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Virginia Among 11 States to Declare Emergency. D.C. Mayor Holds News Conference; All New York City Travel Banned For Now; De Blasio: NYC Travel Ban Still in Effect; Subways Remain Open; D.C. Mayor Talks Snow Storm. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 23, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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

[16:59:58] NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think all of our team of correspondents has been in a brutal type conditions here, everyone here from residents to government officials really feeling the effects, Jennifer, here in Fairfax, Virginia. The last several hours, this snowfall has been very steady and started to fall pretty aggressively here. We actually want to throw it back to this press conference happening right now, we expect the Washington, D.C. mayor to speak any moment here. But while we get ready for that, let's show you exactly what we're dealing with here, you have snowplows at to the ready, this is really a major thoroughfare here, route 50 through Fairfax, Virginia.

And just look at how much snow is accumulated on the ground here. I'm walking and with every step I take, it's just about knee high, I'm sinking even further than that now. We saw earlier today, disabled emergency vehicle, and according to the Virginia state police, they say that today is the real concern, the biggest problem, they've had nearly a thousand accidents all across the state here in Virginia. But the main problem today are disabled vehicles and that includes those emergency crews, the snowplows that are out there, trying to make those -- trying to make the road conditions better for those that are still out on the roads, a lot of people are staying home.

Poppy, let's throw it back to you, we understand that this press conference for the mayor of D.C. maybe under way right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nick, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Top of the hour, 5:00 Eastern, everyone. If you're just joining us, I'm Poppy Harlow live in New York City. We're in the midst of what is an epic storm up and down the east coast, 11 states here. Eight people have died so far. Nine thousand plus flights cancelled. D.C. getting the brunt of it right now. We are awaiting a press conference for Mayor Bowser in Washington, D.C., of course as that begins, we will bring it to you.

Also this hour, we are expecting a live press conference from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a lot of people want to know what is going to happen to the subway system here in New York City, that is still running underground. But all of the trains above ground have been halted indefinitely. You've got about 20 inches of snow on the ground here, on the high end of the estimate that we were getting from all the meteorologists leading up to this storm.

I do want to go to Jason Carroll, my colleague, he is joining me in Central Park. Jason, I am amazed at all the people who are still out here enjoying this when everyone, all of the officials are telling them to go home.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'm amazed I'm still out here too, Poppy.

(LAUGHTER)

I mean literally. I mean, there's so many folks that are still out here on this hill. These are dedicated individuals. You know, who come out here, wanting to enjoy this type of snow. Last count at about 4:00, 19.3 inches here at Central Park and counting. You can see this snow, it's still coming down. Just want to introduce you to these three right here. Specifically this one because this is not a hat, this is hair, I mean, you can almost hear that. That's -- baby that is ice. You know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

CARROLL: I feel for you. I do. I'm trying to warm me up. We're going to wrap you up right now, we're going to head back to you, Poppy, heading back to a press conference, I believe. Poppy, back to you.

HARLOW: All right. Jason, we'll get to you in a moment. I want to go to the mayor of Washington, D.C., Mayor Bowser speaking right now about the conditions they're dealing with. Let's listen in.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: Since 1:00 p.m. yesterday, we have seen about 20 inches of snow fall in our city and the storm is not done yet. In fact in the last two hours, we have seen snow pick up as well as winds pick up. We know that it is very rough outside, and in some cases, there have been reports of whiteout conditions for the past two hours. Visibility is extremely poor. For the next few hours, we are -- we continue to be told that the snow will be heavy, with the highest wind gusts of the entire storm. And it is continues to be a dangerous storm. The forecast suggests that the snow will wrap up late tonight or in the very early hours of this morning. But it doesn't make it any less dangerous.

We expect continued high winds throughout the area, which will continue to make the conditions and visibility very poor. We want drivers to stay off the road. We also want pedestrians to stay off the road. Today, many of us encountered people walking down the middle of streets. Our plows encountered them as well as our emergency vehicles. We can't emphasize enough that people need to stay off the streets for their own safety, and for that of our snow crews and first responders. We have had a lot of snowfall over the last 36 hours, and tonight, as that snow ends, we will shift into another phase of our operation.

[17:05:10] Which Mr. Geldart, Director Geldart will tell you about. Many people have been shoveling all day today, and we remind everybody to shovel as you are able, to be careful and follow all of the healthy shoveling tips. We are also being inundated by calls from D.C. residents who need help shoveling. We have put together a volunteer database, but I will say that the request for shoveling exceeds the volunteers. So if you are able to help a neighbor, please do so, if you need us to provide you with a couple of addresses, we like you to go to Snow.dc.gov to do exactly that. As people get out and about, the need to shovel walks becomes even more important. So, let me turn to Director Geldart who will provide an additional operational briefing.

CHRIS GELDART, DIRECTOR, D.C. HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Thank you, Madam Mayor. I am Chris Geldart, the director of DC's Homeland Emergency Management Agency, and we'll cover now a little bit of where we are in our phases of operation. As everybody knows we started Wednesday about noontime with our preparatory phases and our pretreatment phases. We carried that all the way through to our emergency phase where we are now when we had the snow start to pick up and outpaced ourselves or outpaced our ability to keep up with salt and chemical. We are going to continue that phase through this evening, until the snow gets to a point where we can keep up and get ahead of it and the snow ceases. And that's when we'll move into the next phase of operations, which will be our post storm response.

That post storm response as we have said to many people, we're going to give you a good assessment on that, right now with the wind blowing the way it is, and the amount of snow that's coming down, that's a hard assessment for us to do to say, how long, what is going to take for us to clear everything on the roads. As it is right now, in the different sections of the city, we have different snow total amounts, as you can imagine, very difficult to determine with the way that the wind is blowing, exactly how much snow we have in certain areas. So, we're going to be doing a real hard assessment, once the storm ends, we're going to continue to plow through that assessment, we're going to do a good, hard assessment at that point and make some determinations to what it's going to take and how long it's going to take for us to get through and clean this storm up.

We'll also be starting our recovery phase at that point, as soon as we get through that assessment, and as we're going to continue to plow, we will start to do some of the picking up of the snow and hauling of the snow as we do that. So you'll see the last few phases go in tandem. And then the recovery phase of course will go beyond our plowing phase. So, that's what we have got coming up. I do want to reiterate what Mayor Bowser said earlier. You know, it did look like it was clear enough earlier today, and we did say that we still are in our emergent phase, we ended up having periods of time where we will back-up to two inches of snow falling per hour.

Just over the last two to two-and-a-half hours. With the wind blowing like it is. We can't encourage residents enough, please, we're still in that emergent phase, we're still in the middle of the storm, we really need folks to stay off the streets. The other thing we want to make sure we cover, we have our emergency services that are going out there, and as we're going through this emergent phase, we have managed to maintain very good response times. We have been able to respond to those calls for service, almost right at the same levels when we don't have snow. So we have been very successful in doing that. However, we want to make sure the residents understand that we still are in this phase. To that end, I think Chief Dean would like to talk a little bit about how we want to watch for -- how we're doing with our ambulances, Chief?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what we're asking is for our citizens to recognize that we only have a limited number of ambulances to transport. And we would ask that if you have a lower acuity type emergency, that if you could wait to make the calls so that we can make sure we are available for the higher acuity type calls, so we would appreciate that. Thank you.

GELDART: OK. Also during this time, as you know, we have large snow banks on the sides of the roads. Many other jurisdictions are doing this, and we'd ask the residents here to do this as well. As you're shoveling out and as you're doing that cleaning up around the front of your homes to give us a hand and clean up around the fire hydrants that are out there as well. So, if you are out there and when you are shoveling -- when you start to shovel, if you can clean those up, that would be very helpful as well. That's all that I have, we'll take some questions.

HARLOW: All right. We are going to continue to monitoring this press conference, you're hearing from the head of Emergency Management there in Washington, D.C. We just heard from Mayor Bowser there as well talking and cautioning people about the severe weather conditions that continue to persist, it will persist in the late evening into the early morning hours in Washington, D.C. I'm Poppy Harlow live in New York for you, for our continuing storm coverage. We are going to take a quick break on the other side. We're waiting a press conference from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:13:01] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing coverage here live in New York City, I'm Poppy Harlow. In the midst of about 20 inches of snow here in New York, a storm that has by all accounts exceeded many of the expectations, stretching 11 states from Georgia all the way up the Eastern seaboard through New Jersey. Eight deaths as a result of this storm, 200,000 of you right now without power. Nine thousand plus flights cancelled. We just heard from the mayor of Washington, D.C., we are awaiting comments any moment from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that he will update New Yorkers with.

As we wait, I want to go to my colleague Brian Stelter who is on the road of a media, obviously has an exception, the media and emergency officials to be on the roads. Brian, can you hear me, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes. I'm sorry about that.

HARLOW: No. That's OK. I get it.

STELTER: We're down near Washington Square Park, if you look right behind me, you can sort of see the arch, the famous Washington Square arch. We are on Fifth Avenue that's become a pedestrian thorough fair, due to the travel ban. We have talked to two of New Yorkers who are out here in the conditions. What are your names?

ANNIE, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Annie.

STELTER: A little bit cold to talk, right?

TERRY BRZEZINSKI, NEW YORK RESIDENT: All right. Terry Brzezinski (ph).

STELTER: What's the best thing about the storm, what's the worst thing about the storm?

BRZEZINSKI: Well, the best thing is, the pedestrians have taken over the city. And there's no traffic, we can walk in the street. I think most people don't realize that cars in the streets take up so much space, but now people do. People do.

STELTER: So, maybe that's the best thing. What's been the worst thing, if there is a worst thing?

ANNIE: Well, the worst thing is, it's not a great day to do errands, which I was planning on doing, but it's sort of a relief too.

(LAUGHTER)

STELTER: It's a break. Maybe tomorrow but more -- maybe in a few days.

ANNIE: Exactly.

STELTER: Thank you both. Enjoy Fifth Avenue. A lots of people are actually walking the other direction of Fifth Avenue because usually you can only go southbound. By the way, from this spot usually, great view of the Empire State building, about a mile and a half to the north. But obviously no way to see that out here right now. One way you know it's a blizzard is because of low visibility. Right now the winds are actually bearable although you can feel my cheeks are kind of freezing up out here. But every few minutes, you get one of those dramatic wind gusts that do blow the snow around. By the way, some people out here on an inflatable sort of raft and then lots of dogs out here as well.

Poppy, I think I have lost my IFB, so I can't hear you back -- on the circle, but I'll send it back up town to you.

HARLOW: All right. Brian, thank you so much, all you see, some folks out there in New York City, not many people at all. All you see in terms of vehicles behind me are all of these police officers, New York City's finest, first responders up because there is that travel ban again that is in place here in New York City indefinitely until conditions get a whole lot better. We're going to take a quick break, we are waiting to hear from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:18:39] HARLOW: What a night it is turning into up and down the east coast, stretching for thousands of miles, this epic winter storm, hammering New York City, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. That is where we find our Miguel Marquez, as we look at live pictures. Miguel, the winds were so strong earlier and it does not look like it's letting up.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They might be letting up a little bit, it comes in bands, I think whatever is happening here is certainly headed your way. So get ready for a very, very big night. The snow has not let up almost at all here in Baltimore. The winds may be right now are a little less than they were before, but this city still very much in the grips of this winter storm. It was meant to dump maybe 24 inches total on Baltimore City itself, now it's 24 to 30 inches in Baltimore. There are about 18, 19, 20 inches, the last time the National Weather Service reported so we may be getting close to that two-foot mark now in just slight elevations around Maryland, at 1,200 feet, they're expecting as much as 36 inches of snow, just a massive, massive storm.

This wind is just making everything miserable here. These are the streets of Baltimore now, it looks more arctic than it does mid- Atlantic, a brutal time here, so far, though, the city has dodged any major issues, they're keeping the emergency routes open and the cars off those routes. They do expect this weather to continue for tonight, that we are in the midst of the last pulse of this storm, we believe, but arrange midnight tonight, we're going to see more snow, more wind here and then the cold for days to come and the digging out. The governor of the state saying that it may take several days for some whole towns to get dug out and for others, way out in the middle of nowhere, it may take as long as a week, a long way to go before this one's over --Poppy.

HARLOW: Miguel, I also know that they have brought in 500 National Guard to help, right? I mean do they feel like they have enough in terms of resources?

MARQUEZ: They have activated to the National Guard across the state. They have several National Guard units here in Baltimore, they are helping both police and the Fire Department here. It seems because they have had so few major incidents that they are able to get, the fire engines are able to get to house fires, the ambulances are able to get to those calls they need to. They seem to have enough on hand. I think the question will be as people get tired, as they go on day after day of this, it's not meant to warm up here for a few days yet, that will be more and more difficult, taxing those emergency services more and more -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Miguel, thank you so much. Live for us in Baltimore. Miguel will be with us for the duration, we're going to take a quick break as we continue to wait Mayor Bill de Blasio updating millions of New Yorkers who want to know if the subway is going to shutdown, what do they need to know? A live report from New York City. The mayor, we'll hear from him shortly, stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:24:44] HARLOW: You're looking at a live images of Columbus Circle where I'm standing here in the heart of New York City. All of those flashing lights you see are our first responders, New York City's finest, the NYPD, you've got dozens of their vehicles out here right now. Obviously they are protecting anyone that needs help. And also the fact that all of the roads except for emergency vehicles are shut down in New York City right now by order of the governor.

As we await the press conference from New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio, I want to go to Sarah Ganim, she joins me live in Philadelphia. Sara, how is it where you are?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy, this is what officials here have been telling us all day, they were waiting for the reason that they didn't want people outside. This seems to be the second ban that's now hitting Philadelphia, it's intensified greatly in the last few minutes. Look at the visibility in how much of the -- since the last time I talked to you, I'm only a few yards away from our photographer. But the snow is clearly much more heavily coming down than it was a few minutes ago. In addition, the wind has really picked up. Just so you guys can see, this is all fresh snow on the road here, the track marks are barely visible. This is all snow that just has fallen in the last few minutes.

HARLOW: Sara Ganim, I'm so sorry to jump in. Sara, we have got to listen to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: -- parts of Queens and Staten Island. Then I went out to Staten Island, the north shore, to get a sense of how things were going there with the efforts of sanitation department. Let me emphasize at the outset, the sanitation department is doing an extraordinary job. I want to really thank the men and women of the sanitation department. And I had an opportunity to talk to some of the sanitation workers as I drove around. And I thank them on behalf of the people, this city for the great job they're doing. They got ahead of the storm and they have stuck with it every step of the way.

Now the fact is, sanitation is dealing with a very tough situation, this moment, sort of fighting an uphill battle, because the precipitation keeps coming down, they keep plowing. But the rate of this snowstorm continues to be intense, between one and three inches per hour depending on where you are in the city. So recognize that this is a storm that's got a lot of -- packing a lot of punch and is continuing very forcefully, and will do so into the evening. So that just emphasizes how important it is to get out of the way of our sanitation workers and let them do their jobs.

I'll say again, travel ban is in effect, the NYPD will enforce the travel ban, it's very important that people clear the roads, so sanitation can do its work and get this city back on its feet over the next day or two. Of course we need our roads clear for our first responders so they have the freedom to get to anyone who is in danger. NYPD, made clear by Chief O'Neill before, no one wants to have to arrest people, but the NYPD will take any measures necessary to keep our roads clear in the middle of this emergency. You'll see some images that are starting to go out on social media, the NYPD enforcement actions.

We want New Yorkers to know that this is a warning being given very clearly. If you want to avoid these enforcement actions, get off the streets now. It's also important to recognize that because of what's happened with our mass transit, it's all the more reason that anyone needs to get somewhere they need to go immediately, of course now, not only our MTA busses no longer running, but subways that have roots above ground have now been suspended, underground subways continue, the state and the MTA made the decision and we're very happy about that decision to keep the underground subway operations going. So there is a way to the get around in much of the city. But again, the smartest thing to do, given that this is a storm that continues to grow, it's getting colder, it's obviously getting dark, the smart thing to do is to get away from any place that you're at work, at home from work, if you're out for any reasons doing errands, get home, get home, get safe.

[17:29:08] The National Weather Service has given us an update now and it's quite striking, you know, we said earlier in the day, that if we broke 20 inches, if it was more than 20 inches of snow, it would rank as one of the top five storms in terms of accumulation in the history of New York City since these records were first being kept in 1869. The last exact reading I have is from 4:00 p.m. at Central Park, Central Park has always been the recognized location that is used to measure snowfall in the city, if you're going to have one location, that's been the go-to location over many, many decades. As of 4 p.m. in Central Park, 19.3 inches, that was well over an hour ago. This point very likely that we have passed the 20-inch mark right there.

But certainly in other parts of the city, even more snowfall has occurred. The current scenario from the National Weather Service, has us expecting 24 to 28 inches of snow. 24 to 28 inches before this storm is over, so this is a forecast that in the last 24 hours has jumped up several times, now as high as 28 inches. We have to prepare for an even worse case scenario than that and be ready if it goes even farther. So again, our sanitation craws out doing an extraordinary job. They're working very long shifts, working very hard. They will keep doing that, luckily plenty of salt, plenty of vehicles ready. I'm very pleased with what I saw earlier in terms of the work of the Parks Department to protect against coastal flooding that I mentioned. So far the indications on the kind of tidal levels we'll have seem quite moderate, no more than three or four feet above normal levels, which is manageable, especially given the precautions that have been put in place. But again, our agencies will be ready to respond if we see anything happen that might cause a danger to people.

I want to emphasize how important it is the help our first responders. One of the simplest things you can do, when you're shoveling outside of your house, keep that fire hydrant clear. The life you save could be your own or your neighbor's or your families.

But as Chief O'Neal pointed out we have already seen several situation where is people overextended themselves in some cases with tragic results. So please be aware of your own limitations. If you're in good enough shape to be shoveling, great, if you're not in good enough shape, let someone else do it. Either a family member or someone going around helping people shovel. Better to pay someone to shovel than present a danger to yourself.

Any problems with heat and hot water, we need to know about them. Call 311 if your building management is not dealing with them. Any situation where someone's life in is danger, please call 911 immediately so we can get to there and help them.

Quickly, in Spanish -- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there you have it, from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Two major headlines to take from this. One is that the travel ban still remains in effect indefinitely on all the roads. Do not get in any vehicle in New York City. The second headline, saying that they have determined, along with the state, to keep the subways underground here in New York City open. That is critical, he said. You're moving about eight million or nine million people around this city. They can still move around, if they need to get home from work, their jobs, to their families, on the subway, under ground. All above ground subways are closed. We'll let you know if more comes from the mayor.

We'll take a quick break. On the other side, I will speak one-on-one live with the mayor of Washington, D.C., also getting hammered by this storm. She joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:36:37] HARLOW: Live pictures of the White House in Washington, D.C., on a very snowy evening. What a storm it has become, up and down the eastern seaboard. 11 states affected. One of those hardest hit is Virginia, obviously, Philadelphia, there in Pennsylvania. You've got a lot of flooding in New Jersey. And Washington, D.C., very hard hit as well.

I want the go straight to the mayor of Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Thank you for joining me. I know how incredibly busy you are.

I know you're expecting up to 20 inches before this all wraps up. What's your message to your residents?

MURIEL BOWSER, (D), WASHINGTON, D.C., MAYOR: Our message is that we're about 36 hours into a blizzard in Washington, D.C. We haven't seen this amount of snowfall in one storm in 94 years. So we have told our residents to be prepared to stay inside, to allow our crews to work on the streets, so our first responders and plows can get through. We expect the snow to taper off tonight, where we can begin the big dig-out as soon as it concludes.

HARLOW: Talk to me a little bit more about those first responders. I know it was a tough go around earlier this week on Thursday. About an inch of snow really crippling a lot of parts of this city, some criticism there, but by all accounts, what we're seeing from your first responders today is all hands on deck.

BOWSER: Well, certainly, we started preparing for this storm early in the week. We pretreated all of our roads. We have been out on the roads with salt before the snow came. And we have been plowing ever since. And when the snow concludes -- and keep in mind, we're dealing with heavy winds here -- we know that the next phase of our operation will begin to really get into all of our major residential streets as well.

HARLOW: We have been hearing about 200,000 people up and down the east coast without power. What are the citizens in Washington, D.C., dealing with, and what do you say to those families who may have lost power and frankly they're just not sure where to go?

BOWSER: One really great aspect of our experience with this storm is that we have not had major power loss. We do know, however, that the major wind gusts that this storm is bringing to Washington are happening right now. We hope that we will continue to be lucky, but we have also prepared our residents for the possibility of power loss. Our power departments have reached out for additional resources as well. So should we have power loss, we know they're going to work doubly hard to get people back up.

HARLOW: Any sense -- I know it's early going, right. It's a Saturday night. But any sense of all of those government offices on Monday, schools on Monday, what's your sense at this point in time?

BOWSER: Well, we know that the cleanup from 24-inch storm in Washington, D.C. Is going to be a multiple day event, we have to wait until the snow ceases. We have some daylight and some time in the morning to see what our streets look like. And really get our cleanup operation in gear. And then I hope to be able to make some assessment of my government operations and schools, late afternoon, early evening tomorrow.

[17:40:11] HARLOW: What about the salt resources. I know that's being a concern in Washington, D.C., simply having enough salt to deal with a storm of this magnitude.

BOWSER: That hasn't been a concern for us. We went out before the season and procured the salt resources that we need. And we will continue to replenish them for every winter snow event.

HARLOW: All right, Mayor Muriel Bowser, thank you for your time. And thanks from all of us in New York, and I'm sure from all over the country, to all of your first responders, all of the people working around the clock to keep people safe there.

BOWSER: Around the clock, absolutely.

HARLOW: Thank you, Mayor.

Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

BOWSER: Thank you and good luck to New York City.

HARLOW: Thank you, Mayor. I see them here behind us in New York City, these amazing people out shoveling behind us constantly, making sure everyone is safe, doing the difficult when they would like to be home with their families as well. Our thanks to them.

Let me bring in Juliette Kayyem, to talk about how you deal with this from an emergency government perspective.

Obviously, you were an assistant head of Homeland Security, heading it up in Massachusetts during some of the worst storms of the last decade or so. How do you enforce, for example, what we're seeing, Juliette, in New York City, which is all the roads closed to everyone except emergency vehicles?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's very difficult to enforce, so you just keep reiterating why it's being done. You don't want to have the first responders going out unnecessarily when, if only people had stayed home, it wouldn't have been necessary. In a lot of previous blizzards, people get into their cars, they get stuck. That's a nuisance. But a lot of them die from carbon monoxide poisoning. So a lot of these measures are very draconian to protect lives and to protect first responders. Listen, and apply. It's a very short time period in the length of everyone's life. Watch a lot of TV and just sit back, because it's really to maximize what the first responders have to do, not just at this moment, but they've got days and days ahead of recovery.

HARLOW: What do you make of the emergency response we have seen up and down, I mean, from Charlotte, North Carolina, up into Virginia, up into Washington, D.C., New York? I mean, it certainly seems like all hands on deck?

KAYYEM: It definitely it. A part of that is we knew this was coming for a couple of days, so you're able to preposition a lot of materials ready to launch and protect people over time. But we're not over yet. The biggest concern is the wind and then the electricity going down and then the waters and flooding. That combined with all the cold weather is very, very dangerous for all. I don't think we're going to breathe a sigh of relief until about Monday. One of the things most interesting about this is my last conversation with folks at FEMA. FEMA has actually not been called to assist by any state. The local and state governments and the National Guard working with the governors have been able to deal with this so far. We have a lot of federal assets ready to deploy if they're needed in the next 48 hours.

HARLOW: You know, Juliette, something I just don't recall personally hearing about the last time we had a monster snowstorm in New York is that flooding. And we're already seeing really severe flooding in southern New Jersey and a risk of it tonight between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. eastern on parts of the New York state coastline. Does that surprise you?

KAYYEM: It's not that surprising. It's very common in these storms. But we have a bad coincidence going on right now. It's a full moon combined with the tidal calendar at this stage which is causing the high tide to come in at exactly the time when there is going to be a lot of freezing. So you're just going to see water sort of rushing in. People need to be particularly careful, because of the combination of water with electrical wires. And I think, you know, just essentially through the next 24 hours is going to be the second storm. It's not going to be snow. It's going to be all these other elements. But this is just a bad coincidence of the calendar. And that's why you saw a lot of meteorologists in the last three or four days say this is a lot of snow, plus it's a lot of other, sort of, you know, bad elements coming together.

HARLOW: Yeah, a confluence of events.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

HARLOW: Former Homeland Security advisor and CNN national security analyst. We appreciate it very much.

KAYYEM: Thanks.

[17:45:03] HARLOW: I'm going to take a quick break. Much more live coverage of this blizzard up and down the eastern seaboard. Stay with us. CNN's continuing coverage returns when we get back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Tomorrow night, at 8:00 p.m. eastern, CNN journalists share the people that had such a profound impact on them that they affected the course of their lives. It is the culmination of our week-long CNN series called "The Person Who Changed My Life."

For me, that person was my father, Jim Harlow. Here's our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were so central to his being?

MARY HARLOW, MOTHER OF POPPY HARLOW: At trial, he used to call home every night and read to you.

He adored you. He just adored you.

HARLOW (voice-over): I'm going to the childhood home where I grew up with my mom and dad in Minneapolis.

When I got this assignment, he just immediately came to my mind. Of course, my dad, of course. Who changed me? Him.

When I told him my dad died at 49, they say, I'm so sorry, you were so young. I say to them, I had more of a dad in 15 years than a lot of kids ever get.

MARY HARLOW: He managed to pack 100 years of living into 50 years. He was just kind of a wild man, he had lots of energy.

HARLOW (on camera): What in him do you see in me?

MARY HARLOW: You were both dedicated workers. Ever since you were a little girl, you were a hard driving little charger. It was a challenge. It is a challenge to pry you away from your work. And it was challenge to pry dad away from his work, too.

HARLOW (voice-over): My dad was a trial lawyer and he loved it. The work was all consuming but he prioritized us, family. He managed to hold on to the most important things in life.

(on camera): Every morning, he would wake up 4:30, 5:00 a.m., drive me to skating practice and then he would go to work. It didn't matter what he had going on, how tired he was, he was always there for me.

[17:50:08] MARY HARLOW: This is the picture.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW (on camera): He's still in his suit, like he just ran in the House.

MARY HARLOW: That's right. He ran across three airports and he kept saying to the people who were with him, I've got to make it hope for Poppy's birthday. I've got to make it home for her birthday.

HARLOW: He took me to the office a lot.

MARY HARLOW: He did. That's a picture you made one Saturday morning at the office.

He saw every piano recital you did, every skating show.

He was a wonderful father. He was really your model. You're your father's daughter, without a doubt.

HARLOW: This is Columbia, where I went to college. It's where my dad went to school. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and be like him. I even found my college application essay that I wrote about him.

"I learned what nobility really means by watching my father struggle so hard to live, never complaining, never lashing out in his pain, and always thanking everyone for their help. In the end, my father taught me the answer to a question I had never posed, how to die. My father died with dignity and love, knowing that he had left nothing undone."

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: Welcome back to St. Paul.

HARLOW: Thanks. You guys all look the same.

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: Of course, we do.

HARLOW (voice-over): My dad's partners at the law firm were like a second family to us, especially after he died.

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: You say about everybody, well, there's no one like him. You can't even get anything close to Jim, seriously.

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: In those days, you just sort of put your head down, plowed forward. Jim was different. He actually made the time to make sure that he was there for you.

JAN CONLON, JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: He knew when he was spending time with you to devote 100 percent to it and he knew when he was working to devote 100 percent to it. Even though he was, you know, well respected partner high up in the organization, nothing was beneath Jim.

We were trying a case once and Jim walked into the work room about 2:00 in the morning. He just picked up a stack of papers and started copying. The paralegal had to say go back to bed, Jim, you need to be on your feet in the morning. But that's what he would do. Nothing was above him and nothing was below him.

HARLOW (on camera): Hey, you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you, too.

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: Your interviews are really a reflection of your dad, I think.

HARLOW: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: I see some of the same things, you know, the persistence, the nuance. You catch things that other people wouldn't catch. Watching you today, he would -- it would have been incessant. He would have been in the office, you see Poppy last night?

CONLON: We would have had a CNN TV channel on in every room in the office.

UNIDENTIFIED JIM HARLOW'S FORMER LAW PARTNER: Exactly.

CONLON: He would want you to enjoy life as much as he did. He would want you to find joy in everything every day. He lived 49 years but, my goodness, he had more fun than probably 100 people in 100 lifetimes.

SALLY SPECTOR, MENTORED JIM HARLOW: This is where I worked with your day. I first started working with him before I went to law school right after I graduated from college.

I wanted to tell you what your dad had done for me and the gifts he gave me. I think there are some people help you learn how to be a human being, a better human being. I really think that your dad was one of those people for me.

HARLOW: Do you see any of him in me?

SPECTOR: So much. Your dad's extraordinariness comes through in you. He let his heart become part of his passion, and you do that, too.

HARLOW: Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Poppy Harlow, in New York.

Every day I want to make him proud because he did so much for me. His death spurred me to want to do better. His death made me want to achieve. I remember going into my freshman year of high school nine days after he died and the school said, well, you don't need to come, you can take some time off. But I just wanted to dive in.

FRANK SACHS, HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE COUNSELOR: Does it feel smaller?

HARLOW: It doesn't feel smaller. I feel a little bit older.

(voice-over): Frank Sachs was my high school/college counselor.

SACHS: I have a copy of my recommendation that I wrote for you when you applied to college. I said you had real inner strength, self- discipline, that you had overcome tragedy because your dad had just died. That's actually when we connected.

Can I give you a hug?

HARLOW (on camera): I will never forget the day that I found out I got into Columbia. I jumped around my house and I was so thrilled.

Almost identical.

MARY HARLOW: You were 2000. Your dad was 1965. You made your dad proud.

HARLOW: I wanted to be a lawyer like my dad. I was so set on being like him that I forgot for awhile to be my version of him.

MARY HARLOW: Girls who lose a father young, tend to do extremely well, tend to be very ambitious, because they are trying to offer this as a gift to their father, who is gone. And you definitely did that. You're still working hard, just like he did.

[17:55:15] HARLOW: What would he tell me at 33 years old?

MARY HARLOW: Relax and enjoy life. Life is short and precious.

HARLOW (voice-over): To live in the moment, that may be the core lesson my dad left behind for me. It is still one I'm trying to learn.

(on camera): I still live a lot for what I need to accomplish. It's a good reminder to me just to maybe focus me again on what matters, because he was only 16 years older than I am now when he died.

MARY HARLOW: Quite a legacy, big guy, quite a legacy.

We're so happy that he lives on in you.

HARLOW (voice-over): A total original, witty, honest and kind. My dad was my cornerstone and the person who changed my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: You can see all of our stories tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. eastern, only right here on CNN.

We also want to know, is there a person that changed your life dramatically? Tweet us, use #mylifechangers. We will feature your responses at CNN.com/lifechangers. You can also go there and find photos, stories, and a lot more on this topic.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[17:49:55] HARLOW: Hi, everyone. Top of the hour, 6:00 p.m. eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you for being with me.

We begin with quite a storm pummeling much of the eastern seaboard. It is leaving misery in its wake. 13 people have died. That is the latest count. Thirteen people have died.