[Chetry:] Crossing the half hour right now, this "American Morning," and we start with a beautiful shot this morning of Washington, D.C., on this Tuesday, February 8. Rob is going to be here with a full forecast. It is getting cold. D.C., I think going to a high of 38 today. But boy, enjoy it while it lasts. Because a cold front is moving in for much of the country. Good morning, I'm Kiran Chetry.
[Holmes:] And hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. Here are a couple of the stories we are keeping a close eye on this morning. Newark International Airport back to normal, things were certainly abnormal for a while. Power was knocked out. There was a switching problem that knocked out power to all three terminals there. It caused a ground stop at the airport yesterday afternoon. Also, filmmaker Michael Moore is suing. He wants more money. And he says he deserves it. He is suing for "Fahrenheit 911" profits. He's seeking at least $2.7 million from the film studio saying that the studio heads kept money from him illegally. He says the other side at least say this is just utter rubbish. Also, to Egypt. We're keeping a close eye on things there. And new numbers out this morning from human rights watch claiming that nearly 300 people have died in the fighting and clashes there so far. There are other estimates of death toll that have been much lower than that. Kiran?
[Chetry:] Well, you're right. Well, thousands of protesters continue to form a human chain in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Meanwhile, a Google marketing executive who was abducted nearly two weeks ago by the Egyptian government has been freed and he is now speaking out about his detention and his status among Egyptians as a hero. Fred Pleitgen joins us live from Cairo with all of these developments. First of all, tell us more about the ordeal for this Google exec.
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, horrible ordeal. He was released he was taken by the Egyptian authorities. They finally admitted yesterday that he was taken 11 days ago. And on television when he went on the interview yesterday, he said that he was kept blindfolded the entire time that he was in custody. So 11 days in custody, blindfolded. He gave an absolutely emotional television interview yesterday, Kiran. Let's listen to one of the things that he had to say.
[Wael Ghonim, Marketing Manager, Google, Inc:] I'm not a hero. I slept for 12 days. The heroes were in the streets. The heroes are the ones who went to the demonstrations. The heroes are the ones that sacrificed their lives. The heroes are the ones that were beaten. And the heroes are the ones that were arrested and exposed to dangers. I wasn't a hero.
[Pleitgen:] And Kiran, that interview, as I said, absolutely emotional. He broke out into tears several times. He actually had to leave the room at the end because he was crying so heavily. And it seems like something that really has mesmerized a lot of people here in Egypt. If you look behind me, you see that Tahrir Square is really much fuller than we've seen over the past couple of days. So it does appear as so it does appear as though I mean impossible to verify but it does appear that that television interview and the man's story might have pulled more people and re-energized this movement that's going on here in Egypt. Kiran.
[Chetry:] All right. Frederik Pleitgen for us this morning from Cairo. Thanks so much.
[Holmes:] We have a new band of brothers to tell you about this morning. Five sets of brothers deploying to Afghanistan together. Our Ed Lavandera, live for us in Dallas this morning with the story. Ed, good morning.
[Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, T.J.. Well, this has been a pretty fascinating story. There's a battalion of marines, made up mostly of Texas reservists, that will soon be deploying to Afghanistan. But the unique thing about this unit, it has five sets of brothers. And we brought them all together for the first time.
[Lavandera:] A deep bond runs through this line of Marines. But this is a brotherhood beyond the uniform.
[Lt. Col. Todd Zink, Commanding Officer:] I didn't realize we had five sets of brothers right away.
[Lavandera:] The U.S. Marine Corps's first battalion, 23rd regiment, is a family. An infantry unit made up mostly of Texas reservists and includes five different sets of brothers. All about to deploy to the war in Afghanistan. [on camera]: Have you leaned on each other quite a bit?
[Lcpl. Will Hernandez, U.s. Marine Corps:] Yes, it gives us a sense of home.
[Pfc. Raul Hernandez, U.s. Marine Corps:] I don't think there's anybody better to keep me safe than him.
[Gysgt. Hector Vega Cigarroa:] This will be, you know, one of the biggest struggles we go through together as brothers.
[Cpl. Daniel Beans, U.s. Marine Corps:] Do we worry? Absolutely. You never know what's going to happen out there.
[Unidentified Male:] any brothers are in a situation where they are both able to deploy together.
[Lavandera:] The families of these Marines face an emotional time during their seven-month deployment. Double the fear, twice the stress. [on camera]: How about your folks?
[Lcpl. Jonathon Faseler, U.s. Marine Corps:] They're having a hard time back home knowing that we're here. You know
[Unidentified Male:] But they support us.
[Lavandera:] In the dangerous days ahead, good, old- fashioned sibling rivalry will help lift their spirits.
[Unidentified Male:] I always call my mom and say he's picking on me. He used to beat me up a lot. I didn't do too much beating on him.
[Lavandera:] Who's the better Marine?
[Unidentified Male:] He takes the prize for this one. He is.
[Lavandera:] Really?
[Unidentified Male:] He's the better Marine.
[Lavandera:] Here they're all brothers in arms. And that's where the rivalry ends for this band of brothers. You know it's fascinating, T.J., we spent quite a bit of time with them in Camp Pendleton a few weeks ago, in California, and that's where they're going through their final preparations, getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan later this month and end of march, as well. It was funny. After all the conversations we had with them, that one question that seemed to stump them all was when you asked them to kind of tell which one was the better Marine, the kind of the sibling rivalry stopped right there. T.J..
[Holmes:] Imagine it would. You know, it's something that I bet parents and family members glad they have each other to look after when they go all to Afghanistan. But at the same time, it's probably very sad to see two go instead of just one. Ed, we appreciate that story. Very interesting look this morning. Thanks so much, Ed.
[Lavandera:] You got it.
[Chetry:] Amazing. Well, ahead on "American Morning," wish you could return that iPad and get your money back? A used iPad? Well, you can. Best Buy's launching an electronics buy-back program. We'll tell you what you need to know about it. Also, for all you single ladies out there, it turn out he's just not into being single. A surprising study that's turning some of the gender stereotypes on their heads. 36 minutes past the hour.