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New Day

U.S. East Coast Prepares for Snow Storms; Interview with North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory; Interview with Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia; National Review Slams Trump as "Menace to Conservatism". Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 22, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your new day. Up first, much of the east coast is about to get snowed under. Right now 29 million people are under blizzard warnings, 75 million people are in the path of a monster winter storm. States of emergency in effect already from Georgia to Pennsylvania.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Washington D.C. and parts of the mid Atlantic could get the worst of the storm. A record 30 inches of snow could fall in Washington. The looming storm already causing a mess for air travelers and nearly 5,000 flights canceled today and tomorrow.

We have this storm covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with Polo Sandoval in Charlotte, North Carolina, where ice is the big concern. What's it like at this hour, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Alisyn, we have been through the three different stages of precipitation here. Overnight we saw light drizzle. That turned to snow which you can see now covers this is park in the heart of Charlotte. And now if you pause for a quick second you can actually hear the freezing rain hitting my jacket.

And as you mentioned, that is the concern here. It is a very picturesque scene, but what worries officials is the ice. When you have the ice forming on streets and on some of the power lines you have powers outages. And that's one of several reasons why official are asking people simply stay on alert and try to stay home if possible.

I can tell you that we've been here a while and we've seen officials really to begin to prepare and treat those streets ahead of this storm that moved in overnight. They were basically spreading this brine, this combination of salt and water on the streets to try to prevent that ice accumulation.

But finally I could tell you that a lot of people this morning are asking a very important question, and that is will one of the most important games for the Panthers still happen on Sunday? That is still scheduled to happen. However some folks who may have planned to fly in may run into some trouble. In fact I checked in with some of the hotels here, Alisyn, a lot of people seem to be canceling their plans to fly into the city and forced instead to drive into Charlotte.

CAMEROTA: And that's dangerous, too. All right, Polo, thanks for that update.

Washington could be the hardest hit, as much as 30 inches of snow could blanket the D.C. Area. The city says it is better prepared for the coming monster storm after admitting it was caught off guard by Wednesday's much lighter snowfall. CNN's Chris Frates is live at the nation's cam capital at the salt dome. Tell us what's going on at this hour Chris.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. As you can see the salt trucks behind me, ready to get out on the road. And that is because officials here spent most of the day yesterday trying to reassure a very jittery public that they were indeed ready for this monster storm coming down the pike, and that is because on Wednesday night we saw just a light dusting, about an inch of snow on the ground, and that snarled traffic all over the capitol region. Even the president's motorcade getting caught up on that routine trip from Joint Base Andrews to the White House, usually 20 to 30 minutes. It took the president more than an hour to get home. Us regular folks, five or six hours, some folks even abandoning their cars and walking. And yesterday D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser apologized, saying that there weren't enough salt trucks on the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON D.C.: We are very sorry for inadequate response. We believe that we did not provide adequate resources at a time where it could make a difference. We should have been out earlier with more resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So Bowser trying to reassure everybody that they are ready for this storm that is going start to hit the D.C. area later today. Maryland, D.C., Virginia all issued state of emergency that. That qualifies them for federal assistance if they need it, including the National Guard.

Now, the city government and the federal government leaving early today around noon. Schools closed all day, and that is largely to try to keep cars off the road. They want to get these salt trucks onto the road. They want to start treating these roads, get ahead of the storm so that when this bad boy hits they are prepared and they avert the kind of disaster we saw on Wednesday, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Salt those roads in advance, that's wise. Also wise to move away because you don't want to get pelted by that salt truck. That's happened before and it is not fun.

All right, the monster storm is already snarling air travel. We're told nearly 5,000 Flights have been canceled over the next two days, today and tomorrow. Amtrak, meanwhile, has modified its service in the northeast. Travel is just being impacted. Correspondent Rene Marsh is live at Washington's Reagan national airport with more. How are things looking there?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, I'll have to say the people behind me I guess you would consider the lucky ones because they are going to be able to get on those last flights leaving out of airports like Reagan National Airport. You can see earlier this morning it was really crunch time. You still see some lines here at the ticket counters as people try to beat this storm. Of course as you know nearly 5,000 cancellations, more than 2,000 of those cancellations for today alone.

[08:05:02] So some of the hardest hit airports, we have them on your screen here. Charlotte really a lot of cancellations starting today, Reagan National where we are. Baltimore's airport as well as Raleigh Durham, Washington Dulles and Atlanta's Hartsfield airport.

At the peak of the storm you are going to see airports like Reagan National. Operations will completely stop. There will be nothing coming in and out. And I can tell you in just a matter of hours the flights that we see leaving here will likely be the last flights for these airlines. What they do not want is to have aircraft here on the tarmac that essentially gets buried under snow. So you are going to see airlines pulling their aircrafts from airports like this one which is essentially in the cross hairs of the storm.

When will things get back to normal? Usually it takes about 48-72 hours before they can get the system up and running again. But when we talk about a normal schedule, that could take a lot longer unfortunately, Michaela.

CUOMO: All right, I'll take it. Travel is a problem but there are much bigger things to worry about as well. There is a blizzard we're talking about the hammering the east coast. So who is supposed to get the worst of it? CNN meteorologist Chad Everett Myers joining us with the latest numbers. You have been tracking and busy all morning, I've been watching you. What do you see?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I still see D.C./Baltimore being the bull's eye, the center of that cone of what we call uncertainty in a hurricane. But it is the center of where we believe the heaviest snow will be. That will move up towards Philadelphia and even to New York City. But I think that band, the biggest band of snow stays south of New York City for at least a while. We'll have to see what happens, that is tomorrow.

Winter storm warnings for 35 million people or so, blizzard warnings for 29 people. You do the addition, that's an awful lot of people in the way. Millions of people trying to get out of way or hunker down and stay where you are. Get a few extra supplies and stay the weekend at your house.

There is the snow in D.C. by noon. So they need to get the truck out pretty soon. Snow into New York City by midnight, 1:00 a.m. tonight, and it snows all day tomorrow in very big cities. I saw Rene out there at the airport. If you are trying to fly today, please try to carry on rather than check a bag. Once you check a bag on a plane you are committed to that plane. If you are still carrying on a smaller bag you can actually have a little flexibility to get on a plane that someone miss or a later plane. But once you are booked for that plane it is yours. That's when you put it under the plane, that's what you get. So try to travel light today. People will be in and out. There is the bull's eye, D.C., but all the way up to New York City. It could be a foot, could be more.

PEREIRA: Chad, you're just serving us so well. Thank you for that little tip on the travel. That really does help a lot of folks I'm sure.

So the two states expected to get hit hard, North Carolina and Virginia, we're going speak to the governors of both of those states. In fact we're going to start with the governor of North Caroline, Governor Pat McCrory. Thank you so much for joining us. We understand you have declared a state of emergency in your state, 18 inches of snow is sort of the outside of what you are expecting. What are you most concerned with of this storm governor?

GOV. PAT MCCRORY, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: Ice. Ice is a major, major concern. And what's happening for example in the Raleigh, Durham, Chappell Hill area is it is going from rain to sleet and then back to rain. And that means the materials that we put on the roads are being washed away. And then the ice returns and the public will think the roads are OK but it will be black ice, and that is a major concern.

And the Greensboro, Salem high point area, we're going to have, probably maybe even a foot of snow that area. The question will be how much ice will be underneath that snow. In the Charlotte region, again, we have four or five metro regions that are being impacted across the state.

The Charlotte region, again, ice is going to be our major concern with not only the roads but also power outages possibly. And in Nashville, sadly, we've already had two fatalities. That was Wednesday night. We had another fatality due to ice in the Salem area. So ice is our major concern, both for roads and possible power outages. But we've got a lot of crews out there throughout the state right now. Our main concern is we keep going between rain and ice, rain and sleet and snow. And as long as that happens, no matter what we put on the roads might not work.

PEREIRA: Yes, we understand you have also deployed National Guard teams to the area. We also understand you have got a big state to deal with and vastly different terrain. You've got the coastal areas, the mountain, the metropolitan, very rural areas. How do you specifically manage to deal with the needs of each of those areas with this storm?

MCCRORY: It is about a 450 mile area that this storm is hitting across the state.

[08:10:00] And in Nashville area we're really worried about the snow and in Charlotte, the ice. So we've got National Guard, utility trucks and highway trucks deployed in three different major regions at this time. And also we've got to be a little concerned about the amount of rain in the east. We don't anticipate snow at the coast, but we are looking at the tides on the coastal areas. Fayetteville also the area we have a major military installation. We're worried about snow, ice, and sleet at that point in time, too. So it's a major issue. And we've got major basketball games in Raleigh with NC State playing Duke.

PEREIRA: You've got a big football game on Sunday.

MCCRORY: We're glad the weather is supposed to clear by Sunday, so I don't anticipate anything stopping the Carolina Panthers from getting to the Super Bowl.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: I love the way you think. We know that it is going to hamper some folks trying to make a weekend of it. Obviously they're going to have to later their plans there.

MCCRORY: Yes. And we do want to make sure people are very, very careful. This is going to fool us, because sometimes it is more dangerous not to have the very thick snow and large accumulation of snow. We're more worried about the ice at this point in time. Typical North Carolina winter where it is right in the fine line, but tonight we're probably going to have in the 20s from Nashville all the way to Raleigh Durham area.

PEREIRA: Sorry governor, last night I know you last night you were mulling issuing a travel ban. Have you made any further determination whether you're going to do that?

MCCRORY: We are recommending to all state employees unless you are essential do not come to work. And I think 90 percent of our school systems are closed across the state. So I just got on the interstate getting here, and it looks like people are heeding our warning. And that is good news. We're very fortunate that the forecasts have been correct and we didn't have a rush hour situation. People are staying home and that is extremely important for our citizens. We're having a lot of accidents. Of course I-95, I-26, I- 40, I-85, so we have got the major highways form throughout the nation intersecting in North Carolina. So we are very concerned about the overpasses and also the exit ramps. That's usually where the accidents occur.

PEREIRA: Governor Pat McCrory, you said you want to be over- prepared and underwhelmed. We hope that is the case and that your citizens do well and bear this up well. Thank you so much for joining us and we'll keep people posted on the state of this.

MCCRORY: Thank you very much.

PEREIRA: Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Michaela, this is a time where government has to be in action, and very often the decisions are tough to make. Virginia is in the storm's bull's eye as well. They could get as much as three feet of snow in parts of that state. So let's turn to the Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe. Governor it's good to have you on the show.

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE, (D) VIRGINIA: Thank you so much.

CUOMO: Sorry about what's coming your way. This decision, the I-81 corridor, that is a major thoroughfare through there. You could get a ton of snow and ice, probably can't prepare for it. The question is, do you close it? These enter into damned if you do, damned if you don't propositions very often for government. What is your thinking?

MCAULIFFE: We always believe to err on the side of caution. We move quickly. We were the first state yesterday to declare a state of emergency. And the reason you do that, Chris, is it removes the weight restrictions on roads so you can reposition all of your equipment. We have 13,000 pieces of equipment right now, 2,500 personnel. We have plenty of salt. We have about 650,000 tons of salt, 2 million gallons of liquid salt. So we have the personnel, we have the equipment. We now have them positioned in all the strategic areas. It has started to snow from Bristol to Roanoke, so southwest Virginia, our rural areas are already being impacted. It is going all the way up Interstate 81.

We're talking potentially three feet of snow up in Harrisonburg and Winchester. That is a dramatic impact on Interstate 81, 70,000 cars and trucks a day use that as the major thoroughfare for commerce and for other activities.

We'll make whatever decision we have to. Our goal is to move very quickly. I'm very concerned about northern Virginia. Millions of people of course live in northern Virginia, and we're looking anywhere from one to three feet of snow.

But the good news is we have prepositioned all the equipment. We have the equipment ready. We have the personnel. We've moved aggressively. I've activated 500 National Guards men and women. We're really concerned about the rural areas, Chris, because a lot of these folks, you get a couple feet of snow, elderly focus can't get access to their medication. So we're really looking at our guard today. We'll take it more if we need to be able to help those that are really going to be in a very tough situation.

We want to move quickly and get the roads open as fast as possible. But I always err on the side of caution. As I said, we're the first state to declare a state of emergency. We have everybody in place. We're ready to go. In Hampton Roads, the largest naval base in the world, lot of rain, very high winds. So we're prepared for everything, and we've just now got to execute our plan.

[08:15:00] Our emergency operations center is up and running, Dominion Power, National Guard, state police, all of the utilities. We're ready to go. We're ready for this storm.

CUOMO: So, in the rural areas you are right. The first responders are usually the closest responders. Neighbors usually wind up taking care of their own more than anything else. It's hard to get resources. That's part of the reality.

The other part of the reality is governor you can't prepare for this. You have a lot of equipment, you got a station, you do what you can, but Mother Nature almost always wins, even just put some icing. You saw it nearly 800 car crashes on Wednesday alone, and that leads us back to this determination.

When do you have to pull the trigger on whether or not to shut down the major thoroughfares?

MCAULIFFE: The second the state police call me and inform me that Interstate 81 is not safe for traffic. The second Colonel Flaherty will call me and say we can't allow cars or trucks on 81, I pull the trigger immediately. We will shut it down immediately if it's unsafe conditions.

Listen, we are going to do whatever it is. Our number job is to keep, Chris, our community safe. This is a major snow event for us. Three -- potentially three feet of snow up in northern Virginia, our rural communities. I mean, we dealt with this with much smaller amounts in rural areas where folks couldn't get access to their medicine. We had to evacuate folks who need to get to a hospital, especially elderly folks.

And I got to tell you, that's why our National Guard are so instrumental and why you do as I say do an executive order to make sure you declare a state of emergency so you can activate all the state resources.

The one thing I plead with everyone is don't go on the roads. Yesterday at 5:00 I canceled -- shut down the state government, told all the employees to stay home. Our schools are closed. Stay off the roads.

Let us do our job. Let the equipment and the personnel do what they need to do so we can get the roads clear. Next week it is going to be in the high 40s. So if you can let us get the roads clean, we can get back to normalcy very quickly next week.

But please don't go on the roads if you don't have. Stay home. Watch some sporting events or do whatever. But stay off the roads and let us do our job.

And we can do it. We've done this before. We're very efficient at snow removal. Let us do our job.

CUOMO: We will repeat the warning early and often and we will stay in touch with you so we can get out information as needed.

While we're awaiting the impact of the storm and hopefully we are underwhelmed, let's go to a different situation to get your head around it, the race for president. Nobody understands Democratic politics better than you do. Hillary Clinton getting a surprise challenge from Senator Sanders in Iowa and not so much in New Hampshire. Not so much a surprise but certainly tough.

Bill Clinton we hear is concerned about Hillary Clinton's ground game, that they are too focused on Iowa and New Hampshire and that they are going to have dissipated strength in the other states that matter as much or more. What is your take?

MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, I always knew it was going to be close, Chris. You have been following politics a long time. I think after Labor Day, folks who have been waiting begin to formulate a decision. It's always going to be a close contest. I've been doing this a very long time.

I feel confident where Hillary is in Iowa. It's going to be a close race. It's always -- that is part of what Iowa is.

New Hampshire obviously, you have a neighboring senator running. That's going to obviously be tougher. But then you head down to March 1, including Virginia. I feel Hillary has a very good ground game here. We've been working very hard in Virginia.

For me, who is the best to lead the banner going into next year's election? We have a lot of issues we're facing in this nation today. I believe Hillary has all of the qualifications really to deal with all of the issues we're facing on the foreign policy issue.

On the healthcare front, economy front and for many of us that is what the decision is about. Who's the best? Who can win? And who is the best to deal with these myriad of issues our nation is facing today?

She's strong. She is smart. She is tough. She's going win the nomination. It's going to be a slug fest, all the way through, which it normally is.

But you know what? I always say, this is good for the process. A lot of ideas. Healthy ideas. People get out there and make their points.

This is what the Democratic Party is all about. We do need Hillary. We need her as the nominee. It will help us win back control of the Senate.

In addition, more importantly, when she is president, she can deal with all the issues we're facing in the Middle East, the issues we're facing on the economy. Help us on education.

And look at Virginia today our economy is booming today. I became governor we had a record deficit -- or a very large deficit. We now have the largest surplus in Virginia history, invested in education, invested in healthcare, lowest unemployment in any of the southeast. That is what she'll do for the country.

CUOMO: Governor, appreciate you being on here. We wish the best for your state. And once again a demonstration why your head is better on mine on politics. I would have never thought a self- described Democrat socialist would be neck and neck with Hillary Clinton at this point in the race. So, you are smarter than I am.

Thank you for being with us. We will be touched. Let us know if the situation on the ground changes.

[08:20:00] MCAULIFFE: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Take care, Gov.

MCAULIFFE: You bet. Thank you very much.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK. On the other side, when Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump this week, it made a statement about Donald Trump's conservative credentials. Why are dozens of conservatives coming out to say Trump is no conservative?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Only ten days to the caucuses in Iowa. A new CNN/ORC poll reveals a shakeup on both sides of the aisle. Among likely Republican caucus-goers. Donald Trump now hold a commanding lead over Ted Cruz, 37 percent to 26 percent. Marco Rubio is the only other candidate in double digits.

But among the Republicans who voted in 2012, the race is neck and neck with Ted Cruz at 30 and Donald Trump at 28 percent.

On the issues, Donald Trump seen as most trusted to handle the economy and illegal immigration, while Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio make gains on foreign policy.

Another key poll on the Republican side: a statistical tie between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump as the candidate who best respects Republican values. Voters starting to decide, 49 percent say they have picked their candidate. That is a huge increase from last month.

All right. Let's turn to the Democrats. In Iowa, Bernie Sanders opening up an 8 point lead over Hillary Clinton, 51 percent to 43 percent. But just like the Republicans, the outcome flips among those in voted in the last competitive caucus among Democrats who voted in 2008, Clinton holds a seven point ahead of Sanders.

On foreign policy the former secretary of state dominates topping Sanders. Bottom line it all boils down to two turns out to vote, in Iowa and New Hampshire and everywhere.

Thank you for paying riveting attention to me.

The other big headline this morning, the conservative magazine, "National Review", published a scathing editorial against Donald Trump, labeling him a, quote, "menace" to American conservatism.

[08:25:05] Here to discuss this and so much more, joining us is CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter, Ana Navarro, and Democratic strategist and Hillary Clinton supporter, Richard Socarides.

Great to have both of you guys here.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

RICHARD SOCARIDES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Ana, let me start you. What do you think of the "National Review" coming out in this special edition basically devoted to proving Trump is not a true conservative?

NAVARRO: My only question to them and to conservatives now taking this line is what took you so long? There's been so many of us saying for so very long that Trump that he is not a conservative. What they are saying is absolutely true.

In fact, one of the ironic parts about this one of the people saying those right now is Ted Cruz. The problem, you know, is a few months ago he was posing for pictures with Donald Trump, and going to visit him in his office.

So, it is almost a little too late. And I think Donald Trump has handled it frankly very well. He basically doesn't deny it. He said, yes, I've changed my mind. I've given money to Democrats. I've invited the Clintons to my wedding. Yes, it is true but this is where I am now.

So, you know, I'm not sure how much of an effect it is going to have now. It should have been nipped in the bud months ago, not 10 days before Iowa.

CUOMO: Maybe it helps him, because it does make you think somebody here is tone deaf, right? You have the party and the insiders going after your two top nominees. I've never seen that in an election, let alone this close to the contest where the party is attacking its number one and two candidate.

So, Donald Trump turns around and says, Ted Cruz turns and says you can attack me all you want. The people are with me.

What is the risk of being tone deaf, no matter how smart your article is?

NAVARRO: Yes, I'm not sure -- here is the problem. If one of them ends up being the nominee, and believe me Chris, every time I think of that notion I kind of feel like that Edward Munch painting "The Scream."

You know, but look, if one of them ends up being the nominee they are going to need Republicans like me. There are 30, 40 percent of us. If you look at kasich's number, Rubio's numbers, you will see there are over 30 percent of Republicans and if we stay home. If we can't bring ourselves to vote for these two guys who have been an -- to most of the party and the structures they have a problem.

SOCARIDES: Can I --

NAVARRO: So whoever wins the nomination has a very big challenge on their hands how to unify the Republican Party.

SOCARIDES: Ana, can I just say that I feel badly for you because I like personally.

NAVARRO: Sure. No you don't but that's OK.

SOCARIDES: I really do, I really do. I really do adore you and I feel badly thinking of you as that scream poster. But I will tell you --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: -- if my candidate were getting beat by a 74-year-old socialist, I'd be doing the scream too.

(CROSSTALK)

SOCARIDES: There is that negative spin.

But listen, I think you know the Republican Party, this is richly deserved. They stoke this anger against everything President Obama proposed. They have stoked this feeling in America that we should be angry. That anger will cure everything.

And I think you have two very angry candidates. And the establishment in the Republican Party is both very upset with both of these guys.

CAMEROTA: Ana, let's look at the polls you just cited because these new CNN polls in show in Iowa that Donald Trump is 37 percent over Cruz's 26 percent.

I just want to pause for one second here because these are the new poll numbers that show the difference just since December. And I just want to pause to say, look, at what's happening with Jeb, Ana. How do you explain Jeb Bush's numbers in the latest poll?

NAVARRO: Look, you know, Iowa has been a very tough state for anybody that's like Jeb Bush. It's a very good fit for a Ted Cruz. It is a very good fit for a Donald Trump.

SOCARIDES: Or a Bernie Sanders.

NAVARRO: And I think that you have seen what you have seen now a lot of the candidates have figured that out and are doing much more laser focusing on New Hampshire. That's certainly happened with Jeb in the last several weeks.

I think at the start he thought, you know, I want to run a national campaign. I give him a lot of credit. He put a lot of resource, a lot of time, a lot of troops on the ground in Iowa. But New Hampshire is where it all lies for people like a Kasich, like a Christie, like a Jeb. Even like a Marco.

SOCARIDES: Can I just say that again, Ana's candidate Jeb Bush is going down in flames and I feel badly for you about that too.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: at your candidate, you know, there's flames coming up her legs, too, sweetheart.

SOCARIDES: And I think there is a lot of anger out there. And I think both Trump and Bernie Sanders are tapping into that same anger. But I think on the Democratic side, that ultimately voters in Iowa and everywhere will not see Mr. Sanders as having what it takes to be.