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Killer Winter Storm Heads North; 100 Million People To Feel Storm's Wrath; CNN Crew Frees Stranded Driver; Raleigh Endures Atlanta-Like Traffic Jams; North Carolina Governor Asks People To "Be Smart"; Loud Music Jury Weighs First Degree Murder Charge; Report: Target Hack Started With Phishing E-mail; Russia Bans Same-Sex Adoption; Comcast To Pay $45B For Time Warner Cable; Debt Vote Sparks Political Drama In Senate; Interview with NC Governor

Aired February 13, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

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COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Today the deadly winter storm that crippled the southeast is pushing up the Eastern Seaboard and into New England. It could dump as much as a foot and a half of snow in some places. 18 states now under a winter storm warning.

People in New Jersey are rushing to stock up on supplies. Some say they're ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean we're all like post-Sandy at this point, post snowstorms. I'm a little tired of it. You know what; if we are not all prepared at this point for how many storms we have had, shame on anyone because we could all live off our pantries at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Across the Southeast, more snow falling turning roads to skating rinks, trees coated in heavy ice. Well, those trees are now falling onto power lines knocking out power, more than 700,000 homes and businesses still in the dark. At least ten deaths have been blamed on the storm. It may be near impossible to escape. More than 5,100 flights are already cancelled this morning. One of the hardest hit areas, North Carolina, now being called the new Atlanta after drivers ignored warnings and got stuck on the highways for hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to get home. It's a little cold outside. Roads is real bad. We're trying to stay focussed and get past where we need to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to be home right now. Hopefully I can get there before dark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Take a look at this. In the middle of the traffic chaos in Raleigh, one driver saw this car spin out. As you can see, that car burst into flames. As far as we know, no injuries here, but what a frightening site. We have CNN team coverage for you this morning. Indra Petersons is in White Plains, New York. Brian Todd is in Metro Washington. David is in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But let's start in Central Park with Ashleigh Banfield where snow is falling like mad. Good morning.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Sometimes it's hard to tell with the camera shot the direction that the snow is falling. But if you're commuting southward, no problem, I could take the goggles off and it wouldn't bother in at least. If commuting this way, though, it feels like tiny bullets hitting your eyes and there are a lot of them. We're expecting up to 15 inches of snow here by the end of the day.

Frank, if you can go to the magic CNN sign. I always look at that to find out what's happening with the time and temperature in the city. It's 31 degrees right now. We've just gone up one degrees in the last hour, but here what is expected to happen a little later on today. It's expected to go up above freezing, which means this lovely white flaky skiable stuff turns to nasty, sleety, ugly rain.

When it gets colder and starts snowing again later, which is what it's expected to do, it becomes very dangerous and it becomes, you know, the kind of place you don't want to be on any roads in any case. About half an hour ago, I was at Defcon Millard Philmore for the snow over here. This is so unscientific because the plowers have been all over the place.

But we have gone to Lincoln. So on the president's ruler, that's correct. Here is one thing you don't expect to see when it's like this out here. Frankie, did not stay home from work. You seriously think you're going to get petty cab business?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pray to God that I do, but I really think that I do because I do believe that people want to see the park in any season for any reason. The park is amazing.

BANFIELD: It's very pretty. I got to say when it snows in New York City, it hides all that junk underneath, which can be pretty smelly and ugly. My question is, do you have snow tires on this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't but we manage to get through the snow even better than the vehicles. Absolutely.

BANFIELD: I saw you --

COSTELLO: Ashleigh's shot froze but she's OK. She's still talking to that nice man. Let's head to White Plains, New York where it's also snowing like mad. Indra Petersons is there. Good morning, Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I think it's the theme today. Snow is unbelievable. It's very hard and wet. It's coming down very heavy. We are talking snowfall rates of two to four inches an hour. You can see when I'm walking. This is fresh snow from the last few hours, guys. We haven't been here that long. You can see this accumulating. We can see a lot of residents out here trying to shovel their driveways.

They're coming out every hour for good reason trying to stay ahead of this system because it's a tough one. We are talking about definitely some very heavy snow out here that's expected to be with us as we go throughout the day. There's a catch. It will transition. What are we talking about? It's a low. We know about all the ice storm in the southeast. Still some icing potential out there this morning.

But as the low makes its way up the coastline, it's all about the snow and it is strengthening. So we are talking about that transition because we are closer to the coastline. Notice you could start to see some rain as we warm up throughout the day. It's the reason some of these snowflakes are so large. That huge moisture source and the fact the temperatures are a little bit warmer.

If you're on the back side of this low, if you're a little bit further inland, you're getting heavier snow so a lot of the suburbs and inland areas getting really some of the higher amounts. We are talking about a foot of snow for D.C. I mean, think about that. Four years ago five inches was a huge story.

Some places have seen six to nine inches, and they could see a foot before all of said and done, yes, we may see some rain throughout the day and some sleet but then the snow returns again. Once the sun goes down and the temperatures drop. So keep that in mind. Definitely this is a story all the way through tomorrow -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Indra Petersons, thanks so much. It is windy out there because I've just been informed. Ashleigh Banfield's shot was knocked off the air because of high winds. It is nasty. Be careful.

In Washington, D.C. as Indra mentioned, a gridlock and chaos rang supreme, but not today at least in the world of politics because all federal offices are closed. A snow emergency is in place, the first since 2010. But we did find some people on the roads and some needed a helping hand.

That's CNN Brian Todd and his crew freeing a stranded driver outside of Chevrolet, Maryland. Brian joins us now live from Oxen Hill, Maryland. Good morning, Brian. Brian, can you hear me?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Treacherous conditions on these roads. We are at the Intersection of 295 and 495. The 495 is the Maryland belt way. This is an overturned tractor trailer truck. The driver is OK. He had to be rescued, pulled out a short time ago. The driver is OK, suffered minor injuries to his hand.

I spoke to him. He didn't want to go on camera. He told me the truck got away from him. The snow and ice especially slush got away from him as he came down an incline down this hill. He got wedged between the surface here and the ditch down there. They're about to wench him out of there, but he is OK.

We came upon an almost identical accident, another tractor trailer truck that looked like this overturned. That driver was also OK. That was about 5 miles up the road here. A lot of road closures in the D.C. area. These are conditions that they're dealing with on the roads.

You guys have talked about the snow coming down mix with freezing rain and regular rain, but this is the result, a lot of slush and this is what drivers in this area are dealing with. There's some ice under the slush, but you got very treacherous conditions around here overall.

Right now I'm feeling just kind of a light rain on my head, but it's been very bad, really mixing with some snow, some freezing rain. It's just kind of pounded us all day, hasn't let up -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Brian Todd, be careful out there. Again, please stay off the roads. It's just not worth it.

The snow, ice, and cold now breaking records on the Great Lakes too, this is amazing. I mean, right now, imagine this, 88 percent of the five Great Lakes are ice covered. That number expected to rise. These pictures were taken by NASA by the way. Lakes haven't been frozen in 20 years. Meteorologists say because of all the ice on the Great Lakes, the cities around Lake Michigan could see even a cooler summer this year.

As the storm churned its way up the east coast, it barrelled through the Carolinas, created the traffic nightmare that paralyzed Atlanta two weeks ago. In Raleigh, commuters rushed to get home, only to get stuck on the roads for hours. CNN's David Mattingly joins us live from Charlotte. Everything clear now?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, a spokesman for the State Highway Department tells us, yes, that the traffic jam in Raleigh did resolve itself late last night. They had the National Guard standing by to go out and conduct rescues if necessarily in case anyone got stranded out there.

But as far as they say, that there was no need for any sort of rescues. No one had to spend the night on the expressway. We woke up this morning thinking that things were starting to turn around a little bit here in charlotte. This road behind me was actually plowed clear last night.

But look, this is a real case of deja vu. Just yesterday I was talking to you about snow falling here. Well, it's falling again this morning and this storm just won't quit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Hit hard by the winter storm, the Carolinas are digging out this morning. Emergency crews working to clear snow covered streets, motorists reclaiming abandoned cars. Ice and heavy snow hitting some areas at one to two inches per hour resulting in travel chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It came on so fasts and furious. It just happened so quickly. That is why so many of us were caught. A lot of cars were abandoned. They just left. Next thing you know, I see flames.

MATTINGLY: Drivers stuck on highways in Raleigh, cars skidding off streets. Some people simply abandoning their vehicles. More than 200,000 people in South Carolina are right now in the dark. Energy crews calling in reinforcements to help repair fallen power lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And the word today from authorities all across North Carolina is to stay indoors, don't be out on the roads if you don't need to be. The reasons are obvious. First of all, there's personal safety to be considered, but also they want the cars off the roads so that the snow plows and the salt trucks can do their jobs and try and finally turn that corner and start clearing up this massive, massive wintery mess -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Just to try to figure out why this traffic mess happened in Raleigh. That warning to stay off the roads was in effect when all of those people tried to do errands, right?

MATTINGLY: What we were hearing from motorists was that they had the warnings. They knew that the storm was coming. What surprised them was how much snow they got and how quickly they got it in the Raleigh area. It was at a time when people were trying to leave their jobs and go back home. Like what we saw in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago.

But in this case it was just that tremendous snowfall that seemed to catch everyone by surprise. They knew the snow was coming, they just didn't know it was going to be that much.

COSTELLO: And a couple of differences, you know, then what happened in Atlanta. North Carolina had the National Guard on standby, right, and they had a plan?

MATTINGLY: Right, they had a plan even though they hadn't planned for that traffic jam. The traffic jam did resolve itself last night. No one spent the night on the interstate they say. So it was a little different from what we saw in Atlanta where all levels of government seemed to be caught by surprise as well as those motorists who were caught on the expressway.

COSTELLO: All right, David Mattingly, thanks so much. And a word about Georgia and the city of Atlanta, this time they were indeed prepared. They had a plan. There have been no problems this time around.

In other news this morning, just a few minutes ago, a Florida jury returned for its second day of deliberations in the loud music murder trial. They must decide whether Michael Dunn is guilty of first degree murder in the shooting death of Jordan Davis outside of the Jacksonville gas station.

In closing arguments, prosecutors say Dunn acted in anger and not self-defense. While Dunn's attorney suggests his client is the victim of a botched police investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN WOLFSON, PROSECUTOR: That is premeditation knowing when he pull had the gun up, he had it ready to go. He didn't pull a gun out to brandish it and back them off. He pulled it out and immediately started firing.

CORY STROLLA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Never checked the bushes, never checked the dumpsters? But you know when the detectives alleged they did it, five days later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, joins us from Jacksonville, Florida. Good morning, Sunny.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Just moments ago, the jury asked to see the gas station surveillance video again. What does that suggest to you?

HOSTIN: That's right. They actually asked for it last night. They got to see it this morning at about 9:37 so just about 20 minutes ago. There's about 20 minutes of tape and there are about different six angles. It doesn't snow the outside of the gas station where this took place. A lot of people don't understand that.

But what it does show, Carol, is it shows the front and interior of the convenience store of the gas station. You can see Michael Dunn's fiance reacting to hearing not one, two, but ten shots. You can very clearly hear those shots on that surveillance video. You can also hear the pauses between the first three and the next four and next three. That is going to be very important.

Because the prosecution here argued that this was premeditated. So even if the jury doesn't believe that the first couple of shots were premeditated, because of that pause, it's possible that they draw the conclusion that he had the intent at that point to continue shooting at the unarmed boys.

COSTELLO: I had the initial thought that the jury would quickly decide. But in your mind, what do you think will happen? I know that's hard to know, but I'm just curious.

HOSTIN: In terms of -- I'm sorry, you said --

COSTELLO: In terms of whether the jury will come to a quick conclusion?

HOSTIN: That's a great question. You know, a lot of us were wondering about that as well. You know, the yardstick generally is one hour of deliberations for every day of trial. So that would be about eight to ten hours. But remember O.J. Simpson, months' worth of trial, came back in little under four hours. George Zimmerman weeks of trial, came back in 16 hours over two days. It's anyone's guess.

Sometimes conventional wisdom says, you know, a quick verdict is generally a prosecution verdict. But they've got a lot to go over here, Carol. We are talking about five counts. He's not only charged with premeditated first-degree murder, but he is also charged with manslaughter. He's also second degree murder and also attempted murder for the other three boys that were in the car. So they've got a lot to mull over in that jury room.

COSTELLO: Sunny Hostin, reporting live from Jacksonville, Florida.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, we all get them, those malicious e- mails phishing for our personal information. Now it turns out one of those e-mails could be behind the largest cyberhack in history. Christine Romans is covering that story for us. Hi.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Brand new fascinating details about the entry point for that Target hack and how malicious malware made its way all the way to your financial data right after the break.

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COSTELLO: We're getting a clearer picture of how data thieves hacked into Target and stole credit card and personal information from at least 10 million shoppers. It may have all started with a malicious phishing e-mail, the very kind we're all warned against opening. Christine Romans is here with details. So a single e-mail may have caused this?

ROMANS: Look, how many times have you seen something from somebody you don't know or something from somebody you know that's a weird link or so that's how they get in there and steal your stuff. New details on the entry point for that target hack and how it was something like that, malicious malware moving through the Heating and AC Company and right into Target's inner sanctum.

This is from a security expert who first revealed the Target hack. The trail leads to a Pennsylvania company that's a vendor to target. That vendor was the unwitting door into the personal information of 110 million Target customers. Here's how it worked. That's the new part here.

A phony e-mail laced with malware sent to employees at that Pennsylvania company. Apparently workers opened that e-mail. The malware affects their computers, worms its way into the company's records. It has a door way to Target because it's a vendor. That's how it gets paid. Hackers steal the Target credentials from the company and feast on the information of Target customers.

It raises serious concerns, Carol, how about secure these connections are between companies and how easily your payment information can be hacked. I've got an update for you on another hack too, Carol, that hotel hack at Marriott and Starwood Hotels last year. We're learning more about that one too. That hack was not the information you gave at the front desk, but the restaurant and gift shops apparently, those vendors is how they got through there. Another example of how it's the Wild West with information -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Checking other top stories this morning at 20 minutes past. Despite widespread condemnation of Russia's antigay laws, President Putin is not backing down. Putin's prime minister just signed a resolution that bans same-sex adoption, not so surprising. But get this, the resolution also bars single people from adopting Russian children if they come from countries where same-sex marriage is legal. Their sexual orientation does not matter.

Sixteen roller coaster riders now safe on the ground after they were stuck in the 60 feet in the air for three and a half hours. It happened at Bush Gardens in Tampa. According to CNN affiliate, WTSP, the Cheetah hunt coaster broke down just as the train was coming back to the station. Fire crews managed to get everyone off safely. Still no word on why the ride broke down.

Comcast has agreed to purchase Time Warner Cable in a deal worth $45 billion. The sale would join two of that nation's largest cable providers and would mean that more than a third of U.S. paid TV subscribers would get their service from a single company, Comcast. The deal is expected to face tough scrutiny by regulators.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Mitch McConnell is the top ranking Senate Republican. So why did he join forces with the Democrats on a critical vote on the debt ceiling? We'll have the report from Washington next.

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COSTELLO: Congress managed to pass an increase of the nation's debt ceiling, but not before a high profile political drama played out on the Senate floor. Top Republicans crossing the aisle to join Democrats to block a filibuster bid by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. The result, a vote that some say deals a blow to the Tea Party.

Chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, joins us from Washington. So Dana, 12 Republicans banded together stop Cruz's filibuster attempt. Democrat Chuck Schumer had this to say about their change of heart, quote, "Republicans are trying to put Tea Party politics in the rear-view mirror." Is he right?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly this is a change and it's a direct result of the government shutdown. Lessons that Republicans learned from that, that standing up for principle, reality be damned, backfired. For weeks, maybe even months, Carol, John Boehner, the House speaker and other top Republicans have been making clear that they will not allow Republicans to engage in that kind of brinksmanship on this issue, on the debt ceiling, since defaulting would have put the nation's credit at risk, stock portfolios at risk and politically it would have put Republicans at risk.

Perhaps diminished their chances of taking the Senate in November and some even said to me maybe even risked their hold on the House. So that is why you saw this drama in this Senate yesterday with Republicans as you said, crossing over not just any Republican, the number one and the number two Senate Republicans.

It became unclear if Ted Cruz's filibuster could have been overcome. They walked the political plank, walked down and voted yes even though they have Republican primary challengers. They both knew very well that this would be ammunition against them.

COSTELLO: Especially Mitch McConnell, right. Cruz responded to all of this. He says this vote shows Congress isn't listening to the American people so could this hurt Mitch McConnell and other Republicans in the midterms?

BASH: Sure, absolutely. Both of those men as I said have primary opponents. Mitch McConnell at this point looks at this point he's at greatest risk from the Democrat in the fall than the primary opponent. They also know full well that things turn very quickly in Republican Party politics. They did it because they sort of were taking the long view that having even the risk of the economy blowing up because of a bad vote in the Senate would have been bad.

COSTELLO: Now wait a second. They did it for the good of the country? That makes me feel really good.

BASH: Yes, they did. If you ask them, they did. I have to say that at a time -- I'm glad you stopped this conversation and pointed that out, Carol. Because it is important underscore at a time where there is so much politics going on. In the halls of the Senate, especially among Republicans who were uneasy about this, many of them were uneasy to begin with.

There were a lot of kudos for Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn for doing this because they did feel that they put politics aside. That does bring me to the other man we've been talking about, Ted Cruz. I have to tell you, I have rarely seen so much anger frankly at somebody in the Senate among his own colleagues and his own party as we're seeing for Ted Cruz.

He knows that. He's not unaware of that. He got it over and over again in private meetings during the government shutdown. That's a strategy he push had the led to the government shutdown. The fact that he insisted on having the filibuster even though, you know, he understood full well that it would put fellow Republicans in political danger from the right has made a lot of Republicans angry.

But as you said, he's not backing down. He put out a statement saying that people are going to have to basically pay the piper in November and worry about their own stance when it comes to facing voters. He is somebody who says that he's come to Washington to stand up for conservative principles. He doesn't really care about the way he's perceived in his own caucus. It has made for something you don't see often. The Senate is at the end of the day a club. They don't like to anger, especially people in their own party. Ted Cruz is very different.

COSTELLO: We'll see how it plays out. Dana Bash, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, people around Philadelphia were just getting the power turned back on after two crushing blizzards. Now another major storm is on the way threatening to leave them in the dark again. Margaret Conley live outside of Philly. Good morning.

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This entire town was in a black route last storm. We'll give you an inside look at what people are doing to handle this storm and even more snow that's expected tonight. Stay with us.

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