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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Major Winter Storm Moving Northeast; Super Bowl 49: Patriots Win; The War on ISIS: Japan Vows Revenge; No Word from ISIS on Jordanian Pilot; Whitney Houston's Daughter Fights for Life
Aired February 02, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: a massive winter storm creating a messy Monday morning commute for millions. Cities warning drivers the roads are dangerous from the Midwest through the Northeast. Chad Myers is tracking that storm and the big chill that follows.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Japan promises revenge after ISIS beheads a journalist hostage. The terrorists releasing a new video. They have created outrage and alarm that other hostages could face the same fate. We have live team coverage tracking it all.
ROMANS: The Patriots scoring a big win over the Seahawks in a thrilling Super Bowl finish. The heart-stopping final minutes and the celebration overnight.
BERMAN: Look at that. Wait, you mean the Patriots won the Super Bowl?
ROMANS: I think the Patriots won. I can say with great authority. The Patriots won.
BERMAN: I can be a second source on that. A second source on that.
ROMANS: John Berman's smile tells us, yes, the Patriots won.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. It's about 30 minutes after the hour right now.
And a huge winter storm has been burying the Midwest with snow, disrupting travel. Did it to the Midwest. It's now doing it to the Northeast. More than 70 million people across a huge stretch of the country are affected.
Some 2,000 flights cancelled on Sunday. Many of those in and out of Chicago, big airports there. Another 2,500 flights have been scratched today.
This same storm system is now here in the Northeast. It promises heavy snowfall in New England and just a mess around New York City. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: The biggest threat in this case would be ice. We would expect a lot of icing on the roads and sidewalks up to a quarter inch of ice in some places. And a lot of that would happen in the early morning hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: It is those early morning hours now. Let's get a sense of where things stand.
Chad Myers out in the graupel right now.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Out in the sleet, graupel, rain, freezing rain and snow, it's all mixing together.
Good morning, John.
It's going to be a an ugly afternoon here as well. I know the mayor was talking about how the ice will be in the morning. Something else is going to happen. We're going to get to 35 degrees in the city, but by tonight, we're going to get down to 11.
So, anything that's not moved away from here, not shoveled away will turn into a big ice chunk for dangerous walking tomorrow. We are right on the edge of the rain/snow line here in New York City, but up into Schenectady, and Saratoga and Boston and Manchester, and Worcester, you are all snow. You will pick up more than a foot of snow.
Our amounts will be equal to a foot of snow, but because we're mixing in ice pellets and ice pellets don't fluff up like snowflakes do, we won't have that kind or that amount of snowfall totaling up. And by tonight and tomorrow, this storm, today's storm is long gone, up into Atlantic Canada, making snow for St. John's, for Halifax and all the way up to the Newfoundland.
The big story about how cold it's going to be after the snow, we're 33 right now. It snows all day here, and kind of mixes in with rain for awhile, and everything refreezes. Chicago had 18 inches of snow yesterday. They are digging out -- Buffalo, Detroit, on up into Northern Indiana, all of Pennsylvania, heavy, heavy snow and still a lot more to come for New England today.
On top of places that already had 36 inches, I was standing in the same spot last week. Thirty-six inches of snow, I don't know if you can hear it bouncing off my head, but everything you have here is frozen. And it just kind of -- it's tink, tink, tink. And when you walk into it with the wind, it hurts. So, I know it's weird to take an umbrella when it's snowing, but that's the order of the day to stop that snow from pelting you in the face.
BERMAN: We can hear it, it's the hollow sound tinking off of your head, Chad, right?
MYERS: Yes, yes, hollow.
BERMAN: Chad Myers, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
ROMANS: Oh, no, peaceful effects, I'm telling you.
It's been a rough 24 hours for Chicago, smacked with more than 15 inches of snow, wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour, driving there, you know, is miserable. Three hundred fifty plows and salt spreaders simply can't keep up, making driving dangerous, causing lots of accidents like this one.
Travel is still hazardous enough that Chicago public schools are closed today. Moms and dads trying to figure out what to do, grab a sled. Surf is up. Look at this -- this is what passes for big breakers on Lake Michigan. This does not look too inviting, does it? An ice sheet on those beaches.
BERMAN: Schools closed today over a big chunk of the country from Omaha to Boston and beyond. It's not just driving that's dangerous. You can get hit while standing still. High winds and heavy snow just taking trees down everywhere. Look at that. That's in the Quad Cities area of Illinois.
In Iowa, the blizzard dropped up to 11 inches of snow canceling churches and closing businesses. In Nebraska, the storm left the roads a mess, killing at least two, knocking out power to tens of thousands. Look at that.
Heavy snowfall also hit South Dakota. High winds drifting snow and reduced visibility there causing complications.
Not a problem for everyone though. Look at this dog. Look at the nice snowy white beard on that dog. He looks fine. The tail is wagging so you know he's happy.
Look at the people in Detroit. They made the best of a snowy situation. They skipped the Super Bowl. They're not going to regret that. It was a pretty good game. And they took a chance to slide down.
ROMANS: The reaction from parents when kids have to stay home from school and kids staying home from school is very different. Now, that a Detroit man thought he had a great idea for snow fun last night. Oh my.
He tossed on a pair of skis and hooked himself up to the back of a car. He was cruising alone pretty well until a local news station spotted him, broadcast this image live. The local mayor who was being interviewed by the station, not impressed. He called police to track down the skier to give him a ticket. That's exactly what happened.
BERMAN: Can you imagine? The mayor saying, not in my town.
ROMANS: He's going on TV trying to tell everyone to be safe, and then he sees a guy skis down Main Street.
BERMAN: Schools will be closed today in northern Ohio. A complete travel ban is in place for Toledo. Snow emergency declares throughout the region. Cleveland has 40 snow removal crews out and a parking ban in place.
CNN's Martin Savidge is there with the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.
You know, when it's all said and done, Cleveland is not likely to be the leader in the clubhouse, at least when it comes to snowfall from this particular snowstorm. But like a lot of the cities and so many of the people being impacted by it, it's likely and is already the biggest snowfall they have seen so far this winter season. It is a problem. As you can see, the streets here are covered with snow. The snowplows have not been able to keep up with the rate of snow that's been coming down.
Temperatures have been really critical, will be critical in storm. It had been hovering around the freezing point and that, of course, allows a lot of moisture to be in the air, which creates a lot of snow. It's cooled down, but the wind is picking up. That's a problem because, of course, it causes drifting and that too makes it a difficult issue when it comes to snowplows keeping up.
When it was Sunday, this was not a problem. But now, it's become Monday and it really is a problem, especially for the morning commutes, especially for schools and especially for air travel. Air travel in Cleveland, about 40 percent of the flights have been impacted. Ironically, not because of the weather here, but the weather of what's happening out west, particularly Chicago. That's had the greatest impact.
And speaking of out west, western Ohio, you talk about Toledo, there they really do have a snow emergency. Level three, in fact, the only people that should be op the road are emergency vehicles. Anybody else, you could be facing arrest. We'll see how the day progresses -- Christine and John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: You know, is it Groundhog Day?
BERMAN: It is, literally and figuratively.
ROMANS: We have six more, we don't know yet. Not a month of this, please?
All right. The headache for travelers this morning in Chicago, Boston, New York, 2,500 flights have been cancelled today already, mostly in the Midwest and the Northeast, as you heard Martin say. Now, that number is growing. It's in addition to thousands of cancelled flights yesterday. Chicago, the most cancellations, so far. Also experiencing weather
disruptions this morning, JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, Boston Logan. Sound familiar? These are the same airports hit hard by last week's blizzard just now getting back on track from last week's setbacks. But a good news for travelers. Most airlines are waiving change fees for passengers flying in the storm's path.
BERMAN: All right. Let's talk about the Super Bowl. The Patriots won. That's all you need to know. Actually, you need to know much more. It was a phenomenal game. There's Tom Brady.
The Patriots, they came from a 10-point deficit to take the lead. But it was not over. No. The Seahawks, they made it very close with this insane best ever in a Super Bowl catch by Jermaine Kearse. It looked like the Seahawks were going to win.
Then, with just a few seconds left, instead of handing it off to the best running back on earth, they tried this play, a pass. Russell Wilson was picked off by Malcolm Butler, a free agent rookie from Western Alabama.
The patriots Won. Richard Sherman was crying. Russell Wilson is confused. Tom Brady held up the trophy.
And our Andy Scholes was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, what a comeback, what a win for the New England Patriots. After a trying couple weeks, dealing with deflate-gate, the Patriots coming through with an epic comeback in Super Bowl XLIX to beat the Seahawks.
But things didn't look good for the Patriots, down 10 points to start the fourth quarter, but Tom Brady led them on two touchdown drives. He threw four touchdowns in the game, surpassing Joe Montana, the all time leader in Super Bowl touchdowns. But after the Seahawks Jermaine Kearse made one of the most unbelievable catches in NFL history, the Seahawks were in position for the game-winning touchdown, but a questionable play call led to rookie Malcolm Butler making the play of the game picking off Russell Wilson. Patriots win a thriller, 28-24.
The legacy of Brady and Bill Belichick may have skeptics, but after winning a fourth Super Bowl, there's no doubt they're two of the all- time greats.
TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: The other end of this twice now and being ahead late and not being able to make the plays to win. This time, we made the play to win. So, it's just awesome.
BILL BELICHICK, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Mentally and physically, this is as tough a group I've been around and I've been around some. These guys are really -- they're really special. I'm happy for them. And they deserve all the credit in the world.
RUSSELL WILSON, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I put the blame on me. You know, the guy made a play, you know? I don't know what I could have done differently, I meant to see it, you know? But we were right there, you know? So, I put the blame on me because I'm the one that gave them the ball in a way.
SCHOLES: And for the third time in his career, Tom Brady was named the MVP of the Super Bowl. He now has four rings, tying him with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for the most of all time amongst quarterbacks -- John, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: What do you think about the halftime show? You told me nothing about the halftime show -- Katy Perry's wardrobe change. So, 12 minutes of --
BERMAN: I heard it was excellent. I didn't pay attention to a single commercial or the halftime show, spending all that time telling my kids it was all going to be OK or like trying to tell myself it was all going to be OK. I saw nothing else. I was staring right at it. I did not see a thing.
ROMANS: Super sports fan John Berman.
All right. Forty minutes past the hour.
A new warning for ISIS this morning. Japan is vowing to fight back after terrorists murdered their latest hostage. The video creating new concerns for others held by those militants. Live team coverage right after the break.
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BERMAN: The prime minister of Japan is vowing to make ISIS pay for executing journalist Kenji Goto. The terror group posted a video that shows Goto's beheaded body right after the militant who is called by so many "Jihadi John" says let the nightmare for Japan begin.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with outrage. He promised to make the terrorists pay the price for this.
I want to bring in senior international correspondent Will Ripley, following the story from Tokyo.
That vow for revenge, this is unusual in modern Japan, Will.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's the prime minister, John, really trying to make it clear to the Japanese public that he feels, that they feel, which is anger over what happened, the brutal murder of Kenji Goto, and another citizen Haruna Yukawa.
However, Japan's options to make is pay are limited at this point, considering that Japan has a military that only engages in self- defense as bound by the constitution, and is also not really allowed to engage in anything other than humanitarian activities overseas, although that's something that the prime minister is trying to change. There is -- it will be interesting to see if the public supports him as he tries to expand the role of the Japanese military, just like he's trying to expand Japan's involvement in geopolitics, which is why you saw him make that $200 million pledge to fight ISIS in the first place, a pledge that led to the hostage video just two days later.
This has been a difficult weekend for a lot of people in Japan. Of course, most difficult for the family of Kenji Goto. We heard from his tearful mother over the weekend. We also heard today a statement from his wife, Rinko, who had made an emotional plea for her husband's life just hours before that final ISIS deadline.
The new statement reads in part, "While feeling a great personal loss," she says, "I remain extremely proud of my husband who reported the plight of people in conflict areas like Iraq, Somalia and Syria. She says it was his passion to highlight the effects on ordinary people, especially through the eyes of children and to inform the rest of us the tragedies of war. And that's how people here in Japan are choosing to remember Kenji Goto, Japan. Not for the way he died, but how he lived with courage, with kindness and compassion for people in war zones.
BERMAN: I think, Will, people around the world are remembering him for that and the journalistic community I think collectively mourns his loss.
Will Ripley for us in Tokyo, thanks so much.
ROMANS: The people of Jordan are desperately waiting for word of the fighter pilot captured by ISIS. Muath al-Kasasbeh was not mentioned in the latest ISIS video featuring Goto. ISIS has said it would kill the pilot if Jordan did not release a convicted female terrorist.
Jordan has said it is willing to release Sajida al-Rishawi, but only, only, if ISIS provides proof that its jet pilot is still alive. So far, ISIS has not obliged.
Turning now to senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir with the very latest.
Bring us up to speed on this, Nima.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, as you said, Jordan desperately seeking proof of life from ISIS and none forthcoming for now. That's caused his family to plead directly with is themselves. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AFI AL-KASSASBEH, JORDAN HOSTAGE PILOT'S FATHER (through translator): The committee appeals to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and asks them in the name of god and his prophet, peace be upon him, and with the nationality of religion, the blood to secure the life of our son, the pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, and be gracious to release him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: This is a very difficult time for Jordan as a whole, and it's a difficult time for its government. This was already a very unpopular mission, their involvement with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. There was concern about the civilian death toll in those airstrikes that Jordan is a part of and the criticism, Christine, is only growing.
Many are saying, including Muath's family, we gave this government our sons. They need to be able to promise us that if these young men do their mission for the government, that they will be returned home.
ROMANS: All right. Nima Elbagir, thank you so much for that.
Happening now: a tragedy for the daughter of Whitney Houston, in a coma after being found unconscious in a bathtub. Eerie similarities to her mother's death. What we're learning this morning, next.
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BERMAN: Serious concern this morning for the daughter of Whitney Houston. Bobbi Kristina Brown is in a medically induced coma, on a ventilator, in intensive care after being found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub full of water.
Our Victor Blackwell with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
In addition to that medically-induced coma, we have also learned that Bobbi Kristina Brown is in the intensive care unit at this hospital. Her condition has been stabilized, but she's breathing with the use of a ventilator.
We have also received a statement from her father, singer Bobby Brown. He writes that privacy is requested in this matter. "Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time." Understandably, a very difficult, tragic time for his family.
It was Saturday morning when Brown was found face down in a bathtub full of water in her town home near Atlanta. According to police, she was not breathing. Her heart was not beating. CPR was attempted at the scene. She did not respond. She was brought here to the hospital and has been in the medically-induced coma ever since.
Now, the details are eerily similar to those surrounding her mother's death. Whitney Houston on Grammy weekend in a bathtub full of water at a Beverly Hilton Hotel. And drugs were found to be part of the cause of her death. So, we asked the local investigator if drugs were involved in this case.
OFFICER LISA HOLLAND, ROSWELL POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right now, they did not see anything on the scene that would indicate that. No alcohol or drugs laying around that would indicate that.
BLACKWELL: Very few details from local investigators and from the hospital, but a source tells CNN's Sunny Hostin that this is going to be a waiting game -- John, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Victor Blackwell, thanks for that.
New term coined last night, dadvertisement. Millions of you watched the big game, but were you watching the commercials as closely as the action on the field. And what is a dadvertisement anyway? An early start of your money, next.
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ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
U.S. stock futures pointing a bit higher for the first new trading day in February. January turned out to be a pretty ugly month for stocks, folks -- the worst month for stocks in a year. The Dow fell almost 4 percent. The S&P 500 lost 3 percent. You got cheap oil and concerns about global growth rattling these markets.
But a little perspective, last January was even worse. Stocks rebounded significantly and ended near records. I'm not forecasting that, I'm just saying.
BERMAN: I forgot that. I had no memory.
ROMANS: Yes, it was a terrible. It was terrible January. They're all concerned for the year. The S&P finished higher.
BERMAN: I feel better now. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right. The Patriots weren't the only winners last night. Advertisers tackled some more serious issues this year, from cyber bullying, to gender stereotyping. One fan favorite this emotional Budweiser ad. Bud brought back the Clydesdales and a puppy from last year's hit.
McDonald's went for the heartstrings as well. The ad showed cashiers asking patrons to pay for their order with acts of love, like a hug or a compliment. But the pay with loving campaign unsurprisingly getting lapsed on social media right now.
A lot of people talking about the dadvertisements. So many advertisements during the game that were so -- kind of, you know, heartfelt. Instead of showing dads as beer-drinking, you know, women- obsessed adults, as one of our writers said, showing them as, you know, guys who love their kids.
BERMAN: We have more aspects to us than just that.
ROMANS: Than just beer-drinking, women-obsessed adults.
BERMAN: Yes. EARLY START continues right now.
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