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Don Lemon Tonight

85 Million In Path Of Storm; Monster Storm Bears Down On The East Coast; Washington Could Get More Than 2 1/2 Feet Of Snow; Storm With Life And Death Implication; Drivers Warned To Stay Off Roads; Conservatives Move To Stop Trump; Conservatives VS. Trump; Last Chance For Jeb Bush; Conservative War On Trump; Monster Storm Shuts Down D.C.; National Review's Special Issue Against Trump; Trump: National Review Is A Dying Paper; Trump VS. Cruz In GOP Race; 22 Conservative Writers Pen Anti-Trump Articles; Is The GOP House Divided?; Baltimore Could Get More Than 2 Feet Of Snow; Forecasts Call For Sustained Gusting Winds; Monster Storm

Aired January 22, 2016 - 21:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:00:41] DON LEMON, "CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON" HOST: Thank you very much, Anderson Cooper.

You are very lucky if you're not on the East Coast. Our breaking news tonight, more than 85 million people in the path of this huge storm. It is life and death. It is life and death implication.

This is "CNN Tonight." I'm Don Lemon, of course, and this is what the East Coast is dealing with tonight.

Take a look at this. This is a view from space of a storm that's so enormous that it could shut down much of the east including Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and New York. If you look at those four boxes right there, you see all of those cities, thousands of flights are cancelled. I'm told up to 7500 right now.

Residents are warned to stay off the roads and shelter in place in the face of this record-breaking storm. It could a record-breaking storm. Just look at this. This was earlier today. Our reporters are all in the midst of this region.

Let's just show you some of the things that are happening around the country. Show me the Washington live shot, Danny. This is the picture of Washington. Of course, that's the White House right there but if you look at Washington D.C., it is unbelievable. The snow is coming down near the capital.

Let's see, do we have a shot in Philadelphia where we can show people? They are expected to get walloped by the storm as well. There is Philadelphia. The storm is coming down unbelievable amounts of snowstorm expected up to 40 inches in some places.

Let's see what's happening in New Jersey. Do we have a New Jersey shot there? I think our Ryan Young is out of -- in the snowstorm in New Jersey. There is Ryan. We'll get to Ryan in just a moment and also Baltimore, Maryland.

Let's show the shot there in Baltimore, Maryland. We've had our Miguel Marquez. He's been out there in his goggles. He's going to need them as this goes on. And also Jennifer Gray is live at the National Mall.

Why don't we check in with Jennifer Gray who is in Washington first to see what's going on there.

Jennifer, tell us what's up. What are you seeing?

JENNIFER GRAY, METEOROLOGIST: Oh, Don, it is just continuing to get worse and worse and it's really the wind that's making it so bad because the snow is just blowing all around. And even the snow that's already on the ground, the wind is causing it to blow around, so it's making visibility pretty poor here in D.C.

And look behind me, you can see the blanket of snow, the first snow flake fell this afternoon around 1:00 on the dot. We do see a couple of cars out here but really all and all, people are staying home. We haven't seen too many folks out and about.

We do know that there are about 60 National Guard folks, troops that are going to come out here around 11:00 p.m. with 30 vehicles and they're going to be patrolling the streets overnight.

Of course, the metro shutting down around 11:00 p.m. so people really have no choice but to stay indoors. We've seen quite a few plows out trying to take care of the streets staying ahead of this.

But I tell you, Don, as the night wares on, we are going to be seeing the snowfall so hard, so fast, two to three inches per hour. It's going to be really hard for those plows to keep up the streets here in D.C. that's why people are urged to stay home.

But, it's coming down pretty heavily now. We are expected to see blizzard conditions through the overnight hours into the early hours of the morning. And so that's when we'll see a very, very high wind. 30 to 40 mile per hour sustained winds with gusts even higher right now. The winds are about 10 to 15 miles per hour.

So still a ways to go. We're in this for the long haul. It's not going to be fast moving storm. We are going to see conditions continue to deteriorate and stay extremely awful over the next 12 to 36 hours, Don.

LEMON: Two and a half feet of snow in some places. Jennifer Gray in the National Mall, thank you very much.

And look at that. Look at the size of this thing. It's all the way up the East Coast. You can see all the way down from Atlanta, all the way up to New York City and Boston and beyond. Again, you're looking at a live shot from Washington D.C.

Virginia is bad, as well. Lorton as a matter of fact and that's where we find CNN's Brian Todd out driving and checking out the road conditions.

What's going on, Brian? Brian Todd?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little bit north of Lorton right now. We're close to Springfield, Virginia, Don. Check out our dash camera here. This is near whiteout conditions as you can see.

The wind has picked up. The volume of snow has picked up. This vehicle in front of us fish tailed just a short time ago. This is also what snowplow trucks and salt spreaders are up against.

They are deploying 24/7. They are out constantly and yet, look at the roads. They still can't get ahead of this just because of the sheer volume, Don.

[21:05:00] Virginia state police told me just a short time ago between midnight and about 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, they responded to more than 840 car crashes throughout the state. That's more than four times the normal volume.

The good news is a lot of those crashes, Don, are slow speed crashes. Most of them involve people spinning out, hitting something at slow speed, not many serious injuries. There has been one fatality in the Chesapeake, Virginia area as we head north toward Washington, though it just getting just much worse along the roads.

The roads will start to freeze pretty soon and the snow will not let up, Don. So, you know, again, I'll switch it back out our dashcam. You can see the visibility is really a problem now.

We were told earlier by the National Weather Service that visibility at its best would be about a quarter mile. I can tell you right now if it's that much, I'll be very surprised. Visibility here is bad. It's getting worse. This is a whiteout situation that we're facing on 95 northeast, we had toward Washington D.C.

LEMON: Absolutely. All right, Brian, looks like people at least are heeding to warnings, so stay off the road.

You see our Brian Todd traveling on the roads in Lorton, Virginia. He's going to be out throughout the evening here on CNN, so make sure you stay tune. We have got you covered when it comes to this massive blizzard up and down the East Coast.

Let's get to Baltimore, Maryland now. My colleague Miguel Marquez is out there.

Miguel came prepared for the storm. I've been watching you. You're in Baltimore, the mayor was just on with Anderson telling everybody to hunker down and stay in your homes. Do not go out in this unless you absolutely have to.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. There are a lot of stuck people on the East Coast right now. And I'm here with some -- we are the only game in Baltimore. We even have a real Floridian here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MARQUEZ: Oh, here she is. Is it cold enough for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MARQUEZ: All right, look at the roads. I mean, they packed up with ice and snow, almost immediately within minutes because it was so cold during the day. Look at the flags up here, how stiffly they are flying. The wind is really starting to pick up now. It looked like things were starting to mellow out a short time ago.

The snow, though, has really started to come down harder and the wind at times, the snow is almost going horizontal.

Baltimore itself, this is Inner Harbor. This is typically a very busy walk area. Baltimore snow starts to get about 24 inches of snow. The areas around it about 30 inches of snow and all out emergency for the entire states.

Biggest concern here right now, is that people are off the roads so that if there are fires or emergencies, that emergency vehicles can get there. They are actually sending out the snowplows with fire engines to get to those emergency situations, Don.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Miguel. Stay safe. You're going to need those goggles.

I am told by our very own Chad Myers. Chad has been sort of crunching the numbers and looking at the analytics of all of this, so to speak and he joins as now from the CNN Severe Weather Center with more.

What's happening now, Chad? When is the worst expect to come?

CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: I don't even think the storm really becomes a nor'easter coastal low for another six to eight hours. Right now, Don, the low is still over South Carolina. I'm going to draw, this is what the wind is doing in each location just like a big ho-ho (ph).

But the deal is, the wind is still coming from the south here in D.C., in Baltimore, in Richmond. All those stream lines are important because when this low right there, is no longer there and it becomes here. I'm going to redraw this for you.

Here's what's going to happen when we put the low right here. That same ho-ho (ph) is going to do this. And all of a sudden the winds are going to be coming in from the ocean dragging in the ocean water.

This is the Gulf Stream. Its 44, 45 degrees out here. That's the moisture that's going to almost like we talk about when a hurricane explodes when it gets into 83 degree water, well, a coastal low at -- in the winter time will explode when it gets into the Gulf Stream. So, that doesn't even happen.

What our reporters are seeing now, is just the pre-game show. We haven't even flipped the coin yet and all of the sudden later on tonight, this storm will hit the Gulf Stream, it will explode. And by morning, those pictures you're seeing now will be dramatically different where snow will be coming down two to three inches per hour.

And I, honestly, I know this will have thundersnow and thunder sleet, which just means there is so much upward motion with this storm that we're going to see that 20 to 30 even 40-inch snow total a reality for places around Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C. right on that B-W Parkway, right on that I-95 corridor there.

Now, there will be snow even into Atlanta we're seeing some light snow now, but we're talking a light half inch. I know that's just as dangerous for Atlanta as maybe 15 inches is in Minnesota.

[21:10:00] But this storm, this storm does get the bull's eye still in the mid Atlantic but I'm now beginning to believe some of the new model runs just coming in that maybe New York City isn't eight to 12 anymore. It could be 8 to 20.

LEMON: Yeah.

MYERS: And I know we're going to be out tomorrow morning. We'll be out tomorrow afternoon, the storm just starting.

LEMON: Yeah.

MYERS: We're in the pre-game show, wait on the real stuff starts.

LEMON: So my question is, I mean, that's the behavior of the storm. Look at the size. Just look at the size of that thing stretching from Atlanta and you're right about Atlanta. I think it was last year that you report people got stranded on the Interstate.

MYERS: Yeah.

LEMON: Chad, you were there for that. And I mean, they spent, some people spent 24 hours in their cars.

MYERS: Right.

LEMON: But, who's getting hit the worst right now? I know it hasn't started but who's getting the worst?

MYERS: You know, we're still -- probably you see -- D.C. will probably still be the worst, you know. And on up into West Virginia, they've already picked up 12 to 14 inches but it's the precursor snow. This is what's probably coming to D.C., 31 inches of snow.

LEMON: Wow.

MYERS: And that's plus or minus five or six. So, if you go plus six, all of a sudden you're at 37 inches of snow. You go minus six, OK, you go less than that, but that's still a big number. And Philadelphia, 20 inches, probably more into Lancaster, into New York, you know, into the Amish Country, very, very heavy snowfall there. You get to Delaware where water gap things are still going to be going on and the winds are going to be blowing. You may never see 20 inches of snow on the ground because it's going to be in an eight-foot drift in your backyard. And then, hopefully, your driveway is clear. But, if you shovel your driveway, I'm telling you, in 30 minutes it's going to be covered up in snow again because these winds are tremendous.

Ocean City, Maryland, tomorrow afternoon will be gusting to 70 miles per hour.

LEMON: Right.

MYERS: And that means coastal erosion and that also means some coastal flooding.

LEMON: Spoken like a true Pennsylvanian, Lancaster and not Lancaster.

MYERS: It's not Lancaster.

LEMON: Look at this behind me, Chad. This is a view from space. Like I've been saying, this is a really huge storm. And as Chad Myers says, it is just getting started. And we have it all covered for you right here on CNN.

MYERS: Yeah.

LEMON: So, when we come right back, much, much more on our breaking news tonight. The monster storm that is going to people, hunkering down this weekend, we're going to tell you how bad it's likely to get and where.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to our breaking news. Live pictures now from Washington D.C. as the snowstorm barrels its way up the East Coast, plumbing the East Coast tonight.

Washington forecasts, the forecasters I should say, say Washington could get up to 2.5 feet of snow. I want you to take a look at this, right behind me. This is a time lapse, started at 1:45 today at Washington D.C. and it goes still a little later on.

But, look at this. The snow blanketing Washington and the White House as you can see, you can barely see the White House at some point because the snow starts coming down.

And as Chad Myers has told you just moments ago, we'll check back in with him. He said this is just the beginning. It's not even the worst. So that's only starting right now.

So, why don't we head to Washington D.C., Chris Geldart is the director of Washington's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and he joins us by phone. I know it's a very busy time for you, so thank you so much for joining us.

Snow has been falling for sometime in Washington as we saw with this time lapse there. How are you folks managing right now? CHRIS GELDART, WASHINGTON HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY DIRECTOR: Hey, Don, we're managing. We're keeping track of things that are going on right now. Our plows are out there. We had pretreated roads all the way up until we started getting covered up by snow and that's going to happen when we get the heavy snows come down.

And now we're out, plows pushing snow. We're keeping track of our folks and our power outages and things like that. And just making sure that our residents are safe and that's the number one thing right now.

LEMON: So Chris, you had a little bit of a test when you had the storm the other day, a very small storm. And you asked people, you know, it brought really traffic to a halt there. And you asked people to stay at home for this one. Is it working? Are they heeding the warning?

GELDART: You know, Don, between the two storms, you really can't compare. The one we got was one of the most vulnerable times where, you know, we got snow that came in right at rush hour. We got a little bit more than what's predicted. Our pre-treating plans didn't really pan out and that totally different circumstance here. This is a callosal storm, not 1.8 inches during a rush hour.

But I will tell you this, we asked folks to be home at 3:00. We knew that's when the snow is going to start. We knew that snow is going to start to get bad. And unfortunately, not all residents listened. Although, I can tell you, just came back from right around the city and it's pretty bare now. There's not many folks out at all. If we could do anything to encourage folks to stay home, that's what we want them to do.

LEMON: Yeah and that's good news. So music to your eyes, so to speak, when you didn't see people out, I would imagine.

GELDART: Yes, sir.

LEMON: Yeah. So, what's the priority right now, Chris?

GELDART: Right now, the priority is making sure that our roads are passable for our emergency services. So we can get fire police and emergency medical services to those that are in need.

We haven't seen a large uptake in our call volumes but we have a pretty high call volume all the time here. So that's really our push. And for what I've seen on the roads, our crews out their doing a great job. They're keeping the snow pack down on the roads. And emergency services are able to get where they need to be.

LEMON: OK, what about power outages, do you have any?

GELDART: We have a few right now. But, you know, no more than we would have on a normal daily basis. But, you know, we haven't seen the real heavy winds start yet. And the snow is really just starting to pile up, you know. Our time frame 10:00 to midnight tonight going through noon tomorrow, that's going to be the true test. That's when the real heavy rain bands are-- or snow bands will be coming through in those high winds, getting those 40 and 50 mile an hour gusts, that's when we're thinking that we're going to see some of that.

LEMON: Chris, keep that phone on and charged because we'll be checking with you throughout the evening.

Chris Geldart is the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Thank you, sir -- the director there, thank you, sir. Good luck to you.

GELDART: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: All right. Let's check in now Nick Valencia. Nick, I'm told Nick is in Fairfax, Virginia. Let's get a look at you. Nick, standing in front of a snowplow.

Nick, the teletubby there, with his jacket and hat, what does it look like in Fairfax, Nick?

[21:20:00] NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I tell you. It's a lot colder out here than is there where you are, I guarantee that.

Here, we just stumbled upon this scene. A lot snowplows, these are some contractors, Don, that work with the Virginia Department of Transportation. You could see them. This is their station area. They just came out from treating some of those roads in the Interstate.

We going to talk to somebody -- folks here to see what kind of elements. Trish (ph), where are you? We want to talk to you, Trish (ph).

Hey there, you are on with "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon". We want to know what it's like out there. What are you guys dealing with?

TRISH (ph): It's horrible out there. And if you are out there go home and stay there. Don't go out there.

VALENCIA: You were telling us that you just came from the Interstate. You saw a couple major accidents. I mean what are you seeing?

TRISH (ph): There crashes on the Parkway, people getting stuck. Just don't go. Don't go out there.

VALENCIA: How do you prepare your drivers to go through this? Meanwhile, you're telling everyone to stay home, stay inside but then you guys are out here, the courageous few that are really dealing with these elements, how do you prepare?

TRISH (ph): It's a lot of patience and you got to let people go, you know what I mean? They're going to have people that want to go and you just got to let them go. You make way and do the best you can. VALENCIA: We were talking earlier to Steve Shannon with the Virginia Department of Transportation. He says he has over 4,000 pieces of equipment, heavy equipment, snowplows, things like that. What are you guys working with?

TRISH (ph): We have 60 trucks, I think.

VALENCIA: With salt and brine things like that?

TRISH (ph): Yeah, yeah. We do salt and plow.

VALENCIA: Well, we know you guys are busy doing hard work out there. We'll let you get back there. Trish (ph), thanks for taking your time with us.

The worst of it yet to come, Don, that's what they are saying. All weekend we heard estimates from the National Weather Service up to 40 inches of snow between now and Sunday, that's an average of 36 inches of snow per hour if you can believe that. Snows starting to come down pretty steady and the wind. I got to tell you, man, it's pretty brutal out here.

LEMON: Have you noticed a difference, Nick, since you've been there with the wind and snow and the temperature?

VALENCIA: Oh, absolutely. Between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. that's when the heavy snow really started to coming down and around 6:00 p.m. we saw that wind really starting to pick up.

We were told by local officials that that wind would get upwards of 50 miles per hour around 9:00. So, we're waiting for the strong gusts to come in. But right now, it's a steady snowfall, light snow, but it is pretty difficult to deal with.

You heard Trish talking about all those accidents out there in the Interstate. So, for those who are still on those roads ...

LEMON: Yup.

VALENCIA: ... better be safe out there.

LEMON: Looks like they're ready. You got a couple trucks around you, plow and salting truck, as well. All right, Nick, we'll check back with you. Stay safe my friend, keep warm. I can see that's why I called you tellatubby.

VALENCIA: You got it.

LEMON: And your big jacket, you're going to need that tonight.

I want to bring in on Jeff Goldberg, a reporter with WJLA. He is in Springfield, Virginia tonight and it looks like it is coming down where you are. What's going on? What are you seeing there, sir?

JEFF GOLDBERG, WJLA REPORTER: It's rough, Don here. You know, you're just hearing from Nick in Fairfax not too far away from where we are in Springfield. Then we have seen things pick up considerably, seems like by the minute, the wind gusts are getting stronger, the snows coming on a little bit harder. And just about everywhere you go at the moment, we were looking at a little bit of a break. But, I mean it looks like plows are just everywhere.

That is a plow truck from the Virginia Department of Transportation, one of the 4,000 pieces of equipment Nick was just talking about in Northern Virginia. That VDOT has deployed to deal with this massive storm.

We see these piles just coming up and, you know, this is definitely going to be a storm. It's going to be measured in feet, not in inches. When it's all set and done at some point tomorrow night and we can imagine that these piles of snow are going to be coming up all across the D.C. region probably 8 to 9 feet high.

So, when the snow actually ends, there's going to be a whole other separate deal with this is the cleanup, and that's probably going to go into Tuesday, possibly even Wednesday because this region does not get hit with these huge snowstorms, it's certainly been a long time since you talk about foot, two-feet range.

So, not only is the snow difficult now, Don, but you're also looking at the cleanup. And just to touch on that safety issue that Nick was talking about before. The only elected officials in Virginia, in D.C. and Maryland stressed so strongly to people stay off the roads.

LEMON: Yeah.

GOLDBERG: So we're talking with the -- excuse me, the individual at the Department of Transportation in D.C. ...

LEMON: Emergency Management, yeah.

GOLDBERG: ... it does seem like people really heard preceded those calls. We had that storm on Wednesday night. It was a complete mess in the D.C. region. Everyone knew this one was coming. It was predicted all week. We can tell you that by about 3:00-4:00 this afternoon, we did not see a lot of cars on the roads.

Of course, you always have the exceptions and emergency officials will those people get off the roads as quickly as you can. Just seems like people really did heed the call to stay off the road at least from what we've been seeing.

LEMON: Hey, Jeff, as you continue -- as I continue to talk to you, if you're not tethered, can you walk back there and show me how deep that drift is behind you? How long had they've been out there doing that?

GOLDBERG: Let's take a little walk. You know, this really has not been that long. I mean, we're talking probably about four or five hours, which certainly is a descent amount of time but for this amount of snow, I mean, and I'm not the tallest guy in the world, about 5'8". But, we're looking at the pile that's going to be certainly by six- feet not too long from now. And again, as these piles continue to grow, they're going to get into the 8, 9 feet range. And if you multiply, what we're seeing here which is in one parking lot in Springfield, Virginia.

[21:00:00] And you take these piles happening all around the D.C. region in Maryland, Virginia and the district of Columbia, you were going to be looking at piles that are going to go into the 8, 9, 10 feet range.

And again, they're fun to look at, they're interesting to look at but that's going to create some serious problems when you talk about the big cleanup coming up next week. It's going to create issues in terms of potentially some flooding, again, don't want to stress anything out of the ordinary but potentially some problems in that regard.

You might have freezing that comes up. That's going to create messes on the roads for drivers. So, this storm again it's going to be tapering off as they are saying at some point tomorrow night but then the aftermath that we're going to be having to deal with in the days to come is certainly going to be a difficult situation.

LEMON: Jeff, you're a trooper for doing that because I didn't know if you were tethered and you may fall down on national television. But thank you very much. Stick with us, because we'll get back to you as well.

And that's Jeff Goldberg, that's from our WJLA and as he was speaking on the left of your screen was another live shot from WJLA. I guess one of there -- there they are driving out in Virginia as well. That's Fairfax, Virginia, 841 accidents we're told.

I'm just getting that from my producer by Virginia State Police. If you don't have to be on the road, make sure you stay off the roads. Again, thank you Jeff Goldberg and also to Nick Valencia as well.

Our reporters are out and about all over the storm zone. More from them when we come right back. Plus, big-name conservatives launch a movement to stop Donald Trump. This is a storm of another type. Why are they doing it? Up next I'm going to talk to one of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:30:22] LEMON: This is as close to outside as you should get taking a look outside via CNN. Look at the White House. I mean, you can barely see it. It is getting bad out there. And as our Chad Myers said, it's just starting. This is really just the beginning.

It's going to get a lot worse and then now again, another live shot of Washington D.C. And if you were with us before, you could tell that it was clear now, not so clear.

So we're -- Washington, the whole East Coast is gearing up for this storm. And CNN is covering it for you, every angle, of from the top of the northeast to the bottom. I think Atlanta up to the Boston area, up to New England, we've got it all covered for you. This is though, a storm of a different kind. It's raging on the campaign trail where top conservatives are banning together, really, in the National Review to stop Donald Trump's candidacy.

Michael Mukasey, a former Attorney General under George W. Bush and he is one of them and he joins me now. Thank you, sir.

MICHAEL MUKASEY, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Great to be here, Don.

LEMON: It's my pleasure to have you here. So, he's -- Trump has been at the top of the polls for months, why now?

MUKASEY: Well, I think this actually started a while ago. And the National Review, somebody at the National Review got the idea that some folks ought to be heard on this subject.

People who don't necessarily agree with one another on everything but agree that he shouldn't -- that Donald Trump would be a disastrous president.

LEMON: You said disastrous, why?

MUKASEY: Well, look at his proposals.

LEMON: Let me tell you what you wrote and then you can tell me why you feel he'd be disastrous.

MUKASEY: OK.

LEMON: You said, "To inspire," -- that you're talking about what a president should be like. "To inspire the respect that creates fear and trust when and where each is necessary. We will need a president who summons our strength with a reality-based strategic vision, not one who summons applause with tantrums and homicidal fantasies."

MUKASEY: Yeah. The homicidal fantasy was -- that he was going to target the families of terrorists which is a violation of laws of war, which would subject anybody who gave that order to a charge of war crimes and anybody who obeyed it to a charge of war crimes. If he ever gave that order, nobody in the military would obey it.

LEMON: So that's why you -- that's one reason you think he'd be disastrous?

MUKASEY: That's just one of his proposals. He had that proposal about rounding up 11 million people and deporting them. Want to make that loop for you?

Every law enforcement agency in the United States, state, federal and local combined arrests between 25,000 and 30,000 people a day. At that rate, it would take close to two years to round up 11 million people. With those law enforcement, people doing nothing to round up murders, or drug dealers, or rapists, or drunk drivers, or anybody. It's crazy. LEMON: What is your biggest fear if he becomes president? Because he actually -- because he's leading in the polls and he, most likely, will be the nominee if things keep going in the direction they're going.

MUKASEY: My biggest fear is that we will not be safe or secure or coherent as a country.

LEMON: Do you think that an effort -- so to play devil's advocate here, some would say, I mean, who are these guys of the National Review? Who are you to come together and say that I -- we can't, you know, someone can't be president?

MUKASEY: Nobody there pretends to be anything other than who they are. I was an attorney general. Andy McCarthy is a writer. There's a variety of people. Bill Crystal is a publisher -- publisher by the way of a RIVAL Magazine.

LEMON: Yeah. Do you worry though, that this will actually help Donald Trump, because you don't want him to become a nominee, that it will help him because it secures him as an outsider? And outsiders are very popular this political season.

MUKASEY: I don't think he needs people writing these kinds of articles to secure him as an outsider. He's an outsider by virtue of the crazy proposals that he ...

LEMON: Well, Ted Cruz is ....

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: ... saying that he is an outsider, that he is an insider and that he's going to sort of capitulate and do what Democrats want him do, you know, the old Washington way.

MUKASEY: Ted Cruz has his own motives. I don't know what they are. I'm not entirely sure what they are, but he wants to get elected, obviously. And so, he'll say whatever he thinks he needs to say in order to get elected.

As far as his ideas, they are way outside the mainstream. They are way outside of coherence.

LEMON: You're taking about Ted Cruz or with Donald Trump?

MUKASEY: With Donald Trump.

LEMON: Donald Trump. But, you're endorsing Jeb Bush. And the latest national poll shows him into 5th place. I mean, are you hoping for a Hail Mary for a Bush nomination?

MUKASEY: I didn't get involved in this because of my ...

LEMON: Jeb Bush.

MUKASEY: ... my involvement with Jeb Bush. Those are separate things. It's not a question of me sitting down doing a calculations or whether this will help Bush. I think this will help us get somebody who is fit to be president. And that's not Donald Trump.

LEMON: Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mukasey. ] MUKASEY: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Will you stay safe out there please.

MUKASEY: Thank you. You too, Don.

LEMON: Yeah, thank you. I'm going to be in here for a little bit but I'll get out there as well. Thank you, I appreciate. And everyone at home stays safe.

When we come right back, much, much more on the conservative war on Donald Trump. Plus, the nation's capital shuts down in the face of tonight's monstrous storm.

[21:34:38] But, House Speaker Paul Ryan has a live feed of the view from his office at the U.S. capital.

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LEMON: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the East Coast storm, this blizzard, that's going up and down the East Coast.

Here is, this is from our affiliate KYW in Philadelphia. That's what Philadelphia looks like right now from its KYW tower cam. And that is that monstrous storm all the way down from Atlanta, up into New England. As our Chad Myers said a behemoth of a storm just getting started right now affecting more 85 million people and interrupting the presidential race.

Governor Chris Christie left the campaign trail and returned to New Jersey today, which is right in the storm's path. We have more on the storm coverage just ahead. But first, I want to talk about the conservative movement against Donald Trump.

Hugh Hewitt is here, the host of the "Hugh Hewitt Show."

You know, this is becoming a regular date on Friday night, Hugh.

[21:40:00] So, let's talk, shall we?

HUGH HEWITT, "HUGH HEWITT SHOW," HOST: Hey Don, I was watching your storm coverage right now. I think I saw a white walker from "Game of Thrones" going to through there. But I have to ask you, do you know what we call the storm in Ohio?

LEMON: What do you call it in Ohio?

HEWITT: Spring.

LEMON: Oh my God.

HEWITT: We call it spring.

LEMON: It's easy for you to say sitting in a warm studio in Irvine, California with a temperatures probably in the 70s or 80s, all right. Let's go to business.

HEWITT: All four of my grandparents are from Ashtabula, Ohio. They would scoff at the scoff, I tell you but anyway, good to be here, Don.

LEMON: All right. It's good to have you.

So, I know you like to say that you're in Switzerland and all of this but what's your reaction? There's so many who are conservative.

First of all, give me your reaction. Did you hear Michael Mukasey on just he said that Donald Trump would be a disastrous president?

HEWITT: I did.

LEMON: And that's why he sort of signed on to do this.

HEWITT: Well, General Mukasey had a great Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal today. In fact, on the likelihood of an indictment of former Secretary of State, Clinton, so I was glad to see him on your show tonight.

There are lots of people in the National Review issue. I'm not one of them. I am the Switzerland of radio shows. All GOP candidates are invited onto my show. But there are some very unusual pairings in there. A lot of people have endorsed a lot of different people. They all came together with a -- I think a first ever magazine issue devoted against a man as opposed to -- against an idea or for an idea. Endorsements are common at National Review. They endorse now Marco Rubio, for example, for Senate six years ago.

So, I was very surprised but every one of them is an individual of integrity and standing. And so, I think Donald Trump has to go through each of their argument and respond them and I expect he will.

He is on Twitter tonight, by the way, even as we are sitting here. Donald J. Trump is on snowmageddon land.

LEMON: Exactly.

HEWITT: And he has a blizzard of tweets.

LEMON: Yes. He's always on Twitter. He is ubiquitous on Twitter.

So, he's always a counter puncher. I want you to listen to what he is saying about this on slap-off on Twitter. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) GOP CANDIDATE: The National Review is a dying paper, it's got -- its circulation is way down. Not very many people read it anymore. I mean, people don't even think about the National Review. So, I guess they wanted to get a little publicity. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, you can't -- there's some irony in this because he is knocking the magazine but he used, remember, William F. Buckley, the magazines' -- a New York founder as an example to counter Cruz's New York values attack.

HEWITT: Well, that is not necessarily inconsistent because you can't be for Buckley and against the successor of the Buckley. But I would disagree with Mr. Trump, Jim Garrity, Rich Lowry, K-Lo, Kathryn Jean Lopez, Alaina Johnson, they're highly is being reporter within the conservative moment.

That having them said, I don't think it's decisive. I don't think that people coming out and endorsing Donald whether it's Sarah Palin or endorsing Ted Cruz, whether it's Glenn Beck are decisive. I think what's decisive are individual voters and whether they turn out. If they have this kind of a snowstorm in Iowa in 10 days, Don, Ted Cruz is going to win because of his turnout machine.

I think he's going to win anyway but if Donald Trump wins Iowa and New Hampshire, that's one big freight train that all the magazines on the right won't be able to stop.

LEMON: I'm wondering if this is going to say -- I'm wondering if this is going to help or hurt him because the latest Fox News National Poll out tonight, Hugh.

Trump with a 14-point lead over Ted Cruz. But, you know, I mean, both clearly, the frontrunners is over the rest at the pack. And you spoke with Marco Rubio, didn't you? What is he saying about he's stay on this race?

HEWITT: I had a full hour with Marco Rubio today and Chris Christie on yesterday, Kasich and Carly earlier. Donald Trump ...

LEMON: Are you just bragging?

HEWITT: I've talked to them all. But I will say this -- as I am bragging. I have done 150 interviews right now.

There are two divisions. There's a National League and in that Cruz and Trump are playing each other, there is the American League, which have got Rubio, Christie, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich. And the American League uses the designated (inaudible) because those people are hitting each with bats.

But there will be a winner out of the Cruz and Trump can contest and there will be a winner out of the other division. And whether or not, we get down to four or five by March 15th, I can't say but I do think in establishment candidate or a neo-establishment candidate or someone not named Trump or Cruz. That's the easiest way to put it because I don't know what things mean anymore.

There will be someone to challenge them on March 15th. I just don't have a clue. Marco Rubio said Jeb Bush's attacks on him, smack of desperation. He also said that he believes Hillary Clinton is going to be indicted.

And by the way, yesterday, on my show,fFormer Secretary of State -- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, he was a very high degree of probability the Russians had hacked the former secretary of states' server.

So I brought along your shirt, Don.

LEMON: Yes, I know.

HEWITT: I've got your shirt right here.

LEMON: Because you -- you managed to get the Hillary in there on the -- for your very first answer and you're ending with it and you brought the shirt. Nice job, Hugh Hewitt. You're on your game tonight.

HEWITT: Yes. Well, the arrow is supporting towards indictment. That's what that is pointing towards, Don. That's why it's your shirt. You should have taken it in Las Vegas.

LEMON: You've lost your mind. Thank you. Stay warm there in this snowstorm. Stay warm in Urban, California.

[21:45:00] HEWITT: California, I will.

LEMON: Hugh Hewitt, I appreciate it.

I want to bring in now about few second the Editor in Chief of The Hill. Bob, your reaction to Michael Mukasey, the National Review attempting to put the brakes on the Trump nomination and his interview that I just did with him?

BOB CUSACK, THE HILL EDITOR IN CHIEF: Yes, well, Don, I mean, the establishment does not want Donald Trump. I think there have been more people in the establishment who are starting to warm to Donald Trump including some donors.

But overall, there are some people who are never going to be convinced the Republican Party that Trump should get the nominations. I didn't think you'll going to see more of it. So you're going to see, of course, Donald Trump firing back.

LEMON: Do you think that this has any teeth at all or just another example of the establishment who is out of touch because if you listen to the Trump surrogates on CNN -- another channel also -- they'll say, you know, "These insiders or this party establishment, they need to go out and listen to the people."

They are, you know, they don't know what they are talking about. They are out of touch.

CUSACK: I don't think it's going to hurt Trump that much because any establishment attack on Trump really has not connected. These were some big punches that they were throwing in those pieces and in the editorial, no doubt about it. And so they did get a lot of attention but Trump is very good, as he says he's the counter punch. And right now, the electorate is upset at the establishment. So, I don't think this is going to hurt Trump. I don't think it's going help Trump that much. And that's what he wants. He's just want -- he's been on top. He wants to stay on top.

LEMON: What is -- Bob, what is the infighting do to the party long term? Will it have an effect?

CUSACK: Well, if they lose, it's going to have a big effect, there's no doubt about it. The Republicans are so hungry, as you know, Don, to win back the White House and Washington Republicans never saw that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are going to be on top. They don't like either one of them.

So, I think maybe after New Hampshire they coalesce behind someone like Marco Rubio. But at the same time, I'm not sure that's going to work either. Because Marco Rubio is well positioned as far as the establishment lane but he's not winning any states including that Donald Trump always says, he points out he's not winning his own state of Florida.

So, I think he could do a lot of harm because the party that's divided usually loses. Now, Trump says he can win Reagan Democrats and so does Cruz and that remains to be seen.

LEMON: I got to go, Bob. But things are looking good outside your door there? Are you okay?

CUSACK: Yes, I'm okay. I'm going to go shovel after this.

LEMON: All right. Well, good luck, be safe. Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief of thehill.com. We appreciate. Have a safe weekend.

Coming up, more on our breaking news, a crippling storm pounding the East coast tonight, we're live for you.

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[21:56:22] LEMON: Breaking news tonight, we are on blizzard watch, live pictures now of the White House. You can see the conditions are getting worse as this monster storm barrels up the East Coast.

I want to go to CNN's Miguel Marquez now who is out in the middle of it not far down the road or up the road in Baltimore, Maryland. And there you see Miguel out in it. Miguel, how are conditions where you are?

MARQUEZ: It is freezing. It is snowing. The wind is blowing. It's what we called miserable I think. And it's only getting worse.

I thought it was actually the snow was letting (inaudible) a while ago. Now, it is coming down harder and the wind is starting to blow harder. The worse is yet to come. After midnight here in Baltimore, is supposed to be the worst. Look at these, these are the streets and the sidewalks here. They've been shoveling. And the snow posited down here, they are losing the war against the snow right now and they will probably lose this war for the rest of the night to come. After 1:00 a.m. they are expecting of the wind to pick up to, between 25 and 35 miles per hour, gusts as high as 65 miles per an hour in some parts of Maryland.

Baltimore itself may see as much as two feet of snow. The surrounding areas, 30 inches of snow, other parts of Maryland possibly more. The wind is what's really, you know, we've been doing this. People were laughing at like, at the goggles here. Now, the wind is just whipping through here. It's really, really getting bad.

This storm is clearly paying off and everything if they were talking about. The authorities here in Baltimore are talking more and more seriously about the concerns that they have for the city.

Keeping those cars off the street mainly, because if there are fires or emergencies in other parts of the city, it is extraordinarily difficult for them to get to those parts of the city if there are cars left abandon or parked on streets if they need cleared.

They have a number of roadways throughout the city of Baltimore that are emergency-only, no parking. There are no cars on the street other than those with chains. And in the hours ahead they may make the decision to ban all cars from the streets of Baltimore.

Public transportation as of midnight will be completely canceled for the next 48 hours. All flights out of here off.

We were talking to a group of people from all over the country who are now bogged down here in Baltimore until this thing passes. So, the next 24 to 48 hours and certainly overnight tonight is going to be the worst of it in this city is just bracing. Don?

LEMON: Miguel is going to be marketing those CNN weather goggles at the Turner Store down at the Casino Center in Atlanta.

I tried to text Miguel earlier and he said he looks like the CNN Kendall. People are going to be asking for that at the store as well, "The Weather Kendall".

Nice job. We'll see you back. You're going to need the goggles, you're going to need probably a warmer jacket even warmer than the CNN jacket in a little bit. Thank you, Miguel. I'll check back here with you.

States of Emergency up and down the East Coast tonight including Maryland and Virginia. So, joining me now on the phone is Brittany Fowler. Brittany is a Regional Communications Officer of the greater Chesapeake region of the Red Cross. And as we look at these live pictures of the White House a very snowed in White House.

Brittany, what's going on where you are? What are the conditions and what are you working with there? BRITNEY FOWLER, RED CROSS, GREATER CHESAPEAKE REGION: Hey, Don. Thanks for having me on tonight. I'm actually in Baltimore and our territory covers predominantly at the State of Maryland, Delaware and then two counties in Virginia.

And so what we're seeing is a lot of preparation in terms of filtering and making sure that we have volunteers who are on standby not only assist with the shelters that may open but also to assist with some of our ongoing day-to-day operations, predominantly (inaudible) making sure that, if anything should happen during this time, the families are taken care of.

[21:55:05] We're also working closely with our partner regions with -- at the state in local level making sure that any emergency operation centers that are open are staffed either in person or virtually.

LEMON: Yeah. Tell us about the state of emergency, Brittany, by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan it went to affect 7:00 a.m. what does that entail?

FOWLER: Well, for us it just means that we really need to make sure that we are supporting state and local governments, making sure that ensure any shelter built in. We have supplies there available in terms of tops and blankets and meals that are needed.

We have volunteers who are ready to govern staff the shelters. Making sure that any residents within the shelter are taken care of, or any other needs that may arise that in request through the Red Cross may have.

You know, in terms of that may be assisting the National Guard in some way or any other requirements or requests that come in from the government ...

LEMON: Hey, Brittany, there are two state shelters. I understand that are open right now, I think you talked about it a little bit but are people using them?

FOWLER: I don't have a shelter count right now. But, we do want to get the word out that you are expecting, two state shelters that are open. One is at UMBC and the other is at (inaudible).

And should anybody needs those, they can go ahead and access them if there are any power outages overnight. Those two are open and ready to go. If people need additional information about where shelters are located, they can download the Red Cross emergency app on android or iPhone. They have listing some shelters that are updated regularly.

If they are in Baltimore City, they can also call 311 or 211 in other parts of Maryland and those numbers will have updated list of shelters.

LEMON: Brittany Fowler, Regional Communication Officer for the Red Cross. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Looking at live pictures now on your screen from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore and as you can seem, the conditions are pretty bad out there. Everyone has been saying, all the emergency officials, city, state, government officials saying, if you don't have to be outside. Then don't go outside.

Take this opportunity to stay at home. Two and half feet of snow expected Washington D.C. could get at least 2.5 feet of snow and also up and down the East Coast a lot of snow as well.

Well, that's out breaking news tonight, 85 million people in the path of this monster storm. And when we come right back, we're live all across the snow zone. Look at that thing, huge.

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