[Holmes:] Good morning. Gadhafi is turning up the pressure on rebels and launching a brutal attack on a key Libyan city.
[Chetry:] Well, you're supposed to turn off your electronic devices on the plane, but do you? And if you don't, a new report says it could be more dangerous than you think.
[Holmes:] Also, Facebook, do they really need to expand? Well, they are. They're now taking on the movie business on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you all. Welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING for Wednesday, March 9th. I'm, T.J. Holmes.
[Chetry:] And I'm Kiran Chetry. We're glad you're with us. We're following the latest developments out of Libya where this morning forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are said to be in the midst of a major onslaught against rebels holding a key city. There are reports of fierce fighting today in Zawiya. It's about 30 miles from the capital. And it is the closest that rebel-held that's the closest rebel-held city to Gadhafi's main stronghold in Tripoli. Reuters reporting that the battle has forced the shutdown of Zawiya's oil refinery. Gadhafi also appeared with his entourage last night at a Tripoli hotel. This was a press appearance where he told foreign journalists that youths drugged by Al Qaeda are to blame for his country's civil war. Also last night, former Defense Chief Donald Rumsfeld telling CNN's Piers Morgan the situation in Libya could have been much worse.
[Donald Rumsfeld, Former Defense Chief:] Gadhafi, we you can see what he is about. Now, the plus on Gadhafi was that after he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein, he decided he didn't want to be Saddam Hussein and he gave up his nuclear program. And we would be in a much worse situation today if he had nuclear weapons, which fortunately he does not.
[Chetry:] Rumsfeld also went on to say that he does not support sending U.S. troops into Libya. Of course, there have been increasing calls for more western intervention, enforcement of a no-fly zone. Are these options wise? Coming up at 7:40, former undersecretary of state and former Ambassador Nicholas Burns will be joining us. The pressure is building for the U.S. to get involved in Libya.
[Holmes:] All right. We need to turn right now to our Rob Marciano with an immediate and developing could be a dangerous, Rob, weather situation right now.
[Rob Marciano, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, we're looking at several tornado warnings this morning. And a couple of which are right along the I-10 corridor in southwestern Louisiana in the New Orleans area around Lake Pontchartrain. Several there, Saint James Parish, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Saint Tammany Parish, and these include some fairly populated cities like Covington and Hammond. These storms you see highlighted there in the purple polygons, that's where the rotation is detected on the radar and these storms are moving northeasterly at about 30 miles per hour. So if you live in this area around Lake Pontchartrain, you certainly want to take cover, get inside the inner core of your home and wait for these storms to pass. A little bit farther to the north, we also have a couple of tornado warnings across parts of eastern Mississippi and Alabama, in Choctaw County for the next 10 or so minutes. And also with this system, a tremendous amount of rain overnight. Anywhere from four to six inches in some spots. And we have flooding and some rescues happening in parts of central Mississippi. And look at the size of this thing. It is moving slowly off to the east. Tornado watch in effect. And this is going to dump a lot of heavy rain across areas that are already saturated. So much more than just the south, the tornado warnings, guys. We're going to be talking about this for the next couple of days here in the form of heavy, heavy rain that's going to be moving into the northeast. And also some snows behind this system across parts of the upper Midwest. But we'll keep an eye on this dangerous situation across parts of southwest Louisiana. St. James Parish, Saint John the Baptist Parish, and Saint Tammany Parish, if you live in those areas, you certainly want to take cover now and wait for these storms to pass. T.J., Kiran, back up to you.
[Holmes:] All right, Rob. We appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you plenty throughout the morning. Thanks so much.
[Marciano:] OK.
[Holmes:] I want to turn now to tell you about a huge earthquake off the coast of Japan. This one struck off Japan's mainland. And listen to this, 7.2 magnitude earthquake. That is a major quake. It could be felt almost 300 miles away in Tokyo. Take a look at some of the surveillance video we got here. Some surveillance cameras are on skyscrapers. You can see some of the shaking going on. No reports right now of any significant injuries or damage, but still, some of the video we're getting, you could see the rocking going on, including some boats that were parked along the coast. A tsunami warning was at one point issued. It was later canceled, however.
[Chetry:] Also new this morning, a stunning and disturbing sight. Take a look at this. Millions of fish dead in the water at a Southern California marina. Officials say that the large school of sardines this is Redondo Beach, by the way depleted the water of oxygen and because of that and there were so many in such a short amount of time that they literally suffocated. They say there's no environmental cause. There's no pollution. They basically think that they were driven there by larger fish and then, of course, there were too many of them. Of course, very happy for the pelicans who then quickly landed to eat them. But some were called the floating fish a foot deep in parts of that marina.
[Holmes:] Oh, that's a nasty thing like you said of the pelicans there. Well, a familiar name and familiar face to a lot of people is making a comeback. Coming out of retirement, that might not be a big deal unless you're 36 years old and your job is as a running back in the NFL. Tiki Barber retired back in 2006. Now he's the New York Giants' all-time leading rusher. Now most recently a lot of people got familiar with him as a correspondent for the "Today" show and as well as on Sunday night football. Giants right now do own rights to him. That's the team he retired from. He left when he had a contract still in place, but they don't want any part of him. Don't want to pay him so they're expected to release him as soon as possible. Now, even though he is 36 years old and it's hard to be a 36-year-old running back in the league, some hope is that he has a twin brother who is still playing, Ronde Barber, still playing quarterback for the Tampa Bay Bucks right now.
[Chetry:] Yes, it will be his 15th season.
[Holmes:] Yes.
[Chetry:] Well, if the weather conditions are right in just a few hours, space shuttle Discovery will return to earth for the very last time. And on this last day in flight, the astronauts woke up to Gwyneth Paltrow singing "Coming Home."
[Gwyneth Paltrow, "coming Home":] It's a four-letter word. A place you go to heal your hurt.
[Chetry:] Stop laughing, people. She's an actress, but she's a singer. If Discovery lands today, it will have spent a record 365 days in space. There are only two more shuttle launches left for NASA. Coming up at 8:10 Eastern, we're going to be speaking with Colonel Bob Springer. He flew on the shuttle Discovery back in 1989. What does he think about this shuttle being retired and the future of this space program? We're going to talk to him at 8:10 Eastern.
[Holmes:] All right. You folks out there, there's no excuse not to call your grand folks. You need to check in with your grandma every once in a while. And here is one guy who's giving you no excuse not to. Because last week, Gladys Roscoe got a call from her grandson, and where he is? Not 200 miles away. He's 200 miles up. Yes, her grandson is Colonel Eric Boe. He is pilot of the shuttle Discovery and he was aboard the International Space Station when he decided to give his grandmother a call. That's a good grandson. The call was brief. And she talked about the call. But there was one thing she wanted to keep to herself.
[Gladys Roscoe, Grandson In Space:] I worry about him so, and his father said don't tell him that because he's been wanting to do this ever since he was a little boy.
[Holmes:] Even today, she didn't want to say that she was concerned about his safety. Again, it was a short call. Now, this is it wasn't the first time he's done this. But the last time he was in space, he called his grandmother. She wasn't there. She missed the call. Why? What do grandmothers do? They square dance. And she was out square dancing.
[Chetry:] Love it. That's awesome. No, but my husband checks in with his grandparents every day.
[Holmes:] What are they doing?
[Chetry:] And also, she's at bingo. He's working the puzzle, you know, in the group room.
[Holmes:] Down at the bar.
[Chetry:] So, you know, there's stuff to do. Down at the bar. Playing bingo.
[Holmes:] Take a look at these pictures, as well. There were some gray skies, but you don't think that's not going to stop the party in New Orleans, do you? Fat Tuesday, they did what they do there in New Orleans. Parties, parades, all night goings on there to mark the celebration. Today, though, they're waking up with a few hangovers, I'm sure, and things are a little different for a lot of folks. It's Ash Wednesday now, beginning of Lent. Many people as you know, many Christians are fasting or giving up something right now. So good luck with that, folks.
[Chetry:] Good luck, you're going to need it. Myself included. Some Mardi Gras celebrators in Canada take the term "Fat Tuesday" quite literally. They celebrate the day with a 500-calorie treat called a Paczki. Paczki Day is a growing tradition in Windsor, Ontario, where locals line up for the Polish pastry. It's fried, it's stuffed with jelly, and then glossed with sugar ice cream. I mean, icing. But sugar ice cream would be good, too.
[Holmes:] Yes, didn't have enough calories.
[Chetry:] Right.
[Holmes:] Well, coming up here on this AMERICAN MORNING, you've been hearing a lot about these controversial hearings supposed to take place on Capitol Hill tomorrow. They're called hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims. Some say the man behind the proceedings, though, a New York congressman, is putting Islam on trial.
[Chetry:] Also, was the troubled Broadway musical "Spiderman" heading in the wrong direction? Details on what could be a complete overhaul of Broadway's most expensive musical ever.
[Holmes:] And do you really need another reason to spend more of your time on Facebook? Well, here's another one. Soon you're going to be able to watch your favorite movies on the site. It's nine minutes past the hour on this
[American Morning. Chetry:] They're so much