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"Polar Vortex" Hits U.S. With Bitter Cold; Obama, Congress Face Off On Unemployment; Nightmare 3,000 Plus Flights Canceled; Iraq's Bloody Battle With Al Qaeda; CDC: Twenty Five States Report Widespread Flu

Aired January 06, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So how much longer will we all have to suffer through this? Plus, a murdered millionaire, his body found lying in a New York City dumpster, but not everyone is upset over his death. That's drawing a lot of criticism this morning.

Also, a major surprise from Liz Cheney, she is dropping out of the race for Senate. Hear why the former vice president's daughter is calling it quits. NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Bitter cold and brutal winds for millions of Americans, history is about to be made just outside this frost-covered windows. Today and tomorrow, much of the country will see the coldest temperatures in nearly two decades. Parts of the Midwest won't even get to zero today, a brutal finishing touch to the snowstorm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on Chicago.

In Minneapolis, the windchill could slide to an insane 50 degrees below zero. The state has now ordered all of its schools closed for the day. Indianapolis doesn't want anyone venturing outside today. It is illegal to drive unless it is an emergency. It is the city's first red travel warning since the legendary 1978 blizzard.

People in Des Moines, they will see temperatures top out today at about 5 below zero. It is unbelievable. Tonight, windchills across Iowa could plummet all the way down to 60 degrees below zero. I can't even imagine 60 degrees below zero. Even the Deep South will see windchills well below zero. Atlanta is on a slow and steady slide into the single digits by tomorrow morning and believe me, people are panicking here.

We begin our coverage, though, with CNN's George Howell. He is in Green Bay. George, I feel for you.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. It is cold. Fair to say it is cold, but that did not stop some 70,000 fans, 77,500 fans in fact who packed this stadium, the iconic Lambeau Field, to watch that game yesterday, the Packers against the 49ers. It did stop several things throughout the Midwest. We know that schools here in Green Bay are closed. Also, in Milwaukee, in Minneapolis, in the city of Chicago where schools never clothes because of snow, schools are closed there and also in Detroit. You see school closures. Right here in Green Bay, we understand that the temperature is negative 17 with the windchill, Carol, it gets down to about negative 40. That's what it feels like out here. You have to come out prepared. You have to limit your time outside, which we are doing. Also, you have to wear layers. You have to have on your hat, scarf, gloves and things like that, because too much exposure out here can lead to frostbite. It is a bad thing. You don't want it. People are definitely taking those precautions.

COSTELLO: I'm curious, George. How do those temperatures feel? Because, to me, if it is 5 degrees below zero, I'm as cold as I can get. Standing up there, do your fingers immediately freeze, the tips of your fingers, what does it feel like?

HOWELL: It is interesting. A Facebook friend of mine posted something. I think he put it best. He said, if you go to the ice box, go to your refrigerator, open the freezer, take your hand and put it on the ice and leave it there for 5 minutes, that's about what it feels like.

COSTELLO: That's nasty. Go inside that satellite truck now. George Howell, thank you so much.

We are actually technically in a polar vortex. It sounds kind of sinister, doesn't it? It is not only ferocious but pretty unusual to see it extend so far beyond the North Pole. Lucky us, right? CNN meteorologist, Indra Petersons is here to explain. Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I always bring the good news. Polar vortex is the easiest way to explain it. You have this circulation of very cold air right at the poles. That is when it is very strong. If you weaken that, you can have a little bit of that area lapse down and you start to get a little band of that kind of swooping down. That band is bringing that colder air farther to the south. That's what we are dealing with this morning. Yeah, us.

Look at this. It is dangerous. It is a particularly dangerous situation. We are talking about temps as low as negative 40 to negative 65 degrees. The danger is out there. You keep talking about Indianapolis. This is key. It is illegal to drive there right now. It is not just because it is cold. We are talking about winds gusting as high as 40 miles an hour. Now, you have visibility close to below half a mile.

People could be stranded on the highway and in five minutes, they could get frost bite. That is the reason they do not want you driving on those highways and notice, a huge chunk of the country talking about cold, arctic air, really dipping the way down. This particularly dangerous situation, this is a warning we typically see for tornadoes and severe weather outbreaks. You do not see this for cold weather. That is how rare this event is, life threatening cold air.

The highs are below normal. It means 40 degrees below normal even for Minnesota. Their high is going to be negative 13 degrees. That cold air spreads all the way down, even into the south, single digits for St. Louis, down in the south east, same thing, temperatures well below normal. The only place we saw some of the warm air, other than the west, was in the northeast. That is quickly going to be going away.

A cold front will be moving through. Temperatures are going to be colder today as we go throughout the day rather than warming up. That's the concern here today. The windchills by tomorrow, 60 degrees cooler than where they were this morning.

COSTELLO: So will the whole winter feel like this, Indra?

PETERSONS: I wish I was God and I could tell you that answer but, you know, I only have that short-term forecast -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I understand perfectly.

PETERSONS: I want to say no.

COSTELLO: It's brutal, it is. Thank you, Indra Petersons, very much. A two-week break from Washington is now a thing of the past for President Obama who is back in the nation's capital as the White House ramps up its push to extend emergency unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. Senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back from vacation in paradise, President Obama found a chill in the Washington air and the president will soon learn if he can thaw his frosty relations with Congress as the White House pushes to extend emergency unemployment benefits. Some Republicans in Congress are open to a deal with caveats.

SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I'm not opposed to unemployment insurance. I am opposed to having it without paying for it. I think it's wrong to borrow money from China or simply print up money for it.

ACOSTA: Same goes for House Speaker John Boehner whose office signaled he would support it as long as it offset with more cuts.

SENATOR HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: We have never offset emergency spending. It's foolishness. We have people who are desperate.

ACOSTA: The Obama administration is gearing up to an all-out campaign as part of the president's pledge to fight income inequality.

GENE SPERLING, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We as country, never have we cut off emergency unemployment benefits when long-term employment has been this high.

ACOSTA: This week the president will host unemployed Americans at the White House. Democrats already eyeing the upcoming mid-term election an attractive contrast with Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to show themselves so far out of the mainstream.

ACOSTA: But the president and Democrats have their own worries namely Obamacare and just how the program's newly insured like their coverage in the coming weeks.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's something which I think the American people are rejecting in large numbers. I think it's going to hurt the president and hurt the country and a lot of families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta joins us live from the White House. So how likely or unlikely is it than an extension of unemployment benefits will fly through Congress?

ACOSTA: Well, we are going to have to wait and see, Carol. Right now, the bill that's pending before the Senate, right now, they are going to have a key test vote on this later today, a procedural vote. That is going to take place after the Senate weighs in on the president's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen. It is unclear at this point whether or not they have the votes.

They appear to need -- Democrats appear to need about a handful of Republican votes to get past this hurdle. Then, they would need to bring the measure back for final approval before it goes to the House where the prospects are not much better over there.

Keep in mind, Carol, if this does not get through the Senate or has trouble in the House, the president has that event here tomorrow with unemployed Americans. He will push harder tomorrow. So expect this to be a fight that last for the next several days if it doesn't get through the Congress anytime soon -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Acosta reporting live from the White House this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Iraqi soldiers are inching closer to an all-out battle with al Qaeda linked fighters. It is not clear whether the government or terrorists are still in control of areas like Fallucia (ph).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Tears, headaches, chaos, you name it, you're getting it at overcrowded airports across the country today thanks to, you know, that nasty weather outside. Just how much of a travel nightmare is it? Well, check out these massive crowds at New York's JFK this weekend. Imagine begin stuck in all of that.

Expect more crowds and frustration if you are flying today. According to flytowhere.com, more than a thousand flights are delayed right now and nearly 3,000 flights have already been canceled. Think things couldn't get worst, well, think again, there were also two close calls at Chicago's O'Hare and New York's JFK when jets actually slid off their icy taxiways. No one hurt in either incident. CNN's Alexandra Field is live outside of JFK and you know, it looks calm there now, but is it still that crowded inside JFK, Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is crowded inside JFK. I think it's crowded in most airports. So many people have done whatever they can to try and find creative routes to get home over the last few days because you got to consider the fact that some people have been stranded in the airports since Friday and then we got this second storm that hit Chicago and that really tied things up, a major airport there. Half of the flights going in and out of that airport were canceled so that's had a ripple effect across the country.

A thousand flights delayed right now, 3,000 canceled. Yesterday, through the 800 flights were canceled so it could still approach that number. More flights are being canceled every hour as the airlines get a look at the weather and see what's going on where. So I think at this point, though, passengers know what's going on.

They know that we are seeing very unusual circumstances with the cold temperatures, the icy temperatures, the blizzard conditions out in the Midwest. The people are at this point expecting and preparing knowing that their flight will be either delayed or canceled. Best thing to do might be to make other arrangements at this point if you can. Otherwise, you are going to have to deal with all the people at the airport to a certainly feeling frustration that we can all sympathize with -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I can't imagine being stuck in all of that. Actually I have been in my past, but I choose to forget about it. I have completely blocked it out of my mind. Alexandra Field, thanks so much.

Checking our top stories now at 13 minutes past, in New York, investigators are trying to determine the cause of a high-rise fire. A 27-year-old newlywed was killed in the blaze and seven other people were hurt. Witness video obtained by CNN shows flames shooting out the building and as you can see a large plume of black and white smoke.

Jahi McMath, a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead by an Oakland hospital was released to her family. She was attached to a ventilator but with no feeding tube in place. The girl's family is moving her to another facility. The family's attorney would not disclose where that facility is saying threats have been made.

A new era begins in Boston. Martin Walsh is being sworn as the city's new mayor. He replaces Thomas Menino who served as mayor for 20 years. Menino did not seek re-election.

Remember Fallujah, the site of some of the bloodiest fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents during the Iraq war. Once again, it is the sight of violence and death. It is a battle between the Iraqi government and al Qaeda-linked fighters. It is not clear who is in charge of the city or if the government has the means and ability to win an all-out battle. CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is covering the story from Jerusalem. I know you spent a lot of time in Fallujah, Nick. What's going on there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, now, the prime minister of Iraq is telling the tribes people to throw out what he is calling the terrorist al Qaeda. He is saying, you don't know it, but you have been working for the terrorist al Qaeda agenda.

What the tribesmen are saying, there might be a couple of pockets, but mostly this is tribesmen. There is a real argument over the narrative, the Sunni tribes who are by far the majority. The Sunnis feel marginalized by the Shiite-dominated government of Nouri al- Maliki.

The prime minister is defining this as the government versus al Qaeda, which would give him stronger international backing and more support from the United States. Is the army there strong enough to go in? Maybe it is. If it does, it will cause a lot of civilian casualties and that would drive a lot of people into the hands of the insurgents or make those small elements of al Qaeda even bigger -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know that U.S. officials say no more boots on the ground in Iraq, but you wonder still, Nic.

ROBERTSON: You know, it would be a very, very tough situation to go into. It was very hard and took a long time to get out of. The Iraqi government isn't sharing power the way that the Sunnis in the country expected. Many of those people living there had good jobs under Saddam Hussein. They had important positions in the military and lost all that with Saddam Hussein. They didn't get much return from the government. It is getting a political balance in the country.

Does the imperative and important thing right now that it would be very hard for the United States to go back in and influence that. Never mind win a battle that would be very tough on the ground. We've already seen what it looks like there, Carol. It is not easy.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, live in Jerusalem, thanks so much. You didn't get a flu shot. There is still time. You can still get one. We will tell you how you can protect yourself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: New concerns over the flu. The CDC reports half the states have widespread flu outbreaks and h1n1 is on the rise. So let's bring in CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. It seems like a very tame flu season and all of the sudden, boom.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's how flu is. It just sort of doesn't register and then, all of the sudden, it registers. We are getting to the peak of the flu season. A lot of people think that's something older people need to worry about. Well, think again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COHEN (voice-over): In just one week, the number of states reporting widespread flu has more than doubled from 10 states to 25. Among the victims of the flu so far this season, 25-year-old Ann Phillips Swan from South Bend, Indiana, who passed away on Christmas eve and 5-year- old Ronan Burgess, who died in Portland, Oregon.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CDC: We are seeing a lot of illness in young adults who may lack immunity.

COHEN: Young people died from the flu every year. This year, it could turn out to be particularly bad because the main flu strain out there is h1n1, and it disproportionately affects people under 65.

FRIEDEN: So far, the main strain is h1n1. That strain is well covered by every one of the flu vaccines out there.

COHEN: That's right. H1n1 is in the flu shot. It is not too late to get one. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the flu vaccine for nearly every within. It does take two weeks for the shot to build up immunity. In the meantime, it is especially important to remember to wash your hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So, I have heard that some children need two shots of the flu vaccine.

COHEN: Two doses of the flu vaccine. If your child is eight or under and has never had the flu vaccine, this is their first time, they are going to need two. The poor little thing, it might not work. So you definitely want to get two. Even if they have had a flu vaccine, they may still need two. It depends on a lot of factors. You have to check with your doctor.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen, many thanks.

Still to come, Liz Cheney abandons her bid for the Senate citing health concerns and her family. What does this mean for some established members of the Republican Party? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. The big story this morning, a brutal arctic blast, most will see some of the coldest temperatures in decades. Parts of the Midwest won't get to zero, a brutal finishing touch to the snowstorm. The one-two punch shut down schools as well as in St. Louis and Milwaukee. In Indianapolis, it is illegal to drive today except in a most dire emergency.

The red travel warning is the city's first since the legendary 1978 blizzard. The windchill will feel like 45 degrees below zero. Even the Deep South will see windchills well below zero. Atlanta is on a slow and steady slide into the single digits by tomorrow morning. Indra is here to tell us about the dreaded polar vortex. PETERSONS: It is a polar vortex. We are talking about all the cold air typically at the pole. What you have today is something we call a particularly dangerous situation. This is rare enough as it is when we put these warnings out in reference to severe weather usually, a tornado outbreak. To see this, windchills, windchill warnings with temperatures from negative 40 to negative 65 is so rare. Most people have never seen this before. First time, Minneapolis, Minnesota, has ever put this out.

Also, Sioux Falls under this current warning. Think about this. Your motor oil, it freezes at 15 degrees. Antifreeze, I've got that. Antifreeze freezes at negative 35. The pressure goes down when it gets cold. The tires seal themselves. They start to leak below freezing. These are the concerns we have out there today and the exposure. Five minutes at negative 50 that is all it takes to get frostbite. You can see the problem and concern. It's a life threatening situation.

Current temperatures, negative 53 right now. That's what it feels like in Duluth. Chicago, negative 41. Indianapolis, negative 38. This is the key. Everybody is saying it is not just cold air. That's not the reason it is illegal to drive. That's because I saw a foot of snow yesterday. Windchill comes from winds, 40-mile-an-hour winds blowing around snow out there. I know people trapped in the snow with the life-threatening temperatures.

It's the combination there that's the concern. How long is this expected to last. Take a look. Temperatures are 40 degrees below average for places like Minnesota. This is not typical for them. Nor is it typical when you go down to the southeast. These temperatures, 30 below normal once you talk about arctic air so yes, Atlanta where they had sleet in the morning, very dangerous out there. What are we talking about? There is a change in the northeast.

One of the only places, other than the west, where they had mild conditions this morning, current temperatures were in the 40s and 50s. Here comes the cold, arctic air. Yes, those temperatures will be cooling off as we go throughout the day. The danger will move into the northeast as well where by tomorrow, it should be 60 degrees cooler than it was today. Notice those windchills. A good 30 below expected tomorrow. In Pittsburgh, negative 27 degrees, very dangerous.

COSTELLO: By Wednesday, you said it is going to be 41 in Atlanta. That will feel balmy.

PETERSONS: You are excited now, right?

COSTELLO: Yes, thanks, Indra, I appreciate it.

Checking other top stories this morning at 29 minutes past the hour, the wreckage of a flipped, charred plain seen at the aspen, Colorado airport. The small plane burst into flames killing the co-pilot and injures two others on board. The pie loot missed his first approach to the airport. The Senate is expected to confirm Janet Yellen to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve. The vote is later today. Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke whose term ends this month. She would be the first woman to head Federal Reserve in its 100-year history.