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Cold Cripples Much Of U.S.; Senate Moves Ahead On Jobless Debate; Major Shift On Marijuana; Churches Sheltering Homeless From Bitter Cold; Senate Moves Ahead In Jobless Debate; Al Qaeda Worrying U.S. and Iran

Aired January 7, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, record cold crippling much of the United States, stranding trains, cancelling flights and closing schools. More than 100 million Americans are bundling up and wondering if there is an end in sight.

Also right now, President Obama's plan to extend jobless benefits squeaks through a key Senate vote. How big of a victory is this for the White House and what happens next with the bill? It's by no means yet a done deal.

And right now, a massive shift in Americans' views on marijuana. A majority now say it should be legal. Two-thirds say there's nothing morally wrong with smoking pot.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We start with the brutal cold gripping the nation right now. In fact, we've seen below-freezing temperatures in all 50 states. Temperatures in New York dropped about 60 degrees in just one day. Other areas are seeing their lowest temperatures in the last 20 years. The weather is making for brutal commutes, if you can get going at all. Look at this, 1,400 flights aren't going anywhere and public transportation is shut down in so many areas across the country. We're covering all the angles from the Midwest to the Deep South, into New York and New England.

Ted Rowlands is in Chicago where the Illinois governor has declared a weather emergency, activated the National Guard. Ted, so how bad is the situation in the city? Do we have an update on the problems plaguing, for example, Amtrak trains in the region?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's lots of problems, Wolf. The Amtrak issue is being resolved. The trains that were stranded, three in all, 500 passengers that basically spent the night in their trains on the tracks. There was heat so they were warm. They are being bussed to Chicago. Two of the train loads have come into Union Station here. There is one more to come.

There are other issues. The salt on the roadways is losing its effectiveness, because now we're in a second day of below zero temperatures. And this morning's commute was just horrendous. A lot of people stayed home Monday. Today, they decided they were going to brave it and come into work. And there were crashes all morning long, creating just a horrible, horrible snarl on every single Chicago freeway. And it's still below zero and it's still very uncomfortable. We're excited that the weather forecast says it's going to get up to zero in the next few hours. That's how bad it is.

BLITZER: A balmy zero in Chicago. All right, Ted, thank you. Air travel is a mess once again today. Thousands of flights still grounded because of that frigid cold. JetBlue seems to be getting a lot of criticism. It's cancelled virtually all flights for 17 hours overnight. That's more than 400 flights in all.

Rene Marsh is joining us, once again. She's over at the Reagan National Airport here in D.C. JetBlue started slowly getting its planes back in the air a few hours ago, right?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, about two hours ago, Wolf. You know, you said it. They're really getting a lot of criticism here. We know at this hour, they're at about 50 percent, and they say in another two hours, they expect to be at 100 percent here.

JetBlue really has taken a beating but let's be clear here. A lot of airlines have seen cancellations and delays. Let's take the board -- a look at the boards here at Reagan. You see, we're seeing lots of red here so they're not the only ones. But they're taking a P.R. beating because some say they mishandled the weather disruption. Critics say mistake number one, the airline blamed new FAA pilot rest rules partially for some of those delays. Rules that were two years in the making.

And that brings us to mistake number two. Critics say that the airline just was not ready for what was the perfect storm. We're talking about bad winter weather and new pilot scheduling rules. Together, it was a mess for the airline, according to critics. We're still seeing those cancellations and we spoke to some of those stranded travelers earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK SMOLAK: I spent two hours with an agent in Miami who was trying to get us on a flight and, ultimately, could only find us a flight four or five days later which, in my opinion, is unacceptable.

MARSH: Looks like you've been here for a while.

ALEXANDRE MBALLA (ph): Yes, sadly and I'm starting to get used to it. So, I had to get comfortable real fast. I actually got in yesterday, but I've been flying from Senegal since Saturday morning, Sunday morning -- I've lost track. So, everything being cancelled --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right. So, Wolf, you want to know how you do not lose your mind when you're stuck in this travel mess? Travelers tell me the heaters here at the airport as well as misplaced optimism. That is how they are getting through and holding onto their sanity. Wolf, back to you. BLITZER: All right, Rene, thanks very much.

How cold is it out there? More to the point, how long is it going to last? Chad Myers is tracking all of this for us over at the CNN Severe Weather Center. What are you seeing out there, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it warms up by Thursday and Friday. I mean, I know that gets us an optimistic time period. But even for maybe Boston, not until Friday night into Saturday. But it is getting better. This is probably the bottom of the barrel when it comes to temperatures. The sun's out. That's helping a little bit but not when it -- the wind is just blowing right through you, blowing right through Green Bay. It feels like 31 below. Chicago, at 23 below.

So, even if your bags are out there on the tarmac, they may be moving very slowly, because these men and women out there, they have to go take breaks as well. You can't be outside moving all this stuff around, all this baggage around for hours and hours without a break. Thirteen is the temperature right now, the wind chill in Memphis. It feels like nine in Atlanta. And it was very cold in Atlanta this morning. A morning low of five degrees. The morning low in New York City, Central Park, was down to four. Yesterday, the high was 50- something in New York City, 54 essentially for western New York.

Tell you what, there's going to be an awful lot of snow coming down as well. Buffalo could see one to three feet, especially -- not even in the south towns which is usually where the snow usually is. Cold in all those places. But right through Buffalo, Chi Tuwagua (ph), West Seneca, Orchard Park. All that snow still coming down right now and much, much more to come. There is the record low. Central Park four degrees, Charlotte six, Charleston 20 degrees this morning. I know that doesn't seem cold if you're in let's say Green Bay. But for the people in Charleston, that is a very cold morning. That's what it looks like. That's the New York state thruway not that far from where I was this morning. Chi Tuwagua, West Seneca, the 400 Aurora moving right through here. And for WJRZ, right there, that's Buffalo, New York, that's how much visibility you get, about four blocks or so. Snowing in Buffalo and snowing all across where you and I all grew up -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, at least they know how to deal with that kind of weather and that kind of snow. You know, when you talk about Buffalo, and we're both from Buffalo, south of Buffalo, that's the so-called Snow Belt. But it looks like Buffalo is getting pretty pummeled right now as well.

MYERS: That's right. The wind direction is right from Cleveland right into Buffalo. That takes the snow and pushes it into the city. Pushes it into Lake Awana (ph), pushes all the way into Chi Tuwagua and West Seneca, not those south towns, not Catoraga (ph), Shitaco (ph) County like we talked about in Dunkirk. But this is Batavia event. This is a Chi Tuwagua, an Orchard Park event, and where lots of people live. And it is slow no matter where you are.

I had -- I had some pictures up last night, even 8:00, 9:00, there's not a car on the road in parts of Buffalo because if you get on the road, it looks just like that. Just covered in snow.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a real mess. Those are some of the pictures coming in. I'm sure it's a mess in Tonawanda, too -- (INAUDIBLE) Kenmore where I actually grew up.

MYERS: There you go.

BLITZER: All Right, thanks very much, Chad.

This is obviously a particularly dangerous time to be homeless. According to the 2013 annual homeless assessment report, 64,000 people in New York were homeless, an increase of 13 percent. Almost 54,000 were homeless in Los Angeles. The report says, on a given night more than 610,000 Americans are homeless. And more than one in three have no shelter. Now, imagine all those people outside in subzero weather. This is Chicago, but it could be anywhere in this bitter cold. We found a church in Atlanta opening its doors for those with no place to go.

Alina Machado is joining us from Atlanta right now. The morning temperatures there in the single digits. Alina, I'll bet those folks are relieved to get a chance to go inside.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, they definitely were. I mean, we were out here this morning around 5:00 in the morning, the temperature was about seven degrees. Right now, it's in the upper teens and it feels amazing compared to what it felt like this morning. But this is really uncomfortable. It's also downright dangerous. And that's a big reason why shelters here in Atlanta have e expanded their capacity. The city of Atlanta also opened up a shelter and this church opened up its doors last night so that people who don't have a place to stay can come in.

We want to show you some video that we shot just a little while ago from inside the church from the area where about two dozen people spent the night getting refuge from this bitter cold. We're told that this church is probably going to be opening up its doors again tonight to help these people get through the cold snap. And we want you to listen to what the pastor of this church had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a big deal, I think, because we're -- you know, not prepared, schools close, everybody kind of shuts down and gets a little nervous about it. But especially this vulnerable, you know, community who rely on shelters or the hospitality of others. We just want to respond and lots of other groups have responded opening doors to their needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: The good news is that the response here continuing. Just in the time that we've been here, we've seen several people stopping by and donating coats and more clothes to help these people, this vulnerable community. Looking ahead, Atlanta schools today closed. Also several schools throughout the south in states like Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina also closed. It's unclear, at this point, if they're going to be open tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see for that.

Just so you have an idea, Wolf, of what have the average temperature is here in Atlanta this time of year, it's usually in the 50s. We are not going to be anywhere near that here today.

BLITZER: Yes, cold in Atlanta, cold all over the country, it looks like. All right, thanks, Alina.

The unemployment benefit debate is moving on here in Washington after a razor-thin win for Democrats. But what's next in the White House is the fight to extend those benefits. I'll speak live with the labor secretary, Thomas Perez. He's joining us when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Unemployment is front and center here in Washington today, more specifically an effort to try to extent long-term unemployment benefits that expired at the end of the year. 1.3 million Americans are off those unemployment rolls for now, more heading in that direction.

Earlier, the Senate voted to move ahead with the debate on a bill to re-establish the benefits, at least for three months. Democrats got six Republicans to vote their way. President Obama who had been pressing Congress to get something done on the extended benefits spoke just a little while ago after the Senate vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With what I said should be the first order of business in 2014 and that is extending insurance for the unemployed. The good news is this morning the Senate took a very important step in that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: But it was only a step. There's still a long way to go.

Let's bring in our Capitol Hill Reporter Lisa Desjardins. So, where do they go from here? They just passed this first initial hurdle in the Senate, obviously a complicated legislative building over there.

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, no kidding. Not to get too much into the weeds here but no time for a victory dance for Democrats. They immediately have to work on the next step here, Wolf. And that is getting another 60 votes. They'll need another 60 votes to actually do final -- get to final passage here. And the thing is, those six Republicans who brought about this squeaker of a win for Democrats today, they say they're not guaranteed to vote yes the next time because they want to see this $6 billion extension paid for.

And they're not alone. So does House Speaker John Boehner. Take a look at this statement that the speaker put out just after today's Senate vote. He said, "I personally told the White House that another extension of temporary emergency unemployment benefits should not only be paid for but should include something to help put people back to work. To date, the president has offered no such plan."

Well, it's interesting, today we did hear from New York Senator Chuck Schumer perhaps opening the door to some kind of negotiation over how to pay for this bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Best choice, pass it, not strings attached, get it done, get it done quickly. Second best choice, finding a reasonable pay for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DESJARDINS: So, Democrats would like this to be an emergency appropriation not paid for, but there you heard Schumer admitting that they, perhaps, need to negotiate over that. Wolf, how does Schumer want to pay for this bill? Closing loopholes, tax loopholes, on the rich. And that brings us back to the same debate that we've been having for years here at the Capitol.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: How surprising was it, Lisa, you cover Congress very closely, that six Republicans went along with the Democrats?

DESJARDINS: OK, I was sitting at my desk with this very pen. We didn't know. We knew that four Republicans were likely to side with them. The minute that Dan Coats of Indiana voted yes, that's when it really felt like this could happen. But Democrats themselves, Wolf, said they were surprised. Even the sponsor of the bill said he basically didn't know until the very last minute that this vote was going to pass today.

BLITZER: All right. Stand by. We're going to continue to watch what's happening up on Capitol Hill. Lisa, appreciate it very much.

Coming up, I'll also speak with the Labor secretary, Thomas Perez. We'll get his sense of what's happening, what's going on inside the White House, how they're planning to fight the Republicans on this very, very sensitive issue. Much more of our coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: So there was an important first step on extending the unemployment benefits in the United States Senate just a little while ago, but definitely not the last steps. Still a long way to go to get this three month extension off the ground. Joining us now to talk a little bit about the White House's efforts to extend the benefits, the labor secretary of the United States, Thomas Perez.

Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for coming in.

THOMAS PEREZ, LABOR SECRETARY: Oh, it's a pleasure to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Do you have the votes in the Senate and the House to pass this legislation?

PEREZ: Oh, I'm very optimistic that we can move forward, and I'm optimistic in part because there's been a long and proud bipartisan history of passing emergency unemployment compensation when we have financial circumstances and economic circumstances like we have now. The long-term unemployment rate is -- remains at a historic high, notwithstanding the progress that we've made in growing the economy. And it would quite literally be unprecedented for Congress to fail to act when the long-term unemployment rate is as high as it is now.

And so I was heartened by what happened today in the Senate. Obviously, a lot more work to do. We will continue to work this issue hard and we'll work it hard because people are suffering through no fault of their own. People like Kathryn Hackette (ph), who introduced the president today, who, you know, the mother -- single mother of two folks who -- two boys who are in the military. She is -- she lives in her house right now, keeps the heat at 58 degrees, wearing a hat and a coat. She's lost 15 pounds. She's looking for a job every single day.

BLITZER: All right.

PEREZ: And so we need to help her. We need to help the others who are in the same boat.

BLITZER: Republicans say they're more than happy to help her and help everyone else pass this legislation. They just want to find a way to cut spending elsewhere to pay for it so that the $5 billion or $6 billion that will be spent over the next three months won't increase the nation's debt. Why not cut spending elsewhere -- there's a lot of waste, as you know, out there -- and do it and get this done with once and for all?

PEREZ: Well, it's interesting, Wolf. President Bush signed an emergency unemployment compensation extensions five times with no strings attached. Just last month, the Congress acted in a bipartisan fashion to extend the so-called doc fix. That's the payment to Medicare doctors for three months, no strings attached.

What this bipartisan bill in the Senate, from Senator Heller and Senator Reid, does is just that. Let's pass this now so that people like Kathryn Hackette, who have lost this lifeline, can get that. And then let's talk about a long-term fix so that we cannot have to - you know, don't have to legislate month-to-month.

BLITZER: So is the president -- Mr. Secretary, so is the president rejecting any offset, any cuts elsewhere to pay for this?

PEREZ: No, the president, as he has said, looks forward to trying to find solutions that work for everybody. At the same time, again, there's been a long and proud bipartisan history, including, again, five times under President Bush, 14 out of the last 17 times it's been extended there have been no strings attached. And that's why, you know, the example of the Medicare doc fix, where there was a three- month temporary extension while they work out a long-term fix, is -- seems like the right way to go.

BLITZER: Well, because I raise the question -- Mr. Secretary, I raise the question because Senator Chuck Schumer just said he wants a clean bill, as you do, as well. But if that's impossible to get through the House of Representatives, where there's a Republican majority, he would be opening to finding some offsets, some spending cuts. And the question to you as a representative of the president from the Obama administration, do you agree with Senator Schumer that, if necessary to pass this three-month extension and help all those people who were with the president today, you would be willing to cut spending elsewhere?

PEREZ: Well, again, you know, we're willing to do -- we need to work to address this emergency right now. And I think, you know, in the presidency of George Bush, Congress understood that it was indeed an emergency. It continues to be an emergency for people. And the administration, you know, remains open to finding solutions for this problem. But, you know, people like Kathryn Hackette and others have already lost their lifeline. And they can't afford to wait three, four, five weeks while you find long-term solutions. That's why it was so important, and I'm so heartened by the fact that the Senate acted today.

BLITZER: So is that a yes, you are open to that potential compromise, you're willing to at least consider offsets in spending in order to pay for this?

PEREZ: Well, again, I hope that the Congress does what Senators Heller and Reid have put forth today. I think that's the preferred way to go because people are in a catastrophe, a state of catastrophe right now and they don't have that.

BLITZER: I know that's your preference, Mr. Secretary. I know that's your preference, but I'm only asking, if you can't get that through the House of Representatives, would he be willing to compromise?

PEREZ: Well, again, I think we should cross those bridges when we come to them. And I'm confident that when people continue to hear from their constituents at home, which they have been hearing from, they're going to see that we need to act now. And we need to do this extraordinary fix. And then we need to solve the problem in the long- term. That's really - it's -- the look on the faces of people who are looking every day for jobs, and now they can't even pay their rent. They can't even pay the heat in frigid times like this. That has to be the number one priority is to make sure that we're not putting people who are in this state of catastrophe in further danger.

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck. I know a lot of people are anxious to get those extended benefits. And the question will be, will there be a compromise or won't there be a compromise. And what I hear you saying is, you're open to the possibility, but you're not ready to commit to that yet. Appreciate it very much.

PEREZ: Well, you have a nice day, and it feels just like my hometown in Buffalo here today. BLITZER: I - well, my hometown of a lot of Buffalonians (ph). We've got - we've got you, we've got Chad Myers, we've got me.

PEREZ: That's right. Yes.

BLITZER: It fells just like the good old days in Tonawanda, in Cheektowaga and Lackawanna, all the good suburbs of -- did you actually grow up in Buffalo itself?

PEREZ: I grew up in Schneider, right outside Buffalo, two miles from the state university, UB.

BLITZER: Yes. My alma mater.

PEREZ: So it was a -- your alma mater, exactly.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Mr. Secretary.

PEREZ: And they - and they'll never -- they'll always remind you of that, you and Tim Russert. Take care.

BLITZER: Yes, of course. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck.

PEREZ: Have a nice day.

BLITZER: Meanwhile, other news we're following right now, including the growing violence in the Middle East, particularly from young Sunni fighters working with al Qaeda militants to try to create a rare alliance. We're talking about the United States and Iran at odds with each other but concerned about the increasing presence of al Qaeda cross the Middle East. Places like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. Joining us now is Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Fareed, normally we're talking about differences - Syria's differences between Iran and the U.S., but does this crazy situation that's developed recently open a potential door for dialogue between Washington and Tehran?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": It might well, Wolf. You know, we have tended to view the problem in the Middle East ever since 9/11 in a very monolithic framework, in a very simple-minded way with, you know, if you think about the axis of evil. There are good guys and there are bad guys. Well, actually, there are a lot of different kinds of bad guys and most of the people who have wanted to kill Americans and kill westerners were Sunni fundamentalists. They are entirely different from Iran, which, as you know, is a portion (ph) Shia country. And so the Iranians have never liked those guys.

Now, Iran did cooperate a great deal with the United States in the Afghan War. In fact, they helped us get rid of the Taliban, install Hamid Karzai, and so there was -- there were those common interests. And we see them again as these virulent al Qaeda type movements come up. That doesn't mean we'll be able to do it, because there is a great deal of -- you know, old hostilities between the United States and Iran for 34 years. But as you point out, at a purely strategic level, the United States and Iran have the same interests, which is to get rid of or in some way deal with these highly extreme Sunni radicals who are - who hate the United States, but they also hate Iran.

BLITZER: As you know, Fareed, there is no appetite here in the United States to send U.S. troops back into Iraq. But short of that, isn't this government of Nouri al Maliki really capable of reaching some sort of deal -- it's a Shiite-led government -- with these Sunni militants who are taking over places like Fallujah?

ZAKARIA: I'm very pessimistic. I think the big mistake - and it was an American mistake we made when we went into Iraq was, we relied exclusively on the hard line Shia - the Shiite parties, Maliki being the head of one of those parties, and we essentially ceded Iraq to them because we saw the Sunnis as having been allied with Saddam Hussein, there was the old guard, they were a minority. The problem is, Maliki and the Shia have never really incorporated the Sunnis.

What you need in Iraq, it's sort of like what you need in Ireland, what you need in all these situations, is a power-sharing deal. So fine, the Shia are the majority, but they've got to let in the Sunni into various positions of power. Maliki, the current prime minister in Iraq, has never done that. So if you don't do that, it drives the opposition to violence, to extremism. I don't know what American troops would do in the middle of that because this is a power struggle - an internal power struggle in Iraq between a majority that won't let in a minority and a minority that's taking recourse to violence.

BLITZER: Good point. Fareed, thanks very much. Fareed Zakaria joining us.

Later today, by the way, in "THE SITUATION ROOM," I'll speak with Senator John McCain. We'll talk about the resurgence of al Qaeda in the Middle East, the violence in Iraq, among other subjects. That interview, 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room".