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New Day

Snow Storms Continue to Threaten U.S. Midwest and Northeast; Interview with New London, Connecticut, Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio; Interview with U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania

Aired February 03, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A monster storm slamming the northeast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put safety first. Put your family first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Treat the roads with caution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's icy rain which makes the roads like impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't really see the road right now. Everything's all like blurry.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know what causes autism for sure, but we know that vaccines don't.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: I've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Measles is preventable. You should get your kids vaccinated.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: When our president doesn't acknowledge that this is a religious driven war, it's going to be very hard to win it.

OBAMA: I reject a notion that somehow that creates a religious war.

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

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, February 3rd, just after 8:00 in the east. Temperatures in the Midwest and northeast are plummeting, turning the snow on the ground to ice. And you know what that means. It is a very dangerous commute for millions.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The freezing temperatures leaving no time for snow to melt, especially in Massachusetts where new records have been set. This is the snowiest week ever in Boston with more than 40 inches in the last seven days. And more snow could be heading for a direct hit on New England. Let's begin our team coverage with Alexandra Field. She is in Boston. How is it there this morning, Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. It's simply put a brutal commute this morning because of the bitter temperatures, because of the icy roads, and because of all of the obstacles that are still in people's paths. This is just some of the aftermath of a storm that has claimed 10 lives in its path.

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FIELD: Overnight a fatal deep freeze stunning the northeast, a dangerous trifecta of high winds, over a foot of snow in some parts and below freezing temperatures from New Jersey to Maine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're asking people if you can stay off the roads.

FIELD: Boston declared a snow emergency once again, setting the record for the snowiest week in the city's history. The new fear, ice as accidents litter the roadways.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In New Jersey it's icy rain which makes the roads like impossible.

FIELD: The New England Patriots parade postponed and scores of schools closed. Many not for snow but --

TODD O'SHELL: It's more of an ice day. Concerned about the driveways, sidewalks, the areas of students are getting on the bus.

FIELD: In Maine wind gusts produced bitterly cold wind chills up to 20 degrees below zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen a lot of people slip and fall. I've seen the buses slip back down the street.

FIELD: Other states dropped to the single digits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't really see the road right now. Everything is all like blurry.

FIELD: West of Boston treacherous conditions on the roads causing these teens to lose control of an ATV sliding into a parked car. In Ryan, New York, a minivan losing control on a major highway, careening into a previous ice-related accident, killing the other two drivers.

LEON PAVONE, NEW YORK MOTORIST: Horrible. Horrible. People have to slow down.

FIELD: In Vermont several snow plows were hit while trying to clear roadways. One slammed by a passing 18-wheeler. Another driver was trapped for 40 minutes after hitting a plow truck and had to be removed with the jaws of life. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Treat the roads with caution. If you have to go

out, go slow.

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FIELD: This morning this street corner that I'm standing on should be filled with thousands of people. In fact, the parade route was plowed in anticipation of the Patriots' homecoming. But late last night a last-minute decision was made that even if the roads were ready, concerns about ice and concerns about this cold were just too much. No reason to put people out here today. They'll have to wait for that celebration until tomorrow. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Yes, if it ever stops snowing they can get the celebration going there. Alexandra, thanks so much for the report.

So the deep freeze stretches beyond the northeast. If you were watching NEW DAY yesterday you will remember Martin Savidge's live reports from a very windy Cleveland, the city getting slammed by more than a foot of snow. Let's check back in with Martin Savidge. He is again in Cleveland where the temperatures, we understand, have taken a tumble this morning. So Martin, lower temperatures but less wind. How's that treating you?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me tell you exactly how that's treating me, and that is to quote Barry Manilow as I so often do when I'm on this fine program -- looks like we made it. In other words, it's a much better day in Cleveland, Ohio. Thank goodness, because primarily, one, it stopped snowing, but that wind finally stopped blowing. It is bitter cold, in fact colder than it was yesterday. But with the reduced winds it is, well, I won't say quite a walk in the park. It's a lot easier.

Still a bit of a rough go. Walking across the street, that could be a hazardous endeavor. But people are going back to work. The schools are back open again. The airport is pretty much back to normal with the exception of flights coming from the east. They got about eight to 13 inches of snow. They're five inches ahead of their regular snowfall for the season. More snow on the way. But overall they are recovering. They're getting back to work. It's Cleveland. It's winter. And now they'll focus on just looking forward to spring. So we're doing OK. Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: You know, Martin, your hat doesn't work as well if you hold it. You actually need to put it on your head.

SAVIDGE: I know. And I'm going to go see mom next so I say farewell to Cleveland. Hello, mom. I'm going to visit.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. Consider me your surrogate mom telling you to put your hat on. Martin, thanks so much for that. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Learning more about him. He's a Fanilow, didn't know that as well.

(LAUGHTER) PEREIRA: All right, let's get back to the storm. How long is this bitter, bitter cold going to last? Let's talk to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers in Columbus Circle. Are we done with the snow? Any reprieve in sight?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't think we get done with any snow until April.

PEREIRA: I know, but give me some hope, Chad, come one, this week.

MYERS: The sun's going to come out today. How's that?

PEREIRA: I'll take it.

MYERS: That sounds like a good thing, except when the sun sets tonight, the sun as it melts the snow on the roadways will then allow the roadways to freeze tonight. There's not any silver lining in this. I know there's a couple of pieces of lining in my coat and I would expect you to bundle up today, but please bundle up the pets if you're going to have them out for any length of time. They don't know they're cold until it's too late. So please take care of the pets and the elderly today.

And never assume that that car that's coming at you as a pedestrian can stop as you're in the crosswalk, too, as things freeze up again tonight. There's your good news, Michaela.

Tomorrow, 30, what that says nine, and then 30, and then 23. So back into the deep freeze. Even Chicago, the highs only going to be 11, 11, that's the high. The morning lows are always going to be below freezing. Some of the morning lows are well below zero. And so the refreeze that occurs every single night will be a problem. There goes the next storm system that will bring some light snow. It's a clipper which means it's a quick-moving storm, two to four inches across parts of the Midwest all the way through the northeast. The European model predicting more snow for Boston, somewhere around eight inches of snow by the end of the week. So far I'm not a believer. I'll have to keep watching that one. Michaela, back to you.

PEREIRA: I'm a hopeless Pollyanna. I always the want to see the brightness, OK.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: We just need a little reprieve. And 36 will feel downright balmy, Chad. Thank you.

MYERS: It feels warmer in the studio than it does out here. I guess that's something.

PEREIRA: That's very true, very true.

All right, so we know the winter storm has brought ice and bitter cold, both of which are greatly impacting the city of New London, Connecticut, a city hit quite hard by last week's storm. Joining us by phone, the mayor of New London, my home away from home last week, Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio. Good to talk to you, Mr. Mayor.

DARYL JUSTIN FINIZIO, MAYOR, NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT: Good to talk to you.

PEREIRA: So a full on blizzard in your town last week, 20 inches of snow in some areas. The drifts were even higher. How did you fare this time around?

FINIZIO: Well, we got hit with another good blast yesterday, but our DPW crews never stopped. They went into action a day before the blizzard. They never let up all through last weekend, all through yesterday's storm. And today by a miracle our roads are open, our schools are opening, our government buildings are opening. And without their hard work, it just would not be possible.

PEREIRA: Your crews were working around the clock last week and it sounds like they're back at it again, sort of a one-two punch, sort of adding insult to injury. How are you doing on resources? You got enough salt, et cetera?

FINIZIO: We have enough resources, but the resource you can't quantity phi is the heart that these guys have shown. You know, our local team won the Super Bowl on Sunday, but these crews that are out there on the roads, they're the real New England patriots. I mean, if people could see them in action, they would have a new respect for what these public servants are doing for us. And my heart goes out to our crews here in New London but all the crews across New England who have been hitting this nonstop for over a week now.

PEREIRA: Nothing like seeing those plows coming around the corner when you're snowed in. It's like the cavalry is coming.

FINIZIO: The cavalry has arrived, that's right.

PEREIRA: I want you talk to me a little bit more about what you mentioned about the schools. I know the kids there have been out of school for a week.

FINIZIO: This is the first time back in a week.

PEREIRA: OK, so they're back open today and kids went back to school today?

FINIZIO: They are back open today. We had a potential to open on Friday but the decision was made not to because a lot of our streets are narrow and we didn't want to force an opening for one day of school in the middle of all of this with kids walking down the middle of the road while plows are trying to plow. The superintendent erred on the side of public safety and I think that was the right decision.

PEREIRA: When we were there you were erring on the side of public safety. You had a travel ban locally and you were proud to say that there were very, very few accidents in that time. What is your biggest concern going forward in the next 24 to 48 hours?

FINIZIO: Well, people here responded to the travel bands, the parking bands. We kept the schools closed. And as a result, that's why we're digging out. And that's why we haven't had as many accidents. That's why we haven't had any deaths. And we want to keep it that way. So now that the roads start to look passable, people need to be cautious when they get out there on the roads to drive slow. Even if a road looks clear, it may be just a sheet of black ice. And that's obviously going to get worse in the evenings this week as some melting occurs during the day and then the roads refreeze at night. So, yes, we're getting back to normal, but go slow. Be safe.

PEREIRA: Wise words from Mayor Finizio. You invited me when I was last there to come back in the summer. I promise I'll do that because I think it's a very beautiful community. Thank you for joining us.

FINIZIO: You will actually be able to see the ground, and we'd love to have you.

PEREIRA: What a concept. I love it. All right, Mayor Finizio, thank you so much for joining us from New London this morning. Take care.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, another implication here about all of this bad weather, you think you have a flight to catch this morning? Call the airline. You probably don't. As I say that, many heads are nodding and shaking at airports all over the east coast, because that massive storm that hit the northeast is impacting travel everywhere along this coast. Hundreds of flights already scrapped for today. Let's get to Jean Casaras live at New York's LaGuardia Airport with the latest. Jean, how are people handling it?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are handling it well. I've got to tell you, there's a lot of happy travelers today. They're getting their boarding passes. They're going through security behind. Even pilots are ecstatic. "My flight's on time," one pilot told me. But it doesn't mean that there aren't cancellations.

I want to show you this board, because they're really sporadic. As you can see right now, Greensboro is delayed. There's a lot of on- times, but all the flights to Montreal are canceled today. Nashville is canceled today. Also delays to Tampa. So it's really hit or miss right here. And there is that ripple effect, that domino effect, because if you were canceled yesterday, then you might not get on a plane today.

I want to show everybody where the leading cancellations are. LaGuardia where I am now, that is the leader of the country for cancellations coming in at 85. And then beyond that it's Boston Logan at 72, Chicago O'Hare at 27.

And I think the major concern with travelers here are those that need to get back to work, need to get back to school. And some people are paying for a hotel room on that dream vacation and that hotel room is empty because they can't get there.

But we want to end on something. You know, we talk about travelers, but what about the people that work for us, that are standing out in the cold making these plane travels happen. Look at the JetBlue handler yesterday in the snow. He wrote, "I'm cold. Hello. Just telling everybody I'm here." But, yes, it is brutal out there. Michaela?

PEREIRA: That's fantastic. We love seeing that. It certainly made the rounds on social media. Jean Casarez, our thanks.

Violence escalating once again in eastern Ukraine. Government officials say five soldiers were killed in clashes with pro-Russian rebels as both sides prepare to mobilize more combat forces. The U.S. may send lethal aid to Ukraine to help fight the rebels. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Thursday with President Petro Poroshenko and other government officials in Ukraine.

CUOMO: Four major chains in New York state are accused of selling fraudulent and possibly dangerous herbal supplements. Authorities tested store brands at GNC, Target, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and four out of five bottles tested didn't contain any of the herbs listed on the labels. They also found pills labeled medicinal herbs that contained cheap fillers like powdered house plants and in some cases substances that could be dangerous to those with allergies.

CAMEROTA: Cute or cruel? You decide. You can tell from Petunia the pug's face she's not feeling the Massachusetts snow. She thinks she's safe in her owner's arms until he drops her and she disappears into the white abyss.

PEREIRA: Man, come on!

CAMEROTA: She's pulled out. Her owners are laughing.

PEREIRA: Oh.

CAMEROTA: But she does not seem terribly amused.

CUOMO: They did it again? No, that's a repeat.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: The pug. Bred to protect Chinese emperors, not known for digging in the snow.

CAMEROTA: Interesting factoid. Thank you.

PEREIRA: I would love to know what that pug was thinking.

CUOMO: You know what he was thinking.

PEREIRA: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: All right, back to one of our top stories. The CDC confirming the measles outbreak is spreading this morning. This as a Pennsylvania congressman is holding a hearing on vaccines. What is he trying to accomplish? We are talking to him live.

CUOMO: Say it ain't snow. There's another winter storm on its way. Our Chad Myers will tell you what you're in for. He's sexy, but is he right?

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CUOMO: Welcome back.

We have to deal with this measles situation because the CDC says there are now more than 100 confirmed cases of measles in 14 states across the U.S. Remember, 2000, they said there was no more measles and the reasons was because there was herd immunity because of vaccines. What does that mean? Well, the CDC says people aren't getting vaccinated as much and as a result kids are going to get sick, adults are going to get sick.

Let's discuss this. It's urgent enough that Republican Congressman Tim Murphy is holding a hearing on vaccine effectiveness later this morning.

Congressman, it is good to have you.

REP. TIM MURPHY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning.

CUOMO: I know you're talking the flu vaccine and measles vaccine. But you do have a common group of issues involved. Politicians are getting involved here, not the way you are productively but they're talking about it, Chris Christie and Rand Paul.

Let's listen to what they said.

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GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: All I can say is we vaccinated ours, 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: I heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, Congressman, you know, they're both Republicans, you're a Republican. I know Rand Paul is trying to figure out which way he wants to go, but when you look at this issue -- are they pandering, or do you think there is a basis for skepticism about the measles vaccine?

MURPHY: I think the issue with vaccines and whether or not mercury that used to be put in vaccines over 10 years ago has an effect on autism has been repeatedly dispelled. "Lancet" magazine published an article about 1998, '99, and it since then has retracted in saying that scientists that published that falsified his data. There's no that link.

Certainly, we are very, very concerned about the increase, rise in autism, and we should feel compassion and it should drive us to do the right science in dealing with vaccines. But I don't want us going down the wrong road and leading to panic. Look, there are a couple of areas that are important and what we're going to do with this in their hearing today, primarily the ineffectiveness of the flu vaccine where we may have 50,000 deaths this year and then of course it will lead over to other questions people have about measles and not getting a vaccine.

We hope that that doesn't lead to some deaths, but there's chances of that. It's growing at twice the rate of last year, measles, and it's about 10 times the rate it's about over the last ten years. So, they're both big concerns.

CUOMO: Right. Let's unpack it a little bit.

First of all, both of their campaigns, Christie's office and Paul's office both came out and made corrective statements that, you know, really adhered much more to conventional thinking, which is kids should get vaccinated, especially for the measles, but that goes to why we are engaging in this paranoia. Why are we doing this? Why are we presenting this like there is a debate as to whether or not you should get your kids vaccinated and saying parents should have a choice?

Well, they do have a choice, but should you think ever about not vaccinating your kids unless the kid has a specific immune issue?

MURPHY: I think the science is pretty clear that says there's a greater value to having a vaccination done for whatever that is. And the other risks that people are talking about simply have not been found in any scientific study, period. And I think it is important for people to get vaccinated.

What I'm concerned about is when we don't get the vaccines, the harm is much greater. You know, when we have -- we're going to be asking the CDC and others today how did they mess up this reading of the flu vaccine when they knew last September it wasn't going to be effective.

CUOMO: That's a different issue, right, Congressman? That's not about let's not get vaccinated for the flu, that's about the effectiveness of the vaccine and what we're able to know and what we should do to prevent.

MURPHY: But in each case, what I want to see the CDC do is communicate to the public. They need to have these things done and tell people the scientific reasons. The silence is a huge problem, when you see 100 cases coming out of Disneyland alone and association there. And keep in mind that, you know, measles can spread just from the air, flu can do those things, too.

CDC needs to be out front with sound information. Heck, when we had the Ebola issue, you know, they were on the air every few minutes talking about it. They need to be doing a lot more with public factual information so it does not become a scare in any of these cases.

CUOMO: Because now when you have the flu vaccine not being that effective, it fuels skepticism about getting vaccines in the first place, right? MURPHY: Exactly.

CUOMO: It doesn't work, why would I get that, even though any vaccine you have is going to make you much less likely to get sick.

So, what do we do here with the measles situation? Because, you know, it's being presented as a debate and I've been saying all morning, I can't have my kid bring peanut butter to school, right?

MURPHY: Right.

CUOMO: Because there's a presumption someone has an allergy. You've got much better chances now with measles and these -- and the flu vaccine, you know, getting the flu, but we're not making that mandatory.

MURPHY: Well, Chris, you bring up a great point. It's the issue when you have a little bit of bad science goes a long way in creating a myth and legend that creates more harm. And then, when you have -- in the energy and commerce committee which I serve, there's a hearing on the past, people on both sides of the aisle have made mistaken statements about the impact of vaccines and developmental disabilities.

I work with many a child with developmental disabilities. I've seen all sorts of things out there from food allergies to special diets to even corporal punishment as a way of dealing with autism. None of those things bear out.

What we have to do is focus on doing the right thing, but not these scares based upon no science.

CUOMO: Look, what we do know is that the saturation of vaccines have gotten much less, right? We're much more effective at administering vaccines than we used to be. The number of diagnoses of autism has gone way up as the definition of it and the spectrum of it has broadened. People have to understand those aspects as well.

Well, let me ask you, what do you do with the CDC to get them better on the flu vaccine. You say they face challenges. What are they and how do we overcome them?

MURPHY: Well, the flu vaccine a huge problem -- around March of last year, they showed up with 17 percent of the miss rate. It wasn't going to be effective. Something new was developing. By September, they knew 50 percent, it had grown considerably.

CDC made a determination -- actually, World Health Organization said, you know, in the southern hemisphere let's vaccinate people against this other flu. But they maintained in the northern hemisphere.

What I'm concerned about here is I think they had time to make a change in this. And the fact that seniors in particular are very high risk for illness of the flu and death, that they should have done more early on. They could have developed an alternate vaccine. They did in the past, in 2009. They didn't do that. We've got to get to the bottom and say who made this decision? What

was this based on? Where was the science there? Now, we see the harms coming out. If it deals with the issue of the credibility of the CDC and their statements, their silence on one hand and giving statements that I think are weak on the other.

CUOMO: Representative Tim Murphy, this is important stuff. We're going to monitor the hearing today. Thank you for joining us on NEW DAY, with some advance notice.

MURPHY: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right. Mick, over to you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New pictures of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The question is why now? We have a live report from Havana, straight ahead.

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