wreak havoc and it's so cold in some places, exposed skin could freeze in 15 minutes. travel nightmare. roads are closed and more than 2,000 flights cancelled because of the storm. we have what you need to know to help where you need to be. incredible rescue. a man pulled from the ice in lake michigan. okay, good morning. welcome to "early start" this friday morning. i'm christine romans. >> i'm ana cabrera. john berman is hosting "new day." it's january 3rd, 4:00 a.m. in the east. 5:00 a.m. in the east. a beast of a winter storm battering the northeast right now. 100 million people are in its path. driving snow and fierce winds forcing the governors of new jersey and new york to declare a state of emergency. this storm is enormous. parts of new york state and new england will be digging out from well over a foot of snow later today. in fact, we saw 21 inches

already in boxford, massachusetts. much of the reason facing extreme cold with sustained winds of 30 miles an hour or more. windchills below zero. air travel is a nightmare. thousands of flights cancelled or delayed and highways impassible. many shutdown so that plows can do their work. blizzard conditions from the big apple all the way up to maine. cnn that the first winter storm of four-three 2014 covered like no other network can. we begin in boston with indra petersons. >> reporter: i don't know if you can see how the snow is blowing in my face. we got out of new york on one of the last flights to logan last night. down the street we have seen a good six inches or so in south boston. if your car is stuck in the snow

it's not that hard to get out if you take out ahead of it. look how dry this snow is. we can literally kick it around and we were concerned we wouldn't get over this berm but we were able to drive through it. that is the good news digging your car out of the snow or walk through these berms or drive through these berms but it means it is blowing around a lot easier. i'll pick up this snow here. not that i didn't show you kicking it around here. it just blows away. the visibility down to a quarter mile or less and makes for dangerous conditions out here on these roads and hopefully, no one is trying to drive to on them. the other side of it. the temperatures feels right now like negative 20 degrees. very dangerous. you are talking about the threat for frostbite for any exposed skin in ten minutes. we have warnings from maine even down along the island today not

including boston. the reason for that? you have these strong winds blowing out of the north eve even a good 30, 35 miles an hour. so much so in boston we have the threat for coastal erosions and beach erosions and flooding from the winds picking the water' bringing it onshore. we have that enthe heavy amounts of snow around essex. have you what we call ocean effect snow. you have that moisture from than low building off the coastline and now have you those winds pulling it onshore so you have more enhanced snowfall as much as two feet of snow is possible in that region. should be tapering off later today and by early afternoon. it kicks out of here but snow like this on the ground as long as the winds are still blowing you're still going to have the concerns with poor visibility and we talked about those temperatures. no one wants to shovel out anything like this when it feels like negative 20 and high today in the teens. >> it is brutally cold when you hear that. indra, thanks for staying on top

of that. in eastern massachusetts, expected to get hit hard this morning. lori segal is live in cape cod, massachusetts. winds gusting over 50 miles an hour. i know earlier it was so cold and so windy we couldn't get your satellite shot but there you are! your wonderful trip to the cape. >> i'm here and lo and behold i'm here! as you see right here i have a wind meter. the wind is gusting up to 30 miles per hour and sometimes even more. we are here in chatham, massachusetts. it is a seaside town so we are near the coast. you can feel the factor near the coast. it's not just wind. it's wind and snow and snow blowing quite a bit. we spoke to the fire department just yesterday. actually just a couple of hours ago and they said they are doubling down. they have got six hooks. you got to remember this is a small town. they actually now have 12 so they are prepared in this kind of area for this kind of storm.

as you can imagine. but, right now, we are in a blizzard warning until 11:00 a.m. and coastal flood warnings and right now it hasn't been so bad with the coastal flood warnings but they are waiting for the tide to come in around noon to see how bad that will actually be. let me just give it to you from our standpoint. we were driving this morning to get to our live shot and we almost got stuck on the road because the roads are in pretty bad condition. the people in the town here are pretty good attitude about this. they were all gathered at a local pub last night kind of waiting the storm. when it comes down to it, you guys it's coming down pretty hard and you can hear and you can see the wind and the gusting and really it's snow essentially blowing in the background here. you see snow plows coming through every so often. we will wait and see how much damage was done. so far when i spoke to people, they said not much. people are just staying off the roads and kind of weathering the storm. >> yeah. it's winter. you know? people, they have been hit by these storms before and they

know they have to hunker down and let the snow plows go to work and don't go to school. we have to just -- i don't know. play cheesy today, i guess, right? you're working hard out there. nice to see you, lori. new york public schools now just cancelling school today so boston and new york. massachusetts where we have been talking to a lot of folks this morning is among the hardest hit areas by this powerful winter storm. joining us is kevin morley, the barnes stable county director of emergency management. thanks so much. we know you're busy this morning so we appreciate you taking a few minutes with us. >> thanks very much. one quick correction on the public information officer, i'm not the director and that would get me in trouble. >> we just gave you a promotion this morning! well, okay. thank you for that. what are the conditions like for on you on the ground in the cape cod areas? >> your report is in chatham and that is about 12 miles from where i am. we have the blowing snow.

we have the gusty winds still under 40. we have temperatures that will be dropping. we have you know, the storm is going to continue for us for quite a while with that ocean ek that you had talked about earlier. >> besides just the miserable conditions, are you guys having any problems as far as damages, injuries, accidents, that type of thing popping up? >> thankfully not. it's been a very quiet night. the -- we are worried about some tidal surge and sandwich and fortunately that didn't materialize in the midnight hour but one more tide cycle to go and should be the one we should be worrying about. the power has stayed on. ironically, the only power outage we had was caused by a front-end loader hitting a pole, so the visibility is certainly an issue but holding on real well right now. >> what is your advice to folks waking up early this morning and looking outside and they have to

kind of dig their cars out and figure out if their kids are going to school. you want people to stay in, i'm assuming, while you guys do your work? >> that's right. no school today so they don't have to figure things out. i think one look outside will tell people it's not time to go out and shovel unless for some reason you really have to baugh this is expected to continue for some time into the day. i guess we haven't really hit the worst yet for cape cod. >> as you mentioned, the worse is yet to come, not perhaps just with the snow but also a concern about flooding and a storm surge that could come. is that still top of mind for you guys? >> we are still looking at that. reports from sandwich last night -- of course, it's tough, you know, it's nighttime and you can't see. but the usual places were faring okay, but with this continued, you know, north/northeast wind, the tide can't go out all the

way at low tide so that is the one we are worrying about, the noon tide. >> kevin morland, thank you so much for joining us this morning. if you had plans to fly to or from the northeast this morning, chances are you're grounded. well over 2,000 flights cancelled between thursday and today and 8,000 more flights delayed and those numbers will keep climbing this morning. our breaking new coverage continues with pamela brown live at new york's laguardia airport. hi there, pamela. >> reporter: hey there, christine. already a lot of people here at laguardia airport waiting for hours. one passenger waiting for at least 14 hours for his flight and that is really the situation for those trying to make flights today. it's really all about patience. already at this early hour, 1,359 flights have been cancelled and we're seeing that number continue to tick up by the minute it seems. the bulk of the cancellations

here at laguardia airport and at newark airport what we're seeing nearly 300 flights already cancelled this morning and a lot of cancellations at chicago o'hare airport, as well as boston logan airport. all of the airports remain open but not a lot of flights coming and going. at boston airport, they are hoping for flights to resume there at around noon today. the big issue is the visibility. so we are seeing about 5 inches of snow but the problem is the wind is picking up the snow and it's a light fluffy snow. the port authority saying here in new york that they are ready for the storm and they are deploying more than 200 pieces of equipment to deal with the snow and the ice but, again, there is really nothing that can be done about the visibility until the conditions calm down at around 10:00 a.m. eastern time. interesting to note. if you look behind me here, there is not a lot of activity behind mere.

i think a lot of people checked with their airlines and found out their flights were cancelled. that is the key here. check with your airline. back to you. >> absolutely true. check with your airlines. so many of you nous can get text alerts and stuff before we leave for the airport so that is incredibly important. thanks. part of the midwest also triggering those delays after taking a pounding from the first winter storm of 2014. windchills in cleveland listen to this well below zero with a foot of snow on the ground. driving there clearly treacherous. thick ice under all of that snow and triggering spinouts and seen accidents all over town. chicago has been absolutely bat erted since wednesday. 6 more inches of snow falling overnight on top of the 12 inches already on the ground. this is the worst storm to hit the windy city in a couple of years. o'hare airport crippled by the winter blast and hundreds of flights cancelled and that creates a ripple effect of delays across the northeast.

dramatic rescue in chicago. a man had to be pulled from the water after falling through the ice on lake michigan. the coast guard and the chicago fire department working together here to help that man to safety. he was unresponsive at first but he did show signs of life after medical help and he was taken to the university of chicago hospital in critical condition. we will stay on top of this story and the storm closely. stay with us throughout the morning with any updates and you can tweet us. we welcome the pictures you have as long as you're able to take them safely. tweet them to earlystartcnn. >> we want to see what you're seeing out there. the u.s. state department has been in contact with an american stopped by libyan official in benghazi. a report thursday by the libyan state-run news agency say two u.s. citizens were detained for scouting at benghazi university. a british man and new zealand woman were found dead and shot to death outside of tripoli.

all americans are urged to get out of the african nation because of flaring violence between rebel forces and government troops. 1,000 people have been killed in less than three weeks of the escalating violence a computer of breaking all types of encryption and able to crack codes around the world. the paper cites documents relieved by edward snowden. -- released by edward snowden. the documents imply the nsa still has plenty of work to do on this project. happening right now. if you can believe it. australian icebreaker carrying the 52 stranded passengers from the ship in antarctica have been ordered to stop its voyage and on standby now because officials on the chinese vessel involved in the dramatic helicopter ruse cue on thursday are thinking they are are stuck in the ice

again. once it starts back up it will stop at a base for supplies before the voyage to tasmania. the winter storm is is not over yet. details of an arrest in the death of a beloved catholic priest in california. what police say happened there. also a taker explodes on an icy michigan road but the driver is able to walk away. you have to hear this. ♪ at any minute... ...you could be a victim of fraud. most people don't even know it. fraud could mean lower credit scores... ...and higher interest rates when you apply for a credit card. it's a problem waiting to happen. check your credit score, check your credit report, at experian.com. america's number one provider of online credit reports and scores. don't take chances. go to experian.com. peoi go to angie's listt for all kinds of reasons. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done

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welcome back. our continuing breaking news coverage of the winter storm slamming the northeast right now. 100 million people are in its path feeling the impact here. take a look at this live image from boston. that is how it's coming down. a foot of snow or more burying parts of that city. drifts two feet or higher being reported. the windchill there this morning makes it feel like it's 20 below. long islanders are looking at a long day of shoveling ahead. close to a foot of snow falling in new york's eastern suburbs. this just in. new york city schools officially closed today. new york officials are urging new yorkers to exercise caution when going outside. if you had plans to fly today, check in with your airline before you head to the airport because more than 10,000 flights have already been cancelled or delayed in just the past 24 hours. new this morning. secretary of state john kerry in the west bank meeting with

palestinian president mahmoud abbas. he arrived in israeli thursday to create a middle east peace deal he says is not mission impossible. he had dinner with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. who says there is growing doubt in israel the palestinians want peace. hard words for kerry's tenth trip to the region. >> the time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions. we are close to that time, if not at it, and i think we understand the circumstances within which we are working. >> kerry vowing to work to narrow the differences on a framework that addresses core issues including borders between israel and a future palestinian state. a california man has been arrested for the murder of a beloved catholic priest. police say this man gary lee bullock killed father eric freed during a violent struggle inside a church rectory.

freed's body was discovered wednesday morning by parishio r parishioners in eureka. they say he died from blood forced trauma and no word on a possible motive yet. several religious nonprofits want the requirement to provide birth control and other reproductive coverage thrown out as sonia sotomayor issued a temporary stay on new year's eve. putting the provision on hold. the court still has no official deadline to act. in utah. battle over same-sex marriage heads to the supreme court. the high court could act as early today on the state's request to put gay marriages on hold. utah officials appealing to the high court. ever since that decision came down, utah clerks offices have been flooded with gay couples looking to get marriage licenses. let's take you to michigan now.

a community was rocked by a tanker explosion along the interstate yesterday. tanker went up on flames on i-69 in davidson township. the blast was felt for miles forcing evacuations of everyone within a mile of the blast and making for a very rough day for first responders having to put out the fire in frigid conditions. this truck was carrying hazardous materials. the driver told officials he just hit a patch of ice leading to the crash and explosion. amazingly, though, the driver was okay. >> he walked away from it. >> what do you make of that? >> the luckiest man i know today. >> the evacuation order was lifted after a few hours. a top nfl player making startling accusations about why he was relieved from his team. the vikings drama and a who the lower in our bleacher report next.

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♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back to "early start." breaking news. brutal winter storm slamming the northeast right now and punishing cold and bone chilling winds and driving snow and all of this forcing the governors of new york and new jersey to delay a state of emergency. in new york a ban on passenger vehicles on interstate 87 has been lifted. long island expressway a ban on passenger and commercial vehicles has been extended now to 8:00 a.m. in nassau and suffolk counties. former punter chris kluwe lashing out to his former team

minnesota vikings saying he was cut from the team because of his same sex advocacy. >> chris kluwe wrote a letter slamming his former team the minnesota vikings. the letter was titled i was an nfl player until i was fired by two cowards and a bigot. he says he was also asked to tone down his advocacy for gay rights by former head coach leslie frazier. kluwe says he didn't want to come forward sooner because he feared losing his job. the coach has denied kluwe's allegations and said kluwe was cut strictly based on performance and the vikings are taking these accusations seriously and will thoroughly review the matter. today is the shocking upset in last night's sugar bowl. alabama turned the ball over five times in the game! oklahoma scored 35 points off of

those turnovers. sooners seal the victory in the fourth quarter and stripping a.j. mccarrccarron. his girlfriend in the stands was stunned. not the way she or mccarron visioned his college career coming to an end. the sooners shock the tide 45-31 in the sugar bowl. it is going to be a really cold game sunday between the packers and niners. i mean, like ice cold cold. the low temperature for the game in green bay sunday night is negative 20 degrees with a windchill somewhere around negative 40! this could actually go down as the coldest game in football history. guys, that is probably the reason why they are still 3,000 short of a sellout for the game. if they don't end up selling the 3,000 tickets by 5:00 eastern today the game is blacked out on tv for the market. so not only can you not stay in in your warm home, you can't watch the game on your coach! big dilemma in green bay right

now. >> you have to think green bay has the edge given they are used to the cold and san francisco ho come up and put to that. that is a shock to the system. >> but green bay is a passing team and can you imagine how hard that football is going to be in negative 40-degree weather? >> i just like the shirtless fans! >> guarantee, there will be someone shirtless and someone in a bikini. >> absolutely. i love those fans. i love bears fans a little bit better but they -- let's not talk about the bears. >> we are getting side-tracked. >> thanks so much. breaking coverage of the nor'easter and your top headlines right after the break. ooh, homemade soup! yeah...

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mother nature hammering the northeast. a dangerous winter storm is bringing heavy snow and freezing temperatures. we are talking windchills below zero. we have reporters live on the ground all over this story. nightmare at the airport. more than 2,000 flights now cancelled.

delays could last for hours. we will tell you which airports are hardest hit. another setback for the passengers rescued off that ship in antarctica. why their journey home is delayed once again. >> they are explorers to say the least. welcome back to "early start." i'm ana cabrera. >> i'm christine romans. blizzard conditions in parts of new york and new england. you got a hundred million people feeling this thing. there's a state of emergency in new york. major highway shut down. parts of long island facing up to a foot of snow. if your plans call for air travel today you might have to change them. we have 10,000 flights either cancelled or delayed this morning. we got breaking news coverage of the first big storm of 2014 kicking it off in boston with meteorologist indra petersons. this thing is still happening,

indra! >> reporter: oh, it's still coming down and continuing to come down since yesterday evening. i want to show you to my right you can see the snow plows already on the roads and trying to get ahead of the system. considering it continues to fall. it has since yesterday evening. one of the things you may want to notice, we are not seeing as much salting of the roads because it is so cold out here. once you get the temperature on the ground below 15 degrees fahrenheit, the salt really doesn't help any more. so that is what we are dealing with. temperatures right now 2 degrees in boston. that sounds bad but we have to add in the windchill. talking about winds coming out of the north at a good 20, gusting to as high as 30 to 35 miles an hour. you factor that in, want to take a guess? try negative 20 degrees is what it feels like outside for the snow coming at your face and it's hard to look at the camera right now. hopefully, people are not going outdoor ors to work but if they are, we will still see the snow. the low itself is still forming off the coastline. plays like essex county the

north end could see as much as two feet of snow. the reason they up those snow totals is the low forming so close to the coastline you're getting what is called ocean effect snow. you're getting all of that moisture kind of wrapping around that low and enhancing that snowfall amount and what they are going to be dealing with. here in boston itself not seeing blizzard warnings but blizzard warnings out there in massachusetts and even in long island and new york there. that is the concern today. heavy amounts of snow still falling through the late day. tapering off by the afternoon. that is the good news. but here is the teal. i keep showing you guys this is so key. a consistency of this snow. notice i can kick through this berm like it's nothing. that is great for plowing but what is not good is when you have snow that is this cold and dry, just watch as i blow on it. it quickly blows around. that is the concern. the visibility down to less than a quarter of a mile even when the snow stops falling by late afternoon today, you're still going to be dealing with visibility issues and travel concerns. >> there is nothing worse than

shoveling a whole bunch of snow and then it just blows around in drifts in your driveway so everyone keep that in mind. >> i wouldn't know but i may be finding out. >> the california girl about to find out about new england nor'easter. thanks so much. new york state is under a state of emergency right now. so is emergency. we are talking about 14 inches of snow or more in albany and long islanders are taking a beating. close to a foot of snow falling there with blizzard conditions and this just in. the long island expressway ban of passenger and commercial vehicles has been extended to 8:00 this morning and nassau and suffolk county. how are things there this morning? any changes since you've been there? >> you can see the wind whipping around me you'll understand why this vehicle ban has been extended. this is a service road.

the lane beyond it is the long island expressway. you saw a car go by. we want to drive the point home that road is still closed. the ban was supposed to be lifted at 5:00. the governor said that would only be weather permitting. you can see why the ban has not been lifted. one of the wind gusts we have been talking about it makes visibility a big problem especially when you're blowing around all of the snow that is already falling overnight. perfectly timed. you can see the wind gusts. we drop down here and you'll see how much snow is kicking around. 5 to 6 inches of snow at this point and same thing indra is seeing. a super fine really powdery snow. i'm really not halfway done because we know that long island is expecting to see almost a foot of snow. very much still in the thick of it right now. if we go on out here you can see under the street lights how strong this wind is. you can see those flurries really kicking up. anything that was on the ground is definitely blowing across long island expressway and why it's so important for cars to stay off. that ban in effect now until

8:00. it's for everyone's safety. we know the snow is expected to last a few more hours and seeing the temperatures drop more. right now it's 12 degrees with the windchill and feels like it's 6 below so what we have out here. >> i'm feeling guilty i'm inside and you're standing out there. but we do appreciate it. alexander field reporting. >> i'm feeling grateful. not guilty. i'm reporter inside this morning. thousands of air travelers in the northeast are going nowhere this morning. well over 2,000 flights have been cancelled between thursday and today. 8,000 more delayed. those numbers are climbing, of course, and will throughout the day. our breaking news coverage of the massive wind coverage continuing with pamela brown live at new york's laguardia. i checked on the flight status. o'hare the worse and newark is second and there you are at lagged and a lot of yellow on the boards, right, pamela? >> reporter: that's right. i have to say i can't complain

too much. at least i am in inside. but you're right. there is a lot of yellow on the board indicating flight cancellations. we just checked on flight onaware.com. 1,395 flight cancellations so far today and seeing that number tick up throughout the morning really as we see the conditions pick up. in fact, newark airport around 300 flight cancellations. you mentioned, christine, chicago o'hare has seen a lot of flight cancellations. boston logan airport. wi the bottom line a lot of cancellations that is having a ripple effect for travelers no matter where they are trying to go in the united states. the ticket counter at american airlines really no passengers there. usually passengers are trying to get on the early morning flights. it's desolate. that is an indication that travelers are checking with their airlines and finding out their flights are, indeed, cancelled and just not coming to the airports. good news here.

the airlines we know at least american airlines cooperating with passengers, working with them and not charging them cancellation fees and that kind of thing. that certainly is making it a little bit easier on passengers today. >> a big airline when american does that the other airlines tend to follow suit. one thing about the agreement you have when you buy that ticket, they are not obligated to put you on the first available flight on a different airline. they will put you on theirs. there could be a ripple effect here the next couple of days, no question. we will check with the other airlines too. pamela, thank you so much. take a look at this picture overnight. plows lined up. this is in a queens neighborhood in new york city. this picture taken by one of our producers from the subway on her way into work last night. so those plows are busy. the city's new mayor bill de blasio saying the sanitation department is prepared with

nearly 2,000 plows and 450 salt spreaders at the ready. chicago is a city that knows a little thing or two about winter storms and it has taken a beating since wednesday. 6 more inches falling overnight on top of the 12 inches on the ground. this is the worst storm to hit the windy city in a couple of years. o'hare airport crippled by the winter weather, the biggest hub for flight delays right now and hundreds of flights cancelled and that creates a ripple effect of delays across the country. we continue to watch other stories this morning. another snag for the 52 passengers rescued from a russian research vessel in antarctica after being trapped in the ice since christmas eve. the journey home has been halted again and anna coreen is joining us live from hong kong this morning. more ice? >> absolutely. they thought they were in the clear in open water and then,

sure enough, they have sailed into about three to four feet deep of ice which is set pretty much around the ship. basically, what they are doing is moving forward, reversing, moving forward. the movement if you like of an icebreaker and hoping to get to open water in the next day or so. they are hopeful of that. not only is the australian icebreaker stuck but so is the chinese icebreaker which launched that helicopter to rescue those 52 scientists, tourists, journalists from that stranded vessel. so the chinese are stuck. the australians are stuck. the research ship is still stuck and everyone is stuck. i think it's going to be a matter of waiting out until the ice sort of dislodges and they are actually free to head home. but as far as the passengers go, 52 passengers will either head to casey station a post in antarctica or head straight to tasmania which is the bottom of australia. it will be a few weeks before they reach soil and for sure.

>> patience is the name of the game as it continues to be. >> it is. >> thank you. a look at your other headlines. troubling developments out of elaborate this morning. getting reports of two u.s. citizens detained by authorities for allegedly scoutinging is what they are calling at the at the university of benghazi and two found shot 60 miles west of tripoli. "the washington post" reporting that the nsa is trying to build a super computer capable of breaking nearly all types of encryption. it would be able to crack codes and protecting banking and medically and business and government records around the world. the paper cites documents released by edward snowden and those documents imply the nsa has a lot of work to do on this project. john kerry in the west bank meeting with mahmoud abbas. he arrived in israeli on thursday to create a middle east peace daily he says is not,

quote, mission impossible. he had dinner with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. who says there is growing doubt in israel the palestinians want peace. a california man has been arrested in the brutal murder of beloved catholic priest. police say gary lee bullock killed father eric freed during a violent struggle inside a church rectory. freed's body was discovered wednesday morning by parishioners in eureka. they say he died from blood forced trauma and no word on a possible motive yet. supreme court could take action today on a request to block a key component of the president's healthy law. several want it to provide birth control thrown out.

sonia sotomayor issued a temporary stay on new year's eve. putting the provision on hold. the court still has no official deadline to act. two hearings scheduled today in the heart breaking case of jahi mcmath who was declared brain dead following complications from tonsil surgery. her family is fighting to keep her on a ventilator. a judge has ordered settlement talks with children's hospital. the mother says her daughter still shows signs of life and she wants her transferred to a different facility. u.s. marines delaying a physical fitness requirement for female recruits. they were supposed to be able to do three pull-ups starting today but officials say more than half of the women in boot camp couldn't meet the standard. the delay is sparking new debate about placing women in the armed forces as thousands of combat roles are said to open for women in 2016. official at the vatican say pope francis drew more than 6.6 million people to his events in 2013. the figures are based on the number of tickets issued, as well as estimates of number of people at events where tickets were not needed like the pope's

weekly appearances overlooking st. peters square. a man who found him declared bankruptcy a year ago found himself very much alive in front of a judge. ust torture on my hair. try head & shoulders for men. you can reach polamalu levels of flake-free scalp and hairness. check it. ♪ seven benefits every bottle. [ male announcer ] head & shoulders for men. ♪ ♪

welcome back. let's get to the headlines thorpg. robert gates is recovering this morning after hurting his neck in a fall. in fact, he fractured his first vertebrae in his washington state home when fell.

the 70-year-old is now home and resting after treated at two hospitals. he is expected to make a full recovery. gates as you know led the pentagon during parts of both president george w. bush and president obama's administrations. a flagrant act of arson on thursday at the chinese consulate. there is no terrorism there but it appears to be intentional. a person was captured apparently pouring two bucket of gasoline at the front door and light it on fire. the consulate is asking the u.s. to provide more protection to employees. no injuries were reported. crude oil shipped from north dakota to montana. the department of transportation say it has a lower flash points and oils making it much more flammable. this warning comes after a string of recent explosions and the latest you'll recall in north dakota on monday. the region has seen an oil boom of late with companies relying chiefly on trains for transport. in july 47 people died in a

derail many in quebec. let's see what is coming up on "new day." they are there on the ground! >> i have a theory. ana and christine. i have a theory that someone got upset about john berman and i looking so warm and cozy in the studio yesterday! so here we are outside. the big story, of course, today is this. the nor'easter that is really kicking the butt of the entire northeast region. >> in meteorologist terms. >> indra told me that. it is. we are going to tell you all across the board what is happening weather wise. we are going to track some of the transportation issues. a lot of concerns out there today. >> thousands of flights. well over 2,000 flights cancelled. six inches of snow here and more than two feet in parts of boston and it's not just the snow as you guys know. it is really cold. 11 here below zero with the windchill and this is warmer than some places. really only one thing you can do. you got to snuggle. >> find a friend and snuggle. >> you got to snuggle, guys.

>> find a friend and snuggle. >> i've been under very good authority the canada and boston is reason why both of you are out there. >> i think you're right. >> you both have a lot of personal experience of being cold in the winter. you're tough. it's winter and it's cold. back to you. thanks, guys. talk to you soon. >> one way to wake up, i guess is is, right? a former banker suspected of faking his own death appeared in a georgia courtroom thursday. a federal complaint says aubrey lee price falsified documents to conceal more than $20 million in investor losses. price managed in 2012 reportedly leaving behind a suicide note. vanishing. he was declared legally dead about a year ago. police picked him up tuesday after a routine traffic stop. price could face 30 years in prison. he is due back in court monday. take a look at this out of california. search and rescue teams in los angeles air-lifting an injured hiker to safety. police say the 18-year-old woman was with friends at a popular waterfall when she slipped. falling about eight feet

breaking both ankles. the woman was taken to nearby hospital for treatment. coming up, big news from one of the big three automakers and could be a sign the economy is really improving. we will have that for you after the break.

welcome back to "early start." in our breaking news coverage of the monster storm pounding the

northeast. right now a hundred million people right there in the milled of it. the first winter storm of 2014. the pictures have been just incredible from boston, where a foot of snow or more has buried parts of that city. it's 4 degrees and the windchill there this morning makes it feel like 20 below. long islanders in new york looking at a long day of shoveling and plowing ahead. close to a foot of snow falling in new york's eastern suburbs. that is forcing the governor to shut down the long island expressway overnight. if you had plans to fly today you're most likely grounded. you got more than 10,000 flights either delayed or cancelled in the past 24 hours. worst airport right there at o'hare followed second very closely by newark. check your flights. in the meantime, it's "money time. after the best year in stocks in 2013. you had an amazing year and the first day of this year is a little bit of a downer.

the dow lost 135 points. the nasdaq and s&p fell. in fact, this is the first time markets started the year on a down note since 2008. one stock that really took a hit was apple. it was downgraded by a wells fargo analyst on concern the balance of power this year will shift from the phone carriers, phone makers rather to the carriers so that stock got hurt you probably have that in your 401(k) somewhere. this should be a big day for ford. auto sales for the month of december and for the year are out later this morning. ford has already said that it will be the best selling car brand in the united states for the year. ford got there this year with big sellers like the f-150 pickup truck, the focus which is likely to finish as the world's most popular car this year and ford fiesta and ford fusion. a strong year for auto sales in the u.s. analysts expect sales to finish at 15.6 million cars and light trucks. a big deal to tell you about in the cybersecurity space. hot industry there. the story is about companies

like snapchat and skype being targeted and then target. we got news yesterday that fireeye would buy a company called mandiant. it is a computer firm best known for unveiling a chins military unit that is believed to be behind hacks on some of these big u.s. companies. fireeye shares jumped 20% after that analysis. they expect to see more of these deals as hackers get more sophisticated and ambitious. a man who has lived in the u.s. illegal for 20 years and told he is finally allowed to practice the law. what does this mean for the millions of undocumented immigrants in america?

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welcome back. utah's battle over same-sex marriage haeeds to the supreme court and the high court could act as early as today on that state's request to put gay marriages on hold. the state is appealing to the high court after district court in utah struck down the state's ban saying it violated federal guaranteeses of equal protection ever since that decision came down, utah clerks offices have been flooded with gay couples

looking to get marriage licenses. a landmark decision from a california supreme court ruling an undocumented immigrant can practice law. it's the first decision of its kind and could set a national precedent. sergio garcia born in mexico had not been allowed to practice law in california despite having a law school degree and passing the state bar exam. on thursday the court found he met the requirements to practice law in california and granted him law license. we will hear more about this story from sergio garcia on "new day." and "new day" starts right now. breaking news. the nor'easter of 2014 overnight. >> it's a mess. the side roads are just horrible. >> the storm hits full force. howling winds and whiteout conditions. nearly two feet of snow in areas. >> it's pretty slick all over the place and a lot of snow accumulation. >> 100 million americans in its path. >> take your time if you're out there. it's pretty bad. major cities practically

shut down. >> temperatures will be extreme and that is a series hazard. >> airplanes grounded and thousands of flights cancelled and leaving passengers stranded. >> very frustrated. we just want to get there. >> this is just round one. the next phase? subzero cold. we are tracking the monster storm with everything you need to know to make it through. your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. good morning. welcome to a very chilly "new day." 11 degrees, time warner circle -- columbus circle, just outside of central park. john berman and i are here, chris and kate are warm and cuddly somewhere with their families inside. we're outside our home here at the time warner building and the first nor'easter of 2014.

we're standing right here where the crews in the city are busy trying to clear the snow off the sidewalks. we're told there's about 5 or 6 inches of snow in central park this morning. as you can see, more is falling. get this, in parts of massachusetts it has been hit hard. they've got more than 20 inches of snow already. check out the map. you can see where the storm is right now. we'll follow it all morning long. every major city in the northeast is covered. that has forced cancellation of classes at schools across the region. >> kids are screaming in joy this morning. not everyone, though. this is the long island expressway which is normally one of the busiest highways in the country, packed any time of day or night. right now it is completely empty. the state of new york shut this road down and other major arteries as well. i have to tell you, the roads are not the only problem. today al