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Deep Freeze from Midwest to Northeast; Hundreds of Flights Canceled Today; Answering Questions about Measles

Aired February 3, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Remember this? Martin Savidge, one of our best, trying to stay on his feet Monday, pelted in the face with ice needles and the city of Cleveland.

Martin is back with us again this morning, looking better than ever. Quality hat, you look like Punxsutawney Phil there with that thing on. What's it like today?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I had to get this just in case my mom is watching. So it is much better today, Chris, thanks very much. Although, as you point out, we are suffering under that bitter cold that you're talking about. It is very, very cold here. The low last night, 4 degrees. The wind, though, that's the real blessing. It has stopped blowing. It is still below zero with the wind chill here, but it's a breeze. It's not that blast we were dealing with yesterday.

All told, Cleveland got about anywhere from 8-13 inches. That means that Cleveland is about five inches ahead of what is the normal seasonal snowfall. But everything else is getting back to normal. Schools are back open, the airports operating pretty close to normal except for those flights coming from the East Coast.

And you've got everybody else showing up for work. Traffic is back to a normal pattern, so they're recovering and recovering very well.

I should point out, more snow is scheduled to start falling tonight and over next couple of nights. We could get another one to three inches. That's going to add to what they've got here, which I can show you, but right now it's kind of like a walk in the park compared to what it was yesterday. I'll just enjoy the view here on Public Square of my home town.

Back to you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Don't sit there too long. You'll freeze to the bench, to be sure. It is a very different sight from where were you yesterday in that better, bitter wind and cold. We salute you. Thanks so much.

So the big question everyone is asking: after all of the snow and freezing rain and ice, is there any warm-up anywhere in sight for us? Let's bring in meteorologist Chad Myers. He can break the news to us gently, we hope, in New York's Columbus Circle. Is there any glimmer of hope on the horizon?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little. Maybe 37, that's about all I can do. Here's the problem now. We have so much snow on the ground, when the sun comes out and tries to warm us up, it bounces off the sun and goes back up to space. It's called albedo. And the albedo is so high you don't get the warmth of, like, a big dirt clod, which is nice and dark and brown and warms things up. So the heat that we could have been warming us up with, it's just gone again.

So here's where we are right now. We're in the single digits in a lot of the cities across the Northeast. We are about 15 here in New York City, although it feels colder with a little bit of a breeze out of the northwest.

There's your warm-up: 39, and then we go to 30, and then 23. We are in a pattern where we have the low pressure to the east, the trough. And high pressure to the west, the ridge. The west is going to stay warm, and the east is going to stay cold. And I don't see any change in this pattern for the next 30 days. Sure, we could have a brief warm-up here and there, but every time a low comes by, every time a clipper comes out of the north, there's going to be the chance for snow, not a warm-up, not rain.

And so even with the next snowfall coming in, two to four inches for New York, there's a potential with the next storm for Boston with one of the European models saying more than that, maybe up to eight. I don't really believe it, but we'll see. It's always a possibility that these storms, because it's always going to be cold here, going to be cold for the next three days, every single next storm could bring at least some snow, like we need more.

ALISYN CAMEROTA,CNN ANCHOR: Chad, we always suspected you had a strong albedo. Thank you.

MYERS: No, no...

CAMEROTA: I think I said it right.

MYERS: I'll let my wife know.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. Chad, thanks so much. We'll check back in with you.

Joining us now by phone is the mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts, Joseph Petty. Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

JOSEPH PETTY, MAYOR, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS (via phone): Good morning, how you doing today?

CAMEROTA: We're doing well. How's Worcester doing today?

PETTY: Worcester has 17 more inches. That's -- that gives us around, last I saw it was a little over 50. This time a week ago, Saturday, probably around 60 inches of snow in the last week. And...

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Mr. Mayor, 60 inches of snow, because last week when you got 34.5 inches, Worcester set a snowfall record. So now...

PETTY: We did. In 110 years, it was the most snowfall we ever received. But we handled it pretty well. The streets were open on that Wednesday. And the streets in Worcester are open today. We do have some challenges. You know, it's cold today. Sometimes the sand and salt takes a little bit longer to work.

But we did plow last night, and we sanded and salted the roads this morning. And the streets are pretty much open. The big issue, of course, is people trying to put the snow somewhere in the residential areas and shoveling their driveways and sidewalks. Where do you put the snow?

CAMEROTA: What is the answer to that? What do you do with that level of accumulation?

PETTY: Well, we were lucky over the last four days. Lieutenant governor, and the governor worked hard to get us some support in the sense that we had some major trucks come in here. And we cleared the intersections and the downtown areas of snow, which helped out a lot.

But this storm, there's still a lot. The streets are a little bit smaller now in the neighborhoods, and we're trying to widen those streets.

And one of the big issues today, of course, is the cold. And we have the homeless, and we've got do make sure -- we have protocols in place to take care of people who don't have shelter and, again, make sure everyone has shelter over the next two days. It's going to be around the zero mark with the wind chill factor.

So it's been a tough winter, but the streets are open in Worcester. Unfortunately, I guess like I said before, we've got a lot of practice in the past. That's nothing new to us. A couple of years ago we were named the No. 1 snow capital in the United States, per capita for snowfall. And for some reason, we're in that snow belt over the last several years. So we handle it well and we have a good -- Paul Moosey is our DPW director. He does a great job. And we had 400 pieces of equipment out yesterday throughout the city.

CAMEROTA: Wow. No. 1 snow capital. That is a dubious distinction. But it has served you well in terms of experience. Mayor Joseph Petty, thanks so much for giving us a status report of Worcester this morning. Good luck.

PETTY: Thank you, have a great day today.

CAMEROTA: You, too. Chris.

CUOMO: They and the people of Buffalo, New York, can battle it out once and for all. Remember, Buffalo had like seven feet in one fall this year from lake-effect snow.

Now, when we look at this storm, it's really not just about what it's doing on the ground. It happens everywhere. Schools are closed. Now that's going to mean families are compromised. And of course, if you want to travel, forget it. Hundreds of flights have been canceled again this morning, after airlines canceled just thousands on Monday.

Let's get right to Jean Casarez. She's live at New York's LaGuardia Airport with the latest.

What do you see on the big boards, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll tell you, these passengers are just rolling with the punches. I mean, the airport is packed today. So many people. But the question is, is everybody going to get to take off? Because there have been so many cancellations.

And I'm looking at the boards, and what I really see is the flights to Boston here from LaGuardia are canceled. All the flights to Raleigh- Durham at this point are canceled.

Now, nationwide, right now, and these numbers are very fluid. They change constantly. But it's 541 flights are canceled nationwide.

Now if we look at airport by airport, the No. 1 airport in the country to have cancellations is right here, LaGuardia. Eighty-five flights have been canceled. That doesn't seem like too many. But if you put on board 200 people, you're multiplying that, and it affects a lot of lives and a lot of people.

Boston Logan, 72. Chicago O'Hare, 27.

And one of the big issues is de-icing the plane. I just spoke with a pilot that said that actually can cause delays. Sometimes it doesn't, but it can. It's the pilot that calls for the de-icing. There's de- icing and then anti-icing to make sure that the icing doesn't happen.

But the big deal was yesterday. Because when it's snowing, that's when de-icing is critical.

And we want to show everybody a picture to put a smile on your face, because it was yesterday. It was JetBlue. And in the snow, as you see, one of the people that's out there working hard for all of us, is writing, "Hello, I'm cold." And I think that says it all right here from LaGuardia -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Yes, I really appreciated that. We were probably thinking inside the plane, my flight might be delayed. That person out there is cold out in the elements.

Thanks to Jean Casarez.

New this morning, the U.N.'s highest international court has ruled that Serbia and Croatia did not commit genocide against each other Croatia's war of secession. Judges said both sides committed violence -- violent acts against the other during the break-up of Yugoslavia back in the 1990s, and neither side provided sufficient evidence to prove genocide.

CAMEROTA: Former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, resurfaces. Cuba's state-run media claims these are new pictures of Castro taken two weeks ago. More than 20 pictures published overnight, possibly to stem rumors of Castro's failing health. The last photos of him were published almost six months ago. He has rarely been seen in public since handing over power to his brother Raul in 2006.

CUOMO: A second chance for sanity for the 26-year-old who wants to marry 80-year-old Charles Manson. Elaine Burton and the murderer, their marriage on hold. The 90-day marriage license will expire before this weekend's visitation at the California State Prison. That's where Manson resides forever. So if the wedding is going to happen, the couple must get a new license. Think it over.

CAMEROTA: Well, measles cases are spiking, with more than 100 cases around the U.S. Should you be worried about your children? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us live to answer your questions.

CUOMO: Whether or not to vaccinate your kids has long been a source of controversy for some. And I say "some" because the science just doesn't support that. But the question is now, the race for the White House: we have all these potential candidates weighing in about vaccines. What are they saying? Are they helping or hurting? John King will tell you on "Inside Politics."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Hillary Clinton wading into the debate about vaccines and measles. Overnight she sent out the following tweet, quote, "The science is clear. The earth is round, the sky is blue and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids, #GrandmothersKnowBest."

Her comments follow a statement from Senator Rand Paul who says vaccines can cause mental disorders. So who's right?

We asked you to submit your questions about measles, and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here, somebody we can trust to give us the straight goods.

Good to have you, Doctor.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

PEREIRA: We'll get to all of the viewer questions in a second. But I kind of do want to start with this political discussion this seemingly has become. Potential presidential contenders sounding off about where they stand on the debate. I want to play Rand Paul's comments first so you can hear them and folks at home can, as well.

GUPTA: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Now he is, you know, obviously sounding off on this; Hillary Clinton, as well. Is there a danger, Dr. Gupta, I'm going to call you in this segment -- of this being politicized, a medical debate being politicized like this?

GUPTA: Yes. There's no question. I think that it's dangerous, and to the extent this may -- there's some pandering happening, this is the sort of pandering that can be dangerous. Because, you know, Rand Paul is a doctor. I'm sure he looks at studies. He knows the scientific method. He says he knows of many children who have wound up with mental disorders after vaccines. You know, I don't know where he's getting that data from.

And one of the old adages, Mick, in science is that correlation does not equal causation. There may be kids who have had mental disorders that have also received vaccines around that time in life.

PEREIRA: Yes.

GUPTA: But just because those two things happened around the same time do not make one causing the other.

So again, I don't know why he's saying this. The numbers don't bear that out. The science doesn't bear that out. I'd be curious what drove those comments.

CAMEROTA: But Sanjay, I mean, I think that what he was referring to is vaccine injuries, and there are a handful of people who get vaccine injuries. It's just -- that happens.

You know, I think that sometimes people like to -- doctors, pediatricians like to pretend that vaccines are 100 percent safe. They're not actually 100 percent safe. They are safe for the community. They are the right thing to do for the community, certainly.

GUPTA: Well, let's talk...

CAMEROTA: But there is vaccine injuries. I think that that's what he was referring to.

GUPTA: Yes, sure, he may be. I don't know what specifically was inside his head at the moment. But let me address that, because you bring up a good point.

So when it comes to shouting from the rooftops that something is potentially dangerous, look at things like vaccines and then start to compare them to things that we don't shout from the rooftops. I have a little graphic I want to show you in terms of injuries.

You're right, vaccines, like most things that you put in your body. We have another graphic that points this out. Vaccines, like you put most things in your body, do have some potential injury rates. For vaccines, it's about less than one out of a million doses are you going to have a serious allergic reaction, could cause a seizure or something like that in a child.

Take aspirin. That is something that we can relate to. It's in all of our medicine cabinets. Twelve events per 10,000 people could cause a potential intracerebral hemorrhage.

I'm trying to -- I'm not trying to frighten you away from aspirin. The point is the numbers are still very small. With vaccines, it's exponentially smaller risk than aspirin. And yet, we're not screaming about aspirin. So that's part of the issue here.

So you're right, there can be problems, but not to the degree...

CUOMO: Sanjay, I think -- let's flip it. I think you should be screaming from the rooftops and more. I don't think that we should be engaging people in this paranoia. The science isn't there; the practicality isn't there. I can't have my kid bring peanuts to school. But a parent has the choice whether or not to vaccinate their kids and then send them to school? Are we giving too much deference to the other side here, when there really isn't one?

GUPTA: I agree with you, Chris. You know, I don't think there is another side here, frankly. You know, we get so used to the discussion about this side and that side. The two sides could just be simply the right side and the wrong side.

We don't know what causes autism. I mean, that's fair to say. We're not sure in the scientific community what causes autism. But we know that vaccines do not.

PEREIRA: Right.

GUPTA: And I think it's just important to say that as succinctly as I just did and not to say, "Look I'm going to delay the vaccines." You hear doctors coming on saying, you know, it's OK; let the parents choose. Of course, I'm a parent. I have three kids. I made that choice. I got them vaccinated on schedule, on time, to protect their health and to protect the health of the people around them.

PEREIRA: Look, there is a lot of emotion in this debate on both sides, to be sure. We recognize that.

I want to turn to some viewer questions, because you all have been great about sending in these questions. And I think part of what you just said might have answered some of this. But I want to you go a little further.

This is a question from Bradshaw, Lauren Bradshaw, pardon me: "Suppose you have a friend who is on the fence about vaccinations. What simple, easy-to-understand advice would you give them?"

GUPTA: Well, first of all, I would say that they are safe. They are effective. When it comes to effectiveness, we talk about measles as a disease that was nearly eliminated in this country back in 2000, and is back again. But also what about mumps? Ninety-nine percent reduction in cases. Diphtheria, 100 percent reduction in cases. Smallpox, polio. You don't even say those words any more. Medical students barely learn about them because of vaccines.

I would also say that, in terms of their safety, I showed you the graphic just a while ago, comparing their safety to things like aspirin. I mean, they can be safer than things that are much more common.

I also want to show you one other thing here, and this is a little bit of a nuanced point, this other graphic I have. Looking at the way that we used to vaccinate in the past; how we vaccinate now. And look at how autism rates have sort of changed since that time. If we can put the graphic up.

But basically, it's showing that in the past -- look back there in the 1960s -- we gave a lot more in terms of vaccine load to kids' bodies, 3,500 times more. And at some point sort of in the late '90s, we started to give lower doses of vaccines to try and get the same results.

But here's my point: Throughout that time, autism rates continued to go up. So despite the fact that the vaccines themselves have gone down in terms of amounts, autism rates have gone up. So it's -- there really is no link. So one could make the argument that vaccines have actually been protective against autism.

CUOMO: Right.

GUPTA: So it's really -- there's nothing there. And I worry about that as a father, and I gave my kids vaccines. I think that's really important.

CUOMO: Well, you've been teaching me about this for years, you know, well before I got to CNN. You know, autism is diagnosed a lot more now than it ever was in the past. The spectrum has gotten broader and broader. So there are lots of reasons for this. They're playing with misinformation.

I again, as I told you, Sanjay, I don't see the merits of a debate. I covered the Wakefield study. It was, you know, bogus. He got unlicensed because of it. And yet it continues.

So let's just go with dealing with the immediate. So let's go to this question: "If you're immune -- are you immune, if you're an adult and had your vaccines as a child? Do we as adults need to get a booster shot? Should kids who are ten and have had all vaccinations, should they get a booster shot?" This is a good question. What's the answer.

GUPTA: It's a great question. So the way it works now is that you typically get your first shot around one year of age, around 12 months of age. That should give you about 95 percent protection.

You could have a second shot within a month or two after is that if you wanted. But the way the schedule works is that right around the time kids start school, they get another shot. That takes them up to about 99 percent effective.

To your point earlier, nothing is going to be 100 percent effective. But it's pretty good. That should last you the rest of your life. You should not need a booster shot, unless you know you're going to be coming in contact with people with measles. People for example, who work overseas in camps and things like that may get booster shots. If you're unclear, I can't remember, did I get the shots at all? Did

I get just one? You can go to the doctor and get a blood test that shows how many antibodies you have. Antibodies are the infection- fighting cells. Do I have enough? Are they working well enough? You can find that out with a simple blood test if you're unsure.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sanjay. Here's our last question. It comes from Mike Miller. And I think that it speaks to everything that you've been trying to debunk, given all the stats that you've shown. Here's his question: "Why are people so paranoid of the vaccines?"

GUPTA: You know, that's a great question, and like most things in life, I don't think I would paint everybody who's reluctant to take the vaccines as having the same reasons why.

Chris brought up a paper that was written by Dr. Wakefield back in 1998. That was the paper that a lot of people pointed to that said there's a link between vaccines and autism. As Chris said, that paper was subsequently debunked. Dr. Wakefield, who I've interviewed before, he was subsequently discredited. There was nothing there. But it started a whole firestorm of activity around that.

There's also people who have profound distrust of the pharmaceutical industry, no matter what. And to be fair, the pharmaceutical industry hasn't always engendered the most trust with some of these things.

But with regard to vaccines, you know, there's been a lot of now independent studies, 75 or so studies. There's been a big meta- analysis of 1.2 million children, again saying we don't know what causes autism, but we know that vaccines do not.

And I think, you know, the third part are those people who just simply believe that, "Look, because of herd immunity, I don't need to get my kid vaccinated. There's enough other people around that it will keep my kid safe." The problem with that sort of thinking, though, is that more and more people think like that, that herd immunity goes away and, all of a sudden, you start to see what you're seeing now.

PEREIRA: Yes, and what we saw in California, that spread across the nation.

We love that you cut through the noise for us, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thanks.

PEREIRA: If you still have questions, use the hash tag on Twitter #VaccineQs. We'll continue to answer these throughout the day on CNN.

CUOMO: All right. Now, I would say that that's not a true controversy, because the science should point the way on that. But here is one that's not going away. One play decided Super Bowl XLIX, and the fallout is only growing. Hype aside, one play can haunt you. Do you remember this? Do you remember this? The AFC championship game? The NFL star who lost the ball there lost a lot more. Former Browns running-back Earnest Byner. The fumble, it was called. He's going to tell you what's at stake in something like this, and it's a lot more than a game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to Pictures Tell the Story. A bad situation is worse that morning in the Northeast and the Midwest. Temperatures in the teens and single digits are the new problem,, turning leftover snow into thin sheets of ice, creating hazards for the morning commute.

Boston, still digging out from mounting snowfall totals; rewriting the record book in the wrong way: almost 48 inches in the last ten days. That beats the old mark by almost a foot.

Look at this: the weather forcing schools in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, all to call off classes. And the victory parade for the New England Patriots, going to have to delay it at least until tomorrow.

For the latest, we go to meteorologist Chad Myers, keeping track of the latest forecast for us.

I'm telling you, we need to buoy our spirits. We need a libido forecast.

MYERS: It's albedo. Not libido.

CUOMO: Libido, I got it.

MYERS: Never mind. (MAKES GESTURE OF A HAND GOING OVER HIS HEAD) Shoom!

Anyway, albedo is because the sun is so shiny, the ground is so white, that the heat from the sun goes back. If you're just joining us, we had quite a good laugh about that last hour.

Anyway, the problem this morning is that it is cold, and it's cold on your pets' feet. It's cold on your face, and it's also cold on the roadways, even roads that have been salted have been refreezing overnight because of temperatures like this. Look at that. Look at Montpelier, 10 degrees below zero. That is not a wind chill. Albany, Schenectady, 8 below. That is also not a wind-chill factor. That's what the road feels like. That's what you feel like. That's what your pet feels like. So please, take care of them today. Check on the elderly, as well.

New York City up to 39 tomorrow. That will be the heat wave, because then we go back to 30, then 29. Look at Boston. By the end of the week, back down to 16. We are in this cold pattern. We are in it to win it now, because the trough is in the east. When that happens, every storm that comes by will be a snow maker. There may be six storms still to come in February. One every three to four days, and all of them will produce at least a little bit of snow.

The next one coming through is an Alberta clipper. Clippers mean that they move very fast. That's what an Alberta clipper means, like a clipper ship. And because it's moving so fast, it doesn't put down a lot of snow, but it does put down snow. There's no chance of rain here. Two to four inches, I think, for New York City by the end of the week, the same for Boston.

There's a potential for a bigger snow event for Boston to Maine, if the storm blows up like the European model is predicting. I don't see that happening. We'll have to see. I believe the storm continues out to sea and continues to move away. But also, continues to keep us in the deep freeze.

PEREIRA: Yes.

MYERS: Michaela, it is really cold out here. Not as cold as yesterday because I was wet and windy, but the temperatures today are cold, 15 right now. Yesterday it was 30, it feels 10 degrees warmer.

PEREIRA: And small mercies there, no wind, no sleet and snow, we'll take it, though, right? All right, Chad, we'll check back with you a little later.