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Near Hurricane Winds, Flooding and Heavy Snowfall Along East Coast
Aired April 15, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Near-hurricane winds and flooding and heavy snowfall. What? How do you describe a weather system causing power outages and travel delays and havoc for millions?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people didn't speak up. And we didn't hear that much from you. David, we didn't hear from you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Don Imus called her a cleaning lady 10 years ago. Now this journalist points the finger at Tim Russert on his own show.
A Hillary Clinton campaign stop turns into a shouting match.
Speaking of Iraq, one candidate has been against it from the start. Dennis Kucinich, on Iraq, on Imus. He's live from the CNN NEWSROOM.
We are going start right here in B control tonight, because we are expecting a whole lot of video throughout this newscast. I'm Rick Sanchez. We're watching stormy weather develop on the East coast like we haven't seen in 15 years. From Florida to Maine, people are dealing with the forecast you hardly ever see in April. It's a fierce Nor'easter. It's crippling New York City. Waves are literally swallowing up beaches on Long Island. Also, major flooding is taking place in West Virginia, as people are fleeing to safety there. Air travel all over the country is being snarled as being described to us by transportation officials. And that's likely going to be true tomorrow as well. So think about that. Think about the effect it may have on you, no matter where you are.
On top of all of this, in this South, there are high winds. There have even been tornadoes. We have got you covered. Jacqui Jeras is going to be covering the storm for us. Rally Caparas is going to be tracking hundreds of flight delays all over the place. Jim Acosta is standing by on what was a beach earlier today.
Right now, let's take a look, though, at some of the best pictures that have been coming in.
First, just into CNN, this cell phone video has been coming into us, a funnel cloud. It was spotted in Morgantown, North Carolina, just east of Ashville of around I-40, for those of you familiar with the area. Twisters are being reported in several regions tonight. Just over the state line in South Carolina, for example, this is how it looks in Sumter County. This is after a twister touched down there with some well, some deadly results, we're sorry to report.
Fierce winds also in Cape Hatteras. This is North Carolina now. Waves just pounding in. 70 miles an hour gusts being reported in some of the areas of the state. We're going to be checking back there, as we will throughout the Atlantic seaboard.
Finally, let's take you all the way out to Kansas City and Missouri, where tonight, snow and ice. The weather system is being blamed for five deaths this weekend. That's in the plains.
Now to follow weather like this, we sometimes have to rely on you to let us know what's going on in your particular neighborhood. Sometimes we can't get to the areas, otherwise - besides we can't be everywhere.
So let's start with New Jersey. Lee Iaocca's helping us out there. His pictures show that flooding is so bad across the Garden State, 16 major roads have been under water and shut down.
Look at this. Also take a look at this. This picture was taken just after the rain started this morning. And the manholes were already overflowing at that time.
Here's what's weird about this storm. It involves wind, right, and then snow, and then rain. And then along the coast, there's a storm surge that's coming in. CNN's Jim Acosta can talk about that part of the story. He's been monitoring the high tide. He's in long island.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 4:00 in the afternoon on Jones Beach, we could still see the sand under our feet, but that was about to change. The storm surge predicted as part of this Nor'easter would eventually wash over 200 yards of this beachfront, but not before we ran into this college student who says he was checking out the surf as part of his homework.
And I understand you have a special interest being out here today?
DON FLORENCE, COLLEGE STUDENT: Yes, I do. I'm actually enrolled in an oceanology course with Professor Glenn Williams at Nassau Community College. And we've recently been covering tidal patterns and storm patterns. And you know, I wanted to see if -- I figured first hand, you know, I'd come down here today.
ACOSTA: After our interview, he took one more walk on the beach before all of it was submerged under water, a vivid reminder of the potential flooding danger for coastal residents along the Northeast.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: Jim Acosta's joining us now live. Jim, this is amazing, because you and I have covered a lot of hurricanes. And this almost looks like what we're used to doing as we prepare for a hurricane. What's the situation right there now on the beach?
ACOSTA: Well, Rick, after a lull of a couple of hours, the winds have picked up considerably. And yes, it is April and it feels a little early for hurricane season. Actually, what this is, is a late Nor'easter. And we are still feeling the effects of this storm.
If you look out behind me, we were showing you this beach earlier in that piece. The beach is still covered with water. A three to five-foot storm surge came in with this storm. And this beach is still totally submerged behind us. What looks like some mud behind us is actually sea foam that's washed up onto sidewalk behind us. And because this worry of - the concern of coastal flooding, people who live in those low-lying and flood prone areas, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has ordered out members of the New York National Guard to be on standby just in case people are in need of some kind of rescue during these overnight hours.
The best advice, coming from Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this evening, stay inside, don't go outside, this is what it looks like right now, Rick.
SANCHEZ: New York City's going to be a big part of the story, Jim. We thank you for filling us in on that. We'll be checking back with you throughout the newscast and will certainly be bringing you up do date on what's going on there along the Northeast, as we continue with this newscast.
Let's take you now to West Virginia. The flooding there is driving hundreds of people from their homes tonight. There are two that are unaccounted for. I-reporter James Hundley sent us these pictures tonight.
Now they really give you a pretty good idea of just how serious the situation is there. Folks, this is serious flooding. Look at the water right underneath the bridge there. I had a long conversation with him earlier tonight by phone and then on the air. He said that the buildings have been submerged. Homes as well. He was defining these for us as we were looking at them. Hundley also told me that this is the worst flooding he has ever seen there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES HUNDLEY: We crested at 26.7 feet this afternoon.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
HUNDLEY: And we -- it's my understanding, it's about 3 or 4 feet above the flood stage for Logan.
SANCHEZ: Is that as high as it's been as long as you can remember?
HUNDLEY: Yes. I've lived here 20 years and that's the deepest I have seen the (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's pretty much a good description, isn't it? West Virginia's governor is also talking about this. He's expected to issue an emergency disaster declaration. That's expected some time tomorrow.
Down south, two confirmed tornados touched down and shredded communities. This is central South Carolina, I believe, yes, central South Carolina. This is in Sumter. This one, we're told, was more ferocious, the winds as it came through here. One person killed, four others were hurt. Remember, a lot of this video we're getting in, just as we're bringing the stories to you on the air tonight. This twister carved along the ground for about 14 miles we're told.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY ANDERSON, WITNESS: I heard something. Sounded like a train coming. I was at the window in the kitchen and I seen the tornado in the air. And I got my baby, grandbaby and my wife and put her in the bathtub. I walked out the back door and all I seen was the trailer explode around the corner. It just went up there and exploded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Wow. Dundee, Florida now. This is just east of Tampa, central Florida, right? A tornado there also slammed into a mobile home park. Hard to believe from these pictures, but amazingly, no one in this situation was hurt.
Let's toss it to Jacqui Jeras now. She's been following this thing really all day long. You know what's funny about stories like this, Jacqui. You tell us earlier in the day what you expect might happen. And then we actually see it come to fruition, don't we.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, hopefully, more times than not. This is definitely doing what we thought it was going to do at this time. And we still think it's going to intensify further as we head through the overnight hours before the winds weaken a little bit.
New York City, I think you have just peaked out. And we're going to start to see improvements there. We just Jim Acosta. And there you can see some of these rain bands pushing in. So as those move in, you watch for your winds to gust as well, but the overall sustained wind event starting to die down now.
Our focus is pushing into New England, safe from New Haven, Hartford, on over towards Providence, and on into the Boston area, where winds are coming in out of the east now, 25 to 30 miles per hour here. And we're seeing gusts much stronger than that out in Nantucket.
Look at that. 37 mile per hour sustained winds pushing in. We could see gusts say 50, 60 miles per hour. And in the Boston area, by the way, high tide coming in now in the next 20 minutes. And so with those strong easterly winds, that's where we're going to start to see some of that heavy surge pushing into that area.
This is really turning into the extreme weather event this weekend. And there you can see that low pressure system intensifying then, as we head through the rest of the overnight hours, pulling in those strong winds. Expect to see the coastal flooding, heavy rain and flooding that's been the worst so far in New Jersey and also into West Virginia. This will be sticking with us through tomorrow and even into early next week.
Rick, most Nor'easters will really rapidly to the north and east and pull offshore and pull away, this one's going to start to stall out. We'll have more details of what that means for you in the Northeast, coming up in a little bit.
SANCHEZ: Yes, Jacqui, we're going to obviously be depending on you throughout the course of the evening for some of the specifics, as we check back with you, as we continue to follow this storm. Thanks so much.
Well, tomorrow is the 111th Boston Marathon. But tonight, it's really - it's runner beware. There's an advisory posted on Bostonmarathon.org. Go there if you're thinking about running or thinking about watching it. We're talking 3 to 5 inches of rain in the forecast. This is for tomorrow's race.
Now temperatures near freezing and 50 miles an hour winds as well. Try run in that. Certainly not ideal conditions. If you have plans to run in the Boston marathon Monday, log on to Bostonmarathon.org for more information. And we'll keep you up to date if we get any new information coming out of that. We know that's a - certainly a very important event.
Now let's take you to one of the many airports, where a lot of people are going to be dealing with some serious delays tonight, possibly spending the night at a terminal. In Charlotte, North Carolina, we got Tim Caputo. He's standing by now from affiliate WSOC.
Let's start by talking about some of this passengers. You've probably talked to them by now. What are they saying to you?
TIM CAPUTO, WSOC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of them are really frustrated. People would be stranded here for the night. They were only coming here they thought for a couple hours, maybe a couple minutes or so. But then they realize their connecting flight was canceled. Flights that were going to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, so those people will be spending the night right here in Charlotte.
SANCHEZ: I imagine that there's delays all over the Eastern seaboard. No different in your airport. What percentage of the flights would you say are being delayed tonight when you went in and looked at the board? CAPUTO: You know, when you look at that big board, it's delay, delay, delay. About half the flights right now are delayed. And about 10 to 12 cancellations for practically every flight on that board has some sort of delay, anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours.
SANCHEZ: What are they telling passengers at this point, who are either there or haven't gone to the airport yet? I imagine they really either shouldn't go, or at least call ahead to find out if they're flight's taking off, right?
CAPUTO: Yes, they have been trying to warn people in the bands to check online, to call in, to make sure that their flight is not cancelled. Obviously to save themselves from coming out here to find out - only to go home. But you know, they're trying to tell people to just grin and bear it. They realize it's frustrating. And only so much they can do when you have weather like this.
SANCHEZ: Tim Caputo, joining us there from Charlotte, North Carolina. Great explanation. Thanks for putting us there and giving a sense of what - by the way, what you're reporting to us is going to be a situation at airports all over the country tonight, and not just on the Eastern seaboard, but as far away as L.A. for flights that are connecting to the East coast. Thanks a lot.
Let's do this now. Let's go to Rally Caparas, because we brought him in tonight so he can give us a sense of just how broad this thing is. Rally, I see you've got your map there. How far west are people being affected by this tonight?
RALLY CAPARAS, FLIGHTEXPLORER.COM: How about Hawaii and further west than that, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Wow.
CAPARAS: It's going to be one of those situations that this is going to affect every airport that is going to be sending an aircraft into the United States today, landing at one of those big airports here in the northeast.
This big purple area that you see that's moving towards the northeast and offshore, after a while, along with the greens and the blues, that shows where the wind is really kicking up, up around Boston. It starts out blue where it was about 30 knots. Now it's to 50 knots. And that's where those gusts are really causing problems.
Good news/bad news scenario. Both Boston and Philadelphia are now out of ground delays, where they were seeing two and three hour delays. The bad news is the reason why they've gone out of the ground delays, because they cancelled most of the flights remaining, that were headed into Boston or Philly for the rest of the night.
I anticipate that we'll see hundreds of cancellations tomorrow because of the wind and the poor conditions. New York City metros, they're now averaging about six to seven-hours for arrival delays into all three locations. I expect to see a lot more - quite a few more cancellations over the next hour or so. And then in the morning when we wake up, check, please folks, before you head to the airport because I guarantee you, you're going to see hundreds of cancellations once again. Rick?
SANCHEZ: Rally Caparas. Thanks so much - you know, you're so good at this. This is what you do, you specialize in it. Throughout this newscast, we'll be checking with you to hopefully get some specifics at some airports. Maybe who knows? We can help some people out who are watching tonight and were planning to possibly -- maybe we'll even have good news.
CAPARAS: Hope so.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.
Still ahead right here in the NEWSROOM, it's a shouting match with Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: No, I don't read that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you read...
CLINTON: I don't read that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There you go, face to face with one very loud critic over the war and what she did or did not read. Also, a prominent black journalist says she, too, was the target of a nasty remark by Don Imus. And now she's speaking out.
Also, an ireport out of Hoboken, New Jersey gives new meaning to the phrase, don't flood your engine. I'm going to talk to the guy who shot it. That and a whole lot more. Boy, have we got a lot of stories and a lot of pictures to share with you. We'll be right back. You're watching CNN, the most trusted.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's worried about it, though. You know, the people that have been around here for many years don't really get too upset about it. They're all nervous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, this is what we're going to be concentrating on. They're really bracing for the worst tonight across the Northeast and New England.
We just got news in from Madison, West Virginia, as a matter of fact. Come out to me, Roger, if you would. This was handed to me just a little while ago by one of our producers. Emergency officials are asking hundreds of people living below an earthen dam on a fishing lake. This is Madison, West Virginia. They're asking them to leave their homes immediately because of concerns that that erosion caused by heavy rain will destabilize their structures.
Again, this is -- the dam's piping system was clogged with debris. And the earth wasn't washing away the drainage pipes. Well, apparently, the dam is clogged. They're getting more water in the area. Now they're asking people in that area around Madison to leave their homes. This is from emergency officials in that area have asked us to make that announcement.
Did you have another one as well? All right, as we - oh, I'm sorry. That's just west of Kentucky, by the way. We're just being told, that's -- it's West Virginia, but it's very near the Kentucky border as well. As we get more information on that and other stories tonight, we're going to be passing it along tonight.
Let's bring you some news as well now. Tonight, a reminder that Hillary Clinton still has some explaining to do about her vote for the war in Iraq. This is especially when it comes to her Democratic faithful. This is what's interesting about the story. Check out the exchange she had in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you read...
CLINTON: No, I was briefed on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She was briefed on it she says. Well, that's a town hall meeting in Hampton. The woman demanded to know if Ms. Clinton had actually read the prewar intelligence report that she'd gotten before voting to authorize the war. Clinton said that she was briefed on the report. The woman kept yelling. Mrs. Clinton answered back.
Supporters eventually -- for Mrs. Clinton drowned out the woman in the audience with the applause. Tough times there.
Well, the firings of those eight U.S. attorneys are going to be the hot issue this week in Washington. And tonight, already starting to hear what their former boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has to say about this.
First, the man you see front and center there, that's Gonzales' former chief of staff Kyle Sampson. You see a lot of him in this. He was on Capitol Hill today, answering some more questions. Gonzales is going to be in the hot seat Tuesday. He's trying to save his job. He's accused of firing U.S. attorneys for political reasons.
The attorney general released his prepared Senate testimony earlier today. In his words, this is what he says, "I know that I did not and would not ask for a resignation of any individual in order to interfere with or influence a particular prosecution for partisan political gain. I also have no basis to believe that anyone involved in this process sought the removal of a U.S. Attorney for an improper reason."
Again, those are his words today. Stakes are high on this. One Democratic senator says Tuesday's hearing is going to be "make or break for Gonzales."
The Don Imus story is still making waves tonight from Washington to New York and even beyond. Journalist Gwen Ifill now with PBS was the target of an Imus insult years ago when he referred to her as a cleaning lady. Today on "Meet the Press," she fronted host Tim Russert and columnist David Brooks, both former Imus guests, for not speaking up back then and throughout while Imus has made remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GWEN IFILL, PBS, "WASHINGTON WEEK": It's been radio silence from a lot of people who have done this program, who could have spoken up and said, I find this offensive or I didn't know. These people didn't speak up, Tim. We didn't hear that much from you. David, we didn't hear from you. What was missing in this debate was someone saying, you know, I understand that this is offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, Don Imus made his comment about Gwen Ifill years ago, but he got away with that one. He lost his job, though, Thursday after a racist and sexist remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
From Don Imus to the Iraq War, plenty of newsmakers spent their Sunday spinning their views. Well still ahead, the vice president makes a rare appearance. You're going to hear what he's saying about the war funding stand-off between President Bush and Democrats.
Speaking of Democrats and money, is the gas pump draining your bank account? Gas prices are skyrocketing. We have to ask, is there any relief in sight?
Also, news just in. This is coming into us from Connecticut now. There were 1500 power outages earlier this evening, but utility crews are telling us now that they've gotten that number down to 800. So 800 power outages, when last we checked. That's in Connecticut, a story that we're obviously going to be checking on throughout the course of the evening.
Our Jacqui Jeras has the latest now on strong storms that are pounding the Northeast, high tides, heavy rain, flooding neighborhoods right now. We'll be getting back with Jacqui in just a little bit. Stay with us. A lot of news that continues to come our way.
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SANCHEZ: All right, this coming to us just moments ago. This is information from New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. He's saying that he is now sending 3200 National Guard members to potential flood areas there. Some of the areas that we've been showing you, including the report we filed by Jim Acosta. He says the weather could bring, this is from the governor's office, the weather could bring the most flooding that the state has seen since December of 1992. Since that storm, he says already more than 5.5 inches of rain has fallen in the New York region. Tonight's high tide is likely to bring coastal flooding as well, along parts of Long Island and New York City.
And we also just got this. Hang on, Roger. We also just go this from Mayor Bloomberg's office in New York City. He is urging all residents of New York City tomorrow morning to please use public transit, to not try and drive your cars into the city. Mayer Bloomberg urging all citizens and all of those who will be commuting into the city tomorrow to try and use public transit. He thinks it would be too difficult and will create too much of a mess if people try and use their own vehicles. So two pieces of information we're sharing with you tonight. One coming from the governor of New York, the other one from the mayor of New York, as we continue to follow this weather situation.
Now, Roger this. Yes, this is people looking at other drivers, as they have what is, I guess only described by me as bad fortune, right? This is Hoboken, New Jersey, not far from New York City. I- reporters there letting off some steam as the streets fill up with rainwater this afternoon.
On the phone with us now is one of the guys who shot this video is Corey Croningold, who's good enough to join us. What were you seeing all day today there, Corey?
COREY CRONINGOLD: We were seeing a lot of rain, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Not only a lot of rain but a lot of people driving into the rain it looks like, right?
CRONINGOLD: A lot of people trying to drive not very successfully. And a lot of people walking in knee to waist deep water.
SANCHEZ: Here we are, looking at the streets where Frankie Sinatra did all his crooning. And now you're telling me, what, the water level is where on these streets?
CRONINGOLD: The water level is somewhere between knee and waist- deep, depending on how tall you are.
SANCHEZ: Knee and waist deep. So when did you take these pictures, by the way, these cars that we're looking at right now?
CRONINGOLD: This is about 6:00 p.m. during a lull in the rain, actually. And since about 8:00 p.m., it's been raining a lot harder, probably another inch of rain since then. And the street is probably another 6 inches higher with water.
SANCHEZ: You know, looking at these pictures, and you know, certainly we've been around these kind of situations before, covering stories like this, oftentimes, people try to drive through these waters, they get stuck, because you know, the water goes up in the transmission. Everything gets wet. Are there a lot of cars that they've had to pull off these roads?
CRONINGOLD: There have been a few cars getting stuck, particularly at this one intersection, which is rather low-lying. There also was a truck across the street from us, that the water had come over the tailpipe. And when they started to drive, it looked a lot like a motorboat.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing. Corey Coringold, bringing us pictures from -- look at that! Look at that! Hoboken, New Jersey, people just trying to get around tonight. And it's the same situation - we've heard from people like you, Corey, in West Virginia, in parts of the Carolinas, through the southeast. And tonight, we're hearing from our own reporters. And as you heard just moments ago from both the mayor and governor of New York as well.
Boy, she's walking fast all of a sudden. Thanks for much for bringing us that.
Also, this tonight. There's one Democrat that has been following the situation throughout of what's going on. But before we do that, before we tell you about the Democrat, let's go back to Jacqui Jeras for an update on what's going on with the weather. Sorry, Jacqui. I was getting a little bit ahead of myself.
JERAS: That's OK. You know, and looking at those pictures can be so distracting. To me, it's so upsetting to see that, because this is exactly what we tell you not to do. I mean, unless you have no other options, unless your life is being threatened immediately, don't walk through that water. Don't drive through that water, because guess what? Chances are you could get killed in those kind of situations.
Yes, look at that picture. You know, if that water is knee to waist-deep, not only can that float you, but that can float your car, depending on how fast that current is. And when you approach water like this, you don't know how deep that is in the street, not to mention that sewage and other kind of waste and dirt and muck and oil and what not from the street is all in that water. So that water is really really hazardous.
You know, this has been an incredible storm to watch as it evolved. This thing started in the Gulf of Alaska, made its way all across the United States, and now is just pounding the Northeastern quarter at this hour. It's a Nor'easter type storm. What does that mean to you? And yes, it is likely going to be of historic proportions. Here's a little more thought on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERAS: The warnings ominous. Residents told to prepare.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK: We have to prepare for the worst, while we're hoping for the best. JERAS: New York, like the rest of this Eastern seaboard, knows the worst of Nor'easters. Nor'easter is the term the National Weather Service uses for storms that move up the East coast, bringing in strong north easterly winds that could reach hurricane strength. There are plenty on record. Remember the January 1996 storm that paralyzed much of the region. The storm plowing through the U.S. now is being compared to this one from 1992 that brought heavy flooding. Some call it the Great Nor'easter. It flooded many areas, including the New York City subway.
A big reason coastal flooding could be bad during this time is this nor'easter comes during already high tides because it's stirring the new moons when nor'easters are at their highest.
Nor'easters are particularly powerful. Scientists have studied how they impact the coast and even the ocean floor. And the National Weather Service says everyone in the region that could be affected should be stocking up and preparing.
SPITZER: We would suggest to people that they get flashlights, that they stock up on some food and do the things common sense would suggest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JERAS: And hopefully all are prepared. Because the worst of the storm coming into play as we speak, continuing through the overnight hours, those winds are going to start to die down a little bit tomorrow. But, still, it takes time for all that rain that came down, five to six inches across parts of New Jersey and New York, for all that to run off and then get into the rivers and streams and watch those to continue to rise up over the next couple of days.
Now this storm is also very unusual, not just because how strong it is but also because of the duration of it. It's a slow moving storm and it is going to stick with us a couple days yet. I will tell you where it's going next coming up in just a little bit, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you where it is right now. Jacqui, look at this. Let's go to Grant Greenberg, he is with affiliate WHDH. He is in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. And boy, it looks to me like it's raining real bad on you there, young man.
By the way, Hank, let me ask you something. We understand it's high tide there by our calculations. What does that tell you? What are you seeing there?
GRANT GREENBERG, WHDH TV: We're actually -- we're inland. We're not on the coast so we're not dealing with the flooding like we're seeing along some of the coastal areas in Massachusetts. We're actually at the start of the race for tomorrow, Monday's marathon. And organizers are actually really worried about the weather.
Because they say they've had rain before, snow before, the marathon has never been canceled before because of this weather but they're taking extra steps just in case the weather is bad tomorrow. For instance, along the route there are going to be tents set up, insulated tents just in case runners drop out, so they can get a bus back to the station. That's one of the things they'll be doing and there also are going to be extra volunteers. The volunteers will have ponchos out there and they need all those volunteers to be handing out water and in this case, coffee.
Also, here at the athletes' village, this where is the athletes come before the start of the race. There are tents. This year, the tents will be insulated as opposed to just the tents where you had the outside tents. And the other thing, there are going to be a lot of heaters in the tents and at the gym, they're opening up the gym.
But really, the cold weather and rain, not enjoyable to stand out here, I can't really imagine it being too enjoyable to run 26 miles any day but certainly not in these conditions. Now usually about 10 percent of the people who sign up and qualify to run this race don't show up. Organizers expect that number to go up.
But Rick, they say, once the runners start, 96, 97 percent of those runners finish the race and they really don't expect that number to be different this year. I guess once you get started there is no stopping you.
SANCHEZ: Sometimes the best way of telling people a story is just to show what people are going through. And just watching you wrestling with that umbrella maybe has told us most of what is going there in Boston tonight. Grant, thanks so much for bringing us up to date. We'll try and send you a new umbrella if we possibly can.
One Democrats that's always been against the war no matter what. And now he's running for president. He's criticizing, guess who? Democrats. Dennis Kucinich is joining us live tonight. He is our Sunday spotlight. He is going to be talking to us about the war, Hillary Clinton, Don Imus, among other things.
And New Jersey's governor injured in a wreck and not wearing his seatbelt. We've got some really amazing pictures, never seen before from inside the car. We'll show you what got him. And then we're keeping you up to day on all the wicked weather that's going on all over the place. Here's some of the pictures we got from the Atlantic seaboard earlier today. You see the flooding there. A lot of this coming in from you and people like you who are watching the show.
We are calling you I-Reporters and we thank you for your diligent work. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: We are going continue to bring you the very latest on the weather situation all over the country, certainly up in the Northeast.
But let's bring some of the other news that we've been following today as we get out to the big set here. The fight for Iraq. Two British soldiers are dead after a mid- air helicopter collision near Baghdad. British officials say it doesn't look like any fire from the ground was involved in this one.
Also the U.S. military says three more American troops were killed in combat this weekend. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew himself up aboard a city bus. Six people were killed, and twice that number hurt. A few hours earlier, two car bombs detonated at the same time. This is an outdoor market in Baghdad and 18 people were killed there.
When it comes to the war in Iraq, few people in Washington use more confident language than Vice President Dick Cheney. This from the V.P. today. Quote, "I do believe that we can win in Iraq. I think it is a worthy cause and that a democratic government is achievable."
He said today a funding bill needs to pass otherwise the Pentagon will run out of money for the war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT: The way it will work, the Defense Department has some flexibility in terms of reprogramming and so forth. But it begins to bite fairly early on, the concerns expressed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and by Pete Schoomaker, who is the retiring chief of staff of the army, if we don't get money flowing here shortly, say, by the end of this month, it will begin to have an impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, both the House and the Senate war funding bills include dates for withdrawals and the president promises to veto any such bill if it has that attached to it. And Vice President Cheney also predicts Democrats will eventually back off their demands for withdrawal deadlines.
Tune in to CNN tomorrow morning for a presidential news conference on paying for the war. That is at 11:00 Eastern.
In our Sunday spotlight tonight, the only presidential candidate who has consistently spoken against the war in Iraq and also voted against it in 2002, the far right calls him a misguided peacenik, the far left calls him a hero.
So much so that in a Web poll of moveon.org surfers, admittedly liberal, he's beating Hillary Clinton by seven points. This election is not going to be won on the far right or the far left. Most likely it will be won somewhere in the middle.
Joining us now is the guy who wants to try and capture that vote, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) OH: Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Let's start with your bread-and-butter issue, it's Iraq. Vice President Cheney just said today that he is willing to bet the Democrats will give in and end up supporting the war funding without conditions. What would you say to your colleagues if they do that?
KUCINICH: First of all, I would say that Vice President Cheney bears a serious responsibility for the war in Iraq and he will at some point have to bear constitutional responsibility for that.
Furthermore, with respect to my colleagues. The Democrats have an obligation to end this war. We can end it now by pulling the plug on funding. There is money in the pipeline to bring the troops home now. The people of the United States did not vote for a Democratic version of the war in Iraq.
And that's why I say follow the plan I laid out in HR-1234, that ends the occupation, closes the bases, brings the troops home.
SANCHEZ: So you're saying pull the plug now. So let me ask you this question, then. Whether or not they do that, aren't they already playing politics by seeming to want to prolong the war up to now?
I mean, isn't this a bit of a Machiavellian thing where they are saying, it's your war, Mr. President and the longer we keep it your war, the less hazard, the less problems for us?
KUCINICH: Yes. And that's why my presidential candidate gives people a clear choice for someone who not just from the start opposed the war, but did an analysis way back when to prove the war was wrong. If others had listened to me, we wouldn't have been in this war.
The Democrats had control of the senate yet Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards voted for the war. Senator Clinton, Senator Edwards and Senator Obama have voted to fund the war. We're in a situation right now where America must get out. We must bring our troops home. The money is in the pipeline to do it.
SANCHEZ: Your point is no more politics, get to the business that you say the American people want them to take care of.
KUCINICH: We can't play politics with this war. There are people dying. We have an obligation to bring the troops home. And the money is there right now and also to set in place a parallel process, to bring in peacekeepers from the region and to have our troops move out.
SANCHEZ: Got that. Let me move to this now. Because this is a big deal for you. You're a staunch liberal no doubt. Liberal Democrat. But the warning bells you sound come straight from Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He warned of the military industrial complex. He was the first to even use that term. You've been speaking out about this a lot lately. Make your case.
KUCINICH: President Eisenhower was absolutely right and he understood. Think about it. If the war was a money loser for Wall Street, would we still be at war? The fact of the matter is that this war has been of great profit to defense contractors and that we're in Iraq and looking at attacking Iran for the same reason, oil. The American people know this.
SANCHEZ: So listen. The Democrats have control now. There is accountability issue with something like this.
KUCINICH: You're right. You're 100 percent right?
SANCHEZ: Why aren't they doing anything about it?
KUCINICH: You're looking at the only member of Congress who opposes the war who voted against both the supplemental appropriation, 97 billion four weeks ago that will keep the war going through the middle of 2008 and voted against a budget which will keep the war going into 2009.
The American people want a new direction and my candidacy gives them a chance to reject war as an instrument of policy and to use diplomacy to achieve security.
SANCHEZ: Let me show you something now, I want to show you something that happened that Hillary Clinton had to deal with this weekend. Our viewers saw it just a little while ago, I don't know if you saw it so we're going to give you-- It's a town hall meeting in New Hampshire where she was assailed for not following your advice that you laid out in 2002, when you put out one of the reports on Iraq.
Here it is. Watch this and then we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you read ...
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NY: No. I was briefed on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It I don't know if you can tell. She is saying, "I read it, I read it."
The person says, "How much did you read?"
Goes back and forth for a while. She's being criticized for voting the way she did and maybe not being prepared prior to the vote. Is that fair criticism?
KUCINICH: Well, if she would have done her job she would have known then what she knows now and that is that we shouldn't have gone to war. I gave an analysis to members of Congress. Everyone who wanted to look could see there was no cause for war.
But let's go beyond that. Now that she does know today what she didn't know then, she and the others are still voting for war, including Senator Obama who says he opposed the war from the start yet has voted to fund it consistently.
My candidacy offers the only approach for Democrats who truly want to see an end to this war, who are looking for integrity and authenticity, vision, correct judgment. I think the American people want a new direction and I'm prepared today to be president to give them that direction.
SANCHEZ: Ohio's own Dennis Kucinich in our Sunday spotlight tonight. We thank you, sir, for taking time to talk to us.
KUCINICH: Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: New Jersey's governor is facing more surgery this week after a horrific accident. Coming up tonight we have got some new and some exclusive images of the aftermath of the crash. Also Jacqui Jeras gathering more information about the severe weather system that is moving all over the country. There she is. She is putting it together with some of our producers now.
Boy, it's a lot of stuff to talk about. We're trying to get as much in as we can, we're trying to check in on different states and cities across the eastern seaboard. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, we have got a lot of news to bring you. We expect also that much of the news that we're following here overnight, much of that will continue to develop. Certainly, we expect a lot of developments as far as the weather is concerned.
So tomorrow morning, John Roberts and Kiran Chetry are going to be your new hosts of AMERICAN MORNING. In fact, here's Kiran with a preview.
KIRAN CHETRY, AMERICAN MORNING: Thanks, Rick. This Monday on AMERICAN MORNING, you don't want to miss our special series, "Children of War." We wanted to take a closer look at the sacrifices of military families and the toll that it takes on the loved ones left behind.
On Monday, we are focusing on young kids in particular and how they're coping with having a parent gone for such a long time. We paid a visit to West Point and we met the Snells, seven rambunctious boys ranging in age from 20 months to 12 years old.
They haven't seen their father for nine months now and they only talk to him through e -mails and the occasional phone call. The earliest they can hope to see their dad is this summer.
And while all of the boys miss their father, it seems that the eldest boys in particular have been hit quite hard by it. I sat down with them to hear more about how they feel. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: When he first told you he was going to Iraq again, how did he tell you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was crying.
CHETRY: Were you guys crying, too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHETRY: Your dad's been gone, it will be nine months. How has it been?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard.
CHETRY: What is it that you miss the most about your dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking us bowling, to the pool, to movies. That's mainly what I miss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Swimming. He taught me how to swim.
CHETRY: Do you worry about him getting hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHETRY: Why do you say yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I have heard a lot of news stories that many people have gotten killed.
CHETRY: And you said you don't worry. Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I know he'll be safe.
CHETRY: You just know that in your heart?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And we can hear the rest of the Snell family's emotional story. It's a story that echoes that of thousands of American families feeling the impact of the war in Iraq. Join me and John Roberts on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning, we start this Monday, 6:00 a.m. Eastern. Hope to see you there. Rick?
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Kiran. We certainly appreciate that. Expect it to be a fabulous show.
If Kiran is smart, she'll probably get to the news set right about now. Because New York City is going to be a tough place to get around tomorrow morning. We'll bring you more reports especially along the Northeast, New York, New Jersey, that whole area. It is going to be tough, folks. We're going to bring you up to date in just a minute. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's bring you up to date. Now, new information that we're getting. This is the very latest information from New York City. We had told you that Mayor Bloomberg is telling everyone who lives in New York City, please don't drive your car tomorrow. Try and use rapid transit if you possibly can.
Also Governor Spitzer is saying that he's calling out members of the National Guard, especially along the coastal area there in Long Island.
Now we're getting this peace of information. New York City has opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations and they are going to be providing ferry service to Fire Island-pardon me, ferry service to Fire Island has been cancelled tonight and they are going to open nine emergency storm shelters in the flood prone locations there.
So they're canceling the ferry service obviously because of the chop, it's a little too dangerous and we're also learning more than 400 flights have been cancelled at the New York region's three major airports.
Also, look at this photo. You see what caused that wreck that we've been telling you about? Now we're talking about the governor of New Jersey. These pictures have been coming into us tonight.
You see the bottom of that right there, see it right there at the bottom, right underneath this console of the car, that's a mangled piece of metal? That's part of the barricade, the steel highway guardrail that punched through the floorboard of the SUV carrying New Jersey's Governor Jon Corzine Thursday and that is what caused him most of the injuries to his legs. It basically trapped him and made the knee go the other way.
These are new pictures of the crash taken by a paramedic who sent them to us this afternoon, exclusive to CNN. The governor was badly hurt and remains in intensive care tonight.
We're glad to report, though, he's doing a lot better. He was actually able to talk to his son. Police did track down the other driver believed to be involved in that crash, no name yet since he has not been charged.
It's April but it sure doesn't look like it. A big chunk of the nation is being walloped by spring snow on top of everything else.
Jacqui Jeras is going to be talking about that and then Rally -- Can we get a shot of Rally, Rally Caparas. He is going to have the latest travel delays for you. There it is. Keep it tuned to us. Rally is going to join us in just a bit. That's what he does. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here I am now with the busiest meteorologist in America. Boy, it's been crazy tonight.
JERAS: It has.
SANCHEZ: Just got from the mayor of Providence. He wants everybody, including his own workers to go out and start cleaning out all the grates because he says the water doesn't percolate if you don't clean those things out ...
JERAS: Right. Clogs it up. And then the water can't drain out to anywhere when you've got so much.
SANCHEZ: Good idea.
JERAS: Again, I love the advice of Mayor Bloomberg, too, talking about, don't drive in this thing, stay at home. Stay at home. Why bother to go out? It's really bad at this hour, especially up towards New York City, on into Connecticut, Providence, Boston, the strong winds are pulling in from the east-southeast, we're seeing sustained winds in the 20-30 mile per hour range, gusts 40-50. We could even see some 60 mile per hour gusts especially out here in the cape.
The rainfall is going to continue to be very heavy. We've got two areas of low pressure. Here's the location now. They're going to be pulling up together, strong heading towards Long Island and then the storm unfortunately is going to start to stall out.
I want you to look right here at what is going to happen over the next 24 to 48 hours, those are your wind vectors and it is going to stall here so ran is going to stick around through Tuesday before it finally pulls on out.
Rick?
SANCHEZ: Thanks a lot, Jacqui. Let's go to my friend, Rally here, Caparas, who has been following the situation what planes can and can't do right now. You used to be an air-traffic controller?
RALLY CAPARAS, FLIGHT EXPLORER.COM: Air-traffic controller for the FAA for 13 years.
SANCHEZ: So what's it like on a night like this?
CAPARAS: Well, on a night like this, I was a controller also at the FAA's command center. We were the ones who made the decisions on who was going to get delayed because of the phenomena.
Tonight, they're working diligently to get people out of those terminals and out of those sleeping bags and into an airplane to get them back where they're supposed to go. This picture, right here, all the purple, blue and the green, strong gusting winds, the way it's circulating around. What it tells me, this picture, based on my experience, tomorrow, you will see hundreds of cancellations headed to the Northeast region once again, terrible weather conditions
SANCHEZ: And from all over the country?
CAPARAS: All over the country.
SANCHEZ: We are going to be wrapping this up for people throughout the night. We've been bringing you so much information. We hope and wish the best for you and yours.
Remember the advice you are getting from people like Mayor Bloomberg in New York. If you don't have to drive, don't. If you can use rapid transit, please do.
We'll see you again tomorrow. Thanks for being with us.
Thank you for coming in.
CAPARAS: Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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