Blizzard Hammers New England; Police Search Mountains for Ex- Cop
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Don Lemon. Let's get you up to speed on the stories making news this hour. First, this storm and now the dig out. Some parts of the Northeast got off light, and other parts got slammed with more than three feet of snow. The blizzard is pretty much over, but New Englanders have a few days of hard work ahead before life returns to normal. And about 100 miles east of Los Angeles --</s>KEILAR: That sound, police helicopters you can hear them there as they took over the air today over the San Bernardino Mountains, searching for an elusive ex-cop. Christopher Dorner has been the target of an intense manhunt after allegedly killing three people this week in a vendetta against the LAPD. Live coverage straight ahead on that story. Saying goodbye to a teen shot dead not far from her school.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hallelujah. That no matter what the devil tries to do!</s>KEILAR: First Lady Michelle Obama was on hand in Chicago today for the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. The 15-year-old honor student was killed a week after performing at President Obama's inauguration. The pastor at the service said the teen has become the face of, quote, "the epidemic of violence in the U.S." Boeing is warning airlines the investigation into the Dreamliner jets may delay delivery of the 787s. The FAA grounded the 787 over concerns about fires caused by the jet's batteries. Meanwhile, the head of the largest airlines group says he's confident Boeing will resolve problems with the 787, but it will take several months. This weekend's blizzard had the potential to break severe weather records all over New England, I should say, while New York City and long island missed the big one. Take a look at this snow bank. This is Wallingford, Connecticut and that is 44 inches of snow. At one point, snow was coming down at four to five inches per hour. Let me show you Boston now. Twenty-one inches of snow accumulated there. It's tapering off now as the storm heads to sea. But live now to Boston, and CNN's Jason Carroll. Jason, the story that you are telling is a tragic one. This has emerged from the storm. A little boy who was just helping his dad shovel some snow -- what happened?</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, like so many little boys and little girls who came out today to help their parents dig out from the snow, we saw it on this street, Brianna, and that's how the day started for a father and his 12-year-old son. They headed out at about 11:30 this afternoon, went to clear off the snow off the car, dig out the car, they got the passenger side free. The little boy, the 12-year-old boy, got cold. Like many children do, he decided to hop inside the car to stay warm. What the father did not know is that the tail pipe was clogged with snow, the boy became overcome with carbon monoxide. At a certain point, a firefighter who lives in the neighborhood, Octavius Roe, heard screams, he came out to see what was going on and he saw the father was in distress. He tried to help him, he looked over on the other side and saw a 25-year-old woman who happened to be a nurse giving the young boy CPR, at that point he describes what he saw next.</s>OCTAVIUS ROE, NEIGHBOR & FIREFIGHTER: EMS -- EMS and fire were coming out with the boy at this point. And around this point, I got a good look at his face. Eyes were rolled back in his head. I've seen that look before.</s>CARROLL: The nurse who was here on the scene could not help, paramedics could not help either. The boy was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The governor weighing in on the issue, also Boston's mayor weighing in, saying, quote, "The news of the tragic accident is a sad reminder that the danger of the storm is not over. Our hearts go out to that family and their friends who are learning of this tremendously sad accident." And, Brianna, it is a reminder. As you can see from the street behind me here, so many cars still buried in snow. As you imagine, so many people are going to be coming out tomorrow just like they did today, to dig out their cars. And this is a reminder that even though the storm has passed, there's potentially dangerous situations that still, that still exist if you are not careful -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: Yes, carbon monoxide, a very real threat. You may not have thought of it, though, in that situation. A lot of times it might with people using alternative heating sources in their house, Jason. But I'm wondering, because I look behind you and I see just how the snow has built up in their road. Were firefighters able to even get to the boy?</s>CARROLL: Well, what's interesting about that -- because Octavius Roe is himself a firefighter. He was able to call his local department and get them there almost immediately. So getting to the young boy wasn't the issue. Of course, the issue was the carbon monoxide, and it's one of those things that, you know, that they call it a sort of silent killer, because it's one of the things that you just don't think about -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And just a matter of minutes, as I understand it. Jason Carroll for us in Boston -- thank you. Well, here is the blizzard by the numbers. The highest wind gust was clocked at Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts, 83 miles per hour. That puts this blizzard in category one hurricane territory. Some limited airline services back, but more than 5,000 airline flights ultimately were grounded. And at one point during the storm, nearly 660,000 homes lost power. Now, if fugitive ex-cop Chris Dorner is hiding in the San Bernardino Mountains, he's likely dealing with snow and cold. The police have been going door to door in the Big Bear area, looking for any signs of break ins at the numerous vacation homes there in case Dorner has sought shelter. His burning truck was found in the area two days ago. This was after he killed three people, including a police officer. CNN's Paul Vercammen and Casey Wian have the latest on the manhunt. Paul, we're going to start with you. You are in Big Bear Lake. What can you tell us from your viewpoint there?</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we have just learned that the Department of Homeland Security has advisories out, to be on a lookout pertaining to Dorner and aircraft. CNN has looked into this and while Dorner does not have a pilot's license, this lookout said that TSA requests that operators use an increased level of awareness. This means airports in the area and that they should secure unattended aircraft and check the ID of every pilot and passenger. Now, we checked with the Big Bear Lake Airport and they say they know who is coming and going and they said, quote, "It is not a viable possibility," meaning that Dorner got on a plane here. And while we are on the subject of the air, you pointed out, they were able, after very bad weather conditions the past two days to get helicopters up and resume their search. Of course, they are looking at all the snow for any fresh footprints and they say that tracking someone is a lot easier in fresh snow than hardened ice over days and days. And then, that door to door search resumed, we saw teams of officers. At one point, there was two SWAT officers, and other officers, they would trudge through snow, approach doors, peeking window, knock and make sure that there was no one in there. That because Big Bear is a vacation area, these are many second homes and many of these homes remain vacant, and that's why the painstaking search in this region going almost to a grid house to house to make sure Dorner is not hidden anywhere there. Why is everything pointing to Big Bear still? Because that's the last clue that we've had to Dorner. That truck that we saw, the burned out truck with a broken axle, you may recall there was a bulletin at one point that said, Dorner had rifles with suppressors on them and night vision goggles. They are very concerned about Dorner because of the maliciousness that was evident throughout his manifesto and the belief that he was well-armed. After all, in that manifesto, he had bragged that he had a Barrett .50 cal, meaning, a very powerful sniper rifle -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And that he could have multiple weapons as well. Paul Vercammen for us there in Big Bear Lake. Let's bring in CNN's Casey Wian now. He's in L.A. Casey, there have been sightings of Dorner, alleged sightings. I mean, obviously, it may or may not be him. We are talking Las Vegas, all the way to New Mexico. Since authorities don't know yet know where he is, how wide a net are they casting in this manhunt?</s>CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you just talked about it, Brianna, from as far away as Las Vegas, where he had property, all the way to the Mexican Border, south of San Diego. And that's where CNN found some very exclusive video of Dorner taken on Monday, earlier this week. Now, you may recall that the first two victims of this killing spree that police say Dorner is the main -- the only suspect in, were Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence. Monica, the daughter of a former LAPD official. Keith Lawrence, her fiance. Twelve hours after their murder was reported, this surveillance video was shot outside a business in National City, California. It shows a pick up truck that police say was Dorner's pickup truck, and it shows a man reassembling Dorner getting out of the truck, throwing several items in the dumpster behind the business. Here's what the owner said happened when this was all discovered.</s>MAJID YAHYAI, OWNER, PLATINUM AUTO SPORTS: When I came in, opened the shop, and business as usual, one of the employees went to throw the trash after he came back, he came back with a clip, like a magazine full of bullets, a belt, a military belt and a helmet. And he brought it to me, and said, where did you find it? He said, I find it in the back of the dumpster.</s>WIAN: Now, ironically, that business owner, all he had to do was walk across the street, the city's police station right across the street. That's how he reported it. Scary to think that Dorner was right across from a police station, just hours after he allegedly committed the first of three killings -- Brianna.</s>KEILAR: That is so close. Unbelievable. Casey Wian for us there in L.A. -- thank you. Now, the temperatures, they are dropping dangerously low tonight across the Northeast, and our Ali Velshi is braving the elements, as per usual. He is Dennis Port, Massachusetts. We'll be getting a live report from him, ahead.