Big Winter Storm Targets Northeast; Rescue Is On!; Clemency for Snowden?
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Brace for the snow. The first major winter storm of 2014 is bearing down on the Midwest and the Northeast, as temperatures plummet. More than 1,000 flights already canceled. We have what you need to know this morning.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And the rescue is on. A helicopter has started evacuating the stranded passengers stuck on an icy ship in icy Antarctica. We'll have a live report on that rescue operation.</s>CABRERA: A whistle-blower who should be forgiven or a traitor prosecuted? A provocative editorial from "The New York Times" is calling out the White House this morning. We have details straight ahead. Good morning. And thanks for waking us with us on EARLY START. I'm Ana Cabrera.</s>HARLOW: And I'm Poppy Harlow. John Berman is hosting NEW DAY today. It is Thursday, January 2nd, 2014. Bright and early, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. And we're talking about the weather. Blizzard warnings, snow emergencies and subzero wind-chills to kick off the New Year here in the Northeast. So far, nearly 1,800 flights canceled on Wednesday or pre-canceled already today. Most of them in Chicago. A blizzard warning now in effect for Long Island. At this time tomorrow, there could be 10 inches of snow on the ground there with wind-chills of 10 degrees below zero. And a snow emergency already declared in Boston. That area could get socked with two feet of snow drifts starting tonight. Our own Jennifer Gray is live for us, tracking the storm in Boston this morning, where you've already got quite a bit of snow. Good morning, Jennifer.</s>JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning to you. And you may be able to hear reporter: the snowplow behind me, they are out here and they are going to be busy, busy over the next 48 hours. You're right. It is already snowing in Boston. This is pretty much phase one of the bigger picture. We are going tor tracking the storm for the next 36 to 48 hours. There's also a blizzard warning for the cape as well. So keep that in mind. There is your radar. We are seeing snow still in the Midwest. We are seeing snow through Chicago but you can see it does extend into the Northeast. That little swath from Upstate New York and it's heading through Boston this morning but this is just the beginning. As this storm continues to track to the Northeast, we'll continue to pick up snow. It will become heaviest late tonight and through tomorrow morning, that's also when we're going to get those really strong Northeast winds, so that's what the worry is. The blowing snow, the drifting snow could lead to whiteout conditions in Boston and the surrounding areas as we go through tonight and to tomorrow morning. So, very dangerous. We could pick up a foot of snow here in Boston, maybe even a little bit more. Less is you head down to the South, New York City could see anywhere from six to 10 inches of snow, and then Washington, D.C. could even pick up about an inch or two of snow as well. So there are your blizzard warnings. Long Island, as well as the cape. Guys, it is going to be a long couple of days. Just stay off the roads and if you are traveling, good luck to you if you're traveling for the next couple of days.</s>HARLOW: Exactly. But kids in Boston are happy. They're going to get to play in the snow because school is canceled on Friday. So they may be enjoying this a little more than the rest of us. Thanks, Jennifer. Appreciate it.</s>CABRERA: Looking at the glass half full there. Well, let's zoom in to another trouble spot this morning. People in Chicago are bracing for sort of the back end of a bitter 1-2 punch. Close to a foot snow has already fallen on some of the city's suburbs and they're not even close to being out of the woods. A separate lake effect system is now moving into the Windy City right now. And by tonight, the area could get socked with up to 10 more inches of snow. Just in Chicago alone, hundreds of flights have been canceled.</s>HARLOW: And it is not much better in nearby Milwaukee. Up to 8 inches could fall in the region, with about six already on the ground there, the condition sending cars swerving out of the control. The storm comes on the heels of a bitterly cold month in Milwaukee. Get this. The average temperature there in December, 21 degrees, with six days at zero or below.</s>CABRERA: New developments from Antarctica this morning. Good news. A helicopter rescue is now under way for the 52 passengers on that stranded research ship stuck in the ice. The vessel has been trapped since Christmas Eve. Earlier this morning officials initially had to scrub the mission because of dangerous conditions, but now, a break in the mission to evacuate the passenger is almost complete. Anna Coren tracking the latest developments live from Hong Kong this morning. Anna, so the first few rounds of evacuations have already happened?</s>ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. They have managed to get 48 people off that stranded ship in Antarctica. As you say, it's been stuck in ice since Christmas Eve. They have another four passengers to get off along with a hundred kilos of equipment and luggage, and then the mission is complete, which is absolutely fantastic. You mentioned the weather. It's been a problem the last couple of days and, of course, that deep ice, two to three meters deep. But clear, beautiful skies today which has allowed that Chinese helicopter from the Chinese icebreaker, to make its way to that Russian research ship and then fly those passengers to the Australian ice breaker. From there, they'll go to an Australian post in Antarctica. It's about 1,000 nautical miles, and then they'll make their way to Hobart, Tasmania, which, of course, is the bottom of Australia. That's about a seven-day voyage. But these people certainly very happy to be off that stranded vessel, Ana.</s>CABRERA: You got to believe that. What a process and what a journey it's been for them so far. What can you tell us about how on the passengers are doing now that they know they're safe?</s>COREN: Yes. Well, look, I mean, at the end of the day, these passengers have been extremely fortunate. You know, they've food, they've had water supplies. Everyone has been in good health. In fact, if anything, it's been a good news story. We saw them celebrating on New Year's Eve. They spoke to our very own Anderson Cooper during his New Year's Eve special. They composed a song. They've been very active on social media, conducting interviews with international media outlets. So, it really has been a good news story from the very bottom of the world but, yes, I'm sure those people are very keen to get off that ship and get home to their loved ones.</s>CABRERA: They certainly had a story to tell, no doubt about it. You almost think they might be disappointed to be getting off that ship with how much fun it looks like they were having waiting. Thank you, Anna Coren.</s>COREN: Absolutely.</s>HARLOW: Well, an editorial in "The New York Times" is generating quite a buzz this morning. The newspapers editorial board says Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower and it's time for the United States to offer the former NSA contractor a plea bargain or some form of clemency. The board writes in the paper this morning, quote, "In retrospect, Mr. Snowden was clearly justified in believing the only way to blow whistle on this kind of intelligence gathering was to expose it to the public and let the resulting furor do the work his exteriors would not."</s>CABRERA: Southern Iran rocked by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake overnight. This hit near the town of Lar, more than 50,000 people live there. Right now, it's not clear whether anyone was hurt or died. And we are still working to find how bad the damage might be.</s>HARLOW: Meantime, the former president of Pakistan was supposed to be in court today, but his lawyer tells CNN Pervez Musharraf is sick and in the hospital, on doctor's orders. His trial has been adjourned until Monday. Musharraf is accused of treason for suspending Pakistan's constitution and imposing emergency rule back in 2007. He faces life in prison or the death penalty.</s>CABRERA: In the meantime, violence once again tearing an Egyptian city apart. Two people were killed Wednesday in Alexandria. About 200 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsy clashed with police. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood are demanding the reinstatement of the country's first democratically president. Protesters claimed security forces opened fire on them.</s>HARLOW: And this morning, more than a dozen people are hospitalized after a massive New Year's Day explosion happened in Minneapolis. It happened in an apartment building there. The blast triggered a huge fire in this three-story building. It's right near down. Fire officials believe some of the victims may have even been thrown from the building by the force of the blast or perhaps jumped from the windows to escape. In all, 14 people were hurt, six critically injured and three people believed to be inside are currently missing. Of course, the frigid weather made fighting the flames much more difficult with the wind-chill making it feel like 20 degrees below zero.</s>CHIEF JOHN FRUETEL, MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPARTMENT: Did the best they could making entry into the first floor. Got in as far as they until the conditions were so poor, it became very, very unsafe that we removed all of the firefighters from the structure.</s>HARLOW: The cause of the fire is still under investigation.</s>CABRERA: Thousands of mourners turning out to remember Claire Davis, the Denver teenager who was shot and killed by a fellow student inside her high school last month. The girl's father telling mourners he has forgiven 18-year-old Karl Pierson, the gunman, for killing his daughter, urging everyone else to forgive him too. Pierson killed himself after shooting Davis. She died eight days later.</s>HARLOW: And long lines snaking around the block as recreational marijuana becomes legal in the state of Colorado. The product, though, does not come cheap. An eighth of an ounce goes for around 60 bucks. One store owner says he can't believe how many people turned out.</s>TIM CULLEN, CO-OWNER, EVERGREEN: I mean, we know it was going to be a big deal, but we had no idea that there were going to be so many people out there.</s>HARLOW: That certainly is a first. Denver's mayor applauded day one, saying pot shops and buyers behaved responsibly.</s>CABRERA: OK. Listen to this -- more than a thousand people would-be space travelers have survived the first cut for a chance to live the rest of their lives on Mars. A Netherlands-based nonprofit group Mars One wants to launch groups of four-on-one-way trips to the Red Planet by 2023. Now, the goal is create the first permanent settlement on the planet. And of the 1,058 finalist for the program, 297 are from the</s>U.S. HARLOW: You're on that list?</s>CABRERA: No.</s>CABRERA: I'd like to talk to some of those people who on that list, though.</s>HARLOW: Me too. What a journey. All right. Coming up here on EARLY START, Secretary of State John Kerry kicking off the New Year with a Mideast mission. Can he get both sides to agree to a peace deal? We're live in Jerusalem, next.</s>CABRERA: And more than 4 million snapshot user names and at least partial phone numbers have been leaked online. Could the company have avoided this hack?