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Nantucket Residents Stranded By Blizzard; Sources: Federal Worker Flying Drone Was Drinking; The Bill For The Blizzard

Aired January 28, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo. Live in Boston for you. Right here there's over two feet of snow and epic blizzard has passed, but the hardest work only just beginning. History, records of the wrong kind was made, the snowiest January ever in Boston.

Just 40 miles east in Worcester is the worst -- more than 34 inches in Worcester, the most ever. Now remember, a blizzard, not just snow, its main weapon is wind, 30, 50, 75-plus miles per hour in gusts attacking power lines, whipping up the sea.

Waves as high as 20 feet, floods after a sea wall failed, and sending water from a storm surge gushing into towns into Southern Massachusetts. Airports are getting operations going again in the northeast. But still hundreds of flights canceled for today, maybe into tomorrow. That will cascade across the country.

The rails, Amtrak, is resuming limited service between Boston and New York today. Remember, the temperatures make snow like cement, very tough, and a lot of areas especially on the Massachusetts coast, in Cape Cod are still just totally sealed in, snowed in.

On Skype right now is Clinton Terry. He is the owner and bar manager of the Nautilus, now that's a Nantucket restaurant. He is currently stranded in a Cape Cod hotel room, unable to get home just yet. I see you there, you look, OK what are you dealing with there?

CLINTON TERRY, STRANDED ON CAPE COD: Just trying to stay busy and hoping to go home today.

CUOMO: You ever see anything like it? What was it like to look out the window and see what was going on?

TERRY: It's pretty epic. I'm from Vermont. So we deal with a lot of snow. Here in Nantucket especially where they don't deal so well. It's awful. It's going to be weeks of trying to make up for it and just you know, digging out. The aftermath is almost as bad.

CUOMO: You know, in New York and New Jersey, I don't know how much media you've been watching, but they're like complaining that the blizzard wasn't as bad as expected for parts of those two states. Here, they were ready. They did a lot of preparing. Did that make a difference on cape cod? I know you're snowed in, but could it have been worse?

TERRY: It definitely could have been worse. There are emergency crews that have been running for the last couple of days. There's even a crew that drove up from Kentucky to help with the power outages and stuff. So they've thankfully been prepared.

CUOMO: We hear a lot of stories about how people come together in moments like this. Certainly you see all the first responders doing their job like an extended family. But did you wind up getting closer to some folks that you didn't know as well before?

TERRY: Sure. It's a good kind of community bonding experience. I was waiting for the ferry to take me back to Nantucket and saw a bunch of other friends that were stranded. So we all kind of got together and commiserated, and then you meet new people as well even in the little hotel restaurant, just lots of family, lots of people. Everybody pretty nervous, but still pretty good spirits.

CUOMO: We heard about these waves, were you able to see the shoreline at all? Were there waves as high as 10 feet and more there?

TERRY: No. I haven't seen the shoreline here. But my friends in Nantucket sent me the video which you've been running, which has been incredible, I mean, 18, 20-foot as well as.

CUOMO: Nantucket, they really got slammed and obviously that's an island and they're very hardy people there. They're used to this kind of stuff but not like this. You think you have it bad where are you. It's much worse. So the headline is what when are you going to get out of there?

TERRY: Hoping to take the 9:15 boat. They haven't said if it's running yet, but that's the hope.

CUOMO: All right, we wish you the best. We hope you get out of there. What were you saying?

TERRY: I said my car is another story. When they don't -- when the boats don't run -- so as long as I can make it.

CUOMO: Listen that's exactly the right way to look at it, you know, it could always be worse. These things you know getting the snow out, the inconvenience that you can handle. It's what a blizzard like this can do that you can never repair that we have to worry about.

So at least you got a smile on your face and you'll get out of there at some point with just some memories. Thank you for joining us. I hope you get home soon. Send me a tweet, let me know what happens.

TERRY: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

CUOMO: All right now, probably the only good way to have experienced this blizzard would be from space. And it was such a monster storm, you could see that. Check out the picture. This shot by NASA astronaut, Terry

Vertz. All right, that's the storm from space, Alisyn. That's the way I wish I could have seen it.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And that's the way wish you could have traveled to Boston in a rocket because I know your odyssey to Boston was much more nerve-wracking. Tell me a little bit about it.

CUOMO: It took us hours and hours. Now really, I don't like to give props to this guy, but I have to. John Griffin, my senior producer, drove. I could not see the road. All I kept telling him to do, I don't know we should be doing this. I think this may have been a bad decision.

I don't know what we are doing, but he muscled up. It took us hours, we couldn't see anything. Around the turns and there was nobody on the road. I'll tell you what, Alisyn, it was a very interesting example of why you need to stay off the road.

Because if something would have happened to us, God forbid, there was nobody around. You're not going to get help for a very long time. We weren't being foolish, but we have to do it. It's part of our job to try to get to the location. But I'll tell you, it's a drive I will not forget.

CAMEROTA: There's an exception for the media that you can be on the roads, but still, I mean, I was monitoring your progress. I would get the tweet from you, it sounded like it was quite the experience. So Chris, we're glad that you're safe. Thanks for showing us the picture. That really tells the story. Thanks so much. We'll check back in with you.

CUOMO: Yes, it's called the intentionally dumb exemption they call it.

CAMEROTA: Yup, I hear and you fit it well. Thank you very much, Chris. We'll check back in with you.

We do have some breaking news that we want to get to now. This is out of Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces are launching attacks on key Hezbollah operations after the militants fired on an anti-tank missile, striking at an IDF vehicle in the Golan Heights.

There are casualties, but at this time we don't know how many. Hezbollah leaders previously vowed to retaliate against Israel for an attack earlier this month.

This morning, we're learning more about how a drone crashed on the White House lawn and the Defense Department Intelligence Agency staffer was apparently behind the controls.

Senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is live for us at the White House with the latest. What do we know today, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, the man, who reported that the drone that landed here on the White House lawn was his, does work for the Defense Department. He works for the geospatial intelligence agency out of Springfield, Virginia.

CNN has been told that that man told the U.S. Secret Service that the drone belongs to him for his personal use and that he had been drinking at the time of the incident.

The question now, of course, is what's going to happen to him that's actually an open question. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they are going to file any charges against him.

Meanwhile, CNN has been told he is likely to face disciplinary action at work. U.S. Geospatial Intelligence again in Springfield, Virginia, works on imagery and mapping for the Pentagon.

This incident has underscored the fact that there is no regulatory structure for these types of devices right now, the president referring to that in an interview with CNN.

It only puts more urgency on the federal aviation administration to try to come up with some rules. It's been working on that and so far, nothing. Back to you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: At least we can still use the initials DWI, for droning while intoxicated? So there is that. Joe Johns, thanks for the update.

Two former Vanderbilt University football players have been found guilty of the 2013 rape of an unconscious woman in a dormitory. Cory Beatty and Brian Vandenberg were convicted of several counts of rape. Vandenberg was convicted on additional counts of tampering and unlawful photography. Their sentencing scheduled for March 6th. Two other ex-players are still awaiting trial.

And we're learning now that the mountainside asteroid that whizzed past earth this week was not alone. The first images released by NASA showed the asteroid had its own small moon. Now that it's passed earth. Scientists say the asteroid will not come this close again for another 200 years.

Well, it was the big blizzard that did not meet expectations in New York City. Forecasters are now backing up why they thought it would bite the big apple in such a big way.

Plus what's the cost of the blizzard business? We have the staggers numbers ahead.

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CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY. The blizzard of 2015 broke records in New England. But for folks in New York and New Jersey, well, the forecast feel a little short.

Let's bring in meteorologist, Ivan Cabrera, to discuss this. So Ivan, you guys really screwed this up?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Let's being honest about it. It was a bust that's what we call it in our business here. When you talk about two to three feet and you only get a foot, that's a lot of snow, but it's not two to three feet, so it's a bust, yes.

CAMEROTA: That is really nice of you. Ivan, you are taking responsibility for the entire meteorological world. But I mean, let's face it, this is an imprecise science, right? Like explain how the forecast was so different for New York City and parts of New Jersey.

CABRERA: OK, so first of all, look at this graphic behind me. This is any meteorologist's worst nightmare if you're in snow country because what we're looking at here is a map that shows this is what actually fell, right?

So we are looking at anywhere from six inches then you move about 60 miles and you have three feet of snowfall. This is almost impossible to forecast.

Now we do have computer models that obviously guide us here and I think what happened was, the National Weather Service in New York basically got very happy with one model, went all in with that and that was the forecast here.

I want to compare the model differences here. This is the European model. We have been using this for quite some time. It's an excellent model. This is the new improved GFS, American model, which is the one that got it mostly right.

Look at the European model showing 12-24 inches of snowfall in New York. Then I'm going to move this forward. I'm going to keep this the same. It's still the new GFS, which did great and this is the NAM model, which is also an American model.

This one now has over two feet of snowfall in New York. So basically National Weather Service saw these two, went with these two, and they did not go with the new GFS model.

CAMEROTA: OK, so the new GFS model got it right and did that mean it will always get it right? Does it have a better technology than the other two models you just showed us?

CABRERA: Two things on that -- excellent question, but here's what happened. The new GFS basically has new math. Think of it, like an iPhone from when we went from IOS 6 to IOS 7. We didn't know if it was going to work, maybe our apps were going to crash. We had never used it before.

Well, they had never used the new GFS, which is basically just new math in the model. They had never used it with a big blizzard and so they were nervous about depending on something new versus the reliable, the actual forecast here which panned out, which the older models, the NAM and the European here.

So that's basically what happened here. I think they were hesitant to use the new GFS. To your second point, no, the new GFS, we could have a blizzard in another month and it could bust and we would go right back to the NAM and the other model, the European being the one that gets it right so essentially our job has not changed.

We are going to continue to make good forecasts. We're going to continue to have some busts and you're going to have to bear with us. Now I must say that regardless of what happened here, a lot of areas did pan out and we did get essentially what we were talking about here.

Now let me go to this because I'm going to leave you with what I think we can learn from this and what I think needs to happen. The new GFS, Alisyn, I think is going to be given more weight, no question about it. It got it right. We test-rode it, it did well.

We're going to give that more weight. I think we need to do a better job. This is the issue, to convey the uncertainty and the modeling to the public, and so that you know that there is a basically cone of uncertainty something like would you get with a hurricane.

We got a big cone. Well, that's essentially what can happen as well with the blizzard and better to be safe than sorry. So whatever happened, I think it was a great thing to get people off the roads. I know it was an inconvenience and it was expensive. But it saved lives, I think.

CAMEROTA: Ivan, great job. You have vindicated your entire industry as far as I'm concerned with that explanation.

CABRERA: Wow, we'll see about that. Thanks.

CAMEROTA: OK, Ivan Cabrera, thanks so much, great to talk to you.

Well, the blizzard may not have lived up to all the hype here in New York. But it did still pack a wallop certainly in terms of costs, the steep price of preparing for the worst.

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CAMEROTA: Take a look at this beautiful live shot coming to us from WFXT Fox 25 in Boston. Wow, it's so artistic and tranquil, but the blizzard had a chilling effect on business.

Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is here for CNN Money now. Christine, what's the bill for this blizzard?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Some of the biggest cities in the country were basically shut down so obviously there will be a bill. In New York City, just the snow removal is about $1 million an inch. Saved a bill a little bit. It could have been worse here for New York.

Canceled flights alone will be $230 million economic loss. That's from the U.S. Travel Association. That number right there, that's only how much idled passengers didn't contribute to the economy. That's not even counting the cost to the airlines. So there will be a big bill overall.

CAMEROTA: My gosh, I think New York got 10 inches. That will be $10 million -- ROMANS: Just to get rid of the snow.

CAMEROTA: Incredible. OK, so tell me about the big story today from Apple.

ROMANS: Apple, best quarter in corporate history. This company made $18 billion in the quarter. They sold so many iPhones it's almost hard to comprehend. CEO Tim Cook said it's hard to comprehend how many they sold. It's a very high margin product. They made a lot of money, 30,000 iPhones an hour the company sold. The stock is up 7 percent in the pre-market. I'm expecting it will have a big pop today.

CAMEROTA: People love their iPhones.

ROMANS: A lot of investors have this in their 401k. It will be a good day for that stock.

CAMEROTA: Christine Romans, thanks so much. Great to see you.

All right, we're going back to Boston for the latest as it starts to attempt to dig out from the megastorm.

Plus, airports in the northeast, who's up and running, will your flight get out today? We'll tell you.

And time is running out for the ISIS hostages. We're learning a deal may be in the works. We'll tell you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boston is bearing the brunt of this storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of the largest we've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the winds. The winds are killing us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flooding was more intense and a lot higher than we predicted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the storm surge that has created tremendous problems for people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of the roof collapsed, the wall, my door was missing.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: If, in fact, we don't get a deal, make sure that it's the Iranian's fault because they couldn't say yes to a reasonable deal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jordan is ready to hand over terrorist Sajida Al- Rishawi for their pilot. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be a huge propaganda clue to secure --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Good morning and welcome to NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, January 28th about 8:00 in the east. Chris Cuomo live in Boston for you. Michaela Pereira in Connecticut and Alisyn Camerota is stirring the ship in New York.