Mardi Gras celebrations are already breaking out this year in New Orleans. Today, schools are closing early so everyone can get to the Louisiana Superdome in time for tonight's Super Bowl parade.

And still celebrating the Saints' championship is a pair of CNN political contributors who happen to be husband and wife and members of the "Who dat" nation – James Carville and Mary Matalin. They joined us on Tuesday's American Morning.

Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha died suddenly yesterday after complications from galbladder surgery. Now many are asking what went wrong?

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains.

Read more: Murtha dies of surgery complications

More heavy snow is moving in from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic states. And travel problems still haven't cleared up from the weekend when parts of the D.C. area got 30 inches.

Some people are wondering if they'll get out this week. Our Sarah Lee reports from Reagan National Airport with a look at how things are moving.

Severe Weather Tracker: Radar, snow

Winter warnings are up again in D.C., Virginia and Maryland.

Places that were buried under more than two feet of snow over the weekend could get another 20 inches. The federal government remains shut down this morning and some flights still haven't gotten off the ground from the last storm.

We're tracking this new storm and the mess the last one left behind. Our Reynolds Wolf has this report from Washington.

Read more: Snowed-packed Washington to get hit again

Toyota's president apologized as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the Prius.

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) - Toyota's president apologized profusely Tuesday as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the popular Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems.

"We do apologize for the inconvenience and concerns we've given to the customers," President Akio Toyoda said in making the recall announcement from the automaker's headquarters in Tokyo. "Quality is our lifeline for Toyota."

The company will work to recover its customers' trust, Toyoda said.

The automaker filed recall papers early Tuesday afternoon with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Recall papers will be filed in the United States sometime Tuesday.

The recall adds to the woes of the beleaguered automaker, which had previously recalled more than 8 million cars in recent months. This latest recall was the first of Toyota vehicles sold in the domestic Japanese market.

The worldwide recall involves 437,000 vehicles, including the Toyota Prius and Sai, along with the Lexus HS250h. The Sai is sold primarily in Japan.

Sales of the Sai and Lexus HS250h will be halted until a fix is in place. Read the full story »

Check the list of vehicles being recalled | What to do if your car's on the list

Toyota recall: Complete coverage

Editor's Note: Monday’s American Morning audience was dumbfounded by any positive response to Sarah Palin's address at the Tea Party convention.

• Dan: Why does ANYONE take Sarah Palin seriously? A ten year old could see that she's an uninformed self-promoter who's all about making some real money. Yet the media constantly pretends that she could actually be a serious contender for president of the US. Why?
• Jerry: I'm glad to see that Palin had room to spare on her hand after she got through writing all she knew on it.
• Allen: I can't believe that people are motivated by absolutely nada. What comes out of her mouth?? Poking and prodding others, and without any direction given as to how she would do anything. Not even a glimpse of anything that would persuade the present administration to act on it. She blames Obama for the 'fruit of Kaboom' bomber on Christmas day. She speaks like she is in a bar talking crapola. She's worse than a pinhead... an airhead with a lot of frustrated people left over from the 2008 election. It sure would be nice to see her backing the administration for the 'sake of the people', instead of scoring points to make her look 'viable.' I really don't think the tea party people will be fooled by the twit. A lot of them will get caught up with the emotions, but reality will sink in and those high minded individuals will realize her capabilities, and her actions will be seen as it is: a scratched record, with incoherent ideas. PS: she will run for president, as she is pulling this off to keep her status as a potential candidate, and not allowing the after glow of Scott Brown to suck up her position.

How do you think Sarah Palin’s speech was received at the Tea Party convention? Is she ready to be president in 2012?

The game was great, but as usual, many people are talking about the Super Bowl commercials. One of the most popular was a "Snickers" ad featuring the legendary Betty White and Abe Vigoda in a pick-up football game. Watch the video below for some of our picks.

Complete coverage: Saints win first Super Bowl

Time: Best, worst Super Bowl ads

We're still waiting to hear what Toyota plans to do about 270,000 Prius hybrid models that might have brake problems. So far, no official recall has been announced.

Meanwhile, a California woman says she's considering legal action against the automaker for an accident that left her seriously hurt. Our Deb Feyerick has the report.

CNNMoney: Prius brake fix near

The paparazzi are known for taking unwanted photos of celebrities and politicians. Our Entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson has the story of a pioneering paparazzo and what he calls "a new breed" of photographers in this AM original report.

Editor's Note: With the first ever Tea Party Convention happening in Nashville, Friday’s American Morning audience grew weary of the discussion. A majority questioned why this “fringe” movement warranted so much attention, while a minority admonished CNN for “diminishing” the Tea Party by focusing on the extreme elements in the group.

• Dave: Seems to me CNN is making a big deal out of the tea party Klan. The fact that they're supposed news is beyond comprehension. They're like Palin, way over the top and extremely right winged. Enough already. In addition, The Democrats are the majority, could CNN interview them instead of parading out those really negative republicans.
• David: "Massive political movement"? You're wasting valuable air time on 600 people at a Tea Party convention? Or 100 people on a Virgin Island cruise? Why don't you back up that camera and show that those meeting rooms are small and mostly empty? There are so many important things going on in the world. There are protests where thousands of people march on Washington and state capitals and it doesn't get mentioned on CNN? You just wasted 10 minutes that could be used to report something newsworthy! Stop. Report the news. And stop this ridiculous catty anchor commentary that dominates the AM news on CNN. That N in CNN used to stand for "news'.
• Maj: CNN is devoting an enormous amount of air time to the Tea Party but they are still a small movement and the airtime makes them appear large...there are Muslim movements in the US larger than the Tea Party...there are gay and lesbian movements larger than the Tea Party etc...let's put this all into perspective please...
• Jan: Our options for morning news is either Morning Joe, MSNBC or CNN....both programs cater to giving air time to NON NEWS segments about the bottom 10% of the un-educated (Tea-Party) or clips of Republican SOUND BITES. Why not actually HELP the people who are truly trying to clean up the mess left by Bush and Co. and MOVE FORWARD? I don't care what the likes of Sara Palin has to say...she has no place on the "news". I'm so disgusted!
• Charlie: I'm curious under which national flag the tea party cruise ships fly under? Many of these cruise companies fly under foreign flags to avoid paying U.S. wages and taxes. Is it right to organize a cruise to "save the USA," while supporting sub standard wages on the very people floating them across the Caribbean waters?
• Ed: Your coverage of the Teaparty convention could not have been more biased. Was very critical without the slightest bit of perception of their stance. Your position is one reason for this new movement.
• Rebecca: I think you're trying to diminish the message of the Tea Party movement by highlighting the more extreme fringe of the group. Even while questioning Rand Paul you seemed more interested in the controversy than the message. Also, in reference to the Pam Tebow ad, why not focus on how the "women's rights" advocates went crazy when word of the ad got out. Why are they so afraid? Instead you showed a more positive comment from a "rights" advocate after she realized the going crazy approach wasn't working. By the way, where were these women’s rights groups when Sarah Palin and her daughter were being destroyed by the media? They're not for women's rights, their for their own left agenda.

How do you feel about the Tea Party movement? Continue the conversation here.