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Storm Pounds Northeast; Stocks Hesitate; Obamacare Ruling; How Ruling could Impact Obamacare; Original Cheerios Goes GMO-Free; Ex- Viking Slams "Bigot" and "Cowards"; Storm Pounds as it Hits Northeast

Aired January 03, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Carol Costello.

So is this about what you're facing this morning? Take a look. It is for about 100 million Americans, nearly one in three of us, a howling nor'easter plowing across the eastern half of the country and unloading much of its wrath, of course, on the northeast, hence the word, nor'easter. Thousands of flights canceled and major metro areas paralyzed.

Let's begin our coverage in Boston, where CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons is braving the elements and looking ever so comfortable.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we definitely are seeing a hint of warmer temperatures. I mean we're talking about a five-degree warm-up here as far as the windchill is concerned. But, remember, this is such a cold system. We've seen about a foot of snow where I am in south Boston, just north of us, about two feet of snow. But keep in mind, we've had these winds blowing all morning long.

So this is the scene. I'm in a parking lot right now, but you can actually see that we're almost getting these wind berms really building up. Lots of snow out here. Want to point out, we keep talking about this cold arctic system. What makes this system so different than other snowstorms? Well, take a look, this snow is so dry because it's so cold I am dying to make a snowball here and throw it at you, but it's not happening. I mean that is how dry it is. So that's what we're dealing with is this snow really blowing around rapidly. I mean it doesn't take much to pick up this snow and just kind of have it picked up from the air. That's the problem and that's the reason we had these blizzard warnings this morning.

So we're still talking about it in Massachusetts and, of course, down through Long Island. The very little amounts of snow that we've picked up and blown around, even as the system makes its way offshore. And that's what's going to happen. This system is going to be slowly pulling out from west to east as the low makes its way off the coastline. The snow should be tapering down by late morning.

Then by the early afternoon, still left (ph) though along the Cape because of something we call ocean-effect snow. So you have warmer waters, believe it or not, in comparison to this cool air, you're still going to see snow there in the Cape. Behind all of this, it's all going to be about cold, frigid temperatures in through next week as another cold blast of arctic air comes this way. So battle for a while, Ashleigh (ph).

WHITFIELD: Oh, so this is just a warm-up then? There's more to come.

PETERSONS: Nothing like it. I mean toasty out here, yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. Indra Petersons, all right thanks so much, in Boston.

All right, let's bring in Laurie Segall. She says, oh my gosh, this is really cold. She's not used to this stuff in Chatham, Massachusetts.

So, Laurie, that southern blood of yours, that southern warm blood is now very frozen, isn't it?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CNNMONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: I know. I know. Way to break me in, right? But, you know, listen it's a little bit better, I will say this, than it was earlier today.

WHITFIELD: Yes. What's happening? How are you holding up?

SEGALL: I'm doing all right. I'm doing all right. You know, it's better than it was a little bit earlier. You can see behind me rescue folks coming by. We've had plow trucks coming by. And people are just beginning to kind of emerge. I've seen a couple cars coming by. But, you know, we actually have been tracking this from yesterday, from all the way to our journey to here on Cape Cod where it was really badly hit. Take a look at this, Fredricka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEGALL (voice-over): The snow continuing to pile up here on Cape Cod as fierce winds, frigid temps and coastal flooding threaten residents of the beachfront homes. Eastern Massachusetts is expected to be among the hardest hit with blizzard warnings in effect for some areas through the morning.

But it's not just the snow that's a concern. Limited visibility is making driving conditions treacherous.

SEGALL (on camera): We're on the road. It's about 6:00 p.m. We're about an hour and a half away from Cape Cod and we're seeing the first signs of this storm. You can see the ice forming on our windshield right here. Temperatures dropping pretty rapidly. We actually just passed two accidents. Another car pulled over trying to scrape that ice from their windshield.

SEGALL (voice-over): Into the night, crews out in full force plowing roads, emergency services on call.

CAPTAIN MARK HIGGINS, CHATHAM FIRE DEPARTMENT: Stay inside and, you know, stay safe, don't be out on the roadways unless it's necessary.

SEGALL: Sparks flying off power lines and crews are on the ready to respond to outages when out storm passes. As much as two feet of snow could accumulate overnight with windchills dropping well below zero and winds whipping at gusts up to 35 miles per hour.

SEGALL (on camera): Right now I'm holding up our wind meter. We're looking at gusts of wind up to 20 miles per hour. It's only expected to get worse. That's why you see these streets are empty. Everybody is at home weathering this storm.

As you can see, conditions have worsened. I've got this wind meter right here. You can see the gusts of wind blowing right now we're looking at about 20 miles per hour. It's been higher and conditions just continue to worsen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEGALL: And, Fredricka, from when I was standing there, now things are a bit better. You know, there wasn't as much coastal flooding as they thought there was going to be.

But I'll tell you this, I've learned a lot from covering this storm. One thing, you know, there was such bad - it was so bad this morning that our satellite truck, which essentially allows you to go live, it completely just stopped working.

WHITFIELD: Uh-oh.

SEGALL: The good news is, Fredricka -

WHITFIELD: Yes?

SEGALL: Our photojournalists figured out a way -- and I'm going to show you this - figured out a way to have us go live so we could be on with you. And I kid you not - and you know I'm a bit of a tech geek -- it only involved a laptop and a myfi (ph) card. So check this out. That is how we're essentially going live right now.

Another thing I'll say, Fredricka, that I learned -- hand warmers, double pairs of socks -

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh.

SEGALL: You know, and it's not expected to get much worse, but, you know, this is what we're hoping for.

WHITFIELD: Yes, dressing in layers, you know, and teamwork and you get -- it gets real cozy in those SUVs, even if the satellite truck isn't there working for you. But we're glad you're able to get that shot.

SEGALL: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes, me too. Me too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Laurie, excellent. All right, Laurie Segall, hang in there. Thanks so much, showing us beautiful Chatham, Massachusetts.

All right, no to the opening bell on Wall Street. After ending 2013 on such a strong note, stocks took a surprising dip Thursday. So, what is in store for today with these blizzard-like conditions? Zain Asher, more from the New York Stock Exchange. So regardless of the weather outside, things, business keeps on moving there on Wall Street.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, first of all, I feel so lucky to be warm right now at the New York Stock Exchange. I feel so sorry for the other fellows who are -

WHITFIELD: I know, me too, but I just had to rub it in.

ASHER: I know. But, yes, you know, the Dow is up right now about, let me just see, 60 points or so. And it just shows it is stabilizing. Yesterday we saw those triple-digit losses. The Dow ended lower by about 135 points, mainly because traders don't really expect that we're going to see the same gains we saw last year. So immediately when they got to work, what did they do, the first day back, they took a - to opportunity to lock in some of those gains.

When I talk to traders, Fred, I keep wondering the same thing, and that is, you know, buckle up because 2014 is not going to be for the faint of heart. Expect to see some volatility. We are expected overall a gain of about 5 percent to 10 percent this year, but possibly also a market correction. And that's important because a lot of people are saying, well, you know, if I follow the herd and I jump into equities, and then we get this massive pullback, am I going to lose my share (ph)? I certainly do think it's a fair question.

But in terms of the trend, overall, when we see the market in January go higher, what tends to happen is that does seem to bode well for the rest of the year.

In terms of volume today, we are expecting volume to be a little bit light. But next week we're expecting more volume as the money on the sideline really does get to work.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we're hoping that 2014 is a banner year because I know a lot of folks are celebrating that 2013 was a good year, especially for their 401(k). So they want more of the same. So talk to your friends there. Make it happen.

All right, Zain.

ASHER: I'll try. I'll try.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.

All right still to come, the U.S. Supreme Court set to rule on a complaint filed by a group of nuns and it could potentially be a huge blow to Obamacare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the U.S. Supreme Court could act as early on today on a controversial Obamacare mandate. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a deadline for this morning on an appeal brought by a group of nuns who run a non-profit that would continue to exempt them from offering contraception coverage to employees. Well, CNN's Jill Dougherty is at the White House.

So, Jill, in what form will this administration be responding?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is day three of Obamacare, but a key provision concerning women is on hold, at least temporarily.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): It's the last days of President Obama's two- week Hawaiian vacation, and he spent Thursday playing golf with the New Zealand prime minister and his son. But in Washington, as life returns to normal after the New Year, it's back to Obamacare.

Today, the Supreme Court could order the Obama administration to allow certain religious affiliated non-profits to remain exempt from the law's requirement to provide birth control and other reproductive health services to their employees. This comes after a group of Colorado nuns asked Justice Sonia Sotomayor for a temporary injunction from complying with the law. A White House official responded saying, "we defer to the Department of Justice on litigation matters but remain confident that our final rules strike the balance between contraceptive care and religious objections."

Coverage began January 1st for the 2.1 million Americans who have enrolled in Obamacare since October.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been waiting a long time for January 1, 2014.

DOUGHERTY: And President Obama's allies at Organizing for Action continue to promote the new law. Mr. Obama himself sent out a new year's tweet saying, "I signed the ACA for kids like Marcelees Owens (ph). He lost his mom because she couldn't afford coverage. Today, millions of Americans finally can."

But the White House has not said who those millions of Americans are. A fact some Republicans say indicates an overall lack of trust.

KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: If they keep putting a flowery spin on everything, how are we really going to ever - you know, how are we ever really going to trust that we're getting the best, accurate information about the prospects for the law?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: That information about who's signing up, for example, are they young, are they old is important because ultimately the concern is how this would be paid for long-term. And the White House says they'll be updating statistics and information mid-January.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jill, thanks so much, at the White House. So let's dig deeper on the effects of today's possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling with our political panel. Joining me now, Will Cain, a CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze."

Good to see you.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: And CNN political analyst John Avlon, who is also executive editor for "The Daily Beast."

Good to see you as well.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, so, John, you first. You know, how bit of a potential setback would be if Sotomayor were to rule to continue the exception for religious non-profits?

AVLON: This would be a significant blow to the administration, which has tried to create a carve out, Fred, for religious affiliated organizations so that they aren't forced to provide health insurance that includes contraception, but the insurance company they contract with has a separate plan. So this would further sort of constrict the Obama administration's absolutely to create that flexibility. The fact that it's an Obama appointee, Judge Sotomayor, who's doing this, is itself pretty significant.

WHITFIELD: Will?

CAIN: You know, let me tell you why it would be significant, because what it would reveal, Fredricka, is that many of these fixes that the Obama administration keeps making, including to that of the contraception mandate, are false. What the court is going to look at, what Sotomayor is going to look at, is whether or not, if you'll remember, the exemption stated, well, if you can find an insurance company who will cover contraception, if you can defer to an insurance company, we think that absolves you of your religious conscience.

The Little Sisters of the Poor, Priests for Life don't feel like that's correct. They feel like if they're forced to find an insurance company and sign over obligation to them, they're still violating their religious conscience. And that, in essence, is a false fix. Like so many of Obamacare's fixes have been, that's what we'll find out the Supreme Court, what they'll - what they'll ultimately rule on. I don't know if we'll find out today, but that's what we'll hear sooner or later.

WHITFIELD: So that's one legal challenge and here is yet another, attorneys general from 11 states have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius slamming the so-called fixes to Obamacare as you put it, Will, like Obama's decision that allowed some people to keep their canceled plans.

CAIN: Right.

WHITFIELD: So Will, to you then, you know they say executive changes are illegal so could this become an even bigger issue?

CAIN: Well this is to my point. Look, there is -- we have a division of branches of government in this country. The legislative branch's job is to create law, the executive branch, the presidency is designed to execute the law. These fixes including allowing people to stay on health insurance plans after the law says something different come off as chaotic, as whimsical.

We've heard for months that this is the law of the land but the law of the land seems to be whatever the President dictates it to be. And that has real consequences not just to markets and insurance companies but to states Fredricka. And those states that are sending in these letters, their job is to also regulate insurance they have to abide by federal law, not the President's whim. The President's whim is causing chaos.

WHITFIELD: John?

AVLON: Ok listen Fred, Will -- Will is always great for good philosophical perspective on how government is supposed to work and then there's reality, which is that executives who implement law need flexible to adjust facts on the ground. When that hasn't occurred historically that's when big mistakes gets made. With regard to this letter to Sebelius, consider the source you've got 11 attorney generals, some of them outgoing, all of them Republican from deep red states, which is not ultimately a constitutional or legal objection. You have another desperate attempt to try to derail this law for ideological reasons rather than legal.

WHITFIELD: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: John we have this debate if I could say Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

CAIN: This debate between the philosophical foundations of the United States government and practicality, I'm happy to have that debate any time we'd like because practicality --

(CROSSTALK)

AVLON: Yes let's have it.

CAIN: -- for the President to do whatever he wants, set aside the constraints of the U.S. Constitution.

AVLON: No.

CAIN: Set aside the division of branches, let's just give, let just try to be efficient and practical.

(CROSSTALK)

AVLON: No. CAIN: And I'm telling this system of government was not created to do that.

AVLON: Will -- Will.

WHITFIELD: John, last word.

AVLON: Will the slippery slope argument needs to be constrained by rationality. And you can't just immediately go from executive action to dictatorship in one jump, that's not how life works.

CAIN: Executive action is bad enough in and of itself. I don't need to get to dictatorship.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CAIN: I'd like to preserve the legislative branch. How about that?

WHITFIELD: Ok Will. We'll leave it there. Will Cain and John Avlon thanks to both of you, something tells me this is just a springboard of what 2014 is going to be like on this issue. Thanks, gentlemen.

All right new next hour in the NEWSROOM. She's back, Nigella Lawson has been on the cover of more tabloids than cookbooks lately but this week the celebrity chef returns to the spotlight and it seems she's ready to put the drama behind her -- details at 10:00.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right checking our "Top Stories". A snowstorm is now affecting about 100 million with blizzard warnings up for Massachusetts and eastern Long Island. Nearly two feet of snow has already fallen in Topskill, Massachusetts, north of Boston. White out conditions are making road travel extremely dangerous. And FlightAware.com reports more than 1,700 flight cancellations today.

And a big change for that big yellow cereal box. General Mills has announced that original Cheerios are now free of genetically modified ingredients. The company says the Cheerios oats were always GMO free. But now the corn starch is as well. CNN's Christine Romans have more on that decision.

So Christine this makes a lot of moms and dads kind of nervous because you're thinking this is the first finger food for all babies.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is. And that's why activist groups had really been pushing about Cheerios.

I mean their big concern was that from the very get go, from the first solid food they eat humans are consuming genetically modified organisms all the time and in so many different places. I mean look processed foods are about 70 percent of them have GMO in them. But the science and the companies say, look, there's nothing to suggest there's anything harmful about it. This is just how our food supply has really evolved. But for now at least, Cheerios has been testing this for some time -- a few weeks. And it's been making them without the GMOs. It's going to say so right there on the original box. It's only going to be the original Cheerios. That's because they're made with oats. They don't have a lot of corn in there.

They've been able to switch the corn starch, they've been able to switch the syrup that they use and sweetener that they use -- so those will be GMO-free. And so the classic, classic Cheerios will now be GMO free.

It's other ones -- the Honey Nut Cheerios and the others will continue to have GMO because of all the corn they use in there. But again it is a big switch and other companies are doing it too. A nod to this consumer push that they don't want so many GMO -- they want other choices at least out there in the food that you eat -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Unsettling to learn that a little bit was there but comforting now knowing that we're eradicating it all -- hopefully. At least in the original Cheerios -- Christine Romans.

ROMANS: At least in the original Cheerios -- right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.

All right. Still to come -- a former Minnesota Vikings puncher burns his bridges and throws out bombs like "coward" and "bigots"

Andy Scholes has the story. What --

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. Former punter, Chris Kluwe says he was cut by the Minnesota Vikings because he advocated for gay rights. We'll discuss it next in your bleacher report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe is lashing out at his former team saying he was cut from the Minnesota Vikings because of his advocacy for same-sex marriage. Andy Scholes with more on this in his Bleacher Report.

SCHOLES: Yes. He wrote a letter to deadspin.com slamming the Minnesota Vikings. And the letter was actually titled "I was an NFL player until I was fired by two cowards and a bigot". Now Kluwe, who is not gay claims special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made anti-gay comments towards him during team meetings.

And he says he was also asked to tone down his advocacy for gay rights by former head coach Leslie Frazier. Kluwe says he didn't come forward sooner about all this because he didn't want to be a distraction to the team and he didn't want to lose his job while he was still playing.

Now Priefer has strongly denied Kluwe's allegations. And he maintains Kluwe was cut strictly based on performance. The Vikings say they're going to take his accusations seriously and we'll thoroughly going to review the matter.

All right. Number one lineup section on BleacherReport.com today is the shocking upset in last night's Sugar Bowl. Alabama turned the ball over five times in the game in Oklahoma. It scored 35 points off those turners. Now the Sooners sealed the victory in the fourth quarter stripping A.J. McCarron and returning the fumble for a touchdown.

You have to check out McCarron's girlfriend Katherine Webb's reaction in the stands. She was absolutely stunned. Not the way she or McCarron envisioned his college career coming to an end. Alabama loses to Oklahoma, 45-31.

All right. It's going to be really cold on Sunday for the Packers- 49ers game. I mean like ice bowl cold. This is a live look of Lambeau Field. The low temperature for Sunday night in Green Bay is negative 20 degrees with a wind chill around negative 40. This could go down as the coldest game in football history.

WHITFIELD: It ought to with those numbers.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: That's probably the reason why -- it's probably the reason there is still about 3,000 tickets still unsold for this game. And if they're not sold by 5:00 p.m. Eastern today, the game is going to be blacked out on TV in the Green Bay, Milwaukee area. That's a huge dilemma for fans. So they either have the choice of going to sit and watch the game in negative temperatures --

WHITFIELD: Being uncomfortable or --

SCHOLES: -- or staying at home and not seeing the game at all. Got to go back to the --

WHITFIELD: Yes. Being unhappy.

SCHOLES: Going back to 50s and turn the old radio to find out what's going on in the game.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that unbelievable. What a dilemma.

SCHOLES: We'll see what happens. When the games like this get down to below around 2,000 tickets, usually the team will pick up the tab and buy. I can imagine that happening later today

WHITFIELD: Ok. That makes sense to me now. All right. Thanks so much Andy -- appreciate that.

SCHOLES: Welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

Good morning again everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Carol Costello has the day off. For about 100 million Americans, this is the nightmare that they woke up to -- a howling nor'easter plowing across the eastern half of the country and unloading much of its wrath on the upper northeast.

The major metro areas shut down. The nation's largest school system is closed and thousands of flights have been canceled. The impact stretching from coast-to-coast in fact. Listen to these stranded travelers in Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEELAND MILLER, STRANDED PASSENGER: Been planning this vacation for about a year and a half now. So to run into this road block it's just --

ARIANNA KHAIRA, STRANDED PASSENGER: Very frustrating. We're just freaking out because we're running out of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. As you can see right there at the bottom of the screen, we're using every square inch of your television screen to bring you all the latest information from current conditions to forecast, closings, you name it.