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American Morning

Suspicious Packages Found at Greek Embassy in Rome; Monster Blizzard Blasts Northeast: Blizzard, Flood Warnings in Connecticut; Alaska Senate Race is Over

Aired December 27, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JIM ACOSTA, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: All right, good morning. It's Monday, December 27th. The most snow in the morning here on CNN. I'm Jim Acosta.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. We want to get you caught up on what's going on and then we'll tell you about our skeleton crew here, those few and weary who made it in. We're firing on all cylinders this morning. But many are snowed in.

A monster blizzard is wreaking havoc across the northeast this morning, 30 inches of snow already on the ground in some areas, 30 inches. Thousands of holiday travelers are stuck, airlines canceled flights throughout the northeast all the way to Chicago, the Carolinas, even the west coast. And more misery unfortunately is on the way.

ACOSTA: Yes, we feel your pain. Many people are camping out at the airports this morning. And there are no guarantees they'll be taking of today or tomorrow. So what can you do if your travel plans get scrapped? We have more on that coming up.

CHETRY: Also, if you live in the northeast, you're probably feeling the effects of the blizzard today. It was not all bad news though for businesses. Some retailers actually hit the jackpot when the monster storm headed up the east coast. We have the stores that saw green when everybody else saw white and the businesses that will be paying for the blizzard for weeks to come.

ACOSTA: Up first, it is an absolute holiday travel mess, it has nothing to do with whether you were naughty or nice. Thousands of fliers are stranded this morning as a blizzard continues to pound the northeast. Snow emergencies have been declared in four states and several major cities including Philadelphia and Boston, some places expecting almost 2 1/2 feet of snow by the time it's all over.

CHETRY: That's right. Right now things at a standstill at all of New York's major airports. Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK all closed right now. We have the updated times for you. Newark is opening at noon today, LaGuardia at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, and JFK opening at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.

ACOSTA: Incredible.

CHETRY: And Atlanta City, they're opening at 8:00 this morning, same with new haven opening up at 7:00.

ACOSTA: So we're basically in the bull's eye.

CHETRY: Yes, we are. Yes, we are. And of course, we know how many travelers go in and out of those three major airports in New York. Allan Chernoff s live for us at LaGuardia this morning. If you're one of the people, as you said, stranded there, it's still no guarantee you're getting out any time soon.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, also no guarantee this place is opening up at 2:00. I just spoke to the general manager here. He's saying it could take until 4:00 this afternoon to get the airport fully operational.

He said the runways are doing OK, the taxiways not very good, mainly because of the winds, which he said hit as much as 60 miles an hour last night. That's what's happening outside. Inside, welcome to the hotel LaGuardia. He told me that 250 people were stranded here. I did a quick count early this morning about 5:00. I counted just 85 on this side of the terminal. There's another side of the terminal.

People are sleeping in cots on these connecter ways between the main terminal and the garage, these hallways lined with cots. We'll get footage to you later on. Other people, they were just stuck right here on the main terminal floor. One of them Cleo Raimone. She did not sleep at all?

CLEO RAIMONE, STRANDED PASSENGER: Correct, did not.

CHERNOFF: Oh, my. You look pretty good.

RAIMONE: Well, thanks. I love you too.

CHERNOFF: Well, now, Claire was trying to get to dale. You had a flight at 4:20 p.m. yesterday. It had been canceled, had it not?

RAIMONE: Yes, it did.

CHERNOFF: OK. But you were hoping to get another flight. Where do things stand? When do you think you may get out?

RAIMONE: Well, everything's been canceled. We've been up all night checking the monitors and right now doesn't look like we're going to get out until maybe between 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 at night.

CHERNOFF: All right, let's hope it's at least by then. A lot of folks could be here much, much longer. Kiran, Jim?

CHETRY: All right.

ROBERTS: The hotel LaGuardia, travelers check in, but may not check out.

CHETRY: They're saying too, but Allan's saying the general manager says maybe not until 4:00 p.m. Allan, we'll continue to check in with you. So the only thing worse being stuck in a terminal, how about being stranded on the actual runway?

ACOSTA: Earlier this morning our sister network CNNI got in touch with a passenger on an LL flight at JFK that was sitting on the tarmac for almost, get this, eight hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it must be miserable onboard. What are you people doing?

ERIC SCHORR, STRANDED ON PLANE FOR EIGHT HOURS: People right now are actually sleeping. But for the first few hours, people were going in and out of sort of, you know, they're on their laptops, they were reading, listening to music, and then people got up and started talking, you know, conversations.

I've got to tell you, the crew has been absolutely fantastic. The captain has kept us appraised up until now about updates. There hasn't been one in the last few hours because of the conditions. But the crew -- they've served us dinner and people are in good spirits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And we should point out that the plane is not still out on the tarmac. It made its way back to the gate about three hours ago.

CHETRY: And then they also said they were to report to the gate to re-board now at 7:00.

ACOSTA: I'm sure they were like, yes, right.

(LAUGHTER)

He also said that the flight was just seconds from taking off when the airport shut down. So Murphy's law there. They could not have been more unlucky on that one.

CHETRY: Well, snow emergencies are in place across the northeast this morning. Everyone's being encouraged to stay off the roads by taking mass transit. And that's if you can get mass transit, at least here in New York. A lot of the subway lines are running on limited schedule, holiday schedule if anything.

ACOSTA: And speaking of mass transit, our Rob Marciano is live for us now in Stanford, Connecticut, where earlier this morning we saw a bus stuck behind Rob. That may be the same bus and a bus got stuck in front of his camera. So he was completely in front of the picture at some point. Oh, no, not again.

CHETRY: No way, Rob. You paid them off that time.

(LAUGHTER)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are fine. He's weaving around our satellite truck. That bus that you saw 20 minutes ago that was stuck briefly behind me managed to get out. But another one came whipping around this corner, and this guy is stuck, stuck for real, as a matter of fact. Cops come in and the tow truck's going to get in here and try to get him out.

We got the shovel out of the truck, but this one's buried a good two or three feet deep. You've got to bring in the heavy equipment for this guy. They had the plows out -- go ahead and move about your way. You going to work?

ACOSTA: Go about your business.

MARCIANO: They're not shutting down your office are they? Be safe.

You know, people are still trying to get to work guys. Not everything is closed down around here, that's for sure. But you say take mass transit, there's no guarantee you're going to get to work either. They have shut down at last check the new haven line of metro north until further north.

Boston Logan airport theoretically is still open, but winds are still gusting well over 40 miles an hour. Last night we had wind gusts on the cape of 80 miles an hour. And that has taken down some trees as you can imagine and some power lines. So over 26,000 people without power in Massachusetts, here in Connecticut, and about 15,000 people so far are without power, and the blizzard warnings remain up.

The streets are still snow-covered, although they've been trying to get by plowing things around, but with the winds whipping around. Even though it's not snowing as hard as it was six hours ago, you've got blowing and drifting snow that covers up the roadways and makes it obviously very slick, even for the vehicles as heavy as buses here.

It's been quite a blockbuster storm for the I-95 corridor, especially from New York City up to Boston. And it's not over yet. That's for sure. Guys?

ACOSTA: And Rob, do we need to check the Stanford bus schedule and schedule your live shots around that schedule? It might help.

MARCIANO: I can tell you this -- they all seem to be running on time. I think they've got every bus in the city up for this spot. I suppose it's a major hub. We're right by town hall and right in downtown Stanford, which was founded back in the 1600s and got a little over 100,000 people that live here. One of the many communities that lie in the I-95 corridor that feed New York city, feed Boston, and feed Hartford, New Haven.

And it's up and running this morning as best as they can. But aside from that guy walking to work, we haven't seen too many passers-by as the sun begins to shed daylight.

And we're getting to see a good scope of what this scene is like. And it's just like I remember as a kid. Knee deep, waist deep in snow. And a little bit nostalgic to have the day off. Get out there and build a snowman if you can. ACOSTA: Make some snow angels.

CHETRY: The second he's not on camera, he's going to plop himself down in the snow and start.

ACOSTA: The camera better be rolling.

MARCIANO: Reporter: You do that on camera and that limits your career, so I try to keep that at a minimum.

CHETRY: Well, you're doing awesome this morning, Rob. Thanks so much.

The kids have no worries in the world. They don't have to go to school. They don't have anything to worry about. It's all the grown- ups that have to stress about that.

ACOSTA: Some of those kids are thinking, does this have to happen during winter vacation?

CHETRY: That's right.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ACOSTA: I remember the snowmaggeddons in the D.C. area. There was one in December, I think. We had two of them. And that was the most snow I'd ever shoveled in my life collectively. If you take all the snow I shoveled in my life, it did not match those two snows. So I don't want to see that again.

CHETRY: Even in the south, it was rare. A white Christmas before the nor'easter turned up the coast. It did get places like Atlanta and Nashville more than a dusting. It was the first time Atlanta got snow on Christmas day in 129 years. There's a live picture now. It's shaping up to be a windy day, a high of just 38 degrees. But no more snow.

ACOSTA: Yes.

And the blizzard forced the NFL to shift yesterday's scheduled Eagles- Vikings game to tomorrow night in Philadelphia. The move means the Vikings will be stuck in Philadelphia for a couple extra days. A couple of the football players had not packed enough clothing for this long of stay. So they've got that to deal with.

The Vikings you recall were already forced to play a home game in Detroit after 17 inches of snow collapsed the Metrodome's roof. And last Monday the Vikings hosted the Bears outdoors at the University of Minnesota's new stadium. Wherever the Vikings go, trouble seems to follow.

CHETRY: Yes, I know.

The Ravens felt on fire yesterday. They clinched a playoff spot. One of the ravens was on fire for a short time.

ACOSTA: He caught fire along the sideline.

CHETRY: He sat a little too close to the heater on the sideline. You can see him react when he gets to smoke a little bit there. He was not hurt, and he did have two interceptions yesterday. So he was on fire on and off the field, including the game-winner, the interception.

ACOSTA: A quadruple storm right now in Connecticut. The National Weather Service has issued four bulletins, a blizzard warning, a coastal flood warning, a special weather statement on the intensity and duration of the storm, and hazardous weather outlook. So all you weather geeks out there, you're getting your hands full out there.

How bad is it? A live update from the state emergency cent is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And we are following developing news from Europe this morning. Reuters reporting Italian bomb experts have defused an explosive package found at the Greek embassy in Rome. Suspicious packages at other embassies have proven to be false alarms. Just last week, bombs exploded at the Chilean and the Swiss embassies in Rome. An anarchist group claimed responsibility for last week's attacks. Police say the package they found today at the Greek embassy was similar to the ones used last week.

CHETRY: Well, back to our top story now. This monster blizzard hammering the northeast and grounding air travel across the country. This storm when all is said and done could dump 30 inches of snow in some areas. Right now, it's still hammering New England, Connecticut right in the thick of it. Joining us now on the phone is Peter Boynton. He is the commissioner of the Department of Emergency Management in the state.

Thanks for being with us, Peter. I know you're busy. Hopefully, we can get some good information out to people though that are in the area. First of all, the highways, I-95 in some parts shut down. What's the latest?

PETER BOYNTON, CONNECTICUT DEPT. OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via telephone): Good morning. Governor Rell in Connecticut held a meeting this morning at 5:30 to review the situation with her state commissioners. Connecticut Department of Transportation has 843 trucks out on the road. The Connecticut National Guard has pre-staged equipment at armories if needed. And our electric utilities are reporting just under 14,000 outages with an additional 16,000 that have already been restored through the night.

CHETRY: And thank you for that update. What about the interstate right now? Do you know anything about 95 being shut down? We just got a notice saying that because of a bunch of spinouts, they have shut down portions of it.

BOYNTON: We did have a report of down to one lane in the portion of I-95 going from Connecticut into New York. Over the last 12 hours, the Connecticut state police has had over 975 calls for service. About 153 accidents, no fatalities, about 12 minor injuries through the night.

CHETRY: And we are heading into the morning commute. Some people may already be trying to make their way in. What are the recommendations right now -- if you can't stay home, if you have to come into work and you're coming from Connecticut to New York, what's the best bet right now?

BOYNTON: Well, we're fortunate that the state has a furlough day today which will reduce traffic. Many schools are out, as well, which will also help. And again, the DOT has over 800 trucks out right now. If you have to be on the road, of course, the rule of the day is take it slow. The roads have been plowed, but are still snow-covered. So keep the speed down. And if you don't have to go out, Governor Rell has asked people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

CHETRY: Also, not only the snow on the roads, but, I mean, it's very hard to see. People need to remember the -- the winds are blowing snow. And it's difficult -- places that may look familiar to you, suddenly it's very difficult to make your way around. The other question is public transportation. How are you guys doing in terms of your bus service? In terms of your train service? Your rails?

BOYNTON: Connecticut DOT reported at the 5:30 meeting this morning that bus lines are running. Metro North had reported a stoppage on the New Haven line due to mechanical problems. And you make a great point about visibility. Even though the roads have been plowed and those trucks are still out there, we are still in the middle of a blizzard. Blizzard warnings remain up in the state until noon today. So in addition to the snow, strong winds remain, and so visibility is an issue, as well as you've pointed out. And that's another reason to keep the speeds slow.

CHETRY: I was surprised, as well, that your airport, Bradley International Airport is open.

BOYNTON: That's correct.

CHETRY: And that flights are leaving. How is that able to happen? As we know here in New York, all of our major airports have shut down.

BOYNTON: Well, Bradley stayed open through the night, able to receive flights. Now many flights had already been canceled, so they weren't coming in. But they were open to receive flights and DOT reports that they're still open this morning. They're doing a great job clearing snow despite the conditions.

CHETRY: Right. People can check out bradleyairport.com if they want to get information on that. And as we said, we're dealing with some tough road conditions out there. So if you are traveling in the state, be careful. On top of that, I know you guys have a coastal flood advisory in some of the areas, some other weather advisories. What should people know?

BOYNTON: Well, conditions along the shoreline can be hazardous with this type of storm activity. The high winds -- we recorded gusts of up to 60 miles an hour in several communities along the coast last night and also in the capital city of Hartford. So be aware of those conditions along the shoreline. The governor held a call with over 200 officials from local towns, including shoreline communities yesterday in preparation for the storm and those shoreline conditions can be especially hazardous given that high water warning.

CHETRY: Absolutely. Well, thanks for the update this morning. I know as you said also, some areas that are experiencing outages, they're working to get that back up and running today. Peter Boynton, commissioner with the Department of Emergency Management in Connecticut, thanks so much.

BOYNTON: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Good information there. And it's important to point out that, you know, some of the pressure readings from this storm are similar to what you would find in a category two hurricane. So, I mean, when you're talking about 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts out on Long Island, people in this area need to realize that, you know, even though it looks spectacular outside and you want to get in it, you could be, you know, taking a huge risk if you try to get out there and do something.

CHETRY: Yes. You know what? I also noticed I would never dream of taking my minivan out or sedan.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: But a lot of people who have a 4 by 4, or have, you know, a four-wheel drive think that they're invincible on the roads.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: I mean, it's tough out there. So --

ACOSTA: And you would know because your four-wheel drive vehicle was having trouble getting in this morning.

CHETRY: Oh, yes, I don't own one but yes, we have --

ACOSTA: The service that brought you in --

CHETRY: Yes, we had to get somebody who had a four-wheel drive. And it's still -- I mean, we were sliding all over the place.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. So take care out there.

Now, we are following some other stories this morning because, you know, every once in a while you have to keep it on the lighter side. Keep in mind here that this has happened before. Hugh Hefner, the twice divorced founder of "Playboy" magazine, he is taking the marriage plunge once again. His bride-to-be a 24-year-old playmate. The happy couple up next in our "Morning Talkers."

CHETRY: Of course, we're going to continue our live coverage of the developments of the northeast storm. The fury of this blizzard. Right now, you're looking at a live picture. That's 5th Avenue in New York City.

ACOSTA: Wow.

CHETRY: By this time of day, it's packed normally filled with yellow cabs and so on and so on. And there you see it. More snow, intense winds in store across the northeast today. We're also learning that Amtrak is resuming limited service between Boston and New York. So call ahead. Try to figure out the situation there. Maybe that will be your way home today. A live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: All right. Welcome back. Twenty-six minutes after the hour. Time for our "Morning Talkers."

It was a very merry Christmas for the world's number one playboy. Hugh Hefner, you know who he is, proposed to his fiancee on Christmas eve. Apparently tweeted it out, is that right?

CHETRY: Yes, he tweeted it. He got everything he wished for, Crystal's love.

ACOSTA: He is so hip. The bride to be, 24 years old. Her name is Crystal Harris. You may know her as Miss December 2009. This will be Hefner's third marriage. His first marriage was back in 1959. Hefner is now 84 years old. He's the founder of "Playboy" magazine, as we know, and he and his three former girlfriends were the star of the reality show "The Girls Next Door."

CHETRY: Yes. Holly was his girlfriend number one. He never asked her to marry him, did he?

ACOSTA: So this was not a competition?

CHETRY: Well, no, she left and, you know, the other ones all left. And now this was a new crop of girlfriends, but he asked this one to marry him. So --

ACOSTA: I didn't know that.

CHETRY: Yes.

ACOSTA: You learn something new.

CHETRY: Well, they survived 69 days trapped in a mine and became international superstars. Well now, they're going to Disney. The 23 Chilean miners are heading down to Orlando at the end of January. It's an all-expenses paid vacation for their family members, six nights.

ACOSTA: Wow. Good for them.

CHETRY: The group will also serve as the honorary grand marshals at a parade at the resort. ACOSTA: And watch out for Space Mountain. Get a little tricky.

CHETRY: Yes.

ACOSTA: Don't want them to get stuck in there.

CHETRY: I don't think they're -- I don't think that anything could really shake them or rattle them after surviving what they did.

ACOSTA: Good point.

And Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro back on top at the box office. "Little Fockers" raked in about $34 million -- you always have to be careful reading that one -- this weekend at the box office. It's the third installment in the "Meet the Parents" franchise. The remake of the John Wayne western "True Grit" landed in the number two spot. I can't wait to see this with Jeff Bridges, Cohen brothers.

CHETRY: Right.

ACOSTA: That took in $26 million.

CHETRY: Now you would have seen it, but you were busy seeing -- something to be embarrassed about. "Tron"?

ACOSTA: Oh, "Tron." I saw "Tron" in 3-D.

CHETRY: A lot of people loved that.

ACOSTA: I was embracing my inner geek.

CHETRY: Yes.

ACOSTA: And remembering that when I was just a kid and I had to go see it. Plus also had Jeff Bridges.

CHETRY: Was it good?

ACOSTA: It was -- I liked it. I enjoyed it. It was great.

CHETRY: It was I liked it.

ACOSTA: It was good.

Heading to the airport today. Well the east coast blizzard is stalling holiday air traffic. It's likely to spin off another day. A live report from LaGuardia airport coming up.

ACOSTA: Plus, Amtrak is slowly but surely coming back online this morning. We've got you covered there right after the break. So stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: We make it up as we go along. CHETRY: We are this morning. We've got our skeleton crew here. We made it. And there were many others who did not make it because of flights, being unable to pass the roads.

ACOSTA: Planes, trains, and automobiles.

CHETRY: None of it.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: Only the dog sled will get you in today.

ACOSTA: That's right.

CHETRY: 2,000 flights canceled, LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark, New York City's three major airports were all shut down to air traffic. And as this blizzard buries the northeast this morning, a lot of holiday travelers spent the night at the airport. They had nowhere else to stay and no other way out by car or by train.

ACOSTA: Yes. And new developments this morning in the case of a possible terrorism plot in the UK. Nine terrorism suspects will be officially charged in a London courtroom today. The arrests came after months of surveillance and monitoring by police and MI-5 officers. Police say the suspects did reconnaissance on potential targets and even tested some explosives.

CHETRY: The Alaska Senate race may finally be over. Tea Party Republican Joe Miller says he'll no longer stand in the way of Lisa Murkowski being certified the winner. He does say, though, he plans to file a federal lawsuit that challenges the state's handling of the vote count. Murkowski launched a write-in campaign after losing to Miller and the Tea Party in the GOP primary.

ACOSTA: And back to our top story, the most snow in the morning, the monster blizzard in the northeast happening right now. We are learning that Amtrak is resuming limited service between Boston and New York. The cancellations affected close to 10,000 train passengers on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

And joining me now on the phone is Cliff Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak. Good morning, Cliff. Thanks for joining us and giving us the latest on this. We understand that service is resuming between Boston and New York. Tell us what the situation is right now. How are folks doing?

CLIFF COLE, AMTRAK SPOKESMAN (ON THE PHONE): Well, we did resume service between Boston and New York. And good morning to both of you. About 6:15 this morning with a train out of south station in Boston. And we are going to be running limited service between Boston and New York today. So that is better news than yesterday when we had to cancel eight trains between those two points because of the blizzard condition.

ACOSTA: And Cliff, if I could just relate my own personal story. I was trying to get up to New York yesterday. And all of the trains were sold out getting from D.C. up to New York pretty much through the middle of the afternoon and I remember going to the kiosk and just swiping my credit card, you know, every couple of minutes until a ticket popped up. I guess for those folks who can't get tickets I suppose because of the nature of the storm and cancellations and people giving up on trying to get out of town that there may be some tickets that pop up from time to time right before these trains depart at their departure time. So folks, may not be too bad of waiting at the train station to see if they can somehow get home.

COLE: That's always the case. I mean, when we have trains that, you know, are on a limited schedule and the weather's this bad, as you said, a lot of folks can't get out today. So if you're not too far away from a station and you would like to, you know, try and see if you could get a ticket, that wouldn't be, you know, a horrible idea. And as you said yesterday, Christmas week was Amtrak's busiest travel day of the year. So the timing of the blizzard couldn't come at a worse time for us.

ACOSTA: And has Amtrak dealt with this in the northeast corridor in recent memory that you can recall? I mean, this is - this is pretty incredible what we're witnessing right now.

COLE: Yes, we've dealt with blizzards before in the northeast corridor. And actually, we sit down and we make decisions based upon not only the snow, but the wind and the ice and whether or not we feel that the trip would actually go from point "A" to point "B," and the experts we use within our transportation and engineering departments determined yesterday that it just wasn't prudent to send people out in those kind of conditions with the fear that they would not be able to make it to the end point.

So we do deal with snow. The trains can run with snow, we have mechanisms built in on the tracks to alleviate icing conditions. Some of the trains run with plows so we can deal with snow better than some of the other modes of transportation, but when you get a storm of this magnitude, again, just to play it safe, that's the decision we would make 100 percent of the time.

ACOSTA: And what kind of impact are you seeing from all of those air travelers. You just mentioned other modes of transportation. I assume you're talking about air travel. All those folks who, you know, saw their flights scrubbed for perhaps a couple of days now. They probably will be going to the train station I would imagine. Are you able to handle that sort of influx of passengers at this point? Or are many of these trains fully booked?

COLE: Well, I don't know about the reservations for the trains today. But if it's a carryover from yesterday, many of the trains are already booked. And as you mentioned, from your own personal story, we already had sold out trains yesterday, even before we knew there was going to be a blizzard coming up the East Coast.

ACOSTA: Because this is combining with the holiday crash at the same time. I mean, all that huge crush of travelers around the holidays, this is all happening at the same time as this blizzard. COLE: Right. And I guess one would say, you know, if there's a chance to travel even some of the airports are recovering and hopefully get them back in business today. If there's a train that's running and you need to get home, a lot of people want to get home, you know, it's certainly worth calling 1-800-USA-RAIL to see if you can get a ticket for today's travel.

ACOSTA: All right. Cliff Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak. Thanks for your time, sir. Appreciate it.

COLE: Sure.

ACOSTA: Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, as we - as he said, I mean, you know, they're looking for plan "B," especially when you're stuck at these airports, the nor'easter has grounded 2,000 flights. That adds up to hundreds of thousands of people. In some cases with no places to go. All three of the major airports in New York are closed to traffic and they're not planning to open for hours.

ACOSTA: And now we have some updated opening times from the FAA and they're pretty unbelievable when you consider just the load of passengers coming through this area. Newark opens at 12:00 p.m. Eastern today, LaGuardia at 2:00 p.m.. Our Allan Chernoff who is at LaGuardia told us that it may not be 2:00 p.m. and JFK is at 4:00 p.m. right now, according to the FAA.

And our Allan Chernoff is live at LaGuardia this morning. And Allan, it looks like you got another weary traveler there with you. I'm guessing there's no shortage of those.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. Say good morning to Shabaz Motan. Shabaz has just woken up. He's been sleeping on a cot in the corridor between the main terminal and the garage. Shabaz, how are you doing?

SHABAZ MOTAN, STRANDED PASSENGER: I'm doing well, doing well, how about yourself?

CHERNOFF: Just fine. I got a little sleep last night, how about you?

MOTAN: I got about two to two and a half hours of sleep. It was real bad. Everyone was struggling up there, not enough blankets, not enough supply of beds. So I mean, it's been tough.

CHERNOFF: Not actual beds, but cots. How comfortable?

MOTAN: Very uncomfortable.

CHERNOFF: Now, Shabaz, you had a flight from New York to Chicago, 2:30 yesterday afternoon.

MOTAN: Right.

CHERNOFF: You knew the flight on American was canceled, but you came to the airport anyway, why?

MOTAN: Right. Because I was trying to get accommodated. For instance, such as vouchers or hotel stay or something.

CHERNOFF: You were hoping the airline would give you a free hotel?

MOTAN: Right.

CHERNOFF: No such luck.

MOTAN: The airline said since the weather conditions are bad, it's not their fault. So I couldn't get accommodated. So, you know, we just ended up staying at the airport.

CHERNOFF: Well, at least New York City, the Port Authority here put you up at the airport. Sorry we couldn't find better accommodations over here. Shabaz was one of 250 people stranded here at LaGuardia Airport overnight, still plenty of people upstairs sleeping on their cots, trying to at least get some sleep. Shabaz's buddy, Assad (ph) also - he just went back to sleep. He didn't want to come down with Shabaz.

Guys, it's certainly been a rough go over here. But probably even tougher for the guys working outside. Some of them putting in 14- hour shifts, most 12-hour shifts. But let me tell you, the wind, vicious. Last night, the general manager of LaGuardia told us the winds were 60 miles an hour. And he said that's the main reason that the airport had to shut down. The snow just blowing all over the place. Jim, Kiran?

CHETRY: Yes, you know, you put all the hassles aside. Obviously, you want to be safe. The worst-case scenario is if something were to go wrong either in the air or on the ground there. We did get some updated times. As you indicated, it didn't look like they were able going to be able to make that 2:00 p.m. opening time there. All New York airports say they pushed back their opening to 4:00 p.m. and that's still up in the air.

ACOSTA: Right. I mean, that's probably wishful thinking at this point because of the nature of the storm. We're still seeing a lot of wind out there. So you know, when that is, you know, when that's happening, the FAA's going to take every precaution imaginable to make sure folks are safe.

CHETRY: Right. I mean, the blizzard warning still in effect until this afternoon.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETRY: So I mean, blizzard-like conditions throughout the afternoon. So it is going to make travel tough.

Well, you've heard the phrase many happy returns?

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETRY: Do you return stuff after Christmas? Or you just keep it all?

ACOSTA: I'm going to keep that to myself. I love all my gifts. They were all great. Thank you.

Well, unless you read the fine print, the returns may not be happening in your favor. Christine Romans coming up next on getting the most for those gifts that you don't want. Stick around for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 43 minutes past the hour. We're having a very interesting discussion about whether or not we return gifts that were given to us. Jim's -

ACOSTA: I'm not going there.

CHETRY: Some Christmas gifts are great. Others, maybe not. And that means, of course, you want to hit the mall and return it and exchange some of the gifts.

ACOSTA: Christine Romans is minding - minding your business this morning. She joins us now. And I mean, you know, let's face it, returns happen, right?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They happen. And they're not happening today, hopefully, because you're an idiot if you're trying to return something and standing in lines today. Look, I mean, if you're trying to - don't go out in a blizzard to return your gifts. We know that there are really tough return policies, but they're not that tough.

CHETRY: You're going to get so many e-mails.

ROMANS: Why?

CHETRY: "A," idiot -

ROMANS: Oh, I'm sorry.

CHETRY: "B," but all these poor people who shoveled out the parking lot and Christine says, stay home.

ROMANS: Well, I mean, if the weather's nice, you can go return. A third of you will return at least one gift. That's according to the National Retail Federation. So we know that it's a fact of life that returns happen. And "Consumer Reports" say you can to spend an hour online to return those gifts.

So here's what you need to know. There have been some more consumer- friendly return fee policies over the past year or so. But these are still a moving target. You can't hold on to a gift forever even with a receipt to return it some places. Toys 'R Us, you've got 90 days now to return it, it used to be 30 days. Macy's has dropped the 180- day limit for returns. Amazon.com, you can send unopened books, CDs, DVDs and you get a full refund up to 30 days. So you don't have to brave the weather today to do it. But you need to do it in the next - I would say within the next month or so. Also so you don't forget it. Good returns are part of good customer service. And people, of course, are more, consumers are more picky now. So customer service has to be a little bit better.

Watch out for those restocking fees. I've told you about those a million times. I hate them. But especially for electronics, you can return something, even unopened, and they can say we're going to charge you 20 percent for that.

ACOSTA: You know what's amazing is that nowadays, you may not need your receipt anymore to return things. If you just have the credit card you made the purchase with it can be returned, which is incredible.

ROMANS: That's right. And I did this recently at a Home Depot, it was like that. It was a real snap.

And also, Amazon.com, we're told has patented some technology to allow you to return something before you even get it. Think of that. You get an e-mail in your inbox that says Aunt Gertrude bought you this item. Do you want us to ship it to you or would you just like the credit?

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Thirty percent of gifts bought online are returned. You think about the logistics of buying it, packing it, shipping it to you, sending it back.

CHETRY: That is why re-gifting makes more sense, Christine.

ROMANS: If you do it properly and you don't send something that they sent you in the first place, and it's not opened and used, re-gifting, sometimes is OK.

CHETRY: Good.

ROMANS: There you go.

ACOSTA: Thanks for braving the elements coming in this morning.

ROMANS: Oh, you're welcome. Jim, you know, I heard you were in town, Jim, I thought, well a little nor'easter won't stop me.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: And Reynolds Wolf will have your blizzard of 2010, the Burricane forecast after the break. It is 46 minutes after the hour.

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ACOSTA: All right. Welcome back to the most snow in the morning. Good morning, New York. You're pretty much right in the middle of the bull's eye here of this Burricane. Twenty-three degrees right now. And, I mean, this is just a stunning sight to behold.

CHETRY: Oh, yes, I know. Here's another shot this morning. This is another one of our tower cameras at 59th and 5th Avenue. And that bus is stuck. So, I mean, even if you're trying to take public transportation, you're trying to stay off the roads, it's just not easy going out there. I mean, -- it was hard for, you know, sanitation to keep up. In fact, I heard on the radio this morning when I was coming in, they said if you happen to have a front-end loader or one of those CAT vehicles, to call them, to call 311, they may actually need you.

ACOSTA: That's incredible. Yes. And it's not just the buses. Apparently there have been some of the problems on the New York City subway service.

CHETRY: Yes. You should try to get updated on that, as well because they've been having some trouble.

ACOSTA: Go online, check ahead.

CHETRY: I don't know if they're online keeping up with the trouble that they've had. But ,it's just a tough day if you have to be in.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETRY: You get a gold star if you came in.

ACOSTA: That's right. Just like we did.

It is 50 minutes after the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. We're just getting information coming in fast and furious right now about this blizzard. We want to get you updated.

First, let's talk about the airlines. Two thousand flights canceled, which means tens of thousands of passengers and we know the storm's still happening. So you've got to call ahead. But if you're already at the airports it looks like the wait continues today.

ACOSTA: Yes. The FAA says that the estimated times for reopening those airports have now been pushed back to 4:00 for Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK. So if you're stranded at any of those airports and watching us now, folks, grab another cup of coffee or take another nap because this is going to be a long wait for you.

As our Allan Chernoff mentioned at LaGuardia earlier this morning, when it was 2:00 estimated reopening time earlier this morning, that got pushed back to 4:00. You know, these discussions are sort of happening in real time so people have to keep that in mind.

Also Amtrak has, on a positive note, has resumed service in the northeast corridor between New York and Boston, so that is good news for those travelers.

CHETRY: Yes. And we also have another story -- a pretty curious story -- about a subway train. This is on the A line and this is a train that was stranded in Queens.

According to MTA spokesman, hours it's been stranded, but not confirming some of the published reports which have said up to five hours. And people can get off if they want to. But because it's in a strange location, the Broad Channel Station in Queens, some of them are staying on the train. And the MTA right now is trying to get a diesel locomotive to get the passengers away from that location and move them on. They say they don't really know how long they've been stranded or how many, but it could be hundreds.

ACOSTA: Yes. And as our Reynolds Wolf was pointing out earlier this morning, I mean, this burricane is very much like a hurricane. So as time goes on throughout the morning, we're going to find out, slowly but surely, the spread of this damage across this area. And it's going to be extensive. There are going to be trees down. There are going to be power lines that are down. There are going to be people dealing without power for several hours, perhaps days.

CHETRY: Right. And, you know, every person that we've spoken to that's in emergency management or government official has said, if at all possible and do you not have to leave your house, just don't do it. I mean, people are doing all they can to get the roads cleared but it's still treacherous in many parts of the eastern seaboard today.

ACOSTA: Yes. And we'll have more in just a few moments. Stick with us. The most snow in the morning coming back in just a few minutes.

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