freezing snow. red shaded counties in oklahoma city through tulsa and texas, winter storm warning. starts in oklahoma city tomorrow morning. rain then freezing rain, then all snow after midnight. looking for a half inch of freezing rain. on top of that, six to 12 inches

of snow. power outages galore. look at the rain now. no big deal. here it comes. next 48 hours going to be key. get your stuff together. you probably have power outages throughout the weekend starting tomorrow. more on that. >> that's what i like about you, you can give us a heads up. >> it's going to happen tomorrow. it's a major winter storm. >> katie perry may have kissed a girl before, but had little love for an "american idol" judge. remember the rescue of this 5-year-old? the sad story may end up with a happ happy ending.

you know, our salute today

is for sergeant eric burkhard. his oldest daughter cannot wait for him to come home to drink hot chocolate together. this was done using skype. >> good morning, robin. we would like to salute my husband and daddy. sergeant eric breuker. he's serving in afghanistan now. we love him so much. i love you, eric. >> i think the baby tried to talk there. that was wonderful. if you have somebody in the service, i would love to see a salute like that. go to cnn.com/robin. american idol looked for people. the judges were katy perry and avril lavigne.

♪ >> simon said he's a genuinely good singer. katy perry said he gave her chills. ♪ when the night has come ♪ and the land is dark ♪ and the moon is the only light we'll see. >> that's a pretty voice. chris 'version of "stand by me" was great. there was a dust up between katy perry. >> you are the kind of kid that has just enough story and pain and stuff you have gone through in life to connect with it. i think you are going to get better. >> this is not a lifetime movie, sweetheart. >> he has an amazing story.

>> he has an amazing story, but you have to have talent. >> simon, yes or no? what do you think, simon? >> tonight, "idol" goes to dallas, honey with joe jonas. your share of the federal budget deaf kit, $4500 for each of you. your spouse, your kid and everybody else in america. we want to start the viewers on a grouchy note. >> taking notice of the deficit numbers. >> usually, they push it under the carpet like there's no deficit here and it's six feet high and falling in on you. there's actually drama going on in washington over the budget deficit. i find that fascinating. you should know, mostly talk, not as much action, but they put

together a plan, there were going to set up a powerful task force and the senate rejected it. both parties, republicans said no way this could force tax hikes or cuts in social security and medicare. the white house is going to do something. president obama is expected to set up a deficit panel. it's going to be more advisory. the deficit is slightly down from last year's record, 1 hadn't $4 trillion, according to congressional numbers. americans took their newfound free time and used it to help the people around them. that's good news in a bad economy. more than 63 million of you volunteered vazing money, building homes, collecting food, tutoring kids. the labor department says it's more than 1.5 people than the year before. people can't give cash, but they are giving their time.

>> more volunteers. thank you. police believe they found the remains of a college student who disappeared at a metallica keown sert. she was last seen at the arena in charlottesville. a farmer found the body on his property. her mother is speaking out about the likelihood her daughter may not come home alive.

so, back to our story, we told you police are sure they found the body of a missing virginia tech student. here is what morgan's mom had to say after she got the news. >> we are still processing. we have been trying to prepare ourselves for this end point. thinking you are doing it and having done it are different. >> police say the spot where the body was found was not part of their searches over the past three months. they have not named suspects. north and south korea traded fire today. it started when they fired 30 artillery rounds over the sea. south korea -- the south says it responded with 100 shots into the air. north korea says the artillery fire was part of an annual military drill. no injuries or damage. a 4-year-old boy was almost

out of the costly medicine that keeps him alive. >> nathan doesn't have a choice and this situation, he has to have these things or he'll get really sick. >> with his life on the line, his mom turned to the kindness of strangers on the internet for help. it's new for you in 20 minutes. an ex-nba player and espn columnist slammed the people of haiti and is blaming them for the crisis. rafer you have to let me know what's going on here. >> oh, my goodness. i wish i knew what was going on. there's no argument of this was taken out of context. we're going to show you the letter he wrote. paul shirley is his name. he writes a column for espn.com. he's not sending a dime to haiti because they are to blame for the conditions in which they live.

in a letter he posted, he says dear haitians. kudos to developing the poorest country. >> oh, my gosh. >> folks, natural disasters destroyed haiti. he's blaming them because they live in poverty. he was just try iing to make people think. think what sfwh. >> maybe one of the most disturbing things is he signed it, the rest of the world. >> that is offensive. thanks for pointing that out. cbs is responding to an ad they are refusing to play. they say it will have an antiabortion message. they eased restrictions and

would consider responsibly produced ones. in 2004, they refused to air an ad by peta. that's a look at sports. >> thank you. an 11-year-old boy crashed into cars after police say he took his aunt's suv on a joyride. he took the car because he was upset about being suspended from school. at first, he hit a pick-up. >> i was getting my haircut. i seen out of the corner of my eye this truck hit that gray truck and knocked it on the sidewalk. >> he then hit a car head on with people inside. that ended the joyride. we don't know if anyone was hurt. >> so, let me get this straight. you get in trouble at school, because you were suspended, you get the car and show everybody. >> i'll show you what trouble is. >> yeah. >> i don't think time-out is going to work on this kid. >> no.

hi, there. >> good morning. better travel than yesterday. snow around the great lakes. de-icing in buffalo. here are the great lakes. michigan and huron and erie and ontario, lake-effect snow. that's a major streamer. it's not only that, but the wind. let's see the wind-related delays. chicago, a little light snow in there. detroit, snow and wind, also. cleveland, snow and wind. west, salt lake city light snow. las vegas rain and clouds. san francisco morning fog. delay around 45 minutes in san francisco. what about the winter storm for the plains in the midwest. >> thank you. i was fixing my pony. i think i can only do the news like this. >> i like the b-52 look, you know. pants on the ground.

pants on the ground. now, it seems everyone has their own version. president obama's first state of the union speech is tonight. what it says about money for your child's education. 

the world's biggest car maker has stopped selling some of its most popular cars. it's another step following the massive recall because of concern the gas pedals might stick. to find out what to do if your toyota suddenly accelerates, go to cnn.com/robin. hundred dollars of legal medical marijuana centers may have to close. they decided to limit the number of pot clinics to 70. they are regulating the location to keep them away from schools and parks. california is one of 14 states that allow medical marijuana.

more think the stimulus bill hurt your community than helped it. a cnn research poll finds that one in four people found the nearly trillion dollar legislation helped people in their neighborhood. one in three said it hurt. another 45% said they saw no effect. those are some of our headlines we are following this morning for you. good morning, i'm robin meade. hope you are doing well, sunshine. do you remember the conservative activist who posed as a pimp? james o'keefe is facing charges in an alleged phone scheme. he's one of four men accused of tampering with phones at a u.s. senator's office. richard lui has more. they know it's the same guy? >> he's being charged with it. the fbi is saying o'keefe and three others admitted their roles in mary landrieu's office

in new orleans. a motive is unclear. o'keefe embarrassed a.c.o.r.n. when he posed at a pimp. he said, quote, the truth shall set me free. yesterday, after he got out of jail, he said that. there's robert flanigan, he's the son of an attorney in louisiana. robert flanigan blasted landrieu in the past for her vote supporting the health care reform bill. >> sfwresing. >> yes. >> what are their attorneys saying? >> one says it was quote, poor judgment. he doesn't believe there was an intent to commit a crime. >> the others refuse to tell reporters how he got involved in the case. he also says, he has no idea who is paying for his services. >> uh-ha. okay. to be continued. >> yes. >> thank you so much.

president obama want as big boost in education spending. it will not be part of the spending freeze he's expected to announce. senior administration officials say he will call for a $4 billion increase in federal funding. a big chunk of the money gos to a grant program aimed at sparking invasion at schools. what do you want the president to talk about in the state of the union tonight? will wants to hear the president is focusing on creating jobs. when jobs are created opportunity to health care benefits are open. >> lisa wants an explanation of how the stimulus money can be spent and create jobs. go to cnn.com to send us messages through facebook or e-mail us. we have an update on one of the amazing children. this 5-year-old was trapped in

the rubble for eight days. his parents were killed. an aunt in florida is offering to adopt him. she's sad his parents died. she feels good because he survived. of course, you know that adoptions take years. it's not something that can happen immediately, as far as i know. wouldn't that be nice to have him have a good life? >> yeah. indeed. no doubt. >> what is that? i don't mean bob. >> for once, the map is uglier than i am. the winter storm watch is in white. the warnings are central oklahoma, the red-shaded counties. it's going to start tomorrow morning and end up friday. starts tomorrow as rain and freezing rain, mixes with sleet. overnight, a foot or more of snow from north oklahoma city on top of the ice stretching to tulsa, arkansas, missouri and

the western parts of tennessee. that looks like tomorrow. let me show you the beginning stages. it's an upper level low around california. all the blue is all rain. the white shaded areas is the snow coming down. that southwestern sections of utah and sierra nevada. we had snow across california. let's show you the sierra snow. look at this. piling up. storm after storm in this area, outside of tahoe. you are going to continue to see more snow coming in the middle part of next week. how about the rain potential over the next couple days? this is all liquid presip. it's not rain. it's rain mixing with freezing rain and switching to snow. you can see the bulls eye at oklahoma city. it's three inches of rain. it's about a half inch of freezing rain and a foot or more of snow. power autoages, we will see and lasting through the weekend as the wind picks up. snow, we have the lake-effect

stuff. detroit, a breezy day. it's still dark. you are going to get bumped around flying into detroit or chicago and cleveland. we'll talk about that in a couple minutes. >> i feel cold already. a mom having trouble pay in for her son's medicine is getting help from strangers on facebook. he has cystic fibrosis. they are going to have to pay $2600 out of pocket for his medicine. after mom went on facebook, people from across the country started sending money and medicine. >> i vented about it because i was so upset and frustrated. i didn't know what to do. >> if you want to find out more about the story or how to help nathan, go to cnn.com/robin. apple is about to unveil its

newest high-tech toy. new orleans and indy is gearing up for the super bowl.

the lab tech charged with murdering annie lay pleaded not guilty. they added a felony murder charge. they means they don't have to prove the killing was intentional. he strangled her and hid her body behind a wall in september. she was found on what was supposed to be her wedding day. time to clear out the garage

and sell, sell, sell. the auction sight ebay is cutting its prices. jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. cutting the prices for sellers or buyers? >> cutting the price if you want to sell something. if you are looking to raise cash, maybe you have great grandma's dish set in the attic, silverware, music equipment getting dusty. it will cost less to sell it. they are eliminating some of the fees. this is for people like you and me who want to get rid of something and get a little money. you can list up to 100 items a month for free now. you have to list them at low prices. they are trying to encourage auction-style bidding. apple is going to unveil the new creation. supposedly, the tablet. steve jobs there, himself.

despite secret si on apple's part, it's going to be a little computer, a tablet. they think it will have a ten inch screen, a cross between the iphone and a full scale laptop. you can play games, take it when you travel. >> i wonder what will be left out. what it won't be able to do. it will be interesting. >> there's usually something beyond what we think it is. it's a showstopper that makes you say cool. >> what time today? >> i think around 1:00. >> thank you very much. are you hungry for something sweet? we have aom can satisfy your craving in small business success. our number one product is the chewy pecan pray lean. >> the family business was gambled away in the late 1800s. >> my grandmother and her family was hesitant to make it

well-known it was lost in a poker game. >> reporter: the fifth generation of the family attributes the success to less gambling and more planning. >> we are a conservative growth company. >> reporter: they make candy in austin and sells it in their six texas shops. it's also available online and stores across the country. sometimes the family name isn't on the box. >> we have some private labelers that do a very nice business with their name on it. >> reporter: the company's been hit by the not so sweet economy, but the candy business has its advantages. they say candy is recession proof. we are not recession proof, but resistant. >> if you are a small business owner, we would like to see your business. go to cnn.com/robin.

president obama had two things to say to the number one college basketball team. he gave them a big thank you. the team apparently ignored a big piece of advice. then, a jewel thief is having her life story turned into a movie. the film may need a new ending. ♪ this life ain't good enough ♪ i would give my world to lift you up ♪

all righty, a look at the headlines this morning for you in the papers. "the washington post" takes a deep look into st u.s. military opes in yemen. they are giving tactics to forces battling al qaeda. senior officials say it began before the christmas plane

attack. the houston chronicle looks at what nasa can expect from tonight's state of the union. they are not expecting new money or missions. analysts say it may mean nasa has to ditch human space flight. "the new york times" looks at radiation treatment for cancer. safeguards to prevent overradiation lag. that's a check at the papers. if you have to fly through the midwest, today is a better day than yesterday. >> yeah. major ice storm and snowstorm in oklahoma. that's tomorrow morning. today, a bit better for you. the great lakes still encountering the wind. it's going to be gusty. watching for delays in chicago. about a half hour delay, light snow in chicago. it's midway and o'hare. detroit, a half hour delay. salt lake city 30 minute delays.

san francisco, somewhere between a half hour and hour delay because of the morning fog. more details on the inter weather in a couple minutes. tracey ullman was on the "joy behar show" she said the fun is make iing fun of someone else. >> i had curly hair as a kid. >> so, are you straightening it now? >> of course. i was defensive against the insults. that's one of the things you do with comedy. >> i was told i look like a troll by my uncles. it's fair enough. you have to laugh at yourself in my family. >> were your parents funny? >> yeah. my sister was gorgeous and funny. i was the troll. >> she does look like she has a bump in her hair today. >> wow. >> i can't look at her without

saying. ♪ they don't know about us ♪ they never heart about love. remember that? >> yeah, it was great. the president called the top ranked basketball team to thank them for helping the people of haiti. he also gave them some advice. here is rafer with more on that. did they take the advice? >> they did not take the advice. kentucky's basketball team raised about $1 million for the victims in haiti. they were number one in the country. the president said great job on the haitian effort. you are number one, be careful. >> there's that tendency when you get to be number one to start letting down a little bit, you know. you guys stay focused. i expect to see you guys in the championship game at some point. >> what do they do? they let their guard down. they lost a stunner. i mean a stunner to unranked

south carolina. it was the first time south carolina ever beat a number one ranked team. >> wow. >> look at how they reacted in columbia. the fans stormed the court in celebration. american skiing icon body miller will trade in his skied. he will attempt to qualify for the tennis u.s. open for the playoff system announced by the us. he was a champion in high school. his parents own a tennis camp in new hampshire. new orleans made their wages on the super bowl. if the colts win, the mayor will ship shrimp cocktail with plenty of horse radish . if the saints lose, he will give up compact disks. >> what's with the shrimp

cocktail? >> there's a restaurant with the best shrimp they are not getting the shrimp from lake michigan. it's really good. >> look at you. a former aide to john edwards apparently has quite the story to tell. new for you in the next 20 minutes, what the aide says in his new book, what he says about edwards thinking about leaving his dying wife and a possible sex tape. are you looking for music downloads that are legally free? hln money expert clark howard tells you where to find them. >> okay. i'm cheap, and i will not spend one dollar to get a song, and if you go to the itunes store that apple has, now the songs run at different prices, but generally, typically a buck a download. too rich for my blood. at the same time, i'm not comfortable at all and have never stolen music which is so

easy to do. so what's a cheap skate like me to do? what if there was a music service you could use that was free and the way it was paid for was with ads. people have been talking about that for years. now there's one that is in the process of launching in the united states. go sign up and when they have room for you, they'll give you an invite. i've already signed up. i'm waiting for my turn. it's called free all music.com. you go to that, do a quick registration. when they're willing to have you, you get music my price. free. i'm clark howard. for more money saving tips, check out cnn.com/clark howard. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. that's why we love him on saturdays and sundays at noon. a 3-year-old is a hero today for saving his grandmother and it's all because of something his mom taught him less than a week ago.

good morning. i think i hear your alarm clock. could you get that already? i'm robin meade. morning, sunshine. toyota won't even sell you those cars and trucks that are under a massive recall. remember the gas pedal could stick? what do you do if it happens while you're driving. also chaos in lines of people in haiti looking for food. you can see pepper spray was being used on these poor people. there is some possible dirt coming out about john edwards in a tell all book, including a former aide saying edwards may have been planning to leave his wife. you want to talk about an about face. this morning toyota has stopped selling any of its models that are part of last week's recall concerning gas pedals and

stopping production at six plants. it comes one day after toyota said it would keep on making the models involved in the recall because they're safe. >> we were trying to buy a toyota, he says they can't sell it to you because of the pedal. >> toyota has done the right thing and have done this voluntarily. their track record of safety and reliability speaks for itself. say you own a recalled toyota and there's no fix to the problem yet of the pedal. we do know that. how do you protect yourself if suddenly your car speeds out of control? jennifer westhoven has that angle for you? >> we know that some people have died in fiery crashes that have been linked to this. it's very rare for this to happen, but what do you do. first, brakes. toyota says use both feet on the brake, push it hard and hold it down. do not pump your brake or you will lose power. if that doesn't work, brakes, then try neutral, shifting into

neutral and let your car slow down. if you can't do that, some people say they couldn't get it into neutral, turn off the engine. you can try to turn the key off. don't pull it out. you'll lose the steering. turn it to off. if you got a start/stop button. hold that down for three seconds. maybe count to five because in a situation like that, you're going to be counting fast. hold it down. brakes, neutral, turn the engine off are your three steps to go to. it's a drastic move for toyota to recall these recalls. the camry, the highlander. 57% of its sales, all of these vehicles were made in the usa. you want to know if your car is affected, we have got the makes and models on the website. cnn.com/robin. >> are they looking for something to remedy the situation?

>> of course. they don't know what's wrong right now. remember they thought it was the floor mats? it's not. if it's the design, this is going to be a very expensive problem to fix. >> jen, thank you. president obama and his team are putting the finishing touches on his first state of the union address. one thing you can expect, administration officials say the president will announce that he's freezing the salaries and bonuses of top white house officials and political appointees. cut backs are expected to be a huge theme in tonight's speech. we told you how the president is calling for a three year spending freeze for a wide range of domestic programs, even his own party seems divided about that idea. >> you don't get the economy on track by, you know, cutting spending on programs that are putting people to work on infrastructure. >> the freeze will be a constraint, but i think most of the members to which you refer

understand that they're public and they are committed to fiscal balance in the long term. what topics do you want the president to talk about in tonight's state of the union address? tell me. steve said i hope the president will focus on job creation. i have been out of work for over three years and as an mba with over 14 years experience, this is getting ridiculous. kenneth writes, i want obama to admit that he lied to the american people and tell us what he really meant by change. you can be straightforward with your opinions. no matter what it is, go to cnn.com/robin. hit the contact us button to send an e-mail. hit the facebook icon if you want to make a comment. thousands of haitians desperate for food were met with pepper spray instead.

that's just a pitiful site. that was the scene when two trucks of rice arrived at a distribution point. brazilian peacekeepers say pepper spray is the only way to keep people from trampling each other. you can understand why people push and shove to get food. many say they only eat once every three days. crews have brought in equipment to clear out the rubble of the hotel montana. that is where as many as 17 americans are still missing. that includes richard bruno, an assistant professor at lynn university. his daughter told anderson cooper how she wants him to be remembered. >> he's a wonderful person. all he wanted to do was make people happy and help people. that's what he did his entire life, up until the day that this earthquake happened. he was helping people and helping and teaching. i just want the world to know what a wonderful man my father

was. >> four lynn university students are also missing. the school president plans to make a statement this morning. the estranged husband of a woman found beaten to death in oklahoma has been charged with her murder. he is also charged with kidnapping her daughter. hobbs body was discovered inside also ter hobbs' motor home. he was last seen driving his wife's toyota. a former aide to john edwards says you john edwards was thinking about leaving his ill wife. he says john edwards promise today take care of him if he helped cover up his affair so his wife elizabeth wouldn't know about it. young also talks about finding a video showing edwards and his naked mistress. edwards' camp has not commented. doesn't get any better over there.

okay. six minutes past the hour. a winter storm is what bob has his eye on for tomorrow. he's kind of telling you about that but also what's going on out there today? >> the setup is going to be for a major ice storm turning into snow in central oklahoma, lower arkansas and kansas and texas. even new mexico you're going to get a taste of that. the cold front, behind it the temperatures are extremely cold. the cold air racing down the plains and also notice the low pressure region across southern california. that's going to be a heavy rain maker. that's going to pull into the plains overnight tonight, tomorrow into friday. throwing rain, sleet and snow, freezing rain also. winter storm watch is the areas shaded in white. we're talking about a major winter storm. pulling out of the las vegas metro area through the phoenix area, ultimately, the next 48

hours, throwing the liquid equivalent, in northern oklahoma and northern texas. that's about a half inch to freezing rain in central oklahoma turning into all snow. so you can see 6 to 12 inches on top of that. the wind picks up, trees are going to come down, power outages i'm afraid. oklahoma through lower parts of kansas, arkansas and lower missouri too. that's what we're looking at tomorrow. today it's all lake effect snow. it is heavy especially north of syracuse. when you see one single band coming through, over a foot of snow a good possibility mainly around i-81, north of syracuse. one steamer coming off of lake ontario. across western pa you can it's light snow around buffalo. they are deicing at the airport, same with pittsburgh, short delays because of this. new york city, decent day, 31 degrees currently up to about 41. that's a nice look at the sun

coming up to the east. 41 degrees today, light rain a possibility overnight tonight through tomorrow. today looks pretty good. more on that in a little bit. >> thank you. is jennifer making a remark to us? >> she always is. she's like the peanut gallery over there. >> what did you say? >> i'm thinking about pie. >> i love it. i love her. >> just think about pie. it will be all right. >> four people are accused of trying to -- i'm thinking about pie too. four people are accused of trying to tamper with a u.s. senator's phone and you know what? you may have seen one of these guys before. remember this rescue of a 5-year-old who lost his parents in haiti's earthquake, the sad story may get a happy ending.

our salute today is for sergeant eric breuker. he deployed to afghanistan three days after his youngest daughter was born. his older daughter can't wait for them to come home to drink chocolate milk together. there's a difference. the salute was done using skype. >> good morning, robin. we would like to salute my husband and daddy, sergeant eric breuker who is serving in afghanistan right now. we love him so much. >> love you daddy. >> i love you eric. >> i think even the baby tried to talk there. how adorable is that little girl. if you have somebody in the service, i would love to see your skype salute. do you remember the conservative activist who posed as a pimp and made controversial undercover videos at acorn. james o'keefe is one of four men

charged with trying to tamper with phones at a u.s. senator's office. richard lui has more on that. what is going on? >> robin, you know the details from the fbi may sound like a broad daylight farce here and o'keefe sat there recording it with his cell phone all the while sitting in the senator's office. this is the way the fbi says it goes. the two men posing as phone repair men come into senator landrieu's office wearing tool belts. they test one of the phones, call it using their cell phone and say the main phone system needs repair. when they get to the maybe phone system, an employee there asked for credentials they say they left it in their car. >> so what punishment could these guys face this they're found guilty? this is a federal office? >> possibly up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, this because they allegedly tried to interfere with the office's telephone system on federal

property. also, a federal law enforcement official told the associated press one suspect was found in a car a couple blocks away with a listening device. that's part of that. and the louisiana democrat party chair reacting to this and he's angry, calling this a "water gate like break in and attempted wire tapping." >> the four suspects posted bond. you'll hear more in 30. >> one pern says they look like a skit out of snl. had the part going on. >> all the details lead it that way. >> thank you. what is your share of the federal budget deficit. $4500. that's $4500 for every person, for your spouse, for your child, everybody else in america. jennifer westhoven wants to start you out on a grouchy note today. the politicians are taking notice of the deficit numbers? >> they are. behind this story, we have a good one so stay tuned.

drama in washington over budget. at least there's drama. often you get -- seems like they are ignoring the deficit. but a plan was put together to set up a powerful task force to take on the deficit and it was rejected, from both sides. republicans said this could force tax hikes. we don't want it. some democrats argued this could force cuts in social security and medicare. we don't want it. so we'll see what happens there. the white house is expected to set up a deficit panel, but since it's not cross, it's not going to have any teeth. here comes something good. while politicians talk, some of you guys are doing something. more of you, more than 64 million americans used your free time to help people around you in the latest year. more volunteering. that is good news in a bad economy. some people say if people can't give cash, they're giving time instead. that makes a big difference. a million and a half more people

compared to last year pitched in to help, either raising money, building homes, habitat for humanity, tutoring kids. employees at whole foods who weigh less are going to pay less. people who work at whole foods, they already get a 20% employee discount, they can get another 10% on top of that if they don't smoke and they meet certain goals for weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. i guess that's kind of an incentive, but also maybe makes you feel like what if you can't hit those? >> it's a goal to work for at the very least. >> you still get 20% off. >> not bad. good morning. let me show you what's going on on saber flight explorer. main thing i'm watching is deicing delays, around buffalo and pittsburgh. all the great lakes getting lake effect snow. there's also wind there. we're going to see wind related delays. chicago metro, midway and o'hare

could see a half hour delay because of the light wind. detroit looking at snow and wind, cleveland, same thing, salt lake city is going to be light snow and las vegas and phoenix, showers, san francisco, you're going to get the fog. coming up there later on. that's what it looks like with the bay bridge. more details in about a half hour. singer katy perry gave her two cents on last night's americanite doll. plus a lot of athletes have stepped up to help haiti, but one former nba player is blaming the disaster on the people who live there.

♪ we have an update this morning on one of the amazing children in haiti we have been telling you about. 5-year-old monley was saved last week after being trapped for eight days in the rubble. his parents were killed in the quake. now an aunt in florida is offering to adopt him. she feels good because he survived. police used a pit maneuver to end a high speed chase in an oklahoma neighborhood. the woman took off because she had a suspended license. she had a dog in there with her. police say they're investigating whether the suv is connected to a recent trailer theft.

an exkx-nba player slammed e haiti people. you are not going to believe this. >> the thing that's most indefensible about this guy's point is he is blaming them for the crisis. paul shirley writes a column for espn.com. their abject poverty, he says dear haitians, first of all kudos on developing the poorest country in the western hemisphere. your commitment to human rights, infrastructure and birth control should be applauded. could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shack towns and could maybe some of you use a condom once in a while and signs it the rest of the world. >> don't be speaking for the rest of the world.

>> their poverty is so bad, so here's the deal, if your house burns to the ground, you're to blame for it so we should have no sympathy for the people who lost their homes in arkansas, nope, it's your fault? he did tweet on his twitter page he was making people think. president obama called the kentucky basketball team to thank him for raising money. he said now that you're number one, be careful, don't let up, and therefore, kentucky is our true champion of the week. that is our look at sports. >> thank you. really. >> really, thank you. >> what are we doing right now?

all right. the world's biggest car maker has stopped selling some of its most popular cars. toyota made that announcement yesterday. it is another step following last week's massive recall because of concerns that some gas pedals may stick. to find out what you should do if your toyota suddenly accelerates, go to the important website section. hundreds of legal medical marijuana clinics in l.a. may have to close. in a controversial move, the city council voted to limit the number of pot clinics to 70. it is also regulating their location to keep them away from schools and parks. california is one of 14 states that allows medical marijuana. a severely dehydrated man was pulled from the rubble in haiti yesterday. it's not clear if he was trapped

in the original quake or an aftershock. the man says he survived 14 days byings rationing water from a two gallon jug. doctors have not been able to verify that story with a blood test. those are some of the headlines. the good thing is he's alive. good morning and welcome back. i'm robin meade. it's wednesday. you have just as far as you have already gone this week. do you remember the conservative activist who posed as a pimp at acorn, the community organizing group. james o'keefe is one of four men charged with trying to tamper with the phones at a u.s. senator's office. richard lui has more. you know what? this also involved dressup. >> it did. it did involve dress up. they were wearing vests as well as tool belts. o'keefe and three others admitting their roles we were describing in the operation at democrat senator mary landrieu's

office. 0 keep embarrassed acorn when he posed as a pimp and asked for advice on setting up a brothel. o'keefe said the truth shall set me free. suspect robert flanagan is a son of an acting u.s. attorney in louisiana. his father's office had no comment. robert flanagan blasted landrieu in the past for her vote supporting the health care reform bill. >> you know, what are their attorneys saying? >> flanagan's attorney says, "it was poor judgment, but he doesn't believe there was any intent to commit a crime. the attorneys for o'keefe and the other two suspects refuses to tell us how he got involved in the case. he has no idea who is paying for his services. >> that's really interesting. aren't -- what are they calling it? the water gate of louisiana. >> the water gate of louisiana. >> thank you so much. tonight president obama is expected to talk more about his

proposed three year spending freeze on a wide range of domestic programs. does that contradict, in your opinion, with what he said on the campaign trail? listen to what then senator obama said during a debate with senator john mccain. >> the problem with the spending freeze is you're using a hatchet when you need a scalpel. there are programs that are currently underfunded. i want to increase early childhood education and the notion that we should freeze that when there may be, for example, this medicare subsidy, i don't think makes sense. >> president obama is expected to announce a $4 billion increase in education funding tonight. the who is budget director explained how the president is not taking a hatchet to all government programs. >> we are using a scalpel. this has taken months to put together. the total spending for nonsecurity agencies is capped, but some agencies are going up and some are going down. it's not like every single agency is frozen.

this is not a hatchet. it is a scalpel. >> what topics do you want the president to talk about in tonight's state of the union address. row sung visited our page and said i would like to hear more about the condition of the war in afghanistan. randy says listen to what the people want not a continuation of his social activist and beliefs. we don't change what you type on there. you're giving your opinion. your opinion may differ greatly from what randy just wrote. go to cnn.com/robin. hilt the contact us or facebook button if you want to it talk with your fellow viewers. >> the lab tech charged with murdering yale grad student annie le pleaded not guilty. prosecutors added a felony murder charge. that means they don't have to prove that the killing was intentional. clark is accused of strangening le and hiding her body behind a

wall in the lab. she was found on what was supposed to be her wedding day. some people in california are concerned that their homes could collapse right into the ocean. check out this before and after. that is how much land beach erosion ate away in less than two weeks. there is an entire apartment complex near there. a nearby building is already evacuated because the erosion practically left it hanging on the cliff. 35 minutes past the hour. we're going to look forward in weather and tell you about a storm that's coming tomorrow. that's for the midwest but what about today? here is bob. >> good morning. this weather brought to you by tylenol flu. plenty to talk about in the weather. most of the winter weather is going to fall tomorrow. the beginning stages of it right now. here's your cold froonlt. it's an arctic boundary, behind it temperatures are in single digits. wind chill values minus 20.

there'sed cold air. big disturbance going to get it together later this afternoon. starts out at light rain and changes to freezing rain and sleet and over to all snow for just about everything shaded in red. oklahoma city, you have a winter storm warning. let me show you what it looks like right now. today, you don't know it's winter. your high today, 55 degrees. cold front goes by, by tomorrow afternoon, temperatures falling to the mid to low 20s. you're going to start out with light rain mixing with freezing rain and heavy freezing rain all day tomorrow into sleet, ultimately snow by midnight, that snow on top of the freezing rain could amount to 6 to 12 inches. power outages are going to be out there, not only freezing rain, but the wind is going to be there. you have the ice on top of the trees, the wind comes by and knocks the trees down. power outages all the areas around kansas and new mexico,

oklahoma and texas. look at all the rain. this is the liquid equivalent over the next 48 hours. the red shaded bull's eye. that's 3 inches. that's half inch to three quarters of an inch of icing. that's what it looks like tomorrow. lake effect snow is all we have to watch for the great lakes today. that's it. more on that coming up in about a half hour. a 15-year-old boy is accused of raping an autistic woman. why some people are criticizing the person who called for help. facebook is great for keeping connected to your friends and family, but one mom said it also helped her sick son.

good morning. that was a bad accent. i don't know what that was. i'm robin meade. welcome and you know what, let's look at the papers for you. "the washington post" takes a deep look into the u.s. military ops in yemen. it says the u.s. is giving weapons, intelligence and tactics to yemen forces battling al qaeda. senior administration officials say it began before the christmas plane attack. the houston chronicle looks at what hometown based nasa can expect. the space agency is not expecting new money or missions. an analyst says this may mean nasa may have to stop sending people to space. "the new york times" takes a look at radiation treatments for cancer. as new ones are are developed sometimes the safe guards to

prevent overradiation lag. a mother who was having trouble paying for her son's medications is getting help from people she never even met on facebook. nathan has cystic fibrosis. his parents hit a snab with their prescription insurance. they would have to pay $2600 out-of-pocket for his medicine. after mom went on facebook, people from across the country started sending money and medicine. >> i vented about this situation because i was so upset and frustrated. i didn't know what to do. if you want to find out more about this story or how you can help nathan, go to cnn.com/robin and scroll down to the important website section. you. you've been sitting there going i'm going to get on ebay and become a seller. it's been years you have been saying that. now might be the time because ebay is cutting its prices, meaning for you to be the

seller. >> thanks, robin. it's easy to do if you ever want to try it, but also now it's going to cost you less. maybe you've got some stuff squirrelled away in the attic. great grandma's silverware. it is going to cost you less if you want to sell it. they're eliminating listing fees for occasional sellers. not people who have stores on ebay. you can list up to 100 items a month for free. it used to be only five items a month. you do have to list them at low prices. one of the things ebay wants to do not only to get you selling but to get people buys is to have lots of those furious auctions going on. some more job cuts to tell you about, the country's largest cell phone carrier is cutting 13,000 jobs. verizon. a lot of people are cutting their land lines and going with

cell phones only. verizon cut 17,000 jobs this year. i think it's a sign that the troubles in the job market are not yet over. in just a few hours, we are going to find out apple's latest creation. steve jobs expected to make the announcement in his trademark black turtdle neck and jeans. the betting is some kind of an apple tablet, kind of a cross between an iphone and a regular laptop, ten inch touch screen. there are a lot of stories that say this is going to change the face of publishing and this is going to kill that kindle. why would you read your book on a kindle if you had something that did it all. >> one of those multi devices. interesting that's at 1:00 p.m. today. tracey ullman was on "the joy behar show." part of this was about comedy. >> i had very curlily hair.

>> so your straightening it now. >> so i was defensive against the insults. that's one of the things you do with comedy? >> i was told i look like a troll by my uncles. they still say i look like a troll. that's what makes me laugh. they say you might be successful but you still look like a troll. >> were your parents funny? >> my whole family is funny. my sister looks like the playboy bunny, i was the little troll one that make people laugh. >> catch "the joy behar show" tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. tracey ullman is so talenteded. police believe they found the remains of a college student. 20-year-old morgan harrington was last seen october 17 at the arena in sharlts vil, virginia. yesterday a farmer who lives ten miles from there found a body on his property. harrington's mother is speaking out about the likelihood that her daughter will not come home alive.

you know, we just told you that police are pretty sure they found the body of a missing virginia tech student. here's what morgan harrington's

mother had to say right after she got the news. >> i was hoping we would find her alive, but at least we won't always be wondering for a lifetime. i don't know. i'm still trying to wrap my mind around this. police say the spot where the body was found was not part of their searches over the last three months. they have not named any suspects. there is a report out that says that tiger woods' wife elin wants to save their marriage. that's different from what we heard before. >> it is. we keep hearing all kinds of conflicting reports. this one according to people magazine claims a source told them elin does want to save her marriage to tiger even if they live together as frebldss and not lovers. the reason they say is elin is a child of divorce herself and according to the source does not want to do that to her kids. tiger too wants to do whatever it takes to save his marriage. cnn has not confirmed the report

and we have reached out to reps and we are waiting to hear back. president obama called kentucky's topped ranked basketball team to thank them for raising a million bucks for haiti. before playing unranked south carolina, the president said guyses, you're number one, don't let up. >> there is the tendency, once you begin to be number one, you start letting down a little bit, you know, and it's a tough place to play, so you got to stay focused. i expect to see you guys in the championship game at some point. >> but they did not heed his advice. the wild cats lost a stunner to the game cox. it's the first time south carolina had beaten a top ranked team. look at the fan reaction as they stormed the court. pandemonium in columbia niechlt. the mayors of indianapolis and new orleans have made their

wag wagers. indianapolis indianapolis will send shrimp cocktail, and ray nagin will send jazz cds. there is a restaurant in indianapolis called st. elmo's steak house, the best shrimp cocktail you will ever have. it's the only appetizer they have. >> you have been there? >> i got to stick up for indianapolis. >> a lot of people do not. a lot of e-mails going what? >> one guy was caught trying to board a plane with lizards in his pants. we're talking about dozens of them stashed in his drawers. he's not some whack o you're going to hear why he tried to do this. an international jewel thief whose life story inspired a movie starring halle berry is behind bars. doris payne has a 50 year history of arrests and

convictions for stealing diamond rings around the arrested in o county, california, last week for allegedly trying to steal a $1300 burberry coat. >> she was observed by store security removing the security tags from the trench coat. she then put the coat on as if it were her own and walked out of the store without paying for it. >> payne has pleaded not guilty. >> are you looking for some music downloads that are free legally? hln expert clark howard tell it is you where to find them. >> okay. i'm cheap, and i will not spend $1 to get a song, and if you go to the itunes store that apple has, now the songs run at different prices, but generally, typically a buck a download. too rich for my blood and at the same time i'm not comfortable at all and have never stolen music,

which is so easy to do. so what's a cheapskate like me to do? what if there was a music service you could use that was free and the way it was paid for wfs ads? people have been talking about that for years and now there's one that's in the process of launching in the united states. when they have room for you, they'll give you an invite to do this. i've signed up and i'm waiting for my turn. it's called free all music.com. if you go online and do a quick registration and when they're willing to have you, you get music, my price. free. i'm clark howard. for more money-saving tips check out cnn.com/clark howard. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on sides and sundays on hln. a 3-year-old is a hero today for saving his grandmother and it's all because of something his mom taught him just in the last week. erererererererererererererr

good morning. let me just kind of move my way into your breakfast table this into your breakfast table this morning. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm robin meade. you won't be able to buy toyota's cars and trucks. the recall involves the problems with the gas pedal. what you have to do if the gas pedal det approximates stuck in the car you do own. there could be a break in the case of a woman last seen at a metallica concert. why a body could be morgan harrington. what what we are learning about pope john paul ii and what he did to get closer to god and why the late pope deserved to be a saint. first, though, this morning, do not try to buy a brand new toyota camry or rav4, toyota will not sell you one.

the world's number one carmaker has stopped selling eight models that are part of a recall concerning gas p/eedals. the company is stopping production even at six plants. it comes one day after toyota said that it would keep on making the cars involved in the recall because they're safe. >> we were trying to buy a toyota and he said we can't sell it to you because of the pedal. >> toyota has done the right thing and has stepped forward here and done this voluntarily and their track record of safety and reliability speaks for itself. >> so say you own one of these recalled toyotas and they don't have a fix yet for the problem, how do you protect yourself if, say, your car suddenly speeds out of control. here's jennifer west hoef tone walk you through this. >> good morning, thanks, rob in. this is important to remember if you drive one of these cars. people have died that suddenly sped up and couldn't control them at all. the first thing is to use your

brakes take both your feet and push it hard, push it to the floor and don't pump the brake or you'll lose power there. >> try to get your car to neutral and coast over to the side. if that doesn't work, in some cases it hasn't. turn off the engine, if you pull it out you will lose your steering f you have a stop/start button, hold it down and they say to hold it down. don't be like the people in the elevator. in a situation like that you'll count fast. these are of toyota's biggest and best-sellers, the kroeta, the highlander, 57% of all its sales. all of them made in the usa. maybe a little bit like the old tylenol scare, robin where they're trying to say we care about your safety. we've got everything you need to know on our website,

cnn.com/robin. they're looking out for you. thousands of haitians desperate for food were met with pepper spray instead. i mean, the poor people, that was the scene when trucks of rice arrived in port-au-prince. brazilian peacekeepers is pepper spray is the only way to keep people from trampling each other. many people say they only eat once every three days. meanwhile, the crews have brought in heavy equipment to stop clearing the rubble at the hotel montana. that is where as many as 17 americans are still missing. that includes 59-year-old richard bruno, an assistant professor from florida. his daughter told anderson cooper last night how she wants him to be remembered. >> he's a wonderful person. all he wanted to do was make

people happy and help people and that's what he did his entire life up until the day that this earthquake happened. he was helping people and helping and teaching, and i just want the world to know what a wonderful man my father was. >> four lynn university students are still missing. the president will mach a statement this morning. president obama in his first state of the union address tonight. administration officials say the president will announce he's freezing the bonuses of top white house political appointees. we heard about the kind of tone that president obama needs to strike tonight. >> he's got to make himself tonight seem more of a middle-class american president and not a president who saved wall street in their moment of dire need. >> cutbacks are expected to be a huge theme in tonight's speech at 9:00 eastern. the president is also expected to call for a three-year spending freeze for a wide range

of domestic programs, but what topics do you want the president to talk about in tonight's state of the union. >> timothy writes, i want the president to say he's not going to raise the taxes, not going to grow the government and not going to run for re-election. the single thing i do want want to hear tonight is that the state of the union is strong or that it's good. it is most certainly not strong or good, mr. president. go to cnn.com/robin and click on the contact us button to send an e-mail. go to the facebook page, too, where you can see what your fellow viewers are writing and write your comment as well. by the way, we welcome everyone's opinion. >> police believe they've found the remains of a college student who disappeared at a metallica concert. morgan harrington was last seen at the arena in charlottesville, virginia. yesterday a farmer who lives ten miles from there found the body on his property and now harrington's parents are waiting for the final autopsy results.

>> we're still kind of processing, trying to -- although we have all this time been trying to prepare ourselves for this end point. thinking you're doing and and having done it are different. >> the spot where the body was found was not part of their searches over the last three months. they've not named any suspects. a guy tried to board a plane with 44 lizards hidden in his pants. now he's going to go to jail for it. the german man got 14 months behind bars for trying to smuggle in protected species out of new zealand. he stuffed these lizards in a handmade package hidden in his undies. this was last month. some of the lizards may have been worth 3 grand each. that's not a lizard. that's just me. >> you just made me snort. >> i can't believe some people.

that was an expensive set of drawers, right? >> six minutes past the hour? do you see that? i don't mean bob, either. >> the map finally for the first couple of weeks is uglier than me. the white shaded counties and winter storm watch and the red shaded areas and the winter storm warnings, panhandle of texas and almost all of oklahoma and the watches go all of the way out through new mexico. good chunk there. we have a winter storm that's now starting to get together. arizona getting some light rain and same with the phoenix and las vegas metro area for the day and as that rain and snow slide to the east, it will encounter the very cold air mass that will set up shop. that's a map that i'm showing you right now. red is the bull's-eye and that's three and closing in on four inches of liquid precipitation. that will fall as freezing rain ask switching over to snow. when all is said and done, areas of oklahoma city through tulsa. it's about a half inch and maybe

three-quarters of an inch in rain and sleet. it's going to be a mess ask there will be plenty of power out agency starting tomorrow afternoon and lasting through the weekend. so be prepared right now if you live in any of those areas you'll see power outages and they could last a long time. it's lake-effect snow across western new york. check out what it looks off lake erie and lake ontario. you have winter storm warnings for lake effect snow. easily you get a foot when you see this. one solid foot of snow that will go right down i-81 getting in toward mansfield and boonville, too. there's your heavy snow and easily a foot or more. light snow around buffalo and you're still de-icing right here and then you see the snow pile up south of buffalo itself. look at the cold air. this is the stuff scream down into oklahoma and texas later tonight through tomorrow. 20 in omaha, 13 in pierre. take you live to d.c., the east coast looks good to travel

today. that's what it looks like. lots of sunshine, a couple of clouds streaming through, but that's it. 45, the high in washington, d.c. more on that in a bit. >> thank you. four people were arrested after allegedly dress up like phone repairmen to get into a senator's office. and you what? you may have seen one of these guys before.

all right. our salute today is for sergeant eric burker. he deployed to afghanistan three days after his youngest daughter was born. his older daughter can't wait for them to come home so they can drink chocolate milk together. look at this salute. it was done using skype. >> good morning, robin. we would like to salute my

husband and daddy, sergeant eric breuker. he's serving in afghanistan right now. we love him so much. >> love you, daddy. >> i love you, eric. >> i swear even the baby tried to say, i love you, daddy. that was the best salute. thank you very much. i'd love to see more salutes by skype. go to cnn.com/robin. remember the conservative activist who posed as a pimp and made controversial videos at a.c.o.r.n. james o'keefe is one of four men charged with trying to tamper with phones at a u.s. senator's office. they think it's the same james o'keefe, but listen to this one. >> that's right. sort of chapter two to that story posing as a pimp here, robin. it may sound like a broad daylight, he sat there recording it all in the senator's office. this is the way the fbi says it goes here, robin. two men come in posing as phone repairmen into senator

landrieu's office wearing tool belts, hard hats and vests. they test their own phone and then say the main phone system needs some repair. when they get to the main phone system, that's when the gig was up. an employee there asked for their credentials and they say, robin, that they left them in the car. >> so what punishment could these guys face if they're found guilty? you are talking about a federal office, i would imagine. >> absolutely. this is u.s. property. they could face possibly up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine related to these felony charges, this because they allegedly tried to interfere with the office's telephone system and also a federal law enforcement official told the associated press one suspect was found in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device. the louisiana party chair, he's angry calling this a quote, watergate-like break-in and attempted wire tapping, end

quote. >> richard, what a story. i suppose more to come. people want to know the motivation here. thank you. what is your share of the federal budget? it is $4500. that's $4500 for you and then one for your spouse and then another for your kids and everybody else in america. well, that will put you in a good mood, won't it? >> jennifer westhoven is here so the politicians are taking notice of these numbers. >> it looked like we were going actually get some kind of a committee that would do something about it and would have the power to be able to keep the budget more in line, but no. that was voted down in the senate. it was to set up this task force to take on the deficit. the senate rejected it and from both sides republicans argued it could force tax hikes and some dechl democrats voted against it is aing it could force cuts in social security and medicare. what's left? the white house is expected to set up a deficit panel, but it's really an advisory panel. so they'll be there, being a

watchdog, but they can't enforce anything and some attention on the deficit. a lot of people really care about it and some people say, hey, it doesn't really matter. more of you, more than 63 million americans took free time, maybe you lost your job and you took it and used it to help people around you in the latest year. that's some good news in a bad economy. maybe people who can't give cash are giving time instead. 1.5 million people pitched in. maybe you raised money for a charity and you helped build homes and this is habitat for humanity and maybe you tutored kids and collected food, but 64 million people is about one in four americans. >> all right. wah do you think about this next story? at whole foods, everybody gets a 20% discount if you work there. now employees of whole foods who weigh less are going to pay less. >> for what? >> if they meet some certain

health targets that we're talking about here. they can get another 10% off on top of the 20% discount if they don't smoke and meet certain goals for weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. >> have you ever been to whole foods? the hot bar and salad bar are so good that i would weigh more. >> if you get 20% off $20 cheese. >> all right. thank you. singer katie perry gave her two cents on last night's "american idol" auditions, but some of her harshest words for for another judge. remember the rescue of a 5-year-old who lost his parents. he may have a new permanent home.

an ex-nba player and espn.com columnist slammed the people of hate and i is apparently even blaming them for the crisis they're having right now. here's rafer wying well more on this. >> by this guy thinking the people who lost their homes in arkansas are blaming the people for having a nobody will home. >> shirley says he's not sending

a dime to the victims of plame living in their conditions. in a letter he posted, dear haitians, kudos on developing the poorest country in the western hemisphere, your commitment to human rights, infrastructure and birth control should be applauded. that, of course, is sashing asm. could you not resort sort creation of flimsy shanty and shack towns and could some of you, get this, maybe use a condom once in a while and then he signs it, the rest of the world. natural sdaft verse destroyed haiti a economy and they live in abject poverty and he was just trying to make people think. >> and then he had the guts -- or the gall to sign it for the rest of the world. >> make people think he's heartless. >> tiger woods wife elin report lead wants to save her marriage. "people" magazine reportedly told them elin is a child of divorce herself and in light of tiger's admitted transgressions does not want to raise her two kids without a father, even if

it means the couple live together as friends instead of lovers. >> wow! wow! >> cnn has not confirmed the story. lastly portland trail blazers star greg oden is apologizing for nude pictures of him surfacing on the internet with one apparently containing a shot of the man region. >> oh, no! >> he apologized to the city, team and fans. and they were taken for a lady friend. >> lady! >> do not take nude photos and put them on the internet. they will come up later. >> i wonder if he put it on the internet or if she did. >> he thinks she did. >> gotcha. it looks like wealthy people and businesses are getting a tax hike in oregon. people voted on it yesterday. it's looking like it is going to pass. this affects people who earn more than $125 grand. the state, like so many others, is dealing with major money problems. in the past voters have rejected nine sales tax measures and two

income tax measures. a new book on john paul ii -- the book reports that he forgave the man who shot him in 1981 while he was on the way to the hospital. a former aid to john edwards apparently has quite the story to tell. what the aide says in his new book about edwards thinking about leaving his sick wife.

>> the world's biggest carmaker has stopped selling some of its most popular cars. toyota made the announcement yesterday. it's another step following last week's massive recall because of concerns that some gas pedals may stick. to find out what you should do if your toyota suddenly accelerates, go to the important website section at cnn.com/robin. hundreds of legal medical marijuana clinics in l.a. may have to close. in a controversial move, state council voted dwrort limit the number of pot clinics to 70. it is also regulating their location to keep them away from schools and parks. california is one of 14 states that allow medical marijuana. sci-fi thriller "avatar" just became the highest grossing movie worldwide and raked in almost $1.9 billion in

international sales. that beat a record held by titanic made by the same director james cameron and "titanic" holds the number one spot in domestic sales. those were some of our headlines. good morning. i'm robin meade and i hope you have time for me at the breakfast table. you go ahead and let me get you informed. we have an update on the amazing children in haiti we've been telling you about. 5-year-old molly was saved last week after being trapped in the rubble for eight days. an aunt has surfaced in florida and says she wants to adopt monly and his two brothers. >> i'm sad because of my loss, because i lost my aunt, my mom's sisters, my brother and sister-in-law and i thought monley was one of them, too. right now there's three of them. when i see them, i feel good because i see their life. i have monley, you know?

i feel good. >> she says that she thought she was dreaming when she found out that monley was alive. tomorrow in florida, president obama's expected to announce plans to put the country on the fast track for a high-speed rail system. a white house official says the president wants to use $8 billion in stimulus money to build 13 high-speed rail corridors. the official said the project could create or save tens of thousands of jobs. putting americans back to work is supposed to be a big theme in the state of the union address tonight, but what do you want to hear the president say? ann says i would like to hear him say that he has a job for me. phil writes, i would like him to say that the health care bill is dead and then explain why. i don't y don't you tell me what you want the president to talk about tonight. go to cnn.com/robin and hit the contact us button to send an e-mail or go to the facebook page to write your comments and read other people's comments,

too. that's always cool. remember the conservative activist who posed as a pimp and made undercover videos at a.c.o.r.n. james o'keefe is one of four men charged with trying to tamper with the phones at a u.s. seen tor's office and, yeah, they were in costumes again, apparently. hi, richard. hey, robin. he is back. the fbi saying o'keefe ask three others, in other roles and a possible motive is unknown right now. o'keefe embarrassed a.c.o.r.n. when he posed as a pimp and asked for advice onseting up a brothel and he said the truth shall set me free after he got out of jail yesterday. we move to robert flannigan. he's a son of an acting u.s. attorney in louisiana. his father's office had no comment. robert flannigan blasted landrieu in the past for her vote supporting the health care reform bill. >> what are the attorneys saying here about what was going on?

>> robin, flannigan's attorney was saying it was poor judgment, but he doesn't believe there was any intent or motive to commit a crime. the attorney for o'keefe and the other two suspects refuse to tell reporters how he got involved in the case. that's according to affiliate wwl, he also says he has no idea who is paying for his services right now. interesting. >> yeah. this is a story they think we'll hear more about. thank you so much, richard. appreciate it. someone said it looked like a "saturday night live" skit when they showed up. >> neon vests and a belt. >> village people showed up. >> good morning. >> this weather brought to you by tylenol flu. what's the big setup? the big story weather wise is the storm taking shape in the lower part of the four corners. also, look at this cold front. extremely cold air behind that? and that's digging to south by tomorrow afternoon. once it meets up with the arctic

high you will see a lot of action, mainly in the form of freezing rain to snow. let me show you what we're talking about. this is the weather map for you tomorrow and this is what we'll wake up to. it will start out with rain and freezing rain around oklahoma city. the purple shaded areas, sections of tennessee through northern mississippi, through northern texas that is phrasing rain and sleet and by the afternoon and evening hours it changes over to all snow in the areas shaded in white. we will see 6 to 12 inches of snow in the shaded area. we have winter storm watches and warnings, watches are all in white. that's the area that you can see right there. that includes a good chunk of new mexico all of the way over toward memphis. also the areas shaded in red, that's oklahoma city and all of the way through tulsa and a good chunk of the northern part of texas and mainly around the panhandle. what's happening right now, still the stages of this winter storm is the upper level low, pulling out of california and light rain in blue and the snow is in white and the whole mass move it is over to the east and

hooks up with gulf moist sdpur then boom, you will see the rain amounts begin to soar. this is liquid equivalent. this isn't rain or snow. it's going to fall in the form of freezing rain and that can accumulate to a half inch to an inch or more. northern parts of oklahoma into tulsa and it changes over pretty quickly overnight. when you see that bull's-eye around oklahoma city, it will be freezing rain switching over to snow. that will be the major story for you tomorrow. it knox down more power lines and trees. watch for the power outages to last through the weekend. it will be a rough deal. as for what's going on today, lake-effect snow. western new york, to syracuse and north thereof. lake-effect snow near watertown. look at this one band coming up the lake and that's a good two-foot maker of snow especially on the tar heel plateau. san francisco, if you're traveling out there, so far so good, but the fog will be back

in once again this morning and calling for air travel delays and we'll talk about that, robin, at about 15 minutes. >> thank you. a 4-year-old boy who was almost out of medicine that keeps him alive, with his life on the line, his mom turned to the internet for help. plus verizon is the nation's biggest cell phone company and yet it announced massive job cuts.

okay. why don't we look at the morning papers and we already did the work for you, so you just sit back. "the washington post" takes a deep look into the military opes

in yemen and says the u.s. is giving weapons and tactics to yemeni forces battling al qaeda. senior administration officials say it began before the christmas plane attack. the houston chronicle takes a look at what hometown-based nasa can expect from the state of the union. it is not expecting new money or missions and an analyst says this may mean that nasa will have to ditch human spaceflight. "the new york times" takes a look at radiation treatments for cancer. as new ones are developed sometimes safeguards to prevent over-radiation lag. a check of the papers. a mom was having trouble paying for her son's medications is getting help from people she never even met on facebook. nathan contreras has cystic fibrosis. his parents hit a snag with his prescription insurance and they would have to pay $2600 out of pocket for his medicine. after mom went on facebook, people from across the country started sending money and medicine.

i vented about this situation because i was so -- just upset and frustrated. i didn't know what to do. >> if you want to find out more about the story or how you can help nathan go to cnn.com/robin and scroll down to the important website section. okay. could be time to clear out the garage. the auction site ebay is cutting the fees for sellers. jennifer westhoven is looking out for you, so meaning, you could make more of the money. yeah? >> you don't have to pay much of a fee when you decide to sell something. because do take a bit of a cut and charge you to list it. maybe you have stuff in the garage or in the attic and some kind of old silverware set and you think i can't throw it out, i know someone would like it. it would cost you less to sell it obey. they would eliminate the listing fees and this is for occasional sellers. it's not like people who have a full-time job selling items on

ebay. it used to be only five. you do have to list them at low prices. they want the auction frenzy because they want to do this not just to get you to put more stuff on, but it's more fun to get people to try ebay. they have a chance of getting a bargain out there. more job cuts to tell you about. it looked like the job market was stabilizing, but we have two layoff announcements to talk about. one is verizon, 13,000 jobs because people are cutting their landlines as a way to save money. we've also got home depot cutting about 1,000 jobs as well. in just a few hours, 1:00 eastern time, apple will unveilunveil its newest creation. i'm sure you've heard the hype about this. steve jobs will be unveiling it and despite the mystery and seek res they apple's put out there, a tablet-style computer and it's supposed to be a cross between a big laptop and an iphone. so you could play games, listen to music and do all kinds of things and a lot of people say

it will revolutionize publishing, like magazines might be able to make money this way. you would subscribe or there would be a whole new model for buying books to read them this way just like they did with muse wick itunes. >> interesting. how big is it supposed to be in. >> i think a ten-inch screen. like -- that doesn't quite work on tv. >> i think i was reading an article yesterday that somebody was saying it has just about everything except for terrestrial radio. you're, like, oh. yeah. kind of forgot about that type of thing. >> all right. thank you. if you're interested in making your smile brighter, we're going beyond the surface to tell you what you need to know about teeth whitening. dental bleaching is very popular now and very effective. one concern or dental myth is that bleaching is harmful to your teeth and it is not harmful used under the supervision of a dental professional. i think it's important because

these agents are strong. it can hurt your gums and obviously, you could hurt your teeth if you don't use it properly. over the counter, things are sold all the time and the problem is that if you don't have trays that are made properly, they could really hurt your gums. some people get some effect from the strips, but not really because it can't be strong enough or effective enough once you do bleaching. if it really does last. go to the dentist and have it done well and it will last. >> that was interesting. there's something unusual about a high-speed chase in oklahoma yesterday. you've got to hear what else was in the car besides the suspect.

police used a pit man uf tore end a high-speed chase through an oklahoma faired. a woman took off yesterday because she had a suspended license. like this was going help.

she also had a dog in there. poor dog had to go for a ride. by the way, police are investigating whether the suv is connected to a recent trailer theft. i want to see the dog. okay. >> some people in california are concerned that their homes could collapse into the ocean. check out the before and after. that's how much land beach erosion ate away in less than two weeks. there's an entire apartment complex near there. nearby buildings's already, vanning waited because it practically left it hanging off the cliff. >> there is a report out that says that tiger woods' wife wants to save their marriage. here's rafer with more on that. this is a new report this morning. >> totally new report, contradictory to some other ones, but according to "people" magazine they claim a source told them that elin, in spite of the admitted transgressions wants to save her marriage to tiger each if they live together as friends and not lovers.

elin is a child of divorce herself and according to the source, she does not want to do that to her two kids and wants to do whatever it takes to save his marriage. cnn has not confirmed people's report and we have reached out to reps for both tiger and elin and we've not heard back from either. >> president obama called kentucky's top-ranked basketball team to thank them for raising $1 million for hate and i gave them some advice which apparently did not resonate. >> there is a tendency once you get to be number one to start letting down a little bit, you know? and you have to stay focused. i expect to see you guys in the championship game at some point. >> what did they do? they go down to columbia and lose a stunner to the king. it was a huge upset. it was the first time south carolina had beaten a top-ranked team in the school's history and

look at the fans as they storm the court. crazy, pandemonium. >> the mayors of indian an liss and new orleans have made their way to the super bowl. >> if the colts lose to the saints, mayor greg ballard will ship shrimp cocktail to new orleans mayor ray nagin. if they lose they will send them compact discs like jazz and a bunch of foods like mardi gras cakes and other foods. there was one restaurant in downtown indianapolis, st.el mow's steakhouse, best shrimp cocktail you've ever had. >> now we know why. >> shrimp cocktail in indianapolis. >> thanks. appreciate it. are you looking for music downloads that are legally free? hln money expert clark howard tells you where to find them. >> okay. i'm cheap, and i will not spend $1 to get a song, and if you go to the itunes store that apple

has, now the songs run at different but, generally, typically, a buck a download. too rich for my blood. at the same time i am never comfortable at all and never have stolen music. what is a cheapskate like me to do? what if there was a music to use and the way it is paid for is with apps. people have been talking about that for years. now is in the process of launching in the united states. when they have room for you, they'll give you an invite to do this. it is called freeallmusic.com. you go to freeallmusic.com and do a quick registration and when they're willing to have you, you get music my price, free. for more money saving tips check out cnn.com/clarkhoward.

>> catch him at noon eastern on saturday and sundays right here on hln. time right now for ireport of the day from jacmel, haiti. shot these pictures of the destruction and the rescue ops going on about 20 minutes outside port-au-prince. people wandering the streets and very little in way of aid reaching them. head to cnn.com/robin and learn how you can be an ireporter. nasa is giving up to get a mars rover out of a sand pit it is stuck in. the explorer "spirit" has been on mars for six years doing experiments and collecting data, but not only is it stuck, two of its wheels stopped working. nasa will leave the rover where it is. a 3-year-old is a hero today for saving his grandmother and

it is all because of something his mom just taught him to do.

[ 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 ]

good morning! you know, we consider you part of oour early morning club and look how early you are up today. i'm robin meade, morning, sunshine. imagine what it's like on an island that depends on haiti's mainland to get its food and supplies. it's nicknamed the forgotten island and this is the side of the earthquake story you may not have heard yet. here is a brand-new story that has us talking today. an entire school dictrist now wants the dictionary banned from the classroom. first, though, toyota has stopped selling any of its models that were part of last week's recalls concerning gas pedals. the recall included more than 2 million cars. the company is stopping

production at six plants, as well. toyota will keep on making the models involved in the recall because they were safe. >> we were just trying to buy a toyota and he said we can't tell it to you because of the pedal. >> toyota has done the right thing and stepped forward here and done this voluntarily and their track record builds on safety and reliability speaks for itself. >> so, say you own one of these recalled toyotas. there's no fix for the problem yet. so, how to protect yourself if, say, your car suddenly speeds out of control. well, jennifer has a step-by-step option here. good morning. >> good morning. people have died in some of these crashes where literally their cars just went out of control and couldn't figure out what to do. this is very rare, but just in case, first thing you want to do is use your brakes. both feet, toyota says, push hard on that brake and hold it down to the floor. do not pump the brake.

if you do that you'll lose power in your brakes. if that doesn't work brakes and then neutral. try to shift your car into neutral, if you can and coast over to the side. now, if that doesn't work, it happened that people couldn't do that. you want to turn off your engine. if you have a key, turn the key off but don't pull the key out. that's really important because then you'll lose some of your steering power there. if you have one of the start, stop buttons, hold that down for three seconds. remember, hold it down for three. so, i'm going to say maybe you should count to five because in a situation like that you'll count a little fast and don't tap it, don't get like people tapping on the elevator button, that is not good, toyota says. recalling all these cars is a drastic move for this company. the camry, corolla, highlander and 57% of its sales. all of these vehicles, by the way, made in the usa. if you want to know if your car is affected we have all the

models and years on our website. so, my little montruhere is brakes, neutral, engine. >> thank you. >> you know, when you get into an emergency situation. you have to remember. >> the step-by-step is on our website, too. thousands of haitians desperate for food were met with pepper spray, instead. >> that was the scene when two trucks of rice arrived at a distribution point in port-au-prince yesterday. pepper spray is the only way to keep people from trampling each other. many say they only get to eat once every three days. the scene couldn't be much different off the coast of port-au-prince. dolphins follow oed the boats headed to a tiny island that normally gets all its food from

haiti's capital. that supply line was cut off and the food prices are skyrocketing. a missionary group brought 5,000 pounds of baby rice and formula and it's hardly enough. >> we still feel it. >> how? >> because hunger. >> well, their access to medical care has been cut off, as well. u.s. navy doctors are treating some of the patients at a small clinic and they brought one 9-year-old boy back with them to port-au-prince hospital and he was a week overdo to have pins removed from his legs. president obama and his team are putting the finishing touches on his first state of the union address for tonight and one thing you can expect is administration officials say the president will announce he is freezing the salaries and the bonuses of top white house official os and political appointe appointees. now, cutbacks are expected to be a huge theme in tonight's speech at 9:00 eastern. so, let me ask you, what topics

do you want the president to talk about in tonight's state of the union. bailout people with student loans. i'm asure putting that money into the economy rather than paying back the government would stimulate the economy. john writes i would like to hear him talk about a health care plan soon. you can also go to our facebook page and an icon to connect you there, too. type away and hear what your other fellow viewers think, as well. comment to each other. we'll read that, too. i believe i said your feller viewers. >> digging back to the ohio roots. >> and then they fell into a crick. i'm making fun of myself because i say these things. las vegas what is going on this morning? >> light rain right now, robin. not a big deal unless you're trying to get in or out of that city. the low clouds and rain overhead and the biggest story about this the upper level producing it. that's moving to the east and

combine up with gulf moisture and a cold air mass settling down across the plains. now, let me zero in towards the las vegas picture. by i-15 stretching in towards central parts of onevada, as well. higher elevations of utah, it's all snow. one to three inches of snow around the city itself and little bit more when you get to the higher elevations. the cold air mass and the wet weather will heat up all in the area shaded in white big chunk of new mexico stretching across and winter storm warnings in red for almost all of oklahoma and freezing rain tomorrow morning and then mixing with sleet and changing over to all snow and end result power outages definitely going to be out there. south of oklahoma city who gets the most amount of liquid precipitation which is freezing rain and snow and that's about three inches and you add to that and it will feel like a half

inch to inch of freezing rain and then on top of that 6 to 12 inches of snow. you are looking at that going all the way through. minus one in fargo and 13 right now in sioux falls and that cold air rushing down the plains and meet with the moisture from the lower point of the four corners. take you live to little rock. rain won't start there until tomorrow afternoon and should be basically all rain and then mixing with freezing rain and that should be late tomorrow evening. so, i think you're going to get most of it falling up towards your north and winter weather, but still be prepared if you live around central or lower parts of arkansas. back to denver, the mile high city. little snow overnight tonight. not that much, one to two, but this tower cam shot just a few minutes ago, beautiful sunrise today. high today 39 and currently it's about 21. beautiful shot of denver. love that city. >> you're looking good. you know what, "american idol" looked for its talent in its own

backyard last night, los angeles. its guest judges were katy perry and avril lavigne. josh stone's "baby, baby, baby." ♪ no one else in this world comes close to you ♪ >> simon says if she makes the top 12 he can guarantee an "oh, happy day" because she is a minister. ♪ when the night has come and the land is dark ♪ ♪ and the moon is the only light we'll see ♪ >> very nice. kara's favorite of the night and she added that his story of growing up in foster care would connect with people. that caused a dust up. >> because you're the kind of kid who has just enough talent and just enough of a story and

pain and stuff you've gone through in your life to really connect with it and i think you'll only get better. >> this is not a lifetime movie, sweetheart. >> yes, exactly. >> exactly, katy. >> it is an amazing story, that's what i'm trying to tell him. >> everybody has stories. >> i feel like it's simen and katy ganging up on me. >> the guest judge tonight is joe jonas. four people accused of tampering with a u.s. senator's phone and you may have seen one of these guys before. and a former nba player is blaming haiti's disaster on the people who live there. what?

our salute today is for sergeant eric burker. he deployed to afghanistan three days after his youngest daughter was born. his older daughter cannot wait for him to come home so they can drink chocolate milk together. this salute was done using skype. >> we would like to salute my husband and daddy. sergeant eric breuker. he's serving in afghanistan right now. we love him so much. >> i love you, daddy. >> i love you, eric. >> i would love to see more salutes by skype, if you have that. go to cnn.com/robin and do your salute. in peterson's trial, he is charged with the death of a third wife, kathleen savio and also the only suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, stacy peterson. stacy's aunt testified that peterson bragged he could kill

someone and make it look like an accident. a new book says that pope john paul ii beat himself with a belt and slept on the ground to feel closer to god. for the first time, the book reports that he forgave the man that shot him in 1981 while on the way to the hospital. what is your share of the federal budget deficit? it's $4,500 each. so, one for you, your spouse, your kid and everybody else in america. our money expert jennifer westhoven is here. good morning. >> look, normally in washington they just kind of sweep the deficit under the rug and don't notice the six-foot pile. >> what's that? >> at least there was some drama going on in washington over this. kind of a showdown. first an idea in the senate, a bill that would set up a powerful task force to take on the deficit. it was rejected and from both parties, some republicans said,

no way that could force tax hikes and then some democrats said they could not support it because they were afraid it could cut costs in social security. the white house may set up a deficit pannal and it wouldn't have the power to force anything but still be a voice to talk about the deficit and make sure it has not been forgotten. now, in this great recession, a lot of people we talked about the job market so much, people are out of work. what have we been doing with the free time? the labor department says more of you, 63 million americans are using the free time to help people around you. that's good news in a bad economy and they say more people giving of their time now and maybe people who can't give cash or giving time, instead. it's up. the volunteering numbers are up a million and a half of people raising money and building homes like in this habitat for humanity video you see here.

what is it looking like? hey, bob. >> so far pretty good, jennifer. some deicing, not that long of a deal for you. pittsburgh, buffalo, detroit, little deicing. cold temperatures, great lakes, you can see what it looks like. lake erie and lake ontario and you're going to get bumped around like areas around chicago and detroit. half hour to hour-long delays and detroit possibility of some delays and cleveland same thing and also later today, salt lake city you'll see delays popping up because of the snow and san francisco morning fog delays. more details on that in just a little bit. a kid got suspended from school, but that was the least of his troubles. look what happened when he took his auntie's suv on a joy ride.

do you remember the conservative aktdivist who posed as a pimp? well james o'keefe is one of four men charged with trying to

tamper with phones and correspondent richard lui has more on that. what is going on? >> robin, the details from the fbi may sound like a broad daylight and o'keefe sat here recording it with his cell phone while sitting in the senator's office. first of all, the two men posing as phone repair men came in wearing tool belts, hard hats and fluorescent vests and then test one of the phones call using their cell phone and then say the main phone system needs repair and that's when the gig was up, robin. an employee there left for credentials. >> the fbi affidavit said all four men admitted their roles and the suspects posted bond yesterday. take a look at this, a severely dehydrated man was pulled from the rubble in haiti yesterday. it was not clear if he was trapped in the original quake or the aftershock but he did survive 14 days by rationing

walter in a two-gallon jug. the hospital was not able to verify the story with a blood test, but, obviously, he needed help. get this, an ex-nba player, espn columnist slammed the people of haiti and blamed them for the crisis they're in. >> paul shirley did not make much of a name as a basketball player, but probably making a name for himself on this one. writes a music column for espn.com. on another website he said he's not sending a dime to the victims because their living conditions are entirely their fault. in a letter he posted he says, dear haitians, first of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the western hemisphere. your commitment to human rights, infrastructure and birth control should be applauded. of course, that is sarcasm. then he goes on to say in the future, could you not resort to shack towns and could maybe some

of you use a condom once in a while? and then signs it the rest of the world. natural disasters have destroyed haiti's economy and he's blaming the people because they don't live in poverty but abject poverty. on his twitter page he was just trying to make people think. think he's heartless, reportedly. elin woods wants to save their marriage. elin is a child of divorce herself and in light of tiger's transgressions she does not want to raise her two children without a father, even if it means they live together as friends instead of lovers. cnn, by the way, has not confirmed the story and calls out to woods' people and have not heard back. greg oden is apologizing for nude pictures of him surfacing on the internet. apologize and the city and the fans and they called him embarrassing. they were taken for a lady friend years ago. robin, you have said this in

the past, kids, don't take pictures of yourself naked and put it on the internet. it's going to come up some point. >> what if it doesn't come up until you're a parent and then you have to explain it. >> i am glad i was in my teens and early 20s before the internet age. no sign of the shenanigans. a former aid to john edwards says the former presidential candidate was thinking about leaving his ill wife. according to "the wall street journal" in andrew young's book edwards promised to help take care of him if he helped cover up his affair and take care of his wife. edwards' camp has not commented. police believe that they found the remains of a college student who disappeared at a metallica concert. 20-year-old morgan harrington was last seen october 27 lth at the arena in sharletsville, virginia. yesterday a farmer found the body on his property and

harrington's mother talking about the likelihood that her daughter won't come home alive.

new york stock exchange just opened for business and the stocks could be in for a better start, but investors are waiting anxiously to hear what the fed will do with the interest rates. more on that in just a few minutes. first, though, the world's biggest carmaker stopped selling some of its most popular cars. toyota made that announcement yesterday. another step following last week's massive recall because of concerns that some gas pedals may stick. to find out what you should do if your toyo oeottoyota. one suspect is conservative activist james o'keefe and, remember, he posed as a pimp and

made undercover videos at acorn, the community organizing group. all four suspects admitted to their roles in the operation. hundredses of legal medical marijuana closed. to limit the number of pot clinices to 70 and also regulating their location to keep them away from schools and parks. california is 1 of 14 states that allow medical marriagijuan. good morning, i'm robin meade. it's 30 minutes past the hour. we have an updait on one of the amazing children we have been telling you about in haiti. the 5-year-old was saved after being trapped for eight days in the rubble. his parents were killed in the quake. now, an aunt has surfaced in florida and says he wants to adopt him and his two brothers. >> everybody willing to, you know, put our hands together to work on them here. we will take care of them and give them some love and they're

young and they need love and they need somebody to care for them. i have two children, i give them love and i would like to give them love, too. >> she says she thought she was dreaming when she found out monley was alive. tomorrow in florida president obama will announce plans to put the country on the fast track for a high-speed rail system. now, a white house official says the president wants to use $8 billion in stimulus money to build 13 high-speed rail corridors. the officials said the project could save or create tens of thousands of jobs. putting americans back to work is supposed to be one of the big themes in the president's state of the union address tonight. what do you want to hear him talking about, too. john says the best message he could send tonight is to be personally accountable and quit blaming bush. the country wants and needs leadership not showmanship. lutz writes, we want to hear a game plan on how he will get

jobs for his fellow citizens and rethink his foreign policy. you click on the contact us to e-mail us and you click on the facebook if you want to go there and you get to read everyone else's comments, too. a mom who has trouble paying for her son's medication is getting help from people on facebook. he has cystic fibrosis and his parents hit a snag with their prescription insurance and they would have to pay $2,600 out of pocket for his meds. after mom went on facebook, people from across the country started sending money and medicine. >> i vented about this situation because i was so just upset and, plus, frustrated i didn't know what to do. >> if you want to find out more about this story or how you can help nathan, go to cnn.com/robin and scroll down to important website section. new word about three american hikers detained in iran and it comes from two belgium

tourists recently released from the same prison. the three hikers were held in solentary confinement. the americans were accused of espionage after accidentally crossing the iran/iraq border. you got to see this, a boulder the size of a car rolled down a hill and crashed right through a house in southern california. luckily the homeowner was in the other room. i'd say so. he heard a sound like thunder and then sounded like the whole house exploded. all the recent rain caused the rock to break loose. >> like raiders of the lost ark right there, indiana jones. >> let's find out where else we'll see some rain and freezing rain. good morning, bob. >> good morning, robin. that energy pulling away from california, good news for them, bad but news for them. major winter storm now taking shape that will affect you by tomorrow morning through friday afternoon. now, here's the set up.

arctic frontal boundary and behind it, much colder air and temperatures in the teens and single digits for areas like the dakotas and northern minnesota and back to the southwest we go. midlevels of the atmosphere and that is moving in to the colder air mass and freezing rain and sleet and then snow. all rain around las vegas and moving in towards arizona, too. you zero in towards that las vegas radar and good shot overhead. because of that poor visibility is what you get with the sxran low clouds headed in and all snow around salt lake city and blue right here is snow and just to the north and to the west of the city and down to the south, too. light snow accumulations right here and really not that big of a deal. but then you get across the plains and winter storm warnings are posted and warnings, warnings are in red. let me take you live to oklahoma city. we're calling for about a 55 degree temperature day today. you're not going to know the winter weather is headed towards

you. rain mixing with freezing rain and freezing rain all day long and then switching over to sleet and then finally snow overnight. end result about a half to maybe an inch worth of freezing rain and sleet piled up and 6 to 12 inches of snow on top of that for central oklahoma riding up through tulsa. it is going to be bad. many power outages because of that. what about the rest of the region? three-inch precip turning into freezing rain and snow. look at the temperatures, as well. minus one in fargo and sioux falls. miami, not that bad for you guys. high actually 70 and feels like 60 right now and don't worry about the rest of the deal, i think you'll be fine for the next couple days. miami, the one good place. more on that, robin, in a little bit. >> wish you were there, thank you. stocks are reacting to news not just out of washington, but also out of san francisco. susan lisovicz is at the new york stock ecchanges.

good morning. >> good morning, robin. a lot of news, not a lot of movement in the stock market because we haven't actually heard all the details we need to. like, let's start with washington. at 2:15 p.m. the federal reserve releases its latest federal policy decision. keep rates at the historic lows and interested in hearing what the fed has to say about recovery overall and some unwinding of the extraordinary programs that have been undertaken to try to keep the economy afloat. the meeting comes as the senate has finally scheduled to vote on ben bernanke's second term as chairman and that will happen tomorrow and democrats say they have the votes they need. investors will also be listening to tonight's state of the union address for more details about a potential bank regulatory overhaul. since last week, shares of big banks like bank of america, jpmorgan chase have each lost 10% in anticipation of reforms. and then we go to san

francisco and the tablet. apple unveils its highly new touch screen device at its special event today. the new gadget will fit into the apple spectrum somewhere between the iphone and the mac and a rival to ereaders like the amazon kindal and is expected to price between 600 and 800 bucks. when it comes to the iphone and the ipod perhaps the tablet, consumers sometimes say, what recession? they want it and they want it bad. >> you're right. hey, thank you. >> you're welcome. one definition could get the dictionary, the dictionary banned from an entire school district. that has everyone talking. plus a report is out there saying tiger woods' wife wants to save her marriage.

pleaded not guilty. that is from raymond clark's attorney. prosecutors added a felony murder charge and that means they don't have to prove that the killing was intentional. clark is accused of strangling le and hiding her body behind a wall at a lab in september. she was found on what was supposed to be her wedding day. a school district in california has take on the dictionary out of the classroom after some of the parents complained that it defined terms like oral sex. the dictionary is a learning tool but does not contain some age-inappropriate terms. the book could be banned permanently. >> the families of our students will have an opportunity to opt out f they so choose, to using the dictionary in question. and there is an alternate dictionary that is readily available to the students. >> some parents think that school is overreacting and one free speech advocate says common sense is lacking in a school.

if you want your mind to stay sharp when you're getting old, then you might want to take care of your blood pressure now. richard lui is looking at that health story. good morning in the next hour. >> good morning, robin. scientists have evidence that high blood pressure could lead to serious memory problems later in life. hear what researchers are doing to protect people. people are lining up to get their hands on the newest apple gadget. how it could change the way you read books, news and other material and a preview of that. and then newly released documents show how bad of a financial mess anna nicole smith was actually in. we'll tell you about missing jewelry, unpaid gas bills and potbellied pigs. that's in 15 minutes, robin. >> interesting mix, there, thank you. you looking for legal music downloads. clark howard tells you where to find them. >> okay, i'm cheap and i will not spend $1 to get a song.

and if you go to the itunes store that apple has, now the songs run at different prices, but, generally, typically, a buck a download. too rich for my blood. at the same time, i'm not comfortable at all and have never stolen music, which is so easy to do. so, what's a cheapskate like me to do? what if there was a music service you could use that was free and the way it was paid for was with apps. people have been talking about that for years and now there is one that is in the process of launching in the united states and go sign up and when they have room for you, they'll give you an invite to do this, i've already signed up and i'm waiting for my turn. it is called freeallmusic.com. and you go to freeallmusic.com and do a quick registration and then when they're willing to you have you get music my price, free. i'm clark howard. for more money saving tips, check out cnn.com/clarkhoward.

>> clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripd off. catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays right here on hln. let's get our ireport of the day. this is from jacmel, haiti. shot these pictures of destruction and rescue o ops going on about 20 miles outside port-au-prince and he says there are thousands of people just wandering the streets. you have seen very little in the way of aid reaching them. we give you the news and you give us your views and head to cnn.com/robin and learn how you can be an ireporter. everyone is always talking about the first lady's outfits, right. madame tussauds in new york copied the dress she wore to the inaugural ball. in two weeks they'll get more everyday attire. a 3-year-old is a hero today for saving his grandmother and

all because of something his mom taught him to do just last week.

a 100-year-old woman saw her lifetime dream come true the day before she died. she received a teaching certificate in 1931 but always wanted her bachelor degree. she took classes at three different colleges to make that happen. she stopped in 1971 without knowing if she had enough credits. she received her diploma and died the next day. some people in california are concerned their homes might collapse into the ocean. check out the before and after shots of how much land the beach erosion has eaten away in less than two weeks. there is an entire apartment complex near there. a nearby building is already evacuated. now, because the erosion practically left it hanging on the cliff. hey, there's a report out today and it says that tiger woods' wife, elin, wants to save their marriage. i know, kind of isn't the same thing you heard before. here's rafer with more on that.

>> the big question that has been on everybody's mind, what will happen to that marriage. well, according to "people" magazine which claims a source told them, elin does want to save her marriage to tiger even if they live together as friends and not lovers. they say she is a child of divorce herself and according to the source does not want to do that to her two kids. the report adds that tiger also wants to do whatever it takes to save his marriage. by the way, cnn has not confirmed the report. we have reached out to reps and still waiting to hear from them. president obama called kentucky's top ranked basketball team first to thank him for raising $1 million for haiti and before they played unranked south carolina, gave them some advice which did not sink in. >> once you get to be number one you start letting down a little bit. you know, and it's a tough place to play. so you have to stay focusesed. i expect to see you guys in the

championship game at some point. >> so, what do they die? the wildcats lost a stunner to the game caulks. first time ever they have beaten a top ranked team. they played hard, but big win. look at the fans storming the court there in columbia. the mayors in new orleans and indianapolis made their wager on the super bowl. if the saints win, they'll send him shrimp cocktail. >> i would not have guessed this. >> if new orleans win, he'll send cds of jazz music and other kinds of food. shrimp cocktail when the only body of water is lake michigan, but one downtown restaurant, st. elmo steakhouse, awesome shrimp cocktail. >> it's so good, it's their only appetizer on the menu. >> he's making him a mix tape. >> a mix tape.

>> they should pick a building and implode it, if they want. >> now, that's a wager. >>wager. >> i get to blow up one of your buildings. that's a man's bet. >> let me show you what's happening. no major delays, just deicing when you get to detroit, buffalo and pittsburgh. wind is going to be a factor for you. slow you down to about a half hour, maybe more around chicago. that's mainly this afternoon. light snow, light wind also, detroit, 30 minute to one hour delay. salt lake city, 30 minute delay. san francisco, 30 minute delay. more on that in a bit. >> a brave 3-year-old in new jersey saved his grandmother's life. last week, she had a stroke and fell to the ground and jaden called 911. his mom had just taught him to do it in the last week. >> i fell on the floor and passed out, and jaden, he was just -- i remember him calling mama, wake up. >> the fact that he knew what to

do when he had to and didn't freak out or get embarrassed or hide. he knew what to do. jaden was supposed to be staying with his other grandmother, but she got sick. north and south korea traded fire today. it started when north korea fired about 30 artillery rounds into the sea just off of south korea's coast. the south says it responded with 100 shots into the air. north korea says that the artillery fire was only part of a military drill. there were no injuries or damage. it may be one of the most famous auditions in "american idol" history. pants on the ground. it seems everyone has their own version. president obama's first state of the union speech is tonight. what he's expected to say about money for your child's education.