expected to be there. bracing for a nasty weekend. a massive winter storm is right now racing toward the mid-atlantic states. more than a foot of snow expected from north carolina all the way up to new jersey. several airlines already canceling flights, knowing this is coming. we're live on the ground with what you can expect later today and throughout the weekend. and the party is on in nashville. tee party supporters pouring into the city for the first-ever national convention. cnn is putting the spot plight on the growing political movement. jim atost ka shows us how they tried to organize by cruising for the conservatives. we begin with breaking news this morning from toyota. the carmaker dealing with another public relations nightmare in a growing crisis of confidence. toyota is confirming they're taking a close look at the upscale level hs 250. the vehicle may have the same brake problems as the prius. toyota is saying there's need to recall the prius, but several reports indicate that a prius recall could be coming. toyota is now under investigation as well. federal safety regulators want to know what the carmaker knew about the safety problems, when they knew it why they kept it quiet. we hear a news conference will begin in an hour, the first time we've heard from him on the crisis. >> reporter: in just one hour, there is going to be the very first news conference held by the c are eo of toyota, head of this company. that's had so many issues, questions about quality. he says he'll be answering questions about quality. the reason why there's so much noise and hubbub around me is i'm on the train heading there now. but we'll get our very first chance to ask the head of toyota about all these lingering questions about the world's number one automaker. >> i'm hoping they're being honest about the fix and i'm going to give them an opportunity to prove themselves. >> reporter: many loyal toyota owners battered by headlines of recalls and run-arounds nowor wary of a company they've trusted for decades. here's why. number one, accusations the auto giant failed to come clean about serious safety issues. according to cnnmoney.com, toyota knew and didn't tell you, at least not right away. with the flaw in its braking system on the hot selling prius hybrid. the automaker knew about the problem at least a month ago and says they made repairs at the end of january. little comfort for those who bought a prius before this week. number two, the safety concerns keep mounting. toyota confirming it's checking the brakes on its lexus 250 h. number three, many toyota service centers are swamped staying open 24 hours to begin fixing those sticking accelerator pedals that prompted the recall of millions of vehicles. >> it causes you to be anxious. you can't just jump in your car and expect it to do what it's supposed to now. >> reporter: now many experts claim an electrical malfunction may be the problem, not those pedals. and the big picture, toyota will most certainly have a credibility problem long after the repairs are complete. >> every car manufacturer has issues. the secret is they do build a quality product. i think it will cause a lot of customers to go elsewhere and very hard and very expensive to earn their loyalty back. >> of course, the story is developing, as she said. we'll continue to follow the latest. >> we're going to get word from the top person at this company. we've only heard very briefly at davos he's been under criticism for not coming out sooner. a powerful winter storm making its way east. new york, philadelphia, washington, could get hit with up to or more than a foot of snow. making your evening commute downright dangerous. and there could be major delays at airports all weekend. reynolds wolf is live in al alexandr alexandria, virginia, and rob marciano is live in the cnn weather xercenter. let's start with rob. hi, rob. >> this storm is happening, the second of the season. the first one coming the third week of december, a record breaker there, this one could be another record breaker. let's go to the maps. it's starting with heavy rain across the south, even severe weather across the gulf states. a lot of moisture with this. just like the last time, it's heading into cold air north of the north carolina/virginia border. there you see it's turning into snow at times it will switch over to sleet but for the most part it will stay all snow as we go through the next 24 hours. look at all the watches and warnings posted. everything in red is a winter storm warning, the pink in jersey and delaware is a blizzard warning. we expect to see over 20 inches of snow in and around the washington, d.c., area. how much snow new york gets is still a question, probably in the likes of four to eight inches. if the track of this thing shifteds any further to the north, new york could easily get over a foot as well. a tough call for the big apple. d.c. not a tough call, a paralyzing snowstorm for sure. >> absolutely. just looking at the thing and especially as you said that blizzard warning, all the pink on the radar, rob thanks so much, and happy meteorologist day. is that what it is? >> thanks. to the south, folk s stockig up. a number of schools deciding to close for the day ahead of time. reynolds wolf is live in virginia. when you look at the radar, probably a smart move. they know it's coming at least in this area. >> reporter: oh, absolutely. as rob was talking just a few moments ago, we're talking about record setting snowfall, several feet in this very area by tomorrow morning. how do you handle that? how do you improve the roadways? to improve the roadways and keep a sense of normalcy, what do you have to have? a lot of trucks. here at the virginia department of transportation, this is just a handful of the 60 trucks that we have out here. you see obviously the snowplows on the front, but the first thing they'll be doing is putting salt on the roadways. let's step around here, past these trucks, you can see the frontend loader back over here, it's been going into these buildings, getting the sodium color i'd and loading it into the trucks. they'll continue this procedure into the midday hour. step one procedure is to put that base of salt on the roadways. then as the snow begins to come down, that's when the plows come into play. the truck is going to fill up with the sodium chloride, and down the road it goes. hard to believe we'll be seeing heavy stuff. they average 16.6 inches of snowfall, they could easily double that for the season. hard to believe. here comes the salt, the truck. now we're sending it back to you in the studio. see you in a bit. >> reynolds wolf for us out in alexandria, virginia. also new this morning -- stunning developments in the story of those ten jailed american missionary nz haiti. haiti has now charged all of them with kidnapping. and what many people thought was a good-natured but maybe misguided attempt to rescue kids may have been calculated even criminal. coming up 6:40 eastern, dan simon has more on the legal problems the missionary leader may have been running from in the u.s. michael jackson's doctor is still a free man. he was expected to give himself up by now. but beth karas from trutv reporting that negotiations for dr. murray's surrender broke down late last night. he's still expected to face charges as early as last week. the doctor telling detectives he gave jackson provo follow and other said fif actives in the hours before he died. the l.a. county coroner's office says brittany murphy died from a combination of pneumonia, iron deficiency and drug intoxication. it did not list the drugs involved but a spokesman says they were not illegal and not the primary cause. brittany murphy was just 32 years old. still ahead on the most news in the morning, a tea party on the high seas. when it comes to president obama, this is no love boat. we'll explain still ahead. eight minutes past the hour. (announcer) a cold or flu can start fast. it can go from a scratchy throat in the morning. to a cough. to a full body ache... at night. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night work fast too. they release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold. it's ten minutes after the top of the hour. a quick check of other stories new this morning. democrats are now stuck with a not so supermajority in the senate and president obama is telling lawmakers we "should take our time before finalizing a health care reform bill." the president says he wants to consider new ytds from both parties and health care experts as well on how to improve the system. he says letting time pass before call willing for a vote will allow everyone to get "the real facts". >> as the tea party convention kicked off, the tom kan kraid dough wasted no time talking about the grassroots movement and leadership in washington. >> people who could not even spell the word "vote" or say it in english put a committed sociali socialist ideologue in the white house whose name is barack hussein obama. >> all right. the nashville convention is a milestone for the grassroots political movement. cnn cutting through all the noise to take an in-depth look at the tea party goals. >> the groups are popping up all over the country, teaparty organizers have taken to the seas cruising for conservativco. john acosta has more on that welcome. >> yes. tea party on the acapulco deck. you could say. they are finding ways to organize. they're not a political party. there are rallies we've seen, web sites out there that folks can surf. there's also the convention going on this weekend in nashville. but there's one way that tea partiers are organizing that you may not have heard of as christine and kiran mentioned. you can pack your bags for a tea party cruise. >> reporter: on board this cruise ship, easing into the usz you virgin islands, among the thousands of passengers ready for some fun in the sun -- >> people are just not ready for this mad charge to the left. >> reporter: -- members of a rising american political movement are having a meeting of the minds. led by former republican presidential candidate alan keys, more than 100 conserving tiff and tea party activists rented out space on this ship that was built for the cruise for liberty. >> we believe in free enterprise. >> reporter: the organizer markets the seven-day voyage as a chance to talk politics in paradise. >> right now people are wanting to be with other conservatives. maybe they feel like they're a little bit out on an island someplace by themselves. >> reporter: so to speak. >> so to speak, right, exactly. >> give everybody access to health care. and if you don't want it, we'll shove it down your throat. >> reporter: at the precruise kickoff at this miami hotel, keys explained why he believes the tea party is gaining steam. >> i think it's quite obvious that this isn't about republicans and democrats. it may be about the failure of both parties an the whole system. >> reporter: alan got lean leeb sees a golden opportunity. >> a lot of people never involved in politics know nothing about it, they're extremely naive, angry and upset. they're venting their frustration by attending the rallies. >> reporter: your job is to get them involved. >> we could easily slip back into slavery. >> reporter: cruise for liberty speakers floyd and mary beth have a web site calling for president obama's impeachment. >> i know we need encouragement in fighting this battle, against obama who's trying to destroy america. i know all of you love america and are fellow patriots. >> reporter: when it comes to president obama, this is no love boat. liberal critics of these expeditions through the caribbean say they're another picture-perfect example of how the tea party movement can sometimes go overboard. democratic strategist jamal simmons worries the tone at some tea party events onshore and off is get out of hand. >> are we just talking about voting differently or something a little more edgy than that? >> reporter: want edgy? keyes refers to the president as the present occupant of the oval office. he still questions his citizenship even though the white house and republican governor of hawaii where the president was born have produced evidence refuting the charge. >> i don't see how you impeach somebody who may not be president in the first place. >> reporter: that's your position. >> if according to the constitution you are not eligible for the presidency and that does turn out to be the case, then barack obama was never president. you don't impeach somebody -- >> reporter: oh, come on. >> no. you don't understand what constitutional government is all about. >> reporter: later there will be more tea parties aboard the liberty ship and news max cruise. but the founders of one leading tea party group wonder if this is the best use of the movement's time during an election year. >> reporter: would you go on a tea party cruise? >> you know, right now we're working about 20 hours a day. i can't even imagine any cruise, much less a tea party cruise. >> we have no time for cruising. >> reporter: but other tea partiers on these trips argue hitting the high seas is just a new way of cruising for the cause. cruising for the cause indeed. the folks over at carnival cruise lines sent us a statement emphasizing they do not agree with the politics of the private groups that rent out their cruise. they insist private groups went out their ships all the time. this is just 1 with of them. >> when you hear things like tom tan trade dough's speech and what others say, does some of that stuff undermine the message of fiscal conservatism that some are getting out there? >> americans are going to make up their minds on this. there are lots of polls out right now, cnn has one of them out just today, about the tea party movement. a lot of folks don't know that much about the movement. when they hear some of these statements, coupled with the message of, less government, less taxes, they'll have to make up their minds are they going to go along with these guys. >> a lot of different elements in that movement, broad set of elements. >> absolutely. >> thanks . next, we're waiting for new employment figures. how will wall street react? what will it mean for your job? h and when you consider who will be riding wityou... perhaps the question is not so much whether you can afford to drive a vehicle that is built this way... but whether you can afford... not to. the glk. the engineering of mercedes-benz. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for special offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 minutes past the hour, time for minding your business. we have allan chernoff with us. all eyes are on the jobs report later today. >> yes. and we have slightly encouraging news and some really bad news that we're anticipating. first of all, let's start with the somewhat happy news. in a little while we're going to be getting the monthly numbers on non-farm payrolls. the job report. it is expected that there will have been a gain of 15,000 jobs during the last month. okay. that's not bad. look at that chart, only one month over the past year when we've had a net gain in jobs, 4 noush ,000 in november. we're looking for some improvement in the jobs picture. obviously it's been very grim. how grim, though? there's going to be a revision later today coming out from the bureau of labor statistics. those number crunchers have rekrufrmg r recrunched those numbers and not very tasty. job losses could rise by more than 800,000. they're looking back at the numbers from april of '08 to march of '09. don't ask me why they take that exact period, but march of '09, remember, the recession was already deeply under way in late '08 and the beginning of '09. if that happens, if we have that rise of 824,000 jobless, that would mean the number of jobs lost in the recession, 8 million. >> staggering. >> i don't think anybody would doubt it. >> no. what's so frustrated we hear about the jobs saved or created by the stimulus, 600,000. the revision wipes away progress we thought we'd made. >> as we've reported, most of those jobs created or saved, they're saved. the stimulus has not, has not, created all that many jobs when you look in the big picture. yeah, you know, 20 here, 30 here tshgs adds up a little bit. but the vast ma vort of those numbers are saved jobs. lots of money is going into the states, municipalities so they don't have to cut more jobs. it has prevented the recession from being worse. >> so bottom line today, what do they expect? >> we're looking for a job increase at least during the last month of 15,000. let's focus on that good news. >> yes. let's look at the silver lining. >> it's going to get better. >> eventually, you're right. next on the most news in the morning morning, when it comes to your safety in the air, how much has changed since the christmas day bombing attempt. two officials we spoke to say not much. a cnn exclusive, next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan. one of car & driver's 10 best for the third year in a row. ♪ and now, cadillac announces the new luxury collection lease. introducing aveeno ultra-calming with active naturals feverfew. we know feverfew... has properties that help neutralize irritation... to strengthen skin and calm redness in just one week. discover new aveeno ultra-calming. as having to decide to go for it? at the hartford, we help businesses of all kinds... feel confident doing what they do best. by protecting your business, your property, your people. you've counted on us for 200 years. let's embrace tomorrow. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. since the christmas day terror plot over detroit, cnn has been working to figure out, are federal air marshals really keeping us safer when we fly? >> we found you experts who call the program useless, also allegations from marshals that your tax dollars are essentially being wasted. our drew griffin went looking for some answers. >> reporter: on christmas day of last year, umar abdulmutallab tried to blow up a flight from amsterdam with a bomb hidden in his underwear. there were no air marshals on board. after this attack was foiled by passengers, the president called for -- >> more air marshals on flights. >> reporter: homeland security secretary janet napolitano testified before congress. >> we will strengthen the capacity of aviation law enforcement including the federal air marshal service. >> reporter: has it happened? not according to the federal air marshals or f.a.m.s who are supposed to be making those flights. several spoke to cnn on condition we protect their identities. >> since christmas, most of my domestic flights, few of them, have involved what we consider the smaller aircraft. plenty of international trips they could be covering aircraft, inbound flights from foreign countries, but they aren't doing it. there's really no excuse for it. >> reporter: but there is a reason for it, these air marshals claim. lots of short-haul flights make the marshal service look more pr productive on paper, even though many of those flights are considered low security risks. as cnn has reported for three years, the odds of you having an air marshal on your flight is so low that air marshals tell us managers use creative accounting toed pad the numbers given to congress. >> the way they do it is mickey mouse. i mean, they even go to the extent of when you're flying personally they count that as a mission if you're flying arm. if you're going on vacation with your family. that's how they help keep the numbers up. >> reporter: though the actual number is classified, it's