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Snowfall in D.C.; North Carolina Battles Snow; National Review Attacks Trump; Flint Lead Poisoning. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 22, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:08] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Breaking news in the world of weather. The moment has come for millions of Americans in the direct path of a monster winter storm. Check out the map with me. Six states, plus the nation's capital under states of emergencies. A United flight actually just partially rolled off of the runway at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. We're told everyone is OK there. But all eyes really are on D.C. right now where two feet of snow could drop over the course of the next 12 hours. The snow just started falling. Add to that 30 mile an hour winds. National Guard troops have already been deployed there. The mayor of Washington, D.C., says she wants everyone off the streets in the next hour because this storm, according to her, has, quote, "life and death" implications.

Travelers across five major hubs are hustling for alternate flights after thousands and thousands of cancelations. American Airlines will close its terminals tomorrow in Washington, Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York. And in the south, the snow is already falling in parts of northern Georgia, the Carolinas. By the way, there is a huge NFL game coming up in Charlotte. Will it impact the ability for fans to get there?

CNN is all over it with storm live team coverage. I have Jennifer Gray on the national mall in Washington, Nick Valencia watching conditions in nearby Fairfax, Virginia, Polo Sandoval is in Charlotte, as we mentioned, the site of Sunday's NFC championship game, and meteorologist Karen Maginnis is tracking the models for us in Atlanta.

But, Jennifer Gray, to you first, my friend. The snow has clearly started to fall.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes, Brooke, it is game time. The first snowflake fell about an hour ago on the dot and now the snowflakes are getting bigger, they're getting fatter. These are wet, heavy snowflakes. And so that's what we talk about when we talk about possible power outages around the D.C. area. They are going to lock on to those tree limbs, the power lines. And so we are going to be possibly seeing some of those power outages. Look behind me. The National Mall closed at noon. Up until about half

an hour ago, there were thousands of people on the mall. Now it looks like people have scattered, which is good news. There are still cars on the road. People are urged to get off the streets within the next hour or so. We have seen several plows go by, so that is good news. We saw what happened to the city, with just a little bit of snow a couple of days ago. We are talking about feet of snow, two to three feet of snow possible in the D.C. area. This is going to rival one of the worst snowstorms ever in the nation's capital. And so we are in this for the long haul, Brooke, for the next 12 to 36 hours. We are going to see heavy, heavy snow and also the winds are going to pick up, possibly gusts of 60 miles per hour or more. We could see blizzard conditions after dark.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jennifer Gray, thank you so much. To you and the crew, stay warm.

Folks in Washington, you have one hour to get off those roads because this was the scene this morning. This is when D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser mapped out the district's game plan with her weather emergency response team. Nick Valencia is in Fairfax, Virginia. This is near the department of transportation. And salt ready to roll.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Salt is ready to roll here and that's a good sign. Preparation well underway. It started late last night here in the state of Virginia. They're not taking any chances here, Brooke.

Let's just show you some of the equipment that they're dealing with. Lots of salt here loaded up on this car, ready to hit the interstates. Four thousand pieces of equipment, we're told. Those are a mix of contractors, employees with the Virginia Department of Transportation, this the epicenter really of preparation. We're joined now by Steve Shannon (ph) as this snow is starting to come down here a little bit, Steve. Tell us how you guys are getting ready.

STEVE SHANNON: Well, again, we started yesterday with pretreating the roads and everything and we started loading trucks last night about 7:00 p.m.

VALENCIA: Are there any spots, for those that are watching right now, in Virginia, in the D.C. area, any spots that are really concerning to you right now?

SHANNON: Everywhere. That's why we say stay home. I mean the roads are going to get bad. They just are. We are out, full force, as you said, over 4,000 pieces of equipment. But when you get this amount of snow in this short of time, there's going to be problems out there.

VALENCIA: So set the scene a little bit. Let's walk a little bit, let's show the audience where we're at right now. This is some of the material, some of the stuff that they're going to be using to treat those roads. What is this stuff? Explain a little bit about what - where we are right now, where we standing under? SHANNON: This is - this is salt and this is - this is the interstate dome, our interstate trucks come in here. This is where they load up. I'm sure they've already started applying salt out there.

VALENCIA: I mean this is a ton of salt, Steve. What - how much - how much salt can this - can this area hold?

SHANNON: I won't - probably 20,000 tons at least. I'm not sure what size this particular dome is, but it's a lot.

VALENCIA: And let's see just some of this material here. Let's pick it up. This is what they're dealing with here, Brooke. This is - feels kind of like glass, but this is exactly what they're treating the roads with outside right now in Fairfax. The storm, a major part of it's supposed to start coming down around 4:00 p.m. Eastern. So wherever you are, when the snowstorm hits really hard around that afternoon hour, that's where you're likely going to be for the weekend. So make sure you be safe and take the proper precautions that you have to, Brooke.

[14:05:25] BALDWIN: Good deal. Nick Valencia, thank you so much, and our thanks to the DOT there.

Meantime, in Charlotte, as we mentioned, big, big NFL game this Sunday there. The NFC championship. The Carolina Panthers practiced today in the snow. Here's a photo that the Panthers tweeted saying, "we'll be ready," #keeppounding.

Polo Sandoval continues our live team coverage there from Charlotte.

Being from the south, this is the snow that we don't normally see quite as much of. How will the roads be, you know, ahead of the big game?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it has been quite dangerous. In fact, city officials stressing that even though much of the snow may be over for now, well, the threat still remains. In fact, there have been just hundreds of traffic accidents according to officials across the state. Unfortunately, at least four people killed in weather related traffic accidents.

Now, the snow that you see here, Brooke, is really part of the same system - or was dumped here by that same system that's slowly making its way northeast. And while it may be fairly picturesque, we have to remind ourselves that it was a lot of that freezing rain that's going to present a lot of problems now for drivers out there. So I can tell you that as we have driven the streets of uptown Charlotte here, they are relatively quiet. A few people have made their way outside with their dogs. But for the most part, a lot of folks choosing to stay home and that's what officials want to see happen. They don't want anybody getting hurt for the rest of the day here.

I can tell you, though, that game that you mentioned, still scheduled, although the pep rally that was supposed to happen here a couple of hours ago, clearly not happened - or did not happen after all. But, again, folks being encouraged to simply stay home and stay warm for now.

BALDWIN: Polo, thank you.

Washington, D.C.'s mayor said the storm will hit there sooner than expected. It already started, as you just saw in the Carolinas.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is tracking everything for us from the CNN Severe Weather Center.

Karen Maginnis, I don't even know where to begin. Shall we start in D.C.? I mean, how bad could it be?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And that is the epicenter, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right.

MAGINNIS: And that is the epicenter, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right.

MAGINNIS: That's the area that will be slammed the hardest. They're saying epic, historic, record breaking. And, yes, it all appears to be that way. The snow has started in Washington, D.C. And you know what, it's only going to get worse from here. Not just for Washington, also into Baltimore. And we go up and down that I-95 corridor. And you're looking at a horrendous situation for the next 36 hours. About 29 people - million people, all the way from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., will be impacted.

But as you well know, this system is much broader than that. It impacts about 85 million people. All the way from the Carolinas in towards Nashville, across Kentucky. Kentucky has been hit very hard over the last few hours.

This is a very interesting picture. This is historic, as you can imagine. Look at where that snowfall level is, up to about their shoulders. There are five people in this shot. This tiny woman here is 5'3". This was submitted by her daughter. And that's Carolyn Dinde Boudreau (ph). She sent us this picture. This was the Knickerbocker blizzard that happened in 1922. It claimed the lives of about 100 people at a theater. And that came up to about their chest. I'm about 5'3" myself. So this is going to rival (INAUDIBLE) that.

And this is in (INAUDIBLE), Kentucky. And already we've got those lights down for the roadways. And it only gets worse, as I mentioned. Brooke, it looks like those winds by tomorrow morning up around hurricane strength, near hurricane strength. This is equivalent to category one hurricane. It's high tide so there's going to be coastal flooding and beach erosion. This is a monster.

BALDWIN: Karen Maginnis, thinking of everyone, obviously, in the storm's path all throughout the eastern seaboard. Thank you so much.

I mentioned Chicago off the top. We have some pictures. Let me just show you these live pictures here. Obviously, the white is snow. I don't know if this is a weather issue or not, but this is what we're learning. A United flight partially rolled off the runway. This is Chicago's O'Hare Airport. You see all those flashing lights. Obviously, some emergency personnel responding. It was arriving in from San Francisco. We're told everyone's fine. so that's good news. They're working on getting these folks, you know, off this plane, back to the gate. Weather, you know, appearing to be a factor. This is according to the airline and the airport is still open. That is Chicago.

The unprecedented move here, let's move along, shaking up the presidential race, a civil war just erupted as Republicans are trying to take down not just the one frontrunner, the two frontrunners, a week before Iowa votes. We'll speak with one of the conservatives who is trashing Donald Trump. [14:10:08] Plus, Bowe Bergdahl's defense attorney joins me on why he

may call Donald Trump to the stand. The same guy who calls his client a traitor.

And our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes directly to the families who may have been poisoned by their own tap water in Flint, Michigan. Hear what they tell Sanjay, what they say the water has done to them. Do not miss this.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This is CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Safe to say, the already unprecedented presidential race took a new dramatic turn as the Republican Party erupts into a civil war. The "National Review," the one founded in 1955 by conservative forefather William F. Buckley, the one that many credit for defining the conservative movement, the one that brags 94 percent of its readership as politically active, that "National Review" has just dedicates its latest issue to pleading with people not to vote for Donald Trump. You see the cover, "Against Trump." It features pieces from 22 conservative thinkers all explaining why Trump should not be the Republican nominee for president.

[14:15:22] Here is one sample from radio talk show host Michael Medved. Quoting him, "worst of all, Trump's brawling, blustery, mean- spirited public persona serves to associate conservatives with all the negative stereotypes that liberals have for decades attached to their opponents on the right." Trump, a consistent counterpuncher, has responded to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, the man you just heard me quote, Michael Medved, who's program runs on 300 radio stations nationwide.

Michael, welcome.

MICHAEL MEDVED, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Thank you. Thank you. I hadn't heard Mr. Trump's response until just now and that's - that's terrific. By the way, the "National Review" isn't a dying paper because it's not a paper. It's a magazine.

BALDWIN: It's a magazine.

MEDVED: And it has been for many, many years, since William F. Buckley's time, the most influential voice of conservatism. And what I think is ironic here, is you may remember in Donald Trump's very effective answer to Ted Cruz on that issue of New York values, when Cruz made the point, well, I don't know a lot of prime conservatives who come out of Manhattan, Trump shot back, William F. Buckley. He was the founder and longtime editor of the "National Review" -

BALDWIN: I see your point.

MEDVED: Which is now pleading with people, you're right, please don't support Trump.

BALDWIN: I see your point. Right, right, right.

So that was your response to Trump. But let me just - let me ask you this, because this is my first question. You know what - we're a week away - just over a week away from Iowa. Why wait until now to do this. I mean shouldn't you have done this earlier in this campaign?

MEDVED: I've been doing it on my show for months, frankly. And a lot of people -

BALDWIN: But the "National Review."

MEDVED: In terms of the "National Review," I can't speak for them. I really can't. I think what they were waiting for was this very broad consensus because the people who wrote in this issue include people like myself who support immigration reform, and I do, and people who are deadly opposed to immigration reform. It's everyone from Thomas Soul (ph) to Brent Bozel (ph), to Mona Sharon (ph) to Glenn Beck. And some of the people who are writing in the "National Review" do support Ted Cruz. I don't. And basically I think the most important thing right now is to prevent Trump from getting that 50 percent plus one of the delegates that he would need on the first ballot -

BALDWIN: But what if it backfires? Michael, let me just jump in.

MEDVED: Sure.

BALDWIN: What if this backfires and in the end all of you coming together and saying, no, no, no to Trump really, in essence, helps him?

MEDVED: Well, again, I don't think that that is going to be the case because right now I think the Trump certainly has command of some enthusiasm from the party, but I think that what is really important at this point is to try to unify the anti-Trump forces. That's really why he's been winning in all of these polls and primaries. It's because it's not Trump or Cruz. It's not Trump or Rubio. It's Trump or Cruz, Rubio, Bush, Christie, Kasich. Kasich is soaring in New Hampshire right now.

So I think what we really have to do is focus on what it is that the party needs and what the party needs to avoid. And, Brooke, I'm sorry to go on, but this is an existential issue for the Republican Party because if we get to the point where Latinos and Asian, who are going to be combined about 15 percent of the vote this coming election, if Latinos and Asians vote as automatically for Democrats as blacks have done for many elections, we have no future as a party. It's the end of the Republican Party.

BALDWIN: So, on that note - on that note - on that note, Michael -

MEDVED: And I think that both Trump and Cruz risk that.

BALDWIN: Then why not - why don't all of you guys dedicate a cover rallying behind one candidate so that voters have a clear view of who the anti-Trump could be?

MEDVED: Because - because we can't - right now we don't agree. I mean there are a lot of people who wrote in the "National Review" who think the alternative to Trump is Ted Cruz. Glenn Beck has endorsed Ted Cruz. A number of the others who wrote have endorsed Ted Cruz. I -

BALDWIN: What about you? Would you take Cruz over Trump?

MEDVED: I - no, I would take Trump over Cruz. And by the way, if Trump is the nominee, I'll support him. But the problem is, I don't believe that he can win and, worst of all, I think he will do long-term damage to the conservative brand.

Here's one of my basic points, Brooke, is Donald Trump is a liberals idea of what a conservative is. Somebody with inherited wealth, who has always been spoiled, who's always had it his way, who wants to protect his own advantages, who is mean spirited, who is blustery, who is loud, who is vulgar, and who's a bully. And that's the liberal view of a conservative. A conservative - if you ask a conservative, what's an example of a great conservative? No one would think Donald Trump. We would say Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, William F. Buckley, very different personality types.

[14:20:22] BALDWIN: Who are you - but who are you for now, Michael? Who are you for now?

MEDVED: I'm for - if I had to vote now, I'd vote for Rubio. But I also respect and like Governor Christie, Governor Kasich, Governor Bush. Virtually any of the alternatives. And I think that - that is what we have to go for is maintaining an open race with an open convention where we can choose a candidate who can win.

BALDWIN: But that's part of the issue where no one's really decided and coalesced on the one other candidate, if it's not Cruz or Trump. And isn't that part of the problem?

MEDVED: I don't think so. I think that's part of the solution right now, Brooke. And I'll tell you why. People are not paying attention, but we have proportionality rules in all of these primaries. In other words, if Trump wins a primary with 30 percent of the vote, it's not good enough. He needs 50 percent. I think it's very likely at this point that we will go to the convention. Donald Trump will have the most delegate, but he won't have 50 percent. And that gives people a chance in the run up to the convention, in the last few weeks before Cleveland coming up this summer -

BALDWIN: To figure it out.

MEDVED: To get together and to decide about a candidate who's viable.

BALDWIN: Michael Medved, we'll chat again.

MEDVED: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

A programming note for you. Monday night in Iowa, exactly one week before the Iowa caucuses, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley will go face to face with the voters in that state. A CNN Democratic presidential town hall live from Des Moines. Chris Cuomo will be moderating. That is Monday night, 9:00 Eastern. We'll be in Iowa Monday ahead of that.

Back to our breaking news here. This potential for an historic storm now underway. CNN has you covered all across the East Coast. We are also monitoring the situation. Live pictures, here you go, Chicago's O'Hare Airport. This United flight, that plane right there, partially rolled off the runway. Not totally clear if weather is to blame there. We're checking on that.

Also ahead here, on the front lines of the water crisis. CNN's Sanjay Gupta takes a firsthand look at the health effects of lead poisoning and what these families there in Flint are truly going through.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:50] BALDWIN: Right now? OK, right now. We are going to - we going to Washington. We're watching the weather there. So let's go straight to the police chief, Cathy Lanier.

Chief Lanier, nice to - nice to talk to you. Tell me - I know folks are supposed to be off the city streets in about half an hour. What's priority number one?

CHIEF CATHY LANIER, WASHINGTON, D.C. (via telephone): I'm out here right now riding around. The snow's coming down. It is definitely a wet snow. It's starting to pick up a little bit. So right now things are going smoothly. And most of the workers left work around noon today and are heading out. So it's light traffic. And the roads - the roads are still clear. The snow is not sticking. The pretreatments works and will work for quite a while, but when the pace picks up, there's not much that you can do to stop it from accumulating. So right now things are looking well.

BALDWIN: That is good news for now. I mean we, obviously, though, we saw what happened the other night in Washington. You know, not good. Do you think storm prep - I mean you've been the chief for quite a while since I was a reporter in Washington. I mean has it gotten better or worse prep over the years?

LANIER: Oh, much, much better. But I mean there's going to be times when, you know, the prediction and the forecast aren't accurate or are off by a bit and that was supposed to be a half an inch dusting a couple of days ago and we got walloped with areas like (INAUDIBLE) inches in just like an hour and a half, two hours. It came very quickly in the middle of rush hour. So I mean there's going to be times when things like that happen. But this big storm we have been planning for, for several days. And I think - I think the city is fairing very well. People have to stay off the streets for us for a while so we can keep them safe and get the roads cleared.

BALDWIN: Chief Lanier, you have bigger things to tend to than talking to me on the phone. I really do appreciate you calling in though and we'll be in close contact, I'm sure, with you and the city through the course of the weekend. Thank you and good luck.

LANIER: Bye, Brooke. Thank you. Bye-bye.

BALDWIN: Thanks.

After weeks of inviting between the city of Flint and Michigan state officials, the Environmental Protection Agency has determined that they are both culpable for the city's water crisis and now the regional EPA administrator, who oversees Flint, is stepping down. Susan Headman (ph) admitted she knew about the toxic levels of lead in the tap water as early as last June. But perhaps no amount of accountability, no amount of money, not amount of rebuilding will resolve what the families of Flint are going through because the health effects of lead poisoning are irreversible. Sanjay Gupta visited one family now trying to raise their four-year-old twins, never knowing how sick they could become.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Look right at me. Look right at me.

GUPTA (voice-over): When her son Gavin (ph) started to become ill, it was subtle. So subtle Leann Waters (ph) wouldn't have been blamed for missing it.

GUPTA (on camera): OK, look right at me. Keep your head straight. How about over here. How many?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One.

GUPTA: OK, good job. Look up. Look down. Do you have any - do your fingers feel numb at all? GUPTA (voice-over): But one day she looked at Gavin and then looked at

his twin brother Garrett (ph) side by side. The difference was staggering.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The size he is right now is pretty much the size he was last February, February 5th of 2015.

[14:30:01] GUPTA (on camera): So almost a year - a year ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost a year ago, yes.

GUPTA: How much does he weigh versus his twin?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's 35.8 pounds and his twin is 53 months.

GUPTA (voice-over): For months they had been drinking the same water, but Gavin was showing the effects of being poisoned by lead. In such a --