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Terror Threat Grows In Olympics Run Up; Olympian To Family: Don't Go To Russia, Stay Home; New Video Shows Toronto Mayor Inebriated; Record Snowfalls In Parts of NYC, Philadelphia; Shooting Suspect Being Held Without Bond; Heating Fuel Shortage In Over 12 States; "March For Life" In Washington Today

Aired January 22, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is the national Olympic committees of a number of countries, Germany, Italy and Hungary and Slovenia who say they have received these e-mails, which broadly talk about a threat against Sochi. They are concerned enough in some cases to pass it to their local security authorities. They have passed it to the International Olympic Committee. The assessment of IOC is that these e-mails do not contain a threat as such.

The IOC says it appears to be a random e-mail from a member of the public. We've seen a copy supplied by the Slovenian National Olympic Committee. It is written in Russian format as an official Russian government document talks about some people and a general threat against the games.

If it is just what the IOC says it is, a prank of some sort, it is interesting to note that you have Olympic officials in various countries commenting on this, this morning. Such is the concern about security at these games. Here in Russia, another sign of the concerns and the challenge ahead.

We know that Russian authorities believe they have now detailed two potential threats against the games. One of them is said to be targeting the Olympic torch relay and the window, the time frame for this attack is opened right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (voice-over): An intensifying security crackdown as the threat of terrorism grows and the leader to the Sochi Olympic games. Explosive new images amid Russian state news reports, the police killed a suspected militant leader in this shoot-out in Dagestan Tuesday. In addition, reports that the leader of the caucuses Emirate terrorists cell has been killed in Dagestan. This region east of Sochi has become a hotbed for Islamic insurgents after years of unrest.

CHRISTOPHER SWIFT, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: From their point of view, they don't have to succeed with an operation, it's just enough to try. Whereas the Russian security services, they have to have a zero percent failure rate in order to have a successful outcome here. BLACK: President Obama offered full U.S. assistance during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. A U.S. official says the Joint Chiefs have discussed the idea of providing Russia with high-tech aid to help with IED detection and jamming equipment. Still, there is concern.

SWIFT: The ring of steel doesn't help you deal with a single individual or small teams of individuals who are already in place and already ready to move.

BLACK: Possibly already on the move, three suspected women terrorists known as black widows. Hotels in the area distributing fliers warning people to be on the lookout for these female suicide bombers. Police believed one of the women may have been killed in a gun battle over the weekend. While another, 22-year-old Ruzanna Ibragimova is believed to already be in Sochi.

SWIFT: They tend to be more ruthless. They tend to be more focused and they also tend to hit civilian targets rather than security services and that's a big change and poses a substantial risk for people at the Olympics.

BLACK: A challenge being met with growing force.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK: As for that offer of assistance from President Obama to President Putin, we don't know what the response was from the Russian leader when they spoke on the phone. Here in Russia, the success and safety of these games is seen as very much a reflection of the country's prestige and that of its president as well. So there is no reason to believe the Russian government is going to lightly admit that it is not up to handling the safety of these games and ask for help.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: All right, Phil Black reporting live from Russia this morning. Those terror threats are prompting one U.S. Olympian to tell his family to stay home. The 29-year-old skater, Tucker Fredricks, is probably competing in his final Olympics. He wants his wife and parents to stay home in Wisconsin and not travel to Sochi to cheer him on.

Dan Fredricks tells the "Janesville Wisconsin Gazette," his son is worried about the family security so they will stay home to allow him to focus on his skating. Security at this year's Winter Olympics is on everyone's minds. That includes the journalist assigned to cover the games.

And former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani says, hosting the Olympic Games attracts all the world's problems to you. So security needs to be priority number one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: The minute you hold the Olympics in a place, whether it is Salt Lake City or it's Rio Janeiro or it's London, you have actually brought all the world problems to you. So yes, Sochi is dangerous because it's close to the caucuses. However, the minute you have an Olympics, every one of these causes gets attracted to you and you have to have enormous security.

MEREDITH VIEIRA, NBC NEWS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been a concern of mine since the beginning. We have had a lot of conversations at NBC News about it and sports. After a certain point, it is a bit of a leap of faith. I hope that they share information more than they have with the U.S. Right now, that's kind of a rough point but I'm going. I'm going and you know they talk about that ring of steel and I hope it is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That was Meredith Vieira. Of course, she will be hosting the opening ceremonies on February 6th.

In Ukraine, three protesters are dead after clashing with police overnight. Two protesters were shot. It is unclear how a third was killed. The violence has escalated after weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations in the country's capital city. Demonstrators are upset with the president's recent trade agreement with Russia. Opposition leaders have accused the government of paying thugs to try and derail the protest through violence.

That's really hard to watch. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford caught on tape again, drinking and yelling incoherently. This latest incident was shot early Tuesday morning and Ford addressed reporters about it later in a very somber tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mayor Ford, when was that video from?

MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: Last night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you drinking?

FORD: Yes, I was. A little bit, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that video was extensive?

FORD: I was with some friends and what I do in my personal life with my personal friends has nothing to do with you guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ford says there were no drugs involved and he did not drive himself home. Also, this morning, some 80 million Americans waking up in the icy grip of a winter storm, high winds and heavy snow creating this swirling mess for drivers on Cape Cod. This is the view from CNN affiliate, WHDH. Blizzard and as much as a foot of snow will blanket part of Massachusetts.

In Philadelphia, single digit temperatures and double digit snowfall, as much as a foot has already fallen. With a high of about 14 degrees, that snow isn't going anywhere. Alison Kosik is in Islandia, New York, that's on Long Island where they are suffering too. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know what's funny, Carol, everybody watching snow coverage these days are saying, look, it is winter. It is supposed to snow. The difference is, I think this storm that came through here especially on Long Island, it really was a doozy. It dumped anywhere from 6 to 12 inches throughout Long Island.

The good news is the storm is gone. The sun is out. It is almost picture postcard perfect, right, except for the highway in the background. You see the cars actually moving on pretty well even though it is pretty icy out there still. You know why it's icy? It is freezing out here. It is 5 degrees. The real feel, it is 15 degrees below zero. It is cold here.

The good news, it is a great snow day for the kids because a lot of the kids are off from school. This is the good kind of snow. It's not the wet, mucky kind. This is the soft, fluffy kind that you get to go sledding and have a really good time.

But then there are still those that still have to get to work because, believe it or not, New York City Schools are open. We talked to some commuters taking the train in today. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was surprised. I know that we have more snow here than in Manhattan. I thought maybe they would close the schools. They kept it open. That's why I'm having a really start because I was anticipating the schools being closed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am very surprised, also thought how am I going to get back into the city? The snow is pretty bad. I couldn't drive in, because the roads aren't dangerous and not great. But I'm here so got to get to class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Guess what? This snow isn't going anywhere. It is really icy out here. I almost fell on my you know what -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know it is 40 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska, today, 40 in Anchorage.

KOSIK: Fly me out there please, I'll take it, five degrees here, brrr.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, be careful out there. Indra Petersons is in Boston. And Indra, I have to ask you about another weather term that's being thrown around, bombogenesis. So it's not a polar vortex, but a bombogenesis. What exactly does that mean?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are talking about a low. We just had this Alberta Clipper. That's all it was a few days ago. Typically, moisture as it is quickly moving from Canada, it goes over land. This time, we saw that low make its way and start to really develop the ocean over the ocean. When you get that, that pressure, like last night, right?

If you get all that moisture coming off of the ocean and you get the heavy snow totals, very typical. Normally, that storm moving west to east, you would see the higher to the west and farther east. Not exactly the case this time where we talk about record breaking snowfall, almost a -- yesterday, also towards Philly about 13 inches. South in Boston here, we are now talking about 15 even --

COSTELLO: I knew we were going to lose her. I hope you get the drift what bombogenesis means. It means like something warm and something cold colliding.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, millions battered by brutal cold, running on a fuel to heat their homes. I'll talk about the head of one propane company about what it is doing to keep Americans warm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 13 minutes past the hour. Classes are canceled today at Purdue University in Indiana after a deadly shooting on Tuesday left one student dead. Police say 23-year- old Cody Cousins has been booked on a preliminary charge of murder. Both Cousins and his alleged victim were reportedly students in the Electrical Engineering Department. Police say the victim appears to have been targeted. Cousins is being held without bond.

Despite the snowstorms that ended the year, 2013 was a scorcher. In a new analysis, NOAH says last year is tied as the fourth warmest year on record with the average temperature on land and water at 58.12 degrees. That's a little more than 1 degree above the average. This marks the 37th year in a row that global temperatures have been above normal.

Alex Rodriguez may have reached a point of new return with his fellow major leaguers in a story first reported by Yahoo! Sports during a conference call. So major league players called for A-Rod to be expelled from their union after A-Rod announced he was suing that group as well as the Major League Baseball.

The union counsel told players, there was no legal standing for the expulsion. If he does return after his suspension, he could face retribution, one unnamed player said, you can hit him and hit him hard.

The Midwest bracing as the bitter cold refuses to loosen its grip on the region. Temperatures today dipping down well below zero all the way to negative 35 for some areas where you factor in the windchill making the situation truly dire.

More than two dozen states say they are running out of fuel to keep everyone warm and declaring an energy emergency. Joining me now is Craig Wood in Sandusky, Ohio. He is the president of the Ohio Propane Gas Association. Welcome. CRAIG WOOD, PRESIDENT, OHIO PROPANE GAS ASSOCIATION: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. The governor of Ohio declared an energy emergency. What does that mean?

WOOD: Well, what it is he recognized the fact that our industry has a lot of issues right now. With his help, he relieved our hours of service restriction so that we could more freely move throughout the state to get the supply where we need it for our customer base.

COSTELLO: The governor actually called in the National Guard to help. What's the National Guard doing?

WOOD: Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I'm sure they are in support if we need them.

COSTELLO: I know he eased transportation rules too. What does that mean? That's probably what the National Guard is doing to help transport the goods to where they need to go.

WOOD: Well, by using it, we are all regulated by the federal government. With that, there is only a set number of hours a day that we can drive. With the relief on the restriction, we can spend more time on the highway, because of the issue of getting the product where we need to. Our drivers now will not run out of hours. They can continue to drive safely.

COSTELLO: So 6 percent of Ohio households use propane to heat their homes. Does everyone have enough propane today to be able to do that?

WOOD: I certainly would hope so. I can only speak for our customer base. Every one of our customers today has adequate supplies to get them two weeks down the road.

COSTELLO: Why is there a propane shortage anyway?

WOOD: It is more of an infrastructure issue now. It started late last fall with a record harvest of grain in the cornbelt. The product was extremely wet. We had to move a lot of propane to the western states to dry the crop so they could take it to market. With that being a late harvest, it walked right in to the front end of December, which is bone chilling. Again, we have got the same thing in January. It didn't allow us time to rebuild our inventories in the Midwest. That coupled with the -- go ahead.

COSTELLO: Finish your thought, sir. I'm sorry.

WOOD: So that coupled with the ocean pipeline that connects the United States to Canada, which brought propane down to the Midwest region. Unfortunately, it went down for service in December, further complicating the supply issue here in the Midwest.

COSTELLO: So let's say we have another cold spell like we are having right now, do people need to worry?

WOOD: I would -- we're all concerned, obviously. What all of us are doing as suppliers, we're very careful. We are monitoring and managing our inventories and limiting the deliveries we make to each of our customers. We are doing that with calculation to make sure that our customers have adequate supply to hold them over, as I say, for a minimum of 2-3 weeks. Then, we'll return and deliver more product.

COSTELLO: All right, Craig Wood with the Ohio Propane Gas Association. Thanks so much for being with me this morning.

WOOD: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, on the 41st anniversary of Roe versus Wade, hundreds of anti-abortion activists are preparing to rally at the nation's capital. CNN's Tom Foreman in Washington this morning. Good morning, Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Very well, it will be thousands of them despite the bitter cold here. It is a much smaller meeting, a much, much smaller meeting that will happen in private that could make an actual difference in all of this coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Forty one years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade legalizing abortions and opponents are marking the occasion in our nation's capital with a protest rally, the march for life rally is getting underway right now. Anti-abortion activist are braving the bitter cold to make their voices heard. CNN's Tom Foreman is covering this. He is live in Washington for us. Good morning, Tom.

FOREMAN: Good morning, Carol. This event has really changed a bit more recently. They have become much more modernized in terms of their outreach to people. They have changed their focus a bit, not pounding so hard just on Roe V. Wade, but there seems to be much more consideration about the idea of are there other areas of abortion law in which more Americans might agree with this group even if they want to keep Roe v. Wade. That is a focus of a very interesting meeting happening today away from the protest, in private in the warmth of a hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Amid the growing blizzard, 168 members of the Republican National Committee will consider a plan being pushed by conservatives to tackle the stormy issue of abortion head on.

A resolution on Republican pro-life strategy would have GOP candidates aggressively confront Democratic challengers to see precisely where they stand on proposals to require spouses be notified before an abortion is performed, to provide sharper health warnings to women about the procedures, and to require a waiting period before an abortion takes place.

On all these and more, the author of the plan, Ellen Barrose believes public opinion runs strongly to the right. ELLEN BARROSE, RNC DELEGATE: Eighty percent of Americans think that abortion should be illegal in the third trimester, close to 80 percent believed that parents should be involved in their daughter's crisis pregnancy.

FOREMAN (on camera): You think the Republicans have real muscle here?

BARROSE: I know that Republicans have real muscle here.

FOREMAN (voice-over): In a broader sense, the effort is aimed at blunting Democratic insistence that Republicans are waging a war on women, claims that have been bolstered by GOP missteps.

TODD AKIN (R), FORMER U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE, MISSOURI: If is a legitimate rape, the female body has a way to shut it down.

RICHARD MOURDOCK (R), FORMER U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE, INDIANA: Even when life in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen.

FOREMAN: Undeniably women have tilted left in many recent elections, but backers of this new measure are convinced if Democrats are forced to spell out exactly how far they want abortion rights to go, the Republican position might start looking more likable to women everywhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Bottom line, some Republicans on the conservative side, particularly some women, know that this is not going their way. They really do believe that there are a lot of finer points of abortion law where they can paint the Democrats as the extremists here out of touch with the American public and as you know, Carol, there are plenty of Democrats out there that think this is such a winning issue for them. They say, Republicans, you want to go down that road, bring it on.

COSTELLO: All right, Tom Foreman, many thanks to you. The question now, as Tom pointed out, will this new tactic work. Frankly, Republican efforts to chip away at Roe V. Wade are working. According to the institute, last year alone 22 states adopted 70 different restrictions, including, quote, "late abortion bans, doctor and clinic regulations, limits on medication abortions and bans on insurance coverage."

Jess McIntosh is with Emily's List, an organization that helps elect Democratic women to office who support abortion rights. Welcome, Jess.

JESS MCINTOSH, COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR, EMILY'S LIST: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: If Democratic women are to spell out how far they want abortion rights to go, will that change minds?

MCINTOSH: I am surprised to see Republicans considering a double down, getting louder on this issue. I would have thought that they would have learned a lesson after 2012 when women and voters so thoroughly rejected this extreme agenda. We saw a historic gender gap in terms of women coming out and supporting Democrats. In 2013, we saw Ken Cuccinelli who is an extremely anti-abortion candidate in Virginia lose the single women vote by 42 percent. I mean, women are clear and loud on this issue.

COSTELLO: That's true, but when things are brought up, I would think most mothers would want to know if their daughters are considering abortion and they would want the law to force their daughters to tell them or at least the doctors performing the abortions to let them know. That doesn't sound extreme.

MCINTOSH: Sure, but mostly women voters don't want this issue to be the priority of our government. When you poll women whether they call themselves pro-choice or pro-life, they believe that the priority of their elected officials ought to be helping them out with the economic reality of their day to days.

They want folks in Washington to be focused on jobs. The Republican Party has put this single-minded focus on social issues like abortion at their own expense. At Emily's List, we saw our membership quintuple during 2012 cycle. We added a million members during 2013.

COSTELLO: If you take a look at the latest CNN/ORC poll, it shows opinions are shifting. When asked whether abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 25 percent said no, that's down from just a year ago. So you have to ask yourself the question, is it time to rethink our abortion laws?

MCINTOSH: The majority of Americans feel that most abortions ought to be legal, but they also believe that this shouldn't be the single- minded focus of our government. The year is 2014. Republicans are still relitigating battles that we thought frankly our mother's generations had fought. They are expanding it beyond abortion. They have birth control limiting legislation.

They want your boss to be able to decide whether you are taking it for appropriate reasons to get it covered. I mean, this agenda taken as a whole really tells women that the Republican Party doesn't respect their choices, doesn't think they are capable of making them themselves.

It is why we are seeing women flee the Republican Party in droves and vote for Democratic candidates, many of whom are really strong women who are offering a very clear, compelling contrast to this extremist agenda.

COSTELLO: Well, you bring up Democratic candidates. I have to ask you about this. One of the pro-choice for Texas Governor, Wendy Davis, is now under attack for clouding her life story. Critics say she exaggerated her past as a single mother who put herself through college to become a Texas lawmaker. The conservative blogger, Erick Erickson tweeted, "So abortion Barbie had a sugar daddy Ken, not exactly the bio she claimed."

MCINTOSH: It's shocking. They are having a hard time talking to women.

COSTELLO: The mere fact that Wendy Davis exaggerated her story, doesn't that hurt her candidacy. Even some critics say it did.

MCINTOSH: Let's talk about the embellishment. She said she was divorced at 19. It turns out, she was separated at 19 and the divorce became official at 21. Nothing changes the fact that she grew up under some real hardship. She raised her kids. She put herself through a community college, Texas Christian, with the help of scholarships.

She married a man that helped her go and get her advanced degree from Harvard law with loans that they jointly repaid. This is a really compelling story. This is a personal narrative that a lot of women in Texas and men too, frankly, can identify with. That's why Republicans are going on the attack.

COSTELLO: They say it was wrong of her to leave out the fact that her ex-husband helped pay for her college education.

MCINTOSH: Right, they were married when she was in Texas Christian College. It is not something she has left out. It is something they decided to seize on because she had, frankly, the best week of her campaign last week. She'd surprised everybody by outracing her Republican opponent, Greg Abbott, and she put forward an education platform that garnered amazing press in every corner of the state.