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Powerful Snowstorm Pummels 18 States; Worst call in Super Bowl History?; Super Bowl Highlights

Aired February 02, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me.

The northeast still struggling to dig out from last week's blizzard, now millions of those same Americans are getting hammered again. This powerful new storm is slamming 18 states, record snowfalls across much of the Midwest.

In Chicago more than 18 inches falling at Midway Airport, snarling air travel nationwide. More than 2200 flights cancelled today. Many of them throughout the northeast and New England, too.

Here's the view in Boston. It could get another foot of snow even while it struggles to get rid of last week's avalanche.

And in New York, the big concern is ice. Tomorrow, the city could be one huge skating rink.

Across Massachusetts, though road crews have been struggling to clear the mountains of snow that are boxing in streets and swallowing sidewalks.

Here's a bird's eye view from one of those mountains in Boston. I was in Boston over the weekend visiting my husband. Is that incredible or what? Maybe I was smiling ear to ear maybe because I knew I would escape before today's storm dumps another foot or so. This is on Tremont Street in Back Bay. I'm wondering if it snows another foot where are they going to put all of that snow.

It is no laughing matter for snow-weary Bostonians who face treacherous driving conditions again today.

CNN's Brian Todd is braving the roadways. Right now he's just north of Boston in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Good morning, Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It is very treacherous out here. It is near whiteout conditions here and we're going to show you our camera as we head on to Interstate-93 just outside Lawrence, Massachusetts.

They knew this was coming for several days but this has been just much more treacherous than we thought because the visibility right now is really the issue. As we head over here on to Route 93 which is one of the major interstates, you're going to see as we switch out from my camera to our dash camera looking in front of our vehicle.

Check this out. This is one of the biggest interstates in Massachusetts. It is covered. And it is near whiteout conditions. You can't see really, certainly no more than a quarter mile in front of you but often it's less than that. State officials are telling us they went through 70,000 tons of salt in the last snowstorm. They've got plenty of reserves. But, you know, again, the situation here is the snow is falling at a rate of about one to two inches per hour.

At this hour, we're in some of the heaviest volume of snowfall that we're going to see all day. It will taper off in the afternoon and then it will end in the early evening. But as you can see here, along Route 93, it is a near whiteout condition. And, you know, the visibility is just -- that's really the issue now. We can see a little bit of black top road in front of us.

But for the most part this road is almost completely covered in snow and it's coming down at a rate that's really too fast right now. The snow is falling too fast for the crews to really clear it out effectively.

I was also told by a state official this morning that when the roads get really, really cold, that, you know, that the salt is less effective so they might have to be -- you know, in certain situations, where they halt the snow -- the salt spreading, at least temporarily while the -- you know, while the temperatures change or whatever. So that's going to be an issue.

You know, look at -- if you look at our dash camera here, you see this is slow-going and it is pretty dangerous. We're going to pull off the highway here in just a second and see if we can find a place to pull over. But that's another issue here. We may or may not be able to find a safe place to pull over because that is what another state trooper yesterday told me. He said this is the real danger when you're in a situation like this.

If people feel like they're getting stuck somewhere or they just don't feel confident that they can keep going and going, finding a place to pull over safely is very, very difficult, even when -- like here, we're getting off an exit off 93, for us to find a place to actually pull over safely is tough because they do not want you to leave your car right on the side of the road or on the side of an exit, a major exit because it will just block everybody, it'll block the snow plows.

COSTELLO: Right.

TODD: And that's an issue.

One of the things also, Carol, that's going to be very dangerous in the coming hours is that the temperature are really going to drop. It's what they call flash freezing. These roads are going to get frozen as soon as nighttime hits, the temperatures are going to drop, and it's going to be very, very dangerous as these roads freeze -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So stay home. Schools and universities closed again throughout the Boston area.

Brian Todd, thanks so much. And be careful.

Let's head to Chicago now, shall we? It's been four years since the Windy City saw drifts of snow this deep. Sunday's snow burying old records, even breaking into the top five winter storms of all time. You see it there at the number five spot, with 19.3 inches.

Ryan Young is there this morning.

Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. 19 inches. And you can see what neighbors are having to deal with. We decided to come to this neighborhood where you see cars that are just under all this snow cover. In fact neighbors helping neighbors trying to dig themselves out. Of course it's going to take a lot of effort.

If you look down the road here, there is a guy, he's using a snow blower to just try to blow some of the snow off the sidewalk. In fact the city says they're not going to be able to use the side streets to get the snow plows through here to clear this for quite some time. They have to worry about the major roads. We've seen some power outages and of course the crews have been out for 24 hours. So far so good, but as you see all the snow that's been left behind.

COSTELLO: You look so cold, Ryan. I just want you to get inside somewhere warm for a bit.

Thank you so much, Ryan Young, reporting live from Chicago this morning.

So for millions of snow-weary Americans today's storm feels like "Groundhog Day," the movie. For this chubby cheeked rodent, though, it is literally Groundhog Day. Yes, it is Groundhog Day. Did you realize that?

And guess what this groundhog predicted, Chad Myers?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What's that?

COSTELLO: I think he saw -- he saw his shadows. Six weeks more of winter. So, like, duh, Mr. Groundhog.

MYERS: Yes, he's got a fur coat.

COSTELLO: Snow across the country, Phil.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: And they have 65 TV lights on. Of course he's going to see his shadow. He has no choice. He's all lit up for TV. It's cold out here, Carol, now dropping down to 29. We were 34 when I

got here at 4:00 this morning and raining. And now this rain has changed to sleet and everything -- you see behind me is going to freeze up because by tomorrow morning, it's going to be 11. Eleven. Right where I'm standing.

The snow continues for Connecticut, for Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. And temperatures there are not going to warm up. They're not going to change over to anything frozen or liquid.

Look at that. Look at Hartford. Fourteen. That's nasty. Even Buffalo, 13. So where it snowed so much already, more snow coming down. And more very, very chilly weather.

Now you see us in the pink. Pink means some kind of mix. It's got rain, snow, sleek, kind of all the stuff, all mixed together. And then I-95 on up toward Connecticut and then in Rhode Island, that's all snow. A little sleet mixing in at times. But that's where the heaviest accumulations are going to be. That purple area from Watertown to Herkimer to Syracuse. I know you don't hear Herkimer on national TV too much so there you go. Herkimer.

Rutland, all the way up to Portland. That's where the snow is going to be. The low moved close enough to New York City that will change over to water for a while. But if that doesn't go down the drain, that water is going to be frozen tonight, Carol.

And I know -- behind me here it looks pretty good, it looks just wet. But there's like 35 people trying to keep this wet, shoveling, pushing, salting most city streets and most city sidewalks don't look as good as this. Be very careful walking home tonight.

COSTELLO: Yes. It's going to be really nasty.

Chad Myers, thanks so much.

Let's get to Jean Casarez now. She's at -- New York's LaGuardia Airport, keeping an eye on thousands of flight delays and cancellations around the country.

Good morning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, we just got some updated numbers. Over 2700 flights now have been canceled throughout the country and right here at LaGuardia, it's getting a little more active here but the majority of the people here, the people that work here, because the flights are canceled.

Let's show everybody the boards right up here. As you can see, there are some delays now. Earlier this morning, it was absolutely 100 percent canceled. But now a lot of cancellations, a lot of delays. People that are here are just waiting around.

I want you all to meet somebody. Rosemary, come on over here.

Rosemary is from Brazil and she came here on some business meetings for a couple of days and now you're supposed to be flying where today?

ROSEMARY, PASSENGER: We should fly from New York, to Dallas, Dallas, Tucson. And when we arrived here, all the flights were canceled, you know. And we're still waiting. And our flight now supposed to leave 1:30 to Dallas, Dallas to Tucson. And we should be in Tucson for a very important business appointment there and we lost appointment.

CASAREZ: Right. And when you got here to the airport this morning, you had no idea that your flight was canceled?

ROSEMARY: No. We just figured all that when we arrived here. We were really surprised, you know, because we should fly early in the morning and we're still here waiting.

CASAREZ: And you thought that'd be good, fly early in the morning and get out. But here you sit.

You know, Carol, we talk about canceled flights but there are ramifications. I mean, there are emergencies that people need to get places and business meetings that will now be missed.

We do want to want tell everybody that the airlines, the majority of them are giving waivers to people so you will have no cancellation fees. But call before you come to the airport so you can see the status of your flight -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Good idea.

Jean Casarez, reporting live from LaGuardia this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, football players around the world asking Seattle Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll, one question, why? Why did he call for a pass on the one yard line with only 20 seconds left in the game? Why didn't he run the dang ball?

We're live in Phoenix next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Boston, we feel for you this morning. You can't even see anything. This is a tower cam overlooking the beautiful city of Boston. I'm thinking the Patriots won't be home for their big victory parade for quite some time. But when the Patriots do make their way home as victors they have one man to thank. And that would be Pete Carroll.

Coach Carroll is the man responsible for the moment. He made the call to pass, Russell Wilson intercepted.

Check out the call from Westwood One Sports Radio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the shotgun. There's the snap. It's high. Quick throw. It's intercepted at the goal line. It's intercepted by Malcolm Butler. Malcolm Butler has intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal-line. Twenty seconds left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, my gosh. The lasting question this morning, oh, Coach Carroll, why? Why? For god's sakes, why?

Andy Scholes is here and of course Patriots uber-fan John Berman is here, too. He was dancing during that interception. I wish we could have shown him because it would have been truly embarrassing for John Berman, frankly.

I want to put up this meme, though, because I think it says it all, you know, that nationwide commercial where the kid died and everybody was complaining about it. This is my favorite meme from the Super Bowl. It said, "I would have run." Come on, put it up. You're -- you're messing up my moment of humor here. It's coming. There it is.

No. That's the wrong one.

(LAUGHTER)

Anyway, the one I was speaking of said, "I would have run but I died."

Hi, Andy Scholes. Why did Pete Carroll make that decision?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Well, Carol, he said after the game that the plan was to throw the ball on second down and then they would have run the ball on third down. If they didn't get in, call a time-out and run again on fourth down.

That was the plan, obviously we know now it went terribly wrong. But of course this is all Monday morning quarterbacking. If they ended getting a touchdown in that game it's a completely different story.

COSTELLO: Come on. Take a stand. It was a dumb call.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Absolutely. Absolutely. Look, you know, you run the ball in that situation, especially when you have Marshawn Lynch. But that being said, Carol, you know, there's these stats out there that Lynch had run the ball five times from the one-yard line during the season, he only got in once. And then of course no quarterback had thrown an interception from the one-yard line all season.

So why would they think it would happen all of a sudden in the most important play at the Super Bowl?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I don't know. OK. Before we get to the dancing John Berman, you have the top three moments from the Super Bowl. So let's review.

SCHOLES: All right. Well, here. Let's start with number three. And I'm sure Berman will like this one. I'm going to start with Tom Brady awesomeness. You know, he had to deal with all the cheating accusations, all the deflate-gate all week. He even threw two interceptions in the game, but he kept his cool throughout the entire time. He led the Patriots on two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

And he's really cemented himself now as one of the greatest players of all time winning his third Super Bowl MVP, his fourth Super Bowl matching Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most all-time by a quarterback. Tom Brady awesomeness is my number three.

Number two, we have the most amazing catch that won't be remembered. Jermaine Kearse bobbling it, eventually pulling it in. He could have retired and assign his fixer on eight by tens that alone. But now no one will remember it because of what happened in my number one moment from the Super Bowl and we just discussed it, Carol.

It was Malcolm Butler's interception. The Seahawks were on the one- yard line. All they had to do is run it in one more yard. They would be a Super Bowl champion. But Malcolm Butler jumped the route. An interception for the ages. And rookie Malcolm Butler, he's got such a great story. He is an undrafted rookie. He came from Division II West Alabama five years ago, Caro. This guy was working at a Popeye's, not even playing football, and look where he is now.

COSTELLO: It is a fantastic story. And John Berman stopped dancing when you showed the interception again. But I will show the cover of the "New York Post" this morning. "How Cheat It Is."

So even though this is an historic win for New England Patriots.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, EARLY START: Yes.

COSTELLO: Right? Won't it be forever tainted?

BERMAN: Look, I don't think -- I think it depends. I think at the end of this two-week period when deflate-gate was overshadowing everything, I think people came to the conclusion look, if there is evidence that they in fact cheated we'll take that into account and we'll figure out what the right punishment is. But right now, we haven't seen any evidence of it at all. They haven't been able to prove anything.

So if it remains like this, I don't think there is, you know, any whiff of taint or anything like that at all over the next several weeks. If it does come out and it turns out they did something to deflate the footballs, that is another story. But I -- you know, I think last night was an incredible game.

COSTELLO: It was.

BERMAN: In a credible incredible finish. And what should not be obscured is the fact that Tom Brady against the best defense in football over the last three years scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. And this kid, Malcolm Butler, was just a perfect defensive play, and it picked off Russell Wilson. It was stunning. COSTELLO: It was -- it was awesome. You know, I'm conflicted because

I really do like Tom Brady. I think he's awesome. But a lot of people really hate Tom Brady. Why do you think that is?

BERMAN: Because he's just that perfect. I think people cannot understand. Seriously, I mean, he's the best looking kid in the class. He's smart, too. He's married to the most beautiful woman and he's really good at football. And I think people just can't handle something quite that perfect.

COSTELLO: OK. I think that says it all.

BERMAN: Is there any other explanation? Can you think of any possible reason?

COSTELLO: No, he is beautiful.

SCHOLES: (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: I mean, I look at this, he is quite beautiful. I know. I know.

All right, John Berman, congratulations. Should I --

SCHOLES: The eyes.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Yes.

COSTELLO: The chiseled jaw, the dimple in the chin, blah, blah, blah.

Thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

All right. Let's talk ads now. Am I the only person in America not to love the rescued puppy commercial? Cute puppy, cute horses, cute man, way too easy, although Nationwide should have taken a cue from Budweiser, when you show a cute kid, he actually should not die.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll never get cooties. I'll never learn to fly or travel the world with my best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN senior media correspondent and the host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter is here to discuss, and John Berman is making an appearance again, too, because we love him, we really do.

Brian, what's with Nationwide? It was a downer. Actually a baseball player, Brandon McCarthy, had the best responding tweet. He said, "Hey, maybe Sara McLaughlin will make an appearance and like, you know, we can all be cheered up."

(LAUGHTER) BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That is pretty good. I actually really liked this ad. I felt bad for the actor because the ad was so jarring, it was so grim that it got your attention. And that was the purpose of the ad, right, to get your attention. But I -- you know, at the same time it was so out of sorts for a Super Bowl ad. And they knew that when they made it, that was part of the intent.

But gosh, I have a feeling next year, we might see a few more like this because, you know, creativity breeds imitation. And this ad is getting a lot of attention this morning as a result.

COSTELLO: It is. And the ad had the sort of serious tone, John Berman. And I was looking for maybe fun. I mean, I like the -- I like the fact that the domestic violence ad ran. I thought that was fantastic. But after that I didn't want to get taught many more lessons.

BERMAN: Look, I -- I was trying to get my blood pressure down in the commercial so I wasn't paying close attention. My wife kept turning to me and saying, there were all these daddy commercials that are either all sentimental and tugging at your heart strings and really sort of nice about fathers. And I don't mind that. I can handle that every once in a while. Because, you know, dads aren't always meatheads which is what we're made out to be.

COSTELLO: Right. I know, men don't usually -- well, it's better than the ads like men standing around salivating after big bosomed women, right? So it made men look a little better to be good dads.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: But we can say --

STELTER: That's what was really missing, Carol. All the -- that's what was really missing. There was really like a PG-rated Super Bowl ad bowl. And that was -- that was sort of surprising to me. But that's how, you know, these cycles go. Sometimes we go through a cycle where the ads are more family friendly, so to speak. But there was a lot of social messaging. And I do wonder if that turned some people off.

You know, you mentioned that Budweiser puppy ad, and I think you were the only one not to like it. It rated number one.

COSTELLO: I know.

STELTER: On "USA Today's" ad meter.

COSTELLO: You know, the one I especially enjoyed, I did like the ad like a girl. So let's play that because I really did enjoy it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So do you think you just insulted your sister?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I mean, yes. Insulted girls but not my sister.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Dakota. And I'm 10 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me what it looks like to run like a girl. Throw like a girl. Fight like a girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So this especially touched me, Brian, because when I was little I was really good at athletics. I was a great softball player, I played baseball well, and everybody made fun of me because supposedly I threw like a girl which I did not. I don't even know what that is. So this commercial touched me.

STELTER: And yet so many young women were just like you and are just like you, right? You know, what's amazing about this ad, Carol? It debuted on YouTube months ago. It got 80 million views before it came to the Super Bowl and of course last night it was probably seen by another 120 million people. But the idea that an can start out more organically online and then make its way on to the biggest stage on television, I think that's pretty cool.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about Katy Perry, shall we? Because it was a big flashy show, right? Right? This year, Katy Perry made her entrance on a large -- what is that, John Berman? Do you think it's a lion or a tiger or a horse?

BERMAN: A big robot or a Transformer.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: OK. You can say the jokes because that looks like NBC -- what is that campaign that it looks like?

STELTER: "The more you know."

COSTELLO: The more you know.

STELTER: And they must have been going for that. Right? They must have been going for that.

COSTELLO: I don't know about that. I mean, it was a nice safe show. Some people said that Missy Elliott kind of upstaged Katy Perry as did all the technical aspects of the show, especially the dancing shark.

STELTER: Well, I think it was that shark that upstaged everybody.

COSTELLO: Somebody help me out. Like, come on, critique this. You guys.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: I'm just saying for Katy Perry. You know what I like about Katy Perry. She always looks like she's having a good time when she's out there. And if you can't sort of smile and appreciate that, you know, I think people are sick of scowling rock 'n roll people all the time. This was sort of just plain fun.

COSTELLO: Well, I think people are kind of tired of aging rockers, always taking part in the Super Bowl show, right? So she was young and fresh and fun. And to me --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: It's also refreshing not to have a Super Bowl with some sort of scandal, you know, well, excuse me, deflate-gate aside, Mr. Berman, the idea of some hiccup or technical difficulty or power outage. You know, there was no drama like that. The drama was really on the field. That's where it belongs and that's where it was last night.

COSTELLO: All right. Thanks to you both. Brian Stelter, John Berman.

A little bit later we're going to take a longer look at Nationwide's ad and the social media backlash. CNN's Richard Quest will take us inside the pitch meeting where that idea was conceived.

I'll be right back.

BERMAN: Cool.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)