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NEW DAY
Snowstorms Continue to Hit Boston; President May Authorize Sending Weapons to Ukrainian Military; Alabama Judge Ignores Federal Order Allowing Gay Marriage; Interview with Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona
Aired February 10, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boston has been pummeled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only been 14 days, folks, and we've gotten 70-80 inches of snow around the Commonwealth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't get moving, this thing will probably bury us very quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind is so hard so it makes it worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS still has not offered any proof to back up their claim that Mueller was killed in a Jordanian airstrike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has been a living hell of the family. You go numb. You don't want to hear it. You don't want to believe it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Married and in love. You may kiss one another.
(CHEERS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What may have worked 10 years ago --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is not going to work anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Supreme Court has said by a vote of seven to two same-sex marriages can proceed in Alabama.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, February 10th, 8:00 in the east. More than five feet of snow piled up before a new snowstorm hit the northeast dropping an additional 20 inches. Simple math -- almost seven feet of snow. Public schools are closed again in Boston leaving families in the lurch, kids possibly having to make up the time, listen to this, on Saturdays and by losing some spring break. Ouch.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And the state's governor declaring a state of emergency. Roads are impassable. Cars are buried. All rail service shut down and growing concerns that roofs may collapse under the weight of all the heavy snow.
We begin our team coverage with Rosa Flores. She is live in Boston for us. Rosa, we know you're in Beacon Hill which can be tough to navigate even on a good day. Tell us what you're seeing.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, like you mentioned, Massachusetts in a state of emergency, Boston with snow busting into the streets, snow busting into sidewalks, you can see here, and also busting budgets. The mayor announcing that $18 million for all of the snow removal, not enough. He is doubling that in order to make ends meet.
Now here's the other thing, schools are closed. Nonessential employees are asked to stay home, which also means for businesses, that's a no-no. Piles of snow does not mean piles of cash.
Now earlier I had showed you a car under a mound of snow. This is actually the mound of snow, but we've done a little TV magic for you just to show you what some of these folks are having to dig themselves out of. This car is the lucky one. Take a look. It's completely uncovered, but if you take a look around, we'll turn this corner and you'll see how narrow the streets of Beacon Hill have turned just because of these mounds of snow. Here's our car. Take a look. I can actually come in through here and you can see that we dug it up a little bit, Alisyn and Chris. But take a look. It's going to take a while. It's going to take a lot of manpower. It's going to take a lot of these owners a lot of time to dig out of the snow.
CAMEROTA: Rosa, we didn't know what you were going to find out there when you started digging. We didn't know if it was going to be Al Capone's tomb. We didn't know if it was going to be a family of squirrels or what, but it is an actual car.
FLORES: You know, unfortunately, sometimes it's not that sexy. There's also piles of snow over trash, because imagine just the basics are very difficult during a snowstorm of this magnitude that's very prolonged. So some of these mounds of snow are just trash piles, Alisyn. Not so sexy, but you know what I mean.
CAMEROTA: That's a bad surprise when you unearth that. Rosa, thanks so much for showing us around Beacon Hill there. Stay warm. Be careful. Thanks so much.
CUOMO: She didn't dig it out, but at least now the owner knows where their car is.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: That's a good question. You might forget where you parked your car on a normal day.
And one of the unseen things in television, that cameraman, did you see how that guy was walking around and shooting that with that big camera on and he can't look where he's walking, you know?
PEREIRA: Dangerous.
CUOMO: What we do for you people.
Here's the problem, another round of snow is on the way. So let's turn to meteorologist Chad Myers for the forecast. I'm not going to just dump it on you Chad, ever, because I know you're not feeling well. I see you're a little glossy down there. But explain why, why are we having this extended period of storm after storm?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Ridge. Think of a big bump in the jet stream in the west turns into a trough in the east. Every time a low goes through that trough, it's cold enough to make snow.
Now every once in a while a warm up. I think 10 days from now we get to a warm-up, but every time it snows it piles on, literally piling on from where we are now. Mostly sunny skies. If you go out today, sunglasses please. It is going to be a snow blind kind of day.
But here comes the snow for tomorrow and tomorrow night. The low develops off the east coast like they always do. Warm water, cold land, snowstorm. And I think probably six to eight is the biggest number I'm going to see here. But for Boston, they don't need two. Where are you going to put it? You have to keep throwing it higher and higher and higher. New York City, don't see it for you. You're far enough to the west and the south of this storm as every dig of the jet stream comes in you're going to stay cold and get more snow, but not for this one.
And the west, good morning, west, you are hot. You could be breaking record highs out in the west but we're breaking record lows in the east. Temperatures through the next couple of days for New York, the morning lows, look at that, nine, two, Boston, one, Bangor, one below. You don't melt snow at numbers like that. It just stays for a long time.
PEREIRA: All right, Chad, I just made a decision for my life. I'm going to retire south of the jet stream. That's my goal in life.
MYERS: Deal.
PEREIRA: All right? You feel better, my friend.
Want to turn to someone on the phone right now. Peter Judge is with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Mr. Judge, you have been in the thick of it there in Massachusetts. Good to have you with us again.
PETER JUDGE, MASSACHUSETTS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via telephone): Thank you. Thanks for having me.
PEREIRA: All right, what are your priorities for your agency at this hour?
JUDGE: The city is in the dig-out process. We're going to break down. The sun is out today, and although it's cold, we're going full bore on the state level to assist cities to move that snow, either to snow farms or in some cases a lot of communities have permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to begin dumping some of the snow into the harbor, into the ocean, or into some of the major rivers.
PEREIRA: The National Weather Service is saying so far this winter 76.5 inches of snow. It has snowed 13 out of 17 days. You all aren't getting a chance to really catch your breath.
JUDGE: No. That's the thing with this. I mean, you know, everyone's been working full bore for the last three weeks. And so, you know -- it doesn't look like there's relief in sight with Thursday and then Sunday, at least something coming in. I guess at this point six inches is just like a bug in the windshield.
PEREIRA: Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. And this time we know what you are. Let's talk about that. You talk about where to put all of that snow and what to do with it. Given the fact that you have another snowfall coming and another deep freeze coming, I imagine the priority is to get rid of as much of that as you can. Give us an idea about the snow farms and snow-melters. You essentially are trying to melt it. Is that, working? Are you getting ahead of it at all?
JUDGE: Catching up with it. Literally they're 're going full bore. We have trucks basically moving as much of this snow as possible. And, as I said, we're making every effort. The melters really have, I think, processed anywhere from 10,000 truckloads to something more than that at this point, really just pushing the water out at the bottom at the end of the heater. So it's a process and it seems to be working.
PEREIRA: You talked about getting some of those communities wavers from the EPA to be allowed to dump the snow into the bay. We'll talk about that if we can, but I want to talk about the schools. The kids already have had, what, six snow days. That's going to have a real impact on their education and there's probably concern about them missing anymore. It looks like they might have to.
JUDGE: Right. This probably goes back to the blizzard of '78 was the last time where we had sort of these extended number of snow days. At that time I remember schools made efforts to either start going on Saturdays, eliminating vacation, extending school hours. I know the state is looking at all those possibilities because, again, we're not done with this yet. So it's not like, OK, we have to figure on six days. We are going to have many more no school days in our future if this pattern conditions.
PEREIRA: Another snowstorm Thursday and Friday, potentially another one on Sunday, frigid, frigid temperatures. We send our warmest thoughts to you. Peter Judge joining us from the Massachusetts emergency management agency. Thanks so much for joining us.
JUDGE: You're very welcome.
PEREIRA: Alisyn? CAMEROTA: Violence escalating in eastern Ukraine. The leaders of
Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France, will meet tomorrow for peace talks. While President Obama wants a diplomatic solution, sending arms to Ukraine is still on the table. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House for us. What are they saying, Michelle?
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know the risks potentially of arming Ukraine. The benefits are less clear. So what the president has said is that he's still working on making the decision. He's talking to allies. He says we have to keep trying for a diplomatic solution and that arming Ukraine would be an option only if that failed.
Then you have German chancellor Angela Merkel. She disagrees with that option but in a show of unity said let's give the Russians one more chance at diplomacy, and if it doesn't work, then we have to consider other options. That's a big difference from what we heard her say a few days ago, staunchly opposed to arming Ukraine even though she still feels that way. Both sides saying that unity between the U.S. and Germany will remain strong no matter what happens.
Now, there is another side, though. We have Republicans in Congress. We just heard Senator Lindsey Graham call the president's stance continued weakness in the face of aggression. You also have people even within the administration, in the State Department, in the Pentagon, as well as the Ukrainians themselves who feel that now is the time to arm them because they are being killed and they feel that arming Ukraine would give them a stronger voice at the diplomatic table. Chris?
CUOMO: All right, Michelle, thank you very much.
So as these leaders talk about how to improve the situation in Ukraine, on the ground it is definitely getting worse. Entire towns being shelled by pro-Russian separatists, many also known as Russian soldiers. And now there is a new development, so let's go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen live in Kiev for us. Fred, what do we know?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, and when we talk about possibly giving arms to Ukrainian military, the big question is what kind of arms are these arms actually going to go to. And one of the things that we found out and that the Ukrainian officials have confirmed to us is that they have a gigantic problem of spies within the Ukrainian military apparently giving information to the Russian military and to Russian intelligence sources.
Now, I just spoke to a top counterintelligence official here in Kiev, and he told me that there are spies all the way up in the general command of the Ukrainian military. In fact, there was one very high profile arrest just recently. I was actually able to speak to that alleged spy inside the jail where he was being kept. And he told me that some of the things they say about him are true, others are not. He didn't want to go into any detail beyond that because, of course, the investigation is still pending, but this is a very large problem. And they told me that these alleged spies have divulged everything from troop movements, the kind of military hardware that's being involved, operational details to the Russian military and also to pro- Russian separatists. So it's a huge problem.
As you said, all the while the fighting continues. One of the things that happened is that the headquarters of the Ukrainian military that's guiding that so-called anti-terror operation east of the country was shelled today and several people were killed, Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Fred, thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting. We'll check back with you. Michaela?
PEREIRA: Back here stateside, a day of both frustration and celebration for gay couples in Alabama. The same day the state made same-sex marriage legal, dozens of counties defied the feds by refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Suzanne Malveaux explain.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I proudly pronounce you married and in love. You may kiss one another.
(CHEERS)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For Chaunte (ph) Wolf (ph) and Tori (ph) Cezanne (ph), their big wedding day finally arrived. After camping out all night outside the Montgomery County courthouse sheriff's deputies opened the doors to the clerk's office and in doing so opened this couple's lives to a status they had never known.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God forbid if something were to happen, we both are protected under the law.
MALVEAUX: But for many gay couples in Alabama hoping to tie the knot on Monday, the courthouse doors were closed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very disturbing to see our taxpayer money being wasted to sit behind closed doors and hide.
MALVEAUX: Some local judges who issue marriage licenses decided to ignore a federal court ruling that cleared the way for same-sex marriages.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sooner rather than later the federal courts in Alabama are going to tell them let these marriages proceed, and they will.
MALVEAUX: At the epicenter of the dispute is Alabama's chief justice, Roy S. Moore who ordered the judges to defy the federal court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in this state we have taken a stand.
MALVEAUX: The conservative judge is no stranger to controversy. In 2003 he was removed from his seat for defying a federal order to take down a display of the 10 commandments at the state's judicial building. Voters put him back on the bench in 2012. Monday his actions led to confusion and chaos throughout the state as some judges complied with Moore's demand to deny marriage licenses to gay couples. TOOBIN: This is the modern equivalent of the George Wallace blocking
the schoolhouse door. And just like George Wallace, Judge Moore is going to lose this battle, too.
MALVEAUX: Suzanne Malveaux, CNN.
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CAMEROTA: Another story breaking overnight. CNN affiliate in Virginia reporting that Jesse Matthew has been charged with murdering university of Virginia student Hannah Graham. A formal announcement expected this morning. Graham was last seen with Matthew leaving a Charlottesville bar in September. Her body was found eight miles away one month later.
CUOMO: High speed police chase caught on camera with a trick ending. Suspected car thief in east L.A. veers into oncoming traffic, smashes into several cars on Monday before wiping out. He then carjacks a woman at gun point and takes off again. The pursuit ends, that's him there in that oddly shaped blur, when the suspect's vehicle gets wedged between two cars on the freeway, forcing him to try to flee on foot, which you see him doing. He approaches several other cars. Officers open fire, wounding him, taken into custody.
PEREIRA: There it goes. Overnight the clarion hotel and casino off the Las Vegas strip reduced to rubble. Don't panic. It's all part of a planned implosion. It took roughly 12 seconds to implode the 200 room hotel. The hotel first opened back in 1970. And for a time, it was owned by actress Debbie Reynolds. At this point, no plans for the property.
CUOMO: I have a guess. What do you think they're going to put there?
PEREIRA: Ah, maybe a casino.
CUOMO: A big, big casino.
PEREIRA: With a hotel, bar, restaurant run by a celebrity chef.
CAMEROTA: Right.
PEREIRA: Just off the top of my head.
CUOMO: Huge act with their own amphitheater.
PEREIRA: I know, right.
CAMEROTA: Stay tuned for that.
Meanwhile, ISIS claims that Kayla Mueller was killed when Jordan launched an airstrike. Her family clings to hope. What are officials doing to find out if she is still alive?
CUOMO: Measles spreads to another state. The latest on who and why it is spreading, and the latest on what can be done to stop it.
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CUOMO: The parents of American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller are holding on to any hope that their daughter is still alive.
ISIS terrorists say Mueller was killed Friday in a Jordanian airstrike, but they've offered no evidence of that, and it's obviously something that they would like to spin.
So, let's get some perspective on what we do know and what can be done. We have with us Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar. He represents Kayla Mueller's hometown of Prescott, Arizona.
Thank you very much, Congressman, for joining us. Appreciate it.
What can you tell us about what is known, if anything?
REP. PAUL GOSAR (R), ARIZONA: Well, you're pretty much caught up. I mean, we have very poor information coming out of Syria in regards to Kayla's whereabouts and authenticity of her death. So, the family holds out hope that she's still alive, and I hope that America joins with them in their thoughts and prayers.
CUOMO: It would be nice to say that you can depend on Daesh or whatever you want to call these terrorists if their claims to fight for women's rights might be true to treat a female prisoner differently. But there's really no proof of that in the offering.
Do you believe what they say about the Jordanian airstrike?
GOSAR: I don't. You know, I have to hope for the best here, Chris. You know, ISIS has actually shown over and over again confirmation of their hideous acts. And so, maybe just on maybe we actually see that this hasn't occurred and I just, you know, beg and plea that the parents have some hope.
CUOMO: Now, you've taken up advocacy here, and that is admirable. It doesn't always happen. The State Department, what is your feeling about whether or not the State Department knows what to do in these situations and is doing everything that can be done to bring Kayla home?
GOSAR: Well, I know that they had some poor resources, human resources in the area based upon the war torn nature of Syria, Chris, but they have tried over and over again to have some type of conversation. But, you know, with radical terrorism, it's very, very hard to have that communication. It's a one-way street.
I know they contacted the parents in exchange for both money and for hostage, but the administration has certainly tried in regards to that, as well as our office. I mean, we actually -- my chief of staff actually went to the Syrian refugee camp over the Turkey side from Kobani trying to make some head way. But it's very, very difficult situations in that area.
CUOMO: Now, you have sponsored a bill to put up money for information about ISIS captures and kidnappings more specifically. What would that achieve?
GOSAR: What this does is it amends a current law within the State Department that allows $5 million to go to individuals that intercede and help us apprehend, bring to justice those that kidnap and kill Americans. So, what this basically does, the measure passed unanimously in the Senate in 2014. There's a current bill being sponsored in the Senate as we speak.
CUOMO: Right.
GOSAR: So, this will actually give some resources to some folks to actually help us from the ground from the other side trying to hold people accountable for their actions against Americans.
CUOMO: Here's the hard question. There's a double standard here with respect to what the government does with terrorists when they take people of value, and everyone has value, but there seems to be a sliding scale. You do not negotiate with terrorists, unless it's a soldier and then you have the no man gets left behind thing that allows you to escape that and you wind up cutting a deal for someone like Bowe Bergdahl and release terrorists into the wild.
However, citizens, normal people don't get that.
Do you think that families like the Muellers should be able to negotiate, should be able to do whatever they want to get back their loved one even if the government doesn't like that?
GOSAR: But I think we've had a double standard with the Bowe Bergdahl case, but that's an exception to the rule that I think most administration wouldn't do in the past.
CUOMO: Oh, it has been done in the past as well. This is the freshest example. It's been done. Other Republicans have also done it. So, it's not a partisan thing, but it's the question of citizens versus military and families who are desperate, why should we limit their resources? That's the question.
GOSAR: Well, I think when you're going overseas you're at risk in regards to utilizing our State Department in regards to that aspect and I think that that puts the United States and its security at risk. So, from that standpoint I think that it comes all underneath the State Department and their attributes and having a consistent policy, Chris.
CUOMO: Right, not a great record, though, as we know, Congressman. And that's not necessarily the government's fault. You're dealing with some of the worst people in the world when it comes to Daesh.
But I think about this and I'm sure you do, God forbid, it's your kid and she goes over there and she wants to do good work to help people that are oppressed and she gets taken. You get told by a government that doesn't always do things the right way, or effectively, no, no, I'm sorry, you can't fight for your kid. If you have the means, you can't use them. You're going to have to just trust us and let's see what happens. Tough to swallow. GOSAR: It's tough to swallow especially when they ask for ransoms $5
million and then to have a neuroscientist in exchange. But the federal government -- or the government did actually try to intercede on behalf of her and missed where they thought she had been, so they've been moving the captives. So, it's not like they haven't done anything.
They've been trying in that regards but with poor human resources in that Syrian area, it is very, very tough particularly when you're dealing with people that don't follow traditional applications of warfare or actually applications of humanity. I mean, here's a young lady trying to help people in suffering in a war torn area. That's the saddest part of the whole story.
CUOMO: She went there for all the right reasons. She's been taken for all the wrong reasons. We know exactly who the bad guys are. Nobody wants to help them in any way, whether it's ransom or anything else.
But it is such an impossible situation. Please send our best to the family and let them know we're here to get out any information they think is relevant.
GOSAR: Chris, thank you. Make sure that America prays for the Mueller family and for Kayla.
CUOMO: Thank you for putting that out there, Congressman. Appreciate you being on NEW DAY.
Michaela?
PEREIRA: Yes, we certainly have our prayers.
Another state reporting the case of measles within their borders. How widespread is the outbreak this morning and what is the CDC doing to slow it down? Well, we'll ask the head of the CDC about what's going on.
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