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New Day

Snow Storms Hit East Coast; Interview with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto; New England Patriots Win Super Bowl; 102 Measles Cases Reported Across 14 States

Aired February 02, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY.

It's Monday, February 2nd, 8:00 in the east. I'm coming to you outside the CNN studios in midtown Manhattan. Man, is it miserable out here. You guys downplayed how bad this is. How warm is it in the studio? It must be awfully toasty and nice.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It's very nice, very nice.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a little hot.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Can you bring me a cup of ice for my latte?

CAMEROTA: Very funny. I will be back inside in a minute. But it is lousy out here. There is another monster winter storm. It is piling on the northeast as you can see, and much of the Midwest. This morning 65 million people are feeling the force of this. There have been two deaths in Nebraska being blamed on the storm. There is chaos at the nation's airports. Thousands of flights already canceled, and the roads, the highways from Nebraska to New Hampshire are choked with ice and snow. They are dangerous. They are a mess. So let's begin with our team coverage with Alexandra Field. She is in Boston for us. How is it looking there, Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, they thought they had it behind them. But here it is in front of them again. The snow started overnight. It's expected to last well past midnight, and they're looking at 14 inches of snow, that is snow on top of snow, because you still have it on the ground here. These huge snow banks from last week are being covered with fresh snow. You can see it is impacting me. This is the cut that they made in the snow when they tried to clear things out after last week's storm filling up again with fresh snow. The road is a bit f a mess this morning. The morning will be really tricky for people.

But the snow is only part of the concern because we're looking at temperatures plummeting later in the day. That will cause some flash freezing. So this is going to be a mess really throughout the day. Boston public schools closing out schools for the day, public transportation still open. But these next couple of hours, this is going to be the tough part of the snow for people here in Boston. They're looking at snowfall rates of one to three inches per hour at certain times. That kind of visibility such a mess. You've got the wind blowing and picking up the snow and sort of throwing it into the roads.

Alisyn, you saw similar pictures just a week ago. If there are bragging rights for snow, this city is certainly getting some of the bragging rights, which would be this morning they have actually gotten bragging right on top of bragging rights. You can't really put a damper on the spirit of the city this morning. Considering last night's victory it's easier to take this in stride. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: You're right. There is that silver lining for them there. We're struggling to find one outside of Midtown Manhattan. Alexandra, thank you.

Also, Cleveland has been hit with the biggest snowfall it has seen all winter. Right now it is 12 degrees there. But the winds are brutal. It feels like negative 17 degrees. And that's where we find Martin Savidge. He is on the ground to tell us about it. Martin, I know that you can feel my pain and yours is even worse. How is it?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, we are pegging the misery meter, I can tell you, in public square in downtown Cleveland right now. The worst is past us, that is the good news. They have about eight to 10 inches here. They have got more to the west. It is going to snow a little bit more.

But it is the wind and it is blasting us, right now, coming from the exact opposite direction of yesterday, which means this storm is moving away. But it's like needles against the side of the face. It's 20-30 miles an hour. Let me show you what it's doing, stuff like this right over there, lines that are down. And that is creating problems, not just the hazard, but it's knocking out power and knocking out traffic lights. Intersections now, stoplights don't work. Streets are snow covered. They're trying to plow but the wind is causing it to drift. They can't keep up with it for the moment. It will get better as the day goes on.

The airports are open, lots of flights canceled or delayed. Every school in the area just about closed. Offices are open. Courts, though, some are closed and some delayed scheduled. And there will be rapid transit at least by rail. They're saying frozen lines are a real problem there. So for commuters on a Monday morning, it is a rough go. And I'd say the same for reporters, Alisyn.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Yes, I agree, case in point. You're right. It is the wind, the wind is so strong there and here. And of course it is sleeting at the moment. So it does feel like needles, as Martin said, on your skin. It is a historic blizzard. Also belting Chicago, a whopping 17-inches of snow at the O'Hare

Chicago airport making it the snowiest February day in the city's history, if you can believe that. So let's go live to Ryan Young for the very latest. You're making history, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been told so far, Alisyn, that the snow is almost up to 19-inches here. I can tell you, you can see what's left behind as people are starting to try and dig out here. You can see the guy trying to clean the sidewalks. We just talked to one woman who said she's been trying to get to work for more than an hour. She had to dig herself out. She couldn't do it so she decided to take public transportation. And then walking the six blocks has been very treacherous, because as you can see, some of the sidewalks are clear and some of them are not. There have been flight cancellations, power outages, and look, the big work has been on the roads. They also canceled school here. But people have been pushing through. But I can tell you the wind chill factor here is below zero, and it's just whipping our faces and it's even hard to talk at some points. But so far so good in terms of the morning commute. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: You're doing a great job talking. And be careful on those sidewalks. You're right, they're extremely slippery. And of course the roads are also very treacherous for the morning commute. Our Miguel Marquez is driving on I-95 in Fairfield, Connecticut, to give us a sense how dangerous it is there. What are you seeing, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you could stay home and eat waffles all morning and maybe all day, I would suggest doing that. It is miserable out here. Take a look at I-95 northbound just north of Bridgeport, Connecticut. We've been on the road about three hours now. We can only get to 30 miles an hour at the most. So we haven't been able to get out of the area where it is mixed rain and sleet and snow in this storm.

Just north of us, it's snowing even harder. We can't get that line because we keep falling along in this icy rain that we are experiencing right now. We're seeing cars spun out alongside the road, people stopping to get the ice off of their wipers. We saw one person walking across the freeway amazingly enough. There are a lot of snow plows on the road, but they are having a tough time keeping up with it. When you're behind them, there are about six plows that go all the way across the road and they are able to get a lot of the snow off. But there is ice underneath that. They are spending up to 13 inches of a snow and 10th of an inch of ice in this area, and it is miserable. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Miguel, because of your traffic report I called my family and said do not drive anywhere. The roads are very dangerous. So thanks so much for pointing that out for everyone watching just how dangerous it is.

How much snow will fall today and how cold is it going to get? Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. Wow, this is lousy, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is. The sleet just started again. It stopped for a while. When I got here this morning, it was 34, then it was 33. Now it's 30 and raining and sleeting. And I think people in this town are taking this a little bit too nonchalantly. This is going to freeze up by noon, 2:00. This whole place is going to look like it should need a Zamboni. There you go.

The issue with this now is that at this point in time the ice freezes up in about the next two hours or so. If that happened and people are now just to their jobs or to their schools whatever, they're going to get caught off guard in the city.

But I tell you what, Connecticut, you're getting pounded, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, all the way up to Maine, so much snow coming down, just like we saw in Chicago with 15 inches of snow coming down there.

There is your radar and you begin to see a little bit of changeover here. That's the pink area. That pink is the sleet and snow. If I drive you up here and move you into Connecticut that is all snow along I-95. New Haven just getting slammed with snow, three inches of snow per hour for at least the next three or four hours. You do the multiplication and there you see the purple area, and that is a foot of snow or more to go where New York City will get probably another half-inch of ice before it changes over to some snow again later on this afternoon.

But this is going to be a mess tonight, all the cities, because even though it looks wet right now, by tomorrow morning where I'm standing it will be 11 degrees. Everything will be frozen. So be careful as you walk, drive, slide home tonight. It's going to get messy.

CUOMO: And dangerous, my friend. And that's why we want people to know, ice on the roads. We all know how that goes. All right, Chad, be safe out there. We'll talk to you a little bit more.

So what are the implications? If you're at home right now prepping to fly, don't rush. And if you're at the airport watching us right now, enjoy and just settle in. Let's get to Jean Casarez live at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Following this flurry of cancellations and delays for us, what do the big boards say?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big boards are saying that the majority of flights are canceled. There are 2,300 flights plus are canceled at this point all across the country. And here we are at LaGuardia. So many flights go out. Look at the security line. There is nobody there because of all the cancellations.

But let's show you the boards right here because you can see the majority of flights are still canceled. There are some that are saying they are on time now, even one I see to Boston. We'll see if that happens. But so many airports have canceled or delayed flights, airports that take flights all over the country.

Let's look at that. First of all, you've got Chicago O'Hare. They're number one today with 333 canceled flights. Newark, Liberty, 297, and Boston, 208, and it goes from there.

Now, the majority of airlines are giving waivers to people so you won't pay any of those cancellation fees. Let's not forget, Phoenix, Sky Harbor, their airport is saying that they expect 180,000 passengers today in that airport. And many of the flights that begin or change planes go to Phoenix or come from Phoenix. So there may be cancellations or delays from all those people trying to get back from the Super Bowl. Michaela, back to you.

PEREIRA: All right, Jean, tell them to hang tight there. They're probably not going anywhere fast. We appreciate it.

Well, the worst of this massive winter storm swept through Pittsburgh overnight, that city suffering heavy, heavy snowfall and leaving behind another major problem, freezing rain. Joining us right now from Pittsburgh is the mayor of Pittsburgh Bill Peduto. Good to have you with us, Mr. Mayor.

BILL PEDUTO, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA MAYOR: Thank you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Well, first of all, we've got to ask you about that Punxsutawney Phil, what 80 miles from your city, he saw his shadow and we're going to get six more weeks of winter. You have to answer for him, I'm afraid, sir.

PEDUTO: I can't answer for Phil. I can tell you I made that jaunt to Punxsutawney twice before. But I was hoping he would be rooting with us this time and giving us a little bit of a break.

PEREIRA: Well, it sounds as though you guys have had quite an evening there. How are things looking this morning? Did you avert a potentially bad situation there?

PEDUTO: We did, fortunately. These things, they can change in a matter of minutes. And really what we're watching is we're still under it, the threat of ice, rising temperature, frozen surfaces. And you can pretreat, but even that melts and allows it to turn to ice once again. So we're getting through a rush hour very cautiously right now.

PEREIRA: Yes. And I imagine you're advising people there to take caution going out the door. Talk to me about how your road crews are doing. Are they managing to keep up with this, because you mentioned freezing rain? We know it's going to get down to the teens there. Icy conditions are going to be a real concern.

PEDUTO: Yes. We actually changed to a 12-hour shift at 6:00 p.m. last night, so we had a shift over at 6:00 a.m. We upped the crews during the night from 33 to 45. We're around 70 at this point. And what we're doing is pretreating and then also making sure that the salt is going down again.

What we also did is we combined with a university this past year and created a snow tracker system. And for people at home, you can sit in your living room and find out by getting online where your plow has been, where it's going, and watch in real time the operation.

PEREIRA: It gives people a chance to plan their day a little bit better and think about whether they should even brave the elements at all.

PEDUTO: And probably by next year we'll be able to do that and show a route where you can just type the addresses like a map system to be able to show where the roadways that have been done. For us, we were able to see what streets were being missed under a system that wasn't automated before.

PEREIRA: Right. So are you anticipating at any point, given the conditions are expected to be overnight, freezing temperatures, more moisture coming down, are you anticipating trying to get people off the roads all together like, for example, putting a travel ban in place?

PEDUTO: At this point, we're not. We're at a level one of five levels, the five level being a full emergency operation. We had downgraded it when the temperature started to rise late last night. But at the same time we anticipate we will be doing that later this year. Winter has a way of hanging around in western Pennsylvania and usually doesn't go until after St. Patrick's Day.

PEREIRA: Yes. You folks are tough there at Pitt. You know how to handle this kind of thing. Thanks for joining us on the phone today. We know you have a busy day ahead. We wish you well. Thank you, Mayor Peduto.

PEDUTO: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right, so the big game was indeed a classic. And it really did, just like all the hype and exaggeration of sports, it came down to one play. Andy Scholes is live in Phoenix. Give us the score and more my smiley friend.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, the score was 28-24, Patriots. As you said, this game came down to one play. The drama was so real, so exciting. And this play has a lot of people talking this morning. The Seahawks got down to the one yard line. All they had to do was punch it in with Marshawn Lynch. They're going to run the ball, right? But, no, they throw the ball, and Malcolm Butler comes up with an interception.

Why do you throw the ball there? Well, in the Seahawks defense, Marshawn Lynch, he had run the ball from the 1 yard line five times during the regular season and he only scored a touchdown once, and no quarterback all season had thrown an interception from the 1 yard line. So they had that in the back of their heads. But, that being said, no one would have second-guessed running the football. But they threw it and Malcolm Butler will forever be a Patriot hero for the interception.

And this was such an impressive effort from the Patriots considering all the distractions of Deflategate that they had to go through during the week. And CNN's Rachel Nichols, she caught up with the Patriots owner Robert Kraft to get his thoughts on his team's performance after what they had to deal with over the past few weeks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: How did all the accusations about the footballs and Deflategate affect this team? And how does it influence how this win feels?

ROBERT KRAFT, PATRIOTS OWNER: I'm pretty proud. Especially I'm proud of Brady and Belichick and the way they've handled themselves.

NICHOLS: How much do you think you guys are going to be talking about deflated footballs in the coming weeks as opposed to champion rings?

DANNY AMENDOLA, PATRIOTS WIDE RECEIVER: I know that trophy isn't deflated so we're all good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And for Tom Brady, well, what can you say? His legend continues. He's now won four Super Bowls, matching his childhood idol Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for wins by a QB. He's thrown the most touchdowns in playoff history; he's thrown the most touchdowns in Super Bowl history. He has three Super Bowl MVPs. Guys, when we have the conversation who is the greatest of all time, Tom Brady is definitely going to be at the top of that list.

And, Chris, I heard you say earlier, Brady could have easily been 3-3 in Super Bowls if Malcolm Butler didn't come up with that interception. But I think of it is as he could easily be 6-0 if Eli Manning doesn't lead legendary comebacks in two of those Super Bowls, so I think you could think of it either way.

CUOMO: If ifs and buts were cherries and nuts, we'd all have a wonderful Christmas. What I'm saying, we love to talk about it but it all comes down to what happened on the field. I'll tell you one thing we haven't mentioned yet this morning, Andy was telling me this, why did they do this play? Nobody saw it. He was supposed to run. You know who saw it coming? Bill Belichick, the coach of the Pats. He put in a three-cornerback alignment. That's a pass defense. So he thought he was coming. Now that's genius (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: And you know who else? Malcolm Butler.

CUOMO: Yes. Number 21, ladies. That's me!

CAMEROTA: That's great. I'm happy to be back inside.

PEREIRA: Are you warming up?

CAMEROTA: Yes, I'm dethawing.

CUOMO: Where did you go?

CAMEROTA: I went out to the worst conditions ever! New York is really getting pummeled.

PEREIRA: We are equal opportunists here. CAMEROTA: I know; I do like that. Appreciate that.

CUOMO: I hope it ruins your appetite.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, back to one of our top stories, Japan says it's planning to expand its support for the fight against ISIS as the country mourns journalist Kenji Goto, who was beheaded by ISIS. Goto's wife issued a statement saying she was devastated but proud of her husband. The fate of a second ISIS hostage, a Jordanian military pilot, still unclear. Jordan continues to try to secure his release but officials still want evidence that he is alive.

CUOMO: Question -- a medical mistake in the making. A clinical trial for a drug to treat Ebola has been scrapped. Why? Because the number of infections in Liberia has sharply dropped in recent weeks and leaves only a handful of patients enrolled in this study. The World Health Organization has says Ebola continues to fall in three countries that are hardest hit in the last year. That's Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

PEREIRA: I've seen a lot of things but not this. I haven't seen this yet. A Detroit-area man thought he had a clever idea for getting around in the snow. The knuckleheed put in a pair of skis and hooked himself up to the back of a vehicle and, yep, cruising along until a local news crew spotted him and broadcast his little trip live. The local mayor happened to be being interviewed by the station at that time -- not impressed. He called on police to track down the skier and ticket him. And they did that.

CAMEROTA: So that's not allowed?

PEREIRA: Not allowed?

CAMEROTA: You can't waterski behind a car in the snow?

PEREIRA: Apparently not.

CUOMO: He was just snow skiing.

CAMEROTA: But that is sort of like waterskiing, right?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Yes. He was tethered.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We have a lot of work to do. She confuses waterskiing with snowskiing.

CUOMO: No, she's right. The dynamic was like waterskiing.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I don't want to like you today because of the Patriots bet and all that, but when you're right, you're right. You have to ticket the guy. I don't like unnecessary government or police action but you can't have people doing things like that. Somebody's going to get hurt.

PEREIRA: Well, that's the thing. You go around the corner, that guy could be thrown right into traffic.

CUOMO: But he looked cool. Cool points.

CAMEROTA: So we are following the deadly winter storm. There is a blizzard, forcing schools to shut down in Chicago, in Cleveland, in Connecticut. It has paralyzed airports. It is an absolute mess. We have our breaking news coverage for you.

CUOMO: Plus, measles. Measles is no joke and it may have spread to the East Coast. So many illnesses are going around at this time of year, you don't know what your kid has. We're going to tell you how to know if it is measles and some tips to keep all our kids safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The measles outbreak is spreading. This past week, hundreds of people in New York may have been exposed when a college student infected with the disease rode an Amtrak train through the states. This morning, 102 reported cases in 14 different states, putting new focus on the debate surrounding vaccinations.

Let's bring in Dr. Celine Gallagher, she's an infectious disease and public health specialist, and Rebecca Estepp, she's a vaccine safety advocate who chooses not to vaccinate her son. Becky, I want to start with you. You vaccinated your first son but you choose not to vaccinate your second son. Why?

REBECCA ESTEPP, VACCINE SAFETY ADVOCATE: Well, my first son reacted very badly to the MMR vaccine. He had a fever. He showed signs of encephalopathy, brain swelling. After that, his health suffered and he was diagnosed with autism. And we took him to an immunologist; he had no tigthers (ph). So that vaccine not only injured him but failed. And the injury was so serious I couldn't dare risk my second son's health with it.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Gallagher, what do you say to parents like Becky, who making a choice for their own family's health? She believes it would put her second son at risk were she to vaccinate him.

DR. CELINE GALLAGHER, INFECTIONS DISEASES & PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: I had a chance to read a little bit more about Becky's family yesterday in advance of the show. And from what I understand, it sounds like there is a history of auto-immune disorder in the family. That if he's not responding to the vaccine, that actually points to his immuno-deficiency, meaning his system is not normal. It doesn't respond normally the way yours and mine would.

Her son is actually precisely the kind of child who has a reason not -- a medical reason not to receive the vaccine. And the best protection for children like her son is for everyone else around her son, his classmates and so on, to be vaccinated. That way, he's not exposed to the measles virus.

CAMEROTA: Of course, Becky is not alone. Becky is not the only person in this situation. There are many families, they don't take this lightly. They are not vaccinating their children for a reason similar to or, in their mind, medically based. And it's hard when they're being vilified.

GALLAGHER: Well, I think, unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation about what are the risks associated with measles vaccine. So in the case of her son, if you have a weak immune system, the measles virus -- the strain of the virus that's in the vaccine for you and me, again, it's not dangerous. It's a weak strain. But for somebody with a weak immune system, it behaves just like the actual wild measles virus.

So she describes her son had encephalitis, infection of the brain. He could have had that from the wild measles virus as well. The difference is the average child will be able to conquer the virus strain in the vaccine but not the wild one.

CAMEROTA: Becky, what do you say that people who say that you and people like you who are choosing not to vaccinate their children are anti-vaccine? Are you anti-vaccine?

ESTEPP: I'm not anti-vaccine. I want parents making informed decisions and knowing everything about these vaccines beforehand. I had no idea my son was immuno-compromised. I don't know if he would have had encephalitis from the wild measles vaccine. No matter what, there are problems with the MMR vaccine. Japan took it off of their schedule only after four years and 2,000 adverse events.

There are problems with the vaccine. We have 58 deaths associated with the vaccine and the vaccine injury compensation program. So we are from a family with auto-immune disorders but no one warned us beforehand. And now I have a son that has permanent brain injury for the rest of his life, and I think parents need to know that.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Gallagher, she thinks the parents need to know that because when you go to your pediatrician, let's be honest, they never say there could be some risks to this vaccine. They never say what's your family history. The say here's the schedule of vaccines; your child needs to be vaccinated today so let's do these three vaccines.

GALLAGHER: Well, I think that's part of providing appropriate medical care. You should obtain a family history -- is there a history of autoimmune disease or immuno-deficiency? After the very first dose your son got and had a bad reaction to the vaccine, there should have been a question asked at that time. They shouldn't have continued to give repeated doses.

ESTEPP: But they told me he had the flu. They told me he had the flu, there's nothing wrong. So it happened twice. And his health and his brain has suffered for the rest of his life. There are consequences.

GALLAGHER: And I think the problem is it's not the vaccine, per se; it's the physician providing it not asking the appropriate questions first.

CAMEROTA: So Becky, what do you say to people who say by not vaccinating your second son, the son who is healthy, that you're putting other children at school at risk?

ESTEPP: I asked them what they would do in my situation, to really think about it. Would they risk brain swelling and permanent injury to save all the other children around them? Or would they take their parenting responsibility for their child? I think almost everybody would make the same decision as my husband and I made.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Gallagher, what's the answer here?

GALLAGHER: I don't fault her for the decision she's making. Again, there's a family history of auto-immune disease. Her first son sounds like he had an immuno-deficiency; second son may be at risk. Again, these are conditions that don't necessarily apply for the general --

CAMEROTA: But for the other families who are debating this right now, what is the answer for them? Ask more questions?

GALLAGHER: Ask more questions. And for those of you who are more interested in learning the details, on my Twitter feed I posted the data on this, including the Institute of Medicine report that looks at vaccine safety. They've looked at numerous studies to see what the safety issues are. Measles vaccine does not cause autism. Encephalitis is not cause autism. It's brain damage resulting from the infection, but it's not autism. And it's important to understand these distinctions.

CAMEROTA: We do invite people to do their own research. Becky Estepp, thanks so much for sharing your personal story with us. Dr. Celine Gallagher, thanks for the information.

GALLAGHER: My pleasure.

CAMEROTA: We want to hear from you on this important conversation. Please tweet us @newday or go to Facebook.com/newday. You can also find me on Twitter @alisyncamerota. Love to see your comments.

Let's go to Chris.

CUOMO: Well, here is something we know for sure -- 65 million people across 18 states are dealing with what you see right now. We have the latest on the conditions, the flight cancellations, and information what is next.

PEREIRA: Well, amid all that snow, the northeast is cheering the Patriots win; the northwest on the other hand feeling the pain. They just missed a victory of the Super Bowl by a mere 3 feet. We're going to discuss what went on -- who takes the fall for that call? -- with our experts up ahead.

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