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Snow and Ice Slams East Coast; DC To See Possible Historic Snowfall; Kim stich is Interviewed about the Winter Storm in Kansas; Congress to Certify the Election. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 06, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Snowplows. Snowplows came to help. Three snowplows blocked the suspect by shutting down I-70. The I-70 highway. Ultimately, that led to the driver's arrest.

In Japan, a giant blue fin tuna has sold for a near record price. The 600-pound tuna is the size of a motorcycle. Now, I don't know if that's like a Harley? Are we talking a Chopper? Is it a small Kawasaki? Like a crotch rocket? I don't know. But it's the size of some kind of a motorcycle. It sold for about $1 million to a Michelin- starred restaurant. The bid is the second highest since the market began keeping records on this 26 years ago. It's a big fish. I would say roughly the size of a motorcycle.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The weather turning dangerous for millions of Americans as a powerful winter storm sweeps across the United States. Millions already hit with crippling snow and ice and emergency warnings in effect for several states.

Snow has shut down much of D.C., but not the hall of Congress, because later today lawmakers are expected to certify Donald Trump's election win, four years to the day after his supporters stormed the Capitol over his loss.

And the glitz, the glamour, the wins and surprises. We have a breakdown of the big night at the Golden Globes, as they kicked off awards season.

I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, a snow emergency in Washington, D.C., that's getting worse by the hour. When all is said and done, an historic 16 inches could be on the ground there, which would not only surpass what was deemed in 2016 as snowzilla, but it could also be twice as much as the snow they saw the last two years combined. The city's virtually shut down, but this time not Congress, where lawmakers are gathering today to certify the 2024 election.

Beyond Washington, conditions are also dangerous this morning for tens of millions of Americans. Thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled. At least three deaths have been reported from the icy road conditions in Kansas and Missouri.

CNN's meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for you.

And, Derek, right now where are you watching most closely?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK, so, D.C., this is an important day not only for certification of election results, but also because of the amount of snow that's fallen. Just at 7:00 a.m. this morning, Reagan National, 4.7 inches of snow. That's their largest snow total in two years. Of course, you already said it, but if we accumulate more snow over 8.5 inches, that will be more snow than we've had combined the past two seasons. So, that's really saying something.

Here's a live look at the National Mall. There's the Lincoln Memorial in the background. Lots of snow still blanketing the nation's capital.

This is a dynamic and large storm system that has a severe component to the south, an ice component right smack dab in the middle, and then snow from the mid-Atlantic stretching westward towards the Ohio River Valley. This is, all in all, about an 800-mile stretch of winter weather alerts. And this is all part of the same storm.

But check out this 18-wheeler jackknifing directly in front of this driver. Just scary moments. But it really shows you the icy conditions that was left in its wake as the system garnered some strength over the Midwest and moved eastward, now setting up shop across the mid- Atlantic.

So, temperatures supportive of snow in the nation's capital. To the south you can see it's flirting with the freezing mark, so that's why we're seeing that changeover to ice and a mixture of precipitation as well.

But additional snowfall to come. I think another one to three inches for D.C. Will we set these historic 16-inch records comparing to snowzilla back in 2016? Not likely. But, hey, it's still fun. It's still beautiful. But, of course, a nightmare on the roads.

Behind this, though, a lot of wind. And with the ice that's accumulated and the snow, this means that we could start taking down some trees and some power lines. So, something to consider going forward.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's the big concern. Kentucky's governor was on with us earlier and he said the ice, a half an inch of ice they've gotten throughout Kentucky, that's the big concern that they're dealing with.

VAN DAM: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Derek, for keeping an eye on it.

John.

BERMAN: We put someone right in the middle of this snow in Washington, D.C., because you need to know what it feels like.

CNN's Gabe Cohen live outside.

Gabe, what's it feel like?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It feels cold, John. It feels wet. I don't know. That's maybe all I have for you. But it - the snow is accumulating. We've been seeing this heavy downfall for - all morning, for as long as we've been here. And you can see here, look at this, the accumulation that we are seeing.

[09:05:02]

And as Derek laid out, we're expecting more throughout the day, which is why there's this snow warning in effect here in D.C. well into the night.

And declarations of emergency across at least six states, including here in the district. It really feels like D.C. is sort of frozen right now. Schools across this region are shut down. Federal government offices are closed today. This should be a busy road right now. We are looking at some arterials that really should be packed with people who are commuting to work. Instead, it is quiet.

Really, the only cars that we are seeing are law enforcement vehicles. And that is because we're standing outside the United States Capitol. In fact, we're going to be careful here because we have a couple of police cars coming out now. There are a ton of law enforcement vehicles, dozens and dozens that we have seen, who are here because the election is going to be certified a little bit later today. You can see the fencing that's been put up around the Capitol, because there is heightened security right now.

We know that MPD, the local police department, fully activated, John. Every officer in the city working 12-hour shifts. We saw an NYPD vehicle, New York Police Department vehicle, go by earlier. It speaks to the resources that are coming in from all over the place. They were already on high alert, not just because of what happened four years ago on January 6th, but also that attack in New Orleans recently, John. And so they're now dealing with this storm that could complicate things. And, obviously, these conditions are going to complicate things for a lot of people across this region. Millions of them.

BERMAN: Very complicated. Visibility is tough, which is why it's good you have the red pants.

Gabe Cohen, great to see you. Terrific report. Thank you, my friend.

Sara.

SIDNER: Oh, John.

Joining me now to discuss the latest that is happening in Kansas as we look at what's happening in D.C., is Kansas Department of Transportation spokesperson Kim Stitch.

Thank you so much for being here.

What are you experiencing there now? I think you're in Topeka.

KIM STICH, SPOKESPERSON, KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Right. Exactly. In Topeka, Saturday we had drizzle coming in. Saturday night the snow started. It snowed virtually all day yesterday. And the snow finally ended last night across the state. And we're - we're digging out.

Roadways were closed in north central Kansas, northeastern Kansas, and south central Kansas. A stretch of I-70, about 200 miles, was closed. We just had some really serious conditions because of the ice under the snow. And it was just so slick people just could not stay on the roads.

SIDNER: When you talk about the ice under the snow, anybody who has driven on that knows how treacherous it is, the sliding, the slipping, the uncontrolled cars.

STICH: Yes.

SIDNER: What are you telling people this morning and how the roads look this morning as people try to figure out whether or not to go to work, school, or pass through Kansas to get somewhere else.

STICH: We're really encouraging people to avoid travel still today. Roads are looking better because our crews have been out. They are always out 24/7 when a storm hits. They've been out all night. And they are starting to get ahead. Since the precipitation stopped. You just can't get ahead while it's raining, or sleeting, or drizzle, or snow. You just can't get ahead. But now they can finally get in there and get some stuff really cleared off. And so the roads are starting to look better, but they are still slick.

We are really encouraging people to stay home today if at all possible. Governor Kelly even issued an emergency alert warning asking people to avoid travel, both last night and this morning.

So, were really, you know, looking to try and keep the roads as clear as possible from people so that our crews can get the work done. So, yes, we're still encouraging people to stay home. So many different offices, schools, everything, is closed. So, that - that helps as well.

SIDNER: Have there been any crashes or many crashes that you know of in and around the area?

STICH: Oh, there - there have been a lot of crashes. And, you know, we work together with our partner law enforcement agencies, and, you know, to help on these things. They're the ones that mainly respond to this, you know, while we're working to clear the roads. But, you know, when necessary, we work together on things. And there was just cars all over the place.

We had to close sections of I-70 early yesterday, a couple of different times, just smaller sections, because there were so many crashes or so many people ran off the road, and so many things going on on I-70 that we had to close a couple different sections for a couple different hours.

So, the slideoffs, the crashes were just, you know, huge yesterday throughout the day, which is why so many roads got closed. And, you know, to try and keep people - to keep people off of them and get those roads cleared up.

SIDNER: Your advice still this morning to stay off the roads so you are not caught in that.

Kim Stich, thank you so much.

[09:10:01]

Be safe. And you're inside. Just stay there. I guess that's the key, right?

STICH: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, appreciate you.

John.

BERMAN: All right, we've got breaking news. There are reports that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could announce his resignation as soon as today.

We have new reporting on what will and will not happen on this January 6th. What a difference four years makes.

And what was the single-best joke at the Golden Globes, the best dressed, the worst cutaway. We have the answers you need.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:06]

BERMAN: This morning, a remarkable moment at one of the most extraordinary comebacks in political history. Congress will open and count the votes from the Electoral College today. It is January 6th, four years to the day after the supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to stop this count. That will not happen this time.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the election, she will preside over the count. Something Al Gore had to do some 24 years ago.

CNN's Lauren Fox and Jeff Zeleny are with us this morning.

Lauren, lay out exactly how this process will work today.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we expect that this process will be finished in just under an hour. But really, this is an important moment just to restore normalcy to what had previously, before January 6th four years ago, been a process that many Americans may not have even paid attention to. This is just simply the counting of the votes that were already cast back in November by America's voters.

We expect that the president of the Senate, who will be Vice President Kamala Harris, will begin opening state by state, each of these certifications. Then she will hand them to four tellers. These are the top Republicans and top Democrats on the House and Senate Administration Committees. Once they receive each of the envelopes, they will count, record, and tally each of the votes.

Once that process is completed, which we expect will take just over 40 minutes, then we expect that this process will end. Lawmakers will go home for the day. They have no other legislative business expected.

But again, it is sort of this moment on Capitol Hill where the security apparatus around the Capitol is heightened. You have, obviously, a lot of lawmakers who are remembering what happened four years ago.

John.

BERMAN: I mean how could they forget it. And, Lauren, as you point out, today is ceremonial. They are literally just counting the votes, the certification happened in each state.

And, Jeff Zeleny, to that end, I mean, what a difference four years makes.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John, it is really extraordinary. And it is days like today, just ordinary functions of democracy that really put a finer point on how extraordinary of a period this has been in our American history.

But, yes, as Lauren said, this simply will be a formality today. President-elect Donald Trump is going to be watching it, I'm told, from here at Mar-a-Lago. He, of course, is building his new government. He's doing a radio interview this morning with Hugh Hewitt, as we speak, talking about his plans for his first 100 days and beyond. So, in two weeks' time he will be sworn into office.

But today, as the electoral counts or votes are certified and counted, it is a point to also look back to how Donald Trump was able to turn what seemed four years ago as a deep, dramatic political liability into an asset to win the Republican primary campaign, to win the general election campaign over Vice President Kamala Harris, who, as you said, she will be standing in her role, presiding over the Senate. She said he will be doing so out of love of the country and loyalty to the Constitution.

So today, John, is one of those markers of just the extraordinary comeback, yes, for the 45th and 47th president of the United States that will be marked likely without much fanfare at all. And that perhaps is the most extraordinary thing of all.

John.

BERMAN: Indeed it is, history.

All right, Jeff Zeleny, Lauren Fox, our thanks to both of you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining me right now, CNN political commentator Scott Jennings and Bakari Sellers to talk all about this.

Bakari, as our colleague Stephen Collinson wrote it, "January 6, 2025, will mark the most stunning political comeback in U.S. history. Congress will convene to certify Trump's 2024 election win, cleaning his way to be America's 47th president."

Today marks American - showing American democracy works or the nation has short memories?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Short memories. I think that Democrats should go out and Joe Biden should rally on the mall. I think then we should go in and make sure that we sit on Mike Johnson's desk. We should take the confederate flag and parade through the Capitol. I think we should injure 140 officers. And then if Kamala Harris dares to certify the vote, we should threaten to hang her.

I mean do you see how - I mean, I think people should understand how ludicrous that sounds, but that's where we were four years ago. That is - that is what this incoming president helped usher in. But what we've realized is, this is not just short memories, it's the fact - the same thing we've seen around the world with Justin Trudeau later this week and others. But it's the same thing we've seen around the world, these economic pressures, prices rising, cultural anxiety lead to these electoral outcomes.

BOLDUAN: Scott, in a political sense, is it how we got here is interesting. And you can see the evolution. You can play all the sound bites from the days after when you heard Republicans blaming Donald Trump, some being - short of saying he should be impeached, saying he should be held accountable.

[09:20:04]

And four years later we are here. It is a stunning political comeback attributed to how Trump played it afterward, how Democrats played it afterward, or something else?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's some mixture of everything. But to me the big message is that, in the United States, the people decide. And because of the disastrous four years that came after Donald Trump, that people decided to return Donald Trump to power. And that's fundamentally what happened. They looked at what happened on January the 6th. They looked at all the things Democrats claimed about Donald Trump. And they also analyzed every single decision that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made, and they delivered Donald Trump a convincing victory four years later. BOLDUAN: It's just - it is tough - it is tough, though, Scott, because

when you say the people decide, that's what people tried to make sure didn't happen on January 6th, was allowing the people to decide. It - the - the lack -

JENNINGS: And the machinery - and the machinery turned. It was a terrible -

BOLDUAN: The lack of acknowledgement -

JENNINGS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Of how bad it was in the aftermath -

JENNINGS: I mean, I think - I think -

BOLDUAN: Is -

JENNINGS: A great many people have acknowledged it. But also what happened that day? The machinery -

BOLDUAN: A great many. Not -

JENNINGS: The machinery turned. Joe Biden became the president. He had one of the worst terms of any U.S. president. And then the people scrambled back to Donald Trump. That is the history of what happened.

SELLERS: I mean, I don't know. I mean I look at today. Donald Trump is inheriting one of the best economies that a president has inherited in a very long period of time. If you look at the fact that something like net migration at the border is lower than it was even before Donald Trump took office. If you want to look at the stock market. You're looking at the stock market rise.

BOLDUAN: Both things - but two things can be true.

JENNINGS: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But the idea that immigration is under control.

BOLDUAN: No, but two things can be true.

SELLERS: But, hold on. I'm not even finished. Let me get down yet. This is the first time - this is the first time -

BOLDUAN: Two things can be true. The border - the border needs to be secured further and this number can be accurate.

SELLERS: But hold on one second. But - but - but - but this is the first time - this is the first time in - in dozens of years that a president has actually inherited a government where we don't have soldiers overseas in active combat zones. So, I mean, lets actually look at where we are. We - we actually - or he is actually inheriting a government right now that is much better than any predecessor he has had before.

JENNINGS: I am - OK. I mean, I recognize that was the argument that was made during the election. And I would also like to recognize that the American people soundly rejected that argument. We do have American troops in forward locations all over the world, by the way.

SELLERS: Not in combat zones.

JENNINGS: But they are - but they are in hot spots. I mean we -

SELLERS: But not in combat zones.

JENNINGS: We just had an American soldier die not too long ago in the Middle East trying -

SELLERS: Correct. And they're - they're protecting our freedom everyday, but -

JENNINGS: Trying to fix - trying - trying - trying to fix Joe Biden's $300 million public relations peer for Gaza.

I mean the reality is, migration was a disaster. Immigration was a disaster for three and a half years and they tried to window dress it for the last six months. Inflation was a disaster for all four years. The economy is not working for most people. That's why Democrats lost the election. And that's why they're going back to Trump.

SELLERS: Democrats lost the election. Nobody's arguing that. I mean, that's what the argument was four years ago when Donald Trump was filing lawsuits and they were raiding the White House.

What we are saying, though, is that prices are going down. What I am saying is murder rates -

JENNINGS: They're not going down.

SELLERS: They actually are going down. Murder - murder rates -

JENNINGS: They're not. Inflation is - inflation is still -

SELLERS: It's plateaued.

BOLDUAN: It's - it's - it is decreasing in rate, which is the entire goal of the Federal Reserve.

JENNINGS: But are prices going down or not, just to be clear? No, they're not going down. And they're -

BOLDUAN: They are down from their sky high - sky high rates, yes.

JENNINGS: And they're -

SELLERS: No, actually they -

BOLDUAN: Wait, wait, wait, Scott, let's move on.

JENNINGS: No, no, no, no, no.

BOLDUAN: Next up for Republicans - SELLERS: We were just arguing over combat zones. I don't know where we are this morning.

BOLDUAN: We're going - you can argue we've got -

JENNINGS: You guys are trying to paint a picture of a country that doesn't exist. I don't understand.

SELLERS: I'm not. I -

BOLDUAN: I'm not painting anything. I'm painting, stop talking. That's what I'm painting.

SELLERS: That was a fact.

BOLDUAN: Next up, Sara, help me. Next up, the Republican majority in Congress is now getting to work. They've got - the talk of this big - this big bill that they want to try to put forth, getting - combining all of Trump's priorities, a lot of the topics we're talking about right here, into one massive bill.

JENNINGS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It could be - it's been described as what could be the biggest bill in American history. Could - could this be good for Democrats in getting priorities - because what does a big bill do? You shove a whole bunch of stuff in.

SELLERS: First of all, this - this isn't happening. I mean what we're going to learn -

BOLDUAN: You think no bite (ph).

SELLERS: What we're going to learn is that - and Scott knows this better than I do because he - his relationship with Mitch McConnell. But one of the most important people in the United States Senate is the parliamentarian. And so a lot of these things that we want to happen, we try to - Democrats tried to usher in immigration reform through reconciliation. That didn't quite happen because the - so - and you have individuals around the president. For example, I read an article the other day from Bill Ackman who was saying that President Trump was going to privatize Frannie and Freddie -- Fannie and Freddie -

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) do that.

SELLERS: One of his goals. One of the - one of his priorities. Like, you can't pass that through reconciliation. I mean that - that's just not going to happen. And then the votes aren't there to do it.

BOLDUAN: A lot of people will say, it's not going to happen but could this be what we have seen before. Let's talk about -

JENNINGS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: With the eyes on, you know, how Mitch McConnell has - has run things in the past, which is, say things out loud to road test it. And then when the - when the public relations of it is a disaster, then you can say, we can't do it this way.

JENNINGS: It would be an enormous piece of legislation. I do think it's within the realm of the possible. I do think if it comes out of the House, which is no small feat given the margins, you know, this is - usually when these things run into the Senate parliamentarian they get trimmed up a little bit.

[09:25:04]

But I do think it's possible because what he's proposing to put in there is exactly what he ran on, immigration, energy, which, by the way, is now of heightened importance because of Joe Biden's executive order today on his way out the door. His staff's executive order banning offshore drinking. You've got to deal with all these things that he ran on. If you can get it done in one vote, that's far better than - than dragging this out.

So, it's an ambitious idea. I wish them well. I hope they get it done. But it's what the people voted for in the election. And it's what every Republican member of Congress ran on too. So people, truthfully, shouldn't have too much trouble voting for it.

BOLDUAN: When people talk about, we should read the bill, good luck with this one. That's all I'm saying if this thing comes through.

Gentlemen, thank you, I think. You want to talk about Justin Trudeau?

SELLERS: I wanted to talk about Canada.

BOLDUAN: Can we talk about Canada?

JENNINGS: Oh, God bless the - God bless the truckers. That's what I'm saying.

BOLDUAN: Well, just -

JENNINGS: There's a direct line from those truckers to what's happening today. Good riddance!

BOLDUAN: I'm sleeping. It's only Monday and it's my first day back. This is hard on me.

Sara, please take it.

SIDNER: I'm - I'm going to take it from here because guess what I'm going to do? Talk about Canada. Yes, ma'am.

JENNINGS: Hey, buddy!

SIDNER: We've got some breaking news. A source is telling CN that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will resign as party leader today. What this means for U.S./Canada relations. We will discuss. And it was a night of firsts at the Golden Globes. We have the emotional moments, the upsets and the snubs and the comedians roast that won over just about everybody.

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