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Protesters Hurt in Tahrir Square; Monster Storm Moves East
Aired February 02, 2011 - 09:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, thank you. I'm going to take our viewers and show them what we are seeing in central Tahrir Square, two forces facing off there. This is perhaps out of view of where you were able to see Anderson, but looking at the center of the square, the two sides facing off with a thin line in between them. Anderson, describing there just a few moments ago, witnessing live, essentially, the army line being overrun by thousands, potentially more than 10,000 pro-Mubarak supporters moving toward the center of Tahrir Square which we're looking out now.
Those live pictures, we can see army vehicles in the middle trying to provide a cordon between the anti-Mubarak supporters who have sat in the center of that square for days now and what we have been hearing from our reporters, Ben Wedeman, Ivan Watson, Anderson Cooper on the ground there.
We've been hearing what is essentially a blocking movement around Tahrir Square by pro-Mubarak supporters who have been moving in to the square from many different angles and avenues. We've heard that described as well, how the army has been ineffective, and unable to and possibly unwilling to get in between these two sides and stop them from moving in.
The images there from the center of the square, you see a large armored vehicle in the middle there, crowds on either side. This is a very fluid and volatile situation. This began several hours ago, when pro-Mubarak supporters who became in evidence today following a speech last night by President Mubarak who said he wouldn't run again but he would stay in office in the meantime. This situation developed.
Pro-Mubarak supporters came out on the street. They have converged throughout the afternoon here in Egypt on Tahrir Square, Liberation Square. They have been moving in from different sides of the square. There has been bloody confrontation, many people injured.
Ben Wedeman was at a makeshift hospital there close to central Tahrir Square. He reported many casuals coming in. Ivan Watson is right there, has a clear view. Ivan, tell us what you're seeing?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. Nic, we saw the pro-government demonstrators fight their way forward. They were using -- Nic, they were using street signs. They were using sheets of aluminum as shields and they managed to push past the Egyptian museum. And it looked like the opposition was being pushed back, but they seem to have rallied now and with a great cheer, managed to push forward. The terrible thing here is the people are being seriously wounded in this battle that is unfolding here. It may look like, you know, that -- I'm sorry, Nic, we are seeing serious injuries coming through again and again and again, mostly head injuries. We see people wrapping sweatshirts and jackets around their hands protect themselves from the flying stones. Underneath the balcony I'm standing on right now, there is a makeshift triage center with at least eight bleeding men and women treating them and trying to bandage their wounds.
The injuries as they keep streaming out, it makes you think if the opposition are hemmed in on all sides, and they really have blocked all entrances to this sprawling square, but if they are suffering casualties like this in the running battles, it makes you wonder how long they can maintain what appears to be turning into a siege.
We've heard from the loudspeakers here, Nic, orders from people to shut down the Square, and we see they have been setting up barricades, that they've been up paving stones, non-stop, in an effort to try to protect themselves here. And making use of anything digging up paving stones nonstop in an effort to try to protect themselves here, making use of anything they can find. These blue aluminum barriers here, using them as shields in the running battles and also as part of their barricades to stop the onrush of the regime supporters. It does look like these people are getting ready to try to continue this fight to keep their turf here, and the problem is that they're basically surrounded right now, Nic.
ROBERTSON: Well, Ivan, as we watch these pictures from the center of Liberation Square, we can see that the ebb and flow of the fight going on. We can see the army vehicles in the center, what looks like tanks trying to keep a separation between the two sides. You saw rocks being ripped up and thrown. The running rock battles, are they continuing? Is it coming to a direct confrontation between two sides, man to man, or is it still standing off? Ivan, we're going to take you now to Isha Sesay. Isha.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Nic, thank you. I would like to welcome our viewers here in the United States and right around the world. You are in the international desk. I'm Isha Sesay. We're watching the major breaking news out of Egypt this hour. Let's bring in Anderson Cooper who is actually there, on the scene at Tahrir Square. Anderson, describe what you are seeing.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, we are looking right now at a picture in front of the Egyptian Museum and we have just seen a massive ebb and flow in this melee. About a minute ago - well, actually about five minutes ago, a large crowd, thousands, and thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters have surged forward, overturning a military truck or vehicle, pushing forward, almost getting into Liberation Square.
The anti-Mubarak forces have amassed at the north side of Liberation Square, and they, I guess, had a countercharge because all of a sudden, all of the entire mass of pro-Mubarak protesters retreated south of the Egyptian Museum. They are now trying to push back. You see the large crowd of pro-Mubarak supporters are now trying to re-establish their front line in the area where the overturned military vehicles are.
That was the front line up until about five or 10 minutes ago when they overturned those vehicles and started to push forward. So again, this ebb and flow, back and forth, that's the area that we were down in earlier when we got attacked, punched around. My cameraman, (INAUDIBLE) and my producer, Marianne Fox, you know, punched and kicked for about five minutes as we retreated from the square to seek safety in the building we are in now, and everyone's safe here.
We have a remarkable vantage point. We have seen Molotov cocktails being thrown in the last half hour, about four or five Molotov cocktail being thrown by pro-Mubarak forces toward the anti- Mubarak forces. One of them hit a military vehicle. That fire was put out very quickly. I'm not sure. There's nobody checking for days now, Isha, the Egyptian military has been checking who gets into the square, patting people down when they can, establishing basically an entire perimeter around the square.
That they seem to be not doing that anymore. The Egyptian military soldiers are just standing by the armored personnel carriers, (INAUDIBLE) tanks, not doing anything as more and more groups of pro-Mubarak supporters are amassing and heading toward the square. It is right now - it has been a pitch battle in front of the Egyptian Museum. There are now soldiers on the ground as far as I can tell.
We have heard shots being fired trying to keep these two groups apart but there was no - from this vantage point we saw no Egyptian military involvement up until half an hour or 45 minutes ago. Now you can see a number of pro-Mubarak forces push forward. Actually, the crowd almost seems to take on a life of its own from this vantage point. The crowd pushes forward and now they are basically kind of forming a line by the overturned Egyptian military vehicles, Isha.
SESAY: Anderson, stand by just for a second so I can just update our viewers on what they are seeing. You are hearing the voice of Anderson Cooper who is there in Tahrir Square, which is the focal point of today's clashes between pro and anti-Mubarak supporters. We have reporters at various vantage points around Tahrir Square. So will be able to bring you several different perspectives of the violence that you are seeing.
Let's bring back Anderson. And Anderson, you have described the army as largely sitting on the sidelines. Any police presence that you have been able to see?
COOPER: I have not seen any uniformed police presence. There are reports that there are undercover police in the crowd. That's certainly the feeling among the anti-Mubarak protesters that there are instigators in the crowd. Ben Wedeman was reporting he had seen some soldiers pulling aside people who they believed to be undercover police checking I.D.s, but I have not witnessed that myself, so I can't tell you. I can't tell you. There are other reports of some police officers on horseback that were seen with the crowd. The interior ministry has denied that there are any collusion between Egyptian police and this pro-Mubarak forces. They say anyone found with the I.D. of an undercover policeman must be a fake I.D. viewers can make of that what they will.
But I can tell you, for the soldiers who are present here, from what I have witnessed, there has been virtually no involvement by soldiers on the ground at least at stopping people from getting to the staging ground. Had they wanted to, they could have choked off the area, limited access, and checked people for weapons. Clearly people are getting Molotov cocktails in because we have seen a number of them being thrown.
SESAY: Anderson, I'm going to ask you stand by for us -
COOPER: Again, there seems to be - again, establish a no-man's- land. OK. Go ahead.
SESAY: Anderson, please stand by. We are going to bring in Ivan Watson from another vantage point there in Tahrir Square. Ivan, if you can hear me clearly, what are you seeing?
WATSON: Well, right now, we are actually trapped inside the square on opposition-controlled territory, and what you're looking at is a battle that has erupted at another end of the square where the pro-regime people were able to push there way in and momentarily sent the opposition fleeing, and then they fought their way back.
Now that is the first time we've seen the pro government side come in this far on this side of the square, which is closer to the Nile River, and we can see that there are stones being thrown back and forth over there in the distance as they're hurling those rocks back and forth.
SESAY: Ivan -
WATSON: It seems right now that the opposition has been able to beat back the pro-regime supporters. What's been remarkable - go ahead, Isha.
SESAY: Ivan, I was going to ask you, amidst this melee, these crowds that we're seeing, what kinds of injuries are resulting from this? We're hearing of the use of rocks and sticks and Anderson has reported seeing Molotov cocktails. What are you seeing in terms of injuries?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Pro and anti-government supports clashing in Cairo. We are covering it live. We are simulcasting with our sister network, CNN International. Stay with us. We're going to bring you more after a quick break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DUNCAN KIME, I-REPORTER (voice-over): This is Lake Shore Drive closed.
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PHILLIPS: That's I-reporter Duncan Kime capturing his view of Chicago Lake Shore Drive, usually a lot more crowded than that, I can tell you but it's being clobbered by this colossal blizzard that has just slammed the midwest. And now that monster storm is pushing east and is expected to impact 100 million Americans before all is said and done.
And you can see why, look at this view from space. You can actually see the storm cloaking a huge chunk of the country from New Mexico all the way to Maine, and people in its path coping with snow, ice, high winds, frigid temperatures. Now Chicago is expected to get up to two feet before it is over.
The Magnificent Mile completely deserted. Public schools closed. The first snow day since 1999. And check out the warning from the National Weather Service "before considering getting on the roads this morning, ask yourself if getting to your destination is worth risking your life." Wow, pretty strong words to say the least, but the misery is widespread.
Take a look at Tulsa, Oklahoma here. Behind this blurry wall of white, well, they got socked with a foot of snow. You don't want to be on those roads either. Our Allan Chernoff is out in the elements in Boston where Boston Logan was actually closed down. How else is it affecting the city, Allan?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Boston is a mess. You could call Boston slush city because right now we are getting poured on regular rain. That after six inches of snow yesterday, more snow this morning, then freezing rain and now regular rain, and, this stuff is now getting close to concrete. You see the snow blower behind me. He's trying to throw it. It goes, what, a couple of inches? It's like trying to throw concrete.
This is a major problem for Boston because later today we're supposed to freeze up, so, guess what, this could become super, super slick. You see the roads have been cleared pretty well, at least the main arteries. The big problem here, where do you put the stuff?
Back here, we've got a nice, big pile. That's at least five feet high. If you can see back there - Bob, maybe you can zoom in. Down the street, I can't walk over there with the chord, but that big pile there, that is a good 10 feet high. People all over the city are wondering, Kyra, what do we do with all this snow?
Over at the airport, they've gotten permission to dump it into the Boston Harbor. The city itself doesn't have permission to do that, and some of these narrow streets, especially on Beacon Hill near the capitol, they are very very narrow, getting even more narrow with every single inch of extra snow and now the rain and the sleet coming on. Well, let's check out what's happening in the midwest. Reynolds Wolf standing by. Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I tell you, a different scenario in your part of the world. You're about to catch the brunt of it. Certainly, the worst has been in places like Chicago. But here in St. Louis, the sun is coming out, and in western St. Louis, we are right here at the corner of Maryland and Euclid, this nice intersection, cars has been going through it with no major issues at all. That's the good news.
But what's interesting is the situation yesterday was pretty bizarre. We started with some freezing rain, then we have the sleet and we finally have snow to the tune of about two to four inches of snow. But in terms of ice, there's a lot of it. It's all over the place. Take a look at this icicle. Mammoth thing. These things are all over the place. The trees are still coated with it.
In fact, if you look at some of these branches here. CNN photojournalist John Person (ph) with us and he's showing you right up and close and personal some of the ice that is still, just a glaze every place, everywhere. Ice. You get the point. Some of it up there, high on these power lines is going to cause some issues later on today because we anticipate that even though the snow is basically going to go, even though we've got (INAUDIBLE) you see on the screen. The wind is expected to pick up, and a lot of these power lines heavy with the ice, that is a major concern for a lot of people.
There is a chance that we could see some power outages into the afternoon, into the evening. But that's the bad news. Good news, the roads are in fairly good shape. I-70 is now opened up. The side streets are slick. Some place are easy going. Other places, you got a few areas of heavy snow. The airport is opening up, but, still, flight cancellations, we got plenty of those, 120 cancelled right at Lambert Airport this morning.
To Jacqui Jeras who has got the very latest on the big picture weather wise. She's got all the answers to all the questions you might have. Let's toss it over to my friend, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey there, Reynolds, well, things are starting to wind down a little in St. Louis. They're still in the height of the storm across parts of the Great Lakes and the northeast is really getting hit hard at this time as well. The snowfall accumulations remain a little heavy in the Chicago area. And also across western parts of lower Michigan, those winds remain incredibly strong.
We have seen wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour off the lake shore and that is near hurricane strength. So that is in of itself can certainly cause some damage. And that's the problem with all the blowing and drifting snow. We are getting reports from southern Wisconsin and the northern part of Illinois of drifts, possibly as high as 10 to 15 feet. That's incredible. And now the northeast, we've been seeing the freezing rain in around New York City. New York City itself, that urban heat island effect, I think, is saving you this time around. You are up to 33 degrees and keeping you out of the freezing rain and now just rain for the rest of the afternoon. But we're still getting some on Long Island. You are also getting some upstate. So be aware of that if you think you are going to try to get out and do some driving around.
Newark, by the way, is also seeing a lot of that freezing rain. About a half of an inch accumulating there. All right. See the pink mix that's moving into Boston now. Heavy snow across northern parts of New England. How much are we talking about? Well, a good foot for some of you, especially into the northern tier, and this is where we're expecting the rest of the storm to have the greatest impact.
About 24 hours from now, by the way, we should be pretty much done with this thing. All right. let's talk airports here. Boston Logan, the runways remain closed there as well as Islip and now Milwaukee, Mitchell International is now reporting closed runways as well. And keep in mind, a lot of you, reporting delays. That's because pretty much all of the flights have been cancelled. So you don't say they are late if they don't plan to arrive.
The Arctic air is another big issue, by the way. We're getting reports out of Texas now that there are some rolling power outages, so to speak and what they're doing is that the power grid is getting stressed here because everybody is trying to keep their heaters going because you're not used to three degrees below zero for your temperatures. So they are asking people to conserve as much as they possibly can. And you can expect to see some periodic power outages during the day. They're doing this to help you out, maybe between 10 and 25 minutes. So be prepared for that.
All right. Let's talk a couple of snowfall totals. Racine, Wisconsin, the biggest number we could find so far, pushing two feet almost, 21.5, 18.5 in Chicago Midway, Columbia, Missouri 17.5, just over 17 at O'Hare and Moline, that's the quad cities there in Iowa and Illinois, 16.7 inches.
We've got a live pictures to show you. Racine, Wisconsin, by the way right now, where we've had that 21.5 inches. And take a look at the visibility and look at the winds that continue to whip in this area. Winds are going to start to quiet down for you in southern Wisconsin. We think in the next couple of hours. The heavy accumulating snow is over and done with. People should not be driving. They've issued a civil danger emergency in southern Wisconsin because conditions are just so, so treacherous there. Kyra, it's going to take a while to clean up from the storm even though it's quieting down for a couple of these people.
PHILLIPS: OK. Got it. Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, the latest terrifying turn of events is being closely watched in Washington. We're talking about Egypt. It's been a long, valued and stable ally in the Middle East, as you know. CNN's senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, joining us live. And Ed, you've been working your sources there in Washington. You know, the administration had been - OK, got you.
All right. We are going to have Ed actually after a quick break. But we are going to try and find out what his sources have told him about the Obama administration and its take now about what's happening in Cairo. Stay with us. Quick break. We'll be right back.
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PHILLIPS: All right. Let's take you live, straight to Cairo right now. We have been watching Liberation Square, moment by moment here, and through these live pictures, obviously, it looks like it has calmed down a bit, but, boy, it has been quite a fluid and volatile situation.
Just a couple of hours ago, things appeared to be peaceful like they were yesterday. There were thousands of anti-government protesters in the square, just like yesterday. Calm, prayerful, and then all of a sudden we saw thousands of pro-Mubarak demonstrators break through the barricades and start going against the anti-Mubarak protesters, and it went from peaceful to just chaotic, and this is what it looked like.
I mean, we saw from the ground, horses, camels, wielding whips, and going at the anti-government forces. We saw them attacking them with stones, and it just became totally chaotic. The army moved in to the entrance there of Tahrir Square and started firing tear gas into that area, and that went on for about an hour and a half, and it was clearly not moving in a peaceful manner.
Things seemed, though, to have calmed down now, from what you're looking at here, from about an hour and a half ago to live pictures, as you can see right here, definitely a calmer scene.
Anderson Cooper has been watching everything from above there in Cairo. And Anderson, are we getting a sense that it is calming back down now? I mean, we're seeing some protesters going at it bits and pieces here. But overall, does it look to be calmer?
COOPER: No. It doesn't really look to be calmer, at least from my vantage point, which is the Egyptian Museum, which is the building I'm staring at, and that's where a lot of the action has been, in front of the Egyptian Museum. That's the area that my team and I were attacked. I just saw a Molotov cocktail being thrown. (INAUDIBLE) that we actually saw that on camera. But we have seen a number of Molotov cocktails being thrown by pro-Mubarak forces toward the anti- Mubarak forces.
Just in case, you're trying to get oriented. The red building, the kind of clay-colored building is the Egyptian Museum. In front of that, to the left of it, are the pro-Mubarak forces who have now surged forward. So they are right at the entrance of the Egyptian museum, which is in the center of the building. On the other side of it, on the south of the museum are the anti-Mubarak forces. Both sides now.
There has been this ebb and flow, Kyra, that we have been seeing. One side will surge forward. About half an hour to 45 minutes ago, we saw pro-Mubarak forces overturning military vehicles. There you see another Molotov cocktail being thrown - that landed close to one of the vehicles. Now you see a military vehicle retreating, basically moving backward, and these pro-Mubarak forces now starting to surge forward. This is one of these things that we have seen - this ebb and flow.
The pro-Mubarak forces are clearly trying to get into Liberation Square. So far they have been unable to do that but they came close about half an hour ago, and then we saw some sort of a push back by the anti-Mubarak forces. There is now essentially a front line established, something of a no-man's-land where these Egyptian military vehicles, some of which as I said have been overturned. They tried to form a barricade, but some of those vehicles were overturned and some of the vehicles have now gone in reverse moving closer toward the square.
I know from being there the last couple of days there are also - which you can't see on camera right now. There are some Egyptian tanks and armored personnel carriers to the south of the Egyptian museum, but it's not clear how active the soldiers there have been. I can tell you, from when we were being attacked in front of the museum about, I guess it was probably about two hours ago now, the mob that was attacking us, none of the Egyptian soldiers who were around did anything about it.
They are literally just standing on or by the armored personnel carriers and their tanks, just watching all this. We have heard shots being fired in some locations. We did see shots being fired, I assumed, up into the air, in front of the Egyptian Museum but it is not clear how many troops are actually on the ground, how actively engaged they are. And we haven't seen any reinforcements. I mean, Kyra, it's important to remember this has been going on now for about three hours. We haven't seen any Egyptian military enforcement coming anywhere close to this.
If they wanted to try to stop this, there are plenty of Egyptian soldiers around that could be brought in. That has not been happening. It's hard to believe that the Egyptian government is unaware of what is going on since everybody -we've been broadcasting this now for three hours. And this is Egyptian state television which we have been monitoring has not been calling the pro-Mubarak forces, pro-Mubarak forces.
They have been calling them pro-stability forces. There is a sense that pro-Mubarak forces are being encouraged to come here. We have seen large groups of them arriving en masse with signs and placard with President Mubarak's picture on it, and they have all amassing now, at least from my vantage point, in front of the Egyptian Museum.
We did see tear gas in other entrances, at one other entrance further south of Liberation Square. I'm just going to pan over with my camera, in that direction we saw tear gas wafting up into the air. That occurred about 20 or 30 minutes ago and we can see a large crowd there but I'm not sure how many pro-Mubarak supporters are there and what the situation is.
The center of Liberation Square is sort of sparsely populated now as most people, it seems most of the anti-Mubarak protesters, Kyra, have gone to the various entrances to try to block the pro-Mubarak people from entering. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Anderson Cooper, thank you so much. And Ed Henry, we have been reporting for days that the Obama administration has firmly said to Mubarak and his forces not to react violently. We're going to come to you right after the break. Real quickly, your reaction, what your sources are telling you.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I can tell you. I just spoke to Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. He's watching this and all kinds of senior officials are watching these pictures unfold. Robert Gibbs just told me that the White House wants to repeat its call for non-violence but he had more to say. We'll have that right after the break.
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PHILLIPS: You can see by our live pictures, we are still watching the pro- and anti-government supporters clash there in Cairo, right in Liberation Square.
Ed Henry, just before we went to break, we want to know what your sources are telling you with regard to the Obama administration. Are they concerned? What are sources telling you now? They made it very clear to Mubarak they didn't want to see any violence against anti- government protesters but clearly, we saw thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters charge those barricades and attack.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We are certainly seeing flashes of violence, Kyra, and it is worrying this administration. I just spoke to Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. He wanted to make it clear that the administration is watching these pictures as we are, and that their message is first of all that they repeat their call for nonviolence. They want to make sure that the government hears that calls. They also, of course, want to make sure that the protesters hear that call because they throughout this crisis have said that they want to make sure there's no violence on any side of this.
Secondly, Robert Gibbs told me, quote, "We continue to watch the events very closely, and it underscores that the transition needs to begin now." Now, we heard the president say that last night, that the transition needs to begin now. He did not specifically say publicly that Mubarak needs to step aside now. They have been very careful diplomatically to -- to be careful and cautious on what they say in the public domain. But it's very clear that this administration would like to see president Mubarak leave sooner rather than later. There have been these calls for him to step down now. That's what the protesters are demanding; they want to see him leave by the end of the week. Mubarak trying to hold on until September when there are new elections, saying he will not run for reelection then.
It is clear that many of the protesters do not believe that's good enough, and while the administration will not say it publicly, there are certainly signs from officials here that they do not want President Mubarak to stick around to September as well. That's why they want, as we heard the president say last night, the transition to begin now. That is an unmistakable message to President Mubarak in public, and in private, President Obama had a half-hour phone call with president Mubarak as well where that message was sent even more clearly there, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We will keep following it from the White House all the way to the center of Cairo there. Ed Henry, thank you so much.
As we go across the world, in Australia, weather also a huge story. Residents being pounded by a powerful tropical cyclone that has actually strengthened to a Category 5. That's the highest designation on Australia's classification system. That storm made landfall just a short time ago along the Australian coast near the towns of Innisfail and Cardill.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has been tracking the storm in the CNN Weather Center. Boy, as if you don't have enough to handle here, we are taking you overseas, Jacqui.
(CROSSTALK)
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: -- cyclones as well. Absolutely. It made landfall. It is incredible here. This is in northern parts of Australia, by the way, so this is not the exact same area that's been dealing with all of the terrible flooding there. It's certainly been above average, and I think a record wet year, but a little further to the north of there. So, that's a little good news. But 178-mile-per-hour wind gusts reported. A very dangerous ongoing situation there.
Now, what's happening back here at home, our storm system continues to stay very intense and is moving up to the North and East, and the best thing I can tell you is about 24 hours from now, we'll all be breathing a little bit easier. But it is going to take a long time to clean up from the storm, particularly because these winds are so incredibly strong. We've been getting drifts, as much as 10-plus feet in southern parts of Wisconsin and into northern Illinois.
Now, here's the latest radar picture showing you where the heaviest banding has been. The worst of it today has been coming off Lake Michigan because the winds are blowing in from the Northeast and as it moves over the lake water, that enhances it, provides more moisture and more lift and that's why you get incredible amounts of snowfall here. And we've even had some thunderstorm. One of our iReporters talking to us about how they woke up in the middle of the night because they heard the thunder and lightning going on there.
Now, let's talk a little bit more about what some of these winds have been doing. Gusting as much as 70 miles per hour. We're still seeing frequent gusts around 40 to 50 at times as the storm moves to the north and east. Now, the second segment of the storm is impacting the Northeast. We had quite a bit of freezing rain around Philadelphia, about half an inch in Newark, and even New York City was like an ice rink this morning. But temperatures have warmed up enough in New York City that we are just dealing with rain, and the freezing rain and sleet is moving through Hartford on up toward Boston. Portland, you are dealing with snow, and that's going to continue to be extremely heavy.
I just want to show you a couple of the snowfall totals that we've seen so far. Racine, Wisconsin, more than 20 inches. Chicago O'Hare now is up to 19.5 inches of snowfall, and that puts it in the top five for sure in terms of record snow. That's where we find our CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano and the latest conditions. Rob, how are you holding up?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right. We had a little break but -- are we back to thunder snow?
JERAS: Yes, probably, a real heavy band -
MARCIANO: Did I just hear another crackle of thunder? My goodness. This latest band, which I assume is the finale or at least Chicagoans are hoping that, it's really dumping the heaviest snow all morning long aside from what came down last night during the height of this thing. So, another couple of inches per hour it looks like, which will easily put us over the 20 inch mark. Does it take us past 23, which gets us to number one? Right now, we are at number three.
But forget about the records This is more than just a snow event, as you know. The winds off the lake last night, 50, 60, in some cases, up close to 70 miles an hour. That did some damage to some buildings around town, including Wrigley Field. Of course, there are some folks without power, not only here but across the ice belt as well, stretching into the Northeast.
And then on top of that, the folks out driving around last night, especially on Lake Shore Drive -- that should have been closed earlier than it was, and we had stranded vehicles there. People had to be rescued and we had to impromptu open up shelters. So, there were over 350 people put in shelters last night, and I can tell you this, not many people are going to work -- definitely not going to school today. This city for the most part is shut down. Jacqui?
JERAS: Oh, wow. Continues to come down. Not over just yet, is it?
All right. Here's a look at the radar that shows you the wind conditions, what it is doing in Chicago. By the way, I noticed on Rob's hat - did you see that, Kyra -- he had snow like on one side but not the other from the snow blowing sideways?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: He needs to work himself into a different position.
JERAS: I know. Turn him around in a circle a little bit.
PHILLIPS: There you go! Well, you say this is far from stopping as you're monitoring things around the country. It's the same thing overseas, Jacqui.
In Cairo, the protests continue there in Tahrir Square. Pro- and anti-government supports continuing to clash. We are now seeing more tear gas canisters being launched into the crowd there. Clearly divided. You've got pro-Mubarak forces comes in from one side. Anti- Mubarak forces comes in from the other. They're going at each other with stones. Earlier, we saw them riding in on horses and camels. Now, the army throwing in more tear gas canisters trying to calm the violence that just continues.
We won't stop watching this story for you. Stay with us. More from the CNN NEWSROOM, straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: Still seeing smoke and the tear gas canisters being launched into the pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters there in Liberation Square. We're going to continue, of course, to follow this story all afternoon into the evening. Our sister network CNN International as well. We have crews on the ground and above monitoring everything. Our Ed Henry, also, at the White House monitoring what the Obama administration is saying about this. Obviously, the president watching this closely. Military -- U.S. military watching it closely from the Pentagon, and so are we. We're going to bring you all of the developments as things continue to remain chaotic there in Tahrir Square.
We are also talking about safe drinking water. The EPA announced today it's going to start regulates a chemical found in water systems around the country. Right now, a Senate committee is actually holding a hearing on the clean drinking water issue. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with the EPA administrator just moments ago.
So, tell us about this perchlorate and how much of a threat is it and what is going to be done.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, a lot of people thought this day and what you're seeing there would never actually come, this idea that you are going to regulate perchlorate. It is a chemical, it's found in areas where there is a lot of rocket fuel. There's been production of these sorts of things. You can get an idea of the things found in the study - that studied it, 100 percent of people in the study were found to have levels of perchlorate in their body. They get it through drinking water, they get it through contaminated food. And it's in a lot of water systems around the country.
The concern is this, Kyra, that it could have significant health affects. Could affect people's thyroid glands, it could affect pregnant women, it could actually cross the placenta and actually cause problems with fetal development. That's been the concern. So, pregnant women and people who have had pre-existing thyroid problems were the most at risk. Yet, despite all of that, this has never been regulated before.
PHILLIPS: Why not? How do you know if it's in your water?
GUPTA: Right. And it is not tracked regularly, meaning there's not constant testing being done. They sort of sporadically check for it. It's never been regulated. In fact, the Bush administration said it's not been regulated, and we're never going to regulate this is what they said. I asked about Administrator Jackson about specifically about that and said there were a lot of studies done, why isn't anything being done to stop it? Take a listen.
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GUPTA: If people were to say, look, we understand more science is necessary, but let's not wait to set some sword of standard today so we don't have to wait a few more years for studies to come back, do you have any idea what that standard would be? Everyone has seemingly weighed in.
LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: I don't think everyone has, and I do think we owe it to the American people to go through the regulatory steps here. It's not just science. It is to make sure the standard will hold up. There's going to be a lot of scrutiny of the standard because, again, we are looking at but one of several precursors that can affect iodine uptake in the thyroid.
It is the first time we have ever regulated a chemical not because of what it does directly to you but because it has an impact on iodine uptake that might affect your child down the road, and it is one of several places that might happen within the body.
So, it is very complicated science. My answer to mothers out there is yes, the federal science moves slower than all of us would like, but it's very, very good science.
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PHILLIPS: When can we expect regulation to go into effect?
GUPTA: Again, you know, in some ways - I don't know. And what she says within two years, but some people will say, look, a year ago, no one was talking about this, it wasn't even on the table, it never going to be regulated. And other people are saying, the science has been done. We know the answers. It needs to be regulated now. States are already doing it. This is potentially harming people right now, why wait?
So, it depends what side of the spectrum you are on. I asked her the question you asked me, and she says she thinks in the next two years, they will have a standard by which they say perchlorate can't be higher than this because it would be detrimental to your health.
PHILLIPS: Can you and I test for this in our own home? Can we test our own drinking water to find out if we have a problem? GUPTA: There are tests out there right now that being done. Not again, sort of universally tracked. But yes, there are individual centers that do it. Massachusetts -- the state of Massachusetts is doing this now, and they say, we're not waiting for the federal government. We think there's enough science here. We think two parts per billion is the standard. And that's what we're going to adopt. Anything higher than that, we're going to clear it up out of the water or ask industry to stop dumping so much into the water. So, it's already happening just not at the federal level.
PHILLIPS: You and I have both exposed stories on illegal dumping that take place across the country and affects the water and air.
GUPTA: That's right. And just how toxic is this stuff? We need to know. If you don't have the information, there is nothing you can do about it.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we appreciate it so much.
OK, we want to take you back to Cairo now, where we are continuing to follow the uprising there. Just to bring you up to date. You may remember yesterday, it was pretty calm and peaceful. It was more of a prayer-in with anti-government protesters there in the square. We actually thought things were calming down. Hosni Mubarak went on national television saying he is not going to run for reelection, but is going to continue his last half-year of service.
And then today, anti-government protesters showed up once again. And then it was about a little before 9:00 Eastern time, all of a sudden, we saw pro-Mubarak protesters just charge through the barricades. They came in on horseback, camels. They were wielding whips, and then you saw the uptick in the violence. What appeared to be pretty peaceful got extremely volatile.
Even our crews, our CNN crews were being attacked. Our Anderson Cooper, Hala Gorani, some of the other reporters in the square calling in and reporting, had to flee the square because they were being attacked. Anderson Cooper has been there ever since that began, watching this, overseeing this, and, Anderson, you saw not too long ago, the army coming in, once again, and tossing tear gas into the crowd.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no. Let me be very clear. I haven't seen much of the army coming in anywhere. The army is largely standing by watching all of this develop. In front of the Egypt Museum, there were some army vehicles, military vehicles that were brought in, some looked like trucks from our vantage point, that were brought in to create a barrier between the two sides,. And there does now seem to be a no-man's-land, two front lines.
The picture you are looking at in the foreground of your screen is the top of the Egyptian Museum, a major landmark in Cairo. The battles have been taking place in front of the Egyptian museum. On -- to the left of the museum, on the left side, are the pro-Mubarak forces, and on the right side, if you can see them, are the anti- Mubarak forces. What we have seen in the last five minutes or so, besides more groups of young men, pro-Mubarak supporters, running to join the melee -- is we have seen more Molotov cocktails being thrown. And most alarming (AUDIO GAP) is that in that no-man's-land, we saw somebody hurl, what I assumed was a Molotov cocktail but it was a fireball as we saw it, off the top of that building, smash down about 10 stories and landed down among the anti-Mubarak protesters. So, there are now people on top of that building throwing Molotov cocktails, what we think are Molotov cocktails, down into the crowd. There is an ambulance which is slowly trying to make its way through the pro- Mubarak protesters but right now is stopped far from where the fighting is.
There seems to be a standoff. We don't know what is happening on the ground in terms of whether there are Egyptian troops actually intervening on the ground. We know there are Egyptian soldiers there because we have seen them there over the last nine days, and we know there are tanks and armored personnel carriers in that area, but we don't know to what extent Egyptian forces have actually gotten out of the tanks or armored personnel carriers and tried to separate these crowds.
I can tell you we have a very high vantage point overlooking entire square. We have not seen any military reinforcements coming from any direction or at least from the three directions that I can see into the square. There's no military forces coming to try to back up the soldiers that are here. And the soldiers that are here, from the time we were being attacked, I can tell you, they did nothing. And from what we have been watching, they are allowing pro-Mubarak protesters to amass at the north side of the square and to charge and then retreat. And then there's this ebb and flow between the two sides, but it does not seem that the soldiers are involving themselves much at all in what has been just these running battles that we've seen now for going on three hours. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: And Anderson, just to clarify, it was our international desk -- and we had some video about 30 minutes ago that showed some tear gas canisters being launched in from those army personnel there on those tanks. I know it's hard to see every vantage point, and we're trying to keep track of everything. Looks like you're on a different side from where some of our ground crews were.
But we're going to get a quick break in and we're get back to you Anderson as you are watching things unfold right there in Liberation Square as the pro- and anti-government clashes continue in Cairo. Stay with CNN. We're not letting go of this story. We are bringing you up-to-date, every angle possible on what's happening.
And quickly, live pictures right now, we're seeing water cannons now going off there in Liberation Square. We will try and figure out where that is coming from. It looks like it's hoses. It's not coming from the tanks. So, it's not water cannons, but they are starting to spray water from the hoses into protesters there at close to 6:00 p.m. Cairo time.
Anderson, are you able to see the water that's being sprayed into the crowds?
COOPER: Not from my vantage point, and I can't tell who is spraying -- I'm sorry. Where is that? Right in front of -
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COOPER: I'm talking to my camerawoman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (off camera): There is a light, and you see people and they are throwing water into the crowd.
COOPER: We can't tell, Kyra, whether or not that is to put out fires or being poured on the crowd from my vantage point. I simply can't tell. There was a fire in front of the Egyptian Museum that was going off and smoke billowing out. But I can't tell you what that water is, whether it's fire hoses or cannons into the crowd.
PHILLIPS: No, you got it, Anderson. We finally got the picture here. It does look like some small fires are being started, and it's a shot that we're able to see, not easy for you from where you are.
COOPER: Oh, look at that.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there we go! Do you see the fire?
COOPER: Yes, Kyra. A large Molotov cocktail was just thrown, and there now a fire in the base - now two fires. One in the base of a building, and one of result of a Molotov cocktail that was thrown toward the anti-Mubarak demonstrators. Of greatest concern would be that one in the base of the building if that isn't put out. And now another Molotov cocktail being thrown and another one. So, that's three now in the space of the last minute.
Again, there is nobody checking -- you know, for days now, Kyra, entrance to the square has been regulated by the Egyptian military. You were checked as you went in. They would patted down. Anti- Mubarak protestors -- another Molotov cocktail being thrown. Anti- Mubarak protesters would pat people down to make sure nobody had any weapons. You wouldn't see any weapons in the square and among the anti- Mubarak protestors. Nobody is checking this pro-Mubarak protesters as they have been amassing now for some three-plus hours.
From my vantage point on the north side in front of the Egyptian museum, so there's no telling what kind of weapons they have with them. People have been arming themselves over the last nine days with sticks --
PHILLIPS: Right, Anderson. And that's what we're trying to figure out. Like you said, there were the Egyptians themselves were forming human chains, not to let pro-government protesters in. And like you mentioned, the army was guarding those barricades as well. So, the question is, whose on what side now, and whose letting these pro-Mubarak protesters get in there, and why has that dynamic changed?
COOPER: That's certainly a good question. The Egyptian military has clearly over the last couple of hours not been trying to prevent anyone, any pro-Mubarak protesters from getting into this square, and in the early hours before it escalated to this level of violence, when it was a smaller crowd, they were not seen doing anything to try to keep these two sides apart. And when violence was breaking out early on, when it was individuals punching out other individuals, or for instance, when reporters were being attacked, they did not intervene in any way to try to cool the crowds down.
This thing has been escalating now for hours, and we have a significant number of Molotov cocktails that have been thrown just in the last few minutes, and you now have more and more people again coming to the square. You are not seeing military reinforcements coming to the square to try to secure the area. If the government wanted to, they could send in troops. They have not done that.
State television -- state-controlled television here isn't even referring to these protesters -- pro-Mubarak protesters as pro-Mubarak protesters. They have been referring to them as pro-stability protesters, people who want stability. That's how they are portraying these people here. And clearly, pro-Mubarak supporters are seeing it on television, and more and more are coming to the square. And as night falls, the risk only increases. There is not a lot of lighting here. It can get very, very ugly as darkness falls.
PHILLIPS: And Nicholas Kristof with "The New York Times" was there in the square, Anderson. I had a chance -- I know you've talked to him. I had a chance to talk to him. He said he actually saw protesters bringing in machetes and raisers, and now you are seeing Molotov cocktails that are being tossed into the area here where the protesters are.
So, you're right. As it gets late, as it gets darker, we don't know what to expect. I mean, this is a totally different scene from yesterday. There's another Molotov cocktail being tossed in. That one looks like it created a much bigger fire there, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, that seems to have actually ignited something. Sometimes they just kind of hit nothing and burn themselves out. Other times if they actually get on something they can ignite, the fire can develop until it's put out quickly by troops.
I was just reviewing the video I have from the time we the crowd was attacking us, and I noticed, which I didn't notice at the time, was that here was a man there carrying a rather large knife with him. Certainly, civilians have been arming themselves with all manner of weapons, with whips, knives, kitchen knives, butcher knives, and clubs, baseball bats, large sticks -- whatever they can find to protect their own neighborhoods.
Now look! Another -- from a building -- another Molotov cocktail has just been tossed onto a side street. So there are people now on top of that building. That's the third incendiary device we have seen being thrown down from the top of that building in the last 30 minutes. Again, if they start throwing from the top of buildings into the crowd, that would obviously be another very ominous development, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Yes, and from our vantage point, we're seeing that as the Molotov cocktails get tossed, Anderson, they are trying to water them down immediately. Not sure who's in charge of the water hoses there. It's not coming from the tanks. It's people along the sidewalks there trying to put out those fires as they continually -- protesters continually toss those Molotov cocktails into the crowd. And as you pointed out, it just -- it's sort of going up and down with regard to the violence, and as it is getting later and darker, it's just intensifying.
All of the reports we're getting from you, our crews, even Ivan Watson, Anderson, went to the triage area and witnessed a lot of the head injuries. You know, we haven't been able to put out any numbers of how many people may have been killed, how many people injuried -- injured, but we do know a number of people are being brought into these area, the triage areas, with pretty severe head injuries.
COOPER: Yes. We've certainly seen that from Ivan's vantage point. He's closer into the square, really, in an area where the anti-Mubarak protesters are. And, again, they have not had weapons over the late eight or nine days in the square that were visible at all, but the situation has clearly changed on the ground with all these pro-Mubarak protestors.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown, there was a fire, a brief fire, that started in front of the Egyptian museum. But I saw some water being used to put that out. Now it looks like -- you probably can't se it because it's getting dark, but the pro-Mubarak protesters are all fleeing back now. It looks like -- there is a big yell going up from the crowd. A number of them seem to be fleeing back ,and now is seems to be slowing, and yet another Molotov cocktail is thrown at the anti-Mubarak protesters. And that seems to be catching light there by a vehicle.
PHILLIPS: All right. Anderson Cooper, please stay with us. You're able to give us the best reporting at the moment right now as we are reaching the top of the hour. It's almost 6:00 p.m. in Cairo, Egypt. Here in the United States, Eastern time, almost 11:00 a.m.
This is going to do it for us. Our Suzanne Malveaux is going to continue our breaking news coverage. If you are just tuning in, the violence has increased there in Liberation Square, right there, Tahrir Square in the center of Cairo. Pro-Mubarak, anti-Mubarak protesters going at it. A couple of hours ago, you saw the pro-Mubarak forces storm through the barricades on horses, on camels, wielding whips. It started fighting between both sides with stones, with sticks. We have reports of machetes, razors, definitely getting more violent.
And as you can see, and Anderson is monitoring it for us, Molotov cocktails, just one after the other being tossed into the square there. They're trying to put them out as they're tossed through hoses. We haven't seen the water cannons from the tanks go off yet, but we can tell you, we did see the army launching some tear gas canisters into the crowds.
