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One Hundred Million In Path Of Storm Across 18 States; More Than 2,000 Flights Canceled; One-On-One With President Obama; NFL Addresses Domestic Violence; Bobbi Kristina Brown In Medically-Induced Coma; Snow Hitting Midwest Hard; Japanese Journalist Kenji Goto Beheaded By ISIS

Aired February 01, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, in the NEWSROOM, another winter blast, 100 million people in the path of a nasty storm that will stretch from Chicago to New York, 18 states now under a winter watch or warning.

Plus ---

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't approach this with the strategy of sending out and occupying armies and plane whack- a-mole wherever a terrorist appears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our Fareed Zakaria sit down with President Obama for an exclusive one-on-one. We'll talk with Fareed and get his take on what the president had to say.

And the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown in a medically induced comma today. Bobbi Kristina Brown was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub full of water.

The NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitefield.

Here we go again. Some 100 million people this time are or will soon be under some sort of winter storm watch, warning or advisory as another massive winter storm is beginning to unleash this time across 18 states.

Snow is already hitting the Midwest. More than 2,000 flights have been cancelled. And if you're headed out to a super bowl party this evening, well, the weather could be even worse on the way home. We'll have full coverage for you.

Ryan Young is in Chicago, Martin Savidge in Cleveland and Sarah Ganim is in LaGuardia airport in New York and meteorologist Tom Sater is tracking the storm's path for us. All right, Ryan, let's begin with you in Chicago, first of all,

welcome to CNN, your first assignment and you're in the middle of snow.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the middle of snow, I can tell you that coming down, we have been tracking this event since about 3:30 this morning and they're calling it an extreme weather event. Of course, if you look around, you can see all this snow that's piled around, when we first started, about three inches, since then another five to six inches have fallen. I think eight inches above.

They actually believe that up to a foot of snow will fall just today and that's more than fell all last month. Now look, this is how going to affect all across the area, especially at the airport where more than 1,100 flights have been cancelled all over across the country.

But they are talking about the (INAUDIBLE) especially, the major thoroughfares have been cleared so far. But there are going not to be doubt because they believe (INAUDIBLE) to get to school and work in the morning.

Well look, so far no power has been knocked out. But they are making sure. They want to tell everyone to check on their neighbors next door who just walked out on a news conference where they talked about how much effort they're doing to clean the roads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL (D), CHICAGO: In January we had around 12.5 inches of snow in January. Today we're getting 12 inches of snow. So we're getting in this 24-hour cycle, what we got for all of the month of January.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, look, everybody has a different take on this so far. I talked to a taxi cab driver who said he wouldn't get off the street to make sure that he was safe. While we talked to other people who are from Chicago and they say hey, what's the big deal, it's just 12 inches. In fact, just behind us here, this eatery is still open. People are walking down the street still getting food. The whole idea is that this city never stops moving, especially because of the snow. We are told more than 350 vehicles that clear snow have been working all afternoon and all night.

WHITFIELD: My God. Well, they are leading by example there in Chicago.

Thanks so much, Ryan. Appreciate that.

So, Ohio, also feeling the front of this storm, and our Martin Savidge is in Cleveland for us.

So Martin, how is it look there?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to my hometown in Cleveland, Ohio. Standing on front of the (INAUDIBLE). But in a snowstorm like this, well, it is downright silent. Not a lot of traffic.

It's super bowl Sunday, people are clearly going to be gathering around the fire, around the TV and not going out of doors. They're expecting about nine inches here. That's probably going to be the worst snow they have faced this season. But by Cleveland standards, it's really not anything that they're not capable of handling.

It's happening on Sunday, that's the good news, but of course, it's going to flow into Monday. That's bad news unless you're a kid. It looks like the schools are going to be impacted but I'm not going to get that away just yet.

We flew in, little problems there. Although, there are some cancellations at the airport, but most of those are because of what Ryan just describe, flights coming from Chicago, they're pretty much not happening coming to Cleveland. It's expect there had could be flight delays impacted especially late tonight and into tomorrow.

So they're hunkering down, they're waiting, otherwise, really, it's beautiful on this super bowl Sunday. The roads are slushy, but it's not dangerous -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, yes, it's gorgeous, but just don't try to get around.

All right, thanks so much Martin Savidge. Appreciate that.

All right, let's take a look at how Detroit looks right now. Guess what? I hear you can barely see it. There you go. It is whiteout conditions there right now and they are expecting up to a foot of snow there. Tom Sater is tracking the storms for us.

So, this is some serious snow.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. But you are right. You mentioned twice as many Americans as last week nor'easter, about 100 million. So when we look at this, the center of the storm is not off the coast. It is not a classic nor'easter. It is in Missouri. But this is an elongated storm system that's going to drop well over a foot, maybe record breakers for some areas. Warm air is moving up from the south. Many are in rainfall, many will stay as snow, but if that warm air right along this warm front can move in to your region, you are going to see king of icy in that. So that is our headache problems for New York City. Indianapolis as well.

We will break it down for you. Now, I still think we are going to see a world of differences depending on where you are. But let's go through the warnings. Blizzard warning for the 9 1/2 million in Chicago. If you look at the top ten snowfalls, number 10 is 14 inches, you could break the top ten. In fact, if you look at the 15- inch snowfall, in Chicago, it only happens about 19 years. But warnings in effect from Iowa all the way across northern areas of Ohio valley in to the northeast. That includes New York City and it includes Boston. But it really doesn't move in until overnight in the northeast.

Here we go, St. Louis, you got lucky. You are in rainfall. Indianapolis, you've been fluctuating about 31, 32 degrees. So I do believe, it is going to change over to rain. IT has been a mix. Chicago, you, had some dry air moving in. But now it is spilling in with more snow. Easily, you could start to see I think upwards of a foot. And that means Cleveland, eight to ten inches. Detroit you will be into a foot.

Rainfall south of Indianapolis, it's all rain in Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, a little snow, you are going to be changing over to rainfall. Good for you. That alleviates all of our problems. Pittsburgh, snowfall getting ready to change to rain, even though a couple of inches. Now once it has said and done, there is a back area of snow that could drop an additional one to two.

Washington D.C., all rainfall. Good news from Boston to Philadelphia. New York City, you get snow overnight and it could come down for a little bit. But rush hour, it changes to a mix from sleet to freezing rain and that could stay that way throughout the morning rush to around noon before we think it will change to rain. So things will get better for you.

In Boston, look for snowfall. And I don't think you're going to get above freezing. Now, on the cape, Cape Cod, in the (INAUDIBLE) that was hit so hard by last week, two and three feet, I think you are going to be into the rainfalls.

So to break it down, there's a variety of weather that many will see. The further north you go, it's more powdery, because temperatures are about 10 degrees colder. To the south, it is just a cold rain, but everything in between.

So from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis, the mix goes on until you can get to rain, north of that, again, Fredricka, from Detroit, Cleveland, snowfall, maybe a good six to ten in parts of Toledo over toward Boston. But again, the headache mark is New York City.

WHITFIELD: Because if that iciness?

SATER: Yes. And then behind it frigid cold, so it's not going to melt any time soon.

WHITFIELD: My God. This is going to be a nightmare of a week for those of you who are commuting.

SATER: Yes. We will keep you updated.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you. We know you will. Thanks, Tom. Appreciate it.

All right, also still ahead, the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown in a medically induced coma today. CNN's Victor Blackwell joins us live.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Fred, we have new dispatch recordings indicating what paramedics thought they were responding to when they got the call to a private home near Atlanta. We will have that for you coming up in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, two weekends in a row now to start your new workweek. And we have got a lot more snow this time. In fact, 100 million people from the Midwest to the northeast. Look at Indianapolis right now. And with city circle, they are expecting temperatures between 31 and 32 degrees. A very cold and foggy and snowy mix.

And then, let's move on to Detroit where you can't see anything in these whiteout conditions. They are expecting up to a foot of snow. And then on the Cleveland, where right now it's picture perfect, isn't that lovely? There's a whole lot of snow on ground. And fortunately, few people are venturing out because they know how potentially dangerous it could be.

We are keeping a close watch on the weather conditions throughout the afternoon for you.

All right, another big story we're following for you, Whitney Houston's 21-year-old daughter is in a medically induced coma this morning. Yesterday morning, Bobbi Kristina Brown's husband and a friend found her unresponsive in a bathtub full of water. We just obtained scanner traffic as emergency personnel being dispatch to Bobbi Kristina Brown's home. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 DISPATCHER: Responding to ECHO-level response. Possible cardiac arrest. 21-year-old female in the bathtub, facedown, PD is en route.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, you heard the emergency personnel say possible cardiac arrest, but we can't confirm if that's what exactly happened. But what police have told us was that Brown's heart was not beating and she was not breathing when she was found. Someone in the house performed CPR on her until an ambulance arrived. Bobbi Kristina was then rushed to a hospital north of Atlanta. And that's where our Victor Blackwell is right now.

So Victor, what more do we know about her condition right now?

BLACKWELL: Well, still in that medically induced coma. And of course, the question many people have asked is why was she placed in that coma in the first place? There are privacy laws that protect the specifics per case. But I put that question to a doctor on my show this morning and we're told that we know that she was found face down in the bathtub, and when the brain is deprived of oxygen or blood flow for an extended period of time, sometimes the brain is damage and there is inability to get blood to the entire brain.

So the point of the medically induced coma is to reduce the activity and therefore reduce the need for blood flow to all parts of the brain so that the brain can heal. Sometimes people are in these medically induced comas for days, sometimes weeks of rare case for months.

We do not know, again, the specifics of how long possibly Bobbi Kristina Brown will be in his medically induced coma, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, what about her husband or even the friend that found her and then performs CPR, is anything being sent by them officially about why they believe she was found unresponsive?

BLACKWELL: Well, no conversation with police about that specifically. The police right now do not know exactly how long she was in the bathtub. Her husband Nick Gordon and another man found her upside down or face down in the water. They're not sure so far, or at least they have not said publicly if they just returned home and found her there face down in the tub, or if they were in a different part of the house throughout the night and then found her in the morning. But of course those questions are being answered. We put in a call to Roswell police department to get these answers and others, still waiting for a response.

WHITFIELD: All right, Victor Blackwell, thank you so much.

All right. So it has been a tumultuous past couple of year for Bobbi Kristina Brown on multiple occasions in fact. Family and friends have publically expressed the surge for her after her mother, Whitney Houston's death nearly three years ago. Somebody who knows more about Bobbi Kristina is Kin Sarafin, senior editor for "In-Touch Weekly."

Good to see you. So what can you tell us particularly about Bobbi Kristina's last year. What has been different or particularly difficult?

KIM SERAFIN, SENIOR EDITOR, IN-TOUCH WEEKLY: Yes. Well, you know, in the last year, she did get married, you were just talking about her husband Nick Gordon. So she has been married in the past year. But obviously, you're dealing with a lot of things going on right now.

She just had to deal with the lifetime bio-pick that was out about her mother that was out about a week ago. And that was a lot of controversial -- a lot of controversy with her family. Obviously, the family was not happy with it. They weren't involve. She was even saying, she had wanted to play Whitney, that she wanted to be part of the movie and she wasn't. So you have that.

And then of course we're leading up to two weeks until the third anniversary of her mother's death. So right now certainly, there is a lot of pressure on her.

And there really always has been, just not in this past year, in the past three years, as you know, I mean, scrutiny on her on whether she has been using drugs, there's been a lot of pressure and questions and people wondering whether she's been dealing with some of the same her mother has been dealing with. So just lot of scrutiny, really, on this young girl. WHITFIELD: And then this young girl has had to try to figure out what

to do apparently with this inheritance that she started receiving in the past year. Were family members concerned about how she was managing that? What she was doing with her money, who may have been in her life, any of that?

SERAFIN: You know, yes, when she turned 21, obviously she did come into an enormous inheritance that she's getting. But, you know, obviously also she's married now so there were some questions even initially when she did get married, you know, around the inheritance because she had just turned 21. And of course, her husband, who a lot of family men members are speaking out about saying, you know, he's not the brad guy in this. But of course, this is someone she was raised with. This is someone who was kind of her adopted brother in a way. He wasn't officially adopted by Whitney, but they were raised together as brother and sister. So there were some questions about their relationship.

Reportedly sissy had some concerns, her grandmother had concerns about their relationship. But then she has said no, no, no. We checked and everything is OK. And I think her husband also did say that publically. No, Sissy was OK. And that Whitney would have been happy with our relationship.

So there have been always questions about this relationship between the two of them. Although, again, they have been married for a year. There are bid posted pictures. There are pictures on Instagram of them. They do seem very happy.

Although, there have been incidents. There was an incident where the police were called, I think you have been reporting on this as well, a police were called to their residence about a week ago, although when the police arrived there, there was no one there and the person who had called was not there either. But they also had reportedly been having some parties in another apartment they lived in. There were complaints noise complaints from some of the neighbors about partying until 5:00 in the morning. So a lot of questions again about how she's really even been dealing with her mother's death even three years after the fact.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very sad. And the anniversary of her mother's death, February 11th, right around the corner.

All right, thank you so much Kim Serafin. I appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, Japan in mourning after the apparent beheading of a second Japanese citizen by is. What Japan is vowing to do now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Under a blizzard warning right now. Chicago, look at it right there, already a lot of snowfall and it's expected of course to continue to fall there, with temperatures dipping as low as 11 degrees by the morning. Just in time for that morning commute in what could be a very hectic week. A 100 million people in the path of this big storm, hitting the Midwest and northeast. The other big story we are following for you. Japan is mourning the

apparent killing of a second Japanese citizen by ISIS. A video released Saturday appears to show the beheading of journalist Kenji Goto.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promises never to forgive or yield to intimidation. One Japanese official is now offering to expand support for any refugee displaced by ISIS.

Meanwhile, the state of the Jordanian pilot held by the terror group is unknown. Jordan's government vows to keep working for Moaz al- Kasasbeh release. But its proof of life request has gone unanswered. ISIS is demanding that Jordan released the convicted female terrorist in exchange for sparring the pilot's life.

So what do these latest developments mean for the threat that the terror group poses to the west? For more, I'm joined by CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer.

So Bob, good to see you. So this apparent beheading, does it in any way change the west's approach in battling ISIS?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Fredericka, I think we're more determined to get rid of them. It's clear that this group has gone way beyond the pale. There's no negotiating with it. They are not getting any better. You know, for a while I thought they were going to, you know, they got some sort of rationality but they had it. And I think our president and the rest of the world are determined to get rid of them at any cost, whether it takes a year or two years.

WHITFIELD: So no one's negotiating, it seems as though -- I mean, even though they say we want to do a prison swap or an exchange for, you know, a lot of money will released. But that seems really to be futile. So, is the goal primarily the goal just to continue to spread fear of what they are and the reach that ISIS has?

BAER: What this movement is just a horrible deviancy of Islamic. It's free Islamic almost. And this cutting of heads, really, has nothing to do with Islam's speak of, you know, in this context, the Islamic state. So, this is a inelastic (ph) that is actually killed more Muslims than it has anybody else. And I think the Islamic world is going to turn on it and, you know, my prediction and I could be very well wrong, it will be gone in a year.

WHITFIELD: Really? They could be gone in a year, you said?

BAER: I think the group that is in Raqqa, this leadership is so cut back, has suffered so many defeats, that something will replace it. Now, we'll always have tough (ph) jihadi Islam all over the world that will pop-up in different places. But it is a viable state. I think it's failed and it will continue to fail.

WHITFIELD: So the ideology, though, does seem to continue to spread even if the name of the group, you know, changes, the problem persists. BAER: Look at the attacks in Sinai three days ago, killed nearly 30

people, 30 Egyptian officials. They're claiming allegiance to the Islamic state, but what it is, is really an abstract, very bloody idea. And you know, frankly, Fredricka, this has been in Islam for hundreds of years, it pops up, it goes away. It is replaced by something more rational. And this is what a lot of people in the area are counting on. But you know, I very well could be wrong, we're going to have to wait and see.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bob Baer, Thanks so much. Always good to see you.

BAER: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: President Obama says the fight against terrorism is not a fight against radical Islam. CNN's Fareed Zakaria tells us how the president made his case in an exclusive interview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for joining me.

Another massive winter storm is bearing down on the Midwest and barreling eastward 100 million people this time across 18 states are bracing for this winter wallop.

Watches and warnings extend from Omaha to Boston as the system takes aim at metro areas including Detroit already experiencing kind of whiteout conditions.

Cleveland and Pittsburgh, dead center in the storm's crosshairs, Chicago, now facing a blizzard warning and it's going to be hitting pretty fast in fact all across the affected region.

Football fans preparing to watch the Super Bowl will likely see much worse conditions after the game than before kickoff. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is expected to hold a news conference in the next 30 minutes to talk about the winter weather conditions there and how the city will be preparing.

It's almost like deja vu all over again. We were just here last weekend. We'll bring you the comments as they happen. All right, a storm the size like we're seeing so far on the maps is already having an impact on air travel.

More than 2,000 flights have already been canceled. Our Sara Ganim is at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Boy, so how is it there? It looks like people are kind of moving along there inside, but there are a lot of cancellations already, aren't there?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are a significant numbers of cancellations, yes, Fred, about 2,000 cancellations, most of them in Chicago, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway and Detroit. So that does not fare well for the northeast, in the airports over here because you can see the cancellations are moving along with the storm. I want to talk a little bit first about the morning commute for New Yorkers, for people in the northeast. This isn't going to be snow like we saw earlier this week, this light and fluffy stuff. No, the weather, the temperature, rather is going to be high enough that it's going to vacillate between snow and rain and at times freezing rain.

And that means that your morning commute tomorrow is going to be slushy and messy and then the temperature during the day is going to drop. It's going to drop in New York City to about 25 degrees by the time 5:00 rolls around.

So the evening commute is going to be icy, the potential for a lot of ice, actually, the National Weather Service saying there could be ice accumulation up to a third of an inch. The state of New York says they're ready for this.

They've got about 1,400 plows ready to go, 450,000 tons of salt that they have available to them, but the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, cautioning people to be careful while they're traveling tomorrow because nothing -- preparations never take the place, Fred, of common sense.

Now just real quick let's go back over to air travel. I want to show you the board, pretty clear, like you said, we're not seeing many cancellations except for the flights that are coming from Chicago. Now this is on an alphabetical real.

So you don't actually see Chicago on the board right now, but there are cancelled flights coming from Chicago, but most of the other cities, Fred, it is still clear and hopefully it will stay that way, but if it's any indication what the other airports in the line of the storm are seeing there, could be more delays tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: We'll help you out. We have got our own board and we could see those cancellations that you speak of, at least, out of Chicago. We are talking about over 600 already. So yes, it is indeed nasty. We'll check back with you. Sara, thank you so much.

All right, President Barack Obama defending his anti-terror policies. In an exclusive interview with our own Fareed Zakaria, I talked to Fareed about the president's decision to not label the fight against terrorism, a war on radical Islam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fareed, you had a wide ranging conversation with the president and of course, you know, at the top of the agenda, is this notion of radical Islam and he had some very strong thoughts about it. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't quibble with labels, I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in the Muslim communities and that the Middle East and South Asia are sort of ground zero for us needing to win back hearts and minds particularly when it comes to young people.

But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Yes, you can tell that the president is really arguing against that idea that this is a religious war, a clash of civilizations, he very strongly believes, yes, this emanates out of the Islamic world.

But that it represents a very small minority and that we should remember that the large and vast majority of Muslims are as opposed to this kind of radical Islam and violence as we are in fact they are the victims of it.

You know, most Islamic terror groups kill mostly Muslims compared to westerners or Christians and that we would lose that very important alliance, the alliance with the fast majority of the Muslim world if we were to start speaking casually about Islam being the enemy or, you know, talking about it as though we were in some kind of cultural war.

You can tell that this was not something that was accidental. That the White House and President Obama very deliberately do not want to play into the idea of the west versus Islam, and things like that, and really want to keep themselves very closely aligned with what they see as the vast majority of moderate Muslims, who are also fighting these radical forces, and are kind of allied with the west in doing so.

WHITFIELD: The president has also received a lot of criticism that he's downplaying the threat of terrorism. He doesn't see it that way, does he?

ZAKARIA: No, I asked him precisely that question and you can see that his response to it is very careful. The way he sees it, one of the key elements of a response to terrorism is not to play into the terrorist's tactics and ideas.

They want you to overreact. They want you to respond in a certain way and that by not doing that, by keeping calm and carrying on, to quote the slogan on so many t-shirts, you're actually doing something very important, which is not giving in to what the terrorist want. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It means that we don't approach this with a strategy of sending out occupying armies and playing whack-a-mole wherever terrorist group appears because that drains our economic strength and it puts enormous burdens on our military.

What's required is a surgical precise response to a very specific problem. If we do that effectively then ultimately these terrorist organizations will be defeated because they don't have a vision that appeals to ordinary people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And does the president feel like he's getting the kind of global support that he needs?

ZAKARIA: I think he feels that the world is pretty focused on terrorism, and in places like Europe, certainly in the Middle East, he's getting it. You know, one of his concerns as always with terrorism is that you deal with it, but you don't deal with it in a way that creates more and new problems that you didn't need.

I think he said in another interview somewhere, Europeans must understand they can't simply use the hammer to deal with this problem that Paris revealed and I think what he was referring to was that Europe has a problem with integrating its Muslim communities.

And that it has to address that while also hunting for the bad guys and catching and killing them when they can.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fareed Zakaria, thank you so much. Appreciate it and thanks for bringing us a very interesting interview with the president.

ZAKARIA: A pleasure, Fredricka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, Super Bowl Sunday is finally here. The fans are ready and so is our Rachel Nichols who is in Glendale.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Fred, the sun is out finally here and they just opened the roof on the stadium behind me a few minutes ago, we'll have all the latest coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here we go, how about that eight-layer chicken chili dip. It's all part of the ingredients for our Super Bowl Sunday and guess what, the kickoff, now just a few hours away.

Rachel Nichols is covering the big game for us. Rachel, I imagine the mood is very festive right now there.

NICHOLS: Yes, absolutely, it was actually very foggy this morning, the fog was so thick. They had to shut down the Phoenix airport, that matters to you if you're trying to fly into Phoenix for the game today.

So the fog has lifted, the blue sky is out, they're opening the roof up in the stadium over the last few minutes and the airport is open began important.

I can also report to you that the high school steel drum band that's playing music here all day, they can do both Farrell and Aha. WHITFIELD: Very good. I understand you've been talking to some dynamic folks there while there are a lot of, you know, pro ballplayers, who may not necessarily be in the game, but they're there and you've gotten their take on who has the advantage.

NICHOLS: Yes, we had a very interesting conversation with Randall Cobb. Now he plays with the Green Bay Packers. You may remember just a few weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers came within about 2 minutes of being in this game before the Seahawks came from behind and beat them for that birth into the Super Bowl.

But he was on the field as a receiver with the Seattle Seahawks secondary, that legion of boom defense that we hear so much about. And during that game, those guys got banged up.

Earl Thomas has a shoulder injury now, Richard Sherman has an elbow injury now, and just this week in practice, Kent Chancelor slipped and now he has a knee injury.

So I asked Randall Cobb if you were playing in this game against those guys again, how would you test them, take a listen to what advice he had for the New England Patriots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDALL COBB, GREEN BAY PACKERS WIDE RECEIVER: They're a great team and a great defense, but you have to go at them, you have to test them a little bit and see where they are physically. I know the report says that they're going to play, and I'm sure they're going to play, with the Super Bowl and everything on the line.

But you don't know how good they feel exactly, if you go and test them early on and see how they react to the physicality of the game, it will be a little bit easier to determine the outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: Now Randall was with us on behalf of the Jersey Report. Take a look at where things stand going into this game. Russell Wilson has the top selling jersey. Tom Brady, he's down there at number three. We'll have to see whether after this game things change.

And if Tom Brady comes out of this game a winner, he's really going to cement his already impressive hall of fame legacy as a quarterback.

On the other hand, if Russell Wilson comes out of this game a winner, and if you think about it, he bested Peyton Manning throw for throw in last year's Super Bowl, if he can best Tom Brady throw for throw in this Super Bowl.

By the way, to get here, he had the best Aaron Rogers throw for throw it's got to say a lot about him at a very young age.

WHITFIELD: Indeed it will. Rachel Nichols, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. So of course, later tonight the page will be turning on Super Bowl XLIX and the NFL will indeed have its champion. But after the confetti flies in Arizona, the league will still be staring at an issue that many believe the NFL has been neglecting for a very long time. I'm talking about domestic violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know you've called 911, this is an emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know how long it will be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, ma'am, is everything OK over there? Do you have an emergency or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're unable to talk because --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there someone in the room with you, just say yes or no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, it looks like I have an officer about a mile from your location, are there any weapons in your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you stay on the phone with me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, that's the NFL's new public service announcement that will air during the game tonight aimed at raising awareness and improving the league's image on the issue. It's response to the issue.

Joining me right now is attorney and radio personality, Mo Ivory. Sports Attorney David Cornwell is back with us and Ted Bunch, educator and activist in the effort to end violence against women. Glad you all could be with me. So, Mo, let me begin with you, a bold, courageous move for the NFL?

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY: I think so. It makes business sense to say on our biggest day of the year where, you know, these spots, a one-minute spot is about $10 million to say that we are going to give it to an organization, run a PSA about an issue that's been plaguing us is very smart business.

And I think it also says that we are paying attention, and we are going to put something out on the biggest day. But realistically, during the first quarter of the Super Bowl, during a time when people are going to be moving about and grabbing their snacks and all that.

Are they really going to pay as much attention to it as they would the commercials they're really looking to have fun with, I hope so, but I really think it was a great gesture.

WHITFIELD: So David, you know, is this a start, is this redemption -- a little bit of redemption for the NFL, which has received so much criticism for turning a blind eye, not addressing more seriously, more aggressively the issue of domestic violence and the athletes who have alleged to have been involved in it?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Absolutely. Listen, the NFL earned the criticism that it got for domestic violence. Commissioner Goodell said we're going to get it right and this is a step in the right direction.

He is seeking to norm -- what he says normalize the conversation. Pull back the veil so people can talk openly about domestic violence. But ultimately, the point is that men play football, men don't hit women. Men protect them. And the NFL's going to get that message out.

WHITFIELD: Ted, is that the message that will be received, the message being sent?

TED BUNCH, CO-FOUNDER, A CALL TO MEN: Yes, we certainly hope so and not only this commercial in the Super Bowl, but everything -- everything leading up to it, like the conversation we're having here. This is a real game changer in shifting the culture.

If we want to impact culture, we have to do it with culture and there's nothing that impacts our culture as much as the NFL and specifically wanting men to say no more also because when we look at violence against women in particular, the overwhelming majority of violence against him women is men's violent.

But the overwhelming majority of men are not violence, but we are silent about the violence that other men perpetrate and that's why we want all the people in our community to say no more.

WHITFIELD: So Ted, is it a game changer because the NFL is endorsing this PSA or is behind this PSA or is it a game changer if the results are different, if there are numbers that are reflecting a real impact or change as a result of this PSA?

BUNCH: Well, it's all of that, actually, and the NFL just this year has spent about or given about $45 million in air time, not just for the Super Bowl, but we have been running ads with no more for quite some time now.

Certainly since September and since 2013, but in the last six months or so, it's been very, very high. So it's a game changer from the raising awareness in our communities and talking about this as breaking the silence.

No more tag liners, together we can end domestic violence and sexual assault. We have to be talking about these things, and we're talking about them in a way that we have never done before. It's now part of the national dialogue and it's well overdue.

WHITFIELD: Does everyone agreed at least the discuss is being had, it is happening, but there is the what's next that, kind of is the most important thing here, is it not?

CORNWELL: The NFL doesn't just influence culture, it mirrors culture so what we're seeing going on in the NFL --

WHITFIELD: It creates it.

CORNWELL: I think it certainly mirrors it. These men come from somewhere, right?

IVORY: I think this commercial is so clever in the way it speaks to the victim who can't just do what most people think, just call the police or just get out. Well, what do you do when the person is standing right next to you?

So I love the way they handled the issue of the code language and as much as it is important for the victim to be able to speak in codes, it's also important for the 911 operator to understand those codes, I think they're speaking to training and what happens to a woman when she can't just run away.

And I think it was a clever way to address it and I hope there will be results. The commercial is great, but if there's not results and men stop beating women and killing women, then commercials can play all day long.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Good to see all you guys. Appreciate it. Ted Bunch, David Cornwell, and Mo Ivory, appreciate it.

We have a lot straight ahead including big weather, it is nasty out there. I think this is Detroit? Are we still looking at Detroit here? Sorry, this is Cleveland. A little bit of traffic here, they're expecting a whole lot more snow.

We're talking about up to a foot in some parts in the Midwest and hundred million people in the path of this storm from the Midwest to the northeast. We'll be back with more.

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WHITFIELD: All right, one week after the last big snowstorm, here we go again. You're looking at a system that will be stretching from the Midwest to the northeast and by the way, new York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is expected to hold a press conference in somewhere within the next 30 minutes or so to talk about the winter weather conditions and how that city will be preparing, once again we'll bring you his comments live as it happens.

And a dramatic search and rescue effort on Oregon's Mt. Hood, three climbers fell Saturday morning, and officials say one climber fractured her ankle and a male climber had a fractured leg, a third person was not injured. Help arrived three hours later. A National Guard helicopter air lifted them to a hospital in Portland.

And make it five titles, down under for Serbia's Novak Djokovic. The world's number one ranked player beating Britain's Andy Murray in four sets today at the Australian Open men's final. It was the eighth grand slam win overall for Djokovic and he finished it in style, winning 12 of the last 13 games.

And today's Open Court, one of Australia's greatest tennis players talks about her historic victory as Wimbledon.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Throughout the 1970s, Australia's Evone Goolagong was one of the most dominant women in tennis reaching 17 grand slam singles finals during that time. But it was her victory at Wimbledon in 1971 that made history as she became the first Aboriginal player to win at the All England Club.

EVONE GOOLAGONG, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I always thought of myself as a tennis player, I just enjoyed playing tennis and I wanted to achieve my dream so I was too busy doing that. So I never really thought of myself as -- being the first aboriginal to win a Wimbledon and so on.

Yes, but at the same time, I have just for myself, I feel like it was a real achievement for myself because I won a big tournament, I won Wimbledon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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