Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Shelter Preparing to Help Homeless Survive; Northeast Bracing for Two, Three Feet of Snow; Incoming Ground Stop at LaGuardia and Newark

Aired January 26, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It is already snowing here in New York as we wait for the brunt of a massive blizzard, what is expected to be a historic blizzard. And I want to tell you this, just into CNN, Broadway shows here in New York City closed tonight. So that is the latest development here in the city.

This is a city that is shutting down. It is dangerous even to walk. Come 11:00 p.m. tonight, vehicles that are not emergency vehicles will not be allowed on the roads. So this is very serious business here as authorities prepare and try to make sure that everyone stays safe here.

Officials here in New York, also in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, the governors could not be more clear. Once the snow falls, stay put.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We've been talking about it for two or three days. This is not an evening or a night to be out and about. 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 tonight, you want to be home and you want to stay home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So what if you don't have a home to stay in? That is when my next guest comes in. This is Creighton Drury, he is the executive director of Covenant House here in New York. Covenant House provides shelter and other services to homeless young people including teen moms.

This is very important work that you do, Creighton, and you're very much prepared. How have you gotten ready for this?

CREIGHTON DRURY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COVENANT HOUSE NEW YORK: Well, we are. Thanks, Brianna, for the chance to be on today.

KEILAR: Of course.

DRURY: So every day is a busy day. You know, Covenant House, every day we're serving between 300 and 400 homeless young people, pretty much 16 to 21, the age range. A lot of moms and babies, too.

KEILAR: Yes.

DRURY: But a night like tonight, a day like today, we're really kicking into overdrive. And so we're stretching as much as we can. Really the motto is we're not letting -- anyone is allowed a place to stay tonight. So if you're a young person who needs a place to stay, you need to connect with Covenant House or one of our provider partners.

KEILAR: And how many people do you think you'll connect with and get into housing tonight?

DRURY: Well, you know, on any given night, on our emergency shelter, we might have between 190 to 200 young people staying with us. Tonight we'll probably stretch to close to 250.

KEILAR: OK.

DRURY: Is my sense. But we're ready for anything. Really just, you know, preparing for the storm and any kind of eventuality. What we want to do tonight is be ready for any option. And so we're -- you know, we're ready to expand and work with our partners to get everyone in a safe, warm place tonight no matter what happens.

KEILAR: And so what -- what are you providing besides shelter, obviously, warmth, some nourishment, I imagine?

DRURY: Absolutely all of that.

KEILAR: Yes?

DRURY: Not only tonight. Warmth and a bed to stay and it's absolutely critical. We always provide that. We'll also have our entire array of comprehensive services. Our health center team will be there. So for anyone who's been exposed to the cold or has an emergency need, we can handle either on site and/or get to emergency. We'll also have our -- you know, our youth workers and our employment coordinators all day tomorrow engaging kids.

So, you know, a lot of times it's like you're in the place, you know, cabin fever can take over. How are we helping you just to stay engaged and connect and find out what you're going to do after the storm is over.

KEILAR: Sure. And that's the point. One of the goals of Covenant House is to try to get homeless kids, young moms, teen moms into more permanent housing. Do you find that this is a chance to maybe reach out to some people that you wouldn't be able to otherwise?

DRURY: Exactly. Exactly. So as I mentioned, we're always full. But tonight is a night where some young people who may come to us who may not have otherwise.

KEILAR: Yes. DRURY: That's a chance not just to keep them safe but there's

opportunities. And so let's connect you with many of our partners across the city who can provide permanent housing or transitional living or whatever they might need, employment and education services as well.

KEILAR: So here in New York City, people can call 311 if they need the help of Covenant House, right?

DRURY: Right. Absolutely. And we work really closely with the city, you know, on this. And so that's absolutely right. And we're also -- you know, Covenant House, itself, is at 41st Street and 10th Avenue. If you're a homeless young person, you can come to us.

KEILAR: Yes.

DRURY: 311 will get you there. And our number is 212-613-0300.

KEILAR: OK.

DRURY: So if you're in need or you know someone in need, call us and we'll either serve you directly there or help get you to the right place to help you tonight.

KEILAR: Yes. And certainly that's information that someone here in New York could tell a young person they see.

DRURY: That's right.

KEILAR: If they need some assistance, but it's also something that I think people in other cities that are impacted could -- if they see someone in need, maybe --

DRURY: OK.

KEILAR: Maybe go that extra step, figure out where some resources might be and try to direct them towards that, right?

DRURY: That's exactly right. Yes.

KEILAR: All right. Creighton Drury, thanks so much.

DRURY: Sure.

KEILAR: It's such important work.

DRURY: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: That you're doing. And we really appreciate you talking to us about it.

DRURY: Great. Thank you very much.

KEILAR: And don't forget that you can set your CNN.com home page -- it's getting cold and it is hard to speak even. But check that out at CNN.com. Set your home page to show the weather in your area by going to CNN.com/weather.

And next, we are taking you on the road. CNN has two car cams. We've got one in Boston. One somewhere in New Jersey. We'll figure out where. The snow starting to fall hard. See what those drivers are dealing with right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar, reporting to you from a very snowy New York.

You can already see what are beginning to become whiteout conditions here in downtown. And that's Central Park behind me. You can hardly make it out. It's becoming perilous even to walk here. We've been seeing people slipping and sliding, a couple of people even falling which just goes to show it is at this point getting to that time when people really need to start to hunker down. And we're starting to see that with less foot traffic here on the sidewalk.

The mass transit system here in and out of the city may be suspended. Mayor Bill de Blasio says that nonessential vehicles will not be allowed on the roads after 11:00 p.m. so basically a vehicle curfew going on there.

There are statewide travel bans that are also being ordered for Massachusetts and Connecticut. I want to show you a couple of pictures. One coming to us from Yonkers where they have been getting ready with salt there trying to make sure that some of the -- this is 5,000 tons. Maybe -- a little bit more, actually, of salt there in Yonkers. And that is what it takes just to keep conditions there a little better so that a cleanup isn't going to be as difficult as it might be.

I also want to show you a scene coming to us from Boston. Store shelves, what is that on those store shelves? Nothing because there has been a run on everything. There's been a run on bread, there's been a run on eggs. People really getting ready for this snowstorm where they could see the effects and kind of be shut in, in their houses for days.

Now in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie says you should only leave your home if it is an absolute emergency. We're getting some of the wind coming in here, and otherwise he's telling people that they need to shelter in place.

CNN's Brian Todd is actually out on the road in New Jersey. We have Alexandra Field. She is out in Boston.

So, Brian, tell us a little bit about where you are. We checked in with you before. How have things changed here in the last hour or so?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, things have gotten more dangerous in the last hour. We have noticed on some of the main roads in New Jersey, the state highways, that the snow has started to stick on the state highways as we creep up toward northern New Jersey. We're just outside Point Pleasant near Brick Township, New Jersey.

Just turned off the state road. And our photojournalist Khalil Abdallah is going to switch from my camera to the front-facing camera of the vehicle as we head up here toward Point Pleasant.

You can see that the visibility is starting to get a little worse. And my other photojournalist, colleague here, Oliver Janney, is going to pull over here. We're going to show you what some of the conditions are. I'm going to get out of the vehicle. We have to make sure that we're in a safe area because, you know, this has been an issue whenever we've covered these stories, pulling over near a major thoroughfare. It gets very dangerous. Cars can slide off the road.

We'll pull over now. I'm going to get out of the vehicle and talk to the dash camera as we move around the vehicle.

Brianna, we just spoke to Captain Stephen Jones of the New Jersey State Police. I just got off the phone with him a short time ago. And what he's saying is that, as this condition here in northern New Jersey gets more dangerous, he says, you know, do not leave your cars on the side of the road. He says that really just really hampers the ability of the plow trucks, of the spreaders, to do their job.

They just clog up the roads, and he says that creates a cascading effect along the state roads here in New Jersey. You can see the blizzard conditions aren't quite here yet, but it is starting to stick, and the winds are going to kick up in the next several hours.

You mentioned, Brianna, the transit system in New York. Well, Governor Christie says the transit system here in New Jersey is going to shut down in a little over six hours, at about 10:00 p.m. so you're not going to have buses, rail, or light rail moving at all in New Jersey starting in about six hours. And of course, the brunt of this storm is going to hit very soon.

Starting to stick on the roads right now. Doesn't look too bad now, but, again, state police are telling us you've got to be careful if you're going to head out, even a 10-minute trip, make sure your gas tank is full because you can get stuck in places where you don't think you're going to get stuck.

And they tell us that -- tell whoever you can tell your itinerary, even if you're just going on a 10-minute drive, tell them where you're coming from, where you're going to and when you expect to get there. That'll make things a little bit more safe for you -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. Those are very good tips, Brian Todd. Hopefully people will be heeding them. Thanks so much. In New Jersey, there we can see the conditions deteriorating here just in the last hour or so.

Let's get now to Alexandra Field.

Alexandra, tell us a little bit about where you are and the conditions that you're seeing.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna. People here in Boston have just probably a couple of hours to really get things together before this storm really begins to hit here.

We are in the Back Bay. And this is Marlboro. This is a pretty well- known residential area here in the Back Bay. And if you look at the street on either side of me, you can see that these cars are really tightly packed in here. This is a neighborhood. I can attest to the fact where it's really hard to find a parking spot. But this is also the focus right now before this storm hits. The city is going to get a lot of these cars off the streets.

A snow emergency goes into effect here at 6:00. By 8:00, the mayor of Boston is saying that cars that are parked on major roadways will be towed if they aren't moved. So what are people going to do? Well, the city says that it has been working with municipal parking lots to make parking available for residents. It also worked with a number of private garages to make more spaces available. In total, they're making about 15,000 extra parking spots available to people.

This will, of course, help with the cleanup once the snow really hits if we can get these cars off the street into those garages. It will also help people out a bunch because they won't have to dig out their cars when the snow really hits, and we know that people won't be needing their cars for the next couple of days. The governor of Massachusetts has declared a travel ban. That goes into effect at midnight.

Right now there's a big public service campaign to try to get that word out. We're seeing a lot of highway signs that are warning people about the blizzard, telling them to plan ahead. And we're also seeing a lot of those electronic or digital billboards giving the message that this blizzard is coming and that people do need to respect this ban and get off the road then only the essential vehicles will be out there, emergency workers.

This city is basically preparing to shut down for the next couple of days. Nonessential personnel won't be going to work tomorrow. There's already been notice that's gone out that schools here in Boston will be closed not just for Tuesday but also for Wednesday. And we know that public transportation, The T and buses, are all going to be suspended tomorrow so people really won't have a way to get around. So that's why they've got to get their cars off these roads and they need to stay inside -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Also important in a storm where we may be measuring the snow in feet.

Brian Todd, Alexandra Field, thanks to both of you.

And breaking right now, we are getting word right now of a ground stop into New York area airports, LaGuardia and Newark. Airports are still open even though more than half of the flights at this point are canceled anyway so they won't be using all of the runways.

So, again, that is a ground stop on all incoming flights to both Newark Airport in New Jersey and LaGuardia Airport right outside of Manhattan. We have Rene Marsh live from LaGuardia. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All right. Breaking now, I want to tell you what is just in to CNN. We are getting word now of a ground stop into New York area airports. Both LaGuardia and Newark. So the airports there are still open although so many of the flights are still canceled, really more than half of them at this point.

When people are looking at the boards it's all red. They won't be using all of the runways at this point so that again is a ground stop on all of these incoming flights to Newark and LaGuardia.

We have Rene Marsh live for us at LaGuardia.

Rene, tell us a little bit more about this and what this means.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: So essentially, Brianna, this means that if you're on a flight that's bound for one of these two airports, it's just going to sit there for some time until this is lifted.

The problem here at LaGuardia airport, just peeked outside, I mean, the wind is definitely a factor and the snow is coming down at a pretty good rate, so visibility is an issue. We know that the runways here at LaGuardia are pretty short so when you factor in wind, you factor in the fact that visibility is low and you have a shorter runway it's a very terrible mix.

So what we have is that ground stop and as it relates to LaGuardia, it will be in place at last check until 4:30 p.m. That's the latest information we have regarding LaGuardia.

At Newark, what they're doing is they are treating the runways which is very normal. That could involve plowing the runway if there's a significant accumulation so flights not being allowed to come in at that point -- at this point until that situation is cleared up.

Really, this is just a way so that air traffic control can efficiently and safely manage all of the flights that are actually flying. As you know, lots of cancellations today but there are still some in the air. They want to make sure if a flight is coming in, it's able to do so safely. So the headline for you, ground stop here at LaGuardia airport. We are hearing that that should be lifted around 4:30 p.m. if you are bound for this airport, you're going to be in a holding pattern for some time. Similar situation at Newark -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Rene Marsh for us there at LaGuardia airport. I do also want to tell you about another story that we're following. It's about a new film that really offers an explosive inside look at the church of scientology. It's called "Going Clear." It is all the buzz right now at the Sundance Film Festival. Let's watch a clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told them that I was having problems with my pregnancy and I need to use a phone. So they sent a bodyguard with me. I called one of the few non-scientologists I knew, a wonderful woman who happened to work for John Travolta. I said meet me at this address, I gave her a time and I hung up.

I go to my daughter's room and I wrapped her up. And there's the bodyguard with me. I said my sister-in-law is in that car and she's going to take the baby to the doctor. He said has this been approved. Of course it was approved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now as you know, one of the high-profile followers of scientology is the actor tom cruise. In this new film, there's a shocking bombshell that the church reportedly orchestrated his breakup with his second wife, Nicole Kidman.

We have Stephanie Elam, she is at Sundance to tell us about this. She actually spoke with the director of this documentary. Tell us about what he said, stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna. I talked to Alex Givney, who's the director of this film "Going Clear" as well as the author of the book that's the basis of this film as well. His name is Lawrence Wright. And they talked to me about putting together such a touchy subject. As we know the church of scientology does not like people looking into how it operates.

The movie takes a look at that, it takes a look at how it's managed to get this exemption being that it was deemed a church, a religious institution, and so it's been amassing this money according to this film, and it also takes a look as well at some of the high profile people that are in this movie including tom cruise. This is what the buzz is here in Sundance. And we are going to get you more of that interview so you can see it soon -- Brianna.

KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar in a very snowy New York as we await the brunt of a potentially historic storm. We will continue to cover this. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next.