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NEW DAY

Winter Blast Hits Millions; Frosty Weekend In Store; NSA Leaker Snowden Speaks Out; Blasts At Cairo Police Stations; Syria Peace Talks; Dispute Over Iran Nuke Deal; It's Hillary's World

Aired January 24, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am just too cold to function right now.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Iced out. The cold is deadly. This horrible 30-car pileup just one of the problems stretching across a huge cut of the country. The cold is setting in and communities are shutting down. We're tracking it all.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details inside Bieber's bust. His father picking him up from jail. Bieber's salute to his fans and what happens next to the 19-year-old pop star. We're live in Miami.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Caught on tape. Look at this. A couple leaving their California home not noticing a bear lurking right beside them. Repeat. A bear lurking right beside them. We hear from them this morning.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Friday, January 24th, six o'clock in the east. The frigid cold is punishing people from Florida to Texas. We are tracking a big ice storm raising havoc on major cities, including Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.

The deep freeze still causing major problems in the Midwest as well. Three people killed in this huge pileup you're looking at right now. This was in Indiana caused by whiteout conditions. You can't drive when you can't see.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Houston this morning with more on this blast of snow and ice -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. It's not every day that this part of the country is under a winter storm warning, but that's what you have here in Houston. Just in the last couple of minutes, we've seen the sleet pick up and those emergency crews already out on the roads prepping them for the expected icy conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): A crippling ice storm affecting millions of Americans. Houston, San Antonio and Austin, all waking up this morning at risk from dangerous ice building up as freezing rain and bitter cold temperatures take hold. Residents here are all too familiar with crippling ice storms, like the powerful one in 2011. That paralyzed the airports and led to rolling blackouts. Some schools in the area closing their doors as city officials prepare for the worst.

FRANCISCO SANCHEZ, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Here we have the decisions that are made and how we respond to a threat and how execute that throughout the region working with all of our partners.

VALENCIA: In Indiana, a horrifying scene. Dozens of semi-trucks and cars colliding in whiteout conditions, at least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured in this massive pileup on Interstate 94. Scores of car crashes already blamed on the deep freeze, treacherous conditions, tangling trucks and cars from the Midwest to the northeast. The winter weather is also wreaking havoc in the skies with flight delays and cancellations quickly adding up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And an update on the flight delays and cancellations. Houston being hit very hard, getting the worst of it, about 113 flights canceled at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Another 35 at Hobby so if you are flying today, be sure to check your airline before you head out the door -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Always good advice. Nick, thank you very much. So obviously, it is cold, and the forecast unfortunately doesn't call for much relief. Even more snow could be on the way. Let's get straight to Meteorologist, Indra Petersons who has a closer at what to expect -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: o unusual. You're talking about all that cold air all the way down to the south. We're still talking about the icing concerns, but that is going to be switching over to snow once the cold air moves in. Here comes the high, it will bring cold air. Switch that rain over to snow. That means it's going to fill in farther to the south as well.

So this chill is going to be with us all the way into the end of the month, one, two, three clippers making their way through. But the third one in line here, this one could drop farther to the south bringing heavy snow again for next week. Also the third one in line that's going to bring crazy cold air, almost 30 degrees cooler again.

New York City looks like it gets good by Saturday, but notice you drop by Monday. In Minneapolis, original 11 below zero for the beginning of next week, a huge blast making its way through. This is not a fun January.

BOLDUAN: No, especially when we call it crazy cold. Now we have to grade the levels of coldness.

PETERSONS: And that we're on the same difficult and then, yes, crazy cold.

BOLDUAN: Crazy cold. Thanks, Indra.

CUOMO: All right, so we'll turn us away from the cold and toward NSA leaker Edward Snowden. He is speaking out about the prospect of coming home. He is saying he actually won't come back to the United States unless whistle blower laws are changed. Snowden said in response to a question asked by CNN's Jake Tapper during a public online chat adding that he doesn't believe he'd even get a fair trial here.

This as Attorney General Eric Holder, the man who will be in charge of that trial says Snowden needs to plead guilty first then talks can begin. CNN's Joe Johns is in Washington with more -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Yes, the attorney general says the Department of Justice would accept a guilty plea from Edward Snowden, but we don't know this morning what type of guilty plea would be acceptable. This is the latest development and it raises the possibility of a negotiation as opposed to a trial. But this morning, Snowden is not sending signals he's ready for a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): He says there is no way he could return to the United States because he had no chance for a fair trial. The former government contractor answered questions on the free Snowden web site. Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper under what conditions he'd agree to if he had the chance to come home.

Snowden wrote, "It's unfortunately not possible during the current whistle blower protection laws." During the online chat, Snowden also said not all spying is bad, but he added the biggest problem we face right now is the new technique of indiscriminate mass surveillance where the government is seizing billions and billions and billions of innocence communication every single day.

Snowden has been charged with espionage and theft of government property for collection of information on spy programs and exposing it to the world. The uproar over his leaks eventually forced the White House to unveil new guidance and reforms for intelligence.

Snowden has yet to face those charges having received a one-year asylum from Russia. His question and answer session came hours after a U.S. government privacy watchdog panel said the NSA's collection of data on nearly every U.S. phone call isn't legal and has proven largely useless in thwarting terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unlawful in the majority of the board's view and should be shut down after a short transition period. JOHNS: But the White House again defended the phone records gathering program as legal and effective.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We simply disagree with the board's analysis on the legality of the program.

JOHNS: Also Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said clemency isn't something the Obama administration would consider but --

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Were he to come back to the United States, enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: A lawyer familiar with the Snowden case said the possibility of plea talks is not out of the question because a trial could expose sensitive information that the government does not want made public -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Joe Johns in Washington, thanks so much for that. Let's take a look at the rest of your headlines this morning. And we begin with breaking news overnight out of Egypt. A series of explosions, three of at last report, at or near police stations in Cairo, the first and the largest one hit police headquarters, 50 wounded. One of the blast wounded several people.

The Syrian government and the opposition not expected to sit down face to face for peace talks today. The U.N. mediator is speaking separately with the rival delegations in Geneva instead to assess their willingness to meet face to face. More than 100,000 people have died in the Syria's 3-year-old civil war.

Later today, a Texas judge will hear arguments in the case of a pregnant brain dead woman. The family of Marlise Munoz wants her taken off of life support. Her husband says she told him before she collapsed last November that she would never want to be kept artificially.

Attorneys for the family say the fetus now believed to be about 22 weeks is distinctly abnormal, but officials at the Fort Worth hospital say they are bound by state law and cannot withdraw treatment from a pregnant patient.

In a few hours more, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife are set to be arraigned on federal charges of accepting illegal gifts. There are now reports that McDonnell turned down a plea that would have kept his wife out of jail if he pled guilty to one charge. McDonnell acknowledges that he used bad judgment, but he says the charges are false.

So will House Speaker John Boehner run for president in 2016? Well, he made his plans perfectly clear on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you ever think of running for president?

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: No. I like to play golf. I do drink red wine. I smoke cigarettes and I'm not giving that up to be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: The lawn cutting I think would be the issue. He wouldn't offer up on official endorsement. He did say that he thinks Jeb Bush would make a great president. It's not an official endorsement, but certainly --

BOLDUAN: Very funny fan. He asked on Twitter if Rob Lowe had any tips for him. I didn't see if Rob Lowe responded.

CUOMO: Sometimes they take on a different character online.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: I don't know who's doing the tweeting.

PEREIRA: And they certainly show a different side of themselves on the late night programs. All of them do. Which I enjoy judge, red wine, I enjoy it too.

BOLDUAN: All right, trouble now for pop star, Justin Bieber" now stretching coast to coast. He's out on bail this morning after facing criminal charges after Miami police pulled him over for allegedly drag racing. They say he admitted to a wild night of drinking and smoking marijuana. They also say he was on prescription medication. All this happening as charges in connection to the alleging egging of his neighborhood's house in California are pending. CNN's Tori Dunnan is in Miami Beach with the very latest. So what do we know, Tori?

TORI DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Kate, so far reps for Justin Bieber have declined to comment about this latest incident that all unfolded here in Miami Beach about 24 hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUNNAN (voice-over): Waving to fans seemingly unfazed Justin Bieber emerged from the Miami jail after being arrested for a late night drag race on Miami Beach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bieber, you can charged with the following.

DUNNAN: One of the world's richest teens has a sobering moment. Appearing before a judge, he was charged with driving under the influence, driving with an expired license and resisting arrest. Prominent Miami Defense Attorney Roy Black doing all the talking in court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been retained by his manager.

DUNNAN: Beiber was all smiles in his booking photo in a jail jumpsuit making headlines around the world. Miami Beach police say Bieber was driving this car when he raced against another car on a quiet residential stretch of the beach. Both vehicles nearly twice the speed limit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, Justin just got pulled over.

DUNNAN: After 4 a.m., a Miami Beach Police officer arrested the star who allegedly failed a sobriety test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That he said he had consumed alcohol and smoking marijuana and consumed prescription medication.

DUNNAN: Police say the teen heart throb reeked of alcohol and fired off expletives to the officer at the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The facts are the facts.

DUNNAN: After eight hours in jail, Bieber was released after posting 2,500 dollars bond.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have not increased bail because of his popularity or fame.

DUNNAN: Police also arresting the driver of the Ferrari, R&B singer Khalil who earlier in the day posted videoed of Bieber skateboarding with him. Justin Beiber's rise from YouTube sensation to multi- million pop star is nothing to joke about. His current album is on the top 10 iTunes downloads and he's amassed nearly 50 million Twitter followers. If this run-in with the law bothered his legions of believers, it wasn't evident outside the court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DUNNAN: And Kate, I have to tell you, it was really quite a scene outside the jail there. But beyond this, the state attorney's office is saying they're going to look at all this information to determine whether or not they do plan on upping those charges.

BOLDUAN: We will see. Tori, thank you very much. Note to our viewers, be sure to catch CNN's special tonight. It's airing at 10:00 Eastern tonight.

CUOMO: Fans were tearing up.

BOLDUAN: I was too.

CUOMO: Parents should be tearing up also. They got a kid in trouble.

Coming up on NEW DAY, the nuclear deer deal with Iran. Is there one? The U.S. was saying there is. Iran's top leaders are saying that's crazy talk. We're hearing what could happen next.

BOLDUAN: And welcome to planet Hillary. Why this spaced out picture of the former secretary of state has so many people talking and photo shopping online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

There is a lot of disagreement this morning about the nuclear agreement with Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claims his country has a serious will to reach a deal that removes all doubts about its nuclear intentions, but he insists Iran will not surrender peaceful technology.

Let's bring in CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto, live from Tehran this morning.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate.

Well, I think his comments get to what these negotiations are and are not and what they've never been. You know, Iran has not agreed and says it will not agree to giving up its entire nuclear program and indeed, the U.S. and the west are not insisting that. They're putting limitations on it, but they're not going to require it to disappear either as part of this agreement, which was just negotiated, or a longer term agreement, which they're still working on.

It doesn't mean it's not progress. You have more U.N. inspectors in Iran than there really have ever been before. Iran is agreeing to limitations on how much it enriches uranium.

So, it's several steps below weapons grade. If smokes back home -- folks back home think that this program is going to disappear, it's not. I've been coming to Iran a long time. We were speaking to Iranians this morning.

Whether they're hard-liners or reformers in this country, they believe they have a right to a nuclear program. It's something their leaders are not going to give up.

BOLDUAN: And, Jim, you've also been talking to Iranian officials. You spoke with the foreign minister in a big interview with Zarif. What's been the reaction on the ground there? How are comments about nuclear deal -- how are they playing at home?

SCIUTTO: Well, I'll tell you his comments to CNN, they made the news here. Remember, he told them that Iran is not dismantling anything and that it's reversible at any time if the deal falls apart. That made the news here, and the reaction here, very positive, because Iranians feel that that's true and that that position is the right position.

We went to Friday prayer this morning at the main mosque in Tehran. We were asking people there about this. They said, you know, our leaders are doing the right thing. They were happy -- very happen toy to hear those words from their foreign minister.

BOLDUAN: I think that also exemplifies the pressures that we talk about a lot with this, no matter what country we're talking about, the U.S. or Iran. Both countries, when they're negotiating or dealing with those external and internal pressures, which are often opposition pressures.

Jim Sciutto in Tehran, great reporting, Jim. We'll check back in with you. Thank you so much.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Chris?

CUOMO: Let's turn to sports now.

When you think about the best rivalries in sports history, that's a big question. But just to pick up some big ones, you've got Ali/Frazier, you've got the Yankees and the Sox. You've got Manning/Brady.

And on the tennis court, it's always been, in this generation, Federer/Nadal.

Let's bring in Andy Scholes with this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Got to say, though, Andy, didn't look like much of an epic rivalry here at the Australian Open.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, you're right, Chris. Definitely.

You know, you've seen some epic fights, battles between these two in the past. But this morning, it was all Rafael Nadal. He had a straight set victory over Federer. Now, this one was closer. Nadal won the first step in a tie break, 7-6. He then took the second set and third set, 6-3, 6-3 to complete the sweep.

Now, when it comes to this two, Federer is the more accomplished. He's won 17 grand slams, compared to Nadal, 13. But when they do collide in grand slam, Nadal holds the edge, winning nine out of their past 11 matches, including six in a row.

All right. CNN's Rachel Nichols got the first sit-down interview with the Seahawks Richard Sherman after his epic post-game rants. One of the topics they discussed was Sherman being labeled a thug.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: I think it used to be the n-word. Now they're using thug instead of the n-word as a more accepted way of saying and it's still sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: You can catch this whole interview tonight on "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS". That's at 10:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.

And in case you missed it, Justin Bieber was arrested yesterday. Some of his neighbors in Calabasas, California, are celebrating the news. Former NFL superstar Keyshawn Johnson who famously chased the Biebs in his Prius after Bieber sped by him in Ferrari tweeted, 'They finally caught him. Glad no one was hurt. No kids in the street. Everyone grows up at some point, hopefully he learns from it."

Hall of Fame running Eric Dickerson, another one of Biebs neighbors as well tweeted, "It's about time. Nobody's above the law."

So, guys, as you can see his neighbors in his neighborhood are pretty excited that he finally got caught for speeding around.

CUOMO: You know you're unpopular when Keyshawn Johnson takes the high road in terms of the character of somebody.

BOLDUAN: And you'll see. This is such I would argue, a sad sight of the times when Justin Bieber reaches even into "Bleacher Report", like it even reaches into the sports arena --

SCHOLE: In case you missed it.

BOLDUAN: Now, it can be part of the political gut check in the morning. Kidding.

Thanks, Andy. Have a good weekend.

CUOMO: I didn't see him in the Hillary galaxy.

BOLDUAN: Oh, you just didn't look closely.

CUOMO: Big omission.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, speaking of that, Hillary Clinton graces the latest "New York Times" magazine cover as, of course, a planet. How this bizarre, interesting, creative cover is playing?

CUOMO: Bieber is the fire boost behind the energy that fuels the galaxy.

Also, a bear sneaks up on an unsuspecting couple in California. The scary moments caught on video. What happened next? I hope it's not terribly tragic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Let's bring you up to date on the very latest headlines.

A deep freeze in the Deep South. States from Texas to Florida seeing the mercury plummet this morning. And an ice storm in Texas. It's creating dangerous conditions in cities like Houston, San Antonio and Austin.

A big crash in Indiana is also being blamed on the weather. At least three people were killed when dozens of cars and trucks collided. This cold blast, we're told will last into next week.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden said there's no way he would get a fair trial. So, he won't come back to the U.S. until whistle-blower laws are changed. He was answering a question asked by CNN's Jake Tapper, in an online forum. In the meantime, Attorney General Eric Holder said he's willing to talk to Snowden's lawyers about bringing him back from Russia. One catch, holder says, he has to plead guilty first. Snowden has been charged with espionage.

This morning, frigid temperatures and icy conditions are hampering search efforts in Quebec, where a senior living facility was destroyed by fire. Five people died, 30 others remain unaccounted for after massive flames broke out Thursday. Most residents of the home were confined to wheelchairs or walkers. Some of those people had Alzheimer's. No word yet on what caused the fire.

New developments in the Chris Christie scandal. The New Jersey governor's reelection campaign and state Republican Party committee have been subpoenaed as part of the investigation into bridge lane closings. A spokesman says both groups intend to cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office.

Meanwhile, a much interrogation for the governor, he was grilled by grade school students in Camden. Unlike his news conference two weeks ago, these questions were more of the softball nature. What's your favorite sport? What's your favorite movie? And the like.

I want to show you heart stopping video posted online. Watch this fellow walking down the street, when an out of control car comes veering straight at him, saved by that telephone pole. Watch it again from another angle. If he had waited one second to step to the left, well, the story would have ended quite differently.

CUOMO: Wow.

BOLDUAN: We have seen way too many of those videos recently.

PEREIRA: Too many close calls. Too many close calls.

CUOMO: That was a very swift move that maid all the difference.

PEREIRA: Really was. And a really, really strong telephone pole.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Good point, Michaela.

CUOMO: Right?

PEREIRA: I know.

CUOMO: All right. So here's another topic for you this morning. A "New York Times" magazine article about Hillary Clinton. Some people say that the cover is more provocative than the piece itself.

Take a look at it. It doesn't put a twist in my tail, but people are for various reasons moved to mention it. Clinton is pictured as a planet there in the middle of outer space, surrounded by her multiple circles of friends. Joining us now to talk about some key issues facing Hillary Clinton's eminent presidential bid is Mr. Paul Begala, CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist, supporter of Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2008.

I will dismiss the cover, Mr. Begala, but you cannot. So, now, I'm forced to ask about it.

What is it that gets your gall?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, it's too early in the morning for me to be angry, Chris.

It's goofy, it's embarrassing I think for the magazine. I mean, this is 17 out of the last 20 years she has been voted as the most admired woman in the world and this is how they depict her?

The folks at Media Matters America, which is a progressive media criticism organization, they've posted a list of, I don't know, maybe a half a dozen or a dozen other covers that the magazine did on politicians, none of which are -- I mean this -- she's -- this hairless disembodied orb? Looks like Baltimore without a nose. I don't know. It's fine. Obviously, I'm a strong believer in free press. They have a perfect right to do this. But I just don't get it.

BOLDUAN: And kind of -- a little bit of the -- I guess what it gives off. Not just the shock value this hairless in the planet. In the article, David Axelrod is quoted as something -- saying something and I think it's important and means a lot for 2016, and talking how -- what happened in the last election that she was in. She stumbled in 2007 when she was in case in the presumption of inevitability.

Doesn't this cover just feed into that?

BEGALA: I don't know if the cover does. We'd have to ask Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astronomer, because --

CUOMO: That's good.

BEGALA: -- it does seem to show a planet with other huge bodies orbiting around it.