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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Northeast Slammed by Storm; Measles Outbreak: New Cases; Cuba Releases New Pictures of Castro; Jordan Awaits Word on Captured Pilot; Super Bowl XLIX: Most Watched Ever in U.S.

Aired February 03, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Northeast pounded by another deadly record-breaking snowstorm. This morning, roads covered with ice, thousands of flights canceled and schools closed as a new arctic chill moves in. We are breaking down what you need to know and what you need to wear for the commute today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Measles outbreak, it is spreading. New cases creating concern and controversy. This morning, the politicians are weighing in. Is this really a political issue whether parents should vaccinate their children?

ROMANS: Breaking overnight: new pictures of Fidel Castro. The release following months of growing rumors that the former Cuban dictator could be dead. We're live in Havana with what these new pictures mean.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, February 3rd. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And the Northeast and the Midwest digging out this morning from the record-breaking deadly snowstorm. In so many places, the snow plows are struggling to keep up with the heavy, wet snowfall. There is nowhere to put it because of all of the snow we got last week. Boston smashed records for the snowiest seven days in the city's history, 34.2 inches. This giant storm is blamed for at least 10 deaths in seven states. The snow is causing huge problems for travel as well. More than 4,300 flights were canceled on Monday. That's on top of thousand that were scratched on Sunday.

I want to bring in meteorologist Chad Myers who is standing outside here.

I think based on what Chad looks like right now, we know that it is cold, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The only way to keep your cheeks warm and keep talking is to put them down here (INAUDIBLE) and try to keep them warm before the live shot.

So, if you want to walk to work and still talk when you get there, bundle up your face and bundle up everything, bundle the pets this morning. It is cold. Temperatures are well down below freezing in some spots, 40 degrees below freezing. And at that point, salted roads won't even stay unthawed or stay thawed. They will refreeze.

Look at the temperatures here. We are very, very cold all across the Northeast. I saw Plattsburg this morning at 12 below zero.

There's not much of a wind-chill. The wind really has died down. That's some good news. The winds will pick up in the next couple of days as the next storm approaches.

But I know you have heard doom and gloom and another storm coming. Trust me, it's a clipper, it's small, it's two to three inches, after Worcester -- parts of Worcester County have now picked up 60 inches of snow in eight days, three is going to look like a tailgate party. Really, it's not going to be anything at all. So, don't worry about the next storm.

What we're going to worry about is that this pattern doesn't change that I can see for 30 days. So, we may be getting storm after storm every three and a half to four days. Obviously, this is the seventh day after the one we saw. That's the pattern we're in now. This could be coming in for a long time to come.

So, blame it on Phil, blame it on -- what's the guy's name in Georgia? Punxsutawney something.

ROMANS: I'm blaming it on you. I'm blaming it on you. You make it sound like these are beautiful waves come in the ocean that the surfer is trying to catch.

MYERS: But it's just one small storm.

BERMAN: You've got to blame it on something as Milli Vanilli likes to say.

But you're saying 30 more days, 30 more days of this, Chad?

MYERS: Thirty more days. I think the ridges (ph) on the west, which means it is warmer than normal out there. And the trough is in east, which means it's colder than normal here. The trough allows the lows to swing up the East Coast and to bring us snow every once and a while, every couple days.

BERMAN: Well, there you go. Thanks, Chad Myers. Didn't know that. Didn't know we'd have 30 more of days. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: I feel bad for the retailers stocking the spring stuff, because it's not there yet. You know, the storm has been just brutal for Boston, creating chaos, even to the folks out having fun. Look at this. Whoa.

BERMAN: That is crazy.

ROMANS: These guys lost control of the ATV and whacked into a parked car and sped off. I'm sure the insurance adjuster would like to see that. The slamming waves over the sea wall in Marshfield, Massachusetts. It caused serious flooding there.

The storm forced the delay of the jury selection in the trial of the accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Also postponed until Wednesday, the ticker tape parade celebrating these guys, the Patriots and their Super Bowl victory. Here they are getting a heroes welcome arriving back in New England. That's a big -- from Glendale, Arizona to Boston.

BERMAN: A big change, right?

ROMANS: The big difference.

BERMAN: All right. Two of the deaths in the storm happened on I-95, north of New York City. State police say a car and a shuttle bus collided. The drivers got out to examine the damage, but they were struck and killed by a minivan when that drivers lost control on the icy roads. One man was injured in Brooklyn by a manhole explosion, likely caused Con Ed says by melting snow mixed with salt.

That's a scary. New York fire officials say the victim was walking by when the first of the two underground explosions launched the manhole cover in the air and hit him as it fell. Officials say the man was taken to the hospital with just minor injuries.

The melting snow causing trouble on Long Island. Roadways flooded as you can see. There is now ice in many spots because these temperatures, as we've saying, they are low and going stay low. In Western New York, snowfall totals of a foot or more causing problems with the commute. Many schools and businesses still closed there.

ROMANS: Lots of northeastern states reeling from the huge storm. Southern parts of Maine have already received more snow than they normally do in an average year. Icy conditions prompted numerous accidents on the roads and horrifying scene here in Vermont. Cars lost control slamming into at least four plows. Wow. Fortunately, no serious injuries are reported in that incident. Meantime, in Pennsylvania, slick roads forced Pittsburgh schools to shutdown on Monday.

BERMAN: She looks really upset by that.

ROMANS: Today, a majority of schools have already instituted a delayed opening in hopes of road conditions will improved and students make it to school safely.

BERMAN: The dome of a soccer stadium in Michigan just collapsed. Look at that. The weight from heavy wet snow proved too much for the Wind Star Dome in Pontiac. The roof just caved in. No one was inside luckily at the time. No injuries were reported.

ROMANS: And more flight cancellations this morning in New York, Boston and Chicago, as they dig out from the storm. Today, more than 500 flights are canceled with New York's LaGuardia and Boston's Logan hit the hardest. Add that to the almost 7,000 flights cancelled on Sunday and Monday. That makes this storm almost as bad as last week's blizzard for airlines. That was 9,000 cancellations.

Despite the back-to-back storms, this winter has been relatively mild. Last year, airlines canceled almost 50,000 flights in January. Twice what we saw --

BERMAN: It's interesting. Those storms, though, cancelling almost as many flights, causing almost as many problems as last week. You need a better PR agent. I think you're like last week storm got much more press than the one this week.

ROMANS: Yes, you're right, you're right.

BERMAN: All right. We have a developing news this morning. More new cases of the measles reported, and serious concerns spreading all over the country. Fourteen infants have now been quarantined at a child care center on the Santa Monica High School campus after one infant came down with the disease. No word yet on whether health authorities have linked that case to Disneyland, as dozens of earlier measles cases have been.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen tracking the outbreak for us -- Elizabeth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the Centers for Disease Control has come out with new measles numbers. They say that in the month of January, 102 people had the measles and that spread out over 14 states. Now, 92 percent of those cases were related to Disneyland.

However, obviously, some weren't. One of them is New York college student. This college student got on an Amtrak train from New York City's Penn Station, and there's some concern that that student might have spread that -- spread measles to other people on the train.

So many people are asking, what do I do if I was on that train? What you really have to talk to your doctor. Some people have full immunity from the measles because if they were born after 1990, they got two doses of the vaccine. So, they almost certainly have full immunity.

Other people who were born before 1990 might not have full immunity. And that's because back then, they would only give people one shot. That worked fine for some people, but didn't work fine for everybody. So, you have to talk to your doctor to figure out your particular situation.

Now, it's important to remember, measles is an incredibly contagious disease. It spreads through the air. If someone walked into the room and had measles and then walked out, and you walk in an hour later and you had not been vaccinated, you could get measles. It's very ,very contagious.

So, it's a disease that really needs to be taken seriously. Before vaccines, 400 to 500 Americans every year died from measles, and about 4,000 would get encephalitis or brain swelling.

So, certainly, the CDC is keeping an eye on this, expecting this to grow even bigger. So, we'll stay on it for you -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Elizabeth Cohen.

A lot of people in the medical community are concerned about the way that some politicians are now talking about the vaccination issue. Two potential Republican presidential candidates, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie weighed in to the discussion. Both favor parents getting their kids vaccinated, but --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: It is much more important I think when you think as a parent and what you think as a public official. And that's what we do. But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So, that's the balance that the government has to decide.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: For most of us history, they have been voluntary. So, I don't think I'm arguing out of the ordinary. We're arguing for what most of our history has had.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BERMAN: Back in 2008, President Obama said that he had question also about vaccine. He no longer apparently does. He went on this weekend during the Super Bowl interviews and said parents should get kids vaccinated, very important.

Hillary Clinton made clear where she stands. She tweeted, "The science is clear, the earth is round, the sky is blue, and vaccines work. Let's protect all our kids. #grandmotherknowsbest."

ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight: new images have surfaced of long-time Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Cuba's state-run media claims the pictures were taken late last month. They appear as rumors swirl about the health of the former leader. So, how is Cuba reacting as the country tries delicately to restore ties to the U.S.?

Patrick Oppmann is live in Havana.

And, Patrick, these photos of Fidel Castro showing him engaged with these young people. What do we -- how authentic? Do we know for sure they were taken last month?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we don't know anything for sure. These were released by the Cuban communist party daily newspaper, "Granma".

So, they show us what they want to show us. But they do appear genuine. Sources have told us over the last week that Fidel Castro, while he is 88 years old, while his health is still delicate, that he essentially, despite all the rumors, is in pretty good shape for a man who's lived the kind of life that he has.

But, you know, the rumors just wouldn't go away, Christine. And so, we did see a column that was released by Fidel Castro last month. It dispelled some of the rumors. We have seen more references to Fidel Castro in Cuba's state-run media.

But it really isn't until these photos have been released, 21 photos. Something pretty near unprecedented that we see the Cuban government take really a full-on attack against these rumors that just wouldn't go away.

You know, Fidel Castro has come out and endorsing the negotiations between the United States and Cuba, you know, overcoming five decades of mistrust. It's going to take some time, both sides say, they're going to keep talking. But it's going to take months of negotiations before you see a U.S. embassy opening in Havana -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Patrick Oppmann for us this morning -- thank you.

Twenty-one photos. You never see them release that many photos of Fidel Castro at once.

Eleven minutes past the hour. Happening now. A frantic push to free a hostage held by ISIS. This morning, silence from the terrorists creates growing concern that the pilot may already be dead. We are live with the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Happening now: Jordan waiting for word from ISIS on the fate of captured pilot Muath al Kaseasbeh. ISIS has yet to provide any evident this man is still alive. Though Jordan is said to be willing to release the convicted would-be suicide bomber if ISIS lets him go, willing still.

Jomana Karadsheh is live in Jordan for us with the latest.

Good morning, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

So much concern especially after that apparent execution of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. So many Jordanians are really worried about the fate of the pilot Muath Al Kaseasbeh who has been held by ISIS for -- since December 24th really, and no sign yet of what the government has been demanding, that proof of life.

We know that the Jordanian government asked been asked for that during the course of the indirect negotiations that they have been having with ISIS, to try and secure his release for weeks now. They say they have demanded any evidence to show that Muath al Kaseasbeh is alive and well, and they have not received that.

Then, we also heard the Jordanian government repeat those calls publicly on Thursday, saying we still do not have any evidence that he is alive and well. So far, they have not received anything. So many Jordanians are on edge, John. They're really concerned about

this man that they see as a national hero. This member of the coalition, the first one to be taken hostage by ISIS. And we see this here in Amman, the capital.

Just yesterday, some Jordanians held a candlelight vigil at night, outside the Japanese embassy, condemning terrorism and also remembering Kenji Goto and praying for the safe return of Muath al Kaseasbeh home. But so far, only thing Jordanians can do is sit and wait.

BERMAN: It's got to be very difficult for them and their families, and the family of that man. Jomana Karadsheh for us in Amman, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Testimony resumes this morning in the Aaron Hernandez trial. Court was postponed Monday because of the snowstorm. The girlfriend of Odin Lloyd, he's the man Hernandez is accused of killing, she is expected back on the witness stand. Last week, Shayanna Jenkins testified that the two men were in the early stages of friendship when Lloyd died. The former NFL star has pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons and charges.

BERMAN: The alleged mastermind of the Silk Road drug trafficking site will not testify in his own defense. Ross Ulbricht is accused of arranging executions of six people he thought were trying to blackmail him or expose the Web site's underworld drug-dealing operations. Prosecutors rested their case Monday after presenting evidence that Ulbricht paid nearly three quarters of a million for these murders.

ROMANS: Rap mogul Suge Knight is facing life in prison if convicted in a fatal hit-and-run in Compton, California. Knight was charged Monday with murder and attempted murder for allegedly running two men over with his truck following an altercation. His $2 million bail has been revoked. Authorities say they consider Knight a flight risk and are concerned about witness intimidation.

BERMAN: So, Charles Manson is still single. It is not clear why. But, apparently, marriage plans between he and his 26-year-old devotee Elaine Burton hit the skids. Their 90-day marriage license set to expire on Thursday. The officials at California state prison where Manson resides, say this past weekend was the last chance for the couple to get married in the visiting room. So, if the wedding is to happen, they will have to register for a new license.

Hmm. Interesting.

ROMANS: Interesting. And maybe it was a public relations exercise.

This morning, the family of Bobbi Kristina Brown says she is fighting for her life in the Georgia hospital. The 21-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown is on a ventilator and intensive care. She was found unresponsive in the bathtub at her home over the weekend, almost three years after her mother was found dead in a hotel bathtub. The family has been asking for privacy while thanking everyone for their prayers and support. BERMAN: The ratings are in for Super Bowl XLIX. Almost as high as

EARLY START. Not just the most watched Super Bowl ever know. It did more than that.

Coy Wire, special guest Coy Wire with the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The Super Bowl ratings are in and a record 114.4 million people watched the New England Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

ROMANS: Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Nice to see you.

COY WIRE, BLEACHER REPORT: Nice to see you.

Top of the morning to you guys. That number you mentioned, 114.4 million people makes this year's Super Bowl the most watched event in American television history. It surpassed last year's Super Bowl, which had just over 112 million viewers. This year's game was also the highest rated in 30 years.

Super Bowl XLIX also broke records on social media, with more than 28.4 million tweets related to the game and, of course, Katy Perry's halftime show. Now, traffic peaked when Russell Wilson threw with the pass with just 20 seconds to go and it was intercepted by Malcolm Butler on the goal line.

The Super Bowl champs Patriots returned to New England last night to cheering crowds and a lot of snow, of course. So much snow, in fact, that today's scheduled victory parade has been postponed until tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Now, forecasters are predicting that the snow will slow down and the weather will be better for the festivities.

In other football news -- after a tough rookie season on the field and rumors of too much partying off of it, Johnny Manziel has voluntarily entered himself into a rehab treatment program according to close friend and adviser. No details have been released on why Manziel is entering treatment or where he will get it, but the Browns are fully supporting him and respect his initiative to get help. A lot of Browns fans say they have his back, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLI)

MIKE FINK, BROWNS FAN: I heard he is going into rehab. Hopefully, we wish him the best. I would love nothing more than for him to be successful and to lead the Browns to the Super Bowl. I mean, that's what all Browns fans want.

DAVID PRZYVOJEWSKI, BROWNS FAN: Yes, I really think he has a talent to succeed in the league, he has to get his act together and, you know, really put in the effort to make this a winning team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: To the NBA where the Atlanta Hawks' 19-game win streak has finally come to an end. The New Orleans Pelicans snapped the Hawks franchise record streak with a 115-100 win. The Hawks hadn't lost since December 29 and went undefeated in the month of January. The Cleveland Cavaliers now hold the longest active win streak at 11.

Christine, John, that's your "Bleacher Report".

And, John, congrats to you and all of Pats Nation on the big win.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. Great to see you at this early hour.

ROMANS: Nice to see you, Coy.

I have to say, I did get Facebook hate from people who say I didn't challenge you enough on your Patriots day-after victory lap.

BERMAN: What are you going to say, they didn't win? They won. What is there to challenge you on?

ROMANS: They are the Super Bowl winners.

BERMAN: They are.

ROMANS: They are the Super Bowl winners.

BERMAN: There's no two sides of that.

ROMANS: And to the winners go the spoil.

BERMAN: The strong do as they will, and the weak suffer as they must.

ROMANS: Ooh.

All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour.

Deadly record-breaking snowstorm still battering the Northeast. This morning, the snow has stopped, but it is so cold, the snow sounds different, right? It sounds crisp. The snow sounds different when it is so cold. It is cold!

What you need to know for the day, next.

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