Another Antiwar Democrat Joins Presidential Field
DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: This administration can't be trusted with the war power.</s>ANNOUNCER: Another anti-war Democrat joins the presidential field. We'll ask Congressman Dennis Kucinich why him, and why now? A vivid reminder, it sometimes gets lonely on the campaign trail. Live from Washington this is INSIDE POLITICS with Judy Woodruff.</s>JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST: Thank you for joining us. Well, as if Washington weren't already in a deep freeze from a paralyzing winter storm, a different kind of chill is blowing this way today from Europe. In this "NewsCycle," French President Jacques Chirac says his government would oppose the second U.N. resolution authorizing force against Iraq. He spoke at an emergency summit of the European Union, aimed at closing its split over Iraq. We'll have a live report from Brussels ahead. The meeting comes a day afer the NATO alliance resolved its month-long deadlock on defending Turkey in case of war in neighboring Iraq. Here in the U.S. Capitol, President Bush is plotting his next moves on Iraq inside the snow-covered White House. Because of the winter storm, he returned from Camp David by motorcade yesterday, instead of the usual helicopter flight. Well, for those of you who are not in the blizzard zone, our apologies if we seems a little snow-obsessed today, but you can't escape it here in Washington where the snow will keep federal government offices shut down again tomorrow. At least, 18 storm- related deaths have been reported since Friday along the snowbound East Coast. And getting from here to there can be treacherous or impossible. We begin our coverage with CNN's Patty Davis at Reagan National airport. Patty, the airports, most of them closed down.</s>PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true. Reagan National airport here in Washington, D.C. area, the one that's going to definitely remain shut down through today. Crews have been working so hard since 3:00 a.m. to get this airport open. But, needless to say, passengers who were here yesterday got stranded here. There were a few of them, they were laying on grates, heat grates overnight. The airport gave them blankets to keep them warm. But they've had little to eat because none of the restaurants are opened in areas that are accessible. People are still coming here to the airport. Looks like it may open tomorrow morning by about 7:00 a.m. Now the federal government, as you said, Judy, appears now that it will be closed again tomorrow. A beautiful shot of Capitol Hill. You see here snowbound Capitol Hill. Well, people will not likely be returning there to work because of that federal holiday. And then over at the White House, snowbound, they've been work at both of those places to get those opened so that people can eventually return to work. Crews on the roads. People trying to dig their cars out. A festive atmosphere at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., where it is actually easier to walk rather than drive your four-wheel drive even or go by bus. We saw a bus earlier today being actually towed away, a hard time getting through the snow. So Washingtonians so glad that the snow has passed, and now the hard job of digging out and getting back to normal is under way. - Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: Okay, Patty, I can tell you from this morning, driving along what are usually very busy thoroughfares and seeing almost no cars, it was very strange. It was like we were in another land. All right, Patty Davis, thanks very much. Well, this city may look like a frosty ghost town. But at least one resident wants you to know he's here and hard at work. D.C. Mayor Tony Williams cut short a vacation in Puerto Rico and returned here yesterday. Williams was mindful of the political perils that can result for city officials who mishandle a major storm. A prime example, Williams predecessor Marion Barry, who was criticized for being out of town during snow emergencies. Well, a number of other Eastern cities have it bad or even worse. With about two feet of snow on the ground, Baltimore is just inches away from breaking its snowfall record. Philadelphia is expecting as much as 25 inches. Most of Pennsylvania has been under a winter storm morning, and Governor Ed Rendall has declared a disaster emergency. Meantime, in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging residents to quote, "have a little patience" as the city works to dig out of one of the worst storms in its history. CNN's Daryn Kagan is in snowy Central Park. Daryn, yes, and it's still snowing there.</s>DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is, Judy. They said it was kind of calming down. But I got to tell you in the last hour, I think it's actually kicking up a little bit. Nineteen inches so far here in Central Park, the most anywhere here in the city at JFK International airport, 23 inches there. You mentioned Mayor Bloomberg. He has also declared the snow emergency. That means they are going to be able to use funds to hire private contractors to get the snow out of the way. Why is that important? Well, let me show you. Take a little walk with me. The snow has to go somewhere, and it's turned into giant drifts. This is Columbus Circle, which is usually one of the busiest intersections in New York City. See this person right here? They're going to have a tough time getting their car out of the way. Also, Governor Pataki has declared a state of emergency for New York City. That means that they'll be able to use federal funds and state funds in order to help clean up this mess. This one, it might have calmed down in Washington, D.C. where you are, Judy, but it is far from over here in New York. Back to you.</s>WOODRUFF: It looks bad. And, Daryn, we're glad that our correspondents come equipped with snowsuits.</s>KAGAN: Actually, I didn't. There was one store open in New York City selling sporting goods at 10:00, and I found it.</s>WOODRUFF: Very becoming. Daryn Kagan, thanks very much. Well, the winter storm also has begun to wallop Massachusetts and other parts of New England. Let's check in with Victoria Block of our affiliate WHDH. She's in Revere, Massachusetts, outside of Boston. All right. Let's see what it looks like there. My goodness. A lot more snow.</s>VICTORIA BLOCK, WHDH CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is brutal out here. We're getting tremendous wind gusts off the ocean. Lots of chunks of ice right along the sea coast here. Tremendous winds. There's a big problem with people coming out on the roads right now. The governor is asking everyone to stay off the roads. He was visiting many of the people and some of the homes in Revere here earlier in the day to make sure that they could evacuate if they needed to. We've got some plow trucks out here doing a good deed, just to move some of this snow around, so people like us can get out and move around. The governor says that within the next 12 hours or so he'll make an assessment as to whether or not he'll need to call the National Guard out. Right now they have all state plows and heavy equipment out on the road. They are trying to get through some of the narrower streets and some of the main roads. But as long as people are out and driving, it's very difficult to navigate some of the narrower streets. So they are asking everyone to stay off the roads. The Massachusetts emergency management agency is in full gear, and is set up in the bunker to deal with any issues that come along. They are worried about coastal flooding here. There's also always a tremendous problem with erosion and coastal flooding. And the concern is tomorrow at noontime, the tide is going to be up around 11 feet, and that's above normal. So that's what they'll be really looking for right now. But at this point, we're just expect expecting the worst to come within the next I am going to say five to six hours. This is just the beginning of the storm for us. Reporting live from Revere, I'm Victoria Block, back to you.</s>WOODRUFF: Victoria, you know, here in Washington, we're always told that we're not supposed to have enough snow removal equipment. But in a place like Boston, and in that area, we believe or we expect that you would have enough. What do officials say about that?</s>BLOCK: Well, right now they say that it's not much of an issue. And one of the good things about it is that it is a holiday. So a lot of the communities, even though their budgets are in trouble right now in terms of snow removal, they have a lot of equipment that was ready and geared up, and so it was ready to go. And so, there aren't the number of people on the roads right now that they'd have to deal with. So it is easier for them to plow. But I think as the hours wear on, and we see how much snow we get and what the drifts are like, and where this takes us, they're going to know whether they need to call out some of the heavier equipment from the National Guard that is here in Massachusetts. And if they need to, they will. But in these kinds of situations they are always looking at anything just to see what equipment they have and where. And they're using everything right now and all the guys are on overtime.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, Victoria Block in what looks like a serious storm still moving through the Boston, Massachusetts area. Thank you, Victoria. Now we want to get an update on the power and the path of this storm as we've watched it move up the East coast. Here's CNN's Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta, Jaqui.</s>WOODRUFF: They sure are, Jaqui. It looks pretty when it's coming down but what havoc it can wreak. Jaqui Jeras, thanks very much. Well, for more on this storm on the latest weather forecast, and preparation and safety tips, you can head to our special interactive report. It's all online at CNN.com/winter. Much more ahead on INSIDE POLITICS. Up next, a Congressman throwing his hat into the presidential ring. I'll ask Dennis Kucinich what he would bring to the White House, and why he opposes war in Iraq. Plus --</s>BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Intensity matters, not just numbers, and the protesters are intensely anti-war, and anti- Bush.</s>WOODRUFF: Our Bill Schneider on the peace movement and the message it's sending the White House. And why did the Bush administration get wrapped up in the great duct tape debate? Did focus groups have anything to do with it? It's time to check your I.P I.Q. Here in our nation's capital, we're grappling with well over a foot of snow. And city officials have declared a snow emergency. How does the severity of today's storm rank officially? Is it,</s>A: The district's sixth largest storm ever?</s>B: It's third largest or,</s>C: The largest storm ever? We'll tell you the answer later on INSIDE POLITICS.