Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Powerful Snow Storm Slams New York Suburbs; Carolinas, Georgia Buried In Snow, Ice; Second Danish Zoo May Kill A Giraffe

Aired February 13, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: James "Spider" Marks, thank you. We appreciate you here on CNN. Lots of snow means lots of problems for New York and Pennsylvania. All of the Eastern seaboard where you have live updates on how residents in the region are coping with power outages and impassable roads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, we are back now with our extended extreme weather coverage. Christy and Evan are here from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Houston, Texas.

LEMON: So I saw you navigating this giant puddle over here. What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's ridiculous. We literally had to make a puzzle to get across, but we are getting used to it.

LEMON: What do you think of the weather?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible. We want the snow to go away.

LEMON: You picked the right time to come to New York.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I picked the wrong time.

LEMON: You are not happy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not happy at all.

LEMON: You are ready to go back to Houston?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very much so.

LEMON: Sorry, guys. Enjoy it, though. Nice to meet you. Bye. See you later. New York City and New York suburbs all getting hit especially hard. You heard them there. It's really an obstacle course out there particularly in White Plains. CNN's Maria Santana is there in White Plains. Maria, with all the snow storms that we have had this winter, salt supplies are really low in many places. Is that the case where you are? MARIA SANTANA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Don. We spoke to the sanitation commissioner this morning. He said that for this storm, they should be OK. But for future storms, well, that's really up in the air because he said that they have gone through about half of their current stockpile and that they do not expect another shipment of salts for another three to four weeks. We could be into spring by then.

As we know the way this winter has been, we may just get another storm before then. So they are really worried about that, but residents also are having a hard time keeping supplies or finding supplies. We called around to a couple of hardware stores and they are out of shovels and salts. The supply can't keep up with the demand after, as you know, all these storms that we have had, back to back this season.

But going back to the conditions right now in White Plains, we have now seen that the heavy snow that was falling this morning has turned to rain. But cruel winter it has been, Don, it is going to turn back into snow. So we are going to get a slushy mess out here and then we are going to pile more snow on top of that.

So you can just imagine what the roads are going to look like this evening. The New York State, Governor Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for this part of New York, other parts of New York. They are just really urging people to stay off of the roads. Not to use their car and use mass transit and as far as we have seen, people are really heeding those warnings.

Not a lot of cars on the road. Our crews were driving around here this afternoon and pretty much bad so people are staying home. Some kids have been out here playing in the snow. That's usually the fun part of the snow. There is no school. Unlike New York City public schools, the schools here are closed today. So, you know, people just take it in stride as much as we can.

LEMON: That's a good thing. Stay inside. If I can get a snow day, I would take one too, but the news never stops. Thank you very much, Maria Santana. Margaret Conley knows all about that. The news never stops. She is just north of Philadelphia and talking about ice and power outages -- Margaret.

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, this snow has turned to rain. We are expecting about 14 to 18 inches of snow here. We already have about eight or nine inches. Remember this is a part of the country that was completely blacked out due to those power outages. The street behind me last week, lights were out. People are surviving by candle light so right now people are just trying to get their lives back on track.

We were talking to a restaurant owner. He was out of power for seven days. He had been scrambling in the kitchen. He owns Chicken Time, trying to cook things up and get his revenue back in -- back up to par. Now we talked to the commissioner of Montgomery County here. He said this is actually the calm between two storms if you can believe that because we are going to get more snow here tonight.

Emergency workers are in town. They've flew in from around the country and as far away from Canada. There are over 4,000 of them standing by in case, Don, we see even more outages.

LEMON: My goodness. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Margaret Conley, thank you. Just north of Philadelphia, you know, keeping your roads clear is not always easy. Later, we are going to get a live update from one of the many snow plows trying to keep our roads passable.

And what's it like to survive the cold with no power. Keeping an eye on how well the power companies are coping with this widespread storm. We are back in a moment. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So I'm back now with my new co-anchor, Jonah. Say hi. Don't eat your gloves. What are you doing out here?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Playing sledding.

LEMON: So Jonah and mom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm his nanny. My name is Abby.

LEMON: So Jonah is out here with his sled. He is going to Central Park. I don't want to hold you up, all right? Can I go after I get off work? I can come with you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No.

LEMON: Jonah, man. Thank you. Here's your sled. Enjoy. Get out of here. Bye. Those are the people who get to have a snow day today. Not everybody can do that. How is Atlanta faring in this latest winter storm? The city that ground to a halt during the last big storm mounting another day off and that's three this week they've had so far. So no traffic jams.

George Howell, just south of the town, down by the airport, Forest Park as a matter of fact. I know the area very well. Here's George Howell.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, as just you know, here in the south these storms come in very quickly and then they leave just as fast. So what we are seeing right now is the sun light, which is not a bad thing. The temperature is up and the ice on the roads is melting. But still there are tens of thousands of people without power. We spoke to a few folks about how they are coping with it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): The worse of the storm may have passed, but now there is a new challenge for hundreds of thousands who lost power in the south and north east and more outages are expected.

Left in the dark, Gala Holland and Alfred Hartsfield had to sleep through the cold.

HOWELL (on camera): How did you get through the night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stayed up and prayed, I guess. It's really cold. Down in the lower degrees, I just managed what I could.

HOWELL (voice-over): This community in Clayton County, Georgia, one of the hardest hit when it comes to power outages, nearly 300,000 lot of power alone in Georgia. Residents here knew the ice and snow that built up on trees and power lines would cause problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took out three transformers. It's just firework.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded like -- boom and everything went out.

HOWELL: Power crews are doing their best to restore power as quickly as possible, but they say the process could take days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been here for years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So here in the city of Forest Park in the metro Atlanta area, you know, this particular community we know that a lot of homes they do rely on electric for their power. Some people have gas so they are a little luckier in this case. But again, people who are still waiting for power, who are still waiting for heat will have to continue to wait until crews can get around to restoring it -- Don.

LEMON: All right, that's the bad news. Thank you very much for that, George Howell. In the meantime, CNN's Lisa Desjardins is in Baltimore, Maryland. She is on a snow plow. That's right -- Lisa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Day one of the storm, Baltimore feels pretty good about the state of many of their main roads. They have been working overnight, of course, on snow removal, but they may have a budget problem. The city spokesman tells me their budget for snow removal is $2.7 million. So far this year, they spent more than $5 million on snow removal. It's a problem that they will have to deal with, of course, after the storm is over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, Lisa Desjardins, thank you very much for that. Much more on the snow coming, but coming up here on CNN, but we are also following another story. A lot of people are talking about another Danish zoo, another one considering putting down a giraffe. You may remember Marius. He was put down after a lot of protests. Another is considering doing the same thing. We are going to talk to a zoo expert about that. What leads to a decision to euthanize an animal?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: One hundred million people will be impacted by this storm that made its way from the southeast all the way up to the east coast. It is really a very dangerous one because the conditions are becoming very icy in the northeast. They were icy in the southeast. A lot of people heeded the warnings down in Atlanta and North Carolina. Not so much and there have been deaths by this storm as well.

We are going to have more on that coming up, but first, I want to tell you about some of the other stories that are making headlines today. In a debate over conservation versus cruelty, the life of a second giraffe is now on the line. Another Danish zoo may put down the animal to make way for, quote, "genetically more valuable giraffes."

And that means the zoo wants to bring in a female mate her with the male leaving the second male out in the cold. The zoologist at zoo says, quote, "We will, of course, try to place him in a suitable zoo, but if that is not possible, we might have to euthanize him."

And the unlucky giraffe's name is Marius and a warning now, this is a warning, the pictures you are about to see are very graphic. Marius is also the name of the giraffe killed Sunday by a different zoo in Denmark for similar reasons, Marius one who was then fed to the lions with children watching, creating an international outcry.

So with me now is Tom Stalf. He is the chief operating officer at the Columbus Zoo. You know, Tom, it is really a horrific story. Reuters is reporting this that euthanizing has been ongoing in the Danish zoo world. I mean, what's your reaction when you hear about that?

TOM STALF, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, COLUMBUS ZOO: This is such a tragedy. When I hear and I read the story, it's all about planning. You know, we are so proud of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium that we have partners throughout the AZA, which is the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. We have over 200 that we work together. Not only working through AZA zoos, but also other affiliations that have the same standards of care.

So when we read the story about what happened in Copenhagen and now we are moving on to another story similar to this, we beg for them to plan and work with their networks because there are so many other fantastic facilities out there that can help these animals.

LEMON: Coincidentally, you know, that male giraffe both of them were named Marius. What are the chances of that, but here's a question, any chance that a U.S. zoo may step in to help this giraffe?

STALF: There is no question about it. There are many zoos that would help. Here at the Columbus Zoo, we also have a great partnership with the wild. We have 10,000 acres where we could clearly take this giraffe, but I would encourage the organization EAZA, which is the European Association for Zoos and Aquariums, they work together. It's all about planning. It's very important that we realize that the animals that we have in our care, they are ambassadors. They were giving us an opportunity to tell a story about these beautiful animals, where they come from and how we can protect them. It's about conservation success. In order for us to work together, it's all about working throughout not only the United States, but also all of our friends through the world.

LEMON: Can you talk to me more about what happens in the U.S. when a zoo gets too many animals and how do American zoos prevent against inbreeding?

STALF: Sure, absolutely. We have an organization. It's the Population Management Center. It's located in the United States. It works throughout all of the zoos working with the species survival program or SSP. We have over 500 species that are working through this SSP and we all work together.

It doesn't matter if you are located in New York, Ohio or California. We all work to make sure that all of our animals are paired appropriately and that they have homes s they breed, they can move to different facilities. We always prepare, always plan to make sure that every person has an opportunity to see these beautiful species that we have in our care.

LEMON: Tom Stalf, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us on CNN.

Giant winter storm pounding the Eastern United States, we will have team coverage of who is being hit hardest and how long the power outages may last, and on and on. Listen, it's getting close to quitting time. If you want to know what the conditions are going to be like where you are, I would stay tuned, don't move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Chris Klug is a pioneer on the slopes. Sixteen years ago, he was a member of the first U.S. Olympic snowboarding team. An unexpected diagnosis could have derailed his career, but he still found a way to eventually make history at the winter games. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how he learned to make every turn count.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chris Klug, he's had numerous successes on the snow. He's an 11-time U.S. national champion, five-time World Cup champion and three-time Olympian. But a routine check-up when he was only 21 almost ended his budding career.

CHRIS KLUG, THREE-TIME OLYMPIC SNOWBOARDER: They said you have a disease called PSC, primary sclerosing cholangitis.

GUPTA: Klug refused to accept it. KLUG: I remember looking around and saying who is he talking to? He can't be talking to me. I feel like a million bucks. I am out riding my snowboard and my mountain bike and doing all these fun activities. I said, Doc, you got the wrong guy.

GUPTA: Unfortunately, Klug was the right guy. His liver disease was slowly damaging the bile ducts inside and outside of his liver. He would eventually require a liver transplant.

KLUG: I think it was November 1st of 1999 when I learned of Peyton's death as a result of PSC. I think that's when it really hit me and said this was serious.

GUPTA: He spent almost six years on the transplant list before finally receiving a liver.

KLUG: I trained in effect for the race for my life. I said I would do everything in my power to give myself the best chance to bounce back strong.

GUPTA: And he did. Klug's body reacted well to the transplanted liver.

KLUG: It was amazing. It was like a new engine got dropped in.

GUPTA: Just seven weeks later, he was back on his board.

KLUG: That summer, I had my best snowboard results ever and I was on the World Cup podium four times.

GUPTA: In 2002, he became the first ever organ transplant recipient to compete in the Olympics. He won bronze and paralleled (inaudible). But Klug didn't forget how he got there. He started the foundation to bring together organ donors and recipients.

KLUG: The donors are the real miracle in this whole process and the heroes that make people like me recipients enable us to have a second chance.

GUPTA: This father of two is not taking that second chance at life lightly. In his words, enjoy the ride. Don't take a turn for granted. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon in New York City. It is the top of the hour if you are watching for home. If you are watching for work and your office and you are at school, no matter where you are and you want to know what the conditions are, we are going to tell you. So sit tight and try to help your evening commute and make it better. And if you're at home, we are going to tell you when you can possibly leave your house, but it won't be for a while, because 100 million people will be slammed by this catastrophic winter storm.