All In with Chris Hayes, Transcript 01/26/15

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: Tonight on ALL IN -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything we know so far makes clear, you can`t underestimate this storm. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: First great blizzard of 2015, threatening to break records across the northeast. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We are expecting a very high rate of snowfall. You almost can`t plow that much snow that quickly. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: Eighteen hundred plows, 126,000 tons of salt. And that`s just for New York. We`ll look at what it takes to keep things running as five states declare a state of emergency. Then -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me just first start with bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The meteorological phenomenon called bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a new meteorological buzz word. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: What on earth is bombogenesis? We`ll have answers tonight, tonight, tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombogenesis? What is that? HAYES: Good evening from the snowbound and eerily quiet streets of New York City. I am Chris Hayes. Right now we are out and about in New York where very few others are. It`s a brief pause in what has been a snow filled day and what is sure to be an intensely snow filled evening. Let me get you up dated with the latest on this winter storm. As of now, seven states have declared a state of emergency. That is New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. That puts about 60 million people underneath a winter weather watch as of this moment. The storm is expected to continue through the night, hitting its peak starting really around 2:00 a.m. in the morning. We could see as many as three to four inches of snow an hour, which is quite a bit of accumulation. We`re going to be looking at 12 to 36 inches of snow all the way in a band arching from New Jersey up through Maine, including possible records here in New York City. Also Rhode Island and Boston looking to get hit very hard. Coastal areas, Cape Cod, Long Island, are expecting near hurricane force winds and those are going to start in just a little bit as the storm actually moving off the warmer ocean back west, arching down through New England. We`re going to see possible whiteout conditions, high winds. There are fears of mass power outages. There`s a travel ban right now and this is relatively unprecedented. We haven`t seen something like this in quite some time, perhaps since Sandy, perhaps since further back. Non- emergency vehicles, starting at 9:00 p.m. in Connecticut, 11:00 p.m. here in New York, along with Massachusetts and Rhode Island. New Jersey Transit is closed. New York mass transit, which essentially never closes because it is essentially the life blood of the city, it`s what keeps the city functioning even amidst all kinds of craziness, disaster and catastrophe, the New York city subway system and all transit will close at 11:00 p.m. tonight. It closed during Sandy. It`s been that long since it`s closed before. And that, of course, will bring the biggest city in the country to an absolute standstill. Amtrak is suspending all service through New England. Seven thousand flights have already been cabled. Of course, about a third of all domestic travel in the U.S., either lands, takes off in or goes through New York air space. We have essentially a lock down at all the airports. If you are traveling in and out of New York tonight, you are screwed. And you probably already knew that before you turned on your television set. The largest schools -- this is in the city, which is, in the country, of course, which is near city, public schools will be closed tomorrow. Boston schools closed through Wednesday. Broadway is closed. No shows will go on tonight. It`s all shut down. The storm is going to peak by 10:00 a.m. in New York, by about 7:00 p.m. in Boston. So we`re going to see a lot of snow and accumulation. Local state officials pleading with the public right now, you`ve seen them all day sounding very dire warnings up and down the eastern seaboard, stay inside. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: This will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of New York City. I`m asking everyone to understand that and to prepare accordingly. This is not going to be like other snowstorms. It is going to be, by all indications, worse and people have to be ready. GOV. GINA RAIMONDO (D), RHODE ISLAND: We have an extreme severe winter event coming our way. And my message to the people of Rhode Island is to get prepared. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Let me say to everyone in New Jersey that this is going to be a significant storm with snowfall today and into tomorrow that will create really hazardous conditions, including dangerous conditions on our roadways. MAYOR MARTIN WALSH (D), BOSTON: I`m urging people to take these forecasts very seriously and take every precaution. Check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and disabled. Clear your sidewalks the best you can, but be safe. GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Now we`re New Englanders, so this isn`t new to most of us. However, please be sure to have flashlights that work, extra food, and your medications packed for a few days. GOV. DANNEL MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: Now, I think it`s important to know, if you`re out -- if you`re without power, you are going to be without power for a period of time. All likely -- in all likelihood, several days. CUOMO: The good news is, the sun will come out again. We just don`t know when. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: All right, joining me now, NBC meteorologist Bill Karins. Bill, where are we in the trajectory of this storm right now? BILL KARINS, NBC METEOROLOGIST: Well, the stormed has formed. And now that the storm has formed, we know where it has formed, we can compare it to how well the placement is to what the computer models were telling us was going to be. That`s the first hint of who`s going to get what. And now that we`ve seen the actual placement of the storm, the forecast all along was the most difficult from the Hudson Valley, from Albany down through New Jersey, New York City, to Philadelphia. The recent trends, the short-term trend, so we don`t want to completely just say it`s going to be, you know, the way it is, but it is the lower the snowfall totals in Philadelphia to New York City to the Albany area to the Hudson Valley. This does not mean the storm is not going to be a huge, historic event. Our computers, even the short range, are still saying two or three feet of snow for eastern portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and out on Long Island. But the exact effects and snow amounts, don`t be surprised, and I`m probably going to lower mine shortly after I get a little more new data in over the next hour, just to confirm it, but if the totals go a little lower for New York City. So we still have the blizzard warnings. The National Weather Service hasn`t canceled those yet for areas like New York City or coastal Jersey, but we`ll wait and see with the new update coming in this evening if they do do that. And as far as the radar goes, it kind of tells the story. We have really heavy bands of snow that are now lifting almost to Providence. This is near white out conditions. This is where we`re seeing the worst of the storm right now, possibly even some clashes of thunder mixed in here and out on Cape Cod. But we have to watch the bands. How far are they going to rotate to the west? That`s been the question, the million dollar question all along is how far. This latest band has now made it through the twin forks (ph). It`s heading for central portions of Long Island. But a lot of the computers are stalling these bands before they get to New York City out over central Long Island. That`s why areas of eastern Long Island could pick three feet of snow up. We may only end up with maybe a foot in New York City. So it`s a really steep gradient from east to west and that`s what we`re going to be watching as we go throughout the evening hours. Now, you can see the New York City area is in a lull. We picked up about five inches in Central Park earlier. Now we`re waiting to see how far to the west those bands will get and how long it takes to shift into the New York City area. The winds aren`t that bad in Jersey. Out on even Long Island they`re not that bad. But the winds are really picking up. Again, all along we`re saying the worst of this storm, the best chances for it being historic, for power outages, for people being trapped in their homes for days, is Cape Cod, eastern Massachusetts to the Wooster area, Providence then Newport and into areas of central and eastern Connecticut and that`s where the winds are the strongest, already gusting nearly to 40 miles per hour. So, this is a forecast map I`ve been showing since this morning. I still feel very confident in that blue stripe of two to three feet of snow there from Portland all the way through Boston and the Wooster area, back down to central Connecticut. If there`s anything that`s going to get chopped off of this map, it would be to take some of this purple, which is 12 inches plus, and bring that maybe toward the New York City area and then keep a lot of Jersey at only three to six. So that`s kind of the only really caveat and change of the forecast. And, of course, that, Chris, would get a lot of headlines if New York City doesn`t get the expected -- I was calling for 18 inches, if we end up with 12 instead, that`s going to get the headlines that New York City didn`t get their big, historic snowfall. But for areas in eastern Massachusetts, it`s still game on. This net`s (ph) going to happen. That is set in stone. And so that`s what we`re going to be watching through this evening. Again, the storm just formed. The new information from our computers will be coming in. The first bit will be in about the next hour. Then the next bit will be in about two hour after that. So then we`ll have a good idea, Chris, about what we`re going to be dealing with as we go throughout the evening. HAYES: Bill Karins, thanks so much. We`re going to go to Rehema Ellis right now. She`s NBC news correspondent. She`s driving around Massachusetts. And Bill was just talking about Massachusetts bearing the worst brunt of this. What`s it look like up where you are, Rehema? REHEMA ELLIS, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We are north of one of the areas, Chris where he was talking about that it`s starting to look really bad. He was saying in Wooster. We are north of Wooster heading towards the Boston area. And I don`t know if you can switch to our camera that has -- is mounted on our windshield. You see in front of us what a lot of people are going to want to see as the hours pass here. And that is a salting truck. It is out spreading salt and sand, trying to prepare these roads so that they will be less hazardous than they could be without this. We seem to be in a little built of a lull right here in terms of the precipitation. It seems to come in starts and stops. Right now it seems to have calmed down a little bit. It`s cold. And the other thing that I`ve noticed in just the last hour is that, once again, the traffic really is starting to diminish. People came out from their workplaces and made their way home -- made their ways home. It seems like there are just a few vehicles out here now. We`re seeing more and more the vehicles are emergency vehicles and that`s what they want to have on this road as opposed to private cars. You were talking about earlier that Massachusetts is one of those states where a travel ban is going into effect around midnight. And only the essential vehicles will be allowed out on this road, Chris. HAYES: All right, thank you, Rehema. And we go now to Anne Thompson, who is NBC chief -- News chief environmental affairs correspondent. She`s live from the streets of New York City. A city that is, for all intents and purposes, shut down in an almost unprecedented fashion. I can only think of a handful of other times where everything from a road ban to the subways being shut down to schools closed. What`s the latest, Ann? ANNE THOMPSON, NBC NEWS CHIEF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, first of all, there are -- New York is facing two problems. It`s not just the snow, it`s also the winds. They`re predicting that we are going to see wind gusts anywhere from 50 to 60 miles per hour. And I can tell you, just a few minutes ago, one came roaring through here. It was so strong it knocked our camera and the light right on the ground. It just did -- the camera did a face plant. I mean it -- and luckily it`s OK. So that`s the good news for us. But come here. Let me show you just how empty New York City is tonight. This is 5th Avenue. Chris, have you ever seen it like this before? I cannot recall -- I mean I think the last time I saw 5th Avenue this empty was the night of September 11th in 2001. It really is very, very dramatic. Mayor Bill De Blasio has urged people to go home, to get off the roads. As of 11:00 tonight, traffic is only open to emergency vehicles across all of New York City streets. Those are some 6,000 miles worth of streets. The reason is because they`ve got 2,300 vehicles in this city that have plows on them. They`re going to put them out. And they want them to work. 11:00 is really sort of the witching hour here because that`s when they think those bands of the blizzard are going to be most intense overnight and we could see anywhere from one to two inches, to two to four inches of snow an hour and there`s just no way that if there are cars on the road, the plows can get in there and do the work they need to do. So, no private cars after 11:00. The subway and bus systems are shut down. Bridges and tunnels are closed. And that`s all so everyone in New York City can be safe through this storm. Chris. HAYES: Anne, thank you. We go to Dylan Dreyer, who`s driving around in Boston, another city that is essentially entirely shut down and hunkering down for the worst. Dylan, what`s the latest? DYLAN DREYER, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is pretty much shut down. There are not a lot of cars on the roads except for the plows and the salt trucks that are trying to preemptively get ahead of this storm. We`re not seeing a lot of snow yet. So far in Boston we`ve picked up about 0.4 inches. That`s less than a half an inch of snow, but it really hasn`t reached this area yet. But if you look out in front of us, you can see the snow has been blowing around. It`s a very light, fine snow right now. So it is starting to cover some of the streets. They`re still fairly wet at this time, but keep in mind, the temperature is about 28 degrees, so this is going to be a light, fluffy snow. I want to show you the radar here and you can see where we do have some of our heavier snow. It`s right in down here, through Cape Cod, Martha`s Vineyard, where we`ve already picked up nearly four inches of snow already. The snow that is coming down across southeastern parts of Massachusetts and down through Rhode Island, that`s actually falling at rates of about one to two inches per hour, and that is what is creeping closer and closer to the Boston area where we are. So it`s been light so far, but the height of the storm is expected to get going around 10:00 tonight and last through almost all day on Tuesday. We might not see these blizzard-like conditions let up until about 5:00, 6:00 Tuesday afternoon. That`s an extended period of time with whiteout conditions. Everyone is urged to completely stay off of the roads. Naturally, everything is pretty much shut down Tuesday and into Wednesday in the Boston area. Again, this is an area that certainly can handle the snow. The crews are out and ready, but it is going to be a big one. I worked in Boston for six years and it`s not often that you predict 24 to 36 inches of snow right in the city of Boston itself. Chris. HAYES: Dylan, thanks. We go now to Ron Allen, who is just east of us out in Long Island. And, Ron, they`re predicting harsher conditions east of the city as that front comes in off the ocean. What`s it like out there right now? RON ALLEN, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It`s been pretty harsh for the last few hours or so. And we`ve got a lot of snow on the ground already. The roads out here are completely covered. There have been plows going by, but they haven`t been able to keep up with it. Over here you can see that this is an off ramp for a highway. It`s completely covered and the traffic has stopped. We`ve only seen a few cars coming through in the last half hour or so. It`s really, really died down. And if you look further up there, you can see what`s left of the Long Island Expressway, which is, for the most part, completely deserted. I did see a line of snowplows going by a little while ago. And we also saw a line of utility trucks going by a little while ago heading in that direction. That direction is east, which is out towards the tip of Long Island, where the brunt of the storm is going to be even worse than it is right here. If you can see kind of here in front of me, there`s several inches of snow that have already fallen on these bushes and on the ground around here and it`s not going anywhere. The wind is also starting to kick up. The predictions were for 40 to 50 miles per hour gusts, but I think now they`ve upped that a bit. And we`ve seen the wind -- over in this direction you can see it kind of swirling maybe. It gusts, it comes, it goes, and all that. Over at that gas station now is pretty deserted. But we can see the wind kind of circling and pulling the snow up and blowing it around. It`s also about 25 degrees or so now. At least that`s what the temperature is. But it feels colder because of the wind. And we`ve been just trying to keep ourselves in the certain direction so we`re not hit in the face by it. But it`s getting pretty harsh. It`s going to get worse. The good news is that people are staying off of the roads, heeding the warning that it`s very, very dangerous. We have seen some snowplows, some emergency vehicles go by earlier, but it`s down, just like you see here, just one or two motorists out trying to get some last -- a last fill up or something, but heading home. So, again, this is just the beginning of it. We`re not even at -- really at the beginning of the worst of it. It`s going to happen overnight. But people are hunkering down and it just keeps getting worse by the hour. Back to you. HAYES: Ron Allen, thanks so much. You can see that Ron is getting that first wave of snow that`s coming in from the east. I want to go now to Polly Trottenberg on the phone. That`s the -- Polly`s the NYC commissioner for the department of -- commissioner of the department of transportation. How does, commissioner, how did you make the decision to close the roads at 11:00 tonight? What goes into making that decision? What`s the tipping point for that? POLLY TROTTENBERG, COMMISSIONER, NYC DEPT. OF TRANS. (via telephone): Well, as you can imagine, Chris, that`s not a decision that the city made lightly. I mean, obviously, our number one goal is public safety. And as we considered -- you know, you`ve been talking about what some of the biggest hazards can be in a storm like this. One of the biggest is when you have too many vehicles on the road, they start to get stuck, they start to get involved in crashes and then our plows can`t get through and even more importantly our emergency, fire, and police and rescue vehicles can`t get through. So in looking at the potential magnitude of the storm, the mayor made the decision, if we can get non-essential vehicles off the roadways, we`ll have a much better chance of having a safe outcome. HAYES: What is the strategy for emergency vehicles tonight? I know some people -- I mean, obviously, there are women around New York City in the five boroughs who are expecting, or past their due date, who are probably very nervous. Obviously there`s an elderly population. There are folks who are sick. Might have little kids with illnesses. How does getting emergency vehicles around in this weather work? TROTTENBERG: Well, the good news is, the city has really -- having learned some lessons from previous storms, bulked up. We are actually going to have 40 percent more ambulances operational during this storm. We`ve now got a better mix of vehicles. Some that can ride higher and have tire chains. And in addition, vehicles by private agencies or any other types of organizations or any vehicle that needs suddenly to transport someone in a medical emergency -- if suddenly your spouse is about to give birth, you could throw them in a car, and if a police officer stops you, you could explain the situation and get them to an ambulance. So we`re hoping this will actually -- will make it actually quicker and easier for anyone who is experiencing some kind of a medical emergency. HAYES: Earlier today I think I saw a representative from the MTA, that`s the quazi (ph) independent body that runs service and rapid transit here in the metro area, say they thought it would be possible for trains to operate. Maybe they would cut back service. The governor, of course, announcing that all train service is going to stop at 11:00. That`s a very, very rare, somewhat extreme step. Do you think that`s the right call? Do you have any input in to whether that decision is made? Because that really does essentially entirely shut down New York City. TROTTENBERG: Well, look, obviously I think the state and the MTA, just as we did in the city, they didn`t make that decision lightly. I think they made a judgment. As you`re hearing all along the northeastern seaboard, that the -- really what all the state and city and local agencies want to do is encourage people to stay home, not to travel during the period of this blizzard. HAYES: All right, New York City commissioner for the department of transportation, Polly Trottenberg, really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Much more live coverage of blizzard 2015 from the snowy streets of New York City after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: I`m joining now by Paul Douglas. He`s a meteorologist for the Media Logic Group. Paul, can you explain the conditions that produce a storm like this? What has to be at play to come together to dump this much frozen precipitation on the northeast? PAUL DOUGLAS, METEOROLOGIST, MEDIA LOGIC GROUP: Sure. You`re absolutely right, Chris, it requires a special convergence, a special recipe of meteorological ingredients. In this case we had a gently used Alberta Clipper which provided the initial jolt of energy. That spun up a secondary storm off of North Carolina coast. One of these classic nor`easter. A coastal storm. And it`s tapping moisture and energy from the Atlantic Ocean. And I just checked Gulf Stream waters, Chris, just east of New Jersey, 12, 13 degrees warmer than average for late January. So you`ve got this warm stew lurking just offshore and you`ve got very cold air pushing in from New England. The sharper the gradient and temperature, the faster the winds have to blow. Basic physics. And you can wind up with one of these atmospheric bombs where the storm is strengthening so rapidly that the air is spiraling into the center and accelerating. In this case it sounds like hyperbole, but this really is sort of the winter equivalent of a tropical storm, including the storm surge. Now, this is nothing like Sandy, obviously, back in 2012, even though it is hooking to the west, just like Sandy did. But I saw a five foot storm surge prediction for the battery (ph) and lower Manhattan later on tonight, an eight foot surge in Boston Harbor. So there will be considerable coastal flooding in addition to the blowing and drifting and power outages and the myriad of other problems. HAYES: And, Paul, just to be clear about one thing here, when you get winter storms, you get, obviously, people talking about climate change or I think somewhat disingenuously saying, oh, it`s snowing. One of the things we`re seeing is that storms draw energy from warmer ocean waters, which is partly produced by a rising temperature globally, and that even factors in winter storms as well, isn`t that right? DOUGLAS: That`s absolutely true, Chris. Fourteen of the 15 warmest years on record have been since the turn of the century. Last year thought to be the absolute warmest year. And oceanographers and climate scientists confirm 93 percent of that excess heat is going into the world`s oceans. And that can make for stronger typhoons. It can also turbo charge storms like the kind of storm we`re looking at tonight. And I don`t know, not to minimize the hardship this storm is going to do, but I find it somewhat humbling and amazing on some level that in spite of all of our technology, all of our inventions, none of it means squat on a night like tonight. On a night like tonight, we`re reminded that mother nature bats last, and there are times when you just have to hunker down. There`s not a darn thing you can do. Just error on the side of caution. And that`s what officials are doing all up and down the eastern seaboard and I applause them. We have to error on the side of caution. HAYES: Paul Douglas, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. We`ll be back with much more after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DE BLASIO: I`m going to keep saying to everyone, take caution -- take precautions. Be careful. A lot ahead of us. This is literally the calm before the storm. And it`s about to start in earnest. And when it does, it`s going to come in very fast, very hard, and people have to be very, very careful. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: Bill de Blasio addressing the city just a short while ago in the, as he put it, calm before the storm. The snow petering out a little bit before the west of the bands and thee blizzard start to work their way back west across Long Island, across the northeast, in towards New York City. I want to go to Chris Warren, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel in Providence, Rhode Island, which, Providence, right now, looking like it`s going to bear the brunt of it if I`m not mistaken, Chris? CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST, THE WEATHER CHANNEL: Yes, they`re going to get a lot of snow here. From here all the way up to Boston you`re looking at possibly two feet of snow. And some of these bands that you`ve been talking about, and that we`ve been talking about, if they set up, cannot rule out three feet of snow in some cases. What we have been seeing is this snow come down harder and faster over the past couple of hours. And every once in a while, that wind is whipping up. And we`re seeing more and more snow building up on some of the side streets right here as cars are going by. It`s a AAA vehicle right here. We`ve seen a lot of tow trucks, a lot of plows out there. Right down here, that`s Interstate 95, keeping an eye on it, and traffic`s moving along pretty good right now but that is expected to change tonight. And here in Providence, in fact across all of Rhode Island, you cannot be on the road after midnight. The travel ban goes into effect. And this wind coming down -- I want to show you something else that we`re going to have to watch for a while. I don`t think we`ve had an inch here yet, but it -- but what we are seeing is, look at this corner. When the wind comes and blows, and we`re seeing more of that with some of the gusts, it picks up the snow and pushes it like here, into this corner, and that`s a snow drift. See how it`s kind of piling up there in the corner. And that`s what we`re going to be dealing with. Now the corner of the street, you`re also starting to see more and more snow and you can see some little areas where the plows have come through. Plows have been through here a few times and then you get down to a baron, wet situation for a while and then the snow coming down so fast that is starts to cover it again. So even though a plow might come through, when you look out your window two hours later or maybe three hours later, it might look like they weren`t there at all. That`s how fast it`s going to come down tonight. HAYES: Chris, thank you so much. We have the lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, Daniel McKee, on the phone right now. Lieutenant governor, what are your biggest concerns? I know there`s a travel ban after midnight in your state. Where are your areas of highest concern and focus in terms of emergency preparedness right now? LT. GOV. DANIEL MCKEE, RHODE ISLAND (via telephone): Well, we`re asking everybody to prepare for potentially a couple days without electricity. We don`t know where it may hit. But the loss of electricity is a major concern and the cold weather and so we`re asking the residences of the state to, you know, be prepared for that. And as you said, you know, we recommended - - the governor has declared a state of emergency in Rhode Island, telling people that they get off the roads by 8:00 and the mandatory off the roads by midnight. So I think that the a situation is well in the -- HAYES: Do you have the infrastructure... MCKEE: ...the local communities, which the governor has asked me to facilitate with the cities and towns. We really need to get through the car bans in effect, and people need to abide by those parking bans because we have got to get emergency vehicles through, through all the streets in the state of Rhodes Island. And we need to accomodate the local communities to allow that to happen. So, those are two major concerns: the loss of electricity and making sure that people are off of the roads, but also get their vehicles off of the roads so the emergency can get through as well as the snowplowing that is going to happen to free up the roads over the next couple days. HAYES: Do you have the infrastructure in place to be able to deal with power pour outages and getting folks who may be isolated in terms of transportation, who may need food, or heat, or emergency medical services. I mean, we saw after Sandy that it was both the fuel and the electricity -- the fuel shortages and electricity outages that really took the toll. Are you prepared for that if that`s what it comes to? MCKEE: Well, I was -- before become lieutenant governor, Chris, I was a mayor for 12 years in the community and I think that we learned through the Sandy and through some of the hurricanes that are going on, our emergency manager and director Peter Gannon has coordinated with the National Grid, which is our energy provider. And we believe that we`re going to have the personnel and human capital on the ground to address these potential outages. But we also want to caution the residents that it could take several days if, in fact, they are in a place where they have been hit the hardest. So, I think we do have the infrastructure in place, I think the governor has done a very good job just been in office now, both of us, for less than three weeks, and yet we have had simulations preparing for this and there has been good staff in place so we`re expecting to be able to coordinate this very successfully. HAYES: Lieutenant Governor Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, thank you, and good luck tonight. I want to bring in now Eric Klinenberg, he`s a sociology professor at NYU who studies disaster preparedness, wrote an incredible book about the heat wave of Chicago in 1995 that killed hundreds and hundreds of people. Eric, you have been studying this for over a decade, who is most vulnerable under these disaster conditions and what mistakes do governments tend to make that hopefully we can learn from? ERIC KLINENBERG, NYU: So, we know who is vulnerable. We know about vulnerable people and vulnerable places. Clearly, we need to be out looking out for older people, people who are living alone, people who don`t have the same kind of social networks that so many people take for granted. It is especially dangerous for them if the power goes out, if they lose their heat, if they get stuck in doors. And a problem we sometimes see from government leaders of moments like this is that they overconfident. They think they have got the problem solved. And if we find ourselves in a situation where there are massive power outages and infrastructure failures, it might be the case that the needs may overwhelm our capacity. HAYES: It`s funny you say that, because I think what ends up happening around these storms is you get people saying this is hype, they`re making too much of this, whether it`s the coverage, whether it`s public officials. It sounds like from what I`m hearing from you is the bigger danger, of course, is underselling the threat both in terms of preparedness and for what actions people take because if you do that, that`s where you really end up with real disaster like what happened in the heatwave back in Chicago in `95. KLINENBERG: I think that`s right. And, look, the facts are we live in a country right now where we have very vulnerable people, we have very vulnerable neighborhoods and we have extremely vulnerable infrastructure. The combination of those things can prove fatal, lethal during times like this. And it is true that often we will do a lot of preparation and find that the big storm doesn`t hit. You`ll remember that Hurricane Irene was going to be the one that hit New York City, the city braced for it and it wasn`t as devastating. Everyone said, look, we don`t have to worry about these things. Well, about a year later Sandy came, completely overwhelming our capacity. So, it might not be this one, it might not be Juno in New York City, but it might be Juno in Boston. And I think the problem with global warming, or one of many, is that we can expect to see more extreme weather systems like this. We have no choice but to learn how to deal with this kind of stress on our vital systems. HAYES: Have we gotten better at this? I mean, obviously one of the defining moments of the last decade was the -- was Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf and what that meant and the spectacle of misery, the hundreds, near 1,000 lives lost. Have we gotten better? Have we learned a lesson? Have we implemented stuff? Are we doing things now, are you seeing things happen tonight across the eastern seaboard you wouldn`t maybe have seen 10 or 20 years ago? KLINENBERG: I think in some ways we are. I think we`re seeing political leaders, especially local leaders in moments like this take the extreme weather seriously. I think the conversation about climate change has inevitably changed the way we prepare for these kinds of things because we know we have to. I think a lot of governments now are aware that we have this the population of people who are very old, and in some cases very alone and they`re doing a lot more outreach. One of the issues we now know is you can`t simply wait for people who are isolated and vulnerable to come to you and ask for help. You have to do very aggressive outreach and do everything possible at the neighborhood level, at the city level to get assistance to get to people who are in need. In Chicago, they waited and hundreds of people died alone. I think we`re seeing some improvement, but at the same time, Chris, the problem is the challenges are getting greater and greater, the risks and vulnerabilities are higher than they have been in some time. HAYES: Eric Klinenberg of NYU. Thank you, Eric. Really appreciate it. KLINENBERG: Thanks very much. HAYES: You`ve probably been hearing the word bombogenesis today. It`s probably -- well, I`m going to guess the first day you`ve heard bombogenesis, certainly the first day for me. I will explain what bombogenesis is ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: One of the very few good things about this kind of devastating weather event is we get to learn new terms. After all, it helps to know the science behind a polar vortex, a doracho (ph) or a sharknado when they`re baring down on you. Today`s term: bombogenesis. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this storm is expected to bomb out off shore. And that is a short word for the meteorological phenomenon called bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bombogenesis. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is bombogenesis? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: it is a catchy meteorological term I`d say with my weather buddies. (END VIDEO CLIP) HAYES: Well, first off it seems to have an invisible touch. A low pressure system reaches in and grabs right hold of another system. Usually this happens out over the ocean, but the Juno storm we see today is in too deep. Two systems meet. There`s a central drop of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. You`ve got bombogenesis. Normally one system could leave, but it won`t go. And now the eastern seaboard can`t feel a thing from their head down to their toes. That`s bombogenesis. You want it? You`ve got it. Now you know. So, go out and put on your snowsususudio (ph), because this is the state of emergency we live in. And this is the snow we`re giving. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...is... CHRISTIE: ...the state of emergency... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...we... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...live in. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...the snow... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...that we are given. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...is... GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: ...the state of emergency... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...we... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...live in. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...the snow... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That we are given. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...is... CHRISTIE: ...the state of emergency... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...we... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...live in. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...the snow... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That we are given. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: We`re back. AS the winter storm in the eastern seaboard northeast begins to work its way from the Atlantic Ocean west across New England, high winds hitting Cape Cod at this moment. We`re starting to see wind -- that first band of wind and snow hitting Long Island. We`re expecting very, very, very heavy accumulations in Providence and Boston. And for the latest on the direction this storm has taken, we go to Bill Karins, NBC meteorologist -- Bill. KARINS: That was just crunching is the only way I can put it. Looking at all the different weather data that`s now coming in and the storm itself and trying to adjust my numbers and try to get people the best information we have as soon as I do get it in. So, let me take you through how this works with the forecasting. This is our computer models from the morning run, the evening run is now going to be coming in. We`ll be getting that data as we go throughout the next couple of hours. But this is one of our American models here. It`s based off what we call the American dam model (ph). And this is not my forecast. This is just what the computer was saying. This is what us meteorologists are looking at as we try to make our forecast. This was one version, which showed that huge band anywhere from the Manchester to Ne Haven area. And notice the 14 inches around New York City, 15 around Boston. So that was that model. One of the more dependable models that we have is what we call the European model. They tend to me more accurate than any of our American models. And that`s what we`re trying to hopeful spend our money on in our government and have a program in the next 10 years to beat this model. This was the one that was really forecasting block buster storm for New York. It backed off a little bit this morning. But you still notice the 16 inches in New York. And that still two foot ban somewhere outside of Boston or near Boston. Well, in the last about four hours, our computers have shifted a little bit, not of those I just showed you. Those don`t update until about midnight tonight, unfortunately for some of them. But it does look like our westside of this storm, the western edge, we`ve knocked down the totals a little bit. I haven`t gone dramatically, as some of our -- I mean, one of our computers is now saying taht New York City could get like two or three more inches of snow. I mean, that would be a complete change in the forecast. I`ve dropped New York City down 12 to 14 inches. I had you at 18 -- or I had you at 16 to 20 inches. So I have taken you down about four of five inches. New York City has already picked up five inches. So that may only be as much as five to nine additional inches of snow in New York City, which is very doable for the plows, the city and everything else. And it may not be the paralyzing blizzard that was once advertised for New York City, although we did say all along if this forecast was going to bust it was going to bust in the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia and New York. Now what hasn`t changed, and I don`t want to take anything away from the lifethreatening weather that`s still is going to exist tonight and right through tomorrow for areas of eastern New England. That heavy snow band is there. This storm is just as strong as advertised. That heavy snow band is just now no longer projected to kick all the back into the New York City area, or near enough to it to really affect that area. It`s still going to sit here over the Providence area from Boston, to Cape Cod, possibly through the Worcester area, almost to Springfield and then down almost to the New Haven area. So, there`s a snowfall adjustment totals that I have for the big cities. I didn`t touch you in Providence or Boston. I still think you have a good chance at two feet. Someone still has a chance of getting three feet into eastern New England. I still think we`re going to get the power outages. And we`re still going to have a lot of people stuck in their homes, Chris, that hasn`t changed. The only thing that I am changing is that western edge of the storm does look to be less dramatic now. And, you know, we`ll probably take a ton of heat for the New York City forecast when this is all said and done. But as far as I`m concerned, we still have a lot of life threatening weather to deal with in eastern New England. HAYES: Bill Karins, NBC meteorologist. Thank you. Major de Blasio, perhaps, thanking his lucky stars if that turns out to be the case. Obviously he is under tremendous scrutiny tonight as are all municipal and local officials. Much more after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: All right, we`re tracking the latest in the storm across the northeast. Of course, a lot of news happening elsewhere in the country and around the world. Probably going to want to go to the internet to check that out. We`ll be back with more storm updates after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) HAYES: Joining me now Chris Pallone from the Weather Channel in Boston. Chris, what`s the latest? CHRIS PALLONE, WEATHER CHANNEL, BOSTON: Hey Chris, you know all afternoon it was cloudy and just a little bit of flurries falling, but about 7:00 tonight right as meteorologists had predicted, this storm started to intensify here on Boston Common. Now we`re seeing very fine powdery dry snow falling. It is pretty -- it`s coming down at a pretty good clip. I don`t know how much is showing up on television. But it has been falling for the past couple hours now. And we`re starting to see some powdery accumulation here on Boston Common, maybe only a half inch to three- quarters of an inch at this point. But as this forecast says, this isn`t supposed to get really intense until after midnight and closer to the predawn hours. We`re told that it could fall at two or four inches an hour as we head towards morning. That also coincides with high tide here in the area. So for people who live in coastal areas of Massachusetts from Plum Island up on the north shore down to Situed (ph) and the Cape and islands down in the south, it could pose some real problems for people who live along the shoreline. We`re also noticing over the last hour or two that the wind is really starting to pick up, some high gusts in the last couple of hours. But overnight these gusts are supposed to turn into sustained winds of maybe 50 miles an hour, closer to 70 miles an hour on the Cape and the islands. That`s near hurricane force. So, the concern here, of course, is snow. If we get two or three feet of snow, that`s obviously going to be tough to dig out from and people are hunkered down and trying to figure out what`s going to happen with that. But with these high winds they`re also expecting some widespread power outages, which just adds a whole different level of discomfort to this entire situation. As you might imagine, though, there are s not many people out on the streets right now. There is a parking ban in Boston at midnight in the state of Massachusetts, a travel ban goes into effect. We just see some plows occasionally and some city buses that are empty as they go by. But pretty quiet night here in Boston as this storm gets wrapped up to full intensity -- Chris. HAYES: All right, thank you. We`re going now to the mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh. Mayor Walsh, obviously Boston, New England not unaccustomed to big snowstorms. Where does this rank in terms of Boston in the last several years, certainly your tenure in terms of severity and potential destruction? MARTY WALSH, MAYOR OF BOSTON: Well, certainly in my tenure -- I have been there 13 months now, it will be the biggest storm that I have faced here in the last few years, potentially it could be the biggest storm we`ve had in the last 10 years in the city, depending on on what the reports are saying. And everything you`re saying to us is we will get clobbered here. So, we`re expecting a pretty big storm here in the city. HAYES: What plans do you have right now in terms of exigencies if power goes out. I know you guys have a -- you have got a transportation shut down on the roads. If you find yourself with a power situation, what is the planning to deal with folks that might have the power cut out? WALSH: Well, we have the utility companies -- when we sit down a have a meeting -- a team wide meeting about this, the utility companies are sitting at the table with us. So, we`re working with them very closely to be prepared to try and get power up as soon as possible. We`re trying to get ahead of that. We have our parks and recreation department has bucket trucks. But again it`s hard to -- you can`t fight mother nature. And you kind of have got to let it take its course and see what we can do. But I`m hoping that if we do have a loss of power it`s for a very short period of time. I am expecting in certain parts of the city that we will lose power, however, and we`re going to have to get our crews on as soon as we can. This storm seems like it`s going to be one of those storms that`s going to linger on throughout tomorrow. So that`s going to make it very difficult to get the power up as quick as we can. HAYES: And finally, what is the situation with the T, and what are you anticipating for rapid and public transit? WALSH: Well, public transportation right now is for all intents and purposes stopped in the city. And the governor declared a state of emergency earlier today. And I -- you know, I`m pretty confident that we`re not going to have much T service tomorrow with the amount of snow we`re getting. So, we`re asking people to try and -- you know, only have essential personnel on the roads if at all possible. And we`re trying to make arrangements with the hospitals so we can get the nurses and doctors to and from the hospitals, because it`s important for us to keep it open. We`re really focusing on the main thoroughfares with the snow plows so we have the ability to get emergency vehicles through the main streets. HAYES: Boston mayor Marty Walsh, thanks so much. We`ll be back after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. 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