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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Massive Snowstorm Hits East Coast; State of Emergency Declared Across Northeast; Interview with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh

Aired January 26, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. We are live in New York, New York, just across from Central Park, if you can make it out.

The breaking news this hour, of course, is all around me, landing on top of me, and only expected to get worse. It's being called the big one, a potentially deadly, crippling and historic blizzard, one that could dump more snow on the Big Apple than any other storm in recorded history.

And at any moment, we will be getting an updated forecast from the National Weather Service on just how bad it's going to get. From New York, through Connecticut, up to Boston, there are blizzard warnings, states of emergency, as 58 million people are bracing for up to three feet of snow and snowdrifts that could be taller than I am.

Here in New York City, state highways are closing in the Empire State. Mass transit in and out of New York City may be suspended, as Mayor Bill de Blasio says -- quote -- "This will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of New York City."

The city says no cars are going to be allowed on the roads after 11:00 p.m. Now, in Connecticut, north of here, thousands of children sent home from school early today. A statewide travel ban is going to go into effect at 9:00 p.m. The mayor of Boston, meanwhile, says -- quote -- "Do not leave your house."

That city has banned the use of cars after midnight and canceled school tomorrow and Wednesday. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has 500 members of the National Guard at the ready. The governor there says this is a top five historic storm and we should treat it as such.

At the airports in the Northeast, thousands of flights have been canceled already. We just found out seconds ago that there's a ground stop on incoming flights to La Guardia Airport here in New York and Newark Airport in Northern New Jersey. Bottom line, stay home, seriously.

CNN is not staying home. We are everywhere this storm is, from Philly to Jersey to Boston, to the very tip of Long Island. We are tracking every single development on the roads and in the air.

As we said at the top of the show, we are expecting an updated forecast from the National Weather Service.

So let's go live right now to our severe weather expert, Chad Myers. Chad, what's the latest?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Jake, this is as hard as it's snowed all day. We are getting one to now two inches of snow per hour. I would say just walking through the park a half-an-hour ago, we are up to at least three-and-a-half inches of snow and it's still coming down.

Weather Service now, that update you talked about, they are going 20 to 30 inches of snow across parts of Long Island and Connecticut with wind gusts of 50 miles per hour, crippling, historic, life- threatening. Those are the names. You said them. That's exactly as the Weather Service put them out about 20 minutes ago.

This is a big one because of the amount of snow and how quickly it's going to come down. Three to four inches an hour for two to three hours, all of a sudden you get a foot of snow really, really quickly and plows can't keep up with that. That's what we are going to see here for the next few hours.

And, Jake, there could even be thundersnow from Boston through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, all of Vermont, New Hampshire and, yes, even here in the city, thundersnow. It rolls for minutes, not just a crack of it. It rolls and rolls and rolls -- Jake.

TAPPER: Chad, thank you so much. Thundersnow, I want to hear more about that later on in the program.

I want to go now, however, to CNN's Miguel Marquez.

Miguel, an army of plows getting ready to clear New York City after this epic storm. We already have some plows behind me. What have you got where you are?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are already working hard. We are on the West Side of Manhattan here. We should be able to see downtown Manhattan and for hours now we have not been able to because the snow is so heavy.

We are on a bike path, and despite it being a bike path, they are even plowing this in the roads. It's 27 degrees out here, the roads now turning to slush, the city on high alert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): States of emergency issued throughout the Northeast.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: I'm declaring a state of emergency, effective immediately.

MARQUEZ: The National Weather Service describing the storm as life- threatening and historic, officials warning residents, stay home, stay off the roads. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I want our first-responders and

our transportation officials to be able to do their work safely, so we want everybody to get home and get off the roads.

MARQUEZ: The massive storm could drop up to three feet of snow on Boston and New York before it's all over. Freezing rain and hurricane-strength winds have caused officials to issue blizzard and winter storm warnings reaching from Maryland all the way up to Canada, with up to 58 million people in its path.

In New York City, it's an all-hands emergency, 2,400 sanitation workers removing snow in 12-hour shifts, thousands of snowplows rolling 24 hours a day, tens of thousands of tons of salt ready to be distributed, schools closed, traffic banned after 11:00 p.m., services across the city halted as people brace. The state of New York has put the National Guard on standby.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: I'm ordering that at 11:00 tonight, our streets will only be available to emergency vehicles, so all non-emergency vehicles need to be off the streets of New York City by 11:00 p.m. tonight. And we will continue that emergency declaration until the situation is safe.

MARQUEZ: In Connecticut, the governor has ordered a statewide ban on travel starting at 9:00 p.m. and warned that up to 100,000 people could lose power across the state.

GOV. DANNEL MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: We will get through this storm together.

MARQUEZ: In Massachusetts, the governor there has deployed 500 National Guard troops and warns residents, be ready.

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R), MASSACHUSETTS: This is a top five historic storm. We should treat it as such.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: And now what you are looking at there is one of the many places where they are keeping salt, in the tens of thousands of tons of salt, around the city of New York.

We have a number of snowplows and garbage trucks with -- modified with plows in the front on them already. The wind is picking up down here as well, already stinging the eyes. I want to show you the quality of the snow here, if I can. It's become very, very light. It was very frozen earlier.

It's become very light and the wind is picking up, and it is becoming very painful. I can tell you, some very hard-core New Yorkers still out here riding their bikes and even running on the trails here, but that probably won't be for long. If predictions are right, the snow will be up to about my waist by tomorrow -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. Emergency crews here in New York will have 6,000 miles of streets to

cover once the storm hits. That's the equivalent of traveling from here to Los Angeles and back. So you can see why keeping people off the roads, especially this evening and early tomorrow morning, will be absolutely critical.

I'm joined now by two members of the New York City city council, Daniel Dromm, who represents parts of Queens, and Ben Kallos, who represents the East Side, Upper East Side.

Let me start with you, Councilman Dromm.

What are you most worried about right now?

DANIEL DROMM, NEW YORK CITY COUNCILMAN: Well, I just want to be sure that people are safe, that they are getting home safely, that they are not out unless they absolutely have to be outside. We have 2,000 snowplows out, 500 salt spreaders out there. And people need to get home as quickly as humanly possible.

TAPPER: And, Councilman Kallos, even if people go home, and they hunker down, there is the risk, as has happened in the not-so-distant past, that a storm like this could actually cause power outages. What is being done in case of that situation?

BEN KALLOS, NEW YORK CITY COUNCILMAN: So we have got 2,400 sanitation folks out to keep the roads clear. The roads are going to be closed at 11:00, except for emergency vehicles, which means that if power's going down, we will be able to get out there with our ConEd workers, get those lines back up.

The best thing that can happen is the 8.4 million people here in this city are our eyes and ears. They need to call 311, contact elected officials. And we can make sure we direct resources wherever there's a need.

TAPPER: And, Councilman Dromm, what has the city learned from the recent storms of the last decade or so that will put you in a better position for this big storm today?

DROMM: Well, we actually passed legislation after that tremendous snowstorm in 2010 to deal with situations exactly like this.

So we are asking people to be out there after it's done clearing curbs, clearing corners. We know that we need those salt spreaders and those plows out now in anticipation of the bigger snowstorm that's coming later on. So we have learned a lot from that.

TAPPER: And, Councilman Kallos, I have heard complaints, I don't know if they are accurate or not, but in the past, people in some neighborhoods complaining that they are down on the list when it comes to their streets being cleared, that the more affluent New Yorkers seem to have their streets cleared first.

Do they have any case to make? Has that happened in the past? What's being done to make sure that it's not done this time? KALLOS: We as an administration are committed to equity. The mayor

is making sure that everybody gets their street plowed. You can actually check whether or not you got plowed and how recently on PlowNYC.

And we had a rough first season and now we know, and we are taking this storm very seriously. So we have got plows out right now all over the city, as you mentioned, 6,000 miles of roads that's going to be cleared. If you feel like you haven't gotten plowed yet, call 311. Call your elected official. We will make sure to send out a plow and take care of it.

TAPPER: And 6,000 miles, as we said, that's to Los Angeles and back. It's a lot to plow.

One of the things, Councilman Dromm, that happens in these instances of storms, of people losing their lives, it's often guys our age and older who go out there and start shoveling and have heart attacks. And that's something I know we want to warn people, don't overexert yourself shoveling snow. What are some other situations that people can get into jams in a situation like this?

DROMM: One of the things that happened in that 2010 snowstorm was that people had to actually pull people to the hospital on sleds and stuff like that.

They should call 911 in emergency situations and try to get an ambulance out there. We are in constant contact with the mayor's office. Our offices are communicating with them. They can call our offices as well. So, if they need help with anything like that whatsoever, they should be calling their council members or 311, 911.

TAPPER: Councilman Dromm, Councilman Kallos, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Best of luck to you. Best of luck to your constituents.

Even for a state or commonwealth like Massachusetts that is used to snow, this storm has everyone on edge, the governor declaring a state of emergency, schools canceled, residents told, stay inside, stay in your home.

What plans do Boston officials have in place for tonight? We will talk to the Boston mayor next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper, live in New York City, right near Columbus Circle.

The snow is certainly picking up. It may not stop until it's up to my knees or my waist or higher, who knows? But Boston, Beantown, that is the city that could be sitting in these bands of snow for the longest, the deepest snow. Kids there are already getting at least two days off from school. School canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Alexandra Field is literally our roving reporter. She's in Boston right now.

Alexandra, what are conditions like on the roads? Has it really hit up there yet?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake. We are waiting. The next couple of hours, that's when we should start to see the brunt of this storm really coming in. But you can see some flurries in the air.

And if you look across the Charles River, we have come over to the Cambridge side so we can show you the Boston skyline. And you can see that, you know, not a lot of visibility, certainly some snow in the air. Still some people who are out, a lot of people hustling right now to get home from work, to get home from school, to get to those grocery stores, get the provisions before they get inside and stay inside for really what could be the next couple of days.

Look, I had the great pleasure of living in this city for a couple of years. Nobody handles snow better but people are really hearing these warnings that this is a very serious storm, that we could see coming. We are seeing a lot of road signs and billboards warning people about the blizzard conditions, letting them know this is something that's going to start today and stretch into Wednesday.

And a lot of really serious precautions are already being taken. We heard the governor call for a driving ban which will go into effect at midnight, meaning no nonessential vehicles can get on the roads. They just want the emergency responders out there and they just want the snow removal operations out there once that is possible, of course, because we know when the snow really starts to come down, those operations of course have to be peeled back.

The city of Boston really preparing as well. We know the mayor has called for a snow emergency to begin at 6:00. They are citing concerns about cars on the road. They will ask people to get cars off major roadways by 8:00. People have a little more time right now to get ready for this one.

TAPPER: All right. Alexandra Field in Boston. It's going to get worse there. Stay safe. Thank you so much.

If Boston is something of a bull's eye for this storm, what is that city doing to get ready? Could people there be feeling the effects long after this blizzard, Winter Storm Juno, has passed?

Let's go live right now to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Mayor Walsh, thanks so much for joining us.

Obviously, your city has been through blizzards before but the warnings from you and from the new governor are very stark. Why does this storm have so many leaders there so concerned?

MAYOR MARTIN WALSH (D), BOSTON: Well, really, what we're seeing in the news channels and the weather forecasts, they're all saying anywhere from 24 to 30 inches of snow. The way it's coming in, it will be a long storm over the whole course of tonight into tomorrow, so we are really preparing just to be safe.

We have 800 pieces of equipment which is about 250 more than we normally would have ready to go. We pre-salted our streets and sanded them to get the first foundation down. We canceled school for Tuesday and Wednesday really to -- for the snowstorm tomorrow, then to allow for removal on Wednesday.

TAPPER: And you have issued the warning, you told the people of Boston and surrounding area -- go home, stay home, don't drive.

WALSH: Yes.

TAPPER: In your view, what is the biggest threat this blizzard could pose to the people of Boston? What are you most worried about?

WALSH: I mean, if people start driving and get stuck on the roadways, causing safety problems, putting our public safety officials at risk trying to save people. I really want them to be available when people are trapped in their home to help them out. Keep our roads clear so we can really make sure that we remove all the snow.

We are asking people to check on their neighbors, particularly the elderly and disabled neighbors and anyone who might be stuck in their home to make sure they have everything they need to get through the next couple of days. And just keep an eye on what's going on. Our crews are ready for downed power lines. We are pretty much preparing for anything that might happen throughout this storm.

TAPPER: And, Mr. Mayor, your city has essentially been shut down for tomorrow. If this storm packs as much of a punch as expected, how long do you think you will be dealing with the aftereffects of dangerous roads, of power outages? Are you talking days or maybe even a week?

WALSH: Well, as far as the roads go, we really have a plan in place to have the roads up and running by some point on Wednesday. Power outages, a little different depending on the magnitude of it. What happens, we had one of the utilities in our office today, they have been part of this effort of preparing, so we are getting ready, we have extra crews on to take down tree limbs and trees as we have to as we move forward in this storm. So, we are trying to do as much preventive work as we can so we don't run into those problems.

TAPPER: And explain for our viewers why you are putting so much emphasis on people staying off the roads. Is it entirely so emergency responders are there to take care of people trapped in their homes without power?

WALSH: Well, it's a little bit of everything. Part of it's emergency responders, part of it is being able to clear the snow. On the other side, I would rather people be on the side of caution and take this as -- see the reports and prepare for the worst and anything short of that, we'll be okay. We just have to be very careful here. When you're looking at the storm, particularly for Boston, this looks like the perfect storm that's heading our way. It's passing through New York now. It's coming right up the coast and

all reports show that we are going to have a direct hit in the city. And we want to make sure we are prepared for it. And again, by keeping people in their home, don't be curious, stay in the home, watch the television if you have power and you hopefully will have power, and just take all the precautions. I would rather you be safe than sorry.

TAPPER: All right. Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston, best of luck to you, best of luck to the great people in the wonderful city of Boston.

WALSH: Thank you.

TAPPER: We wish you the best.

And, Chad, I have to say, you teased this earlier and it's always something I'm interested in. Thunder snow. What is thunder snow? It's coming?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's coming.

TAPPER: What is that?

MYERS: When we have vertical velocities in a storm which means the air is going up, like an updraft in a thunderstorm, you can get the shear of the snowflakes to create static just like you shuffling your feet on the carpet and you touch the doorknob or your brother, you probably did that when you were a kid, especially on the nose, that kind of stings, that's the lightning created from thunder snow.

Well, it's muffled because the snow makes it quiet but it's kept very close to the surface of the earth because of the inversion that's aloft. So, it rumbles for minutes.

TAPPER: So, it's coming where?

MYERS: We could see it from Boston through Connecticut, Rhode Island. Not everywhere, it only goes for about six miles around where there's a lightning strike or even cloud to cloud but you will hear it tonight absolutely.

TAPPER: And that lightning can do damage.

MYERS: It certainly can, but the biggest threat when you get thunder snow is you get four inches of snow per hour. We have been looking at these guys shoveling behind us. Trucks going by, I'm sure you can hear them. The snow is coming down a quarter inch every ten minutes. They are trying to keep up.

But that's an inch and a half an hour. We may go to three to four inches an hour. That piles up quickly.

TAPPER: All right. Chad, stick around.

When we come back, as we said, it's not just the snow that has officials so worried. It's also the wind and the potential flooding on the coastline as high tide is expected to hit just when the storm is at its worst. Of course, we will go to the coast. The wind's already picking up.

Plus, what you will need to know if you're traveling at all, not just today but for the rest of the week. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

You're looking at shots of Fifth Avenue in New York. The snow is really starting to come down here. We are awaiting the latest word on this monster storm from Governor Andrew Cuomo. That's coming up soon.

In the meantime, you're looking right now at side by side views of Fifth Avenue in New York City. We have heavier bands of snow moving in here by the minute. The wind is now starting to really pick up. We'll see driving conditions turn even more dangerous as the night goes on and that, of course, has emergency officials putting travel bans in effect from New York all the way up to Boston, Massachusetts.

Let's bring in Polly Trottenberg on the phone. She's a commissioner of New York City's Department of Transportation.

Commissioner, thanks for joining us. What's your main message for people right now?

POLLY TROTTENBERG, NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (via telephone): Thanks for having me. My main message is a simple one. This is obviously a serious storm. We are asking New Yorkers starting this afternoon to get home as soon as they can and to stay off the roads tonight and tomorrow.

As you mentioned, the mayor is actually going to be instituting a vehicle ban starting at 11:00 p.m. for regular vehicles. Obviously emergency vehicles and others will still be able to be on the streets but for regular New Yorkers, please take your vehicles off the roads, use common sense, stay home and be safe.

TAPPER: And, Commissioner Trottenberg, you are calling for nonemergency cars to be off New York City streets by 11:00 tonight. How is that going to be enforced if you are out there driving around, will cops stop you, will they ticket you, will they impound your car?

TROTTENBERG: Well, what the police have said, they have asked, too, for common sense, they have the ability, officers have the discretion to stop you and look, they don't want to have to do a lot of that. Obviously, they are hoping that people will abide by the ban and unless there's an emergency and you really need to be on the roads, please just stay off.

TAPPER: You're looking at live pictures right now of New York's Central Park as the snow really starts to come down here.

Commissioner, one last question. How long do you think this travel ban is going to be into effect or is that just to be determined? TROTTENBERG: Right. The mayor was careful to say that Mother Nature

doesn't necessarily send us a memo as to exactly when she's going to be done with us. And we want to make sure we have the ban in effect as long as is needed. Obviously, we will lift it as soon as we can. It's not clear exactly when the storm is going to end but we certainly know tonight and well into tomorrow, we're going to have very severe weather on our hands.

TAPPER: All right. That Mother Nature, she's a capricious one. Best of luck to you.

TROTTENBERG: Thank you.

TAPPER: Commissioner Trottenberg, we appreciate it.