keep it all bundled up. i like that. thanks so much. good morning, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for carol costello. she has the day off. so for about 100 million americans, this is the nightmare that they woke up to, a howling nor'easter plowing across the eastern half of the country, and unloading much of its wrath right there on the nor'east. thousands of flights canceled, major areas shut down and schools closed, as much as two feet of snow blankets much of new york and massachusetts, states of emergencies in effect to get an idea of the message sent to snowbound northeasterners of the man shoveling that snow is new york's mayor, bill de blasio. good way to christen the year and his term. just beneath me we're using every square inch of your television screen to bring you

the latest information from current conditions to forecasts to closings, all of it, and that will stay up throughout the show. let's expand the map here, looking at a sprawling reach of this storm. correspondents are fanning out from the midwest to the northeast, showing that paralysis on the ground and the delays in the air as the impact ripples through airports across the country. let's begin our coverage in new york where as much as a foot of snow is burying this city. cnn's ashleigh banfield is in the heart of manhattan, there you are, it's like our "brady bunch" spread, in the upper left corner. >> i feel like i'm the foggy brady. every time i speak it's a big cloud of mist. >> that tudoes not stop new yorkers. there's all this movement despite the snow, it is pretty, and convenient as well. take it away. >> you've been to new york city, usually it's dirty and dust yu

and nasty and when you get a pretty snowfall, it's really quite lovely. actually i think you mentioned somewhere around a foot of snow, maybe two feet of snow in new york city, i can tell you officially behind me, beautiful central park, six feet of snow, woo! six inches of snow joef night but drifting is the other issue. snowdrifting all over the place and people shoveling cars out, plows go by and bury cars. there's a reason that there are upwards of oh, i don't know, a thousand plows available in new york city, and 458 salt spreaders and 5,000 sanitation workers who have been dispatched to try to keep this city running, so here's why. snow isn't the only problem. the cold. looking up at the cnn center sign, ten degrees fahrenheit we've dropped one degree since the morning show went on the air. when i woke up in connecticut this morning, it was 2 degrees,

and it took two hours to get here on the 95 highway, which was completely white. you don't often see 95 completely white. it wasn't about -- i have to say at least for a short span of my drive, about 15 minutes, i didn't see any other cars, i was the only one on the actual expressway which was a bit of a surprise, too. only one fishtail which got my juices flowing this morning instead of coffee, one fishtail on the way in, probably the big reason why there was a ban on driving on the long island expressway this morning. they just said stop, no cars were supposed to be driving on the long island expressway, one of the busiest expressways in new york. all of the effects ripple across the country, too, when new york city gets busy with snow and ice and bluster ye winds and blizzard conditions the airports get affected as well. you mentioned it, the snow and the effects also stopping kids going to school. they shut down the schools in

new york city, that man who was shoveling his front walk, the brand new mayor of new york, bill beblass yo first crisis in three days in office, had to shut down all of new york city schools, 1.1 million students in case you're counting it's 1,700 public schools. i keep wondering when i see the pictures what is the mayor doing shoveling his open walk? he's got to be a busy guy, there's a lot to keep this city running. this city is one part of a major swathe of the storm you talked about, fredricka whitfield, indra petersons is covering things for us as well in boston. is so much colder there, she has the hat and the scarf. if i can, indra, i want to share a secret you sent out earlier how you were warming your hands. >> bring it. >> the twitter picture of you warming your hands. were you using your socks or something funny? what were you doing there? >> reporter: we ran out of feet warmers so it's all about the little things, we took the hand

warmers and improvised in these bad boys, it was negative 20 degrees this morning ashleigh. little macguyver here. just north of us about two feet of snow but the big thing has been the winds and these temperatures. i am not alone because almost 100 million of you out there are dealing with the exact same thing right now. the massive nor'easter battered more than 20 states into the night. nearly two feet of snow already on the ground near boston. the onslaught of snow is producing whiteout conditions in the area. >> we are closing state government. i am urging private employers to do the same. >> reporter: this year's first major snowstorm forcing new york and new jersey to declare a state of emergency. >> please stay home tonight and stay off the roads.

>> reporter: it's a disastrous mix for travelers, thousands of flights canceled, officials in new york closing several major highways overnight in hopes of saving lives. several school districts from philadelphia to boston closed today as officials fear the commute to class would prove dangerous. check out this elementary school bus in missouri that skidded off an icy road straight into a ditch. the powerful arctic mass has dropped temperatures in parts of the country to the coldest in years. >> it's freezing. >> reporter: at around 5 degrees below zero, this family in maine took boiling water and it freezes immediately. >> here we go. >> snow! >> reporter: the winds off of the lake caused windchills of 25 degrees below zero in some parts of chicago. salt spreaders blanketing streets as countless spinouts litter roadways along the northeast and new england highways. millions are waking up to a beautiful will you dangerous winter wonderland. all right, well i talked about it being negative 20 degrees

this morning. it feels like negative 15 with the windchill and somehow i acclimated. things change quickly and the big story is how cold of a system this is. you talked about the blizzard in boston almost a year ago, it's a little bit more of a wet snow. this snow the temperatures are so cold that it is very dry. i can easily kick this around, which is great news for anyone trying to clear their car out of the berms this morning, but it is the reason for the blizzard warnings, snow this fine that you just blow on it, let me take a chunk you blow on this guy and that's how easy it is to have it pick up in the air. that's the reason, you get these 30, 40-mile-per-hour winds out here, blows the snow around and brings that visibility way down. still blizzard warnings in massachusetts, even down towards the cape. the story is today it will start to pull out from west to east, things are going to improve but down on the cape itself you get ocean-effect snow so you'll see snow into the afternoon,

eventually it clears out and we know what's next, colder temperatures i don't want to say, i'll knock on wood because i don't think i can do colder at this point. >> when i heard the officials were saying by 2:00 in the morning overnight there were no places in new york that aren't experiencing windchills below zero. in new york this is some of the coldest temperatures a lot of these people in new york city have had in many years. i think we had windchills gusting up to ten below zero in certain areas where i am. indra, go back no that truck and get your socks back on your hands and keep your hands warm. that girl has been working hard. thank you, indra. my brain froze, 1,700 plows workiwork ing in new york city. there's usually a stream of yellow cabs at the time warner center, it's quiet at 9:08 in

the morning for new york city, it looks like a sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. but you got your snowplows keeping things going. when the snow falls like this, it can be messy, tough to get around but it can also be awful overhead in the skies, if if you can believe it. the flights just keep a-cancelin'. as of yesterday to today around 4,000 flights and i know that number is a moving target, 4,000 flights canceled thursday and friday, and who knows how bad that's going to get or if in fact it's getting worse. can i tell you this, if you think it's just an eastern seaboard problem or a new york or chicago problem or a boston problem, get this, listen to how the dominos scatter across the country, all of these stranded passengers way, way out there in lovely l.a.

>> been planning this vacation for about a year and a half now so to run into this road block -- >> it's frustrating. we're freaking out now because we're running out of time. >> reporter: i'd be freaking out, too. in l.a. i'm sure it feels lovely but that's what happens when new york, boston and chicago get hit so goes the rest of the country as well. speaking of the airports, pamela brown, who never speepz slooepz and on our phone reporting from sun-up to suncounsel i heard you with the corrections on the closures as opposed to the flight operations stop annuals at one of the airports in the area. can you run down the airport situation as it currently stands, pam? >> absolutely. bulk of these cancellations and delays we're seeing are at airports, major hubs in the midwest and northeast. at jfk airport the terminals are open so the airport is open but the flight operations are halted until at least 9:30 a.m. that could change. at this point the port authority telling us flight operations

could resume on a limited basis at 9:30 a.m. eastern time and newark airport a ground stop annual there, no flights coming into newark airports but limited flights leaving. also rhode island airport, the airport there, operations are halted until at least 11:00 a.m. eastern time according to the governor's office. boston logan, earlier this morning the flights were all theed there. there are limited flights now going in and out of boston logan airport, so a bit of progress there, and then at bradley airport in connecticut, flight operations are expected to resume there later this morning, but this is all sort of a fluid situation, authorities are keeping an eye on weather conditions, the big issue is visibility, it's creating a tough situation for pilots because you have the snow, the light, fluffy snow kicked up by the whipping wind and ashleigh,

there are people sleeping on cots here in the airport that were pulled out of a warehouse. look at the pictures that we have for you about 180 people sleeping on the cots and you can bet a lot will be here even after the conditions calm down. this picture really sort of sums it up, what people here at this airport and the airports all over are really having to deal with. ashleigh? >> one of the first things that my producer who is standing off camera, steve and i go upstairs to get a cup of coffee around 6:30, 7:00 in the morning and it was closed, pamela, because i think maybe the workers couldn't get in to open it. it makes me wonder about the airport workers. you may have the people sleeping on cots but can they keep the operations going and actually feed them and get them what they need to drink until their flights go out? >> that's exactly a really good question.

we actually stayed at the hotel next to the airport, a bet a lot of other employees that work at the airport did that. dunkin' donuts we've been waiting to are for it to open. it is really tough for everyone around. i have to point this out you see this line behind me here, these are passengers that are waiting to rebook their flights. this is a line that snakes all the way around the corner, but good news for these passengers and others that are trying to change their flights, a lot of the airlines are working with them, and waving that change fee so a lot of people aren't having to pay to change their flight to a different day. silver lining in all of this i guess. >> i hope those people waking up are going to get out pretty soon from those cots, at least they gave them the cots. pamela brown doing the job for us, thank you for that from laguardia. fredricka whitfield, i'm going to pass it back to you in the warm, sunny climes of atlanta.

over the break i took my children to whistler, canada, where it was way warmer. it was lovely, around the freezing mark so i came back here, dropped my ski stuff on the floor and wearing my ski stuff to work for three days since i came back from vacation. i didn't expect that. >> you know what, you said warm, sunny atlanta. guess what? it's not warm and sunny now. >> come on. >> typically it is but we have freezing temperatures. >> are you wearing sleeveless? >> i am because it is heated in the studio. how's that? >> she's wearing sleeveless. it's winter, everyone. >> it may not be warm outside but it is inside and i'm glad to be in. >> you ardorable. >> you'll put my parka on as i go out. >> yes this weather is inconvenient and uncomfortable but it's also potentially dangerous. the heart, in the heart of the nor'easter the coast guard as

well as further west the chicago fire department teamed up to save a man stuck in the icy waters of lake michigan. it is not clear why he's out on the freezing lake or how he ended up chest deep in water, but within 35 minutes of a 911 call, first responders pulled the unresponsive man to safety and had him in the hands of emergency medical services. he's been taken to the university of chicago hospital and listed in critical condition. still to come, an nfl record could be set on the frozen tundra not for how the packers play but for the conditions that they might be playing in. [ telephone rings ] [ shirley ] edward jones. [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... oh hey, neill, how are you? [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

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dangerous cold temperatures and sub-zero windchills are threatening the lives and the well-being of millions of people across the midwest this morning. cnn's ted rowlands has been braving the cold for us all morning, just outside there in chicago, and the folks are die hard there, they can handle it, but give us an idea how potentially dangerous this is

nonetheless? >> reporter: it's very dangerous potentially, fred, because the temperatures are so low. we're in naperville, illinois, just outside chicago and right now below zero, about 6 degrees below zero and it was 10 below about ap. hour ago. you add the wind to that, it could be potentially dangerous. downtown naperville normally hustle and bustle but not today, it's so darned cold. people are stopping their cars and scurrying into the starbucks, but leaving their cars running, which is basically what we're doing, live shots we have to stand in the corner and freeze but normally we're in our truck, these are our props, the old t-shirt, stiff is a board and our banana hammer we'll keep here. when we're not on tv, we are in either the crew car or the satellite truck warming up, because if if you do hang out here for an extended period of time, four or five minutes, you

start to freeze up and if you're out here for even longer, you can easily suffer frost bite, so back to you, i'm going into that truck. >> that's a good place to be and that's where you end up getting close with your colleagues, too, you spend a lot of time in the trucks in between live shots trying to stay warm and planning for the next hit. thanks so much, ted, appreciate that. stay warm as best you can. let's talk about the conditions in long island, roads there are not getting any better, people in the affected areas are being urged to stay inside, cnn's alexandra field joining us live there, we talked about roads that are closed and where are you? >> reporter: all right, well, we've been out in this whipping wind all morning so i decided to get warm, got myself a ride here with my new friend, steve. steve, let's hit it and show them what we're looking at out here if we can get this thing going. we've been out here again about a foot of snow on parts of long island, six inches of snow on other parts of the island, so

these guys like my friend steve have been working all night long, and they're going to be working all weekend, it looks like when we're talking about this much snow. here is the good news, you can see this front-end loader cutting through the snow in this parking lot. the good news is because it is so cold this is dry, light, fluffy snow. easier to clean up than some of that wet, slushy stuff. of course once you pick it up, it starts to blow around, the same problem a lot of people will be having when you get out there with your shovel this morning, and honestly, you might want to wait to do your shoveling because we're still under this blizzard warning for another couple of hours on long island, the snow still accumulating and the temperature is falling, it was about 12 degrees when we got out here this morning, ten degrees now the windchill it feels more like 8 below zero so steve, thank you for your warm place to sit. fredricka, baaing to you. >> alexandra and i spoke yesterday, thank goodness it's

friday leading into a long weekend for a lot of folks who have a pretty good excuse to not go to work and kids out of school today for the most part, so while it's inconvenient, it also comes at a rather convenient time. is that kind of a half glass full way of looking at it? >> reporter: absolutely. if you have the luxury today of staying home, looking out your window and enjoying this, it's great. then again if you are planning to travel home at the end of this holiday season, well then you're going to have a lot more trouble than you would. >> a little extra time with family or friends, whether they like it or not. alexandra field, thanks so much. prooer that. >> still to come, much more on the blizzards, the nor'easter, brutal cold and the social media buzz through all of it. cnn's christine romans is digging through social media right now to find us the best and most extreme photos and i'm sure it's all pouring in. >> it's all fascinating. look, shivering camels and we have cars buried in snow and little kids doing snow angels, a

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all right more than 100 million people in 22 states are fighting bitter cold, below zero windchills and near whiteout blizzard conditions, but some of them like cnn ireport eer megan tracy at a snowy chicago zoo are braving conditions to take amazing images to share with the world. christine romans is shoveling through some of the sites like twitter and -- >> shoveling through. >> bend those knees as you shovel. >> digging deep down, there's a whole bunch of things we could say. this is @jennifer19, a good reason to be careful driving on the roads. this picture is not her vehicle but another car she saw, she was not injured but that's a good example of what has happened on the roads, this is from jason in east kingsford, michigan, this shows the thermometer, can you

read that? >> uh-huh. >> almost minus 20 degrees. >> that's wrong. >> a lot of them depending on where you are and the higher up you are in michigan or minnesota you're seeing the low temperatures. henry philips, this is cots at chicago's o'hare international getting ready for people spending an awful long time. >> sometimes that's a luxury, it beats trying to crumple yourself up on the little benches and chairs at the terminal or on the floor. >> you need a few of those in the newsroom. can we set up a few of those? this is instagram, kimberly carolyn, boston's logan, out there early as soon as the snow was deep enough they were plowing the runway, not planes but plows everywhere. this is from firia clarke, saratoga springs, new york. i want to be serious about this one. when i see pictures like this, every time we have a big snowstorm there are fatalities,

people turn on the car, wait for it to warm up, don't clear the tail pipe. be real careful. that's a reminder of how dangerous that vehicle to be. >> those lights are on. >> be real careful. also upstate new york, let's go to karma promo a twitter photo, shows you a bridge that's impassable, you can see how high the snow is from the guardrails. to detroit, dtw, all the snow on the ground, this is a lot of that today from the terminal, planes parked at the gate, ready to be deiced, ready to go but not going anywhere and one more, sam from southeastern pennsylvania, another car piled high, again not going anywhere. everyone just go home. play parchessi, board games, checkers, no school in a lot of places anyway. >> it's not going to work. you can't use windshield wipers to remove depths of snow.

you'll ruin your car. >> #cnnweather if you're tweeting or go to cnn ireport. we want to see more. you're seeing beautiful pictures this morning. >> it's beautiful when you're on the other end of the picture, when you're looking at it as opposed to being the one taking it. >> i'm not indra petersons in boston or laurie sedpaul in cape cod. i love to look the at the pictures. >> christine, thank you so much, keep us posted. still to come the misery by degrees, frigid temperatures, howling winds, unrelenting snow, all of that christine and i were just talking about but more and in other ways it's impacting 100 million americans. ale announcer] the new new york is open. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years...

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all right good morning again everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for carol costello. so is this about what you're facing this morning? take a look. it is for about 100 million americans, nearly one in three of us, a howling nor'easter plowing across the eastern half of the country, and unloading much of its wrath of course on the northeast, hence the word, nor'easter. thousands of flights canceled and major metro areas paralyzed. we begin our coverage in boston where cnn meteorologist indra petersons is braving the elements and looking ever so comfortable. >> reporter: yes, we definitely are seeing a hint of warmer temperatures, a five-degree warmup as far as the windchill is concerned. this is such a cold system.

we've seen. a foot of snow where i am in south boston, north of us about two feet of snow. we've had the winds blowing and this is the scene i'm in a parking lot but you can see we're almost getting these wind berms building up lots of snow out here, i want to point out we keep talking about the cold arctic system, what makes this different than other snowstorms? the snow is so dry because it's so cold i am dying to make a snowball and throw it at you but it's not happening. that is how dry it is, so that's what we're dealing with, is this snow blowing around rapidly. it doesn't take much to pick up this snow and have it picked up from the air. that's the problem and that's the reason we had these blizzard warnings this morning. talking about it in massachusetts and through long island, little amounts of snow picked up and blown around as the system makes its way offshore. that's what's going to happen, the system slowly pull out west to east as the low makes its way off the coastline, the snow tapering down by late morning and early afternoon still left

along the cape because ocean-effect snow, you have warmer waters in comparison to the cool air you'll see snow in the cape behind all of this, it's all going to be about cold, frigid temperatures in through next week, another cold blast of arctic air comes this way, so battle for a while. >> so this is just a warmup, there's more to come. >> nothing like it, toasty out here, yeah. >> okay. indra petersons, thanks so much, in boston. >> let's bring in laurie segall, she says this is really cold, not used to this stuff, in chatham, massachusetts. that southern warm blood of yours is now frozen. >> reporter: i know. i know, what a way to break me in. it's a little bit -- >> how are you colding up? >> reporter: i'm doing all right. it's better than it was a little bit earlier. you can see behind me rescue

come by and plows come by. i've seen a couple cars coming by but we actually have been tracking this from yesterday from all the way to our journey to here on cape cod where it was badly hit. take a look at this, fredricka. the snow continuing to pile up here on cape cod at fierce winds, frigid temps and coastal flooding threaten residents at beachfront homes. eastern massachusetts is expected to be among the hardest hit with blizzard warnings in some areas through the morning. it's not just the snow that's the concern. we are owe on the road, 6:00 p.m., the ice is forming on our windshield, temperatures dropping rapidly. we actually just passed two accidents, another car pulled over trying to scrape that ice from their windshield. into the night, crews out in full force plowing roads, emergency services on call.

>> stay inside and you know, stay safe, don't be out on the roadways unless it's necessary. >> reporter: sparks flying off power lines and crews are on the ready to respond to out annuals when t out annuages own the storm pass. winds whipping at gusts up to 35 miles per hour. right now i'm holding up our wind meter looking at gusts of wind up to 20 miles per hour, it's only expected to get worse, that's why you see the streets are empty, everybody is at home weathering the storm. as you can see, conditions have worsened. i've got this wind meter right here, you can see the gusts of wind blowing right now we're looking at about 20 miles per hour, it's been higher and conditions continue to worsen. and fredricka, from when i was stn aing interest, things are a bit better, there wasn't as much coastal flooding as they thought there was going to be. i've lrnd a lot frearned a lot s

storm. one thing, it was so bad this morning that our satellite truck, which essentially allows you to go live stopped working. our photojournalists figured out a way, i'll show you this, to have us go live so we could be on with you and i kid you not, you know i'm a bit of a techie, it involved a laptop and myfi card. this is how we're going live right now, another thing i'll say fredricka, hand warmers, double pairs of socks and it's not expected to get much worse, but you know, this is what we're hoping for. >> dressing in layers and teamwork and it gets real koez why i cozy in the suvs. we're glad you got that shot. >> absolutely. thank you, fredricka. >> excellent, laurie segall thanks so much, showing us

beautiful chatham, massachusetts. the opening bell on wall street after ending 2013 on such a strong note, stocks took a surprising dip thursday, so what is in store for today with these blizzard-like conditions? zain asher more from the new york stock exchange. regardless of the weather, business keeps on moving on wall street. >> i feel so lucky to be warm in the new york stock ex-change. i feel so sorry for others. the dow is up about 60 points or so, and it shows it is stabilizing. yesterday we saw those triple-digit losses, the dow ended lower by 135 points maim because traders don't expect we'll see the same gains we saw last year so immediately when they got to work, first day back they took a chance to lock in some gains. when i talk to traders i hear the same thing, buckle up because 2014 is not for are the faint of heart, expect to see some volatility.

we are expected overall a gain of 5% to 10% this year but possibly also a market correction and that's important because a lot of people are saying if i follow the herd and jump into equities and then we get this massive pullback, am i going to lose my share? it's a fair question. the trends overall when we see the market in january go higher, that does seem to bode well for the rest of the year. temps are volleying today, and we're expecting volume a little bit light and the money will get to work. >> we're hoping that 2014 is a banner year. lot of folks are celebrating that 2013 was a good year for their 401(k) so they want more of the same so talk to your friends there, make it happen. >> i'll try. >> thanks so much. still to come the u.s. supreme court set to rule on a complaint filed by a group of nuns and it could potentially be a huge blow to obamacare.

the u.s. supreme court could act as early on a controversial obama care mandate. justice sonia sotomayor issued a deadline this morning on an appeal brought by a group of

nuns who run a nonprofit that would continue to exempt them from offering contraception coverage to employees. cnn's jill dougherty is at the white house. jill in what form will this administration be responding? >> reporter: fredricka, this is day three of obama care that a key provision concerning women is op. hold at least temporarily. it's the last days of president obama's two-week hawaiian vacation, and he spent thursday playing golf with the new zealand prime minister and his son. but in washington, as life returns to normal after the new year, it's back to obamacare. today the supreme court could order the obama administration to allow certain religious affiliated non-profits to remain exempt from the law's requirement to provide birth control and other reproductive health services to their employees. this comes after a group of colorado nuns asked justice sonia sotomayor for a temporary injunction from complying with

the law. white house official responded saying "we defer to the department of justice on litigation matters but remain confident that our final rules strike the balance between contraceptive care and religious objections." coverage began january 1st for the 2.1 million americans who have enrolled in obamacare since october. >> i've been waiting a long time for january 1st, 2014. >> reporter: and president obama's allies at organizing for action continue to promote the new law. mr. obama himself sent out a new year's tweet saying "i signed the aca for kids like marcelees owens. he lost his mom because she couldn't afford coverage. today millions of americans finally can." the white house is not saying who those americans are, a fact some republicans say indicates an overall lack of trust. >> if they keep putting a

flowery spin on everything, how are we going to ever really trust that we're getting the best, accurate information about the prospects? >> reporter: that information about who is signing up, for example, are they young, old, is important because ultimately the concern is how this long-term is going to be paid for, and the white house says they'll be updating statistics and information mid-january. fredricka? >> jill, thanks so much at the white house. let's dig deeper on the effects of today's possible u.s. supreme court ruling, joining me will cain columnist for the blaze and cnn political analyst john avlon, executive editor for "the daily beast." john, how much of a potential setback if sotomayor rule to continue the exception for religious non-profits? >> this would be a significant blow to the administration which

has tried to create a carveout, fred, for religious affiliated organizations so they aren't forced to provide health insurance that includes contraception but the insurance company has a separate plan so this would further constrict the flexibility. the fact it's an obama appointee is significant. >> it would reveal many of the fixes the obama administration keeps making including that of the contraception mandate are false. what sotomayor is going to look at is whether or not if you remember the exemption stated if you can find an insurance company who will cover contraception, if you can defer to an insurance company, we think that absolves you of your religious conscience p the sisters of the poor, priests for life don't feel that's correct. they feel if they're forced to fine an insurance company and sign over obligation they're violating religious conscience

and that is a false fix like so many of obamacare's fixes have been that's what we'll find out the supreme court what they'll ultimately rule on. i don't know if we'll find out today. >> that's one legal challenge and here is yet another, attorneys general from 11 states have sent a letter to hhs secretary sebelius slamming the so-called fixes to obama care as you put it, will, like obama's decision that allowed some people to keep their canceled plans. so will, to you then, they say executive changes are illegal so could this become an even bigger issue? >> this is to my point. look, we have a division of branches of government in this country, the legislative branch's job is to create law, the executive branch, the presidency is designed to execute the law. these fixes including allowing people to stay on health insurance plans after the law says something different come off as chaotic, as whimsical. we heard for months this is the

law of the lappnd but the law o the land seems to be whatever the president dictates it to be. that has real consequences to markets and insurance companies but to states and the states are sending letters, their job is to regulate insurance they have to abide by federal law, not the president's whim. the president's whim is causing chaos. >> john? >> okay, will is always great for good philosophical perspective how government is supposed to work and then there's reality, executive need flexible laws to adjust what is happening on the ground. with regard to the letter to sebelius, you have 11 attorney generals, some of them outgoing, all republican from deep red states, which is not ultimately a constitutional or legal objection, a desperate attempt for ideological reasons. >> the debate between the philosophical foundations of the united states government and practicality, i'm happy to have that debate any time we'd like

because practicality -- >> let's have it. >> for the president to do whatever he wants, set aside the constraints of the u.s. constitution. >> no. >> set aside the division of branches, let's try to be efficient and practical and this system of government was not created to do that. >> john, last word. >> the slippery slope argument needs to be constrained by rationality. you can't immediately go from executive action to dictator shup in one jump, that's now how life works. >> executive action is bad in and of itself. i'd like to preserve the legislative branch. >> will cain and john arvlon, something tells me this is a springboard of what 2014 will be like on this issue. thanks, gentlemen. next hour in "the newsroom" she's back, nigella lawson has been on the cover of more tabloids than cookbooks but this week the celebrity chef returns to the spotlight and it seems she's ready to put the drama behind her. details at 10:00. [ male announcer ] nearly 7 million clients.

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checking our top stories. a snowstorm is now affecting about 100 million with blizzard warnings. nearly two feet of snow has fallen in top skill, massachusetts, north of boston.

road travel is extremely dangerous. and flight aware.com reports more than 1700 flight cancellations today. and a big change for the big yellow cereal box. general mims has announced that cheerios are now free of gmo. but now the corn starch cheerios are as well. this makes a lot of moms and dads kind of nervous. >> reporter: that's why the groups had been pushing about cheerios. they're big concern was from the very get go, from the first solid food they eat, humans are consuming genetically modified organisms all the time. but the science and companies say, there's nothing to suggest there's anything harmful about it. this is just how our food supply

as evolved. but for now, cheerios has been testing this for a few weeks. and it's been making them without the gos. it's going to be the original cheerios. they've been able to switch the corn starch and syrup that they use and sweetener that they use. so the classic, classic cheerios will now be gmo free. the other ones will continue to have gmo because of all the corn. and other companies are doing it too. a nod to this consumer push that they don't want so many gmo -- they want other choices out there. >> unsettling to know it was there in the first place. now now hopeful that it's gone out of the original cheerios. still to come. a vikings puncher burns his

bridges. andy scholes has the story. >> yeah. chris klooey said he was cut because he advocated for gay rights. that's next.

former nfl pumper chris

kluwe is saying he was cut because of his advocacy for same-sex. andy scholes has more for us. >> he wrote a letter slamming the nfl jiekings, it w. he claims that there were anti-gay comments made to him. and he was asked to tone down his gaye advocacy rights. and he didn't want to come forward and lose his job while he was still playing. now, they've strongly denied his allegations. and they maintain he was strictly cut on basis of performance. and they're going to thoroughly review the matter. the shocking upset in last night's sugar bowl. alabama turned the ball over five times. and the sooners sealed the

victory in the fourth quarter stripping a.j. mccarron and stripping him of the football and returning it for a touchdown. here is his girlfriend. she's stunned. and they lose to oklahoma, 35-41. it's going to be cold on sunday for the packers-49ers game. this is a live look at the field. the low temperature for sunday night in green bay is negative 20 degrees with a wind chill around negative 40. this could go down as the coldest game in football history. that's probably the there is still about 3,000 tickets still unsold for this game. and if they're not sold by 5:00 p.m. eastern today, this game will be blacked out in the green bay area. that's a huge dilemma.

going and watching it in negative temperatures or staying at home and not seeing the game at all. >> isn't that unbelievable. what a dilemma. >> when the games like this get down to below around 2,000 tickets, usually the team will pick up the tab. >> that makes sense to me now. i appreciate that. the next hour of "newsroom" begins right now. good morning, i'm fredricka whitfield. carol costello has the day off. for about 100 million americans, this is the nightmare they woke up to. a howling nor'easter and unloading much of its wrath on the upper northeast. the nation's largest school system is closed and,000s of flights canceled. the immediate pact from coast-to-coast. a listen to these stranded travelers in los angeles. >> been planning this vacation

for about a year and a half now. so to run into this road block it's just -- >> very frustrating. we're freaking out because we're running out of time. >> as you can see right there at the bottom of the screen, we're using every square inch of your television screen to bring youal the latest information. it will stay up throughout the show. was we check in with our army of correspondents, they're all the way from the midwest to the northeast. let's begin our coverage in new york whereas much as a foot of snow is burying parts of the city. ashleigh banfield is with us. the depth of the snow are way behind you. >> reporter: yeah. but look, i'm at defcon hat. it was so cold, so i put a hat on. i found the cnn winter tuk as they call it in canada.

it is only looking at the cnn sign 11 fahrenheit. the wind chill takes it to minus 3 fahrenheit. you mentioned the school closures. there's a new mayor in town, it's only day three on the job, and he's had to shut down 1.1 million kids from going to school. i have a feeling they're going to be behind me in central park in the six inches that fell overnight. and just a few blocks to the left, you have 1.5 inches more. and gusting is probably one of the biggest problems for our three huge airports here in the new york area. that's one of the biggest stories. when these three airports start having problems, so does the rest of the nation. you showed the passengers in l.a. that are stranded. how about the flight operations

at jfk. still shut down at this time. laguardia's flight operations are going, but there are a lot of cancel racelatilatiocancella. newark has 285 flights canceled at last report. laguardia, 271 flights canceled at last report. and jfk, 121 canceled at last report. flight operations suspended there. one of the planes had to do a second attempt at a landing because of the gusts. visibility is also part of problem. now, new york city, this ain't like any other city. they've had to dispatch 1700 plows and 5,000 sanitation workers to get out there and salt, sand and plow the roads. if you're wondering how much salt it takes to get this city drivable. it's about 7,000 tons. that's how much salt they have

available to use today. and there are 3,000 snow plow routes. i know all of you all around the nation have seen your plows out when it gets snowy. but imagine that many machines and people being dispatched to try to stop this city from being crippled. in any way, we won't be having the kids in school buses because none of them are going to school in the new york area today. that's just new york. this is an eastern seaboard, 10 million people effect. this whole storm system. boston has been getting walloped. indra petersonss has been working probably the most hard of us. but boston is cold and snowy. and you're pretty. and you're doing an awesome job. give me the lowdown on everything boston related. or. >> reporter: it's very colds out here. this morning wind chills were negative sift 20. ten minutes outside, and you had

the threat of frostbite. i'm holding this camera. and i want to show you it's not just me and all of us out here standing in the snow. it's everyone on our team. our photographer, notice his outfit. we've got russ, no gloves. talk about a trooper. frostbite, ten minutes is not too far away. you might want to take care of that. and then the envy of all things. this to my left, this is cnn news sources. they have a propane heater. what do i need to do to get one of these? and all the way to the right, this is our satellite truck. and we this the walk of envy, or the new walk of shame for anyone who has to go outside and stand out here for the few minutes we are with you. we've got about a foot of snow here. we're still expecting up to 24 inches just north of here. essex county continues to see

the heavy snow because of the ocean-effect snow. it is so cold out here that the ocean is actually warmer than this air. when you think of lake effect know, same idea. you're going to see it in the cape cod area as the system tapers on to the east. it's negative 15 wind chill right now. but without the strong winds in this region, it feels a lot better. the big story is really going to be what happens after this. we're going to be talking about temperatures diving down as a second system, i know you want to talk about, knocking on wood, but a second cold blafgts of arctic air is going to be coming to this region by the beginning of next week. this snow, so dry, the visibility concerns as the

system makes its way offshore. still a lot to think about. even though it feels like it's getting better out there. >> how did you get a camera? all i got was the cnn hat. >> reporter: let me show you. ross is the man, pretty much. that's how it's done. i don't know if you can see jamie. he's full-faced. >> reporter: i can see ross not wearing gloves. >> reporter: he can't wave, no gloves. >> reporter: i'm going to get our rod-cam who is working our camera to show my messy move over to my producer. this is steven who dresses very well every time we go outside. this is the behind the scenes look at the man that makes it all happen. >> reporter: he's putting us to shame. >> reporter: he's raeseady for

evere everest. i think this morning that the office of management has been working throughout the night. do you have a quick buttonup on what they're doing and facing out there today? >> reporter: we definitely continue to see the roads being plowed. they're proud of the fact that they continue to plow these roads. and they don't have to salt them after a certain period of time because it doesn't do any ground. once you get the ground below 15 degrees fahrenheit, that salt doesn't help. but this is so airy that it blows away. as far as all the cars here, i'm noticing a lot of people -- here is someone shoving their car out of the driveway. it's not taking too much effort because it's not hard-packed. >> reporter: i love that you have a wireless camera. i want a wireless ashleigh-cam. can you make that happen?

>> can't afford it. >> reporter: he said we can't afford it. >> reporter: i set trends. >> reporter: you do. and i like the scarf too. we have a lot of reporters out braving the elements all night and morning. one of my newer colleagues at cnn got the coldest and windiest, this is what we call hazing, brian. it's long island. it's one of the hardest hits. gusting winds. i didn't know that you got stuck in a snowdrift. this is the ultimate in hazing. brian, tell me what it's like out there. >> reporter: this is when the plows come out and make a gigantic pile of snow. and we're in the heart of long island. we've had anywhere from 9 to 13

inches of snow in various locations in sussex county. we're their marriott along the long island express way. and we're seeing the same thing as up in botch. they just tweeted out showing the snow right now is sound-effect snow. same thing from the ocean in boston that's creating more snow here. the tweets that it's an efficient snow producer. that's one optimistic way of looking at it. although it's still snowy, we're seeing the sun trying to come out. it's almost bright enough for sunglasses. this is kind of the fun part of the storm. >> reporter: a quick question about the long island express way. millions travel that expressway every day into manhattan into work. and that thing was shut down. and yet, brian, i still saw

sneaky people early this morning going back and forth. what's the story on the l.i.e. now? >> when i looked out my window and i could see a couple of miles and saw no headlights. you're right. there were a number of people that would come out. because it was essentially a soft closure. there weren't barricades. but there were warnings from police that they could pull you over and fine you if they caught you out on the roads. most of the trucks that i saw were actually plows and trucks going to help stranded drivers. the highway is re-opened. traffic is very light. the biggest problem now for the counties, the snow is still blowing around. it's very light and it blows around even more. that means it's going to take a long time to treat the roads. >> reporter: and of course, some of the people who break the ban

are us. the media. often times when there's tishl weather we're out there bringing the story to those wanting to he know what's happening. and i was hoping you might do behind the scenes shots for me today and show me about what it takes, especially for a lot of these ex-extraordinarily hearty cnn crew members. i'm looking at three right now. because they're out for sometimes six to eight hours in these elements. give me a behind the scenes look at what you've been up to. >> reporter: that's one thing i hadn't thought of. these crews aren't just out for this one live shot. there are dozens of them on a given day. we're outside more than inside, even though we can come in for hot chocolate sometimes. there's not many times i can get up to the hotel because of the frequency of the live shots.

we have photos we're posting on twit digging out the satellite truck and clearing a path. you're right. some of the hardest workers are the folks keeping us on the air all day and night. and that way, people can see what's it like without going outside. i'm one of the guys that likes to laugh at the reporters standing in the elements. i saw a person reporting and she was in a canoe and people walked right by her. but then i realized she wasn't in a canoe at all. >> reporter: brian, great work. thanks for joining the team and getting out there and getting your hands cold and dirty. brian, thanks, from long island. because this is new york city, this gets clear very quickly. these sidewalks are cleared

almost every two to three minutes. but you can see the drifting behind me. 1700 snow plows makes short work of the snow in this city. but while it looks like we can manage this and all the rest, i've got two behind the cameras who are dressed like kenny from "south park." working very hard in these elements. we've warmed up to 13. this is awesome. i do want to add, though, that the wind chill takes us down to minus 3. there's no spot in new york city at 2:00 this morning that wasn't at least zero with the wind chill. office you are watching inside your homes, folks, please be careful of your children and

pets. >> great advice. it is cold. i'm glad for a little bit of warmup. but as we heard from indra and others, there is a second punch on the way. so the cold stuff is not over, not by a long shot. thanks so much, ashleigh. >> reporter: see you. >> maybe you're on the ground or maybe you think you were going to fly today. but think again. as of minutes ago 1,752 flights have been canceled into and out of the u.s. a numbers that been climbing at all morning. cnn's renee marsh is life for us now. we've got nasty conditions in a good portion of the country. that means a lot of flights are not going anywhere. >> that's right. you said it off the top. nearly 2,000 cancellations so far. and we have more than 1,000 delays. it is miserable if you are

trying to fly and you're in a problem area. this is our misery map here. and this is looking at a four-hour span. you can see that new york city, it's in the thick of things. d.c. and chicago also seeing problems. those are top airports where we're seeing the most cancellations and delays within a four-hour period. jfk, we know that operations suspended. laguardia airport, we know that they continue with their operations. however, if you're flying in there, don't be surprised if your flight is diverted because they're having visibility issues. at newark, we're also seeing hundreds of cancellations. however, operations still going there. good news for people in boston. we know that flights have resumed. same deal in rode island as well as connecticut. they're starting to resume flights. now let's take a closer look at

the airlines. we just got word that southwest, they have canceled flights into chicago's midway airport because of weather there. and they're planning to keep that in place until the noon hour. but we take a close look at what the specific airlines are looking out. southwest, latest numbers, 234 skanl cancellations. delta, 91. u.s. airways, 85. you can see that those numbers started off lower this morning. but as we go through the morning, we are seeing increases. >> how about on the roads and rails? >> right. we just out there at long island, they were in the thick of things. l.i.e. as well as i-87 was shut down. but the major highways have re-opened. as far as the rails go, amtrak is seeing some delays. however, nothi major.

but they have reduced the frequency of some of the trains, but not by much. the good news is, if you're on a train, you're in better shape than if you are at the airports in these problem areas. >> appreciate that. still to come, the midwest. already got hit with the snow, but they have a new, may be even bigger problem now. ted rollins is life for us outside of chicago. >> reporter: we're in naperville, illinois, and it's freezing. very, very cold. we have our t-shirt and banana hammer. we'll show you that after the break. % [ male announcer ] winter olympian ted ligety

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call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? check this out. in if the heart of the nor'easter, the coast guard and chicago fire department teamed up to save a man stuck in the waters of lake michigan. it's still not clear why he was on the freezing lake or how he ended up chest-deep in daughter. but the first responders pulled

him in safety and had him in the hands of emergency medical serviced. he's been taken to the university of chicago hospital and list the in critical conditions. subzero wind chills are threatening millions. this morning, ted rowlands has been braving the coiled for us all morning outside of chicago. to the point where about everything, except you, frozen. >> reporter: yeah. i'm frozen too, fred. no doubt about that. we're in naperville, illinois. all morning long we've been seeing people drive up to the starbucks, leave their car running, and get their latte and come back out with the car running. it is hovering around zero now. it was 10 below when we first started this morning. it's getting warmer. it doesn't feel it. when it does get this cold, we do get to pull out our weather

props, which is always fun. our at the shirt, which is solid as a rock. and my favorite, the banana hammer. frozen banana hammering nails. you can't do that in the studio. >> oh, my gosh. that's cold. >> reporter: yeah. and our last prop is our producer who did not wear enough clothing today. when we're not doing hits, we're hu hunkering down out here. and exposure could get you into trouble. it's fun to joke around, but the bottom line it's very cold today and it's going to get worse on sunday into monday throughout the midwest and specifically here in chicago. the highs in naperville are

going to be around negative 6. and it's going to go from bad to worse. >> and i know folks are die-hards there. they're used to the cold temperatures. but on a serious note, is the city or that area particularly worried about people who may not have proper heat, who may not, you know, be able to stay warm in temperatures like this? and to what extent would the city try to help out or do something? >> reporter: every city in the midwest has a contingency plan working with organizations that deal with the homeless to round people up. people that sometimes don't want to go into shelters and maybe aren't aware of what's coming in the day or night ahead. they get people to safety as best they can. it's potentially life threatening and very, very dangerous. frostbite, the least of your concerns if you're out all night with the frigid temperatures

coming up next week. a huge concern not only in the chicago area, but across the midwest. >> thanks so much. keep us posted there. still to come, an x vikings punter lowers the boom on two former coaches and a gm. no holding back. >> that's right. chris kluwe says he was cut by the vikings because he advocated for gay rights in minnesota. that's next. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪

and this just in. the obama administration is asking the u.s. supreme court to not extend an exemption for nonprofit groups for the contraception coverage. former nfl punter chris kluwe is speaking out about his release saying this it was motivated by his same-sex marriage activism.

andy skoelz here with more on this. >> yes. kluwe wrote a letter and it was a strong worded letter that basically documents what happened in the 2012 season and 2013 offseason. it was tiegted "i was an nfl player until i was fired by two cowards and a biggette." in the letter he describes that he became an activist for -- he claims that he used anti-gay comments towards him during team meetings. he said prefered would bring it up in a negative light. he says that he was asked to tone down his advocacy for gay rights. he also says he thinks he was cut from the team not because of

pchl performance, but because of this. >> is this lft resort or is there somebody next? a final chapter? >> we haven't heard about any lawsuit coming out of this just yet. he didn't want to release this during the season. he wasn't on the vikings this year. but he still had friends on the team. he didn't want them to answer questions about this. he did it now because he wanted to prove he could still play. he had troyouts earlier this year, but didn't get picked up but got positive remarks in the tryouts. and he did it now because he didn't want mike free effort to be a coach in the league. he said he didn't think he should be a coach in the league. >> fiery situation. thanks so much, andy scholes, appreciate that. in this new year, you've got a new mayor in new york and his first nor'easter.

right now bill de blasio is in queens talking about the storm impacting millions. let's listen in. >> i can tell you, they're service -- they're servicing their vehicle as we speak. i can tell you, in the days and weeks after sandy, wherever i went all over the city, people who were affected by sandy talked about all of the first responders that helped them. but there was a special love and appreciation they felt for the sanitation workers who did such an extraordinary job helping people get their lives back to normal. i want to thank every one of you for what you're doing to help the city. i want to thank the commissioner for his extraordinary leadership. it would have been nice to have talked about how to handle a snowstorm in an abstract exercise. but we got the real thing. i want to thank you commissioner for your great leadership and team work.

i want to thank my good friend of local 831 representing all the sanitation workers of this city, i want to thank him for his friendship and leadership. i want to thank council member liz crowley. this is your district. >> yes. >> right on the border. right on the border with council member two good friends that i'm worked with for many years. i want to thank them. i can say this from personal experience, council members are one of the front line leaders and they're out there in the communities informing people of what's going on. i can tell you, during any crisis like this, people call their local council office looking for help and direction. i want to thank you for the leadership that you're showing. well, we can safely say we've had our first significant snowfall of the new year.

it appears at this moment that storm has passed. it's left us a little shorts of 10 inches of snow. but a lot of dislocation has been cause and we're doing a lot to make sure we're responding as we speak. even though the snow has ended, the travel conditions are obviously still very, very difficult. so i want to pick up where we were yesterday. i want to say that the most important thing is that people should not be on the roads today if there's any way they can help it. i want to emphasize that for several reasons. before i talk about the safety reason, i want to reference back these good people who are working so hard to clear the roads and keep things safe. i had the honor last night of stopping by my home garage in my neighborhood in brooklyn. and you have to realize how hard these guys are working. and we can help them by getting out of their way so they can

clear the streets. i want to say to my fellow new yorkers, if you want safe, clear streets, stay home and let these good folks at sanitation do their job to clear the streets. obviously, the other reason to stay home is for safety. it's very slick out there. it's hard to drive out there. the wind, the ice, there's a lot of blowing snow still, that's going to affect visibility. if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. i'll say it again. if you do not need to travel today, please stay home. if you do have to travel, take mass transit. yes, there will be some delays, but it will be safe and it will help us to get the city 100% back in full running order. so we want people to stay off the streets. but in the meantime, i have to tell you the extraordinary work of the sanitation department. i am so appreciative to all of

the members of new york's strongest for what they've been doing. it's working. you can see as you go out there the ex-extraordinary impact they've had already. members of the sanitation department are now continuing to work 12-hour shifts. and it's tough work. and they will continue until snow removal is complete. they have a pretty daunting task. 6200 miles of roadways to cover. but they're doing a great job of it. as of :00 a.4:00 a.m., and i'm expert because we had a 4:00 a.m. conference call this morning, as of 4:00 a.m., there are nearly 2500 sanitation, d.o.t., d.e.p. and parks plows

out on the streets. i want to thank all of them. again, the snow began to taper off around 8:00 a.m., but there will be a problem of blowing snow. the wind conditions are substantial. we'll see serious gusts that will be blowing snow throughout the day. and that blowing snow, of course, makes the work of sanitation and other agencies harder because they move snow. and in some cases it blows right back onto the street. with that being said, the statistics of what they've done is entirely impressive. 100% of primary roads have been plowed. 92% of secondary roads. 93% of tertiary roads. sanitation department -- >> new york mayor, bill de blasio with his first big

challenge in his term with the big nor'easter dumping about 10 inches of snow. he said, while the snow has ended, travel conditions continue to be difficult. he's imploring people, if you don't need to venture out, stay home instead and let the workers do their jobs. but if you have to head out, he is encouraging people to use mass transit. we'll keep a close watch on new york city and all of the northeast as it endures a big winter storm barrelling in in this 2014. more from the "newsroom", right after this. [ woman ] when you own your own business, it's a challenge to balance work and family. ♪ that's why i love adt. i can see what's happening at my business from anywhere. ♪ [ male announcer ] now manage and help protect your small business remotely with adt. arm and disarm your alarm, watch secure video in real time, and even adjust your lights and thermostat wherever you are. with adt, you get 24/7 protection

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welcome back to the cnn "newsroom." is this what you are facing this morning? it is for about 100 million americans. nearly one in three. a howling nor'easter plowing across the eastern half of the country. dumping a whole lot of snow. thousands of flights have been canceled. and major metro areas throughout the northeast at a standstill. we're braving some beautiful, it is beautiful, but it is difficult and treacherous as well in massachusetts. lori, there are have been a lot of trucks that have been able to make their way behind you.

but then there are a few tech issues that you have been experiencing? >> reporter: absolutely. you know, it's funny, i joke. i always wanted to visit cape cod. this is not exactly how i envisioned it. but the winds are bad last night, but not as bad here. we are in a coastal town. but the snow, now that the sun as come up, we got a lot of snow here. about 15 inches. and i want to show you this store front behind me. because this looks like this. but we were actually able to dig up a picture of what it looked like in the summer. if you look at that, there's such a difference. and we've also been taking behind the scene shots with our crew and producer and photo journalist. everything from our frozen satellite truck. earlier we were having technical issues as you mentioned.

it essentially froze. we had to figure out how to go live with a card and a laptop. i think there might be a photo of our photo journalist sleeping. in between these live shots, what you do is you have just got to take a nap. and then look at our truck. if you were to look at our truck right now, i'm standing right next to it, you can see ice sickles forming all over. and i'll tell you this, we spend a lot of time in between here. and we were thinking, we've got to move this pretty soon. even though the weather is getting better, it's still cold and still seeing the snow come in. >> oh, yeah. the perils of covering a nor'easter. it's not good or comfortable. you're giving a perspective of how it is to carry on business out in the elements.

have you seen anyone who lives in the area that has actually ventured out? >> reporter: we're right now actually beginning to see it. at first, only snow plows. and now we're seeing a couple of locals from the town. they have a tradition where they all go to the same bar and celebrate a storm. and they said this is new england. we can handle this. and apparently they did. everybody is kind of beginning to come out. i still am kind of one of the only people on main street. >> i'm sure you'll have company soon. thanks so much. still to come, green bay packers fans have to step up today. but they need to buy unsold seats for sunday's playoff game if they want to watch it on television for those who don't have tickets. we'll have much more after this. ♪

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green bay packers making the playoffs. one month ago it didn't look possible. but aron rogers returned from injury to help lead them to a win on sunday and suddenly the

team was playoff bound. just one problem. if you don't have a ticket to sunday's game at lambeau field, then you may not get to see it. it will be blacked out locally unless the final 3,000 tickets are sold by today. joining us now, there's been talk that sunday's game could be the coldest ever for nfl game. probably in large part why people are not buying those tickets. quite the quandary now. >> we've gotten an update, they're now down to less than 1,000 tickets still unsold for this game. so they still have six hours to sell those. i believe they'll get it down without much of an issue. but there are many people who normally would be willing to go to a football game. but when you tell them the wind chills had may be 20 to 30

below, they're not as willing to sit for four hours outside. and in many cases, drive two to three hours from the milwaukee area to attend a game. >> i wonder what it's going to boil down to. some people are willing to take one for the team, they'll buy the tickets and just won't show up just so they can stay home and watch the game on television. what do you think about that? >> that's a possibility in some cases. but i do think that there are everyone from just individuals to corporate entities who are going to potentially make sure this game gets on television so that the millions of people in the milwaukee green bay area will be able to watch. >> this just might be one of the coldest, if not the coldest, nfl game on record. this might be considered a real ice bowl? >> it could get close to that level. the latest forecast that we've seen for kickoff is actually now

above zero, about two degrees. nowhere near as cold as the ice bowl of what you're seeing on the screen. 13 below for kickoff. there are stories of the cowboys players when they woke up that morning, one of them threw a glass of water at the window in his hotel room and it froze before it hit the window. and fans are going to have to deal with that. >> thanks so much. keep us posted on all of that. and all the best to the fans and players, no matter what ends up happening out there. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back.

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more than 100 million people in 22 states are fighting bitter cold. below zero wind chills and near whiteout blizzard conditions. but some of them are braving the conditions to take amazing photos to share with the world here. and check out the pix that the viewers are tweeting into us. a rather rough start to the day in the bronx. and in brooklyn, a little dog

exploring the snow on his morning walk. and do you have a great picture of the storm that you want to share? send them to us at #cnnweather. now this hour, the obama administration is asking not to -- evan perez issing us live. a deadline has come and gone? >> right. the justice department just in the last hour filed their legal breach. and they're asking the court not to extend a temporary injunction that had prevented the administration or prevents the administration from fining groups that don't provide the contraception coverage. this is a fight between the administration and a catholic charity in colorado called the little sisters for the poor. it doesn't sound like good optics for the administration. but they say it's a simple fight

over what it means to fill out a government form. the way the government sees this, is what they're asking these religious organizations to do is simply decline to cover contraception because they have religious objections to it. and that allows their insurance provider to provide the contraception coverage to provide birth control coverage or not. the way the little sisters view it, they view it as something of a permission slip. this is, again, a fight over whether this is -- this is a religious freedom issue or a health care issue, fred. >> and then is it clear whether the supreme court could have a ruling on it as early as today or will this take some time? >> reporter: it's not clear. they may well decide today whether or not to extend this injunction for a longer period so that they can then, you know,

have this entire legal fight be completed. but it's not clear whether or not they're going to decide that today. so we're keeping an eye on that. and we'll probably hear more later today. >> thanks so much. evan perez, i appreciate that. we'll be right back. progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today.

for about 100 million americans, a massive nor'easter slamming the coast miserable. it's expected to taper off as it heads into canada. some areas like new york central park got about six inches. other places, like northern massachusetts, digging out from two feet. and our correspondents covering the storm say it's kpil rating and exhausting. >> reporter: temperatures about three below here in wells. sustained wind out of the north about 20 to 30 miles an hour. we have wind chills that come right through here and blow all the snow right into us. >> reporter: the blidered warning may have passed but it still feels like blizzard like conditions here. light snowing continuing to fall

here. and the winding continuing to whip up the snow. and people dealing with the bitter cold. wind chill, about minus 20 degrees below zero. >> reporter: we are waiting for a noon high tide. but it's hard to think that far ahead when you're out here dealing with this wind and this amount of snow right now. it's kind of miserable out here to be honest with you. >> at least she's honest about it. what a sport. so what was your reaction the first time you saw snow? ever wanted to see that joy through the eyes of a child? here is one very happy 12-year-old 1e8 brating his dream come true. >> reporting live from indianapolis, indiana, you can see we're in a major snowstorm. snow piling up in this parking lot. you can barely see the ground.

as you well may know. this is lou fernandez signing off. >> i think he's got a future. check out these ireport photos from new jersey where feels like 16 degrees right now. big bur. thanks so much for joining us. stay warm as best you can. happy friday, everyone. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts right now. >> hi, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. welcome to a very chilly new york city. on friday, january 3rd. we are live out on columbus circle in the heart of new york city. i'm sure you can see behind me something you don't often see, big drifts of snow. hello from our tower cam. that's a pretty picture. it's nice from the bird's eye. central park couldn't look cleaner and more beautiful for a walk in the park. but trust