prohibition. >> as cannabis focused kitchens take a bigger bite out marijuana market. >> thanks for watching "around the world." have a safe and good afternoon. have a safe and good afternoon. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now, look at that, boston, new york, washington, the snow is letting up but high winds and freezing temperatures, they're sticking around. cnn covering every angle. right now, it's a balmy 6 degrees at lambeau field in green bay. the forecast for sunday's game 8 below zero with windchills down to 30 below. you heard that right. packer fans and players are bracing for the coldest games since the 1967 ice bowl. bart starr was the packer quarterback during that game. we'll join us today to talk about it. and right now, u.s. marines are forced to delay new fitness

requirements. more than half of female recruits can't meet the minimum. at stake, the effort to put more women in combat jobs. hello, i'm john berman. wolf blitzer is off today. we're going to start with heavy snow brutal winds and bone-chilling temperatures. a triple weather threat that's brought much of the northeast to its knees on one of the busiest holiday travel weeks of the year. it has been a monster nor'easter that's buried some towns under two feet of snow. fierce wind gusts are creating huge snow drifts and threaten to trigger flooding along the coast. and then there's dangerously cold temperatures. well below zero with the windchill in many places even without the windchill, it's really, really cold. we're covering this major story from all angles today. our correspondents are in boston, cape cod, new york, also out in new york's long island.

one of the worst hit areas, of course, is boston. hit especially hard by the wind and the snow and the cold. margaret connly braving those mean streets. how bad is it this afternoon? >> john, some areas of massachusetts saw up to two feet of snow. we talked to the department of transportation this morning. they had 3,394 snow plows out. their maximum capacity is 4,000 and comparing that to just yesterday when they only had 1,000. so they've been dealing with a lot of snow over the past couple days. the snow has somewhat tapered off this afternoon. it's expected to taper off later into today, as well. but we are going to see winds of up to 35 miles per hour and also chills. there is a winter chill advisory for now till 9:00 a.m. and there could be windchills as low as below 35 degrees. the big concern here is visibility for travelers. since there is wind and there's

light snow that's causing some problems for flights, flights were canceled from logan last night until this afternoon. we are seeing is up in the air there because logan's not too far away planes land. i was supposed to fly out tonight. my flight has been canceled. >> you're not going anywhere. especially with the wind and cold. it's not even as bad in boston as it is in cape cod southeast of boston. the conditions can even worse. laurie segall is there. the winds and snowfall really, really tough where you are. that might not be the biggest concern. it's the coastal flooding that people have been worried about. have those fears been realized? >> listen, i just got off the phone with the massachusetts emergency office and i said, right now is high tide. this is the time that folks are worried. it's going to cause coastal flooding. this town, we're here in chatham, massachusetts, this town is so near the water. anytime something like this

happens, could you have coastal flooding. the good news is right now it's high tide. it's moderate right now. they haven't seenen too much coastal flooding. they've seen a little bit in plymouth but right now saying it's minimum. i will tell you this because i've been standing here from different hours. and it's a lot better now than it is this morning. we're standing on main street. if you look behind me, all the stores are closed but finally people are beginning to come out. we're seeing more folks driving, walking around, taking pictures. earlier today it was 30-mile-per-hour winds. it was snow plows left and right. now that the streets are beginning to clear up a little bit. they say the worst is probably over. john? >> it's good news on the coastal flooding. they don't need that specially with the winds and cold. laurie, your satellite truck recognize pretty much froze this morning. didn't it? >> you know, we're breaking up a little bit because of the wind.

but i did hear the word satellite truck. i have a feeling you're going to talk about -- you're talking about our satellite truck that wasn't quite working this morning. what essentially happened was it was bad weather. these weather conditions were very bad. we really weren't able to go live from our satellite truck. i think we probably have images of that. you can look at. we were able to go by using our photojournalists came up with the idea to use a my fi password card and laptop. we were able to go live. you just got the idea it was very bad and very, very chilly. the wind, because we're so close to the water, the wind and snow causes a whole new type of effect. >> lori was covered in ice and snow this morning. it's been a long, long morning and afternoon out on cape cod. laurie segall, thank you so much. i want to go to brian stelter out on long island here in new york where blizzard warnings were just lifted a few minutes ago. brian actually has been covering the media for years, but it's

secretly been his dream to cover the weather. he's getting a chance to do it today. brian, how bad was it for you at the peak of the storm? >> oh, you know, it wasn't that bad. we're out here. we're paid to be out here and see what it's like for everybody else. no complaints for me. i think you know this. i was the nerdy 7 or 8-year-old who would go out in the backyard with a stick, measure the snow and then call the local weather channel and tell them how much snow was on the ground. i've always had a thing for weather. i guess it's my other love besides media. it's been interesting to see what this is like. the digging out continues. we're in the heart of long island. we've seen snows come up and down piling up snow. the first live shots at 9:30 a.m., the parking lot we were in was pretty much cleared up. every time the wind gusts up it, creates more work for the plows and road crews. they're doing their best.

the long island expressway is reopened and track is moving pretty steadyly right now. >> brian stelter, i'm so happy for you you did get to experience this. i wish you many more weather events in the near future. i want to come back now to new york city. ashleigh banfield is in the snow covered streets here. ash lear, this is the first major storm that the city has seen under its new mayor, bill deblasio on the job for all of what, two and a half days now. how does he seem to be handling the response so far? >> like the rests of us. first thing he did when he woke up was shovel his walk. i'm not kidding. we got pictures of him. he was up before 8:00 clearing the way and then he got down to business and actually gave a news conference about this city's reaction and response to the storm because do you know something? there are 5,000 plow routes in

new york city. here's how he said it's going so far. >> 100% of primary roads have been plowed. 92% of secondary roads, 93% of tertiary roads. so this is an extraordinary level of performance under.tough conditions. >> tough conditions to say the least. that sound bite was given earlier. you can imagine there's been progress made since then. if you hear the stats, it's quite amazing. i know new york is big but 1700 plows? like i said, there were those 5,000 workers who were out and about on the streets making sure they were salted, sanded and plowed. 7,000 tons of salt at the ready to spray down on the streets. but none of that could battle the school system. they had to close it down. so 1.1 million kids will be out likely having some fun in the snow somewhere in new york city. and i recommend central park right behind me because that got six inches of snow overnight.

on the upper west side not far away from that, about 7.8 inches of snow. for all of those 1700 public schools, they have the day off. the sun has come out. and john, i'm looking up up at the cnn signs that beams all over the west side. it's 18 degrees fahrenheit. that doesn't take into account the windchill. at 2:00 this morning was i know when you woke up and came into work, it was zero everywhere in the new york area with windchill. at least zero. nobody got above zero with windchill in the entire new york area. i can tell you since i've been out here, we've warmed up a balmy 8 degrees. i'm quite comfortable out here with my crew now. >> for the most part when you're out there smiling like that, it means it's because it's frozen in the cold temperatures. appreciate you being there. we saw beautiful pictures behind you of people skating in central park. alexandra steele is tracking the storm's path. it's been everywhere from the midwest to the northeast.

where is it going next? what's the latest status? >> done. are you happy to hear that, john? the storm is over. still a few residual snow showers on the cape coming up with some of the biggest numbers. but the storm itself has moved out. the area of low pressure moving out. of course, behind it, still the winds. with each hour, those winds will subside. you'll certainly notice that. some lucky winners here. boston in the end picking up 14.6. the models really just nailing this forecast. 7 inches in albany. 6.2 in worcester it, philadelphia, philadelphia central park at 26, as well. a few bigger totals. two feet in boxford, mass, topsford north of boston at 19. so that's what it looks like. that's what we saw. but here's a look at what it looks like outside your window. we'll take you to virginia where we had an overpass cars in the overpass look at this. this is tyson's corner,

virginia. they picked up about 3 inches just outside washington, d.c. right over the river. also so scary, no question about it. there was though playful side. we certainly got pictures of that, as well. lincoln park zoo, in illinois. 12 inches. and also let's take you now to manalopen, new jersey. this dog's name is batman. 11 inches of snow. a little deep but trying to make it through. john, i've got other news for you. even colder air, believe it or not coming in. how about historically cold, minneapolis, chicago, could see some of the coldest air in a decade. look at some of these temperatures. watch what happens. monday, tuesday, wednesday, tuesday, monday, a high temperature, temperatures, these aren't even windchills. in chicago, a similar scenario. all of that is moving east. i'll bring you what our temperatures will be on the east coast coming up. it's very cold, as well. >> i can't wait for that, alexandra, if it looks like

those numbers behind you right now. thank you very much. here's the big question for everyone. could you see yourselfened staing around for hours in those arctic cold temperatures? just to watch a football game, even your favorite football team? in a minute, the mayor of green bay will tell us why his city's fans are not an friday of what could be a record cold game day. really cold, folks. welcome back. how is everything? there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

here's the big question for could be a record cold game day. and yet another blast of bitter cold weather is taking aim at the midwest. that's on the heels of this storm already wreaking havoc across one-third of the country. windchill temperatures in the windy city could dip well below zero. that's where we find ted rowlands braving the cold in naperville, illinois, just outside chicago. give us an update on what the conditions are like right now and what they look like going ahead because it's not pretty. >> no, it's not. we're going to get a little reprieve. it is very ugly. we've gone from negative 10 up

into the single digits. feels great. it's going to get better over the next day, saturday into the mid 20s and then the big doozie hits us. we'll be down with a high temperature on sunday into monday of negative 6 in the chicago area. the lows will be close to negative twent without the windchill. it's not just chicago or illinois. it's wisconsin, it's minnesota. minnesota has canceled all school on monday because they're looking at negative 30 degrees sunday night into monday. it is going to be very ugly. >> you know, ted, sometimes you hear people say in chicago, we're used to the cold. in minnesota we're used to the cold. no one's used to 6 degrees below zero without the windchill. it's dangerous. you mentioned minnesota's canceling school. what other precautions are we talking about being taken? >> and i wouldn't be surprised if some illinois schools are canceled as well as because you're talking about specific threats to kids exposed skin.

at those temperatures, 30 degrees below zero, add wind to it, only a few minutes out in those temperatures with exposed skin and you're going to see frostbite. it's a huge problem. the homeless, that's another thing. organizations will fan out in force sunday night into monday. try to get homeless folks that aren't aware of what is coming and get them shelter. >> ted row rowlands for us outside chicago. they're not playing football in chicago this weekend. it's a bit of a sore subject. they are playing football in green bay where it's very, very cold. they're used to playing in the cold, but this weekend could really activity the mettle of fans and players. the packers host the 49ers in a wildcard playoff game. we just learned the packers did manage to finally sell out that game. it was slow going because it is expected to be so cold. one of the coldest games the nfl has seen in years. joining me on the line is the mayor of green bay, jim schmid. i don't need to tell you how

cold it is going to be out there. we're talking minus 6, minus 8 below zero. that's without the windchill there. how do you expect people are going to keep warm for a football game that col last three, four hours? >> well, we're ready for this. first of all, you got 80,000 people and we're pretty bundled together in that stadium. we do kind of keep warm with each other. i think it's going to be a great game. people in this part of the world know how to dress and prepare for that with the appropriate undergarments and hats and cream on your face. we're going to be in good hape shape. i'm surprised sold out at all. i think people are excited about this game. we're looking forward to it despite the weather. >> snuggle up to 0,000 of your closest friends there. this game is being compared obviously to the famous ice bowl game in 1967. do you think it will be that bad? >> you know, the ice bowl 13 degrees below zero. this morning when i took my dog

out for a walk it was 16 below. that's cold. three hours of that i think would be a lot to tolerate. it could get that cold towards the evening of that game. the game's 3:25 kickoff. i'd love to break that record and be part of it. i wasn't at the ice bowl but i'd love to be part of this game. >> what's your trick? you say you have your own special methods. you wear long underwear and snuggle with 80,000 fans. your special method of layering up. we have four beautiful seasons here. winter is one of them. but it's going to be cold. make sure your feet and your head, that's the most important. and there's some great gear out there that people can buy and the packers have plenty of things to sell. so i think we're going to be all right. i think the tailgating may not be as long this time. hour, hour and a half instead of

a couple, three hours. people are excited to go. you can always go inside a little bit to warm up. but by and large, i think you're going to see 80,000 cheering these people on outside. >> mayor james schitt we vust just you're not going to be the guy with your shirt off. >> i still think you're going to see someone in the crowd. >> congratulations on finally selling out the stadium there. i know some corporations probably kicked in which means upon people will be able to watch it at home, as well in the green bay area which will be welcome news for a lot of people there. >> thank you, john. nothing like being at the game though. >> that's true. one guy at the 1967 ice bowl knows what it's like to play in the cold, bart starr. the world famous quarterback hob scored the winning touch down in the famous ice bowl. if you stay with us, in just a few minutes, we're going to speak with bart starr. i have to ask him how on earth

he managed to play when it's that cold. as stondingly cold. but first a new round in the legal battle over birth control coverage under obamacare. some groups say covering contraceptives is a violation of their religious rights. today the obama administrationened spoked. we'll have the details on the story when we come back. ♪ humans --

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welcome back, everyone. just a short time ago, the white house announced plans to strengthen background checks for guns. we just got this information. the justice department is pushing a plan to make it more clear who is forbidden to own a gun based on their mental health. and the department of health and human services is proposing a plan that would break down barriers that keep states from submitting information on those people to the federal background check system. this would be done presumably by executive order, not by legislation. again, we're just getting this information. we'll have more on this as soon as we can. other news coming from washington. the battle over birth control coverage under obamacare is back in the legal spotlight. the latest lawsuit challenges

the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage and today, the obama administration filed its response. our senior white house correspondent jim accost ta joins us now. what is the administration now asking the court to do? >> well, it's basically asking the court, john, to make a decision as to whether or not there's going to be this temporary injungttive be relief from the contraception mandate in obamacare, as you know, a couple of days ago right before the ball dropped in times square, supreme court justice sonia sotomayor who was on hand for the festivities in times square threw a curveball basically giving some non-profits, religious non-profits nom relief from the mandate. this case has been brought by a group of nuns, the little sisters of the poor in denver run a nursing home in colorado and they've been saying this mandate violates their rights. what the justice department did this morning is said, hey, wait a minute, the solicitor general who fights these cases before

the supreme court said hey, wait a minute, these religious non-profits have the ability to opt out of this and have a third party insurer provide this contraception care for the employees of these non-profits and so therefore, it doesn't violate their rights. we're waiting to see what the non-profits have to say in response to that and then all of this will potentially go to the supreme court. we may get some kind of guidance from the court at some point today as to whether or not this temporary stay is going to last for the next several weeks to months before the supreme court issues a final ruling on all of this. they're expected to hear the case on this that is being brought forward by a for profit companies that also have a religious objection to this. want to throw up on screen a quote from the attorney for the little sisters who are the nuns. proint pointed comments. unfortunately, the if i recall government has started the new

year the same way it ended the old one trying to bully nuns into violating their religious beliefs. the government demands that the little sisters of the poor may millions of dollars in fines. the sisters believe doing that violates their faith and that they shouldn't be forced to divert funds to the irs. a pretty pointed statement there. we're waiting to see what their official response is to the court and we should get new developments after that. >> this has been such a point of contention, one of the many dealing with obamacare. thank you so much pep bayou so a major storm hammering many states when many people want to hit the roads and airports after the new year's holiday. we'll give you the forecast coming up next. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain...

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the first week of 2014 is a brutally cold one for more than 100 million people after this monster snowstorm ripped through 22 states from the midwest to the east coast.

major cities including some of the busiest travel hubs are buried under heavy snowfall and getting blasted by these fierce wind gusts. and then there are the dangerously cold temperatures. well below zero with the windchill in many places. even without the chind windchill it's pretty darn cold. we're covering the story from all angles today. our correspondents are in boston and the streets of new york as well as at laguardia airport and at airports in washington, as well. let's first go to boston. this is the city that's probably been hit the hardest in the country. margaret conley is there. >> john, it has been very bad with a lot of snow. we're still expecting a lot of wind and the windchill factor is very strong. i wanted to take this time to share a little bit of the behind the scenes and the community here. we had a very nice neighbor, carly, a teenager bring over some chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate made by our anti-hel been. thank you very much. half is gone because the crew

devoured them because we've been standing out here in the cold. i want to share some of the people working behind the scenes. daniel has been shoveling snow since 6:00 this morning. isn't that right? how many hours have been out there? >> about three or four now. you've got to the go inside every now and then to warm your fingertips and your toe. you come back out and give it another go. >> you're just doing this with a shovel. how is your body feeling right now? >> it aches no doubt. your back and always lift with your knees. your back starts to give out a little after awhile. >> you guys are pretty strong being from boston. are you award about the situation for the next couple days? >> not really. i mean, it's cold so it's not going to metal as fast. but you've got to keep going. you build camaraderie shoveling next to your neighbor and giving it all you got. >> all right. john, the good news here is that the airports do seem to be back up and running. the flights up at logan airport. we've seen them ahead landing and taking off.

john? >> and the good news is that they're out there shoveling today. it's could not going to get easier as it gets colder in boston. there's a special place in heaven for people who bring chocolate chip cookies to reporters. appreciate it. let's come backing to new york where jean casarez is covering the impact here in the big apple. how do new yorkers seem to be dealing with it so far, jean? >> john, we are in the heart of new york city in columbus circle. for the most part, all the roads are plowed. the streets in new york city. i want to to show you what a plowed street is. come with me. this is a plowed street in new york city. in the same breath, this is a dangerous street in new york city. i was in a taxi this morning and the taxi driver was driving so slowly and was veering to the right and to the left because eeth this snow, there is ice. now, traffic is moving in new york city. but columbus circle last night when the snowfall was going, it was barren. we're going to show everybody a

time lapse photography of what actually a very bustling circle in new york city was like when that snow came down. it was just barren. that is what happens to new york city in a time like this when the snow keeps going. people are told to stay home and that's exactly what they do. but you know, there's another issue that i want to show everybody. when you think of new york city, you think of taxis, especially on a day like this. look at this hill right here because if i want to get a taxi, i've got to climb up this hill and i've got to try to hail one. and you know what? i'm trying. but it's tough. and if i get one, i've got to go back over this little mountain here to get in the cab. so i'll keep trying to hail and john berman, back to you. >> that is commitment. jean casarez climbing a snow bank to hail a cab. i hope one stops for you soon. i really appreciate it. let's get a look at the coming days because the cold is a serious problem.

alexandra steele from the cnn weather center, give us a sense of just how cold we're talking about here. >> would you believe it if i told you it's going to be colder? we've been talking so much about the cold. the difference is the straight air temperature will be colder than it's been. the winds won't be as strong. in minnesota, nothing school for any kids, local public schools monday they're closed. too cold for school. true. minus 14 is the high temperature. look at this. minus 2 on tuesday. sunday through wednesday -- historic cold. chicago, as well. high temperature, again, air temperature we're talking about, that's the low minus 19. ted rowlands would probably still be out there. boston, that arctic air that's about to come in, moves east tuesday. 30 degree temperature drop. new york similar drop, from 44 on monday to 10 on tuesday. so a different type of cold.

air will be a lot colder. historic really in decades. >> this weather whiplash from 44 to 10 in one day in new york city. >> that will be a good story. we'll have to have you out there and see the dichotomy of taking off your layers. >> i think i'm off tuesday when it's 10. >> me too. >> alexandra, thanks so much. the weather has made a mess of air travlg for so many people. over the last two days, more than 4,000 flights have been canceled because of the storm. 2,000 today alone. poppy harlow at new york's laguardia airport. we're hearing at jfk, there have been limited flights taking off again. how are things looking where you are right now? >> limited. limited is how they're looking. i want to show you, john, how we track these flights. beat go to flightaware.com. constantly updating it every few minutes on my iphone because it's more than 2,000 cancellations. it's 2,243 today alone. it is not even 2:00 p.m.

yesterday we had 2300 flights canceled. we have zero visibility at jfk earlier today. much better now. two runways are open. ground stop at newark. you've got limited flights going in and out of newark. hundreds of cancels at lagar lagardeia, rhode island. connecticut. the snow was so light and fluffy. the winds were whipping it in people's faces. i have to tell you a, i feel a little bit get about having this assignment being inside when all my colleagues are outside. and walking in here and seeing the line was unbelievable. i want to show it to you now. the line of people with canceled flights just at american alone waiting to get rebooked on another flight. they don't even know when. then i ran into a girl from minnesota and she put this all in perspective for us. listen. >> you're from minnesota. >> yes. >> so you've got a little bit of

perspective on snow, right, jennifer. >> yes, i do. >> how bad is this? >> this is like a thursday for us i think. it's not that bad. it's melting really fast. >> you were connecting to go to cleveland but a number of your flights canceled not just because of weather. >> mechanical issues, too. they said de-icing on the plane was broken. we sat there for six hours till they told to us go to the hotel. >> this would be your third attempt to get to cleveland? >> yes. >> they wanted to put me on a flight to detroit and go back to cleveland. i told them i'll wait for this one, a one-one-stop. hopefully i'll be in cleveland by 10:00 p.m. >> we hope she will be in cleveland sooner than 10:00 p.m. john, a lot of folks i talked to here looking at international flights they can't get out, trying to get to mexico and elsewhere this they think they won't won't get out till at least monday. the lucky folks overnight got

cots to sleep on. the rest of them have been sleeping on the ground here just waiting and waiting and waiting >> yikes. i guess it looks comfortable enough if you have to spend a night at an airport. poppy harlow, really appreciate it. getting out of new york still a messy proposition. the question is, how is the rest of the country doing. >> especially with a domino effect of canceled flights in rene marsh is in washington. give us a sense of which airports have been hit the worst? >> you just heard poppy say it, waiting and waiting. big picture, the numbers are looking like this. total delays nearly 3500. total cancellations more than 2,000. so it's quite a headache if you are trying to fly somewhere today. so this is the misery map. this is by flightaware. this just tells you within a block of four hours how bad things are and which airports are seeing the most delays. you can see lots of red in new york city where poppy is.

we have red right here in d.c., but at this hour, as far as the number of cancellations and delays, the most we're seeing right here in chicago. this is again, just four ow hour block, about 102 delays and 27 cancellations. you see these orange lines here? those are the problem areas. so we have delays and cancellations going to atlanta. we have the same situation going to phoenix. as well as san francisco. as far as airports go, we can tell you that we did have a situation this morning where airports suspended their operations. here's an update. bep we know that logan international have resumed. jfk did. so did rhode island's airport as well as esconnecticut's bradley international. so we want to tell you even though they've resumed operations doesn't mean things are back to full speed. we can tell you logan right now arrivals and departures only have about 70 blaens in the air right now. as far as laguardia, they have

44 as well as 24 departures. you can see there only 6 planes in the air right now. compare that to in atlanta which has more than 300 planes in the air. john? >> rene marsh in washington for us. getting around by air, not at all ta easy. not yet at least. i appreciate it. still dealing with this weather. it's affecting sports, too. football legends don't come much bigger than bart starr. he's going to talk to us about the famous ice bowl game and what the packers need to do to get ready for this weekend's game which will be in the deep freeze. dry, itchy winter skin?

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record cold temperatures for this weekend's nfl game in green bay. the packers host the san francisco 49ers in a wildcard playoff game. the forecast says it will be minus 6 degrees, minus 8 degrees without the windchill, he folks. people are pair comparing there to the famous ice bowl game in '67, maybe the most famous game ever played. the packers quarterback for that game was none other than nfl legend bart starr. he joins me now on the line from birmingham, alabama. thank you so much for being with us, mr. starr. please call me bart. i'm honored to be with us. >> bart, i know that football

players are tough but i know that the green bay packers football players are a special kind of tough. but still, minus 13 degrees is really, really cold. what's it feel like to play in that kind of weather? can you even hold onto the ball? >> you have to really concentrate on everything that you're doing when it's that kind of weather. but yes you can. i've said this many times to people. i don't want to make this trivial but i think it's an attitudal thing. attitude in my opinion next to god is the strongest word in our vocabulary. i really believe in situations like that your attitude is what makes a difference. >> it makes a difference to you on the field. what about for the 0,000 people in the stands? can they think themselves warm? does attitude count there too? >> i would think it could because that's a personal feeling thing. i think you have to work at it, but yes, it can be very, very

difficult. >> did you guys talk about the didn'ts that game? was it something that weighed on you as you were calling your plays? >> you knew it was cold because it was. it was getting colder as the game wore on. but the thing that comes back to is that attitude word. i used it earlier. i really believe that you have to focus on what you're doing and how you're handling things and let the other just take care of itself. if you do it that way, put it in that priority system, i think then you can make it much easier. >> you know, you read the history of the ice bowl game back in '6737 a lot of people thought that game would be postponed. do you think it's something the nfl ought to consider when things get this cold? >> well, that's hard for me to say because i'm not sure what's in their considerations. for things like that. but i'm certain that they take a good hard look at those types of things. they don't want to be just ridiculously cold or not have look road at an alternative of

something. so i'm very impresses with what the league's stances have been over the years. >> now, you played in a game this cold obviously. you're in alabama right now. would you ever sit in the stands for a game like this? be honest. >> i don't think i've ever sat in one that was quite that cold, no. >> would you? >> would i? certainly if i'm in green bay and it's that cold and i've been asked to be in the stadium for some reason and we're not playing and it has that green bay connection and association. you're darn right. i'll just go do it. we'll bundle up and make it working >> spoken like a true pack per.one of the things you always hear when you watch these games and you hear from players you say the ball was like a rock. the ball gets really hard. can you hold on to it when it's this cold? do you remember hands work like they're supposed to when it's this cold? >> not really. that's why i said it's an

attitudal thing. you have to concentrate on handling the ball and doing certain things and so forth and put the other out of your mind. and you have the capacity to do that. it's amazing what we can do mentally when we're forced to do it. >> of course, you have to be able to call the right play at the right time. the last play of the ice bowl game, a very famous one. who called it? >> well, yes, it was. >> well, we're glad that you're here with us right now. we're glad that you won that game. it was your play, wasn't it? you crossed the goal line there. >> oh, yes. yeah, we easily crossed it because we -- that's why we called it. we knew the play would work. we had run that type of play a couple of times in the game and gained a minimum of a yard and a half or two yards. so we knew it would work. the problem was down there, the ground had become so hard and frozen like that it was slippery and so you had to make sure you had your footing and so forth

that it could take you to get started into the end zone. >> just one of the things you have to worry about when it'sfo us. you have a big birthday coming up happy birthday. >> thank you very much. birthdays are special and it's nice to be having another one. >> thank you so much it take care. >> thank you. we're going to talk about the marines. forced to delay new fitness requirements. more than half of female recr t recruits cannot meet the minimum. will this be a setback for women moving into combat roles? we'll talk about this. stay with us. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. those little cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet

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means for the women. if you look at the marines upper body fitness test for women, they have to do a minimum of three pull-ups. if they do eight, they get a perfect score. but because not enough passed, they'll have the option of the flexed arm ang. they have to do that for a minimum of 15 seconds, but can get a perfect rating with 70 seconds. compare that with male marines. they also have a minimum of three pull-ups, but they need 20 for a perfect rating, and there is no flex-arm hang test for males. they have to do the pull-ups. even the marines admit that flexed-arm ang, it doesn't build the kind of strength you need to haul heavy equipment, to climb a wall or rope. pull-ups, do so that's the worry, it's not the same thing, john. >> how are they handling this now? they're changing the time table for when the pull-up requirement will kick in. what's the plan? >> that's right.

it was supposed to kick in now, but the worry was that if basically you set this new requirement and so few female marines could meet it, well, if you fail a fitness rep, you get a black mark on your fitness evaluation. then you've got to go for remedial training. the marines were very worried this was something that could push a lot of female marines out of the service. they don't want that. they say there has been no decision on whether they'll implement the changes in 2015, but they're against a timeline in which 2016 is a year in which a lot of these combat roles are supposed to be open to women. they're fighting the timeframe. the strongest man will always be stronger than the strongest woman. but it's really a myth that women cannot do pull-ups. it's just that they don't. from the time they're girls, it's not something that's

incorporated in the physical fitness, so the marines are saying what they maybe need to do is look at better ways to train women to do pull-ups, john. >> that's what i was going to ask. are they hoping the extra time gives them a chance to train up, to do more pull-ups, or are they perhaps thinking of changing the nature of the test. >> i don't think they want to change the nature of the test. they're looking at how can they train more women to do pull-ups. it's not an exercise that even a lot of physically fit women, that many of them incorporate into daily training, but there are, of course, female marines who have completed this. i think just a few weeks ago, about ten more women graduated the marines enlisted training, that includes pull-ups, hauling ability an 80, 90-pound sack over a 12-mile hike. it's a grueling two-month-long course, so there clearly are

some women who are able to meet these, but if you're going to institute this standard across the entire marine corps, you've got to have more than just 45% of women being able to complete it. >> all right, chris lawrence for us in washington, thank you for being with us. >> the markets had a great year in 2013. and apparently so did car sales. we'll tell you who the big winner was coming up next. we tr. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available

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the number of states reporting widespread flu activity has more than doubled from last week, from 10 to 25 states. health officials consider an outbreak widespread if it's seen in more than half the states geographic regions. rowe night, the most severe a activity is in the southeast. while the markets didn't ring in the year in a nice way after 2013, zain joins me. yesterday was ugly. are things better today? >> i have to tell you, the first two trading days of 2014 have been a surprise, even for traders themselves. the dow, as you see, is basically flat right now. we had been as high as 72 points earlier in the session, but yesterday, triple losses as the dow fell 135 points. actually created a buying opportunity for investors. that's why you see the markets slightly higher today. the swings we have seen,

certainly symbolic of what to expect this year. traders are saying we do expect some volatility. >> zain asher for us at the new york stock exchange. thank you for being with us. that's it for me. "newroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. and we begin this hour with breaking news. i'm brooke baldwin. we will get into the nasty nor'easter affecting millions of people, but first, news just in to us here at cnn. we have just gotten, i have it right here, this is the final coroner's report on the death of fast and furious actor paul walker. the car he was riding in, i'm going to quote this here, traveling at an unsafe speed, approximately 100-plus miles per hour. our digital reporter, alan duke, is live for us in los angeles. and alan, i know you have been looking through this, as have i. what more are you learning? >> interesting to say that he -- thatal