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New Day

Epic Snowstorm Batters Buffalo; Stranded Basketball Team Rescued; Death Toll Rises in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack; Feds Call for Nationwide Airbag Recall

Aired November 19, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFEID MALE: I've lived in Buffalo my whole life and I've never seen it like that. It was scary.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Breaking news -- record- breaking snowfall pounding upstate New York. The dire situations piled higher than the snow. Imagine a bunch of kids stranded for over a day. It's being called one of the worst snowstorms in decades. We're going to take you to the heart of the storm as much of the nation is in a deep freeze this morning.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Also ahead today, scenes of terror. We are learning more about what happened inside of that synagogue in Jerusalem where attackers took the lives of five people including three Americans. Worshipers showing up for prayers this morning in a show of strength as Israel vow as harsh response.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANNCHOR (voice-over): New accusations -- another woman coming forward accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Former model Janice Dickinson says she, too, was a victim, detailing the disturbing encounter. This as the comedian loses a major business venture.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Kate Boldaun and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO (on camera): Good morning, welcome to NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, November 19th, 6:00 in the east, almost. Chris Cuomo and Brooke Baldwin here with breaking news, for sure. Buffalo buried under six feet of snow, six feet. We're close to making the wrong kind of history here, people. The National Weather Service is reporting totals approaching 76 inches. That would be a 6'4-person buried.

BALDWIN (on camera): Incredible. We haven't even gotten Thanksgiving yet and this is what people are dealing with, folks. This monster storm is proving to be deadly. Four fatalities being blamed on the system thus far. I can tell you this morning that a state of emergency has been declared. The National Guard has been activated. And a 100-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway has been shut down.

We have complete coverage this morning. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is braving it in Buffalo with us with the very latest -- Jennifer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Overnight more record- shattering lake-effect snow paralyzing parts of western New York. Buffalo now in a state of emergency as the governor deploys the National Guard for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very serious storm.

GRAY: Up to six feet of snow and climbing. First responders carrying patients to the hospital on foot. The snow so deep in some places snowmobiles can't operate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably heavier than anything that we have seen in over 40 years.

GRAY: From the sky, a wall of white. On the ground...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is the garage door.

GRAY: ... the snow is piling so high, so fast, it comes crashing into this home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrendous. It really is. We're going to make history.

GRAY: The snowfall up to five inches an hour, crippling emergency personnel. At a firehouse in the heart of a storm, a mother delivers her baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could not get her to the hospital. She was born. She's safe and she's healthy.

GRAY: Near Buffalo, an 81-year-old man died after first responders were unable to get him to the hospital in time. The man, one of three people dying of cardiac arrest Tuesday while shoveling. The residents scrambling to dig themselves out.

The near white-out conditions already causing one deadly car accident and leaving the Niagara University women's basketball team stranded along the I-90 corridor. The team finally rescued nearly 24 hours later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRAY: And guys, we are back out here live in Buffalo. This snow is coming down at rates would you not believe. Probably four inches an hour or more.

And it is just piling up so fast they have nowhere to put it. The plows have been coming by, trying to get rid of it. And then these huge dump trucks just come, load it in the dump truck, and they're taking it off. Because there's just nowhere for it to go.

Yesterday we were out talking to residents. They're comparing this to the blizzard of '77. They say they've never seen anything like it.

It's unbelievable how localized this is. You have a ten-mile swath of this snow. On the other side -- nothing. You have green grass. And so from a matter of about three miles you go from nothing to about 50 inches of snow. This is something that even people from Buffalo can't even believe.

And guys, unfortunately this has been deadly, and this is just the first wave. This is expected to die down later this morning. More expected to come tonight through tomorrow.

Back to you.

BALDWIN: My goodness, Jennifer gray. We see there a truck behind you. As I'm watching you, just I'm sure you can't even feel your face as you're talking to me, but I'm just trying to get a better perspective.

I don't know who your photographer is. I don't know if we can take the camera off the sticks, but I sure would love to see just if you could tilt down to see how deep that snow is where you're standing.

GRAY: Yes, we'll try. We keep losing shot a little bit. That's why we weren't moving around. Jonathan...

CUOMO: Then don't do it.

BALDWIN: Don't do it. Don't do it then.

GRAY: If you can...

CUOMO: We can see the accumulation just in your hood.

GRAY: Maybe for the next one we'll try to get it going.

CUOMO: We can just see the accumulation on your shoulders and your hood. It's obviously coming down. There's big local advisories. If you can get out of your house and walk to check on neighbors, elderly, those who may be challenged in situations like this in particular, do it.

You guys, be careful up there. I know you're covering the story and you get excited about that, but stay warm, as well. All right?

BALDWIN: Thank you, Jennifer.

GRAY: Will do.

BALDWIN: And to the crew and, of course, to sometimes, you know, when you're standing in the thick of it you just want to see how deep, how nasty the storm is. We have at least some good news to report this morning. South of

Buffalo you have this women's college basketball team -- Jennifer mentioned this in her piece, you know -- frozen in their tracks no more. So hopefully these frowns will turn into smiles shortly.

Niagara University's hoops team was stranded on this highway for some 26 hours. But the good news this morning, we can first now tell you they have been rescued.

A little back-story: they were heading home after a game in Pittsburgh when they got stuck. That was around 2 in the morning near Lackawanna, New York. That was yesterday 2 a.m., right?

So now we have the coach on the phone. She is Kendra Faustin. She is the head coach of the Niagara University women's basketball team.

Coach, you have been all other Twitter, you and your team. You tweeted that you're safe at the toll plaza. Are you okay?

KENDRA FAUSTIN, HEAD COACH, NIAGARA UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM (via phone): Yes, we are. You know we're all together on the bus, and we're about ten minutes from campus and really tired and really excited to be home.

BALDWIN: How -- take me back to the rescue over the course of the last few hours. How did that happen? Who was it?

FAUSTIN: You know, it was -- it was the state troopers as well as some volunteer firefighters. And so it was a little -- we came out in (inaudible) and about half went with the state troopers, and half went in some all-terrain vehicles and you know, we were split up for a little bit. But we're all together now.

You know, we had to leave everything on the bus. And you know -- but the most important thing is we got off, and we're out of it. It really, driving, you know, the Humvee or whatever, the SWAT car that we were in that goes through anything, I mean, it was -- it was really bad. It was really coming down again. And we're just really glad to be together and almost home.

BALDWIN: I am sure you are. And just looking at pictures, you know, people knee-deep, you know, careening over the snow. I can't imagine in a very serious snow, you know, there were, I understand, little kiddies on this bus, as well, in addition to your team and these young women. How did you pull through with, I'm sure, dwindling food, water and supplies?

FAUSTIN: Yes, you know, the first time that the troopers came by they took one of our -- one of our staff members was a little ill, so they took her and then my kids, about four, five hours ago. So they took them first.

And we were going to wait it out. They thought they could get us out. And I said, you know, we can -- we can make it through the night, but tomorrow morning, if we're not out of here, you know, somebody has to come get us and just completely remove us. Because they thought that they could dig our bus out to the point where we could drive away, drive up to campus, you know, by this morning. And as they got into it, they realized that wasn't going to happen. They back to basically evacuate us from our bus.

So you know, we had planned on staying through the night. And we're really just excited to get off and get home.

BALDWIN: Coach Faustin, I was worried I'd have to talk to you at the 29th hour of being stuck. So at least you all are headed home back to campus. Thank you so much. Our best to you and the team. Appreciate it.

FAUSTIN: Thank you. Appreciate it. You're welcome.

CUOMO: That team will never be tighter. And I'll tell you, if there's one way to get over a loss -- a loss to Pittsburgh, now that game is way behind them.

BALDWIN: Way. Ancient history.

CUOMO: They just scored a much bigger victory, you know? They made it through this horrible storm. So we wish them well. That's for sure.

And you know, look, here's the big deal. It's so high, so many feet, it's all about the history of it. But it's also about the fact that it's not stopping. And there are people who are in real danger. Can we put up some of the pictures of exactly what the practical effect is of this much snow is on your home and stuff like that? Can we show it?

BALDWIN: Here we go.

CUOMO: Well, these are guys walking in the snow. That's not the most helpful thing. But we do have pictures, I believe, of what it looks like when you get this much snow outside your house.

Indra, can you call up those pictures for us? You're a meteorologist.

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I wish I could call up the exact picture for you that you're talking about. We're talking about 76 inches of snow. That is the most amount of snow that you have seen in 24 hours anywhere in the United States. And we cannot only be tying that with this storm. But we can also see breaking the record.

A lot of people are saying why? Why are we seeing so much snow? It all has to deal how cold the air is. We know that. So many of us have been feeling it. Keep in mind: one inch of rain, everyone keeps talking about this 15 or 20 ratio. What makes one inch of rain? If it's cold enough, you times that by 15, and that's how many inches of snow you are talking about.

Look at these totals, and this is only one wave of the storm. Remember yesterday? All 50 states somewhere saw a record morning low, a temperature below freezing in all 50 states. Today, these are your current temperatures. We could see that again. So we're still stuck in this pattern here with these very cool

temperatures. In fact we're not just breaking records in the upper Midwest; look at the southeast. We're talking about places like Florida, in through Alabama, Mississippi, even Georgia we have already broken the record for the morning low. So that's how cold this dive -- or how far south the cold air has dug in.

Now what are we talking about? Temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, about 31 degrees in through New York City today. And again, we are talking about temperatures that you typically see in January, the dead of winter. We're seeing them now. Pea have not seen temperatures this cool since the middle of November, and there's just another wave right after this one, guys. Tough to say.

CUOMO: We'll stay on it, because it's not over, as you said. Who knows what's going to happen next.

BALDWIN: It could be the worst ever in 24 hours.

CUOMO: That's right. And for me, I don't care how high it gets. I worry about the people who have to deal with it, you know.

BALDWIN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: It's going to get harder and harder for emergency services.

In other news this morning, a fifth victim of that attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem has died of his wounds. Palestinian cousins stormed the synagogue with meat cleavers and knives, killing four rabbis.

We have CNN's Atika Shubert. She has the latest for us, covering it from Jerusalem -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is still very much a city on edge. There were mobs of people last night calling for revenge, but fortunately, that violence doesn't seem to have happened overnight. It was relatively calm.

But even as the city tries to get back to normal life, it's still quite tense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice-over): Today early-morning prayers at the scene of a horrific terror attack inside this west Jerusalem synagogue. Mourners watch in grief as the victims' bodies are carried outside and laid to rest. Four rabbis killed, three of them Americans with dual citizenship: Aryeh Kupinsky, Kalman Levine, and Moshe Twersky. A police officer, Zidan Saif, was critically wounded during the attack, and later died in hospital.

Back in the U.S., a vigil in Boston for Twersky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will always remember Moshe for his modesty, his brilliance, his smile and his kindness. SHUBERT: Relatives remember Levine as a gentle man with a calling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As beyond horrific as this is, for Kalman to live and die in the land, in Jerusalem in prayer, that's the way we'd all want it to happen.

SHUBERT: But as some mourned, others up in arms. Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, who fired tear gas. The attack ratcheting up fears of increasing violence in a city already reeling from weeks of unrest.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the attack on civilians. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to settle the score with every terrorist, ordering the demolition of the slain attackers' homes in east Jerusalem.

President Obama saying too many have died on both sides.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's important for both Palestinians and Israelis to try to work together to lower tensions and to reject violence.

SHUBERT: But in Gaza, celebrations. Revelers wielding axes, throwing candy, waving posters of the two Palestinian assailants. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of the ongoing investigation is leading us to believe that the two suspects, the two terrorists worked on their own, that they planned the attack ahead of time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT: Now, Israeli police have already arrested a number of family members of the two attackers, 13 in all. And they have also said they will demolish the homes of the attackers as they are doing with other, other attackers that have carried out attacks in the recent weeks -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Atika, thank you very much. We'll all about what happens next. We're now hearing about retaliation, that they're going to get even on the Israeli side. So we're going to have to follow it closely. Thank you very much.

A lot of other news this morning, so let's get right to Mick.

PEREIRA: Good morning, team, how we doing? We're good?

BALDWIN: Good.

PEREIRA: Good on a Wednesday? All right.

No snow here. No snow here.

CUOMO: No snow here. Got to take the good where you find it.

PEREIRA: We're going to keep watching that situation, because boy, oh boy, this is epic.

Let's give you a look at these headlines now, 12 minutes past the hour.

Republicans vowing a renewed fight this morning after Senate Democrats blocked a Bill to construct the Keystone Pipeline by a single vote. This move dealing a sharp blow to Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who had pinned her re-election on approval of the measure. President Obama, for his part, he's remained skeptical on the legislation, which faces several legal hurdles.

Senate Republicans blocked a Bill that would reign in NSA surveillance programs. Under this Bill, which grew out of NSA leaker Edward Snowden's disclosures, the government could no longer keep large amount of Americans' phone records. Opponents argue the changes would hamper the NSA's ability to track terrorists. The Obama administration and technology giants Apple, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all supported the Bill.

Federal safety regulators are calling for a nationwide recall of vehicles with Takata air bags that could potentially explode. Regulators are demanding more information from the Japanese airbag manufacturer.

Our Rene Marsh is looking at all for us. She's in Washington with more.

Safety regulators say automaker said it was unwilling, Rene, to issue a nationwide recall. Does Takata have to bow to the regulators' demand?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, if the manufacturer doesn't comply, this could come down to a court battle to force them to comply. But we're talking about millions and millions of cars, additional cars being recalled here.

So if you drive -- and we have them for you here -- a Ford, a Honda, a Chrysler, Mazda or BMW manufactured before 2008, you could be impacted. The National Highway -- National Highway Safety Administration says that your driver's side air bag may need to be replaced.

Now, the agency is still working on defining all of the specific models for those makes involved here. But prior to this, if you remember, nearly eight million cars by ten automakers had been recalled over those defective air bags. But the recall was limited to hot and humid states. The theory was that the defect was not triggered unless it was humid.

But this all changed when a driver was injured in North Carolina, when metal shrapnel shot from his air bag. And then regulators said, "Wait a minute. We need to expand this recall nationwide, because this is not a problem that's only happening in humid states. It's happening in other places, as well."

Now, Michaela, despite what safety regulators said yesterday about Takata's resistance in going along with the nationwide recall, we did receive a statement from the company late yesterday. They said that they are working with authorities to get a little bit more direction, and they say they're also working with automakers -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Rene. We'll stay on this story with you. Thank you so much for bringing us up to date.

In other news, a U.N. committee has voted to hold North Korean leaders accountable for human rights violation -- violations. The vote stems from a devastating U.N. report which details wide-ranging abuses in the country, after hearing evidence of torture, political repression and other crimes. The vote at the U.N. recommends a referral to the International Criminal Court for the possible prosecution of North Korean leaders for crimes against humanity.

We'll continue on that story, as well.

CUOMO: Remember a lot of people had speculated that that threat may have pressured the release of the Americans recently.

PEREIRA: Yes. The Americans. Yes.

CUOMO: See what else it can do.

PEREIRA: I know.

BALDWIN: Michaela, thank you very much.

PEREIRA: Sure, guys.

BALDWIN: Also ahead here, retaliation in the air in the Middle East as the prime minister of Israel promises to, quote-unquote, "settle the score" after the murder of those four rabbis and a police officer in Jerusalem.

How will he retaliate? That's one of the questions we're asking this morning. And will it sink the region back into war? We'll talk to George Mitchell, the former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, coming up. You're watching NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Israel is now vowing to retaliate following that despicable attack on a synagogue that killed four rabbis and a police officer. So what will that mean? And does it doom any chance at peace, at least any time soon?

Let's bring in somebody with deep perspective on this, George Mitchell. He's the former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. He's also a former Senate majority leader and now serves as the chairman emeritus of the international law firm DLA Piper.

Senator, thank you very much. It's good to have you, as always, sir.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO MIDDLE EAST: Thanks for having me, Chris. CUOMO: So when we look at this situation, it's all about the

perspective. I would like to play what President Obama said, because it seems very simple, but almost a perfect portrayal of the reality of the situation. May we play it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Too many Israelis have died; too many Palestinians have died. And at this difficult time, I think it's important for both Palestinians and Israelis to try to work together to lower tensions and to reject violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now there's no question that that is very simple, but it is not simplistic. When you boil it all down, despite the ugliness and the horrible violence, at the end of the day, as you know too well from your experience, is it as simple as that?

MITCHELL: Well, the first thing that must be said, of course, is that nothing, no grievance justifies brutal murders of the type that occurred there in the synagogue in west Jerusalem.

The second is, of course, that this has a long history. There have been two major violent Palestinian uprisings called intifadas in the past several decades, the most recent in the year 2000. Both occurred at a time when it appeared that there was no prospect for movement in the peace process negotiations to establish a two-state solution. And I think there's widespread concern, fear even, that there could be another outbreak coming.

I think what makes this particularly dangerous, Chris, is that the external circumstances -- that is the turbulence in the region as a whole -- is now unlike anything that occurred, that existed at the time of the two prior intifadas. You have Syria, Iraq, tremendous difficulties throughout the region. And no one can know, no one can say for sure what might happen if an outbreak triggered by Jerusalem were to occur and how it would interact with other conflicts.

The second point that must be made, is that a real danger here is that this involves Jerusalem and a very holy site for Muslims everywhere. So this is not just Palestinians and Israelis, it's Muslims. There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world today. That number will double over the next several decades. And this takes the conflict to, I think, a different level.

So it is very dangerous. I think that heeding the president's words will be difficult for the leaders on both sides. But I think that's what must be done, is somehow try to calm the situation, to reduce the possibility or the likelihood of further acts that would inflame the situation in Jerusalem.

CUOMO: But we do know that we are well within the cycle now. This was a heinous attack on a holy place, which crosses a second line of wrongfulness in the eyes of all those involved. Now we're hearing strong talk from the prime minister of Israel. We

know what that means. We know that, you know, talk is not cheap with the Israelis. They act on it, and that will continue the cycle of violence. Which is why it seems like there has to be something where these two parties can agree.

Now you raise the aspect of what may be a heightened consideration. Do you believe this has gone from a purely political situation, if it ever was one, to one now that is, in main part, religious? And do we need religious leaders maybe to come to the fore more than they have in the past?

MITCHELL: That would, of course, be helpful. The conflict has always been, in part, religious.

CUOMO: Right.

MITCHELL: But it has also been very heavily national identity and territorial dispute. Many other factors: economics always underlies conflicts as well. But coming to the forefront, the killing of people while in prayer, in a house of prayer, I think does add a dangerous new element to it. It's not the first time it's occurred on either side.

CUOMO: Do you think imams...

MITCHELL: But that doesn't make it any less...

CUOMO: Do you think imams...

MITCHELL: That doesn't make it any less dangerous.

CUOMO: Understood. Do you think imams and rabbis could create peace in a way that the politicians cannot?

MITCHELL: I'm not sure that they could create peace, but they could certainly help to prevent an inflammation or escalation of the conflict. And condemnation of this type of activity by religious leaders everywhere would, I think, help in tamping down what I think could be a very dangerous situation. I emphasize not just for Israelis and Palestinians, but for the entire region. And if that occurs, of course, it affects everyone.

CUOMO: And obviously, that's why, as you wrote very eloquently in a three-part series recently, why it is in the U.S. interests to help in that region. Because if it's not specific to Israel and Palestine, what will happen in the surrounding regions will certainly compromise U.S. interests.

It's also interesting to note for people, Senator Mitchell, that you say in 1947 there was a plan laid out for a two-state solution that would be very agreeable to most Arab leaders today. And yet, sadly, it is off the table for now.

Thank you very much for your perspective on this, and we encourage people to read what you wrote on it. They can find it online at CNN. And I'm sure we'll be speaking to you about this more soon.

MITCHELL: Chris.

CUOMO: Brooke.

BALDWIN: Chris, thank you so much.

Ahead this morning on NEW DAY, another woman is now accusing comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault. You recognize her. She's former supermodel Janice Dickinson. She says the entertainer drugged her and raped her more than three decades ago in a Lake Tahoe hotel room.

More on that, coming up next.

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