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New Day

New England Walloped by Blizzard; Massachusetts Coast Battered by Storm; Air Travel Getting Back on Track; anti-Tank Missile Fired on IDF Vehicle; Clinton to Testify Again on Benghazi; Is Jordan Willing to Negotiate for ISIS Hostages?

Aired January 28, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The sound of a blizzard. Hurricane-force winds, 78 miles an hour in Nantucket, the sight of storm surge breaching a sea wall. Along the southern coast of Massachusetts. Roads like sled paths. Drivers crawling through a whiteout near Boston. This is New England, buried by the year's first and historic blizzard.

Snow not by the inch, but by the foot from Connecticut to Maine, towns like Worcester and Framingham, surpassing 30 inches, cars turned into igloos in a sea of white.

The snow different depending on where you were. Inland, small, dry crystals from the bitter cold. Along the coast, flakes were wet and clumpy, like white mud on the ground. High tide coupled with near hurricane-strength winds flooding homes.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This water coming up right over the sea wall right now.

CUOMO: CNN's Alexandra Field in Scituate when the freezing water surges onto shore. The National Guard racing to save the lives of residents who didn't evacuate, steering in near-zero visibility. Mission accomplished as soldiers share a warm embrace with the community members they pluck from danger.

SGT. JENNIFER BRUNO, HOME DAMAGED IN MARSHFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS: I've been through a lot, and that was just more than I thought would have happened.

CUOMO: For one National Guardsman, a bittersweet return home. Sergeant Jennifer Bruno's community was safe, but her coastline home destroyed.

BRUNO: My friends and I, we actually just grabbed a few things, some uniforms that were right there, and a sword I got when I was in Iraq.

CUOMO: By all accounts, most residents did what they were supposed to, heeding the calls of state officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get ready to hunker down. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get home and hunker down.

CUOMO: These warnings possibly saving lives.

But from the severe to the sublime: surfers riding dangerous high tides along the coast in upstate New York. Monday also saw the first of many winter storm miracles. This mother forced to break the travel ban during the height of the blizzard in Connecticut, making it to the hospital just in time to deliver a beautiful baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The roads weren't that bad because nobody was on them. I was happy once we got here. I was a little relieved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Mom power making one of the good memories that came out of this blizzard.

So you had the snow dump here in Boston and all the history of accumulation. But it's about the coastal areas here in Massachusetts. They are really feeling the brunt of the blizzard. You have these swelling seas. There's some estimates that waves are as high as 20 feet. They wound up driving floods, destroying houses and, of course, forcing people to evacuate. Those who did not, many had to be rescued.

So for the latest on a dire situation there, and that's going on right now. Remember, getting out is harder than getting into a situation like this. We have Nick Valencia live on the coast in Scituate. Nick, what are they waking up to?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Chris. Waking up to very cold conditions. This is a community that got battered, not just by snow, but also wind and that water behind me. That's the Atlantic ocean. And that's a sea wall right there that's supposed to protect that water from coming over.

I want to show you one of the most remarkable images that we saw in this community. This house, right next door. Right next to me, I should say. Just take a look at this, Chris. Look at this, this thick ice layered all throughout that house. And it's really a snapshot of what we're seeing in all these homes and throughout this area, Scituate, a coastal community that's used to this type of catastrophic damage.

But even residents that you talk to here, just look at how thick that is. Is that an inch, I'd say? The residents you talk to here say it's really all the more remarkable what they witnessed yesterday. Some people did not heed that evacuation warning by the Massachusetts governor. So they had to be rescued by the National Guard.

This morning we've been keeping an eye on that. That coastal flood advisory just expired at about 7 a.m. But it was still a concern. This road that I'm standing on right now was completely submerged in water that was where yesterday where Alexandra Field was. That was in your piece, right before you talked to me. Just an incredible scene here. Frozen all around. And it is cold. That wind here still causing major problems in Scituate -- Chris.

CUOMO: I feel for you, coming off the water there, my brother. You know, you've got to be careful playing with those people's house. You know, when you get that saltwater mixing into ice like that, you snap some of that off. You may wind up having CNN get a big bill for ripping off part of their eaves or something there.

But thank you for telling the story from that.

And while some people didn't evacuate, most people did do what they were supposed to do. We're going to talk about that this morning and how it was so important in saving lives yesterday.

And again we're both in Massachusetts, Nick and I, but the story is the entire northeast. Connecticut, 33 inches of snow in the town of Thompson. Almost three feet, upwards of two feet in towns including Lisbon and Waterford, which the neighbors there are to New London.

Now New London got really hit hard. That's where Michaela Pereira is this morning.

Mick, you know, you're from out there in the far reaches of Canada. And even you couldn't get out of there last night.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: No, we couldn't. And you know, this was the story here.

What I really appreciated yesterday, Chris, was that, really, people here in New London, Waterford and the surrounding communities heeded the call from the governor and from their state officials and their local officials to shelter in place. That's all you could do. You could not get anywhere, as evidenced by the fact my producer and I, we couldn't even get back to the city. We decided to stay here and tell the story.

It is a very different picture we're seeing here on the ground in New London as opposed to yesterday. Blue sky, beautiful, very, very cold. It's about 12 degrees. If you add the wind chill, it feels a lot colder, probably about minus 2.

We had the mayor on a short time ago, and we talked about the focus today being snow removal. The travel ban is lifted. But they are encouraging local residents to keep off the roads as much as possible. All the businesses right now are remaining closed. Schools are still closed in this area.

But you can see, this main artery behind us has been plowed, and there's been a fair amount of salt on it. So the roads, people are traveling. We didn't see that yesterday. There was definitely good news in this area. Very, very little power outage. Very little, very few downed power lines or downed tree limbs.

So the fact that people had heat and light was a big boon. And it helped them, I think, stay indoors and shelter in place, as we said.

So one of the questions we had for the mayor was about this snow removal. It can be very, very costly. We know that they're reaching out to federal officials to see if there's some federal aid money, some FEMA money that can come to this area. That snow removal can be very, very expensive.

And as you can see, you're talking about almost three feet of snow in some areas. Here in New London, 20-24 inches. But it's these gigantic drifts. I'm kind of -- it's become my office, this drift right here. It is so deep. There's nowhere to put it right now, and that's what their next big challenge is going to be, processing all of the snow so the people of New London can get back to work and back to school -- Chris.

CUOMO: Yes, and you're not going to go just like stomping through it today. Because the temperatures are so low that it's turned it into a cement case. You know, so that's going to be part of the snow removal issue, as well.

All right, Mick, when we get back to New York, you're going to have to teach me how to move my mouth in these temperatures. You're much better at it than I am.

All right. So let's bring you back here to Boston. Now, Mick was talking about what people did to kind of cut the toll of this storm. That's going to be a big, big theme here. Because, sure, we've got big records. We've got buried cars. The mayor, however, is talking about today. And he's asking people to stay home, because the job is not just far from over; this is the hardest part.

Now, let's bring in Juliette Kayyem, CNN homeland security analyst. She served as the adviser here in Massachusetts to then-Governor Duvall Patrick as the homeland adviser.

Juliette, thanks for being here.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

CUOMO: I like that you're punking me with the open jacket. You know, she's Boston strong. Look at me. My hands are.

KAYYEM: Barely. It is cold out here.

CUOMO: So here's the thing. You were here. You know about the preparedness for this. 1978 you were only 1 year old then. I was 8 years old. A hundred people died, 99 people died. What was the difference between then and why, thank God, we're not seeing the lost life?

KAYYEM: It's the travel ban. It is clearly the travel ban. In '78 most people died, not because of car accidents or sledding accidents; it was carbon monoxide. People get into their cars. They then get isolated or they skid out, and they get cold. They turn on their cars, and they die of carbon monoxide. So that's why.

Today, is -- sort of think of it as a prep day to start the real world tomorrow. It is sort of clear out your exhaust. Clean out your cars. Stay home. There's just -- there's just no -- unless there's a pressing reason to go out, this is just a regroup day. And then we'll be ready to rock tomorrow, so to speak.

CUOMO: So the governor now put out some -- Governor Baker put out some information about what to do that may not apply to the common sense of people. You know, or appeal to it.

One, if your heat went off at all.

KAYYEM: Right.

CUOMO: You've got to make sure that you take a look at what got stored in the burner then, you know. There a way to exhaust your burner. Somebody is going to know how to do it. Your car, if the tailpipe, you know, is near anything. There are a lot of practical considerations in doing this.

The biggest one, though, for the citizenry is listening, still heeding the warning, stay off the roads. People won't want to. Make the case.

KAYYEM: Well, because there's two reasons. One is it's selfish, and the other is it's stupid. It's stupid, because you could get stuck. There's no -- there's no compelling reason for to you get into a car. You could get into an accident.

But why I say it's selfish is we need today to reserve the limited public safety resources. These guys and gals have been working around the clock to make the city and state prepared for a real day tomorrow. The more that they're, you know, sort of getting people who have been stuck in cars or people who go out voluntarily, the more that they have to focus their resources on those people, the less they can do to sort of get the city and state prepared. So don't be -- to quote Governor Christie's famous line, "Don't be selfish, don't be stupid." And it's exactly right. We can -- we can stay still for one more day.

CUOMO: Can you make sense of the New York and New Jersey people? Not Governor Christie...

KAYYEM: Right.

CUOMO: ... but saying, "We're upset at you guys. You got it wrong. We didn't get hit that hard."

KAYYEM: There's no -- I literally do not get it. I mean, every piece of science and data about what was going to hit, the entire New England seaboard, suggested that this was going to be a big storm. And it was a big storm for certain areas. Because other areas didn't get hit, that's great news. I don't understand why people are complaining about it.

If you are a mayor or governor and you saw the data coming through. And it's not just them. They're supported by people who have been in this field for a long time, by experts. You would have done exactly what they did. You stay home, hunker down, so to speak, wait it out. Let first responders do what they need to do. Let -- let the streets clear out, and we'll get started again tomorrow. There will be some activity today, obviously. No city can survive too

long being closed down. But two days, you know, it's New England; we're used to it.

CUOMO: Imagine if governors Baker or Malloy in Massachusetts and Connecticut had said, "I don't buy it. I think we'll be fine" and hadn't prepared, and hadn't put in the ban and people had gone out. Imagine what we'd be talking about.

KAYYEM: Right. And what was happening, I'm getting my days mixed up, but on Monday night when it was just clear what was about to happen, a lot of resources are -- sort of get ready, but they're not deployed.

CUOMO: Right.

KAYYEM: And that's essentially what's happening. They're ready to surge if necessary. It's good news when they're not -- when they don't have to surge.

CUOMO: Right. Do you think that we will see a disaster declaration here in Massachusetts, asking for federal money because of all the damage?

KAYYEM: It's unclear, because there's sort of a money -- you know, minimum money.

CUOMO: Right. There's a bar.

KAYYEM: We'll have to see what happened in Scituate. But I think for the most part right now, this is just sort of normal emergency management funds that can go into cleaning up the streets. It was an expensive storm, because people stayed home, so business and commerce don't thrive. But we've had them before; we'll have them again. It's New England, you know. It's just not a shot -- it's not like an earthquake, right? This is what we anticipate.

CUOMO: Right. And another point that Juliette understands very well from her time working in government. Government is the last group that wants to shut down, because it's so expensive; and it's money they can never explain to voters.

KAYYEM: Right, right.

CUOMO: Juliette, thank you very much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

CUOMO: Will you please zip up your coat?

KAYYEM: I'm sorry.

CUOMO: Make me feel better about myself.

Alisyn, also you know, this is the hard part, right? This is why you have to still listen. Removal is very difficult. The effect of this blizzard is going to go on for days and days, major strain on airports. Certainly, in the northeast we're going to see flights still being delayed. Hundreds are delayed for today. And going forward. And the impact is just going to keep coming, Alisyn.

And as you heard from Michaela, they couldn't even get out last night. So many -- you know, you should have seen what we had to do to get up here yesterday.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I look forward to hearing all about that and seeing your pictures. Juliette looks almost hot next to you, Chris. It's like she's actually. It's balmy to her, compared to you.

CUOMO: You know, these Boston people. You know, "Boston strong" is not just a hash tag. It's not a meme. You know, they're really just tough people up here.

CAMEROTA: I can see that.

CUOMO: I think I lost a pinky before. I've got to check my glove.

KAYYEM: He's such a wimp. Can you put him in California? That will be his next assignment.

CAMEROTA: We will. We'll move to that location.

Chris, Juliette, thank you very much.

Well, the blizzard put a major strain on airports, mostly in the northeast. Are things getting better this morning? CNN's Jason Carroll is live at New York's LaGuardia Airport. How are those boards behind you, Jason, at this hour?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you heard Chris just talking about some of the problems at the airports. We're still seeing some residual effects of all those groundings, of the planes and the airport closures.

You can see there's still some cancellations on the board here at American Airlines. But things are definitely getting better hour by hour. I've got some updated numbers for you, better numbers than what we saw just about an hour ago in terms of cancellations at various airports across the East Coast.

Boston Logan, what we're seeing right now, 108 cancellations. LaGuardia, 105. JFK, 74. Philadelphia International, 51. Newark, 35. So again, numbers looking a little bit better at this hour, 7 a.m., as opposed to what we saw at 6 a.m., just the last hour.

Basically, what we've been seeing overnight, crews working overtime on the runways, doing everything that they can to get the snow out of there, to get the planes back on the runways, things back up and running again.

In terms of the way the airport looks here right now at LaGuardia, look at the security line there. Looking pretty good. This is what we're hearing, we're expecting to see here throughout the day. Things are still going to get better hour by hour. You're still going to see crowds out here. That's definitely going to happen. But with each passing hour we're told things are just going to get better and better. You just have to be a little bit patient -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, good. Thanks for that optimistic status report, Jason. Thanks so much.

CARROLL: You got it.

CAMEROTA: All right. We do have some breaking news to tell you about out of Israel. Hezbollah claiming responsibility for an attack on an Israeli military convoy this morning. The Israeli Defense Forces say an anti-tank missile struck one of their vehicles in the Golan Heights.

Let's get right to CNN's Elise Labott. She is live in Israel near the Lebanese border. What do we know, Elise?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, we are just a stone's throw, a couple yards, really, from the Lebanese border. You can see some of the Israeli tanks behind me. That was just a little bit of the activity we saw here this morning. Not only was that attack on the IDF military vehicle, but there was also mortar that hit a house in the surrounding area. The Israelis have responded with airstrikes and ground artillery to Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning Hezbollah that, if it wants to start a fight in this area, it should take a look at the recent operations in Gaza this summer where the Israelis really pummeled Hamas.

And basically, Alisyn, you can see that this is response for what Israel has not, in fact, claimed credit for, which is an attack last week across into Syria, on high-level Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

Since then there's been a lot of tit for tat, a lot of fire on both sides yesterday. Really, the situation heating up here. Now everybody on high alert. IDF in the area deploying the Iron Dome and warning Hezbollah, if it wants to pick a fight, Israel is ready, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It sounds as though this is a situation that could ratchet up very quickly. Elise Labott, thanks so much for the update.

Back at home, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will reportedly testify again before Congress on the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi. Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar is following every development on this for us. She joins me in studio. What's the latest?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a big development, because ever since, Alisyn, this committee formed several months ago, this has been the outstanding question: Will Hillary Clinton testify before it? And it appears that the answer is yes, that she has agreed to testify.

Of course, this happening as a Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign seems all but certain. She's staffing up at this point, we're hearing. So it seems like it's going to get going here in the next couple of months.

And the political stakes are huge here. A lot of Americans, when polled, look at her time as secretary of state as really beneficial to her. But you have Republicans who say the Obama administration didn't handle Benghazi right, that they covered up some important details about the terrorist attack in 2012 that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. And they think that it should disqualify her from running for president, from being president. So the political stakes, huge here, a lot hanging in the balance.

And what's interesting is we're learning from the top Democrat on this House Republican-led committee on Benghazi, that Hillary Clinton actually agreed to testify on Benghazi months ago. And we're just learning this now as the relations on this committee really devolve into some partisan bickering, Alisyn.

But she'll have to answer these questions, and certainly this could be very public. And so we're expecting this to be huge headlines.

Her people, I'll tell you, I've spoken with them. They say they're deferring to the committee, which is code for, if the committee says she's testifying, she's testifying.

CAMEROTA: Fascinating and politically dicey. So...

KEILAR: Definitely.

CAMEROTA: ... we will watch all of those developments. Brianna, thanks so much.

An ISIS-affiliated terror group in Libya is claiming responsibility for the deadly attack at this hotel in Tripoli. Ten people were killed, including an American security contractor. The militants released names and pictures of the two men they say carried out that attack. The gunmen also died. Officials say it appears they were both Libyan.

And the clock is ticking on a deadline, and the lives of two ISIS hostages hang in the balance. Word now of a possible deal in the works. We'll have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news for you right now. We're learning a deal may in the works to free at least one of the two hostages being held by ISIS.

Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley. He is live for us in Tokyo with all the latest. What do we know?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the Jordanian government, through their state-run TV, is saying they are ready right now to release the terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for the life of their captive pilot, the pilot that was captured last month by ISIS, Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh. Now, in this statement, Jordan does not mention Japanese hostage Kenji

Goto. And that is significant, because Japan has an envoy in Amman, Jordan, right now; has been there for days, trying to work out a deal to secure the safe return of Goto, which of course, is of top priority to the central government here in Tokyo.

What this means is that the fate of both hostages, frankly, right now is very unclear. Because ISIS never offered up this Jordanian pilot's freedom. They only offered up his life.

Through a new propaganda message that Goto read, he was holding a picture of the pilot, saying that the pilot would be killed and so would he, in 24 hours, if this demand of the terrorist release was not met. Well, that apparent deadline, Alisyn, is now just 90 minutes away. Jordan saying they will only hand over the terrorist if their pilot walks free.

The question: Will ISIS release one or both or neither of them? This could all fall apart, or these two men could come home. But we're -- probably won't know the outcome until this deal is done. And we know that all of this happening right as we speak. And it's anyone's guess what the outcome could be. People in Japan here certainly praying, though, that Kenji Goto will also make it out of this alive, as well as the Jordanian pilot, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Will Ripley, thanks so much for giving us all of that background.

Let's get some context now. We want to bring in Paul Cruickshank. He's a CNN terrorism analyst. And Paul Beinart, a CNN political commentator. He's a contributing editor to the Atlantic Media and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining me here this morning.

Peter, let me start with you. It makes Americans very nervous to think that any government would be acquiescing to ISIS's demands, but it sounds as though, from Jordanian media, that Jordan is truly considering negotiating with ISIS?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. Well, in recent days, there's been a lot of criticism of the Jordanian government. There have been protests against the king in Jordan, which is not something you see a lot. With a lot of people saying why is Jordan in this war against ISIS at all?

So the United States is in a very, very difficult position. On the one hand, it's been trying to prevent our allies from being involved in these negotiations, because of course, it creates an incentive for ISIS to simply take more hostages.

On the other hand, there is the possibility here that political -- the political support for Jordan's very important role in this military campaign -- remember, the U.S. worked very hard to get Arab allies in this fight against ISIS. And you can see that there's not a lot of political support in Jordan for it. And so you face the possibility that political support could completely unravel if either this Jordanian pilot is killed or if they release the Japanese hostage but not the Jordanian hostage.

CAMEROTA: Paul, ISIS wants back its prisoner, who is this would-be suicide bomber. A woman whose bomb never detonated.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's exactly right, Sajida al-Rishawi. She's an ISIS living legend. She's the sister of a high- ranking deceased ISIS commander. It would be a huge propaganda coup from the ISIS point of view to secure her release.

I think a deal could be done here today with the Jordanians. This will be ISIS negotiating one state to another state, from their point of view. So a big fill-up and help in their recruiting efforts.

CAMEROTA: And Paul, let me just stick with you for a second, because that's dangerous on many levels. It does serve as an incentive to take more hostages for ISIS, doesn't it? Is there any other way to interpret this?

CRUICKSHANK: It certainly would. It would create a precedent and it would incentivize them, as Peter was saying, to capture yet more hostages: western hostages, internationals.

But you have to remember: there's some precedent for this. United States back last May swapped five Guantanamo Taliban commandos for Bowe Bergdahl. So some precedent from the United States doing these kind of prisoner swaps. And it's not quite the same as giving ISIS millions of dollars which they could use for terror attacks.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, the Bowe Bergdahl thing is interesting, Peter, because you know, the United States likes to say that we never negotiate with terrorists, but they did negotiate, even though it was through an intermediary, with the Taliban.

BEINART: Right. This is always easier to say when it's not your own people. The pressure here is enormous politically in both Jordan and Japan. And it's also creating a very interesting conflict between Jordan and Japan.

One of the reasons the Jordanians have been so furious is the prospect that ISIS was willing to release the Japanese prisoner in response for this female terrorist bomber but not the Jordanian. They were saying, "What, the lives of our people are worth not as much?"

And Jordan is -- Japan happens to be a very major donor to Jordan, dealing with Jordan getting money with a huge refugee crisis. Very difficult diplomacy going on, a kind of three-way between ISIS on the one hand, Jordan on the other, and Japan, in a way.

CAMEROTA: And one of the problems, Paul, is that ISIS is playing the media like a fiddle. I mean, I feel that right now even as we talk about it. They have this ticking clock, a deadline. They're ginning up all the interests. They're keeping us all on tenterhooks, trying to figure out if these hostages are going to be released. This is-- I mean, regardless of ISIS does, this is exactly what they wanted.

CRUICKSHANK: That's right. It makes them look ten feet tall. Right? They're negotiating with Japan, one of the major world powers, and a big regional power, Jordan.

And of course, this comes at a time when there have been some setbacks from the ISIS point of view. In Kobani, they've lost much of that town in northern Syria, and also, they've been displaced from places like Diyala province in northeast Baghdad.

But this would be a big propaganda coup for them to help in their recruitment efforts worldwide.

CAMEROTA: So what is the answer, Peter? I mean, nobody wants to inflate ISIS to the level of statehood that they're now acting as. So -- so do you just sacrifice the hostages? I mean, what is the answer here?

BEINART: I mean, the largest answer is just what Paul was talking about, it's the military campaign against ISIS. Can we continue to build up the Iraqi government? This is not as sexy, it doesn't get as much attention. Can we build a more legitimate government in Iraq that doesn't so alienate its Sunni population that we can begin to move them away from ISIS? Can we begin to move into Syria, as well, to have some viable alternative that is not a jihadist group itself to ISIS? Only then, when that military campaign starts to bear fruit, will we begin to see an end to these terrible, terrible incidents.

CAMEROTA: That takes a long time. Peter Beinart, Paul Cruickshank, thanks so much for all the context. Great to have you guys.

OK. Back at home. The clean-up from that blizzard is only just beginning, and coastal flooding from all of the snow is a major concern at this hour. So we will go back to Chris in Boston right after the break.

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