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EARLY START

High Winds Still Battering Maine; More Storms On The Way; ISIS Releases New Hostage Video; ISIS Claims Responsibility For Hotel Bombing; Obama Back Home In Washington

Aired January 28, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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


JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The northeast is digging out this morning. Of course, hit by the historic monster blizzard. Some places buried in more than three feet of snow. The storm did turn deadly, and the effects not over yet.

We have team coverage in the places that were hardest hit and also what is yet to come. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there is more yet to come. I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour. Breaking overnight, the northeast started to dig out from this huge blizzard, record- breaking snowfall, three feet in some places from Long Island, New York to Maine.

Catastrophic flooding in Massachusetts where a wind-blown tidal surge breached the sea wall in Marshfield, and forced evacuations in the coastal town of Scituate, but overnight, the worst of the 2015 blizzard has now passed in Massachusetts.

The statewide travel ban ended at midnight. Live now from Scituate, Massachusetts. Let's bring in national reporter, Nick Valencia. Nick, wow, they got hammered, hammered up there.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: They sure did. Scituate was one of the hardest-hit communities here in the state of Massachusetts, a coastal community. We wanted to give you the scale of just how battered it was.

You just want to take a walk with me here, this right here, Christine, is part of the sea wall that's meant to protect those waves already crashing behind me. This is the height, the sort of peak of high tide here, peak of high tide here.

The National Weather Service saying it happens about 5:30. Another impressive sight, this house right here which is probably one of the hardest-hit homes, you can see that house. You can see that house just frozen solid.

And it's really a microcosm, sort of snapshot of all the homes that we see around here in this community. They were hard hit. Fortunately right now, the snow seems to have stopped. The wind is still moderately an issue.

It's a little less raging than it has been in the overnight hours. But of course, the coastal flood advisory in this area still in effect till about 7:00 a.m. and as you guys have been talking about all morning, right now it's OK.

But there's another severe weather system expected to happen this weekend. So people kind of bracing for that here in this community as well -- Christine.

ROMANS: Nick, look at that house behind you. It is encased in ice.

BERMAN: It's a housicle.

ROMANS: A housicle.

VALENCIA: It's frozen solid here, yes. And you know, I'm not sure we'll be able to see, but it's the houses lined all along this block here, it's more of the same, homes that are just covered in ice, debris on the front steps.

I mean, this community really affected hard. I was talking about earlier last hour that the National Guard even had to come in here and rescue some families. The majority of the residents here did evacuate.

But when you talk about coastal communities in this area, I'm sure John Berman can talk all about it, but these areas are used to these sorts of catastrophic events. But even residents that you speak to here say it was remarkable what they saw in the last 48 hours.

ROMANS: Nick, how cold is it? How cold is it there? I mean, it looks freezing cold.

VALENCIA: Well, it's pretty cold. Yes, about 12 degrees, but it feels more like negative 5. Throughout the morning, we've been feeling the cold here definitely, and that wind, though, that wind is really the most brutal part of this all. The snow has stopped, but that wind has not.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, nick. Just to see that house covered in ice.

BERMAN: It's an amazing thing to see. It's been decades since anything like that has happened where Nick is in Scituate. I think since the early '90s since they've had a storm like that.

This blizzard did prove to be deadly and dangerous, in some parts of New York State as well leading to the death of at least two people. Still, it didn't stop this.

In the "what were you thinking" category, these are surfers out there off the tip of Long Island. I guess that the waves are big. And if the waves are big, the people will go out and do it.

New York City did dodge the worst of it. But as we said, big parts of the state, particularly Long Island, hit very hard. Our Ana Cabrera faced the storm on Long Island. She has the latest.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, after more than 24 hours of pounding waves, relentless snowfall, whipping winds, the folks here on Long Island and especially here in Montauk are breathing a very big sigh of relief.

It seems the worst is over, but the misery is still upon us with more than two feet of snow blanketing much of this region. In fact, the latest snow reports we got from just down the road in South Hampton was 28.8 inches with wind gusts continuing overnight in the 20s and 30-mile-per-hour range.

Still causing drifting snow and dangerous driving conditions, not to mention very cold temperatures, dangerously cold temperatures that claimed at least one life, an 83-year-old man with dementia who was found frozen outside his home.

We also have learned of a 17-year-old who died while sledding after hitting something and suffering a serious injury. So certainly a devastating storm for some families, but a lot of people here telling us it could have been much worse.

We watched the coastal flooding and even though the beach was battered with 16-foot waves, we do know that much of the beach was saved. No homes reporting major damage from flooding or anything like that. And even the power remained on for the majority of the residents here on Long Island -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: And that's the good news, that you did not have widespread power outages in New Jersey and in New York. But at the trailing end of the storm in Maine, high winds are still a problem, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses there and making driving difficult. Our national correspondent, George Howell is in Portland, Maine, with the latest.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, I want to show you here really the tail end of this storm where they got most of the snowfall. Portland, Maine, look around here and you see these snow berms. In some cases, I mean, these are really up to my waist. They got some 16 to 18 inches of snowfall here in Portland.

It's not unusual for this city to get that much snow, but again, in one storm system, it is a lot for them to deal with. We've seen snowplows going up and down the street doing their best to clear the roads. And then Jordan, can we look down the street there?

I want you to see where the snowplow is. You see also the blowing snow? We've seen a lot of that. The winds have been very intense out here to the point where it could lead to whiteout conditions for a lot of the

People, you know, if they were to venture out onto the roadways. Again, most people are staying home. They were advised to stay off the streets. While crews did the work that they need to do.

And now it's a matter of waiting for all of the snow, guys, to melt and go away. That could take several weeks for business to get back to normal here in Portland -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: That stuff is not going to melt any time soon. So some parts of the northeast hit hard by the blizzard. They are facing even more snow now. That news is coming our way from meteorologist, Ivan Cabrera, who has been tracking what is still to come -- Ivan.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, snow for the weekend and you're absolutely right. With temps in the teens, that snow is not going anywhere. You see the waves crashing there behind Nick's live shot there? We are approaching high tide at this point here.

So still the potential of some minor coastal flooding there in Scituate. So we'll watch that closely, but yes, the storm is now done here as far as the snowfall, anyway, and we're talking about records here and then we're left with these temperatures. Look at this.

Temperature right now in the teens and you factor in the wind, which is still gusty and it makes it feel like it's below zero out there. There are the records. Boston, snowiest January, 24.4 inches, 34.5, that broke the all-time record in Worcester, Mass.

Incredible, and then we've got three feet of snowfall there. This is now, for Boston, the top six storm, we could get up to five as we get the numbers coming in later on. This storm that we're talking about for the weekend is going to clip New England.

This is not going to be a blockbuster storm. So we are going to see some snowfall. Of course, we don't want that, but just a few more inches. I will leave you, though, with the things that still need to be done despite blizzards.

Look at this guy, got to go for a walk, and that always has to happen. I remember doing that, very chilly, but I'm sure he got his time outside.

ROMANS: Every good snowstorm has lots of cute dog pictures. Thanks so much for that.

This blizzard's going to be a costly one. Estimates put the cost near $500 million. That includes lost spending as people stayed home. It includes the cost of a snow cleanup, for example, cleaning up snow in New York City costs about $1 million per inch.

And a huge chunk of that cost actually came from Monday when stores were shut down and traffic was banned. But the good news, experts say this isn't even close to the economic damage we saw during last year's cold wave. That cost up to $50 billion because it lasted much longer and affected a larger area.

BERMAN: About 20 minutes to the hour right now, an American is among those killed when gunmen storm a hotel in Libya. This morning we have new information on who was behind this attack. We're live with these new details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: Time may be running out for two hostages being held by ISIS. A new video released by the extremists has a message reportedly from Japanese hostage, Kenji Goto. He says he'll be killed within 24 hours along with a captured Jordanian fighter pilot if a female terrorist who is on death row in Jordan is not released.

I want to bring in Will Ripley, who's been following this for us from Tokyo. Will, just a few hours left.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three hours, John, until that apparent ISIS deadline to execute Japanese journalist, Kenji Goto, and in a new twist, a Jordanian pilot, Moaz al-Kassasbeh, two innocent men captured by ISIS. The terror group is demanding that Jordan hand over that terrorist, that you mentioned, Sajida al-Rishawi.

She was involved in a 2005 attack that left dozens dead. We know discussions have been happening around the clock. Japanese government officials are in Amman, Jordan, right now, and we are down literally to the point where if this prisoner exchange is not set in motion shortly, then the lives of these two men are in very grave danger.

There are a lot of reports out there about what may or may not be happening. We do not have anything officially confirmed. All that we can tell you right now is that there are discussions, perhaps negotiations, and the coming hours will be critical, John, as we wait to learn the fate of these two men.

BERMAN: All right, Will Ripley for us, controversial to say the least. Thanks, Will.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning, the Libyan branch of ISIS is now claiming responsibility for an attack on the luxury hotel in Tripoli that killed at least ten people, among them, an American security contractor, a French citizen and five Libyans.

The attack on the Corinthian Hotel began with a car bomb followed by gunmen storming the building. The interior ministry says the siege is now over. Those gunmen are dead.

For the latest, I want to bring in senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir. Nima, what do we know about these gunmen?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the ISIS affiliate in Libya has now released pictures of the two men. One is claimed to be of Tunisian descent and one Sudanese believed to links to Sudan. They say that this attack was in retaliations for the abduction, as they call it, the extraction, of course, of Al-Libi, an alleged al Qaeda operative by U.S. security forces to stand trial in the states.

Al-Libi died in an American hospital and this ISIS affiliate is being perpetrated in his name. The government in Tripoli is saying that the main target of this attack, although there was a U.S. delegation, the main target was the prime minister.

The investigation has now started, and U.S. officials are telling CNN that the expectation is the FBI will be a part of that -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Nima Elbagir, thank you for that this morning. That was one of the only places that was secure enough to hold a delegation like that.

BERMAN: Yes, a country in chaos to be sure. Let's take a look at what's coming up on NEW DAY. Alisyn Camerota is joining us.

ROMANS: Good morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Guys, it's lonely here in the studio. I am solo this morning because, of course, we're following the aftermath of that monster blizzard that slammed New England and Long Island, and it left behind record snowfall.

Well, Chris Cuomo is live in Boston. He's watching the coastal flooding there. Michaela is live in Connecticut where she actually got stuck and is digging out. So she's going to tell us about all of the folks who have to dig out there and how it's going.

We're going to check in on some of the hardest-hit areas. Plus to the people in New York and New Jersey, the forecast seemed completely off. So we will talk with a meteorologist about why those models were so wrong. Why the record snowfall for Manhattan didn't actually turn out that way so tune in, top of the hour.

ROMANS: I'll come up and join you in the 7:00 hour.

CAMEROTA: That would be great.

ROMANS: We're going to talk money.

CAMEROTA: I'd love that.

ROMANS: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

BERMAN: I'll just be longing for your company.

All right, new information this morning on the man who flew a drone onto the White House lawn, President Obama weighing in on the security scare only to CNN. We'll tell you what he thinks needs to be done. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: President Obama back in the White House this morning after visits to India and Saudi Arabia. This afternoon, he'll speak at a farewell ceremony for outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The White House also reversing its decision to end tax breaks for the popular 529 college savings accounts. There was a lot of uproar from parents and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The president is now calling on Congress to pass the 529 provision as is in the upcoming budget.

ROMANS: New details this morning about the government worker who accidentally flew a drone onto the White House grounds. The unidentified employee works for the national geospatial intelligence agency. I bet they did OK in high school. CNN has learned he told the Secret Service he was drinking before launching the drone -- Christine.

ROMANS: Don't drink and drone, Berman.

BERMAN: The president says the incident highlights the need to regulate all unmanned aerial vehicles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I've actually asked the FAA and a number of agencies to examine how are we managing this new technology? Because the drone that landed on the White House you buy at Radio Shack. You know that there are companies like Amazon that are talking about using small drones to deliver packages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Prosecutors still have not ruled out the possibility of filing charges against the employee, who crash landed his drone on the White House lawn. Sources tell CNN he will likely face disciplinary action at work.

ROMANS: These things are largely unregulated, you know? Raising a lot of concerns about, you know, what the FAA is going to do about allowing industries and people to use drones. You know? It's really interesting stuff.

All right, First Lady Michelle Obama facing criticism on Twitter for not wearing a head covering in Saudi Arabia to offer condolences on the death of King Abdullah and to meet the new Saudi king.. They accuse the first lady of being disrespectful to their traditions, using a hashtag that translates to Michelle Obama in modest or Michelle Obama unveiled.

Now, you've covered -- I mean, you've covered the president, various presidents in these situations before. There's also hospitality is also a central tenant of Saudi Arabia.

BERMAN: There are exceptions for visiting dignitaries in this type of situation. I don't think it was outrageous to see that at all. But I also think it may have been very well deliberate by the White House in this case.

Just a few minutes before the hour, a big-time slide for U.S. stocks, why lousy profit reports from some of America's biggest, most important companies. We'll get an explanation when we get an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. What in the world happened to the stock market yesterday? Ouch! Stock futures are mostly higher right now, but yesterday, it was ugly. The Dow yesterday closed down 291 points.

Big companies like Microsoft and Caterpillar and many more warned they won't make as much money as they thought this year. The environment is more challenging than they thought. The strong dollar great for American travelers to Europe, bad for companies selling there and the sliding oil issue hurting some companies, too.

And then there is Apple. Apple just posted the most profitable quarter in corporate history, in corporate history. Profit is up 37 percent in the last quarter. They made $18 billion. That's profit. Record iPhone sales. It's almost hard to comprehend.

Tim Cook, the CEO, even said it's almost hard to comprehend this many iPhones, 74.5 million iPhones in the last three months. Huge gains in china and other markets.

That CEO noting Apple sold an average 30,000 iPhones every hour. The stock is up almost 7 percent before the bell. You probably have this in your 401(k). It's a widely held stock, a popular stock.

BERMAN: Not to mention in your pocket.

ROMANS: Exactly.

BERMAN: The northeast is digging out this morning from the monster storm, "NEW DAY" all over it starting right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boston is bearing the brunt of the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of the largest we've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Winds are killing us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flooding was more intense and higher than predicted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the storm surge that's created tremendous problems for people out here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of the roof collapsed, the wall, my door was missing.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: If in fact we don't get a real -- make sure that it's the Iranian's fault because they couldn't say yes to a reasonable deal.

BERMAN: Time may be running out for hostages being held by ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jordan getting the message that one of their very important prisoner's lives could be on the line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the Japanese and Jordanians don't play, ISIS kills somebody and says, not our fault.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, January 28th, 6:00 in the east, you have me, Chris Cuomo, live in Boston for you, Michaela Pereira in Connecticut and Alisyn Camerota, guiding us from New York.