>> the doubletree we salute you out there in wichita. thank you forring the good stuff. >> we not only like your cookies we like what you're doing. a lot of weather a lot of news. let's get to you the "newsroom" with miss carol costello. >> happy new year. happening now, polar vortex a life threatening surge of subzero air blasting america this morning. temperatures plummet in some spots 50 degrees below where they should be. this is the coldest weather in decades. plus liz cheney out. breaking overnight and first on cnn the oldest daughter of the former vice president to abandon her senate bid. this morning she's telling use. and the push for benefits, president obama gearing up, an all out campaign for america's unemployed. "newsroom" starts now. good morning i'm carol costello.

thank you so much for joining me. bitter cold and brutal winds for millions of americans, history is about to be made just outside their frost covered windows. today and tomorrow much of the country will see their coldest temperatures in nearly two decades. parts of the midwest won't even get to zero today. a brutal finishing touch to the snowstorm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on chicago. that one-two punch shut down schools there as well as in st. louis and milwaukee. in indianapolis it's illegal to drive today except in a most dire emergency. the so-called red travel warning is the city's first since the legendary 1978 blizzard. the wind chill temperatures will feel like 45 degrees below zero. even the deep south will see wind chills well below zero. atlanta is on a slow and steady slide into the single digits by tomorrow morning and believe me people are panicking here. we begin our coverage this morning with george howell.

he's in green bay and i have nothing to complain about when compared to the folks in green bay, george. >> reporter: carol, i would imagine not. because here in green bay it's colder in green bay, wisconsin than it is in parts of siberia. yesterday that did not stop some 77,500 fans from coming into the iconic lambeau field to watch the packers play the 49ers with negative 11 degree wind chills. right now it's negative 16 degrees with the wind chill and the temperature. as you can see with this hood behind me continues to drop. brutally cold, arctic air is spreading a dangerous deep freeze over half the country. the frigid blast forcing schools and government offices to close, from the deep south to the northeast. >> temperatures that we're talking about are deadly. this is a combination that is

unlike anything we've seen in a long, long time. >> reporter: nearly 140 million people will experience wind chill temperatures of 0 degrees or below by wednesday. temperatures the country hasn't seen in decades. in fact, chicago, st. louis and atlanta are all colder than anchorage, alaska. >> the conditions are very bad. roads are very slippery. >> reporter: at sunday's green bay packers game against the 49ers -- >> i don't know if you can be ready for this kind of cold. >> reporter: temperatures felt like a frigid 11 degrees below zero. >> under armor, two hoodies, a coat, ski goggles, i got it all. >> reporter: and it's not just the plummeting temperatures. a massive snowstorm battering the midwest dumped up to 16 inches of snow in st. louis. the iconic st. louis arch barely visible under the onslaught of snow. >> this is a dangerous storm. driving conditions range from difficult to impassable.

>> reporter: in illinois the entire basketball team from southern illinois university got stranded in the snow. returning home from a game their bus caught in the powerful winter storm. the team was stuck on the interstate for six hours before a tow truck was table dig them out. there's relief in sight. subzero temperatures and snow will be gone by wednesday. please allow me to clarify. i'm told right now it's negative 16 degrees with the wind chill, negative 38 degrees. so it's cold out here fair to say and we're under a wind chill warning for a good part of the day. the best advice just to stay inside. if you have to be outside limit your exposure. when we do these live reports for you i come right out before the live shot then i go right back in and, again, you want to be bundled up. have the hat on, the gloves, the scarf. layers help. best way to get through this

because right now it is very, very cold. >> i know. so get triangle. i won't even ask you a question. thank you so much george howell. polar vortex. sounds sinister. cnn meteorologist indra petersons is in the "weather center". polar vortex. most of us are experiencing that today. >> since i'm indoors i'll answer the question four. polar vortex, this is where we want to keep it. typically if it's strong we keep that cold air at the poles. sometimes this circulation weakens. this cold air is dipping to the south and that's what we're dealing with. when you see temperatures between negative 40 and negative 65 degrees below zero these are current temperatures right now once you add in the wind chill.

we this very cold arctic air mass but also winds out there. that's why in indianapolis they are sailing it's to illegal drive. there's snow on the ground. they have a foot of snow out there. visibility is poor. you don't want to be stuck in those conditions when there's life threatening conditions. that's the concern. it's not isolated to that part of the country. look how much of the country is dealing with these windy, cool temperatures. chills extending down to the southeast. let's talk about these temperatures and how below normal they are. a lot of people are saying it's minnesota they are cold. not this cold. right now the high today in minneapolis is negative 13. that's their high. even for them that's almost 40 degrees below average. this cold air is extending all the way down to the southeast. now notice national today the high 10 degrees. single digits. 40 degrees, almost 50 degrees below normal for minneapolis.

southeast seeing some sleet. 26 degrees. that is your high today there in atlanta almost 30 degrees below average for this time of year. one exception. that's for a lot of us here in the northeast seeing rain and warm temperatures into morning. 40s and 50s. here's what's so unique about today. we're in the warm sector. cold front brings all that frigid air moving into the region. the rain will move out. anything left on the ground will freeze and temperatures are going to be 60 degrees cooler by tomorrow morning. what a temperature change negative temperatures again even for us by tomorrow, carol. >> i want to dive back into bed, get under the covers and never come out. >> other people are saying that too. thanks. tears, headaches, chaos you name it you're getting it at overcrowd airports across the country today thanks to this nasty l. how much of a travel nightmare it is? check out these massive crowds at new york's jfk. imagine being stuck in all of that. expect more crowds and

frustration if you're flying today according to flightaware.com. more than 600 flights are delayed right now and 3,000 flights have been cancelled this morning. think things can't get worse? think again. two close calls at chicago's o'hare and new york's jfk when jets slid off their icy taxi ways. alexandra field is live outside of the airport. i'm sorry about that but take it away. >> reporter: don't be too sorry because it is raining and in the 50s here. i'm feeling sorry for the people out in the midwest dealing with those temperatures. that said people inside the airport they still got plenty to complain about. a lot of passengers have been delayed for days. stranded in airports since friday and blizzard-like conditions in chicago is causing major delays at chicago o'hare. hundreds of stranded passengers camped out in airports over the weekend hoping to get moving

again by this morning. >> i missed a whole week's work. i need to adjust to the time back in melbourne. i just want to go home. >> reporter: blizzard conditions and icy temps slamming the midwest and northeast are keeping airlines from getting back up to speed. >> now we have this storm hitting chicago that's causing over 50% of flights to be cancelled to or from chicago o'hare so travellers all across the country are being impacted by this. >> reporter: a scary moment at o'hare on saturday when a plane slipped after its wheel slid off of the tarmac. none of the 145 passengers were hurt. in icy runway at jfk airport in new york caused this delta plane to skid into a snow bank, crews had to tow the plane with passengers on board back to the gate. no one was hurt. experts say the storm will continue to affect air travellers, warning that it could take several days for airlines to get operations back into the full swing of things. >> not only do they need to get the airplanes in the right place

but more importantly they need to get the crew in the right place. >> reporter: according to jetblue it's not just weather. the blog points to pilot rest rules designed to avoid pilot fatigue they say result in fewer jetblue flights. airline advices it will take days not thundershowers get people where they are going. >> we'll miss two days of a cruise. >> reporter: once all those cancelled flights do return to the skies experts say airlines will be faced with a lot of displaced passengers. and a limited number of seats. nearly 3,000 flights have already been cancelled today. yesterday 3800 flights were cancelled. we could still reach that number. day is young. the weather is bad. cancelations continue to add up. if you are flying check your flight status before you head to the airport. >> good advice. alexandra field, thanks so much. talk a little bit of politics. she's the daughter of a republican powerhouse and today

liz cheney is calling it quits on a senate campaign that not only caused ripples within the party but also within her family. partly because of her stance on same sex marriage. >> i do believe it ought to be left up to the states. >> your sister mary who is married to a woman put out this post. she said for the record i love my sister, you, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage. >> yeah. listen, i love mary very much. i love her family very much. this is an issue on which we disagree. >> the story you heard first here on cnn and this morning we're learning new details what factored in cheney's decision to dropout of that senate race. peter hamby has the story. >> reporter: john king and i wrote the story late last night. we still didn't know the exact reasons last night as to why liz cheney decided to drop her

senate primary bid against mike enzi. we got a statement this morning, i'll read to you why she says she's dropping out of the race. she says quote, serious health issues have recently arisen in our family and under the circumstances i have decided to discontinue my campaign. my children and their futures were the motivation for our campaign and their health and well being will always be my overwhelming priority. the reason she's giving here, personal reasons, family reasons, you know it's a shame if that's the real reason. look her campaign, carol, was really rocky from the get go. last summer she was never able to articulate a compelling reason why she would be better in the state over mike enzi and a lot of senators in washington rallied to enzi's side. liz cheney's campaign was riddled by a series of misstep. she just moved to wyoming in 2012 after spending most of her life in washington so she had to

answer carpet bagger allegations. she had trouble raising money. she had a lot of perception issues. >> pet are hamby thanks much still to come president obama back in washington and gearing up for his latest battle with congress. our senior white house correspondent jim costa is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. barely on the ground, president obama already has a new battle on his hands over unemployment benefits. i'll have details coming up. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn?

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...no wonder he's fueling up. enjoy our free hot breakfast options and up to 4 times the hhonors points on your next stay. feel the hamptonality checking our top stories, secretary of state john kerry says the united states will not supply boots on the ground to help stabilize iraq but will offer support in other ways. a series of weekend clashes between al qaeda linked fighters and government troops are raising concerns about the country's stability. fallujah was heavily she would by the government to expel terrorist groups and this morning's iraq prime minister directed armed forces not to strike any more residential

neighborhoods and appeal to residents to help expel the terrorists. in new york city investigators are trying to determine the cause of a high rise fire. a 27-year-old newlywed was killed in the blaze and seven other people were hurt. witness video obtained by cnn shows flames shooting out the building and large plum e of black and white smoke. new video of the ship stuck. chinese ice breaker snow dragon got stuck after the rescue. an american ice break certificate on its way to help free that ship. it's a new year in washington but for president obama and congress things are picking up right where they left off in 2013 with a fight over extending unemployment benefits. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta has more now from washington. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning. after a rocky 2013 but a restful vacation in hawaii president obama does have a chance for a

fresh start with members of congress but he already has a new fight on his hands as you said over a key economic issue. back from vacation and paradise president obama found a chill in the washington air and the president will soon learn if he can thaw his frosty relations with congress as the white house pushes to extend emergency unemployment benefits. some republicans in congress are open to a deal with caveats. >> i'm not posed to unemployment insurance, i'm opposed to having it without paying for it. i think it's wrong to borrow money from china or simply to print up money for it. >> reporter: same goes for house speaker john boehner. senate majority leader harry reid was quick to say no deal. >> we have never offset emergency spending. this foolishness, we have people that are desperate. >> reporter: the obama administration is gearing up for an all out campaign for the benefits impacting the long term unemployed as part of the

president's pledge to fight income in equality. >> we as a country have never, never over the last half century have we ever cut off emergency unemployment benefits when long term employment has been this high. >> reporter: this week the president will host unemployed americans at the white house. democrats already eyeing the upcoming mid-term elections see an attractive contrast with republicans. >> they are going to show themselves so far out of the mainstream. >> reporter: the president and democrats have their own worries namely obamacare. just how the program's newly insured like their coverage in the coming weeks. >> it's something which i think the american people are rejecting in large numbers. i think it's going to hurt the president and hurt the country and a lot of families. >> reporter: as for the move to extend those unemployment benefits for the long term jobless the senate is poised to hold a test vote on this issue later on this evening. that comes after a key -- another key vote on the economy. that's president obama's 401-k lead the federal reserve janet

yellen. carol it's not exactly clear wornt democrats have the votes on those unemployment benefits. they need about a handful republicans to join them. not clear if they will get them. >> jim acosta reporting from the white house this morning. still to come in the "newsroom" think twice before you light up. colorado's new marijuana law could cost you. cnn's chief business correspondent christine romans has more. >> reporter: i'll tell you why after the break if you legally smoke marijuana in colorado you can be fired from your job even if you're smoking on your own premises on your own time.

colorado's new marijuana law means you can legally buy and sell pot, can you even grow pot in your own home. that doesn't mean you get a free pass if your boss catches you smoking both on your off time. according to state laws employers can still impose their own anti-drug policies and that means your job could go up in smoke if you're caught getting high. let's bring in cnn chief

business correspondent christine romans to talk more about this. >> reporter: companies have been looking at this over the past couple of years as it looked this would become inevitable. companies for years have been pushing back on smoking, right. on alcoholism and substance abuse and the like and here's one other thing that they are trying to push back on. here's how. if they decide to impose their own drug free work zone, drug free employee standards, you can be fired for smoking marijuana legally on your own time. this is something legal experts -- there's actually case precedent here when medical marijuana was legal in colorado someone was fired who had prescription, was smoking pot legal lew, was fired when he failed a drug test and the state appeals court upheld that firing. they looked at it from all angles and this is what it looks like. law says your company doesn't like you're smoking pot off duty

they can fire you. >> amendment 64 allows employers to have and enforce their drug policies which means that if somebody is inclined to do drug testing and marijuana is one of the drugs they test for, somebody comes up positive on the test the employer can take whatever employment action they deem to be prudent. >> reporter: he's talking about something called amendment 64. the audio is a little distorted because there are blowers in that grow house. carol, this is going to be a really thorny, thorny legal territory for companies and workers as this law rolled out. >> it doesn't seem fair at face value, right? you can take a couple of drinks, go to work, you're not likely to be fired for that unless you're rip roaring drunk. >> reporter: if testing for alcohol. marijuana stays in the system than alcohol does. different kind of pick your poison. with companies have been pushing back on all of that. they have been trying to push back on all of that and really

have lowered the levels of drinking and drug using workforce over the past few years. and now many companies taking a look at what they can do, what kind of workplace policies they can put in place. as one attorney told me a couple of weeks ago, companies want to make sure they can fire stoners. they got the laws and legal precedent to be able to do it. >> someone stoned comes to work i can totally understand that, right? >> well one man's stoned is another man's recreational pot use. >> perhaps so, christine. still to come in the "newsroom" do airlines have a good accuse for thousands of delays in addition to the within weather, some say new faa rules are also slowing them down. cnn's renee marsh has that side of the story. >> reporter: are those new requirements for how much rest time pilots should get

contribute to flight delays. that's one airline is saying. is that a valid complaint or just an excuse? we look at that straight ahead. i quit smoking. i've quit for 75 days. 15 days, but not in a row. for the first time, you can use nicorette...

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining me on this very cold monday. happening right now we have to talk about the opening bell on wall street. it's ringing right now. the biggest trading day of the year as more investors and traders return after the holidays. a cligaution light is flashing wall street as many are waiting for a jobs reporter later on this week. the big story this morning is the cold. for most of the country it's all about the cold. you're looking live at indianapolis where it's about ten degrees -- look at that. looks like arctic landscape. indianapolis. 10 degrees below zero. the mayor has made it illegal to

drive in the city except for emergency personnel because it's so cold. indianapolis hasn't had a travel warning like that since 1978. let's head to detroit now shall we. it's 13 degrees but it's going to get colder and the blowing snow is making things miserable. since saturday about six to 12 inches of snow has fallen in the area. schools are closed today as well as the courts which means major bankruptcy hearing for the city of detroit is on hold. let's go des moines. in des moines they have wind chills of minus 35 degrees. the high temperature expected today, 5. 5 degrees. now this arctic blast is so widespread, about 140 million of us will see wind chills dip below zero. cnn meteorologist indra petersons is in the "weather center". have we officially entered the polar vortex? >> exactly. that's what we're talking about.

that polar vortex. here's some words i want to explain particularly dangerous situation. in a "weather world" as meteorologists we see these words what is that. it really grabs your attention. these are warnings put out by forecasters when the weather is life threatening. typically we see them with tornado outbreaks. but for the first time minneapolis has put this out for severe chills. wind chills are so low between negative 45 and negative 65 degrees. places in minneapolis also sioux falls under this particularly dangerous situation. that's how rare this event is. motor oil that freezes at 15 degrees, antifreeze freezes at negative 35 degrees. your tires we know the pressure goes down when the pressure goes down. talk about the seals actually breaking when you get those temperatures below zero. these are the concerns today. the frostbite. as early as five to ten minutes. that's the concern out there. we talked about indianapolis. temperature there negative 40 degrees with the wind chill. not the only reason they are

talking about it being illegal to drive. they had almost a foot of snow and winds gusting as high as 40 miles per hour. that brings the wind chill into region. also picking up that snow and blowing it around. the concern is people are trapped on the roads. they can't see. then stuck in negative 40 temperatures. that's life threatening. that's the concern in that region. notice the chills will stay. these temperatures are 40 degrees below average even for that region and again that cold air spreading all the way down even into the southeast. those temperatures they are frigid, they are staying and by the middle of the week we should see recovery. in the northeast that cold air is moving your way by tomorrow morning the wind chill will be here for your as well. nobody is escaping it except the west. >> i'm still getting over antifreeze freezes. what a concept. we shouldn't know that. think the nasty weather is the only thing to wlam for thousands of cancelled and delayed flights today? airlines like jetblue blame the

faa. they say new rules design to avoid pilot fatigue are resulting in more flights and more crowds like this crowds at airports across the country. renee marsh live in washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: those new rules went into effect on saturday. it's an faa mandate which says essentially that commercial airline pilots they must get ten hour minimum rest period before flight and that should include the ability for them to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. this is a major change in the pilot's schedule and it really is just to prevent sleepy pilots in the cockpit and, of course, reduce fatigue related accidents. i want comes after the air crash near buffalo, newark where 50 people died and the ntsb ruled that fatigue played a role. yesterday jetblue they announced in a blog post to their passengers that these new rules on top of the weather and the high passenger volume is what's

causing that nightmarish situation at airports where people are sleeping on the ground there, their flights are delayed, we're seeing lots of cancellations but how so? how is this rest rule translating to delays for people who just want to get home? jetblue spokeswoman she gave me this example. let's just say they already have delayed flights. if that pilot times out and they have to be off of the clock because of these new rules they now have to fine another pilot and she says that causes further delays, carol. >> is this jfk we're looking at? because those pictures are -- where is it? jfk. those pictures are insane. oh, my gosh. you can look at the faa, the new rules the faa put into place and say it's causing me so many frustrations but they put it into place for a good reason, right? >> reporter: absolutely. again, they want to make sure that these pi lots are well rested. they don't want a situation

where you know a plane goes down and they have found that the reason for that is because the pilot was sleepy and in that air crash in 2009 that was one of the contributing factors according to investigators. that is the reason why it's in play. just to be fair, the airlines knew this day was coming. these new rules were two years in the making, carol. >> renee marsh, many thanks to you. the family of a brain dead girl is calling an oakland hospital's release of her a victory. the case of jaki mcmath has triggered a court battle and national debate. the girl suffered cardiac arrest three days after tonsil surgery. a judge declared her brain dead. her family said she's not dead. her uncle said hospital staff was unfriendly to the family and referred to jackki mcmath as th

deceased body. what's the next steps? good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we know she was quietly released to her family last night. the hospital put out a statement saying that the body was released to the coroner which in turn released her to her family during a late night news conference the attorney for the family said that she was transported by a private ambulance. he didn't disclose where due to security concerns. >> had people make threats from around the country. it's sad people act that way. so for her safety and those around her we won't be saying where she went or where she is. >> reporter: the family raised $50,000 in online donations. much of that money will be used for a private airline to get her to a facility. a new york facility has been identified as a facility that would take her indefinitely but it's not clear if that's where she's headed. the hospital says it doesn't matter, carol, because she's brain dead and no chance of recovery.

in any event this particular part of this tragic saga appears to be over but of course you can expect a lot more legal action in the months ahead. carol? >> just so sad. dan simon, many thanks to you. still to come in the "newsroom," actor shia fats with robots in the action series "transformers." okay. we know all of that. here's where it gets weird. now he's taking on some of hollywood's biggest names after admitting to plagiarsm. his explanation may be plagiarism. i know it's confusing. we'll explain when we come back. e to help protect your eye health.

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the actor shia went from a scrappy teenager on "transformers" to plagiarism. labeouf posted a dozen tweets apologizing for that. he hired an airplane to write an apology in the sky. the star isn't offering an explanation for any of it.

he's offering an explanation for his bizarre behavior but i think he allegedly stole that too. let's bring in cnn entertainment report eer nichelle turner. this is weird. >> reporter: you couldn't let me start off the year with a celebrity baby or wedding. had to get off to weirdness right off the bat. here's a little back story because this has been going on for several weeks. shia labeouf was accused of plagiarism the short film. this was december 16th. shia tweeted he was embarrassed that he failed to credit the author for the original work and he claimed that he was just so inspired by the original and he wanted to turn it into a short film. apology. okay. but no. it didn't stop there. there was also an apology via a sky writer like you mentioned. he also had a tweet that he blamed it on an addiction to

lien but copying an joe from a rapper. then he sent out a tweet you have my apologies for offending you for thinking i was being serious instead of accurately realizing i was mock ug. hollywood is shoot back at him. he replied saying i don't mind creating debate and thoroughly considered artistic expressions but i don't want to offend with a tweet. sorry world. sound familiar? that's exactly what she said as an apology at one time on her twitter feed. now there's a feud between them. >> why? why is he doing this? i don't understand why he's doing this? >> it's a good question because throughout this whole thing with him, every time he apologizes it seems like it may be an apology from someone else.

early on when he was apologizing, there was a quote that he tweeted out that seemed like it was from shepherd ferry, remember he's the street author that did the obama portrait back in 2008 and the ap said he took their picture so he gave them an apology and the same words he said were the same words shia labeouf use ad few weeks ago. nobody knows what's going on here. if he's trying to be cute and smart or if there's something other just weird. i don't know. it's a head scratcher. he's an interesting character. and i don't think this is the end of it. i hope he doesn't start tweeting me. >> i like the explanation he's addicted to leif. i appreciate you sorting that all out for us. our lives are enriched now. all new in the next hour of "newsroom" a millionaire murder. there's sorrow but also controversy, outrage grows over

a man found dead inside a new york city trash bin and a newspaper headline reads who didn't want him dead. it's the most controversial way to crown a national champion but tonight we say good-bye to the college football -- to college football's bcs. a preview of tonight's final match-up next on "newsroom". jim, i adore the pool at your hotel. anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars. ryan, your hotel's robes are fabulous. so i'm choosing all of you with hotels.com a loyalty program that requires no loyalty. 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... we're new york.

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checking our top story at 47 minutes past the hour. new york is said to become the next state to allow medical marijuana. governor cuomo plans to take executive action to let certain hospitals dispense it to select patients. it's called a key step but legislation is still needed for a more complete program. 20 states and be district of columbia allow medical marijuana in some form. a malware attack hits yahoo! affecting users in various countries. a security firm said they don't know who is behind the attack but seems to be financially motivated. yahoo! released this statement on friday january 3rd on our european sites we served some advertisements that did not meet our yirl guidelines specifically they spread malware. we promptly removed these advertisements. users in north america, asia-pacific and latin america

were not served these advertisements. dennis rodman and several americans are to play an exhibition game for kim jong-un's birthday. >> just to show we can get along. i'm not trying to save the world. that's not my job. my job is one thing. sports. he loves sports. that's it. state department says it has nothing whatsoever to do with rodman's visits to north korea and attention should be focused on the brutality of kim's regime. the flu is spreading rapidly across the united states. in fact in just one week the number of states reporting widespread flu has more than doubled from ten states to 25. so far the main strain we're seeing is h1n1. it's disproportionately

affecting people under the age of 65. the strain is covered by a flu vaccine that's the good news. it's not too late to get your flu shot. this morning we have new pictures of a deadly plane crash in aspen, colorado. the private jet burst celebrities like leann rimes, who were at this small airport, posted tweets about the horrific scene moments after the crash. so sad, she said. horrible plane crash. we just saw it happen at the as pen airport. this morning, investigators are still combing through the charred wreckage for answers. cnn's annica cabra is live. >> we don't know the exact cause of the crash but minutes later, witnesses say the plane came in for landing and burst into

flames. a horrific scene on the runway in aspen, colorado. still, we see the charred fuselage of a private jet that crashed. >> i am driving down the road and i see that big plume of black smoke. come around the bend and the plane is flipped over. three were on the plane all three pilots after making a stop in tucson, arizona. according to the plane tracking website, flight aware, the plane circled three times before trying to land. >> these pilots were attempting to land at a high altitude airport with a tailwind. >> reporter: radio communications reference difficult conditions. the pilot aborts one landing because of the wind. >> mised approach, n 115316789. minutes later, the plane

crashes. leann rimes cibrian witnessed the crash and said, so sad. kevin nealon tweeted, horrible plane crash here at aspen airport. exploded into flames. it was too late to save everyone. a 54-year-old died at the scene from blunt force trauma. the other pilot and co-pilot had moderate to severe injuries. those two survivors will likely be key to the investigation as the ntsb tries to determine what went wrong. the ntsb is going to be looking at the decision-making process of these pilots as they came in for landing. carol, we are told because this is a fatal crash, it could take several months, up it a year for this investigation to be

complete. >> anna cabrera reporting live. colin cab kaepernick leads the 49ers to a win and he does it sleeveless. >> nines getting it done despite bitterly cold temperatures. we'll show you how they got it done next in your bleacher report. [ dr. pyun ] a lot of healthy food choices are still high in acidic content. if your enamel is exposed to acid and you brush it away, you know, then it's gone. i would recommend that they brush with pronamel. they don't need to cut out those foods but you can make some smart choices.

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what a start to the playoffs. capped off by the packers and niners playing and ridiculously cold temperatures. >> all the games this weekend were must-see tv. we are calling it the frostbite bowl between the niners and the packers. the game wasn't quite as cold as the legendary ice bowl. the temperature 5 degrees at kickoff with a windchill of 10 below. aaron rodgers was so cold he couldn't feel the defensive linemen all over him and he escaped and was able to complete the pass that led to a go-ahead touchdown. fast forward. the niners driving with the game tide and colin kaepernick comes up with this huge run for the first down. that set off the game-winning field goal fort niners. they survive the goal and win the game, 23-20. trending on bleach bereport.com,

bengals, chargers. the amazing catch of lardarius green. san diego, they go to cincinnati and stun the bengals, 27-10. philip rivers pretty pumped by advancing to the next round. in case you missed it, the indianapolis colts made nfl history rallying 28 points to beat the chiefs. donald brown fumbled at the goal line and andrew luck just picks it up and dives in for the touchdown. a lucky play for the colts. indianapolis will move on playing the patriots on saturday afternoon. the saints will be at the seahawks. sunday, niners play the carolina panthers, followed by the rubber match with the broncos. they split their two matchups this season. a new champion in college football will be crowned tonight. this year's title game being called team destiny versus team

domination. auburn won the past two games to get to that place and he says all the individual awards are nice but his ultimate goal is to win tonight's game. >> my life hasn't changed. i still have that goal to get that national championship. i'm not looking for my life to change. i'm looking to change other people's lives. i'm looking to make me teammates happy and bringing home this national championship is more important than anything else. >> today is ironically winston's 20th birthday. winning a national championship would be a nice way to change that. >> his life will soon change right after that game, i betcha. >> we will see tonight kickoff, 8:30 eastern. it's been 20 years since one of the biggest sports scandals of all time went down in detroit michigan. today is the anniversary of nancy kerrigan being attacked by a club-wielding thug, hit on the knee by rival skater, tonya

harding's ex-husband. four men went to jail and he got probation and tonya was banned for life from skating. >> i remember this like it was yesterday even though i was ten years old. >> why did you say that? >> thought i would fit it in there. >> well i-was a litt was a littd i remember it very clearly. life turned out great for nancy kerrigan. not so much for tonya harding. can't believe it has been 20 years. >> thank you, andy. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts now. happening now in the "newsroom," deep freeze. half the country shivering in record cold temperatures. this right here, the ski mask, my hat, gloves.

i'm still cold. >> oh, yeah! >> how much longer will we all have to suffer through this. plus, a murdered millionaire, his body found lying in a new york city dumpster but not everyone is upset over his death. that's drawing a lot of criticism this morning. also, a major surprise from liz cheney. she is dropping out of the race for senate. hear why the former vice president's daughter is calling it quits. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. bitter cold and brutal for millions of americans. history is about to be set. today and tomorrow, much of the country will see the coldest temperatures in nearly two decades. parts of the midwest won't get to zero today, a brutal finishing touch to the snowstorm that dumped nearly a foot of

snow on chicago. in minneapolis, the windchill could slide to an insane 50 degrees below zero. the state has ordered all of its schools closed for the day. indianapolis doesn't want anyone venturing outside today. it is illegal to drive unless it is an emergency. it is the city's first red travel warning since the legendary 1978 blizzard. people in des moines will see temperatures top out at 5 below zero. it is unbelievable. tonight, windchills across iowa could plummet all the way down to 60 degrees below zero. i can't even imagine 60 degrees below zero. even the deep south will see windchills well below zero. atlanta is on a slow and steady slide into the single digits by tomorrow morning and believe me, people are panicking here. we begin our coverage, though, with cnn's george howe. he is in green bay. george, i feel for you. >> reporter: carol, good morning. it is cold. fair o to say it is cold.

that did not stop some 70,000 fans, 77,500 fans in fact who packed this stadium, the iconic lambeau field, to watch that game yesterday. the packers against the 49ers. it did stop several things throughout the midwest. with he know that schools here in green bay are closed. also, in milwaukee, in minneapolis, in the city of chicago where schools never clothes because of snow, schools are closed there and also in detroit. you see school closures. right here in green bay, we understand the temperature is negative 17 with the windchill. it gets down to negative 40. that's what it feels like out here. you have to come out prepared. you have to limit your time outside, which we are doing. also, you have to wear layers. you have to have on your hat, scarf, gloves, things like that, because too much exposure out here can lead to frostbite. it is a bad thing. you don't want it. people are taking those precautions. >> i'm curious.

how do those temperatures feel? because, to me, if it is 5 degrees below zero, i'm as cold as i can get. standing up there, do your fingers immediately freeze? the tips of your fingers, what does it feel like? >> it is interesting. a facebook friend of mine posted something. i think he put it best. he said, if you go to the ice box, go to your refrigerator, open the freezer, take your hand and put it on the ice and leave it there for five minutes, that's about what it feels like. >> that's nasty. go inside that satellite truck. thank you so much. we are actually technically in a polar vortex. it is not only ferocious but pretty unusual to see it extend so far beyond the north pole. lucky us. cnn meteorologist, indra peterson is here to explain. >> i always bring the good news. polar vortex is the easiest way to explain it.

you have this circulation of very cold air right at the poles. that is when it is very strong. if you weaken that, you can have a little bit of that area lapse down and you start to get a little band of that being down. that band is bringing that colder air farther to the south. that's what we are dealing with this morning. yea, us. look at this. it is dangerous. it is a particularly dangerous situation. we are talking about temps as low as negative 40 to negative 65 degrees. the danger is out there. you keep talking about indianapolis. this is key. it is illegal to drive there now. it is not just because it is cold. we are talking about winds gusting as high as 40 miles an hour. now, you have visibility close to below half an hour. that is why they do not want you driving on the highways and notice, a huge chunk of the country talking about cold, arctic air. this particularly dangerous situation. this is a warning we see for tornadoes and severe weather

outbreaks. you do not see this for cold weather. that is how rare this event is, life threatening cold air. the highs are below normal. 40 degrees below normal even for minnesota. their high is going to be negative 13 degrees. that cold air spreads all the way down, even into the south. single digits for st. louis. same thing, temperatures well below normal. the only place we saw some warm air, other than the west, was in the northeast. that is quickly going to be going away. a cold front will be moving through. temperatures are going to be colder today as we go throughout the day rather than warming up. that's the concern here today. windchills by tomorrow, 60 degrees cooler than where they were this morning. >> will the whole winter feel like this, indra? >> i wish i was god and i could tell you that answer but, you know, i only have that short-term forecast, carol. >> i understand perfectly. >> i want to say no. >> it's brutal, it is. thank you, indra peterson, very much. a two-week break from washington

is now a thing of the past for president obama who is back in the nation's capital as the white house ramps up it's push to extend emergency unemployment benefits for millions of americans. jim acosta has more. >> back from vacation in paradise, president obama found a chill in the washington air. the president will soon learn if he can thaw his frosty relations with congress as the white house pushes to extend emergency unemployment benefits. some republicans in congress are open to a deal with caveats. >> i'm not opposed to unemployment insurance. i'm opposed to having it without paying for it. i think it is wrong to borrow from china or print up for it. >> john boehner said he would support the extension as long as the cost is offset by other cuts. harry reid was quick to say, no deal. >> we have never offset emergency spending. this is foolishness. we have people that are desperate. >> the obama administration is

gearing up for an all-out campaign for the benefits impacting the long-term unemployed as part of the president's pledge to fight income and inequality. >> we as a country have never cut off emergency unemployment benefits from long-term employment has been this high. >> reporter: this week, the president will host unemployed americans at the white house. democrats already eyeing the upcoming mid-term election see an attractive contrast with republicans. >> they are going to show themselves so far out of the mainstream, it is going to hurt them. >> reporter: the president and dem cats have their own worries, mainly obamacare and how they like the coverage in the coming weeks. >> it is something the american people are rejecting in large numbers. i think it is going to hurt the president and the country and a lot of families. >> jim acosta joins us live from the white house. >> how likely or unlikely is it than an extension of

unemployment benefits will fly through congress? >> reporter: we are going to have to wait and see, carol. right now, the bill that's pending before the senate, they are going to have a key test vote later today, a procedural vote. that is going to take place aft senate weighs in on the president's pick to lead the federal reserve, janet yellen. it is unclear at this point whether or not they have the votes. they appear, democrats appear to need about a handful of republican votes to get past this hurdle. then, they would need to bring the measure back for final approval before it goes to the house where the prospects are not much better over there. if this does not get through the senate or has trouble in the house, the president has that event here tomorrow with unemployed americans. he will push harder tomorrow. expect this a fight to last the next couple of days if it doesn't get through the congress. >> still to come in the "newsroom," iraqi soldiers are inching closer to an all-out

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expecting and preparing knowing their flight will be delayed or canceled. best thing to do might be to make other arrangements at this if you can. you are feeling frustrations we

can all sympathize with, carol. >> i can't imagine being stuck in that. i have been in my past but i choose to forget about it. i have completely blocked it out. alexandra field, thanks so much. checking our top stories at 13 minutes past. in new york, investigators are trying to determine the cause of a high-rise fire a 27-year-old newlywed was killed and seven others hurt. witness video obtained by cnn show flames shooting out the building and a large plume of black and white smoke. jahi mcmath, a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead by an oakland hospital was released to her family. she was attached to a ventilator but with no feeding tube in place. they are moving her to another facility. they would not disclose where it is saying threats have been made. martin walsh is being sworn in in boston. he replaces thomas menino who

served at 20 years. he did not seek re-election. remember fallujah, the site of some of the bloodest fighting between u.s. forces and insurgents during the iraq war. once again, it is the sight of violence and death. it is a battle between the iraqi government and all qaeda link fighters. it is not clear who is in charge of the city or if the government has the means and ability to win an all-out battle. nic robertson is covering the story from jerusalem. i know you spent a lot of time in fallujah, nick. what's going on there? >> reporter: the prime minister of iraq is telling the tribespeople to throw out what he is calling the terrorist al qaeda. he is saying, you don't know it but you have been working for the terrorist al qaeda agenda. what the tribesmen are saying, there might be a couple of pockets but mostly this is tribesmen. there is a real argument over

the narrative, the sunni tribes who are by far the majority. the sunnis feel marginalized by the shiite-dominated government of nuri al maliki. the prime minister is defining this as the government versus al qaeda, which would give him stronger international backing and more support from the united states. is the army there strong enough to go in? maybe it is. if it does, it will cause a lot of civilian casualties and that would drive a lot of people into the hands of the insurgents or make those small elements of al qaeda even bigger. >> they say no more boots on the ground in iraq but you wonder still, nic. >> reporter: it would be very tough to go into. it was very hard and took a long time to get out of. the iraqi government isn't sharing power the way the sunnis expected. many of those people living

there had good jobs under saddam hussein. they had important positions in the military and lost all that from saddam hussein. they didn't get much return from the government. it is getting a political balance in the country. does the imperative and important thing right now that it would be very hard for the united states to go back in and influence that. never mind win a battle that would be very tough on the ground. we've already seen what it looks like there, carol. it is not easy. >> nic robertson, live in ja jerusalem, thanks so much. you didn't get a flu shot. there is still time. you can still get one. we will tell you how you can protect yourself. olive garden's signature favorites now just ten dollars weeknights are for favorites. including everyone's favorite fettuccine alfredo and our classic lasagna. plus unlimited soup or salad, and warm breadsticks signature favorites now just ten dollars, monday through thursday, at olive garden.

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new concerns over the flu. the cdc reports half the states have widespread flu outbreaks and h1n1 is on the rise. so let's bring in cnn's senior medical correspondent, elizabeth

cohen. it seems like a very tame flu season and all of the sudden, boom. >> that's how flu is, it just sort of doesn't register and then, all of the sud dden, it registers. we are getting to the peak of the flu season. a lot of people think, that's something older people need to worry about. well, think again. in just one week, the number of states reporting widespread flu has more than doubled from 10 states to 25. among the victims of the flu so far this season, 25-year-old ann phillips swan from south bend, indiana, who passed away on christmas eve and 5-year-old ronin burgess, who died in portland, oregon. >> we are seeing a lot of illness in young adults. >> young people die from the flu every year. this year, it could turn out to be particularly bad, because the main flu strain out there is h1n1, and it disproportionately

affects people under 65. >> so far, the main strain is h1n1. that strain is well covered by every one of the flu vaccines out there. >> reporter: that's right. h1n1 is in the flu shot. it is not too late to get one. the centers for disease control and prevention recommend the flu vaccine for nearly every within. it does take two weeks for the shot to build up immunity. in the meantime, it is specially important to remember to wash your hands. >> so, i have heard that some children need two shots of the flu vaccine. >> two doses of the flu vaccine. if your child is eight or under and has never had the flu vaccine, this is their first time, they are going to need two. >> the poor little thing. it might not work. so you definitely want to get two. even if they have had a flu vaccine, they may still need two. it depends on a lot of factors. you have to check with your doctor. >> elizabeth cohen, many things still to come, liz cheney abandons her bid for the senate

citing health concerns and her family. what does this mean for some established members of the republican party? we'll talk about that next. r. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining me. the big story this morning, a br brutal arctic blast. most will see some of the coldest temperatures in decades. parts of the midwest won't get to zero. a brutal finishing touch to the snowstorm. the one-two punch shut down schools as well as in st. louis and milwaukee. in indianapolis, it is illegal to drive today except in a most dire emergency. the red travel warning is the city's first since the legendary 1978 blizzard. the windchill will feel like 45 degrees below zero. even the deep south will see windchills well below zero. atlanta is on a slow and steady slide into the single digits by

tomorrow morning. indra is here to tell us about the dreaded polar vortex. >> it is a polar vortex. we are talking about all the cold air typically at the pole. what you have today is something we call a particularly dangerous situation. this is rare enough as it is when we put these warnings out in reference to severe weather. usually, a tornado outbreak. to see this, windchills, windchill warnings with temperatures from negative 40 to negative 65 is so rare. most people have never seen this before. first time, minneapolis, minnesota, has ever put this out. also, sioux falls under this current warning. think about this. your motor oil, it freezes at 15 degrees. antifreeze, i've got that. antifreeze freezes at negative 35. the pressure goes down when it gets cold. the tires seal themselves. they start to leak below freezing. these are the concerns we have out there today and the exposure. 5 minutes at negative 50 that's all it takes to get frostbite.

you can see the problem and concern, it's a life threatening situation. current temperatures, negative 53 right now. that's what it feels like in duluth. chicago, negative 41. indianapolis, negative 38. this is the key. everybody is saying it is not just cold air. that's not the reason it is illegal to drive. that's because i saw a foot of snow yesterday. windchill comes from winds. 40-mile-an-hour winds blowing around snow out there. i know people trapped in the snow with the life-threatening temperatures. it's the combination there that's the concern. how long is this expected to last. take a look. temperatures are 40 degrees below average for places like minnesota. this is not typical for them. nor is it typical when you go down to the southeast. these temperatures, 30 below normal once you talk about atlanta where they had sleet in the morning. very dangerous out there. what are we talking about? there is a change in the northeast. one of the only places, other than the west, where they had

mild conditions this morning. current temperatures were in the 40s and 50s. here comes the cold, arctic air. yes, those temperatures will be cooling off as we go throughout the day. the danger will move into the northeast as well where by tomorrow, it should be 60 degrees cooler than it was today. notice those windchills. a good 30 below expected tomorrow. in pittsburgh, negative 27 degrees. very dangerous. >> by wednesday, you said it is going to be 41 in atlanta. that will feel balmy. >> you are excited now, right? >> yes, thanks, indra, i appreciate it. >> checking other top stories this morning at 29 minutes past the hour. the wreckage of a flipped, charred plain seen at the aspen, colorado airport. the small plane burst into flames killing the co-pilot and injures two others on board. the pie loot missed his first approach to the airport. the senate is expected to

confirm janet yellen to be the first chair of the federal reserve. she would be the first woman to head the federal reserve in the 100 year history. a prohillary clinton sup superpac has rented out the room. they tweeted they made the biggest one-day online fundraising hall sunday but she has not yet said whether she will run. a political shocker and first on cnn, liz cheney, dick's daughter, is dropping her bid for the u.s. senate. in a statement, she seas, serious health issues have recently arisen in our family and under the circumstances, i have decided to discontinue my campaign. it is unclear what the health issues are. with

we do know cheney's campaign is not going well. she came out against same-sex marriage and alienated her gay sister. we have with us ralph and mark who is a cnn political commentator and also writing for the huffington post. welcome to all of you. that was not a very excited thank you. >> it's negative 47 degrees. >> i understand. >> peter, i want to start with you. do we know who is ill in the cheney family? >> we don't yet. that is sort of the big question that we have at the moment. she did make a reference to her children in the statement she released. she has five children. daughters and sons. we do not know the real reason that she has decided to drop out of the race, other than citing

the person concerns. they have been thrust in the spotlight throughout the campaign. that dispute she had with her sister, mary, over same-sex marriage played out in full view of the media. mary went on facebook. liz was on fox news and dick cheney came out with a statement in the course of this saying his family felt pained that this dispute was playing out in the public. the personal life has overshadowed the campaign throughout. perhaps it is fitting it comes to an end this way. >> well, mark, we heard, cheney was not doing well. some accused her of being a carpet bagger. others were upset she threw her own sister under the bess when she came out against same-sex marriage. is this surprising in light of who her father is? shouldn't the cheney name carry weight? >> yes, technically, back home, dick cheney represented wyoming in congress for six terms. liz cheney came of age and grew up in washington and virginia. she only moved back to wyoming

in 2012. there was this flap about her fishing license, which seemed like a minor thing. that brought this back into the spotlight. she illegally obtained a fishing license, because she hadn't lived in wyoming for a year, which is what you need to do to get the license. this is what brought attention to the fact that she was, quote, unquote, a carpet bagger. she also ran a campaign ad stressing your family roots in wyoming. to others, it seemed like she was trying too hard. if you are from wyoming, you don't need to go to tv and say, hey, i'm from wyoming, i'm from wyoming. the incumbent senator, mike enzi, really seemed to have an advantage. there weren't a lot of polls but most expected that enzi had a pretty strong institutional and

popular advantage. >> so, ross, i was wondering, does this debacle, does the cheney name lose some luster because of this? >> it was always a very strange campaign. liz cheney was basically trying to run the kind of outsider-based, tea party driven, grassroots campaign we have seen run very successfully in a lot of states against incumbent senators, specially long-serving incumbent senators in the republican party. as we've been talking about, she wasn't really an outsider in any meaningful sense. she has the cheney name. her issue in some sense was she was too much of an insider being associated with washington, d.c. there was also the fact that it wasn't always clear what issues she was running on. part of the reason there was such a flap over the same-sex marriage issue, a lot of people assumed she had pivoted to a

more conservative position on that issue to be more in tune with wyoming's primary electorate. it highlighted the fact that mike enzi, perhaps mediocrity in certain ways, is hardly a moderate or squishy senator. liz cheney's main issue area is foreign policy, where she is extremely hawkish, extremely interventionist and that isn't a perspective that plays that well with the republican base. this is more the anyone of rand paul where if you are running from the right in a republican primary, you probably don't want to be associated with the bush/cheney foreign policy record. it was always a kind of muddled campaign. it is surprising that it ended this way specifically but it is not surprising it didn't end in victory. >> you bring up issues as they apply to the republican party. mark, this question is for you. after that bruising 2012 election and the pledge to

broaden their focus, i'm taublgitaubllking about republicans here. some rnc members, including the chair are set to participate in the annual march for life during their winter meeting in january. smart move? >> it is an interesting thing here, right. on the one hand, the republican party is attempting to shore up its base. it is attempting to hold on to its fundamental core principles, whatever those are. they do these autopsies where they decide they need to widen the tent and not rely on idealogical purity in order to push a campaign or a particular candidate. you see this internal tension. the idea of pausing and honoring a march or life makes sense if that's where your ideology is positioned. they have to be very careful not to reassert and rearticulate themselves, which is what they are running from. that won't speak to the interests and idealologies of younger members.

that's why you see a liz cheney campaign sort of flutter out. she is not representing anything different. she is running against the establishment when she is in many ways is the establishment. people are happy with the establishment in the state. >> the rnc is having its meeting in january when this big pro life rally is scheduled for. rnc is setting aside a few hours so the members can attend the pro life rally. >> i don't understand why this is a story. this is not a case of the rnc putting out a press release saying everything todd aiken said was amazing and we need to be more pro life than ever before. this a case of the republican national committee which represents the half of the country that opposes abortion, roughly speaking, letting members participate in a march that happens every year on the anniversary of roe versus wade. it is very idealogical that it

is clearly anti-abortion. it is not a republican rally in the first place. frankly, this seems to be more of a case of the media wanting to wag its finger at republicans and say, look, you are paying attention to your base. of course they are. >> i do think it is a very public religious jers yur. they are trying to expand their tentd b tent but not abandon republican thinking. >> it is the kind of gesture they need to make. we are going to continue to stand for the principles that we have always stood for. it is a balancing act and not a terrible controversial move in that balancing act. >> you guys, can you guys pause just a second. i'm going to look at my e-mail box. we have a bit of breaking news from the supreme court. let me just look at it. i'm trying to turn my head off camera.

the supreme court has -- the state supreme court of utah has blocked marriage for same-sex couples there. is that correct? i'm talking to my people in the booth. that is correct. >> we can't confirm that. >> well, cnn has confirmed that the state supreme court in utah has blocked same-sex marriages from taking place. of course, there was a big victory for those in favor of same-sex marriage and now this obviously is a big loss for them, mark. >> absolutely. not entirely a shocker, as you know. courts are, as much as they attempt to be impartial and distance, all courts are informed and shaped by the people who inform them. in a state like utah, it is not entirely a shocker but it is moving outof the stream of the rest of the country. marriage equality is probably an

ine inevitable around the country. just to reiterate, marriage licenses for same-sex couples in utah can no longer be issued after the supreme court on friday ruled in favor of the state's request to temporarily block the impact of a federal judge's recent ruling striking down as united states constitutional a ban of gays and lesbians from legal wedlock. we'll have much more when we come back. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today. i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet.

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the u.s. supreme court has temporarily blocked further same-sex marriages in utah. for now, the state can no longer issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples. i'm trying to get ahold of jeffrey toobin. i wanted to be extra clear. outrage in new york city over this headline. that's a picture of a millionaire, a hasidic jew whose charred body was found in a dumpster. the headline beside his picture reads, who wouldn't want him dead? they labeled him as a slumlord had had shady business practices. they are demanding an apology saying osama bin laden got

better from the "new york post." >> reporter: it was a horrific death stunning them that knew menachem stark. he left work thursday and his family never saw him again. his charred remains discovered in the next county over inside a trash bin. police say he had several injuries. take a look at security video that was taken when stark left work on a very cold and snowy thursday night. if you look closely, police say you can see stark being hustled into a van. we have another piece of video that was taken even before this one. the struggle goes on for at least two minutes. it is unclear how many people are involved. who kidnapped him, why, how did his body get set on fire? there are so many questions. what's specially angering those who knew the victim is that front page of saturday's "new york post" with stark's photo and that banner headline "who

didn't want him dead?" . some of his tenants had ongoing xlaents and he had many code violations in buildings he ordered and labels him a slum lord. they ann grilgryly denounced th. >> it is basically a new culture, a new form of justice. if you have some grievances, there are two avenues. until now, you knew that there is a justice system. now, there is no way to do that. that is basically, god forbid, to destroy and kill a person. >> now, police say they are looking at any number of possible motives, including his real et state businestate busin. as for the tabloid's shocking

headline, they issued this statement. the post does not say mr. stark deserved to die but our reporting showed that he had many enemies that may have led to the commission of this terrible crime. detectives are working around the clock to try to solve this alleged kidnapping and murder. susan candiotti reporting live. thanks so much. we're going back to the breaking news. the u.s. supreme court halting same-sex marriages in utah. they can no longer issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. explain this ruling to us, jeffrey. >> well, it is actually pretty simple. what happened was the district court judge in utah said, same-sex marriage is now legal in utah. he declined to issue a stay. so hundreds of people, same-sex couples, got married. today, just moments ago, the united states supreme court unanimously, with no dissents, said, we do want to stay in this case. so there will be no same-sex

marriage while the united states court of appeals for the tenth circuit considers this case. that could take weeks or even months. so i think what's clear now is that there will be no same-sex marriages in utah for some time. what remains -- what now is going to be unclear is what is the status of the people who did get married in utah. presumably, their marriages remain valid but this is one of the many unfolding legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in utah and around the country. >> i was just going to ask you, then. as far as national implications, there are some, aren't there? >> there really are. because this case is really a very broad challenge to the issue you of forbidding same-sex couples from gretting married. basically, what the district court judge said was, the united states constitution forbids the state of utah from preventing

same-sex couples from getting married. if you were to extend that, the logic of his opinion, to the whole country, same-sex marriage would be legal everywhere. unlike the two cases the supreme court decided earlier this year based on proposition a in california and the defensive marriage act, this is a broad challenge to whether same-sex couples can get married everywhere. that case is working its way through the appeals court that covers the state of utah and several other western states. it could get to the supreme court. it could be the challenge that a lot of people are waiting for. does the united states constitution guarantee a right to marriage for everyone? that's the issue in this case. and, it is now working its way through the courts. it could take quite some time. it is now in the court of appeals. it may wind up in the supreme court.

>> fascinating, jeffrey toobin, thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," you could call it the battle over benefits. congress and the white house getting ready to face off overextending unemployment insurance. kris christine romans is in new york. the checks are about $300 a week and the fight still heating up. that will be the big battle for the week. i'll have that right after the break. ♪ ♪ so you can get out of your element. so you can explore a new frontier and a different discipline. get two times the points on travel and dining at restaurants from chase sapphire preferred. so you can be inspired by great food once again. chase sapphire preferred. so you can.

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checking our top stories at 51 minutes past the hour. dennis rodman is on his latest basketball diplomacy trip to north korea. he and six others took a flight to the beijing airport, scheduled to play an exhibition game on wednesday, believed to be kim jong-un's birthday. >> i interact with him about sports. he loves sports. i like the guy. the guy is awesome to me. that's about it. no more. we can get along. not a politician or nothing like that. i'm not trying to save the world or all these people. that's not my job. my job is one thing, sports. they love sports. he loves sports. that's it. >> the state department says it has nothing to do with rodman's visits to north korea but attention should be focused on

the brutality of kim's regime. pope francis celebrated the epiphany at the vatican marking the wise men's visitation of jesus. he announced sunday he will be traveling to the holy land in may. as congress returns to work, the white house is calling on lawmakers to extend emergency unemployment benefits for thousands of americans. extending benefits comes with a cost. cnn's chief business correspondent, christine romans, is live with that side of the story. >> good morning. >> the cost is about $26 billion. in washington, if you want to spend $26 billion for what is supposed to be an emergency program, you are going to have to find ways to pay for it, at least what the republicans are saying. these 1.3 million at the end of the year started losing benefits, $300 a week. these aren't the state benefits. this is the emergency recessionary program that is prolonged benefits, up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

some republicans say this has gone from an emergency to being potentially, a new entitlement. it could be a crutch for people unemployed. a lot of economists say, this money goes right into the economy. it is not going to last forever. this is not going to last forever. it is the right thing to do now, to extend the benefits. it is something that i was told by a man that runs the biggest bond fund in the world. >> to cut them out at this point is bad economics. it is also horrible social policy. we know we have a long-term unemployment problem. 48% are long-term unemployed. it is through no fault of their own. the ses stim itself is having trouble generating jobs for them. >> i think a lot of people think of 99 weeks of unemployment and they say, at what point is this too much. we can't give checks to people that have been out of work forever. he is saying, for right now, it

makes sense. the job market is slowly getting better. the long-term unemployed, things have not gotten better for them. i think that the betting on wall street in washington is that they will somehow come up with a way to extend those benefits, carol. it won't go on forever. definitely, that emergency program will be done by the end of the year, carol. >> christine romans, reporting live. thank you so much. still to come in the "newsroom," college football crowns a champion tonight. the bcs is going out with a bang, rachel nichols. >> all about it coming up after this break. ♪ [ male announcer ] to truck guys, the truck is everything. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeatable truck, good things happen. this is the ram 1500. the 2014 motor trend truck of the year.

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colin kaepernick didn't let the green bay packers or the brutally cold at any timant lambeau stop him. he played slick bliss beating and getting into the next round of the nfl playoffs. cnn's rachel nichols is here to wrap up wild card week. what pay weekend it was? >> reporter: absolutely. three of the four games coming down to just three points or less. for my money, the most exciting, the indianapolis colts comeback win over the kansas city chiefs

led by their young quarterback, andrew luck, a kid a lot of people have tabbed as the next john elway. he is a guy that showed determination, showed grit. we love sports, carol, when it is a metaphor for something bigger. this kid told his team when they were down nearly 30 points at halftime, you stay with me. i will get you there. we will win this game. we got to watch him do it. he does have the hall of fame career we are all predicting for him, we are all going to remember this weekend as the point where it all started, with are his legend really got going off the ground. >> that was an awesome play. he was like a torpedo going into the end zone. it was amazing. we have to talk about the bcs game, the last ever and then they go to the college playoff system. this should be one exciting game, maybe the most ever. >> it they are billing it as the team of destiny versus the team of dominance. florida state has had such a good record. everyone is telling the players, come on, you are never going to

beat this auburn team who has had so many houdinilike escapes all season. when you hear the seminole players, it doesn't seem like they care. it reminds me about the arizona diamondbacks pitcher, kurt slcu schilling said destiny and mystique, those are just strippers i know. thank you for joining me. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. breaking news this hour. the united states supreme court sidelines gay marriage in utah, at least for now. also ahead, the arctic invasion of america. with temperatures headed below zero way down in alabama, just how low can it go in placese