Return to Transcripts main page
CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Northern Blizzard; Arias Claims Self-Defense in Murder Case
Aired February 9, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Morning, everyone. And CNN is live team coverage of the blizzard blanketing the northeast continues right now.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Martin Savidge, in for Randi Kaye and Victor Blackwell. It is 9:00 on the east coast. That is 6:00 a.m. out west. Thank you very much for starting your day with us. And welcome to our international viewers, who are just now joining us this hour.
Here are three stories we're watching.
The blizzard that dumps more than three feet of snow in some cities is slowly starting to make its way out to sea. But 650,000 people are now waking up today without power and likely with no heat. All the wind and snow is making travel pretty much a nightmare.
In California, search teams plan to head back out to big bear lake. That's when daylight breaks. They are on the hunt for a suspected cop killer. That's Christopher Jordan Dorner. He is accused of killing three people, including a police officer and a daughter of a retired officer.
And in two hours from now, Michelle Obama will attend a funeral for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton. That's the Chicago honor student and band majorette. She was gunned down just a week after performing at President Obama's inauguration. We will have a report from Chicago coming up later this morning.
Now back to the blizzard. CNN crews are covering this story from just about every angle you could think of. Some have been knee-de deep in the snow from Boston to New York to Rhode Island. And that's we begin this morning. Poppy Harlow is in downtown providence where thousands people are without power this morning.
How are you doing, Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are doing right better than last night, Marty. Winds have died down. The snow is just really very light at this point. It's a beautiful scene here in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. But it was a heck of a storm last night that is for sure. Really just torrential, whipping, wet snow and it has changed since then.
The big issue here this morning, folks, is power. We knew this was going to happen when we felt that heavy, wet snow late last night. The warmer temperatures kept it that way. It weighed on power lines. It weighed down on trees. And you wake up this morning to a whiteout. Then it gets a little lighter. And you have about 187,000 people across the state of Rhode Island, about fifth of the population without any power right now. Here in Providence, we got a little over 7,000 homes without power. So, I want to bring in a man who is dealing with all of it right now, the mayor of providence is joining us now.
Thank you for being here, mayor. Appreciate it.
Let's talk about the power issue. That's issue number one. We were at the command center with you last night. And you said, look, this is what I'm really worried about. It happened. So, what are you doing?
ANGEL TAYARES, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAYOR: We're working very closely with national grid to try to get people back up as quickly as possible, get the electricity back on as quickly as possible and just as we were waiting for this interview, we were sending plows in response to the request from national grid. They needed it in order to address an issue in part of our city. So, we're working very closely with them.
The weather is such that it's safer for them to be out. Because one of the issues we had last night, as you know, the wind was so strong, the conditions were so bad, you really could not have people out in conditions like that.
HARLOW: What's interesting, too, in the last hour or so, folks, the governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee has banned all traffic except for emergency essential vehicles from all the roads. And that's mainly to be able to get the plows to where they need to be and then to get the power companies, utilities there to get the trees off the lines and get them back up and running. Do we have any sense of how long these folks are going to be without power?
TAYARES: We don't have a clear sense on that. One thing I can tell people specifically in Providence is that we're working around the clock to make that happen as quickly as possible. And I can tell you that national grid has been with us throughout the night and has focused in on the sights and we're doing everything we can to get as many people -- get their power back on as quickly as possible.
HARLOW: I know they're going to focus on the locations where, if they just get one tree of the line, get that back up, thousands of people go back online. So, they are working in that way.
I have to ask you, you know, some folks have told me this morning, yes, we got a lot of snow here. Yes, it's still coming down. But overall, this wasn't as bad as many expected. Would you say you feel the same way?
TAYARES: You know, until we have everyone's power back on, until we have every street cleared, you know, I can't rest. So, you know, that's something that citizens can say, but the mayor is focused on making sure we get everyone back on in terms of power and making sure that all the streets are clear and we have a lot of work to do before that's done. And I expect it will be at least, at least 24 hours before we can clear all the streets in the city and some of the secondary roads may take a little bit longer, given the amount of snow and how heavy it is. So, it's a lot more work to do.
HARLOW: Mayor, thank you. Appreciate it.
And folks, if you are here in Providence, here in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, stay off the roads so they can get the power back up. But, they have some very good technology that we saw at play last night. GPS on all the tractor trailers, all the plows around here, all the emergency vehicles, they can follow their every steps, see where they are and where they need to be. And that's why this process is a lot easier now than the cleanup after the great blizzard of 1978. We haven't seen anything this bad since all the way back then.
Let's check in with Susan Candiotti, my colleague. She is in Boston where they got dumped on even more than we did here in Providence - Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Poppy.
That's right. They measured the snow at Logan international airport here, which is just over my shoulder and that way. In any case, they measured a foot of snow between midnight and 8:00 this morning. So, how do you like that?
And when we use our own measuring stick here, we are seeing anywhere from 14 inches to depending where we go here in Columbus park in downtown Boston, anywhere from 14 up to 21 inches I've measured in parts of this park as well.
We -- the snow is still coming down, sometimes sideways. We are still getting very strong gusts. And the snow has changed consistency. It is now a very -- has gone from being a wet snow to a very white, fluffy snow here. And you can tell this is going to create snow drifts as the day goes on and these high winds stay in effect.
The temperature has dropped. It's now in the teens with wind chill factor of only one or two degrees to much colder than it was on Friday. Also, power outages have been massive across the state, just about the 400,000 range of homes and businesses as well.
And as you come around this morning, you can see over here, over my shoulder, there is a bit of Boston harbor. All those boats stayed in port. And they seem no worse for the wear, but - then, the water is not moving very much. That's the first wildlife we've seen out there in the water poking their heads up as well. But, a lot of people around about this morning, since they can't - they are not allowed on the roads, not allowed to go anywhere, but out walking the dogs. And there's a little one getting a sleigh ride as well.
But joining us here is a joy and the little one is Virginia. You've got over here Rody, the golden doodle, combination of --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Golden retriever and poodle.
CANDIOTTI: What was it like for you, last night, watching the storm from home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much fun. The streets were empty here in the north end and we found the one place in the neighborhood that was open for dinner and -- yes, we had a lot of fun.
CANDIOTTI: And why are you out this morning? It's awfully cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I have to walk the dog.
CANDIOTTI: No choice there, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. My husband is out of town so the baby came with me.
CANDIOTTI: That's it. And how do you think the city will come through this storm? And how long do you think it will take to get back on track?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think - well, I mean, it's a big storm. But I think the city knows what they're doing and they'll be ready to go by Monday.
CANDIOTTI: Sure seems like that may be the case. They certainly have a lot of experience at getting through these things. That's right.
Thank you very much for joining us and waiting around, because it's kind of nasty out here.
But Poppy, it seems like Bostonians and New Englanders will come through it. But still, there's a lot of serious work ahead, lot of downed power lines and power outages as we mentioned. A few people have sought shelter state wide, but not that many, only about 50 or so. So, that's good news. But they are trying to get around and see what the damage is and rescue people who need help. Of course, in low-lying coastal flooding areas, there are some difficulties there as well. So, authorities have a lot to keep their eye on.
Back to you, Poppy, in Providence.
HARLOW: Absolutely. Kudos to that mom, out with the little baby and the dog early in the morning, walking around despite the snow, good for her. Still, pretty empty here in Providence. I wonder when they're going to get out of bed and come and check it out for themselves, tough Bostonians up there.
Susan, thanks you. And let's send it back to you now, Marty, in Atlanta.
SAVIDGE: All right. Thank you, Poppy, very much.
Connecticut, as you know, was pounded by that storm. In some places they got about three feet of snow. Let's take a live picture now from Hartford. Most places there have two feet of snow or more. We talked to the mayor earlier, who said snow was falling about four inches an hour last night. That's an incredible rate. City crews have been struggling to keep the snow off the streets. Snow will be falling there several more hours.
Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is following this for us.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, well, Martin, that is how you get 38 inches in Bridgeport, Connecticut. You know, what happened, really, it seems the sweet spot of this storm has been Connecticut and really kind of a slice right through the middle, almost along 91 and then 95 along the coast, 38 inches in Bridgeport. So now, the sun has come up. The winds are winding down and the snow is winding down as well.
For the most part, I'll show you the timeline. But New York is ending this morning. Boston will end by this afternoon. And then it will all be over, even in Maine by tonight.
I slip, New York and Long Island, getting hit a lot harder than New York City. New York City 11 inches, 27.8, a night trip on Long Island, Stony Brooke, 27.5 on Long Island, Worcester, mass, 27. So, it wasn't just a Connecticut thing. Although they have seen the highest totals at three feet plus. Boston, 21.8 inches there.
So, here's the look. It is winding down. You can see Litchfield County, the northwest tills of Connecticut, also (INAUDIBLE) ending there, New York City has ended, now moving through center Long Island. We will wind down in eastern Long Island and through Connecticut. So, we are going to watch this end from west to east. And with that, showing you what we have through the afternoon, you can see by 11:00, 12:00 this afternoon, you can see where this area of low pressure is off the coast. Everything will have certainly wound down in terms of the snow, but the winds still -- certainly not the 70 and 80-mile-per- hour wind gusts we've seen and saw last night around midnight but still 20 to 30-mile-per-hour wind gusts blowing, Martin, all that fresh snow around.
So, it is ending. We've seen the worst of it through Connecticut, maybe another few winches. But then, it all pushes eastward.
SAVIDGE: All right. Alexandra, thank you very much.
STEELE: You're welcome.
SAVIDGE: In New York, hundreds of cars there are stuck in the snow along the Long Island expressway and sunrise highway. Those roads are closed to everyone except emergency crews this morning. No word on when they'll reopen. Some people were forced to sleep in their cars overnight. But police say most of those people have been rescued. And they say most drivers did not heed warnings to stay off the roads.
Hurricane force winds and heavy snow knocked out power to about 650,000 customers across nine states. In some places, including parts of New York and Massachusetts, electricity has already been restored to a few thousand lucky households and businesses. But other states that is Maine and New Jersey, among them, have seen their outage numbers actually climb in the past two hours. One power company official did have some good news for 100 or so customers in the dark in upstate New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRUCKER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL GRID: We do have staffing levels that we expect that most customers will be restored within 24 hours from the time they report their outage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: And you can bet those customers are going to hold him to his word. Airlines at JFK, that's well, JFK international and LaGuardia actually expected to resume passenger flights as early as this hour. But the flights are still being canceled so far today in some areas. We've got about 1,750 flights that have been canceled, that, according to flight aware track in tracking.
Boston's Logan airport closed at least until 3:00 eastern and no flights until tomorrow. And then Bradley airport in Connecticut remains closed as well.
Some other news this morning and the big announcement by AOL. They announced an increase in revenues for the fourth quarter. So, why is that big? Well, it's the first overall growth in eight years for AOL. They say an increase in ad sales is responsible for the uptick.
In less than two hours from now, Michelle Obama will attend today's funeral for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton. That's the Chicago honor student and band majorette. She was gunned down just a week after performing at President Obama's inauguration. Police told our affiliates that Pendleton had no gang affiliation and likely was not even intended as the target. We will have a report from Chicago coming up later this morning.
Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange has weighed in on the drone debate, slamming the U.S. government saying it has the right to kill U.S. citizens who are perceived to be, quote "imminent terror threats."
And emergency meeting is taking place in London today as ministers, food inspectors and retailers try to deal with this bizarre discovery that is of horse meat. Now, I said horse meat in beef products across Europe. So far, billions of pounds of processed beef products have been pulled off shelves from the UK to France. UK environment secretary says that evidence suggests, quote, "criminal activity or gross negligence."
Well, besides the blizzard, we're also following another big story for you. A massive manhunt is under way for a former cop accused of killing three people. Police want to stop him before he strikes again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Live pictures out of Boston this morning where at least that street looks like a ski run. Nobody is going anywhere except on foot. And look at that. The cars are almost buried completely. Good luck getting out of that snow drift if you're heading out which, of course, you shouldn't be doing. But again, look at Boston under the snow.
More on our other top story of the day. That's a hunt for a former cop now accused as a killer. Christopher Jordan Dorner is accused of killing three people and wounding two others. He allegedly has a 40- person hit list all because he got fired from the LAPD.
I want to bring in former FBI assistant director and CNN contributor Tom Fuentes. He is in Vancouver, Canada.
Tom, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
THOMAS FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Martin.
SAVIDGE: Snow conditions, we know, caused problems with the search yesterday. They had to scale it back overnight. Essentially that means, I guess, Dorner has a 12, 24-hour lead on police. How difficult does that make the search to find him?
FUENTES: This is already extremely difficult. In fact, probably one of the most difficult fugitive searches I've seen in a long time because of several factors.
Number one, you can have still urban search and urban combat situation. But 40 people on the hit list all still have to be protected. He could show up at any one of their residences or places of work and attack them.
And now, you have this woodland or mountain fugitive search and the hunters are also the hunted. So, as they're doing these searches and they're encountering abandoned or closed cabins up in the mountains, they have to wonder whether he's in one of them or whether he has set up a massive ambush for them.
So, as the officers -- if you're just looking for a lost person, a tourist that got lost in the mountains, that's one thing. Because you would expect the person to want to be found, want to be rescued. Here is a situation where he may want to be found with the intent of killing the people that find him. So, this is as dangerous and difficult as it could be, even without the snow in the mountains and the darkness right now and the inability to put aircraft in the air at the moment. All those factors combined make this extremely lethal for the police officers involved.
SAVIDGE: In other words, he may be trying to lure the very people in that we think are searching for him are actually targets in his mind?
FUENTES: It could be. And I think that's the -- you know, in reading the manifesto, and in some of the other statements, he indicates he thinks he has nothing more to live for. He thinks his life has been taken away and now he's going to take it away from others who, who in his mind, are law enforcement officers, so -- or families of law enforcement, as we've already seen. So, that makes it much more dangerous because it's not only suicide by cop but suicide with an ex- cop of police officers. So you have a very difficult and unusual situation where somebody has publicly stated, I'm after the police and their families and has already done it. It's not an idle threat. He has already killed three people. So, -- and maybe more that we don't know of. That's the other factor. If somebody is residing in a remote home or cabin somewhere in that mountainous area or anywhere for that matter, he could invade, kill them, and just take over the residence set up shop until the police come find him.
SAVIDGE: All right. That's former assistant director of the FBI, Tom Fuentes, who is a contributor to CNN.
Thanks, Tom, very much for joining us this morning.
And despite that intense search, Christopher Dorner, as you heard, remains free. Investigators are focusing their efforts now, as he said, in the mountains that are high above the mountains east Los Angeles.
Here now, our Kyung Lah with exclusive new video of the Dorner. It was taken at a police academy shooting range during his time as a cadet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Dorner, LAPD cadet in 2005.
What do you think, watching this, considering what's happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he is an expert in weapons, definitely. He is definitely dangerous.
LAH: This man spent months with Dorner at the LAPD training academy. We are altering his voice and not showing his face because he fears Dorner will go after his police friends. But he wants the public to see this so that police understand what the LAPD is facing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look at Chris, you can see he's a little bit of an expert, the way he -- watch disarms, shoots, almost no movement when he shoots the guy, and then pop, nothing.
LAH: So, he stood out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He stood out. He knew what he was doing. The LAPD, they are going to be going after one of their own, former. And he knows -- like I said, he knows what he's doing. He knows how to use everything.
LAH: Being a cop, do you think that it was -- could you tell that it was important to him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think it was very important to him. Yes.
LAH: You could see it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LAH: Even during the training?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. I think this is a 300-pound dummy and he does that easily.
LAH: Easily. This is 300 pounds?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I believe that's 300 pounds.
LAH: So, this is a very strong man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
LAH: But, not everything was easy for Dorner, the aspiring police officer. This man said he witnessed drill instructors picking on him for his weight and slow running.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I hear about how angry he is about the LAPD, I think that fits to my experience with him -- that matches up when he says things about LAPD, it matches up to the way I think he got his experience through the LAPD, especially the academy.
LAH: This man never spoke to Dorner, but he never forgot the cadet.
But, your thought was this man represents power and strength?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. I wanted to show, when I was going to use it, I wanted to put music and show the LAPD is powerful. And look at this powerful man handling this gun.
LAH: To think that the LAPD is now facing this man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. I mean, this guy is no joke.
LAH: And one police are taking very seriously.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: We continue to follow the blizzard and the manhunt, both stories, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: And a live look from New York central park, where a blizzard has just delightfully decorated a gazebo.
Moving on now to other news. A little over two hours from now, Michelle Obama will attend a funeral for 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton. That is the Chicago honor student, a band majorette, who was gunned down just a week after performing at President Obama's inauguration.
CNN's Athena Jones has been following the story for us. And she is live in Chicago. This is such a tragic story. Pendleton had no gang affiliation and likely was not even the intended target, right?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Martin. It is a tragic situation. And unfortunately, it's quite common or not uncommon enough in cities like Chicago and other big cities across the country. And so, folks here are already arriving here to start the visitation services, to pay their respects. The funeral service gets under way a few hours from now. And the first lady, Michelle Obama, is coming. She said that she was heartbroken to hear of the death of Hadiya Pendleton and her office says she wants to come, offer her condolences here and support Pendleton's family and friends because this was a tragic shooting. She was only 15 years old and was not the intended target, caught in some sort of crossfire, a bystander.
And, so it's a tragic situation. People are here, out to pay their respects. This is something that has become symbolic, of course, for this debate over gun violence and how to reduce it -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Is the first lady expected to speak or is she simply going to attend?
JONES: We understand that she's not going to be speaking. We expect her to arrive just before the services begin. We don't expect her to arrive much earlier. And that she's going to be here to pay her respects, to offer condolences, but not making any remarks herself, Martin.
JONES: All right.
Athena, thank you very much for joining us there from the site of what will be a funeral two hours from now, the first lady to attend.
Let's go out to Poppy Harlow now. She is joining us from Rhode Island where it has been well, a very pretty looking scene there now, Poppy.
HARLOW: It's been a beautiful morning. Steve Palmer is with us. We're going to get to him in a moment. He has a pretty neat contraption on his feet.
Folks, overall, turn the corner her in Providence. Still have major power outages across Rhode Island, over 180,000 homes without power. They're working to get power back up. But Providence, beautiful, and people are finally coming out to see the snow, including Steve.
All right. Let's pan down. Talk about a good use of snow shoe. He has these modern contraptions on. My snow shoes in Minnesota are wooden and he called me old school. But you say you don't get to get these out often, right?
STEVE PALMER, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND RESIDENT: Not that often. Not that often these days. There's just not that many big snow storms anymore.
HARLOW: What do you make of it? Is it worst than you expected, not as bad? Are you enjoying it? PALMER: I'm enjoying it. We never lose power in town because all our power is underground so we don't lose power. I enjoy it.
HARLOW: And what's the plan with these today?
PALMER: Cruise. Everything is close. So, we are hoping a joint will open up sooner or later.
HARLOW: Sooner or later. Cruise with your snow shoes. Thanks for joining us.
PALMER: My pleasure.
HARLOW: It's a beautiful day here. We'll send it back to you, Marty.
SAVIDGE: Thanks, Poppy.
Cruise with the shoes. I like that.
Meanwhile, we will have on the latest on today's some of the major stories. That is massive manhunt for a suspected cop killer. That is Christopher Jordan Dorner. It's just becoming daybreak at Big Bear Lake in California. And that means that the search teams are heading back out.
Let's go right now to CNN's Nick Valencia and he is in Los Angeles.
And Nick, Dorner allegedly has declared war, I guess is the way to put it, on police and their families. You have been talking to the police commander. What's the move?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I think it depends on who you talk to, Martin. A short time ago we spoke to a police officer and asked him about how he's dealing with the safety concerns and how his family is doing. He told us that his wife, going into it, understood the dangers of what it is to be a police officer.
What she's most concerned with it is the online support for Chris Dorner that's emerged. Yesterday, we spoke to Commander Andy Smith, as well about the safety concerns and he talked to us about the paranoia he is personally feeling.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMANDER ANDY SMITH, LOS ANGELES POLICE: I live outside of town, just outside of town. My local agency has been good enough to provide extra patrol to my house. My wife and children aren't home now, kind of a comfort to me, knowing that they're not home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: And Commander Smith is just one of more than 40 people that's receiving this detail protection. You can just imagine the strain of resources on the Los Angeles Police Department -- Martin. SAVIDGE: Nick, Dorner allegedly wrote an 11,000-word manifesto, I believe, and he claims to be on a mission to reclaim his credibility, his name. And he also alleges racism and injustice by the LAPD, right?
VALENCIA: Yes. He says not much has changed here in the Los Angeles Police Department since the '90s, infamous days of corruption and alleged racism here in the LAPD. He makes some very pointed allegations in his manifesto. I had a chance to read that day before yesterday.
We asked the LAPD about the specific allegation of him being hacked, that he had to file a restraining order against one of his colleagues. But because this is an ongoing investigation, Martin, the LAPD was very tight-lipped about commenting on those specific allegations.
SAVIDGE: Nick Valencia outside the LAPD headquarters -- thanks very much for the update.
Turning back now to the East Coast. Flight cancellations, they are starting to slow down as some airports resume service sooner than expected. We'll tell you who's got the good news, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Every dog has his day. And for a couple of them in Central Park, this is that day in the snow, on what's turning out to be a nice day there in New York after the storm.
Good news for airline passengers as well. Those waiting at home for their arrival, this is good news, too. Some flights could take off as early as this hour from New York's LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. Newark passenger flights are not expected to begin until at least noon. That's due to the runways being down overnight.
But expect most airlines to operate on a pretty reduced schedule today. That, according to the port authority.
However, the possibility of canceled or delayed flights remains high. So far today more than 1,700 flights -- 1,780 flights, I should say, have been canceled, according to FlightAware tracking.
Two feet of snow blankets most of the Northeast this morning. And in upstate New York, that storm turned deadly.
We've been reporting to you that a 74-year-old man was struck by a car that lost control in the storm.
Joining me now on the telephone, I'm joined by that man's sister, that's Sharon Hancock.
And, Sharon, first of all, from all of us here, we're very sorry for your loss.
SHARON HANCOCK, BROTHER KILLED IN STORM (via telephone): Thank you so much. SAVIDGE: Tell us about your brother. What was he like?
HANCOCK: Yes. Well, his name Muril Melvin Hancock. We called him Sonny. He was 74 years old.
We were brought up on a farm so he loved to fish and hunt. And when he would hunt, you never knew in the holidays what you were actually eating because he would have like bear meatballs for you for the holidays. So, that was kind of funny.
SAVIDGE: Sure.
HANCOCK: He loved jazz and the blues mainly. He loved to play his guitar. He was the best brother ever. Best brother.
And for me, he bought me my first car. He took me to college and he called me every Saturday and Sunday faithfully by 7:00. If he didn't call me by 7:00, I would call him to find out why he didn't call me.
SAVIDGE: Of course.
HANCOCK: He was the best brother ever.
SAVIDGE: Sharon, tell us -- how did it happen? How did this come about?
HANCOCK: We were told -- well, I, myself, called him myself around 11:30 and talked to him to make sure that, you know, he was OK and that he wouldn't go out and shovel his snow. And he told me that his neighbor would normally shovel his snow for him. So, I didn't have to worry about that. So I'm thinking, OK. Everything is fine.
And then my brother, John, called us and told us what had happened. Police had said he had walked -- went out, normally walked with his dog that he does faithfully, his dog Buttons. And while he was walking, I guess there was an 18-year-old college student that was driving who slid and she ran into my brother and hit him from the back. And he didn't even know what happened.
And they took him to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, and they pronounced him dead there.
SAVIDGE: Oh, Sharon, I am so sorry for your loss, as we say.
HANCOCK: Yes. Our family is really devastated. I wanted you to know he was actually the best brother and we have a brother and sister down in North Carolina, a brother and a sister in Poughkeepsie, New York, and myself. I'm here in Manchester, New Hampshire. He also had two young gentlemen that was from his deceased girlfriend, her grandchildren that he also called his grandchildren, too, Jason and Matthew.
I'm sure we're all going to miss him so much.
SAVIDGE: Absolutely. All right. Sharon, thank you so much for sharing stories about your brother, who was killed as a result of the snow storm. So far, the only fatality that has been reported. It is a warning to everyone who goes out in the snow. There are dangers there as well.
Sharon, thank you very much.
We'll take a break and be back with more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: She admits she killed her boyfriend, shooting him, then stabbing him 27 times but she says it was all in self defense. We're talking, of course, about Jodi Arias. She took the stand this week in Phoenix, Arizona, defending herself, that is, in 2008 murder of her boyfriend.
Prosecutors say that Arias took naked photos with Travis Alexander moments before brutally killing him. Arias says that she feels that he made her feel like a prostitute.
Randi Kaye spoke to Nancy Grace who was in the courtroom this week. I have to warn you that some of the detail here is pretty graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY GRACE, HOST, HLN'S NANCY GRACE: She is really playing to the jury, Randi. She is really taking the affect of being meek, mild, demure. She tells the jury that through all of these sexual antics that she feels, quote, "like a prostitute," quote, "like a piece of used toilet paper." But yet she's the one that's egging it on, driving hundreds, sometimes up to 1,000 miles to be with Travis Alexander.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: I listened to some of that testimony. It is so graphic. It's being brought up by the defense.
I mean, what are they going for here? What are they trying to do?
GRACE: This is what they're trying to do, Randi. And I reject it. I don't know why the state is not objecting to it. But I do believe the state has a plan, because I have noticed the prosecutors -- lead prosecutor is basically clenching his teeth as he is listening to all of this because it's largely inadmissible if he wanted to stop it, I believe he could with the proper objection.
I think this is where the defense is headed. As you know, there are 11 men and seven women on this jury. They haven't been separated down to the final 12 yet.
I believe they are trying to reach out to the women on the jury, to make the women believe that Jodi Arias was used, that she was mistreated, that she was used for sex and then discarded. That Travis Alexander did not want a real relationship with her. He only wanted her for sex.
All right, granted.
KAYE: So, they're trying to make him look like a villain.
GRACE: Yes, they are.
They are dragging Travis Alexander's reputation through the mud. What I would like to point out is that she's a willing participant in all of this. In fact, when he tries to break up with her, she stalks him, slashing his tires, hacking into his e-mail and his bank account, slashing his new girlfriend's tires. It's crazy, driving up to 1,000 miles to get back with him. So, she's more than a willing participant in all of this.
But I believe that that is their goal, to trash Travis Alexander, make certain members of the jury dislike him. I'm just very anxious to see what reaction the jury is having on cross exam.
KAYE: You mentioned a couple of things, but overall how did Jodi Arias say she felt in this relationship with Travis Alexander?
GRACE: Well, she keeps bringing up issues, such as she went on his computer and saw e-mails from other women. And she says, "It didn't really bother me."
All right. That he wanted her to have anal sex. She says that didn't really bother me. Everything, it didn't really bother me. But, yet, obviously, it did bother her.
I think what they're doing is painting themselves into a corner, Randi, because when it's all said and done, none of this amounts to self defense. What it amounts to is revenge.
Everything she says right now may be true. I don't think it is, but let's just say it is, Randi. What does that amount to? A revenge killing, a killing in anger over the way he treated her romantically.
KAYE: So what's going to happen when the state begins to cross examine? What's that going to look like?
GRACE: A lot of people have asked me, don't you think if he's too rough on her and she cries, the jury might not like it? Oh, let me just go crazy here and say hell, no, Randi, because she has put up this facade. It is a lie. It is a lie! It is inconsistent with what we know to be true.
He has got to rip that mask off of her face in front of the jury. And it's not easy. It's not easy to do that in court, but that's what he's got to do if he wants justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Be sure to watch "Nancy Grace" weeknights at 8:00 pm on our sister network, HLN.
Connecticut is getting one of the states -- one of the states getting hardest hit by this harsh winter storm. The town of Darien is already buried under more than a foot and a half of snow. We'll find out how residents there are coping.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: You might think that's some rural scene in, say, upstate New York. It's not. It's Central Park. And folks are out there enjoying the snow that came down.
So, Connecticut, as you know, was pounded also by that storm. Some places, three feet of snow. And we were showing you this now. It's a live picture from Hartford. One car and one plow digging at the same time.
Two feet of snow in places. Others have had more than that. We talked to the mayor earlier about how the snow was falling at a rate of four inches an hour, which is, if you don't know, if you don't drive a plow, a lot of snow to move. City crews are struggling to try and get it of the streets now. The snow is going to be falling for several more hours.
Meteorologist Alexandra Steele following all of this for us.
Good morning, Alexander.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.
You're right. Two, three, potential four inches now. On the whole, probably two and three. But this is the bull's eye.
Look at this, Milford, Connecticut, 38 inches of snow. Can you believe it?
New Haven, 34. But it wasn't just along that I-91 corridor. Even the shoreline, Guilford, Madison, Brantford, Bridgeport, 30 inches, Hamden, 34, in Madison, incredible 32 inches.
So, again, it is pretty nominally coming to an end. We're going to watch it come to an end from west to east. But Connecticut potentially was the bull's eye, inches in the 30s. Even on Long Island, Stony Brook, 27 1/2 inches thus far. Worcester, Mass, 27 1/2. And even Boston, 21. New York City getting about 11. So, big difference there -- 11.4 in Central Park.
Paramus, New Jersey, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, everyone in on the action. Upton in Long Island, as well, Long Island, 30.3 inches. So certainly very substantial. No doubt about that.
But the end is in sight. So the snow's winding down. The winds are winding down. Now the sun's up. You can kind of see what's fallen.
You can see here's New York state. The Northway, the thruway clearing up now. And western Massachusetts, western Connecticut, New York City, done for you, eastern end of Long Island. So, Suffolk County still seeing snow but nothing as heavy as we've seen.
You see where it's brighter here. That's what we call bright banding where the snow coming down more in earnest. Kind of more dynamic lifting happening there. That's where the two to three inches were. Predominantly right like this, a stripe. That's what allowed for those 30 inches. That's how it just adds up.
But you can see as we move through today and in toward this afternoon, 11:00, the area of low pressure off the coast. Pretty much clears everybody.
By tonight, it clears Boston, clears Maine even. By 3:00, you see where it is. Then tomorrow, everyone is dry for the most part.
But still the winds behind it, will be substantial. But we had wind gust today and really last night around midnight, 60, 70, even 80 mile-per-hour winds around the Cape, the island, Nantucket. That is all winding down.
And today and tomorrow, more gusts in the 20s and 30s, blowing the snow around.
SAVIDGE: All right, Alexandra. That's still going to be a hazard for a lot of people traveling on the roads.
STEELE: Absolutely.
SAVIDGE: And speaking of those traveling on the road -- no, we're not going to Ashleigh. We'll save her for later.
In the meantime, it's been a busy week in the news. Did you hear about the Iranian president's near hit with a shoe in the face? How could you have not heard it? We'll have it for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: We've been talking about Connecticut and how badly it's been hit with all the snow. In fact, it seems to be the leader in the clubhouse so to speak.
Let's check in with Ashleigh Banfield who is joining us. How is it?
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hey, Marty. I'm on 95. What a difference about a mile can make. As I was heading between Greenwich and New Haven, I'm right in the Litchfield area if anyone's looking at the map.
And on 95, things were bare and wet and not many cars at all. Then, all of a sudden, within a minute and a half to two minutes of driving -- and again, I should remind viewers that there is a driving ban. Yes, the media, emergency vehicles, we're OK to be on the road.
But all of a sudden within that short span of time, I ended up in the extraordinary blowing snow, big drifts right on 95. Several wrecks, a couple of big rigs just sort of plowed into the side of the road. And also, traffic, all of a sudden, were in single lanes with drifts on either side.
Again, this is 95. Three lanes. These are personal vehicles I'm seeing. So, there are people who are ignoring the driving ban in Connecticut.
And those gusts that you've been hearing about are pretty significant. We're expecting blizzard-type gusts to continue in the Connecticut area. That makes for a difficult condition because the snow gets whipped up.
It's not falling anymore, Marty. The snow has stopped falling. In fact, the sun was out.
But when the wind whips up, think of the movie "Fargo." When the wind just blows that snow over the highway and you can't really see much of what the highway looks like anymore, that's what's happening. There's a lot of whipping snow amidst the sun.
Shockingly, idiots who have decided to come out and get to where they think they need to be which is what they shouldn't be doing, because it's very hard for those plows, even personal plows -- people who affixed front-end plows to their four by fours and are on the road, they can't make it around to help people dig out either.
Marty, we've got reports of several people spending the night on 95 stuck in their vehicles just like the Long Island Expressway, where I know Mary Snow has been headed to and reporting from. So, yes, stupid for those who think they need to be somewhere, they really, really don't.
SAVIDGE: Ashleigh Banfield on the road, talking about the hazardous driving conditions in Connecticut. Thank you very much.
And now, our coverage of the blizzard in the Northeast continues right now.
