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Below Freezing Temps; Flight Delays and Cancellations; Rodman Erupts

Aired January 07, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.

Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And not a single state in the U.S. has escaped this brutal and let me add deadly cold. All 50 states plummeting to below freezing. Yes, Hawaii, I am even talking to you. The deep freeze is blamed for at least 15 deaths so far. Some killed on icy roads. Others simply froze to death.

The snow, the icy conditions still grounding thousands of flights and, quite literally, stopping trains on their tracks. Case in point, just outside Chicago, more than 500 passengers spent the entire night stuck inside three Amtrak trains, stranded some 15 hours. We'll be talking to one of those passengers, by the way, coming up. Because of this, huge snow and ice drifts blanketing the tracks. This video shot by one of the passengers onboard the train. He talked to CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Everything they tried has failed (INAUDIBLE). Initially, they were going to try and push it with other trains. Then they were going to send in a rescue train. And just a whole bunch of different strategies. And it was just -- well, we're going to try that and then we wait for two, three hours without any updates. They - and they gave us a kind of makeshift meal even yesterday evening and that did help. But, yes, (INAUDIBLE). So, but, yes, and for the most part, I think the passengers have been pretty tolerant of the situation. I mean what are we going to do? I mean we're stuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And like I said, we'll be talking to one of those passengers.

Also, Michigan, the snow is so heavy, the roof of a Kmart buckled under the weight. You saw the sign. The store is closed because of that.

Overnight, lake effect snow pounded Lake Erie, Ontario's snow belt (ph). And this live picture, check this out, showing the near whiteout conditions in Buffalo, New York, as I speak.

Back in Chicago, bitter cold air from this polar vortex. You've heard us say this a lot, the polar vortex created this amazing sight over Lake Michigan.

But there are few places colder right now than in the heart of Minnesota. And it is here in Minneapolis where we find CNN's intrepid cold correspondent Erin McPike standing by for us.

And just, if you can, can you even describe the bitter cold you are feeling right now?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, so, Brooke, right now it's zero degrees. We've gotten up to zero.

BALDWIN: Up to zero.

MCPIKE: We may see one degree -- yes. And we might see a degree or two in the next couple hours, but that's as high as it's going to go. It feels like below zero. It feels like negative 11 right now because of this wind chill factor.

Now, when we landed here in Minneapolis last night, it was 17 below. And what I can tell you about that, getting off the plane and walking up the jetway, the walls of the jetway looked kind of icy. You could still see your breath when you walked out of the jetway and on to the airport. So, very cold.

Now, I haven't been outside for more than 10 minutes at any stretch of time. That is bearable. But that's about as long as you want to be outside, because once you go back inside, you can feel it in your fingers and toes. They are icy. They are cold. It's painful. You know, you might get a headache from being out in the cold too long, so that's why everybody's saying, don't stay out any longer than 10 minutes, 30 minutes tops, because it will hurt.

BALDWIN: Yes, I'm sure you would feel it beyond fingers and toes. You'd feel it deep in your bones. Erin McPike, we want you to get back inside, you and your photojournalist and producer, get back inside that satellite truck. Thank you so, so much for standing out there for it -- in it for us.

And from the moment this dangerously cold polar air made its way south, airports have been in meltdown mode really across the country. Just today, more than 2,300 flights have been cancelled. Airlines still scrambling to clear the backlog of stranded passengers. So it begs the question, why the heck did JetBlue cancel more than 400 flights, icy runways or not, when other airlines kept running? Let's shed some light on that question. CNN's Zain Asher is at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

And, you know, this is pretty unheard of. Why did JetBlue do this?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Brooke, it was really all about JetBlue actually hitting the reset button. They have a lot of flights that actually depart from the New York City area, the Boston area.

We are in the terminal, (INAUDIBLE) terminal here at LaGuardia. Activity is slowly resuming, getting back to normal. I've been speaking to passengers outside the JetBlue terminal. A lot of them kind enough to share their stories with me. One woman telling me she anticipates a four-hour delay before she gets on her flight. Another woman saying that, you know, this is something I'm hearing from passengers a lot, how difficult it is to get hold of a real live person on the phone. One woman telling me that she actually ended up calling JetBlue 30 times. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we had a flight at 10:00. And found out it was cancelled. And we tried to call JetBlue. They wouldn't answer. They kept hanging up on us. They said your call is going to end now. They hang up. They hang up. Thirty calls later, I just gave up. And then we finally tried like one time last night around like 7:00 and then they finally answered the phone. And -- but it was an hour and a half wait on the phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Right. So a lot of passengers clearly frustrated. And I've been speaking to passengers and I've been asking them, you know, obviously these airlines cannot control the weather, but what could JetBlue have done to make the experience a little bit easier? A lot of people saying to me, it really is all about communication.

One couple actually saying that they were scheduled to leave from LaGuardia and last-minute JetBlue actually told them actually, no, wait a second, it's actually going to be JFK. So it really is all about communication.

BALDWIN: Oh.

ASHER: I do want to make - exactly. I do want to make clear, though, that it's not just JetBlue that's experiencing these disruptions. It's other airlines, too. But JetBlue does have a lot of airplanes that do depart from the New York City Boston area.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Speaking of communication, we know JetBlue will be holding a media call at the bottom of the hour. Do we have any kind of clue, Zain, as to how they plan to defend what's been going on?

ASHER: Right, so right now they're saying that they do intend for operations to resume back to normal at 3:00. We're not sure if that's going to happen because there are still some delays. But JetBlue has been facing specific criticism because they're the only airline that actually blamed these new FAA rules that require the pilots to have more rest. Obviously, though, they've had two years to actually implement those rules and other airlines have had to undergo the same rules but haven't used it as an excuse. So they have been facing some flak for that.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, we'll stay in touch with you and see what, if anything, does change post media call.

ASHER: Of course.

BALDWIN: Zain Asher, thank you very much, at LaGuardia.

Right outside your door right now, chances are the wind chill is unbearable. Maybe it doesn't quite look like this, like Buffalo, but it's tough to imagine today every single part of the U.S. plummeted to below freezing. I'm even talking about states closest to the equator. Florida, Hawaii, you couldn't escape the chill either. Meteorologist Chad Myers is standing by.

And, listen, I know this is January, but come on.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

BALDWIN: I mean, this is unusual, yes?

MYERS: This is probably a once in 20 year event.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MYERS: Honestly, yes. When it gets this cold for this long in so many places, people die. I mean - and I want you to take precautions. I want you to call the elderly neighbor if you can. Make sure the pets are taken care of. This is a live shot from Niagara Falls, New York. I used to live right back there somewhere. Back here, this is that -- that is the big Horseshoe Falls. The water coming over the Canadian side here. Here's the island, the Peace Bridge, and the American Falls. The Maid of the Mist is not going to Niagara Falls today and there is ice jam down here on the river and there could be some flooding here in the south towns around Buffalo, south Buffalo and Lackawanna because of all of that water trying to get through the river system, but now the ice jam is stopping that.

Marquette, Michigan, down to 17 degrees below zero. Detroit, 14 below this morning. And Pittsburgh breaking the record at nine below. It feels, right now, Green Bay, 29 below, 28 below in Duluth. I can't even imagine what that feels like. I know when you're out there trying to do a life shot, literally your face starts to slow down. The muscles don't want to move. Your skin starts to just - I don't know if it's congeal or what, but you literally can't make words any more.

BALDWIN: Your face hurts.

MYERS: That's kind of what it sounds like when you start to get out there doing a live shot from two to three minutes.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: So be careful out there. I know there are people that have to work out there, work outside, whether they're baggage handlers or police officers. Be kind of them. You know, give them a little bit of a break today because it's going to be a little - just a little extra - a little extra time for them to do their job maybe.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: A little extra tip.

Yes, Chad Myers, thank you so much for doing your job and keeping us informed on how cold it is. Thank you. We'll talk next hour.

Now some of the hottest stories in a flash. "Rapid Fire." Roll it.

Six Senate Republicans join unanimous Democrats in sort of an unexpected win for the long-term unemployment. Take a look with me. These are the Republicans. Dan Coats, Rob Portman, Dean Heller, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Kelly Ayotte. All six voted yes to three more months of federal aid to people who have not worked for at least half a year. Full passage, though, requires another Senate vote, plus approval, of course, by the House.

An Arizona man has been busted allegedly trying to smuggle a woman into the country. And, yes, there is a photo. Yes, it was in his suitcase. Customs and border protection officers at the Port of Nogales say they found the 48-year-old Thai national hidden underneath clothing after zipping open the suitcase in the back of an SUV and this is what they found. The man was traveling from Mexico to the U.S. He now faces human smuggling charges.

And a trucker says this crash happened because the officer who reported it also had his blue lights flashing. The trucker says the lights diverted his attention just as traffic ahead was slowing. By the time he recovered, all he could do was swerve, says that driver. No one was killed or injured.

And, America's most recognizable skier will not be hitting the slopes at next month's winter Olympics. Lindsey Vonn says her injured knee is just too unstable to compete for gold at the Sochi games. She tore ligaments in her knee 11 months ago and aggravated the injury when she crashed in November. Vonn says she plans to have surgery soon so that she will be ready for the world championships in Vail next February.

Coming up next, it is the interview that has everybody talking today. Dennis Rodman, right now in North Korea, sits down with CNN, goes off on my colleague Chris Cuomo. You will hear what Rodman says to critics and the remark about an American being held by North Korea that is definitely raising eyebrows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: No, I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) what the - I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. I'm saying to you, look at these guys here. Look at them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Dennis Rodman is adding to his reputation for unpredictable behavior. And this time he did it right here on CNN. Earlier this morning, Rodman and a group of former pro basketball players joined "New Day" for this exclusive interview from North Korea. As you know, Rodman has struck up this bizarre friendship of sorts here with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. Rodman erupted when Chris Cuomo, who was doing the interview this morning, asked him about American Kenneth Bae, who has been detained by the North Korean government, even implying that Bae did something wrong. That heated exchange in just a moment. But we'll start with former NBA player Charles Smith defending the reasons behind the trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES SMITH, FORMER NBA PLAYER: He is not here, and I am not here -- none of these guys are here to talk any sense into any politician and to have any -- other than basketball diplomacy, which I feel is about having a relationship -- utilizing the relationship with others in an accommodating way through basketball, which we did today with the North Korean team. That's what we're here for. Do you really think that any - that the leaders here are going to listen to what we have to say? And we're not here to do that. That's not what we're here to do.

We're here specifically to put smiles on people's faces, everlasting memories in the minds of individuals. And hopefully, with the good work that we do, we give to charity while we're here. And we're just going to be an example to how we are as Americans when it comes to the sport of basketball. So, please, don't continue to put politics into that. This is not what we're here for.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": I get it, Charles.

DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I'm going to say -

CUOMO: I get it. I get why you're there. It's -- the problem is, it's more complicated than basketball.

RODMAN: Can I answer that? No, it not. Can I - can I - can I -

CUOMO: It just is. It's more complicated than basketball. And, fellas, I'm sorry.

SMITH: But, you know what, you say - you know, you say it's more complicated than basketball. Basketball is not complicated to us. And that's what we do.

RODMAN: It's a great idea for them all. For the world. And this - and people always turn down the things I do. And it's weird. And it's like, wow, really? You know, like, but you get Michael Jordan, you get the LeBrons and stuff like that, this, this, this, this, they can do all the cruel things in the world. But me (ph)? So why North Korea? Why? I love my friend. I love my friend. This is my friend.

I know one thing about politics. Kenneth Bae did one thing. If you understand it. No, I got it, guys (ph). If you understand what Kenneth Bae did.

CUOMO: Yes.

RODMAN: Do you understand what he did?

CUOMO: What did he do? You tell me.

RODMAN: In this country.

CUOMO: You tell me, what did he do?

RODMAN: In - no, no, no, no, you tell me. You tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country? Why?

CUOMO: They haven't released any charges. They haven't released - they haven't released any reason.

RODMAN: I would - I would -

SMITH: But, listen -

RODMAN: (INAUDIBLE), let me do this. I would love to speak on this.

CUOMO: Go ahead.

RODMAN: You know. You've got - you've got 10 guys here - 10 guys here that have left their families, left their damn (ph) families to help this country as -- in the sports venture (ph). You've got 10 guys -- all these guys here. Do anyone understand that?

CUOMO: We do. And we appreciate that and we wish them well with cultural exchange.

RODMAN: (INAUDIBLE). No, no, no, no, I'm just saying, no, I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) what the - I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you're thinking. I'm saying to you, look at these guys here. Look at them.

CUOMO: Yes, but, Dennis, don't put it on them. Don't use them as an excuse for the behavior that you're - that you're putting on yourself.

RODMAN: (INAUDIBLE). They came here on - they came - came here. They came here.

CUOMO: You just - you just basically were saying that Kenneth Bae did something wrong. We don't even know what the charges are.

SMITH: But - but, listen, you can't - but, listen, listen, you can -

CUOMO: Don't use these guys as a shield for you, Dennis.

SMITH: You can - listen - listen - listen - listen - listen - Dennis - Dennis - Dennis (INAUDIBLE).

RODMAN: Hold on (ph), ain't (ph) no (ph) shield. I - I got it. Let me do this. Really - really - I'm going to tell you one thing, people around the world are running (ph) the world. I'm going to do one thing. You're the guy behind the mike right now. We are the guys here doing one thing. We have to go back to America and take the abuse. Do you have to take the abuse? Well, we're going to take it. To you, sir, let me know -- are you going to take it because we're going to get it? But guess what though, one day, one day, this door is going to open because these 10 guys here -- all of us, Christie, Ben, Dennis, Charles, all these - I mean everybody here -- if we could just open the door just a little bit for people to come here and do one thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. So that happened this morning. Coming up next, I'll speak live with an NBA legend who played with all these guys. We'll get his reaction, including how the players alongside Rodman have their own histories of acting out. Do not miss that.

Plus, President Obama says losing a job could happen to anyone and pushes Congress to extend benefits for the unemployed. But will it happen? That's coming up. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, we have been talk about Dennis Rodman's latest outburst. We just played you a chunk of this interview that went on this morning. This time it happened in North Korea. It happened, as we showed you, right here on CNN. And you just saw the video of Rodman going off really on Chris Cuomo. CNN sports analyst Greg Anthony is here. He played 11 years in the NBA. You overlapped with Mr. Rodman for a time.

GREG ANTHONY CNN SPORTS ANALYST: I did. I did.

BALDWIN: How - where - how to even begin? Watching this this morning, do you think he's OK?

ANTHONY: Well, it seemed to me, based on the fact that he's holding a cigar and sounded like he just left a party, that maybe he was just partaking in some of the social activity in North Korea.

BALDWIN: That Kim Jong-un had provided.

ANTHONY: You know, I mean they, you know, he went over to have a good time. More importantly - or what I should say what I found to be funny was, did you see the look of discomfort of everybody else up on the panel?

BALDWIN: I did.

ANTHONY: None of the other guys figured that they had signed up for that. And that part was -- it was a little bit humorous, but unfortunate.

BALDWIN: Do you not think they realized what they were getting into?

ANTHONY: I don't think so. On a serious note, listen -

BALDWIN: Yes.

ANTHONY: Sports has always been a vegetable - a vestibule - I said vegetable - for -- BALDWIN: A unifier.

ANTHONY: You know what I mean.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ANTHONY: For athletes and people of different ethnicities and races to come together. And I go all the way back to the early '70s. I think it was Nixon when he was having discussions with China, they brought over a table tennis team.

BALDWIN: The ping pong diplomacy, right.

ANTHONY: And - and, you know, that was one of the first opportunities for those nations to cultural connect. You know, this is well before, obviously, you and I were born. And so I think in a lot of ways that's what this could be about. And, listen, if we're waiting for Dennis Rodman to be our ambassador to the rest of the world, come on now.

BALDWIN: Yes, let's - let me - let me get to the maybe, maybe, maybe a door opening one day. But let's run through this roster of these -

ANTHONY: OK.

BALDWIN: These former players. So you have Vin Baker, he battled alcoholism. Kenny Anderson, DUI, lost his coaching job. Craig Hodges, once accused the NBA of blackballing his political views. So it's an interesting group of guys.

ANTHONY: Yes, it is an interesting group. But I don't think it's necessarily fair to point out whatever digressions some of those guys have had in the past.

BALDWIN: Why not?

ANTHONY: That's - well, because I don't think that's what this is about. Again, we're making this about politics when it's about basketball. And I don't think that that part of this is fair.

BALDWIN: Then why do you think they went over there?

ANTHONY: Well, I think they went over, in essence, to bring our game, which we take all over the world, to try to grow and expose. And in the same breath, also utilize it as an opportunity to maybe start some discussion and some dialogue. I don't see --

BALDWIN: Do you think it is entirely altruistic?

ANTHONY: Listen, they may have individual agendas. That I don't know. But, again, I don't know that we're necessarily carrying this out completely fairly.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ANTHONY: And again, I don't have any conversations with these guys. I know them. BALDWIN: If you were invited, would you have gone?

ANTHONY: I probably would not have gone. But again, so should we now -- at least that's what I thought we were talking about.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ANTHONY: Most -- most of us in America talk about trying to reach out and extend a hand to try to start a conversation. I know our president has done that and talked about it over the course of his tenure in office. And so, to me, I think that's some of where this is going.

Now, having said that, did they handle this as well as they could have? Absolutely not. But I don't think these guys are ambassadors or diplomats and should be therefore ridiculed, persecuted -

BALDWIN: Perceived as such.

ANTHONY: For something that's happened in the past. I don't think that they're doing this to start a world war or to do anything other than maybe try to expose -- let's forget about the political aspect. What about the young people in North Korea who don't have a political agenda, who just love the game of basketball? What's wrong with them wanting to have (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: It's just that you look - it's just that we look at what Dennis Rodman has done and we know what's happening in North Korea. And then when you're a bunch of players --

ANTHONY: Well, we know what's happening in America, don't we? I mean we've had issues.

BALDWIN: Sure, but we're talking about North Korea because Dennis Rodman's over there.

ANTHONY: Well, yes, but people come to America all the time. And last time I checked, Guantanamo Bay is still open. Aren't we holding people in Guantanamo Bay for the last 12, 13 years that we have not charged them?

BALDWIN: Sure, but we're talking about North Korea. Sure, sure, sure, but they're not playing - but they're not playing a game of basketball in Gitmo.

ANTHONY: But they haven't been charged. Well, but people are coming from other parts of the world. We take in readily people from Cuba, who we've had, you know, difficult relationships with. And all other walks of life. Shouldn't we be the ones who are a little bit more compassionate? Then again, I'm not blaming us.

BALDWIN: We hear you.

ANTHONY: I mean North Korea, we have issues with. We all understand and accept that. But, again, I think we made a lot more out of this than needs to be. Dennis Rodman didn't help himself with the way he handled it. BALDWIN: You're over it. You're over it.

ANTHONY: Yes.

BALDWIN: I know a lot of people are over it as well.

Greg Anthony, thank you very much.

ANTHONY: It was entertaining, though. I was --

BALDWIN: It was. It still is. I'm still waiting for the photo on with Kim Jong-un and everyone playing basketball. Stay tuned for that. Thank you very much for coming in. We appreciate you.

ANTHONY: All right.

BALDWIN: Coming up, it is shocking, it is disturbing, it is sickening. Those are some of the words used to describe video of this toddler posted on the Omaha Police Department's website. We will show you the video that has a lot of people now criticizing the department.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)