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Rick's List
The Future of Afghanistan; Budget-Busting Blizzard; Two Crashes in Pennsylvania, One in Virginia
Aired February 10, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go, the next hour of RICK'S LIST right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making THE LIST.
Stuck in the mud in California, buried under snow in Maryland. How many hundreds of canceled flights? How many thousands of homes without power?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want no one on the road.
SANCHEZ: An earthquake in Illinois?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought a truck hit my house.
SANCHEZ: We have got you covered coast-to-coast.
By the way, who has got to money to clean this up?
A new military assault in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our secret weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want to mess with this guy.
SANCHEZ: He better be good.
The lists you need to know about. Who's "Today's Most Intriguing Person"? Who's on "The List You Don't Want To Be On"? You will find out as our national conversation on Twitter, on the air continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Yes, we're going to do an hour of breaking news, all about the hour and a couple of other stories that are taking place internationally, as well as in parts of our own country.
Let me start with the map -- or pictures, three pictures, to be specific. There they are. Top left, you're looking at Washington, D.C. They are the city that's been being hit the worst all day long, although, right now, it seems to be, if you talk to Chad, he will tell you this thing starts to move a little north of regions beyond Washington, D.C. You see that area right there on the right of your screen, top right quadrant, if you will? That is Philadelphia, and, boy, they're going through some really tough times in Philadelphia right now, including some whiteout conditions that are creating bad traffic accidents there.
And now on the bottom is where you're going to see New York. And I believe that's part of Central Park. And, as we look at Central Park, you see that the folks right smack-dab in the city of New York are not getting a lot of business done today. In fact, I have been calling New York throughout the day, and I have been told most of -- most everything is closed. People are just not being able to get around. Most businesses are closed as well.
JFK, Newark, and La Guardia all essentially not having planes come in or land.
Let -- let me bring Chad Myers into this. And we're going to be going through a lot of pictures. We're going to be going through a lot of information. Tell the folks where this thing is right now. Who's getting hit the hardest?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Who's getting hit the hardest would be Philadelphia, all the way up the turnpike to New York City, and along the Long Island Expressway.
SANCHEZ: We're getting reports, Chad, of people getting into like 50 car pileups and other accidents.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: What's causing this?
MYERS: Too fast for conditions.
SANCHEZ: You're driving too fast?
MYERS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: You can't see in front of you?
MYERS: Right. It's a no-brainer. It's -- it's Dacula. It's stupidity. Do not drive fast in the snow.
SANCHEZ: Well, wouldn't you want -- wouldn't you -- wouldn't you want --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Don't you even want to say don't drive right now, if you can avoid it?
MYERS: Well, if the interstates aren't closed, then people drive.
SANCHEZ: Yes. MYERS: You literally have to threaten them with a fine, or they're going to get out there and drive around.
SANCHEZ: Well, in fairness, also, we're in the drive-time hour right now. It's, what, 4:00 on the East Coast.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: People are getting out of work early. They have heard that this thing. It almost looks to me, am I wrong, like this thing has taken some folks by surprise, like it's maybe worse than we expected?
MYERS: Then you weren't watching CNN, if you were -- if you were -- if you're taken by surprise. We knew this storm was four days out, a lot like the last one.
I'm very surprised at how well the computer models have done with all of this weather. They have done --
SANCHEZ: Well, then why were people allow to do go to work today? Why are people all over the country suddenly getting caught in 50-car pileups? Is that just the way it works all the time?
MYERS: I don't know. I told them not to. I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: They didn't listen to you.
MYERS: They were watching some other network. I don't know.
The thing is, even Richmond, Virginia, this morning --
SANCHEZ: Look at this. That's that pileup we were just talking about a little while ago, what you were just describing, by the way.
MYERS: Yes. You know what? This is a topographically challenged area. You get up and down near DuBois and this Clearfield County area, man, this road goes up and down.
And so people were doing fine at the bottom of the hill. I don't see any crashing here. I assume that the crash is well up in front of this. And these are --
SANCHEZ: Yes, maybe one person dead, by the way.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And it was like one car hit another and then another and then another.
MYERS: Yes. Yes. So, maybe now the reporters there got a little bit farther, the photographer got a little farther up that change of events, but we do know that that interstate is not going anywhere for a while. (CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Is the wind that's making this specifically hard?
MYERS: Some.
SANCHEZ: Yes?
MYERS: Some. In Philadelphia, it was just literally somebody stepped on the brakes, and somebody didn't expect them to, and then you have got -- you have got bumper cars all over the place.
SANCHEZ: That is Penfield, Pennsylvania. Where is Penfield, Pennsylvania?
MYERS: Is -- if you look at DuBois, which would the central western part of the state, it's right there along I-80.
Almost -- you could throw a dart right in the middle of Pennsylvania, you're almost right there, right smack-dab in the middle. I-80 does this right through DuBois, Clearfield County, and that kind of stuff. So --
SANCHEZ: Where are now in this storm, and where is it going?
MYERS: We are to a point where people that went to work today in New York City and Philadelphia now look outside and go, uh-oh, there's six inches of snow on my car. How am I going to get home?
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: So, now they're --
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: Now they're booking hotel rooms in the city, because they know they're not going to get out to Ridgewood.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: They know they're not going to get out to places that they can't -- or if you want to get out right now, literally, you're taking being stranded in your car for a very long time into account.
SANCHEZ: Now, that gets serious.
MYERS: It does --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: -- because, if, all of a sudden, you don't have an entirely full tank of gas, you could be in for a very long, cold night, when nobody is moving.
SANCHEZ: And, so, if I'm watching this newscast, and I am in Manhattan right now, in Midtown, and I have to go home to any of the places in Montclair, New Jersey, or places like where the Clintons live in Westchester --
MYERS: Chappaqua.
SANCHEZ: In Chappaqua -- do you go? Do you get in your car and drive?
MYERS: I don't.
SANCHEZ: You wouldn't?
MYERS: No, absolutely.
SANCHEZ: No.
MYERS: Not for the price of a hotel room. I would not risk it.
SANCHEZ: You --
MYERS: I would not get on the road for that.
SANCHEZ: It's a good -- really?
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Just stay there?
MYERS: Well, you know, you shouldn't be there in the first place. Unless you're an emergency worker, most of these businesses said, hey, don't come in. We know how bad this is going to be.
Schools said, don't come in. We -- don't -- teachers, don't even report. We know how bad this is going to be. So, maybe the 10 percent of the people that did go to work, that means there's 90 percent of the cars that are not going to bump into you, but it's be a slow go. It's going to be a slippery go.
And they're -- they're trying to salt these roads as fast as they can.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: But you can't see more than a half-mile. That's -- that's Central Park right there, literally. That's Midtown. You should be able to see all the way across to the Bronx, and you can't, because the wind is blowing, the snow is coming down, and -- and think about being out there with a windchill factor of zero having to anything if you're stuck, dig out your car, or get --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: -- on something.
SANCHEZ: Let me -- let me ask you about two other places before I let you go.
MYERS: All right. SANCHEZ: Baltimore and Philadelphia, what do you say to the folks there? What is going on there now?
MYERS: Baltimore. We have watched this, what is called wraparound. It's the head of the comma of the tail. It's the head. It's the wraparound. The low has a cold front that goes down toward Florida. And then the top of the comma is all the way up into Philadelphia and Baltimore. And they're just getting smacked by this. Baltimore is just going to get pounded --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Let me stop you real quick. Stay right here, because I want to come back and I want to -- I want you to tell the folks in Philly what's going on with them.
But we have got Brooke right there behind us with an update now on what's going on.
I understand, Brooke, what -- Brooke, what do you got?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Sure.
I was just scribbling notes, because I have been listening to the Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley. Take a look. He's been talking just outside of Baltimore. This is -- what county is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in Carroll County.
BALDWIN: Carroll County, Maryland.
He has been going through the second appearance in just -- in the last couple minutes, he's been answering some reporter question. Maryland is in this state of emergency. People are asking, how long is this going to last? And he said, essentially, until the last snowflake falls. He said his priority is public safety.
The point here is to keep these roads passable, not for people to come and go, but to make sure that these National Guard Humvees can come and go, to make sure that the ambulances can come and go. And he just said, you know, just sort of a public plea, please stop calling to try to get your neighborhood streets scraped down to the pavement.
That is not a priority, and that's not going to be a priority for the next 72 hours, Governor Martin O'Malley still talking, just again emphasizing the point that this is a public safety issue, so stay indoors.
SANCHEZ: You know, that is interesting.
Chad, back to you. And this is something we talked about a while ago. You know, before hurricanes, we see governors, mayors literally give long news conference, saying, here is what I want you to do before this thing comes.
We didn't see a lot of those, but we're seeing these guys get in front of the microphones now. Again -- and I don't want to beat this thing to death.
MYERS: No, that's OK.
SANCHEZ: But should -- should -- should these public officials have been a little more on top of that, of this?
MYERS: I think, if you lived in D.C. or in New York or Philadelphia, you would have heard it. I think these public officials were out and ahead of it. We just didn't cover it as much as the local stations.
SANCHEZ: OK. That's fair. That's fair.
MYERS: We're not -- we were not covering local events. I don't call it 70 and sunny. If it's 70 and sunny in Columbus, Ohio, you are not going to hear about it from me.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: Right?
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: So, it's a localized event, and the local officials were telling people, don't go to work, don't go to school.
SANCHEZ: You're going to be with me for the whole hour.
But just -- I just teased Philly. And I hate teasing something and then not -- and not giving it to people. So, tell the folks in Philly what they got?
MYERS: Seventy-six, Schuylkill Expressway, 176, all closed to non-emergency vehicles. If you're on those roads and you don't have a place to go, and you're not in an emergency, you will get a ticket and you will get a fine. So, stay off the roads, period.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, man, on days like this, you're invaluable.
MYERS: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: You really are. You do a great job with this. And, you know, I'll tell you --
MYERS: I have seen it. I have seen these cities. I have lived in them all.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I can't say it enough. Can you stick around?
MYERS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: So, we got -- we got Baltimore in. We got Philly in. We talked about New York. Washington, we can get to that, but it sounds like Washington is --
MYERS: Yes, done.
SANCHEZ: Done, yes.
MYERS: Except for the wind.
SANCHEZ: Now -- now they're dealing with what they got, not new stuff.
All right, here's what else we Are going to have in this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we have got to be very careful. We have got to be very disciplined, and we have got to be very accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And they have got to be prepared for a fight, pushing into one of the most dangerous areas of Taliban territory. We're going to be talking about Afghanistan during this hour as well, because you need to understand, as an American, That there is another offensive, a new and important offensive that's taking place in Afghanistan.
And we, CNN, have reporters that are embedded with the troops there. That's important. We're going to be staying on top of that, and we're going to be staying on top the blizzard for you.
Folks, it's destructive, it's expensive, it's dangerous. And that's why we're covering all the bases on this story for you. And that's we have got Chad Myers to take us through it.
Stay right there. We will be right back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is where this stuff gets serious, folks. And this is why we have been reporting this story throughout the day. These are some of the pictures that we have been getting in throughout the course of the last three or four hours, as I look at the clock over here to my right, which have included, among other things, deadly pileups.
That's right, two pileups that we have been reporting to you in just the last little bit. Let's start with one of those, if we can.
Tell me, Angenette (ph), which one we got, whether we got the Virginia one or the Pennsylvania. All right, let's go Virginia. This is the shot coming out of Virginia, where we're told there's been a 50-car pileup.
It was, as you heard Chad describing a little while ago as well, an area that's topographically challenging for motorists. As a result, they're not able to see in front of them. Suddenly, they're in whiteout conditions. They don't see the car in front of them. One car hits another. That car hits another and another and another.
And once one some -- some car stops, everybody else behind them is just going to crash into the car in front of them. And that's what this is going -- can you imagine 50 cars all piled up after this accident?
Now, let me switch the shot and show you almost the same exact thing, but it's not the same exact thing. This is Pennsylvania now, also a 50-car pileup. Troopers there have just reported that there was one fatality as a result of this accident.
You know, whenever you see 18-wheelers involved in this, it's always going to be even more treacherous and more problematic. So, two 50-car pileups that we're dealing with right now, as well as reports coming in from all the major airports that no flights are in and out. And we are also getting reports that the National Guard is being called out in many of the cities along the Eastern Seaboard to try and help citizens --
(COUGHING)
SANCHEZ: Pardon me -- to try and help citizens deal with this weather emergency, this blizzard that has overtaken that part of the country.
Let me tell you something else that you need to know about in Afghanistan, southern Afghanistan, to be exact. I want to show you some pictures. These are pictures of an operation that's taking place there now. It's not every day that we're able to actually take you inside the story.
But one of our reporters has had the opportunity to actually embed with these brave soldiers who are now -- and here's what this is really all about, and here's what I want you to pay attention to -- this is what's going to happen when the United States leaves. These are the guys, the Afghan militias, the Afghan soldiers, who are going to take over from our guys and gals, who will do the heavy lifting against the Taliban.
This is a report that's filed by our own Atia Abawi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It's beautiful.
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a fire base in Helmand Province, the first battalion 6th Marine Regiment prepares for combat. This regiment has fought in two world wars, Iraq and Afghanistan.
(LAUGHTER)
ABAWI: Today, it has a new ally on the battlefield. Brigadier General Mohiyiden Ghori of the Afghan army wishes his soldiers luck and says thanks to the Marines who will be fighting alongside his men.
"You've made the best life for yourself," General Mohiyiden says."You've built the best country, your people depend on you. You are the pride of your country. And now, you've come from many miles away to help us."
Although his soldiers say they are ready to fight, they also say they don't have proper equipment.
"We don't have things like night vision," Commander Gholam Rasoul Takan says."And it leaves us unprepared."
General Mohiyiden and Brigadier General Larry Nicholson are going from base to base explaining the importance of the Marjah offensive and the importance of distinguishing civilians from the Taliban.
GENERAL LARRY NICHOLSON, U.S. ARMY: The population is looking for you. The enemy is not the population, OK? But we do have an enemy who's going to try to hide in that population. That's why we've got to be very careful. We've got to be very disciplined and we've got to be very active.
ABAWI: Marjah, a town of some 80,000 is considered the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province.
(on camera): But the U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have been preparing for the battle of Marjah for months now. But today, a visit from their commanding generals proof that the battle is about to commence.
(voice-over): This isn't the first time many of these men have fought in Helmand. The Marines cleared the Taliban out of another area in 2008, but the enemy has changed.
LANCE CPL. CHRISTOPHER LIMA, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I think it will be a little harder. They actually know how to fight this year. Last year, they kind of used a lot of guerrilla tactics. They would shoot and then run. This year, I think they'll try to stay around.
ABAWI: General Nicholson agrees.
NICHOLSON: I think some of our units we'll go in to some pretty heavy contact and I think some of our units may have less contact. But we don't know. All I know is we've done everything we can to prepare. And on the eve of this big operation, I think we're ready.
ABAWI: Ready, but there are still some light-hearted moments.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: This is our secret weapon. This is the mullah. You don't want to mess with this guy. I will tell you that.
ABAWI: Ahead of these soldiers, many unknowns. Will the Taliban fight or melt away? How many roadside bombs await them? And can they help turn the tide of this eight-year war?
Atia Abawi, CNN, Fire Base Fiddler's Green, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: I'm writing a book right now. And, when we come back, I'm going to introduce you to a guy that I have spent a lot of time writing about, because of his experience. He's a commander who was there in Tora Bora, knows Afghanistan through and through, has written a book himself about it.
And I'm going to ask him whether these guys that we're training are going to be up to the job. Are they going to be able to really take care of the Taliban and kick some Taliban butt when the U.S. forces and the allied forces leave?
Also, what's kicking our butt today? Well, it's the weather, folks. It's a blizzard that's hitting several cities. You're looking there at pictures of New York City, parts of Philadelphia, and we are going to be going there to talk to city officials about what they're doing.
Essentially, you heard Chad Myers just a little while ago say, look, if you're in Manhattan right now, it wouldn't be a good idea to try and start driving home, at least not in a car, because that's not going to be real good.
And let me show you the pit. The pit is what we call the middle of our newsroom here in the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. There, you see Brooke Baldwin there, you see talking to some of the other guys who are putting the information together. They're making phone calls, talking to city officials.
And we are going to be checking in with Brooke throughout this entire newscast to find out what the numbers are, how many flights are canceled, how many roads are closed, what is going on out there, how many accidents, all of that coming your way on THE LIST.
I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, we're going to be repeating a lot of information throughout this hour as well. We have been doing it for the last hour before that, as well. And that is that weather storm, that weather situation that's developed all over the country.
I know a lot of you guys are just now coming home from work. You're checking in. You're trying to see what's going on. Folks, the situation in -- along the Eastern Seaboard is treacherous, to say the very least. This is a breaking news story that we're following right now. National Guard has been called in, in certain municipalities along Maryland, for example. They're bringing in more vehicles. They really have their hands full.
Emergency workers have their hands full in New York City right now, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., parts of Baltimore, because of this huge amount of snow that they have gotten throughout the day. And we have our forces out throughout those cities as well, getting you all the latest information and the latest pictures, as we move forward.
Well, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST.
I told you just a little while ago that one of the most important international stories we're following are in Iran and Afghanistan -- Afghanistan, because there seems to be an effort now there, hopefully a serious effort, to train some of the Afghan militias, so that they can kick some Taliban butt, as I said a little while ago, if and when the United States pulls out.
Gary Berntsen knows as much about this as anybody. Look, he's a former CIA officer who led the agency's Jawbreaker team in Tora Bora after the 9/11 attacks. He wrote the book called "Jawbreaker." Great book, by the way.
And he's good enough to join us now by phone.
Gary, thanks for being with us, man.
GARY BERNTSEN, AUTHOR, "HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, COUNTERTERRORISM AND NATIONAL LEADERSHIP: A PRACTICAL GUIDE": Pleasure to be with you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: What do you think of Charlie Wilson dying?
BERNTSEN: That's a shame, you know, great American, interesting, colorful character.
SANCHEZ: I mean, he's the guy who started the whole mujahedeen thing, isn't he?
BERNTSEN: I was actually at the party that they had in the agency when -- the day the Soviets drove out in 1991, when the Soviets were forced out of Afghanistan, you know, and I happened to be in the buildings, had come --
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BERNTSEN: And I wasn't involved in the Afghan issues back in those days, but I looked and was there when Charlie and all these other people were giving speeches. And I thought, wow, this is interesting.
And then of course I would be involved in the next Afghan conflict.
SANCHEZ: Yes, little did we know, yes, you would be the guy chasing Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Tora Bora. But that's another story.
By the way, while I have got you, before we even get too far into Afghanistan, there's a report out of Iraq that they're trying to kick the guys who are left that used to be members of Blackwater out of there.
What do you make of these contractors who are, like, quasi- soldiers, but are representing you and me? Are you comfortable with these guys?
BERNTSEN: Yes, let me just say something. There's a lot of civilians that are going into these places because the U.S. military has caps on the number of soldiers they're sending.
If you looked at the surge going into Afghanistan right now, there are 30,000 soldiers that have gone in, but there are 27,000 civilians going in also, Rick -- 27,000.
SANCHEZ: Huh.
BERNTSEN: And they do a lot of different things. Some of them do security, because, quite frankly, there aren't enough U.S. military to go around to do what needs to be done.
SANCHEZ: But do we want these guys -- but do we want these guys -- do we want these guys, Gary, soldiering for us?
BERNTSEN: They're not -- they're not -- they're not soldiering for us.
Well, some of these are works as advisers, because there are not enough U.S. military to go around. This is a -- these are gigantic jobs that we're trying to do. We're trying to stand up an entire army in Afghanistan.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BERNTSEN: We're standing up a country where there's only 15 percent literacy. It is -- this is very difficult. And -- and --
SANCHEZ: No, that -- that -- that makes sense.
BERNTSEN: It's very hard.
And I have to say, many of the contractors, most of the contractors, are former military. They're responsible people. Yes, there were some incidents. People got -- a couple of -- you know, a number of people got killed in some incidents. Things -- in a couple cases, things were not handled really well.
But 99 percent of these people that are out there are doing -- you know, they're doing God's work.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's --
BERNTSEN: They're trying to do the right thing.
SANCHEZ: That's good to hear. Let's not judge them all --
BERNTSEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- by the actions of a few yahoos.
Hey, let's talk about Afghanistan now. It looked to me like the United States is finally making -- or the allies -- a concerted effort to try and train some of these Taliban guys.
Looking at Atia's package, I'm not sure I can assess whether these guys are combat-ready now or whether they ever will be. What's your assessment?
BERNTSEN: There are some Afghan elements, when -- they're called kandaks -- that's a battalion of Afghans -- that are frequently trained by and led -- and alongside Army Special Forces teams. And some of these guys fight like lions. Some of them are very, very good.
There's just not enough of them that are up to speed yet. They're making progress. Some of these units will be fighting side by side with the U.S. as they start to make progress in Helmand now. All of this is -- is good news, because Helmand is the place where 42 percent of the world's opium comes from, that one province alone. And having the Afghans in there with us and with the British, as we make a concerted push into areas that the enemy holds, is a good thing.
SANCHEZ: So, you're confident that these guys can get the job done if we stay there long enough to be by their side, but not to let them go on their own yet?
BERNTSEN: Right now, they're --
SANCHEZ: That's kind of what I hear you saying.
BERNTSEN: Right now, they're not capable of doing combined-arms operations, where you're talking about air and ground together, the coordination. They need U.S. help still. They need foreign help.
They're going to make progress. The question here is, is, can we make sufficient progress before the -- the American public becomes completely exhausted from this conflict?
SANCHEZ: Good point. Good point, because politics comes into play --
BERNTSEN: You bet.
SANCHEZ: -- in a -- in a -- in a situation like this. Just check. I think that's rule number four in the Caspar Weinberger doctrine of when you go to war, actually.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I was writing about you and him this weekend.
Gary, you're a good guy. You always tell it straight. We like having you on. Thanks for being here.
BERNTSEN: It's a pleasure to be with you, Rick. SANCHEZ: All right.
New York was spared from last week's snowstorm. Today, it is a little bit of a different story. Boy, is it ever a different story. I was there yesterday, and I got out just in time, I think. If you're planning to fly into or out of Newark, La Guardia, JFK, forget about it. Ain't going to happen. You know what I mean? There's no planes flying in and out of those airports, at least for now.
In fact, Chad Myers was just out here a moment ago. I don't know if you heard him. Some of you may have. Others of you may have not heard him because you're just joining us now after getting home from work. Welcome to all of you.
But guess what? He's saying, if you're in a place like Midtown Manhattan today, or right now, and you're thinking about driving to New Jersey or Chappaqua or Westchester or Connecticut, or wherever you live, forget about it. It's not a good idea today. It's not safe, he says. The roads are probably going to be jammed up pretty good, and the snow is falling really good, and there's still some whiteout conditions there as well.
So, we're going to take you through these stories and tell you what places are more dangerous right now.
Also, this. I want to show you a picture. She is a top model, and she's the darling of the "Sports Illustrated." I'm going to tell you why --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Well, I guess you can't see her.
So, let's go to break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It is 29 minutes after the hour. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST.
We're in the world headquarters of CNN here in Atlanta, where we had a couple of snow flurries this morning, but nothing like what we're seeing in places like New York and Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Those pictures you're seeing right there are Philadelphia, WPIV (sic) on the left -- and I believe WPVI on the left, right? And on the right, what have we got, guys? Is that New York?
It could be anywhere, right? I mean, it looks like a whiteout. You can't really see in front of you.
That's why I keep saying, look, if you're going to take the subway home, you're fine. But if you drove your car into work today, into Manhattan, forget about it. There's Central Park. That's what Midtown Manhattan looks like right now. And there are folks -- look at this tweet I just got. I'm getting tons of tweet from all of you that are watching this newscast right now. Many of you around the country are sending me tweets as you watch the newscast.
Look at this one that Maggie just sent me. She just sent me this saying, "I just cross-country skied next to the Henry Hudson Parkway, west side of Manhattan. Plenty of snowplows. No problem. Trains are the best."
Well, of course. But what if you drove in today or had your car there from yesterday and you're trying to get out? Good luck.
All right. Here's a little sun and some skin and some gentle breeze to help warm you up on this cold, snowy day. Time for "Most Intriguing."
Born in Ohio, discovered at a shopping mall when she was only 16 years old, she shot up the catwalk and is now on a ton of magazines, including "GQ" and "Glamour." At 22, she's on the most coveted cover, "SI."
Got this one yet? Let's reveal one of the "Most Intriguing Persons of the Day," is Brooklyn Decker, cover girl for the 2010 "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue.
Who else has made it big this way? Let's see -- Christie Brinkley, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks. All these were women who were catapulted to huge stardom after pictures like this appeared of them.
By the way, Decker is the wife of tennis ace Andy Roddick, who spotted her, supposedly, in a crowd at a match when he was playing, and then last year he married her.
Who knew? Brooklyn Decker, one of today's most intriguing people.
OK. The cleanup is under way on Capitol Hill. There, the snow has kind of stopped, but they're still dealing with all the other problems as a result of the blizzard that was there earlier along I- 95, for example.
There are still parts of the country, though, folks, where the it blizzard is going full tilt. We're going to break some numbers down for you. Just a met from Baltimore to Philly to New York.
We are monitoring the storm. We'll bring you the latest.
Stay right there.
I'm Rick Sanchez. THE LIST scrolls on.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: We're talking about blizzard conditions. We're talking about the National Guard being called out. We're talking about not one, but two 50-car pileups.
Look, emergency workers have their hands full right now, folks, across the Eastern Seaboard.
In fact, look at this tweet we just got. This is Eleanor Holmes Norton. Congresswoman, right? "Seeking federal funds for D.C. region and Metro snow emergency."
So, you know when they start asking for federal funds, that means that they're going to be dealing with this as such.
Let me get into that a little more. Here's Jeffrey Caldwell. He's the communications guy for the Virginia Department of Transportation, and he's on the phone with us right now.
Mr. Caldwell, thanks for being with us, sir.
JEFFREY CALDWELL, SPOKESPERSON, VIRGINIA DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION: Thanks. Glad to be here.
SANCHEZ: How are you guys going to pay for all of this?
CALDWELL: Well, to be honest with you, we don't know yet. We have spent our allotted snow budget for the year as of about two weeks ago, and we burned through our emergency relief fund. Now it's a matter of continuing our snow removal and figuring out how to pay for it as we finish our fiscal year.
SANCHEZ: How bad is this going to be compared to other emergencies you have dealt with?
CALDWELL: Well, ,For us, for a major snowstorm that affects most of the state, it costs us about $10 million a day to do snow removal. We've been looking at four major storms here in the last two weeks, and certainly we're not out of the woods yet for winter this year.
SANCHEZ: Tell him what he's got coming his way there, Chad. You're the guy looking at the numbers here.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, northern Virginia, Mr. Caldwell, is still going to see snow and wind today. I mean, any east-west roadway with a north wind doing 50 miles per hour is going to re-shut that road, and then you have to plow it again.
But take me a little bit through Richmond this morning. I heard from my friend Jimmy Barrett who does radio in Richmond that you had 300 crashes during the morning rush hour.
What happened?
SANCHEZ: Three hundred?
CALDWELL: Yes. I actually live in Richmond. We kind of got a surprise storm this morning. We were expecting a little bit of rain overnight, freezing rain, and nothing more than an inch of snow. And all of a sudden, at rush hour this morning, we had whiteout conditions across much of the metro area.
We ended up with three to four inches, as I'm sure Jimmy told you, and it came pretty much at the worst time it could possibly come, when schools had already brought in some students and folks were on their way to work. So things got real slippery real fast.
SANCHEZ: But you've got to go out there and deal with this stuff. Right? It's not like you can say, folks, we're out of money, we don't have enough cops.
You've got to fix the problem now and hope you can pay for it later, right?
CALDWELL: Absolutely. We're putting snow crews out 24/7, just as we would for the first snowstorm of the year, and we'll continue to do that regardless of what it costs.
SANCHEZ: And it's going to cost a lot. And it ain't going to get any easier right now.
MYERS: No. When I lived in Richmond, there was a 50 cent toll to go back and forth on I-95. And then if you lived there, you're dealing with coupons. You only had to pay eight cents if you were a resident. So maybe they'll have to start charging people to go through.
We heard from Maryland, at least something bantered around, that they were going to stop mowing the medians to try to save money in the summer.
Anything like that being bantered around by you?
CALDWELL: Well, we will have to cut some non-safety-related items in order to pay for this, for the snow removal deficit. A lot of times that involves the things off of the roads themselves, so things like grass-cutting, fixing fences, buying traffic cameras and some new technology that we were planning to put in. Those are all the candidates, and we haven't made up our mind yet, but we're still doing the best we can.
SANCHEZ: There's an economic side to this story.
My thanks to you, Mr. Caldwell, for taking time to take us through it as well.
And we'll be checking with other municipalities to see how they're coping on this day. And there's plenty of them.
What happens to this thing after it gets past New York? And does it go into Maine and New Hampshire and Vermont?
MYERS: A little bit. A little bit for the cape, but I would say maybe four inches for Boston and just shoots right out to sea.
SANCHEZ: Now, talk about hardy, they're used to this.
MYERS: Yes. And they've been hoping for snow, because there are ski resorts there that could use it.
SANCHEZ: And here's the interesting part. I'm getting tweets right now from people in Canada, saying, "Hey, Rick, enjoying your newscast, but it's bright and sunny up here."
MYERS: Yes. Probably warmer up there.
SANCHEZ: This is what seems to be the irony. They're not even getting enough snow for the Olympics.
MYERS: No. This is just part of nature's stimulus package. You haven't heard about this one yet.
SANCHEZ: No.
MYERS: We're putting all those snow removal people to work now.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Nature's stimulus package. Got to love it.
Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: All right.
SANCHEZ: We're going to take a little break here. We're going to be right back with more on the blizzard of this year.
MYERS: This week.
SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Interesting story to share with you.
Many of you saw the movie "Charlie Wilson's War." "Charlie Wilson's War" was the story of a U.S. congressman who decided that the United States had to go into Afghanistan to kick out the Soviet Union. That was the beginning and the birth of the Mujahideen. It was also the birth of a man named Osama bin Laden, as you know.
Well, there's news that we can share with you on this day, because "Charlie Wilson's War" was about a specific congressman. He served from 1972 to 1996, for 24 years.
He died just a little while ago. Charlie Wilson, the maverick from Texas, died just today. We're just receiving the news. He was 76 years old.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Fifty-one minutes after the hour. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I know a lot of you guys have been watching us today, probably stuck in your homes. And we're glad we've been able to bring you up to date on what's going on around the country, around the world, and weather-wise, of course.
And now I'm ready to reveal the top of the "List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
First, let me recap for you.
New York senator Hiram Monserrate, he becomes the first to become expelled since 1861, the year the Civil War started. They threw him out for conduct unbecoming a state senator. He was convicted on misdemeanor assault against his girlfriend.
Number two, Lil' Wayne and his teeth. He was supposed to be sentenced for gun possession, but instead, he's going to Miami to fix his teeth.
That's right. The judge gave him permission. His teeth?
Let's go to the top of THE LIST, shall we?
That goes to a bank, HSBC. Why? They have just been named the worst bank, period, when it comes to customer satisfaction. Named the worst bank, period. Forrester's annual customer ranking put them in last place when it asked bankers how well their bank is looking out for them.
We called HSBC. They acknowledge the poor rating and they told us they're going to work with Forrester's to better understand the survey.
HSBC, because they're at the very top of the worst list, they also make the top of our "List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
All right. The other list is what cities are making THE LIST of the toughest places to be right now. They include, not specifically in any order, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York.
I guess Delaware, right? Dover?
MYERS: Trenton, Delaware Water Gap. Yes.
SANCHEZ: We're going to be taking you through all of these in just a little bit.
You stay right there. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, there's a lot of stuff going on all over the country. We're going to be taking you to Washington in just a little bit. In the meantime, I want to check in with our pit. That's where we have all these folks working this story. And Brooke Baldwin is in the middle of it all.
Brooke, what have you found out? What have you got? What are you going to share with us?
BALDWIN: Wow, what a day. These people are working very hard behind me.
I just got an update. Remember that 50-vehicle accident we heard about in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania? We have a clarification which just came down. It was actually two separate accidents, one involving 17 vehicles, one involving seven.
That's the latest out of our Northeast desk over there. But walk with me just over here.
This is Hank Bishop (ph), who's been keeping his eye on and talking to go Virginia State Police on this -- excuse me, as I get my microphone -- who's been on this 50-vehicle accident, which is still a 50-vehicle accident in Virginia, correct?
HANK BISHOP (ph): But it's largely cleared. I just got off the phone with Corrine Geller (ph) with the Virginia State Police, and she says around 2:30 this afternoon, Interstate 64 was reopened. That was the 50-car crash or pileup that occurred around Williamsburg, Virginia. But she said it was really, all in all, a minor accident.
We had this video -- we have this in our system now of this jackknife tractor trailer. It was mainly cars stopping because of it. It wasn't a serious situation. There were a few minor injuries, but Corrine (ph) pointed out to us --
BALDWIN: Can you maximize that?
BISHOP: I can only have it that big, unfortunately.
BALDWIN: We cannot maximize.
BISHOP: But if you can zoom in on it, you can see how slick 64 was, and the tractor trailer in the distance. This is video from our affiliate WAVY, in Norfolk.
So, that situation she said has largely cleared. And she said largely. In general, in the state of Virginia, the roads -- there aren't many major accidents. People have heeded advice to stay off the roads. So it's an overall manageable situation in Virginia right now.
BALDWIN: Manageable situation. And she said considering the fact that it's 50 vehicles, she considered it minor.
BISHOP: She considered it minor. She said she thought it was a bit blown out of proportion. It may not be quite to the scale of the Pennsylvania incidents that we had. BALDWIN: Which we just heard isn't actually 50 vehicles.
So, Rick, there you go. You know, it's really tough. Everyone back here juggling all these different phone calls.
So, again, the news we got out of Pennsylvania, that was two separate accidents, 17 vehicles and seven. And the accident happening in Virginia, Tidewater area, that was 50 vehicles. But again, they're saying it really wasn't that bad.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, the information is coming in so fast, we thank you for clarifying that. We heard reports a little while ago that in parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, the number of accidents, not in one particular place, but just the number of accidents in total, has reached over 300. So, look, obviously, the bottom line to take away from this -- and I think Chad has said this a couple of times, and I'm sure, Brooke, you would concur, is it's just not a good day to get on the road. If you could stay home and if there's absolutely no reason to get out, do not go out.
Right?
BALDWIN: Absolutely.
In fact, Hank Bishop (ph), you told me in terms of the sheer number of accidents, it was more than 700 in -- was it Virginia or was that Maryland? That was Martin O'Malley's news.
BISHOP: That was the number that the Maryland governor gave, Martin O'Malley. But amazingly, in Maryland and Virginia both, knock on wood, not a single death has been reported to state officials. And Corrine (ph) from Virginia State Police told me the same thing.
So, I think a lot of people are taking the advice to stay off the roads and stay out of harm's way.
BALDWIN: Thank goodness.
BISHOP: Yes.
BALDWIN: Knock on that wood.
All right, Rick. Back over to you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
Just let me catch you up on what's going on in New York as well.
Roger, before we close out the show, let's just do a briefing for the folks who are watching us right now from the Big Apple.
Here's what we know.
If you plan to fly into or out of any of the three big airports there -- that would be LaGuardia, JFK and Newark -- forget about it, no flights. Continental, US Airways, Delta are all saying they're not going to have flights going in or out of there, at least until this thing is over. And, you know, and then they still have got to deal with the runways. That's the situation there.
I also got a tweet I want to share with you real quick. Look at this.
This is John Cornyn. John Cornyn worked, obviously, as a Texas lawmaker with Charlie Wilson. He was watching our report, perhaps, and just sent this, too, that we intercepted.
"Charlie Wilson, great American. Condolences to his family and to his friends."
So, it's a story that we brought you just a little while ago, a guy who became very famous as a result of a character played by Tom Hanks in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War."
That's pretty much it for us here, folks. We're going to be continuing as CNN -- you know how we are with big stories like this. We stay on top of them.
We have resources throughout the country to bring you the very latest developments. We're also in touch with all the city officials and all the folks in the different municipalities, in some cases who are calling out the National Guard to try and help control the streets and make sure they can kind of fix things.
We're also going to tell you which roads are closed and which ones aren't as far as interstates are concerned, so stay with CNN throughout the evening.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST.
Now "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
