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Storm Spans 2,500 Miles; Jordan's King Abdullah Dismisses Government; Nevada Betting on Solar Power

Aired February 01, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're following two major stories.

On your left, blizzard warnings in eight states. Travel coming to a standstill. A huge storm blanketing much of the country. We've got you covered with a team of reporters and meteorologists.

On the right, the "March of Millions" in Egypt continues into the night. It is now almost 9:00 p.m. there. What's next for Egypt?

Well, as storms go, one now menacing three-quarters of the nation has it all. It's got size. Check this out. I'm going to show you a picture of this storm.

It is 2,500 miles of weather ranging from bad to life- threatening. And that's not my term, by the way. That's a term the National Weather Service is using.

The storm also has great strength. Blizzards are forecast or under way in eight states. And this storm has a great deal of variety.

In some places you'll see knee-deep snow, inch-thick ice. You might hear thunder, it might be freezing rain. There's even a risk of tornadoes.

Super Bowl travel plans are an early casualty. Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport had to close today for two-and-a-half hours over ice. It's since managed to clear one of its seven runways, but that's after more than 800 outbound flights were canceled. Probably about 4,000 flights nationwide have been canceled.

Love Field is closed. Love Field Airport is closed as we speak. But it hopes to reopen sometime today.

More than 1,000 flights are canceled in Chicago, where nothing much is happening right now. You're looking at live pictures right now. It doesn't look like much, but something's coming. There could be two feet of snow on these streets by tomorrow. Even for Chicago, that would easily be one of the top three snowstorms on record.

And pity St. Louis, truly the gateway to winter misery. It's due for snow, sleet and freezing rain. A foot of new snow expected north of the city, heavy ice to the south. The St. Louis mayor is stranded in New Mexico, by the way, which also got snow. For "Two at the Top," I want to bring in two of my CNN colleagues, one of whom is watching the storm from a safe distance, right here with me in Atlanta. The other one isn't. There he is.

First of all, CNN meteorologist and severe weather expert Chad Myers, I'll talk to him in a second. But Ed Lavandera, right there in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, one of four states -- Oklahoma is one of four states already under a state of emergency.

Ed, how is it looking out there and how bad is it going to get?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, first of all, I appreciate you getting to me first, because it's really cold out here the longer we have to stand out here.

You know, it's interesting. In the last hour or so, the cloud cover has seemed to kind of thin out a little bit. We're starting to see a lot more brighter sunshine here on the streets of downtown Oklahoma City. But that doesn't change the fact that there is a ton of snow on the ground from Oklahoma City all the way to Tulsa.

We're seeing incredibly thick snowfall throughout many parts, causing major, major problems on the roadways. State emergency officials are telling us there have been a lot of stranded vehicles, a lot of roadways shut down, impassable at this time. The National Guard has been called out to help rescue some of these people stranded on these roadways.

But what is really kind of -- as the snowfall is starting to taper off here in the Oklahoma City area, it seems like what really is going to keep people from enjoying this beautiful snowfall is the wind. I mean, Ali, you stand here and you look directly into the wind for a little while, and I tell you what, it's a heck of a contest to see who can last the longest, because it takes just a matter of seconds before you really feel that wind take its punishing toll on your face and your face starts to kind of tighten up and feels frozen.

So the temperatures here over the course of the next couple of days will really be the story here. The wind-chill, down below -- I think minus 12 or minus 13 at last count. So that's what makes some of this experience right here very painful -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Ed. Thanks very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: I want to bring you some other news, but before I do that, we're going to have a special briefing at the White House this hour. The head of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will join Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, to talk about Washington's response to the blizzards, the ice, and the bitter cold.

That's at 2:30 Eastern. You'll see it live, right here on CNN.

Our other major story, the people power revolt in Egypt. Reuters reporting that President Mubarak will give a speech sometime tonight, Egypt time. And in that speech, according to Al Arabiya network, President Mubarak will announce that he will not run for president again and that he will dissolve parliament.

We're working to confirm both reports. We'll bring you any new developments on this story as soon as we get them.

You're looking -- it's 9:00 p.m. in Egypt. That is Tahrir Square. Ivan Watson and others are there right now.

Huge rallies continue, under way in Cairo and other cities. It's being called the "March of Millions," the latest effort to force President Hosni Mubarak from power since the protests started a week ago today.

In Washington, more signs of an apparent rapidly-changing consensus among top policymakers. Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on Mubarak to step down. It's today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: -- make clear that neither he nor his son will be candidates for reelection or for election in the next elections. And to go even further, to move to put together a caretaker governance over these next months working with the army, working with the civil society, in order to avoid violence and help to transition Egypt, and to the future that its people want and that it deserves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: As we said, Reuters is reporting that President Mubarak will give a speech sometime tonight in which he may announce that he is not running for president again. That content part comes from the Al Arabiya network.

We're working on both of those stories. It's 9:00 at night right now, but the crowds -- this is from earlier today -- but the crowds have dispersed somewhat, but they're still there. Ivan Watson reporting that it's almost like a chant or a rock concert environment.

Those are live pictures. We'll keep you posted on developments as we get them.

All right. Some other big stories that we're following today.

(NEWSBREAK)

VELSHI: Well, remember what happened in Iran 30 years ago? Some people worry that the same thing could happen in Egypt. We'll tell you what we mean.

And what are you saying about Egypt? I asked you on Facebook and Twitter, what role, if any, do you think the U.S. should play in what's happening in Egypt? Well, it's not too late for you to weigh in. Hit up my Facebook and Twitter pages that you see there, and my blog. I'll bring you the responses in just a couple minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, we've been keeping an eye on other countries that could be influenced by what's going on in Egypt. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Jordan last week to demand political and economic reforms. Today, Jordan's King Abdullah II dismissed his government. He ordered a new prime minister to implement what he called "genuine political reform."

So I want to take a look at Jordan for you for a second to show you just how important Jordan is. Take a look at this.

Jordan, which is here, shares borders with Israel, with Saudi Arabia. The southern tip of Jordan is just across the Gulf from Egypt, and, of course, Syria to the north, Lebanon to the west.

Here's a quick Jordan 101 so you know what we're talking about.

Jordan was part of the Ottoman Empire until the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. Britain took over administration of the region.

It created a country called Transjordan in the 1920s. Transjordan won independence from Britain in 1946. Transjordan, by the way, because it's across the Jordan River. It changed its name just to Jordan in 1950.

Now let me tell you a little bit about Jordan's government.

It is a pro-western constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament and universal suffrage. Bicameral means two types of parliament and everybody gets a vote. The king signs and executes all laws. Now, King Hussein -- you will remember him -- he ruled from 1953 to 1999, when he was succeeded by his son, King Abdullah.

Let's talk a little bit about the relationship with Israel.

It's got a long border with Israel, and it administered the West Bank until Israel took control of the region in the 1967 Arab/Israeli War. Jordan renounced its claims to the West Bank in 1988 and signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Jordan, by the way, is home to many, many Palestinian refugees.

Jordan's population is about 6.4 million people, including 7 million -- let me show you that right here. I've got it written down for you -- including 1.7 million Palestinian refugees and other displaced persons.

Ninety-two2 percent of the population are Sunni Muslims. And Jordan's official language is Arabic, but English is widely spoken in Jordan.

Let's go to CNN's Jill Dougherty. She's standing by at the State Department.

Jill, does the U.S. believe that this decision by King Abdullah is going to actually satisfy this growing movement in Jordan as it may be growing in other countries?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question, isn't it? Because it's a question in a lot of these countries in the region that have continuing problems -- you know, massive young populations, people with an education, perhaps, but no job prospects, and also people who have been shut out of the political process.

Now, Jordan is in a much better situation than Egypt, but it really is anyone's guess in any of those countries right now whether it would satisfy them. But, again, Jordan does not appear to be in the revolutionary situation that Egypt is right now.

And I keep -- you know, Ali, I was thinking as you were talking about Hillary Clinton's speech just a few weeks ago when she was in Doha mentioning many of these same points. The regional governments that are usually and traditionally friends the United States, if they don't begin to address the needs and the demands of their people for more economic participation, political participation, they could be run over by this wave as well. And you heard it from Senator Kerry.

So that's the hope, that this would be enough.

VELSHI: Let me ask you this, Jill. There's a meeting going on in Washington with the president, with Secretary Clinton, with a number of his top advisers. And they are walking -- Ed and I were talking about this earlier -- they're walking a fine line between supporting the revolution and ending up like Iran did, where it seemed to be the sensible thing at the time to support the revolution, and then the world got stuck with an Iran that does what Iran does.

What do you see as the shift in Washington and how important it is?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, if you're talking about Iran, that actually, interestingly, was on the mind of Mubarak a couple of years ago from the WikiLeaks cables. He was worried that the shah had given too much, the shah had opened up, and he paid the price of being swept away by the Iranian Revolution. And Mubarak was saying to the U.S. ambassador, basically, I'm not going to do that, I want stability and I'm not going there.

So now we're in a very, very different situation. But, you know, I think Iran has similarities.

You've got lots of people on the street, very angry people. But when you really look through, what do they have? If you look at the leadership, they had in Iran more than 30 years ago the Ayatollah Khomeini, charismatic. Regardless of what you think of his politics, he was very charismatic, he lead a movement.

Right now, on the streets of Egypt, you have a coalition, a coalition of at least probably six different groups, and it's led nominally by a man who is not exactly -- Mohamed ElBaradei -- not exactly charismatic, kind of a bookish type of person. That's different.

And the ideology. There was an Islamic ideology in Iran back in 1979. There's really no ideology per se on the streets at this point. It's really jobs, jobs, jobs, bad economy, and the pent-up demand by people.

VELSHI: Yes. It is remarkable how much we all have in common no matter where we are in the world. We want a better chance and we want to work.

All right, Jill. Thanks very much for your insight on this. This will continue to be a complex issue that we are trying to follow.

I asked you to weigh in on Egypt. Our question was, what role, if any, should the U.S. play in what is happening in Egypt? Here's what I got from my Facebook page.

Tara says, "The U.S. should show support for the people and back their belief that Mubarak should resign. Let the people know we support them, but nothing more. We are not the world's police."

Kelly writes, "It seems obvious that we don't want to be on the wrong side of history this time. Change is inevitable. The U.S. and the world should support the people of Egypt in their cries for freedom."

And this is from Sue . "I think we're handling it perfectly. It's not our government's business to decide who should or should not lead a country."

Tim says, "If human rights are being violated, then and only then should we become involved. It is a peaceful revolution. Let's keep it that way."

And finally, this nugget from Dennis: "Hmm. Israel and the U.S. just changed their Facebook status with Egypt from 'married' to 'it's complicated.'"

That's a good one.

Let's check on Twitter.

"The U.S. role should be helping the Egyptians get their free elections publicly, while keeping our own interests in mind privately."

Here's one from Smart Alec Alex. "We do give money, but now is the time to stick to principles. The Egyptian people want a positive change and the U.S. should have no part."

And finally, from StJon, "We are involved in every country. It's called diplomacy."

Thanks for your responses. Keep them coming. I read every single one of them, even when you're not so nice to me.

A little town called Boulder City with a rocky past suddenly has a bright future thanks to a natural resource that won't ever run out. We are "Building up America" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The crisis in Egypt is renewing fears about American dependence on foreign energy, and President Obama has challenged U.S. companies to lead the way toward new, clean, green energy resources, which leads us to a big opportunity for a struggling small town in Nevada.

Tom Foreman joins us now from Boulder City, Nevada, for today's "Building up America" -- Tom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, you know how much concern there is everywhere about future energy supplies in this country. So, many, many towns are trying to get on board with this green energy revolution. But the simple truth is some of them, like this one, are much better positioned for that than others.

(voice-over): Out in the Nevada desert, the future is growing wild amid a sea of solar cells and the hopes of folks like Scott Crider with Sempra Energy.

SCOTT CRIDER, SEMPRA ENERGY: Right now we have about a million panels.

FOREMAN: He says he would not want this massive solar field anywhere else.

(on camera): Why is this such a good location for this sort of thing?

CRIDER: You know, first, there's a lot of available flat land. Second, it's incredibly sunny. And third, there's existing transmission lines that provide access to major markets throughout the western United States.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Those lines are near little Boulder City because it was settled at another time when energy and the economy collided, when thousands came during the Great Depression for another grand power-generating project.

(on camera): So why is this town here?

DUNCAN MCCOY, BOULDER CITY COUNCIL: This town is here because it was a federal reservation to build Hoover Dam.

FOREMAN (voice-over): That's City Council member Duncan McCoy, who says even though sales and property taxes are way down, the solar facility has brought hundreds of temporary construction jobs and desperately needed money because it leases the land near those power lines from the town.

MCCOY: This year we'll get about -- in the current budget -- about $2.5 million. That's about 11 percent of our city's general fund budget.

FOREMAN (on camera): That's pretty important money for a town this size.

MCCOY: That's pretty important money, and we can count on it.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Giving this town a real chance to build up a new future by looking to its past.

(on camera): So far, this has only created a few permanent jobs, but as more facilities come on line, they expect more jobs, more of that steady stream of revenue that they need so badly here, because their economy has been hit so hard. They're hoping this can be a way into the future -- Ali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Thank you, Tom.

It is 25 minutes after the hour, so it's time to check up on developments in our top stories.

(NEWSBREAK)

VELSHI: Well, that monster snowstorm bears down on the Midwest and beyond. What should you expect, how it may wreck your travel plans, how to stay safe, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Breaking news now. The network Al Arabiya is reporting that Hosni Mubarak will not run again for president. In a recorded statement to Al Hayat, a television station, Al Arabiya says that Hosni Mubarak will say in that recorded statement that he will not run again.

We are expecting to get that reported statement fairly shortly. We're not sure that even if that is the case, that that will satisfy the coalition of opposition members in Egypt and those people who have been protesting for the removal of Hosni Mubarak. But we are expecting that statement to be released very shortly, a recorded statement by President Hosni Mubarak to the Al Hayat television station saying that he will not run again for president.

We'll get more on that and we will bring it to you as soon as we do. We are following the story with many teams around the world very, very closely.

Let's take a look at St. Louis. Right now it is truly the gateway to winter misery.

It's due for snow, sleet and freezing rain. A foot of new snow is expected north of the city, heavy ice to the south.

Right now I want to bring in my colleague and meteorologist and correspondent Reynolds Wolf. He is in St. Louis. Reynolds, looks OK there. This is kind of like Rob Marciano in Chicago, where we know it's going to get bad, but for now, it doesn't look so bad

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you're right about that. What's interesting about the precipitation in St. Louis, we've only had two parts of the trifecta, the trifecta being the rain and sleet and snow. What we've had so far, the rain and sleet.

We are in St. Louis, as you mentioned. If you want proof, we've got the old cathedral behind me, then of course, you look up a little bit and you've got the arch. But then there's something else that catches the eye. CNN photojournalist John Person - John, let's get a shot of some of this ice on these branches. This stuff is just ridiculous. This has been coating the trees, been coating power lines, just all across the region.

The problem is, Ali, we've got a blizzard warning in effect. If you happen to know anything about blizzards, blizzards are primarily a wind event. So, these trees that are so heavy right now with the ice, when we have the wind pick up, the branches will break, could knock down power lines and with that, you've got some power outages.

Now, that's the ice. That's from that freezing rain. Another type of precipitation we have is what you happen to see here. It looks like it's snow, but if you look very carefully, we're going to slide this all the way down here, it's not snow at all. This is actually a little bit of sleet.

VELSHI: Wow.

WOLF: Really weird. Tiny little ice crystals. The weird thing about it is you can't even make a snowball out of this. It's just like sand. But with the frozen precipitation, getting on the roadways out here, is going to cause problems on the roads eventually. Right now, things are still passable. We've seen all kinds of crews out here. Sands, machines putting out sands, salt, some chemicals, salts on the roadways. Trying to keep things fine. And so far, it is certainly passable.

John, you stay here, man. I'm going to step out here for just a bit. Again, not a whole lot of ice here, a little slush here and there. But as the evening wears on and we expect the wind to pick up, we'll also going to see more snowfall. The snow will finally get here, possibly up to a foot of snow.

So, with all of that combined, travel troubles are going to be horrendous. The situation at the airports, awful. You've heard the number of flights canceled for today and tomorrow, thousands of flights. Going to affect hundreds of millions - over a hundred million Americans.

So, we're not done yet. It's going to be rough, especially here in St. Louis, you mentioned Chicago, back toward Oklahoma City and back Kansas City. They're certainly getting the heavy snow. What a nightmare.

VELSHI: It is interesting to see Oklahoma City where Ed Lavandera is. St. Louis where you are. While you say it's passable, no one is really out there driving in the middle of Tuesday. Chicago as you mentioned, still looks fantastic. It will get hit hard.

Reynolds Wolf, we'll keep in touch with you out there. Let's bring it over to Chad, our severe weather expert, to give us a sense of this. He made the point. Reynolds made the point, blizzard, wind, snow, cold. The whole combination of winter is here across most of the country.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Correct. Reduced visibilities, wind chills below zero. A lot of spots in Texas, Oklahoma. Wind chills are already well below zero.

And then one thing St. Louis is going to get, something we call the dry slot. You don't know where it's going to set up, but it's setting up right there. As this comes in, all of a sudden there's no snow. Right there. That's because dry air will come in from the mountains and from back here as cold dry air, and it feeds itself into -- almost like a hurricane. You know how those band of -- the rain comes and goes? Well, the snow comes and goes. Well, the snow comes and goes, and St. Louis is going to get lucky, the snow amounts will go down a bit.

I have pictures here, some breaking news out of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Near the Cotton Bowl, we had some snow and ice on top of these tents that were set up for entertainment. You get some bands, a little hospitality tent. The snow has collapsed a couple of these things. So far, we don't know of anybody underneath there. Obviously, this guy is up on top. He doesn't think there's any problem at all. Getting that off of there.

One thing I want to talk about, talking about Chicago, they're scrambling planes out of Chicago. And this happens all the time.

VELSHI: Right. They want to get out of the place where all the snow is.

MYERS: They don't want planes on the ground with snow on top, 24 inches of snow possibly on top. 100 planes on the way out, only 53 planes on the way in. You take that number, eventually those gates will get cleared out. Same story -- there's not a plane out of Kansas city, not a plane out of St. Louis, not a plane out of Tulsa or Oklahoma. Literally, this place is a travel desert right now and it should be.

VELSHI: And like Atlanta, like New York, Chicago is a major hub so it's going to affect you whether you have -- you may be flying from Phoenix to San Francisco, and you're wondering why your flight is affected. It's because it might be a plane that --

MYERS: And don't go get a rental car and try to drive through that. Stay home.

VELSHI: If you're in Chicago, just say there for a little while. Yes.

All right. Chad, thanks very much. We'll check in you with shortly.

The DNC goes South. Just how many travelers might be getting stuck. All the news you may have missed on the other side. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Catching you up on what you may have missed this hour. The latest news out of Egypt is a report from the Al Arabiya network that embattled president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, will not seek reelection. We're hoping to get more on that momentarily.

Meanwhile, President Obama is planning to meet with his top security national advisers in about an hour to discuss the evolving situation in Egypt. Protestors took to the streets again today calling for the resignation of President Mubarak. The U.S. State Department is calling on all non-emergency employees and families to leave Egypt.

4,000 flights have been canceled in the United States in preparation of a monster storm already underway in the United States. Airports from Dallas to Chicago are feeling the effects with weather warnings spanning 30 states. State of emergencies in eight states. Many airlines allowing passengers to change their plans without penalty as the storm approaches. Officials are warning travelers it could be days before the system clears out.

The Justice Department says it will appeal a federal court ruling that declared the entire health care reform law, signed by President Obama here last year, unconstitutional. A judge tossed out the law on Monday, deeming it unconstitutional to require Americans to buy health insurance.

And Charlotte, North Carolina, will host the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The city beat out Cleveland, St. Louis and Minneapolis. It will be the Democrats' first Southern convention since 1988, which was in Atlanta. 2008, you'll remember was in Denver. President Obama carried North Carolina in the 2008 election, but by a slim margin. The Republican convention will be held in Tampa, Florida.

And today marks the anniversary of the Columbia space shuttle disaster. Eight years ago, the space shuttle broke apart on reentry into the earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard. An investigation later cited heat shield damage as the cause. A ceremony was held in Texas earlier today to remember the disaster.

We're taking a quick break. We'll bring you up to speed on the weather, the situation in Egypt and a whole lot of other news on the other side. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK, we've had some rapid developments in Egypt. I want to go right to John King in Washington with the latest update. We are hearing -- we have been hearing reports that President Mubarak is going to announce that he will not run for president again, and he will dissolve parliament. What do you have on this?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, I have from a senior administration official who was involved in the deliberations about this issue saying that the administration is told, quote, "by reliable contacts in Cairo that President Mubarak has indeed decided to announce he will not be a candidate in the upcoming elections." Those elections are scheduled for September.

I want to stress this source says the administration says they need to see this delivered publicly. And they expect that over the next hour or so in Egypt. But they say they are told again by reliable contacts on the ground in Cairo that President Mubarak has made that dramatic decision not to be a candidate for election.

I'm also told that it was -- the administration thinks it's unclear if this is enough. Because their latest information, Ali, is that he wants to finish his term. That, of course, has been something unacceptable to the demonstrators.

Here's another key point, this development happening after, again, these sources telling us, from the highest levels President Mubarak was told the United States made clear to him he should not be a candidate in the next election. So, as this all unfolds, the big question on the administration's part is number one, should he deliver this message publicly, which they expect in the next hour? They're saying its a very positive step. The source I talked to describing it as a statesman-like move by President Mubarak.

Still a question mark, though, what happens in the short term? Will he try to ride out and finish his term? Who will he bring into the government? And that is it the part where the administration says this is still a very murky situation. They're getting conflicting information from the Mubarak government as it now stands about how quickly they're willing to bring opposition figures in, how open they are to that.

Again, the big question, even if, Ali, they get this significant development which they expect in the next hour or so, President Mubarak saying he will not be a candidate in the next election, will he try to finish his term? Will it ease the crisis? But this is a dramatic and huge development should it come true in the next hour or so.