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Storm's Wrath; North Carolina Paralyzed; Powerful Winter Storm Moves North; Flights Canceled; Afghan Frees Prisoners

Aired February 13, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you very much.

Listen, this is affecting a whole lot of people. I want to show you this scene at New York City now. This is where we are. People are really going through obstacle courses to have to get around. Mounds and mounds of snow. Really mountains of snow and slush. It's supposed to get worse. And then there's another system coming through.

This particular time though, more than 100 million people will be impacted by this catastrophic winter storm by the time it's all over. We're going to take you through all of it. So, sit where you are. If you're at home today, if you're at work, we're going to get you up to date on every single thing.

This storm has already crippled the entire southeast. It's now pushing up the eastern seaboard. And it's already dumping more than a foot and a half of snow in some places of the northeast. New York City already being blanketed by near blizzard conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We want to constantly urge, if you don't need to be in your car, don't use your car. I know this is a refrain a lot of people in this room have heard many times, I asked you to keep telling people in the city how urgent it is to stay out of their cars to the maximum extent possible for their own safety and also to facilitate the ongoing cleanup work of the sanitation department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was the mayor of New York City, Bill De Blasio. He is a key figure in all of this. stand by. More news on him. But if you need an indication of how bad it could be, just look to your south. Parts of the southeast still seeing snow. Many roads are now skating rinks. And trees that are coated in heavy ice, they are falling and they are knocking out power. More than 770,000 homes and businesses still in the dark and at least 10 deaths have been blamed on the storm.

It may be near impossible to escape because more than 6,000 flights already canceled today. And one of the hardest hit areas is North Carolina, now being called the new Atlanta. That's after drivers, who ignored warnings, got stuck for hours on icy highways.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mission today is to try to get home. It's very - it's a little cold outside but the roads is real bad so we're just trying to stay focused and get past what we need to get to.

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

LEMON: I want you to take a look now at this incredible picture. It's in the middle of the traffic chaos in Raleigh. Look at that. One driver says she saw a car spin out and then burst into flame. And as I told you, we've got this covered for you, the path of this storm, where it has been and where it is heading.

Our correspondents are all over the place. We have one in place in Atlanta all the way to New York.

So let's go first to Alison Kosik. Alison is driving around. We hear that you are in Brooklyn right now I think and these are near blizzard conditions that are bearing down on the city. Is the city prepared?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it looks like Brooklyn's doing OK. You know there's a respite right now from between the snow that came this morning and that sleet. There's only a little bit of sleet falling. We're seeing the streets cleared pretty well here. But, you know, we see a lot of the - a lot of people trying to dig out. And the big trick here now is where to put it because this is snow being piled on ice that was here before today's snowstorm even arrived.

Now, the big concern is, as we get toward the evening hours, the temperatures are going to drop. The worry is, is that all of this water, all this snow turns to black ice. That can be very dangerous for driving conditions, especially, Don, during the rush hour. You know, it is very dangerous out here and we can't tell you how dangerous it is. But especially if you're walking, we heard of a very tragic event happening in Bay Bridge, Brooklyn. A 36-year-old pregnant woman was hit by a private snow plow in a Brooklyn parking lot. She died. Her baby was delivered and is reportedly in critical condition. We are heading to Bay Bridge now, trying to get more information on that. It just shows you how dangerous it is outside.

Don.

LEMON: Yes, Alison Kosik, make sure you're safe out there as well. Thank you very much.

And as we are here at 59th Street at Columbus Circle and we can see all that. The good news, here's the one thing that's not making this as bad as it probably could have been, it's because the temperature is 36 degrees now. It's going to get a little bit colder. But right now it's slush. It's not ice. And that ice is what causes all the problems with the power lines, with the sliding out on the road.

I said that New York City's mayor was a key figure in all of this. He has a lot of explaining to do today because of his decision to keep the schools open being second-guessed by everyone from politicians to a certain famous weather man. The president of the city's teacher's union said Bill De Blasio's decision was a mistake. Elected officials piled on with their criticism as well, but Mayor De Blasio didn't give any ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: And we always emphasize in making these decisions, when you think about 1.1 million kids, so many families depend on the schools as a place for their kids to be during the day. A safe place. A place where they not only are taught, they get nutrition and they are safe from the elements. So many families have to go to work. The members of these families have to go to work. They do not have a choice and they need a safe option for their kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so a little bit of a Twitter war going on between the mayor and one famous anchorman. One person -- one famous weatherman who doesn't agree with the mayor wrote this on Twitter. I'm talking about Al Roker. He says, "how dare the mayor's office and New York schools throw the National Weather Service under the school bus. Forecast was on time and on the money. And also I knew this a.m. (this morning) that the mayor's office would close schools. Talk about a bad - should close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range De Blasio forecast, one term." That's according to the mayor. The mayor fired back with this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE BLASIO: I respect Al Roker a lot. Watched him on TV for many, many years. It's a different thing to run a city than to give the weather on TV. So I am comfortable with our decision-making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, you know, the person that got the last word, of course, is the person with the biggest microphone, and that is Al Roker. He said, "Mr. Mayor, I could never run NYC, but I know when it is time to keep kids home from school." To be continued.

Want to get to CNN's David Mattingly now. David is in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the snow is still coming down.

So, David, tell us what happened yesterday. The gridlock. How long were people stranded? And is the situation any better today?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is no repeat today of that mess that we saw in Raleigh yesterday when so many people got caught in that sudden snowstorm, that sudden downfall and got stranded on the roads. The governor today talking about how they made sure last night that they had the National Huard available to go around and make sure that no one got stranded so they wouldn't have a repeat of Atlanta. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: My biggest concern that 9:00, while here last night was, I gave a directive to this team, is I want to make sure that if anyone was stranded and was left in their car that we find them and help. And Colonel Gray and this Highway Patrol have been patrolling the roads all throughout the night ensuring that we don't have any stranded motorists that had to spend the night in their car. We did have some delays, of course, primarily in the Raleigh Durham area in some of the Greensboro region that lasts from three to five hours. What we didn't want was to have those delays and people abandon overnight, like as occurred in other states during other storms. To my knowledge, we have not had that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: At this point, just in the last hour, Don, it seems like we've turned a corner here. The temperatures come up. The snow has stopped, which is huge. And look at all this pavement behind me. There's been some very aggressive plowing in the Charlotte area and this is the first time, thanks to the combination of the rising temperatures and the stopping snow, that we've actually been able to see the city streets from end to end here. But there's still a lot of work to do and there's still a lot of danger behind this storm because that snow is still continuing to move north, Raleigh's going to be catching again later today.

But later tonight, the issue is going to be ice because, look at this, all this down here, all this slush that's being made right now. That's going to turn to ice. So the governor is saying, we're going to have about 500 miles across this state where we're going to have to worry about icing tonight for motorists. So, not out of the woods yet, but it seems like, Don, we're definitely turning a corner.

LEMON: Well, don't get ahead of yourself because I hear there's another system right behind this one, David Mattingly. Thank you very much.

I want to go now to figure out where this storm is heading. Chad Myers is our meteorologist and he is live down in the CNN Severe Weather Center.

Hey, Chad, take a look at some of these pictures in New York City. It was - it was slushier just a second ago. Now it's starting to get a little bit icier. It's starting to sting. You can feel it. And, look, it's like an obstacle course that people are trying to get through.

Pan left and look at these folks who are trying to get through these patches right here through the - on the sidewalk. Almost to a foot of slush. Do you --

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I was there last week. Uh-huh.

LEMON: Yes, so you've seen it. So what's going on, Chad? What - what are we - are we in for more ice later?

MYERS: You're in for more rain for a while. It's 34 to 36 across the city right now. But late tonight, you get the wrap around. It's the same storm. It isn't a different storm. It's the same one. But it's the tail. First of all, we've got the head of the comma. Now we're kind of in the middle of the comma. Then the tail comes back with more snow later tonight. It doesn't really change back over to sleet. It is a snow event later on.

Here's how it happens. We'll just kind of take you through it step by step. As the low runs up the East Coast. As the low gets close to you, it warms up here. And that's what's happening now. The closer the low is to you, the warmer you are. And so all along the shore it's just nice and warm. It's like 60 degrees.

But here, farther inland, we're starting to see that one shot after another the rain is moving away. The rain is pushing up the snow to the north, to the north, to the north. But as this all changes as the low moves by us here that way, all of a sudden this tail comes back and smashes us from the back side and so that's how we get snow again later tonight. Even two to four inches still coming down for New York City, for D.C.

And this is the problem. You have all that snow. Now you're getting rain, sleet on top of it. And then it refreezes tonight. So all that stuff is just a wreck underneath of it and then you can't see it tomorrow morning because there's four inches of new snow on top of the ice that you're making right now, Don, so tomorrow may be more difficult than even today.

LEMON: Oh, my goodness. Here?

MYERS: Yes.

LEMON: Now what about the southeast. What do they - because David Mattingly said, hey, listen, we've turned a corner. That system is not going to affect you guys down there?

MYERS: Well, no. It affected us last night. Birmingham had three to five inches of snow. It snowed in Birmingham like I have not seen it snow in a very long time. It snowed here in Atlanta, but the tail is just about here. And our David Mattingly, in Charlotte right here, so he's just on the edge of the end. And then this end rolls through the triad, through Raleigh, and then on up even into Virginia. This is the whole tail part of the storm that still has to move by you in New York City, move by Philadelphia, D.C., Baltimore, all the way down to Richmond with the refreezing that happens tonight.

LEMON: Chad, oh, OK, I'm thinking of - supposedly there's something coming through on Saturday, so I'm getting ahead of myself here. That's what I was talking about that you guys were going to get.

MYERS: Ah, yes, that's too far ahead.

LEMON: Yes, yes, yes.

MYERS: One storm at a time, Don. I have been sleeping in hotels for so long with so many storms, my nails need to be trimmed.

LEMON: I know. You're like, wait, what day is it? What day is it? What storm is this one?

MYERS: I know.

LEMON: Thank you, Chad. We'll get back. Appreciate it.

MYERS: All right, Don.

LEMON: All right. Got a lot more on the - all right, got a lot more on the crippling effects of this storm that's causing across this country 6,000 flights canceled today, airports in Washington actually closed all their runways, all their runways, because of the snowfall. We're live at Reagan National, which is one of the hardest hit.

And I want you to take a look at the roads right now. We have a crew driving the interstates in areas that got more than a foot of snow. A live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to CNN's coverage -- extended coverage, really, of this snowstorm that has hit the southeast and now it's hitting the northeast.

Here's the trouble right here, getting around New York City. This -- everything is a slushy mess. Some of this almost a foot deep. People trying to get through the crosswalks, as you see here. And the temperature now is above freezing. But what's going to happen later, if these temperatures do go down, this can all become a big sheet of ice. And driving out on the roads will be a huge problem. We go now to CNN's Brian Todd, who's doing just that. He's near Philadelphia, Brian. What are you seeing out on the roads?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, a lot of slushy mess on the roads, especially some of the smaller roads that are off some of the major highways. We're on 295 North right now. Conditions are not too bad on this particular road. We're getting hit with some freezing rain right now, but treacherous conditions all along this I-95 corridor all day today.

We came upon two separate accidents that involve overturned tractor- trailer trucks. This was in the Washington, D.C. area today, right along the 495 there, the beltway of Washington. These trucks were almost five miles apart, almost identical accidents. These trucks flipped over. Neither of the two drivers were hurt badly. One of them suffered minor injuries to his hands. He had to be rescued from that vehicle.

But we were told that overnight into today in Virginia alone they reported some 800 accidents. So, you know, again, very treacherous conditions in the early part of the day. There has been a lull, as you all have been reporting, in midday of just rain and maybe just even a stoppage of the conditions in some areas. But we are expecting that second punch in this area in Philadelphia and also back around the D.C. area, that second punch of snow, two to three inches at least in D.C. expected later today. So those conditions will be rough.

Earlier today, just south of Washington, the conditions were very bad along I-95. The snow plows essentially could not keep up with the rate of snow that was falling. And so I-95 had a lot of accumulation. We came upon a gentlemen who had done a 180, just - his car flipped completely around on southbound I-395. We stopped and pulled him out of his jam. So that was a good situation resolved there.

But a lot of treacherous conditions and, again, you know, the State Departments of Transportation and issuing these snow emergencies. They're telling people, don't pull over to the side if you can help it. Do not abandon your cars. These are - a lot of these major thoroughfares, like the one we were on, are evacuation routes. If they see that you've abandoned your car, you're in for a very stiff fine and a towing. So that's what the warning is in a lot of these states, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as the conditions are not too bad at this hour. But again, Don, expect to get worse in the hours ahead.

LEMON: All right, Brian Todd, driving out on the roads near Philadelphia. Hey, Brian, thank you very much for that.

This storm really is battering air travel for a second day here. More than 6,000 flights all across the country canceled today. People are standing out here filming us as we're doing this. Rene Marsh is at Reagan National Airport at the Potomac - as - across the Potomac River from the nation's capital.

Hey, listen, those runways, it's tough to keep them dry in these conditions, but how are they - how's it working out, Rene?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, if you are a flyer, you don't want to see what you see behind me, which is three planes just sitting at the gate and not moving. Because the situation is this here at Reagan National. And likely it looks a lot like this at many northeast airports. It's just a mess. You see all of those trucks, they're hauling away snow. They're trying to get this -- the runways, as well as the taxiways cleared. So the runways here at Reagan National, they've been shut down, not allowing flights in or out since midnight. They hope to reopen runways around noon, but that hasn't happened yet. The problem isn't so much the runways at this hour, it's the taxiways. So once the plane lands, you still have to get the plane to the gate. So they have to make sure that the taxiways are all clear.

So you see one, two, three, four trucks, dump trucks, filled with snow. Just take a look right there, back to back, and they're pulling all of that snow from the taxiways and dumping it into one huge pile because, here's the thing, you want to be able to -- once things are back up and running, have these planes be able to move in and out of the gate on to that runway without any problems.

You hit on the numbers. I just want to recap, more than 6,000 cancellations here. We know at this airport, they've been treating the runway since about 7:30 last night and they're still at it. As you can see, Don, it is quite a rough go for the workers out here today because it stopped snowing but there's just so much heavy snow here that they have to move out. The concern is that you just don't want a plane to land on a runway and slip off of that runway. It could be potentially catastrophic. Don.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. Hey, listen, thank you, Rene Marsh.

This is what's happening here in Central Park Conservatory. That's what they're getting around now in these little dune buggies here. And they have been out in little Bobcats trying to get the snow off as well.

Just a couple seconds ago, as we were talking to CNN's Rene Marsh, we saw someone actually put on some skis and go out in Central Park and actually ski right down a walkway into the slopes of Central Park. Who would have thunk. People are doing what they can here. If you're not at work, if this is a snow day for you, you can be out and about. But it's a very serious day for a lot of folks who are trying to get to and from work now, to and from school as well.

More on our special storm coverage coming up. But next, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is upsetting the U.S. again. His government has released dozens of prisoners. Find out why the U.S. government is so outraged by this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now live in New York City. As a matter of fact, we're standing just on the south side of Central Park and there you see the snow plow out. We showed you the Central Park Conservatory earlier, came by the little Bobcat. But that's what they're doing with the snow.

Wondering why these huge mounds of snow are in certain places. That's what they do. They take all of it off of the sidewalks and try to make the sidewalks and roads impassable and put it in one place. One big place hopefully where there's a lot of drainage, but doesn't appear to be a lot of drainage here because just over my shoulder, where you can't see, people are trudging through water this high, more than a foot high, and it's slushy and disgusting.

We're going to get more snow coverage coming up in just a bit, but first I want to get to some of our other stories and some of our headlines in today. There's lots of news going on besides the snow.

A package bomb sent to a Tennessee couple has now killed both the wife and the husband. The wife, Marion Setzer, was in critical condition after the device went off at their house on Monday. Setzer died from her injuries Wednesday evening. She was 72 years old. Her husband, John, a retired lawyer, died instantly from that blast. And officials say John had picked up a package with the bomb when it exploded just inside the home. Investigators say they recovered a note they believe was attached to that device.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has done it again. He stuck his finger in the eye of Washington, D.C. Karzai says, if he wants to free prisoners suspected of attacks against Americans, that's none of America's business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: It is of no concern to the U.S. and should be of no concern to the U.S. And I hope that the United States will stop harassing Afghanistan's procedures and judicial authority and I hope that the United States will now begin to respect Afghan sovereignty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, I'm going to continue talking here, but just so you know, if you hear that, the folks are working behind us with the snow, but we'll get this other -- these other stories in here.

Back to Afghanistan. Here's what happened. Afghanistan just freed 65 prisoners, including some accused by the U.S. military of taking part in attacks that have wounded U.S. troops. Washington warned against this release. Afghanistan did it anyway. And now Karzai is saying, none of your business.

So with us now from Oakland (ph), Virginia, is General James "Spider" Marks, U.S. Army retired, and also he's a CNN military analyst.

Thank you for joining us on this very cold, very snowy day where we are.

Listen, we have asked this before and here it goes again. Is this where the U.S. finally runs out of patience with Hamid Karzai? We've sent more than $1 billion to prop up his government and here he goes again biting the hand that feeds him.

GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Don, here's the issue for the United States. If we consider Afghanistan a long-term partner as we move forward, and part of the calculus of that is what has taken place over the course of the last 13 years where America has sacrificed mightily in order to get Afghanistan to a place where they can achieve and have sovereignty that they speak so highly of, and they should. So if this is an important issue for the United States, if it's a priority, our administration needs to work hard and take this on as issue number one. This should not be pushed down to the Department of Defense exclusively to the military and those great soldiers and military folks that are on the ground down there to try to unravel this thing.

Karzai certainly is poking us in the eye, but this is our issue. We have to deal with what we're dealing with here in the form of Karzai. There are elections coming up and we need to work and aggressively try to shape this thing if we want to have an outcome that's a priority to us. If it's not a priority, we need to walk away this evening and let them have - let them have their future and wish them the best. But we should not be fumbling around with this thing and letting Karzai call the shots. The diplomats have got to step up and solve the problem.

LEMON: General, I want to get the United States reaction in because it was a strong reaction. The U.S. embassy released a statement calling the prisoner release "deeply regrettable," that's a quote, and said, "Afghanistan bears responsibility for the results of its decision." Does this put relations at an all-time low here?

MARKS: Well, it certainly does. The United States has been working hand in hand with the Afghan government and, in essence, has really worked very, very diligently at all elements of governance in terms of getting the Afghan government stood up. When you have a partnership, you need to act like a partner. And right now Afghanistan is not acting like a partner and they have past performance demonstrating that they don't intend to do that moving forward. So the United States needs to unemotionally make a decision, we either try to get this thing fix, get a status of forces agreement set up right now or we walk away immediately, Don.

LEMON: James "Spider" Marks, thank you. We appreciate you here on CNN.