[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting today from Washington. It doesn't seem to matter where you are in the United States today. We all have one thing in common, pretty much miserable weather. If you're headed to the airport, pack your patience. More than a thousand flights already have been canceled today. On the roads, it's no better. This was the scene in Yonkers, New York outside New York City. Police say 30 people were injured in a 24-plus car pile-up on the Bronx River Parkway late last night. One reminder, falling ice also posing a huge threat. A sheet of melting ice fell to the ground in Plano, Texas, damaging at least eight parked cars. Thankfully no people were on street at the time. CNN is covering all these developing weather stories for you. Our meteorologist, Chad Myers, will be joining us in a moment with the forecast. Let's go to CNN's Rosa Flores first. She's watching the comings and goings out there on the New Jersey turnpike. What's going on out there, Rosa?
[Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, one of the things that we're dealing with is low visibility so all the drivers out there are using their low beams. There is precipitation in certain areas so they're using the windshield wipers. And it's cold. It's in the 30s. So, they're also cranking up the heat. Let me set the scene for you. Take a look. You can see that visibility is low. The clouds are low. So, drivers are being very careful out there. You're taking a look at the New Jersey turnpike. Traffic is moving at a pretty good clip right now. Now, the Office of Emergency Management tells us that they're dealing with two things, the southern part of New Jersey, they're dealing with ponding and flooding. And in the northern parts of the state, they're dealing with snow, sleet, ice on the roads so it can be pretty treacherous. The Department of Transportation said that they were preparing for the absolute worst. They have about 2,000 pieces of equipment that can spread salt or that can plow the roads. They used 800 overnight and right now, they are assessing the situation. I talked to state police, as well. They tell me there are no major accidents in the state right now. But, of course, they're monitoring that situation. We talked to a couple of drivers just so they could tell us a little bit about the road conditions. And here's what one had to say.
[Michael Hancox:] It wasn't too bad. It was just really slow going. Cars the speed was about 10 to 15 miles per hour for quite a long time. And then, the Delaware Memorial Bridge was closed for a while because there was an accident on it. So, it took about seven hours to go what normally takes two hours.
[Flores:] And here's the bad news. More snow is expected, Wolf, so the state assessing the situation right now to develop a plan for the coming hours and, of course, for tomorrow, as well Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Rosa, thanks very much. Let's get the forecast. Chad Myers is standing by at the CNN Severe Weather Center. Much of the U.S. experiencing these miserable freezing weather conditions at the same time, is that right, Chad?
[Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes. You know, we have blizzards going on in the Dakotas, temperatures, wind while factors 20, 30 degrees below zero. In the Northeast, snows like this. Snow totals from Newark, Delaware at 12 inches. And even into Philadelphia had eight inches of snow with this. LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia all slow and that's going to be the story for the rest of the day. This isn't going to get better really today. We will see another round of snow tomorrow for you, Wolf. Four to fix more inches for BWY, for DCA, up to Philadelphia. It's not here now but another storm, another small low is running up the same place that the low moved up this weekend. We're not going to see enough ice or as much ice in D.C. as we saw. This is going to be a snow event. Snow covering up the icy stuff that's already there so you can't see it. It starts to snow tomorrow morning in D.C. I suspect there will be many school closings. All the way up to BWI, in Baltimore, into Philadelphia and then offshore. This is a quick hitter. This is come it's gone in 12 hours from when it starts. But four to six inches in 12 hours will put the beltway, will put a lot of roads at a standstill. Now, it's gone on Wednesday, it's completely gone. And here's the cold we talked about. Minot, it is three below zero. That's the thermometer. That's when you look at that red alcohol in the thermometer, it says 3 below. When you walk outside, your face feels like 21 below. And so do all the pets and all the animals out there. Make sure the pets have some kind of cover from this wind. Make sure that they have water or at least maybe just bring them inside if you can, Wolf. This is really cold.
[Blitzer:] Excellent advice from Chad as usual. Chad, thank you. We'll stay on top of the weather story for all of our viewers. Nearly 100 world leaders are making the trek to South Africa right now to honor Nelson Mandela. Crowds continue to gather outside Mandela's home to mourn his death and to celebrate his life. Tomorrow, as many as 80,000 people will pack the soccer stadium in Johannesburg for the official memorial service. One of the last known photos of Mandela has now been made public. The touching image shows the iconic leader holding hands with his three-year-old grandson that was taken, by the way, in May. And last hour, Archbishop Desmond Tutu took part in a special tribute t Mandela. In his remarks, he said, what a fantastic gift god gave us gave to us in this Mandela. President Obama is among those heading heads of state traveling to South Africa right now. The president and the first lady left this morning aboard Air Force One. They're accompanied by the former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush and the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. They'll be joined in South Africa by Bill Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter and Mrs. Carter. Our White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar is standing by. Brianna, what do we know about the president's itinerary and his specific role in the memorial service?
[Brianna Keilar, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, he will be among six foreign dignitaries who will be giving remarks during what is really an extensive program to take place in South Africa honoring Nelson Mandela. He is on this historic flight to what we're expecting will be the largest gathering of world leaders in Africa's history. He is preparing his remarks as we speak. We're told by a White House official that this is not something that he had worked on until he was, I guess, instructed or invited by the South African government to make these remarks at the memorial service. But there's also another sort of historic element to this trip, this flight that President Obama is on right now, Wolf. Imagine this, sitting around the conference table of the private conference room on board Air Force One, the Obamas as well as former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, also, of course, the former first lady. And all of them were told by a White House official discussing their various experiences with Nelson Mandela which span over three administrations. So, quite a conversation you'd want to be a fly on the wall for. And we are expecting, as well, that President Obama may be touching base with Nelson Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, when he's in South Africa. This is something he wants to do. White House officials say they're trying to make it happen. It's not definite at this point but certainly something that he is interested in doing, Wolf. And also, of course, this is such a logistical feat when you think of all of these world leaders going to South Africa and just how big of an effort this is to get President Obama there. But we're told by the secret service, Wolf, that because Nelson Mandela has been ill for so long, unfortunately, this is something they had some time to plan for.
[Blitzer:] There could be a little diplomatic awkwardness up on the podium there. I'm looking at the official program that has now been released by the South African government, Brianna. We see President Obama will pay special tribute. These are tributes by foreign dignitaries, as you point out. Six of them have been selected. The leaders from the U.S., Brazil, the vice president of China, Namibia, India and President
[Keilar:] Cuba.
[Blitzer:] Raul Castro of Cuba is going to be up on the same stage with the president of the United States. I wonder if they'll shake hands, if they'll exchange words. Could be a little awkward since the U.S. does not have the full diplomatic relations with Cuba and still Cuba is regarded as a state sponsor of international terrorism. Have they said anything about at the White House about this?
[Keilar:] The White House has not commented on this specifically, Wolf. I expect that we'll get some comment on this as we just have gotten the program really in the time that President Obama has been on board Air Force One and a lot of officials are travelling with him. But, yes, fascinating because the U.S. and Cuba former cold war enemies have had very much limited ties. There's been some conciliatory language, I guess you could say, in recent years. But certainly this is not any sort of relationship that you see on a day-to-day basis the way President Obama has with other leaders. But I think what's sort of fascinating here and that a lot of people who are looking at this program and are fascinated by the fact that President Obama is speaking first and Raul Castro is speaking last that in a way it signifies just how much of a unifier Nelson Mandela was not only in his life but also in his death that you have these very interesting and disparate folks who are going to be at this event in South Africa Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Yes. When he was inaugurated back in 1994, Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, the then Vice President of the United States, represented the United States. But representing Cuba at the time at the inauguration in South Africa was Fidel Castro, who was then president of Cuba. So, there was an awkward moment at that time. We'll watch that closely. Thanks very much, Brianna Keilar over at the White House.
[Keilar:] Thank you.
[Blitzer:] A long list of pending problems with very little time to make progress. That's what Congress is looking at as they get closer and closer to going back on vacation. We're taking a close look at some of those priorities hanging in the balance right now