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Snowstorm Batters Northeast; Measles on the Rise in America; Mike Huckabee Under Fire

Aired February 02, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, hour two, top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And right now on this Monday afternoon, a snowstorm is pummeling the Northeast; 25 million people are in its path and the snow is expected to continue falling until midnight in New England. In fact, Boston has gotten almost 10 inches so far. Today's snowfall is on track to break a record. We were talking about that last week. Here we go again.

Temperatures are expected to drop overnight, which means freezing roads and dangerous, dangerous cold with windchills below zero tomorrow morning. We have actually just learned that a woman was killed in Massachusetts today after she was hit by a snowplow in a parking lot.

The storm also slammed the Midwest yesterday. Two people died in car crashes on slippery roads in Nebraska. And in Chicago, cars were also spinning out, the mayor there, Rahm Emanuel, saying the city got as much snow yesterday, so in one day, as it did in the entire month of January. That's huge.

It's having a rippling effect at airports. More than 3,000 flights are canceled today. I'm sure that number will grow. We have Martin Savidge live for us in Cleveland, Brian Todd driving around the Boston area, and Jason Carroll is watching all the flights, delays, cancellations at La Guardia and New York.

Martin, let me just begin with you in Cleveland.

The wind that is whipping up around you, it looks, I'm sorry, absolutely miserable where you are.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what I have to say, Brooke? It's improved a great deal.

We are at 18 degrees, the heat of the day at 3:00 in the afternoon, so Eastern time, I should tell you. But the going is difficult, as many people are finding here. The sun is out and that's the good news. But it's still brutally cold and it's the wind and the wind has just been unrelenting all day long and that's what makes it feel subzero.

And it continues to be a problem for clearing the snow, blowing, drifting, especially western part of Ohio now that is a problem. It's brought down power lines, knocked out traffic signals in the distance. Well, the cops had to go in and actually get warm. It's too cold.

But they have been directing traffic because the street lights are out, so on and on and on. The schools are closed, airports open, flights delayed or canceled and basically a lot of people stayed home today, as they should have done. It's not a record, by any means, for the city of Cleveland. Probably had about eight, 10 inches of snow. They have had much worse, but it's about the worse that they have had so far this year and it's bad enough for a Monday and hopefully it will get better after this.

But the snow just keeps coming in squalls. It will get colder throughout the week. And that is pretty much it, although I should point out something, and that is, for those of you who worry about us out here the whole time, let me show you this little gem. We stay warm right here by coming inside here. This is my mobile television studio.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE: There you go.

BALDWIN: That is the secret. People -- you appreciate the concern, but there you have it. I'm sure the heat is jacked up in the car. Martin Savidge, thank you so, so much for braving it, you and your crew in Cleveland for us. Thank you. We will check in with you I'm sure through the evening as it gets colder, I'm afraid.

Meantime, Boston is getting slammed again and the city declared a snow emergency and it could get now up to a foot of snow. Keep in mind, that's on top of the two-plus feet they received last week.

Brian Todd is there and he's driving around some of it for us.

Brian, how are the streets looking?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, they are looking progressively worse. And just about everywhere you go, it's just getting worse and worse by the hour here in the entire Boston area.

We're at about I think close to 10 inches of snow that have fallen already and there's at least a couple more coming. It's going to continue, I think, as you mentioned, well, well into the evening. We're in our mobile vehicle now just south of Boston along Route I-93.

And we're going to pull over here and get out of our vehicle in just a short time. But as when we're pulling over here to a safe spot, this is the one thing that I want to kind of point out here. Just our efforts here to pull over and get out, and show you some of the conditions along Interstate 93, which is one of the biggest interstates Massachusetts, it's tough here because just to find a place to pull over, if you think you're going to get stuck somewhere, if you think you're getting stranded, to find a place to pull over is very, very difficult. State police officials and others are telling us that oftentimes

there's no place to go alongside of the road. You're endangering other vehicles and you're making it almost impossible for the snowplows and the like to do their jobs.

As I get out of my mobile vehicle here, I will talk to the dash cam for a second, as my photojournalist, Pulio Abdullah (ph), fires up his camera over here to the side. This is Interstate 93 and what's really bad about this situation today, even though there is technically less of a snowstorm than there was a week ago, the visibility really seems to be worse.

We you can -- and you can see Route 93 that it's going very slowly. This is an access road so we have got to be a little bit careful. But look at the visibility here. It's clearly less than a quarter-mile in most places. And a lot of the time when we were out on the road earlier today, it was much worse.

It's falling at a rate where the snowplows just cannot keep up with it at this hour. Later on, of course, they will be able to do a much better job at it, but the salt situation is also bad, because these roads are getting colder as we speak.

It's 19 degrees now outside, but the temperatures are going to drop and there's a cold front coming after this where the road temperatures are going to hit well below freezing and these roads are all going to freeze over even if they can clear some of them, Brooke. Dangerous. It's dangerous along the side road and very, very (AUDIO GAP) in the parking lots. We alluded to this earlier.

We just reported that a woman was killed in a parking lot.

BALDWIN: All right, Brian, I'm going to take it from you because we're kind of losing you, Brian Todd and crew covering it from different angles there along the access roads, seeing some of the cars moving along slowly there on that highway, Brian Todd in Boston.

Meantime, public transportation, it is up and running in New York City. But of course travelers can expect delays at the airports.

Our national correspondent, Jason Carroll, is looking at the air traffic obviously coming and going out of La Guardia.

Are you seeing a lot of the red on the board behind you?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, still more of that red there. Not just delays, but cancellations as well.

We have been updating everyone with each passing hour. Last hour, we told you about some of the five major airports across the city. We have got some updated numbers for you as well. O'Hare now at 510 cancellations. La Guardia, where we are, at 375. Newark at 310 that you see there on the board, Boston at 280 and Reagan at 117.

And, again, Brooke, it's not just about cancellations. It's also about delays. I'm going to bring in Paul Block. We spoke the last hour for a little

bit. Your wife, you have been contacting her at home. You have had a very long day. Your flight was supposed to leave at 6:30 this morning, Brooke, 6:30 this morning. We're now at just past 3:00. You're still here. I'm still here.

PAUL BLOCK, TRAVELER: And it's something like 5:10 right now. They keep on moving it back a half-an-hour every half-hour. I figure I will be here...

(CROSSTALK)

CARROLL: Yes.

BLOCK: ... night.

CARROLL: You know what is interesting to me, Paul, as I have talked to you and a lot of other travelers, you guys seem to be taking it pretty much in stride. And I'm wondering if that's because there's so many Web sites and apps out there to sort of help you figure out when your flight is going to be canceled, when it is going to delayed, whatever the case may be.

BLOCK: More or less, I'm getting e-mailed by American Airlines every half-hour. You kind of take it in stride after you have been beat up a few times.

CARROLL: Well, Paul, we certainly hope you make it to Arkansas, make it to your destination.

BLOCK: Thank you. Thank you.

CARROLL: You can now let your wife know you're OK now that she's seen you on CNN there.

But, again, we're waiting for more updates here at the airport. With each passing hour, what we have noticed is a number of delays and cancellations seem to going up. We assume at some point it's going to peak and then it will go down. We will wait and see. We will be here and we will let you know, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I bet you will. Stuck with the rest of them. Jason Carroll doing a phenomenal job, thank you so much at La Guardia Airport.

Let me take you actually to Atlanta to just a stunning picture. I am born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and I have never in my lifetime seen a picture like this. What you're looking at is the downtown Interstate 75 and 85.

This is really getting towards downtown Atlanta, absolutely no traffic. It's shut down because crews there are investigating a suspicious package near midtown Atlanta. Again, this is I-75 and I- 85, both directions, zero cars because of the suspicious package.

Never, ever, ever have I seen this. This is basically like the Times Square of Atlanta as far as the center of a city. It's not quite downtown. It's what they call midtown. But looking into the package and as soon as we get more information, we will bring it to you. But this is just before rush hour, not fun for anyone trying to get anywhere in downtown midtown Atlanta area. We will keep you posted there.

Meantime, measles on the rise in America. We will tell you about the other diseases that are spreading because some parents just will not vaccinate their children.

Plus, Whitney Houston's daughter in a coma right now after being found face down in a bathtub. We will talk live with Don Lemon. He knows the family and its tragic history.

And he went undrafted, can you believe, but today he's been hailed the hero of the Super Bowl. We will speak live with the man who coached Malcolm Butler from the New England Patriots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A new and scathing statement from the director of the CDC, as more of these measles cases are popping up across the country.

Since the outbreak was first reported back in December at Disneyland, the highly contagious virus has now spread to 14 states with a total of 102 confirmed cases, numbers just unthinkable to so many people considering measles was eliminated from the U.S. 15 years ago, thanks to a safe and effect vaccine.

But this anti-vaccination movement and a debunked study linking vaccines to autism have seen vaccination levels decline. Well, now, as I mentioned, the CDC is responding, the director of the CDC saying this. "The signs on this is very clear. There was one study that has since been shown to have been fraudulent that alleged to show problems, but study after study, review after review by independent agencies emphasizes that there are no long-term adverse consequences from the measles vaccination."

That was Dr. Frieden just this afternoon.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with me now.

I guess really my question to you is, as these cases continue popping up, how worried is the CDC about this, and what can they really do about it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, I think they are pretty worried that this is going to grow.

Measles is so incredibly contagious that there's just not a great way of stopping it. I will say that most people recover from the measles just fine, but there are people who die. Before we had the vaccine in 1963, hundreds of people died every year from the measles.

Now, I think, Brooke, you were asking what can be done about this. I would have to say, having spent an evening with an anti-vaccine parent, hearing his arguments about why he doesn't vaccinate his child, there's not a whole lot you can do about people who choose not to vaccinate. They believe in anti-vaccination like other people believe in religion. There is really not a lot you can do to convince them otherwise.

BALDWIN: Then what about -- as we think about measles, if this can happen with measles, if it was eliminated as we thought in 2000, what else could be popping back up?

COHEN: We have already seen that there have been increases some years in the numbers of pertussis, of whooping cough, and some of that is attributable to people who don't vaccinate their children.

Already, we have been seeing this. Yes, it is a real problem and, again, I think the anti-vaccine folks keep emphasizing, so you get the measles, big deal, my mother had the measles, my grandmother had the measles, they were all fine. But what they don't understand is that people also died.

Healthy children died from the measles and often they died very fast. I think there needs to be sort of a bit of a reset on how people are thinking about these diseases. They were not just nuisances, they were really deadly.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Still ahead, the daughter of Whitney Houston remains in this coma now two days after she was found face down in a bathtub full of water. We will talk with Don Lemon about more on how the family is handling this eerily familiar tragedy.

And up next, he was the unlikely hero whose late-game interception likely saved the Patriots a Super Bowl. So, who is this undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler who made perhaps the biggest play of the game, of his career, of his lifetime? We will talk with a man who coached through college next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. So Tom Brady, yes, he was the MVP of last night's Super Bowl, but the undeniable hero of the game was this 24- year-old rookie playing for the Pats, Malcolm Butler, this young man who no one wanted when the NFL draft was held in April.

But he came up huge, huge at the end of the Super Bowl, snagging the interception to stop the Seahawks when they were just one yard away from scoring that touchdown to win the game. And there he is, winning the undying love of millions of New England Patriot nation. Still, he stayed humble after that incredible play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALCOLM BUTLER, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: It's a great feeling, but got to stay humble at the same time, continue to get better, work hard, thank all my teammates. It wasn't just all me. It's not one against 11. It's 11 on 11.

And just a great job to the coaches, and especially my D.B. coach and my defensive coordinator, of course Bill for being so hard on me and expecting the best out of me. And, tonight, I guess what -- they got the best out of me and it's just a blessing and a dream come true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, Will Hall believed in Malcolm before he was a pro. He was Malcolm's coach at the University of West Alabama.

Coach, nice to have you on.

WILL HALL, FOOTBALL COACH: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: So how proud were you?

And, listen, I have talked to folks on the Seattle Seahawks who want to talk how that was the worst play ever, ever, ever in the history of the Super Bowl. We're going to talk about it from your perspective and Malcolm. How are you feeling just watching him intercept that ball?

HALL: Well, just really proud of him. He's come so far. He's from a small town in Mississippi, Vicksburg High, and played at Hines Community College, and then played for us at West Alabama.

He's just progressed so far as a person, really matured and grown up. He's just a really good person. Everybody that comes in contact with him knows that he is just always smiling and he always lifts others up and just proud of how far he's come. He played a really good game all the way through. He had several pass breakups.

And it was kind of a roller-coaster ride, because he batted the ball down on the previous play and it turned into a miraculous catch. And then one play later, he makes the play to win it. And I was just really proud of him.

BALDWIN: What about, though, as a player? This is a guy who went undrafted and then the phone rang once. It was from the New England -- it was from the cornerbacks coach saying he could just pick one guy. Do you recall hearing about how that went down?

HALL: We knew the Patriots were interested in him through the whole process.

Joe Judge, their assistant special teams coach, and I have a previous relationship. And I knew Joe really liked all that he brought to the table from a special teams standpoint. He was a great returner for us in college and he was really good on all our coverage units.

He brought a lot to the table as far as the kicking game is concerned and he's really good in man coverage. And he's also great at playing the ball in the air. That's kind of an undervalued skill for defensive backs today. People talk about they want length and they want guys that are tall and they want guys that are really fast. But he plays the ball really well in the air and has great perseverance and plays one play at a time. That's how he lives his life. And just again really proud of him.

BALDWIN: This is a young man who once worked at Popeyes, who once washed towels and equipment at West Alabama's fitness center. Tell me more about Malcolm as just a young man.

HALL: Yes. You know, he actually worked for my wife who was in charge of the fitness center at West Alabama while we were there.

And, like you said, he cleaned equipment, washed towels and did all of those things for her and just a tremendous young man, like I said. We're all dealt a hand and we have to play the hand we're dealt. Some of us are dealt a really good hand and some of us are dealt a hand that's not so great.

And Malcolm has played his hand as well as anybody I know. He will stay humble through this. He will use these platform to impact others in a positive way. And I just can't wait to see all the great things he's going to do with all this that is going to come to him.

BALDWIN: What do you see -- just final question -- you talk about being dealt a hand. What about the future, his future in the league? What do you think it will look like?

HALL: Well, I think he guaranteed himself one more year at least.

BALDWIN: I think you're right.

(CROSSTALK)

HALL: The NFL is a very cutthroat league. It's a business. And you have got to keep performing day in and day out. He knows that and understands that and he loves to play the game and loves to practice and get better.

And I think the future is very bright for him. We certainly hope it is. But I'm proud for him for how far he's come.

BALDWIN: You can just imagine all the Patriots fans just couldn't believe that catch.

Will Hall, thank you very much. Appreciate it, in Atlanta for us today.

HALL: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Still ahead here on CNN, Republican Mike Huckabee's controversial comments about homosexuality. He compared it to drinking or using curse words. He explains the point he was trying to make coming up with my colleague Dana Bash.

Also ahead, news just in about Whitney Houston's daughter, who is in the hospital in a coma after being found unresponsive in a bathtub. The family is now releasing a statement about her current condition. Don Lemon joins me next.

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