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New Day

Monster Blizzard Batters Northeast; Obama Wraps Up India Visit

Aired January 27, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the wind, Chris, is the thing that I've noticed the most when you're standing out here. It is what sets this storm apart from -- from others. You know, Rhode Island deals all the time with snow and cold. And speaking of cold, it is about -- it feels like about negative 2. That's the real-feel temperature out here right now. But this wind is -- is tropical-storm-force winds, and you can -- you can certainly feel it when you're standing out here.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, look, that's what they've been describing to us, Sara. Is that this is a hurricane with snow instead of wind (sic) and you're talking about that tide. It's not a detail; it's a significant factor there because as that level rises along those coastal areas, it just turbo-charges everything especially with some wind.

Right now, we have some of the police behind us talking to people about the -- telling people not to be driving around because the city is closed. They're just giving them their warnings about that.

So, we're going to stay with you, though, Sara, right now, because it's also how people deal with the situation, the police are telling people not to be driving. Here, the warning has passed, where you are, it has not. You're getting into a critical period.

Are you seeing people, the people you spoke to, are they ready for this?

GANIM: I have not seen a ton of people.

COUMO: Good.

GANIM: We've seen maybe two or three cars. One gawker came by just to take a look right before you and I started to talk here, Chris.

But what I've seen is police vehicles, salt trucks and plow trucks. And that's really good news. And I mentioned, this is Kennedy Plaza, this is the main thoroughfare for -- main transportation hub, this is downtown Providence.

So, normally, on a Tuesday morning at this point, there would be plenty of cars, lots of people making their way into work for the day. And that's absolutely not the case. Everything is shut down, there's been a travel ban in place since midnight and it does appear that people are adhering to that, they are listening. And hopefully, that's the reason that we haven't seen -- we haven't

heard of any significant emergencies, there aren't people in shelters like I mentioned, and, you know, speaking of power outages and how we don't hear of any significant power outages at this point, according to emergency management officials.

The winds in Providence, well, they are picking up. They could be worse, right now they're coming in from the north. And that's protecting the city, because they're coming in over land. If they were coming in from the south, over sea, it could be worse. And it pains me to say that I'm not sure how it could feel much worse, but it could be -- Chris.

CUOMO: Right. How it feels is one thing, the effect it has is the focus of our concern.

Chad Myers is going to come in later and describe how things will change as the sun comes up the dynamics of the storm being stalled, high tide, the wind, they're all coming together at what could be the wrong time.

So, Sara, we'll check back with you. Stay warm.

Alisyn, let's get to you upstairs.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, on the phone with us is Peter Gaynor. He's with the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.

Good morning, Peter.

PETER GAYNOR, RHODE ISLAND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via telephone): Good morning, Alisyn. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well. How was your night?

GAYNOR: It was actually kind of quiet and we appreciate that. The governor put out some consistent messaging to have all Rhode Islanders stay off the road and they pretty much heed her advice, we're thankful about that.

CAMEROTA: So, is there a travel ban in place right now in Rhode Island?

GAYNOR: There is, travel ban until further notice, bridges are closed and again, we're still in the middle of it and we'll probably be in blizzard conditions until 10:00 or 11:00 this morning. So, we're not out of it just yet.

CAMEROTA: OK. That's what you're predicting, the storm comes in waves. So, when you're in one of the quiet waves, you go oh, I guess we've passed the worst. I know in providence and all throughout Rhode Island, the worst is yet to come.

What are you expecting for the next ten hours?

GAYNOR: Well, I think pretty much what we've seen since about 1:00 this morning. Winds, in Providence, gusts this morning up to 45, we've had higher gusts along the coast in Rhode Island to 60.

So, wind, blowing snow, it will make traveling almost impossible. And so, we ask residents to stay off the road until they hear from the governor and we can get back to normal.

CAMEROTA: Peter, how about power outages?

GAYNOR: We're doing pretty good on power outages, about 1,000 across the state, and no particular area. And we have three main pockets and crews are out there assessing that right now. So, again, I think we're in good shape when it comes to power for right now.

CAMEROTA: And how about the emergency responders last night? Did they have any important calls?

GAYNOR: It was actually very quiet last night. We checked with the Rhode Island state police today, minimal calls on the road, minimal stranded motorists. So, again, we do appreciate the Rhode Island residents heeding the warnings from the governor.

CAMEROTA: Yes. So, Peter, what I hear you saying is, is that this time it worked. People took the storm seriously, all the officials that came out from New York up through Boston who said this is going to be a big one. Everybody, do not go to work if you don't have to, don't travel if you don't have to, stay off the roads, they put in travel bans and that's -- you know, you hear people complain sometimes on mornings like this, like what was the big deal, I could have made it to work. I didn't have to stay shut in.

But the truth is that it seems as though heeding the warnings has really worked.

GAYNOR: It helps us to keep up with snowplowing, we check with our DOT operators this morning. They're keeping up with it, which is a good sign. You know, once you get behind a little bit, then things start to unravel. Right now, we feel in pretty good shape.

But again, you know, the message is -- stay off the road, you know, take care of each other and be prepared for the next six or 10 hours.

CAMEROTA: Yes, OK. Peter Gaynor, thanks so much for the status report and good luck over those six to 10 hours.

GAYNOR: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: All right. Let's go back to Chris, outside in the elements.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

All right. So, from here where Chad and I are right now, it's cold, there's a lot of snow out there. People are starting to move around, they're trying to plow the area. This is as good as it gets. Less than 100 miles away, you find yourself the tip of Long Island,

Montauk, they're getting hit with a very different aspect of this, actual blizzard conditions.

Cristina Alesci, you're live there. We're having a little trouble with our comms with you before.

But how is it now? Because right now, unfortunately, this is as good as it will get for you, you're in an ebb tide situation, low tide. The wind hasn't really reached its maximum and you have another 12, 14 hours of snow dump.

What are the conditions right now for you?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're just rubbing it in, Chris. Yes, it's pretty bad. Montauk still being pounded by the snow, as you mentioned, the tide is a concern as we see it rise like later on in the afternoon.

But right now, local officials are more concerned about power outages, given the wind. Anything above 30 miles an hour will of course affect power lines. We know that it's above that, because we couldn't get our satellite truck up this morning. And we'll have to see how that plays out.

The governor did announce 200 additional tree contractors, 400 additional line workers yesterday in anticipation of those power lines going down. Nothing yet, but the snow is heavy and that kind of compounds things from a power perspective as it weighs on those power lines.

Also, beach erosion in this community of fishermen, surfers, very reliant on tourism for their beaches. And this community was quite traumatized by Superstorm Sandy. In fact, as I mentioned before, they're rebuilding their town beach that was basically destroyed here by super storm sandy. The efforts were just about to get under way.

Now, they have this to deal with. Every time they have a major weather event the beaches here do get hit pretty bad -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Cristina, I don't want to keep you out there too long. Try to stay warm. We've got a long day ahead of us and dealing with this. And the conditions are only going to get worse where you are. And that combination of you know, the wet wind that they're dealing with there and heavy snow accumulations, it's going to be tough on power lines and we hope for the best at this point. We'll check back in with you.

So, right now, we're going to take a little break. And remember, if you want to find out how you can help others during this storm, because there's going to be a lot of people in harm's way. You go to CNN.com/impact.

We'll take a break and come back, we'll give you all the latest on the worse situations that are going on with blizzard. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY's breaking blizzard coverage.

Fifty-eight million people in the Northeast waking up this morning to lots of snow and nowhere to go. Cities and towns from Pennsylvania to Maine effectively shut down by the snow and the wind. The wind is gusting near hurricane levels. Blizzard warnings now lifted in New York City and New Jersey, but states of emergency are declared in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode island.

And the travel bans are still in place around the region, most notably in New York City, where subways and buses have stopped operating overnight. This is the first time in more than 100 years that public transportation has been shut down for snow.

So, travel in the air and on the rails, also brought to a standstill, almost 4,400 flights canceled today, with, of course, a ripple effect across the country. Amtrak also suspended in much of the Northeast.

Despite all of that, it is a snow day for lots and lots of kids in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia all have closed schools, giving millions of students a reprieve.

So, let's go back outside to Chris, who, of course, is with Chad Myers.

Chris, I have good news for you, I have begun making the hot cocoa and I am putting on my boots and my parka and I'm going to deliver it to you before the show is over.

CUOMO: Begun? I'm freezing out here, Alisyn, I keep looking up at the CNN sign, I keep saying to Chad, it's getting colder. He says, no, it isn't. It's getting colder. No, it isn't.

The point he's make something duration. So, Alisyn, any time you want to come down, you'd be welcome, I could use a hug if nothing else.

Now important distinction, New York City here, yes, cold, the snow is getting hard. There's a warning for kids to be careful if you're in New York City not to be in the park because of the weight on limbs and different power lines. That is not over.

But we have what's happening right now and what has already happened. Take us through it.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We had 10 inches of snow in New York city, you walk through the park, you have about ten inches, you're up to your knee at this point in time. That's over, we'll get flurries, and not much more wind. So, that's good.

So, we've got missed here in the tri-state. But everybody else, more people got hit, and are getting hit than got missed. So, we're talking Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Long Island, people, Islip now , 18 inches of snow already on the ground and it's still snowing and it will continue to snow for quite some time. So, let's go to the map and I'll show you what's going on. The radar

is going to show you that first band of snow that's already from Portland, Maine, all the way down to Boston and across the cape and down into long island. That's the heaviest snow, the two to three inches of snow per hour and the winds are blowing at 50 miles per hour. So the question is, I got a couple of emails this morning, why didn't it happen here?

Well, yesterday, we talked about the models. The new model, the weather service put millions of dollars into this new model. We looked at it yesterday and we said wow, this is only going to put 10 inches in New York City. All the other models say 24, we wonder which one is correct.

Well, the new model, the one the weather service put a bunch of money in, is working well. Ten inches happened here, and also said they're going to be 30 inches along the cape in Boston and it's working well there, too. So, now, we know to believe the new model and throw away the old one, the old ones just didn't work as well.

CUOMO: You know, we both have been doing this a very long time. I don't believe in CYA mode when it comes to weather for two reasons. One, the point of fact you were saying you didn't believe the high estimates in New York City yesterday, which I was very happy about, which is the second point.

If you're going to be wrong, you want to be wrong and it winds up being better than you thought. It's when we get caught on the other side that we wind up having this complete disaster situations, people aren't prepared, municipalities aren't prepared, you can't get the people the help they need. And that's a huge problem and the one concern I have going forward is that people think it's over and in a lot of areas, it isn't. Especially on the coast where they have to go through tide cycles, right?

MYERS: Exactly right. It comes to a point where people will complain about the weather no matter what. If you get it right or get it wrong. My question back to them is what is the right number of fatalities? What's the correct number? If we would have said six and 10 people died, is that the right number? No, the right number of fatalities is always going to be zero. Let's forecast for that zero.

CUOMO: Always better, safe than sorry. No question about it. And as Chad has been saying, this is an evolving situation because the storm has stalled over areas. You got Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.

Let's get to Micky. She's up in New London, Connecticut. Michaela was trying to get around. She got hit by drifted snow, couldn't move their vehicle, the conditions are changing, there's a lot of wind there.

Mick, I see you, you look great, but what's it like around you?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It's been really interesting, we're getting gusts, we're getting reports from the National Weather Service, to borrow from Chad's world, around 3:00 a.m., they were talking gusts up to 45 miles per hour.

When it's not, the sustained winds they say are probably down around the 20-mile-per-hour range. But when it's not windy here, Chris, it's really quiet and peaceful. There is a whole lot of dry snow. It doesn't feel particularly wet, although it does look like it on my face. But the wind blow it is through. I want to show awe little something.

I think it's over here, you can see, we were told that around 3:00 a.m., the National Weather Service described had said there was eight inches of snow. Look at the drifts. It's hard to believe that that's only eight inches.

It has been snowing constantly. We tried to get our vehicle out of here about an hour ago, you can't even see the tracks where we attempted to. And we made quite a mess out there.

So, let me give you some stats what we're looking for here in Connecticut. People are heeding the travel ban, heeding the idea to shelter in place, because the blizzard warning is in effect throughout the day.

They're saying that today, most of Connecticut is going to be under this blizzard watch. Southwest coast, areas like Danbury and Bridgeport, they're not going to be under the blizzard warning today. Not like New York City where the blizzard warning has been lifted.

Now, we're talking about plowing. We're keeping our eyes on the horizon, waiting for the cavalry to come in a bevy of snowplows, we're hoping that they get out so we can get to our live location to show you what we're seeing here.

But here's the challenge, for towns like New London, in Connecticut here, obviously budget cuts are hampering their snow removal efforts on a good day. When you've got a travel ban and a blizzard, the idea of seeing a snowplow here is slim to none. So, we're expecting them to come out. We're hoping they'll out. There's a lot of anxious people inside our hotel that have better places to go. But they're heeding the warnings, staying inside.

But it's interesting to watch the snowfall. It is coming down. Let me tell you. Every once in a while we get a face full of snow from the wind that is kicking up the snow that's in the drifts. I'm going to show you again how much more it's accumulated since I last talked to you. I'm going to head out here so you can see.

It's gotten that much deeper, mid thigh and it's just the wind blowing it around, it's really dry snow. It's really fluffy stuff. This is not heavy stuff. But when you get the amounts that are here, people are obviously concerned about power outages if the snow gets really heavy and knocks down branches, the -- Bill, the manager of the hotel we're staying at, said the last storm they had a big one through here in 2013.

Since then they've done a lot in this area to get rid of the tree branches that can be a real concern when they get heavy with snow. That's potentially a time when the power could get knocked down. Not hearing that yet, but we'll keep our ear to the ground -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. We'll come back to another mix stick check of the snow deep in a little while. Stay warm my friend.

You got a push button for us, Chad.

MYERS: Every time they get the snowplow 15 minutes later, the wind has blown it shut again. So the plows have to go over the same areas over and over again. It's the triage. You want the big streets first.

CUOMO: They have to marshal their assets. Thank you very much.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: OK. Chris, we will return to our breaking blizzard coverage in one moment.

But first, President Obama is on his way to Saudi Arabia to pay respects to the late King Abdullah and to meet Abdullah's successor.

Now, earlier this morning, the president wrapped audiotape three-day visit to India and CNN's Fareed Zakaria had a chance to sit down exclusively with the president to discuss a wide range of issues and he joins us live from New Delhi with some inside analysis of the entire trip.

Fareed, great to see you.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Pleasure to be here. Where it is 60 degrees and very cool.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for weather report, since we are fixated on that this morning.

But tell us the top headlines of the president's trip.

ZAKARIA: It was a hugely successful trip. For the last three days, India was wall to wall Obama. He was like a rock star, the choreography, the choreography of the trip, which was largely done by the Indians, by Prime Minister Modi, was really brilliantly done. There was so many photo ops, so many moments which have resonated here.

And the president told me, what he regarded as most important this was going to a country like India and building on the opportunities here. A country that is increasingly very pro-American, both in terms of the public, which is, which is very interested and fascinated by America, and the government, which views a rising China as necessitating closer relationship with America.

That this provided an opportunity to build on success and not simply have to deal with taking, you know, taking care of the fires and in the Middle East. This was an opportunity to build a positive agenda for American foreign policy. CAMEROTA: So, you got this sit-down with President Obama and you

broached the subject of what he would say when he got to Saudi Arabia and about the complicated relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. So, let's listen to a clip of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA: Will you speak about the blogger to the Saudis?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think on this visit obviously a lot of this is just paying respects to King Abdullah, who in his own fashion represented some modest efforts at reform within the kingdom. But we have maintained a sustained dialogue with the Saudis and with all the other countries that we work with.

You know, what I found effective is to apply steady consistent pressure, even as we're accomplishing business that needs to get done. And oftentimes, sometimes that makes our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated. Sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with regional instability.

But the trend line is one that I will sustain throughout the rest of my presidency and that is to make an argument to those friends and allies of ours that if they want a society that is going to be able to sustain itself in this age, then they're going to have to change how they do business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Fareed, very interesting to hear him talk about how complicated it is to bring up issues of human rights with some of these countries. So, do you think that he will talk to them about this blogger who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes?

ZAKARIA: I got the sense he will not do this on this trip. And perhaps he doesn't intend to do it at the presidential level. That is the president to the king. Secretary Kerry has and I think might do it again.

He was very tough-minded in a sense. I asked him a couple of questions about Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. And his general point was, look, we have national interests and we have security interests that have to be taken care of. And we have to do business with whoever is in power. And I don't make any apologies for that. But we are also pressing them on issues of reform.

I'm paraphrasing of course. But that was the general feeling you got was that he was pretty tough-minded and pretty unapologetic about the fact that you have to deal with not entirely liberal and democratic regimes in order to secure America's interests when dealing with issues like terrorism.

CAMEROTA: It's a really interesting interview. We're going to play more of it. You also asked him about the drone that somehow made its way to the White House grounds. We'll play that later in the show. Fareed, thanks so much we'll check back in with you and we will have

more of the Fareed's exclusive view with President Obama next hour. You can see the full interview this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS", only on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not going to be like other snowstorms. It is going to be, by all indications, worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a patter of extreme weather that we have never seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Storms this size poses a threat to public safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've already seen a few accidents and just people swerving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're prepared no matter what.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay home. The roads are horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're prepared for this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're starting to see the snow pick up, coming down two to three inches an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not the time for anybody to feel like a hero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will not be done when you wake up in the morning. It's going to keep going.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo out on the streets of New York City.

The city has been effectively shut down. You only see it in situations like this. People are just starting to move around. There are a lot of police vehicles out here. They've been pulling people over who aren't heeding the emergency rule of not being on the roads.

But the worst is over for New York City. The blizzard warning has been passed for this situation that we're monitoring, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris.

I'm Alisyn Camerota in the studio in New York. Michaela Pereira is live for us in Connecticut.

Tens of millions of people in the Northeast are still under winter weather advisories with the worst still to come in many areas. So, we have the crippling storm covered across the region like only CNN can.

But for now, we do want to go back outside to Chris to see how it is and what to expect next -- Chris.

CUOMO: Well, the pictures tell the story. They always do. And we see this blizzard has given you something from the sublime to the ongoing and severe. A big factor of this as Chad Myers has been explaining from the beginning, is this essentially a blizzard is a hurricane with snow. And the wind is making it so difficult to get around.

And to deal with the snow for officials who are trying very much to keep pace with the snowfall. One inches, two inches, three inches in some places. That's why the warning is still in effect.

If you can, stay home, stay inside. The schools are closed, the stock market is closed, businesses are closed, roads are closed. So think about it, if you take a risk, it will be tough for people to get to you.

If you want to fly, a silly notion at this point. About 7,000 flights have been canceled. 4,400 just today, that will ripple across the country and we'll be seeing delays for days as a result.

The rails are a problem. Amtrak is suspended in much of the Northeast.