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CNN NEWSROOM

Manhunt in California; Psychiatrist: Dorner not Likely Psychotic; State of Emergency in Massachusetts; Blizzard Shuts Down Flights, Trains; Syria: Rebels take the Fight to Rooftops

Aired February 8, 2013 - 12:30   ET

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


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: They lost his tracks because the ground is frozen, so how are they pursuing this?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, they're continuing their search in this area. A number of law enforcement officers are also going in and around on snow cats.

They've gone door to door. They've hit at least 400 homes, or so they said last night. They've warned the people in this area not to open their doors unless they know who is knocking or unless it's a uniformed law enforcement officer.

Let me tell you about the snow and the conditions. In one way, it hinders the search, but if you look behind me, they expect six-to- eight inches of snow today.

One thing that could help them, I was talking off camera to a member of the search party, and he said the freshness of the snow could help because that way they could easily detect the tracks.

As you pointed out, it was the San Bernardino County sheriff who said they had his tracks for a while, but they lost it in the hard frozen snow, so it could be that the light snow does indeed help them.

I should also say one of their big concerns is that he wants to go out in a blaze of glory. That really has them fearful.

So, you're seeing that the officers are hyper-vigilant right now up on this mountain, Big Bear, the last known place where they saw clues relating to Dorner.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, two things here. We heard from the sheriff. He said, first of all that they might be looking at those abandoned cabins up in the mountainous area, but he also talked about a ski resort. Is that ski resort still open now?

VERCAMMEN: There's a number of ski resorts. The one right behind me is clearly closed and not operating right now.

I don't know if you can see off in the distance. We'll try to give you a shot. The lifts are up there, so that resort is closed as they continue the search. As we said to you, they're going all around this mountain. It's a -- people have a stereotype of Southern California sometimes in other parts of the country, but this is indeed a winter wonderland, and it's making it difficult, obviously, for law enforcement officers to get around.

But as I said before, they think this fresh snow will help them if he's still up here because it's easier to follow tracks that way.

MALVEAUX: All right, Paul, thanks.

Want to bring in Casey who's outside the police station in Hollywood. And, Casey, I imagine this really hits pretty close to home for a lot of these guys who are the really the targets of his wrath, essentially that he said he's going to go after those guys, seeking revenge on them and their families in and out of uniform.

What is the tone, what is the tenor, what do people feel?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, Paul just used the term hyper-vigilant because of that search that's happening where he is.

He is up in the Big Bear community. We're nearly 100 miles away in Hollywood outside a police station and you can see what's going on here. Over my right shoulder, you can see those police cars that have blocked off this street to thru-traffic.

They want to make sure that no unauthorized people are getting through here and possibly targeting law enforcement officers here.

Police departments throughout Southern California have also issued orders that their officers not travel in their patrol cars alone. They're going out at least two at a time for their own protection.

And of course the reason why, this vendetta that was published in this manifesto by this suspect. He said that he wants a public apology from the Los Angeles police department.

Charlie Beck, the current chief of the LAPD says his claims about being fired unjustly have been thoroughly investigated and that there will be no apology.

Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Casey, thanks. Keep us posted on how things are going there.

We are also following, of course, the big weather story. Thousands of canceled flights making it tough to get out of major cities. This is all up and down the East Coast.

We're going to actually tell you who is affected, going to have live coverage. Stay with our coverage here of this monster, monster winter storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: So, there are some A-list celebrities whose private phones were hacked. Well, they're now getting paid by Rupert Murdoch's company.

Hugh Grant, he is just one of them, and even Sarah Ferguson, also among the 144 people collecting a legal settlement from News Corp. It's a huge lawsuit that accused News Corp employees of hacking phones of celebrities, politicians and crime victims.

No dollar amounts, but the cash settlements are described now as substantial.

Malala Yousufzai is now out of the hospital. You might remember she's the Pakistani teen shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for speaking out for girls' rights.

The 15-year-old underwent surgery last Saturday to repair her skull. A day later, she was awake. She was talking with family members. You see her there.

Doctors at Queens Hospital in Birmingham, England say they are now pleased with all of the progress.

And, of course, the blizzard, in the bull's-eye of the blizzard, here's what we are watching, what is being described as a historic massive, possibly record-breaking storm, taking aim at the Northeast.

Here's a look at the states in the path of the storm and how they are getting ready. In Massachusetts, you've got emergency crews have ordered all vehicles ordered off the road this hour.

Public rail service shutting down at 3:30. The public works department has sand trucks, 600 snowplows all ready to go. The storm could dump more than 2 feet of snow on Boston

Let's take a look at Connecticut here, people stocking up on food, supplies. The governor bringing in extra crews from out of the state to help with any kind of power outages.

You've got the north metro rail lines. They're going to be shut down if the winds get above 40-miles-per-hour. You're going to want to watch for that.

Connecticut national guard has now moved equipment into some staging areas. And you've got parts of Connecticut could actually be getting record-breaking snow.

Let's go to New York here. Mayor Bloomberg, he says the timing of the storm could actually help some of the crews there trying to keep those streets clear.

Amtrak, canceling some of the train service out of Penn Station. You're going to want to watch for that. Northbound service shutting down after 1:00 in the afternoon. The storm could dump as much as a foot of snow on New York. The blizzard going to create dangerous whiteout conditions from New York to Maine. Want to bring in Jennifer Delgado at the Weather Center and, wow, you have a big job ahead of you the next 72 hours.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm telling you, absolutely.

MALVEAUX: It's huge.

DELGADO: It is huge, you're right. And we are going to be tracking this storm as we go through the overnight hours.

Now, as we look at the radar right now, we are seeing rain out there, but notice for yourself, we are seeing some snow.

Now, I want to point out to you, for New York, I know we've checked in off and on live over the last couple of hours. We're starting to see some of that rain mixing in with some sleet.

That is going to change back over to snow, New York. We are expecting about a foot of snow there.

And then for areas like Hartford as well as into Providence, snow for you and the same for Boston.

But as we go later into the day, we're talking especially into the evening and the overnight hours, the snowfall is really just going to blow up, because we're still waiting for these two storms to merge.

As they do, this is what will create the tremendous amount of snowfall. We're talking in some locations we could see a historic amount. But we're also talking about blowing wind and, as we go later, into the evening, into the overnight hours, that's where we're going to see the greatest chance for blizzard conditions to develop.

And that means you do not need to be on the roadways. It is dangerous. It's dangerous for officials and first-responders to go out there.

As we take you through Saturday, by about 6:00, that storm system is going to be pulling away from the coastline, but we're still going to keep some of those winds around, even still ranging right around 40- to-50-miles-per-hour.

To give you an idea, I want to point this out to you, Suzanne. We do have some new information in from some of our models. And it now looks like for Boston, 21 inches, and for Providence, 18 inches.

So, now we're saying 2 feet or more of snowfall. Now that we get closer to the event, we can get the models in better agreement.

We're going to send it back over to you. But keep in mind, that blizzard is going to be developing and that means people need to pay close attention and stay off the roadway.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jen, we're counting on you. Hour by hour, minute by minute, we want those updates. DELGADO: All right.

MALVEAUX: OK, thank you, Jen.

There's also a winter storm that is moving into the mountain area of Southern California and that is significant because that is where police have this manhunt, massive manhunt, that's going on.

You've got this former cop, Christopher Dorner, accused of killing three people. He's on a shooting rampage. Why psychologists believe that he's actually different than some other suspected killers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A massive manhunt for a former L.A. police officer continues at this hour.