Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

New England Walloped by Blizzard; Air Travel Back on Track; Anti-Tank Missile Fired on IDF Vehicle; ISIS Group Claims Responsibility for Hotel Attack

Aired January 28, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOCTAPE)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is brutal, it's one of the largest we've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just the wind, the wind's what's killing us.

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

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

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

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If in fact we don't get a deal, make sure that it's the Iranian's fault because they couldn't say yes to a reasonable deal.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time may be running out for hostages being held right now by ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jordan obviously 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, January 28, 6 a.m. 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.

Now, here it is freezing. Barely 16 degrees, that is cementing as much as three feet of snow. The most ever in some counties, the biggest January storm ever, to be sure, in Boston. This city saw two feet of snow.

Today the threat of a blizzard is gone almost everywhere. But the hardest part, digging out from what is now a white wall of this stuff, thanks to these frigid temperatures, is just beginning.

Take a look: the situation is bad or worse in other states. Thirty- three and a half inches in some of Connecticut and New Hampshire, as well. And where you are in New York, Alisyn -- that's where I live -- as much as two and a half feet added in areas out on the Island. That's where I live. Those places still bruised by Superstorm Sandy.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Chris, I'm happy to see that you're safe this morning. I know you had a heck of a time getting up to Boston, so I hope you'll share your odyssey with us and share some pictures of that journey that you took.

Meanwhile, many in New York and New Jersey are calling this blizzard a bust, because it did not break that many records in New York. So how did the forecasters get it so wrong here? We're going to examine the two different forecasting systems, the European and the U.S., and figure out which one was right. So we'll have that for everyone, Chris.

CUOMO: And Alisyn, we've got New York and New Jersey covered between the two of us, where we grew up. And only those people can carp about not getting blasted. Still, we saw, heard and felt things in the northeast that will stay with us for a lifetime. Here is a taste of everything from the most severe to the sublime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): The sound of a blizzard. Hurricane-force winds, 78 miles an hour in Nantucket.

The sight of storm surge breaching a seawall, along the southern coast of Massachusetts.

Roads like sled paths. Drivers crawling through a white-out near Boston.

This is New England, buried by the year's first and historic blizzard. Snow, not by the inch, but by the foot, from Connecticut to Maine, towns like Worcester and Framingham surpassing 30 inches. Cars turned into igloos in a sea of white.

The snow different, depending on where you were. Inland, small, dry crystals from the bitter cold. Along the coast, flakes were wet and clumpy, like white mud on the ground. High tide coupled with near- hurricane-strength winds flooding homes.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This water coming up right over the sea wall right now.

CUOMO: CNN Alexandra Fields [SIC] in Scituate when the freezing water surges onto shore. The National Guard racing to save the lives of residents who didn't evacuate, steering in near-zero visibility. Mission accomplished as soldiers share a warm embrace with the community members they pluck from danger.

SGT. JENNIFER BRUNO, HOME DAMAGED IN MARSHFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS: I've been through a lot, and that was just more than I thought would have happened.

CUOMO: For one National Guardsman, a bittersweet return home. Sergeant Jennifer Bruno's community was safe, but her coastline home destroyed.

BRUNO: My friends and I, we actually just grabbed a few things, some uniforms that were right there, and a sword I got when I was in Iraq.

CUOMO: By all accounts, most residents did what they were supposed to, heeding the calls of state officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get ready to hunker down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get home and hunker down.

CUOMO: These warnings possibly saving lives.

But from the severe to the sublime: surfers riding dangerous high tides along the coast in upstate New York. Monday also saw the first of many winter storm miracles. This mother forced to break the travel ban during the height of the blizzard in Connecticut, making it to the hospital just in time to deliver a beautiful baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The roads weren't that bad because nobody was on them. I was happy once we got here. I was a little relieved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good news on a day that saw little.

Now, another situation: along the coast of Massachusetts here the wind whipped waves close to 20 feet high, causing severe flooding, forcing many people to evacuate.

Let's go there right now. We've got Nick Valencia in hard-hit Scituate for the latest. Nick, what are they waking up to this morning?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Here in Scituate, a coastal community in Massachusetts, one of the hardest-hit, that seawall was breached yesterday, leaving the road that I'm standing on right now, completely under water.

We're at the peak of high tide here right now just after 6 a.m. here in Scituate, and that, of course, is the concern that the same could happen today as it did yesterday.

And I'll just show you some of the damage that it left behind. This is part of that sea wall that's supposed to protect the water from coming over here and breaching this community. And perhaps one of the most impressive images here, if you can believe it, just off to my side here. This house, completely frozen. That's a thick sheet of ice all over that house. And that's just a snapshot of what many of the homes here in this community look like this morning.

The bad news? Well, this area under an advisory or flood advisory until 7 a.m. And that wind also is very brutal right now. It's about 15 degrees, but it feels more like 1 -- Chris.

CUOMO: It does, especially for you off the coast with that ocean air. That is a saltwater spackling that that house got. Our best to the family involved there.

Now what else do we know? The blizzard is just paralyzing parts of the entire northeast. Connecticut saw close to three feet of snow in places. Upwards of two feet in many, many communities. So many people still frozen shut this morning in areas like New London. And that's where we find Michaela Pereira this morning.

Mick, how are you?

MICHAELA PEREIRA,CNN ANCHOR: I'm doing good. We're doing really great here in New London. Chris, good morning, and good morning to everybody at home.

And it's been interesting. You've been talking and Alisyn has been talking about this idea of the storm having kind of two faces. There in New York, the travel ban lifted yesterday, not the estimates of snow reaching Manhattan and New York City. Whereas here, New London, got smacked. I have to tell you, a lot of snow came down here. This was the brunt of the blizzard, and it did meet the criteria of a blizzard.

Here in New London, they believe they got 20 inches of snow. For the state, the highest level, Chris, as you mentioned, northeast in Connecticut, the town or the community of Thompson, 33 1/2 inches. That is an incredible amount of snow.

So again, other parts of western Connecticut only getting five to ten inches. So it's a very kind of -- one local official, in fact, said it's the tale of two storms, if you will.

Authorities have lifted the travel ban. As you see, a lot of vehicles going by behind us. They -- that is great news to a lot of people. However, authorities are still saying, "Keep the roads clear for us, because we need to get to this business of removing snow." It's going to be quite a task when you think about all of that accumulation that piled up on the roads.

The plows have been a constant presence here. We've been watching them go by constantly here in New London. and nearby Waterford. They took a bit of a brief rest last night so their drivers could get a little bit of shut-eye, but they're going to be right back to it. And we're told that they already are.

Some of the good news to report here: no power outages. Statewide, there have been very, very few power outages, very few downed trees. They had anticipated that. But that did not happen. And that is a really good piece of news.

So they're expecting everything to get back to normal here. Even though the temperatures are chilly. It is cold. It's about 12 degrees where I am, Chris. They think with wind chill, it's about minus 2. So after all of that blizzard, just cold temperatures setting in, the business of snow removal is key.

We're going to talk to the mayor of New London coming up this hour. We'll get the latest information from him -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. See what they need there, Mick. They're not going to see normal for quite some time. That's for sure.

Now back here in Massachusetts, Worcester, which is a place, really, you could be calling "Worster" right now, because they made the wrong kind of history. They broke a snow total there that stood for close to 20 years.

Listen to this: 34-1/2 inches of white there, along with heavy winds that affected everything.

Joining us right now on the phone is the city's mayor, Joseph Petty.

Mayor Petty, how are you this morning? How are the people in your community?

JOSEPH PETTY, MAYOR OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS (via phone): Pretty good, Chris, thank you for the call. We're still digging out. We dug out all day yesterday. Pretty much clear. And we're back in operation. The employees will be back to work today. In fact we're going to be picking up the garbage and recyclables today. So we worked -- the crews worked all day yesterday, took a break during the evening, and are back full force this morning around 5 a.m. So we've got some clean-up to do.

CUOMO: Impressive.

PETTY: Yes. And we've got some clean-up to do.

CUOMO: Let me ask you, Mr. Mayor, what did you see in terms of power loss? Did everybody make it through OK? What are you dealing with on that human level?

PETTY: Yes, on the power loss, we really didn't have any major power loss. I think maybe nine homes had power losses, which was from a fallen tree. We did have a fire where seven police -- seven people were displaced, including a pregnant woman. And we had a water main break, which we fixed pretty quickly. So that was the issues that, really, we tried to solve yesterday.

The (INAUDIBLE) DPW crew did a great job this morning, widening the streets and doing other passes through the city. So we're just asking people to use some common sense getting to work today and have private industry just tell their workers, be a little flexible, come in late. Our workers, city workers are probably on a two-hour delay this morning. So we're operational here in Worcester. It was the largest storm that

we've had in years, 34 -- 34 inches. And we got another storm coming in on Friday, I guess.

CUOMO: Yes, 34 1/2. Don't forget the half, Mr. Mayor. It's all about the half. That's what puts you into the books.

PETTY: Well, we've had a lot of practice in the past. A couple of years ago, we were named the U.S. -- United States snow capital in the United States. So we've got a lot of practice, unfortunately, but we do a pretty good job here.

CUOMO: You sound really beat. I can imagine the workload that you have in front of you. How long until you see the normal-normal there?

PETTY: I would say we have a lot of street widening, a lot of clean- up. Probably a few days before we're back to normal. So it's pretty...

CUOMO: All right. Mr. Mayor, please -- finish what you were going to say, Mr. Mayor.

PETTY: Thank you very much. Unfortunately, as I've said before, we've had a lot of practice. We have good crews. People are committed to keeping the streets safe and clean; and the city manager and his team did a great job.

CUOMO: All right. Obviously, the kind of practice you never want to put into action, but you needed to yesterday. And by all accounts, you guys are doing great.

Please, we'll stay in touch. Let us know what you need there on the ground. We'll get the word out for you. Mr. Mayor, Mayor Petty, the best to you and the people in your community.

PETTY: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn, you've got to remember, the challenge is that this snow has become so solid because of the cold, that that's going to be a problem all across the board, from communities to all types of transportation.

CAMEROTA: Chris, I remember living in Boston. Sometimes that, those blocks of snow, ice, that you're talking about, don't melt until May. So they are in -- I mean, if this record-breaking snowfall is going to stick around for a long time there. So we'll check back in with you in a second.

CUOMO: I'm rubbing my nose. How long will it take for the ice in my nose to go away?

CAMEROTA: I don't know, but it is looking a delightful shade of red. So we'll check back in with you.

CUOMO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Go get warm, Chris.

The blizzard grounded thousands of planes, and it messed up travel for -- hundreds of planes and messed up travel for thousands of people. Jason Carroll is live at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

So are the airlines getting back to normal this morning, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, it's getting there, but it's still going to take a little bit of time. If you look at this board that you see behind me, you know when you come to the airports, first thing you do, you come and you check your flight. This is not what you want to see. Canceled, canceled, a number of flights here at American.

Still seeing some cancellations, not like what we saw at the peak: 5,000 cancellations at the peak. But now what we're seeing is cancellations here and there. Here at LaGuardia, it's a tie with Boston Logan, at 157 cancellations here, 157 cancellations at Boston Logan, as well.

Some more numbers for you. At JFK, 102 cancellations. Philadelphia International, 81. And then at Newark, we're seeing 70. We're expecting those numbers to change as things go along.

You know, basically the crews have been working overnight, working overtime, doing what they can to clear the runways so the planes can get back out there; and operations can get back to normal.

Despite all the efforts, we did see a number of people who were stranded at the airport. They were stuck, pulling up a bit of concrete, sleeping out here on the floor, sleeping on the tile.

But in terms of the way things look right now, I want you to take a look out here live at the security line here at LaGuardia. Things looking not too bad here, Alisyn, and we're told things are just going to get better and better. It's just going to take a little bit of time for operations to get back to where we want them to be -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Man, that floor does not look comfortable, though, Jason.

CARROLL: Not at all.

CAMEROTA: We hope people can get out soon. Thanks so much for that.

We have some breaking news to tell you about now. The Israeli Defense Force says an anti-tank missile struck one of their vehicles in the Golan Heights near the Lebanese border. There are reports of casualties. We want to get right to CNN's Elise Labott. She is live in the Golan Heights. What do we know, Elise?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, as you said, there are reporting casualties. We're here right now at the intersection of the Lebanese and Syrian border with Israel. As you can see, the mount door behind me where that incident took place, anti-tank fire against Israeli soldiers and their vehicles. The Israelis have blocked off the area. But other incidents this

morning, a house in a nearby city of Rija (ph) was also hit. And also, the IDF has been trading fire across the Lebanese and Syrian border.

Yesterday this followed some rocket fire from Syria. Overnight, Israeli IDF targeted Syrian positions, sending a message to Syria and Hezbollah, that it will not tolerate another front on the Golan Heights.

So clearly this situation is escalating. This, of course, is in retaliation for something that Israel is not talking about, which is that attack over a week ago, against high-level Iranian and Hezbollah targets across the border. Israelis say that they were planning an attack against Israel, and they will not stand for that, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Elise...

LABOTT: So the situation really heating up. Hopefully it will calm down, soon.

CAMEROTA: Well, Elise, I'm not certain that it will, because we have this news bulletin that I'm just reading now from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says that Israel is prepared to act with force. And any response will be harsh. Have you heard anything else from the prime minister?

LABOTT: Well, he has said in the last few days that fire will be met with even more fire. And I think last night that attack, those air strikes into Syria was a message to Syrian and Hezbollah, not to use those Syrian positions to attack Israel. They're clear that they're not going to open another front.

The question is what -- is this just retaliation, kind of tit for tat of what happened, in response to that attack by Israel against those Iranian and Hezbollah operatives? Is it just a tit for tat and then it will calm down? Or is this something to escalate.

I might mention you can't forget that Prime Minister Netanyahu has an election coming up in a few months. And he will be under a lot of pressure to show that he is going to protect the Israeli people. So you can't ignore the politics in this. But clearly, the IDF saying that they are ready to protect the people of the north. Up in the mountains, residents have been instructed to stay in their homes, everybody really tense and on high alert right now.

CAMEROTA: All right. Elise Labott, thanks for that breaking news, and we will be in touch as it develops there.

Back at home, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the 2012 terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The panel's top Democrat, Congressman Elijah Cummings, told CNN that Clinton did not hesitate when she was approached in September, but a date and time are still being worked out. A Clinton spokesman declined to say why or when she will testify. Well, the first lady catching flack for straying from Saudi Arabia's

traditional dress code. She did not wear a head scarf when she visited the country to meet the country's new leader. But it turns out foreigners are not required to cover their heads. And the first lady's actually meeting with the new king also raising some eyebrows. The two shook hands, and in Islamic law, usually that forbids men from touching women they are not related to. However, an exception is often made for diplomatic meetings.

There's a chilling new ISIS video to tell you about, and it warns two hostages have less than 24 hours to live unless a convicted terrorist on Death Row is freed. Is there any deal in the works for a prisoner swap?

And President Obama standing firm, refusing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Washington in March. The president explains that position in an exclusive interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news for you right now. Because we're learning that a deal may in the works to free two hostages being held by ISIS. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley. He is live for us from Tokyo.

Will, what do we know about this?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, just moments ago, Jordan state TV put out a notice quoting a government official, saying that Jordan is ready to hand over terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi in exchange for a Jordanian pilot, Mu'ath Kasasbeh, who was captured by ISIS last month.

Now, this statement, again attributed to the Jordanian government, does not mention Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, who appeared in a third ISIS video, threatening that he and the pilot would be executed in less than three hours from now, if Jordan did not hand over this terrorist who was found guilty and sentenced to death for an attack in 2005 that left -- left almost 60 people dead.

What this means is that Jordan is willing to conduct this exchange but only if their pilot makes it out alive, which leaves the fate of Kenji Goto very much uncertain. Because again, he was not mentioned in this offer that was made by the Jordanian government.

We've been tracking these reports for hours. This is now the first official government confirmation that Jordan is willing to hand over this terrorist. But the big question right now that is unanswered: what will happen to Kenji Goto? What will happen to this pilot? Is ISIS willing to release them both? Willing to release one or perhaps none? This could all fall apart or these men could come home safely. We'll have to watch it in the coming minutes and hours, Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Will, this is complicated. I mean, negotiating with terrorists. What makes Jordanian officials think that ISIS would abide by the deal?

RIPLEY: They don't know if ISIS will abide by the deal, because this has been so unpredictable and volatile this entire time. ISIS has been making all the rules here, setting deadlines, setting ultimatums and then not following through. So it's really anyone's guess right now what's going to happen.

We know that there have been discussions around the clock. Japan has a special envoy in Jordan. Of course, the Japanese government here in Tokyo, their sole priority is getting Kenji Goto back safely.

But for the Jordan government, they want their pilot back safely. ISIS has only offered up the Japanese journalist. They never said they'd be willing to hand over this pilot alive, only that they would not kill him unless [SIC] Jordan handed over this terrorist. So it's a very, very unpredictable situation. We just don't know what's going to happen, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Will. This is obviously a minute-by-minute development. So please keep us posted as you get more. Thanks so much for that.

Meanwhile, the Libyan branch of ISIS is claiming responsibility for the terror attack on that luxury hotel in Tripoli that killed ten people, including an American contractor. The group has released the names and pictures of the two dead gunmen that they say carried out the attack.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir, is following the developments for us. What do we know, Nima?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the few remaining safe refuges in Tripoli. It's now become the site of one of the most coordinated attacks the capital has seen in recent times. We're used to the violence flaring up in the east of the country and in other more regional areas.

But in the heart of Tripoli, in a hotel where the Tripoli prime minister was staying, alongside with an American delegation, this is causing a lot of concern. That it sends a message that nowhere in Libya, especially not in Tripoli, is safe.

The Libyan officials say they're now in control of the hotel. And they're going to begin their investigation into this. The FBI is also expected, U.S. officials tell us, to be involved in that investigation, specifically because the ISIS affiliate has said this is in retaliation for the extraction by U.S. Special Forces of Abu Anas al-Libi, a suspected al Qaeda operative, who died in a U.S. hospital under U.S. custody -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Nima, thank you so much for that report.

Meanwhile, back at home, New England is battered and trying to dig out. The city of Boston is buried this morning under more than two feet of snow, and flooding, of course, is a big concern. So we'll take you into the danger zone next.

Plus the media day circus at the Super Bowl. We'll debate over deflate-gate. Will it die down before Sunday's big game? We're live in Phoenix for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)