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Record Snowfall Piles up in New England; Ukraine Rebel Leaders to Skip Peace Talks; No Answer Yet on Arming Ukraine; Charges to Be Announced in Murder of Hannah Graham; Will Diplomacy Succeed in Ukraine?

Aired February 10, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boston has been pummeled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only been 14 days, folks, and we've gotten 70 to 80 inches of snow around the commonwealth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind is so hard so it makes it worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brutality Europe has not seen in 20 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two leaders, they sounded very far apart on sending arms to the Ukrainian military.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What I've asked my team to do is look at all options.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NBC News now investigating some of the Brian Williams' reporting from over the years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Williams said he misremembered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why, Bri?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, February 10th, just about 6:00 in the east, New England, our friends up are breaking all kinds of records and in a bad way, buried once again by unrelenting snow.

There's already more than five feet on the ground before a new storm overnight dropped an additional 20 inches. School is out in Boston again, six times, ties a record, it's a real problem for kids and also parents, many of them may not have child care options.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now, the state's governor declaring a state of emergency, because the roads are so snow-covered that people can barely leave their homes. Cars are buried. All rail service is shut down there. And there are growing concerns that roofs may collapse under the weight of all the heavy snow. Even these giant melters that they have installed up there that you'll see in a second cannot keep up with all of the white stuff.

So we begin our team coverage of the winter that will not quit, with Rosa Flores, who is live in Boston.

How's it looking, Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning.

You know, the snow has really turned into the unwanted visitor that has extended its stay. It has been a week, and not inches but feet of snow here in Boston.

Take a look around me. You see these mounds of snow everywhere. The sidewalks, very narrow, and if you look right next to me, parallel in the street. The streets become very narrow, under these conditions. And whether you stay in or out, it can be very treacherous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): This morning, history is blanketing Boston. Millions wake up to over six feet of snow falling in the city since mid-January, making the past 30 days the snowiest month in history.

MAYOR MARTY WALSH (D), BOSTON: No city administration has ever dealt with this much snow in a very short period of time.

FLORES: The region bearing the brunt of the third snowstorm in just three weeks, sending them into a statewide emergency and closing schools again.

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R), MASSACHUSETTS: If I've learned one thing over the course of the past two weeks, it's -- Mother Nature makes the rules.

FLORES: So much snow, in fact, the Massachusetts governor says you could fill up the Patriots' home stadium 90 times over with the snow they've already removed.

On the road, vehicles buried, as near-whiteout conditions leaves transportation at a standstill. This commuter train struck after snow piles onto the tracks, forcing the more than 50 passengers to wait for a bus.

JACK CADEGAN, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF: They were sending a rescue train in to try to push it back into the Quincy station, and then that got stuck, also.

FLORES: The massive snowfall weighing down roofs, with collapses inevitable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guys at work just started yelling, get off, get off.

FLORES: Just south of Boston, construction workers say they had mere seconds to get out before the flattened building caved in behind them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weight of the snow on the buildings right now is getting critical.

FLORES: The city working around the clock, plows desperately trying to transfer snow to what's called snow farms, vacant parking lots that house massive melting machines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: The rail service stopped yesterday with an emergency declaration, of course, comes in federal and state resources, which are critical for municipalities. Now, those resources take care of all these roads.

But Chris, let me tell you something: These folks are still waking up and shoveling their way out. Because you've got to do this, folks, here in Boston. If you don't, if you don't clear your sidewalks, you could be cited. And Chris, here this: more than 1,500 people have already been cited in the past week.

CUOMO: All right, Rosa. I like that you had the overhand grip on the shovel, but remember, take from the top and bend the knees, bend the knees, especially when it's that cold out. Thank you for the reporting.

Shoveling, you know, that's the least of the problem, because as we know with the snow comes the ice, and then the morning commute, people have get to work. Big problems. There was a 15-vehicle pile-up killing one person, injuring dozens just outside New York City. The cause? Freezing rain most likely. So is even worse weather on the way? Meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.

It's hard to understand the concept of worse when we've had this much snow. But I know that comes down to mixed conditions. What do we see?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure. And it's also piling on. We've had so much snow, and then you get six more inches. Where do you put it?

Boston right now, if you stop snowing for the rest of the season, you are now the ninth snowiest winter ever. I have bad news: The snow isn't stopping. The cold air isn't stopping. Today it's sunny, a good day to clean up, but another storm comes in later in the day tomorrow, and it could be another coastal storm as that low runs up the East Coast.

Now, this isn't a major snow machine here for Boston, but four to six on the European model and about six to eight on the American model. There could be more on the cape. It just depends on where that low tracks. On both those models, though, not very much for New York City, a couple inches as best.

Today, though, New York and Boston, this is the warmest day of the rest of the week. It will certainly get colder. And the morning low temperatures by the weekend get ugly. Two degrees, that's not a wind chill, 2 in New York City for the temp. Sunday in Boston, 1. Try to stay warm -- Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Yikes, Chad, thanks so much for that.

So how is Boston handling all of this? Joining us on phone is Peter Judge, with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Peter, wow.

PETER JUDGE, MASSACHUSETTS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via phone): Wow is right, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I mean, how much do you have accumulated on the ground right now? Do you know?

JUDGE: Well, there are areas that -- outside of Boston that have well over seven feet of accumulated snow right now. And as we just heard, there's plenty more in the pipeline coming our way.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. OK, so your roadways are blocked is what we understand. One of the big problems.

JUDGE: Well, fortunately, the major highways are in pretty good shape. The state roads, where you can literally push the snow off the road to the side.

The issues are the residential streets, particularly in the urban areas, whereas we've seen there's nowhere for the snow to go. So that's our major attack, if you will, as we do our outreach to other states, for additional equipment. Literally, just to get the snow off those streets.

CAMEROTA: And we understand that you're moving thousands of truckloads of snow every night. Where are you moving it to?

JUDGE: Well, as you've heard, snow farms, which is just sort of a fancy name for, you know, vacant lots, ends of airports, things like that. Yesterday, in fact, we sort of made another move, a number of communities, about ten or so, have received waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency. And for emergency purposes, they're allowed now to dump some of this snow into the harbor, into the ocean, into major rivers.

CAMEROTA: And the problem with that, I mean, that would seem to make sense, water on water. Why is that an environmental problem?

JUDGE: Well, unfortunately, I guess, we've been treating these roads, so including the snow, you have the chemicals, you have the salt. And so there are other things in that. So that's why there's limits on how much you can do and for how long.

CAMEROTA: We understand the great state of New York has sent a jet engine machine to help you up there. What can that do?

JUDGE: Well, that's -- basically, would help with our rail transport. We've had all sorts of problems with freezing up on the third rail, just major problems with anything on tracks. So this, apparently, not only blows the snow away. But I guess heats it up enough that, you know, it has a longer-lasting effect. And I know city of New York had helped us out over the past weekend. And I think we're going to continue to need the help.

CAMEROTA: Are you getting reports of roofs collapsing?

JUDGE: Yes, we had a handful yesterday. Smaller industrial-type of storage units, those types of things. But it's something that we continue to push out to people, the fact that it's important to get as much weight off that roof, particularly with the incoming snow.

We've been fortunate that the snow in all three storms has been more on the light and fluffy side, instead of the heavy, wet stuff. If the next storm comes in, and it's going to be wet stuff, then I think you're going to see a real rash of roof collapses. A few years ago we had 200 or 300 within a week, following a similar type of series of storms.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my goodness. Peter, when are kids going to be able to get back to school up there?

JUDGE: It's going to be a while. Yesterday, the governor was talking about waivers and figuring out how to get around this. We may lose an April vacation. The kids might start going to school on Saturday. Who knows?

CAMEROTA: Oh, my goodness. They can't be happy about that. Peter Judge, best of luck this week as you look down the barrel of another storm. Thanks so much for joining us on NEW DAY.

JUDGE: You're very welcome.

CUOMO: All right. New information about a very different crisis. Death and destruction in eastern Ukraine now is it at a crisis point. There is no end in sight. There's word about who may or may not be attending the four-nation peace talks in Minsk, though.

So let's get right to senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, live in eastern Ukraine.

Nick, good to see you well. What do we know?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, a European diplomat with knowledge of the talks says that, at this early stage, and of course, things could still change, it looks like key rebel leaders, namely the Donetsk rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko and a man called Denis Pushilin, do not at this stage look like they're going to Minsk.

Now, they were hopefully going to be involved in one meeting between the rebels and Ukrainians and the OSCE monitors. But also, too, many hoped they'd be on the sidelines of that big Normandy format between the French, Germans, Russians and Ukrainians. If they're not there, that of course, lessens the kind of deals perhaps they would make, how seriously, certainly, they're taking the talks.

Russia today has stressed repeatedly they say they want to have a diplomatic solution here. But we've just been near the town Debatlseve here on the separatist side. Intense shelling targeting that city, quite remarkable and consistent. And I think a sense that that encirclement that the separatists claim is happening is either imminent or has already been completed and there are certainly a lot of people concerned now about what happened to the Ukrainian troops still inside that town -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much for the update from there.

After meeting with Germany's chancellor Monday, is President Obama closer or farther from sending arms to Ukraine? CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live for us at the White House. What's the answer, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn.

So the risks of arming Ukraine are known. The benefits are less clear. So the president says he's still in the process of making that decision, consulting with allies. He says we must keep tying for diplomacy, and that arms would be an option only if that fails.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even though she disagrees with the idea, in a show of unity said, "Let's give the Russians one more chance at diplomacy, and if that doesn't work, then we have to look for other options." And that's a big difference from what she said just a few days ago in strong opposition to arming Ukraine, even if she still feels that way. Both sides saying that, no matter what happens, the unity between the U.S. and Germany will remain strong.

On the other hand, you have Republican lawmakers, Senator Lindsay Graham, calling the president's stance "continued weakness in the face of aggression." You have some even within the administration, in the State Department and the Pentagon, as well as the Ukrainians themselves, believing that now is the time to arm them, because Ukrainians are being killed; and they think it would give them a stronger voice at the diplomatic table -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much, Michelle. We appreciate that update.

We have breaking news now, major development for you overnight in the case of murdered University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. Reports that prosecutors and police are going to announce charges in this case this morning. Let's turn to Jean Casarez, who has more for us -- Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. You know, this was the largest search for a missing person in the history of Virginia. And now, suddenly, an impromptu press conference with the county police and the county prosecutor. They are the lead agency for Hannah Graham. So the question is, are there now murder charges for Jesse Matthew?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ (voice-over): The man at the center of Hannah Graham murder case has been under the microscope of police for the past several months.

Thirty-two-year-old Jesse Matthew crossed authorities' radar in September. That's when the 18-year-old University of Virginia student went missing. It was just before dawn on September 13 when Graham was last spotted by surveillance cameras at a downtown mall near campus. Matthew also seen in this footage. The surveillance video and other accounts led authorities to identify Matthew as the suspect in her disappearance.

On September 24, he was taken into custody on charges of abduction with the intent to defile, after police picked him up in Galveston, Texas, 1,300 miles away from Charlottesville. Then in October, Graham's remains were found at an abandoned property, only eight miles from the mall where the college sophomore was last seen.

Now sources are telling CNN affiliates WVIR and WTVR that Matthew's charges have been upgraded to first-degree murder.

Meanwhile, authorities investigating if he could be connected to a string of unsolved killings and disappearances in the area. He is also charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Virginia in 2005. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, scheduled for trial in March.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ: Now, CNN cannot confirm these reports. Defendant Jesse Matthew has a very noted defense lawyer in the area, James Camblos, who used to be the elected district attorney there in the area.

And Chris, you know, a lot of people are going to say this is a simple case. So simple. It's not so simple, because Hannah Graham was found with only her remains. And you know, Chris, how difficult that is for a cause of death when you just have skeletal remains. And one thing a jury needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Jesse Matthew murdered Hannah Graham, if in fact, these are murder charges to come. So this could be a fight for prosecutors.

CUOMO: And first-degree will impose on the prosecution the demands that they show he had a plan, that there was thinking and preparation of this.

CASAREZ: Yes.

CUOMO: Very high bar, you're right, Jean. Thank you for the reporting.

CASAREZ: Thanks.

CUOMO: We'll stay on it.

In Syria, there's new information, President Bashar al-Assad is breaking his silence, telling the BBC he will not talk to U.S. officials about the airstrikes in his country against ISIS and will not join the international coalition against the terror group. Assad says, however, other countries are giving him information about what the coalition is doing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it via Iraq? That's what some people have said.

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA: That's through third party, more than one party. Iraq and other countries, sometimes they convey message, general message, but there's nothing tactical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Assad also denies that his forces dropped barrel bombs in rebel strongholds that killed thousands of civilians.

PEREIRA: Today President Obama could ask Congress to formally authorize military force against ISIS. This proposal calls for a three-year mission. It would require Obama's successor to ask Congress for new approval. It also restricts U.S. combat troops on the ground. That issue could certainly stir up a big debate.

Democrats are worried about another ground war in the Middle East. Republicans, meanwhile, don't want to rule out boots on the ground if they're needed.

CAMEROTA: Breaking overnight, a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia forced to make an emergency landing in Houston. When the plane touched down, sparks flew as the nose scraped the runway. The 57 people on board at the time were evacuated to a parking lot at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Meanwhile, an American Airlines flight from Dallas forced to land in Tulsa after the pilot smelled something strange in the cockpit. The plane was taken out of service. It is not clear what caused the odor.

PEREIRA: What kind of odor?

CAMEROTA: I don't know what kind of odor, but I don't like that combination of factors.

PEREIRA: No. No, I don't, either.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: Good move.

CAMEROTA: Are more things happening with planes?

PEREIRA: No. It just feels like it, I think. I don't know.

CAMEROTA: I don't know.

CUOMO: Malodorous things in general is what bothers you? Or do you think that the cockpit being scent...

CAMEROTA: No.

PEREIRA: We do work with a lot of men.

CUOMO: That's unkind. That cuts deep, Mick. That cuts deep.

PEREIRA: There is silence from the crew.

CUOMO: Cuts deep. Where's the Febreeze.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, diplomacy taking center stage in the Ukraine crisis. What if diplomatic efforts fail? Our experts explain what's next.

CUOMO: Usually, it's us who tell you what's in politicians' emails. Right? Jeb Bush says not this time. He is flooding the zone with thousands of emails from his time as governor of Florida. So what is in them, and what's behind the move? Answers ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. Welcome back. I hope your NEW DAY is going well so far. Here's news that we all need to know.

Ukraine may seem far away. But U.S. and European leaders worry about a domino effect. Russia trying to reabsorb former Soviet states. So the question is will diplomacy work? And if not, should the U.S. arm Ukraine? And if they don't and they're waiting, how long can Ukraine's military hold out?

We're going to get great perspective on this from General George Joulwan, the former supreme allied commander of NATO. He joins us now.

And most importantly, General, just to remind people, you know what situations like this are about from your time in Bosnia. Putin, no Milosevic; hasn't proven himself to be that yet. But the dynamic similar. So your perspective very needed this morning.

And the consideration here, General, time and tensions, diplomacy of course, preferred. Assuming you have the time for it and good faith intentions, do you believe that Putin wants to negotiate, wants a diplomatic solution here?

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, FMR. SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER OF NATO: I'm not sure. I think what we have to do is put the total pressure on him. Diplomatic, political, military and economic. And hopefully, the talks with the Germans and the French will bear results today.

But I think what we need to do is demonstrate political will as well as military presence. And I think NATO is ratcheting up to do that. And I think that will have an impact on Putin.

CUOMO: But you make a very interesting point, which is it's not just what you do. It's how you do it. If you say you're going to arm them, you have to arm them the right way. You know, we're hearing from the White House, we're going to give them weapons, but weapons to depend themselves, but not to allow them to beat Russia militarily. What does that even mean? JOULWAN: That is -- that is not, in my opinion, a good strategy. I

think what we need to be able to do is not only allow them to defend themselves, but take back the territory that they lost.

Now remember, the Russians have brought in not just troops, but they have brought in sophisticated weapons. Air defense weapons, very, very good in terms of tanks and armored vehicles. And you have to weigh all that when you say, what could the alliance do? What could the United States do?

And first of all, Chris, I think deterrence and containment is what we need to look at, not just a war-fighting strategy but how to ratchet up the deterrent effect. We've done that before with Russia when they were the Soviet Union, and I think they will respond to that pressure.

CUOMO: And, you know, just for some context for people, we were in Ukraine this summer. Eastern Ukraine had just started. It was called a police action. You'd hear shelling. A lot of open areas were getting hit.

But now the place just -- looks just like areas that you were under command of. You know, communities have been completely destroyed; thousands of people are dying.

The point about the deterrent effect, NATO is putting their outposts out. Numbers are getting thrown around. But what worked in Bosnia in terms of sending a message, that if this line is crossed bad things will come? What are the ingredients to success?

JOULWAN: Well, in Bosnia with Milosevic, it was clear rules of engagement; clarity in terms of the political will. At that time, we had 16 democratic nations that provided the political will for, in my case, for the military, to move into that country and stop the killing that was going on.

And that, we -- and we went in there with -- with a clear understanding that there was not just hostile act, but hostile intent. That we could take action. And I think that had a very positive effect.

But Chris, let me add, we were able to get the Russians to join us in that, in that deterrent, in that fight in Bosnia, and they were very useful in bringing about the successful conclusion of that fight.

CUOMO: Well, they're certainly not going to help this time, because this time, they are the aggressor.

But in terms of how you see this shaping up, they keep relying on this Minsk agreement, we have to go back to the Minsk agreement. But that's exactly the agreement that Putin is obviously paying no attention to.

So what do you think, going forward, are the steps? As diplomacy continues, do you have the time to allow Ukraine to be unarmed, the way they are right now, and still hold the territory? JOULWAN: No. I believe that we need to make some -- some steps here,

but you have to be careful. Because you have to pull the string all the way out. If we do provide arms, and that doesn't work, then what?

And I think we need to have a strategy here that's a much more broader strategy than just looking at arming Ukraine. I think we need to have a much broader comprehensive strategy.

But those are the sorts of things that NATO has been able to do in the past, and I think depending on what comes out of this meeting, that the next steps are going to be very important. And arming the Ukraine is one of them. But it has to be part of a total strategy. Diplomatic, economic, political as well as military.

CUOMO: And certainly, there is a lot of intelligence on the side of sanctions and time is what's been hurting Putin the most. And if you escalate the situation in Ukraine, you feed his narrative that he is being put upon by the west. So it is complicated.

But it's important to note, General, the way you did it and the way the coalition of 16-plus did it in Bosnia, how many soldiers did you lose in 15 years there?

JOULWAN: We have not one soldier to hostile fire. We lost one to fooling around in a grenade minefield. But none to hostile fire. And I think that's a credit to the comprehensive strategy that we had.

CUOMO: Important to note. General, thank you so much for your perspective. We look forward to relying on you in the future.

JOULWAN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn. Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris. Thanks so much.

Boston strong of a different sort. That city digging out after a third winter storm. Just how much can one town take? Well, more is on the way, along with bone-chilling cold. We'll tell you what you need to know, next.

CAMEROTA: And Brian Williams, in his own words. Did the newsman's attempt to clarify his false Iraq war story make things worse?

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