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Blizzard on the Move; African-Americans and Jobs; Snow Will Soon Calm Down in D.C.; Green Jobs in California; Eight Hours from Revolutionary Day in Iran

Aired February 10, 2010 - 14:01   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN. I'm Ali Velshi.

We are following the blizzard in the Northeast of the United States. Let's take a look at the latest update, this monstrous storm that is working its way through.

It is almost, almost, almost done in D.C., but the snow is still coming down. We're going to check in with Reynolds in a second.

This thing goes from the southern Appalachian to New York City, out to Long Island. Sixty-three thousand people we think at this point don't have power. It could be more of that coming along.

Dulles and Reagan National Airports are closed. Well over 1,000 flights, probably 1,500 flights across the country, are canceled. Many of those going into northeastern airports.

It's so bad that snowplows and power crews in the D.C. area have pulled over. They're waiting for weather to clean up. And Chad was telling us that those power restoration crews, it's not just the snow, it's the wind not allowing them up into those buckets.

In Baltimore, they have banned non-authorized, non-official traffic from the roads. In Virginia, in Maryland and D.C., the National Guard has been activated.

We've got Allan Chernoff in New York City. We'll be going to him in a second.

We've got Reynolds Wolf.

And it is looking like it is really blowing for you, Reynolds. What's going on in D.C.?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, that's really it. I mean, the wind is really the biggest factor.

Our producer, Kelly Marshall (ph), just moments ago mentioned that it does seem like the precipitation is beginning to slow down a bit, and I've got to agree with her. I know Chad mentioned that also.

But the wind, every now and again, continues just to roar. You'll get a blast or two that will come through, pick up that snow, and visibility goes down to almost eliminated completely. I will tell you though it's still cold as ever. I know the blizzard warning is going to continue until about 7:00 tonight, but as Chad mentioned, blizzards primarily a wind event.

Now, what we're seeing in this area, still, we've got the snow coming over everywhere. You see some of D.C.'s finest moving out and about. I will tell you, city services, no surprise, basically everything in terms of transportation, in terms of buses and taxis. We have seen hardly either of any.

I will also tell you that when it comes to Metro travel, the trains underground are operational, they're running basically every 30 minutes. So if you are going and trying to get to one place or another, you're going to have to wait a little bit. The above-ground trains not operational at all.

And here's an interesting sight. We're seeing some of the heavier equipment come through. And if you look, take a look at that, the very back at that -- Chris Turner (ph) is actually our shooter. You'll notice that's all filled up with snow.

What they're trying to do, Ali, is scoop up as much of that as they can from the downtown areas and try to move it out. Now, this roadway on 3rd Street is actually one of the better ones we have in the nation's capital, but some of the other roads have been described by law enforcement back in the city as treacherous, just awful stuff.

Take a look at this. You know, again, back to Chad, Chad said it was ending. We've got a shot of the sun finally peering back through the clouds and through the snow, and certainly a good sign.

It looks like this will be coming to an end, but then, tomorrow, Ali, the cleanup begins. And what a cleanup it's going to be.

VELSHI: Yes.

WOLF: You mentioned 63,000 people without power. And even when the snow goes off, the wind, pushing all those heavy trees --

VELSHI: That could still cause more power outages.

WOLF: -- it could snap more people lines, which means, of course -- exactly, which means people are going to be shivering for quite some time.

Let's send it back to you.

VELSHI: Stay warm in there.

We have breaking news now from Philadelphia, from Pennsylvania, per the Department of Transportation, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Major road closures now around Pennsylvania. The I-76, the Schuylkill, is closed. I-676, closed. I-476, the blue route, closed. I-76 from Reading to -- where was that? -- Reading to Morgantown, closed.

The turnpike is staying open, but per the DOT, those major, major routes around Philadelphia are now closed because of the weather situation. We just spoke to the mayor of Philadelphia. He is now en route. He's probably at the emergency center in Philadelphia, where they are now coordinating a response to the heavy, heavy snow.

Chad will give us an update, but Philadelphia is really getting hit. It got almost record snowfall the other day, and now they have broken those records.

Let's go to New York City. A lot of snow there.

Allan Chernoff standing in a place that is normally a remarkable hub of traffic and people. He is at Columbus Circle at 59th, right at the entrance to Central Park West. Couldn't get more central in New York.

What's going on? That snow is still coming sideways where you are, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are getting pounded here, Ali.

You know, an hour and half ago, I was out here and there was virtually no snow, but now we are getting plenty of it. They are talking about 10 to 16 inches here in the New York area, and blizzard warnings all the way to 6:00 a.m.

We were talking a little bit about the traffic and the roads. Let's come out here and have a little look.

Not too much traffic at the moment, but the vast majority of the vehicles, yellow cabs. Those are the only people really who have any business pretty much being out on the road because they make it a living.

But I was talking to a bunch of these guys just a little while ago. Experienced cabbies are saying, well, this is cake, no big deal, but they are complaining because they are not getting all that much business.

Many people, very wisely so, are just not outside, not taking vehicles around. And as you see, in New York City, there still is that much traffic that the snow very quickly turns gray, and we've got that yucky slush that all of us pedestrians have to clomp through.

Right over here, I showed you how the plows have come out. We've got about five, six inches up there already. The snow is still piling down.

And as you know, although New York City offices are open, the schools are closed not only in New York, but in the whole area. And so, here in Central Park, we've got the kids, we've got the tourists, we've got lots of people enjoying themselves. A snowball fight is going on right over there. You see the pedicabs also are still out, but the pedicabs have the same complaint as the taxi drivers -- not a lot of business today. The only reason to be out is just to enjoy the snow and get some basic provisions -- Ali.

VELSHI: There was a cyclist that went through behind you, those pedicabs. Boy, if anybody didn't think New Yorkers were tough, there is proof that they are. And I mentioned to Christine Romans earlier to come out if you weren't very busy and throw a snowball at you. I don't know if she did it or not.

CHERNOFF: All right. Well, Ali, I'm ready for anybody coming out. This is perfect snowball weather, so it's got -- that moisture packs really easily.

VELSHI: Allan Chernoff taking all covers outside of Central Park.

Allan, we'll check in with you on the situation in New York

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Hey, listen. Business is -- as much as we've been telling you everything's shut down in Washington, everything isn't. President Obama met with black leaders today to talk about jobs and how this recession has disproportionately affected the African- American community.

We're going to talk to some people about that when we come back.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Gosh, Suzanne Malveaux, if you've been watching her from the White House today, you'd think that she was actually a weather reporter today. She's been standing outside, braving this thing with that fantastic hat of hers.

But Suzanne, you are proof that Washington has not shut down. Work is still being done, and work is still being done at the White House.

The president met with some African-American leaders today to discuss how this economy has disproportionately hit that community. In particular, with respect to jobs.

What goes on in a meeting like that?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ali, you're absolutely right. You know, the president still continues to work here. And I have to say, they were not going to cancel this meeting no matter what, because at least some of these leaders, it took them a lot of work just to get here to the White House.

They're all from out of town. Most of them, at least. Dr. Dorothy Height, she is the chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women. She's very active, but she's 97 years old, she uses a wheelchair. She was not able to make it.

But the other three were. And it was quite a surreal scene, if you can imagine them all huddling underneath an umbrella in blizzard conditions, giving us the latest on this meeting.

You had Ben Jealous of the NAACP; Mark Morial of the National Urban League; as well as the Reverend Al Sharpton. All of them saying take a look at these statistics. Things are bad for everybody, but they're worse for African-Americans and Hispanics when it comes to the job numbers.

For whites, unemployment rate is 8.7 percent. But for African- Americans, it's 16.5 percent. Hispanics, 12.6 percent. And for black teenagers, they say more than 40 percent unemployed now.

So, what are they doing? They went to the president, they said we've got some ideas. We want you to specifically take a look at how we could use perhaps that money that went to bail out the big banks in the tune of $150 billion, use that money to go ahead and create jobs, some three million jobs for folks who really, really need it and who are really suffering.

I had a chance to talk to all three of these leaders after the meeting with the president, and here's how Marc Morial put it. Here's the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: We want people to know how this great recession, the worst recession we've had since the Great Depression, is impacting all communities, but having a very severe impact on urban communities and on the chronically unemployed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Ali, the White House has not specifically targeted any particular community for jobs creation. It has been much broader. And what they are saying is that, specifically, when it comes to African-Americans and Hispanics who are in urban areas, or rural areas, or those who are undereducated, that these are the chronically unemployed, and that they need to be focused on when it comes to creating that jobs bill that you heard the president talking about.

So, their next move is -- they say, look, we appreciate the president has listened to our concerns, but we're now taking our argument up to Congress to talk to folks in the House and the Senate and say if there's going to be a jobs bill, a bipartisan bill, we want you to focus on where the need is greatest. And it's in these particular communities -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. And they've got some specific -- as you said, some specific things that they want. They've got amounts of money from the stimulus that they want to apply to it.

Great discussion.

Suzanne, thanks for staying out there. And we might just need to keep you out there for some weather reports in D.C. I do hear that the worst of it is passing you.

MALVEAUX: We've been doing them both.

VELSHI: I've been seeing you all day.

MALVEAUX: I think so. I think the worst is over. Thank God.

VELSHI: It looks like it's letting up.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, on this conversation with the White House, with the president about jobs and the economy and African-Americans.

She did point out that she was told by those people who are meeting with the president that education is key, so we're going to talk about that next. I've got Dr. Michael Lomax here. He's the CEO of the United Negro College Fund. He's standing by to talk to me about the work that they have done and the challenges that lie ahead of them.

Also, obviously, we are staying on this weather story. You can see the bottom of the screen. We're on this blizzard.

That is Times Square. It doesn't look that bad. People still walking around the middle of New York, but they're still not finished with that snow and that wind.

We'll be right back on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

VELSHI: Suzanne and I were talking a minute ago about this meeting that took place at the White House about getting a job, particularly the challenge of getting a job if you're African- American, you're young, you're a male in this country, because those are three categories where the unemployment rate is substantially greater than the national average.

Well, getting an education remains the single best way to get a job in this country. For many African-Americans, the United Negro College Fund made getting a college education a reality.

Let's take a look at what the United Negro College Fund is about.

It was incorporated in 1944 with 27 colleges. The first efforts raised $760,000. And being a money guy, if you want to see what that looks like today, that's $8.6 million. Member colleges include 105 historically black colleges and universities which represent about three percent of the nation's academic institutions. They graduate -- those historically black colleges and universities graduate nearly 20 percent of African- Americans who earn undergraduate degrees. UNCF supports 60,000 students a year at 900 schools and has raised more than $3 billion, almost $1.5 billion of which was raised this past decade.

I'm here with the president and CEO, Dr. Michael Lomax, of the United Negro College Fund.

Thank you for being with us.

DR. MICHAEL LOMAX, PRESIDENT & CEO, UNCF: Good to be with you.

VELSHI: So, Suzanne was talking about the national unemployment rate, around 10 percent. The unemployment rate for people with a college education, generally, nationally, not with respect to color, is half of that. It's about five percent.

LOMAX: Right.

VELSHI: But for African-Americans, they're disadvantaged in every subcategory. In other words, the rate of unemployment is higher for men, for teenagers, for people with undergraduate degrees.

You've been faced with this challenge for years.

LOMAX: Absolutely. And it's interesting that, although, as you noted, a college degree is probably the best prevention for unemployment, even in that category African-American men have a bump.

VELSHI: Right.

LOMAX: And there's obviously still some prejudice and discrimination. But there's just no getting around it.

VELSHI: Right.

LOMAX: The more education you have, the more lifetime earnings, the less fragility in terms of employment and the greatest prevention in terms of being unemployed.

VELSHI: So what, then, is the single biggest challenge? Because you'd think if the African-American unemployment rate, particularly for young people, is higher than the average, the solution would be to get more people educated, get more people an undergraduate degree or a college education of some sort, what's the biggest impediment to that?

LOMAX: Well, there are two impediments. One is financial. It's still expensive.

VELSHI: Right.

LOMAX: You know, and people have to --

VELSHI: And getting more expensive.

LOMAX: And getting more expensive.

Number two, it's really college preparation. And what we've seen is public schools really have failed to provide the academic preparation, particularly for low-income kids of color.

VELSHI: Right.

LOMAX: So, you know, UNCF is fighting on several fronts.

First, we're saying we've got to make sure that our public school systems work and more kids graduate, and graduate with degrees, which mean when they arrive on a college campus and they start taking a course, they're taking for credit, not remedial courses.

Number two, the institutions themselves have got to be more agile. You know, we focus on the number of people who go from high school to college, but that's a minority of who's in college today. So there are more people who are leaving the workforce, going back to school, leaving school, going back to the workforce, and there's got to be greater ability to receive, accept and help them make it through that very difficult transition.

VELSHI: All right. Well, one day, when we don't have a blizzard around here, maybe we can discuss some specifics as to what can be implemented. Those African-American leaders did discuss with the president how to use some money to train kids to be better prepared, to deal with the chronically unemployed, and I want to get into some specifics.

You'll come back and have a conversation?

LOMAX: I absolutely look forward to it. Thank you.

VELSHI: Thank you sir. I appreciate your patience while you've been sitting here and we've been dealing with this weather situation that is all over the country.

And, of course, we're going to continue to take a look at that. Chad is getting ready to talk to us about the next thing that is happening, but it's blizzards across this country.

That's a live shot of the White House. I've got to tell you, watching it all day, it's definitely looking like things are getting a little better. Maybe that's just hopeful thinking on my part.

You're looking at New York City right there, Times Square, from the sky. And we're watching Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, cities all through the Northeast.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Let's keep an eye on what's going on with this blizzard. Chad's keeping an eye on it better than anyone else right now -- the airports, the road situation, the snow accumulation.

What have you got for us?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we'll first of all go to the airports, because we can.

And this map here shows every plane that's in the air out of Newark. And what we always look for are the latest planes to leave. And there are none.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: There's nothing there. The last plane to leave was a UPS plane.

By the way, UPS said they are not going to deliver in certain places where the blizzard is going. You're just not going to get UPS today.

VELSHI: Got it.

MYERS: It's too dangerous. Plus, everybody else is saying stay off the roadways. We're going to do it.

VELSHI: Right.

MYERS: So there you go.

Here's an ASA (ph) plane that left for a while, a couple of FedEx planes, and an American Airlines flight, 1547.

Go ahead, Sean (ph).

Now we're going to go to the LaGuardia flights, the American Airlines flights -- 739, the last flight out.

VELSHI: And it's going home. It's going to Dallas.

MYERS: It's going to DFW.

VELSHI: And again, the airlines, the airports in New York City are not closed. It's up to the airlines to decide whether they are bringing planes in or out, but not much is happening.

MYERS: Correct JFK now, we'll take a look at. They had a rain/snow mix, kind of a sleet for a while, and they have done a little bit better. They're still getting some planes out because they had planes on the ground. They're still trying to get those planes off. What has happened so far in the other major airports is that the airlines said, we are not flying in there because we don't want to get our planes stuck there and possibly damaged. Can you imagine what's going to happen to a plane with 20 inches of snow on it? So they don't want that at all, so that's why they do those things.

VELSHI: That's just a few feet away from Allan Chernoff.

MYERS: Yes, a beautiful shot of C Park, Central Park, five inches of snow there.

VELSHI: The kids are having fun there.

MYERS: You might as well. You know, that's why people move to Minnesota because they can play in the snow.

VELSHI: You know, let's check in for a second with CNN Radio Steve Kastenbaum. He's at LaGuardia. One plane out of La Guardia, Steve, that is all we see at the moment, doesn't look like there's a lot of activity there?

STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Not at all, as far as planes moving on the ground here. All morning long, I have been watching these giant plows make passes on the Tarmac and on the runways here. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey tells me they are keeping the runways open at the three area airports in New York just in case some planes should opt to land here. They need to keep the runways open in case of an emergency.

But for now, as you just mentioned, none of the airlines were flying in or out of here. And within the last hour, the intensity of the snowfall here picked up and visibility dropped dramatically. I couldn't see an airplane landing here safely given the wind and snow conditions right now and the close proximity of the runways to the water here. I don't know why anybody would want to land in these conditions at this airport.

VELSHI: If I was on one of those planes, Steve, I'd just as soon they redirect it. Steve was talking about the wind. You made this point a little while ago. A blizzard is not just snow.

MYERS: No, it is visibility. It's reduced visibility. It's snow and it's wind over 35 miles-per-hour, all combing to make a blizzard. So even though there are blizzard warnings all up and down the East Coast, not every place is going to have a blizzard every minute, but certainly that could happen when the wind blows across a roadway especially if the wind is coming from the North and we know it is, if you're driving across an East/West roadway, you know that wind is just going to fly across here and possible even make you snow- blind.

VELSHI: By the way, what is this cake you've got here? It looks like a cup cake.

MYERS: Just go with that. Go to ireport.com or CNN.com/ireport. You can get there both ways. And took a look at some of these great pictures. This is from Ross and Ty. This is coming out of Vienna. He said, I wanted to go outside and have breakfast on the patio, but I woke up to a snow wedding cake.

VELSHI: That is incredible. What was he thinking about going out there and having breakfast in all of that snow?

MYERS: I think it was tongue in cheek.

VELSHI: Well, we are going to stay on this. You know, Steve Kastenbaum is at LaGuardia. You remember a couple of years ago, Valentine's Day almost -- it was two years ago and there was really bad weather and Jet Blue didn't cancel its flights, if you recall. And people got stranded for hours and hours on the tarmac. I have to say, I belong to the group of people, I think Jet Blue has made a good, new decision, and so have the airlines. If it's a blizzard, cancel the flights. Don't have people sitting around on planes.

MYERS: I remember times where there was seven, 8-hour waits to get into gates at Detroit.

VELSHI: Now they don't do it. Now they just cancel.

MYERS: Well because now you have airline bill of rights, and I wonder how much that has to do with their thinking, hey, let's not mess with this bill of rights.

VELSHI: Yes, it's a good point. Steve Kastenbaum is at La Guardia. We'll check in with him later. Of course, our team is all over the place. Listen, one of the things we talk about a lot, you hear catch phrases, the president talks about it a lot. Green jobs and how they are going to save our economy. I'll tell you what. It's not all bollocks. There are actually some green jobs. We're going to go out to California and show you thousands of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. Let's take a look at the blizzard warnings that are in place in the Northeast. You are looking at Times Square there. It just doesn't look very serious over there, does it? It looks like just a nice winter day with a bit of snow coming down.

Let's start with D.C. On the right side of your screen, the blizzard warnings, because this is where the blizzard is leaving first, the blizzard warnings are in effect until 7:00 p.m. tonight. Suzanne Malveaux, Reynolds Wolf, both telling us things seem to be easing up in D.C. About 8-10 inches inside the Beltway is what we are expecting. But winds are very strong. They're still gusting. Expect the gusts up to 50 miles-an-hour. Dulles Airport remains closed.

In New York City, back to that Times Square shot, the blizzard warning in place until 6 a.m. tomorrow. So if you don't think New York looks too bad, that's because they haven't gotten the brunt of it yet. They're expecting somewhere between 12 and 20 inches of snow ending late tonight, maybe as early as six in the morning. Winds continue, 30 to 40 miles-per-hour, gusting to 50 miles-per-hour. New York City airports are currently open, very, very few flights are in the air right now.

In Philadelphia, major highways around Philadelphia all closed. The airport, we are looking at it right there, nothing going on. They're expecting 12 to 20 inches, ending later this evening. I think it was 6 p.m. Strong winds there, 30 to 40 miles-per-hour. And in Boston, in Boston, yes, Philadelphia at 6 p.m. is when the blizzard warning is set to expire.

Boston not a blizzard, it's a winter storm warning valid until 1:00 a.m. right now and five to 10 inches of snow. Boston is escaping the worst of it for the moment.

OK, green technology, we talk a lot about that. You hear a lot about it, green jobs, you've heard those terms before. What on Earth do they actually mean and what do they mean for our economy and ultimately for you and a job? Well, California is banking on green technology to reverse the crippling job losses in that state. They hope that alternative energy companies can create, get this, more than 400,000 jobs over the next decade, 400,000 jobs. Casey Wian visited one of the companies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sounds crazy. Mark Holmes, a successful corporate attorney took a chance on a new career during the depths of the U.S. financial crisis.

(on camera): October of 2008, perfect time to start a new business, right?

MARK HOLMES, GREEN WAVE ENERGY: That's right. No better time.

WIAN: What was going on? You had to be scared?

HOLMES: We had a major financial meltdown, and everybody was in a panic. And those were really dark days. And so we figured what better time to start a company?

WIAN (voice-over): Green Wave Energy was born.

(on camera): This is Green Wave Energy's first product, a light pole that is powered by both the sun and the wind, operating completely off of the electric grid. What's unique about this is you can see the wind turbine that's turning there. It is also on a swivel so it can catch the wind from any direction. It has four solar panels that can catch the sun's power no matter where the sun is in the sky.

(voice-over): Green Wave is funded by 33 partners who invested a little cash in nearly $3 million in products and services. One partner's ship repair yard serves as a testing lab while another's SUV is a makeshift wind tunnel.

HOLMES: We have essentially an approximation of a wind tunnel without having to pay for all of that really expensive instrumentation. And essentially what we do is we drive up and down a street.

WIAN: A third partner, a struggling luxury yacht builder has found a better way to make the device using fiberglass.

(on camera): This yacht manufacturing company has gone through tough times during the recession.

HOLMES: They've had some very tough times, had a significant reduction in force. And I think with us coming here and starting up production, they're going to be able to bring back a lot more folks and hopefully several hundred folks. WIAN (voice-over): Green Wave recently made its first light pole sale and is discussing two large contracts, one that could land its off-the-grid light in Haiti.

(on camera): Is this idea sort of creating a green technology company from scratch, if you will, and using the existing resources of sort of an old-school manufacturing company? Is this unique, Green Wave Energy, or can other companies do this?

HOLMES: No, absolutely not. I think this is the model if anything. Bringing in green technology to basically those facilities will basically bring them back to life.

WIAN: Casey Wian, CNN, Newport Beach, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right, when we come back, I am going to bring you up to speed with the day's top stories right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Those pictures look remarkably similar, got a check out of the top stories here. The second big winter storm in less than a week has paralyzed travel across much of the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. Washington is coping with whiteout conditions, maybe a bit of an improvement coming there. Blizzard warnings are posted all the way from North Carolina to New York.

In Haiti, no signs of life beneath the rubble of a Port-Au-Prince supermarket. A handful of people were believed to be at the Caribbean market yesterday when it gave way. Several were reportedly foraging. Rescuers were at the scene for about six hours, but the effort has now been called off.

The Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at the International Space Station early this morning, delivering a new room and an observation deck. They are the last major pieces needed to wrap up construction 200 miles above us. Three space walks are planned for this vision.

All right, when we come back, we will go visit Allan Chernoff who is somewhere outside Times Square. That is the White House. Reynolds Wolf is not far from there. Let's see what the situation is with both of them when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We have been throwing this term blizzard around all day and Chad has been telling us it has a very specific definition. Let me show you what it is. Winds of 35 miles-an-hour or more, heavy blowing snow, reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less for three hours or longer. And that will give you some sense of what is going on from D.C. -- actually even from South Carolina northward all the way into I think it's almost as far as Boston, but Boston is not under a blizzard warning. But pretty bad weather up there as well. Baltimore, Washington, Dulles, Wilmington, Delaware, all of those places have already broken their full winter -- full winter snowfall record. Allan Chernoff is in New York City. Reynolds Wolf is in D.C.

Let's go to Reynolds first where it looks like snow is letting up, but boy, he does look colder than he's looked for the last few days, Reynolds.

WOLF: Well, that is right. Ali, let's go through that checklist you were just talking about for the criteria of a blizzard. I think the first thing you mentioned was the wind. And we certainly have had our share of gusts out here. You said 35 or stronger. Yes, I can tell you that yes, we've had some winds as strong as 35.

The second thing you mentioned was visibility, about a quarter mile or less. Well, we're going to pan on over. Take a look at this. We've got Chris Turner, he's our CNN photojournalist, Chris trying to get a shot of the Washington Monument. Forget about it. You can't see, you can't even see the Smithsonian. You can barely see some of threes up on the horizon. Then we pitch around to the other side and try to see the rotunda, thankfully things get a little bit better there, where we can see again just the outside of that line if you will of the Capitol Building itself.

One good bit of news, that by tomorrow, we're expecting the snowfall to be gone, the wind should subside, but still there's going to ice and snow everywhere. And that's where the cleanup begins. Roadways? Treacherous as described by the law enforcement here in Washington, D.C. for the back roads. But here, this is one of the snow escape routes. This is pretty good, all things considered.

You know, I've got to tell you, although the snow removal has been poor in some places, I think they get a little bit of a break, especially here in D.C. considering again, two blizzards in less than a week's time. It really is mind boggling. We are seeing this throughout the region as you have been saying all day, Ali, 63,000 people without power. Probably going to add more to that as we get to the late-night hours and then into tomorrow. So we've certainly got those issues.

And then of course, the airports, again, had a lot of closures across the region. Of course, no flights taking off and certainly no one coming in. And then tomorrow, as things gets back to normal, you're going to have a backlog of a lot of customers who are impatient trying to get where they need to go. Again, let's give you a shot up here. We do see the sun peering through the clouds. I will tell you, the precipitation is beginning to slow down. Most of the stuff you're seeing in the air is just truly windblown, and we are feeling it. Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: Reynolds doesn't typically look cold, it must be cold for him to be there. Reynolds, we are going to stay with the story in D.C. right now. On the phone with me is Lieutenant Colonel Kevin McAndrews, the state public affairs officer for the D.C. National Guard. The National Guard has been activated in D.C. Lieutenant Colonel, what is that you are doing in D.C.? What activities is the National Guard engaging in?

LT. COL. KEVIN MCANDREWS, D.C. NATIONAL GUARD: We have Humvees that are stationed at each of the police precincts and the fire departments and also the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. They have been shuttling police and firemen back and forth from work and even some of the local doctors to and from the hospitals to handle medical emergencies.

VELSHI: How does that work? Tell us how that works. People call 911 typically. The police need to get their vehicles somewhere and your Humvees are the escort vehicle or do you actually have doctors or police in the vehicles?

MCANDREWS: No, they are inside the Humvees because no other vehicles can get down some of these roads especially now in the blizzard conditions. And at the Metro Police Headquarters, they have an operation center that is keeping track of where all of our Humvees are. And back at the D.C. National Guard Armory, we have an operation center operating 24/7, also tracking and staying in contact, radio contact with our Humvees that are all over the city and all over the region, shuttling emergency personnel to where they need to be.

VELSHI: Lieutenant Colonel, how do you activate -- when you activate the National Guard in a situation like this, often you are activating Guard members who are coming from somewhere else. In this case, a lot of your members will be affected by the storm themselves, their families, their ability to report for duty. How is that working?

MCANDREWS: Well, they are indeed heroes. They volunteer to come in. We have received a request from the city last week when the storm was coming for support. And then that goes through in our case being D.C., we fall under the president of the United States, and that flows through the Department of Defense and the Secretary of Army and then they give the approval for us to come out and do what we need to do for the city.

VELSHI: All right. It is getting busier? Are you getting less busy right now? What is the sense of the trend? We just talked to Reynolds who said the snow is tapering off, but you've still got heavy winds there. How is it looking?

MCANDREWS: Our folks are going non-stop. They are not getting to the police districts, they are being rerouted once they get their mission done, they are back on the road. We are up to 300 missions from both of the storms, so it is just getting busier and busier. We are hardly keeping count.

VELSHI: Lieutenant Colonel Kevin McAndrews, great work out there for the D.C. National Guard. They have been activated in D.C. The National Guard has been activated in Maryland and Virginia. We will continue to stay on the story. Good luck to you for the members who are helping people out.

All right. It is Thursday in Iran right now and that means it is the 31st anniversary of the revolution in that country. The government has warned that demonstrators will be punished hardly, and will be punished very severely, and they have warned that the West is going to get a punch. Ivan is working on the story. I'm going to go talk to him, right after this break.

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VELSHI: OK, this is a developing story. It's got nothing to do with the weather here, it has got to do with the international climate though. It is now Thursday in Iran and that makes it the 31st anniversary of the revolution in that country. And as you know, the last year has seen lots of demonstrations. We are expecting to see opposition protests and I think that we may have already started to see one of them. The Iranian government says it will crack down on opposition protests. It also said on Monday, the supreme leader, said that it vowed to punch the West in a way that will leave them stunned. And today, the Iranian court sentenced one person to death, eight people to prison for their role in December anti-government demonstrations.

Let's go over to the Iran desk. Ivan Watson is staffing it right now and moments ago, he told me that they were starting to hear something that suggested that there might be some sort of demonstration or some sort of protest underway. What are you hearing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. For the first time in months, we are hearing this protest chant. Let's take a look at Sarah's computer here. Yelling at night, and that is a sign of protest against the government.

VELSHI: Interesting.

WATSON: Ahead of expected protests tomorrow.

VELSHI: All right, and we, again, this is the reason we have this desk is that you can hear these things, we can get some sense of where they are coming from. We can try and verify information, but unlike the election last year, the information flow out of Iran is much smaller.

WATSON: That's right, it's a virtual blockade. Foreign journalists now allowed in, Internet very spotty. It's really tough to get any information out, but somebody managed to upload some videos from Tehran tonight.

VELSHI: All right, so we're going to check on those. Whose celebration is this? It seems like both sides, the opposition and government forces are sort of claiming this as their own.

WATSON: That's right. Usually what you have is the government celebrating the accomplishments of the Islamic revolution. But now you have an opposition bloc that is saying, no, this is our day, too, and they are saying that they're going to go out to the streets during the state-sponsored marches and demonstrations and the government is saying no way, we will crush any kind of rebellion, any kind of dissent. VELSHI: All right, the sun is not up there, so we don't know yet whether that's happening. What about this blow, this punch to the West? We know anything about that? The supreme leader saying he's going to punch the West?

WATSON: What we hear is the supreme leader calls the opposition agents of the CIA, agents of Israel, agents of Western government, and that really just makes people even more angry.

VELSHI: All right Ivan, we're going to stay on top of this story with the desk and of course all through overnight and tomorrow. Thanks very much for this and the desk here, working on the Iran story. Stay with us. We are coming right back after this break.

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VELSHI: We are going to stay all over this storm for the next few hours. I'm Ali Velshi, and you can always catch me here 1 p.m. Eastern or 10 a.m. Pacific. I was actually not going to be here tomorrow, but I am going to be, because I am one of those guys whose flights to the Northeast has been canceled. So, we are going to cover this blizzard and right now, we are going to continue. We've got live reporters all over the country or at least in those places where they are getting hit the hardest. In Philadelphia, we've got cameras. We've got people in New York. We've got people in D.C. We are continuing to cover this and really, the best way to cover a blizzard is with a one-man blizzard himself.

Rick Sanchez, "RICK'S LIST" is starting right now.