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Northeast Braces for Up to Three Feet of Snow; Patriots to Hold Fan Rally Ahead of Storm; One on One with Robert Redford

Aired January 26, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

A massive blizzard swirls across the northeast and threatens to unleash conditions that are both historic and life threatening. CNN crews are fanned across the region as this dangerous storm grows more powerful. Nearly three feet of snow is possible on Cape Cod and New York could be buried under nearly two feet of snow.

So the city is scrambling to mobilize. Armies of sanitation workers will be reassigned. Their new job for the next couple of days will be snow removal. Some 4,000 snowplows will be at the ready. More than half belong to private contractors who are awaiting the call.

Let's begin our coverage near New York Central Park. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is standing out in the cold for us this morning. Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning -- Carol. The city always moves at a faster pace than most of the rest of America but today even faster. They are getting ready for what they now believe will be a 24-inch snowfall possibility here with winds about 60 miles an hour, 50 to 60, blowing the stuff into huge drifts and really paralyzing the city.

I have witnessed just yesterday and this morning people in line down here at the Whole Foods at the village fairway market here; 100 people deep just trying to check out. That's a big queue even for New York City. Everyone trying to get their last-minute preps done.

We're still seeing the models -- the computer models printing out tremendous amounts of snow. The low that's just taking shape now bombing out over the Atlantic Ocean creating an awful lot of wind and snow all the way from New England here to New York City and a little bit back into Philadelphia probably around six inches there but this 18 to 24-inch snowfall and more in some places of the mountains -- of the Greenway Mountains in New Hampshire and also into Vermont could be some of the biggest snows we've seen here for at least ten years.

People are getting ready. And it is going to be one treacherous couple of days. Somebody else braving the weather, Jennifer Gray out in Boston. You're going to see big-time snow and the potential like here of thundersnow -- Jennifer. JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes. We'll be waiting for it,

Chad, especially during the overnight hours where the snowfall will be coming down about two to four inches an hour. Seeing very, very light snow flurries right now. You can see them right in front of me. This is not the main event by any stretch of the imagination.

But we could pick up one to three inches during the afternoon hours and then this thing gets into full swing as we go into the overnight hours. We're right here on the harbor. And you can see behind me not a whole lot happening. We're right in front of Logan and we've seen the planes taking off. Those are expected to take a huge disruption as we go through later tonight into tomorrow.

People were getting off the ferry this morning for the morning commute. It was a day as usual. Kids went to school today but we will be talking about possibly canceling school tomorrow. They're going to decide later today whether to do that or not. I can guarantee you it will be a mad dash to get back on that ferry by the afternoon for folks to get home.

Look on the ground though -- a lot of snow on the ground already. This is from that snowstorm that happened just a couple of days ago. So we have a couple of inches on the ground. We also have it piling up on the sidewalks. Once we get anywhere from two to three additional feet of snow, we could see snow up to my waist and then because of that blowing snow we'll see snow drifts above my head most likely. So it is going to be a mess here.

They are worried about power outages as well and so they are really urging people to get off the roads early this afternoon into the evening hours and be ready because it could be a couple days before people will be able to get out and about once again -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jennifer, let me ask you a question. There's going to be a travel ban in place 9:00 p.m. Eastern in the state of Connecticut. The governor says he's been talking to officials in Massachusetts. Have you heard anything about a travel ban there?

GRAY: No. We haven't heard of a travel ban here. I just read that one in Connecticut as well as they are dismissing schools early there as well. But the snow hasn't picked up quite like it has in Connecticut -- it's snowing a little harder there. I think that's why they are taking those measures early to get those folks off the road.

But the snow will be picking up here in Boston in the next couple of hours as well. So people need to just be aware of their surroundings. Know that the snow can happen a little sooner or a little later depending on how fast this thing comes onshore. And so we're going to be watching for those changes minute by minute -- Carol.

COSTELLO: yes. I'm thinking that Connecticut doesn't want Massachusetts drivers like interfering with their travel ban. But we'll keep an ear on the governor's office in Massachusetts.

I had a question for you, Chad. Snow crews here in New York say the biggest challenge for them will be thundersnow that could occur tonight around 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. What can you tell us about that?

MYERS: Well, there's so much friction up in the atmosphere when you get so much snow trying to come down at the same time. Think about rubbing your feet against the carpet and then touching the door knob, that's the shock you get. It's the same type of rubbing up there. And because now we are seeing very dry air, that's when you get most of the static in your home. You'll get that static up here too. The snow coming down and shearing apart that is literally lightning coming down sometimes just cloud to cloud but it can be cloud to ground lightning and you'll hear the thunder and it rolls for a long time because it's kind of caught in this trap of the atmosphere inversion.

So the thunder as Garth Brooks would say, the thunder rolls and it's a frightening sound when you see the lightning coming in, the snow coming down so quickly and the snow crews can't even keep up with it at two to four inches per hour.

COSTELLO: Two to four -- I just can't even imagine that. I'll be looking out my window tonight. At least I should watch it if it's historic -- right.

Jennifer Gray, Chad Myers, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Seattle Seahawks suited up for all the hype leading up to the Super Bowl but what do they think of deflate-gate? We'll talk about that next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Tom Brady at any point instruct you to take air out of those footballs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man is a saint. Do you think you could do what he does? He has won three Super Bowls -- six if you include the losses. This man is a legend, a hero and one day he's going to be the father of my child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, what?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: If you get a chance to watch online, you should watch that online because the rest of it is even funnier. Bet you didn't see that one coming a mile away -- right. "Saturday Night Live" making fun of the Patriots deflate-gate controversy.

The SNL writers aren't the only ones still talking about the story. The Patriots though aren't letting it slow them down. They're heading to Arizona today ahead of Sunday's big game and storm or no storm, the big sendoff is still a go. It is just minutes away in fact.

Andy Scholes is here with more. Hi -- Andy

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey, good morning Carol. Yes, the die- hards are going to be out there this afternoon for the Patriots Super Bowl sendoff rally. It's supposed to get started in about 15 minutes at Boston's City Hall Plaza. Owner Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady -- all expected to speak to all the fans that braved the cold weather.

And after that the team is going to hop on the plane heading to Arizona and once in Phoenix, both Belichick and Brady -- they're going to speak with the media around 8:00 Eastern tonight where they will undoubtedly be peppered with more deflate-gate questions.

On his weekly radio show this morning, Brady he talked about the heat he's taken from deflate-gate and well, he says his feelings are hurt by what's happened.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: I personalized a lot of things and thought this was all about me and my feelings got hurt and then I moved past it because it's not serving me. And I think what's serving me is trying to prepare for the game ahead and I'll deal with whatever happened later. You know, I'll have my opportunity to try to figure out what happened and figure out a theory like everyone else is trying to do.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Carol, you know, despite all the deflate-gate distraction and everything that's been going on with the team, Las Vegas still has the Patriots as favorites to beat the Seahawks on Sunday in the Super Bowl -- pretty incredible.

COSTELLO: Yes. Actually I thought Richard Sherman's theory was the best one out there. Tell us about it.

SCHOLES: Ok. You know, Richard Sherman, not afraid to speak his mind whether he's taking on the NFL or the Patriots. Last week he even said Brady is not the guy everyone thinks he is. When he was asked about deflate-gate yesterday Sherman he didn't hold back bringing up an apparent cozy relationship between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Will they be punished? Probably not, you know. Not as long as Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell are still taking pictures at their respective homes. I think he was just at Kraft's house last week before the AFC championship, you know. Talk about conflict of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: There you go -- Carol. It's going to be very interesting tomorrow in media day in Phoenix, Arizona because you know, the teams, they have to go out there and sit for an entire hour and just take questions from media from around the world. And you know what the Patriots are going to get. They're just going to get hammered with deflate-gate questions. It's probably going to turn into deflect-gate tomorrow because they're not going to answer any of them probably.

COSTELLO: Well, they're going to deal with deflate-gate in many different languages.

Andy Scholes -- thank you so much.

SCHOLES: All right.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the northeast no stranger to snow but a wallop of this magnitude can catch even the most experienced off guard. The measures officials are taking to keep people safe -- next.

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COSTELLO: New Yorkers have a well-earned reputation as being unflappable but a looming blizzard is getting their attention. With nearly two feet of snow possible, it could be both historic and devastating.

CNN's Alison Kosik is in the Brooklyn Building where New York's mayor will soon hold a news conference. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. You know, the National Weather Service is using pretty strong words to describe this snowstorm saying it's going to be historic and it could be life-threatening. So we are hearing New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio kind of taking a page from that playing saying that this could be the or one of the biggest snowstorms to hit New York City.

And to that point as he said yesterday in a press conference and the press conference coming up in a short time, he's expected to say that New York City is prepared as much as it can be for this storm citing sanitation workers saying there are 2,400 workers on a 12-hour shift ready to clear the roads as the snow comes down. And salt spreaders have already been spreading salt on the roads because the mayor has gotten a lot of heat in the past. Around this time last year there were a couple back-to-back snowstorms and the mayor got heat for not clearing the roads fast enough specifically on the Upper East Side and also on Staten Island as well as not closing schools on a day where a snowstorm came onto New York City -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We await the mayor's news conference. It will happen sometime around 12:45 Eastern time -- right?

KOSIK: Exactly. Exactly. Right now we are actually at the nerve center of everything emergency going on in New York City. They are at the ready to hear of anything happening out on the streets. And you know, we talk about Mayor de Blasio and about the heat he's gotten.

What's interesting is even in the news conference he gave yesterday, on Twitter people are kind of ribbing him just for what he said at the news conference, you know -- telling people to be extra careful, saying maybe stating the obvious. Saying the roads are going to be slippery, so he suggested to keep walking to a minimum. He said the storm can change. It can get smaller. It can get bigger. It can get faster. It can get slower. And he said the city is ready for any path that the storm will take.

COSTELLO: All right. Alison Kosik -- many thanks to you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, CNN is the only television network to interview Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival. Hear our one- on-one sit down with the legendary film star next.

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COSTELLO: Our coverage of the potentially historic blizzard will continue in a few minutes but first we want to take you to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah where Stephanie Elam got to sit with the festival's co-founder Robert Redford. The Sundance kid opened up on how the pre-eminent festival has evolved and he talked about his new film, "A Walk in the Woods". CNN is the only television network to get a sit down with Redford at the festival. So tell us more -- Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, I have to say first of all, we probably have the best weather here in Park City. It is crowded. There are a lot of people here and a lot of buzz about the festival obviously.

In talking to Robert Redford about what the festival has turned into was a very interesting chat. And also talking about "A Walk in the Woods" and who he envisioned he originally would do the film with. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: When you look at the festival now, is it what you thought it would be when you began it?

ROBERT REDFORD, CO-FOUNDER, SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: No. No, you don't think about the end result. At least I don't because that involves expectations. And I don't believe in expectations. I think expectations are dangerous. So I try to avoid expecting anything. You just are in the moment as it happens and you begin with hope because that's all you've got. Nothing has happened yet.

ELAM: It has its own energy, it's own breath now when you come to Sundance. Can you feel it?

REDFORD: Let's use a horse as a metaphor. You start out with the horse and you have to train the horse. And the horse is not ready and you have to walk the horse, you have to pet the horse. You have to get close -- you have to get comfort with the horse. And then there finally comes that time when you can get on the horse and then suddenly the horse moves. And then maybe you have a wild horse. It's out of control.

You get the analogy?

ELAM: I get it. Yes. We'll leave it at that. Yes, I get it.

Let's talk about the film "A Walk in the Woods", based on Bill Bryson's book. I understand that you wanted to do this movie with Paul Newman.

REDFORD: And it was about the reparation of a friendship, about a friendship revived. So I was attracted to this. Right away I saw a chance for Paul and I to have a third outing because it had the same relationship at its core that we had in the other two films. That's how it started. That was back in about 2000.

Unfortunately Paul's age and declining health became an issue and so that fell out at a certain point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And when you look at the film, he ended up doing it with Nick Nolte but also what's noteworthy about this is this the first time Redford actually has one of his films in his own festival because he always thought there should be a separation between him and his films that he puts out but the president of Sundance, John Cooper, talked him into it. Something that he says wasn't his idea but he's going along for the ride this time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It makes you wonder what the critics -- how the critics will react, right?

ELAM: Yes, it's true. That's the whole part of it. He's out here just trying to get somebody to buy the film as well just like everybody else. He's going through the exact same experience.

COSTELLO: What's the big buzz there? Which film really has people talking?

ELAM: The big one by far that you hear people talking about is "Going Clear". And this is the film that looks at the Church of Scientology. It's sort of an expose of that. It debuted last night. I was there. I saw the film. We're going to talk to the director later on today and the man that wrote the book that was behind this movie. but a lot of buzz about this because as we know this Church of Scientology does not like people digging into the bellows of how it operates. So a very controversial film no doubt -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm so jealous. I heard it talks a lot about Tom Cruise's involvement with the church and his marriage with Nicole Kidman and how maybe Scientology came between them and destroyed their marriage. Does it deserve the buzz? Was it good? Was it bad?

ELAM: It kind of goes into it. It really does take a look at it. Of course, it depends on whose side of the fence you're on to decide whether or not you think it's good of course. But it does go into those relationships and those superstars that are associated with the Church of Scientology and how they came to be and how the relationship has evolved within the church and also taking a look at how it operates overall.

COSTELLO: Can't wait to see it myself. Stephanie Elam, live from Park City, Utah. Thanks so much.

All right. We have to talk about snowmageddon. Yes, that historic blizzard that's about to hit New York City. It looks pretty nasty outside right now. But this is mild compared to what it's going to be around 6:00 or 7:00 or maybe 10:00 Eastern. That's when the thundersnow is expected to start. Snow will be falling at a rate of two to four inches per hour. All city officials have said, "Please, if you don't need to be outside, don't be outside. If you don't need to drive, don't drive." It will just make things difficult for everybody. More difficult for everybody especially the crews that are going to be trying to clear the streets because imagine that. That's a big job two to four inches per hour of snow. Wow.

Long Island is also getting ready for a wallop. Matt Kozar with WCBS has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT KOZAR, WCBS: Signs on LIE warn of the impending blizzard, a worry for Long island drivers all too familiar with what happened two years ago when snow and ice crippled the expressway. Suffolk County police closed it in both directions. The governor deployed snow removal equipment from across the state and is ready to do it again if necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to do it like every six inches. You don't do it like, all at once.

KOZAR: In preparation for the storm, Louis Consuegra (ph) hooked up a plow to his pickup. Officials in the town of Islip activated their emergency response center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of our fuel capacity is full to capacity. Friday we had all deliveries of diesel and gas. All of our trucks are up and running. We have 150 pieces of town equipment.

Right now we're in a standby mode and our volunteers are ready to go.

KOZAR: The Red Cross' Craig Cooper (ph) is urging people to stock up on essentials, especially important if the power gets knocked out. David Shineman (ph) is listening to that advice. He bought extra fuel for his generator.

DAVID SHINEMAN, RESIDENT: After Sandy we couldn't get one. We had no power for 12 days. So I got a generator right after that. I'm not going through it again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Ok. So brace yourself because I think we're going to have a repeat, right? Soon.

Before I let you go, I want you to check out these pictures from Twitter of today's potentially historic blizzard. These images are from around the city of New York. This, of course, is Columbus Circle. Looks beautiful in the snow, right? Somebody walking down the street with their husky dogs -- very pretty too.

The snow is pretty to look at except for, you know, when a few days go past and it gets all dirty and well -- I'm not going to go into that. We're just going to enjoy it while we can and stay indoors and drink some hot chocolate -- right?

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

CNN's special weather coverage continues next.