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New Day

Northeast Bracing for Historic Blizzard; Sherman: NFL Won't Punish Patriots; 2016 GOP Hopefuls Court Voters in Iowa

Aired January 26, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That there will be enough static in the atmosphere to cause thunder and lightening out there. So, where do we get it? Twenty inches or more to the east. It keeps going, 25 inches, possibly, to the east of New York City. Now, some of these models are trying off a bit because the storm is so far offshore.

So, here's where we go, a blizzard. It's not just a word. It isn't just something that we made up. There are technical terms for the word "blizzard" -- you have to have wind. You have to have wind of 25 miles an hour or more for a very long time.

You have you to have snow coming down, or it's called the ground blizzard. You can have that in the plains where the snow is just everywhere, it's blowing around, but it's not coming down.

We are going to have a blizzard with snow coming down, and snow blowing on the ground. This has to go for three or more hours. So, here you go. We have a big time snow event. A lot of snow coming down, this is where we will see it.

Will we break records? I don't think so. Maybe Boston. Maybe it will close. New York City, I'm thinking probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 inches, maybe 20 at the outset. The most you could possibly get.

But further up into the Adirondacks, the Catskills, and the Green Mountains, certainly 30 inches possible. And that will close to breaking all time records from 2006 to 2003, wherever it might be. This is a pretty big deal.

I need you to be pleased off the roads before it starts, because once you get stuck on the roads, everybody else is getting stuck. You know it's coming, please be smart.

Guys, back to you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chad, thanks, so much for that important update.

So, for more on what New York is doing this morning to brace for that storm, it could be the biggest. We are joined by Teresa Candori. She is the spokeswoman for the New York State Emergency Management Agency.

Teresa, thanks so much for joining us at this hour.

TERESA CANDORI, NEW YORK STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via telephone): Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK. When you hear Chad say that two to three feet may fall somewhere between New York and Boston, what are you doing to prepare for that?

CANDORI: Well, we evacuated our mortgages operations center. We have snow removal equipment and we are monitoring the storm, obviously. The governor has issued warnings, he's asked people to stay home today.

The snow is probably going to be picking up in intensity, right around the time people will be commuting. We've asked people to work home, if possible. Stay off the roads.

It's very important that people remember, that people need to get through the emergency vehicles need to get through. Where the big danger with this type of snow is the snow is blowing and drifting. It's going to be a dry snow.

CAMEROTA: That makes it harder or easier?

CANDORI: Well, it makes it harder, because it will be drifting and blocking the roads.

CAMEROTA: Oh.

The governor is asking people to stay home today to be safe. What about closing schools? Is he going to do that?

CANDORI: The governor doesn't close schools. Mayor closes schools. I haven't heard whether the mayor is closing the schools.

CAMEROTA: You know, one of the last storms we saw in this area was a huge blizzard him people ended up getting stuck on the highway as you will recall. So will roads be closed?

CANDORI: There is a possibility that roads will be closed. People should monitor the weather reports. Monitor the news very closely. This is a possibility of long island especially and ought roads being closed if conditions call for that. But at any rate, people should only go out as absolutely necessary.

CAMEROTA: How many emergency teams do you have standing by?

CANDORI: Oh, every emergency in the state is on alert.

CAMEROTA: All right. Teresa Candori, we know you have a busy day. Thanks so much for taking the time to update us on the preparation.

CANDORI: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

As the storm moves, so is the situation. We will stay often it all morning so you can prepare. Even if are you not on the East Coast, this will affect you where you live. Let's got to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So we go from the storm that will literally affect millions of people to a story that is around the Patriots. Will the Patriots escape punishment for deflate-gate even if they are not guilty?

The Seahawks Richard Sherman seems to think so.

Let's get to Andy Scholes who has more in the morning's very hot "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Michaela.

Yes, it doesn't look like the NFL is going to conclude their investigation of deflate-gate any time soon. You know, Tom Brady said again last night, the league still hasn't spoken to him. They don't think they will be every the Super Bowl. It's pretty much a loss it will remain a discussion.

The defending Seahawks arriving in Phoenix yesterday. When asked ability the Patriots role in deflate-gate, Richard Sherman, once again, did not hold anything back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Will they be punished? Probably not, you know? Not as long as Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell are still taking pictures at their respective homes, you know? I think he was just at Kraft's last week before the AFC championship, you know? You talk about conflict of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Here in Boston, they are looking for something to do before the big storm hits. Well, the Patriots are holding a fan rally at city hall later today at 11:00 eastern. Owner Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady all expected to address the crowd. The team will then get on a plane and head for Phoenix.

And, Michaela, I won't be too far behind. I'm going to Phoenix as well. Looking forward to media day, watching how the Patriots handle answering all those questions about deflate-gate all day. They all have to sit there for an hour and answer questions from the media all around the world, and you know that's all they're going to hear --

PEREIRA: It might turn into deflect-gate.

CAMEROTA: I like it.

SCHOLES: The pressure.

PEREIRA: All right.

SCHOLES: A lot of weather talk in Phoenix as well, pressure.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. They will all collide. Thanks so much, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

PEREIRA: All right. Ahead here, the battle lines are being drawn. Potential Republican candidates for president in Iowa over the weekend trying to impress voters. Chris Christie was there, Sarah Palin. Why weren't Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney there?

We're going to take a closer look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The race for 2016 kicked into a high gear this weekend as potential GOP candidates tried to win over voters at the Iowa Freedom Summit. Attendees include Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker.

But two of the biggest names, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush were no-shows.

Joining us to discuss all this, CNN political analyst and editor-in- chief of "The Daily Beast", John Avlon, and CNN political commentator and Republican consultant and Sirius XM host, Margaret Hoover.

Great to see you, guys.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Happy Monday.

HOOVER: Happy Monday!

CAMEROTA: OK. It seems as though the battle lines may be drawn between the candidates themselves, where they tried to distinguish themselves from each other. Let me show you some of the sounds that we heard this weekend.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: You know, in a Republican primary, every candidate is going to come in front of you and say, I'm the most conservative guy that ever lived. Gosh, darn it, who did leave out conservative? Well, you know what, talk is cheap.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Taking a trip to some foreign city for two days does not make you Henry Kissinger.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: If I was too blunt, too direct, too loud and too New Jersey for Iowa, then why do you people keep inviting me back?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Margaret, is this the first moment where we start to see them sort of fight between themselves?

HOOVER: I don't think this is fighting between themselves as much. Though I do think you are right. They're beginning to distinguish their riff, how they are different from the others. What I think what's more than anything is, you are right, it's a warm-up, but this was not essential.

I mean, the other person who didn't come was Bobby Jindal. Do you know why? He was hosting his own spiritual arrival in Baton Rouge --

AVLON: As Republican presidential aspirants do.

HOOVER: As born again Catholics do to try to recruit evangelicals to try to vote for them. So, this is -- they're all sort of beginning to start flexing their muscles. They're beginning to get their (INAUDIBLE)

I mean, Carly Fiorina speech was really interesting because even though she never won an election, she anticipates my view, anticipates being selected as a vice presidential nominee, especially running against Hillary. But I think it's an important exercise because it's not just red meat. But these were thoughtful conservative ideas being presented to the conservative audience that she talked about a lot of social issues, and she talks about abortion, Dodd-Frank, overregulation, community banks --

AVLON: Can we get real for a second?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: She's more experienced than the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton because she traveled a lot, too?

AVLON: Yes, she will throw Benghazi out there for red meat out of desperation.

CUOMO: It's one of the things is they were thrown haymakers. And if you think you're somebody already, you don't want to be there with somebody trying to throw a knockout punch.

AVLON: Let's get real. This is the dean of the crazy caucus Steve King's cattle call. All right? We cover it because not only is it the first time they all get together and that's exciting, it's the first time they say something incredibly crazy and attempt to pander to the base out in Iowa.

So, we are all hoping for the car crash and there were a lot of them. Sarah Palin, you could diagram those sentences for days and not make sense of them, OK? But this is the place where the people come to pander and play to the base. The reason you don't go, you actually think being responsible might get you the nomination. That's a tough bet in the Republican Party. We saw people pandering and the weirdness comes out.

CAMEROTA: Margaret calls poppycock in all that.

CUOMO: She says, hoodiddly (ph). HOOVER: That's how we say it in Iowa, hoodiddly. Look, I think it's an important people. People tone their speeches. But this was look, Sarah Palin isn't running for anything. Donald Trump is not running for everything.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: Well, that maybe true, that is what is sort of nutty about this event.

Look, there were some serious contenders there along with a lot not serious contenders. But the bottom line is this was a nonessential event. Bobby Jindal didn't go, you know why? He's going to Iowa every other week anyway.

CUOMO: He's also maybe trying to hide anyway.

HOOVER: No, I think they're all going to Iowa. Keep in mind Iowa is -- of the Republican conference caucus goers, there are 50 percent of them that sit with sort of moderate mainstream Republicans nationally. And then the other 50 percent are the social conservative Christian crowd.

Remember, Mitt Romney did not win the Iowa caucus last night.

CUOMO: Santorum won.

HOOVER: Santorum won, but we didn't know until a week later. And you know what, it didn't matter because what matters out of Iowa is the inertia. But they're basically 50-50. So, Chris Christie goes and talks to this crowd --

CUOMO: But he started a PAC, too. That was a big headline, Alisyn.

AVLON: That's big news, because what's what you do, if you are running for president you follow the money, starting a PAC is the first step for running for president. Do you that at this point in the cycle, you're real.

CAMEROTA: Speaking of money, some pundits say they are starting to see a divide between the grassroots candidates and the big donor candidates. So, the grassroots, Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, who you mentioned, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry -- are the big donor ones only Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, is that how it will break own?

AVLON: Chris Christie I think has a lot of big donor support. The center right and the far right and two different paths to get to that nomination. I mean, this is sort of the schism beneath the GOP civil war that's been brewing for a long while. The folks on the center right, the establishment crowd, have the best chance of being elected president. Let just get real.

The argument is that the grassroots folks may have a path at least until you get to big states like Florida.

HOOVER: I think Marco Rubio and Scott Walker have done a lot of things on a massive scale. So, I don't think --

AVLON: I wouldn't put Rubio in a pure grass roots.

HOOVER: What most of the candidates are doing there, and you saw Ted Cruz's talk, they're making a calculation, purely based on numbers in 2012. There was a repressed turnout from evangelical Christian white men. If you can drum up enough of them and get them to the polls in 2016. You have in sheer numbers enough people to get to the polls. That is not the party --

AVLON: Hoping for more white people is so dumb in the part of the Republican Party.

HOOVER: You are right. It is not a formula for the future of America.

CUOMO: Although, Margaret did form a new term, born again Catholic. Is that a term, born again Catholic?

HOOVER: When was the last time you went to church?

CUOMO: Yesterday. No born again Catholic.

AVLON: You have seen a lot of Catholic conversions, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich, I mean, may not born again in a literal sense, but a lot of Catholic conversions inside the conservative movement.

CAMEROTA: John and Margaret --

AVLON: We could do this all day.

CAMEROTA: Really good. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: I will tell you what. Another theme, these politicians are trying to connect with people, they may want to watch movie, "American Sniper", another blockbuster week. And the question is, what is it about this movie that is resonating across the country? We're going to ask another legendary sniper, a man known as the Reaper who is now telling his story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

"American Sniper", the Oscar-nominated film about the life of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle has made more than $200 million since its release just 10 days ago. And as Kyle story draws crowds to the box office the first autobiography from the Army ranger sniper will be hitting book shelves tomorrow. It's called the "The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers" tells us a story of former U.S. Army Ranger Nicholas Irving.

Nick joins us in studio right now, which is really quite a delight for us.

I was reading your book. You believed it was going to be boring old deployment. Four months later, 33 killed, the deadliest sniper in your battalion, you were just 23-years-old.

NICHOLAS IRVING, AUTHOR, "THE REAPER": Yes, ma'am. I was 22 at the time, yes.

PEREIRA: My goodness.

IRVING: It's quite an experience.

CAMEROTA: Why did you want to tell your story in your new book?

IRVING: For me it was more or less therapy and I wanted to get a few other stories out there of a guy who saved my life and I don't think I would be here today if it were not for Benjamin Copp (ph). He put his life on the line. Five minute after he rescued us, he paid the ultimate sacrifice.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh.

And you say it was therapy writing it because of catharsis, you had to process some of what had happened to you over there.

IRVING: Not so much, yes, pretty much what happened. The kills never bothered me, it was the guys that I saw die.

PEREIRA: Help us understand that. I'm reading the book. The way you tell is very, very personal story first of all. It's not particularly graphic. It's not particularly brutal. Yet, what you are doing is and had to do was brutal.

The ultimate sacrifice, really, having to take a person's life to protect your own men. People will struggle with that. Help us understand how you can turn off one part of your brain, yet the other part can struggle.

IRVING: I really don't think I saw people at that time right before -- I pulled the trigger, I was thinking math at that point. I never viewed them as I guess human beings, almost. I had close to five sniper schools when I went over there. It was just math at that point, I never really thought about it.

CUOMO: You can often tell a man what's on his arms, especially when they're in the service. What do the different tattoos mean to you?

IRVING: The 3rd ranger battalion tattoo, we call the mark of the beast. That's our logo. Then I have the sniper on my right arm. His mom corporal Benjamin Copp gave me this bracelet. His mom gave that to me.

I am into the old school 1920-1930 films, I have the Frankenstein on my arms and then a keyhole, it's a saying we have in the sniper section when you keyhole somebody. I don't want to get too graphic, but.

PEREIRA: I think we can --

CUOMO: Precise, accurate, small shot. IRVING: Oh, yes.

PEREIRA: Considering you are a fan of the film. I know you seen "American Sniper." I'm curious watching it as a fan of film, then also as a sniper, an American sniper.

IRVING: It really hit home for me, especially his time back at home. Some of the struggles he went through. I went through my own struggles as well.

A lot of nights where you just don't sleep, a lot of nights you wake up, you find yourself with a pistol in your hands, not knowing what's going on. I became an alcoholic for two years pretty much. I went through a lot of I guess different things in life.

PEREIRA: How'd you pull out of that?

IRVING: I had a dream one of our guys that died, Andrew Santiago he came to me in a dream and said, "stop." So, that was it.

CAMEROTA: It gives me chills.

IRVING: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Why do you think this movie "American Sniper" has resonated with the public? People who hadn't your experience. Why do you think it's so popular and striking a chord?

IRVING: It's not so much the killing, it's the time back at home. The family lifestyle an what it's like for wives that go through the struggles. It's not so much about the 155 kills he had.

CUOMO: You know, what though, I think it's important for you are to be letting people know. There is a big difference between what is valued by us and what is valued by the men and women who actually have to go there and do the job. People are ignoring his own PTSD the work he did with other people. It's all about this guy is a hero. You see what he did there.

When you get celebrated for making the kills, I know that a part of the marketing the group. But how that does make you feel, when people are saying, wow, you are cruel, you killed all those people. You did this, you came back. That's what people say to you all the time. How do you take that? What really matters to you?

IRVING: That I'm just a regular guy. There is, I'm just a regular guy. I mean, the kills don't mean anything. That was one deployment, the first guy I killed when was 18, the first deployment to Iraq. I don't really think about the kills, and when I get praised for it, if I could tell someone what it's like to take someone's life at that age, I don't know what I would say. It's -- it changes you big time.

PERERIA: Do you find that there is comfort in meeting with some of your fellows.

IRVING: Oh yes. PEREIRA: And talking through some of this? Or do you find being with

them is enough?

IRVING: Being with them. It's a tally. It's a big, big family. If they ever feed anything from me, they know I'm always there. It's just the family. Talking about it, getting off your chest, it's a therapy.

PEREIRA: Boy, did you do that in this book?

IRVING: Oh definitely.

PERERIA: We want to tell people, it's called "Deadliest Special Ops Snipers", "The Reaper", Nicholas Irving, the author. We appreciate you writing this catharsis f or you.

CUOMO: There is another war here at home. You need the support you should get from all of us.

Nick, thank you very much. Good luck with your book and your life going forward.

IRVING: Thank you.

CUOMO: This is one of the stories we are covering this morning. But there is a lot for you. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We are facing most likely one of the largest snowstorms in the history of this city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighteen to 24 inches of snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have the plows ready to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a wig one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sooner or later, we're going to be hit by the big one and just maybe one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winds will be gusting, 40, 50 miles per hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring it on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will believe it when I see it. I hope it won't be as bad as they say.

PEREIRA: ISIS has apparently beheaded one of two Japanese hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS continues to set the terms here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An Internet posting demand the release of a convicted female tourist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know the Japanese are in Jordan. I don't think there's much they can do.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY.

The northeast is about to get slammed by what is being called a historic winter storm. At least two-feet of snow set to fall over the next couple of days, maybe more in some part of New England, 20 million people from New Jersey to Maine are under a blizzard warning, this morning with 23 million more under winter weather advisories.

CUOMO: Everybody is being told to prepare and airlines are taking no chances. They are already pulling the plug on thousands of flights for today and tomorrow. Major cities are being called up. New York, Philadelphia, Boston, all warning people to be prepared for something like they have never seen before. They're telling us it is not hype.

So we're going to give you the information. Please use it the best way you can. We have it covered from every angle we can.

Let begin with CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

Take a look at the areas that will get hit and why, Chad.

MYERS: This is a storm that will be called a bomb off the coast of New York. It is going to turn into a winter hurricane, if you will. Winds are going to be 60 or 70 miles per hour. We are talking about how much snow will be on the ground, 24 hour inches, possibly, a lot less here in New York City, probably 12 to 15. But it's going to be the wind that will make a six-foot drift and next to that drift, you are going to see the ground.

So you are never really going to know how much snow you have, because of how the wind is. My favorite snack as a child was a Ho-Ho. I'll tell you why that matters. This storm is going to turn into a Ho Ho. If you are on the cream side, you are pounded in the snow, if are you in the cake part, the snow stops. So, it's going to be on and off and on and off for hours.

And even tonight, we could certainly see thunder snow as the storm rolls up, wraps up. This is the biggest part of this storm, between 10:00 tonight and 8:00 tomorrow morning, we could have two-to-three inches of snow coming down per hour. That doesn't take long to add up to significant snow.

And with the blowing snow, that's how it's going to be just be drifting down the street.

The models are different. This is the European model, saying a lot of snow for New York, maybe a little less for Boston. Another model here for the United States here.